Speakers
Practically the co-inventor of the 2012 cultural phenomenon, Dennis McKenna is also a pioneer of natural products and medicine. Co-author (with his brother Terence McKenna) of The Invisible Landscape, and Psilocybin- Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide, Dennis literally wrote the book on the DMT experience, neo-shamanism, and DIY mushroom cultivation. This year’s Keynote Speaker, Dennis will give two seminars on human / plant co-evolution and the commercialization, exploitation, and criminalization of nature that are not to be missed!
“Antero Alli is a frontier scout for the species, out there on the rim where the past and future intersect.” — Dr. Timothy Leary
In addition to being a prolific film maker and Paratheatrical director, Alli has somehow managed to write some of the most influential books on esotericism since the 1960s. His works (published by New Falcon and Vertical Pool) deconstruct shamanism, astrology, and ritual theater, giving them increased accessibility and breathing new life into the oldest of esoteric practices. A welcome addition to Esozone, Antero Alli will hold a seminar on one of the most fascinating topics of post-Crowley occultism, the 8 Circuit Model of Human Consciousness.
“Paul Laffoley, a painter and architect, is one of the most encyclopedic of visionary geniuses.” ~Alex Grey
Back from giving the keynote address at the inaugural Esozone, Paul Laffoley returns for an expanded epic meditation on his visionary art. Come see the Grand Architect of Transmodernism as he gives his full, uninterrupted six hour presentation complete with Q&A. This is Paul Laffoley: The Director’s Cut, with detailed deconstructions of the paintings necessarily intersecting with the curious life of the man who invented the 25th Century.
Long time Church of Satan initiate, Rex Church is a highly accomplished futurist / surrealist painter, Lovecraft scholar, and walking library of esoteric technology. For years Rex has been designing and crafting the Ragnarok Engine, a 40,000 pound demon conjuring forge which integrates such disciplines as Tesla technology, black radionics, and ruin value. Most definitely a highlight of last year’s Esozone, Rex is back for a seminar on the Ragnarok Engine. Learn everything you always wanted to know about bringing about the apocalypse but were far too terrified to ask from one of the foremost practitioners in the field.
Freeman was arguably the breakout star of last year’s Esozone, wowing our Friday night audience with tales of corporate logo hypnotism, illuminated factions of hollow-earth dwelling reptiles, and the relationship between trauma-based mind control and Britney Spears. Back for a second round, Freeman promises to take Esozone participants even deeper down the rabbit hole. This year he will give an expanded talk in two parts- one for a mass audience, and a second part for those who wish to roll up their sleeves and dig deeper into mysteries that will frighten the meek and fascinate the curious.
Widely renowned by PDX Occulture denizens and Esozone organizers alike as “the coolest man we know,” Trevor Blake has a long and storied history of association with power weirdos. One of the first to publish the writings of Hakim Bey in OVO, as well an early adopter the nascent Church of the SubGenius, Trevor Blake has long had an eye for high weirdness worth knowing about. Under the auspices of his Buckminster Fuller scholarship, Blake will present on the ideas of the man who urged us all to “do more with less.”
Alex Ansary is new media. When not hosting his show Outside the Box, Alex is on the front lines of the battle against the American Gestapo. Get the straight dope on North American Union, surveillance, and the global control grid from a man who paints a nuanced and eerrily plausible picture of the machinations of the men of power. Even the most hardened skeptic will find it hard to walk away with the same world view after hearing Alex Ansery present on surviving the coming collapse of the economic grid.
“It ain’t just about us and our big brains.”
Bridging the gap between human civilization and pretty much everyone else (the latter of whom usually get ignored in board meetings, construction sites, and grocery stores), Lupa is a shaman in training with a varied background ranging from animal totemism to Chaos magic to talking to dead things. Lovecraftian critters may be en vogue, but they’re not the ones suffering because of a post-ritual Big Mac or Wal-Mart ceremonial candles.
Taylor Ellwood is an experimental magician, artist, writer, and life coach. A prolific writer, he has authored Pop Culture Magick, Space / Time Magic, Inner Alchemy,and Media Magic as well as being the co-author of Creating Magickal Entities and Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla. At Esozone, his focus is on exploring identity as a convergence of biological, space, time, magic, and semiotic/memetic phenomenon that shapes the interaction and interconnection that all of us share with each other.
One of the most prolific writers in the countercultural blogosphere, Thirty-Seven maintains Skilluminati, the New York Times of power weirdo inspired insights and analysis. You want it broken down, taken apart, and laid on the table with the smart assed, laser precise insights you thought died with Robert Anton Wilson? Come check out Thirty-Seven, the only Esozone presenter who will also get you moving with smooth, esoteric sex rhymes under the guise of his alter ego Humpasaur Jones.
Bill Whitcomb was born a typical child of the 20th century until contracting Semiotic fever, an imaginary disease characterized by oneirodynia, mythopoetic swelling, and hermeneutic convulsions, resulting in chronic obsession with symbols and language. Whitcomb is best known for his books on magical symbolism and practices, The Magician’s Companion and The Magician’s Reflection. A new edition of the The Magician’s Reflection and a new work, Selections From the Dream Manual, will be published by Immanion Press.
Edward Wilson is a freelance writer living in Vancouver, Canada; Portland, Oregon and Cyberspace. Edward, known online as Fenris23, specializes in rediscovering magical techniques in the fields of psychology and sociology. He is co-author of The Art of Memetics with Wes Unruh and his next project will be an exploration of the experience of space and time. Edward, one of the esteemed professors of Esozone University, will present on his understanding of memetics and the Free Zone.
Ever since an acid trip in 1995 that James Curcio never quite returned from, he has been dedicated (some might say obsessed) with the production of modern myths. These have taken the form of collaborative novels (Fallen Nation: Babylon Burning in 2007, Join My Cult! in 2004), Internet “round-table” musical albums,(subQtaneous: Some Still Despair In A Prozac Nation in 2005, Babalon’s Descent in 2001)and various unorthodox podcast and audiobook series. He is a co-founder of Mythos Media, and senior editor of Alterati.com. Curcio will present a sound installation mindfuck at Esozone which will leave his audience forever changed.
Back from last year where he added atmosphere and soundscapes to Foolish People’s Dead Language Ikipr works to attempt to rectify the fields of science and magick with waveform oriented technology and evocations of Light and Sound. He’ll be helping out, chilling and building a dualistic mutant Godhead of Esozone participants synthesized via technomantic means.
St. Mae
Key 23 founder Wes Unruh made a big splash at Esozone: Designer Reality Expo with his closing comments. Since then he has authored The Art of Memetics. He is also editor of the Alterati and audio producer of the RIPPLE podcast. He is also the artist behind the Philip K Nixon construct, and is currently writing a novel titled Memwar. He’ll be there with Edward Wilson to explain and expound upon the topics in The Art of Memetics, and with Ikipr to generate unholy mind-altering noise.
Joseph Thiebes is Priest of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica and an esoteric artist living in Portland. Originally hailing from the wild mountains of Montana, where he began his 20-year study and practice of the occult arts, he is now Master of Sekhet Maat Lodge O.T.O., editor of Agapé, and past editor of Lion & Serpent from 2000-2005 e.v. He will be presenting on Systems Theory, Cybernetics, and Thelema.
A rising star in the Church of Satan, prolific blogger, and author of cultural bomb in manifesto form, Androphilia, Jack Malebranche is sure to cause a stir at this year’s Esozone. Jack will present his decided Mars-centric viewpoint in a presentation on Japanese martyr of mandom, Yukio Mishima, as well as show his art in the Esozone gallery.
Psychedelic artist Nemo should be well known to all who read the classic chaos magic magazine Konton. His art takes its cues from 60s album art as well as voodoo and Thelema, bridging boundaries between counterculture and occultism. In addition to his live action painting at Esozone, Nemo is bringing Oryelle Defenstrate to Esozone under the auspices of R6XX.com.
Nick Pell
Co-founder and Editor of Key 64, Nick Pell is also the Event Director of Esozone. He has a life long interest in memes outside of the consensus. He currently resides in Salem, MA and has just finished editing Bill Whitcomb’s The Magician’s Reflection for Immanion Press.
