Possession Ritual
Polish/West German DJ and conceptual performance artist Jemek Jemowit is possessed by American Satanist Jex Blackmore in this 2022 ritual piece.
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“This is not black magic”: the Voodoo renaissance in New Orleans
Voodoo priestess Manbo Jessyka and high priestess Eshé introduce the practice as a way of life and as a means of connecting to ancestors through everyday rituals and spiritual reflection.
Meanwhile City
A re-cut of the “Meanwhile City” storyline from the 2008 movie Franklyn, in which private investigator/masked vigilante Jonathan Preest – the only atheist in a fantastical metropolis of bizarre religions – pursues a vendetta against a shadowy cult leader known as “the Individual”.
“Radical Faerie Sanctuaries” (2017)
A short documentary on two rural sanctuaries that are part of the Radical Fairie movement.
“The Sound of My Voice” (2012)
In Sound of My Voice, amateur documentarists Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) go undercover to investigate a secretive cult led by the enigmatic Maggie (Britt Marling, who also co-wrote the story), who claims to have traveled back in time from the year 2054. According to co-writer/director Zal Batmanglij: We were interested in fringe … Read more“The Sound of My Voice” (2012)
“Britain’s Wicca Man” (2012)
A simplified history of English Wicca as the life’s work of Gerald Gardner, gamely hosted in classic edutainment style by Professor Ronald Hutton.
“Metamodern Spirituality Labs: The Vibe from Inside”
Host Aviv Shahar of the Portals podcast interviews Layman Pascal and Brendan Graham Dempsey, organizers of the Metamodern Spirituality Labs at Brendan’s Sky Meadow Retreat in Vermont. My own memoir of attending the Spring 2024 Lab is available here.
“CultPunk, Death and the Art of Ritual”
In this episode of Brian James’ Howl in the Wilderness podcast, Brian and myself discuss the potentials of CultPunk and Poetic Faith as new arts of meaning-making, as well as the philosophy of memento mori ergo carpe diem – “remember death and therefore seize the day”.
“Should Atheists Worship the Sun?”
An interview with Dr. Erik Steinhart on his development of a philosophically rigorous and deeply scientific view of religious practice reconceived outside of mainstream western Christianity.