Chas S. Clifton

They know their readership.

Join the conversation on Coming to the Center, Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET.

cherryhillseminary-org.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Dr. Robin Douglas is a historian and writer based in London. writing on the history of minority religious traditions and their relationship with the hegemonic majority. He is particularly interested in the history of revived paganism and the history of esoteric and occult movements.

Dr Sasha Chaitow is an independent scholar of Greek cultural history whose work focuses on ancient, Byzantine, and modern traditions. She is the author of Son of Prometheus, a new study of Horapollon’s Hieroglyphica, and forthcoming studies of Byzantine demonology and of living Greek magic.

@robincdouglas.bsky.social is a historian and writer based in London. writing on the history of minority religious traditions and their relationship with the hegemonic majority. He is particularly interested in the history of revived paganism and the history of esoteric and occult movements.

Join the conversation on Coming to the Center, Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET.

cherryhillseminary-org.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Dr Sasha Chaitow is an independent scholar of Greek cultural history whose work focuses on ancient, Byzantine, and modern traditions. She is the author of Son of Prometheus, a new study of Horapollon’s Hieroglyphica, and forthcoming studies of Byzantine demonology and of living Greek magic.

@robincdouglas.bsky.social has a book coming in our Equinox series on pre-Gardnerian British Pagan revivals, while Sasha is working mostly on Byzantine-era esotericism right now. Worth hearing! More details and Zoom link in comments.

March 4th

Mercury is going retrograde, and that is a big relief. With my ultra-Mercury-ruled, it's catch-up time: postponed projects, local travels, life at a slower pace. But will I ever hear from that typesetter in New Delhi now?

Some 19-teens February (1914?) was much like right now.

Are the House Wights Studying the Renaissance? Most of my stories about how the “critters,” the house wights, the Borrowers (to borrow a term), or whatever they are like shiny objects. There was the still-missed Norwegian salad-serv…

This is a build-up to another post about the built-in weirdness of "stable reality."
blog.chasclifton.com?p=14101

No one wants to step into Kimberly Davis' shoes?

One of my students is investigating 'Healing in Ink: Ritual, Pain, and Meaning in Tattoo Traditions' for their assignment on the Contemporary Rituals & Traditions module. If you have one or more tattoos & are up for answering some questions please head to this survey forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

It's all so scattered. Once there were magazines; now you must subscribe to various Substacks, etc. to get different view points from writers you want to read. Local, community news is now on Facebook (maybe) or local networks. I'm happy that there is a weekly newspaper in my rural county - for now.

I think he was associated with developing ways to teach italic in elementary schools, at least in western Oregon. Sure with that I had gotten italic instead of Palmer!

I'm waiting for the words "Lloyd Reynolds".

Five Classes I took in College:

Old English
Calligraphy I
Intro to History of Religion (not its actual name)
Poetics
Yeats & Eliot Seminar

What if the historical Shakespeare never actually claimed to be divine, and that was just added later by the dogmas and councils of literary critics?

Two standing stones mark the entry to a limestone quarry, Huerfano County, Colorado

Driving a little High Plains road and I see standing stones! Well, sort of. It's the Long Neolithic in the County of the Orphan. #longneolithic #huerfanocounty

There is a place for Varsity disposables, and no, I'm not being snarky about them. A good travel pen, for one thing.

Given the average age of Episcopalians, that is good advice for the whole congregation.

A Pagan Studies Scholar, the Shah of Iran, and a Return to Aryan Native Faith As I write this, tens of thousands of Iranians (or let’s call them Persians) are demonstrating against the government of murderous black-turbaned mullahs who let the 1979 revolution and promp…

Current events in Iran reminded me that I was one "one degree of separation" from the late Shah of Iran, and academic Pagan studies figures in to the story too. Also: If the black turbans can be kicked out of power, expect a revival of "Aryan Native Faith." blog.chasclifton.com?p=14190

Blue

What happened to Gaza?

A BBC article announces that the fax machine is 180 years old, hence introduced in 1846.

The cliche that "journalists can't do math" is alive at the BBC. That's right, the California Gold Rush was announced by fax machines:

Keeping track must be difficult, seeing as the Illuminati are chronically late with their payments. Good thing I don't depend on them to pay my mortgage.

The peaceful Greenland deal is underway:

Yes, we've heard this song before, most recently from somebody at Bristol U. (IIRC) who had it all figured out and then faded away.

No, it should be the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition.