Description
acrylic on canvas β 24x24"
Ialdabaoth, of Gnostic lore. Aleister Crowley identified the lion-serpent as Abraxas, as depicted on the Tower card in the Book of Thoth. This figure has also been identified as the god of Old Testament β and the devil. Known in the Gnostic scriptures as the demiurge, creator of the world of matter in reflection of the spiritual universe.
Created and subsequently abandoned by his mother Wisdom, the myth of Ialdabaoth parallels the life story of Charles Manson. As ruler of the underworld, this lesser god adopts the solipsistic philosophy of All is One, viewing everything in existence as an extension of the self. Classic Gnostic scriptures also viewed the world of matter as a prison of the spirit.
My very first painting was a spirit shield depicting Ialdabaoth, during Abra-melin in 2005.