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Update to lectures by Dr Christina Oakley-Harrington:
10 May (Tuesday) 7.30 pm
Taboo of Paradise: Anal sex & Pagan Magic
This evening's talk is about how pagans and occultists in Britain today deal with their own sexual taboos; and considers how far modern pagans have come to terms with them. The paper contends that the notion of breaking taboo is a prevalent discourse, but that much of magic is nowhere near as transgressive as it posits itself to be. Why do witches, pagans and occultists hold such store by the notion of being 'boundary breakers'? And, if this identity is so important, what sorts of boundaries really need to be transgressed for practitioners to genuinely have transformative experiences? Christina Oakley Harrington is a practising witch who is not a philosopher, though she does her best to be aware of philosophical issues, and to open up for discussion the philosophical underpinnings of esoteric practices. Drinks and refreshments after, as usual for the Treadwellian evenings. £5.00 for the till. Places are limited to 20.
17 May (tuesday) 7.30pm
Same-sex Sexuality, Queerness and Desire: Forces in Magic
How do non-standard desires affect and work with magic. Desire used to be assumed to be heterosexual -- and indeed the pld polarity theory depended upon this. But same-sex desire is a reality, as are all sorts of desires that are half-understood, and generally not articulated by society's dominant discourses. These are magical, powerful even when not understood or controlled. Another thesis of the talk is to consider how dominant discourses of the consumer culture pit men into relations with one another that are at once homoerotic and competitive; likewise women are told to desire one another yet hate one another as competitors. Discussion around the table invites all perspectives on the subject. Drinks and refreshments follow. £5.00. Places limited to 20.
24 May (tuesday) 7.30pm
The Sex Magic no one discusses: Obsession and Unrequited Love
The yearning for the unattained, or the unattainable: what can magic have to say about this or, to turn it round, how can the experience of love obsession be transformed, sublimated or used magically? . Discussion around the table invites all perspectives on the subject. Drinks and refreshments follow. £5.00. Places limited to 20.
ANNND....
Friday 20th May
Launch Party
7-11pm Free
Book launch for "Witchfinder General" by Dr. Simon Gaskill of Churchill College, Cambridge. |
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