Rise

Kenneth Anger’s LUCIFER RISING lacks any of the cheeky irony presented in his earlier films; gone are the pop songs (replaced by a Beausoleil score, composed from Bobby’s prison cell) and homoeroticism that made him famous- Rising is a symbolic analogy of the Age of Horus and while dated belongs in the movie collection of anyone interested in Esoteric Cinema.

I was pleased to find this photo in my inbox this morning; a tribute to Mr. Anger’s Thelemic vision, tattooed on the fingers of one of the UK’s more impressive tattooers Simon Erl.
Daniel Abrigo did the tops of his hands, with the LCFR RISE lettering by Rich Hardy.

I recommend checking out the high def transfers of Lucifer Rising, but if you just want a quick fix:

The Lightbearer

Another update from musician Bobby Beausoliel on his Lucifer tattoo. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the soundtrack for Anger’s LUCIFER RISING, swing by White Dog Music for the download. (OR the LP!)

From Bobby:

“Hey Shawn,

Yes, I tattooed LUCIFER on myself while at San Quentin, back in ’73. I had been caught up in a serious fracas on the SQ yard, and was in the infirmary mending a broken jaw and broken left hand. A friend smuggled some ink and guitar string into me, and I did several tattoos on myself in the weeks I was in the infirmary with my jaw wired shut and my hand in a cast. The Lucifer tattoo is below an eagle that had been done earlier. It represents a personal vow I made then to dedicate my life to creativity, renouncing violence and destructiveness, to live and express as an artist (i.e. “lightbearer”) for all of my life thereafter. I have stuck to that vow.

Bobby

PS: Hardy’s description of meeting me and what my apartment was like was the only accurate section on that page from Spring’s book you sent me.”

Lucifer Update via Bobby Beausoleil

UNI by Bobby Beausoliel.

I received word from Lucifer Rising’s Bobby Beausoleil that my recent post about his LUCIFER tattoo, as reported by Justin Spring’s ‘Secret Historian- the life and times of Sam Steward’ isn’t quite correct. Bobby, who appeared in Invocation of my Demon Brother and scored and appeared in Lucifer Rising had this to say:

“Kenneth Anger may have been tattooed by Phil Sparrow, but I wasn’t a participant in that. All of my tattoos were done while I’ve been in prison, all designed by me, many tattooed by me. Other jailhouse tattoo artists did the work in the places where I couldn’t reach with my right hand or see with a mirror.”

This proves it’s always best to go to the source when available and I’m glad Bobby was able to set the record straight for us.