Welcome, wyrdo.

I’m Scout. I’m a ritual practitioner, songwriter, sound-maker, and independent scholar. I’ve been on the wyrd path on and off for about ten years now. Despite routinely trying to resist the terrifying magnetism of magic, I am still here, with sparkles of it dripping from my hands.

About half-way through the pandemic, I heeded the call to write myself out of the instability and uncertainty that plagued my life. What started as public catharsis on Facebook quickly became a platform on which I share the medicine of my heart.

Why “The Oscillator’s Stone?”

You may or may not be familiar with the term “metamodernism.” Though the meaning of the term is disputed, I tend toward the understanding popularised by Timotheus Vermeulen, Robin van den Akker, and Allison Giddens. The contemporary sensibility, according to these three academics, is characteristed by an oscillation between modern and postmodern affects:

Indeed, by oscillating to and fro or back and forth, the metamodern negotiates between the modern and the postmodern. One should be careful not to think of this oscillation as a balance however; rather, it is a pendulum swinging between 2, 3, 5, 10, innumerable poles. Each time the metamodern enthusiasm swings toward fanaticism, gravity pulls it back toward irony; the moment its irony sways toward apathy, gravity pulls it back toward enthusiasm. Both the metamodern epistemology (as if) and its ontology (between) should thus be conceived of as a ‘‘both-neither’’ dynamic. They are each at once modern and postmodern and neither of them.

This “both-neither” dynamic of oscillation feels particularly pertinent to me, as an informal scholar of the Western Alchemical Traditions. The reconciliation of opposites and inhabiting of paradox intrinsic to esoteric practise very much reminded me of the constant pendulum swinging of metamodern oscillation. Though the thread between metamodern oscillation and esoteric oscillation is relatively vague, my initial desire to explore it led me to name this publication The Oscillator’s Stone, as a play on the Philosopher’s Stone—the symbol of perfection and wholeness that comes from enacting the Great Work.

What to expect

Here you will find personal stories, philosophical musings, cultural commentary, and reflections on how to weave the mythic and magical aspects of human life back into the everyday human world. I will also share information about courses, workshops, and talks that I will be giving on the topics of ritual practise and mythopoesis.

How to support

The free tier of subscription will give you access to all weekly newsletter articles. Bear in mind that occasionally, I will take a break of one or two weeks, as I am often travelling or communing with nature and need space from the cyberworld. You can expect at least three articles per month.

Paid subscribers have access to podcast episodes (I am currently on hiatus, but they are usually published once a month or once every two months), as well as a 25% discount on all courses and free access to all workshops.

Founding members will receive an enchanted object that is exactly perfect for them.

You can sign up here.

Thank you for visiting, and may the magic never leave you.

Byw yn hudol,

Scout Rainer Wiley

they/them

Writer & Podcaster for The Oscillator’s Stone