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The Forest of Symbols

The Forest of Symbols

By Aldous Asterion

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[PREVIEW] Vol. IV: Fool Me Twice

The Forest of SymbolsMay 05, 2021

00:00
19:15
"Autumnal Spring"

"Autumnal Spring"

This is a little PhaseGoht/Forest of Symbols collab intended for the Mirrors series that I wasn't able to fit in. Enjoy!

Mar 31, 202406:37
[PREVIEW] Vol. XIII- Mirrors Pt. 2: Narcissus
Mar 26, 202402:13:26
[PREVIEW] Cormac McCarthy's Novels: Worst to Best, Part III

[PREVIEW] Cormac McCarthy's Novels: Worst to Best, Part III

For the full episode, to support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Nov 25, 202309:23
Vol. XII: Mirrors Pt. 1- The Aleph

Vol. XII: Mirrors Pt. 1- The Aleph

As Above, so Below


For the rest of this series and other bonus content, or to support the show, please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Sep 10, 202301:48:17
Against Interpretation: Reading and Commentary

Against Interpretation: Reading and Commentary

To interpret or not to interpret?


Susan Sontag, 1966

Aug 05, 202301:25:18
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 7 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 7 of 8

In the penultimate episode, we step into the abyss.

For the conclusion to this series and other bonus content, or to support the show, please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

May 20, 202358:08
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 6 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 6 of 8

The continuing story of the false messiah as recounted by Gershom Scholem.


For the rest of this series and other bonus content, or to support the show, please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.


May 07, 202301:03:24
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 5 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 5 of 8

With special guest William Blake.


For the rest of this series and other bonus content, or to support the show, please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

May 02, 202342:11
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary Pt. 4 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary Pt. 4 of 8

Scholem deals with moderate Sabbateanism, its revival/inversion of gnostic ideas, and I try to stay on point.


For the rest of this series and other bonus content, or to support the show, please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Apr 22, 202347:49
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 3 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading & Commentary Pt. 3 of 8

The growing importance of the messianic idea in Jewish history; the story of Esther; the "Faustian" nature of the West, etc.


To listen to the full series now or support the show, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Apr 15, 202346:28
[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary Pt. 2 of 8

[UNLOCKED] Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary Pt. 2 of 8

Messianic & millenarian background to 1666; Rosicrucianism; Jupiter & Saturn; pneumatic spiritual elitism; the Reverse Ben Shapiro . . .


To support the show and access bonus content (including this full commentary series), visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Apr 07, 202353:28
[PREVIEW] Interplanetary Music: Cosmic Chaos (The Music of Uqbar)

[PREVIEW] Interplanetary Music: Cosmic Chaos (The Music of Uqbar)

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Feb 19, 202313:17
The Chariot and the Passenger: Brad Kelly on Cormac McCarthy & Others

The Chariot and the Passenger: Brad Kelly on Cormac McCarthy & Others

Author & podcaster Brad Kelly (https://twitter.com/bradkelly) returns to talk Art of Darkness (https://artofdarkpod.com/), the new McCarthy novels, the tarot in Blood Meridian, the Bung-Plug of the Void, and more.

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Feb 13, 202302:34:01
Vol. XI: Ice

Vol. XI: Ice

For destruction, ice is great.

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Jan 27, 202301:09:45
The Book Scorpion

The Book Scorpion

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Jan 15, 202302:22
[UNLOCKED] A Grab Bag of Dick

[UNLOCKED] A Grab Bag of Dick

A survey of most of the PKD reading and rereading done in preparation to guest on the Art of Darkness Podcast.  

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod. 

Dec 29, 202201:23:48
"Snow" by Lous MacNeice

"Snow" by Lous MacNeice

The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was

Spawning snow and pink roses against it

Soundlessly collateral and incompatible:

World is suddener than we fancy it.

World is crazier and more of it than we think,

Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion

A tangerine and spit the pips and feel

The drunkenness of things being various.

And the fire flames with a bubbling sound for world

Is more spiteful and gay than one supposes—

On the tongue on the eyes on the ears in the palms of one's hands—

There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.


To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Dec 26, 202202:39
In the Stacks: Blood Meridian

In the Stacks: Blood Meridian

Blood, Time, and the Cosmic Dance.

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Nov 30, 202201:39:26
[UNLOCKED] In the Stacks- Dubliners

[UNLOCKED] In the Stacks- Dubliners

With the gargantuan achievements of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and the revolution of A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, it's easy to overlook Joyce's first breakthrough: the 1914 short story collection Dubliners. Here's why you shouldn't.  

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Nov 12, 202248:27
[PREVIEW]- In the Stacks: Programmed to Kill

[PREVIEW]- In the Stacks: Programmed to Kill

One of the best I've done in this series so far. Stay tuned for more. Please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod and become a patron for as little as $3 to listen to this and many other episodes today.

Oct 31, 202219:14
[PREVIEW] Vol. IX: Bees (Pt. 2)

[PREVIEW] Vol. IX: Bees (Pt. 2)

Please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod and become a patron for as little as $3 to listen to this and many other episodes today.

Oct 23, 202213:50
[PREVIEW] Vol. VII: Frog Gods, Frog Men (Pt. 2)

[PREVIEW] Vol. VII: Frog Gods, Frog Men (Pt. 2)

Please visit https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod and become a patron for as little as $3 to listen to this and many other episodes today.

Oct 23, 202218:49
Vol. X: Grasshoppers

Vol. X: Grasshoppers

Presenting Thee Grace Hoper that Lies Heavy, Crucified Bug Man, Thee Waste Land or Decline of the (Natan I El) West, (you never did) the Kenoma Kid, Jovial and Saturnine MM (Mystical Messiah) 1666 [https://ordoabchao.ca/volume-two/1666].

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Oct 17, 202202:48:14
[UNLOCKED] Interplanetary Music: Subliminal Seduction

[UNLOCKED] Interplanetary Music: Subliminal Seduction

“People generally can not believe themselves so easily manipulated and controllable. This is precisely why they are so easy to manpulate and contol.”
― Wilson Bryan Key

For more stellar mixes please go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod. 

Oct 10, 202242:12
[UNLOCKED] Circles: Reading and Commentary

[UNLOCKED] Circles: Reading and Commentary

"The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end. It is the highest emblem in the cipher of the world."

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Sep 24, 202201:05:08
In the Stacks: The Ghost

In the Stacks: The Ghost

"After such knowledge what forgiveness? Think now/History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors/And issues, deceives us with whispering ambitions,/Guides us by vanities."

In all honesty, I was too lenient on Angleton; he was an evil man. But the connection between his modernist, New-Critical literary training and the way he shaped the practice of intelligence in the 20th Century remains under-analyzed. As a gesture to this end, I read T.S. Eliot's poem "Gerontion" and compared some of its lines to Angleton's life and career.  

To support the show, and get early access to episodes and bonus content, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod.

Aug 26, 202250:10
Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary (Part One)

Redemption Through Sin: Reading and Commentary (Part One)

In 1666 the world was full of apocalyptic expectations. Onto this stage stepped Sabbatai Zevi, who proclaimed himself messiah. It was a new era, in which the Law was annihilated. Gershom Scholem's classic essay reevaluated the legacy of the false prophet of the 17th century. This is part 1 of 8. For the rest of this series, go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod and become a patron of the podcast. 

Aug 13, 202255:23
Philip K. Dick's Black Iron Prison with Art of Darkness

Philip K. Dick's Black Iron Prison with Art of Darkness

I joined the Art of Darkness Podcast, hosted by Kevin Kautzman (https://twitter.com/kautzmania) and Brad Kelly (https://twitter.com/bradkelly), to discuss the life and works of Philip K. Dick. 

Follow the podcast on twitter at https://twitter.com/artofdarkpod.

Artwork by https://twitter.com/pinealcolada. 

Follow me at https://twitter.com/AldousAsterion.



Jul 18, 202203:25:44
Competing Systems of Psychopathology: Heghoulian on JG Ballard Pt 2
Mar 20, 202201:43:13
[UNLOCKED] Christ, a Symbol of the Self

[UNLOCKED] Christ, a Symbol of the Self

Why do we become the Joker? A reading of and commentary on Carl Jung's essay, "Christ, a Symbol of the Self," from Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self (1951).  

Mar 15, 202202:34:49
Vol. VIII: Bees

Vol. VIII: Bees

I make for you the honey of the mind. 

[Music by PhaseGoht]

Jan 12, 202201:05:44
The Underbred James Joyce with Art of Darkness

The Underbred James Joyce with Art of Darkness

Kevin Kautzman and Brad Kelley were gracious enough to let me ramble a bit about the works of James Joyce on their podcast Art of Darkness (https://artofdarkpod.com/), "about the dark side of artists, creatives, intellectuals and the people who made history and continue to move culture." BK does an excellent job of providing the bio. It's a long episode, but imho the best all-around introduction to the life and work Joyce you're going to find in audio form. 

Dec 14, 202103:15:34
The Logic of the Landscape: Heghoulian on JG Ballard (Part 1)
Nov 28, 202101:42:59
Owen Briggs on Rudolf Steiner and Esoteric Science

Owen Briggs on Rudolf Steiner and Esoteric Science

Owen Briggs is an astrologer and Steiner enthusiast. His website is https://apisastrology.com/. Follow him on twitter @BullOfHeaven_. We focus on the Austrian spiritual scientist and thinker Rudolf Steiner, but this is a wide-ranging discussion covering astrology, music, ethics, technology and magic. 

Nov 10, 202101:53:27
Moderation and/or Killdozer with Kevin Kautzman

Moderation and/or Killdozer with Kevin Kautzman

Playwright Kevin Kautzman (follow @KevinKautzman) is the author of Moderation and the co-host of the podcast Art of Darkness (@artofdarkpod).

https://moderationplay.com/

https://artofdarkpod.com/

Oct 28, 202101:54:40
Preview for Interplanetary Music Podcast: Animamundi Part One

Preview for Interplanetary Music Podcast: Animamundi Part One

Inspired by the incredible compilation Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music in India, I ransacked dozens of world psych music compilations for samples to make this long, trippy mix. 

Go to https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod for more Interplanetary Music. 

Oct 21, 202108:18
In the Stacks #1- Transhumanism: A Grimoire of Alchemical Agendas

In the Stacks #1- Transhumanism: A Grimoire of Alchemical Agendas

This recording is from 2016, a demo for a podcast that never happened, where I would have just reviewed books in the off-the-cuff manner I do here. I may do more like it in the future. I would not necessarily say the exact same things today, but I'm uploading this because all of the topics the book addresses are germane to recent and future episodes of The Forest of Symbols. You can think of this as an appendix of sorts to the main episodes. 

Sep 25, 202136:26
Vol. VI: Frog Gods, Frog Men Part 1

Vol. VI: Frog Gods, Frog Men Part 1

Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
With a sword and pistol by his side
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Ki-mo-ki-mo-ki-mo-ki
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

He rode 'til he came to miss mouse's door
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And there he knelt upon the floor
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Ki-mo-ki-mo-ki-mo-ki
Way down yonder in the hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

He took Miss Mouse upon his knee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And he said, "Little mouse will you marry me?"
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Ki-mo-ki-mo-ki-mo-ki
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

[Music by PhaseGoht]

Sep 11, 202102:01:00
Hanged Man, Diving Man: Brad Kelly on Writing, Tarot, & Ayahuasca

Hanged Man, Diving Man: Brad Kelly on Writing, Tarot, & Ayahuasca

Brad Kelly is the author of the 2021 novel House of Sleep, and many short stories & essays available at https://www.bradkellyesque.com/. Follow him on Twitter @bradkelly.

Music by PhaseGoht

Aug 30, 202103:10:51
Alfred Jarry, Pere Ubu, and Pataphysics with Yeerk.P

Alfred Jarry, Pere Ubu, and Pataphysics with Yeerk.P

YOU WILL BE SEEING UNUSUAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

Jul 25, 202102:05:17
Vol. V: Frogs

Vol. V: Frogs

There Will Be Frogs

Music by PhaseGoht

Jun 15, 202101:57:21
[PREVIEW] Vol. IV: Fool Me Twice

[PREVIEW] Vol. IV: Fool Me Twice

In your fortune lie our fortunes all. Every man for himself and God against us all. I am better than thou art now; I am a fool, thou art nothing. Nothing will come of nothing. I have X'd myself from your world. 

Music by PhaseGoht

May 05, 202119:15
Vol. III: Fool Me Once

Vol. III: Fool Me Once

Should you pity the Fool? Was Jesus insane? Do figs have human rights? How many words can I mispronounce? I promise to answer none of these questions and more in this foolish episode. 

Music by PhaseGoht

Apr 01, 202101:03:54
Vol. II: Finnegans Wake

Vol. II: Finnegans Wake

It may not or maybe a no concern of the Guinnesses but here is a personal introduction and reading from Finnegans Wake. 

Music by PhaseGoht

Mar 17, 202154:37
Vol. I: Ouroboros

Vol. I: Ouroboros

Of snakes and sex, of time and twins and the trinity, of everything all over again.  

Music by PhaseGoht

Feb 21, 202101:27:28
Vol. 0: Symbolon

Vol. 0: Symbolon

An introduction to the podcast, tracing the origin of the symbol (and the devil), analyzing poems by Charles Baudelaire, Wallace Stevens, and Walt Whitman, and responding to the challenge of John Zerzan's "The Case Against Art." 

Music by PhaseGoht

Dec 31, 202049:41