Episode 66: On Diviner's Time

Episode 66: On Diviner's Time

Author: SpectreVision Radio February 19, 2020 Duration: 1:32:19
In the paper discussed in this episode, Phil Ford coins the term "diviner's time" to denote a particular feeling that will be familiar to anyone who has engaged in divinatory or magical practice, namely the feeling that it all means something, that the universe, with all its chaos and randomness, nevertheless contains -- or is itself -- a kind of music. This episode goes deep down the rabbit hole as Phil and JF try to wrap their heads around conceptions of time, causality, and meaning that are very different from our usual understanding of those terms. REFERENCES Phil Ford, "Diviner’s Time" (Patreon exclusive) Karl Pfeifer (director), Hellier Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande Jung, "On Synchronicity" Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle Bruno Latour, An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns Grant Morrison on chaos magic, the occult, and sigil creation Austin Osman Spare's sigil theory Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners William James's essays in psychical research: bibliography Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Toronto World Youth Day 2002 Crowley, Magick Without Tears Leibniz's concept of pre-established harmony Matthew Segall on the Greek concepts of time, "Minding Time: Chronos, Kairos and Aion in an Archetypal Cosmos" Richard Lester (director), Hard Day's Night Freud, "The Uncanny" Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the heart of Weird Studies, a podcast from SpectreVision Radio, you’ll find long-form conversations between Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel. Their discussions aren’t simple reviews or straightforward analyses; instead, they wander through the tangled undergrowth where art and philosophy meet, giving generous time to concepts that resist easy understanding and to creative works that fracture our ordinary sense of the world. This podcast deliberately lingers in that ambiguous space, treating the “weird” not as a genre but as a particular mode of experience-one that reveals the cracks in what we comfortably assume is real. Each episode feels like joining a deep, meandering dialogue between two friends who are both deeply knowledgeable and endlessly curious, covering a vast terrain that includes literature, film, music, and esoteric thought. It’s a show for anyone who suspects that the most profound truths are often found in the shadows, the anomalies, and the strangely beautiful. As part of the SpectreVision Radio network, which specializes in content that explores the uncanny edges of creativity, Weird Studies builds a unique community of listeners who are eager to think differently. You won’t find pat answers here, but you will encounter compelling questions and a shared sense of exploration that makes each installment a distinctive journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 230

Weird Studies
Podcast Episodes
Halloween Special: A Reading of Arthur Machen's "The White People" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:39:55
Originally released in 2018 but remixed for your listening pleasure, here's Phil reading Arthur Machen's classic weird tale, "The White People." Happy Halloween! Machen's "The White People" was discussed all the way back…
Episode 200 – On 'The Call of Cthulhu' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:34
For their 200th episode, JF and Phil turn their attention to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story foundational not only to modern horror fiction but to the very idea of the Weird. In revisiting this tale of f…
Episode 199 – On Michael Jackson, with Shannon Taggart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:25
Photographer and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart joins JF and Phil to explore the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson. One of the most brilliant and successful musicians of the modern era, Jackson was also a limina…
Episode 197 - Sounding the Otherworld: On Bryn Chainey's 'Rabbit Trap' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:31
In a rare surfacing in the contemporary world, JF and Phil discuss a film that has just been released. Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap is psychological horror in the tradition of Repulsion, Jacob’s Ladder, and Angel Heart. Bu…
Weird Studies Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:00
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Mid-Break Bonus: On Trust [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:06
We're breaking up our late-summer pause with an audio extra originally recorded for our Patreon supporters. This episode also includes an essay JF wrote on the philosophy of Henri Bergson. A whole course on Bergson's phi…
Episode 196 – Lost and Never Found: On 'The Blair Witch Project' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:13
Of all the flavors of horror, few are as dreadful as that of being lost in the wilderness. In this episode, JF and Phil revisit The Blair Witch Project, the classic 1999 found-footage film that inspired a thousand imitat…