Interview with the Wizard

As a critically acclaimed and internationally-known artist, illustrator, storyteller, & wizard, Jef Murray (www.JefMurray.com) wears many hats. His illustrations of the characters and scenes we find in Tolkien, Lewis, & George MacDonald have a capacity for capturing the ineffable. This is why I like to call him, simply, The Wizard. For he is a Wizard, unweaving the aesthetic spell cast by Hollywood.

A Latin phrase I live by is Res Ipsa Loquitor, meaning "It speaks for itself." Jef Murray's work speaks for itself. It doesn't argue. It is not didactic anymore than Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is. It simply shows rather than tells. It speaks for itself. Like all classics, his stories can break your heart and make you smile all with the wink of an eye.

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world." said enigmatic philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. One does not have such limitations as an artist.

www.JefMurrary.com

Jef’s list of credentials is too long to include, but here are some websites where one might find out more about him and his work: JefMurrary.com; OlorisPublishing.com; TolkienLibrary.com; IntegratedCatholicLife.org; Twitter; Pinterest; Facebook.

In anticipation of MythCon, Mythmoot III and ALEP3 (alep-ky.us), I asked to interview the Wizard. Not a day later the Signum Eagle himself came to me and told me the interview would gladly be granted.

When I arrived, I soon found myself seated by the fire, with the Wizard beside me. What follows is a record of that fantastic visit:

BY: So Jef, you've been one of the highest in-demand Tolkien artists at conventions and conferences, and have participated in a number of them. We shall get into a few specifics in a moment, but generally why do you think it's important to go to these events?

JM: Well, first, let me welcome you to my abode. I enjoy visitors! And we’ll get the kettle on for a spot of tea first….

…there we are! Now, Lorraine has promised us some biscuits later on as well. But, in the meantime, do make yourself at home.

Now, as you were saying….?

BY: Yes, thank you. I was asking why you think it's important to go to conferences?

JM: Well, I do, indeed, regularly attend Middle-earth themed conferences and conventions, worldwide, and I have been blessed with the opportunity to show my paintings and sketches at these as well as at more dedicated exhibitions of my work. I’ve also been a speaker at civic, religious, and academic gatherings on topics as far-ranging as Christian themes in Tolkien’s works and in fantasy works in general, on Fairy Tales as vehicles for conveying truth, on my Middle-earth and Narnia-themed artwork, of course, but also on Gothic artwork and on the writings of Bram Stoker(!). In addition, I’ve spoken on dragons, on writers like Flannery O’Connor and G.K. Chesterton, and even on the topic of Gregorian Chant.

The life of a wizard, as you can see, is certainly never dull!

But, back to your question. You asked how important conferences are, to me, as an artist and writer. Let me broaden the question a bit and discuss how important such gatherings might be for anyone at all. Because, you see, it has become clear to me over the years that all of us are sub-creators in our own way. And I’m using that term, first coined by Tolkien, to highlight the fact that the actions of our own individual inventiveness are distinct from true creation, which can only be made manifest by the one true Creator. Tolkien believed that the act of sub-creation, which mimics the inventive genius of God, is the very act that brings us closest to God, who is, after all, infinitely creative.

But, I digress. It’s something I fear you may have to put up with in me! It is a foible common to most wizards of my acquaintance….

So, how important are fantasy-themed conferences to us all? Well, if you accept my peculiar notion that all of us are inherently inventive, and that we all have a capacity (latent in some, I’ll grant you, but there nonetheless) for bringing life and creativity into being around us, then gathering with others with similar urgings cannot help but spur us  on to greater things.

Being in the company of those who neither unjustly criticize nor dismiss us allows us to better appreciate our own unique gifts. And our particular (and sometimes peculiar!) way of seeing things is never like anyone else’s; we’re like facets of an infinitely large jewel, each of which contributes to the beauty of the whole. I never attend a conference or art show that does not inspire me. And if someone else is not so inspired, I’d suggest they may not be giving their own imaginations enough space or time or energy to truly flower.

That is the point, it seems to me, of attending such conferences.

BY: ALEP III is coming up this autumn. In fact some of the people and places in your book "Seer" were inspired, were they not, by ALEP? Could you tell us a little about that event for folks who might attend?

JM: A Long Expected Party, or ALEP, was first held in 2008, and it is a Tolkien-themed conference that defies description. Less a conference than a completely immersive experience, the event has been held every third year since it began, and this September will mark the third reunion of what has become, for many of us, our extended Shire family.

ALEP 3, or AL3P for short, will be held September 24th through the 28th in Shaker Village, Kentucky. During those days, all of Shaker Village will become The Shire(!). Most participants will be staying at the village, and as with the very first ALEP gathering, many of us will remove the yokes of care and worry from our shoulders from the moment we take our first steps onto the green hills of the Village. And we will not concern ourselves with the outside world again until, many days later, and deeply refreshed from having spent so much time with good friends, we must leave the Shire behind once more.

How do I describe what happens in the intervening days of ALEP? It is surpassingly difficult! We awaken each morning and walk the unpaved stretch of road that connects all of the dwelling places with the main dining hall. In the cool mists of daybreak, we bid good morning to Elves, Hobbits, and Dwarves. The breakfasts are hearty and plentiful: enough to put a smile on the face of even the most ravenous of halflings. And that is only fitting, as we will need that provender to stoke the fires for each day’s many adventures.

BY: Adventures? What sort of adventures?

JM: Well, there will certainly be something to be done or to be experienced for everyone! There will be archery lessons, music making, sword fighting, folk dancing. There will be demonstrations of artwork and costuming. There will be lectures on books of interest to Middle-earth fans, including academic treatments of various aspects of Tolkien’s writings and the many films, calendars, paintings, and musical settings inspired by him. There will be more general discussions of fantasy topics like dragons, giants, ghosts, goblins, and other medieval myths and tales. There will be hikes in the woods, star-gazing, skits, songs, poetry recitals, even riverboat cruises. Later in the evening, we will gather at the Dancing Pony to share pints of ale and goblets of homemade wine, for impromptu recitations, for the singing of lays, and even for the sharing of ghost stories.

In short, one does not simply attend A Long Expected Party; one becomes a part of it. And your level of participation is limited only by your willingness to step into the adventure and let yourself go.

And, yes, as you mentioned, it is true that my book, Seer: A Wizard’s Journal, does contain at least one reflection based directly on the very first ALEP, and two or three tales, the embers of which were first fanned by that extraordinary gathering.

BY: Speaking of Seer, it received very warm reviews, both in the States and abroad, even though it is a difficult book to describe. Can you tell us a bit more about it, and about its upcoming 2nd printing?

JM: I’d be delighted to. But, you are correct, it is a difficult book to describe, and I even had the singular experience of having to try to help a librarian catalog it for the first time. Was it a book of short stories? Not exclusively. What about a collection of artwork? Well, somewhat. But, it also contains poetry and essays that range over quite a number of topics. It is, in short, a journal, one that I made over the course of many years, and that has no fixed organizational principle other than that most of the tales fit into the seasons of the year in a satisfying arc, and that made the progression of its tales a bit less haphazard. In addition, certain characters appear throughout the stories, popping in and out in unusual ways and bringing underlying weight to bear on the individual vignettes.

But, what are the tales, poems, and essays about? Ah! There we have an easier time! They are about angels and demons, wizards, vampires, magicians, ordinary folk struggling with difficulties like loneliness, emptiness, hopelessness. They are about regaining hope and magic in lives that often lack both of these things, whether at work, in wild places, or in dreams.

As a writer, I tend to work in vignettes rather than in epic tales. This frustrates some of my readers, who want a long narrative that carries them along. But these tales do have subtexts that follow throughout them, and, as I mentioned, characters that reappear in new and interesting ways as you progress through the book.

BY:  Lovely tea, Jef I must say! And now there is to be a second edition? What has changed?

JM: Yes, I’m very grateful to the good folks at Oloris Media and Oloris Publishing for having suggested an updated version of Seer. The new edition will feature full color images in the place of many of the black-and-white ones in the first edition. Also, there will be two additional tales added.

One of the criticisms of the original edition of Seer, and one that I felt was very justified and insightful, was that the book opens with a tale, “The Watchman,” that seems, to most who read it, to be the opening of a much larger work. But then the characters appear to be dropped for other stories. That’s not strictly true, as many of them do reappear later in other tales. However, the observation that the opening tale is part of something bigger was accurate. That larger work is still in progress, but by adding two additional chapters to the first, I hope to better integrate the characters that appear later in Seer, and to clarify a bit more about them.

BY: And will you ever publish the full tale as a novel?

JM: I would love to if time permits, but at last count I was up to some 21 chapters with no end in sight. I fear that completing the full arc might take many additional years. In the meantime, I’m continuing with other projects that put less demands on those who enjoy my work.

BY: And what projects are those?

JM: Well, for one, my fifth calendar has just now become available. On my own, I have created three in the past that were Middle-earth themed and one that was Narnia-themed; these in addition to working on calendars for Heren Istarion and Beyond Bree. But this one is something new: a calendar featuring Fantastical Beasts and Beings.

BY: Beasts and beings from Middle-earth? Thanks for the biscuits and tea by the way. I suspect we will be talking until the deep hours with "toes next to the fire" as Lewis wrote. Thank you for eveerything, Jef. But, I guess you already know how grateful I am.

JM: A Wizard can dicern good intention from bad intention. Discernment is important. Brandon, you are welcome to this Wizard's abode anytime. I suspect those editors will indeed want it shortened for their own purposes.

As for Beasts: Yes, some from Middle-earth, and some from Narnia, and some from other locales in the realms of faerie, include some that one might encounter in the Harry Potter series. There will be Elves, Hobbits, and dragons, as one might expect. But, the calendar also features centaurs, mermaids, naiads, dryads, and even some of the less savory and frightening creatures like fire demons/Balrogs.

Also, I’ve plumbed the works of some of my favorite writers and found appropriate explanatory quotes for each of the folk featured. So, we have verses from the Poetic Edda, from T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Tolkien, Lewis, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and even Ursula K. Le Guin. It was quite a fun project, and I hope others enjoy exploring its pages as much as I did whilst putting it all together. 

BY: Dr. Amy Sturgis (a favorite of Mythgard Institute students and many others), along with Michael Drout and yourself be at ALEP 3 this year. Is it true you've illustrated a book on Gothic themes edited by her?

JM: Yes, It's certainly an essential book for any serious scholar or people who love the stories. called The Magic Ring: Deluxe Illustrated Edition (Valancourt Classics) by Baron De La Motte Fouque, Amy H. Sturgis and Jef Murrary (2010).

Ah! Lorraine's biscuits are nearly ready. My young friend, shall we return to this after a break?

BY: Wow! Has it been two hours? You Wizards have ways of bending Space and Time! Yes, and when we get back...I may have some things regarding thoughts on Fantasy and Literature such as Frank Herbert, Doctor Who and so forth....

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART II!

Brandon Marshall Young is a student at Mythgard Institute and is a student of Law and Philosophy. He is a former High School Teacher, Vaticanista, and is working on a thesis on "The Phonoaesthetics James Joyce and J.R.R. Tolkien." He is also a prolific podcaster ("The Silmarillion Seminar")  with published articles on a variety of topics including linguist Noam Chomsky and Harvard psychology professor Daniel Gilbert. He has a dog named Kobe, and a sword named Retaliator.  His life has been devoted to the quest for knowledge, the longing for Love and an unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. 

On Doctor Who Season 7, Episode 8 "The Rings of Akhaten" Part One

 

 

On Doctor Who Season 7, Episode 8 "Rings of Akhaten" 

It may just be coincidence--given Steven Moffat's fondness for building in connections and references between episodes, I wouldn't bet on it-- but the story of the Eleventh Doctor's  new companion, Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman), is following a very similar trajectory as those of two of his previous fellow travelers. Just as happened with Rose in 2005 and Amy in 2010, when Clara tells the Doctor that for her first trip into time and space, she wants to see "something awesome," she finds herself being whisked away from present-day Earth to a fantastical adventure in a weird alien environment; namely, on The Rings of Akhaten.

"The Rings of Akhaten" has been thoroughly reviewed masterfully and powerfully by my friend and colleague Katherine Sas. I urge everyone to first read her review of the episode here. In addition to being a great writer, she also co-hosts a podcast with partner-in-crime Curtis Weyant called "Kat & Curt's TV Re-View," an excellent podcast where an episode of "Doctor Who" and "Buffy" are analyzed from a variety of angels and perspectives. Click here to start following along. I'll be using specifically Kat's review of this episode as a launch-pad (puns are always intended) for my blog post. 

This post contains huge spoilers, so if you have not seen this episode and do not want it ruined you have been warned. I will perfectly honest here. I do not watch much television. I tend to read a lot. A real lot. Possibly too much, if such a thing exists. However, thanks to a few nudges in the right direction you might say, I turned my gaze to "Doctor Who" on BBC. Long a  fan of British humor and intellectual history, I gave The Doctor a shot.

For all intents and purposes, Doctor Who is a God for it is clear that he is not the "all-father" of many mythologies, but rather one species of a many varied universe and just happens to have traversed all of time and space for one girl he's watched since infancy and they have very intimate relations. No self-respecting man (supposedly represented by "Rory") would have some eccentric alien preying on his wife. But the stories of course make her so dispensable to the Doctor. His willing to make her wait for time immemorial if he wants. He can play with her thoughts, her dreams, her consciousness, and in turn she is Alice in Wonderland, shedding off her inhibitions with the Doctor, her gateway to another world and another personality incongruous to her everyday life.

Just as Clara is being "initiated" much like earlier Doctor's companions, the audience is also being initiated into the mysteries of the universe through Doctor Who's eyes. In the beginning Clara and The Doctor arrive just in time on The Rings of Akhaten to witness a alignment that which illuminates both a monolith obelisk pyramid and eyes of Clara. Wow, how beautiful. The Tardis and the duo land and we are told a "festival of offerings" is in full-swing. People from all over the galaxy come to bring precious items to offer the "Old God" for it is said it is on the Rings where "all life originated."

Let me stop right there. I find it extremely interesting already. First, the name "Akhaten" immediately makes me think of the first "Renegade" of Egypt, Akhenaten who has been studied and worshiped through the ages by historians, archeologists, and even prominent influential psychologists. Sigmund Freud's "Moses and Monotheism" compared the two personalities and Freud's conclusion after years of study was that the dramatis personae in The Bible are actually Egyptian, and specifically Akhenaten. Akhenaten was the first pharaoh to turn Egypt upside-down in devotion  from a multi-stellar worship, to a Sun or Solar Ego worship. So strong was Akhenaten's sun-worship, that according to stories he was kicked out of Egypt. The story goes on to say that Akhenaten and his tribe were so upset that they had lost paradisaical Egypt that to even conquer the rest of he world would not be enough.

Akhenaten (or Moses) and Family Venerating Aten, Solar Worship

For whatever reason, it is true that right around what the scholar Karl Jasper's all 'The Axial Age" (500BC-500AD) much of the world's myths which were agrarian, matriarchal societies worshiping a pantheon of Gods began to introduce what Joseph Campbell and others call "The Solar Hero" or "The Hero With A Thousand Faces." For example, Heracles slaying of Medusa was interpreted as the Sun rising slaying the night sky, and so on. I wont get too much into it, but for more on this check out Ken Wilber's "Up From Eden" and "The Atman Project." 

I promised to get into "the occult" in this story. Occult simply means that which is hidden. Issac Newton called gravity an "occult force" and indeed The Royal Society severely criticized Newton for regressing back to Medieval barbarism until the anomalies became the paradigm. Knowledge in the Ancient World, as it is today, was hidden out of fear. The Nag Hammadi Library, otherwise known as the "Gnostic Gospels" were found hidden in a vase. These texts (The Book of Thomas, The Book of Enoch, etc.) were hidden out of fear that if these texts were found, the early Church (contends expert Elaine Pagels) would have punished the possessor of the apocrypha. Another example are the ancient maps with land-masses to the West of Europe with the promise and whisperings of Gold.

Typical Lodge. Notice the Checkerboard Floor

For the sake of time and space which are finite, I am going to refer to the people and societies that preserved this ancient knowledge, as the Occult Mystery Schools. Perhaps most well-known today Occult Mystery Schools are the Freemasons. Freemasonry is divided into the York Rite and Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Scotland and Scottish Rite Freemasonry, like Great Britain and many other nations, derives its name from the daughter of Akhenaten, Scotia. Freemasons are known all over the world, and wherever a Mason goes, he is bound to his (or her--see the Order of The Eastern Star) oath throughout the world. Many us our familiar with secret societies (like Opus Dei Catholicism and the Order of The Rose Cross, and The Illuminati) through Dan Brown novels and Tom Hanks movies. We might not think of Harry Potter series being about a school of the occult, but that is exactly what Hogwarts is. 

Order of The Eastern Star: Freemasonry For Women. Take Note of the Colors and the Four Alchemical Elements

Coming back to Doctor Who, we notice that there is a relationship to the Fez. The Fez has an interesting history as to why it is Red. According to speculative Freemasons (Freemasons which write about their orders to other Freemasons like Manly P. Hall, Albert Pike, Albert Mackey), the Fez is red because it was soaked with the blood of Christians. I will take on the Fez in a future blog posts and the interesting way in which it seems to be a wink to The Shriners of Freemasonry throughout Doctor Who. More on that later.

President Harry S. Truman Wearing Masonic Fez

The other word I wish to expound upon here is 'Rings." I am not going to write here about Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, however that might fit in. Here I am going to the our own solar system which has a planet, much like Doctor Who's "Akhaten" which is known for its rings. And that planet is Saturn.

In ancient legend Saturn or Kronos is known and depicted in a variety of ways. Indeed, it is speculated that our ancient sky, before the axis of the world was slanted, the planets were perfectly aligned and Saturn was much closer to Earth in this "Golden Age." Some think it would have been directly North above the Earth and was worshiped as the "Second Sun" until some Cosmic catastrophe bent the axis of Earth. Since, Saturn was at the top of these, the great celestial body was deified, made into a God. Today, Kings are given a Corona, a crown in homage of Saturn, a woman would wear ear rings to Saturn, and men would be wedded with a Ring before their God, Saturn.

Saturn however demanded sacrifice, offerings. He is an old man, but can appear young. How can we understand this? As Kat points out the name "grandfather" is used twice for the Doctor and the "Old God," or rather, a mummy parasite.

Over time, like in many myths, Saturn took on various forms and became known as "Father Time" and depicted as both an old man and a newly born son and a reaper. Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival of offerings that coincided with what we call Christmas. Christmas, as I will show in later pieces, has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. It has to do with the old pagan calendar and the eight holy days of sacrifice. In fact even the Bible tells us to do not as the heathens do by cutting down a tree and decorating it in Silver and Gold. But who reads the Bible?

Calendar of Philocalus December, with Saturnalian dice on the table and a mask. Kubrick fans think "Eyes Wide Shut"

As a side note, I am a huge fan of who I consider to be the greatest director of all-time, Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick is known for many things but I still think his greatest legacy is in his collaborations with high Freemason and prolific science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the book, the monolith that appears on Earth to "evolve" the human species is a black obelisk that appears when there is a very curious alignment of celestial bodies. It appears again on the Moon and then on Saturn's moon Iapetus. In the book and movie the monolith is a the philosopher's stone, a sort of intelligence unto itself, further perfecting the human being as it faces HAL, a representation of AI which sets on destroying human-kind. However in an act of heroism HAL is dismantled.

Saturn Alignment (note the crescent moon) in 2001: A Space Odyssey

One more thing to note about Kubrick and possible parallels with Doctor Who. Almost any time a science-fiction movie or TV show such as Doctor Who has an AI playing chess, one has to wonder if the great Stanley Kubrick, or Freemasonry is not being paid homage. Again, I am straying too far away from the topic at hand, but consider how the astronaut and moon themes of previous episodes of Doctor Who episodes might fit in, and if they do not, it is done with the wink of an eye. When the Matt Smith (Doctor Who No.11) points to the screen of the astronaut landing on the moon, one wonders if this is a hint. Just a side thought of future posts to come. NASA after all was in full-collaboration with Stanley Kubrick through Arthur C. Clarke, and was hanging out in England while German scientists like Werner Von Braun, (the Walt Disney of NASA and designer of the Saturn V rocket) that would take humanity to the Moon, were being prepped and Anglo-phied.  The James Joyce scholar Anthony Burgess wrote A Clockwork Orange at Stanley's request and was one member of this group of highly-skilled, highly-occult group who knew and practiced esoteric rituals.

Werner Von Braun: The Walt Disney of NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center. Marshall is my middle name.

But, again, I digress. Sure enough, this episode of Doctor Who is a story that was an apart  from the normal development I am used to in the usual seasonal build-up to a higher plot if you will. Don't worry, it only gets creepier and more disturbing. At the end of this short blog post, maybe you'll get a sense of what it's like to watch a movie with me. Though I won't say anything. Usually, I am very quiet about occult, esoteric knowledge and wisdom that has been told to me ever since I was a child. My family on both sides are filled with Freemasons and Rosicrucian Orders going back to at least Elizabeth I and the Dragon Court on my father's side and perhaps even older orders out of the noble families of Italy on my mum's side. Like many marriages, a Grandmaster Mason usually marries an Eastern Star. We can see these alchemical marriages between East and West in "Celtic" literature. Noble marriages are always arranged marriages. The husband and wife can have affairs, so long as the progeny is breed. This is one of the biggest themes in Freemasonry and we know it as progress or evolution.

But I digress. It is time for a child sacrifice, who is also a Queen. It is important to give a prefatory note to lay a foundation off to which to base my hypothesis. In summation of part one, we see a curious celestial alignment, the "horned god" of Saturn, (was and is) worshiped through sacrifice, present-giving and hedonism through Saturnalia (Christmas time), how the Fez and Freemasons are connected through The Shriners, and the Freemasons as one of these orders that arose from the Occult Mystery School tradition, namely the Solar Hero Worship going back to Egypt. In part two, I will show how Saturn worship has distilled down to us in the present day, how it also demands a tribute (child sacrifice; think Hunger Games) and how ultimately Doctor Who defeats the "Old God" which appears as a solar deity and how both the Doctor and the "Old God" uses song and story, in quite interesting ways. 

Macs and Mythos

MACINTOSH AND MYTHOS

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes"
Apple's iPhone "antennaegate." Remember that? Total marketing campaign and a good one. 
Much more to come. Found out that my Hunger Games post somehow got deleted from a friend's blog site, but I had to seriously revise it and I don't blame this person, but I put a lot of work into it (perhaps too much) and now it's gone. Back to the drawing board, Dear Reader.

Posts: "Thoughts On Mythological Motifs in Hunger Games"
           "Meditations On Doctor Who Part I"
           "Harry Potter, Occult Symbolism and Predictive Programming"
           "Fear and Loathing In Topanga" A travelogue on the craziest two-day trip in Los Angeles
 I've decided to give an expanded version of my tweets (found here) which will give some with eyes to see and ears to hear, another perspective from someone who has done more reading in 20 years than most will do in 3-4 lifetimes, and that includes specialists. There are no boundaries or taboo topics. And just perhaps, you might get a glimpse at that strange question: Who is writing these things? Who indeed, Dear Reader.
-Til Soon,
Faithfully Yours
Bran