In Episode 13, Lola & The Poets welcomes Ewoud van Rijn, artist, scholar, and lecturer at the Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands, as we delve into his exploration of the relationship between the arts and the esoteric realms in his extraordinary work. We start our chat talking about his most recent series of drawings and etchings, and roll back in time to Ewoud's childhood in The Hague, and growing up in a conservative yet artistic Catholic family. Connecting through our shared early passion for comics, we discuss how graphic novels and music formed Gen X's idea of the magical, Ewoud's chance meeting in Newcastle that opened up an interest in the occult,The Illuminatus! Trilogy, encountering the art of Swiss surrealist painter Kurt Selingman, its profound influence, The Great Invocation group exhibition — and creating his own Tarot deck. We discuss the impact of our family backgrounds in being open to rejected knowledge, as well as natural vs. ceremonial magic, automatism in art, framing reality according to myth, the Osiris family drama, Ewoud's stark near-death experience, the pros and cons of the spiritual revival in the 21st century, his love of megalithic sites, Frederick Adams's Feraferia and Gardnerian Wicca, Goddess worship, and much more. We hope you enjoy our spirited conversation.

SHOW NOTES: Ewoud van Rijin at Royal Academy of Art The Hague | Ewoud van Rijn on Instagram | Ewoud van Rijin on Academia.edu | Ewoud van Rijin at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen | Pádraic E. Moore: The Great Invocation | Boijmans TV Raw Material: Ewoud van Rijn |

AUTHOR: ©Milana Vujkov