Let me begin by saying clearly that I appreciate the work done by Recluse at the VISUP weblog. However, I wish to weigh in on some of the back-and-forth from Secret Sun regarding Alex Jones and the Watsons. I am trying to fire this off quickly and so I appeal, in the spirit of Pascal: "I have made this post longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter." In fact, I am pasting this from Notepad and will even have to review and correct typos later. I beg the reader's patience and forgiveness in advance!
It seems to me that there is a a danger of Pharisaism in these sorts of discussions - they're almost games of pin the tail on the disinformation agent. Overall, I was not much impressed with Secret Sun's post regarding the gun lobby. I do think that there is a point there. However, a few criticisms can be made. Let me get at a few of these by starting with Jacques Ellul.
In VISUP's very disturbing and incisive ObZen post Recluse quoted from Ellul regarding alienation. In a footnote to one of the quotes (loc. cit. and passim.) Ellul makes this statement:
"[T]he persons subjected to propaganda do not consider themselves influenced by it. Each thinks that he himself has found 'the road to truth.'"
For one thing, I am having trouble with Secret Sun's attack on Alex Jones. I think that criticisms can certainly be made of Alex Jones. But, what I am interested in the form that Sun's criticisms seem to take.
The criticisms strike me as "Pharisaism" in the sense that the thought seems to be:
1. Alex Jones asserted p.
2. P is "a lie".
3. Therefore, Alex Jones asserted a lie.
4. Anyone who asserts lies is a disinformation agent.
5. Therefore, Alex Jones is a disinformation agent.
But the argument for premise 2 in general looks to me like this:
6. Secret Sun holds not-p (for example, this or that shooting is not a "black op").
7. If not-p is true, then p is false.
8. If p is false, then anyone who asserts that "p is true" is wrong.
9. Alex Jones asserts that "p is true".
10. Therefore, Alex Jones is wrong.
Now, this is all formally coherent. But besides the fact that premise 6 seems to be be obviously contentious, there is a gulf between "x is wrong concerning some proposition, p" and "x is lying about p". And the gulf is only bridged by showing something like that:
11. x, knowing (or justifiably believing) that "not-p is true," asserts that "p is true" instead.
And for all of Secret Sun's url-citations, I fail to see that he has gone any distance towards substantiating anything like premise 11.
But, then, at best - even if Secret Sun is correct - all that has been shown is that Alex Jones is wrong, not that he's "lying" let alone that he's lying for the purpose of sowing disinformation.
All of this I take to be fairly straightforward.
I think on a principle something like Gricean charity, we should think that even if a person is wrong about something, that they're wrong innocently - until we have good evidence to believe otherwise.
The evidence presented seems to amount to little more than evidence that Alex Jones believes something contrary to what Secret Sun believes - say, regarding the Second Amendment or "gun control" or the (relevant) shooting(s), etc.
But, this is where the Pharisaism comes in. It seems to me that the impulse to jump from "this person believes something to the contrary of what I believe", perhaps coupled with "the person has a podium from which to shout," to "this person is an agent of disinformation," is far too quick.
And here's one reason to think it's too quick.
12. We're all immersed in a propaganda system.
I take this to be just axiomatic. As Chomsky might say, I'd think it strange if we were not so immersed, given the interest that the mandarins of power have in retaining their power.
But:
13. We're all going to believe that we've found the road to truth.
This is Ellul's dictim.
Here's we have a special case of an old epistemic worry: What does it take for a belief - a true belief - to be an instance of knowledge?
The classic account, arguably going back to Plato (cf. Theaetetus 201d), is that a true belief becomes knowledge when it is coupled with "an account". In contemporary terms, this "account" is something like a reason to believe that p is true - called "justification" or "warrant."
So take a case.
Secret Sun believes that "the gun lobby" is more responsible for some shooting than is "the government."
Schematically, Secret Sun believes that:
14. A is more responsible than B for some event, e.
Suppose Secret Sun is rational and therefore has some reason, r, to think that 14 is true.
Suppose further that 14 IS true.
Therefore, by the classic (justified-true-belief, or JTB) account of knowledge, Secret Sun knows that 14 is true.
Still, in order to assert knowledge of the following:
15. Secret Sun knows that "A is more responsible than B for some event, e."
it is not enough to merely know that "A is more responsible than B for some event, e." One must also know that one knows that "A is more responsible than B for some event, e." In other words, one needs an additional reason to make the second order knowledge claim "warrantedly assertable."
But I think that this second-order reason is simply unavailable. (Secret Sun does not *know* that he is right in the relevant matter.) And the fact that it is unavailable should have two consequences, I think.
Number one, even if we are correct in our pet theorizings, indeed, even if we know them, still we don't know that we know them and therefore we should be charitable towards those with contrary theories.
Number two, because we don't have second-order knowledge of our pet theories, even if we do have first-order knowledge of them in fact, it is epistemically possible that we don't have first-order knowledge. That is, for all that we know that we know p, we might not know p at all - even if we do.
What I am saying is that I think we should be a little more subdued in our rhetoric against individuals who believe contrary - or contradictory - things. We're (and I am speaking to a specialized readership, here) aware that there is a pervasive and intrusive propaganda system in force. We cannot all be correct as to how, exactly, that system plays itself out. But we should refrain from assuming that persons who believe - and even proclaim - differently than we, must, in virtue of these facts, be a part of the control system itself (whether consciously or not).
But, more than this, I think that Secret Sun's argument isn't very tightly argued, after all.
Again, for all I *know*, he might be correct. But, his hedging (for example, as suggested by the repeated caveat that "I'm simply engaging in a thought experiment...") - which hedging (mainly detectable in the word "simply") I think is an evidence of sobriety - tends to weaken the case that his opponents in argument (namely, Alex Jones) are obviously wrong - let alone that they are obviously lying or disinforming people on purpose.
His chief reason, by my reading, involves not a little hand-waving and revolves around the question "cui bono?" - who benefits? (Again, as Chomsky might say, ever dictator in the world arguably "benefits".) To this point, he rehearses a string of questions: "Ask yourself this: where could James Holmes and the other unemployed killers have gotten all of that expensive firepower and armor? If they couldn't afford it, could someone have given it to them? Who would be able to most easily and cheaply do so? Who would be able to supply a lone nut with all the firepower he could handle and later be able to reap a massive monetary windfall from their actions? Who is out there trying to cultivate an atmosphere of fear and terror in order to create demand for their products? Who believes, like Chairman Mao, that political power comes from the barrel of a gun?"
Now, the devil is in the details, which I haven't space (or competence, perhaps) presently to get into. My point is simply this: For all that has been said in the post, I don't think that strong reasons have been advanced for the thesis that one could NOT cogently answer "the government" as opposed to "the gun lobby" to each one of Secret Sun's questions.
I am not interested, here, in "scoring" some sort of contest between Jones/Watsons and Secret Sun. What I am interested in is the form of the exchange:
Jones/Watson says, "A is responsible for S."
Secret Sun says, "B is responsible for S."
According to Secret Sun (and he may be accurate, here), Jones/Watson say or imply that "anyone who says 'it is not the case that A is responsible for S' is a disinformation agent."
Secret Sun says, "Since Jones/Watsins say or imply that 'it is not the case that B is responsible for S' Jones/Watsons are disinformation agents."
I honestly don't see much of interest here. It seems like Pharasaism with dollops of name-calling. And both Jones/Watson (if Secret Sun's report of Jones/Watson is veridical) and Secret Sun seem to be ignoring Ellul's dictum.
Plausibly, we're all immersed in this propaganda system. Plausibly, the system is supposed to elicit in us the perception, at every turning, no matter which road we take, that we're on the road to truth.
Believing Ellul's dictum, then, should rightly prompt a little charity in us towards those who believe differently.
For everyone also seems to believe this: "There's too much at stake to fall for entertaining bullshit anymore, especially when it's married to a very troubling and manipulative political agenda."
Who's going to disagree?
The questions are: What are the defining features of "bullshit" and what is the relevant "political agenda"? Etc.
These are interesting questions. And to get at them, we need deep thinking and careful collection of evidence. I think more time should be devoted to these enterprises and less time to trying to "call out" disinformers and liars. Very plausible overaching premises of propaganda simply seem to me to undercut the force of much of these. Plus, as I have said, it smacks of Pharisaism and in-fighting.
And if there is one thing that seems indisputable (even if it is disputable whether the mandarins of power are fearful or are gleeful over a populace acrmed with handguns) it's that a group that fights amongst itself is tremendously weakened. It's something like a "divide and conquer" strategy. Of course, let us fight and get into smaller and smaller groups over issues like who the "real" disinformers are. If there are strength in numbers, we need to find ways towards unity, not division.
(Incidently, I think that there are additional problems. I think both "the government" and "the gun lobby" are vague descriptions and are in need of quite a lot of precisification. I think that it's a mistake to think of restrictions regarding "mental health" as being narrow (which seems to be implied in the presentation) - I think they're arguably quite broad. Also, I think that Ellul's dictum is too coarse-grained. Just to give a flavor of this latter concern: I'm inclined to argue that there are earmarks of truth that can transcend the propaganda system. And, what's more, I think Ellul has to believe this as well - on pain of contradiction (or, at least, deep tension). For Ellul himself purports to truly describe the propaganda system. However, either Ellul was in the propaganda system with us, or he was not. If he was, then the fact that he believed his description to be a description of truth could be explicable as a function of the propaganda on Ellul himself. And if he was not in the propaganda system with us, then might have worries along either of two main lines. And there is a cross-cutting epistemic worry in addition: Did Ellul just believe that he wasn't in the system, or was he not in the system in fact? If he just believed that he wasn't, he of course could have been mistaken - and, by his own principle, could hardly have justifiably believed that he was not in the system. But if he wasn't in the system in fact, there are two lines of worry, neither of which is insuperable. First, one might think that he simply lacked the relevant experience to write as he did. Second, one might think his being free from the system is suspicious in and of itself. He would be like unto the upper Echelons of control in Huxley's "Brave New World," or something.)
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Spring-Heeled Jack
"...Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the
period. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became
the subject of several Penny Dreadfuls and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. The devil was even renamed "Spring-heeled Jack" in some Punch and Judy shows..."
"There is no one definitive "story" of Punch and Judy. As expressed by Peter Fraser in Punch & Judy
(1970), "the drama developed as a succession of incidents which the
audience could join or leave at any time, and much of the show was
impromptu." This was elaborated by George Speaight in his Punch & Judy: A History
(1970), who explained that the plotline "is like a story compiled in a parlour game of Consequences ... the show should, indeed, not be
regarded as a story at all but a succession of encounters." The most
recent academic work, Punch & Judy: History, Tradition and Meaning
by Robert Leach (1985), makes it clear that "the story is a conceptual
entity, not a set text: the means of telling it, therefore, are always
variable." The story was intentionally episodic so that passers by on
the street could easily join the audience during a performance (Crone
1058)."
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Knight of Aurora-Athena
(Masonic Degree - "Knight of Aurora")
"Aurora, goddess of dawn, is the Roman name for the Greek dawn goddess, Eos. ... She is shown flying before the chariot of the sun, sometimes carrying a torch and flowers. Aurora is comparable to the Greek Athene...".
(Coin obverse: Athena; Different coin reverse: owl; U.S. Dollar: owl)
"Athena ... Athene... Also known as: ...Glauk-Opis ('Owl-Faced'), Gogopa (Death Goddess), ...Merchanitis, Minerva (Roman), Nice, Nike (Goddess of Victory), Pallas (Storm Goddess), Pallas Athene, Parthenia, Parthenos ("Virgin"), ...Victoria (Roman). ...Hesiod connected her with Eris (strife) and at first she was a goddess of battle and storms. The Greeks identified her with the Egyptian sky goddess Neith. The grey-eyed Greek virgin goddess of war, wisdom, and handicrafts, and patroness of Athens... The Parthenon was her temple. The owl is her bird. ... It is said that she remained a virgin... Athena is comparable to the goddess of dawn, Eos, and the Roman Aurora. ..." Source: Patricia Turner & Charles Russell Coulter, Dictionary of Ancient Dieties, pp. 83, & 79-80.
(Nike-Athena-Aurora)
"One of the principal motivations for athletes to display their excellence is the priceless prize of kleos aphthiton ('undying glory'). ... In modern times, with its inexhaustible media coverage and its rapacity for celebrity, athletes can attain worldwide glory within seconds of their achievements..." http://goddessnike.com/goddess_nike_and_the_olympic_games.php
"Indiscriminate killers seem to crave fame and notoriety; take those away, the theory goes, and there will be no reason for troubled loners of the future to strap on weapons and shoot up the local post office/mall/campus/movie theater." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-holmes-name-20120726,0,7705725.story
"The games were held to be one of the two central rituals in Ancient Greece, the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games
(Colorado fire - "The Dry Way began with roasting and heating in an intense fire...the Dry Way worked with the 'raging fires of our lower nature'," Dennis William Hauck, Alchemy (Idiot's Guide), p. 106.)
("A home burns during a large wildfire Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 in Luther, Okla. A wildfire whipped by gusty, southerly winds swept through rural woodlands north and south of Oklahoma City on Friday, burning several homes as firefighters struggled to contain it in 113-degree heat. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)" http://news.yahoo.com/photos/wildfires-blaze-across-oklahoma-1344086283-slideshow/home-burns-during-large-wildfire-friday-aug-3-photo-043951608.html)
"There are two traditional ways of preparing the Philosophers (sic.) Stone, the wet way and the dry way. The dry way takes only eight days using double philosophic mercury.
(Jung's Trickster-Joker)
(Travis Langley, Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight, p. 170.)
"[Archetypes] easily catch hold of you and you are possessed as if they were lions or bears, say – primitive forces which are quite definitely stronger than you. ...in all cases identification with the unconscious ...brings a weakening of consciousness, and herein lies the danger. You do not 'make' an identification, you do not 'identify yourself,' but you experience your identity with the archetype in an unconscious way and so are possessed by it. Insanity is possession by an unconscious content that, as such, is not assimilated to consciousness, nor can it be assimilated since the very existence of such conditions is denied." ~ Carl Jung (qtd. in http://www.awakeninthedream.com/wordpress/are-we-possessed/)
(Cosmic-Orphic-World Egg)
"Astronomers: ‘Bullet star’ shines 350 times brighter than the sun ATLANTA — For decades, scientists have observed that Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, spins much faster than the sun." http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwexa/news/archive/sciences/05_0119_astronomy.htm
("Phanes hatched from the world egg & circled
by the zodiac..."
"Phanes (Ancient Greek: Φάνης, from φαίνω, phainō, "I bring to light"), or Protogonos (Greek: Πρωτογόνος, "First-born"), was the mystic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life, who was introduced into Greek mythology by the Orphic tradition..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanes_%28mythology%29
Phanes, Phosphorus ("light-bringer"), Lucifer, Eosphorus (dawn-bringer), Eos, Aurora, Pyrphorus (fire-bringer) like Prometheus, and Dadouchos (Torch-bearer) like Demeter and Dionysus.
"In the Orphic theogony (which differs substantially from the more well-known cosmogony of Homer and Hesiod), Dionysus appears successively in three forms: Phanês-Dionysus, the bisexual god of Light, burst from the silver egg of the cosmos (the so-called Orphic Egg is sometimes depicted as an egg girt with a serpent) at the beginning of time. ... Zeus [swallowed] ... Phanes ... assimilating his power. Zeus then took the form of a serpent and begot the second Dionysus, Dionysus-Zagreus, the Horned Child, upon his daughter Persephonê. ... Athena, goddess of Wisdom, had witnessed the murder of Dionysus-Zagreus and had even managed to save his heart from the rage of the Titans. She brought it, still beating, to her father Zeus. Zeus consumed the heart, as he had previously consumed the Serpent-entwined Egg of Light of his great-grandfather Phanês. He then came to Semelê...and begot upon her the third Dionysus, known as Dionysus-Lyseus or Bakkhos [Bacchus], or simply as Dionysus. [Another version of the legend has Athena preserving the heart of Zagreus within a small figure she fashioned from the gypsum of the Titans, into which she breathed life.] ... Having been born twice, once as Zagreus and once as Lyseus, Dionysus is known as Dithyrambos, the 'twice-born.'" http://hermetic.com/sabazius/dionysus.htm
"PHANES was the Protogenos (primeval god) of procreation in the Orphic cosmogony. He was the primal generator of life, the driving force behind reproduction in the early cosmos. Phanes was hatched from the world egg (the primordial mixture of elements) when it was split into its constituent parts by the ancient gods Khronos (Time) and Ananke (Inevitability). ... Phanes was portrayed as a beautiful golden-winged hermaphroditic deity wrapped in a serpent's coils. The poets describe him as an incorporeal being invisible even through the eyes of the gods. His name means "bring to light" or "make appear" from the Greek verbs phanaô and phainô. ... Khronos (Time) generated an egg...The egg; the dyad of the two natures inside it (male and female)... and thirdly an incorporeal god with golden wings on his shoulders, bulls’ heads growing upon his flanks, and on his head a monstrous serpent, presenting the appearance of all kinds of animal forms ... Protogonos (First-Born) [Phanes], ... Zeus the order of all and of the whole world, wherefore he is also called Pan (All)." http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Phanes.html
(Regulus, Polaris, and Sirius)
Voces magicae (or, Egyptian "Words of Power"):
"Should the media not use James Holmes' name? ... Names have always been the subject of magical thinking -- the ancient Romans buried lead tablets invoking the names of spirits, gods or the dead in order to curse their enemies, just as one example -- so maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that many people think uttering the name "James Holmes," like an unguarded mention of the name "Voldemort" in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, will cause bad things to happen." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-holmes-name-20120726,0,7705725.story Via http://revisionistreview.blogspot.com/2012/07/predictive-programming-batman-movie.html
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The Tragi-Comedy (Thalia-Melpomene) of the Puppet Master's Jester
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Programming code "in Flash"
("In a time exposure with a telephoto lens, you can see that Polaris
(bright dot) is not quite at the north celestial pole, but still close
enough barely notice the difference. Photo: Bob King" Source: http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/04/19/now-boarding-the-circle-tour-to-polaris/)
"[John Jacobson, now a PhD candidate at UC San Diego in philosophy and cognitive sciences] said he set Holmes to work writing computer code for an experiment Jacobson had done involving a game of rock-paper-scissors, in which the computer always beats the human, no matter who goes first.
"The experiment was in Flash, which Jacobson said is best encoded using what’s called object-oriented programming. Holmes insisted on using what's known as procedural programming, much more time consuming and complicated, Jacobson said."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-movie-shooting-james-holmes-20120722,0,2746583.story
"Source Code" (Movie):
"Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes with a jolt to find himself on a commuter train heading into Chicago. Although the other passengers all seem to know him, he has absolutely no idea where—or even who—he is. The last thing Colter remembers is flying a helicopter mission in Iraq, but here he is in someone else’s life going through someone else’s morning commute. Before he can do anything an express train zooms by on the opposite track and a bomb explodes, seemingly killing Colter and all the other passengers.
"Colter comes to in an isolation chamber, strapped to a seat, and wearing his military flight suit. He still has no idea what’s happening, except that he’s being spoken to by mission controller Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), who calmly recites a series of memory questions to which Colter is shocked to realize he knows the answers. He learns he’s part of an operation called 'Beleaguered Castle,' but before he can progress any further, Goodwin starts up the machinery and suddenly…Colter is back on the train, at exactly the same time he first appeared there, once again speeding through Chicago with the same group of commuters. Colter figures he’s in some kind of simulation exercise, with his task being to find the bomber onboard the train before it goes off again."
Source: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Plot-Synopsis-For-Duncan-Jones-Source-Code-Revealed-21627.html
"Change the Past, Save the Future"
"...[H]e's part of a government experiment called the 'Source Code,' a program that enables him to cross over into another man's identity in the last 8 minutes of his life." Source:
http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/change-the-past-save-the-future-in-new-uk-quad-poster-for-source-code
"It is going to be counterproductive for you to try to save anyone on that train. They are outside of the mission." ~ Colleen Goodwin
"[Rock paper scissors] is zero sum. The only equilibrium is in mixed strategies. Each plays each strategy with equal probability, resulting in an expected payoff of zero for each player."
Source: http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/games/RockPaperScissors.html
"None of them can be saved. ... You cease to exist on the train. You cannot exist inside the source code beyond Fentress's eight minutes...Source Code is not time travel. Rather, source Code is time reassignment. It gives us access to a parallel reality." ~ Dr. Rutledge, Source Code
"Video emerged ... of Dark Knight killer James Holmes, showing the then-18-year-old as a seemingly happy and bright science student. During the summer of 2006, Holmes attended a science camp at Mirmar College in San Diego and the video shows him talking about his research on temporal illusions and the cross between fantasy and reality. ABC News aired the video, where Holmes is seen explaining his work: 'Over the course of the summer I've been working with a temporal illusion. It's an illusion that allows you to change the past.' "
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2177233/Dark-Knight-Rises-Aurora-Colorado-shooting-Video-gunman-James-Holmes-science-camp.html
(Flash illusions and "temporal context", by John E. Jacobson, et. al.)
"When a light bulb turns off, there's an afterglow, a lingering halo-like effect. You seen it? ... The brain is like that." ~ Dr. Rutledge
(Polaris "time-lapse" Source: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~astr/astr1031/Prelab/prelab4_planetarium.htm)
"Holmes was, however, extremely receptive to compliments, which was 'how I got him to do the little that he did,' Jacobson said."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-movie-shooting-james-holmes-20120722,0,2746583.story
"Flattery: The First Principle of Mind Control"
Michael A. Hoffman II, Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare (Coeur d'Alene, ID: Independent History & Research, 2001), p. 20.
"Beleaguered Castle" ("Source Code")
("Photo of H. H. Holmes' Murder Castle" Source: http://4girlsandaghost.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/h-h-holmes-murder-castle/)
See also Jim Brandon's mention of H. H. Holmes, as documented by Loren Coleman at: http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2012/07/anticipating-aurora.html
See also Jim Brandon's mention of H. H. Holmes, as documented by Loren Coleman at: http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2012/07/anticipating-aurora.html
The serendipitous notebook
"...Police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora on Monday morning after the psychiatrist [?], who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect. Although that package turned out to be from someone else and harmless, a search of the Campus Services' mailroom turned up another package sent to the psychiatrist with Holmes' name in the return address, the source told FoxNews.com."
Huh? What a lucky coincidence that the "authorities" had that false alarm! Or else they may never have turned up the real smoking gun package just loitering in the mail room.
Huh? What a lucky coincidence that the "authorities" had that false alarm! Or else they may never have turned up the real smoking gun package just loitering in the mail room.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
A Fool's Journey
"the Joker as the perfect Fool"
"scene from Trinity #37 by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; art by Scott McDaniel[:] D-level villains (and that’s being generous) Punch and Jewelee are used as the focus of Morgaine’s machine to find a new Fool for her villain’s Tarot. The machine identifies the Joker as the perfect Fool — which really isn’t a surprise — but unfortunately neither Punch nor Jewelee survive the process." (http://www.politedissent.com/index.php?s=punch&submit=search)
"three-parts learned, one part crazy"
"The 'Great Fool' ... Reason is an impasse, reason is damnation; only madness, divine madness, offers an issue. ...three-parts learned, one part crazy... they are all mad, that is, inspired. ...the general solution is to represent the saviour as the fool. (Attempts to attain this condition appear in the Bible. Note the 'coat of many colours' of Joseph and of Jesus; it is the man in motley[note] who brings his people out of bondage.)
---------------------------
"[Note:] Call him 'Harlequin', and a Tetragrammaton evidently burlesquing the Sacred Family springs into sight: Pantaloon, the aged 'antique-antic'; Clown and Harlequin, two aspects of the Fool; and Columbine, the Virgin. But being burlesque, the tradition is confused and the deep meaning lost; just as the mediaeval Mystery-Play of Pontius and Judas became the farce, with opportunist topical variants, 'Punch and Judy'."
(Source: Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth, pp. 57-8 and footnote #1.)
(Edgar Degas - "Harlequin & Colombine")
Now playing:
http://www.muny.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=864&Itemid=100476
"The night is darkest just before the [aurora]. And I promise you, the [aurora] is coming." ~ Harvey "Two Face" Dent, "The Dark Knight," 2008 (quotation with substitution of a co-referring expression; "aurora" = "dawn"). The Aurora of the Dark [K]night.
"In the British Isles, the Northern Lights were known as the "nimble men" or the "merry dancers," names belying the fact that auroras were seen as clans at war, and the red light as blood spilt in violent battle. ... Scandinavian popular belief linked the aurora to dead women, especially to dead virgins."
http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/4C.html
The Victims in Pictures
"EOS (Êôs), in Latin Aurora, the goddess of the morning red... Eos [Aurora]] had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite. ... By Astraeus Eos became the mother of ... Boreas..."
http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Eos.html
"The night is darkest just before the [aurora]. And I promise you, the [aurora] is coming." ~ Harvey "Two Face" Dent, "The Dark Knight," 2008 (quotation with substitution of a co-referring expression; "aurora" = "dawn"). The Aurora of the Dark [K]night.
"In the British Isles, the Northern Lights were known as the "nimble men" or the "merry dancers," names belying the fact that auroras were seen as clans at war, and the red light as blood spilt in violent battle. ... Scandinavian popular belief linked the aurora to dead women, especially to dead virgins."
http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/4C.html
The Victims in Pictures
"EOS (Êôs), in Latin Aurora, the goddess of the morning red... Eos [Aurora]] had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite. ... By Astraeus Eos became the mother of ... Boreas..."
http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Eos.html
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