An Interview With David Chaim Smith

This week, The Occult Library is delighted to present an interview with esotericist, writer, visual artist David Chaim Smith.

David Chaim Smith was born in 1964 in Queens, New York. His early career was as a visual artist throughout the 1980s. In 1990 he began an immersion into the root sources of Alchemy and the hermetic and Hebrew traditions of the kabbalah. In 1996 he abandoned visual art for a total dedication to spiritual practice, from which came a unique blend of practical mysticism and creative innovation. This blend coalesced while working with an obscure thirteenth-century text called “The Fountain of Wisdom,” which he mapped out diagrammatically in notebooks during his ten-year hiatus from visual art. The resulting symbol vocabulary served as the basis for his 2006 return to art, generating the content for several books.

Without further adieu, we welcome David Chaim Smith.

OL: David, thank you for taking the time to speak with The Occult Library today. We are grateful for your early encouragement, as well as the use of your artwork on our page. David, your work is multifaceted in its approach to esotericism. You are at once an esotericist, scholar, a writer, and a visual artist. What is the thread that ties these worlds together, and brings them into harmony

DCS: Thank you as well! The bond that ties those elements together is my life as a retreatant practitioner. To me, a truly dedicated practitioner does not hold other interests, responsibilities, or concerns. Exclusive focus on the work is an all or nothing deal. The work is done for no reason other than its own inherent goodness, because spending my life any other way just seems crazy. The work is an expression of an all-encompassing quest for the essence of all meaning. This is a question about reality itself, which can’t be conceptually defined. What is it? What is its meaning? This question is not a logical or reasonable thing to ask, because there is no conceptual answer. The work is my answer to the question. It isn’t done to try to benefit myself or others, although those benefits do come and are certainly most welcome byproducts. This is the way that my mind is oriented. I believe I was born to do this work, and it wasn’t a personal choice. The work makes me and not the other way around.

OL: With this in mind, could you speak more on the long-term hiatus which you took from your visual art work? How important was this contemplative hiatus for conceiving the graphic maps and cartographies which mark your work so profoundly?

DCS: When I was an artist before 1996 something essential was missing. It felt somewhat dead. I see this lack of deep purpose in most art that I encounter. When I became sufficiently disgusted with art and the art world I just stopped making art to do something better. I dedicated the next 10 years to the study and practice of esoteric disciplines. This training period was done in a variety of contexts, with several teachers. When I started making visual work again in 2006, it was out of necessity. I needed diagrams to use for my practice. I was doing complex Kabbalistic meditaions that utilize graphic aids called shivitis and illanot, and the ones that were avilable didn’t have what I needed. The practice images that I made gradually grew into little universes, and opened up into dreamlike scenarios. Once this happened, they continued functioning as practice diagrams. I never saw any work do that before. I never saw technical esoterica veer into visionary realms. These rare elements are usually kept separate, with very few exceptions. So, I started to serve this thing that was happening. It didnt take long to realize that this was my role and function as a human being. I didn’t have to think about it. At some point around 2007 it was obvious that I had to serve this work. It had to be brought out and explored, and there was only me to do that.

OL: David, you have experience self-publishing your work, but you have also worked closely with houses like Fulgur Press. In the context of your written projects, how do you come to decide which publishing route is best suited for you?

DCS: I try to do the best I can as circumstances arise, but often fail. I ended up with Fulgur and Inner Traditions because I thought those decisions were right at the time. Fulgur made some nice books, and Inner traditions did not. I am far better off making books with my wife Rachel. She was an art director in the publishing industry for 30 years and really knows what she is doing. In fact, she does everything except write and draw the material. Without her there would be no books like the ones we do. I certainly could not do it alone.

OL: Your latest work, a series entitled Psycho-Aetheric Alchemy, is built on the foundations which you established in your Lightning Flash of Alef body of work. During the creation & publication of the latter works, did you envision that a new series would be spurned? In any case, what were some challenges and rewards which you experienced?

DCS: The content is my practice, as it always is. I express what my internal work is doing at any given time, that’s all. The books are not “about” a subject, they are a direct expression of a subject. This is why contemplating the books is a viable spiritual practice in its own right, if it is done in the right way. The books are not oriented to providing information about the path or its practices, they are practices themselves. Many people can’t use that, but those who can will see it as rare. If you can  use the books like this they are approached the same way that one approaches rituals, meditations, or prayers. That’s the main intention. Whatever comes out seems to form itself.

OL: David, you are rather prolific, and often your work utilizes established mystical languages. For the seeker who wishes to engage your work, is there a particular starting point which you would encourage?

DCS: I can’t say that there is any particular place to start in my material. It isn’t an organized conceptual plan. I just work out my practice and put it out there. Those who care to join it are welcome. They can come in anywhere. I really don’t know how someone could adapt to my work. I don’t think about it. I just do the best job I can and sent it out.

OL: Your teaching outlet features a series of video courses and lectures. These are particularly special for dedicated students, and widen the context of your work. How did you come to offer such courses, and how have students responded to the material?

DCS: I was taught through oral traditions, and I am just doing what my teachers did. It is a spontaneous improvised way to work. I usually have diagams to teach from, but the stream of verbal discourse is unplanned. It is just like making a book, except it’s in the air rather than on a page.

OL: Are there any projects on the near – or far – horizon which readers can look forward to in the area of courses, publications, or artworks?

DCS: I have a zoom course planned for the summer of 2024, and I am always writing and drawing. There are 2 books gestating in the hopper, but I want to sit on them after just releasing the 7 paperbacks. I can’t say what will happen, but something will around june. The work will make it clear what is needed when its time. It’s the boss, not me.

OL: David, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, and to explore your work and outlooks.

DCS: Thank you!

 David Chaim Smith’s work may be found via:

www.thethirtytwokeys.com