DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Call for Papers

ESOTERICISM, OCCULTISM, AND MAGIC

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA) 

47th Annual Conference, February 25-28, 2026

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

https://www.southwestpca.org

NEW submission deadline: November 14, 2025 

Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 47th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/.

Esotericism, Occultism, and Magic invites proposals relating to magical worldviews, practices, and representations, as well as consciousness transformation, the preternatural, the paranormal, hidden meanings, the power of transmutation, and related phenomena. Characteristic methods, beliefs, perspectives, paradigms and techniques include: arcane symbolism, imagery, and aesthetics; unseen forces, spiritual intermediaries, and invisible agencies; synchronous patterns, non-ordinary causation, and anomalous processes. Examples of ideas and systems include Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Sufism, Tantra, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Satanism, witchcraft, sorcery, demonology, astrology, alchemy, yoga, shamanism, parapsychology, as well as psychic and paranormal phenomena, along with beliefs and practices relating to altered states of consciousness, overlapping with the study of mysticism and New Age spirituality, channeling, positive thinking, manifestation, reality shifting, the power of intention, numerology, guardian angels, and Ascended Masters. Esoteric, occult, and magical concepts, beliefs, and practices appear in every culture and civilization; contemporary media and popular culture have embraced them enthusiastically, yet at times have reacted against them. The impact of esotericism, occultism, and magic on genre formation/content and popular cultural perceptions has been profound.

Special themes and topics of interest proposed for 2026: 

EOM, artifice, artificial intelligence, robots, and chatbots; boundaries of magic, mysticism, and technology; technoccultism, cybermagic, and cosmotechnics; impossibility and Forteana; play and the trickster; illusion in and as magic; lies, fakes, frauds, forgeries, counterfeits, duplicates, deception, disinformation, and propaganda; confabulation, fabrication, imitation, and simulation; metaverse and cyberspace as EOM otherworlds; metafictional representations of EOM and as EOM praxis; EOM and/as genre; EOM and “influencers”, EOM and the media; immediatism; consumerism and consumption in and of magic, and also magic as consumption and as commodity/commodifiable; EOM and economics; the bureaucratic occult; demographics in and of magic; EOM and race; EOM and indigeneity, tribalism, indigenous futurism, and technotribalism; EOM and repetition, reproduction, genetics, heredity, ancestry, generational transmission, generational trauma; EOM and hacking; magic and engineering; EOM and architecture; EOM and materialist worldviews; carnality and embodiment; EOM and ideology (totalitarian and otherwise); EOM and geography, geopolitics, astropolitics, and “space”; egregores; crowd magic, “mass magic”, and EOM-concepts of “the masses”; EOM and the mundane/banal; EOM and therapy, psychology and psychiatry, behavioral conditioning, thought reform, and conversion; disgust, revulsion, dread, and paranoia in EOM; evil and maleficia; magical duels; dualism, nondualism, radicalism, extremism, and excess; values, virtues, and ethics in EOM; transhumanism, posthumanism, accelerationism, and neoreaction; EOM and “infohazards”; EOM and the nonhuman, metahuman, and abhuman; cryptids, fungi, rhizomes; alternative biologies, ontologies, and ecologies

Sample Ideas for topics categorized by media:

Literature: Fiction by practitioners, such as Philip K. Dick, William S. Burroughs, C. S. Friedman. Books by practitioners (for example, Evola, Guenon, Gurdjieff, Crowley, Anton LaVey, Gerald Gardner, Peter Carroll, Edgar Cayce). Influences and themes in magical realism, speculative fiction, gothic fiction, weird fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance and adventure. Fiction influential on practitioners, such as Zanoni, Goethe’s Faust, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, the Elric saga.  Historical representations of magicians, witches, and wizards, including stylized and mythic figures (Merlin, Morgan La Fey, Circe, Medea, Woland, Kostchie the Deathless, etc.), in genre fiction (contemporary Arthurian adaptations, variations on Norse sagas, etc.) or modernizations (Mikhail Bulgakov, Neil Gaiman, Tim Powers, Jim Butcher, Susanna Clarke), indigenous futurism and fantasy (Octavia Butler, Rebecca Roanhorse, N. K. Jemisin), popular conceptions of magic influenced by specific representations pervasive through particular media (“Vancian” magic from Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series as popularized through Dungeons and Dragons, the ubiquity of quantitarian conceptions of “mana” as represented in video games, frequent depictions as cues in visual media of physical side-effects and fatigue due to the use of magic and psi, the association of meditation with the recovery of expended magical power in various media of gaming), New Age and/or popular manifestation guides, such as The Secret. Conspiracist and/or extra-terrestrial cosmologies related to esoteric concepts (David Icke, the Seth transmissions to Jane Roberts, the Michael channelings, etc.), representations of esoteric, occult, and/or Gnostic myth and countermyth (Kushiel’s Universe of Jacqueline Carey, His Dark Materials of Philip Pullman)

Visual Art: Examples: Remedios Varo, Hilma af Klint, Ithell Colquhoun, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Austin Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Leonora Carrington, Michael Bertiaux, Alex Grey.

Film: Content as in The Conjuring series, A Cursed Man, The Occult, Spell, Tarot, Dagr, Late Night with the Devil, The First Omen, The Exorcism, Exhuma, Suspiria, In the Lost Lands, Babylon 5: The Road Home, Malum, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, It Lives Inside, Nefarious, Hellraiser, The Color Out of Space, The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar, Apostle, The Endless, A Dark Song, The Love Witch, Kill List, Drag Me To Hell, The Skeleton Key, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The Ninth Gate, The Wicker Man; Gnostic allegories such as The Matrix, Dark City, The Truman Show; explorations of consciousness such as eXistenZ, Altered States, 2001 Space Odyssey, Dune; representations of occult aesthetic, such as Eyes Wide Shut, occult conspiracy, such as Starry Eyes, traumatic initiation, such as the Saw series, immersive fiction as initiation, such as The Game; stylized depictions of magicians, wizards, and witches (Dr. Strange, Shazam, Maleficent, Oz, Warlock, Balthazar Blake of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Thulsa Doom of Conan, Jafar of Aladdin) ; esoteric/occult films such those by Kenneth Anger and Alejandro Jodorowsky; pseudo- and crypto-history in fiction (Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider, National Treasure); New Age documentaries, such as The Secret; conspiracist receptions of esoteric and occult history, such as Zeitgeist.

Television: Theme and/or content examples Wednesday, The Fall of the House of Usher, Occult Squad, Severance, The Devil’s Hour, Evil, Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale, Mayfair Witches, A Discovery of Witches, True Detective (season one and season four), Taboo, The Changeling, Archive 81, Lodge 49, Requiem, Undone, Fortitude, Yellowjackets, Wandavision, Brand New Cherry Flavor, The Devil’s Hour, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Exorcist, Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon, The Witcher, The Magicians, Midnight Mass, The Devil In Ohio, The Order, Dark, Shadowhunters, NOS4A2, Outcast, Zone Blanche/Black Spot, Stranger Things, Westworld, The Man in the High Castle, His Dark Materials, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Twin Peaks, Penny Dreadful, DaVinci’s Demons, American Horror Story, Carnivale, Babylon 5; Significant characters, representations, and personifications American Gods, Lucifer, Constantine, Sandman, Preacher, Strange Angel (fictionalized biography of occultist/magician/rocket scientist Jack Parsons); original representations of, or inspired by, legendary figures (the Seer of Kattegat in the Vikings series), fourth-wall-breaking or uncanny figures, presented with esoteric, occult, or quasi-ritualistic aesthetics (Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Frank Underwood of House of Cards). 

Comics / Graphic Novels: Contain esoteric, occult, and magical motifs and tropes. Some are actively esoteric; Grant Morrison The Invisibles and Alan Moore Promethea as personal magical workings; Black Magick by Nicola Scott and Greg Rucka directly represents the use of esoteric, occult, and magical symbolism, imagery, aesthetic, and content; the graphic novels of Neil Gaiman embrace esoteric, occult, magical themes and characters.

Animated Series: Among the general adaptational overlap with prior categories, iconic examples include Tower of God, Made In Abyss, Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Jujutsu Kaisen, the Magi series, and many similar examples that foreground EOM elements amid frequently genre-bending trope-reconfigurations.

Music: Specific artists (e.g. Genesis P-Orridge, David Bowie, Coil, Marilyn Manson, Ghost, Watain, Dissection, Behemoth, Wardruna, Tori Amos, Loreena McKennitt, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Gustav Holst), genres (dark ambient, dungeon synth, black metal, viking/Nordic ambient, apocalyptic folk, military industrial, witch house).

Video Games: Theme and content, e.g., The Horror at Highrook, Astrologaster, Apollyon: River of Life, The Council, Goetia, Solium Infernum, Hell Is Others, The Chant, American Arcadia, Cyberpunk 2077, Saturnalia, A Plague Tale, Cult of the Lamb, Medium, Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator, Dead Synchronicity, The Witcher, Silent Hill,  Cultist Simulator, The Shadow Government Simulator, Secret Government, Secret World, This Book Is A Dungeon, Xenogears, Exiler, the Persona series, Magic Research series, Devil May Cry, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Arcana, Prognostic, Signalis, Soulmask, Amazing Cultivation Simulator, Transient, The Mortuary Assistant, Shadow Hearts, Arx Fatalis, Eternal Darkness; pseudo-history Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider, Broken Sword; historical worldviews, Civilization VI (secret societies), Crusader Kings (cults, witchcraft, demonolatry), The Elder Scrolls, Destiny 2, Genshin Impact, Shin Megami Tensei (Gnosticism & Hermeticism), Curious Expedition series (historical occultists as playable characters, occult revival + pulp aesthetic); Deus Ex, SOMA, State of Mind (transhumanism); methodology (Nevermind, when utilizing biofeedback)

Tabletop Roleplaying Games: The Esoterrorists and Yellow King (Pelgrane Press), Esoterica (Fire Ruby Designs), Kult: Divinity Lost (rebooted by Modiphius Games), Liminal (Modiphius), Sigil & Shadow (Osprey Games), Esoteric Enterprises (Dying Stylishly Games), White Wolf’s Mage (classic World of Darkness) and Demon: The Descent (Chronicles of Darkness), World of Darkness generally,  Ars Magica as an early example of stylized analogical representation of historical magic, Atlas Games Unknown Armies, Monte Cook’s Invisible Sun, Kevin Crawford’s Silent Legions. RPGs have influenced the conception of magic in popular culture across media, and present extensive representation of magical figures.  Esoteric and gnostic themes intersect with transhumanism in examples such as Eclipse Phase.  The aesthetics and tropes of William Burroughs contribute significantly to the iconic Over the Edge by Jonathan Tweet.

Other possible topics:

Influence of esoteric/occult/magical/New Age beliefs, practices, symbols on popular culture and aesthetics (e.g., memes, clothing, tattoos, jewelry).

Influence of popular culture on esoteric/occult/magical beliefs, practices, and practitioners (e.g., Lovecraft mythos as actual magical practice, fictional gods of chaos in Chaos Magic, and real vampire communities using concepts from Vampire: The Masquerade).

Popular beliefs about esotericism/occultism/magic: fads, trends, moral panics, witch-hunts, witch-crazes, conspiracy theories (e.g., demonic intelligences in "AI" chatbots, anti-occult-conspiracism in QAnon; adrenochrome confabulations, Illuminati paranoia, bloodline of the Holy Grail beliefs, Satanic Ritual Abuse scandals).

Reactions and polemics against esoteric/occult/magical beliefs and practices

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app.

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/.

Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words and a brief summary of 100 words or less.

For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs & Resources link.  

The deadline for submissions is November 14, 2025.  

SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2026. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/.  SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/.

Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/.  For 2026, we will be returning to the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to shopping and dining.

In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/.

If you have any questions about the Esotericism, Occultism, and Magic area, please contact its Area Chair, Dr. George J. Sieg, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, georgejsieg@gmail.com / 505-440-2105. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@swpaca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.

This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2026 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2026.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!