Publishers Weekly
04/26/2021
Greer (The Long Descent), a spirituality and ecology blogger at Ecosophia, makes an ardent if zany argument that magic plays a powerful role in politics. He defines magic broadly as “the art and science of causing changes in consciousness in accordance with will” and goes on to suggest salaried elites and corporate media have perpetuated the political status quo that oppresses hourly wage earners through a magic-inflected “ritual drama” of assigning blame. He trots out rehashed defenses of Trump supporters as being motivated by economic self-interest before suggesting users of online message boards used chaos magic to ensure Trump’s 2016 victory. (He also posits that anti-Trump magical resistance failed to adhere to appropriate protocols and faltered.) Amid the more outlandish claims, certain lines of thought, such as his comparison of the liberal fixation on hate speech with the harmful Victorian obsession with sexuality, have some promise. He closes with a discussion of the projected rise of a new mode of life through a process called “pseudomorphisis” that will gain ascendency in the 26th century. While Greer’s analyses are occasionally unusual enough to grab attention, anyone not already in his camp will remain unconvinced. (June)
author of Egregores Mark Stavish
Against a humorous and informed survey of the American political landscape, Greer analyzes the 2016 U.S. presidential election through the lens of magic. Taking his cue from Ioan P. Couliano’s masterpiece Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, Greer shows the power of symbols in forming popular opinion and political action and with it the competing and combating views of magic of the two principal parties: the magic of the privileged versus pragmatic positivism and where they meet in the Faustian dream of perpetual progress. An essential book for anyone seeking to understand the direction in which ‘cancel culture,’ the industrial world, and its formerly liberal democracies are heading.
The Magical Buffet
Greer does an excellent job explaining the primary division amongst Americans as being investment class, salary class, wage class, and welfare class. Things get more interesting when Greer starts tracking the chaos magic of the 4Chans, and the reactionary workings of the magical resistance. The King in Orange does an excellent job comparing and contrasting not only the philosophies of these groups, but also their operational practices. There is much to be learned about magic, just from the author’s observations and explanations. The King in Orange is a thought provoking look at the 2016 election through the prism of Greer’s political opinions and magical experience. Whether you agree 100% with his findings, you will still find yourself with much to consider."
author of The Long Emergency James Howard Kunstler
John Michael Greer is one of the true original minds on the scene in these rather dire days of the wobbling American experiment. His books hack through the precooked ideology of our so-called thinking classes to present always-fresh connections between events on the ground and the deep mysteries of our being here in the first place, especially the issues of good and evil, which so befog us today.
Musing Mystical Alanna Kali
"The King in Orange is not an easy read, as there are some hard truths to swallow regardless of where your political beliefs lay. But this book opened my eyes to the roots of the current political climate that go deeper than just standard party issues. There are fundamental shifts to the American way of life that are leading to uncertainty about the future. Being more aware of the occult forces in play on both sides helps to be discerning in shaping our beliefs. I have been recommending this book to quite a few people recently who are wondering what’s going on in the politics right now because it’s a really thought-provoking read that delves into the psychological factors effecting the collective consciousness."