[Blake's] spiritual rebellion against the powerful of this world was not made of that type of water-soluble gunpowder to which we have more or less accustomed ourselves.
James Joyce

Reflections on William Blake, radical theology, politics and surrealism

Welcome to The Traveller in the Evening, a newsletter focused on the work of William Blake. But it is a loose focus, because, in the right mouth, the discussion of Blake quickly turns to the discussion of surrealism, revolution, radical theology and much else besides. Blake combined all of these things, well in advance of his age—and of ours.

The Traveller Hasteth in the Evening is an engraving by Blake from 1793. Blake shows his traveller pacing his way toward some unknown destination. Morton Paley shortened the title to The Traveller in the Evening for his book about Blake’s later works. I borrowed Paley’s title because it reflects both my situation and the situation at large.

I've been reading Blake for years, quietly taking notes. My dream was to find the time and space one day to write a book about what I learned from him. Right now, it doesn’t seem that day is getting any closer. At the same time, the world has taken a threatening turn, as we continue marching toward an environmental catastrophe set in train a long time ago. Some days it feels like evening everywhere.

The old world is dying, and the old politics, because it was based too closely on an idealisation of production’s 'Satanic mills'. The environmental movement is urgently relevant but struggles to paint a picture of any alternative. Movements against oppression tackle the world’s abuses without striking them at the root. To do so would mean coming to a very different understanding of who we are in relation to our world. Blake points us toward a reversal of perspectives, to fan the flames of solidarity and help to wake us from our collective sleep. The ramifications of his thought would unsettle our deepest assumptions—hence the need to present this new, and unheard Blake: a profound esoteric thinker and a thoroughgoing Surrealist militant.

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Andy Wilson

Andy lived in Sunderland, Seaham Harbour, Peterlee, Hartlepool, Kings Lynn, Coventry, Torpoint, Eastleigh, Lee-on-Solent, Portland, Weymouth, Loughborough, York and Liverpool before dropping anchor in Hackney, London. On leaving King Henry VIII school in Coventry, he served as an Engineering Artificer in the Royal Navy, then studied at the Co-operative College, and York and Middlesex Universities. He has worked as a political full-timer, a lecturer in the Workers Educational Association, a computer programmer, and finally as an engineering manager, CEO and Director of a number of technical companies. He co-founded the Association of Musical Marxists (AMM). He has written books on the German group Faust, the Romanian Spectral composers Iancu Dumitrescu and Ana-Maria Avram ('Cosmic Orgasm'), and edited books on the Syrian Revolution ('Khiyana'), and, with Michael Tencer, a compilation of works by and about the AMM (‘The Assassin’). He also writes poetry (‘Scarlet Rain’) and has created a book of lo-fi psychedelic illustrations to Blake ('The Brilliant New Hercules'). Andy has been a trustee of The Blake Society. His main interests lie with Blake, radical theology and politics, and Surrealism.


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Reflections on William Blake, Surrealism, Ecology and radical theology and politics

People

Andy Wilson co-founded the Association of Musical Marxists (AMM), and has written books on the group Faust, the composer Iancu Dumitrescu ('Cosmic Orgasm'), and a book of lo-fi illustrations to Blake ('The Brilliant New Hercules').
Jules Etjim blogs at Paths and Bridges on social theory, ecology, philosophy and more, from a Castoriadian commitment to radical democracy and autonomy.
LitRPG writer and historian.