Throughout his acting career, McCloskey appeared in numerous television series and movies, including the popular American soap opera Dallas and a leading role in the Dario Argento-helmed supernatural horror film Inferno.
He began his professional acting career playing Billy Abbott in the original miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. He went on to star in three nighttime television series: Executive Suite, Married: The First Year, and performed the role of Mitch Cooper (husband of Lucy Ewing Cooper) on the CBS nighttime soap opera Dallas. McCloskey was a series regular from 1980 to 1982, and made brief appearances in 1985 and 1988.
While working on Dallas, McCloskey found himself dissatisfied with mainstream success and began exploring painting and writing as a means of creative fulfillment.[5]
McCloskey giving a tour of The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul
McCloskey's most notable accomplishment as a visual artist is generally considered to be The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul, an installation work painted on the walls of his personal library.[7][8][9]
The Hieroglyph is a mixed-media acrylic mural that depicts the archetypal story of creation and evolution of the human soul, through which McCloskey gives guided tours to reveal its rich symbolism. One critic wrote, “Stepping into The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul, the visitor is transported into a liminal space of consciousness that is at once a library and a temple, a stage and a studio, a cave painting and a cathedral. In this place of strange convergence, McCloskey performs the simultaneous roles of artist and critic, actor and director, shaman and prophet. Like Thoth-Hermes, McCloskey is both author and librarian of a living language.”[7]
He began work on The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul in response to the September 11 attacks.[10] He said, “The coming down of the Twin Towers is what triggered The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul… [It’s] the falling away of the old binary: the two brothers, the Piscean fish. One [is] the man of god, the [other is the] man of money. The two kings who grow higher and higher like the Tower of Babel, only in jealousy to fall back to earth—and we are left in the rubble.”[7]
Some interesting synchronicities have revealed themselves in The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul. McCloskey discovered that the colors appear to be in 3D when viewed with ChromaDepth 3D glasses, creating an immersive multidimensional effect.[9] He said, "I wasn't expecting it to be 3D; I didn't figure out how to do it. It was inherent in the questions I was asking, as if consciousness itself is saying, 'You see, I'm far more clever than you think I am, because you think I'm as clever as you are, and you're not that clever.'"[8]
Another interesting synchronicity is that the acronym of The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul is T.H.O.T.H.S., alluding to the Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art, judgment, and the dead. McCloskey has called the work "Thoth's library."[7]
The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul is composed in what McCloskey calls "Watcher Language."[11] In 2003, the Watcher Language was granted copyright as a graphic language.[12]
His painting Phoenix Arise was the focus of a 2012 TEDx talk that McCloskey presented in Malibu, CA.[13] Images from McCloskey's Codex Tor were featured on the cover and sleeve of Flying Lotus’ 2010 multi-award-winning album Cosmogramma.[1][2][3]
In 2003, McCloskey published the book Tarot ReVisioned through Olandar Press. It serves as an exegesis for his pen-drawn black-and-white interpretation of the Hermetic Tarot. In it, he discusses "paths of initiation, myth of origins and the profound philosophical implications of symbolism, Hermeticism, alchemy and the Grail."[14]
McCloskey has also published Codex Tor I & II (which served as the cover for Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma), Adam Reborn & Eve Restored, and In the Splendor.[15]
Philosophy
McCloskey considers himself a “visual philosopher.”[8]
While speaking on aesthetics, McCloskey remarked, “True beauty is Saturnian… [S]he says, ‘You have earned me. You have not been entitled to me.’ Jupiter might have said, ‘Simply because you’re grand you can have me.’ But Saturn says, ‘No, I remain… the Devil, the Dweller at the Threshold, he who sees all of the weakness of your argument.’ [He] essentially torments you until you become worthy; no one can do it for you. You must become self-redeemed. [A]nd so doing you become honorable. You go from being a soldier—a coward of authority—to becoming a Grail Knight, worthy of great beauty because you honor not what you have taken but what you can finally see.”[7]
On the subject of consciousness, McCloskey has said, "The knowledge of the father is I think therefore I am, and the knowledge of the mother is I love therefore I am… That is the right angle of the human heart: When I think, I think I am not you. When I love, I know we are one."[9]
Of the human condition, McCloskey states, “Only when you return to what is intimate in your human heart can you find the truth that you are not alone, but that you are in all ages simultaneously, and you are woven of the entire whole and holy story of being human.”[8]
Personal life
McCloskey lives in Malibu, CA with his wife Carla. They host public events at their home including workshops, film screenings, and internationally recognized speakers. During these events, McCloskey gives personal tours of The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul.[16][17]
For the past 40 years, the McCloskeys have hosted weekly discussion groups at their home, with topics ranging from Theosophy to Jungian psychology.[8][16]
In 2018, McCloskey's home was threatened during the Woolsey Fire. With the help of fellow soap opera star A Martinez, McCloskey was able to defend his home from destruction by the fire.[18]
Alchemy is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD. Greek-speaking alchemists often referred to their craft as "the Art" (τέχνη) or "Knowledge" (ἐπιστήμη), and it was often characterised as mystic (μυστική), sacred (ἱɛρά), or divine (θɛíα).
Hermes Trismegistus is a legendary Hellenistic period figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. He is the purported author of the Hermetica, a widely diverse series of ancient and medieval pseudepigraphica that laid the basis of various philosophical systems known as Hermeticism.
Thoth is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Ma'at. He was the god of the Moon, wisdom, knowledge, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art and judgment.
Nut, also known by various other transcriptions, is the goddess of the sky, stars, cosmos, mothers, astronomy, and the universe in the ancient Egyptian religion. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the Earth, or as a cow. She was depicted wearing the water-pot sign (nw) that identifies her.
The Major Arcana are the named cards in a cartomantic tarot pack. There are usually 22 such cards in a standard 78-card pack, typically numbered from 0 to 21. Although the cards correspond to the trump cards of a pack used for playing tarot card game, the term 'Major Arcana' is rarely used by players and is typically associated exclusively with use for divination by occultists.
The Rider–Waite Tarot is a widely popular deck for tarot card reading, first published by the Rider Company in 1909, based on the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Also known as the Waite–Smith, Rider–Waite–Smith, or Rider Tarot, the deck has been published in numerous editions and inspired a wide array of variants and imitations. Estimates suggest over 100 million copies of the deck circulate across over 20 countries.
Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system encompasses a wide range of esoteric knowledge, including aspects of alchemy, astrology, and theurgy, and has significantly influenced various mystical and occult traditions throughout history. The writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, often referred to as the Hermetica, were produced over a period spanning many centuries and may be very different in content and scope.
Thoth Tarot is an esoteric tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth, and also wrote a 1944 book of that title intended for use with the deck.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to spirituality:
Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse, whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order.
Robert Hudson Walker Jr. was an American actor who appeared in films including Easy Rider (1969) and was a familiar presence on television in the 1960s and early 1970s. He became less active in later decades.
Paul Foster Case was an American occultist, Freemason, and writer of books on occult tarot and Qabalah. Perhaps his greatest contributions to the field of occultism were the lessons he wrote for associate members of Builders of the Adytum or B.O.T.A. The knowledge lectures given to initiated members of the chapters of the B.O.T.A. were equally profound, although the limited distribution has made them less well known.
Undines are a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Danish Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 "The Little Mermaid" and the 1811 novella Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.
Leigh Taylor-Young is an American former actress who has appeared on stage, screen, podcast, radio, and television. Her best-known films include I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Horsemen (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Soylent Green (1973), and Jagged Edge (1985). She won an Emmy for her role on the hit television series Picket Fences.
In ceremonial magic, a magical formula or a word of power is a word that is believed to have specific supernatural effects. They are words whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using other forms of speech or writing. It is a concise means to communicate very abstract information through the medium of a word or phrase.
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Masonic organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.
The suit of wands is one of four suits in tarot, collectively known as the Minor Arcana. Like the other tarot suits, the suit of wands contains fourteen cards: ace (one), two through ten, page and knight, queen and king. When Tarot cards are to play Tarot card games, where wands corresponds to the suit of batons. Tarot cards came to be utilized for divinatory purposes by esotericists such as Eliphas Levi and were regularized into the divinatory form most known today by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rider–Waite Tarot, created by a Golden Dawn member.
Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck consists of 78 cards, which can be split into two groups, the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. French-suited playing cards can also be used; as can any card system with suits assigned to identifiable elements.
Cosmogramma is the third studio album by American music producer Steven Ellison as Flying Lotus, released by Warp Records on May 3, 2010.
Until the Quiet Comes is the fourth studio album by American electronic music producer Flying Lotus, released on September 26, 2012 by Warp Records. Flying Lotus was inspired to create the album by psychedelic music, African percussion, and concepts of the human subconscious and dream world. He recorded for two years at his home in Los Angeles, experimenting with different mixing techniques and dynamics while primarily using an Ableton Live sequencer along with other instruments and software. The producer was accompanied on certain songs by guest vocalists, including Erykah Badu, Thom Yorke, and Laura Darlington. The album also continued his creative partnership with bassist Thundercat, who had appeared on Flying Lotus' 2010 record Cosmogramma.
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