About Me

I study underworlds, but I’m not a scientist. Instead, I think about underworlds that are mythical, and mystical, as well as material.

I’m a writer and scholar with a PhD in theology. There are a lot of ways to define or describe “theology”, but the way I tend to gloss it is “theories about divine things.” You might, or might not, know that in the middle ages theology was considered a science! In fact, it was dubbed the “queen of the sciences”. At the time, creating theoretical ideas about the divine was considered a highly specialized and scientific enterprise. Science has moved on, I think it goes without saying. And in popular culture, most people tend to think of theology (and religion) as a forcefield that’s at war with science. But the old relationship between science, religion, theology, and spirituality is far messier and more complex than most people tend to realize. I’ve always been interested in the spaces where these things mix, and blend, and become confounding. Rather than simplistic arguments that force us to choose sides (either religion or science), I believe we deserve forms of thinking that are as complex, ambiguous, mysterious, and uncertain as we are.

I come at my work from an irreverent standpoint, which means that I don’t identify with, or defend, a particular religious viewpoint. But I also recognize that as an American, religious traditions (especially Christianity) are at work in our cultures, our politics, and our bodies in subterranean ways. They are relics of a deep past that have been buried in habit and convention. They’ve become part of a social and cultural underworld, you might say. And this underworld is at work in the biggest stories we tell about ourselves, our bodies, our sexuality, our relationships, our dreams, and the worlds we live in: our biomythologies.

My writing marks the struggle to see, understand, and critique the impact that religious ideas can have, while also struggling to appreciate their poetry and imagination. My first book Sister Death: Political Theologies for Living and Dying is a reflection on how a dominant strain of Christian political theology has convinced many that life and death are enemies. Against this view, I adapt the figure of Sister Death from Francis of Assisi to suggest that life and death might, instead, be more like family. I am currently working on my second book, on underworlds.

About This Newsletter

This is a space where I want to start a conversation, with myself and with you. I want to practice writing differently, and thinking differently, outside the formal spaces of publication that I’ve grown accustomed to writing for. For the time being, I plan to post a short weekly essay on topics related to my current research (and, from time to time, my tarot card deck). I don’t intend to charge for subscriptions at this point, as I am here primarily to build community. But you are always welcome to contribute to my writing and research, if you should ever feel moved to do so!

Why Subscribe?

Maybe you are, like me, a bit disillusioned by or cynical about religion, but still find yourself drawn to certain ideas, figures, or spiritual problems that seem to throw you back up against it again, anyhow.

Or maybe you, like me, are compelled to think about things that emerge out of that unsettling nexus where beauty and horror collide (and sometimes collude). Maybe you resent the way that capitalism serves up beauty in an airbrushed and shrink-wrapped package, and you know there’s much more there below the surface but you’re not sure what.

Or maybe you, like me, are just trying to figure out how to tell new stories about this body and this world that you live in. You want new biomythologies.

Whatever the case may be, I invite you to join me for this unfolding conversation about the unsettling and inspiring things that we find buried in these underworlds. I want this to be a journey, and I want you to travel with me. Please post comments, and send me messages. Let me know what resonates with you, what you want to see more of, and what you’d love to see me writing about.