Media

Arkonology

Originally published on May 4, 2021

The Gnostic Mythologies of Conspiracy

A few months ago, I was invited to give a lecture at the Philosophy & Religion Forum at the University of Southern Mississippi. I took advantage of the opportunity to synthesize a lot of the ideas about conspiracy theory, paranoid media, and visionary esoterica that kept me company during a whole year thinking and talking about QAnon and its relationship to alternative religion and psychedelics. I wanted to pursue my understanding of the gnostic dimensions of the new mythologies of global mind control, and to place those ideas into a critique of power that drew from the inspiring work of the liberal theologian Walter Wink. The result was “Arkonlogy: The Gnostic Mythologies of Conspiracy.” Even if, like me, you can’t find the time to finish watching that Q documentary, I still think you will dig it.