Nobody appreciates the mythopoeic mysteries of worms anymore. The worm, uniquely, understands the Sufi mystical notion of extinction in the divine essence. ![[Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 11.46.46 AM.png]] “A Dried Up Worm.” Open Heart Forgery 14, no. 4 (2023).
World Soul: A History, edited by James Wilberding. International Journal of Philosophical Studies 30, no. 2 (2022): 188–191. ![[World Soul A History.pdf]]
This “article” is really just a little editorial about the lecture Andrew Louth was zoomed in to give in the King’s College Chapel during the COVID year. His talk featured the inflammatory title: “The Necessity of Platonism for Christian Theology.” It was great. Reflecting further on his talk for this article, though, I realized that Louth has helped me see something about why Platonism as a standpoint resonates so deeply for me in general. ...
World Soul – Anima Mundi: On the Origins and Fortunes of a Fundamental Idea, edited by Christoph Helmig. International Journal of Philosophical Studies 28, no. 4 (2020): 560–563. ![[World Soul Anima Mundi On the Origins and Fortunes of a Fundamental Idea.pdf]]
This essay represents some of my youngest research and writing as a grad student, but it is also some of the work I am most proud of. It distills the best moments from my [[matter-and-the-one-in-proclus|Master’s thesis]] into a meditation on the theology of matter in the philosophy of Proclus. “A Shrine for the Everlasting Gods: Matter and the Gods in Proclus.” Dionysius 37 (2019): 105–132. ![[A_Shrine_for_the_Everlasting_Gods_Matte.pdf]]
This is a Master’s Thesis about the theology of the material world in the philosophy of my favourite philosopher, Proclus. Proclus was one of the last heads of the Platonic Academy in Athens before it’s dissolution in the 6th century C.E. Proclus’ theological vision of the world is so positive as to be only rivaled by Hegel. Writing this Master’s thesis is the most fun I’ve ever had as a student/writer/researcher. It was spiritually nourishing. It inspired [[three-poems-south-shore-review|many poems]]. I got to make friends the most inspired and out-there thinkers in the history of Philosophy. It was an act of leisure in the most exquisite and Aristotelian meaning of the word. ...
![[roundchurch.webp]] For two summers during my master’s studies, I was the tour guide and historian in residence at St. George’s Round Church in Halifax, NS. This lecture was my attempt to interpret the striking circular structure of the building. “Sacred Geometry: St. George’s Round Church, 1800–1827.” Lecture presented at St. George’s Round Church, 2017. ![[Sacred Geometry_ St. George’s Round Church, 1800-1827 — Saint George’s Round Church.pdf]] Image: Photo by Samuel Landry. ...
I wrote this essay during my Master’s program and it was published in the Dalhousie Classics department’s undergraduate journal. I always tell students to pick essay topics that excite them because what you write about is what you will remember most from your education. I still think about this essay all the time. “Dike, Daughter of Zeus: Divine Civics in Hesiod’s Works and Days.” Pseudo-Dionysius 19 (2017): 86–93.
On Seeing by Matthew Joel I’m still really proud of these songs all these years later. I was still so young, but I think there’s a really compelling artistic vision here. There were a few friends and acquaintances from the music world who championed these songs and encouraged me in such a nurturing way. On the other hand, this was the last album I released before attempting to “quit” music. So there’s something bittersweet here too. ...
The Rocky Mountains EP by Matthew Joel Releasing this EP was an exciting experience for me. I had been deep in the post-rock world for a bit by this point, spending a lot of time on afterthepostrock.com and some of the big post-rock blogs from those days. When I released the songs, I sent an email to one of the bloggers who agreed to feature it. I also paid for an ad on his site (it was pennies, really), and as a result my Bandcamp page exploded with new traffic and hundreds of people downloaded the album (which I had listed for free at the time). It was one of my first experiences reaching an audience of people I didn’t already know. ...