Podcasts about yeats

Struggling with retention, churn, or adoption in your product, service, or program? Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see how to apply real behavioral design to your engagement: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Alan Yeats, CEO of Pocket Sized Hands, a co-development game studio in Dundee, Scotland, explains why the best learning games start with play and add the curriculum second. He walks through real projects, a knife-crime prevention game stopped cold by school firewalls and a stem cell science game built with Cambridge University, to show how co-design keeps everyone pointed at the same goal. Alan argues that the job is to find the underlying play and the real "why" behind a request, not to cram years of lessons into one product. Listeners come away with a practical filter for any educational or engagement project: build a genuinely good game first, then weave the learning in so people actually engage. About the Host Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Key Takeaways Pocket Sized Hands built a polished Jackbox-style game to steer young people away from knife crime, then hit a wall when school IT firewalls blocked the phone-to-screen connection the experience ran on. The end user is never the only stakeholder a product has to satisfy. For Cambridge University, the studio corrected public misconceptions about stem cell science by running back-to-basics workshops to isolate the one message that mattered, rather than cramming an entire syllabus into a single game. Alan Yeats's rule for education clients who want to throw the whole textbook at a game: make it genuinely fun first, then layer the lessons in, because curriculum with no play earns no engagement to teach against. Co-design converts a client from someone who merely commissioned a product into an owner who evangelizes it, which is why Pocket Sized Hands opens projects with a workshop for facilitators and real users instead of a written spec. Pitching the visual register openly, from a corporate LinkedIn-style progress bar to a fully magical world, lets a team test how far it can push a client before the client pushes back with "that is too much fun." Topics Covered 0:00 - Stop cramming textbooks into games 0:16 - Meet Alan Yeats and Pocket Sized Hands 3:16 - A knife-crime game blocked by firewalls 5:23 - Design for the stakeholders you forget 8:08 - The Cambridge stem cell game that worked 9:03 - Make the game fun first 10:40 - Co-design and finding the real problem 12:33 - From corporate progress bars to magical worlds 14:54 - Focus on the play, not the game 16:25 - The future guest he would want to hear 17:46 - Why Deep Work sharpens his focus 19:04 - His superpower, favorite game, and final advice Struggling with retention, churn, or adoption in your product, service, or program? Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see how to apply real behavioral design to your engagement: professorgame.com/WildCD About Alan Yeats Alan Yeats is the CEO of Pocket Sized Hands, a co-development game studio based in Dundee, Scotland. He left school at 16 to work on games, dropped out of university, and founded the studio nine years ago. Since then, Pocket Sized Hands has helped ship titles including Pocket Mortys for Adult Swim, Oddworld: Soulstorm, and Bendy and the Ink Machine, working with clients ranging from indie developers to major publishers. The studio specialises in co-development, porting, networking, and live ops. Find the Guest Online Pocket Sized Hands: pocketsizedhands.com Personal site: alanyeats.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alanyeats X (studio): @PKTSizedHands Mentioned in This Episode Some links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Proposed future guest: someone who wants to use gamification but hasn't yet Recommended book: Deep Work by Cal Newport Favorite game: Ratchet & Clank 3 Free Resources and Get in Touch Core Drives in the Wild: Professor Game Free Guide Get Daily Value on Your Email Let's chat about your gamification project YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Start Your Community on Skool for Free Ask a question

(Part 2) Join me as we continue our newest book reading for Adult Brain...it's a short one made up of many very short ones...the poet WB Yeats recounts tales he was told in Ireland about faeries and ghosts, and it seems he believes them because he himself was a ceremonial magician and a leader in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn! The tales may not be true, but they are a delightful read & a journey back in time to old Ireland. Step into the legend-haunted world of ancient Ireland as we begin our reading of The Celtic Twilight: Myth, Fantasy and Folklore by W. B. Yeats. Part memoir, part folklore collection, and part spiritual exploration, The Celtic Twilight captures Yeats's encounters with storytellers, mystics, country folk, and the lingering presence of Ireland's old traditions at the turn of the twentieth century. Within these pages, the boundary between the natural and supernatural grows thin, revealing a world inhabited by fairies, spirits, omens, dreams, and mysteries that refuse to yield to the certainties of modern rationalism. Drawing from conversations, local legends, and firsthand experiences, Yeats preserves a fading folk tradition while inviting readers into a landscape where myth and reality coexist. His reflections offer a rare glimpse into the beliefs, customs, and imagination of a people for whom the unseen world was never far away. Whether you're interested in Celtic mythology, folklore, mysticism, literature, or the rich cultural heritage of Ireland, join us as we begin this timeless journey into the twilight realm between imagination and reality. Exclusive Content and Ways to Support: Support me on Substack for ad-free content, bonus material, personal chatting and more! ⁠⁠https://substack.com/@monicaperezshow⁠⁠ Become a PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER on Apple Podcasts for AD FREE episodes and exclusive content! True Hemp Science: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://truehempscience.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PROMO CODE: MONICA Find, Follow, Subscribe & Rate on your favorite podcasting platform AND for video and social & more... Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://monicaperezshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://substack.com/@monicaperezshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rumble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rumble.com/user/monicaperezshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/MonicaPerez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter/X: @monicaperezshow Instagram: @monicaperezshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Part 1) Join me as we begin our next book for Adult Brain...it's a short one made up of many very short ones...the poet WB Yeats recounts tales he was told in Ireland about faeries and ghosts, and it seems he believes them because he himself was a ceremonial magician and a leader in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn! The tales may not be true, but they are a delightful read & a journey back in time to old Ireland. Step into the legend-haunted world of ancient Ireland as we begin our reading of The Celtic Twilight: Myth, Fantasy and Folklore by W. B. Yeats. Part memoir, part folklore collection, and part spiritual exploration, The Celtic Twilight captures Yeats's encounters with storytellers, mystics, country folk, and the lingering presence of Ireland's old traditions at the turn of the twentieth century. Within these pages, the boundary between the natural and supernatural grows thin, revealing a world inhabited by fairies, spirits, omens, dreams, and mysteries that refuse to yield to the certainties of modern rationalism. Drawing from conversations, local legends, and firsthand experiences, Yeats preserves a fading folk tradition while inviting readers into a landscape where myth and reality coexist. His reflections offer a rare glimpse into the beliefs, customs, and imagination of a people for whom the unseen world was never far away. Whether you're interested in Celtic mythology, folklore, mysticism, literature, or the rich cultural heritage of Ireland, join us as we begin this timeless journey into the twilight realm between imagination and reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LEITURA BÍBLICA DO DIA: ISAÍAS 22:15-24 PLANO DE LEITURA ANUAL: ESDRAS 1–2; JOÃO 19:23-42  Já fez seu devocional hoje? Aproveite e marque um amigo para fazer junto com você! Confira:  O poeta W. B. Yeats desejava ser enterrado em Ben Bulben, uma montanha de topo plano e também título de um de seus últimos poemas. O verso final deste poema encontra-se em sua lápide: “Lance frio olhar na vida, na morte. Cavaleiro, em frente!” (tradução livre). Houve muita especulação sobre seu significado. Talvez seja o poeta reconhecendo a veracidade da vida e da morte. Independentemente disso, Yeats realizou seu desejo sobre onde seria enterrado e o que seria gravado em sua lápide. Mas a fria verdade é que a vida continua, indiferente à nossa partida. Em um período difícil para Judá, Sebna, administrador do palácio, fez uma tumba para si, tentando garantir seu legado. Mas Deus, por meio do profeta Isaías, disse-lhe: “Quem você pensa que é, e o que está fazendo aqui, construindo uma bela sepultura para si, um monumento no alto da rocha?” (ISAÍAS 22:16). Isaías falou: “[Deus] o embrulhará como uma bola e o atirará para uma terra distante. Você morrerá naquele lugar” (v.18). Sebna não tinha entendido. O importante não é onde estamos enterrados; o que importa é a quem servimos. Os que ser vem a Jesus têm imenso conforto: “Felizes os que, de agora em diante, morrem no Senhor” (APOCALIPSE 14:13). Servimos a Deus, que nunca é indiferente à nossa partida. Ele anseia por nosso retorno e nos recebe em casa!   Por: TIM GUSTAFSON 

Here's another early 20th century poet singing a faery song. Instead of Yeats, this time it's the American poet Elinor Wylie with a poem called "Escape."  When Wylie writes here of "a little house I'll build" in some magical natural setting, I can't help but think of  the Irish poet's "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." I'm sending this song version of Wylie's poem out today to anyone who needs to imagine for a few minutes an escape from the problems of life. The Parlando Project takes various words (mostly literary poetry) and combines them with original music in differing styles. We've done over 900 of these combinations, and you can hear any of them and read about our encounters with the words at our blog and archives located at frankhudson.org  

Of the many methods people use to communicate with the spirit world, the most intriguing and controversial is automatic writing. In 1917, Nobel laureate poet W.B. Yeats and his wife embarked on a paranormal journey where they used automatic writing to produce Yeats' groundbreaking book “A Vision”. In addition to receiving messages from the spirits, the couple also witnessed other strange, unexplained phenomena. And the ensuing book is considered to be one of the strangest, most divisive works of literary modernism. Join me as I explore the fascinating story of Yeats' experiments with automatic writing. Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/hauntedhappenings Contact: barrypirro@yahoo.com Website: ConnecticutGhostHunter.com

This year, Bloomsday Film Festival will present a special screening of Ulysses, New York - an ambitious 24-part adaptation of Ulysses introduced by director, Caveh Zahedi and hosted by Irish filmmaker Dean Kavanagh.Caveh is an American autobiographical filmmaker celebrated for his experimental, self-reflexive and adventurous work across film, web series, and podcasting. In this podcast, we catch up with Caveh to chat about his art, craft, and plans for the festival.Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts or watch the original recording here.https://www.filmireland.net/podcast-filmmaker-caveh-zahedi-ulysses-new-york-at-bloomsday-film-festivalThis screening and talk will be taken place on 12th June 2026 7pm to 8:30pm in Belvedere College. Get your tickets here.The Bloomsday Festival runs from 11th–16th June, with screenings hosted at the historic James Joyce Centre and the Irish Film Institute (IFI).About Ulysses, New York An Introduction with Director Caveh Zahedi Ulysses, New York is an ambitious 24-part adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses by Caveh Zahedi, an American autobiographical filmmaker known for his self-reflexive and formally adventurous approach to cinema. His feature films include Autobiographical Filmmaker Seeks Camera-Friendly Companion (2025), The Sheik and I (2012), I Am a Sex Addict (2005), In the Bathtub of the World (2001), I Don't Hate Las Vegas Anymore (1994), and A Little Stiff (1991). He is also the creator of the web series The Show About the Show and the writer/host of the podcast 365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die.With Ulysses, New York, Zahedi attempts to do to Joyce's Ulysses what Joyce did to Homer's The Odyssey: transpose a canonical work into a new time, place and form. The events of 16 June 1904 in Dublin are reimagined as taking place on 16 June 2022 in New York City, on the centenary of the novel's publication. Following eight actors performing in a Bloomsday stage production of Ulysses, the film moves between Joyce's chapters onstage and the corresponding hours of the actors' real day. This special presentation features a work-in-progress version of the introductory episode, followed by a discussion with Zahedi on the challenges of adapting Joyce.Bloomsday Film FestivalIreland's most literary film festival was established as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the far-reaching influence of Ireland's father of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is presented in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival and the James Joyce Centre, and runs from 11–16 June, with screenings hosted at the historic James Joyce Centre and the Irish Film Institute (IFI). Continuing its annual traditions, the festival marks the birthday of W.B. Yeats on 13 June with a curated programme of poetry and literature-inspired short films. On 14 June, in keeping with Joyce's radical and experimental spirit, the programme showcases a selection of innovative experimental films. The following day, 15 June, celebrates the anniversary of the publication of Dubliners with screenings of Joycean short films and adaptations of Dublin-based stories.Alongside its cinematic programme, the Bloomsday Film Festival presents a diverse range of events, including director Q&As, workshops, musical performances, and poetry readings. At its core, the festival is committed to fostering artistic innovation - championing filmmakers who forge their own paths and create work that pushes the boundaries of the medium, in the same pioneering spirit that defined Joyce's literary legacy.Check out the programme & get tickets at www.bloomsdayfestival.ie.Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.So make sure to subscribe and listen back! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Part 1) Step into the legend-haunted world of ancient Ireland as we begin our reading of The Celtic Twilight: Myth, Fantasy and Folklore by W. B. Yeats. Part memoir, part folklore collection, and part spiritual exploration, The Celtic Twilight captures Yeats's encounters with storytellers, mystics, country folk, and the lingering presence of Ireland's old traditions at the turn of the twentieth century. Within these pages, the boundary between the natural and supernatural grows thin, revealing a world inhabited by fairies, spirits, omens, dreams, and mysteries that refuse to yield to the certainties of modern rationalism. Drawing from conversations, local legends, and firsthand experiences, Yeats preserves a fading folk tradition while inviting readers into a landscape where myth and reality coexist. His reflections offer a rare glimpse into the beliefs, customs, and imagination of a people for whom the unseen world was never far away. Whether you're interested in Celtic mythology, folklore, mysticism, literature, or the rich cultural heritage of Ireland, join us as we begin this timeless journey into the twilight realm between imagination and reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rupert and Cameron's party is crashed when ex wife Helen shows up with his kids. Declan's Yeats documentary is green lit, Paul Stratton wants attention, Tony wants Sarah to handle things and Taggie cooks a mean beef stew. To support the LoG on Patreon visit: https://www.patreon.com/lordsofgrantham To buy LoG Merchandise visit: https://www.teepublic.com/user/lords-of-grantham-podcast Listen to “Monster in the Mirror” by Tempest Edge: https://open.spotify.com/album/49AfIwOPPsmgYfz3p4uEAn?si=6ScIXxgWSpWQ8uFnhF62Mg

In preparation for next week's conversation with Adam Plunkett, author of a new major biography of Robert Frost (1874-1963), we revisit an earlier episode about the widely anthologized (and often misunderstood) New England poet. In this episode, which first aired in 2017 as Episode 93, Jacke dives into a curious but compelling story from the years just before World War I, when a struggling Frost hastily packed up his family and moved to London in search of a friend. Although Frost's efforts to ingratiate himself with W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound fizzled, he soon found a man, critic Edward Thomas (1878-1917), who championed Frost's poetry and became one of Frost's best friends. Frost in turn inspired Thomas to write his own poetry – until something happened on one of their walks in the woods that would forever change them both. Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College joins Jacke to recount the full story of Frost and Thomas: their friendship, their falling out, and how one of Frost's (and America's) most famous poems, “The Road Not Taken,” inspired by Frost's views of Thomas, has been widely misunderstood by generations of readers. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Muriel Spark wrote it in months while Nixon was still in office. Fifty-two years later, Melanie and Ed test whether the joke still lands. Spark's 90-page novella, subtitled "A Modern Morality Tale," relocates Watergate to a Benedictine convent in Cheshire. The newly elected Abbess Alexandra has bugged the grounds, rigged her election, and reads Yeats and Milton over dinner while her sisters eat dog food. Her working theory is that the world wants a myth and facts don't matter. A stolen thimble doubles as the Watergate burglary; Sister Gertrude, the Kissinger figure, phones in advice from Peru while negotiating between cannibals and vegetarians. Melanie carries Alexandra's strategy forward into 2026 without much trouble; Ed flags the tonal divergence — Spark's abbess is composed and unbothered, where Nixon was paranoid and raving at portraits. The honest verdict is mixed: dry, esoteric, of its time. Glenda Jackson played Alexandra in Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1977 film adaptation Nasty Habits. Related episodes: - Black Narcissus (1947) — https://whothehellarewe.libsyn.com/website/10th-anniversary - Lilies of the Field (1963) — https://whothehellarewe.libsyn.com/website/lilies-of-the-field Full discussion notes and the WTHAW catalog: https://melanieanded.substack.com Who the Hell Are We? is hosted by novelists Melanie Benjamin and Edward Kelsey Moore. New episodes roughly monthly.

If life is not a dress rehearsal, then what will you do with it?That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Nico Yeats Zeelie — an entrepreneurial mindset facilitator from South Africa who, after attending a faculty training workshop with ELI, took a simple framework back to his students and watched it change the way they saw themselves and what was possible.In this episode, Gary and Nico explore what happens when students stop waiting for permission — and begin to see themselves as capable of creating value, shaping their future, and changing the trajectory of their lives. They discuss agency, identity, purpose, and the idea that life is not something that just happens to you.This is a conversation about human flourishing — and what becomes possible when ordinary people are given the tools to think differently.

It's been a while since we stepped into the old World of Darkness, so today we take a quick look back for one more in our series of crossover book dives. We flipped through both the original and Revised editions of the Fianna tribebooks for Werewolf: the Apocalypse. These are the most fae-adjacent of the Garou, often in the same families as Kithain and Kinain. The first book came out before Changeling: the Dreaming existed, and the second after it had essentially finished, so we get to see two very different perspectives on how these rowdy wolves engage with their fae cousins. Our focus is only on the bits we felt were specifically relevant to crossover games. Imbolc moots, cantrips-as-Gifts, new dimensions of supernatural politics... many are the stories one could tell, so we do our best to explore a few. The tribebooks can be found at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/2383?affiliate_id=3063731 and https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/2515?affiliate_id=3063731, respectively. As for us, we can be found at: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) tried to order the Salmon of Knowledge, but they were all out, and so had to settle for the Trout of Exam Anxiety. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) looks forward to the Irish-language releases someday of Conriocht: an Apacailipsis and Síofra: an Taibhreamh. O hurry where by water among the trees The delicate-stepping stag and his lady sigh, When they have but looked upon their images— Would none had ever loved but you and I! Or have you heard that sliding silver-shoed Pale silver-proud queen-woman of the sky, When the sun looked out of his golden hood?— O that none ever loved but you and I! —W.B. Yeats, "The Ragged Wood"

Dr. Leslie Baynes returns to the podcast to talk about biblical and literary allusions in (and origins of) The Magician's Nephew! If you haven't already, check out her book, Between Interpretation and Imagination: C.S. Lewis and the Bible. Among other things, we discuss:  1:37 — Introductions Chris introduces Dr. Leslie Baynes — NT scholar, author on CS Lewis and the Bible. 3:30 — Stars, Singing & Job 38 Discussion of how Aslan's creation song echoes Job 38 ("the morning stars sang together"). Lewis loved this verse even as a teenage atheist. 6:07 — Hebrew Poetic Parallelism Leslie explains Hebrew poetic parallelism and the connection between "stars" and "sons of God" in Job. How this idea — that stars are divine beings — was widespread in the ancient world. 9:09 — Stars as Minor Gods in Narnia & Tolkien Voyage of the Dawn Treader's Ramandu as a retired star; comparison to Tolkien's Ainur singing creation into existence in the Silmarillion. 11:58 — E. Nesbit as a Source for Lewis Lewis openly based the Chronicles on E. Nesbit's children's books. The frame story of The Magician's Nephew (sick mother, absent father, magical adventure, happy resolution) follows Nesbit's formula exactly. 18:04 — The Wood Between the Worlds & Charn These sections feel less biblical; Charn likely drawn from Nesbit's The Amulet (children traveling through time to an ancient Near Eastern setting). The Wood Between the Worlds echoes Lewis's Mere Christianity hallway metaphor. 23:03 — Jadis/White Witch & Lilith Luke Mills found a passage in the medieval kabbalistic Alphabet of Ben Sira linking Lilith to a golden bell — possible indirect influence on Lewis's Witch origin story. 26:08 — Narnia's Creation vs. Genesis Aslan creates stars first — Lewis "correcting" the light-before-sun problem in Genesis 1. Frank and Helen as Adam & Eve; their children marrying nymphs and dryads resolves the "who did Cain marry?" puzzle. 31:22 — The Garden of the Hesperides The western garden in The Magician's Nephew blends the Garden of Eden with the Greek Garden of the Hesperides (Atlas's daughters, golden apples, a guardian dragon/serpent). Lewis changed the apples to silver — possibly echoing Yeats's "silver apples of the moon." 34:45 — Milton's Comus & Watchful Dragons Lewis adored Comus as a teenager. His famous "past watchful dragons" metaphor connects to the guardian dragon of the Hesperides (who keeps people away from the apples), inverting the Eden serpent (who tempts people toward the fruit). 39:48 — Joy, West, and the Last Battle The western garden = "Joy" (sehnsucht) for Lewis. In The Last Battle, the characters run west, then turn east to their final home — fulfilling joy rather than endlessly pursuing it. Same arc as The Pilgrim's Regress. 42:25 — Lewis as a "Magpie" Creator Lewis freely borrowed from everything — Nesbit, Milton, Job, the Hesperides — without apology. Discussion of his view (in Mere Christianity) that true originality comes from surrender to God, not self-invention. 45:43 — Pagan vs. Christian — A False Split Lewis (like Justin Martyr) believed all truth is God's truth. Anything good in "pagan" sources can be integrated into a Christian worldview — rejecting the idea that they must be kept entirely separate.

fWotD Episode 3294: Golden Bough (Aeneid) Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 12 May 2026, is Golden Bough (Aeneid).The Golden Bough is a fantastical object described in the Aeneid, an epic poem by the Roman poet Virgil composed between 29 and 19 BCE narrating the adventures of the Trojan hero Aeneas after the Trojan War. The episode of the Golden Bough is found in its sixth book and is part of Aeneas's journey into the Underworld. The bough itself acts as proof of Aeneas's divine favour, and allows him to pass into the Underworld. He is tasked to find it in an expansive forest, which he accomplishes with the aid of his mother, the goddess Venus, and to remove it from its host tree. Although Aeneas has been told that it would come easily, if his journey is ordained by fate, Virgil describes the bough as briefly hesitating before he takes it.Virgil's portrayal of the bough has no direct literary antecedents, though it draws on several precedents from literature, folklore and philosophy. Scholars have connected it with, among others, the Golden Fleece in the story of the Argonauts; symbolic objects associated with deities such as Hermes, Dionysus and Circe; and the branches carried by prospective initiates into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a Greek religious rite centred on a symbolic journey into the Underworld. Virgil associates it with both death and immortality, partly by way of symbolic associations in Graeco-Roman culture between gold and the gods. It also recalls ideas put forth by the Roman philosopher Lucretius as to the nature of the soul. The episode of the Golden Bough was parodied by authors including Virgil's contemporary Ovid, and drawn upon by later Roman poets including Lucan and Valerius Flaccus.Early interpretations of the Golden Bough tended to give it an allegorical function, particularly via Pythagorean and Neoplatonist philosophy, which viewed it as symbolic of the choice between virtue and vice. Medieval commentators often considered it a symbol of wisdom, and several Christian theologians interpreted it as representing Christian wisdom and virtue. In the sixteenth century, it became a heraldic symbol of the Florentine House of Medici. Early modern receptions of the bough, including those of François Rabelais and Jonathan Swift, were often parodic or obscene. In the twentieth century, scholars following the Harvard School interpretation of the Aeneid argued that Virgil's use of the bough reflected his ambivalence towards Aeneas and the latter's mission to set in motion the rise of the Roman Empire. Other critics have highlighted echoes between the episode of the Golden Bough and the morally charged deaths of two of Aeneas's antagonists, Dido and Turnus.In the fourth or fifth century CE, the commentator Servius connected the bough to rex Nemorensis, a priest of the goddess Diana at Lake Nemi whose office was passed on by the killing of its holder. This equation influenced the anthropologist James George Frazer, who used the bough for the title of his 1890 work on comparative religion. The bough is recalled in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was the subject of an 1834 painting by J. M. W. Turner, which was used as the frontispiece for the early editions of Frazer's book. It was an influential motif in the "Byzantium" poems of W. B. Yeats and in the poetry of Seamus Heaney, who made several translations of Virgil's account of the episode. Scholars have also drawn parallels between the Golden Bough and significant objects in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:53 UTC on Tuesday, 12 May 2026.For the full current version of the article, see Golden Bough (Aeneid) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Emma.

It's Season 12, Episode 22, that's Who We Are, and who even are the Winchesters now? Look at all the emotions on Dean! What happened to Sam's morality code? Why doesn't Ketch just get a cat?During lore, Liz brings the Golden Dawn series to an end telling the story of that time Aleister Crowley and W.B. Yeats had a magical battle in the middle of London during the Battle of Blythe Road.Select Sources:Research LinksWomen of the Golden Dawn : rebels and priestesses : Greer, Mary K. (Mary Katherine) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveFrancis King - Modern Ritual Magic - 1989 : Francis King : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveThe Battle at Blythe Road - Hermeneuticon - Hermetic LibraryVol.15 No.9 1948History of the Golden Dawn: A Timeline – The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn®Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - WikipediaThe True Story Of The Hermetic Order Of The Golden DawnThe Battle of Blythe Road

In the first of two exclusive interviews, we speak toinductees of our Huntly FC Hall Of Fame.Craig Yeats joined Huntly towards the end of the 1993/94season winning numerous honours with the clubs over the course of five seasons.

Host Lauren chats with poet, Special Projects Manager at Providence Art, Culture & Tourism, and Reading Across Rhode Island Honorary Chair, Charlotte Abotsi about this year's RARI pick, Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. They also discuss poetry, Providence's artsy vibe, and the impact of their high school English teachers. In the Last Chapter they answer the question: What is a poem or a line from a poem that has always stuck with you?   Overdueing It is a project funded by the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and is produced by library staff around the state. We are proud to be a resident partner of the Rhode Island Center for the Book. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not represent those of the Overdueing It podcast, its sponsor organizations, or any participants' place of employment. The content of Overdueing It episodes are the property of the individual creators, with permission for Overdueing it to share the content on their podcast feed in perpetuity. Any of the content from the Overdueing podcast cannot be reproduced without express written permission.   Our logo was designed by Sarah Bouvier and our theme music is by Neura-Flow.   Books Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom by Camonghne Felix Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian Sex Camel by Muggs Fogarty   Media Beef (TV Series, 2023 - ) Harvey (1950) The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)   Poems "Why Some People Be Mad at Me Sometimes" by Lucille Clifton "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks "Our Land" by Langston Hughes "Pretext" by Muggs Fogarty "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W.B. Yeats

Host Lauren chats with poet, Special Projects Manager at Providence Art, Culture & Tourism, and Reading Across Rhode Island Honorary Chair, Charlotte Abotsi about this year's RARI pick, Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. They also discuss poetry, Providence's artsy vibe, and the impact of their high school English teachers. In the Last Chapter they answer the question: What is a poem or a line from a poem that has always stuck with you?   Overdueing It is a project funded by the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and is produced by library staff around the state. We are proud to be a resident partner of the Rhode Island Center for the Book. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not represent those of the Overdueing It podcast, its sponsor organizations, or any participants' place of employment. The content of Overdueing It episodes are the property of the individual creators, with permission for Overdueing it to share the content on their podcast feed in perpetuity. Any of the content from the Overdueing podcast cannot be reproduced without express written permission.   Our logo was designed by Sarah Bouvier and our theme music is by Neura-Flow.   Books Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom by Camonghne Felix Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian Sex Camel by Muggs Fogarty   Media Beef (TV Series, 2023 - ) Harvey (1950) The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)   Poems "Why Some People Be Mad at Me Sometimes" by Lucille Clifton "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks "Our Land" by Langston Hughes "Pretext" by Muggs Fogarty "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W.B. Yeats

In this month's episode, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the Kerry great, John B. Keane, and Yeats' poem The ballad of Father Gilligan. Presented by David Fleming with Mary Kelleher, Rosette Whyte, Marianne Purcell and Tom Hanley. Originally broadcast 24th April 2026

We're talking Season 12, Episode 20 Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes. And twins. Once again, hunters are in peril, and they have called on the Winchesters for help. Will they save the day? And what do you call a fake person made out of sticks? Plus, Liz talks about the Secret Ritual conducted by the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn's Second Order.Research LinksThe Golden Dawn Scrapbook: The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order - Theosophical Society in AmericaFrancis King - Modern Ritual Magic - 1989 : Francis King : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveProject MUSE - Victorian Occultism and the Making of Modern Magic: Invoking Tradition by Alison Butler (review)Dennis Denisoff, “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 1888-1901” | BRANCHThe True Story Of The Hermetic Order Of The Golden DawnFull text of "Ellic Howe - The Magicians of the Golden Dawn - 1985"Women of the Golden Dawn : rebels and priestesses : Greer, Mary K. (Mary Katherine) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveThe Flying Rolls – The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn®History of the Golden Dawn: An Introduction – The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn®Esoteric Color Mysticism. The Living Power of Color | by Marcus Hedare | MediumW. B. Yeats and "A Vision": The Golden Dawn

We are living in a time that wants to drain the color out of everything: from politics to consumption culture to the slow accumulation of fear. Charlie and Brian walk the Four Paths through a single question: what actually holds the center when things fall apart?The answer is not optimism. It is beauty understood as the cosmological balance point of the Tree of Life, the dwelling place of the Cosmic Christ, and the practice that elevates the divine sparks still burning inside the broken shells of the world.This episode is pastoral, practical, and quietly insurgent. It moves from Via Positiva awe through the klippot and nitzotzot of Via Negativa, into the gemilut chesed and brachot of Via Creativa, and arrives at Via Transformativa in time to talk about dancing at protests and why a movement that cannot dance has already lost its way.This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Get your copy here —> Creation's Paths: A Creation Spirituality PrimerCreation's Paths is a Christopagan Creation Spirituality community rooted in the conviction that creation is original blessing, not original sin. If this episode found you at the right moment, you are welcome here.New to Creation's Paths? Start here: https://www.creationspaths.com/p/start-hereThe book: Creation's Paths: A Creation Spirituality Primer https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972869019Educational resources: https://wisdomscry.comThis work is listener and reader supported. If it has been nourishing to you, the most direct way to sustain it is a paid Substack subscription: it keeps the teaching flowing and the community growing. All are welcome here regardless of financial capacity. Spiritual nourishment should flow freely to all who seek it.Become a paid subscriber: Other ways to support: Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett Patreon: https://patreon.com/cedorsett Cash App: https://cash.app/$CreationsPathsFind us: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com Threads: https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#ViaPositiva #TikkunOlam #CosmicChrist #Tiphareth #FourPaths #SpiritualResistance #DefiantJoy #FaithAndBeauty #Geburah #Christopagan #CreationSpirituality #CreationsPathsChapters:00:00 The Story That Started Everything01:31 Yeats and the World Right Now03:29 Introduction / What Beauty Actually Is05:28 The Gray Haze — What's Being Done to Us08:22 Beauty, Artemis, and the Blue Marble10:42 Via Positiva — Beauty as the First Path11:14 Tiphareth: Beauty at the Heart of the Tree of Life13:57 The Cosmic Christ Lives in Beauty16:00 Via Negativa — The kelipot and the Divine Sparks18:05 Tikkun Olam: Elevating the Sparks21:58 Releasing the Shell, Lifting the Light22:59 Via Creativa — Making Beauty in the World23:35 Gemilut Chesed: Bestowing Loving Kindness26:22 Brachot: The Practice of a Hundred Blessings28:24 Via Transformativa — Defiant Joy as Resistance31:53 This Week's Practice: Blessed Is Life34:00 Closing Blessing Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

Edited lightly. For the full uncensored episode watch here: https://youtube.com/live/KqOYCKXyiOk?feature=shareDr Felix John Taylor has released a book on the GD...let's see what he says about it as I do my first read over of the contents! Get his new book today: here: https://amzn.to/42hVvX6A full-­length narrative history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the esoteric society at the center of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century rise of the occult.Occultism has long been associated with the visual and literary arts, the wild and the avant-­garde, and nowhere was this more embodied than in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Founded in London in the 1880s by Freemasons, it was the world's most famous secret society. In this fresh and invigorating narrative history, Felix John Taylor recounts its rise and fall through those for whom the Order represented both an alternative to traditional Victorian religious values and a space for imaginative exploration.Devoted to the study of ceremonial magic, the Order attracted a long list of eminent writers, actors, and visual artists to its ranks, including W. B. Yeats and Aleister Crowley, as well as lesser-­known key figures. It envisioned a "golden age" of spiritual enlightenment, with progressive ideals—­class and gender were no barriers to entry—and teachings from tarot to alchemy and astral projection guided its ten hierarchical "grades."While its temples were formally spaces to practice magic, Taylor finds that the Golden Dawn was at times more an arts club or society of writers. Political schisms and sex scandals ensured that it was short-lived, yet for many members its occult practices came to determine the nature of their work and influence the wider culture over a much longer period.The Golden Dawn, with its influence on Wicca and modern magic, is a vital thread connecting Victorian esotericism to the present day occult revival. This visually arresting, meticulously researched literary history uncovers these connections, while offering a compelling account of the Order and its members.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/magick-without-fears-frater-r-c-hermetic-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 11, 2026 is: subterfuge • SUB-ter-fyooj • noun Subterfuge is a formal word that refers to the use of tricks to hide, avoid, or get something. // They obtained the documents by subterfuge. See the entry > Examples: “Despite her difficult childhood, Mavis [Gallant] persevered, through grit, bloody-mindedness, an absence of self-pity, and an ironic sense of humor. Lunch with her was always hilarious and often horrifying: the tales she told about her life exceeded in unlikely gruesomeness even her own fiction. She certainly had the ‘cold eye' that Yeats recommended for writers, and she saw through subterfuge, no matter who was trying it on.” — Margaret Atwood, The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Though subterfuge is a synonym of deception, fraud, double-dealing, and trickery, there's nothing tricky about the word's etymology. English borrowed the word with its meaning from the Late Latin noun subterfugium, which in turn comes from the Latin verb subterfugere, meaning “to escape, evade.” That word combines the prefix subter-, meaning “secretly” (from the adverb subter, meaning “underneath”) with the verb fugere, which means “to flee” and which is also the source of words such as fugitive and refuge, among others.

This is the second of a series of posts about the literary alchemy of J. K. Rowling, a discussion jumpstarted by a post by ‘Iris' at a Strike fan website, an article that championed a Jungian perspective on this subject. The first post in this series, Literary Alchemy – A Primer for Those Interested in J. K. Rowling's Artistry, both explained what the ‘Iris' post asserted and reviewed much of the critical literature that the brevity of the S&E Files article prevented her from discussing. See that post for links to this material. The conversation between Nick Jeffery and John Granger above was recorded in the same spirit as the first post was written, namely, simultaneously a welcome to Strike fans and Rowling readers who have learned about literary alchemy only recently and an introduction to the work of the last twenty five years on this subject. Upcoming posts in the series will include a counter-point discussion in the debate Rowling is fostering about whether a psychological or spiritual perspective is better for understanding art and life and a review of the alchemical signatures that crowd Rowling-Galbraith's Hallmarked Man.This post is largely links to sources for points Nick and John discuss in their naturally enthusiastic and contrarian conversation, question by question. Enjoy!1. Welcome to the Conversation! (Nick) I just sent out an article about literary alchemy, John, in response to an article written by ‘Iris' and posted on the Strike-Ellacott Files website, a piece titled ‘What is Literary Alchemy? Spotting symbols that map Strike and Robin's growth.' What advice or guidance would you give to, say, Cormoran Strike readers who are brand new to the subject? * There are three types of alchemy and it is important to understand the common ground they share and the differences between them;* The first type is alchemy proper, which is to say ‘metallurgical alchemy,' the sacred science of purifying metals and the adept's soul via the creation of a Philosopher's Stone that will transform lead to gold and exude an elixir of life, the drinking of which will bestow immortality;* The second and third types of alchemy derive from interpretations of metallurgical alchemy's aims and the symbolic texts detailing the work in the hermetic laboratory;* Literary alchemy is the use of metallurgical alchemy's language, colors, sequences, and symbols in plays, poetry, and story to foster an edifying and transformative experience in the artist's theater or reading audience;* Psychological alchemy is Carl Jung's use of metallurgical alchemy's texts during and after WWII to illustrate his ideas of the integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the human mind;* Metallurgical alchemy was practiced in China, the Levant, India, and Europe within the revealed religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity until its degeneration in the late Medieval period and eventual evolution into the strictly materialist chemistry we know today;* Literary alchemy has been a continuous stream in literature from Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the Metaphysical poets through to Dickens, Yeats, the Inklings, Joyce, Nabokov, and J. K. Rowling;* The academic study of “alchemy in literature” was the province of Baconian and allegorical readings of Shakespeare (cf., Beryl Pogson, Peter Dawkins, Martin Lings) until the late 20th Century and the advent of academic specialists in ‘Hermetic Studies,' e.g., Stanton Linden, Lyndy Abraham, and Charles Nicholl (cf., Cauda Pavonis: A Journal of Hermetic Studies, 1982-2000).* Jung and his followers used their psychological interpretations of metallurgical alchemy as allegories of the soul to interpret mythology (cf., Erich Neumann, Marie-Louise Von Franz, Robert Johnson);* Jungian analysis of story using Jung's ideas of subconscious archetypes within a collective unconscious was popularized by Joseph Campbell in his guides to Joyce's Ulysses and his more well known works on mythology (e.g., The Hero With a Thousand Faces);* ‘Isis' in her S&E Files article, ‘What is Literary Alchemy?,' suggests that Rowling-Galbraith is writing an allegory of soul transformation in the Cormoran Strike series using metallurgical alchemy's symbols and sequences as understood by Carl Jung and his disciples rather than as used by English writers since the 13th Century;* It's a challenging theory, the depth of which is hard to grasp without an appreciation of the types of alchemy, what they have in common, and their differences in approach and subject matter.2. The Lake: (John) What I found most fascinating in your post, Nick, was your best guesses about where Rowling would have learned about literary alchemy. She claimed in 1998 that she'd read a lot of alchemical texts from which she set the “magical parameters” of the Hogwarts Saga; if you had only three chances to name one of those books, what would you choose? * Charles Nicholl's The Chemical Theatre;* Titus Burckhardt's Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul (or Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Acience and Sacred Art);* Lyndy Abraham Summerhaze's Marvell and Alchemy or her Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery;* Martin Lings' The Secret of Shakespeare3. Carl Jung, Alchemy: (Nick) I see you're chafing at the bit, John, with book titles I haven't mentioned so let me name-drop the author not on my list because, as you pointed out, he wasn't really a literary alchemist so much as a psychologist who discussed alchemy as a means of illustrating his own ideas about the ‘Great Work.' You've written, though, that literary alchemy as with metallurgical alchemy is a subset of soul-allegories or Psychomachia. Don't Jung's ideas jibe with that? * Yes and no!* Jung's ideas of the soul and archetypes (or archetypal forms) are based on late 19th Century Volkischer German ideas, which is to say, modern and materialist (some say ‘vitalist') premises. His hostility to Christianity and Judaism was grounded in his acceptance of Darwinian evolution and derived philosophically from Nietzsche (see Richard Noll's The Jung Cult and The Aryan Christ).* He conflates the spiritual with the psychological, consequently, and embraces integrated individual psychological health as the telos of human existence, none of which is consistent with traditional metallurgical or literary alchemy (see Titus Burckhardt's Mirror of the Intellect, Philip Sherrard's ‘An Introduction to the Religious Thought of C. G. Jung,' and Harry Oldmeadow's ‘C.G. Jung & Mircea Eliade: ‘Priests without Surplices'? Reflections on the Place of Myth, Religion and Science in Their Work.'* Psychological alchemy, insomuch as it is ‘Jungian,' is well removed from the other two types of alchemy. Which is not to say that Rowling is not a Jungian and hence a Jungian psychological alchemist.4. Back into the Lake: (John) You covered in your article, though, Nick, the several reasons to think it possible, even probable that the evidence from Rowling's life suggests she is using Jungian ideas in her literary alchemy. Iris over at S&E Files obviously thinks that is the case. What are the for and against ideas with respect to Rowling being a Jungian? There's Plenty of Evidence That Rowling IS a Jungian Writer:John Granger's discussion in Troubled Blood: A Jungian Reading* Robin's name-dropping Jung in conversation about astrology;* The Jungian notes sounded throughout Strike 5: Archetypes, Synchronicity, Persona;* The connection between Jung's illustrated ‘New Book' and Talbot's ‘True Book;' and* Pointers to Cupid-Psyche myth as understood by Jungians (see below)The Advent of Prudence Dunleavy, Jungian Psychologist, in Ink Black Heart* Hard to imagine a more sympathetic portrait of a Jungian than half-sister Prudence!* She clearly was the genius behind the Rokeby reconciliation in Hallmarked ManThe Cupid and Psyche myth underpinning the Strike series* A Mythological Key to Cormoran Strike? The Myth of Eros, Psyche, and Venus (note the discussion here of the Jungian understanding of this specific myth)* Ink Black Heart: Strike as Zeus to Robin's Leda and as Cupid to Mads' Psyche* ‘Rowling Points to Myth of Cupid and Psyche in order to Console Strike Fans Disappointed with Hallmarked Man‘* The Hallmarked Man‘s Mythological Template (Nick Jeffery, John Granger)Anything Else? Oh, yeah —* Rowling studied mythology in her ‘Classical Studies' program at UExeter and almost certainly encountered Jungian interpretation of myths there (e.g. the work of Neumann, Johnson, Campbell).* Rowling told Val McDermid if she had not become a successful writer she would have sought training and certification as a psychologist. * Her work reflects a broad reading in psychology (cf., Louise Freeman Davis' ‘J. K. Rowling and the Phantoms in the Brain,' ‘Cormoran Strike and the Itch that Cannot Be Scratched') and it is likely that she has read her fair share of Jung and Jungian authors during her studies.* Rowling benefited from psychological therapy and exercises herself when suffering from depression, the experience of and recovery from which she depicted in story via the Azkaban Dementors and Robin Ellacott's treatment for PTSD in Lethal White.And There is Plenty of Evidence That Rowling Is NOT a Jungian Writer:* Rowling has never been asked or revealed how she learned about literary alchemy; this includes, of course, any reference to Carl Jung, whose work was not focused on literary alchemy per se but a psychological interpretation or explanation of metallurgical alchemy's symbolism.* All that Rowling has revealed about her experiences as a patient seeking help with depression are about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), which treatment modality owes nothing to Jung or to Jung's students.* It is possible that Rowling encountered esoteric metallurgical alchemy, the precursor to literary alchemy, in her study of astrology, the complementary traditional sacred science to alchemy, a skill-set with which we know she was accomplished. That route to alchemy would have led her to Perennialist interpretations of alchemy, most notably Titus Burckhardt‘s Alchemy, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul; the paperback cover of the Penguin Metaphysical Library edition of that book (1974) features an androgynous giant named REBIS standing on a dragon and a winged golden sphere (i.e., Rubeus, Norbert, Snitch).* As mentioned above, it is more likely that she encountered literary alchemy in her study of Shakespeare. The year she was studying for her A Levels, she traveled to see a production of King Lear which has prompted the idea that it was on her list of texts to prepare for her tests. The most challenging interpretation of Lear then in print was Charles Nicholl's The Chemical Theatre (1980), a book that explains almost every scene in perhaps Shakespeare's greatest tragedy as a parallel step in the Great Work of alchemy. If the budding astrologer was fascinated by this allegorical interpretation of the Bard, the most popular work in print at that time that championed reading Shakespeare as the author of soul allegories was Perennialist Martin Lings‘ The Secret of Shakespeare (1984).* Literary Alchemy is a tool set employed not only by Shakespeare but by a host of Rowling favorite authors to include Dickens, Nabokov, Lewis, and Tolkien. This view of alchemy, that is, as an allegorical depiction of the soul's transformation that affects that same cathartic experience in its theater or reading audiences, is the one found in Rowling's work, which is well removed from psychological alchemy, an analytic art which, though it springs from metallurgical alchemical texts, does not aim at the transformation at work in the sacred art or the science of traditional alchemy. * Rowling's use of chiastic structures and psychomachian allegory, tools that complement literary alchemy in spiritual perspective and aim, make a Jungian rather than a literary and Perennialist view of alchemy seem unlikely.* Alchemy: Jung, Burckhardt, or Maclean? John Granger, April 2007* Rowling's Soul Triptych Psychomachia: Is It From Shakespeare's ‘Macbeth'? John Granger, September 20245. The Debate at King's Cross: (Nick) So, John, you've mentioned Jung quite a few times in your posts about the Mythological framework of the Strike series and even written about the Jungian ideas of animus and anima with respect to Cormoran and Robin's relationship. You seem fairly confident, though, that Rowling is writing from the traditional esoteric ideas of alchemy a la Shakespeare rather than Jung's. Why is that? * Everything you just said!* As noted, Jung's ideas are modern and psychological while the stream of literary alchemy in English Literature is almost exclusively more Medieval and pointedly spiritual;* The Most Notable Exception: Angela Carter's The Passion of the New Eve (1977), that reads like a Jungian ‘Red Book' slide-show (think Bombyx Mori) or a transgender Odyssey written for feminists. Rowling has never mentioned her to my knowledge but it would be surprising if she hadn't read this book more than once. What Alana Bolton Cooke wrote about Carter's Passion could be said about Rowling's literary alchemy if she is a Jungian writer (or about Galbraith's fictional Elizabeth Tassel?):Angela Carter in The Passion of New Eve (1977) uses the exoteric phases of alchemy and Carl G. Jung's theory of esoteric alchemy as a means of demonstrating allegorically the idea ofrebirth and renewal. The purpose of this allegorical method is to produce an 'alchemical' change of thought in the reader about sexuality and gender associated with women's repression and liberation. In the novel Carter develops themes and ideas explored in her essay, The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History (1979), an analysis of the Marquis de Sade's pornography and its affect on the roles of men and women in society. The clash of opposites involved in combining alchemical symbolism, feminism and pornography within the fiction can be seen as representative of the state of chaos present in alchemy before the beginning of change. The circular narrative and alchemical structure of the fiction creates a literary version of the alchemical process as it brings together opposites involved in chaos, represented by events and characterisation that the protagonist, Evelyn/Eve, experiences, until, in the manner of alchemy, harmony is reached. The harmony created represents women's empowerment. Carter uses Evelyn's individuation process to encourage growth within the reader by altering patterns of thought to bring about change through self-confrontation and self-knowledge. The structure of Carter's fiction, thus, corresponds to the process of esoteric alchemy contained within the structure, imagery and symbolism of exoteric alchemy. The fiction is designed to stimulate the unconscious of the reader and make conscious hitherto unknown and repressed thoughts about gender and sexuality to bring about change in the lives of men and women.* I think what Rowling said she was trying to do with Harry Potter's meeting with Dumbledore at the dream-like King's Cross strongly suggests she is aware of the two approaches and wants readers to discuss them – but that she has made her own choice, however conflicted she may be.* In her 2008 interview with Adeel Amini, Rowling said that her hope for Harry's post-mortem conversation with Dumbledore at King's Cross was to stimulate “a debate” among readers about whether it was a psychological moment, that is, a fantasy in which Harry understands what he's been missing all along, or a spiritual event in which he is actually speaking with the late Headmaster:Enough Potter-plot, I think. Moving on to a slightly more contentious issue, Rowling has categorically said that she does believe in a higher power, a statement reinforced by her childhood church-going (“Till I was 17,” she clarifies). It must be difficult to reconcile her religious beliefs with those that denounce Harry Potter as anti-Christian, I wonder aloud. Rowling's expression does not change a fraction. “There was a Christian commentator who said, which I thought was very interesting, that Harry Potter had been the Christian church's biggest missed opportunity. And I thought, there's someone who actually has their eyes open.“I think he said it before the publication of the seventh book, and with the publication of the seventh book I think that clarified a lot of people's view on where I was standing. But I should emphasise that I am not pushing a specifically Christian agenda, and indeed till the very last moment in book seven, one can interpret what happens to Harry after he presents himself with death as him going into an unconscious state in which his subconscious reveals to him what he already knew.” I hum in faux-comprehension of what she's referring to; luckily my clued-in companion is nodding wildly. Proceed. “Any re-reading of Chapter 35 will show you that there's nothing that the Dumbledore he sees tells him that he couldn't have guessed for himself or already realised, and of course there's a key piece of information that Dumbledore doesn't articulate that Harry has realised. So you can deliberately interpret it that way, or you can say that he did go into a state of limbo beyond which there was another life, and that idea was expressed repeatedly, and most explicitly at the end of book five, Order of the Phoenix, where Harry understands that there is an ‘on', that you do go on. “I wanted there to be a debate there, so of my three main characters - when they come into the room which examines death at the Ministry of Magic - Hermione, the ultimate sceptic and a hyperrational person, hears nothing behind the veil and is scared of it. Ron is just uneasy; Ron is someone who does not grapple with anything deeper than beer, if he can avoid it. Harry's drawn to it, and therein lies Harry's slightly reckless, almost morbid streak, because Harry does have a hint of that dangerous adolescent trait which is the attraction to death.” Heavy. Obviously with this ambiguity, you do get a fair degree of misinterpretation as well; there is a certain section that does dislike Harry Potter intensely. “Oh, vehemently,” says Rowling, before muttering under her breath “…and they send death threats.”* I think that “debate” she's trying to foster is between the psychological, call it ‘Jungian' “just inside your head” subconscious perspective, and the authentically spiritual view of her work (well, of art and human existence, too, of course). And that this debate is one she has had for most of her life. Check out her comments about the “greatest missed opportunity” and explain to me how that doesn't line up with her preferring the spiritual, albeit “not explicitly Christian,” to the psychological and humanist. 7. Jungian Readings of Rowling's Work: (Nick) John, you're familiar with what has been written by Potter Pundits because of your PhD critical literature surveys; what are the better ones about Rowling and Jungian psychology and what do they emphasize? Here are seven off the top of my head (and Thesis ‘Works Cited' drafts):* Grynbaum, G.A. (2000). The Secrets of Harry Potter. The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal: Reviews From a Jungian Perspective of Books, Films and Culture, [online] 19 (4) pp. 17-48* Patrick, Christopher and Sarah (2007), ‘Exploring the Dark Side: Harry Potter and the Psychology of Evil,' in Mulholland (ed.), The Psychology of Harry Potter, BenBella Books, pp 221-232* Gerhold, C. (2011). The Hero's Journey Through Adolescence: A Jungian Archetypal Analysis of “Harry Potter.” PsyD. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. * Rectenwald, Bob (2019). ‘Carl Jung's Impact on the Work of J. K. Rowling' * Skipper, Alicia and Kate Fulton (2021) ‘Out from the Shadows into the Light: Persona and Shadow in Harry Potter‘ in Anne Mamary (ed.) The Alchemical Harry Potter: Essays on Transfiguration in J. K. Rowling's Novels, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2021, pp 79-96* The Unfolding Journey, Jung's Shadow Self in Harry Potter: Confronting the Darkness Within (YouTube video)* My own Troubled Blood: A Jungian ReadingBob Rectenwald's piece is the best of the six I didn't write but it shares the several faults all the Jungian pieces make:* the first failing of even the best Jungian readers is the assumption that Rowling is a Jungian, which is an open question;* the next is that Jung's ideas (and Joseph Campbell's) are indisputably true; and* the last is, when alchemy is mentioned, the critics do not clarify either the commonalities of or the differences between literary alchemy, psychological alchemy, and Jungian analytic psychology. * Note, though, that Rowling, while aware of such Jungian tropes as the Hero's Journey, tweeks it shamelessly, adding a symbol of Christ and resurrection scene in every Potter story (cf., How Harry Cast His Spell, ‘The Harry's Journey,' pp 21-28).* Read her brief PotterMore piece on alchemy and note that it is written in such a way that it can be read as confirmation of either a psychological or spiritual perspective on alchemy and art:One interpretation of the ‘instructions' left by the alchemists is that they are symbolic of a spiritual journey, leading the alchemist from ignorance (base metal) to enlightenment (gold). There seems to have been a mystical element to the work the alchemist was engaged upon, which set it apart from chemistry (of which it was undoubtedly both an offshoot and forerunner).This “original writing” by Rowling, especially the words “spiritual” and “mystical,” suggests that she is a Perennialist rather than a Jungian, at least with respect to her understanding of alchemy. But the debate is still possible with Jungians who read those words as cyphers for the subsconscious contact they hold we have with archetypes.8. Back to the Alchemy: (John) I think the real question of whether Rowling's literary alchemy is predominantly literary and spiritual or psychological in orientation comes down to the postmodern confusion about the immaterial aspects of the human person, which is to say, the soul (or mind, psyche) and the spirit. Rowling's recent work may seem prosaic or secular to a casual reader who compares it to the relatively otherworldly and “obviously” symbolic Potter books, but she loads each Strike book with Shakespearean romance of soul and spirit, i.e., alchemical dramas, and hermetic tropes. I'm writing a piece now about the lions, dogs, incest, and the red man and white woman in Hallmarked Man, each of which are touchstones of alchemy. I think, though, that your work with Rowling's favorite books and her epigraph sources, Nick, point to a strong spiritual rather than psychological foundation in Rowling's work —* Louisa May Alcott, Little Women* Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle* The Victorian Women Poets in Running Grave* Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh* Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book* The Jungian love of the I Ching, Running Grave's epigraph source9. Jung in Running Grave: (Nick) Rowling's favorite writers, from Shakespeare and Nabokov to C. S. Lewis and Victorian Women poets, all clearly believe in a world-transcending spiritual realm. Given the quantity of the Jungian scholarship in Rowling Studies that Iris referred to and you've mentioned, it's curious -- if Rowling is aware of it and is resistant to it -- that she doesn't push back against it explicitly in her work. Can you think of a character that seems something like Jung in the books, someone as bad as Prudence Dunleavey is good? I can think of three:* United Humanitarian Church's guru Jonathan Wace in Running Grave: his “psychologizing of religion,” the comparative religion avenue to denial of any true faith, the psychological critical analysis of a patient using mythological tropes (”Artemis”), the cult leader, and the abuser of women and children -- he's a ringer for Jung! * Paul Satchwell, one-eyed serpent with a one-track mind, in Leamington Spa, a true Jungian artist working psycho-sexual motifs graphically on canvas:Naked figures twisted and cavorted in scenes from Greek mythology. Persephone struggled in the arms of Hades as he carried her down into the underworld; Andromeda strained against chains binding her to rock as a dragonish creature rose from the waves to devour her; Leda lay supine in bulrushes as Zeus, in the form of a swan, impregnated her.Two lines of Joni Mitchell floated back to Robin as she looked at the paintings: “When I first saw your gallery, I liked the ones of ladies…”Except that Robin wasn't sure she liked the paintings. The female figures were all black-haired, olive-skinned, heavy-breasted and partially or entirely naked. The paintings were accomplished, but Robin found them slightly lascivious. Each of the women wore a similar expression of vacant abandon, and Satchwell seemed to have a definite preference for those myths that featured bondage, rape or abduction. (Troubled Blood, 542)* And then there are the Masons, kind of an old school Jungian cult in Hallmarked Man. Like the UHC and “harmless” fraternal and charitable group with Christian touches but which doesn't change a man or human nature per Hardacre (and which harbors the rich and powerful like Lord Branfoot). * Coupled with Prudence, the Front of Jungian Beliefs, we get the front and back of Jung in Rowling's work, a characteristic touch of Rowling nuance as she did with Islam in Hallmarked Man.10. Conclusion: (John) I'm obviously not a Jung fan and I don't think Rowling is writing Jungian psychomachia in alchemical symbols a la Angela Carter, but I see how people would come to a contrary conclusion; Rowling's ‘spiritual not religious' public statements and political positions with respect to Same Sex Attraction and abortion line up much more easily with New Age and Jungian types than with any kind of orthodox Christianity. The great thing about essays like Isis' at S&E Files is that it brings more people into the conversation of what literary alchemy is and the various approaches to it. You've been reading about literary alchemy for several years now, Nick; what do you think the person whose first encounter with the subject was the S&E Files article do to hone their alchemy detection skills? * “Read your books and online talks, John!”* How Metallurgical Alchemy Worked and How it Became Literary Alchemy (from Deathly Hallows Lectures, Chapter 1):Alchemy, in a nutshell, was the science for the perfection or sanctification of the alchemist's soul. This heroic venture I need to say straight off is all but impossible today because the way we look at reality, at ‘things' per se makes the Great Work itself almost an absurdity. Unlike the medieval alchemists, we moderns and postmoderns see things with a clear subject/object distinction, that is, we believe that you and I and that table are entirely different things and between them is there is no connection or relation. The knowing subject is one thing and the observed object is completely ‘other.'To the alchemist that is not the case. His efforts in changing lead to gold are based on the premise that he as the subject will go through the same types of changes and purifications as the materials he is working with. In sympathy with these metallurgical transitions and resolutions of contraries, his soul will be purified in correspondence as long as he is working in a prayerful state within the Mysteries (sacraments) of his revealed tradition.Now, historically there was an Arabic alchemy, a Chinese alchemy, a Kabbalistic, as well as a Christian alchemy; each differs superficially with respect to their spiritual traditions but in every one, the alchemist was working with a sacred natural science or physics to advance his spiritual purification. This was only possible because he looked at the metal he was working with as something with which he was not ‘other' but with which he was in relationship, artifex and artifact in sacred art imitating and accelerating the work of the Creator creating a bridge, so that, as lead changes to gold or material perfection, his soul was going through similar transformations and purifications.The common ground is the logos in every created thing, to include persons (cf. John 1:9), which are all continuous with the Logos fabric of reality. As much as the alchemist identifies with this metaphysical ground, purifying himself of the ‘old man' or ego-driven individual and identifying himself with the spiritual Heart or light within him, that light will become his dominant quality, hence his “illumination” or “enlightenment”. And lead or solid darkness turning into gold, hard light.How does this edifying magic become the scaffolding for Harry's adventures? Largely through the genius of William Shakespeare. Hermetic wisdom and alchemical efforts were such commonplaces in Elizabethan England that Shakespeare and his contemporaries recognized, I think. that the magic of staged drama is essentially alchemical. If we groundlings are all watching what's going on up on the stage and everything is working the way it's supposed to, the subject-object distinction dissolves inasmuch as we identify with the characters and their agonies through our logos-imaginations. As they go through their changes, like the metals in a crucible, we identify with them and pass through the same cathartic moment.As the great dramatists of that period realized, “if what we're doing is alchemical, why don't we use alchemical imagery and language, too?” And, voila, literary alchemy is born. This stream of English literature in which narrator or characters and the reader or audience in correspondence pass through the stages of the alchemical work, the black the white and the red (basically dissolution, purification, and then perfection) runs through the next five centuries of poetry, stage work, stories and novels. You may not have recognized it, but its a big part of things you have read.* Literary Alchemy: Sacred Science, Sacred Art, and ‘The Alembic of Story':A Perennialist Explanation of J. K. Rowling's Signature Hermetic Symbolism This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Simon and Chris follow in the mystical footsteps of Walter Evans Wentz, who journeyed from New Jersey real-estate hustler to theosophic acolyte to roving collector of fairylore in the deep west. Tramping through Ireland, Scotland, Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, Walter sat by many a peat fire hearing tales of fairy nurses, stolen brides, knockers, pixies and the Gentry — and Chris wonders what these narrators really made of such a singular American. Along the way there is fairy seer extraordinaire Barney Crystal of Grange, Walter's crush on W. B. Yeats, the spelling of Cambridge, the problem of fairy shorthand, and the question of whether Walt was a cold fish, a sociopath, a bully or an all-round good guy. There is also the strange afterlife of The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries in the Age of Aquarius (and just a tiny bit of the Tibetan Book of the Dead).

WE HAVE MERCH, CHECK IT OUT: https://artistsonartistsonartistsonartists.com/shopOscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, W. B. Yeats. Some of the most iconic playwrights across genres, from absurdism to pastoral stories. Nestled within sweeping hillsides and rocky cliffs, Irish playwrights's stories have been told across not just the continent but the world. This week we sat down with some modern Irish playwrights as they discuss their own legacies they hope to leave, how their Irish upbringing has influenced their work, and the last time they saw God. All in the most beautiful and accurate of accents. Grab a pint, sit down at the pub with us, and listen in!This episode was filmed in the beautiful Dynasty Typewriter Theater, and tech-produced by Samuel Curtis. For live shows and events you can find more about them at dynastytypewriter.com. To learn more about the BTS of this episode and to find a world of challenges, games, inside scoop, and the Artists being themselves, subscribe to our Patreon! You won't be disappointed with what you find. Check out patreon.com/aoaoaoapod Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists is an improvised Hollywood roundtable podcast by Kylie Brakeman, Jeremy Culhane, Angela Giarratana, and Patrick McDonald. Produced by Laservision Productions. Music by Gabriel Ponton. Edited by Conner McCabe. Thumbnail art by Josh Fleury. Logo designed by Lucy Tomkiewicz.Hollywood's talking. Make sure you're listening. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube! Please rate us five stars!

W.B. Yeats often wrote about Ireland as a land of myth and magic. In this episode, author Conor McAnally, talks about Ireland and the mythical and magical Irish way with words with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III.

Bidding on a collection of Jack B Yeats' studio tools and ephemera will end tonight. So, what are some of the highlights?Joining Seán to discuss is Auctioneer and curator of the contents, Niall Mullin…

Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope  Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope. https://media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/content.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/89_From_An_Essay_on_Man_by_Alexander_Pope.mp3 Poet Alexander Pope Reading and commentary by Mark McGuinness From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!   Podcast Transcript In the early 18th century, Alexander Pope's poetry was known to every cultured person in England. He was a fashionable, successful, wealthy writer and the preeminent poet of his age. He was also a canny businessman who published his translations of Homer via subscription, an early form of crowdfunding, and they sold so well he built himself, an extravagantly large villa in Twickenham – and its famous subterranean grotto still exists today. His political satires were so sharp and topical that he was rumoured to carry a pair of loaded pistols when going for a walk, in case one of his targets took violent exception. Phrases from his poetry are still proverbial: ‘hope springs eternal', ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread', ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing', ‘To err is human; to forgive divine', ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', and also the title of the movie, ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'. But these days, Pope has really fallen out of fashion. He's seen as archaic and artificial. In an age when formal poetry is out of fashion, for many people he represents the worst kind of formal poetry: his very regular metre and full rhymes sound clunky to our ears. His rhyming couplets are undoubtedly clever, but that's part of the problem, because these days we associate poetry with emotions and self-expression, so cleverness is seen as a little suspect and somehow inauthentic. And I'll be honest, for a long time, I had that image of Pope. He represented everything the Romantics rebelled against at the end of the 18th century, and as a young poet I was on the side of the Romantics, so I had no interest in Pope. However, a few years ago, I challenged myself to have another look at his work, and what I discovered was a really sharp and thought-provoking and witty and formidably skilful poet, who in certain moods, is an absolute pleasure to read. And he doesn't fit every mood, but then there aren't many poets who do. So turning to today's poem, An Essay on Man is one of Pope's major works, it's about 1,300 lines long. As the title suggests it's a meditation on the nature of what he called mankind, and we call humankind, we have to make allowance for the historic focus on the male as representative of the species. It's also a didactic poem, he's not just reflecting on the subject, he is telling us what we should think about it. Which again, is a deeply unfashionable stance for poets these days, at least when they are on the side of a conservative or establishment position. And he does this in the form of a series of verse epistles, verse letters, which are addressed to Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke. The epistle form also means that the poem addresses the reader in a very direct manner, as you would expect in a letter. His basic stance, which we find in many of his poems, is of a reasonable man writing for a group of like-minded people, trying to establish some sort of common sense, shared ideas and principles, in a world where these need to be debated and defined and defended. This was the world of the coffee house and the salon, where people came together to debate, sometimes in very robust fashion. It came to be known as the Augustan age in English literature, by comparison with the satirical and political poetry of the age of Augustus Caesar. OK looking more closely at the poem itself, the excerpt I just read is from the second Epistle, and one of the first things we notice is what Milton would have called the ‘jingling' rhymes: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride, It's pretty unmistakeable isn't it? One pair of rhymes after another. And in case you're wondering, yes, these rhyming couplets do go on all the way through the poem, and indeed all the way through most of Pope's work. And not just in Pope: for over a century, from about 1650 to 1780, this was a hugely popular verse form. They are known as heroic couplets because they are associated with epic narrative poems, such as John Dryden's translations of Virgil and Pope's translations of Homer. Each line is in iambic pentameter, the familiar ti TUM ti TUM ti TUm ti TUM ti TUM, with two lines next to each other forming couplets, and the poem proceeding with one couplet after another. The form can be traced back to Chaucer, who used rhyming couplets for many of his narrative poems. But by the time of Dryden and Pope it had evolved into a tighter couplet form, described as closed couplets, meaning that they were typically self contained, with a sentence, or a discrete part of a sentence, beginning and ending inside the couplet. For instance: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. That stands on its own as a single thought, a unit of sense, ending with a full stop. And the full rhyme of ‘scan' and ‘man' means the couplet snaps shut at the end – this is the closed couplet effect we associate with heroic couplets. In the next couplet he introduces the idea of man as a creature of ‘middle state': Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: And then another couplet elaborates on the sense of being pulled in different directions: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So the poem proceeds one unit of sense at a time. The couplets are like Lego bricks, and Pope used them to build just about anything he wanted: literary and philosophical discourse here in the Essay on Man and in his Essay on Criticism; mock-heroic social comedy in The Rape of the Lock; actual epic in his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey; and satire in The Dunciad. It's easy to see how this could become monotonous, and in the work of most poets of the time, it did. But Pope's great achievement was to take this established form and perfect it, sticking very strictly to the formal pattern, while varying the syntax, the grammatical patterns, with great subtlety and complexity, to keep the reader on their toes. Let's take another look at the first couplet. Notice the little pause in the middle of the first line, after ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; This divides the line into two parts, conveying the dramatic tension in Pope's argument: he's saying that humans are ambitious for knowledge, they want to ‘scan' God, to examine him, but they should really focus on self-knowledge. This tension between opposites is known as antithesis, it's a rhetorical pattern we looked at back in episode 58 about one of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnets, and it's very common in Pope. And the tension is resolved in the next line, which is all one phrase, with no pause: The proper study of mankind is man. Have another listen to the couplet, to hear how the tension is established and then released: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. So when all of this comes together, the tension and release, the regular rhythm of the metre and the full rhymes clinching the couplet, it has the effect of making the words sound truer than true. The following couplet picks up on the antithesis, and extends it into paradox: Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: An isthmus is a narrow strip of land between two bodies of water, so standing on it, you could easily feel precarious and threatened. ‘Darkly wise' means ‘dimly wise', possessing a little knowledge, but not enough for full understanding. And ‘rudely great' means ‘powerful but coarse and unfinished'. And I think we can recognise what Pope is saying from our own experience – that sense of knowing enough to know how little we really know; of having great potential, but struggling to fulfil it. And isn't it delightful how Pope compresses all those feelings into these neat little paradoxes: ‘darkly wise and rudely great'. In another famous line, he describes true eloquence as ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', which is exactly what he achieves here. We can also note that ‘darkly wise' and ‘rudely great' are not only antitheses expressed as paradoxes, they are also an example of another rhetorical pattern: parallelism, where similar structures are repeated with variation. In this case ‘darkly' and ‘rudely' are both adverbs and ‘wise' and ‘great' are both adjectives, so grammatically they are identical, which suggests both similarity and difference in mankind's relationship to knowledge and power. The next couplet uses a more elaborate parallelism: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So both lines say ‘With too much something for the something else'. It's hard to miss the pattern, isn't it? And notice how the couplet form is perfect for laying out two ideas that seem to counterbalance each other perfectly. So we're only six lines in and Pope has put his finger on a central conundrum in human existence, and conveyed it with at least three rhetorical patterns nested inside each other – antithesis, paradox and parallelism. Not only that, he's handled the metre and rhyme with great skill, wrapping each thought up in the neat little bow of a rhyming couplet. And if your mind is starting to boggle, welcome to the world of Pope's verse: elegant, authoritative and very, very clever. When we look closely, there's a lot going on inside every single couplet. He's like a watchmaker, working at a tiny scale, making an instrument with great precision and balance, that keeps perfect time, and chimes beautifully. And Pope's contemporaries would have found it easier to follow the sense than we do, because they were used to reading this kind of stuff. But I'm sure the poetry would often have given them pause, even if only for a moment, as they read. And my guess is that they would have enjoyed this slight difficulty, and the pleasure of making out the sense, with the little dopamine hit of understanding. Like unwrapping a sweet before you can pop it in your mouth and taste it. So I hope we're starting to see why Pope is the undisputed master of the heroic couplet. Even T. S. Eliot had to admit defeat, when he wrote a passage in this style for The Waste Land, only for Ezra Pound to point out tactfully that he couldn't compete with Pope, and draw the red pencil through it. But the form is more than simply one couplet after another. When he stacks them together, they create verse paragraphs, longer units of thought, that function very like paragraphs in prose. So having established the idea of man caught between opposing forces, he goes on to elaborate on the theme to dazzling effect: He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest; In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reasoning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little, or too much: The couplets are individually brilliant, and cumulatively overwhelming, both in terms of the mental effort required to tease out their meanings, and the tension between action and inaction, divine and bestial impulses, mind and body, birth and death, reason and error. And I think that's why I find this line so funny: Whether he thinks too little, or too much: It feels like he's throwing his arms up and laughing and admitting that he's overthinking it all. The verse paragraph ends with three more couplets, where he sums up the nature of man: Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused, or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Although Pope is describing a ‘chaos of thought', his own thinking is always sharp, however convoluted his argument becomes. So he sticks to the themes of power and knowledge, undercutting man's pretension by saying he is ‘Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all', and ‘Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled'. And he ends this paragraph with another rhetorical device, the tricolon, which uses three parallel elements to build to a conclusion: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! We're familiar with this pattern in famous quotes from Julius Caesar, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered', the US Declaration of Independence, ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', and Shakespeare: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen!' Here, Pope uses it with typical precision, since if someone is both the ‘glory… of the world' and it's ‘jest', i.e. the butt of its jokes, then that makes that person a ‘riddle': The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! So this sums up the nature of man, and sets up the jesting irony of the next verse paragraph: Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides, Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old time, and regulate the sun; If this were the start of the poem, we might be forgiven for taking Pope's words at face value, but in the light of what has gone before, it's pretty clear that ‘wondrous creature' is a mocking criticism. He was writing this in an age where Newtonian physics was in the ascendancy and people were full of enthusiasm about the new discoveries in science and the possibility of understanding and mastering the physical world. And given that we are still living in a so-called age of reason, I think his criticisms of scientific overreach are still relevant, and the joke is still funny, when he talks about instructing the planets in what orbits to follow, correcting time and regulating the sun. As if measuring were full understanding, let alone complete power. But Pope doesn't confine his criticism to scientists. He also has philosophers in his sight: Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere, To the first good, first perfect, and first fair; Or tread the mazy round his followers trod, And quitting sense call imitating God; He clearly doesn't have a lot of time for Plato's first principles. Neither is he impressed by the contemporary vogue for what we would call Orientalism: As Eastern priests in giddy circles run, And turn their heads to imitate the sun. It's possible that he had in mind the whirling dervishes of Persia, or maybe this is just a caricature of his idea of ‘Eastern priests'. So obviously this is a joke that hasn't aged so well. OK he ends this verse paragraph with a final jab, which restates the idea from the opening couplet in bluntly comic fashion: Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! It's hard to imagine a more apt image of intellectual presumption than trying to teach Eternal Wisdom a thing or two, but just in case we miss the point, Pope rams it home with relish: Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! And this is another characteristic aspect of Augustan poetry, particularly the satirical kind, that it can be very crude and direct, with a passage of sophisticated argument followed by a line or two where the mask drops and the insult is laid bare. And no, it's not big or clever, but let's face it, sometimes it can be deeply satisfying. One more little detail, which I can't help wondering about: notice how both of these couplets, conveying the same basic idea in very different tones, both hinge on the word ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! So that word ‘thyself' could be used to refer to various individuals, and knowing Pope, I wouldn't be surprised if he intended all of them at once. Firstly, the phrasing sounds proverbial, in which case each couplet is an injunction to mankind at large. Secondly, it could refer to the reader, any reader, of the poem, whether Viscount Bolingbroke, an 18th-century wit, or you and me, reading the poem together on this podcast. It could also refer to the specific targets of Pope's criticism, such as the overreaching scientists or philosophers. I think Pope may also have had in mind a target nearer to home: himself. W. B. Yeats wrote in one of his essays, ‘We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry'. And it's entirely possible that Pope is doing both at once: we've seen the brilliance of his rhetoric, in puncturing the pretensions of his fellow men and women. Yet by making poetry as well as rhetoric, he is arguably arguing with himself as well. It was of course be entirely right and proper and expected for a Christian such as Pope to admonish himself as well as others, for the many and various sins he describes in An Essay on Man. So from a moral viewpoint, I think I'm on pretty safe ground in suggesting that ‘thyself' includes Pope. But I would go further, and say that the idea of a brilliant mind that is not quite brilliant enough to fully understand itself may have been a deeply personal subject for Pope. Because what we have here is an extremely clever warning about taking cleverness to extremes. Maybe the irony was not lost on Pope. As he wrote in another poem, An Essay on Criticism, ‘A little learning is a dangerous thing'. So perhaps as we hear this passage again, and enjoy the sparkling wit and scurrilous attacks on others, we can also detect a note of self-reflection, and self-accusation, that makes it a little more poignant than it first appears. From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!   Alexander Pope Alexander Pope was an English poet and translator who was born in 1688 and died in 1744. As a Catholic he was barred from university and public office, so he educated himself and forged a brilliant literary career, becoming the leading poet of Augustan England, celebrated for his razor-sharp satire and polished heroic couplets. Early success came with An Essay on Criticism and The Rape of the Lock, followed by monumental translations of Homer that made him financially independent. His later works, including The Dunciad, attacked dullness and corruption. In An Essay on Man, he explored human nature, providence, and moral order with epigrammatic clarity. He lived at Twickenham, where he created a famous garden and grotto.   A Mouthful of Air – the podcast This is a transcript of an episode of A Mouthful of Air – a poetry podcast hosted by Mark McGuinness. New episodes are released every other Tuesday. You can hear every episode of the podcast via Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favourite app. You can have a full transcript of every new episode sent to you via email. The music and soundscapes for the show are created by Javier Weyler. Sound production is by Breaking Waves and visual identity by Irene Hoffman. A Mouthful of Air is produced by The 21st Century Creative, with support from Arts Council England via a National Lottery Project Grant. Listen to the show You can listen and subscribe to A Mouthful of Air on all the main podcast platforms Related Episodes From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope.Poet Alexander PopeReading and commentary by Mark McGuinnessFrom An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know... Occupied by Tim Rich Episode 88 Occupied by Tim Rich  Tim Rich reads ‘Occupied' and discusses the poem with Mark McGuinness.This poem is from: Dark Angels: Three Contemporary PoetsAvailable from: Dark Angels is available from: The publisher: Paekakariki Press Amazon: UK... Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold Episode 87 Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold  Mark McGuinness reads and discusses ‘Dover Beach' by Matthew Arnold.Poet Matthew ArnoldReading and commentary by Mark McGuinnessDover Beach By Matthew Arnold The sea is calm tonight.The tide is full, the moon lies...

Krunching Gears - The Rally Podcast, 2026 Season, episode 5. We look back at the opening round of the Irish Forestry Championship, the Yeats Ridge Forestry Rally, with winning co-driver Martin Brady, 2nd placed Keelan Grogan (competing for the first time on gravel in a Rally2 Fiesta), and 3rd placed Jordan Hone, who debuted his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. We are joined by Declan O'Keeffe, Carrie Ryan, Lauren Doherty, Evan Stapleton and Eddie Byrne to reflect on the recent Dacia Sandero Challenge Cup open day at Mondello Park and to discuss how you can get involved as we look forward to the 2026 championship getting underway on the Mayo Stages Rally. Chapters Start 00:00:00 Yeats Ridge review with Martin, Keelan & Jordan 00:03:00 Dacia Sandero Challenge chat with Carrie, Lauren, Evan, Eddie & Declan 00:35:45 End 01:16:04

Recorded 3rd February 2026. On Tuesday, 3 February, the Trinity Long Room Hub will host a discussion highlighting Trinity's collaboration with Boston College's McMullen Museum of Art spring 2026 exhibition, "Collaborating in Conflict: The Yeats Family and the Public Arts". The discussion will also address the Cuala Press archives and other Yeats collections held by both universities.   Short panel presentations will be given by Angela Griffith, Principal Investigator of Trinity's Cuala Press Project, along with TRIARC Visiting Research Fellow Billy Shortall, who will speak on how Cuala Press prints aimed to cultivate a positive image of Ireland. Trinity professor of English Tom Walker will speak on W.B. Yeats and the visual and applied arts. Boston College's Burns Librarian Christian Dupont will provide an overview of the Boston College exhibition and discuss Lily Yeats's embroidered Stations of the Cross displayed at the 1932 Eucharistic Congress. Laura Shanahan, Head of Research Collections at the Library of Trinity College Dublin, will moderate the discussion among panellists and the audience. Image sourced from TCD Digital Collections - Elizabeth Corbet Yeats : Cuala Press Prints - IE TCD MS 11574/18 Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Recprded February 5th, 2025. In this conversation, Prof Patrick Geoghegan (Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub) and Christian Du Pont (Burns Librarian, Boston College) explore the long-standing and evolving collaborations between Trinity College Dublin and Boston College, with a particular focus on the legacy of Cuala Press and the work of the Yeats sisters. They discuss how shared collections, archival partnerships, and transatlantic relationships help preserve and reinterpret Ireland's literary and artistic heritage, shedding light on the cultural significance of Cuala Press publications, book design, craftsmanship, and the broader networks that continue to shape Irish studies today. A thoughtful exploration of how libraries, archives, and institutions collaborate across borders to keep literary history alive and accessible. Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

On this, our 312th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the fact that the centre cannot hold. More Epstein files were released, which included an email from our friend and former mentor, Robert Trivers. We discuss his contributions, his life, and what the email does and does not imply. Also in the Epstein files: pizza, torture, Bitcoin, and the “goyim.” Was it all about blackmail; if not, what? And what is the CEO of TikTok on about, with regard to hate speech? Finally: a silver lining in the madness, as gender clinics close down and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (finally) takes the position that “gender-affirming” surgeries should not be done to people before the age of 19.*****Our sponsors:CrowdHealth: Pay for healthcare with crowdfunding instead of insurance. It's way better. Use code DarkHorse at JoinCrowdHealth.com to get 1st 3 months for $99/month.ARMRA Colostrum is an ancient bioactive whole food that can strengthen your immune system. Go to http://www.tryarmra.com/DARKHORSE to get 30% off your first order.Xlear: Xylitol nasal spray that acts as prophylaxis against respiratory illnesses by reducing the stickiness of bacteria and viruses. Find Xlear online, or at your local pharmacy, grocery store, or natural products store.*****Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com/Heather's newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.comOur book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org*****Mentioned in this episode:The Second Coming, by Yeats: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming Epstein files: https://www.justice.gov/epsteinCEO of TikTok: https://x.com/klonnypin_gosch/status/2015692335967826273 Gender Clinic at Mary Bridge Hospital closing: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/mary-bridge-childrens-hospital-to-close-gender-clinicASPS Position on Transing Kids: https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/health-policy/position-statementsLeor Sapir on the AMA: https://x.com/LeorSapir/status/2018888126974812652Covid Era Stories: https://naturalselections.substack.com/s/covid-era-storiesSupport the show

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," wrote W.B. Yeats. I don't know about the centre, but the tendency of things to fall apart is pretty universal, ultimately due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Anyone living in a society or involved with technology must therefore be interested in the concept of maintenance -- keeping systems working. In his book Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One, Stewart Brand looks at the challenges and rewards of this concept.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/01/19/341-stewart-brand-on-maintenance-as-an-organizing-principle/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Stewart Brand received an undergraduate degree in biology from Stanford University. He was the founder, editor, and publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog, which won a National Book Award. He founded the journal CoEvolution Quarterly and the WELL electronic community, and was a co-founder of the Long Now Foundation. He has been called "the 20th century's top influencer."Web siteAmazon author pageWikipediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

--{ "Times and Portents to Conjure Terror"}-- Property time again; if you are able please support - How does interacting with a chatbot affect you? - Alan's talk from July 14, 2019, seeing time in different ways, reconstructing the past - Wage and debt slavery - Total surveillance,cameras in trees - Movie, The Circle - A sense of freedom, being totally on your own, total silence. The sounds of nature, the poet Yeats on the necessity of total silence. - Sounds of other people, wireless technology. - Stewart Brand, lifelong education, sexual revolution - Bertrand Russell, total conditioning. - Jeffrey Epstein, lowering the age of consent - Intelligence Systems including Five Eyes - Given stars to follow, including scientists. We worship wealthy people. - Protests at globalism meetings; told what to protest - NGOs, Climate Change, Scary Scenarios - Remember to go to my website and make a donation. www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com - Creation of Super-Soldiers. This is the World of the Power-Mad and the Psychopath - Everything is Connected with a Force Behind It that Runs Many Organizations Underneath It.

Comenzamos nuestro programa viajando a Irlanda. Allí nació William Yeats un poeta enamorado de su país, la cultura, los mitos y el mundo del ocultismo. Jesús Callejo nos llevará en su cronovisor para descubrir sus secretos. Seguidamente, Alejandro Polanco, divulgador científico, quien ha publicado el libro El legado del ingenio (Serendipia 2025) nos habla de los grandes inventores españoles de toda la historia. Pablo Arias, en su sección de Historia y Ciencia 2.0 nos trae de nuevo a Jerónimo de Ayanz. Y acabamos con Galder Izarzugaza, autor de Guerra y honor, hablando de los hicsos, el misterioso pueblo que invadió Egipto hacia el 1700 a.C. 

Episode: 1856 Form and feeling, a necessary partnership.  Today, our guest. Seattle actor Megan Cole, considers a necessary partnership.

A Clare native has been remembered as a “man of determination” whose perseverance had a positive impact on the lives of many. A ceremony has taken place in St Patrick's Hall in Corofin to celebrate the life and contribution of Clare Leader Forum co-founder Dermot Hayes. The celebration of life of one of Corofin's proudest sons opened with the voice of Luka Bloom singing the words “don't be afraid of the light that shines within you”. The following hour would be filled with tributes from family members and loved ones, each of whom benefitted from the light Dermot beamed into their lives. The native of Kells in Corofin, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 71, was a towering figure in activism in Clare, co-founding the Clare Leader Forum in 1992, serving as chair of the Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association, and playing a key role in countless campaign across the last five decades. Humanist celebrant Pat Clarke-Browne says he championed the cause of countless people in Clare and beyond. Among the gifts presented to offer a representation of the person Dermot was were family photos, a slew of awards, local newspapers, a phone which he used to listen religiously to listen to his favourite music as well as Clare FM, and a copy of the W.B. Yeats poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree'. His sister Andrea, who referred to him as ‘Dynamo Dermot', says that despite the odds, his life was one well-lived. The over 200 attendees heard that in his private life, Dermot has a devoted husband and father who loved nothing more than being a Dad and told his children everyday how proud of them he was. His wife Marian told the congregation that looking after her father inspired his daughter Aimee to become a nurse. Aimee says he was a “legend” of his time and the best dad she could've wished for. Dermot is survived by his wife Marian, daughters Marese and Aimee and wide circle of family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Host Bob Johnston and his wife Lynn reflect on William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" and what a waning Christian influence means for Western civilization. They connect Yeats' warning to recent social unrest, cultural polarization, and the erosion of civility seen during the Christmas season. The episode explores the need for a countercultural return to Christian values, practical ways to restore goodwill and community, and a reminder to keep hope alive as the new year begins.

This moment... this New Year... disturbs many. I want to share a disturbing moment from my autistic youth—and how I survived it. It weirdly relates to right now.At 70-something, this is the happiest time of my autistic life. Not chasing distant goals—just breathing in this fabulous moment here.This piece inverts Yeats' “Second Coming” to tell a personal story about my grandfather, sailing out to Montauk Point, and discovering that the anxiety of losing sight of shore gives way to something unexpected.Content Note: This piece addresses troubling family history and inherited complexity.My grandfather was a complex man who kept Mein Kampf in his nightstand. And who also took me sailing. Out on the water to Montauk Point, I'd experience overwhelming anxiety as we lost sight of shore. Just sky, waves, constant rolling. Disoriented, like a whiteout in a blizzard.But after an hour or so, I'd make my way to the prow. Wind on my face. Sun on my body. Salt breeze filling my chest. Quieting my heart.Who cares about sailing toward Montauk and its fabulous trees anymore? I'm busy breathing in this fabulous moment here.Thanks for reading #AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter! The algorithm hates me. I must be doing something right… so feel free to share it.Runtime: ~3:50 Full text: Substack link More spoken word: Living Autistic Truth playlistI'm an autistic poet and spoken word performer, diagnosed at 63. I've been publishing AutisticAF Out Loud since 2019… work that refuses to be packaged. The algorithms hate me. I must be doing something right.#SpokenWord #AutismAcceptance #AutisticPoetry #MindfulnessTranscriptAutistic Spoken Word on this Moment? “Slouching toward Montauk”Cold openMy grandfather was a… complex man.He slept beside an orderly nightstand.Tucking Mein Kampf tightIn its tidy drawer every night.And…He used to take me sailing.{Silence}I call this one…Slouching Toward Montauk... Let's say… I'm in my 70s now. Happiest time of my autistic life.Not too worried about some fabulous unachievable autistic Nirvana… These days…Now, here's that story.My grandfather was a… complex man.He slept beside an orderly nightstand.Tucking Mein Kampf tightIn its tidy drawer every night.And…He used to take me sailing out to Montauk Point… a sea journey from Bay Shore, Long Island… at least as he sailed it on the ocean side… swinging out into the deep water…In his telling, it was a fabulous place.Where a sandstone lighthouse lit the waves, warning of danger.Where the grass on the golf course grew sideways.And every single damn tree bowed toward the West…From the eternal wind blowing onshore.His heaven on earth, he called it…...The wind carries all the sound away…But its roar in my earscreates a kind of hushed silenceinside me..I always experience high anxietyas we lose sight of the shore.Just sky, waves & constant rolling…Disoriented.Like a whiteout in a blizzard.If you throw in some seasickness.But after an hour or so, I make my way to the prow. And sit.Wind on my faceSun on my bodySalt breeze filling my chest…Quieting my heart.Anxiety? Disorientation?I observeThe fixed lighthouseIn the far off dusk.Splashing its light… bravelyInto the spray.Knowing deepIn its softNative sandstone heart…Time and tide wait for it....I stop caring about the shoreline. And the anxious Hell waiting for me on the other side. For hours at a time.....Who cares about sailing toward Montaukand its fabulous trees…anymore…Or... ever again?I'm busy breathing in…thisfabulous momenthere#AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts free, click the link below. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/subscribe

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell Elif Shafak has a way of writing that's lush and enchanted. She writes about real things in the world: water, houseboats, ordinary things that we stopped seeing. And she infuses them with life and wonder so that we can see the world fresh again. Elif has written more than 21 books, and she's the president of the Royal Society of Literature, which has had fellows like J. R. R. Tolkien, Rudyard Kipling, W.B. Yeats, and Margaret Atwood. You'll notice that her writing advice is different from what you normally hear. She wants to help you splash your personality onto the page, how to write with soul, and how to unlock your wild imagination to do it day in and day out until you're left with a finished piece of writing. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:02 Making small things feel enchanted 00:04:39 How to avoid fake wonder 00:07:22 Elif's writing routine 00:09:13 Writing at night 00:11:11 How heavy metal helps writing 00:18:07 What makes characters feel real 00:19:55 Fixing a story 00:22:15 Writing like children 00:26:09 Which senses matter most 00:32:32 Taking risks after being successful 00:34:12 Soft vs hard writing 00:38:59 Elif's editing process 00:43:27 How poetry influences her writing 00:48:30 What English can't express 00:51:46 Writing as if you're “drunk” 00:55:04 Why freedom comes first 00:57:04 Lessons from favorite writers 01:06:44 Rumi's influence 01:10:22 Spirituality vs religion 01:15:07 How cities shape writers 01:17:11 James Baldwin's influence 01:18:22 Melancholy and humor About the host Hey! I'm David Perell and I'm a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv⁠⁠ X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/david_perell⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Steve Stockton for a look at how a classic poem perhaps relates to some missing child cases.  Poem "The Stolen Child" by W.B. YeatsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

Season 12 is here! We talk Episode 1 "Keep Calm and Carry On" including the return of Lady Fancy Pants, the gratuitous Sam water scene, and Mary finally getting out of that effin nightgown. Liz introduces this season's lore theme of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which may be the inspiration for the British Men of Letters, and tells part 1 of the story of Annie Kingsford (the founder of the Hermetic Society and possibly the world's first vegan influencer). Research LinksSupernatural Will Move To Prime Video After 13-Year Netflix RunVivisection - WikipediaTheosophy - WikipediaAnna Kingsford and Helena Blavatsky – Arnaldo Sisson Filho and Marina CesarHealth, Beauty and the Toilet: Letters to Ladies from a Lady DoctorRed Cactus: The Life of Anna Kingsford - Alan Pert - Google LivrosMadame Blavatsky's baboon : a history of the mystics, mediums, and misfits who brought spiritualism to America : Washington, Peter : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveThe Strange Story of Anna Kingsford - The Cabinet of CuriosityW. B. Yeats and "A Vision": The Hermetic SocietyDennis Denisoff, “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 1888-1901” | BRANCH

Amanda Holmes reads W. B. Yeats's “Leda and the Swan.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman. This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do we always fight most with the people we have the most in common with?Topics in this episode include James Joyce's fraught relationship with playwright John Millington Synge, the way Synge shows up in Ulysses, in-jokes about Yeats that made it into Ulysses, Synge's artistic work and why Joyce took issue with it, Synge's connection to the Aran Islands, Synge's eccentricities, pampooties, Joyce and Synge in Paris, Oisín and Patrick, Joyce and Synge as the personification of the duality found in “Scylla and Charybdis,” why Synge is not like Aristotle, why Joyce is bourgeois, Joyce's Italian translation of Riders to the Sea, riots in response to The Playboy of the Western World, and Joyce's ultimate appreciation of Synge's work.Support us on Patreon to get episodes early, and to access bonus content and a video version of our podcast.On the Blog:The Chap that Writes like SyngeBlooms & Barnacles Social Media:Facebook | BlueSky | InstagramSubscribe to Blooms & Barnacles:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

When poets elegise other poets, the results are often more about self-scrutiny and analysis of the nature of poetry than about grief. Matthew Arnold commented on his elegy for Arthur Hugh Clough, ‘Thyrsis' (1865), that ‘one has the feeling that not enough is said about Clough in it.' In his elegy for W.B. Yeats (1939), Auden insists that ‘poetry makes nothing happen'. Both poems resist idealisation of their subject and use the elegy's pastoral tradition as a way of distancing themselves from the poetic sensibility of their subject. In this episode, Seamus and Mark discuss the ways in which Arnold and Auden's visions of what a poet should be aren't so far apart, and finish with a look at James Schuyler's similarly unromantic elegy for Auden, in which he finds ‘so little to say'. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applecrld⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsld⁠⁠ Arnold's 'Thyrsis': ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/ldep11thyrsis⁠⁠⁠⁠ Auden's 'In Memory of W.B. Yeats': ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/ldep11yeats⁠⁠⁠⁠ More in the LRB: Seamus Perry on Auden: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/ldep11auden⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stefan Collini on Arnold: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/ldep11arnold⁠

Join Julie Murphy and Dion O'Reilly for a conversation that moves through love, loss, and wonder — from Yeats' “The Wild Swans at Coole” to Andrea Cohen's sharp humor in Something, Richard Siken's quiet reflections in “Kitchen Window,” and the stargazing tenderness of Keith Wilson's “there aren't enough idioms about the stars.” We'll also talk about Gabrielle Calvocoressi's moving “Miss you. Would like to grab that chilled tofu we love” and the poignant beauty of  Connie Leung's “Autumn in Prison.”  These poems remind us how language can hold both the ache and the brightness of being alive.

Hear the lively hooley of The Drowsy Lads, the poetry of Yeats set to song by Dave Curley, and the timeless tradition of Bua's ballads—on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #729  -  -  Subscribe now! The Drowsy Lads, Hanneke Cassel, The Ciderhouse Rebellion with Molly Donnery, The Homespun Ceilidh Band, Ed Miller, Bua, Seán Heely, Dave Curley, Tami Curtis, Brad Tuck, Jiggy, Open The Door For Three, Jamison Celtic Rock, Conamara Chaos GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items with what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2025 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create this year's Best Celtic music of 2025 episode. You have just three weeks to vote this year. Vote Now! You can follow our playlist on YouTube to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:06 - The Drowsy Lads "Lost and Found Hooley (Feat. Joanna Hyde, Tadgh Ó Meachair, Randy Clepper, Tom Fitzgerald, Enda Scahill, Ian King)" from Time Flies 5:30 - WELCOME 7:34 - Hanneke Cassel "The Marathon (for Boston)" from Dot the Dragon's Eyes 10:28 - The Ciderhouse Rebellion with Molly Donnery "Murphy's Running Dog" from A Little Bit Slanted 15:18 - The Homespun Ceilidh Band "Bananas On The Hats / Bee In The Helmet" from Home With The Homespun Ceilidh Band 17:09 - Ed Miller "The Wide Rio Grand" from Many's The Fine Tale 21:39 - FEEDBACK 24:46 - Bua "Soldier, Soldier" from Down the Green Fields 28:38 - Seán Heely "The Dram Circle / Quarantune / The E - B - E Reel" from Dramagical 35:13 - Dave Curley "Never Give All the Heart" from I Am of Ireland / Yeats in Song 37:13 - Tami Curtis "Grave" from Cavort 40:35 - THANKS 42:13 - Brad Tuck "Tie Me Down" from Stages 45:45 - Jiggy "Rise" from Hypernova 49:30 - Open The Door For Three "The Mermaid of Mullaghmore" from A Prosperous Gale 53:32 - Jamison Celtic Rock "Through Hills for Water" from Hafaguone 56:34 - CLOSING 57:54 - Conamara Chaos "Another Day" from Anord 1:01:10 - CREDITS Support for this program comes from International speaker, Joseph Dumond, teaching the ancient roots of the Gaelic people. Learn more about their origins at Sightedmoon.com Support for this program comes from Cascadia Cross Border Law Group, Creating Transparent Borders for more than twenty five years, serving Alaska and the world. Find out more at   www.CascadiaLawAlaska.com Support for this program comes from Hank Woodward. Support for this program comes from Dr. Annie Lorkowski of Centennial Animal Hospital in Corona, California. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Finally, remember—our planet's future is in our hands. The overwhelming evidence shows that human activity is driving climate change, from record  -  breaking heat waves to rising sea levels. But the good news? We have the power to fix it. Every choice we make—reducing waste, conserving energy, supporting clean energy, and lobbying our political leaders—moves us toward a more stable climate. Start a conversation today. The facts are out there, and the future is ours to shape. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic musician and also host of Folk Songs & Stories. This podcast is for fans of Celtic music. We are here to build a diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Musicians depend on your generosity to release new music. So please find a way to support them. Buy a CD, Album Pin, Shirt, Digital Download, or join their community on Patreon. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com. Email follow@bestcelticmusic to learn how to subscribe to the podcast and you will get a free music - only episode. You'll also learn how to get your band played on the podcast. Bands don't need to send in music, and you will get a free eBook called Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music. It's 100% free. Again email follow@bestcelticmusic GET AN IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST ALBUM PIN Want to wear your love of Celtic music? Check out our album pins—these are striking lapel pins inspired by our official podcast compilation albums, featuring some of the best Celtic bands we've ever had on the show. Each pin comes with a full digital album download, so you get great music and great style. Get all the details at magerecords.com And if you're a musician, I've got a full blog post with templates and tips to help you design your own album pin jacket.  WHAT IS AN ALBUM PIN? Follow Marc Gunn on Substack. IRISHFEST ATLANTA Join us at IrishFest Atlanta on Nov 7 - 9, 2025. You'll enjoy exclusive concerts with Open the Door For Three with Special Guest dancer Kevin Doyle on Friday and Teada on Saturday night. Plus enjoy music from Kathleen Donohoe, O'Brian's Bards, Olivia Bradley, Roundabouts, The Kinnegans, The Muckers, Irish Brothers, Celtic Brew, Station 1 2 3 and a special set from Inara and Marc Gunn. There are music and dance workshops, Irish cooking competitions, IrishTea, Irish Films, and of course, LOTS of Irish dancing. Celebrate your Irish heritage at IrishFest Atlanta in November. Bring a friend! Learn more at IrishFestAtlanta.com THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of generous patrons like you, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast releases new episodes nearly every single week. Your support doesn't just fund the show—it fuels a movement. It helps us share the magic of Celtic music with thousands of new listeners and grow a global community of music lovers. Your contributions pay for everything behind the scenes: audio engineering, stunning graphics, weekly issues of the Celtic Music Magazine, show promotion, and—most importantly—buying the music we feature from indie Celtic artists. And if you're not yet a patron? You're missing out! Patrons get: Early access to episodes Music - only editions Free MP3 downloads Exclusive stories and artist interviews A vote in the Celtic Top 20 Join us today and help keep the music alive, vibrant, and independent.

Join us on LAB the Podcast for a special Poetry Corner episode with Poet and Author Wendy Kieffer (Alchemy of Praise). In this episode, Wendy shares a brand-new original poem that envisions walking with God in the cool of the morning — a powerful picture of hope, reunion, and new creation. We talk about the power of poetry to communicate before it's understood, why reading aloud matters, and how classic poets like Mary Oliver, Yeats, and Rossetti can inspire us today.If you love poetry, faith, or creative conversations, this episode will encourage you to slow down, listen deeply, and discover beauty in the everyday.Thank you for joining the conversation and embodying the life and beauty of the gospel. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow LAB the Podcast. Support / SponsorFor More Videos, Subscribe:   @VUVIVOV3 | YouTubeFollow: @labthepodcast | @vuvivo_v3 | @zachjelliott | @wendy.kiefferOrder Alchemy of PraiseSupport the show