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The final proof-reading for my new book, Keys to the Inner Kingdom is taking place against a backdrop of songs by Nadine Shah and The Pearl Harts. There is exciting new music coming out of England from women who have embraced the post-punk, post-funk, post-jazz landscape at a time when we are all confined to our studios. It’s the one year anniversary of Lockdown 1.0 which has just morphed into 2.0 and 3.0 without any real changes. But as the vaccination programme has already entered the arms of half the population of Britain, it is perhaps a time to simply Keep Calm and Carry On!
Keys to the Inner Kingdom began life as a blog but creating the book was a very different experience, not simply a matter of throwing posts into chapters and arranging the contents. No, as it progressed the idea of writing bridging parts and chapters itself morphed ito something much more.Wrapped up in this pandemic anniversary is also the 100th anniversary of the occult order OTOA-LCN and the chapter Amongst The Zobops turned into a time traveling, Haiti-visiting exposition as the vision and words of an old booker spoke to me. I have to admit it is these moments of lapsed reality when the doors to the inner worlds swing open that are the most exciting for a writer. You are no longer imaging what might happen but capturing the dialogue as fast as you can as the words are heard.Creating the illustrations for Liber Malefacium also came form those inner lands. I knew that were meant to only be pages ripped from the grimmer as it presented itself to ma in a number of dreams, but very soon it became evident that there were workable charms embedded in those very pages. This also led to another aspect of the book, that there is a code also embedded in it. With those seven words you are able to create your own magical passport, to enter into your own inner kingdom.The project began as a showcase for other magicians but this quickly morphed into the side project, Tumsantorum – see zoshouse.com. Sitting down to complete the work in lockdown it soon became obvious that there would be no extended Zoom interview with artists and magicians, no getting to the heart of their practice as I had first thought. The praetor-human entities that first began recounting their mythos in my books The Grimoire of ZAL and ARCHONIX:Chronicles of Leng, were not done. They had more histories to tell, more secrets to reveal.So come on a journey that includes Léogâne, Leng, Barcelona, Rome and London as we embark on one exploration of the Inner Kingdom!AVAILABLE 2021 from ZOSHOUSE
About The Author
Sean Woodward is a British artist, writer and musician. His art is collected internationally and his essays, fiction and poetry have been published in a number of international publications. He is the author of A Grammar of Spirits, Keys to the Hoodoo Kingdom, ARCHONIX, NECRONIX, Erzulie of the Deep, The Grimoire of ZAL and co-author of The Infernal Faces of Hekate. AEONIX and Keys to the Voudon Kingdom are forthcoming from zoshouse.com
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