Amy Hale – författare

The primary aim of New Directions in Celtic Studies is to focus on contemporary issues and to promote interdisciplinary approaches within the subject. Written by international scholars and practitioners in fields such as folklore, ethnomusicology, art history, religious studies, tourism and education, the book brings together in one volume a wide range of perspectives. It responds to the recent questioning of the viability of the notion of 'Celticity' and the idea of Celtic Studies as a discipline and points to a renewed vitality in the subject.New Directions in Celtic Studies is divided into four sections: popular culture and representation; commodities and Celtic lifestyles; contemporary Celtic identity and the Celtic diaspora; Celtic praxis.

The primary aim of New Directions in Celtic Studies is to focus on contemporary issues and to promote interdisciplinary approaches within the subject. Written by international scholars and practitioners in fields such as folklore, ethnomusicology, art history, religious studies, tourism and education, the book brings together in one volume a wide range of perspectives. It responds to the recent questioning of the viability of the notion of 'Celticity' and the idea of Celtic Studies as a discipline and points to a renewed vitality in the subject.New Directions in Celtic Studies is divided into four sections: popular culture and representation; commodities and Celtic lifestyles; contemporary Celtic identity and the Celtic diaspora; Celtic praxis.

Ithell Colquhoun (1906–1988) was a force of nature; a prolific artist, essayist, novelist, and poet whose overriding concerns were with spiritual transcendence and union with the divine energy that animated all matter. For her, surrealism, provided a method and framework to explore not only the deepest reaches of her own mind, but also to connect with other beings and dimensions. We are currently witnessing a coalescence of interests that are thrusting Colquhoun’s oeuvre into the spotlight: a renewed interest in surrealism, a new critical commitment to amplifying the historical contribution of women artists, and crucially an interest in esoterically motivated art. Tate holds a vast collection of her works, ephemera and writings in it’s archive from which this collection of collage artworks is taken and published for the first time ever. In 1939 Ithell Colquhoun imagined Bonsoir as a Surrealist film. She constructed a storyboard using photographs cut from popular magazines. It has remained unpublished until now. Employing Surrealist techniques, this collection of collages narrate a moment in time in which convention and ambiguity collide in the exploration of desire.

A unique body of work and a radical contribution to our understanding of magic, art, sexual enlightenment and female desire, this exquisitely illustrated book provides an introduction to Ithell Colquhoun’s enigmatic series of paintings, drawings and poems: Diagrams of Love.Exploring Colquhoun's blend of alchemical, Kabbalistic and Tantric imagery and placed within the context of theories of sex magic extant in the occult subcultures of the early twentieth century, this beautiful little book of erotic art and poetry is one to treasure.

Step beyond the familiar language of mysticism, and into a transformative terrain where art and magic actively converge. In this compelling publication, Amy Hale charts a course through the practices of contemporary artists who engage deeply with the esoteric – not as ornament, but as method, philosophy and lived experience.Through performances, painting, photography, sculpture and ritual spaces, Hale uncovers a vibrant network of artists for whom magic is neither archaic nor abstract, but immediate and operative. These artists invoke ancestral knowledge, experiment with altered states, and reimagine spiritual traditions for the future, embedding them into the very fabric of their work. What emerges is not a hidden history, but a present reality: a field of practice where the boundaries between art and magic dissolve and creativity itself becomes an act of enchantment.

This book is the first collection to feature histories of women in Western Esotericism while also highlighting women’s scholarship. In addition to providing a critical examination of important and under researched figures in the history of Western Esotericism, these fifteen essays also contribute to current debates in the study of esotericism about the very nature of the field itself. The chapters are divided into four thematic sections that address current topics in the study of esotericism: race and othering, femininity, power and leadership and embodiment. This collection not only adds important voices to the story of Western Esotericism, it hopes to change the way the story is told.