The Esotericism & Occultism Area of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association invites paper proposals for its 40th anniversary conference, to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 20-23, 2019. Please submit proposals by November 1, 2018, through the conference website: http://www.register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca. Contact the Area Chair at GeorgeJSieg@gmail.com with any questions.
Abstracts for individual 15-minute papers should be between 200 and 500 words; inclusion of bio is encouraged but optional. Proposals for whole panels and/or roundtables are also welcomed.
Topics should relate to magical worldviews and practices, consciousness transformation, unseen forces, spiritual intermediaries, synchronicity, arcane symbolism, and/or related ideas and concepts. Examples: Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Sufism, Satanism, Tantra, witchcraft, demonology, astrology, alchemy, shamanism, magiacl power and technique, mysticism, psychic ability, paranormal phenomena. Popular media may include, but are not limited to, works addressing such themes and/or by or about practitioners. Examples: literature; visual arts; film; television; comics & graphic novels; music; video games (role-playing games, massively multiplayer online games, and other personal computer, phone, tablet, and/or console games); table-top and live-action roleplaying games.
Other suggested topics include: the influence of esoteric, occult, and/or magical worldviews, beliefs, practices, and symbols on popular culture and aesthetics; the reciprocal influence of popular culture on practitioners and/or their worldviews, beliefs, and practices; popular beliefs about esotericism, occultism, and magic, such as fads, trends, moral panics, witch-hunts, witch-crazes, and conspiracy theories; reactions against esoteric, occult, and/or magical worldviews, beliefs, and practices.