Interview with André Consciência: The Forbidden Realms Anthologies & the Discipline of Esoteric Imagination

Introduction

The Forbidden Realms Anthologies and Veils of the Unseen mark a deliberate reawakening of the initiatory current within weird fiction, occult horror, and esoteric fantasy. In this exclusive interview, André Consciência — author, curator, and co-founder of Star Lore Publishing — discusses the imaginative discipline behind these works, the lineage of visionary writers who shaped them, and the deeper esoteric function of reading as a magical act. What follows is a conversation that moves through initiation, cosmic dread, literary preservation, and occult storytelling.

1. André, what first inspired you to create The Forbidden Realms Anthologies?

Was it a personal experience, a literary lineage, or a particular moment when you realized there was a need for a collection dedicated to the occult, the weird, and the esoteric?

A literary lineage and the personal experience of writing and reading in that genre. There are some collections dedicated to weird tales, but I did wish to bring them to occult practitioners, thus highlighting the occult and the esoteric in the presentation. As strange as it seems, I find that many esoteric practitioners lack imagination or reverence for it, which means they cannot possibly be doing good work. Others have their imagination in a state of sick inflammation. I remember when that happened to me, and I read such stories as there are in Veils of the Unseen, I realized immature imagination is not worthy of being called real imagination. These writers were imaginative, for sure, but methodical enough to dig deep while still maintaining structure. This is where one’s balance is tested, and with it, the effectiveness of imagination.

2. The series brings together giants like Machen, Blackwood, Lovecraft, Fortune, Chambers, and MacDonald.

What guiding principle did you use in selecting these specific voices, and how do you see their works speaking to each other across time?

The authors are to be classic authors. Not necessarily in terms of fame, but in terms of literary fruition. These authors speak to each other by feeding on the same current (when not literally corresponding or writing each other reviews). I remember one day realizing, when contemplating the works of writers such as Antonin Artaud and Herberto Helder, that they both had translated the same poem of Edgar Allan Poe, “Israfel” (archangel associated with music and the trumpet). When I dived deeper, I saw Charles Baudelaire and Stéphane Mallarmé had done the same. I realized this was an initiatory current. And one of the places these kinds of initiatory literary currents is most evident is in Weird Tales. It is clear Weird Tales drink from Poe, and Poe from Gothic Romance, and Gothic Romance from Romanticism. It all is a continuous movement when it comes to the schools of mystery.  

3. Your curation highlights lesser-known gems alongside classics.

What draws you personally to forgotten or overlooked pieces of weird fiction and occult fantasy?

What use do I have only presenting what has been presented over and over again? If a work does not expand a movement, it is but a replication.

Initiation, Imagination, and Vision

4. In Veils of the Unseen, themes of initiation, revelation, and cosmic dread are central.

Why are these initiatory and visionary motifs important to you as a curator — and as a practitioner of esoteric arts?

Initiation is revelation, or it isn’t initiation. But revelation contains cosmic dread, or else it is to be taken as a simple wet dream. One cannot speak of any visionary practice or art that does not contain all three elements. Esotericism seeks the inner reality of the world and the proof of its correct expression is in the visionary quality.

5. Many of these stories involve “forbidden wisdom,” haunted landscapes, or supernatural rites.

How do you approach presenting esoteric material responsibly while still preserving its imaginative potency?

Again, check the maturity of the writing here. These works could not have been achieved without strength and discipline of mind. It is in it that imagination becomes potent, and a sound mind has necessarily been instructed by responsibility.

6. The Forbidden Realms is described as a doorway into hidden dimensions of imagination.

What do you hope modern readers discover when they step into these realms?

That there is so much more to discover yet…

7. The upcoming second volume promises a deeper dive into initiatory horror and mystical transformation.

Is there a particular theme or author in Volume II that you’re especially excited to introduce to readers?

I am very excited to publish Lord Dunsany and Oscar Wilde. The first is a visionary inspiration to me, and the second is an intellectual reference.

Star Lore Publishing and the Occult Current

8. Star Lore Publishing positions itself as a home for “independent magical fiction” and reimagined esoteric classics.

How does this anthology series fit into your wider vision for the publishing house?

I cannot help but consider these tales to be within magical fiction. And what is more, the authors were almost all independent, publishing in magazines. I hope these old giants bring attention to our publishing house, so the newborn giants we are publishing can be seen for what they really are.

9. These anthologies balance entertainment with allegory, mythology, and metaphysics.

How conscious are you of maintaining that balance, and what do you see as the role of esoteric fiction today?

For more than a decade, I disappeared from the scene as a direct occult practitioner and teacher, and transmitted myself to the world only through my works of art, literature or on the stage. I also organized events (and still do), curating other artists. This is a very pure manner of teaching esoterics, as no dogma or over-reasoning is allowed in and only the essence flows.

10. Finally, as someone who works deeply with occult symbolism and initiatory systems,

how does your own spiritual and magical background shape the way you read, edit, and assemble these texts?

These texts work deeply with occult symbolism and have a magical background, and even a spiritual one. I don’t see the difference you seem to see. The reader creates what he is reading. All is practice.

Follow-up Reflections

11. You spoke about immature imagination versus true imagination, and how these authors model disciplined visionary work.

In your view, what distinguishes true imagination from the kind of “inflamed” or immature imagination that many occult practitioners fall into?

I will tell you something. As a poet and writer, I was always a loner. So when I got to party with the community of writers and poets, I saw how they seemed to drink themselves to death and fuck, with bright eyes, everything that moved, and they seemed to do it every night. No wonder most weren’t published. At a certain point, I thought I might as well try doing the same. I confess sex and courtship might help inspire, but drinking was the seal of mediocre literary products, not to say worse. Then, worse than drinking or drug habits, was the constant nuzzling of one upon the other and one upon the many and many upon the one. This excitement lacks silence. This electricity burns, it does not generate. An inflamed and immature imagination is one that is drunk, be it on alcohol or inconsequent occult and esoteric practices. The poet sits in silence, and poetry flows. If there is mental noise, dog in heat excitement and so on, there is no space for real imagination, it’s all mere automatisms spilling inconsequent images to cope with the discomfort of the filth we all seem to live in while actually making it worse.

12. You mentioned discovering an initiatory literary current stretching from Poe through Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Artaud, and others.

Do you see The Forbidden Realms Anthologies as a continuation of that current — and if so, what role do you see yourself playing within it?

It is not a continuation but a preservation. My role is, therefore, to preserve the current.

13. You said that revelation inherently contains cosmic dread, and without it, one only has a “wet dream.”

Why do you think modern spiritual culture is often uncomfortable with dread — and what happens to esoteric practice when dread is excluded?

Dread is not to be included in esoteric practice per se. Let dread alone. It will come spontaneously. Provoke it and you are a fool. Cosmic dread arises from wonderment and differs from personal dread. I think this forceful inclusion of uncomfortable themes is what makes people uncomfortable with it in the first place, as it lacks honesty. True spiritual culture knows an angel can be absolutely terrifying if you close yourself to its openness. But do open, and after wonderment will come cosmic dread, and with it, initiation. Yet truly these things are beyond comfort and discomfort. Let such personal and relative notions aside.

14. Discipline, strength of mind, and maturity appear repeatedly in your descriptions of great visionary writers.

How does a modern reader or practitioner cultivate that kind of sober strength without suppressing the spontaneity and rawness that imagination requires?

What do you mean? Imaginative spontaneity and rawness come precisely from sober strength. Nowhere else. 

15. You said earlier: “The reader creates what he is reading. All is practice.”

Does this mean you consider the act of reading weird fiction itself to be a magical or initiatory act?

It certainly does mean that.

16. Regarding Volume II and the inclusion of Dunsany and Wilde —

Do you see their visions as complementary, or do they serve different initiatory functions within the anthology?

They are complementary because they serve different initiatory functions within the anthology. I suggest we start thinking in terms of “and” rather than “or”. Dunsany teaches you to become subconscious, Wilde teaches you to become conscious.

17. You noted that you “disappeared” as a direct occult teacher for more than a decade, teaching only through art.

Do you feel that fiction can transmit esoteric truths more effectively than formal instruction?

To some. You cannot ask this question in general terms; some people prefer sports, some prefer art, and some embrace both. Esoteric truths are transmitted by life. If you live the experience of reading with absolute presence, or the experience of formal esoteric instruction, then truth shall abide in equal measure.

18. Star Lore Publishing aims to elevate “newborn giants.”

What qualities do you look for in contemporary magical or weird-fiction authors before bringing them into the Star Lore lineage?

I have described what I consider to be true imagination during this interview, and that is all I ask, technically speaking. But we are also a temple of scribes. If someone holds an attitude other than reverence for the craft and this temple space, he or she is not welcome and will not remain for long.

Thank you.

Closing

To continue the exploration of hidden worlds and initiatory literature, visit Star Lore Publishing to learn more about The Forbidden Realms Anthologies, purchase volumes, and follow us on facebook or instagram for news on Volume II and upcoming releases.