Some of my readers may be surprised that with everything else happening in the world, I’m returning to the ongoing discussion of Situationism, that bizarre mixed breed that came about when European artists who hadn’t lost their creative gonads ended up digging their way into a pen full of Marxists in heat. Still, there’s a…
Tag: magic
The Ritual of High Magic: Chapter 1
With this post we continue a monthly chapter-by-chapter discussion of The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi, the book that launched the modern magical revival. Here and in the months ahead we’re plunging into the white-hot fires of creation where modern magic was born. If you’re just joining us now, I recommend…
The Nature of Enchantment
Back in the autumn of 2020, as the Covid virus and the US presidential election monopolized headlines across the corporate media, I made a post here talking about Max Weber’s famous claim that “the disenchantment of the world” was among the core features of modernity, and the then-recent challenge leveled against that claim by Jason…
The Way of Participation: A Response to Paul Kingsnorth
A fair number of my readers also follow the writings of the English writer Paul Kingsnorth, who writes from time to time (as of course I also do) on the future of industrial society. Thus it came as no great surprise a little while back when several readers asked me to comment on his recent…
A Few Notes on Synchronicity
Back in July, when I realized there were five Wednesdays on that page of the calendar and I didn’t have anything lined up for the fifth, I asked my readers what they wanted to hear about. The resulting discussion saw quite a few possibilities bruited about, and so I decided to devote an upcoming post…
The Flight To The Fringes, And What Waits There
Several of my readers alerted me over the last week to an online essay by Christian writer Rod Dreher on the rising popularity of malevolent magic and demonolatry (the worship of malign spirits) on the leftward end of the US political scene. For so loaded a topic, Dreher’s essay is thoughtful and admirably measured; what’s…