Aspiring to adoxography

Xanthe Tynehorne, Esq. is the steward of the ancient forest known as Satyrwood. Xanthe is also steward of one of my favourite websites on the whole wide internet: satyrs.eu

It was from Xanthe that I discovered the word adoxography, a noun that refers to “brilliant writing on a trivial subject.” But actually, this definition barely scratches the surface—there’s a whole wikipedia page dedicated to adoxography. In Praise of Folly is a great work of adoxography.

I now aspire to adoxography

I’m not there yet—not by a long shot (the writing needs to be brilliant, elegant and refined)—but it’s a direction I aspire to.

In addition to adoxography, Xanthe has collated a compendium of curious words, which contains other delights such as callipygean, hesternal, quisling, and zenzizenzizenzic.

I have, for quite some years now, intended to cultivate my own glossary-garden of words. Xanthe’s work has been an inspiration. As has Bill Plotkin’s Glossary to the Language of Soul Canyon.

Well, as of today, it has finally begun.

I now have a glossary

At the time of writing, it contains just one word—allusion.

Allusion is a very important component in much of my magic. Particularly when complex and thorny issues cannot be tackled directly. Or when cognitive defences are too strong for wisdoms to be delivered with straightspeak.

I’m intending to treat this glossary as a bit of a compendium of my own. Not just of curious words—although I very much do love these. But primarily of the potent words I use, with some frequency, in my work as I quest amidst and betwixt.

Here’s a bit of a shortlist. If I honour one word a day, it will take me at least a year. And let’s not forget: “Curiosity is antifragile, like an addiction, and is magnified by attempts to satisfy it...” (so spake Nassim Taleb). I have absolutely no doubt that these words will beget yet more words, and so forth. But such is the lot (and delight) of any wizard.

abjuration • abstraction • accelerate • accretion • accumulate • accuracy • acuity • activating • active • adapt • adept • adolescence • adulthood • æther • affect • affinity • affordances • agenda • agent • alacrity • alchemy • alignment • allocution • alltogether • allusion • alts • ambiguity • ambivalence • amorality • amorphous • amphibious • amplify • anchoring • ancient • animate, animacy • answer • antidote • antifragile • antimemetic, antimeme • antipodean • aphorism • apophenia • appropriate • aptitude • aptness • arcane • archetype • architect • artful • artificial • artists • aspiration • atrophy • attenuate • attunement • authentic • avarice • avatar • awe • awareness • axiomatic • asymptotic • bafflement • bardic • beacon • beauty • becoming • being • belief • beholding • bemused, bemusing • betwixt • bioregionalism • black mana • blessing • blue mana • both/and • boundaries • breath • breathing • bricolage • burnout • bypassing • cantrip • cerebral • chance • channelling • chaos • chaotic • character, non-player • character, player • charging • choice • clairaudience • clairvoyance • clear • cleansing • clearing • clever • co-creation • cognitive • coherence • coincidence • collude • commons • compensation • complex • complicated • component (spell) • confused • conjuration • congruence • conjure • constellation • conspire • correspondence • council • craft • crossroads • cthulonic • cultural creatives • cups (tarot) • curse of efficiency • cycling • dark forest • dark triad • death • decentralisation • delusion of progress • determinism • dharma • discernment • disenchantment • disillusion • dissociation • dissolve • divination • divine • doorway, see: threshold • druidic • dyad • ease • ecology • ecosystem • edge • edges • effect • efficacy • efficiency • effort • effervescence • egregore • elude • embeckoning • embodiment • emergence, emergent • emergent properties • emergency • emptiness • enact • enchant • enchantment • encouragement • entangle, entangled, entanglement • entertain • entities • enthusiasm • entrance • epiphany • epistemological humility • essence (fourth way) • essentialism • evocation, evoke • evergreen • experience • fable • fallacy • feedback loops • fellowship • field • finite game • finite player • flex • flow • fluid • fool • fox • fragile • fragmentation • frame • friendship • future • futurism • game • gameful • gateway • gesture • gestalt • gift • glammourie • glyphs • gnosis • goodness • grammarie • green mana • grift • grim • grimoire • grounding • guardians • gurdjieff • happenstance • happiness, happy • hardness • harmony, harmonics • hatred, hateful, hate • heart • hecate • hermes • hermetic, hermeticism • holding • holonic • hollowing • homeo-dynamics • honesty • horizontal • humour • hyperstition • iconoclast • ideas • illusion • imaginal • imposter-as-infiltrator • improvisation • inclusion • indigenous • infinite game • infinite player • inflection • information • initiation • inkling • insight • insight-cascade • inspiration • instinct • integration • integrity • intelligence (arcane) • intelligence (artificial) • intelligence (authentic) • intimacy • introspection • intuition (non-conceptual knowing) • inversions • invitation • invocation, invoke • irony • jester • juxtaposition • ken • kindness • kinship • kith • knack • knowledge • kraken of doom • language • levelling • levity • life • Life • lilt • liminal • long-form • loquacious • machine-mode • mage • magic • mammon • mana • mars • masks • meaning, meaningful, meaningness • meaningful progress • mercurial • mercury (see hermes) • metabolizing • metacrisis • metamodern • metamorphosis • metis • metric obsession • mindset • mind • mirroring • money • mordor economy • more-than-human • morphic field • morphogenesis • motivation • movement • multipolar traps • muse • myth • mythical • mythic-mode • mythopoeia • mystery • mystical • møłøcħ • names, naming • narrow-goals • narrative • nebulosity • necromancy • neologism • niche • noösphere • nothing • not-doing • noticing • noting • nuance • obliquity • openness • optionality • ordeal • ownership • paradigmatic • para-rational • paradox • penumbra • pentacles (tarot) • perambulate • perception • peripheral • perplex • persona • perspicacity • perspective • perspectival • phase transition • pilgrimage • play • poets • posture • power • power laws • presence • presentation • procrastination • progress • projection • propaganda • protection • provocation • questions • quest • quickening • quiver of options • raven • reciprocity • red mana • regeneration • relevance • relationality • resonance • respect • reverence • reverie • rhythm • ripening • ritual • rogue • rogues • role • savvy • seasons • sensing • shapeshifting • sigil • sleeper agents • smuggling • sociopathy • solipsistic • sorcerer • soul • sovereignty • spell • grimoire • spellbreaking • spellcasting • spiraling • splitting • stance • status • stewardship • story • straightspeak • subversion • subtleness • suppleness • surreptitious • swords (tarot) • synchronicity • talent • tending • tenderness • the great simplification • thaumaturgy • thresholds • timeliness • timing • tracking • trance • transition • transmutation • trickster • underworld • unbecoming • understanding • universe • verve • vex • vigil • vim • vocation • wands (tarot) • warlock • warmening • weaving • whim • white mana • wide-goals • wiles • will o' the wisp • wisdom • wit • witch • witnessing • wizard • wyrd • zephyrous