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
Episode 160: The Way of All Flesh: On John Carpenter's 'The Thing' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:12
As a horror movie, John Carpenter's The Thing seems to have it all: amazing practical effects, body horror, psychological drama, Kurt Russell ... Indeed, there is only one element this movie lacks, and that is anything a…
Episode 159: Three Songs, with Meredith Michael [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:31:04
Every once in a while, JF and Phil like to do a “song swap.” Each picks a song, and the ensuing conversation locates linkages and correspondences where none was previously thought to exist. In this episode, they are join…
Episode 158: As Above, So Below: On Plato's 'Timaeus' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:52
In this episode of Weird Studies, we delve into the mysterious depths of Plato's Timaeus, one of the foundational texts of our civilization. In his characteristic brilliance, Plato blends cosmology and metaphysics, anato…
Episode 154: Into the Night Land, with Erik Davis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:02
William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land is without a doubt one of the weirdest entries in the annals of weird fiction. Set in the earth's distant future, after the sun has gone out and the planet has been cleaved in two by…
Episode 153: Celestial Machine: On the Temperance Card in the Tarot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:34
Even learned commentators on the tarot are likely to point out at the fourteenth major arcana, Temperance, is a bit of a boring card. At least, it comes off as dull until you look at it closely, as JF and Phil do in this…
Summer Bonus #2: Art and AI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:36
In this bonus episode, originally released on July 26th on the Weird Studies Patreon, Phil and JF explore a few ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the arts. The podcast returns with a new official episode…
Summer Bonus: On Affectation, with a Special Announcement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:23
A bonus offering to break up the summer hiatus, this episode contains a conversation on the virtues of affectation originally available only to third- and fourth-tier members of the Weird Studies Patreon ("Putting on the…