When did they start making Astrophysicists so damn pretty?
Monday, December 31, 2007
2007 in Review: Know Your Rites

All the more reason to go to the exhibit...
2007 in Review: The Departed
Scorcese wins a long-overdue Best Director Oscar for The Departed, parts of which were filmed on my old stomping grounds. I can think of any number of other pictures that should have earned Marty the nod, but The Departed is certainly worthy.
Wahlberg should have gotten Best Supporting though...
2007 in Review: Inland Empire
David Lynch struck blows for creative freedom, cinematic quality and the eternal power of the dreaming mind with his latest masterpiece, Inland Empire. Like most other movies these days, I watched it on DVD so I wasn't bothered by the digital video at all. In fact, I felt it gave the film an extremely unsettling feeling of intimacy.
I'm sure DV will unleash a torrent of awful films, but it will also give the next David Lynch an opportunity he or she wouldn't have with film. There's no reason someone couldn't do a film like Clerks with a camcorder these days. Hell, you could do a film that looks as good as that on your phone these days. The question is can anyone write anymore?
2007- The Year In Review- Fruit Wrinkles

Saturday, December 29, 2007
Britney Spears, Volcano Girl

In the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, DJ Moores wrote of Jung's theories that scapegoating and ritual sacrifice spring from the ego's inability to deal with its Shadow, the accumulation of negative emotions that all of us struggle with, but that the pious and the devout in particular are unable to accept in themselves:
Thursday, December 27, 2007
NineElevenTenThirteen
There are times when art becomes reality. The pilot for X-Files spinoff The Lone Gunmen, which eerily predicted a 9/11 scenario, is perhaps one of the most notorious examples of this.
At the Edge of 17
In Egyptian mythology, Osiris was killed on the 17th day of Athyr, the third month of the ancient calendar. Though not acknowledged, 17 seems to be a very meaningful number in the Mystery traditions, sort of equivalent to the Cross in Christianity. It symbolizes an unjust death and the promise of rebirth.
2007 in Review: Knights Templar are BACK, Baby!

Of course, the "papers" were "discovered" six years before they were publicized, but, you know, timing is everything.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Worst Time of the Year

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Mindbomb: Captain Victory, the Secret Sequel
Speaking of androgynous dying/rising savior heroes, Image Comics are reportedly working on a new omnibus for Captain Victory and His Galactic Rangers, Jack Kirby's completely whacked-out series from the early 80's.
"The Magic of Kirby"
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Ten Thirteen: A Dream Dance
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Winter Bonfires
Mysterious Britain that explores the ancient European celebrations of Yule, from which we've derived many of our modern Christmas rites. Another essay explains how the ancients celebrated the winter solstice with bonfires.
And a quick googling reveals that the practice of Solstice bonfires seems to be experiencing a bit of a comeback.
AstroGnostic: We Need a Little Mithras
Friday, December 21, 2007
Masonic Manhattan: The Hierarchy
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Mithras Presence: Look At It This Way
Al-Lex-Luthor Crowley

From a Thelemic website:
Alchemy had three main objects: 1. The transmutation of the base metals into gold, or more generally the conversion of abundant relatively useless material into rare useful substances.
Heru- Heros- Hera- Heracles
My friend David Dodd is currently pursuing his degree in Intellectual Property law, but was previously a Latin teacher at prestigious Newark Academy. Dave is also a serious student of the Classical world and as such is my go-to guy for deep history from that period.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
I'll Be Home for Mithras

Saturday, December 15, 2007
Swamp Thing... and The Golden Compass?
One of my favorite all-time comic book characters is yet another alienated outsider: Swamp Thing. DC doesn't seem to know what to do with the character anymore. What's worse, they still haven't gotten around to reprinting the amazing issues written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar and drawn by Phil Hester.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Mithras Presence
"The cult of Mithras had been taken up with great enthusiasm by the Roman legions and had traveled with them from Iran to Rome, to Tunis, to the Rhine and even on to London and Hadrian's Wall. Mithras' cult satisfied many of the same urges that would also attract people to Christianity. It was a brotherhood where rank and mutual obligation were based not upon accepted social codes but on the secret bonds of a closed circle, an underground network of close allegiances operating right across the strong social fabric of the Empire." - John Romer, Testament
Mindbomb: Worlds Gone Mad

Secret Star Trek: Meet the New Gods, Same as the Nine Gods
But it's less well-known that there were nine major characters in the original cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all of whom had direct counterparts in the Egyptian pantheon.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Family Mythologies
It's easy to rail against divisions, but the fact is that people have always needed to feel they are part of an in-group. But I've always been more interested in what people have in common than in their differences. The reason I believe we need new mythologies is because this chaotic world of constant creative destruction is going to require new alliances untied to our old ones.The center of economic power is shifting to China and India, and they don't care about our ethnic or religious differences, they're much more concerned with their own. The wish-dream that the world will all join hands and live as one is nothing but wanting- to-buy-the-world-a-Coke corporate propaganda...
Monday, December 03, 2007
The Kirby Files

Saturday, December 01, 2007
So, Anyway...
Well, that was fun. No one said people were just going to sit around and nod politely while you challenge long-standing paradigms. But putting up with a little abuse is the price you pay when you want to get people's attention.
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