Warhammer Conference Forum

Hello, I’m Irina, I'm a psychologist with a background in psychoanalysis and analytical psychology. I discovered the Warhammer universe relatively recently, through the Horus Heresy novels. I don’t play the games, but I have become very interested in the development of Warhammer as a transmedia world.
What interests me most is Warhammer as a contemporary mythological and symbolic phenomenon: from the very fact of its emergence and persistence to the many symbolic elements with which it is saturated.
Only a few days ago I discovered the Warhammer Conference channel on YouTube, and I am now listening to talks from the past three years. I am very glad to have found that I am not alone in seeing Warhammer as a major cultural phenomenon, one that cannot be reduced to games, miniatures, or hobby culture alone. I think Warhammer deserves close academic attention, and I would be very pleased to join this conversation.
My favourite character so far is Garviel Loken and my avatar is a small tribute to him

Hello Irina, its great that you have found the channel and joined this relatively new forum.

I hope you find many talks that interest you, and that especially this year with the conferences focus on the topic of mental health (both in-unisverse as well as in our world/as a hobby) this years talks will be interesting for you too.

Loken is a very intriguing character beeing the POV of the beginning of the heresy. And a cool guy...for a loyalist

welcome to the forum!
warhammer as a modern mythology as its deep roots in symbology and folklore are of much interest to myself as well, excited to see your take

Thank you both for such a warm welcome! It’s great to hear that this year’s conference will focus on mental health. A psychological perspective on Warhammer is what fascinates me most — although I sometimes feel that Warhammer is more interested in mental ill-health than in health
But this is one of the crucial questions for me: modern consciousness creates very dark and psychologically troubled symbolic worlds, and I find it important to explore what they contain, what they hold, and what they try to work through. Thinking about this also helps me renew my sensitivity in my own psychological practice.
If possible, I would be very interested to hear what the talks will be about. Is the conference programme already available?

As for Loken… well, maybe he is a loyalist — if so, I can live with that But for me he is interesting because he is always more than the faction he belongs to. I especially respect that in him, because in the Warhammer setting it is not a trivial thing.

Welcome Irina! We hope you may be able to join us at the conference in Germany this coming September. If you can't make it, you can always watch most of the panels online.