Episode 179: The Final Frontier, with Lionel Snell

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:45:00 -0500

One of the great rewards of "weirding" the world is learning that boredom may be a kind of ethical transgression—the world is simply too strange to allow for it, and if you're bored, you're at least partly to blame. Few have put this notion to the test as rigorously as Lionel Snell, whose work as a magician celebrates the wonders of everyday events, from a walk in the park to a moment of car trouble. Unlike the pursuit of the extraordinary that often defines occult practice, Snell's approach reminds us of the magic in the mundane. In this episode, Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, shares the insights he's gained over his decades-long career as one of the leading figures in contemporary magical theory and practice.

For an exclusive Vimeo link to Aaron Poole's film Dada mentioned in the intro, go to Instagram and send @aaronsghost the direct message "movie link please".

REFERENCES
Ramsey Dukes, Thundersqueak
Weird Studies, Episode 141 on “SSOTBME
Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
John Crowley, Little, Big
Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life”
David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
Max Picard, The Flight from God
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking
Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising
Henry Bergson, Matter and Memory
Russell’s Paradox

Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes].

Episode 24: The Charlatan and the Magus, with Lionel Snell

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0400

As Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, observes in his seminal esoteric essay, "The Charlatan and the Magus" (1984), the series of trumps in a tarot deck doesn't begin with the noble Emperor or august Hierophant, but with the lowly Fool, followed by the Juggler. Trickery or illusion, Snell suggests, may not be the dealbreaker we've thought it to be in parapsychological investigation. It may even be a feature, not a bug, of the magical process. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil talk to Lionel Snell about trickster magic, and all we miss out on when we make rational truth the only measure by which we know reality.

Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], "The Charlatan and the Magus"
Darren Brown, Tricks of the Mind
Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Phil Ford, “Birth of the Weird"
Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], How to See Fairies: Discover Your Psychic Powers in Six Weeks
Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], S.S.O.T..B.M.E.
John Keats, Negative Capability
Weird Studies, Episode 9: "On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes].

Weird Studies - Episodes Tagged with “Lionel Snell”

Episode 179: The Final Frontier, with Lionel Snell

Episode 24: The Charlatan and the Magus, with Lionel Snell