DEADLINE EXTENDED to NOVEMBER 14

Calling the Devil:

Preternatural Projections, Diabolical Conceptions, and the Arcane Adversary                                             

The Area for Esotericism, Occultism, and Magic invites special panel presentation proposals on the Devil to be included in its events at the 46th annual conference of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association, to be held this February 19-22 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Any aspect of the Devil or its reception and representation in the context of esotericism, occultism, and magic, or more broadly the “preternatural”, particularly as they have reciprocally influenced popular culture, would be welcome as a presentational focus, and all suitable and relevant proposals from any and all disciplines, interdisciplines, and transdisciplines will be considered. 

Viable topics are not limited to those that pertain to contemporary popular culture, although those are manifestly legion within media and society.  All expressions of the Devil, the diabolic, diabolism, and diabolization, throughout their diverse history and transcultural dispersion, are called for, inclusive of any aspect of the genesis, development, or instantiation of these forms within esoteric, occult, and magical praxis – as well as the ways in which the Devil and the diabolical have been perceived and portrayed throughout popular culture.  Depending on time and circumstance, these have spanned the full range of extremes, ranging from conscious, deliberate embrace of diabolism through varying degrees of auto-diabolization or antagonist projection, all the way to the total diabolization of individual people or classes thereof. The sociocultural impact of the Devil conceived as the personification of moral evil has been, and continues to be, unequalled.  Not only has its influence remained undiminished through time, but its significance has also continued to increase exponentially, as diabolical belief accompanies the growth of conversionist monotheisms in the third world and reactionary theopolitics in the first and second worlds, while the contrary appeal of antinomian orientations persistently escalates, frequently valorized in secular media and occulture alike. 

The archaic dread of diabolical social and institutional infiltration has relentlessly recurred in every cultural configuration in which the Devil has been situated, and that labyrinthine locus has always been accessible from the crossroads and between-spaces wherein esoteric secrecy, interiority, and transmission have intersected with occult systematization and magical operation.  While the anti-theosis of this conjunction has been most stereotypically the diabolical Pact, all diabolical constructions have been characterized by identification with the intentionally antinomian and the allegedly immoral.  No status or system has ever been categorically excluded from the opportunity for diabolical identification.  From the ancient Iranic sorcerers endowed with the Lie, through the many-headed hydras of heresy, to the Illuminati and Satanic conspiracisms of the modern and contemporary ages; from the Prince of Tyre, through the fallen Watchers, to the royal reptilians ruling the secret government of the world; and from the archenemies of the self-identified holy, through centuries of Popes, Antipopes, and Antichrists, to the openly adversarial practitioners of diverse diabolisms, sinister satanisms, and illuminated luciferianisms, hosts of esoteric, occult, and magical practitioners and systems have been construed as diabolical.  Some have opted to embrace the identity of the opposer. Folkloric and mythic portrayals have been at least equally inventive, even prior to the art of consciously crafted entertainment fiction having transformed the Devil into the most popular character ever conceived.  Its legion of names, images, allegories, and representations would exhaust even the most dedicated inquisitors and determined diabologists.  Consequently, in need of some restraint, proposals are requested to retain specific focus on the Devil and the diabolic as distinct from the more diffuse demonic or the more abstract evil.  They are also suggested to engage in some way with the popular-cultural relevance of esotericism, occultism, and magic – and the details of the Devil therein. Please direct 200-500 word abstracts, optionally accompanied by CV, to the Area Chair for Esotericism, Occultism, and Magic at SWPACA, Dr. George J. Sieg, at georgejsieg@gmail.com by NOVEMBER 14.  The Area Chair will also provide the main EOM Area CFP on request by email, as well as any other information desired.