In the new prologue to Semesilam: the Eternal Sun, Sabogal offers personal insight into the diverse circumstances that played a role in producing this corpus, including the motifs, symbols, and ideas behind them, and further interpretations of various images and themes—Gnostic Symbolism, Angelic Iconography, and Symbols of the Unconscious among others—which have been crucial to his artistic process.

Within this myriad of symbology and meaning, the Sun is at the forefront, a recurring symbol and inspiration for the book’s title, Semesilam: the Eternal Sun—here identified as an inscription often found on the so-called Abrasax Gnostic gemstones, pointing to the everlasting nature of the solar orb.

The material from Handbook of Sacred Anatomy constitutes a Mutus Liber that explores mystical interpretations of human remains, while A Second Nature was significantly inspired by Jungian analyses, delving also into the mysterious Akephalos, the headless figure – symbolically suggestive of both the dragon and contemplation of death – used by surrealist author Georges Bataille, who, in an uncompromising non-rational way, sought to create its own visual associative language.

A new preface by Frater Acher (author of the Holy Daimon trilogy [Scarlet Imprint, 2018; 2020; 2022], Clavis Goêtica [Hadean Press, 2021], and Ingenium [Tadehent Books, 2022]), and an epilogue by Gabriel McCaughry (founder and owner of Anathema Publishing Ltd., and author of (h)Aurorae, [Anathema Publishing, 2018] also illustrated by José), both give testimony to Sabogal’s long-standing personal, literary, and artistic relationships – the fruits of which have taken the form of several publications and have inspired the artwork compiled here.

Semesilam: the Eternal Sun features a new and carefully designed layout by artist and typographer Joseph Uccello, which enhances the presentation of this collection, thereby making it available as a fine edition, showcasing material that has been otherwise out of print for a considerable while. Certainly, a worthy addition for those who are interested in José Gabriel’s body of work.

Contents

SEMESILAM: The Eternal Sun

Preface, by Frater Acher
Prologue for Semesilam, by José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal

Book I. A Handbook of Sacred Anatomy
A Note from the Author to the Reader
A Handbook of Sacred Anatomy
Index of Images (for Book I)

Book II. A Second Nature
Introduction: The Two Natures
The Power of Books, the Power of Images, and a Book of Images
Angels or Manifestations: The Beheld
Metamorphoses
Death & Imagination
Symbols
Bone Works
A Second Nature
Index of Images (for Book II )

Acknowledgements
Verses

Epilogue:
Portæ Lucis — Solarization of the Crypt, by G. McCaughry