As I was going through our classmate's online portfolios found myself drawn to a few by account of their content. Mysticism - or something adjacent to. This was quite exciting, obviously, given the content I had produced the year previously for iWrite. Each of the content covered by these portfolios, I have only a limited understanding of, which is also quite fun as I have gotten to learn something new. So, the three portfolios I'll be responding to are, Shan Iyer's: A Historical Analysis of Islamic Magic, Jessica Milford's practice of Tarot and Divination, and Savanah Greaves' exploration into crystals.
Shan Iyer's exploration into the Islamic Magics is something that jumped at me, immediately, upon coming across her portfolio. I was so intrigued by just the wealth of ancient mysticism there was to be even found in the Islamic tradition. I'm well aware of the Qaballah and the mystic traditions of the Jewish tradition, so I feel rather naive for overlooking the great wealth of occult knowledge to be found in other Abrahamic religions. It was so interesting to have topics, such as that of Sufism or Alchemy, topics that are often points of discourse in the world of the occult, be reframed and analysed from a Muslim perspective. As often, discourse in West surrounding many cuts of Mysticism when it is brought into Academia are headed by usually old cis white men. That took a bit of a dreary turn, but this portfolio was insightful and powerful in the knowledge it presents.
Jessica Milford's exploration into the world of Divination via Tarot cards was exciting, mostly due to my absolute love of the subject. I, admittedly, am the type to stay awake 'til 3 in the morning bingewatching various Youtube tarot readers, hoping that they will aid in unravelling whatever insight I am yet to come across. It's silly, I know, but now it has become a form of guilty assurance. What I enjoyed the most about Jessica's collection was their deep dive into process. It's rare to bear witness to the inner workings of diviner's head, how they reach their conclusions on what a card means or how they interpret a fold in relation to the person sitting before them. I also enjoyed the history of Tarot cards as merely a tavern card's game, transformed into something of the occult. I'm no Wiccan, but I am definitely a follower of the 'mysteries' - how elusive, I know - and found this to be a great resource for those looking to potentially delve into Divination as a spiritual practice.
Savanah Greaves' exploration into crystals, their history, and the various spiritual qualities each type possesses was really fun. I am a poor collector of crystals, but I do believe in their ability to provide aid in a metaphysical sense. It should be no surprise now, but I really am into all of this. Reading through this collection reminded me of my younger self trying to pass through customs in Taiwan returning home to Aotearoa and having all my crystals I had kept in a pouch with me confiscated. I huffed and puffed upon passing through but concluded that maybe the crystals had served their purpose. Other than my strange recollections, this portfolio is great as a personable guide to the various crystals Savanah analyses, giving whoever is reading a good gauge as to whether they would want that crystal for themselves.
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