Weird Studies

Delving into diviner's time, the podcast explores synchronicities, magical causality, and the feeling that the universe contains a deeper music. Discussions touch on philosophical concepts, sigil theory, chaos magic, and the intricate workings of magic and quantum physics, questioning conventional perceptions of time and causality.

B. W. Powe is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and professor at York University, in Toronto. His work, though it covers an immense range of topics from politics and poetics to magic and technology, proceeds from a mystical apprehension of the universe as the locus of magical operations, the site of experiments in cosmic becoming. In his various books and essays, Powe continues a uniquely Canadian form of the visionary tradition whose luminaries include his former teachers Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil for an exploration of the meaning, potency, and danger of the visionary in art and literature. Header image: Detail of "Green Color" by Gausanchennai (Wikimedia Commons). REFERENCES B. W. Powe's website B. W. Powe, The Charge in the Global Membrane B. W. Powe, Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy Frank Lentricchia, "Last Will and Testament of an Ex-Literary Critic" Lorca's concept of duende Hildegard of Bingen's concept of viriditas Gilles Deleuze, Cinema II Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, "Notes on William Burroughs" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture John Clellon Holmes, beatnik Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic Hildegard von Bingen, Ordo Virtutum Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock" Genesis 32, Jacob and the Angel R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus" Sylvia Plath, "Daddy" Jack Kerouac, American writer Allen Ginsberg, American poet Lionel Snell, British philosopher and magicianSpecial Guest: B. W. Powe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her National Book Award acceptance speech in 2014, Ursula K. Le Guin intimated that, far from being superseded by digital technology, fantastic fiction has never been more important than it is about to become. Soon, she prophesied, "we will need writers who can remember freedom -- poets, visionaries, realists of a larger reality." In this episode, Phil and JF plumb the prophetic depths of one of her most famous books, A Wizard of Earthsea. A discussion of the novel's style and lore leads us into the politics and metaphysics of fantasy as developed by Le Guin and her predecessor, J. R. R. Tolkien. In the end, we realize that fantasy is not the literary ghetto it's been made out to be, but the sine qua non of all fiction. SHOW NOTES John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Heidegger, "On the Origin of the Work of Art" Beowulf, An Anglo-Saxon epic poem Weird Studies, episode 41 -- On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin Weird Studies, episode 61 -- Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' Weird Studies, episode 62: Like 'The Shining,' But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes (translated by J.F.'s mentor, David Staines) Sir Thomas Malory, La Morte d'Arthur Lewis Carroll, British fantasist Ursula K. Le Guin's acceptance speech at the National Book Awards, 2014 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and A Treatise of Human Nature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At its simplest, what Colin Wilson calls Faculty X is "simply that latent power in human beings possess to reach beyond the present." Yet its existence is evinced in all those phenomena that modernity files under "supernatural" or "occult." As difficult to explain as it is impossible to omit from any honest survey of human existence, the occult haunts the modern, not just as a vestige of the past but also, perhaps, as a promise from a time to come. For Wilson, magic isn't the living fossil the arch-rationalists would like it to be, but a "science of the future." Faculty X is an evolutionary power, innately positive, inseparable from the will to live and the unshakeable conviction that, somehow, this world has some real, ineffable meaning. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Wilson's concept of Faculty X as elaborated in his monumental 1971 work, The Occult. REFERENCES Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History Rick and Morty, American sitcom Colin, Wilson, Dreaming to Some Purpose Colin Wilson, The Outsider Gary Lachman, Beyond the Robot Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus David Benatar, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence Making Sense, episode 107: Is Life Actually Worth Living? Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters Emil Cioran, Franco-Romanian essayist Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing, Library of America collection Joe Frazier, American pugilist Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Edouard Schuré, [The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions](Edouard Schuré, _The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religion Weird Studies, episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Thomas Merton, American monk Gary Snyder, American poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1947 British film Black Narcissus is many things: an allegory of the end of empire, a chilling ghost story with nary a spook in sight, a psychological romance, and a meditation on the nature of the divine. Its weirdness is as undeniable as it is difficult to locate. On the surface, the story is straightforward: five nuns are tasked with opening a convent in the former seraglio of a dead potentate in the Himalayas. But on a deeper level, there is a lot more going on, as Phil and JF discover in this conversation touching on the presence of the past, the monstrosity of God, the mystery of the singular, and the eroticism of prayer, among other strangenesses. REFERENCES Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburged (dirs.), Black Narcissus Rumer Godden, author of the original novel Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Tim Ingold, British anthropologist -- lecture: "One World Anthropology" Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist Bruno Latour, On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods Don Barhelme, American short story writer Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's Genjokoan The King and the Beggar Maid Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers “Painting with Light,” featurette on the Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Welsh writer Arthur Machen defined good and evil as "ecstasies." Each one is a "withdrawal from the common life." On this view, any artistic investigation into the nature of good and evil can't remain safely ensconced our modern, common-life construal of thinigs. It must become fantastic and incorporate aspects of "nature" that feel "supernatural" from a modern standpoint. Jonathan Demme's screen adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs is a powerful example. The film oscillates undecidably between a straightforward crime story and a work of supernatural horror. In this episode, JF and Phil cast Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling as figures in a myth that pits the individual against the institution, the singular against the type, and the forces of light against the forces of darkness. REFERENCES Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (original novel) Carl Jung on the doctrine of Privatio Boni Johann Sebastian Bach, The Goldberg Variations William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil" Howard Shore, Canadian composer Arthur Machen, The White People Weird Studies, episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" Machen, The White People Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somebody once said, "No prophet is welcome in his own country." Whether this was true in the case of jazz musician and composer Sun Ra depends on whom you ask. With most, the dictum probably bears out. But there are those who can make out certain patterns in Ra's life and work, patterns that place him among the true mystics and prophets. Of course, these people already believe in mysticism and prophecy, but Sun Ra's total devotion to his myth does not leave much wiggle room on this front. He is asking us to choose: believe or disbelieve. And if you go with disbelief, you'll need to explain the sustained coherence and lucidity of his message, and the transformative power of his music. In this episode, Phil and JF take a look at Sun Ra's unforgettable film Space is the Place, interpreting it as a document in the history of esotericism, using gnostic thought and the tarotology as instruments to bring some of his secrets to light. REFERENCES Sun Ra, Space is the Place Sun Ra: Brother from Another Planet_ Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus and [Kafka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority(philosophy))_ (for the concept of minority) Antoine Faivre, French historian of esotericism Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences Eliphas Lévi, French occultist Edward O. Bland (director) The Cry of Jazz Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal Stanley Kubrick, Dr Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This discussion delves into the profound relationship between walking and thinking, inspired by various philosophical and literary figures. The hosts explore how personal experiences and community insights deepen the understanding of walking's significance. They highlight the contrast between physical movement and theoretical frameworks, while also examining urban exploration's psychological benefits. The conversation draws connections between the ordinary and the uncanny, emphasizing how nature and dreams reveal deeper truths about existence.

What is the role of the critic in the world of art? For some, including lots of critics, the figure exudes an aura of authority: her task is to tell us what this or that work of art means, why it matters, and what we are supposed to think and feel in its presence. Cast in in this mold, the critic is an arbiter, not just of taste, but also of sense and meaning. The American art critic Dave Hickey categorically rejects this interpretation, which he says gives off a mild stench of fascism. For Hickey, the critic plays a weak role, and it's this weakness that makes it essential. In his essay "Air Guitar," published in 1997, Hickey argues that criticism can never really penetrate the mystery of any artwork. Criticism is rather a way to capture the "enigmatic whoosh" of art as one instance of the more pervasive "whoosh" of ordinary experience. So, no act of criticism can ever exhaust an artwork. The critic interprets a singular experience of art into words so that others might be encouraged to have their own, equally singular experiences. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss what criticism has to do with art, life, politics, and ordinary experience. Header image: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600) REFERENCES Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy Plato, Republic Oscar Wilde, "The Decay of Lying" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Dave Hickey, "Buying the World" Clinton e-mails exhibition at the Venice Biennale Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raiders of the Lost Ark is more than a Hollywood movie made in the summer blockbuster mold. As Phil says in his intro to this popping Weird Studies episode, the film is "a Trojan horse of the Weird, easy to let in but once inside, apt to take over." This conversation sees him and JF discuss a movie we dismiss at our own risk, a cinematic masterpiece replete with enigmas that reach back to the foundations of Western civilization. What does the Ark of the Covenant signify? What does it contain? What happens if you open that box of god(s)? And whose god is this, anyway? These are questions that have puzzled theologians and mystics for centuries, and Steven Spielberg's great work asks them anew for an age gone nuclear. Image by arsheffield REFERENCES Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Soderbergh’s version of Raiders with sound and color removed Weird Studies Patreon extra, “Weird Genius” Weird Studies episode 28, “Weird Music Part 2” Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre M. Night Shyamalan, Signs Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon Neil Jordan (dir.), The End of the Affair Weird Studies episode 29, “On Lovecraft” Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism Howard Carter, British archaeologist Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel” Claude Levi Strauss, French anthropologist Clement Greenberg's concept of medium specificity D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation David Mamet, On Directing Film Dumbo (1941 film) H. P. Lovecraft, “The Strange High House in the Mist” Jan Fries, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick Neil Gaiman, American Gods GIF of the soldier moving funny at the end of Raiders Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia” Aaron Leitch, occultist Austin Osman Spare, The Book of Pleasure Gene Wolfe, [Soldier of the Mist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoldieroftheMist)_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices