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Mystery School Preface |
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- Jeff McBride invited me in 1992 to attend the first Mystery School, an event that promised to be something extraordinary: a group of magicians seriously exploring the deeper sides of the art of magic. I’d known Jeff for several years, and our paths
had crossed around the world in many memorable ways, so I expected this experience to be a notable one. I was not disappointed. I left with a deeper sense of the craft of magic, many lasting friendships, and a number of powerful breakthroughs on various personal and professional levels.
That first Mystery School was also where I initially encountered the entrancing art of Katlyn Breene, who I noticed sketching serpentine ink drawings in her notebook during a lecture one afternoon. Ten years later, when I met with Jeff and Eugene Burger – the dean of Mytsery School – to discuss the form of this book, we agreed that Katlyn’s inspiring talents would be key to our goal of melding words and art. As you will see, Katlyn has captured the spirit of our contributors in her amazing portraits and distilled many aspects of Mystery School (in collaboration with Jeff) into the stunning color Arcana section.
The book is divided into three sections of contributors: Faculty (the school’s permanent teachers, though of course a number of other individuals also conducted classes and workshops), Guests of Honor (the invited featured speakers), and Alumni (all other attendees). The Appendices include material we felt relevant to the Mystery School experience, including Rogan Taylor’s essay on magic from his book The Death and Resurrection Show (1985) and a new introduction he has written for us.
Mystery School is a most unusual collection of essays, magic, ideas, and artwork in which we have tried to preserve some of the spirit of a unique group of artists, while still guarding the secrecy in which they met. But look closely. Some secrets are best hidden in plain view.
— From Todd Karr's introduction to Mystery School
- Jeff McBride invited me in 1992 to attend the first Mystery School, an event that promised to be something extraordinary: a group of magicians seriously exploring the deeper sides of the art of magic. I’d known Jeff for several years, and our paths