The Liminalist # 270: A Commitment to Flux (Wandering God # 5, with Tim K)

Fifth installment of exploration of Morris Berman’s Wandering God with Tim K

Part One: Destination Motion (0 – 31 mins)

On the road again, the pressure of sedentism, an argument for something that can’t be spoken, writing vs dancing, the history of pastoralism, the zone of flux, techno-sedentism, pilgrims, tourists, & vagabonds, latter-day hobos, life in Hope, First Blood, the crucial tension of the nomad, stealing & hustling in Morocco, a haunting undercurrent of sedentism, destination motion, autism & socialization, the stamp of reject.

Part Two: The Husks of Religion (31 mins – 1 hr 10 mins)

Self-diagnosed autist, the tolerance agenda of assimilation, one of a kind, autism vs neurodivergent, walking out on Point Break, the surfer lifestyle, an assault on the senses, better TV in time for lockdown, the constellation of narcissism & dependency, autonomy as self-rule, exposing the system while using it, what martyrs do, disruption vs rebellion, homesteading vs dumpster diving, from social system to biosystem, the road to truth, iconoclasm vs innocence, what babies do, Islamic injunction against icons, the fixable sacred, the husks of religion, the Jews & modernity.

Part Three: The Futility of Resistance (1 hr 10 mins – 1 hr 38 mins)

The homeless Jesus, what is a home, identity politics 3.0, Jewish racial vs religious identity, back to pop culture, catastrophe & shrinking groups, a global identity, identity, mimesis, and cultural acclimatization, homogenization & sedentism, the futility of resistance, why true outliers don’t fear blending in, axial civilization, strain between transcendent & mundane, magic disguised as science, why movements go nowhere, how obstacles make us aware of motion.

Part Four: Geography Without History (1 hr 38 mins – end)

Herding economies & sky gods, Mongol shamanism, the pragmatism of mysticism, Dave Oshana’s senses, pastoralism & common sense, delayed & immediate return, the importance of brown-nosing in sedentary society, alcohol as disinhibitant and group bonding, suppression of feeling, the advantageous position, the illusion of choice, the obligation of freedom, the thoughts of others, a commitment to flux, Israelites & Canaanites, Jahweh as boss of gods, ambivalent legacy, agents of uncertainty, the persistence of paradox, tree vs rhizome, geography without history.

Dark Ages America (Morris Berman’s site).

Wandering God.

Songs: “Primitive” & “Chasing Time” by Joy Zipper; “Undertow” by El Diablitos; “Abandonitis” by Terry Allen; “Beige” by Monkey Warhol.

7 thoughts on “The Liminalist # 270: A Commitment to Flux (Wandering God # 5, with Tim K)”

  1. I can clearly remember seeing the book Communion in a store as a teenager. The image on the cover immediately made a strong impression on me. I could not get the image of that “alien” out of my mind. The cover of the book also makes it clear in large letters that, it’s a “true story.” Eventually I read the book and believed every word. I was still young and impressionable. I had never had any thoughts, dreams etc about aliens prior to reading it. In the few years after reading it, I had terrifying nightmare about aliens. Abduction dreams, dreams about aliens coming through the wall of my bedroom etc. Looking back on it, I’m convinced I was traumatized by this book, and that was its purpose.

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  2. Well done for the read through fellas. It just keeps on giving. I’m torn between buying the book for Kindle and buying it in paperback one day.

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    • Currently, the book isn’t in Kindle format, so I suggest getting it in paperback. You can also find it in PDF format, if you know where to look for it on PDF sites.

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