dark art
Sinister occult practice
Dark art refers to practices considered sinister, forbidden, or morally corrupt—originally magic associated with evil forces: necromancy and other dark arts.
The phrase extends to any skill or technique viewed as mysterious, manipulative, or ethically questionable: the dark arts of political spin, SEO remains a dark art to most people.
Often plural.
- witchcraftPractice of supernatural magic
- occultConcealed from view
- black magicEvil supernatural practice
- alchemyMystical metal transformation
- sorceryPractice of dark magic
spell casting · enchantment · necromancy · hex · evil eye · mysticism · Mephistopheles · pact with the devil · incantation · curse · blood ritual · conjuring · demonology · black mass · Faustian bargain · chiaroscuro · divination · voodoo doll
- witchcraftwitch, spell, spellwork, witches, spells
- GothJoy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, The Damned, Robert Smith
- emotional art
- grotesquegrotesquerie, grotesque, grotesquery, deformity, freaks
- mysterious artsurrealism, symbolism, encoded messages, dreamscapes, double images
- transgressive artboundary pushing, Dadaism, obscenity, Duchamp, readymades
dark artwhite magic
Benevolent supernatural practice
light magic · light · theurgy · miracle · divine intervention
dark arthealing magic
Supernatural ability mending wounds
healing spells · healing spell · blessing · benediction · purification ritual
dark, art, darken, darkly, darkness, darker, darkest, arts, artful