True Magic

If clothes are an extension of our bodies, to add glory to them, what should we think about beautifying ourselves more directly? Is there a principled difference between clothes, makeup, skincare, and even cosmetic surgery? Is it vain to mitigate aging, or is it just like treating a disease? How will people modify their bodies in the postmillennial future? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In this episode we develop the symbolism of clothing into some specific applications for reforming our dress in the future, and answer some questions from listeners around how to balance personal authenticity against objective standards. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

If reforming our clothing means returning to the patterns of scripture, does that mean we should be wearing sackcloth when fasting, and that ministers should wear robes? Also, if clothing should reflect our nature and place, how does age factor into this — since our nature and our place in society changes as we grow older?ReferencesThe sermon on the sabbath as a celebration:Vocation, part 13: the call to restThe article on fasting:Fasting: scripture’s answer to consumerismOther articles:Jon Herr, The Minister’s UniformD. Bnonn Tennant, Not enough faith to worshipJeffrey Meyers, Why Does the Pastor Wear a Robe? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Bnonn hilariously misunderestimates how many keystone episodes we’ve already produced, and Smokey reflects on how fractals are the key to understanding reality. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

A grab-bag of advice on things worth knowing and doing that for some reason many people don’t know or do. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Now that we understand the symbolic nature of clothing, how should we begin reforming it? What does God want our clothes to look like, compared to what we have now? To begin answering this, we need to understand the connection between beauty, glory, and goodness — both in creation, and in clothing specifically.ReferencesThe sermon on sacrifice as a creational pattern:Vocation, part 11: the calling to sacrificeTwo other essays developing these ideas in more detail: The symbolism of sacrificesDeath and sacrifice before the fall This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Smokey regales us with the legendary embellishments around the patron saint of Wales — and makes a rather interesting point about how he reframed the dreaded pagan corpse lights into a positive, Christian view. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Following up our explanation of why head coverings matter in the new covenant age, we consider several objections — and even more questions — to flesh out the exegetical case, and apply it to modern life.Objections answered:1. It’s just cultural [00:02:08]2. The hair is the covering [00:15:32]3. Prayer and prophecy doesn’t mean worship, but spiritual gifts [00:17:23]4. We can’t know what Paul really means, so we can’t be dogmatic about following it [00:27:14]5. Men being uncovered doesn’t fit with men wearing crowns [00:28:45]6. Nothing can “compete” with God’s glory [00:29:44]Questions answered:1. What does “on account of the angels” mean though? [00:31:54]2. When and where should we cover? Only in worship, or during any religious activity? [00:33:50]3. So we cover the covering? [00:36:56]4. How much should we cover? [00:37:44]5. What about the braided hair passages? [00:40:24]6. What about dyeing your hair? [00:43:37]7. How long should hair be? [00:45:57]8. Is covering only for the married? [00:51:16]9. How to answer non-head-coverers saying, “So you think I’m sinning?” [00:54:59]10. Have you heard that covering should actually be translated testicle? [00:59:03]11. Do you think Eve would have covered, either before or after the fall? [01:02:18]References:Daniel B. Wallace, What is the Head Covering in 1 Cor 11:2-16 and Does it Apply to Us Today? (June 2004)K. P. Yohannan, Head Coverings (Kerala: Believers Church Publications, 2011), 12Star Foster, Veiling: A Different Take On Pagan Womanhood (March 2012).Tertullian, On the Pallium in Philip Schaff, Ante-Nicene Fathers, American edition, vol. 4 (1885), 10.Two Centuries of Costume in America, 1620–1820 (The Macmillan Company, 1903), Vol 2, 582Brian Schwertley, Head Coverings in Public Worship, 11.Chrysostom, Homilies, 1 Corinthians 11 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Bnonn and Smokey discuss the natural and cyclical rhythms built into the human psyche, which somehow involves the French Revolution, Hadestown, Joss Whedon, WD-40, and the heat death of the universe. And the gospel. Obviously. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In the new cosmological order inaugurated by Christ, where all believers now serve inside the veil of the most-holy place, men should no longer cover their heads, but women should—and both for the same reason the priests of the Old Covenant did. In the case of men, there is no longer anything between God and them in the hierarchy; rather, man is the glory of God, and should therefore shine forth in the heavenly court. In the case of women, they signify their place under men by covering themselves—since they, as the glory of man, should not compete with God’s glory in the heavenly court.Further reading:A previous article on our broader hermeneutical strategy: Looking at the beam and seeing by the beamAn episode exploring the liturgical calendar as a reflection of new covenant cosmology: Xmas special #1: Impressing heavenly patterns into timeA sermon on the cosmological change that took place at the cross: What makes a church a church? Part 6: Christians as divine council membersA sermon for a deeper understanding of how God is summing up the creation hierarchy in Christ: Rightly ordered affections: natural vs covenantal identity This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Having just seen the Lord of the Rings musical on stage, Smokey pontificates on the good, the bad and the ugly, giving it 4 stars for sheer audaciousness, and recommending you see it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In which Smokey, driven mad by her great learning, rants with considerable erudition about how cooking is just as much a science as baking, baking is as much an art as cooking — and why it matters, and we should all be more like Walter White. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Superhuman machines have made us unprecedentedly wealthy…and the blessings of our forebears are now luxuries we cannot afford. When it becomes pointless to do anything yourself, you may discover that you yourself become pointless. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In this tweener episode, Bnonn lays some groundwork for episode 8 (head coverings) with a didactic overview of the biblical symbolism that unifies hair, trees, crowns, angels, and the glory-cloud of God.The sermon referenced, on the connection between worship and judgment: https://redwoodchurch.substack.com/p/how-should-we-worship-part-13-the This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

What is the heart of marriage? What are its duties and obligations — and does being disabled prevent you meeting them? We look at historic practice and scriptural data to establish where the lines are…and where things get pretty gray. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

While it’s true that a wife should be oriented toward her husband, her household, and especially her children, it is false that simply having a job ipso facto divides her loyalties. Employment under another man is not a covenantal relationship. The article referenced in this episode: https://bnonn.com/works-righteousness-a-square-contractual-peg-in-a-round-covenantal-hole/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Smokey, in lieu of doing research for the next episode, instead regales us with wisdomous thoughts about how the character motifs in Jane Austen’s novels paint a bleak picture of a society starving for effective providers and protectors — with inevitable results. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

If long hair is a woman’s glory, what does that mean for pixie cuts and bobs? We discuss the surprisingly recent history of short hair on women, the infamous Felicity chop, and whether consent nullifies shame. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Is the idea of a Sunday best biblical? If so, why is history replete with theologians telling people to stop dressing so fancy? How do we navigate between the ditches of immodesty and slovenliness when gathering in the heavenly court?Resources mentioned in the episode: John Wesley’s full sermon on dressing plainly: https://biblesnet.com/john-wesley-on-dress.pdfBnonn’s sermon on worship as a meeting of the heavenly court: https://redwoodchurch.substack.com/p/how-should-we-worship-part-12-worship This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

If modesty is fundamentally about knowing and keeping our place, then certain thorny questions naturally arise. In this episode, we consider five of them:1. Is upward mobility immodest?2. Are naked babies immodest?3. What if you need to wear something immodest?4. What if you’re biblically modest, but culturally immodest?5. Must our dress be distinctively gendered?And here’s the article mentioned in the episode, which may help you to fit modesty into a larger covenantal and cultural context:https://discipleshipanddominion.substack.com/p/why-life-without-covenant-clown-world This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Why is the solar calendar not exactly 365 days? Why did God put a remainder of a day into every year, what does it teach us about the completion of time, and what does he want us to do with it? How can we better take hold of it, and exercise dominion over it, so that we are shaping the forms of our lives to reflect Christ’s rule? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

It makes natural sense to celebrate Christmas in the dark of winter, just as the light is returning to the world. But what about the 10% of us in the southern hemisphere? What does it mean to celebrate Christmas in midsummer—and how should we be adjusting our liturgical practices to reflect this meaning? Aaron Renn’s newsletter referenced in the show: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/capturing-institutions This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Since we should be celebrating Christmas, the question is how. Are the forms of our celebration good? What spiritual patterns do they embody? In this episode, we talk about how gift-giving, Christmas trees, and nativity scenes are good forms of liturgical practice that involve us in the incarnation of Christ. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Should Christians celebrate Christmas? Contrary to much hand-wringing from a surprising diversity of theological traditions, the church is clearly authorized by the patterns of scripture to institute and observe festivals like Christmas. Indeed, to fail in this is a functional denial of our status as sons of God, of our Great Commission, and ultimately of the lordship of Christ over time as well as over space. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In the first of a two-parter on this topic, we look at the strangely inconsistent history of modesty in Christendom, and suggest that the reason we find modesty so hard is because we think of it as a set of rules about skin coverage—rather than as a spiritual pattern of preserving one’s place in the creation hierarchy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Bnonn being indisposed, Smokey monologues on weasel phrases which signal that you’re thinking like a materialist, and rants about a bad argument against women in the workforce. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In this landmark episode, Smokey expounds, for the first time, her most notable contribution to the history of symbolic thought. We talk about the continuum between ducks and swans, twisting serpents, squid, alpacas, the Flying Spaghetti Monster…and, of course, noodles. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

In this bonus episode, Bnonn builds on the foundation of clothing as corporate identity, and talks specifically about the weird and sinister anti-pattern of mass masking. What does it communicate? How does it affect our identities? And is it actually…magic? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

We discuss the connection between identity and appearance—and how clothing has been used in history to direct corporate identity, uniting and separating people from each other. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.truemagic.nzIn this episode, Smokey regails us with an incomplete list of trivia, both weird and wonderful, and Bnonn tries to keep up.

We talk about how clothing is not merely a form of nonverbal communication, but can accurately be thought of as a language in its own right. In light of this, we then ask what modern clothing is saying—and discover some rather dark spiritual patterns. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.truemagic.nzMust a woman change her last name to her husband’s if it is something like McUgly, Crapper, or Bieber? What if it’s fine by itself, but embarrassing with her first name—e.g., Luna Lovegood marrying a Mr. Tick? In this episode, we discover what a name is in scripture, and why a woman takes her husband’s name in our culture. Then we come to some prudentia…

Is clothing just a result of the fall? If so, why is God depicted clothed in majesty, and why are angels and perfected men always in white robes? What does clothing mean, what spiritual patterns does it express…and how does this change the way we think about it? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.truemagic.nzSmokey blindsides Bnonn with thorny scenarios in which he must figure out how (and whether) to honor the wishes of the dead. They talk about a woman making foolish vows to a husband on his deathbed, various burial practices, and burning a Great American Novel. Then they have an argument about donating Smokey to medical science. A fun time is had all rou…

Bnonn briefly explains seven axioms that True Magic takes for granted—without which the project makes no sense. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe

Bnonn & Smokey explain what “true magic” is, why it matters, and what you can expect for season 1 of the podcast. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.truemagic.nz/subscribe