Etymologically, magic, magus, has to do with having, or harnessing power, which could be real, except the concept of real is much too recent to be closely associated with an old idea such as magic, which increasingly has fallen out of favor with cultural norms by reality-oriented schemes in which the materialism of science and …
Tag: Power
Meditations on Astrology
"Here vigour failed the lofty fantasy: But now was turning my desire and will, even as a wheel that equally is moved, The love which moves the sun and the other stars." Dante's last line in Paradise Last December, shortly after my mother passed away, I signed up for Adam Elenbaas's Hellenistic Astrology course*. How …
Animalizing
During moments before thought translates into language, I recognize perhaps a truer, more immediate sense of my animal nature. In my relationships to other animals, I find these nonverbal states not only more readily happen, but are necessary for any exchange to take place. We may talk to animals, but in silent presence, where a …
Pathemata
The relations between words and objects is based on historic usage, whereas the relation between pathemata and objects is based on likeness. Aristotle's view necessarily implies that pathemata must be universally similar for all language users since all objects are universally the same. Ludovic De Cuypere, Limiting the Iconic Along the same line of my previous …
Under the Influence
Culture In the not too distant past, people everywhere were still insulated from much awareness of the world beyond one's local family and tribe. We might now take for granted how much technology has expanded our reach beyond the immediate time and place we find ourselves in. Mobility through technology allows very different peoples and …
Theoria 