I agree with your general idea that what media does is essentially magick. These are the tools that shape our reality. And I know you’re not blaming the Etsy witches here. But, if we’re going to look at this through a magickal lens, I think it’s important to also point out that before his death, Kirk was also doing exactly the kind of magick that you describe, and on a much more powerful scale.
His whole schtick inititally was utilizing the medium of the internet to harness rage and stoke divisiveness in exchange for attention, and then focus those energies towards his own agenda. What he was doing was much more powerful magick than anything you can buy from someone on Etsy.
Is there a go to history of the astral plane, in the vain a genealogy of ideas?
Whenever I look into it, I track it back to the Theosophists, and they just gesture vaguely to "Ancient Egyptian magic" or "Ka" (typical for their era). Sometimes online forums will pull in Tibetan Buddhism for good measure.
I found an audiobook for his Astral Plane work, I'll try it out.
I've got this possibly naive theory I want to hammer out...
The Astral Plane is part of a category of otherworld tales that is distinct in that your body and soul separate in this limited way (you keep a silver thread between your bits), In the other class of tales, your embodied: the Greek netherworld, Odysseus goes with his ship and crew, Dante is traversing hell/purgatory/heaven bodily as opposed to as a shade, King Arthur is taken to Avalon bodily, generically in fairy stories you shouldn't eat the food etc.
My idea is that the astral plane was in fact a more nebulous idea before the Theosophists were grabbed by the notion and they developed the theory in response to the birth of electric media (both the telegraph and the Sophists are from the mid 19th century). The astral plane as we understand it is a myth developed specifically to understand what the newborn electric media ecology is. I am not using the term "myth" disparagingly, I mean it in the sense of a non-reductive, premodern means of truth telling.
No doubt the occult vibe was with the internet since the beginning, it seems plausible that the Astral plane is the living myth, the soul of the electric age.
For further reading, the second third of Fanged Noumena explains this in detail and how it comes to be. The Internet is not an astral plain. It is an enemy country beyond reckoning.
It does a dense start. Lots of Deleuze n Guattari analysis. It helps for context. But you can definitely jump headfirst into the essay titled Machinic Desire
"witchcraft isn't real" rhymes with "video games don't cause violence"
The internet is just a wrapper for the astral plane
YES
Loved our event and looking forward to seeing more of you on the terrestrial plane
Likewise!!
I agree with your general idea that what media does is essentially magick. These are the tools that shape our reality. And I know you’re not blaming the Etsy witches here. But, if we’re going to look at this through a magickal lens, I think it’s important to also point out that before his death, Kirk was also doing exactly the kind of magick that you describe, and on a much more powerful scale.
His whole schtick inititally was utilizing the medium of the internet to harness rage and stoke divisiveness in exchange for attention, and then focus those energies towards his own agenda. What he was doing was much more powerful magick than anything you can buy from someone on Etsy.
"Stop digging" feels directed at me, specifically... 👀 I have so many thoughts on that!
You gotta call in!
The astral plane half was interesting and should have been longer and the stan half was long, boring and should have been cut.
I liked the Stan stuff but I’ll post more astral plane stuff
Is there a go to history of the astral plane, in the vain a genealogy of ideas?
Whenever I look into it, I track it back to the Theosophists, and they just gesture vaguely to "Ancient Egyptian magic" or "Ka" (typical for their era). Sometimes online forums will pull in Tibetan Buddhism for good measure.
It's tough because every culture has an otherworld. I like CW Leadbetter's work
I found an audiobook for his Astral Plane work, I'll try it out.
I've got this possibly naive theory I want to hammer out...
The Astral Plane is part of a category of otherworld tales that is distinct in that your body and soul separate in this limited way (you keep a silver thread between your bits), In the other class of tales, your embodied: the Greek netherworld, Odysseus goes with his ship and crew, Dante is traversing hell/purgatory/heaven bodily as opposed to as a shade, King Arthur is taken to Avalon bodily, generically in fairy stories you shouldn't eat the food etc.
My idea is that the astral plane was in fact a more nebulous idea before the Theosophists were grabbed by the notion and they developed the theory in response to the birth of electric media (both the telegraph and the Sophists are from the mid 19th century). The astral plane as we understand it is a myth developed specifically to understand what the newborn electric media ecology is. I am not using the term "myth" disparagingly, I mean it in the sense of a non-reductive, premodern means of truth telling.
No doubt the occult vibe was with the internet since the beginning, it seems plausible that the Astral plane is the living myth, the soul of the electric age.
What is happening
I'll explain
For further reading, the second third of Fanged Noumena explains this in detail and how it comes to be. The Internet is not an astral plain. It is an enemy country beyond reckoning.
How is that different than the astral plane?
The Astral is a priori and accessed. The Series of Tubes is an engineered tumor growing at the speed of nightmare neurons about to breach into biology
Where should I start w/ Fanged Noumena? I always avoided it for fear of it being too dense
It does a dense start. Lots of Deleuze n Guattari analysis. It helps for context. But you can definitely jump headfirst into the essay titled Machinic Desire
Thank you!