Weird Studies

This second instalment in our series on the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck features the Empress. As Aleister Crowley writes in The Book of Thoth, this card is probably the most difficult to decipher, since it is inherently "omniform," changing shapes continuously. In a sense, the Empress is variation itself. Her card becomes the occasion for a conversation about the less knowable side of reality, the one that tradition associates with the Yin, nature, potential, and -- controversially -- the feminine. This in turn leads to a discussion of white versus black magic, and how the two may not always be as diametrically opposed as we might believe. REFERENCES P.D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism Weird Studies episode 82 on the I Ching Patrick Harper, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Simon Magus, religious figure Henri Gamache, The Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses Solomon grimoires Lionel Snell/Ramsay Dukes, English magician Weird Studies episode 3 on Arthur Machen's "The White People" Joséphin Péladan, French magician Susanna Clarke Piranesi Shawshank Redemption, film Franz Liszt, musician Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delve into the surreal neo-noir film 'Lost Highway' by David Lynch, exploring intricate plot twists, character transformations, and eerie symbolism. Analyze the psychological depth of a mysterious encounter, the villainous laugh, and the symbolic visuals in the film. Unravel the enigmatic narrative, the blurred lines between reality and dream, and explore the formal dimension of art and personal problem solving.

The Book of Changes, or I Ching, is more than an ancient text. It's a metaphysical guide, a fun game, and -- to your hosts at least -- a lifelong, steadfast friend. The I Ching has come up more than once on the show, and now is the time for JF and Phil to face it head on, discussing the role it has played in their lives while delving into some of its mysteries. REFERENCES I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes translation I Ching, Stephen Karcher translation Game of Thrones, HBO series George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire George R. R. Martin, “Sandkings” in: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H. P. Lovecraft, American writer Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Aleister Crowley, “777” Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Joel Biroco, Calling Crane in the Shade (website) Philip K. Dick, American novelist Lionel Snell, a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British occultist Richard Rutt, _Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary _ Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Redmond and Hon, Teaching the I Ching Weird Studies, episode 72, On the castrati Weird Studies, episode 77, On the fool tarot card Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot The Usual Suspects (movie) Colin Wilson, The Occult Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The British writer M. John Harrison is responsible for some of the most significant incursions of the Weird into the literary imagination of the last several decades. His 1992 novel The Course of the Heart is a masterful exercise in erasing whatever boundary you care to mention, from the one between reality and mind to the one between love and horror. Recounting the lives of three friends as they play out the fateful aftermath of a magical operation that went horribly wrong, Harrison's novel gives Phil and JF the chance to talk contemporary literature, metaphysics, Gnosticism, zones (see episodes 13 & 14), myth, transcendence, history, and arachnology. Together, they weave a fragile web of ideas centered on that imperceptible something that forever trembles at the edge of our perception, beckoning us to step into its world, and out of ours. REFERENCES M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart M. John Harrison, "The Great God Pan" Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan Philip K. Dick, Ubik Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Weird Studies, Episode 14 on Stalker Jonathan Carrol, American novelist Robert Aickman, British writer Magic Realism, literary genre Phil Ford, “An Essay on Fortuna, parts 1 and 2,” Weird Studies Patreon John Crowley, Ægypt Jorge Borges," The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" Strange Horizons, Interview with M. John Harrison M. John Harrison on worldbuilding Thomas Ligotti, American horror writer Weird Studies subreddit Albert Camus, French philosopher David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous Spiders’ nervous systems Valentinus, gnostic theologian Simon Magus, religious figure Wiccan goddess and god Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your hosts' exploration of mysticism and vision in pop music continues with two powerful pieces of popular music: Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" from the 2001 album Amnesiac, and Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf's "Ballad of the Sad Young Men," from the 1959 Broadway musical The Nervous Set. Synchronicity rears its head as the dialogue reveals how these two gems, selected by JF and Phil with no expectation that they might form a set, begin to glow when placed side by side, amplifying and focussing each other's eldritch light. This episode touches on Neoplatonic myths of spiritual ascent, African-American spirituals, Plato's realm of Forms, Gnosticism, dream visitations by the dearly departed, the travails of the Beat generation, the objectivity of hope, the implosion of America, and that particularly modern condition of the soul which Phil calls the "Philosopher's Blues." REFERENCES Radiohead, "Pyramid Song" Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf, "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum" Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Plato, Phaedrus Plato, Republic Plato's Unwritten Doctrines The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast, episode 69: "Plutarch's Myths of Cosmic Ascent" William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Pierre Hadot, French philosopher Algis Uzdavynis, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth: From Ancient Egypt to Neoplatonism Charles Taylor, Canadian philosopher Phil Ford, "The Philosopher’s Blues" (Weird Studies Patreon exclusive) Peter Sloterdijk, German philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure, French linguist JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice JF Martel, "Stay With Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the Truth of Extinction" in Canadian Notes & Queries, issue 106: Winter 2020, edited by Sharon English and Patricia Robertson Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker, The Nervous Set, musical Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Jay Landesman, American publisher and writer Marshall McLuhan, "The Psychopathology of 'Time & Life'" Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man William Butler Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium" Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men Mike Duncan (Twitter) Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Weird Studies, an improvised analysis of two pop songs -- Nina Simone's version of James Shelton's "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's visionary "Underwater" -- becomes the occasion for a deep dive to the weird wellspring of artistic creation. In trying to understand these songs and why they love them so much, your hosts touch on themes such as necromancy, decadence, liebestod, visionary experience, the Muslim image of paradise, the necessity of rifts, Norman Mailer's concept of "dream life," and the magical operation that is sampling. Header image: Boris Kasimov, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES James Shelton, "Lilac Wine" Nina Simone, "Lilac Wine" from the album WIld is the Wind (1966) Ghostface Killah, "Underwater, from the album Fishscale (2006) MF Doom, "Orange Blossoms," from the album Special Herbs, Volume 4, 5 & 6 Richard Strauss, [Salome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome(opera))_ Weird Studies, episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch C. G. Jung's practice of active imagination JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Paul Horn, Visions Alexander Mackendrick (dir.), The Sweet Smell of Success Les Baxter, American composer Les Baxter, "Papagayo" Debussy, [Nocturnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes(Debussy))_ Rebecca Leydon, music scholar Weird Studies episodes 73 and 74, on C. G. Jung's aesthetic vision Alexander Courage, Theme from Star Trek ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket" James Joyce, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the time The Mothman Prophecies' was released in 1975, and again when he penned an afterword for the 2001 edition, John Keel appeared to have made up his mind about the "ultraterrestrials" that he had tracked and hunted for most of his adult life. They were unconcerned about the welfare of the people whose lives they threw into disarray, he said. They were liars, cheats, and frauds who refused to play fair. They saw good and evil as synonymous and they were dangerous. Like many other explorers of reality's uncharted waters, John Keel returned to port knowing less than he did (or thought he did) when he set out. And this led him to ponder the possibility that only thing to know about such matters is that there is nothing to know -- that the universal mind, as Charles Fort had suggested before him, was insane. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil share their thoughts on The Mothman Prophecies, focusing less on the creatures and events that haunted Point Pleasant in 1966-67 than on how these things affected the brilliant writer who was chosen to be their baffled chronicler. REFERENCES John A. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Stephanie Quick's blog Weird Studies talks to Jeffrey J. Kripal: episode 39 and episode 45 H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Neil Gaiman, American Gods Jeffrey J. Kripal, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal David Lynch's Twin Peaks David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Bob Lazar, American engineer (?) William James, American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"What a fool believes he sees, no wise man can reason away." This line from a Doobie Brothers song is probably one of the most profound in the history of rock-'n'-roll. It is profound for all the reasons (or unreasons) explored in this discussion, which lasers in on just one of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck, that of the Fool. The Fool is integral to the world, yet stands outside it. The Fool is an idiot but also a sage. The Fool does not know; s/he intuits, improvises a path through the brambles of existence. We intend this episode on the Fool to be the first in an occasional series covering all twenty-two of the major trumps of the Tarot of Marseilles. REFERENCES The Fool in the tarot St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Plato, Phaedrus Weird Studies episode 60 - Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot Till Eulenspiegel, folk figure Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears Weird Studies episode 75 - Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey Weird Studies episode 76 - Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics Rider-Waite Tarot Deck Richard Wagner, Parsifal G. W. F. Hegel, German philosopher Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information in Formation George Spencer Brown, Laws of Form Alain Badiou, Deleuze: The Clamor of Being Punch and Judy, British puppet show George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Phil Ford's lecture on Death in Venice (Patreon exclusive!) Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot Hal Ashby (dir.), Being There Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, The Way of the Tarot Frank Pavich (dir.), Jodorowsky’s Dune Tarot of Marseilles André Breton, French surrealist artist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, there are two ways of knowing the world: through analysis or through intuition. Analysis is our normal mode of apprehension. It involves knowing what's out there through the accumulation and comparison of concepts. Intuition is a direct engagement with the absolute, with the world as it exists before we starting tinkering with it conceptually. Bergson believed that Western metaphysics erred from the get-go when it gave in to the all-too-human urge to take the concepts by which we know things for the things themselves. His entire oeuvre was an attempt to snap us out of that spell and plug us directly into the flow of pure duration, that primordial time that is the real Real. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the genius -- and possible limitations -- of his metaphysics. REFERENCES Henri Bergson, "Introduction to Metaphysics" Weird Studies episode 13 -- The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' Bertrand Russel's critique of Bergson's philosophy Dōgen Zenji, Shōbōgenzō Wiliam James, Principles of Psychology Plato, Theaetetus Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Aleister Crowley, British occultist Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Weird Studies episode 8 - On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Bergson, Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the quarantine began, professors around the world raced to put their classes online, and for the Jacobs School's big undergraduate music history course (M402 represent!) Phil created a series of solo podcasts, many of which have been appearing on the Weird Studies Patreon site. Our patrons seem to be enjoying them, so we thought we'd publish the first one ("The Duke of Ellington") as an off-week bonus for all our listeners, partly as a teaser for the subscriber-only stuff on Patreon and partly because Duke Ellington is cool. There's a bit of technical music talk in this, but you can ignore it and still get the main point: Ellington's early short film Symphony in Black and his subsequent orchestral suite Black Brown and Beige represent his lifelong project of using his "beyond category" music to articulate a vision of African American past and future. Please note: this was Phil's first attempt at doing a solo podcast in far-from-ideal circumstances, and the sound is pretty unpolished in places. He got his act together for the later ones; go check them out at https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. REFERENCES Fred Waller (dir.), Symphony In Black - A Rhapsody of Negro Life Duke Ellington, Black, Brown, and Beige Dudley Murphy (dir.), Black and Tan Fantasy John Howland, Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices