Art, feminism, magic: an interview with Penny Slinger (part two)

[Interview by journalist ZB, special to The Wild Hunt]
Penny Slinger is a British born, multi-media artist known best for her esoteric, surrealist, provocative photographic collage work focusing on spiritual alchemy, the sacred feminine, and female psyche. In part one of our interview, journalist ZB spoke with Slinger about her beginnings, her inspirations, and the early days of her personal and creative exploration. In part two, Slinger discusses spiritual alchemy, sexuality, the Goddess Temple, and her well-known Dakini Oracle projects. ZB: In your work, you address the subject matter of bi-sexuality and embracing the alchemical concepts of uniting the masculine and feminine within oneself. Do you see a connection between bi-sexuality and the integration of the psyche through spiritual alchemy?

Art, feminism, magic: an interview with Penny Slinger (part one)

[Interview by journalist ZB, special to The Wild Hunt]
Penny Slinger, born Penelope Slinger, is a British born, multi-media artist known best for her esoteric, surrealist, provocative photographic collage work focusing on spiritual alchemy, the sacred feminine, and female psyche. She earned her 1st Class Honors degree in 1969 from the Chelsea College of the Arts in London, with her thesis on surrealist Max Ernst. Her art is considered revolutionary for its time, using herself as her own muse and subject. Her esoteric subject matter ranging from spiritual alchemy, sexual mysticism, Jungian archetypes, and tantra. It was through her studies in surrealism that she met art historian Sir Roland Penrose, who curated the London International Surrealists Exhibition in 1936. Penrose arranged to have Slinger’s student artwork shown at the ICA and personally introduced her to some of the original surrealists.

Column: Love in the Tower Time

[Today we welcome author, Priestess, and Witch H. Byron Ballard as our guest columnist. Ballard is a Western North Carolina native, teacher, folklorist, and writer. Her work has been featured in several anthologies, Witches and Pagans Magazine and on her blog. She has written two book: Staubs and Ditchwater and Asfidity and Mad-Stones. Ballard is currently at work on Earth Works: Eight Ceremonies for a Changing Planet.]

I don’t remember precisely when it began, this quiet knowing that has grown, for me, into a certainty.

Column: Festival Fragility and Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise

[Festival season is beginning in the United States as Spring returns and warmer weather creeps slowly back into our lives. Today we welcome guest columnist Star Foster to talk about her festival experience. Foster is a polytheist living in the Midwest. She is a former Pagan Channel editor at Patheos, and she is allergic to cats.]
“This the best shit Pagans are doing right now.” – Murphy Pizza, Ph.D, author of Paganistan
“It’s a spiritual banquet. You get to choose what you put on your plate.

Column: The Seminary and Witchdom Balancing Act

[A very common question asked within Pagan, Heathen, and polytheist communities is “How did you get here?” or better yet “How did you find this spiritual path?” People love telling and hearing the tales, and we all have them. This is mainly because our collective religions are made up of people who have adopted these paths, rather than having been born into them. While there are some second generation Pagans, they are still a minority – perhaps not for long.