Abstract

Recent scholarship shows that much of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy may be illuminated by placing it in the context of the hermetic tradition. Such connections make possible Deleuzean interventions in the field of political theology where, following the work of political theorist Saul Newman, the secularization of politics is perceived to offer little actual resistance to the foregrounding of politics with a transcendent sovereignty. Newman instead suggests profane and irreligious strategies to combat the persistence of theology in socio-political structures. This presentation adopts a hermetic reading of Deleuze in order to draught and examine a profane "politics of sorcery." The goal is to situate sorcery both in its relation to Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalytic method and as an experimental political activity that may offer fresh ways for thinking about resistance to the control apparatuses of capitalism, especially those that remain either overtly or covertly theological. 

Keywords: Deleuze, Political Theology, Sorcery, Capitalism

How to Cite:

Cordry, D. R., (2024) “Adventures in the Profane: Sorcery and Schizoanalysis”, Footnotes: A Journal of History 6(1), 62-69.