Sia Abderezai bumped into my work around December of last year, and was immediately struck by my sheer control of pictorial narrative, through imaginative and very dream like strokes rarely seen in digitally created work.

You can read the revised full interview here or the original at Black Iron Kisses.

Click on any of the images for a larger view

Gnostic Visions and Voudon Technology

– Interview with Sean Woodward.

By Sia Abderezai.

• 

  [Master Guardian of the Gnosis by Sean Woodward]

  I think I bumped into Sean’s work around December of last year, and I was immediately struck by his

  sheer control of pictorial narrative, through imaginative and very dream like strokes rarely seen in digitally

  created work. Me and a fellow BIPPEE13 comrade  have approached Sean to get him to be part of the core staff,
  but sadly his obligations currently lie elsewhere. One such obligation is the release of his alluringly inviting

  and magickally potent sounding Carrefour Tarotdeck. In celebration of his work and to give the man some

  extra boosts, here it is, a surprisingly insightful conversation with the wizard himself:

  Sean Woodward: I’m something of a nomad having traveled extensively in the Near and Far East and have

  been creating art, music and writing for a number of years.

  Sia Abderezai: What would you say are the main motivation and influences of yours currently

  as an artist?

  S.W: My current projects are a direct result of deep work with the Voudon Gnostic current, the Lwa and the

  spirit-pools and gnostic spaces of the tradition. That covers the driving, relentless octane fueled motivation!

  Influences are eclectic and diverse. They range from the comic book art of Steve Dikto,
  Todd McFarlane and Dave McKean to Miro, Tanguay, Dali, Picasso and many others.

  S.A: When you say deep work, is this done under guidance of people who work on the tradition

  natively, or something you get through your own research based on text?

  S.W: It’s a mixture of both! As an initiate of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua & La Couleuvre Noire I have the

  benefit of brothers and sisters in the Orders although it is equally true to say that much of the work by its nature

  must come from personal interaction and a developing relationship with the spirits. There are many treasure houses

  of the Orders which can only be entered by the cultivation of this method. The spirits themselves decide when an

  initiate is ready to be admitted to their mysteries. It’s good to have the sense of worldly community in the Orders

  but without the foundation of trafficking with the spirit guardians it is difficult to make real progress. This is covered

  in the early chapters of Bertiaux’s seminal work, the Voudon Gnostic Workbook. It’s also noted by Milo Rigaud in

  The Secrets of Voodoo “The Mystères themselves give the instruction by “mounting” someone, who then instructs

  the initiate verbally. Otherwise the Mystères send him dreams or visions when necessity arises. A great many

  houngans are created in this supernatural manner. It is the loas themselves who initiate them and give

  them the asson.”

• ‘without the foundation of traficking (sic)
  with the spirit guardians
  …there is no real progress.’

  S.A: Nice, what would you say is the most difficult thing to convey to the uninitiated world, a gnostic

  experience brought on by currents invoked in the Voudon tradition?

  S.W: Many people only have a perception of Vodou from the lurid references to Voodoo in our culture, from Bond

  movies and horror films. They don’t have any real understanding of traditional Vodou, of the rich spiritual tradition

  which helped maintain the cultural identity of those removed from their homeland and which was instrumental

  in supporting the rebellion which led to Haiti being the first nation delivered from slavery, let alone the added complexity

  of Gnostic Voudon! But if you have studied the western hermetic tradition it’s easy to see how these elements came

  together with the founding of the Orders in Haiti. You have to remember that not everyone has reached a sufficient
  understanding to be ready for the illumination associated with any path. Of course all are welcome, but it takes a

  certain knowledge and persuasion which sometimes can take lifetimes to accumulate. So in that sense there is no

  benefit in trying to convey anything of the experience! However, like the Hermit of the traditional tarot, we are ready

  to shine a lantern upon the path of those who themselves are ready for the adventure. Personally the

  Voudon gnosis resulted in the opportunity to communicate directly with its spirits and for events to materialise which

  helped forge links with the elemental forces of the Vodou tradition. I traveled to Germany to visit the Marianne

  Lehmnann collection of Haitian Bizango or Zobop secret society artifacts and to the UK to the Kalfou exhibition of

  Voodu art from the 1950s to the present. It is the power of art to exist on multiple levels, as pretty

  colours and shapes to one viewer or a portal into another world for another,which caused me to concentrate on

  this medium in recent years when I have previously expressed these ideas in music.

   

• 

  [Master of the Oriental Temple of Antiquity by Sean Woodward]

• ‘many don’t have any real understanding of Vodou’

  S.A: Your work uses a very unique form of sigilization almost like it is being

  formed as its being made, you normally accompany these designs with depiction of

  entities, many with three eyes and of very alien appearance yet in ceremonial garb

  reminiscent of many old shamanistic traditions, care to elaborate on these entities?

  S.W: Many of the entities are spirits, Lwa or guardians of the tradition with whom I work. In my art

  there are generally two items which denote their illuminated status – the third eye and the golden band

  of crosses and circles. The later is a very strong magick which is used to magnify the effect of works.

  My understanding of its significance and use came from contact with some of the Congo Petro spirits

  of Palo Moyambe and Santeria in Havanna a few years ago. You’ll see those gold bands a lot in the art!

  Some of the entities have them around their necks, upper arms, wrists and ankles! I think there’s a

  hierarchy to it, but have never delved too deep about it with them. Much of the clothing is simply
  what they wear and its true to say that a number of them have distinct shamanistic pasts! Some

  too are trans-yugggothian and have a very Kosmic nature to them. These are perhaps some of the

  oldest magician ancestors, the ones that predated the journey to Atlan (Earth). With them it becomes

  very difficult to distinguish their magick from advanced technology. Some of these are so alien to us in

  form that we approach the realms of the Nightside where you have to don your own Shuggoth Skin

  just to avoid detection. Other nations of the spirits revealed to me include the Snow Hoo who are

  more elemental and then there are the Crow spirits of the English Vudu which again are more
  earthly in nature. As for the sigils, these are a mixture of the language of the ancient

  Kosmic Lwa and the condensation of thought forms as per Spare’s methods. The latter more

  so in the Hoodoo Welbeing series of images. In all cases they are there to charge and

  maintain the necessary energies to keep the artworks alive as portals.

   

  

  [The Carrefour Tarot by Sean Woodward]
• S.A: It is fascinating that you bring up the Atlantean ancestor/ magick spirit

  and the use of shapes and heirlooms as pieces of technology- Me, Robert Bisno,

  Kyle Wilson and countless other artists recently have been channeling
  different variations of these sigilizations- We all have different takes on who

  is “transmitting them” (from Enochian entities to other races brought up by

  people experiencing it) but they all seem to have very similar “interfacing”
  Do you think that they all have one source that varies based on imagination,

  or do you think there are multiple distinct classes of entities that are using

  the same “technology?”

  S.W: Personally I think I think its one source- though that’s not to say it doesn’t have

  factions! Robert Anton Wilson shares a similiar experience in Cosmic Trigger and as

  you say numerous other writers. It would seem that there has also been a transmission of the
  arcane knowledge down the ages. Definitely stellar though, from Sirius and Orion

  via the Afro-Atlantean tradition.

• 

  [Golden Collar of Les Loa from The Book of the Crow by Sean Woodward]
• S.A: In your words, briefly, what is Afro-Atlantean tradition?

  S.W: Michael Bertiaux states in the Voudon Gnostic Workbook , “In the Franco-Haitian OTO,

  the rites are based upon masonic ideal systems, while in the secret society of the LCN the formula

  is that of the old shamanic magick and sorcery of Afro-Atlantean cults’. Also, ‘The original masters

  of the system were purely of the Atlantean mentality, and Kabona was the first of the Afro-Atlanteans.
  The Afro-Atlanteans are the ancestors of the present day magicians of West Africa.”

  S.A: Fascinating. Let’s get to your recent work you are making available to your

  site, the Carrefour Tarot, what does Carrefour mean, and how does it differ with

  traditional Taro ala the standard Waitte-Rider deck? And whatare the intended

  uses for this deck in particular?

  S.W: The Carrefour Tarot is based upon the Creole Cabala of the Tarot mentioned by Michael

  Bertiaux in the teaching papers of the Monastery of the Seven Rays. I am currently working on

  an essay regarding its history, influences and practical application for Qliphoth Journal’s forthcoming

  Opus III edition. It is unlike a traditional tarot in that there are 64 cards and none of them relate
  to the traditional arrangement of Major and Minor Arcana. With the first 100 copies of my deck

  there are also 6 special Signifier cards which were originally only intended for Order members

  (Carrefour, Gran Bois, Gros Bon Ange, Spider Loa, FA Hat of the Houngan and Bacalou Baca). The 64 main

  deck is made of two sets of 32 cards. These represent the forces of the Creole Caballa Tarot in two aspects.
  These themselves include Masters, Hierophants, Servers and Priests of the Four Great Crosses of the

  Quarters. The deck can be used for divination, as portals for meditation and evocation and for magickal

  operations. The Spider Loa card for example is a Signifier used for LCN time travel. Over the two month

  period it took to create the deck I began to see the importance of the Leghba and the Crossroads in the

  dynamics of the deck, for the four crosses rotate around the central cross of Leghba and the four cards of his
  astrological aspects. For this reason I named it after Carrefour, the Haitian god of magicians and lord

  of the crossroads, also called Kalfu.

  

  [Master of the Formless Void by Sean Woodward]

• S.A: Nice, I wish I could get my hands on one of the 6 signifier cards!

  If there were people who were willing to pay you in Bitcoin, would you

  accept it as a form of payment?

  S.W: The evolution of digital currency such as Bitcoin is representative of the way that

  internet technologies have become enablers and very close to real world behaviours.

  Currently it’s not a payment method I’m supporting although that could change in the

  future. Major credit cards and PayPal are welcome though!

  S.A: Cool, well, I will be making a Bitcoin wallet for you and embed it

  at the bottom of the interview, if there are interested people we can

  work something out, or they can just send you bitcoins . Any last thing,

  promotions, declarations to the world/metaverse before we sign off

  on this session?

  S.W: If you enjoy the art, be sure to check out my music as Gothick at

  http://gothick.bandcamp.com or at www.gothick.co.uk. As well as details of my album

  and compilation releases there are also a number of free albums, including a trilogy

  based upon Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law. As well as the Carrefour Tarot you

  can also purchase signed, limited edition prints of my art works at

  https://www.seanwoodward.com . The collection is being added to all the time, so be

  sure to check back regularly for new availability.

  Thanks for the opportunity to discuss my work today Sia!