Why Rosaleen Norton, ‘the witch of Kings Cross’, was a groundbreaking bohemian

Rosaleen Norton, or “the witch of Kings Cross”, is finally receiving the attention she deserves.

Born in Dunedin in 1917, emigrating with her family to Sydney in 1925, and dying in 1979, Norton was a trailblazing woman and under-appreciated cultural touchstone of 20th century Australia.

A self-proclaimed witch, Norton experienced childhood visions. From around the age of 23, she practised trance magic and, later, sex magic, in various flats and squats in inner-city Sydney.

Trance magic involved Norton meditating (sometimes with the assistance of various substances, ingested and/or inhaled) and raising her consciousness. The aim was to transcend her physical body and conscious mind to experience higher forms of existence.

Sex magic was…