The Gnosis of Cormac McCarthy 11/19/2011

One of the greatest authors of our times is undoubtedly Cormac McCarthy.  Such novels as No Country for Old Men, The Road, and All the Pretty Horses have been a stark mirror into the human condition. Many consider his existentialist Western, Blood Meridian, one of the greatest literary achievements in the 20th century. Yet more and more scholars are realizing that McCarthy has purposefully and subtlety injected Gnostic themes and symbols in his works; and furthermore many of his books are complete Gnostic Gospels. We take a third-eye look at his fiction for not only Gnostic philosophy but other mysticism that fascinates McCarthy. We focus primarily on Blood Meridian, one of the most ultraviolent, nihilistic, and amoral books ever written that presents the Gnostic narrative, including the hidden Divine Spark that is the last hope of a predatory, deficient universe.

Astral guest-- Petra Mundik, author of Terra Damnata: The Anticosmic Mysticism of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

Petra's Bio:

Petra Mundik has recently completed a PhD at the University of Western Australia and is now working on converting her thesis into a book, which will explore the relationship between the perennial philosophy and the novels of Cormac McCarthy. Her publications on the subject include: “‘Striking the Fire Out of the Rock’: Gnostic Theology in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.” South Central Review 26:3 (Fall 2009); “‘Diverging Equity’: The Nature of Existence in All the Pretty Horses.” Southwestern American Literature 35:2 (Spring 2010); “All Was Fear and Marvel: The Experience of the Sacred in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing”, Southwestern American Literature 36:1 (Fall 2010); “The Illusion of Proximity: The Ex-Priest and the Heretic in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing”, Southwestern American Literature 36:2 (Spring 2011); “Mourners in the Darkness: Blindness and Insight in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing”, Southwestern American Literature 37:1 (Fall 2011); “The Right and Godmade Sun: Fate, Death and Salvation in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing”, Southwestern American Literature 37:2 (forthcoming); “Disciples of a New Faith: Satanic Parody in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian”, Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition and Modernity 28 (forthcoming); and “‘Terra Damnata’: The Anticosmic Mysticism of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West.” The Gnostic: A Journal of Gnosticism, Western Esotericism and Spirituality Vol 4 (2011).

Show will be available all weekend right here.