She Continues
It is a commonplace that ancient Egyptian religion and magic—and the Egyptians themselves—were “obsessed” with death and the afterlife. After all, we have all these mummies and tombs and Books about the Dead and Osiris being reborn and so on. However, while we like to distinguish the physical world from the spirit world and often […] … Continue reading…Shadow Magic
And yet, as I reflect upon these topics, I feel like conceiving of these engagements with the Unconscious-Dreaming-Spirit World from a theatrical or aesthetic perspective misses the mark. Art is the road, or a royal on-ramp. In treating enchantment and magic as “aesthetic” enterprises, I wonder how much that keeps that which is imagined or […] … Continue reading…Living Enchantment
I’m going to gesture to enchanters—those who weave enchantment and faërien dramas—as tricksters and how tricksters game myths and create from myths. I’m going to gesture to how enchanters-as-tricksters use role-shifting and code-switching to out-maneuver opponents and problem situations. And I’m going to gesture to using those skills for culture jamming and magic. But I […] … Continue reading…Enchanting Tricksters
Every man and every woman is a star. —The Book of the Law Something happened on the day he died Spirit rose a metre then stepped aside Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried (I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar) —David Bowie, “Blackstar” Sovereignty has been a topic I’ve seen mentioned quite often […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 3: Every Person a Star
It’s interesting to note how quickly the European elite moved to demonize Machiavelli, mostly because he exposed the hypocrisy of political and ecclesiastical power, its violence and deceit. Magicians and witches may have reputations as charlatans, but Machiavelli showed how the same was true of kings and popes. As Alessandra Petrina argues, Machiavelli may have […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 2: Shakespeare & Gaming Kingship
At the suggestion of someone whose opinion I’ve come to value, I started reading Peter Grey’s Lucifer: Princeps, and the book is less about “Lucifer” as a definite presence and more about sovereignty, the Dead, and how we enchant our selves and worlds. Early in the book, Grey points to models of sacred kingship–& that […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 1: Lucifer, Elizabeth, Machiavelli
I’m going to talk about corrupting sorcery here, I suppose. I really don’t want to use terms like black magic or nigromancy or anything like that because there’s too much uncritical cultural baggage there. And I’m going to get at this through the Scottish Play. In Macbeth, the play mediates and frames how we experience […] … Continue reading…Weird Sisters, Political Theater