Austin Osman Spare - Zos (Projection) 1917
Small Picture (frame measures approximately 11 x 9 inches)
Austin Osman Spare (British, 1886-1956) - lithograph of an illustration (and sigils) for 'The Book of Pleasure' published in 1913. This lithograph is taken from ‘Form: A Quarterly of the Arts’ published in April 1917.
Beautifully framed in a period Edwardian frame. The print has light ‘spotting’, and the frame has imperfections commensurate with age.
About the piece:
Essentially, this image can be broken down into elements above and below the horizon line. Above, the hand represents right-hemispheric creativity, symbolizing a fusion of artistic method or medium with the concept of the self (or Kia). Below, the alternating sigils and “sacred alphabet” letters include a few genuine Geomantic symbols.
On the right, we see one of Spare’s “dwellers on the threshold,” consistently depicted as a silhouette throughout this period of his work. Among the imaginary glyphs, the eye of Ra appears, though here it simply signifies Kia or the “double.” On the left, opposite the silhouetted servitor, Spare presents a more joyful and uninhibited manifestation of pure being—serving as a transition between the dark, shadowy “dweller on the threshold” and the spontaneous, formless creative expression embodied in the hand as an extension of projection.
This forms a progressive (rather than cyclical) trinity composed of Kia (the silhouette), Zos (Zeir Anpin), and Thantos (the mutated hand/face in the upper half).
Small Picture (frame measures approximately 11 x 9 inches)
Austin Osman Spare (British, 1886-1956) - lithograph of an illustration (and sigils) for 'The Book of Pleasure' published in 1913. This lithograph is taken from ‘Form: A Quarterly of the Arts’ published in April 1917.
Beautifully framed in a period Edwardian frame. The print has light ‘spotting’, and the frame has imperfections commensurate with age.
About the piece:
Essentially, this image can be broken down into elements above and below the horizon line. Above, the hand represents right-hemispheric creativity, symbolizing a fusion of artistic method or medium with the concept of the self (or Kia). Below, the alternating sigils and “sacred alphabet” letters include a few genuine Geomantic symbols.
On the right, we see one of Spare’s “dwellers on the threshold,” consistently depicted as a silhouette throughout this period of his work. Among the imaginary glyphs, the eye of Ra appears, though here it simply signifies Kia or the “double.” On the left, opposite the silhouetted servitor, Spare presents a more joyful and uninhibited manifestation of pure being—serving as a transition between the dark, shadowy “dweller on the threshold” and the spontaneous, formless creative expression embodied in the hand as an extension of projection.
This forms a progressive (rather than cyclical) trinity composed of Kia (the silhouette), Zos (Zeir Anpin), and Thantos (the mutated hand/face in the upper half).
Small Picture (frame measures approximately 11 x 9 inches)
Austin Osman Spare (British, 1886-1956) - lithograph of an illustration (and sigils) for 'The Book of Pleasure' published in 1913. This lithograph is taken from ‘Form: A Quarterly of the Arts’ published in April 1917.
Beautifully framed in a period Edwardian frame. The print has light ‘spotting’, and the frame has imperfections commensurate with age.
About the piece:
Essentially, this image can be broken down into elements above and below the horizon line. Above, the hand represents right-hemispheric creativity, symbolizing a fusion of artistic method or medium with the concept of the self (or Kia). Below, the alternating sigils and “sacred alphabet” letters include a few genuine Geomantic symbols.
On the right, we see one of Spare’s “dwellers on the threshold,” consistently depicted as a silhouette throughout this period of his work. Among the imaginary glyphs, the eye of Ra appears, though here it simply signifies Kia or the “double.” On the left, opposite the silhouetted servitor, Spare presents a more joyful and uninhibited manifestation of pure being—serving as a transition between the dark, shadowy “dweller on the threshold” and the spontaneous, formless creative expression embodied in the hand as an extension of projection.
This forms a progressive (rather than cyclical) trinity composed of Kia (the silhouette), Zos (Zeir Anpin), and Thantos (the mutated hand/face in the upper half).