Episode 210 – Angels & Daimons, with Cristina Campo and M.C. Richards

In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimonic.” What emerges is a conversation about imagination, personhood, and a world shot through with meaning. Notably, this episode opens with a discussion of what your hosts mean by "imaginal."

Phil’s reading of Richards’s essay (patreon.com/posts/audio-extra-with-154512720?u…) can be found on our Patreon page. Thanks to Wesleyan University Press (weslpress.org/author/mary-caroline-richards) for permission to share this with our listeners.

Go to Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp (pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-stu…) page to preorder his marvellous new album, Weird Studies Volume 3.

Click here (jeremydjohnson.substack.com/p/henri-bergson-my…) to sign up for JF's seminar on Henri Bergson, happening on the Mutations learning platform on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Click here (weirdosphere.org/course/jm104-what-is-philosophy) for details on JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "What is Philosophy?".

Music in this Episode

"Scavenger," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 3⁠ (pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-stu…)

"Domes and Spires," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 2⁠ (pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-stu…)

References

M. C. Richards (weslpress.org/author/mary-caroline-richards), American artist and philosopher

Cristina Campo (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Campo), Italian poet and essayist

M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daimonic”

Cristina Campo, “On Fairy Tales” (bookshop.org/a/18799/9781681378022)

Henri Bergson,Matter and Memory (bookshop.org/a/18799/9780486434155%E2%81%A0)

William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” (poetryfoundation.org/poems/43650/auguries-of-i…)

Weird Studies, Episode 8 on Graham Harmon (weirdstudies.com/8%E2%81%A0)

Susan Chang, The Tarot Podcast (youtube.com/@thetarotpodcast%E2%81%A0)

Ramsey Dukes, The Little Book of Demons (amazon.com/Little-Book-Demons-Advantages-Perso…)

“The Boy Who Knew No Fear,” fairy tale

Una Voce (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Una_Voce%E2%81%A0), Catholic movement

Franz Liszt (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt%E2%81%A0), Hungarian Pianist

Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller (bookshop.org/a/18799/9781681370583%E2%81%A0)

William Shakespeare, Othello (bookshop.org/a/18799/9781501146299)

M. C. Richards, Centering (bookshop.org/a/18799/9780819562005%E2%81%A0)

Robert Duncan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Duncan_(poet%E2%8…)), American poet

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