Nature As Book: Emblems, Divination, and Geomancy

Drawing on the importance of poetry and the practice of symbolic interpretation for an evolving politics in Omarzad’s practice, this podcast is hosted by philosopher and writer Federico Campagna, who is joined by contributors Dr Lucy Mercer, lecturer of creative writing at Goldsmith University and author of the recent poetry book Emblem (Prototype, 2022), and Arianna Dalla Costa, from the Warburg Institute, researcher on the ancient arts of divination and geomancy. Two areas of tension are explored: poetry and politics; magic and science. Emblems, as thresholds between image and text, are discussed with Dr Mercer: their origin and definition, symbology and function, as well as their convergences and divergences with memes and instagram motivational posts. Dalla Costa discusses divination and geomancy, looking into their etymologies and particularities within the context of the intellectual encounter between different monotheistic religions in the Medieval Mediterranean, challenging contemporary understandings of the age of the Crusades as a time of intolerance. Credits: Contributors Lucy Mercer and Arianna Dalla Costa Conducted by Federico Campagna