Shamanic Praxis and Hermetic Speculation: Leonora Carrington, Giordano Bruno and the Secret of the Flying Horse

李奧娜拉．卡靈頓是始創超現實派中最年輕也是唯一的英國成員，她的藝術創作中，包括視覺藝術以及文字創作，皆蘊含並連結超現實主義、神秘的歐洲煉金魔法傳統、以及部落式的巫師法術等層面。她的畫作《燃燒的左丹奴．布努諾》展現了一種魔法式詩風，是一種傳承自賀密斯．崔司麥吉斯塔思乃至布努諾以降的一種似是而非、非模擬式的詩樣畫風，這在超現實主義中，以及巫師啟蒙旅程記錄中（所謂的「考驗之旅」），皆是普遍可見之風格。布努諾的魔法系統，事實上也即是西方魔法，被視為是巫師精神之歌的延續，是一種「考驗之旅」的記錄。歐洲神話對於歐亞的部落巫師法術以及儀式傳統的浸潤頗深，就如同歐洲現代主義之於美洲新大陸存有著一種潛藏的根基。卡靈頓的壁畫《瑪雅人的神奇世界》擁抱了魔法的世界觀，透過想像力將神聖與世俗做連結，而這觀念亦相通於布努諾和其它文藝復興時期魔法師之看法。卡靈頓在其畫作與小說中，透過頻繁運用動物之守護靈，通常是一隻飛馬，或是變種馬，勾勒出巫師之歌中主要風格模式，乃是穿梭於不同世界中。本文嘗試追溯卡靈頓的作品中她與守護靈馬的神遊，包括：〈恐懼之屋〉、〈山姆卡靈頓叔叔〉、〈第七隻馬〉、〈橢圓之女〉等。卡靈頓的巫術地獄冥遊主題亦可在其短篇故事〈白兔〉以及小說《聽見小喇叭》中窺探。此外，本文主張卡靈頓的自傳小說《底層》敘述著一種真實的巫術啟蒙生活經驗，此書肯定巫師是個人與文化二者的治療師。

關鍵字

超現實主義；民族詩學；比較宗教；煉金術主義；女性文學與藝術

並列摘要

Connections between Surrealism, the esoteric European magical tradition of Hermeticism and tribally-based shamanic praxis are implicit in the written and visual works of Leonora Carrington, the youngest and only British member of the original Surrealist group. Carrington's painting ”Burning of Giordano Bruno” demonstrates a magico-poetic lineage from Hermes Trismegistus to Bruno, showing a paradoxical, non-mimetic poetics common also to Surrealism, as well as to accounts of the shamanic voyage, often called the Crisis Journey. Bruno's system of magical linkages, and indeed Western magic, is viewed as a continuation of the shaman's song, the record of the Crisis Journey. European myth has deep roots in the Eurasian tribal shamanic praxes and ritual, just as European Modernism has a hidden foothold in the New World. Carrington's mural ”El Mundo Magico de Los Mayas” embraces a magical worldview linking sacred and mundane realms through the medium of the imagination, and this too is an idea shared by Bruno and other Renaissance magi. Travel between worlds is the chief paradigm of the shaman's song, figured in Carrington's paintings and fiction through frequent use of the motif of the animal helper spirit, usually a flying horse, or some mutation thereof. I trace Carrington's adventures with her equine spirit guide in her painting ”Self Portrait” and stories ”The House of Fear,” ”Uncle Sam Carrington,” ”The Seventh Horse” and ”The Oval Lady.” The theme of the shamanic descent into the underworld is likewise observed in Carrington's short story ”White Rabbits” and her novel, ”The Hearing Trumpet”. I then argue that Carrington recounts a real life shamanic initiation experience, in her autobiographical ”Down Below”, which posits the shaman as healer of both the individual and the culture.