Weird Studies

It would be wrong to describe Arthur Machen's Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature (1902) as a work of nonfiction, since the book features a narrative frame that is as moody and irreal as the best tales penned by this luminary of weird fiction. But if the eccentric recluse at the centre Hieroglyphics is a fictional philosopher, he is one who, in Phil and JF's opinion, rivals most aesthetic thinkers in the history of philosophy. The significance of this text lies in its willingness to disclose a function of art that few before Machen had dared to touch, namely its capacity to generate ecstasy by confronting us with the mystery that beats the heart of existence. In this episode, your hosts discuss a work which, in their opinion, comes as close to scripture as the nonexistent field of Weird Studies is likely to get. REFERENCES Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer Weird Studies, Episode 3 on the White People J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Weird Studies, Episode 63 on Colin Wilson’s 'The Occult' William Shakespeare, Hamlet Indra’s Net, philosophical concept James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880 – 1939 Weird Studies, Episode 5 on Lisa Ruddick's 'When Nothing is Cool' Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism Rudolph Otto, German theologian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The German polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the founding figures of what we now call weird literature. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss one of his most memorable tales, "Der Sandmann." Originally published in 1816, it is the story of a young German student whose fate is sealed by a terrifying encounter with the eponymous figure during his youth. The story packs several tropes that would later become staples of the weird: the protean monster, the double, the automaton... Your hosts discuss how Hoffmann uses these tropes without letting any of them coalesce into a stable thing in the reader's mind, thereby effecting a slowbuild of ambiguity upon ambiguity that culminates in a true paroxysm of dread. The argument is made that Freud does essentially the same thing in his famous essay "The Uncanny," wherein Hoffmann's story plays an important role. REFERENCES E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Sandman Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto Edgar Allan Poe, American writer Sunn o))), American metal band La Monte Young,, American composer Stuart Davis, Aliens and Artists Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny Neil Gaiman, Mr. Punch Jaques Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann Frank Zappa, American musician Ernst Jentsch,, German psychiatrist E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr Weird Studies, episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its release in 1973, Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man has exerted a profound influence on the development of horror cinema, a rich vein of folk music, and the modern pagan revival more generally. Anthony Shaffer's ingenious screenplay gives us a thrilling yarn that is also a meditation on the nature of religious belief and practice. Just in time for Halloween, Phil and JF discuss the philosophical ideas that undergird this folk horror classic, focusing on the perennial role of sacrifice in religious thought. REFERENCES Robin Hardy (director), The Wicker Man Stanley Kubrick (director), The Shining Terence Fisher (director), The Devil Rides Out Piers Haggard (director), Blood on Satan’s Claw John Boorman (director), Deliverance Rob Young, Electric Eden Gerald Gardner, English wiccan Margaret Murray, English anthropologist Cecil Sharp, English ethnomusicologist Phil Ford, "Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica" Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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