Further Reading For David Bowie and the Occult
[Season of the Witch] is one of the most well-written, accessible, and entertaining books on the occult that I have ever read and I’d recommend it to both magic and music fans. -Marcus Parks
Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll by Peter Bebergal
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain
The Fall To Earth: David Bowie, Cocaine And The Occult
Info
David Bowie had been freaking people out for years with his personal brand of rock and roll and performance art but in 1976, with his record, Station To Station, he dove headfirst into a world of utter insanity, propelled on the wings of a legendary cocaine habit, but also a world of occult symbolism. Bowie had seeding his music with references to the occult for years, as a matter of fact, and continued to do so right up to his death in 2016 with the absolutely saturated with symbolism record, Black Star.
This episode focuses on many, many references that Bowie made to the occult from his most subtle, to the most overtly insane moments in his life when the cocaine was clearly doing most of the driving. It also contextualizes much of Bowie’s occult experience by going over his inspirations from the Western Mystery Tradition, explaining the influence on Bowie by people like Aleister Crowley, Samuel Mathers and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and Dion Fortune.
Episode: 208
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