The final mysteries of David Bowie’s Blackstar – Elvis, Crowley and 'the villa of Ormen' Nearly a fortnight after we were told “Look up here, I’m in heaven”, we’re still obsessing over David Bowie’s death. Pop detectives have been finding more cryptic clues about his demise from his last album, Blackstar, as well as discovering a tumblr that the man himself may have written. Here’s our handy, Illuminati-grade guide to the biggest work of death-art ever to hit the internet, to stop you swirling down a rabbit-hole of Bowie-sized proportions. 1 That album title Yes, it’s a name for a cancer lesion, although one usually associated with breast cancer, so its meaning in outer-space terminology is likely to have been far more significant for the Starman. Maybe Bowie was also winking at his good friend, Mos Def, who had a collective with the same name, plus Black Star is the name of a little-known Elvis song that has being doing the rounds. 2 Blackstar’s release date, and cover art 3 The lyrics and videos for Blackstar and Lazarus The song Blackstar begins in “the villa of Ormen”.
David Bowies’ Gnostic Obsession With the Occult, Nazis and Cocaine Not many fans of the singer David Bowie (born as David Robert Jones in 1947) are aware that he had a secret obsession with the occult, Gnostic doctrines, the paranormal, Aleister Crowley, Nazi's and cocaine. He was by no means a Nazi himself, and in fact, his mother was Irish and part Jewish. There have been several books that have documented these alleged facts. It was also documented that in his younger years he was into the teachings of the Gnostics and Jewish Kabbalah. In his cocaine heydays it was said, that he was sometimes paranoid and used protective pentagrams to protect himself against the dark spiritual occult forces. I found it fascinating that Bowie was interested in the occult and Gnosticism. There is an old story told of the seventeen–year–old Cameron Crowe who allegedly found Bowie secretly burning black candles against an aborted magical ritual during the LA period. In Bowie's 1971 song 'Quicksand' he sang: Bowie had fascination with the NAZI's and Hitler.
Tome On The Range | The Fall To Earth: David Bowie, Cocaine And The Occult For details of a free literary event including a reading from the book by Peter Doggett at Foyles on Charring Cross Road tonight, go to the end of the feature. The Unmaking of a Star #3: Cocaine and the Kabbalah I just wish Dave would get himself sorted fucking out. Cocaine was the fuel of the music industry in the seventies. Bowie was, and has been, more candid about his drug use during this period than most of his contemporaries, and various associates have fleshed out the picture. ‘Give cocaine to a man already wise,’ wrote occultist Aleister Crowley in 1917, ‘[and] if he be really master of himself, it will do him no harm. It was not entirely helpful that a man who was bordering on cocaine psychosis should choose to immerse himself in the occult enquiries that had exerted a more intellectual fascination over him five years earlier. STATION TO STATION (Bowie) Recorded September–November 1975; Station To Station LP. Peter Doggett
The Occult Universe of David Bowie and the Meaning of "Blackstar" - The Vigilant Citizen - Understand the Occult Symbolism in Pop Culture In the wake of David Bowie’s death, his last album, “Blackstar”, is his swan song, an enigmatic conclusion to a career punctuated by otherworldly alter-egos and esoteric symbolism. We’ll look at the meaning of “Blackstar” in the context of David Bowie’s career. Very few artists can boast the longevity of David Bowie in the music industry, as his career spanned over five decades and produced 28 albums. Throughout the decades, Bowie migrated from one musical genre to another, and even from one persona to another, but a constant remained: He was surrounded by an otherworldly aura. Through his work, Bowie turned himself into a musical ‘ascended master’, a Gnostic Christ-like figure who achieved a high level of illumination and who sought to communicate a cryptic message to humanity. Throughout his career, Bowie often turned himself into a mere vessel as he lent his body to various personas who spoke through him, often communicating messages of deep occult significance. Occult Bowie Major Tom
The Villa Of Ormen David Bowie Songs Reimagined as Pulp Fiction Book Covers This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please read our disclosure for more info. When LA-based screenwriter Todd Alcott isn’t writing for feature films, he’s working on his artistic side project. He merges his love of pulp fiction with music to create David Bowie-inspired vintage comic book covers. Alcott uses pre-existing vintage paperbacks as his starting point, before digitally altering the text and parts of the image to create his mashup prints. “Bowie dressed as an androgynous alien, went out onstage and told his audience ‘You're not alone, give me your hands,’ I can't think of a more encompassing gesture to a misfit,” says Alcott. In one print, Bowie’s classic 1969 Space Oddity song is reimagined as a 1960s-era science-fiction comic book. You can see more from Alcott’s portfolio on Etsy, where he also references his other musical heroes such as Prince, Talking Heads, and Led Zeppelin. Todd Alcott: Website | Etsy
David Bowie 'Moonage Daydream' Documentary Gets First Trailer - Variety Ahead of its Monday evening premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Midnight Screenings section, the first trailer for filmmaker Brett Morgen’s “Moonage Daydream” — a feature-length film dissecting David Bowie’s creative, musical and spiritual journey — has been released. Featuring never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, the documentary is piloted by Bowie’s own narration. It is the first film project officially sanctioned by Bowie’s estate. Neon will release the film in partnership with Universal Pictures Content Group, HBO Documentary Films and IMAX. Morgen, known for “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “The Kid Stays in the Picture” and “Jane,” spoke about the project during CinemaCon, discussing how much of it is shaped by thousands of hours of rare performance footage of the musician and more than 500 assets from Bowie’s archive. “Bowie cannot be defined, he can be experienced,” Morgen told the CinemaCon crowd.