Blog Posts
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Basilisk – The Archetypical Killing Machine
I’m indebted to Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki for drawing my attention to the basilisk. It is a remarkable image of destructive power: a creature whose presence poisons its surroundings, yet which has a weakness of its own.
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Joseph Campbell: What It Means to Read Myth as Metaphor
What happens when we read a myth as metaphor? Campbell’s approach opens questions about images, experience and the limits of interpretation.
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Moral Decay and Natural Disasters
The archetype of large populations being destroyed by natural disasters because of societal and moral breakdown is a recurring theme in many ancient stories, myths, and legends. This archetype is often used as a cautionary tale, warning against the dangers of immorality and wickedness. In these stories, a powerful deity or force sends a flood,…
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Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning: A Book Summary for Readers of Metaphor
A guide to Maps of Meaning: how Peterson connects action, emotion, myth and the revision of belief, with a careful distinction between his psychological arguments and symbolic interpretations.
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From The Green Man to Mary Poppins
The Green Man is a mythical figure that is often depicted as a face or head made of foliage. It is found in many cultures throughout history, particularly in European folklore and architecture. In many cases, the Green Man is associated with nature, the cycle of growth and decay, and the seasons. It is also…
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Gregory Bateson: Why Metaphor Belongs to Relationships
Bateson’s work moves metaphor beyond isolated words, asking how context, relationship and patterns of communication make it meaningful.
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Plana Velut Terra (The Flat Earth)
A world can feel flat without the Earth being flat. We speak of what lies ahead, what is behind us, and the point at which our familiar world ends. These images organise a position and a direction. They give the flat-Earth image a use in metaphor that is…
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Lawrence Barsalou: Grounded Cognition and the Place of Metaphor
How Lawrence Barsalou’s research connects thought with perception, action and experience—and why metaphor is only part of the explanation.
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Kathputli Puppet Theatre
Kathputli is a traditional Indian string puppet theater form originating from Rajasthan. It is performed by manipulating wooden dolls to tell stories and depicting mythological and contemporary characters. In the traditional form of the puppetry, each puppet typically has only one string which is attached from the top of the puppet’s head to the performer’s…
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The End-Times Archetype
The archetype of the end times, also known as eschatology, is a recurring theme in many cultures and religions throughout history. It typically involves a belief in a final event or series of events that will bring about the end of the current world and the beginning of a new one. This event is often…
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The Phoenix: Death and Rebirth
INRI The True Word is an abbreviation of the Latin inscription said by John in his Gospel to have been placed above Jesus when He was crucified — to wit: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudeorum, meaning, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” – Albert Pike. Alchemy: The alchemists gave a different meaning to INRI: Igne…
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The Magus Behind the Curtain: The Wizard of Oz Through Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
A reading of the Wizard of Oz through Crowley’s Thoth Tarot and Hermetic Qabalah, exploring the Magus, symbolic authority and the gifts that help the travellers recognise their own capacities.
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Dr Sam Parnia and Near-Death Experiences: What the Research Shows
An evidence-based guide to Dr Sam Parnia’s near-death experience research, from AWARE and AWARE II to studies published in 2026, examining the findings, their limits, and their significance for consciousness, metaphor and meaning.
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Harlequin – The Spirit of Hod?
“The first duty of a revolutionist is to get away with it. The second duty is to eat breakfast. I ain’t going.” Abbie Hoffman. ““When I do philosophy—like I’m doing now—I feel it is entertainment, but I hope it resembles listening to someone play beautiful music. I am not being serious, but I am being…
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The Blood of Uranus
The Blood of Uranus A myth of sky and earth, rebellion and mutilation, spilled blood and unexpected creation. The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn, fresco by Giorgio Vasari and Cristofano Gherardi, c. 1560, Sala di Cosimo I, Palazzo Vecchio. Uranus is the Greek divine personification of the sky and heavens. His name is conventionally associated…
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Metaphors of Love
Language, intimacy and human attachment Metaphors of Love An examination of the images through which love is understood, how those images shape relationships, and what becomes possible when the metaphor changes. Love is among the most frequently described and least directly definable areas of human experience. People speak of falling in love, being swept away,…
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Metaphors of Society
Language, politics and collective imagination What Kind of Thing Is Society? An examination of the metaphors through which societies understand themselves, how political language converts those metaphors into policy, and why the dominant social imagination changes over time. Society cannot be placed on a table and examined as a single object. It is encountered through…