{"id":6080,"date":"2013-11-04T09:27:43","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T16:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6080"},"modified":"2013-11-04T09:45:02","modified_gmt":"2013-11-04T16:45:02","slug":"esotericism-and-the-walking-wounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6080","title":{"rendered":"Esotericism and the ‘Walking Wounded’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night I watched The Master<\/em><\/a>, with Philip Seymour Hoffman,<\/a> Amy Adams,<\/a> and Joaquin Phoenix<\/a>, respectively playing an L. Ron Hubbard-type esoteric group’s leader (making stuff up as he goes), his wife and collaborator,\u00a0 and an erratic alcoholic sailor who becomes, for a time, his follower.\"\"<\/p>\n

I rented it mainly because I have long been a big fan of Hoffman as an actor who disappears into roles (especially Capote<\/em><\/a>), rather than just playing variations on himself. And The Master<\/em> is more about character than plot \u2014 the plot itself could be summarized in one sentence.<\/p>\n

Walking the dogs this morning, I started fantasizing that if there were a School of Esoteric Management, this movie could be shown in class, followed by lengthy discussion, because what esoteric group does not have its “Freddy Quells” (Phoenix’s character)?<\/p>\n

Eighty years ago, the occultist Dion Fortune<\/a> made dismissive references to “lecture room tramps,” the people who came to lectures and presentations by this teacher or that, but who never really committed to any system.<\/p>\n

Freddie is not looking for teaching necessarily \u2014 he literally stumbles into “The Cause,” and “Lancaster Dodd” (Hoffman) decides to demonstrate his method of quick psychological breakthrough and cure on him. For a time, Freddie becomes a loyal follower, even a kind of enforcer. But in the end, he is too damaged for “The Cause.”<\/p>\n

Esoteric groups always attract the psychological “walking wounded” who are looking for a quick fix and excitement. Even Jesus of Nazareth had Judas the Sicarius<\/a>, who seemed OK for a while but was really the kind of unstable fanatic who today would strap on a suicide vest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night I watched The Master, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Joaquin Phoenix, respectively playing an L. Ron Hubbard-type esoteric group’s leader (making stuff up as he goes), his wife and collaborator,\u00a0 and an erratic alcoholic sailor who becomes, for a time, his follower. I rented it mainly because I have long been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[89,36],"class_list":["post-6080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-esotericism","tag-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-1A4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6099,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6099","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":0},"title":"Doggerland, a Professor of Esotericism, and the Passing of a Priestess of Isis","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00b6 That\u00a0 Doggerland existed is not news (do you expect breaking archeology news in the Daily Mail?) but here are some cool images of this lost land. I am still waiting for someone to create an authentic Pagan tradition based there. \u00b6 Ethan Doyle White interviews a Norwegian scholar of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8422,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8422","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":1},"title":"CFP: Irish Network for the Study of Esotericism and Paganism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Extended) DEADLINE APPROACHING In association with the Study of Religions Department, University College Cork To be held on Friday, 31st March 2017 We are pleased to invite scholars to take part in the launch and first workshop of the Irish Network for the Study of Esotericism and Paganism (INSEP), a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"esotericism\"","block_context":{"text":"esotericism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=esotericism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/INSEP-Twitter-Image-square-White-BG.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1301,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1301","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":2},"title":"The World of Esotericism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The University of Amsterdam has one of just a few graduate programs in the study of Western Esotericism, which is often contrasted with Christianity as follows (from a lecture handout based on work of Antoine Faivre).Christianity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 EsotericismPersonal deity \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Christianity\"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=christianity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11953,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=11953","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":3},"title":"New Collection on Western Esotericism, Downloadable","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Quick, while it's free, you can download New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism, edited by Egil Asprem (he has published in The Pomegranate) and Julian Strube. The blurb: This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"esotericism\"","block_context":{"text":"esotericism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=esotericism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/coverimage-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3485,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3485","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":4},"title":"Extra Esotericism at the AAR","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is where I will be in a week, if all goes well: the Phoenix Rising Academy's \"additional meeting \" on esotericism in the academy at the AAR meeting in San Francisco. Seven or eight years ago, it was the Pagan Studies people holding our own meeting because we did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10135,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10135","url_meta":{"origin":6080,"position":5},"title":"Marco Pasi on Sex and Esotericism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"?? Scholar of esotericism Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam) speaks at a conference in Estonia. Or is that Esoteronia? If that video does not play for you, try this link: \"The Social and Cultural Aspects of Esoteric Sex.\"","rel":"","context":"In \"esotericism\"","block_context":{"text":"esotericism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=esotericism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6080"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6086,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6080\/revisions\/6086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}