The Caretaker

SHAPIRO REVIEW DRAFT - 8/30/2022

INTRO

They are bad. This observation, like Ben’s work, is neither poignant nor original. I do not like Mr. Shapiro, and I will not claim to approach this review from a place of impartiality. To do so would be dishonest of me. At the same time, I wish to highlight the opportunity this collection represents. It would be easy –very easy– to tenderize the carcass of Ben’s work with endless blows about its gauche prose, clumsy theming, and slippery grasp of sentence structure, but to...

GRECO-ROMAN MAGIC - 9/29/2022

GRECO ROMAN MAGIC

INTRODUCTION

Intr

GRECO-ROMAN MAGIC - 8/26/2022

GRECO ROMAN MAGIC

INTRODUCTION

Intr

GRECO-ROMAN MAGIC - 8/25/2022

GRECO ROMAN MAGIC

INTRODUCTION

Intro

• We know basically nothing
• We have to pull what we can from literary sources
• Scant mentions from philosophers and historians
• We do have historical evidence though
• Public records of questions asked of the oracle
• Defixiones
• Its not much
• It would be fatuous to doubt that there were in most communities of any size in the Greek and Roman worlds people who practiced magic.
...
2022-08-25 16:42:50 +0000 UTC View Post

update:

Just so I'm not sitting here panicking about my livelyhood, I'm gonna set up a backup Tumblr @cryptotheism

Update:

So this morning I woke up and found that my entire Tumblr had been terminated without warning. Six years and 100,000 followers worth of posts are gone. I have emailed staff, and am attempting to recover my account. It is in their hands now. 

MAGIC AND MAGICIANS IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD - 8/13/2022

GRECO ROMAN MAGIC

INTRODUCTION

Intro

• We know basically nothing
• We have to pull what we can from literary sources
• Scant mentions from philosophers and historians
• We do have historical evidence though
• Public records of questions asked of the oracle
• Defixiones
• Its not much
• It would be fatuous to doubt that there were in most communities of any size in the Greek and Roman worlds people who practiced magic.
...
2022-08-13 20:21:25 +0000 UTC View Post

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 8/8/2022

INTRO

• One of the problems with the term “Western occultism” is the variety of traditions that form complex relationships that are always being renegotiated
• There are many structural parts of western magic that could not exist without the Greek tradition, even though a lot of the content is Jewish
• The Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian traditions were constantly in conversation with each other, and so they should be discussed together
• The main driver of that...
  2022-08-08 18:31:43 +0000 UTC View Post

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 8/7/2022

INTRO

• One of the problems with the term “Western occultism” is the variety of traditions that form complex relationships that are always being renegotiated
• There are many structural parts of western magic that could not exist without the Greek tradition, even though a lot of the content is Jewish
• The Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian traditions were constantly in conversation with each other, and so they should be discussed together
• The main driver of that...
  2022-08-07 17:32:53 +0000 UTC View Post

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 7/25/2022

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 7/21/2022

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 7/15/2022

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 7/7/2022

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU - 7/5/2022

THE GRECO-ROMAN MAGICAL MILIEU

The year is 100 CE and it’s a great year for soup. Emperor Trajan just became consul of a Roman Empire that is Romeing as hard as it will ever Rome. The Egyptians have been Rome’d, Judea has been Rome’d, most of Western Europe has been Rome’d. The Mediterranean sea is referred to as “Mare Nostrum” meaning “Our Sea.” Roman chefs (read: mostly slaves) have access to a mind-boggling range of ingredients. The soups they were able to create were...

ANCIENT JEWISH MAGIC: A HISTORY - COMPLETE NOTES

INTRODUCTION: A CONFLICT IN TERMS

• in fact, it took a complete outsider – an Indian anthropologist and novelist – to admit that a very large number of the documents in the Geniza . . . consist of magical formulae, and treatises related to esoteric rites.”
• While the deliberate neglect of Jewish magic might be characteristic especially of older scholarship, still constrained by age-old Jewish apologetics and the Enlightenment’s disdain for all forms of magic and supe...
  2022-06-28 17:46:39 +0000 UTC View Post

NOTES - ANCIENT JEWISH MAGIC 6/24/2022

INTRODUCTION: A CONFLICT IN TERMS

• in fact, it took a complete outsider – an Indian anthropologist and novelist – to admit that a very large number of the documents in the Geniza . . . consist of magical formulae, and treatises related to esoteric rites.”
• While the deliberate neglect of Jewish magic might be characteristic especially of older scholarship, still constrained by age-old Jewish apologetics and the Enlightenment’s disdain for all forms of magic and supe...
  2022-06-24 17:14:36 +0000 UTC View Post

JEWISH MAGIC: A HISTORY - NOTES

INTRODUCTION: A CONFLICT IN TERMS

• in fact, it took a complete outsider – an Indian anthropologist and novelist – to admit that a very large number of the documents in the Geniza . . . consist of magical formulae, and treatises related to esoteric rites.”
• While the deliberate neglect of Jewish magic might be characteristic especially of older scholarship, still constrained by age-old Jewish apologetics and the Enlightenment’s disdain for all forms of magic and supe...
  2022-06-10 18:23:38 +0000 UTC View Post

MAGIC BOOK - 5/16/2022

ASIDE: A QUICK FIELD GUIDE TO MALICIOUS SPIRITS

The term “demon” has become a shorthand for “the things that carry pitchforks in Christian Hell.” However, many of the entities referred to as “demons” are not demons.

Just as one must take care not to mistake a crow for a raven, one must understand the differences between a Daimon, a Sheyd, or a Djinn.

Demons: The malicious fallen angels of Christian mythology. The demons of Christianity are fallen...

ASIDE: A QUICK GUIDE TO MALICIOUS SPIRITS

ASIDE: A QUICK FIELD GUIDE TO MALICIOUS SPIRITS

The term “demon” has become a shorthand for “the things that carry pitchforks in Christian Hell.” However, many of the entities referred to as “demons” are not demons.

Just as one must take care not to mistake a crow for a raven, one must understand the differences between a Daimon, a Sheyd, or a Djinn.

Demons: The malicious fallen angels of Christian mythology. The demons of Christianity are fallen...

UNTITLED MAGIC BOOK - 5/5/2022

ASIDE: A QUICK FIELD GUIDE TO MALICIOUS SPIRITS

The term “demon” has become a shorthand for “the things that carry pitchforks in Christian Hell.” However, many of the entities referred to as “demons” are not demons.

Just as one must take care not to mistake a crow for a raven, one must understand the differences between a Daimon, a Sheyd, or a Djinn.

Demons: The malicious fallen angels of Christian mythology. The demons of Christianity are fallen...

NOTES: JINN AND PRE-ISLAMIC DEMONOLOGY

DJINN: WHAT ARE THEY?

• Associated with Islam, and the pre-islamic world of the arabian peninsula
• Humanoid, ghostlike creatures
• Djinn is singular, Djinnni is plural
• From the root word J-n-n, meaning to hide or conceal
• God made three sentient types of being.
• Angels, from light
• Humans, from clay
• Djinni, from smoke and fire
• Ah, but Djinn predate islam
• Their origins are speculated on, they might have been p...
  2022-05-05 18:04:39 +0000 UTC View Post

MAGIC BOOK - 4/21/2022

SOLOMONIC MAGIC

An understanding of western magic is incomplete without King Solomon. Of the various figures that populate the biblical tradition, Solomon is one of the most complicated. He is difficult to fit into any one mold, existing as both pious king of Israel, and wanton hedonist. Unlike the other major figures of the Talmud and the Old Testament, many of whom are nigh unimpeachable in their virtue, Solomon is tragically human.

When Solomon acceded to the throne, he found h...

UNTITLED MAGIC BOOK - 4/11/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

MEDIEVAL MAGIC - 4/8/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

UNTITLED MAGIC BOOK - 3/30/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

UNTITLED MAGIC BOOK - 3/28/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

MEDIEVAL MAGIC - 3/22/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

MEDIEVAL MAGIC - 3/17/2022 (NEARLY THERE)

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...

MEDIEVAL MAGIC - 2/15/2022

The medieval world saw the emergence of a new paradigm for magic. What was once only a loose conglomerate of legends and folk traditions was now a loose conglomerate of legends, folk traditions, and meticulously systemized knowledge. And like most important things in the medieval era, this new paradigm was born from catholic priestess getting into fights.

This was a scrappy era for the church. The latin-speaking Catholic church had spent most of its history sharing power in the roman em...