ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

This painting, created in 1936 by the Norwegian artist Bengt Mölle, is one of the more unusual paintings in the world. The eccentric Mölle sought to capture the image of the Unknown, and usually tried to create under the influence of strong drugs and teosophic rituals. However, in the case of Omega 14, it was based on an intense dream he experienced after having painted and discarded 13 other paintings the same day, going to bed dead tired and quite drunk.

In the dream he saw a great, lifeless plain, and on that plain an object that was both a palace, a being and a symbol while at the same time being neither. The great object loomed over him and the rest of reality, filled with unknown power.

The next morning he created his painting. In a matter of minutes he had drawn the basics and spent the next month perfecting it. During this time he only dreamt about Omega, as he called it, seeking a way into its secrets. Using his painting as a map he eventually found a way into Omega — and vanished forever. The painting was sold from his estate when he was eventually declared dead. The police never found any clue to his disappearance, although they suspected suicide.

Actually, Omega 14 is a manifestation from the deep Universal Subconscious, a kind of entity far beyond our reality that reacted to the artistic probings of Mölle and gradually followed them into the physical world. Unfortunately, the artist's obsession and the unknown entity's inexperience with physical existence trapped it in the painting. As a kind of desperate escape attempt it drew Mölle into itself, into the painting. His Avatar is now trapped inside Omega and the painting, both struggling to get out.

To most viewers Omega 14 is an impressive surrealist painting. It's not that different from some of the more dissolved creations of Dali but quite compelling. The contrast between the dry, parched landscape in the foreground and the huge, bluish-red-green thing in the background is pleasing and suitably disturbing. However, the picture actually changes over time. The dark, dry clouds slowly drift through the painting over the span of weeks, and parts of Omega move when no one is looking. Mages and sensitive beings usually feel the presence of someone or something when near the painting, but it's indistinct and often mistaken for other presences.

To truly come to life the painting needs quintessence. It will siphon it from the surroundings if free quintessence ever becomes available, such as the painting being placed near a Node or touched by a mage. The Avatar of Mölle desperately seeks to escape and unfold again, enmeshed within Omega. One way would be to fuel the painting with enough quintessence. The trapped entity would be able to manifest physically. Unfortunately this would require huge amounts of quintessence, and would cause a major Paradox storm.

Mages can also enter the painting, using Mind or Spirit. Omega seeks contact with the Universal Subconscious again, and might lure others into its world. From the inside the painting is vast, although largely a wasteland of windswept, dry clay and foreboding clouds. The only life is Omega, an immense baroque building-god. It cannot communicate, and the mind of Mölle is long since destroyed. The Avatar may speak with the Avatars of mages, giving them hints, visions or strange coincidences.

Once inside the painting, it is unwise to enter into Omega, since the being cannot resist the lure of absorbing another person in a desperate attempt to find a way into the subconscious (which it thus closes for itself). Just touching the substance of the being is safe, but also floods the mind of the toucher with visions ripped from the universal subconscious, Mölle and countless viewers of the painting. This makes even the most serious Quiet look tame. At the same time, it may give some hints of the true story of Omega.