Category: political theology

Witches’ Mirror

In reading Alkistis Dimech and Peter Grey’s The Brazen Vessel, I have found myself venturing off onto adjacent tracks from where they’ve been going in the collection. One section that especially caught my attention came in “The witches’ dance” where they write of the “contrariwise” movement of many pre-modern dances, which they associate with the […] … Continue reading…Witches’ Mirror

Shadow Magic

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

Jail-breaking Machiavelli 2: Shakespeare & Gaming Kingship

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

[NB: Notes on Eliade, Politics, Sacred & Profane]

Sundry notions below– I read Mircea Eliade recently—Myths, Dreams, & Mysteries and The Sacred & The Profane. I feel Eliade offers interesting notions that need grounding in political realities. Indeed, the kinds of arguments that Eliade makes about sacralization and ritual reflect what many others make, all the while folks claiming that, because their religions […] … Continue reading…[NB: Notes on Eliade, Politics, Sacred & Profane]

My Polytheism

My polytheism recognizes that what we know of the past is grounded in the political—from what was allowed to survive for centuries (or millennia), to how it was recorded (audience, purpose, occasion), to how it has been adapted and historicized and represented today, to how I choose to use it. My polytheism recognizes that the past, that religion, that the present, that texts are always rhetorical—perhaps especially the inspired, channeled, or “spiritual” ones. … Continue reading…My Polytheism