Public school teacher, indie scholar. Esotericism (Renaissance Magic/Alchemy/Kabbalah) in spaces between scholarship and practitioner. Role of play in learning.
This might be how I'll get the book started: "It has often been remarked that there is something cultic about Philip K. Dick's fandom."
I want to talk about how Dick modeled ways of doing religious studies with fandom.
Aug 6, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
King Crimson's last tour? Pretty cool that Zappa Band is opening.
Here is a good review of the show. musicfestnews.com/2021/07/king-c…
Nov 19, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Adamson @HistPhilosophy got into al-Razi's theory of alchemy, which is you take a valueless substance like lead, break it down into what Razi calls "dust" and then reconstitute it as a valuable substance like gold. This is an important context for Newman's reading of Newton.
According to Adamson al-Razi thought that this kind of alchemical deconstruction could give us empirical confirmation of atomism. Newman thinks that Newton was trying to do "nuclear physics" using alchemy, but just couldn't figure out how to cut deep enough with tech of his day.
Nov 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Since @mitdasein asked, a thread on esotericism and the occult (magic, alchemy, kabbalah, astrology, theosophy, tarot, etc) in video games.
One of my earliest deep dives into a game was Below the Root, a fantasy novel adaptation with a spirituality system where you gain power by visiting shrines and talking to animals. I was haunted by it freezing when you ran out of magical power, saying I have nothing more to give.
