Jonah Emerson-Bell on Art, Magick & Modern Day Wizardry

The Santa Fe based Astrologer TALKTALKTALKS origins & the space where magic and therapy intersect

When Jonah Emerson-Bell left his NYC art career, he spent a year living out of a van in the desert giving tarot readings, sticky googly eyes on household objects and combining both those powers — tarot and googly eyes — with a humor, charm, and his background in visual arts to compose daily horoscope videos that are, to this day, some of the most enchanting content I’ve ever stumbled across on the Internet. 

Under the alias Blind Space Wizard, he produces a weekly radio show called the Melee Report™️, narrating the upcoming astrological weather between a playlist that is as eclectic and wonderful as you’d expect from someone who’s spent their life obsessing over music. 

He is currently completing his graduate studies in  Mental Health Counseling at Southwestern College — which is part of the reason why he took three weeks to complete this interview. The other part is that he was in Athens, Greece taking part in The Dream Palace, a residency and symposium focused on dreams and dreaming. 

What else? He is trained in hypnosis and integrative coaching and is a featured Astrologer on the AstroStar app. He is currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

CV Henriette: Let’s start with an obnoxious question: How do you introduce yourself at parties?

Jonah Emerson-Bell: I usually don’t introduce myself at parties because I tend to be pretty shy around large groups of people. I like to ask questions because I’ve found that people love to talk about their own experience and with just a little prompting or permission and a few open-ended questions people will open up about their own lives which makes me feel much more comfortable than talking about myself. I am really curious about other people's experiences and how they ended up where they are, like what brought them to this chance meeting at this particular moment on this specific night at this random party? I think that's one of the reasons that I do what I do. 

I guess this brings me to the answer you are looking for, which I see as a real 10th-house question: In the dinner party of life how do others see you? Or in this context, how would you like to be seen? I suppose I tell people I’m an astrologer because it’s easy and quickly separates people into the ones who are curious and the ones who just give me a blank stare or chuckle politely and then walk away. Now I also tell people that I’m in graduate school to be a mental health counselor because I think that makes more sense to people and gives me an air of legitimacy. I’m also beginning to tell folks that I’m a magician because I think I am learning to own that identity as part of who I am and not just who I would like to be. There is something really powerful about being able to name who we are and literally call things into being by vocalizing them. One of my all-time favorite spells is Abracadabra - which means: “I speak it into being” or “I create as I speak.” It’s an oldie but a goodie and it always reminds me that words not only have meaning but they have the power to mold our reality and to shape the lives that we live. 

CVh: Tell me about Camp Wizard Camp.

JEB: I guess Camp Wizard Camp is my brand. In the era of social media individuals now get to be brands. I don’t quite know how I feel about that. On one hand, I think it is a very capitalist idea that everything, even one's personal experience is now commodified, packaged, and marketed which kinda creeps me out. On the other hand, I love the idea of role-playing and play in general and I think that Camp Wizard Camp, as an idea, as a brand, or as an identity, allows me to conjure some sort of irreverent sense of legitimacy. However, on another level, Camp Wizard Camp is a Mackical Child, a thoughtform, a spell that my past self cast for my future self to live into. It is my vision of myself as a practicing magician that I am living into each day. And I think in the beginning my idea of Camp Wizard Camp, like most of my good ideas, started as a joke. It was a joke I told so often that it began to be real. #Abracadabra  #campwizardcamp

CVh: Do you consider yourself a wizard? If so, what does a wizard do? That sounds flippant. It’s not. 

JEB: I think I consider myself a jr. Wizard or like a Wizard in training. Like a lot of things in my life, I don’t feel like I have fully arrived but I have no idea what it will look like when I have achieved full wizardry. I guess I’ll be able to turn someone into a newt or transform lead into gold or something monumental like that. When I think about my practice, all I can see are the people I look up to, the ones I perceive as really doing it and I think of myself as still figuring it out. However, I very rarely look back and appreciate how far I’ve come or to rest in my knowing. 

I remember years ago when I was just starting on this path in its current iteration, I was living in Brooklyn and I remember standing at the altar in my small bedroom in the middle of this railroad apartment and wanting so badly to be a wizard, living in the desert, making my living off my wizardry. I wanted that sooooo badly I could taste it. I didn’t want to be struggling to live in New York or to be working at my shitty fabrication job anymore. I just wanted to live this magical life and to be of service. Years later I found myself living in Marfa, Texas. I was sitting on the porch preparing for a podcast and for an astrology reading and I was stressed out trying to get this chart prepped and this other thing written and to figure out what I was going to say on this podcast. Then I realized I was living the life that my past self had wanted so desperately. I let that realization wash over me for all of 45 seconds before I got back to stressing about my current circumstances. So, I may already be a full-fledged wizard but I wouldn’t know because all I can see is what I still have to learn and unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the magical path is endless. 

To answer your second question, a wizard does whatever they want to, which can be great, but also it has the potential to be quite problematic so I think that we need to have really good ethics and discernment when we walk on this path because power can very easily corrupt. And if one has the power to turn people into newts, what's to stop them from just turning everyone who looks at them weird in the Walmart parking lot into small amphibious reptiles? That might be really funny but it will throw the local ecology of the Walmart totally out of balance and that could have far-reaching and disastrous consequences. 

CVh: What’s most exciting to you right now? At this very moment. 

JEB: Right now, at this very moment, I'm at a residency and symposium on dreaming in Athens, Greece, and that is pretty exciting. I haven’t done any international traveling in a while and it's really inspiring to be here and working with a bunch of other folks who are bringing their perspectives on dreams, myth, magick, and storytelling. I have been having a really good time connecting with the deities of Greek myth that still inhabit this place. As an astrologer, I’m really interested in those stories and the ways that myth can continue to live through us. It is really good to get to know the animate energies of these stories which I think are still very much alive in this land. I mean, they are alive everywhere and that is really important to mention. But for me, there is a source here that feels really energizing to tap into. 

Yesterday, for example, we hiked up to the shrine of the Muses which is up by the Acropolis in this beautiful park overlooking the city. As part of our group ritual, we held hands around the shrine and did the hokey-pokey, which I thought was some really powerful Muse magick, but the park guards felt differently and gave us a stern talking to. This experience really struck me. It illustrated perfectly the conflict between the divine silliness of the unseen world and the rational forces of what I consider day consciousness which are really threatened by the weird and extraordinary. These more Saturnian forces of order really want to repress anything that challenges what can be considered “normal” and are very opposed to activities like the sacred ecstatic rite of the hokey-pokey. There are many other things that excite me right now but I think we can leave it at that.

CVh: What were you like as a teenager? Have you changed? 

JEB: I think I have definitely mellowed out a lot from when I was a teenager. I was a bit nuts when I was younger. I am a raging Sagittarius and when I was young I think I was like the arrow, wanting to fly as far as I possibly could in any direction. I desperately wanted to take the story to the absolute end of the line, and then to push it further. Now that I’m older I think I am more like the bow which is being pulled back and is held in a  state of tension. In the role of the bow, I like to believe I am aiming at the right target for me and developing the patience to sit with this tension, to consider the ark of the arrow, and really focus on hitting the bull's eye. In the future, I hope to be more like the Centaur itself who integrates the human rational consciousness and the animal instinctual awareness and blends them skillfully into the true embodied awareness of a real-deal freak and legitimate force of nature. 

Jonah Emerson-Bell (courtesy of his IG)

CVh: Before you were an astrologer & tarot reader & counselor, you were an artist. What was that like? What did you make? 

JEB: To be honest, I don’t really see a difference between magick and art-making. I see both of these practices as ways of connecting with the ineffable, creative, source and channeling that divine energy into the world. I think the finished product looks a bit different but I think that the energy of inspiration and connection are very similar. 

 I was drawn to visual art because I wanted to transform people's perceptions and expand the ways people related to their surroundings. I was excited by installation art and really I liked to create immersive environments and curate experiences for people. The work that I was making had a lot to do with providing experiences for people that would facilitate a perceptual shift and hopefully create a new sense of awareness about themselves and the world. Later on, I started making work about American mythology and magick. I would make visual spells without really knowing what I was doing. I think the whole time I really wanted to be making magick, but I just didn’t know where that fit into the world. I didn’t really have a map for what it meant to be a professional wizard.  So I was an artist because when you are an artist you can kinda do whatever you want and legitimize it in some way. But I think it's a lot more honest for me to just be a Tarot reading Astro-Wizard and not try and fit that into something that seems socially acceptable. 

CVh: Who were your earliest inspirations?

JEB: This is a difficult question for me, I’ve been thinking about it for about two weeks and my list keeps getting longer and longer. When I was young, like in my early teens, I was really inspired by the Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Their writing and their lifestyle really opened something up for me, it provided an example of a different way of living, something outside of what seemed like the normal life path of go to school, get a job, get married, have children, pay taxes, retire and die. That trajectory was never very interesting to me and in the Beat Generation, I found evidence of an alternative. I was also really into William S. Burroughs, there was something very mysterious and magical about him that really interested me. He wrote about Egyptian mythology and ancient gods as well as sex workers and drug addicts, that combination really resonated with me. I was also really influenced by people like Psychic TV and the Discordians, specifically Robert Anton Wilson. I read Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy and the Cosmic Trigger when I was young, and I think those books helped to plant a seed of magick in me that then reappeared in my life when I really needed it. 

Artistically, I was influenced by the work of Joseph Beuys, which was some of the first installation art I ever saw and it pretty much blew my mind. I also quite like his lore and his ideas around collective healing through myth and art. I was also really into the work of Ana Mendieta because she was making straight-up witchcraft under the umbrella of fine art and I always thought that was brilliant. I also find that I think about Bruce Nauman a lot. His thesis was basically “I am the artist so everything I do is art,” and I absolutely love that. We could transpose logic onto anything really but I find myself thinking about it in the context of magick. Through that perspective, we could alter the statement to say: “I am the magician so everything I do is Magick!” I find that quite empowering. I have multiple other influences and inspirations, but, in the interest of time and space, we can just leave it there.

I do, however, want to give a shout-out to Amalia Scott Jančič of the Hare in the Moon who is an excellent astrologer and Tarologist. They really got me into astrology and they have probably been the biggest influence on my practice. I think I mentioned them in the audio interview but I don’t think I emphasized how important they were in my development as an astrologer. We did a podcast together for about two years which really threw me into the study of astrology and caused me to level up in a big way. I just want to tip my cap to them while I’m talking about influences because I don’t think I would be here without them. 

CVh: Why the shift from art? 

JEB: I think I’m a better magician than I am a visual artist. I started making art because I wanted to change the world. When I was young I got really excited by art and literature and these forms of creative expression woke something up in me. It was something that felt really vital and transformative, and I wanted to share whatever that was with others. As I grew up and spent time working in and around the art world I realized the power dynamics and economic structures of that space made it challenging to be an idealist. The need to make money from my artwork created a sense of desperation and constriction in me that was not really helping me to do what I wanted to do or be who I wanted to be. I think I have always wanted to help people and art was not the best vehicle for me to do that. I found that Tarot, Astrology, counseling, and magick are much better practices for me to be of service, and are modalities that I am better suited to than art making. I would love to get back to a place where I can have a studio and where I can make visual art again but for now, I feel very satisfied with the work I do. Art has always been about diving deep into something and working through problems, and I find that counseling fulfills a lot of the same things for me. With this work, I get the satisfaction of helping others and being of service in a much more horizontal power structure and that feels much more aligned for me.

CVh: What were you doing in Thailand? I want to know all about that. And all the other places you’ve lived. In a few sentences! 

JEB: I don’t know what I was doing in Thailand, when I was younger I would just go until I ran out of road. Back then I was traveling with two friends of mine and I wanted to apply to Cooper Union. Back then the application to that school was a pretty involved home test where you had to basically make a portfolio. I got the home test prompts while me and my friends were hitchhiking around Thailand. My friends bought a small boat and went down the Mekong, and I went to stay in this small town in the north and do the Cooper Union application. I didn’t get in, but I got a job in a bar and then helped run a guest house and I ended up living in Northern Thailand for almost a year. I’ve also lived in Amsterdam, and I helped to run a guest house there when I was 18 or 19. Besides that, I’ve lived in Boston, Brooklyn, New York State, Marfa TX, New Orleans, Oakland, Olympia, Portland OR, Santa Fe, and Valentine, Texas. And in between some of those places I lived in my van and I drove around the country for several years. I think at this point I’ve been to every state in America besides Hawaii and North Dakota because both of those places are really out of the way.  

CVh: Do you think you’ve finally found home? Where is that? 

JEB: I have a home now, I think. I’ve been living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the past several years while I complete my degree in Mental Health Counseling. It’s really nice having a home and a place where I can relax and spread out. I love traveling, but it's hard to get any traction on larger projects when I’m moving around, so it's been nice to be in one place and kinda ground and develop practices and routines and percolate for a while. However, going to Athens and traveling again was really exciting and so, while I have a home, I’m also really looking forward to doing some more traveling and reaching out into the world in new ways.

But I tell you what, I am so grateful when I have a place that I can come back to and close the door, not be bothered, and watch trashy TV for three days while I recover from an adventure. Also, I will say that having a home, stable internet, a shower, an electric kettle, and a desk has really helped me to develop consistency with seeing clients and it has allowed me to build my business and to provide support for the people that I’ve had the privilege to work with. 

CVh: Is there something you’re hiding?

Yes, definitely. 

JEB: Something we should know?

You would need to prove to me why I should trust you before I could decide. 

CVh: How would you describe your magic practice? 

JEB: I don’t really know how to describe my magical practice. I guess I would call it relational, in the sense that I think a lot of my magick is about building relationships with spirits or energies or archetypes or however you want to call the unseen forces that inhabit our world. I think there is a view of performing magick where the magician is bending the forces of nature to their will and that has not ever really worked for me. I think I am too easily distracted to make that work. I am much more into acknowledging the animate energies and spirits of the world, befriending the ones that resonate with me, and then asking for their assistance and guidance in important matters. I think it is less about getting what I want and more about making friends. What I also like about this practice is that it requires me to be really present, to listen deeply, and to tune into the energy currents of the universe. When I can do this and bring myself into alignment with those currents it feels really good. Part of this work as well is about surrendering and being able to trust that I live in a magickal world and that this is actually working. Surrendering to this trust is maybe the hardest part about magick for me but when I am able to really lean in I have found that the world opens up in all of these really incredible ways that would never be available if I continued to cling tightly to my will and how I thought things were supposed to be. 

CVh: You’re finishing up schooling to be a therapist, yes? 

JEB: That is correct. I’m finishing my master's degree in Mental Health Counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And someday, I might be an actual legit therapist which is kind of weird for me to accept because it still feels pretty far away, but stranger things have happened. I’m looking forward to getting to the place where I am able to blend all of my skills together into a coherent counseling practice. Currently, I offer Astrologically based coaching where I work with individuals on an ongoing basis to support them using the birth chart as a blueprint for our work, but I think that my practice will really level up when I can also work as a full-fledged therapist. 

CVh: For you, conceptually and in practice, what is the connection between art and magic?

JEB: I think art is a form of magick, and a really powerful form of magick at that. Some of the earliest magickal practices dating back to ancient Egypt and Sumeria were about ensouling statues and objects and bringing them to life. Image making has always been a way of performing magick whether it is done through constructing altars or drawing sigils or performing rituals, these practices are all about bringing the imaginal into the physical. We can consider objects like the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge as monumental sculpture and things like Spiral Jetty or Sky Mirror as devotional objects. It all depends on the lens we want to look through. When most people think of the Renaissance they think of an artistic movement and the names that come to mind are artists like Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo, you know, the Ninja Turtles. But in many ways, the Renaissance began with Marsilio Ficino performing the Orphic Hymn to the Cosmos and then translating the Orphic Hymns and the Corpus Hermeticum. Maybe Ficino was actually Splinter? 

I don’t really think that magick and art are separate. Magick, like art, is about tapping into the creative force of the universe, which I consider to be quite divine. In both of these practices, the magician/artist is learning to connect with this creative force and channel it into a physical manifestation. When an artwork is really successful it comes alive, it has this spark to it like it has a soul. Similarly, when a spell works, something is activated and it clicks and something comes alive. I think both art and magick are ways of working with the powers of creativity and they are both about developing a deep understanding and connection with the world we inhabit. I think both of these disciplines are about being active participants in a living universe; they have just taken different paths and worn different robes over time.  

CVh: What’s happening now? What would you like to share with everyone?

JEB: These days I’m working on finishing up my degree, and I should be done with that in the summer of ‘24 which is pretty exciting. I do an Astrology-themed radio show called the Melee Report™️ which comes out every Friday on my Patreon, and I release it Saturday to the general public on Soundcloud. The show deals with all the Astro-Weather you never thought you needed, set to all the music you never thought you would hear. To find out more you’re just going to need to tune in and see.

I’ve also started doing a weekly Astrology forecast on the AstroStar app. This is a live talk that I do every Monday at 10 am PT/1 pm PT where I go over the transits of the week and talk about the themes and archetypal energies at play in the cosmic weather of the week. I am also a pretty consistent guest host for the full moon episodes on the Inspired Astrology podcast (which is great btw) with the brilliant Lauren K. Hickman.   

On December 9th I’m doing a live event in Santa Fe with 3 great astrologers, Sam Reynolds, Lindsay Turner, and Michael Bartlett. We are doing a roundtable discussion and presentation on the year ahead and what to expect from the stars in 2024.

And when I have the time I like making wacky and insightful content about the Tarot and Astrology for Instagram and AstroStar.

I think in the not-so-distant future I’d like to be running retreats on magick and astrology in Europe and America, and I’d like to do some more teaching, but we’ll see how that goes.

And last, but certainly not least, I love seeing clients. All this other stuff is fulfilling but my favorite thing to do is to work with people. I love to work with clients to untangle what's going on in their world and figure out ways to access resources. I love my work and it gives me great joy to help empower others to make positive changes in their lives. That's really the best. 

CVh: Where can people find you? 

JEB: People can find me on Instagram @blind_stallion_space_wizard or you can find me on the AstroStar app for my weekly forecast. That happens live every Monday at 10 PT/1 pm ET. When you join AstroStar you can use this invite code: QikFYb 

You can check out The Melee Report™️ for a more musical sense of what’s happening in space every Friday on my Patron or Saturdays on Soundcloud. 

I put a link to the show in my IG stories every Saturday when I make the episode public. If you want to sign up for my Patreon, you also get track listings which is great, and I’ve got a bunch of other cool content on Patreon, including guided meditations, Tarot readings, and things like that. You can find it all by going to Patron and looking up Camp Wizard Camp or just clicking HERE.

You can find the Inspired Astrology Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts at. I’m on the Full Moon episodes but all of the episodes are great so just check it out anyway. 

And if you’d like to book a Tarot or Astrology reading with me you can DM me on Instagram, or you can find me on my website, and I’m doing readings through the AstroStar app so you can find me there as well. And I think that's all the news that’s fit to print. Thanks for tuning in.

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