​Dear Reader,

 

In Athens there grew up a tradition around the Temple of Athena, where lectors brought their students to instruct them and to lead discussions, where poets and actors came to rehearse their works. The ‘Atheniaon,’ or place of Athena, became synonymous with higher learning. Emperor Hadrian acknowledged that ancient tradition, in naming his famous library in Rome the Athenaeum. The spirit of those places was further survived by a popular trend of Victorian-era literary clubs, which were enabled and made vogue by the printing press. 
   

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, independent avant-garde literary publications remained the most effective way to distribute rigorous works outside of the realm of academic bureaucracy. Little has changed with modern pedagogues. In our experience, careful and thorough analysis of esoteric subjects tends to require a certain broadness of scope, which, cuts against the specializing disposition of the academic industry. Study of the qualitative philosophies of the ancients can hardly be undertaken by scrutinizing a data-set. Where, then, is the lonely scholar to be found?

 

Today, the dissemination of information has been rapidly consolidated to only a handful of corporate, proprietary platforms. Independent work must adhere to whatever form is—either by design, or by circumstance—most economical for those platforms to host, and to distribute. Fulmen’s seasonal issues are offered as a polemic against the centralized, corporatized, and algorithmically-bounded ecosystem of thought. This publication represents the editors’ effort to keep the spirit of the Athenaion alive; to provide the solitary creative a place to compose, and to rehearse his works.

 

Fulmen is a periodical journal devoted to the independent study of the following tapestry of related subjects: Western esotericism, ancient architecture, ancient philosophy, the history of warfare, and on occasion, Tolkien scholarship. Much of Fulmen comprises the original works of its two editors, together with peculiar works of historic authorship. We are delighted as well to publish writing from guest authors when the opportunity arises. We prefer to entertain scholarly oddities which, although rigorous in the quality of their research, are otherwise considered hardly publishable by academic institutions for one reason or another. Fulmen is issued online four times seasonally; on the equinoxes and the solstices. Our entire catalog is, and always will be, available to read digitally on our website—at no cost.   

 

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With gratitude then, and with all that said, we’ll begin. 

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Considerately,
The Editors

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​Youtube: @FulmenQuarterly

Email: Fulmenquarterly@gmail.com

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Alexander J. Ford (b. 1990) is an American author, architectural designer, and illustrator. He earned his Master’s in Architectural History from Columbia University in New York, 2016. He earned his Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Arizona in Tucson, 2014.

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Jack R. Parnell (b. 1991) is an American author, architectural designer, and weapons instructor. He earned his Master’s in Architecture from the University of Colorado in Denver, 2016. He earned his Bachelor’s in Philosophy from the University of Arizona in Tucson, 2013.

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Writing and design-works by Ford and Parnell have been published by Prav Publishing, the Princeton Architectural Press, the Culicidae Architectural Press, and numerous scholarly journals. Their drawings, both together and independently, have been awarded and exhibited across the United States.

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Books by Ford and Parnell:

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​A Slow Death

or, the Silence of the Old World

Prav Publishing, 2024

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