James Merrill: Difference between revisions
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<blockquote class="definition">Known as the Ouija poet | <blockquote class="definition">'''James Merrill''' (1926–1995) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American poet best known for his epic channeled work ''The Changing Light at Sandover''. Merrill, along with his partner David Jackson, spent decades engaged in structured Ouija board sessions during which they claimed to receive messages, poetic verse, and metaphysical guidance from a variety of nonphysical entities. Known as the Ouija poet, he used the Ouija board to facilitate [[Intramonadic Communication]] (i.e., [[Channeling]]) and gain inspiration for his Pulitzer Prize winning esoteric/spiritual poetry.<ref>Poetry Foundation. “James Merrill.” Text/html. Poetry Foundation, June 18, 2022. Https://www.poetryfoundation.org/. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/james-merrill.</ref> <ref>Buckley, C.A. “Exploring ‘The Changing Light at Sandover’: An Interview with James Merrill.” Twentieth Century Literature 38, no. 4 (December 22, 1992): 415.</ref> <ref>White, Heather. “An Interview with James Merrill.” ''Ploughshares'' 21, no. 4 (December 22, 1995): 190.</ref> His [[Voices from the Other World]] (1950s) is his first poem where inspiration came from the channeling he and his wife did with a Ouija board. Other poems, based on Ouija channels with his partner David Jackson, include [[The Book of Ephraim]] (which appears in [[Divine Comedies]] and which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1977). This was followed by [[Mirabell: Books of Number]], and [[Scripts for the Pageant]] in 1980. All three appear in [[The Changing Light at Sandover]], 1982). </blockquote> | ||
==Works== | ==Works== | ||
{{#ask:[[Is a book by::James Merrill]]}} | {{#ask:[[Is a book by::James Merrill]]}} | ||
==Notes== | |||
Within the [[Avatar.GLOBAL]]<nowiki/>framework, Merrill is recognized as a '''proto-Mantic Poet'''—an early modern example of an individual producing spiritually transmitted verse via a sustained connection practice. Although lacking a clear ontological grounding and often filtered through elite cultural framings, Merrill's work represents a critical cultural precedent (he won a Pulitzer for his channeled work) for the recognition of '''connection-induced poetic production'''. His writings demonstrate that under certain conditions, the human being can serve as a receiver of transdimensional transmission, with poetry functioning as the medium of delivery. | |||
Merrill’s epic ''The Changing Light at Sandover'' (560 pages) integrates years of spiritual dialogues and is organized as a dramatic, often theological, exploration of spiritual cosmology and human evolution. The work includes spirit interlocutors such as deceased poets, mythological beings, and abstract intelligences, suggesting an implicit recognition of the [[Fabric of Consciousness]] and the presence of differentiated spiritual agencies. | |||
While Merrill himself did not operate within a decolonized or healing-oriented spiritual framework, and while his use of the Ouija board was framed within Western esotericism and literary modernism, his work still demonstrates the ontological '''possibility of mantic verse'''—i.e., the reception of poetic material from beyond the ordinary egoic mind. For this reason, he is acknowledged on the Lightning Path as an '''important epistemic precursor''' to the contemporary Mantic Poem movement. | |||
==Further Reading== | ==Further Reading== | ||
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[https://theeveningrednessinthewest.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/james-merrills-ouija-board-the-opening-of-the-book-of-ephraim/ James Merrill's Ouija Board: The Opening of the Book of Ephraim] | [https://theeveningrednessinthewest.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/james-merrills-ouija-board-the-opening-of-the-book-of-ephraim/ James Merrill's Ouija Board: The Opening of the Book of Ephraim] | ||
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Latest revision as of 13:05, 22 July 2025
James Merrill
James Merrill (1926–1995) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American poet best known for his epic channeled work The Changing Light at Sandover. Merrill, along with his partner David Jackson, spent decades engaged in structured Ouija board sessions during which they claimed to receive messages, poetic verse, and metaphysical guidance from a variety of nonphysical entities. Known as the Ouija poet, he used the Ouija board to facilitate Intramonadic Communication (i.e., Channeling) and gain inspiration for his Pulitzer Prize winning esoteric/spiritual poetry.[1] [2] [3] His Voices from the Other World (1950s) is his first poem where inspiration came from the channeling he and his wife did with a Ouija board. Other poems, based on Ouija channels with his partner David Jackson, include The Book of Ephraim (which appears in Divine Comedies and which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1977). This was followed by Mirabell: Books of Number, and Scripts for the Pageant in 1980. All three appear in The Changing Light at Sandover, 1982).
Works
Notes
Within the Avatar.GLOBALframework, Merrill is recognized as a proto-Mantic Poet—an early modern example of an individual producing spiritually transmitted verse via a sustained connection practice. Although lacking a clear ontological grounding and often filtered through elite cultural framings, Merrill's work represents a critical cultural precedent (he won a Pulitzer for his channeled work) for the recognition of connection-induced poetic production. His writings demonstrate that under certain conditions, the human being can serve as a receiver of transdimensional transmission, with poetry functioning as the medium of delivery.
Merrill’s epic The Changing Light at Sandover (560 pages) integrates years of spiritual dialogues and is organized as a dramatic, often theological, exploration of spiritual cosmology and human evolution. The work includes spirit interlocutors such as deceased poets, mythological beings, and abstract intelligences, suggesting an implicit recognition of the Fabric of Consciousness and the presence of differentiated spiritual agencies.
While Merrill himself did not operate within a decolonized or healing-oriented spiritual framework, and while his use of the Ouija board was framed within Western esotericism and literary modernism, his work still demonstrates the ontological possibility of mantic verse—i.e., the reception of poetic material from beyond the ordinary egoic mind. For this reason, he is acknowledged on the Lightning Path as an important epistemic precursor to the contemporary Mantic Poem movement.
Further Reading
The Changing Light of Sandover, Wikipedia entry
James Merrill's Ouija Board: The Opening of the Book of Ephraim
Citation and Legal
Treat the SpiritWiki as an open-access online monograph or structured textbook. You may freely use information in the SpiritWiki; however, attribution, citation, and/or direct linking are ethically required.
Footnotes
- ↑ Poetry Foundation. “James Merrill.” Text/html. Poetry Foundation, June 18, 2022. Https://www.poetryfoundation.org/. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/james-merrill.
- ↑ Buckley, C.A. “Exploring ‘The Changing Light at Sandover’: An Interview with James Merrill.” Twentieth Century Literature 38, no. 4 (December 22, 1992): 415.
- ↑ White, Heather. “An Interview with James Merrill.” Ploughshares 21, no. 4 (December 22, 1995): 190.