Links
Links to idlers and drop-out philosophies:The Idler Academy. Back in 1991, bored to tears by his job, 23 year old journalist Tom Hodgkinson lay on his bed and dreamed of starting a magazine called The Idler. He’d found the title in a collection of essays by Dr Johnson, himself a constitutionally indolent man. How to live, that was the question. How to be free in a world of jobs and debt? And curse this alarm clock. Tom was fortunately sacked from his job and started to sign on. He wandered across the road to where his old friend, designer and writer Gavin Pretor-Pinney lived. Gavin was the kind of person who could help Tom to realise this dream. And he did. In August 1993, the pair produced issue one of the Idler. It had the sub-title “literature for loafers”. Dr Johnson was the cover star and there was an interview with magic mushroom guru Terence McKenna. Contributors included a young journalist called Louis Theroux. The magazine has since enjoyed a number of incarnations. In the nineties it was published by the Guardiannewspaper, then by Ebury publishing. Tom published the Idler as an annual collection of essays until 2014, then relaunched the mag in 2016.
The Idler Academy, founded at a festival in 2010, is the Idler’s educational offshoot. It is a school which offers online and real-world courses in the classical liberal arts and practical skills. From 2011 to 2015 we ran a small bookshop and café in Notting Hill. The Idler Academy teaches philosophy, astronomy, calligraphy, music, business skills, English grammar, ukulele, public speaking, singing, drawing, self-defence and other subjects. Here you can educate yourself in the ideas of Plato or learn the ukulele, in convivial surroundings with like-minded and interesting people. Living without Money (Daniel Suelo´s website)
Moneyless World - Free World - Priceless World (Daniel Suelo´s blog)
The Man Who Quit Money (a book about Daniel Suelo)
Moneyless World - an information site about people around the world living moneyless, and resources for people who want to live moneyless
The Moneyless Man - a year of Freeconomic Living, by Mark Boyle
The Moneyless Manifesto (Mark Boyle) - read it for free!
Moneyless.org - A Rich Life without Money - Tips, Blogs, Stories, Books
Videos with folks voluntarily living moneyless in the modern world
The Freecycle Network – a movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns
Basic income (Basic income is an income that is given unconditionally to all citizens and persons with permanent residence in a country without the need testing or work duty, and are of such a size that it is possible to live on, albeit at a modest level.)
Early Retirement Extreme. Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) is a movement of individuals integrating ideas from anti-consumerism, DIY, the Renaissance man ideal, home economics, individualism, environmentalism, and rentier capitalism toward the goal of achieving financial independence extremely rapidly. Putting ERE principles into practice yields a lifestyle that meets all needs while minimizing ongoing inputs of money, natural resources, friction, and effort.
By embracing simple living, self-sufficiency, and prudence, a worker with a typical wage income can comfortably achieve a savings rate of 50-80%. The mathematics of compound interest and safe withdrawal rates dictate that an individual with such a high savings rate can achieve financial independence after only 5-10 years. Tiny House Movement. The tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement that advocates living simply in small homes.
Permaculture Magazine - the permaculture movement helps you to turn your home into a productive entity and thereby bring nature into your everyday life
Website of the Slow Food movement - contains their inspiring manifesto
Sacred Economics, Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition,
by Charles Eisenstein Pirate utopias. Pirate utopias were defined by anarchist writer Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey), who coined the term in his 1995 book Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes as secret islands once used for supply purposes by pirates. Wilson's concept is largely based on speculation, although he admits to adding a bit of fantasy to the idea. In Wilson's view, these pirate enclaves were early forms of autonomous proto-anarchist societies in that they operated beyond the reach of governments and embraced unrestricted freedom. Wilson is a practitioner of the above-mentioend “Refusal of Work” movement. So am I. But, he is in my view a “Gatekeeper” (see my article: The Godgame). I would recommend his book T.A.Z – The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism, as a help of breaking up your negative thinking, and making your stagnated reality tunnels flower (download it for free). Also see the Wikipedia entrances on Temporary Autonomous Zones, and Permanent Automomous Zones. But Wilson´s nihilistic approach much be combined with a coherent metaphysics. I have offered a such in my ebook, Philosophical Counseling with Tolkien. You can namely see Rivendell, Lothlorien, Neverland, and the Orchid Pavilions, as precisely such autonomous zones. And, I recommend that the Grail seeker is seeking out places in the world, that reminds of such. Or, as a life artist, includes pathfinders and trail markers in his or her art, that points towards such autonomous zones (for example in Graffiti). I believe Rold Forest to be one of them (see my article: Counseling in the Mythic Forest of Rold). Also related: Hedgespoken – A Travelling off-grid Storytelling Theatre
The Right to Useful Unemployment, by Ivan Illich. Like all revolutionary philosophers, Ivan Illich takes a fresh and searingly critical look at the nature of society, questioning the myth of progress and provoking people into rethinking some of the basic assumptions that underly it. In this postscript to Tools for Conviviality, he calls for the right to useful unemployment: a positive, constructive and even optimistic concept dealing with that activity by which people are useful to themselves and others outside the production of commodities for the market. Unfettered by managing professionals, unmeasured and unmeasurable by economics, these activities truly generate satisfaction, creativity and freedom.
Hippie Trail (this is a link to Wikipedia. I suggest you follow all of the wonderful links on this page)
Bob Wells (born 1955) is an American vandweller, YouTuber, and author. He is noted for being an inspiration to thousands of people who embrace a minimalistic and nomadic lifestyle centered on vandwelling. Wells founded the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, an annual gathering of vandwellers in Quartzsite, Arizona, and Homes on Wheels Alliance, a charity organization dedicated to the promotion of vandwelling.
Links to my main spiritual teachers:Jiddu Krishnamurti (spiritual anarchism)
Karen Blixen (philosophy in storytelling)
J.R.R. Tolkien (philosophy in storytelling)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (philosophy in storytelling)
Peace Pilgrim (She vowed to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.")
Pierre Hadot (a central scholar in the remembrance of Meditation as an Art of Life)
Algis Uždavinys (also a central scholar in the remembrance of Meditation as an Art of Life)
John O´Donohue (Celtic spirituality)
David Steindl-Rast (Christian mysticism)
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Links to TraditionalistsMythic Resources. Although this is by no means an exhaustive list, if you're looking for further information on fantasy, fairy tales, folklore, and mythic arts, here are some good places to start.
Sacred Web (a journal of tradition and modernity. This journal aims to identify Traditional “first principles” and their application to the contingent circumstances of modernity. Here you can find a lot of free articles, which could suggest topics for discussion).
School of Storytelling (courses in storytelling)
Fictional Cities (a website about how stories add spice to our ideas and feelings about the cities we love).
The World Travels (a website about so-called “Literary Tourism”)
The Autumn Salon (a website dedicated to raise awareness around individuals who, through connecting the traditional wisdom of the past with the living energy of the present, are contributing to a global culture of the future. I suggest you open in two windows, choose a piece of music from the website, and use the other window to explore this incredible beautiful site).
The Modern Fairies Project (Modern Fairies is a unique collaboration between leading songwriters, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers & researchers to develop exciting new work, presenting fresh perspectives on what folklore means to us in the modern world).
Myth and Moor (wonderful blog on folklore, fairy tales, fantasy, mythic arts and mythic living. It is written by Terri Windling. Especially relevant is her Into the Woods series).
The Journal of Mythic Arts (JoMA was a pioneering online magazine dedicated to Mythic Arts: literary, visual, and performance arts inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Published by The Endicott Studio, edited by the above mentioned Terri Windling, JoMA ran from 1997 to 2008. This website contains material drawn from JoMA's 11 years of publication. It is kept online as a Mythic Arts archive, and as such is not updated. For more recent discussions of Mythic Arts, fantasy literature, and related topics, visit Terri Windling's Myth & Moor.
A Mythic Fiction Reading List (This is a page from the above-mentioned Journal of Mythic Arts. The field of mythic fiction consists of contemporary works that draw on the timeless themes and symbolism of world mythology, medieval romance, folklore, fairy tales, and the oral stoytelling tradition. Mythic fiction is set in the modern (or historical world), not in a far–off Nevernever land. But it portrays a world infused with mythic archetypes, mystery, and magic. Works of mythic fiction can be found on the mainstream fiction shelves in the form of magic realism and surrealism, as well as in genre fiction, Young Adult fiction, and other parts of the bookstore).
The Gift, by Lewis Hyde. By now a modern classic, The Gift is a brilliantly orchestrated defense of the value of creativity and of its importance in a culture increasingly governed by money and overrun with commodities.
Hallowquest. Exploring ancient thresholds of inspiration. Caitlin and John Matthews like to explore the myths and traditions of Britain and Ireland, uncovering the Celtic and Arthurian mysteries, exploring the shamanic lore, and creating rituals that honour the ancestral ways to tell the ancient stories that our descendants will remember.
Nomadic Academy for Fools (NOA). Fooling is a unique technique that introduces you to the architecture of your own personal inner stage, upon which you are able to perform on or in any space, and at any time, using just improvisation and your own imagination.
A Spell In Time (A Spell In Time is a unique British-Bulgarian performance storytelling company that brings the power and magic of Bulgaria’s myths, heroic epics and traditional tales to English-speaking audiences for the very first time. Please browse through these pages to find out more about the Company, their shows and workshops, and some fascinating information about Bulgarian myth and folklore. This is highly relevant for Nordic Shamanism and Forest Therapy, since the Gundestrup Cauldron very likely was made in Thrace).
The Nest Collective (The Nest Collective is a leading force in contemporary and cross-cultural folk music. They bring people together to experience extraordinary music in unforgettable places, rekindling connections with nature, tradition and community).
The Polynesian Voyaging Society (Founded on a legacy of Pacific Ocean exploration, the Polynesian Voyaging Society seeks to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration through experiential educational programs that inspire students and their communities to respect and care for themselves, each other, and their natural and cultural environments.
The Mother Tree Project (The Mother Tree project is investigating forest renewal practices that will protect biodiversity, carbon storage and forest regeneration as climate changes. This field-based research compares various retention levels of Mother Trees (large, old trees) and their neighbours, as well as regenerating seedling mixtures, in Douglas-fir forests located across nine climatic regions in British Columbia).
The Fairy Council of Ireland (The Fairy Council of Ireland is a self-regulated, co-operative venture of active participation in Ireland’s well-being in all of its many layers. They are a hub of “intangible heritage”, to connect, empower, network and showcase Irish projects and individuals that seek to remember, protect and develop the Indigenous Irish Culture. Projects: Woodland and reforestation, land and biodiversity, water care and holy wells, arts, crafts and inspiration, ancient knowledge).
Hedgespoken. HEDGESPOKEN is a travelling off-grid storytelling theatre run from a 1966 Bedford RL lorry, converted to be a home and a go-anywhere stage. Storyteller, mask-maker and writer Tom Hirons and internationally-respected artist, puppeteer and musician Rima Staines tell tales and spark imaginations from the Hedgespoken truck wherever they can, from busy festivals and family camps to quiet laybys and secluded forests. Hedgespoken specialise in retelling East European and British folktales and also stories from the wide world of the Traveller and Gypsy communities. As mentioned in my article, My Life as a Vagabond, I have lived more or less as a bum for 36 years. This of course shows in my dreams, where I still experience life on the streets. However, my life as a vagabond was caused by my kundalini awakening. The second phase of the kundalini process therefore also began to show in my dreams. Lately they have attained a rather strange character. They have attained the color of icons. Something otherworldly is mixing in. I´m still experiencing life on the streets, and my engagement with other bums. But there is an extraordinary feeling of sacredness. Strange people are mixing in, people from traveling caravans, street entertainers, bohemians, gypsies, vagabonds, and some more strange creatures, half animal and half human creatures, so-called shapeshifters. I was therefore quite fascinated when I discovered Hedgespoken. I have told about Hedgespoken in my article, Seiðr Shamanism and the Art of Song Healing. This article is part two of the above-mentioned article, My Life as a Vagabond. In the latter article I told about that I, as a Grail Seeker, is on a quest for so-called “Pirate Utopias”, or “Autonomous Zones”. Hedgespoken is clearly such an autonomous zone. Also see my Vagabond Photography of autonomous zones: Copenhagen 2020: Freetown Christiania, and, Aalborg 2019: Limfjordsværftet and Fjordbyen. Hedgespoken is also related to my booklet, The Runes of Rold Forest. I see my divination with The Runes of Rold Forest, as attempts of creating a map which shows the Grail Seeker pathfinders and trail markers, as well as dangers and pitfalls, on his or her quest for such pirate utopias. For example, The Spirit of Nature Oracle (which I use as a part of The Runes of Rold Forest), has the substitle: “Ancient Wisdom from the Green Man and the Celtic Ogam Tree Alphabet”. The Green Man is a spirit, perhaps the spirit of all green and growing things. He is nature in manifest form. He has been present, in one form or another, since human beings lived in caves and walked among the trees of the great primeval forests of the ancient world. It is in places which still retain something of their original primitive aspect that we may encounter him still – in tracts of ancient woodland or in the few remaining places in the world that have not been overrun by humankind in our restless search for somewhere new to conquer and colonize. You can find his “signs” in art and in storytelling all over the world. You can find his face carved in stone on Cathedrals. In Tolkien´s Middle-earth he is Tom Bombadil. He is Robin Hood showing you the way to his pirate utopia in the Sherwood Forests. He is Peter Pan leading the Darling children to Neverland.
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