EVENT PLATFORMS
MA THESIS
BIO
Maia Lyon Daw is a visual artist from the UK, currently based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her performance, video and installation work explores new formulations of ritual expression and alternative mythological narratives. She is the founder of the public platform Oracle of Zee (formerly Sapphire Dice and formerly formerly Cottage Industry Records) and through this has curated over 50 underground artists, performers and musicians since 2008. She holds a BFA in Audiovisual Arts VAV from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2009), a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Stirling (2005) and an MA in Mysticism and Western Esotericism from the University of Amsterdam (2011).
Maia Doe, digital photograph, 2014. Direction: Maia Lyon Daw. Photography: Prof. Egil Asprem.
‘With this image I would like to introduce myself and my practice, as it sums up my philosophy and work as an artist. It conveys the main themes I love to engage with: the exploration and cultivation of new mythological narratives and the unlocking of new experiential realms through the questioning and challenging of assumptions about the nature of reality. I am interested in exploring the tensions between secular, sceptical, ‘disenchanted’ worldviews and ‘enchanted’ experience with the aim of challenging the viewer and provoking thought. In this image an enchanted and magical realm stands out in contrast against the clashing mundane urban surroundings of a city intersection.’
EVENT PLATFORMS
Cottage Industry Records releases
The following underground event platforms were founded and curated by Maia lyon Daw from 2008-2020.
ORACLE OF ZEE EVENTS
23-02-20 Secrets #8 Chanting Circle (Hering) Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
14-12-19 Secrets #7: Living Light Kirtan Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
06-12-19 Secrets #6: Sound Healing Ceremony (Kreekel/ Mariposa), Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
26-10-19 Secrets #5: Dark Moon Singing Circle with Living Light Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
13-09-19 Secrets #4: Living Light Singing Circle Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
16-08-19 Secrets #3: Full Moon Singing Circle with Living Light Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
01-11-18 Secrets #2: A Ritual to Kurukullā (Caldeira), Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
17-05-17 Secrets #1: An Evening With John Sinclair, Oracle of Zee, Amsterdam
SAPPHIRE DICE EVENTS
13 till 20-10-13 Sapphire Dice presents Northern Light Residency in collaboration with Galleri Blunk, Trondheim, Norway
Featuring Janneke Raaphorst, Prana Estu, Egil Asprem, Maia Lyon Daw, Mathias R. Samuelsen & Andreas Schille.
16-11-12 Sapphire Dice Gallery Opening Night and Exhibition Week, Amsterdam
Featuring Domenique Himmelsbach, Martha Hjorth Jessen,
Maia Lyon Daw, Bjorn Gay, Susan Kooi, Jonathan Sachse Mikkelsen.
24-02-12 Sapphire Dice Gallery Opening Night and Exhibition Week, Amsterdam
Featuring Jasper Griepink, Janneke Raaphorst, Sunna Ben Gudrunnardottir,
Alexander Krone, Yutaka Hoshino.
COTTAGE INDUSTRY RECORDS EVENTS
21-11-09 Cottage Industry Night, Winston Kingdom, Amsterdam
Featuring Prince Rama of Ayodhya (US), Amen Dunes (US/CH), Fyoelk (DE/NL), Vicky & Ron (NL), MIM (FR) & DJ Faux Fathers. Art & graphics by Maia Lyon Daw.
24-05-09 Cottage Industry Night, Winston Kingdom, Amsterdam
Featuring Mudboy (US), King Kong Kobra (SE), Sina Turner (NL/IR), Magic no Magic (NL), Avelãs Noise Quartet (NL) & DJ Mother Earth. Art & graphics by Steinunn Jónsdóttir and Maia Lyon Daw, amongst others.
06-05-09 Cottage Industry Night, OCCII, Amsterdam
Featuring Lexie Mountain Boys (US), Alberorovesciato (IT), Saelors (NL), Prana (BE) & DJ Masterfader and the Snail. Graphics by Arnar Ásgeirsson.
08-04-09 Cottage Industry with HALLO GALLO Plan b Gallery, Amsterdam
Featuring Snöleoparden (DK) & DJ Cosmo Knex, with art & graphics by Johann Kauth amongst others.
04-04-09 Cottage Industry Night, Circus Casablanca, Amsterdam
Featuring Snöleoparden (DK), Vicky & Ron (NL), Fyoelk (DE/NL), Magic no Magic (NL) & DJ Bongo Man. Graphics by Maia Lyon Daw.
20-09-08 Cottage Industry Night, Extrapool, Nijmegen
Featuring Anonymeye (AU), Sina Turner (NL/IR), Treehouse (JP), Saelors (NL), Vicky & Ron (NL), GoGo Dancers (NL) & DJ Josh and Annie. Art & graphics by Johann Kauth and Edwin Deen amongst others.
07-05-08 Cottage Industry Night, OCCII, Amsterdam
Featuring Lucky Dragons (US), Wet Hair (US), Treehouse (JP), Vicky & Ron (NL), Fyoelk (DE/NL), Elva Ólafsdóttir (IS) & DJ Harry Merry. Art by Roos Blogg amongst others.
26-01-08 Cottage Industry Night, Winston Kingdom, Amsterdam
Featuring Wu Tang Brothers (MISC), Harry Merry (NL), The Wooden Constructions (NL), Solomon’s Sons (FR/GB), Treehouse (JP), Vicky & Ron (NL), Prana Fred & Maia (BE/GB), The Heroines (DK/NL), Sina Turner (NL/IR). Graphics by Cécile Tafanelli.
MA THESIS
Franz Bardon and Dion Fortune: Man, Woman and Mastery of the Universe in Modern Occultism
Maia Lyon Daw’s MA thesis on Modern Occultism and gender was published by LAP in 2012 and is available for free as a monograph from the University of Amsterdam here.
‘Franz Bardon (1909-1958) and Dion Fortune (1890-1946) were two highly influential late modern occultists who developed elaborate practical esoteric systems. They both made major contributions to the evolution of Western esoteric ideas in the 20th century with their own curious interpretations of Neoplatonic thought.
This thesis covers the complex connections between the rise of practical occultism and the interconnected issues of gender, feminism and sexual liberation, demonstrating the significance of occult thought in the progress and evolution of Western culture.
The systems of Bardon and Fortune were essentially heterodox, incorporating ritual magic in the Hermetic path of refining one’s soul to become Divinity. These ideas were again adopted and adapted by Neopagans and contemporary esotericists and are part of a long history of subversion and rebellion against oppressive traditional modes of being in Western culture. Further to this, this thesis aims to demonstrate the impact of mythological narratives on the individual and society, and how new mythologies can counter rigid traditional constructs determining our experience of reality.’
Read the Heterodoxology Review here.
