Who are you?
I am nobody. I know a lot about nothing and I know a little about everything. I have no credentials or authority and no one cares what I have to say. As a result I am beholden to no man or institution, I am under no obligation to uphold any expectations of convention or decorum, and I am not afraid to broach the grandiose and the absurd. You will find no discussion of pop culture or current events here; in fact, if you spend enough time with me, you may forget exactly where and in what era you are meant to be living.
What is this?
Orbis Tertius is a periodical of eclectic esoterica, including essays on topics like mindfulness, literature, consciousness, and philosophy, as well as original fiction and discussion. Subscribe to join, and receive Orbis Tertius in your email, or check out some notable posts from the Archives at the bottom of this page.
Why “Orbis Tertius”?
It comes from a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. In the story, Orbis Tertius is the name of a secret society of intellectuals working with magic, writing, wisdom literature, and philanthropy.
The organization’s main project is the meticulous fabrication of a fictional planet called Tlön, which unfolds over the course of many generations. The reality of Tlön is one of subjective idealism; as a result, objects can be teleported or cloned by merely imagining them. At the end of the story, objects from the fabricated world of Tlön start appearing in the real world. This blog is sort of like an object from the world of the story that has appeared in our real world.
Notable posts from The Archives
