New podcast. Available from the usual places. Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, editors of a forthcoming collection of Aleister Crowley's magical writings, discuss the true meaning of Crowley's legacy and thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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0:59
A longing for transcendence with a certain style
A collection of fictional writings that break the traditional rules of storytelling leads us into a consideration of how writing might be used for magical purposes.The book, this episode, is: John Foxx, The Quiet Man: Short Stories by John Foxx (London: Rocket 88 Books, 2020).See also: Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures (Winchester, UK: Zero Books, 2014).Listen to John Foxx reading his story “The Marvellous Notebook” (among others) at: https://tinyurl.com/yr46a2y6 (bandcamp.com, accessed January 2025).To support the podcast, buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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34:25
Suddenly psychosis isn't so psychotic
We consider in detail some intriguing and sometimes startling true cases, exploring a text that offers frank and practical guidance to psychotherapists on how they should respond when paranormal forms of communication occur within therapy.The book, this episode, is: The Psychic Thread: Paranormal and Transpersonal Aspects of Psychotherapy, by Elizabeth E. Mintz, in consultation with Gertrude Raffel Schmeidler (New York: Human Sciences Press, 1983).To support the podcast, buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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39:57
Glimmers from the matrix of ideas
The seeds of chaos magic, uncovered in the unlikely context of a 1975 children’s book on chance and probability. We take a nostalgic romp through some of the fascinations and shortcomings of a scientistic take on magic, which seems to have formed a significant current in the 70s zeitgeist.Our text for this episode is Chance, Luck & Destiny, by Peter Dickinson (London: Victor Gollancz, 1975).For more about the book and Dickinson’s account of its origin, see https://tinyurl.com/yhks8vxe (peterdickinson.com). Accessed October, 2024. On the same website are details of all Dickinson’s books, including The Changes trilogy (The Devil’s Children, Heartsease, and The Weathermonger).Support the podcast by joining my Patreon at: https://patreon.com/oeith. Buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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35:51
Ghosts haunt places but poltergeists people
An obscure and possibly much underrated poltergeist case, from 1938, is our springboard into issues concerning how a psychoanalytical approach to paranormal investigation radically recontextualises the notion of “faked” versus “genuine” psychical phenomena.The text under discussion is On the Trail of the Poltergeist, by Nandor Fodor (New York, NY: Citadel, 1958).For more about Fodor’s life and work, see the short biography provided at: survivalafterdeath.info, https://tinyurl.com/mpfrs32k. Accessed September, 2024. For more on the Thornton Heath poltergeist case, see: Kate Summerscale (2020), The housewife, the ghost hunter and the poltergeist, https://tinyurl.com/2pceja3c (theguardian.com). Accessed September, 2024.Support the podcast by joining my Patreon at: https://patreon.com/oeith. Buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The departure point for each episode is an occult-themed book so obscure that not only is it our hope you've never read it, but that you've never even heard of it, and you never would've, without deciding to tune in and join us today. Welcome! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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