hidden experience: Max Ernst, ritual magic and UFOs

Mike Clelland has a great post, inspired by the equally great OP from Christopher Knowles at The Secret Sun, concerning the surreal painter Max Ernst. Were images in the paintings shown on both blogs referring to a UFO abduction event? And even if they were not, not directly anyway, there is still a connection, as Christopher Knowles suggests. See Mike's post at hidden experience: Max Ernst, ritual magic and UFOs and Christopher Knowles post that Mike references here.

Painting by Max Ernst

Knowles writes:

It took some time to sort out but I later found that UFOs minus the ETH (namely, the Elusive Companion Hypothesis) worked quite well when I plugged them into all of the obsessions I plunged myself after dealing with those impasses; Synchronicity, High Weirdness, deep symbology, and so on.

In fact, the ECH was the missing puzzle piece that kept eluding me when dealing with those topics.

I also soon discovered that the ECH was lurking in the shadows of nearly every single obsession-- and often every mystery or conundrum-- in my life without me ever realizing it. I discover fresh examples of this all of the time and share them with you here.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Painting by Max Ernst

(The image of the specific style of circle appears in other paintings. There's something very "all knowing" about that image. Something prescient, reminding me a little of my orange orb encounter. Ernst's circle is not orange, nor is it a orb or closed sphere, but still, there's something that tugs at me in my own personal image bank. In Ernst's circle I find it interesting that the circle seems to beckon, as well as watch. There's an opening within the circle, which evokes, for myself, areas that are hidden yet ... to be found.)



I left a comment at Mike Clellands hidden experience that Ernst is a favorite artist of my husband Jim, who is a painter, often painting in surreal styles. When I shared these posts with Jim, and told him about the book Knowles mentions on his blog; Max Ernst and Alchemy: A Magician in Search of Myth By M. E. Warlick and told him that Ernst "was a magician" he said he "wasn't surprised -- I've always felt that, and always related to his spirituality." (Then a lively conversation ensued about collage, art, spirituality, war, ...okay, I'm back...)

Mike at hidden experience calls Christopher's post about Ernst "groundbreaking" and I agree.