A couple of updates! First, if you enjoy this blog you should check out this great conversation I had with the folks over at Talk Gnosis about Western esotericism, liberation theology, and social justice, and, if you like what you hear, consider getting a copy of my book, which host Jonathan Stewart calls “probably the most important book on esotericism at least in this decade.”
Thanks to Jonathan and Tony Silvia for having me as a guest, and to Jonathan for the exceptional blurb! Watch below:
Second, for those of you who are especially interested in how occultism might intersect with building a popular movement for social justice in the United States, I’ve started a new Substack newsletter on occultism, esotericism, and alternative religions in the American mental terrain, and what they might mean for movement-building: The Baphometic Left. This newsletter features semi-regular, informal updates on occultism and politics in American culture, reflections on the meaning of the occult revival from the perspective of working daily in contemporary movements for social change, and liberative interpretations of weird religious beliefs and American occulture.
The newsletter differs from this blog in a few respects. Primarily, the newsletter will concentrate entirely on what the meaning and significance of the present-day occult revival might be for building social justice movements in the contemporary United States. This means it engages a lot more with popular culture and popular occultism (in other words, it’s already a lot witchier than this blog). It has to, because the point is to understand what we need to know about these religious and spiritual movements if we want to organize a broad social movement for justice in this country.
This blog will remain the place where I’ll put longer-form writing that doesn’t appear anywhere else, on variously obscure occult topics that don’t necessarily intersect with politics and social justice movements. If the posts on here are increasingly obscure and bizarre, don’t blame me. Subscribe to the newsletter for my clearer and more topical writing.