Owen Barfield's "Night Operation"

"Dance like no one is understanding your bizarre esoteric philosophy."

Find this and other fitness tips on this episode, when we finally get into Owen Barfield.

In this episode, I talk with Charlie Carter from the Thinklings podcast about Owen Barfield's ideas and the way they play out in the first part of Barfield's dystopian novella, "Night Operation."  

Apologies to Gina Dalfonzo for temporarily forgetting her last name!  Here's her book, Dorothy and Jack.

Learn more about Barfield here: www.owenbarfield.org

We'll conclude the conversation next week!

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May 30, 2025: Owen A. Barfield (grandson of Owen Barfield) was kind enough to listen to this episode, and sent along the following corrections:

- OB referred to himself as the "First and Last Inkling" ... particularly as he was the first and last to be published. And he knew he was behind the Inkling impulse.

- OB was not a vegetarian.

- It was Maud (grandmother) who was concerned about children being trapped in wardrobes.

Maud was a good friend to CSL and is much overlooked.

See:  https://www.owenbarfield.org/the-inklings/the-inkling-impulse/

- Lucy Barfield (OB's daughter) was CSL's God-daughter; as her God-father he wrote LW&Wfor her first.

See: https://www.owenbarfield.org/research/lucy-barfield-and-narnia/

- OB was a poet, author, playwriter, lawyer etc., but also had a career as a Professor in North America. This is much overlooked.

See: https://www.owenbarfield.org/research/recordings/

- OB's theory of 'Ancient Semantic Unity' is what so much influenced CSL & Tolkien and changed their worldview etc.

- The importance of naming for OB, as noted and also in 'The Silver Trumpet'.

- OB was the Philosopher of the Inklings.

- OB is the first to use the phrase 'Evolution of Consciousness' in publication. [He also uses the term co-inherence about a decade before CW.]