Hi—I’m Anne.

I completed my B.A., M.A., and PhD in Religious Studies at Rice University. My writing projects, research, and art practices are multimedia and interdisciplinary, but may be broadly characterized as at the crossroads of Contemplative Studies and Comparative Religion.  My poetry was first published by Wings Press as the chapbook Remembrance of Rain when I was eighteen. It has since appeared in other local periodicals.  As an undergrad, I received the Marion Barthelme prize for my short poetry cycle Watersong. My dissertation was titled, “The Radiance of Light: Comparing the Medieval Tibetan and Medieval Latin Biographies of Longchen Rabjam and Bernard of Clairvaux,” and completed under the direction of Dr. Claire Fanger and Dr. Anne Klein in May of 2021. I study medieval European and medieval and/or traditional Tibetan contemplative practice and literature through a Microphenomenological lens with reference to Weberian charisma. My primary research languages are Medieval Latin and Classical Tibetan, though I took several years of college level Italian (and spent two wonderful summers working and researching there). I have presented at the Association for the Study of Esotericism, Trans-states, and other academic and practitioner conferences. I read the Akashic Records in the manner transmitted to me by Nancy Kern for myself and others.  I write, paint, cook, collage, meditate, think, read, listen, talk, and cultivate my physical and etheric bodies. I love tea, flowers, and fashion. I am married to Michael Perkola, and we share our home with a large, sweet, very sleek, black cat. We all live together in the Texas Hill Country in a small, stone house not far from Stonewall, TX.

If you are interested, my CV appears below. Some of this information is repeated there, but I have included it for the sake of providing further context and completeness.

Curriculum Vitae
Anne O. Parker-Perkola

anneoparkerperkola.com, anneoparkerperkola@gmail.com

I am an Independent Scholar, poet, and martial artist working in the USA. I research the comparative history, phenomenology, categorization, and cultivation of contemplative states, systems, arts, and communities. I completed and successfully defended my dissertation, “The Radiance of Light: Comparing the Medieval Biographies of Longchen Rabjam and Bernard of Clairvaux,” in April of 2021 under the direction of Dr. Claire Fanger and Dr. Anne Klein. My methodological approach is inspired by microphenomenology, a joyful discipline of slow reading, contemplative reflection, and Weberian theories of charisma. My primary research languages are Medieval Latin and Classical Tibetan.

Degrees, all completed at Rice University in Houston, TX:

May 2021, PhD in Religion with specializations in Contemplative Studies and Comparative Religion
May 2017, MA in Religion
May 2013, BA in English, Medieval Studies, and Religion

Higher Education Teaching Experience at Rice University:

T.A., Introduction to Buddhism, T.A., Introduction to Religion, T.A., Knowing Body, Glowing Mind (delivered via Zoom during Covid-19 shutdowns, Fall 2020)

Publications:

Review of Spiritual Moderns: Twentieth Century Artists and Religion by Erika Doss. University of Chicago Press, 2023, for the scholarly journal Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft. Review published 2025.
Review of Magic: (Whitechapel Documents in Contemporary Art )ed. Jamie Sutcliffe. The MIT Press, 2021, for the scholarly journal Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft. Review published 2023.
“Dion Fortune and the Temples of the Numinous,” Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses, ed. Amy Hale. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2021.
“Harry Potter and the Transfiguration of Desire,” The Alchemical Harry Potter: Essays on Transfiguration in J.K. Rowling’s Novels, ed. Anne Marmary. McFarland, 2021.
The Remembrance of Rain. 2009, Wings Press. Finalist in Whitebird Chapbook Competition.

Current Work and Study:

October 2024-present, paid internship in wealth management at M.E. Allison and Co., San Antonio, TX
March 2023 to July 2024, Senior Editor for Monad: Journal of Transformative Practice, Vol.1, forthcoming.
Summer 2021 to present, began work for Trans-states
2020 to present, Student of Tai-chi and Chi-gong as taught by Kai Lewis
2019 to present, reading Akashic Records for others
2018 to present, member and mentor in private group for magical practice and development, broadly Neo-pagan in emphasis
2016 to present, reading Akashic Records for self
2009 to present, daily meditation practice
2009 to present, daily mind-body movement practice (please see “Additional Information” below)
2004-5 to present, daily poetic practice

Current Contemplative Companions and Inspirations:

I am re-translating key parts of Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation while in conversation with Thomas Merton’s annotated copy of Guenther’s translation of this key teaching text (sourced from the Merton Digital Collections at https://merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/page/marginalia).

I am re-visiting Helen Waddell’s Medieval Latin Lyrics, and working on some of my own poetic translations of favorite pieces. I am also enjoying dabbling in Horace again and contemplating returning to Augustine’s De Genesi ad Litteram.

Past Work, Study, Presentations, and Awards:

2016 to December 2023, member of private group for Akashic Records practitioners run by Nancy Kern
May 2023, Podcast Interview for Art.Worldbuilding on playfulness in life, scholarship, and practice
Summer 2020, Soul Sanctuary online participant
2019, Presenter, “Reading the Akashic Records, Intermodal Exchange, and Practices of Energetic and Emotional Transformation” at Trans-states 2019, University of Northampton
January 2020, Presenter, “The Erotic Geography of T.E. Lawrence’s Political Thought and Its Implications for the Study of Religion”at Crafting Historical Knowledge Conference, Rice University
Summer 2019, Soul Sanctuary participant
Summer 2018, Presenter, “Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons on the Song of Songs: Encounters with Phantasms of the Erotic Word” ASE 2018, Rice University
Summer 2017, Tibetan Language Study at Esukhia, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh and travel to Kham, Eastern Tibet
Summer 2016, Presenter, “Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah and the Imagistic Algebra of Gnosis” at Association for the Study of Esotericism Conference 2016, University of California, Davis
Summer 2016, Soul Fire participant
Summer 2016, Depelchin Center summer program, yoga and meditation co-instructor with Michael Perkola
Summer 2015, Yoga study in Italy with Diane Long, student of Vanda Scaravelli
Summer 2015, Instructor for Humanities Spring, Assisi
2013-15, DJ in Houston Swing dance community
April 2015, Presenter, “Joachim of Fiore’s Figure as Images of Time,” Mellon Seminar Conference, “About Time,” Rice University
January 2015, Presenter “Francesco d’Assisi and Transformational Social Dramas” at Humanities Graduate Student Conference: “Borders and Encounters,” Rice University
Fall 2014-Spring 2015, Participant in Rice Mellon Seminar “About Time,” under direction of Dr. Matthias Henze
Spring 2013, Recipient of Saba Prize, given by Rice University Department of Religion
2013, Recipient of Marion Barthleme Prize
Summer 2012, Recipient of Ugo di Portanova Award and Grant for Humanities Spring Assisi Italian Language and Archaeology Program, in Assisi, Umbria
March 31, 2012, Reader in Rothko Chapel Poetry Reading, part of the “Crafting Knowledge: Ritual, Art, Thought,” Conference sponsored by Rice University Department of Religion
Summer-Fall 2011, Recipient of Humanities Research Center Undergraduate Summer and Fall Fellowships, both supervised by Anne Klein in relation to her project “The Knowing Body” as part of the Humanities Energy Initiative
2010-2012 President of Rice Social Dance Society
July 21, 2009, Reading/Signing at the Twig Book Shop, independent bookseller, San Antonio, TX
May 7, 2009, Reading/Signing at Barnes and Nobel Booksellers, San Pedro and 410, San Antonio, TX

Additional Information:

Since 2009 I have been a student and practitioner of various body arts and transformative energy practices too numerous to list completely here—though perhaps, reflecting, it all really started in ballet classes when I was 3 or 4 many more years ago. These arts and practices include but are not limited to tai chi, yoga, and dance (hatha and ashtanga-based forms, Scaravelli yoga, Tai-chi Chuan and Chi-gong, dance forms including contact improvisation, Argentine tango, swing/blues fusion, various ballroom dances—no bliss like waltzing!). I have moved through different phases, and some of these are no longer an active part of my practice, though they do continue to inform it. My current primary body/energy practices are Tai-chi and Chi-gong as taught by Kai Lewis of Central Motion Martial Arts, simple weight-bearing exercises, daily walks, work in the Akashic Records 5-7 times a week (since 2016), and daily silent seated meditation (since 2009).

I was first introduced to meditation practice by Dr. Anne Klein in the Contemplative Practicum, a class offered by the Religion Department at Rice University meant to accompany seminars in Buddhist Thought and other Contemplative Studies course offerings. Our central texts for this practicum were Tantric Practice in Nyingma and Words of my Perfect Teacher, both luminous works I have revisited many times since this first encounter. I first developed an interest in contemplative literature when I sought out the works of Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hahn as a teenager prior to my admittance to Rice University.