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Ontological Graffiti
Ontological Graffiti is Michael Bertiaux’s magnum opus. More than 40 years in development and a decade in production, this work now stands at over 480 pages and is without doubt his most substantial and important book yet.
Ontological Graffiti provides for us a vibrant vudutronic, spiritualist, art-grimoire. It presents the strange narrative of certain magical work conducted at the infamous ‘Hyde Park Lodge’ in Chicago during the period 1965-1975. The lodge was a ‘ritual collective of occult initiates’ who would meet monthly under the directorship of Dr. Hector-Francois Jean Main.
Ontological Graffiti contains the séances, lecture notes and descriptive texts for this intense period. This material accompanies the series of large acrylic magical paintings produced by Bertiaux, who was assigned to capture through his art the messages and images of various ‘transcendental consciousnesses’ which manifested during the course of their workings. The Lodge later discovered that rituals conducted using these paintings deepened the connection with the spirits, Loa, and ‘Other Minds’. In addition, the book also offers the reader countless drawings, collages and ‘passeports for contacting and travelling within the spirit realms.’
Everywhere in the Gnostic Continuum, ‘mind’ is active. The Hyde Park Lodge was able to tap into extra-dimensional, transcendental mind-forms, and develop methods to understand and make use of inner-plane communications. Ontological Graffiti details the work which allowed this ability, and serves as a magical record of a group of seekers discovering Gnostic and Vudu pathways and making use of the tremendous energy and knowledge gained from traveling them.
-Michael Bertiaux
Ontological Graffiti provides for us a vibrant vudutronic, spiritualist, art-grimoire. It presents the strange narrative of certain magical work conducted at the infamous ‘Hyde Park Lodge’ in Chicago during the period 1965-1975. The lodge was a ‘ritual collective of occult initiates’ who would meet monthly under the directorship of Dr. Hector-Francois Jean Main.
Ontological Graffiti contains the séances, lecture notes and descriptive texts for this intense period. This material accompanies the series of large acrylic magical paintings produced by Bertiaux, who was assigned to capture through his art the messages and images of various ‘transcendental consciousnesses’ which manifested during the course of their workings. The Lodge later discovered that rituals conducted using these paintings deepened the connection with the spirits, Loa, and ‘Other Minds’. In addition, the book also offers the reader countless drawings, collages and ‘passeports for contacting and travelling within the spirit realms.’
Everywhere in the Gnostic Continuum, ‘mind’ is active. The Hyde Park Lodge was able to tap into extra-dimensional, transcendental mind-forms, and develop methods to understand and make use of inner-plane communications. Ontological Graffiti details the work which allowed this ability, and serves as a magical record of a group of seekers discovering Gnostic and Vudu pathways and making use of the tremendous energy and knowledge gained from traveling them.
-Michael Bertiaux
480 pages, Hardcover
First published December 3, 2016
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Michael Bertiaux
17 books38 followersMichael Paul Bertiaux (born January 18, 1935) is an American occultist and Old Catholic Bishop, known for his book Voudon Gnostic Workbook (1988), a 615-page compendium of various occult lessons and research papers spanning the sub-fields of Voodoo, Neo-Pythagoreanism, Thelema and Gnosticism. Long considered by occultists one of the underground classics of 20th century occultism, the book was out of print for many years and fetched increasingly high prices in the antiquarian market before it was reprinted in paperback by Red Wheel/Weiser in 2007. Note that the unique spelling of "voudon" is an innovation of Bertiaux's, (though it is similar to the traditional spelling of vodun). Bertiaux also coined the term vudutronics to refer to his idiosyncratic interpretation of this religion.
Bertiaux was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 18, 1935. His father was a captain in the merchant navy and his mother was a prominent Theosophist. Bertiaux served as an Episcopalian minister in the Seattle area before traveling to Haiti in 1964.
In 1964, Bertiaux traveled to Haiti, where he was initiated into the system of Haitian Voodoo. He settled in Chicago in 1966, where he formed (among other bodies) the Neo-Pythagorean Gnostic Church. Bertiaux's interpretation of Voodoo has been strongly influenced by Martinism, a Francophone version of esoteric Christianity and Masonry which became established in Haiti in the 18th century.
Bertiaux has long been associated with the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua, an initiatic gnostic-magical order supposedly founded in 1921 in Haiti by the gnostic patriarch and voudon high-priest Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine.[citation needed] The O.T.O.A. tradition comes from the gnostic voudon, as practiced in secret societies. There a synthesis was developed of European gnostic-hermetic currents, being the heritage of the ancient western initiatic tradition, with the Haitan metaphysics. Inside the O.T.O.A. works the Monastery of the Seven Rays. Both of these organizations cooperate with the gnostic church Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis.
La Couleuvre Noire (Cult of the Black Snake) is an independent order founded in 1922, closely cooperating with the O.T.O.A.. It is dedicated to the practice of advanced techniques of gnostic voudon, a powerful system of afro-atlantean magic in its traditional and purest form. Today, Courtney Willis (Tau Ogdoade-Orfeo VIII) is the Hierophant and the Sovereign Grand Master Absolute (SGMA) of the L.C.N. as well as the S.G.M.A. of the O.T.O.A. Michael Bertiaux (Tau Ogdoade-Orfeo IV) is the Grand Conservateur of the L.C.N. and the Hierophant of the O.T.O.A. Bertiaux also heads the Choronzon Club, in his words "his personal magical club" for his personal students and initiates.
For a period Michael Bertiaux was also a secretary of the Theosophical Society until moving to Chicago in 1966, where he trained and qualified as a social worker, a job he remained in for just under forty years. He worked especially with the Chicago Haitian community, now comprising approximately 5,000-15,000 individuals.
Bertiaux's life and occult system are examined in Kenneth Grant's books, Cults of the Shadow (1975), Nightside of Eden (1977), Outside the Circles of Time (1980), and Hecate's Fountain (1993). Grant devotes two entire chapters of Cults of the Shadow to a discussion and analysis of Bertiaux's work in La Couleuvre Noir, as well as a portion of the chapter “Afro-Tantric Tarot of the Kalas."
Bertiaux was also featured in the 1985 book and documentary by Nevill Drury, The Occult Experience.
Bertiaux's magical system is complex, including terms unique to himself, such as the "meon" and "Zoythrian" energies but also drawing on magical extensions of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the teachings of Aiwass.
Following his retirement, Bertiaux has focused on his art and writing.
Bertiaux was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 18, 1935. His father was a captain in the merchant navy and his mother was a prominent Theosophist. Bertiaux served as an Episcopalian minister in the Seattle area before traveling to Haiti in 1964.
In 1964, Bertiaux traveled to Haiti, where he was initiated into the system of Haitian Voodoo. He settled in Chicago in 1966, where he formed (among other bodies) the Neo-Pythagorean Gnostic Church. Bertiaux's interpretation of Voodoo has been strongly influenced by Martinism, a Francophone version of esoteric Christianity and Masonry which became established in Haiti in the 18th century.
Bertiaux has long been associated with the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua, an initiatic gnostic-magical order supposedly founded in 1921 in Haiti by the gnostic patriarch and voudon high-priest Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine.[citation needed] The O.T.O.A. tradition comes from the gnostic voudon, as practiced in secret societies. There a synthesis was developed of European gnostic-hermetic currents, being the heritage of the ancient western initiatic tradition, with the Haitan metaphysics. Inside the O.T.O.A. works the Monastery of the Seven Rays. Both of these organizations cooperate with the gnostic church Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis.
La Couleuvre Noire (Cult of the Black Snake) is an independent order founded in 1922, closely cooperating with the O.T.O.A.. It is dedicated to the practice of advanced techniques of gnostic voudon, a powerful system of afro-atlantean magic in its traditional and purest form. Today, Courtney Willis (Tau Ogdoade-Orfeo VIII) is the Hierophant and the Sovereign Grand Master Absolute (SGMA) of the L.C.N. as well as the S.G.M.A. of the O.T.O.A. Michael Bertiaux (Tau Ogdoade-Orfeo IV) is the Grand Conservateur of the L.C.N. and the Hierophant of the O.T.O.A. Bertiaux also heads the Choronzon Club, in his words "his personal magical club" for his personal students and initiates.
For a period Michael Bertiaux was also a secretary of the Theosophical Society until moving to Chicago in 1966, where he trained and qualified as a social worker, a job he remained in for just under forty years. He worked especially with the Chicago Haitian community, now comprising approximately 5,000-15,000 individuals.
Bertiaux's life and occult system are examined in Kenneth Grant's books, Cults of the Shadow (1975), Nightside of Eden (1977), Outside the Circles of Time (1980), and Hecate's Fountain (1993). Grant devotes two entire chapters of Cults of the Shadow to a discussion and analysis of Bertiaux's work in La Couleuvre Noir, as well as a portion of the chapter “Afro-Tantric Tarot of the Kalas."
Bertiaux was also featured in the 1985 book and documentary by Nevill Drury, The Occult Experience.
Bertiaux's magical system is complex, including terms unique to himself, such as the "meon" and "Zoythrian" energies but also drawing on magical extensions of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the teachings of Aiwass.
Following his retirement, Bertiaux has focused on his art and writing.
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April 28, 2021
Here I was, thinking that this would just be a quasi-random assemblage of séance-material. Additionally, I abandoned Bertiaux VGW and the monastery-papers before (as so many others). I don't ridicule him, but I don't understand him neither. Turns out, this - as always beautifully crafted - volume contains the dialogues of maybe 40-50 sittings, enriched by commentary and art by Bertiaux. While the latter is seldom my cup of tea, the whole book actually clears up some basic problems of understanding his lingo per se. For people genuinly interested in his voudon gnostic work I would highly recommend "Ontological Grafitti", being a fascinating and quite informative read and possibly tool for research into the groundwork which eventually would become the VGW.
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