Deep Play

The W.I.T.C.H. Manifesto (1968)

WITCH is an all-women Everything. It’s theater, revolution, magic, terror, joy, garlic flowers, spells, It’s an awareness that witches and gypsies were the original guerrillas and resistance fighters against oppression—particularly the oppression of women—down through the ages. Witches have always been women who dared to be: groovy, courageous, aggressive, intelligent, nonconformist, explorative, curious, independent, sexually … Read moreThe W.I.T.C.H. Manifesto (1968)

Read this first: “A Cultpunk Manifesto”

We are Cultpunks.  We affirm that belief systems, rituals, symbols, pilgrimages, tenets, holy days, shrines, festivals, taboos, mythologies and pantheons can and should be created as works of art.  If so, then surely any sufficiently advanced magic is likewise indistinguishable from technology, and religions may usefully be considered as psychological technologies.  Just like any other tech, … Read moreRead this first: “A Cultpunk Manifesto”

“Designing Utopia: John Hargrave and the Kibbo Kift” by Cathy Ross and Oliver Bennett 

A fascinating, comprehensive and beautifully illustrated account of the life and work of John Hargrave, founder of the Kibbo Kift Kindred and later among the chief protagonists of the Social Credit movement in England. Exemplifying the virtues and limitations of the early 20th century “self-taught man”, Hargrave was accomplished in a variety of fields and … Read more“Designing Utopia: John Hargrave and the Kibbo Kift” by Cathy Ross and Oliver Bennett 

“Turn Your Life into Art: Lessons in Psychomagic from the San Francisco Underground”

Veteran Burning Man philosopher Caveat Magister wrote this memoir/manifesto/manual for would-be psychomagicians, most especially those inspired (more or less directly) by the often clandestine workings of San Francisco’s underground experiential arts scene between the late ’70s and circa 2015. If you’re intrigued by Gary Warne’s Suicide Club, the Cacophony Society, the origins of Burning Man, … Read more“Turn Your Life into Art: Lessons in Psychomagic from the San Francisco Underground”

The Nomadic School of Wonder

The NSoW creates transformational experiences of meaning: In 2015, Barbara Groth founded the Nomadic School of Wonder, “adventures in awe” rooted in nature, art, community, and play. Each Nomadic School of Wonder experience is site specific and explores a theme through the senses. Barbara leads a traveling troupe of artists, experience designers and adventurers to … Read moreThe Nomadic School of Wonder

The Toxteth Day of the Dead

One of several distinctly English responses to the Dia de Muertos ethos – see also the Glastonbury Festival of Death and Dying – the Toxteth Day of the Dead is an initiative by musicians/culture jammers KLF (a.k.a. the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs and the Timelords, among others). Here’s a BBC audio documentary on their current project, the People’s … Read moreThe Toxteth Day of the Dead

“Inside the Spiritual Jacuzzi”

I’m reading Carole Cusack’s excellent Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith and am delighted to have discovered the Hot Tub Mystery Religion, intriguingly described in this 2003 Reason.com article by Jesse Walker: Atheists have long regarded religion as, at best, a collective work of art, but in the last century that view has grown popular with churchgoers as … Read more“Inside the Spiritual Jacuzzi”

The “Radical Ritual” Series

In 2017, Burning Man’s theme was “Radical Ritual,” and the Burning Man Philosophical Center project produced a series of essays and interviews exploring the place of ritual in modern society. Here’s a section from Larry Harvey’s introductory essay: Is Burning Man a Religion? “The practical needs and experiences of religion seem to me sufficiently met by … Read moreThe “Radical Ritual” Series