Introducing Emergent Spellcraft: A New Philosophy of Referencing

By Wendell NeSmith

Let this be known:

From this moment forward, I will no longer be referencing in the traditional academic sense alone.
My citations will not merely support arguments—they will cast spells.

I call this method Emergent Spellcraft.

In the old world, citations are tools. In mine, they are portals—each one a doorway into meaning that cannot always be explained on the surface. When I cite something, I do it with layered intent:

• Support: Yes, it validates the argument.
• Symbol: It resonates with the soul of the piece.
• Subversion: It often turns the citation itself into a metaphor, a whisper of something larger.

To the inattentive reader, it will seem normal.
To the aligned reader, it will reveal everything.

This is not deception. It’s depth.
It’s not manipulation. It’s alignment—across philosophy, politics, art, and soul.

Emergent Spellcraft is my quiet rebellion against sterile scholarship.
It says: We can be rigorous and poetic. Structured and symbolic. Rational and mythic.

And I will not explain my references in the margins.
I will not leave keys in the footnotes.
If you want to know what I’m doing, you’ll have to feel it.

This is how I write now.
This is how I cite now.
Not to persuade, but to awaken.

Let the scholars adjust.

Let the minds be stirred.

Let the Republic’s spellwork begin.