I have some new classes up ahead! Check them out: Introduction to Occulture (Feb 21 and onwards): The Origins of the Nordic Magical Runes (April 4 and onwards): — We often hear the term “Occulture”—but what does it truly mean? More than just references to magic in popular media, occulture describes the merging of occult thought and broader cultural currents, forming a dynamic scene in which underground forces unmistakably rise to shape the mainstream, as they have throughout history and likely always will. What drives this recurring phenomenon, and why do we find ourselves increasingly immersed in occult themes today? Join Carl Abrahamsson—the scholar behind Occulture: The Unseen Forces That Drive Culture Forward and Introduction to Occulture, who famously presented himself as an “occultural entrepreneur” on his 1989 business card—as he guides us through a survey of magnetic magical themes and the visionary individuals who have shaped culture. The course...

Very happy to be in the new issue of Astromatograph, the world’s finest publication on cinema and TV. I have a piece in there lovingly lauding Polanski’s ”The Tenant”: ”Polanski’s adaptation captures not just the plot mechanics of Topor’s work, but its essential psychological architecture as well. Polanski understood that the novel’s true horror lay not in external supernatural forces, but in the slow dissolution of selfhood under the weight of social pressure and urban anonymity. And, who really knows, perhaps some occult goings-on as well? Where other filmmakers might have externalized the novel’s internal psychological drama, Polanski chose to burrow even deeper into the protagonist’s deteriorating psyche, creating a film that functions as both faithful adaptation and weirdly personal statement.” #astromatograph #romanpolanski #rolandtopor #carlabrahamsson

In this week’s MAGIC MONDAY at our Patreon, I write about the creative perspective in-between exhaustion and insight: ”The feeling of being overwhelmed and thereby needing help is to some degree an efficiency assessment and to some degree a desire to be seen as being too busy: wanting real alleviation but perhaps mostly some emotional acknowledgement.” #magicmonday #occulture #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson

Just posted an essay about John Fowles’s excellent & inspiring ARISTOS project: ”Throughout the book Fowles examines the uneasy marriage between order and chaos. He regards humanity’s desire for structure as vital but dangerous—vital because it makes civilization possible, dangerous because it hardens into tyranny. Systems, whether political or philosophical, are the graveyards of life when they refuse change. The living world, he writes, is organic, not mechanical; it breathes and transforms. So must thought. Just as nature evolves, the moral imagination must remain fluid. The ideal order is rhythmic rather than rigid, capable of change without collapse. The free individual embodies that principle—centered enough to withstand uncertainty, flexible enough to grow through it. Integrity replaces conformity as the highest virtue.” #aristos #johnfowles #anartapart #carlabrahamsson