“Next Stop, Universe B”

The Negatively Existent Ones and Universe B in Contemporary Occulture

Howard, Jeff ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9077-1025 (2025) “Next Stop, Universe B”. In: Berlin Occulture 2025, October 23-26, Berlin.

Preview	Text (The slides for my Berlin Occulture conference presentation in October 2025) Next Stop, Universe Bv13HowardBerlinOcculture.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives. Download (5MB) | Preview
	Text (The paper accompanying my slides for the 2025 Berlin Occulture conference. I used this paper as the script for my talk, from which I read while I illustrated points with my slides.) UniverseBPaperv13.docx - Published Version Download (66kB)

Abstract / Summary

From the Upside Down to the Black Lodge, the concept of a Universe B and its denizens—a mirror world comprised of anti-matter and doppelgangers—haunts popular culture. Similarly, an eerie phrase echoes throughout the work of occultist Kenneth Grant and syncretic sorcerer Andrew Chumbley: the “negatively existent ones.” For both Grant and Chumbley, the negatively existent ones dwell in Universe B: an anti-universe influenced by the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and mapped, in part, by Michael Bertiaux. Building on the work of Grant, Bertiaux, and Chumbley (as well as the “phenomenology of transmission” of Ian C. Edwards in his five-volume Being and Non-Being in Occult Experience), Howard will explore Universe B both theoretically and practically. Howard will argue that the dream magic of Universe B is a close analogue to (and perhaps identical with) the magic associated with play. By seeking the moments of slippage in which one universe seeps into another, occultists can access universe B without being pulled into a black hole of ritual gravitas. Play, dream magic, and palindromic mirror-writing give access to Universe B and help to darkly illuminate its place on the other side of contemporary occulture.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	occulture, occult, universe b, magic, esotericism, kenneth grant, andrew chumbley, michael bertiaux, negatively existent
Subjects:	Computing & Data Science > Game Design Philosophy & Psychology
Department:	Games Academy
Depositing User:	Jeff Howard
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2025 15:11
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2025 15:11
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6244

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