Music and the Occult

Is there a connection between music and the occult? You could argue that there is a connection between the occult and numerous other things, music being just one of them but is the music/occult connection deeper and more deliberate? We shall take a look.

Go back a few centuries and we delve into the lives of some famous composers, Mozart from example composed his first symphony at the tender age of eight. Child genius, or something more sinister? Giuseppe Tartini 1692 -1770, composer of the Devils Trill sonata, was said to have dreamt he saw the Devil in a dream. He handed him his violin and was astounded at the Devils skill, he later in the same dream, made a pact with El Diablo, hence The Devils Trill.

Paganini was another enlightened soul, born in 1782 in Genoa, of poor parents, he became a violin virtuoso. His slender figure, long black hair, black clothes and manic violin performances had people following him all around to hear his hypnotic playing. Story has it, that his Mother sold her son’s soul to the Devil when he was young to ensure his future as a musician. True or false? Like most things, stories start somewhere.

I’ll move on if I may to the start of the 20th century, 1911 to be exact to the birth of one of my musical heroes, Robert Leroy Johnson. An American blues player, who apparently sold his soul to Old Nick for an exchange of musical genius. There are some weird facts with this one that I’ll share with you.

Story has it that if you go to a crossroads at midnight with your guitar and wait, one night, two nights, three nights, who knows but you must keep going; the Devil will appear. A man dressed all in black. You must give him your guitar to tune, after tuning he’ll hand it back to you, then the pact is sealed. You will have fame and fortune and who knows what else, only for the duration of the pact though, then Old Nick himself will come to claim your soul at an appointed time.

Robert Johnson died, “crawling on his hands and knees”, “howling like a dog”, some reports say. The general consensus is that he was murdered; he died at the young age of 27.

27 years of age, there’s that macabre age. Have you heard of the 27 Club? Here are some musicians who also died at the age of 27; Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and more recently, Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain. There are lots of others and if you Google 27 Club you’ll see for yourself - go on, be a ghoul for a second.

You can imagine the rumours surrounding the Beatles and the occult, far too many to list here. Google ‘Beatles and the Occult’ and you’ll have a full days’ entertainment. Paul Mcartney's “death”, John Lennon's visions about his own demise, the attack on George Harrison - the perpetrator and the calling all of The Beatles witches. Then there’s the Aleister Crowley connection on the Sgt Peppers album. The list is endless, please check it out yourself, it’s worth a look. There are even some who think old Macca is a member of the Illuminati, I ask you…..

Finally, and certainly not forever, I will leave my musings with David Bowie. Again, there is plenty of information about the Starman and his occult connections; the kabbala, golden dawn etc. I’ve recently read where people are saying “ he knew about his own death, his album release was timed to give his message”. Of course he knew he was dying, the man had liver cancer and of course he released his album accordingly, he wanted control of things up until the end, who wouldn’t? His message - be yourself and display your uniqueness for all to see, just as he did.

His final album though, Blackstar is Bowie at his very best. I love it! Occult connotations? Have a listen and make your own mind up, I know what I think.

Sleep Tight Folks.

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