Crossing the threshold: Stepping through into the realms of spirits
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Sunday, August 10, 2025


Crossing the threshold: Stepping through into the realms of spirits
The Library Esoterica delves into the art, rituals, and global mythologies of the spirit realms.



NEW YORK, NY.- A voyage through mysterious and haunted lands, the sixth volume of The Library Esoterica delves into the art, rituals, and global mythologies of the spirit realms. Unearthing our complex beliefs around death, rebirth and resurrection, we explore the art, traditions and ancient stories of the afterlife. Through interviews with scholars and practicioners, insightful essays and over 400 works of visionary art, Spirit Worlds delves into the shadows of the supernatural, from dark domains of ghosts and demons to the light-filled lands of angels and celestial beings.

Across more than 500 pages, we celebrate the ways in which we connect with both our ancestors and with ourselves, as we worship, mythologize and honor our dead. We study the rites of death around the globe, highlighting the ancient monuments and sacred temples we build out of our sorrow. We showcase the altars we create and the communities we nurture as we share our grief with our gods. We dive into the rituals that connect us to those we’ve lost. And we decipher the messages communicated to us from the other worlds by mediums and prophets, through the elaborate séances of the Spiritualists, and in the storied words of oracles and fortunetellers bent at their crystal balls. And finally, we showcase artworks that that channel not only the muse, but the unknown, eloquent voices and visions from the other side. In this expansive volume, we board the ferry across the storied river and enter the gloomy passages between lands, stepping across the threshold—to part the most sacred of veils.

Jessica Hundley is an author, filmmaker and journalist. She has written for the likes of Vogue, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times, and has authored books on artists including Dennis Hopper, David Lynch, and Gram Parsons. Hundley often explores the counterculture in her work, with a focus on metaphysics, psychedelia, and magic.

“The ‘Library of Esoterica’ acts as a bridge between the dark halls of history and the vast data at our fingertips.” -- Los Angeles Times



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Today's News

August 10, 2025

National Gallery re-examines Jean-François Millet's controversial art

Félix Vallotton's work celebrated in Swiss exhibition

Exhibition at Astrup Fearnley Museet addresses depth and spatiality in painting

Carole Feuerman chooses KIVOTOS MYKONOS to celebrate 25 years of artistic journey

Elizabeth Xi Bauer's 2025 summer exhibition unites four European artists

JD Malat Gallery's Serenity invites viewers to pause and reflect

Fernando Molina Herbert appointed to lead INAH Veracruz

A complete picture: MoMA retrospective will celebrate the restored work of Chantal Akerman

New George Bellows Gallery online exhibition unveils Gary Krueger's raw, 1970s street photography

Timothy Taylor's Summer Highlights brings together 19 leading contemporary artists

Crossing the threshold: Stepping through into the realms of spirits

Naoshima New Museum of Art presents inaugural exhibition From the Origin to the Future

The Quay Brothers' Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass opens August 29 at Film Forum

Nickola Pottinger's "Duppies" debut in her first solo museum exhibition

Tony Oursler's AI-powered oracle 'Sibyl' debuts at LUMA Arles

A new exhibition explores the seductive power of online imagery

Museum of the City of New York presents Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection

A retrospective of rhythm and form: The Hepworth Wakefield celebrates ceramic artist Elizabeth Fritsch

A career interrupted: New exhibition honors the radical art of Hamad Butt

Norman Rockwell Museum opens major summer exhibition: I SPY! Walter Wick's Hidden Wonders




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