Promethea is a comic book series for the lover of magick and all things mythological and arcane. Created from 1999 to 2005 by Alan Moore, J.H Williams III and Mick Gray I was glad to have the entire series available at my whim to soar straight through because there is no way that I could have waited for any length of time to see the whole series through as they were produced.
The artwork is so varied and detailed as well as being perfectly paced and laid out for the reader to interpret - there is never a dull moment!
Promethea takes you through the magickal journey of Sophie Bangs - an average American girl living in a futuristic world who writes poetry which sees her enter into magickal realms and experiences. The more that Sophie Bangs writes, the more she realises that she is tied into her heroic role as Promethea who must steer mankind in the right direction. Throughout the book you are taught about aspects of the occult, tarot and how the tarot links in with the Hermetic Qabbalah as she walks the Qabbalistic Tree of Life. It certainly helps to already know of characters from the real world such as Crowley, Austin Osman Spare or John Dee but it isn't vital.
This is an incredible series for anyone wanting to learn more about the Qabbalah from scratch as I personally found it hard to pick up like any other form of magick - the Qabbalistic Tree of Life is very complex! I found that from here I was able to merge so many of the things that I had learnt throughout my magickal journey through the art of the comic book, which as Moore notes is the best way to learn and retain information..
I can safely say that Promethea is an incredible philosophical and magical learning experience, combining so many years of my own reading and training into five comics which aesthetically and theoretically blew me away. This comic series only added to my learning and has provided me with great respect for Hermetic Qabbalah. For your own information, the Hermetic Qabbalah *"is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and theFellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements. The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left hand path orders, such as the Typhonian Order."
Apparently its writer Alan Moore - a ceremonial magician, had been criticised for pushing his own religious believes, though I think this is really a series for anyone - but certainly more for those who love magick.
A must read and well worth owning your own hardcopy of.
*Source: Wikipedia
First image from Pink Ray Gun
Second image from Elephant Eater
