kaos

in a cruel fashion.” On the original zobop passports the writing would usually be in
French, and an official-looking sticker such as a stamp-duty sticker or perhaps even the
seal from a cigarbox or something similar would be stuck on the passport together with
a stamped number. In the only example of a zobop passport I have seen the main
illustration is a naïve drawing of a person. On my own zobop passports the writing is
“spirit writing” done in a trance state, inspired by the tradition of “protective spirit
writing” that occurs in folk cultures of the American south, originating from West
Africa, as exemplified by the paintings of the illiterate artist J B Murry. While such
spirit writing is simply scribble, and not language, it is done for magical protective
effect and so intention informs the spontaneous writing. And J B Murry did claim to be
able to read his spirit writing through a distorting bottle of holy water. Similarly, myself,
when stoned…
Joel Biroco Exhibition
Joel Biroco will be having an exhibition & sale of his paintings some time in the future.
This event will be held in London. If you would like to be notified about the exhibition,
send your contact details to: kaosbabalon @hotmail.com
Artwork credits
Derek Arridge created the cover and the illustrations on pages 9, 23, 31, 34, and 125;
this artwork is embedded in the pdf in vector format and is best viewed on Acrobat 5
reader with “smooth line art” checked, which is not switched on by default (Edit ⇒
Preferences ⇒ Display ⇒ Smooth line art). Sarah Haras drew the two pictures on
pages 154 and 186, which came from staring at charcoal smudges on paper until
something—“The Indwellers”—emerged. Prof John Steczynski drew the pen and ink
Apocalypse images on pages 2 and 108, which are part of a set of 42 on the web (see the
review on page 184). Joel Biroco painted the two “zobop passports” on pages 66 and 78
(the vever on the latter is that of Papa Legba), and the crow falling from the sun on
page 167, in black Indian ink and watercolour. The drawing of Lam on page 35 is by
Aleister Crowley and is presently owned by Kenneth Grant. The painting on p 178,
“Fossil Angel”, is by Marjorie Cameron.
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