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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You can use Pokemon characters as points of focus for ritual if you really want. Taylor Ellwood’s new book Pop Culture Magick explores this concept in a lot more depth., examining ways that we can use contemporary icons in place of deities from ancient times. Undoubtedly, some people will be offended by this concept. For that reason, I think that this book would be most beneficial for those people that are quite far along in their personal spiritual path, and have come to realize that the public images of Britney Spears, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Captain Kirk are clearly egregors; Constructs worshipped on a daily basis and on a much larger scale than Isis or Dagda or Thor (unless you’re talking about the Thor from Marvel Comics). In this books the author forces us to face the truth of that, and it is a truth that many people may not be ready or willing to accept.

For those readers that can get past the obvious paradox of not wanting to accept pop culture idols as actual idols, Ellwood includes several useful pathworking exercises, suggestions for franchises to use as a base pantheon (Star Wars, Dragonball Z etc) and also shows us how to set up a Pop Culture Altar.

We spoke with the Taylor about this book, Chaos Magic, and his future projects.

[PNN] What prompted you to write this book?

[TE]  I saw a fundamental gap in the literature of magic, when it came to Pop Culture. I wanted to address that gap and show people that pop culture could be used in magic. The only system of magic that had addressed the use of pop culture in ritual was Chaos magic. I hope, though, to reach more people than just the average chaos magician. The goal of my book is also to present a variety of techniques and approaches to people for using pop culture as a form of magic.

[PNN] You are dealing with advanced concepts in this book, particularly the concept of aspects or archetypes of deity and how they can be seen to manifest in our modern culture. What kind of feedback have you received?

[TE]  Most of the feedback has been favorable, although I've gotten the occasional comment that I'm reinventing the wheel or being irreverent. I think most people find the idea of working with Pop Culture to be a novel concept. In general, when peopel have read the book and used the ideas, they've told me what they use works, so that's what is most important.

[PNN] What makes a celebrity a good candidate to become a pop culture deity?

[TE]  Well there's a lot of energy directed toward who people think a celebrity is. That energy empowers the persona of the celebrity and can be tapped and worked, just as you would with any other diety. The difference though is that the pop culture celebrity has the attention of thousands if not millions of people (in some cases). All of that attention converts into energy. Beyond that the celebrity's ability to relate to people, to speak to their needs and desires plays a role in the creation of a pop culture diety. In current day society, the consumerism of our culture determines how people relate to the celebrity. When s/he becomes an icon for a product (as is usually the case) s/he is channeling the energy of that product as well as the needs and desires of the people who want that product.

[PNN] One of the problems with modern society is that today's clean, public hero frequently turns out to be tomorrow's drug crazed sexual deviant. Is there a danger, when setting up an egregor of someone living that their public image may change drastically?

[TE]  There is always a danger that somone will change his/her image. It's up to the magician to decide whether s/he will go with that change or let the pop culture energy s/he was working fade into the background. Of course, part of the magic of pop culture is that you can choose the attributes of a pop culture persona that you'll work with. As an example, when I worked with Miss Cleo, my first pop culture Egregore, I never focused on her need to make money or the possibility that she was a fake. Certainly those attributes were there, but the pop culture egregore I created didn't have those attributes included. So even if an image of a celebrity changes, its up to the magician to decide if s/he will change the egregor to fit that image. Of course the magician does risk cutting off the flow of energy that goes into the egregor, but that's a bridge to be crossed if the magician wants to work with the pop culture egregore as it represents the past of the pop culture celebrity.

[PNN] Some might argue that the ancient Gods are better points of focus and worship because they have been around for so long and have such a strong belief structure associated with them that the energies around them are more powerful and consistent - less prone to changes in public perception. Any thoughts on that?

[TE]  That's certainly a valid argument, but at the same time, a lot of contemporary worship of these older gods is not based on the original language or culture. In other words, it's an apropriation of those gods. I think if worshipping or working with those gods works for people then they should use them. The strength of pop culture, however is that people live in the culture and usually speak the language of the pop culture entities they work with. We are more familiar with the pop culture of today, as well as the context for that pop culture. In contrast the ancient gods represent other cultures and contexts, ones which we may not have access to. Again, though it's a question of personal preference for the magician.

[PNN] There are some similarities in this book to the Discordian tradition. What are your spiritual roots - i.e. what other traditions, faiths etc. have you explored that led you to write this book?

[TE]  I've worked with a lot of hermetic and ceremonial magic systems, including the Golden Dawn. but also including william G. Gray's work and Franz Bardon's works. I've also practiced chaos magic for a long time. Actually, it's fair to say that I'm very familiar with a variety of systems and disciplines of magic. All of those systems inform my approach to magic, as well as my writing.

[PNN] Some contemporary individuals are already building a following that may one day result in their deification - Elvis Presley and Mother Theresa are two examples. Are there any others that you see today that are heading down that road?

[TE]  Brittany Spears and Buffy are two examples that come to mind.

[PNN] Do you have any other projects on the horizon?

[TE]  I'm currently finishing up Space/Time Magic and I've also started working on my fourth book, which is called Inner Alchmey and deals with how to work with the physiology of your body.

[PNN] The following are standard questions we ask every author 

[TE]

[PNN] What would you say has been your greatest achievement to date?

[TE]  My greatest achievement to date has been writing a book each year while pursuing my Ph.d No easy task that, but I've been able to manage it so far.

[PNN] If you could go back in your life and change one thing, what would it be?

[TE]  Actually I'd change nothing. I wouldn't be where I am now, if I did and I love where my life is going.

[PNN] How would you want to be remembered?

[TE]  As a writer who changed how people thought of magic and someone dedicated to helping the pagan community grow.

[PNN] Do you have a favorite group/musician?

[TE]  Coil is one of my favorites. It's an industrial group from England.

[PNN] Do you have a favorite bumper sticker?

[TE]  One I came up with, which says  Couldn't We all Use a Little Magick!

[PNN] If you drew a picture to represent your mind, body and spirit, what would you draw? 

[TE]  I'd draw a picture of a being with every cell in his body being a chakra, with multiple strands of energy running the length of his body, and eyes that glowed every color you could think of, surrounded by a zero, representing all possible potential, awaiting a direction.