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The concept of aisthēsis—the “aesthetic” reconceived as ecstatic, transformative existence—is a mode of participatory existence that becomes a crucial part of a humanistic ecology, or “eco-ontology.” Because aisthēsis allows intelligence to have access into the meaning of the world, a deep aesthetics is a promising way towards an ecological reconstruction of philosophy. This chapter contrasts aisthēsis with those concepts more familiar to readers of Western “aesthetics,” using in particular the figures of the Trickster and Shaman in place of the traditional topics encountered in aesthetics like “imagination,” “art,” “work of art,” “artist,” and “creativity.” It discusses aesthetics in relation to shamanism, Mark Johnson’s concept of embodied imagination, how the body may be the vehicle of an ecstatic (and comic) aesthetics of mytho-poetic existence, the Vita Humana and the Human Eros, and the importance of “Mythos” in our understanding of self and world.

According to John Dewey, the aim of philosophy should be to address the meaning of culture and not “inquiry” or “truth.” Following Dewey’s advice, this chapter examines elements of a philosophy of civilization. It offers a general philosophy of culture and civilization and looks at culture in terms of the idea of “spiritual ecology” that sustains the basic need for meaning known as the Human Eros. The objective is to expand the critical horizon beyond pragmatism to humanism, beyond science to culture. The chapter outlines a philosophy of culture drawing on Dewey, Josiah Royce, Charles S. Peirce, and George H. Mead. It also considers “Mythos” and other terms for philosophical anthropology, tropic symbols, teleology, and imagination.

This central chapter examines the importance of H.P. Lovecraft in how realized worlds are conceptualized in Dread Trident, especially within the context of TRPGs. It sees in Lovecraft, not just a writer of Weird fiction, but a writer of cosmic fiction who also, inadvertently, helped create a mythos. This ‘Cthulhu’ Mythos acts as a supreme example of how a realized world works because of how it incorporates a broad canvas of elements from a variety of individuals. Also, Lovecraft’s poetics of creating a sense of dread with Weird writing hints how he often sidesteps rather than directly draws the ultimate horror. Yet, his later writing embraced a materialistic categorizing of scientific and biological forms. This chapter looks through Lovecraftian scholarship, as well as a few of his own pieces of fiction, as well as the TRPG The Call of Cthulhu, for examples of how his mythos works and examples of his granular style.

A legend complex consists of narratives, practices, and experiences that build upon and reinforce one another to encourage legend-tripping performances. Legend-trippers interpret any number of events by drawing upon stories and legends. Similar to legends, occult texts guide or even goad readers to use supernatural or magical frameworks to make sense of their contents. Occult texts, philosophies, and practitioners often warn about the dangers inherent in occultism. This chapter examines how legend complexes function as persuasive narrative worlds by investigating the operations of occult texts. It looks at the Cthulhu Mythos, a complex fictional world created by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), and discusses how supernatural experiences can occur through legend-tripping performances. It also presents a series of memorates gathered from players of The Beast, an alternate reality game (ARG), and considers the link between zine culture and the supernatural.