#197 | All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: Marxism, Paganism, & History As Process w/ Rhyd Wildermuth

INTRO: 10:20 | OUTRO: 1:41:50

In this episode, I speak with Rhyd Wildermuth — writer, political theorist, co-founder of Gods & Radicals, and the author of the soon-to-be-released ‘All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: A Pagan Guide To Marxism.'

In this discussion with Rhyd, we examine the various ways capitalism — as a social, political, and economic system — directly informs the ways we relate with the land in which we live upon (and the spirits that reside there), the bodies we inhabit, the labor we perform, the rituals we engage in, and the various ways these relationships and perceptions either highlight or obscure the exploitive qualities of the global capitalism system we are all embedded within. In Rhyd’s book ‘All That Is Sacred Is Profaned,’ this examination of capitalism is framed within a Marxist analysis of the material conditions that inform these relationships (defined as “historical materialism” by Marx), and is then overlaid with a pagan, or more precisely animist, examination of these relationships as well. Rhyd, in being able to wed an animist perspective (the understanding that all objects, places and creatures possess a distinct spiritual essence) with a Marxist analysis of capitalism, is able to define more fully the conditions that have led to the rise and persistence of the capitalist system up to the present moment. One of the major themes of this discussion is to examine the “Progress Narrative,” or how capitalism informs our perception of time by imposing values on the past (bad), present (better), and future (obviously better), versus the “Process Narrative,” which poses that “the conditions of life are constantly in flux, changing according to larger processes (forces) which conflict with each other.” This conversation with Rhyd is wide, and these topics are just some of what we discuss in this episode.

Rhyd Wildermuth is a co-founder and the publishing manager of Gods & Radicals Press. He’s also a bard, poet, and theorist. He has written numerous essays on paganism, anti-capitalist political theory and analysis, and is the author of  ‘Witches In A Crumbling Empire,’ and most recently ‘All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: A Pagan Guide To Marxism.’ He is the co-host of Empires Crumble, a podcast on politics, culture, history, and magic with Alley Valkyrie. After spending much of his life within the borders of the United States, he now reside in Rennes, France. 

Episode Notes:

- Pre-order ‘All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: A Pagan Guide To Marxism’ (released internationally June 21st) and read an excerpt: http://bit.ly/sacredprofaned

- Much of Rhyd’s work can be found at Gods & Radicals: https://abeautifulresistance.org

- Listen and subscribe to the Empires Crumble podcast: http://bit.ly/EmpiresCrumble

- Rhyd's blog: https://paganarch.com

- Support Rhyd on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Paganarch

- The songs featured in this episode are “Boat” (http://bit.ly/2X7A6wJ) and “Guilt” (http://bit.ly/2WuUn1Y) by Mountain Man from the album Magic Ship.

- Title card features the artwork of Franz von Lenbach.