Popular Culture Magic 2.0

Popular Culture Magic 2.0 by Taylor Ellwood and Storm Constantine is published by Megalithica Books in paperback. This is a thinking person’s informative guide to everything you ever wanted to know about popular culture and how it is used for ‘magical’ purposes.

Cartoon, video game, book and film super heros have an obsessed fan base that incorporates the clothes, music, vocabulary and tastes of their idols into their everyday life. Characters from Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Buffy, are examples.

The book, which has been described as a grimoire, takes an intellectual approach to this phenomenon which is similar to the Tibetan creation of the 'tulpa''. When a fan fixates on their chosen icon, they often take on board an entire corporate brand, such as with Disney for instance, with portrayals of the character in theme parks, games, advertising, toys and other marketing outlets. Groups and networks are created where ideas are shared, meetings and conventions can be part of the experience. A fantasy world attracts new aspects of life previously unknown and unexplored. Popular culture has mushroomed with modern technology, and it influences our modern world beyond that which we might fail to realise.

 You will read about egregores, iconotropics, memes, sigils, energy vampires, archetypes, daemons, entities and other related topics, and you will learn how to sabotage a brand! There are examples of "how to" create your own real yet imaginary world.

Some fans hold occult rituals to create deep levels of psychological identification, drawing blood if they think it will improve their connection to their pop culture icon. Some seek a relationship with their chosen fictional character to the degree it comes to life for them - speaking to them and guiding their thoughts. A case is described of of two 12 year old girls stabbed another girl the same age as themselves, 19 times to make a sacrifice to, and become a proxy for, a Creepypasta character called Slender Man.

The authors consider popular culture to be a modern mythology, with deities that are similar to those of the past, in Greece and Rome for instance. Just as the ancient priests and priestesses interacted with their gods, and their gods interacted with them, so the pop culture icons can affect a young person's inner life  - and this can have unexpected consequences due to the rift with reality that an intense imaginary life can create. 

The authors have had many years of study on this subject. Their previous book, ‘Popular Culture Magick’ was published in 2004 and this is an update for a more technological age. In addition to those who admire - and are emotionally excited by - fictional characters, I think that Pagans and those who work with Angels, ascended masters, goddesses and spirits, should read this, as it has much to say about the pleasures, the advantages - and the disadvantages - of time spent in reading and meditation. Review: Wendy Stokes. https://wendystokes.co.uk