Code-Breaking the Craft: It Takes Two

What we're looking at isn't about a religion or a fraternity, it's about the entire foundation of all high-initiate ritualism, spanning back thousands -- perhaps even tens of thousands -- of years. Rituals that were mind-crushingly ancient before the world ever even heard of Abraham or Jesus, never mind Albert Pike.

Notre Dame Fire: Flame on the Crown of Her Influence

The landmark Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was heavily damaged by fire yesterday. Happily, much of the structure is intact and many of the priceless works of art had either been previously moved or were rescued. 

Supernovas and Star Sorcery

The glowing Orb is officially a thing. We keep seeing it in odd places, most recently this enigmatic music video from Ariana Grande (with a guest appearance by Nikki Minaj, who seems to be fraying a bit at the edges lately). 

Met Gala 2018: Wonder with Great Admiration!

OK, so Riri "wins" the Super Bowl of Fashion with her pearl-encrusted Anti-Pope LARP? OK, it's... I mean...

Never-Ending Rituals: Revelation 12 on the Mall

"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun..."

"Full of Ritual"

I'm not sure why The Guardian chose to write about it now, but the city of Perth has its arts festival coming up in February. And apparently the program for the festival is-- and I quote-- "full of ritual."

Of course it is. Because sooner than you think, everything will be. 

Go Back to Hell, Lucifer. You're Embarrassing Yourself.

What a shitshow

I just read that Fox has renewed its "adaption" of the Vertigo/DC comics series Lucifer for a second season. 

Space/Gods: As Above, So Ba'al-Low

Ba'al in his flying sky-chariot

We're five days out from the erection of the reproduction of the Palmyra triumphal arch in Trafalgar Square in London. There won't be a simultaneous installation in New York for reasons we'll look at in a moment.

Religion is Now a "Mental Illness?"

Well, it had to happen: religious belief is now declared a mental illness. 

Which conveniently renders 9/10ths of the world's population as potential invalids who can be legally dispensed with according to any doctor's whims:

Transhumanism Jumps the Shark

Let's just get this out on the table now - Transhumanism is still a pipe dream. 

It doesn't matter how much H+ propaganda you see in the movies or on TV or in sci-fi novels or comic books, it simply doesn't exist as a practical science.

Witchcraft Revives, Again

You live long enough and you see the same patterns emerge, over and over again. A generation comes of age, falls under the spell of Rationalism but then leaves school and gravitates towards thought contagions that horrify the professors and teachers they once tried so hard to emulate.

Our Strange Skies: 'Tis a Magic Place

Well, of course it all began with a UFO sighting. 

There was an old saying, "When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession. When you lose your job, it's a depression." So when your son has a high-quality UFO sighting, it's a 'flap', then when you and other family members have one a couple weeks later, I guess it's a 'wave'. 

Don't Write the Church Off Quite Yet...

This was a grim week here at Secret Sun Central- a friend of my sons died in an accident and we attended his wake Thursday and my sons attended his funeral yesterday. He was one of the first friends my younger son made in this neighborhood. 

Cults of One

In his latest post, Gordon quotes George Hansen and the relationship between the Paranormal and Religion. Let me just say that I read Hansen's book and enjoyed it but the whole "Trickster" thing gives me a headache, since it all too easily becomes a RAW-type way to say nothing and sound like you're saying something unbearably profound. 

Unidentified Flying Architecture

Some of you are probably familiar with the curious Wat Phra Dhammakaya Buddist temple in Thailand, which has become famous for its unique design. It's really stunning to see the tens of thousands of worshippers praying around what most people would immediately recognize as a replica of a flying saucer. 

But it's part of a global trend in architectural design, a trend that includes some of the most significant organizations in the world. 

Everything In Its Right Place

I'm of the opinion that genuine weirdness is usually an intimate affair. And as much as the capital 'S' Skeptics-- many of whom are in fact neurologically wired with various perceptive challenges-- yell and scream and rend their clothing,

Demand the Unreasonable

The Reason Rally® -- billed as the biggest-ever gathering of atheists, skeptics and so on and so forth--came and went without my reporting on it. I was busy with work and was also in the middle of the Millennium series that I'd been meaning to put up here for several years.

October 33rd, or Another Mass UFO Landing That Wasn't

The big news on October 13th was the rescue of the Chilean miners, which a lot of you are probably getting sick of hearing about by now.

 

Dog Days: The Ground Zero Mosque

I made mention the other day of this shot from HuffPost pertaining to the "Ground Zero Mosque" debate surrounding Park51 or the Cordoba House or whatever it's being called this week.

 

Appearances Can Deceive

So after all the shouting and controversy, could it be that the "Ground Zero Mosque" is a hoax?