Thorn in the Flesh

A new book tumbled in through the mail slot last week - "Thorn in the Flesh", a compendium of notes etc. from Rosaleen Norton. Roie, as she was known, was a rather interesting bohemian Character from Sydney, Australia, who was an occult artist. Because Australia is somewhat backward and conservative, she frequently got into trouble with the obscenity laws. I suppose I should modify that last sentence my noting that most countries were backward in those days.
I was rather hoping to see some new pictures by her, but the very few included were not all that good. For those who want to see her pictures, I would rather recommend "the Art of Rosaleen Norton", or even "Pan's Daughter" by Neville Drury.

However what this book does add, is a lot of material about what Roie actually thought, her occult system. Largely, this seems to center on a dualism between humanity and the inhuman entities that accompany us, which was, according to her, ruled by a planetary spirit, Pan. So quite an interesting book, in that regard. Unfortunately, any notes that mentioned the actual magical rituals that she used were not published, out of a desire to keep these secret. And what is left is rather disjointed, so I dont think anyone will be using her system anytime soon... that is, unless there are any of her coven left in Oz, and they join one.

Bookwise, its a fairly plain hardcover, as is typical of the Teitan Press, but they are doing some good work in fleshing out some of the characters of the last century - Jack Parsons, Progradior, etc.