#reflections on the devils dictionary

[officialurban]

Interesting Terms from "The Devil's Dictionary"

[mask131]

The myth of Medea (1)

As I went across the various Dictionaries of Myths I talked to you about, I noticed quite a number of Medea-related articles. So, let’s begin with an article about the “Antique Medea”, written by Alain Moreau. As usual, loosely translated by me.

I/ Positive beginnings

A dreaded sorceress and a bloodthirsty killer: those are the two traits that have been imposed on any depiction of Medea, and that for a very long time. To be precise, this portrait can be dated back to Euripides’ Medea in 431 BCE. It might surprise one to discover that it was not always the case, and that the original Medea might have been a benevolent goddess. As often in mythology, the name reveals (or betrays) the origins: Medea’s name seems to be formed of the Indo-European root “med”, which split in modern language in two domains, the one of “meditation” and the one of “medicine”. This etymological origin is reflected in the myth, as Medea prepares all sorts of medicine and remedies – it is with them that, during her stay in Thebes, she healed Herakles who had just murdered his own children after being cursed with madness by Hera. She is also depicted as having the power of rejuvenating the old Aeson, Jason’s father, as well as giving back youth to Jason himself and to the Hyades, the nurses of Dionysos. It is also her who, in Colchis, covers Jason’s body with an herbal ointment which protects him from the deadly fire blown by the bulls of Aietes (the herb used was the legendary “prometheion”, which appeared on the slopes of Caucasus from the blood of Prometheus which falls to the ground each time Zeus’ eagle comes to eat the Titan’s liver). Considering all of this, it is very likely that Medea was originally one of the manifestations or avatar of the great Mother-Goddesses that were once honored throughout Greece and the Near-East, in the image of Cybele, Gaia, Rhea or Demeter. It is not a surprise, according to this reading, that one day she gains for a paredra a male god of smaller importance, “Iasôn”, Jason, whose name is linked to the verb “iaomai” (to heal), to the character of Iasô, a goddess of health daughter of Asklepios, and to the term “iatros”, a doctor, a term still found today with terms such as “psychiatrist” or “pediatrist”.

Up until this point all is good. In the second stage of her evolution, Medea stays a benevolent character, but the goddess leaves the context of religion (and thus a static and synchronic state) to enter a “chronical” state, the one of a tale inscribed in time, the one of the legend and the myth. She becomes a helper, an auxiliary, who helps the hero to perform what seems to be impossible deeds. Thanks to her, Jason dominates the fire-breathing bulls, kills the giants born out of the ground, becomes the owner of the Golden Fleece, escapes Aietes’ ships. According to Hesiode, it is thanks to her, thanks to his new wife, thanks to the “virgin with glittering eyes” that Jason could return to Iolkos safe and happy. Still according to Hesiode, once back to Jason’s homeland she gave him a son, Medeios, who was raised by Chiron in the mountains ; and all of this was part “of the plan of the Great Zeus”. Reading these lines, one can hear the ending of a fairytale: “They married, had many children, and lived happily ever after”. With the slight nuance that Hesiod claims they only had one son.

Things however were already starting to look dark. Because in this tale, we recognize a folkloric motif: the hero of the folktales must triumph of the traps laid before him with the help of a princess. However this theme is deeply linked to another fairytale motif: “the hero is helped by the devil’s daughter”. Aietes, indeed, is a being of the Otherworld. He is the master of Aia, “the land”, a nameless land, located far away in the East, and which can only be reached by crossing the unpassable rocks, the Symplegades, similar to the doors of Hades. The difference between the myth of Jason and the fairytales is that, in folklore, the devil’s daughter usually stays with her father. The terrible mistake of Jason, or rather his respect of the deal he formed with Medea (the idea of Jason’s perjury only comes in later evolutions), leads to him bringing her into the world of humankind, where she does not belong, and where she can only cause blood and death. Pindar depicts, in his fourth Pythic, a blond-haired Jason filled with male confidence who accepts the terrible trials imposed by Pelias the usurper, and who leads gloriously the Argonauts expedition towards the Golden Fleece – but if Pindar presents us a beautiful and positive picture, in truth, already by 462 BCE, the myth of Jason and Medea is blood-stained.

II/ The infanticide

The determining element that shifted the glorious myth to the abominable tragedy is the theme of the infanticide. It appears with the epic poet Eumelos (8th or 7th century BCE) where Medea kills by accident her children in an attempt to give them immortality, by burying them in the sanctuary of Hera (the katakryptia process). But she fails, just like Thetis failed to give immortality to her son Achilles: the children die smothered alive. Medea has good intentions, but commits a bad action. Then, with the epic poet Creophylos (third quarter of the 6th century BCE), Medea is falsely accused by the Corinthians of killing her children, because they want to get revenge on her for the murders of king Creon and the princess Creusa/Glauke. Finally, it is Euripides, in 431, who synthetizes the two versions: he is the first to write that Medea actually and willingly killed her children.

As soon, the new image of Medea is set and fixed: she is a killer of men. She killed her brother Apsyrtos, that she stabbed before cutting him into pieces and throwing them in the sea, to slow down the Colchian pursuers. She killed the father, since he received an oracle telling him he would die by losing the Golden Fleece (according to Diodorus, he died during a night battle between the Colchians and the Argonauts). She killed Pelias, the uncle of her husband, manipulating his daughters into slitting his throat in the hope of bringing him back to life in a magic cauldron. She killed the king of Corinth, Creon, who was guilty of trying to marry Jason to his daughter, and to exile Medea. She killed her children, all boys – and this is the most famous part of her myth. She killed her husband, that she convinces to sleep by the shadow of the Argo, which was rotting on the sand: a piece of it falls and crushed his head. Finally, she is the killer of Perses, Aietes’ brother, who had usurped Colchis’ throne. Only Theseus managed to escape death at her hands in Athens.

III/ From one myth to another

Euripides is thus the one who completely shifted the myth and turned Medea into this beautiful and dangerous character that imposed herself in literature. By showing, at the end of his play, Medea flying away of the palace on a dragon-tied chariot sent by her grandfather Helios, he gives her back the supernatural nature she had lost by being turned into the princess of Colchis. But the benevolent goddess has been turned into an elemental power, monstrous and maleficent. According to Seneca, the name “Medea” is linked to other words in “m”: “mare” (the sea), “metus” (dread), “malum” (evil), “monstrum” (monster), “Medusa” (the Gorgon). She is also the “mater”, the mother, but a mother who kills her children. The summit of this nefarious power is reached with Dracontius, at the end of the 5th century CE, who tells of how Medea manages to “remove the horns of the full moon”, an immense feat of magic never repeated to this day. Considering this, it is quite surprising to see that Medea now ends her career as the mere wife of Achilles (alongside Helen, Iphigenia, and Polyxene) in either the Elysian Fields or the Blessed Islands. This part of the legend appeared with Ibycos, in the second half of the 6th century BCE, before being repeated by Simonide (556-467 BCE) and finally by Lycophron, an “antiquarian”, that is to say a mythographer who collected the older and more ancient versions of legends, those of a time when Medea was a benevolent entity.

We already saw two of the reasons that explain why Medea the generous goddess becomes the bloodthirsty monster: first, the introduction of a being of the Otherworld into the human world that is the Greek civilization ; second, the evolution of the motif of the infanticide. But there are three other important elements to take into account. First of all being her relationship with Thessaly: Medea is linked to this country through Jason, who is born in Thessaly, and through the city of Ephyra. The Thessalian land was considered to be the country of witches: the Latin poets and writers always had the word “witch” or “sorceress” be followed by the adjective “Thessalian”, and the connotations of witchcraft were almost always negative.

The second element to take into account is Medea’s relationship with the Orient, which also brings us back to witchcraft and magic. It is from the East that Helios rises every day on his chariot, on his journey to the West, and Helios has among his descendants many witches, such as Circe, Pasiphae… or Medea. But above all, the Orient is characterized by cunning, cruelty and barbary, all traits that Medea bears when she tricks the daughters of Pelias, when she lies to Creon and Jason, when she kills and disembowels, when she had the Corinthian princess die in atrocious pain through a drug that burns her like acid. The Barbarian is the invader, like the Medes who had invaded Greece (and whose name was linked to the one of Medea): this is why all the iconographic depictions posterior to 480 BCE (the battle of Salamine) show Theseus the Greek fighting against Medea the Mede.

The third reason for this change of good to evil is that, at least since Euripides, Medea is perceived as a “virile woman”: in a Greek society dominated by men, such a masculine woman is to be a monster. Euripides has her use constantly a military language: she prefers to be “three times on the line, three times with the shield by her side” rather than to “give birth one more time” ; she wants to “do like hoplits”, she wants to use a word, to use strength, she keeps talking about her enemies and her glory. The Athenian, who typically locks up his woman in the gynecea, can’t stand such words.

IV/ Terror and pity

Yet, Euripides is a much too talented of a playwright to create just a melodrama character. He uses the two tools of the tragedy, terror and pity. Medea is also the poor young woman abandoned by the one who seduced her, she is alone, far away from her family, of which she cut herself off due to her actions. She is the bronze-skinned foreigner that is disdained and dreaded, and as such she is the perfect scapegoat. She is a being of flesh torn by conflicting feelings, her hatred for Jason, and her love for her children ; children that she turns into tools for her revenge against her cowardly and unfaithful husband, while perfectly knowing that the crime she is about to commit will break not just Jason’s heart, but also her own. This duality is still maintained centuries after Euripides. Most authors of Antiquity (Ovid, Seneca, Dracontius) put a focus on the violence and monstrosity of the character – outside of a few, such as Apollonios of Rhodes or Valerius Flaccus, who rather focus on the birth of Jason’s and Medea’s love. However, modern and contemporary authors are much more nuanced: as such Cherubini, Lamartine, Grillparzer and Legouvé focus on the duality of Medea, putting at the center of their work the idea of this dark-skinned foreigner who is both dreaded and rejected. The picture of Medea as the gypsy woman is central in the works of Anouilh, Max Rouquette and Christa Wolf, who all stay faithful to the themes of the pharmakos and of the scape-goat, already present by Euripides’ work.

[atamascolily]

Tarot and Symbolism in the Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer

The most interesting moments in the Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer are unlikely to be in the final film. There are three of them, all in quick succession during the grayscale "flashback" sequence explaining How We Got Here.

At first glance, this is fairly straightforward--a clip from the original series, with the characters for "calamity" (災厄) reflected backwards. I don't know if this phrase ever comes up in the original series, but in at least one interview, Gen Urobuchi says Walpurgisnacht is "perceived as a calamity", which I have always thought was a striking way of putting it. (Is it possible to perceive her in ways that are not a calamity??)

Screenshot of the interview in question from the 2011-05 issue of Megami Magazine on the Puella Magi Wiki, which I am reposting here because Tumblr hates links.

Note that Urobuchi uses "災害" for "calamity" instead of "災厄" - both phrases mean the same thing, but my dictionary tells me that not only can 災厄 also be written 厄災, but that 厄 can mean either misfortune or an especially unlucky year. So that got my attention.

Even if I hadn't seen the key visual with two Homuras (or Homura and someone else wearing her face), it's abundantly clear from this shot alone that mirrors, reflections, and reversals are going to be a major theme.

The next shot follows immediately on the heels of the first, showing a clip of Homura from Rebellion:

Once again, we have the backwards text, this time reading 回い続ける, or "to spin in a circle". This is appropriate, given the nature of Homura's loops, but the same phrase also appears in the text of Walpurgisnacht's witch card, where she is "the fool that spins in a circle" -- 回い続ける愚者. And speaking of 愚者...

.... gues which character is plastered across Devil!Homura's face--not only backwards, but upside down??

This, to me, is the most important shot in the trailer, the one where SHAFT is tipping their hand, but to explain why, we need to talk about the meaning of 愚者. It doesn't simply mean "fool" as in a person of little intelligence--it also means the archetypal Fool, i.e., the Tarot card The Fool.

For those unfamiliar with Tarot, it is one of the ancestors of modern European playing cards--versions of it are still used in Europe for gaming, but it is most famous as tool for divination. Like a modern deck, the Tarot has 4 suits from 1-10 (wands/staves, cups, swords, and pentacles/coins) as well as face cards (page, knight, queen, king), but it also has a series of cards known collectively as the Major Arcana, which run in a series with higher cards taking lower cards in a game.

The Fool is the first card of the Major Arcana, although typically it is not assigned a number (and if it is, the number is zero). Depending on how you play, it is either the lowest or highest card in the Major Arcana, just like the modern Joker, with which it shares a common ancestor. It's literally a wild card.

From an esoteric standpoint, the Major Arcana is seen as an allegorical quest known as the Fool's Journey, an endless cycle of self-discovery culminating in the Last Judgement and the perfection of The World, before starting over anew… all of which fits with Homura's arc. In divination, The Fool represents starting out on a journey, a carefree and simplistic innocence, and is depicted as a handsome young man on the road, blissfully ignorant as he strolls right off the edge of a cliff.

However, the meaning of Tarot cards changes depending on their orientation in space--a process known as "reversal," as this upside-down meaning is usually the exact opposite of their normal "upright" reading. So the Fool reversed is carelessness, vanity, over-the-top dramatics--a perfect description of Walpurgisnacht (who, as I've said, has earlier been described as The Fool) as well as Devil!Homura.

(As a bonus, Walpurgisnacht as The Fool also helps to explain her circus/performance motif, as fools were historically bards, entertainers… or clowns.)

All three of these shots are literally "blink and you'll miss 'em" fast--the only reason I picked up on them was because I was taking screenshots. However, as I've said before, I think they go a long way towards explaining the overall themes and symbolism of the movie despite likely not appearing in the film itself.

That is, of course, not the only Tarot reference in the trailer: "The Moon" also makes an overt appearance in Homura's sanctum early on.

The moon itself is a source of constant change, so the fact that Homura has placed a pin in it--literally stopping time--is unsurprising. Given that butterflies represent souls in Japanese culture, the pinned butterflies in the background are also evocative, especially if Homura has taken on Kyubey's role as a contractor, as seems likely from context.

Meanwhile, The Moon card in Tarot represents the deep unconscious and secrets brought to light. Things are not what they appear to be, and you must trust your instincts to see past the illusion. But is Homura really listening, or will her overconfidence cause her to misstep at a critical moment?

Given these Tarot references in the trailer, I expect we will see more in the full movie. The most obvious, of course, is The Devil, but I am more interested in the card the card immediately AFTER The Devil--The Tower, which depicts a tower being struck by lightning, and represents sudden calamity and irrevocable change. And guess what we see in the final shots of the trailer?

…let's just say I will be very surprised if Homura's tower survives the film intact.

[l-u-c-i-i-e]

Mirrors. (French Folk Traditions.)

The mirror shows much more than a simple reflection of oneself and the physical world.

History : There are traces indicating that since Antiquity, the mirror has been [considered as] a window onto the invisible and a medium for revealing the future. Of course, in the Middle Ages it was demonized. The "Évangile des Quenouilles" (15th century) says : "Whoever looks in the mirror at night will see the Evil, will not become more beautiful and will even become uglier."

In the 19th century the superstition continued :

In Brittany, the woman who looks in a mirror after sunset sees the devil over her shoulder.

In Champagne, you must not make faces when you look in a mirror, otherwise you will see the devil at the moment of your death.

-

The mirror also has the property of capturing the vital essence of the person who is reflected in it, and at the time of death, it is common in France that the mirrors of a house are all veiled so that the soul of the deceased does not find himself trapped there.

Divination Mirror : It was made of polished metal (bronze, copper, silver), it is one of the divinatory instruments commonly used by the Ancient Greeks.

Pausanias relates (in its "Description of Greece") that there was a fountain near the temple of Demeter, into which a mirror hung on a wire was lowered in order to read the chances of survival of a sick person. When the mirror came back up, you just had to look in it and either it showed a healthy face, which presaged a return to health, or an agonizing face which presaged an imminent death.

Magic Mirrors were very popular during the Renaissance : Catherine de Medici claimed to see the actions of her enemies there, and the magician John Dee had a mirror made of obsidian stone.

In Popular Magic, Abbot Thiers gives a very evocative example of what had to be done : one had to write with his own blood on his forehead during Twelfth Night, the names of the three Kings (Gaspard, Melchior and Balthazar) then then look in a mirror to see the circumstances and the day of our death.

In Gironde you have to consult your mirror at the stroke of midnight to find out the name of your future husband.

In Loire - Atlantique, every first Friday of the month, the mirror placed under the pillow reveals the face of the future spouse, or of an obstacle which announces an imminent death.

In Ille-et-Vilaine, on the eve of Candlemas, the girl must light two candles in front of her mirror before going to bed. At midnight she must then get out of bed with her right foot to see the reflection of her fiancé.

-

Seven years of misfortune : Of course breaking a mirror brings misfortune everywhere. In several regions of France, the clumsy person is sentenced to 7 years. Sometimes, in the same region, for some it also predicts imminent death.

The only exception concerns oval mirrors (according to Sebillot), which when broken predict a birth in the family.

---

[Extract re-adapted by me from the Dictionary of Mysterious France by M.C Delmas.]

[yume4evere]

Kuran kaname " Immortality "

The Tragedy of Immortality is embodied in the idea that vampires, despite their desire to survive and overcome time, can face psychological and emotional challenges due to their loss of renewed life and experience of infinite time. This experience can cause feelings of loneliness and loss, as immortals witness their loved ones go through the stages of life while they themselves remain constant.

He lived a lot, and even suffered a lot. It is as if the term “living” in his life’s dictionary had been mistakenly replaced by the term “suffering.” Eleven thousand years were divided between boredom and loneliness, between sadness and anger, then between madness and slavery to the monster inside him due to his thirst for blood.

Kaname was always kind but from the start , his concealment of his feelings by coldness, His hands were stained with the blood of the world, in which he sacrificed himself for the world to save his companions and his lover, so that humans could become strong again.

He was not the devil who sacrificed his comrades for his own good

When heaven and earth came together, he stood with the earth . Without a doubt, he was the person in his confusion before his fate, alone and always facing the unknown.

In the end, he accepted hell

They thought that the perfect boy, with his blackness, no longer deserved the title of “lover.”

To most people, Black-haired was nothing more than a “black-hearted” boy. He was just a 'hero turned villain' character. Some of them even see that when he tear his hearts out, was an achievement performed with complete transparency and duty.

After he woke up again, the universe was reflected differently in the mirror of his heart. Life was different, memories were scattered, its details were divided and remembered in secret.

As for me, his journey was not written in ink, but was bled and written in blood. The word “the dearest” was taken from the ribs of its letters with a thread, and stitched with the identity of “an assassin and traitor of pure blood” forever. There was not a day, and there will never be a time, when he touched an hour that will touch his happiness

Here we are, closer to the end than ever before. Let us hope that we will be given satisfactory and clear answers this time.

[pandorasboxofhorrors]

2024: #2-The Texas Will-o-Wisp

The legend of the will-o-wisp first appeared in British folklore. They are also known as as jack-o'-lanterns, friar's lanterns, and hinkypuns. In Latin they are named as ignis fatuus, meaning foolish flame. They appear as flickering lights in dark, forlorn areas that lure people to their doom. Will-o-wisps symbolize a hope or goal that leads you on, but it is impossible to reach - because the closer you seem to get to it - the further it seems moves away. Will-o-wisps have been integrated into our culture and have equivalents in other cultures like in Japan. They come up every so often and have been the subject of paintings. They are a rather formidable monster in the Dungeons & Dragons game. Even Miles Davis has a song named Will O’ the Wisp.

Folklore identifies will-o-wisps as ghostlike beings, evil fairies, or elementals. Related folk tales tend to involve a man named Will - or Jack - who is cursed to haunt the marshes carrying a light. A Dictionary of Fairies includes the tale of Will Smith, an evil blacksmith who is granted a second chance by Saint Peter at the gates of Heaven. He subsequently ends up leading such a terrible second life that he is cursed to wander the Earth eternally. On his endless wanderings he runs into the Devil. The Devil helps him, giving him a burning coal to carry for warmth and light. Wicked Will does not stop being evil at this point, and he then uses the burning coal to lure people into the marshes to their doom.

Surprise: will-o-wisps are a real phenomenon. Balls of wandering light in forlorn areas do exist. People have seen them, and they have been studied. There are multiple scientific explanations for the existence of will-o-wisps. The primary explanation is bioluminescence, caused by organic decay. Another explanation is the piezoelectric effect. Will-o-wisps are sometimes seen in mountainous areas containing quartz. Thermal expansion causes quartz to expand during the day and contract at night. This expansion and contraction of minerals releases voltage as a ball lightning effect.

In the U.S. it has been known for 140 years that will-o-wisps can be found near Marfa, Texas. In 1883 a young cowboy, Robert Ellison, saw a flickering light while he was driving cattle through the Paisano Pass. He wondered if it was an Indian campfire, and settlers told him they often saw the lights there. So Cowboy Bob moseyed on over and investigated, but he never found any ashes or evidence of a campsite. This was the first known will-o-wisp sighting in the U.S. and the first sighting of the Marfa Lights. They have been seen ever since, probably always have been there. But what are they really, fact or fiction?

Twenty years ago college students spent four days studying the Marfa Lights, and they determined the phenomenon was caused by reflected car headlights. In response to this, five years later, a retired aerospace engineer conducted an extensive study on the Marfa Lights. James Bunnell set up a series of cameras studying the Marfa Lights region, and he ruled out all headlight reflections. He came to the conclusion that 97% of the sightings can be attributed to normal causes like flashlights, fires, and fakes. But he did find forty genuine Marfa Lights demonstrating odd and inexplicable behavior…Below is a close up photo of one - with tentacles…

The Marfa Lights were covered on the tv series, Unsolved Mysteries, and I saw that episode. That made me travel across the country on a road trip to Marfa, Texas to see these phantom lights. It was close to midnight when I and two others arrived at the correct location identified by the locals. It was a very desolate area, with one car passing down the road every 45 minutes. You could see about ten miles in every direction, and there was nothing around. I spent an hour at this location, and I most definitely saw the Marfa Lights…

I saw a strange greenish-blue light from about 2,000 ft away that changed its shape sometimes as if it was deflating. It changed colors a bit, and one of my party was compelled to go directly to where we saw the light. We would have to climb an old barbed wire fence in the dark, so that effort was quickly abandoned. We then watched it through binoculars, but if we approached the fence, it seemed to move. Every time we looked at it, it seemed to react to us watching it. It looked like a ghostly flickering ball, and it moved around, up, down, and all over the place - and sure seemed intelligent. This was very unnerving for some of us on this expedition. There was not anyone hiding out in this flat wasteland hoaxing this, there were no roads near where we saw the light, no power lines, no buildings, no cars, and the nearest town was 10-15 miles away. There was no explanation.

What was particularly creepy was how it seemed to react to us being there. We felt – we suspected – as if there was an “intelligence” behind this will-o-wisp. It reacted to us and moved when we moved, like it could see us – and maybe even read our minds… A very creepy feeling. H.P. Lovecraft would probably say that it featured “a cold and alien intelligence.” Before leaving, in the darkness, I noticed that along the road were hundreds of unfamiliar and distinctive small rocks. I picked up some of these rocks for momentos and put them in a bag. Weeks later after this trip I opened the bag and examined the rocks. What I discovered by looking at the rocks was disturbing. Many of what I thought were rocks were actually bones and bit of bones. There was even a small partial skull. Some of these bones appeared to be decades old. I remembered that along the road these rocks were everywhere – like white gravel along the road, except that they were bones, not gravel, all sizes and shapes like something out there was eating the animals for eons…

[rhetoricandlogic]

Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead Is a Satisfying Start to K.J. Parker’s New Trilogy

Matthew Keeley Tue Oct 31, 2023 2:30pm

K. J. Parker, the prolific pseudonym of British comic novelist Tom Holt, is one of the most enjoyable fantasists working today, provided you have a taste for the sardonic, a dislike for the sentimental, and an unhealthy skepticism about human nature. His latest novel, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, may not be his most ambitious, but it offers substantial entertainment.

In The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce defined a cynic as “A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.” In his play Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde has Lord Darlington opine that a cynic is a “man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” In K.J. Parker’s novels, the cynics have inherited the earth. There are occasional non-cynical characters in Parker’s novels, but they tend to have bit roles. And while they may walk on confidently, they rarely exit the scene on their own power. More often than not, the hapless innocents and luckless idealists are quickly stabbed, bludgeoned, or otherwise dispatched, then discreetly dragged offstage.

Saevus Corax (not his given name) might not know the price of everything, but he’s an adept judge of military hardware. Corax, which I remind all the non-Classicists is Latin for “raven,” leads a company of battlefield salvagers. Like his namesake bird, Corax swoops down to the battlefield after hostilities have ceased. He and his men strip corpses of clothes and armor, retrieve and refletch used arrows, collect swords and spears, and finally tidy up the place by burning the bodies. They also tend to the wounded. It’s not humanitarian so much as pragmatic: Life may be cheap in Corax’s world, but the various armies will still pay good money to have a soldier back on their feet and back in the fray.

Corax is a tad sensitive about his real identity: In the first chapter of the novel, he fatally poisons an injured soldier who was unfortunate enough to know who the salvager used to be and stupid enough to trumpet the fact. Without delving too deep into the plot, Corax’s real identity is eventually discovered, and he is forced to travel to Sirupat, the geopolitical flashpoint of his world. Although the island has few inhabitants, little arable land, and less culture, it’s also the source of much of the world’s gold. Multiple nations, backed by two rival banks, are converging on the island, and Corax manufactures ploy after desperate ploy in an attempt to stave off a world-wide war.

Although Corax personally believes that “a convincing lie improves on bleak, bare fact,” in his capacity as narrator, he is scrupulously honest about his general lack of scruples. Running from his past invariably lands Corax in physical peril and moral jeopardy. He reflects that “a good man would have reached the point where he stopped running, held his hands up and offered his throat to the knife,” but Corax is a man of few illusions and could never label himself good.

All this might sound grim, and it occasionally is, but Parker’s wry tone and mordant humor ensure that Saveus’s adventures are never dreary. I laughed, I winced, and I read on. Parker’s world resembles ours in several ways; it’s clear that the vanished Robur Empire, for example, dominated Corax’s continent the way the Roman Empire ruled Europe, and their language was, more or less, Latin. So it’s perhaps less jarring than you might expect to encounter one of Parker’s “Earthisms.” Here is the narrator’s sometime friend Ekkehard on the importance of appealing to emotion:

“Oh, yes. Cheering and stamping and death before slavery, the whole nine yards. Where you always go wrong is trying to persuade people with facts and arguments. It’s why you can only write comedy. What gets people going is stuff that doesn’t mean shit but sounds great. Blood, toil, tears and sweat. I have a dream. Drain the swamp. Yes, we can. It’s the sound of the words and the cadences. You never managed to get that right.”

The next paragraph has what I take to be a Billy Wilder joke, and similar references are studded throughout. These asides may break some readers’ immersion; others, like me, will have a chuckle and continue blithely on. Parker can be serious indeed when he wants to be, but he’s never self-serious.

By the bloated standards of fantasy in 2023, this book, just 350 pages, almost qualifies as a novella. I’m all for concision, but I did wish that Parker had devoted a little more time to his secondary characters. Only two really stand out: Ekkehard, a blowhard actor and serial betrayer, and Stauracia, a fellow rogue who seems destined to be Saevus’s great love, his greatest enemy, or both. Other characters, from the functionaries of Sipurat to Corax’s grotesque fellow salvagers, one of whom collects pickled relics of dead warriors, are more props than they are people. Similarly, although Parker is famous for his detailed account of how things work, from markets to metallurgy to fencing, a few dramatic naval engagements in which outnumbered forces achieve stunning victories are sped through and unconvincingly glossed over. But these are small quibbles and, as Corax points out, “nobody’s perfect.”

Although Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead has a perfectly satisfying ending, it’s the first book in a trilogy. Our itinerant arms dealer’s adventures continue next month with Saevus Corax Conquers the Castle and conclude in December with Saevus Corax Gets Away with Murder. I look forward to reading the rest of his tale. Sometimes cynics are the best company.

[theblogofruth]

"The Eminence." From the Book of Ruth 2: 14-18.

A hint of a clue in Torah and Tanakh interpretation comes by proper understanding of the use of pronouns. The Supreme Self identifies as male "He" and also "She", this is how the Hebrew language works. Awareness of how the One True Transparent Supreme Being who identifies as transgender undergoes recognition of Himself through the Shule, the evolutionary stages of the Seven Days is tantamount to knowing what happens in the rest of the religion.

This explains the existence of the Tanakh, "the perpetual river of God's Attributes. God is an infinitely dispersed rapturous being, but at the same time, we know there are individual beings of all sorts at play beneath His Firmament. There are angels of all sorts, gods, devils, and organisms of every size including man. The Mishnah says we exist in continuity with each other like the cells in a honeycomb exist with a hive. The Tanakh (including the Torah) is the dictionary of the cells of God's pluripotent Self.

So when a Mishnah begins "he" or "she" it refers both to the actual persona of the prophet and also to the journey of the Self in one of its many bodies as it travels through the Shule.

The Book of Ruth, however changes the rules as now it says God cannot complete the Shule in any form by Himself. Without a hunk of burning love, God mourns and His full story remains unknown even to Him.

In the opening of the following tract, He, God, disguised as Boaz sits down with she and over roasted grain, which is forbidden, as it's no good unless it is milled into flour and then it will not rise, meaning God tells Ruth the same things over and over, but nothing changes.

Then He sends her among the sheaves, the men who are standing up, schwing! men who are in the same stubborn frame of mind as she, and they hook up.

Raw grain is also no good as it becomes a paste when milled and then cakes up the machine. The only thing that works from "farm to table" with grain products is a proper harvest, milling, mixing, rising, and baking. Matriomonial relationships are the same way.

The urge calling one to insemination, either the giving or receiving thereof is very confusing to man from the onset. The Torah names it as the root cause of all wickedness except ye become enlightened to the level of the Fifth Day, where the advantages of agriculture and farming, an highly collaborative effort become readily apparent. Failure at an attempt to achieve the Fifth Day results in what is called an ephah, a "darkness, a wickedness."

The only way out of an ephah of darkness is eminence, to go up:

"The root עוף ('up) reflects the idea that in nature wings arose not with the objective to fly but rather with the objective to protect. Creatures that used their arms to protect their young attained an advantage over creatures that didn't, and eventually discovered that their desire to protect their young gave them the ability to fly. This is also the reason why angels have wings; not to fly with but to protect with.

The verb עוף ('up) essentially means to use wings. Obviously this results in our verb to mostly mean to fly or fly away, but once it means to be dark (which is what happens when wings cover chicks).

Noun עוף ('op) denotes creatures that have wings: birds and insects. Noun עפעף ('ap'ap) means eyelid; the "wing" that covers the eye and thus causes darkness. Noun עיפה ('epa) means darkness. Nouns מועף (mu'ap), מועף (ma'up) and תעפה (teupa) mean gloom.

Verbs עיף ('ip) and יעף (ya'ep) mean to faint, or "go dark" in a consciousness sort of way. Adjective עיף ('ayep) means faint or exhausted. Adjective יעף (ya'ep) means weary of faint. Noun יעף (ye'ap) means weariness or faintness.

An identical but unused verb יעף (ya'ep) exists in cognate languages with the meaning of to ascend, and note that creatures that protect their young don't merely end up being able to rise up into the sky, but more importantly, they also ascend on a scale of success and prominence. It's no coincidence that birds are revered in all cultures. The derived noun תועפה (to'apa) does occur in the Bible and means eminence."

14 When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 

15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a] 

18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

Ruth's "the Assistant Friend's" second chance at love did not take place that particular day, because she was a big huge slut. Perhaps she was too friendly and too helpful in her previous life and that is what killed her first husband.

The wings needed for eminence, the cure for slut sainthood are found in the Values in Gematria:

v. 14: She sat down. Sheaves, men who are ready for the process of the Shule stand, but Ruth sat down. She was supposed to hang out with the working girls but remained on the farm. This was a mistake. The Number is 8036, fegu, "the hit, the hurt."

Ruth got some bad news; her understanding of how marriages work was not sufficient and she was not improving.

v. 15-16: She got up to glean. She decided to try her luck, the boner lads got excited. So yes or no to trying our luck...? How else do you do it? The Number is 9336, תאגד, tagged, "unite, syndicate, merge, and organize." This again refers to the Fifth Day when God named the animals.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

After the Flood in Noach recedes and the surface of the world becomes capable of supporting life, God tells the animals one more time to be fruitful and multiply. Without them we are FUCKED, so it makes sense literally and figuratively that the human race should understand its future has always been intertwined with nature, including human nature which requires proper mating, courtship, housing, economy and ecology.

The lesson is as I said in another frame, "we can make mistakes but we cannot be wicked." The mistakes cannot be earth shattering or numerous or God will allow luck to have us. And that is not good.

v. 17: Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. She was a slut whore all day long and returned home covered in spew. She incurred an ephah. :(. The Number is 4705, דז‎אֶפֶסה‎, םזאֶפֶסה, mazapsa, "from this, you learn."

v. 18: She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. The Number is 10604, יואֶפֶסד, "reset, or you will be lost."

We have made too many mistakes and they are too grand in scope, to respond to all at once, but respond to them we can and we must. Seniority counts in the management and resolution of the troubles facing the human race and it plays a huge role in second chances. Second chances cannot be left to the winds of fortune buy to the elegance and elevation of an experienced intellect.

The first time is the experiment, the second "the assistant vision" according to the Torah must result in success. This is the lesson and also the truth called Ruth. Male or female all Jews need to learn to be just like her.

[libraryben]

Academic Keywords is a witty, informed, and sometimes merciless assessment of today's campus, an increasingly corporatized institution that may have bitten off more than its administration is ready to chew. Cary Nelson and Steve Watt use the format of a dictionary to present stories and reflections on some of the most pressing issues affecting higher education in America. From the haphazard treatment of graduate students to the use and abuse of faculty (as well as abuses commited by faculty), Nelson and Watt present a compelling and, at times, enraging report on the state of the campus.

[frimleyblogger]

The Devil’s Dictionary (13)

The Devil’s Dictionary (13) - Ambrose Bierce reflects on referenda, religion and repentance

I like to think that I am rational, although having read Ambrose Bierce’s definition in his The Devil’s Dictionary, first published in book form in 1906, I may have to reconsider. He calls it “devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience, and reflection”. To reason is “to weigh probabilities in the scales of desire” and as a noun reason is “the propensitate of prejudice”, while…

[suffering-with-fiery]

Alright! It's time for the long awaited Ruka/Vita theory!

If you want something a little more in depth then there's an extremely amazing and well-made theory HERE by Lordarash1, who actually also did some rune translations! Their theory helped me understand a few things, so thanks :) There's also another extremely lovely theory I will be referencing by the user Pisolero2314 on YouTube, you frequently comments their theories on the Color Series songs!

Without further ado, let's get on with it.

Warnings for: mentions of death

Ruka's name, 月香, has a meaning. 月 means moon, and 香 means fragrance or pleasant smell or scent. (thank you wooma discord for this one you're very cool)

The meaning behind Ruka's name is really reflected in her design. Her dress has a lot of symbolism, such as the phases of the moon along the bottom of her dress, and a pulse along her sleeve that represent her desire to die (Lordarashi1)

Ruka's hands are Christian hand signs for [left] "I am speaking" and [right] "be silent and listen" (Pistolero2314)

Her demon is bat-like, with only one eye in motion and the other blacked out. Pistolero2314 mentioned that this could mean Ruka has a prosthetic eye, which would explain why ink only comes out of one of her eyes.

Bats can represent rebirth, but they can also see in the dark (echolocation, really, but we're theorizing here ok) Ruka seems to be surrounded by darkness, yet still makes it through to a degree. This is the more likely reason for a bat being her demon. (Pistero2314)

In the lyrics if the song, a repeating line is "Dear my Diablo" Diablo means Demon in Spanish.

Another line is "with an extreme, reem, reeem diminuendo" A diminuendo is "A directive to a performer to smoothly decrease the volume of the specific passage of a composition." Otherwise known as a decresendo (I was in music like half my life trust me ok) This likely represents her desire to fade away and die.

"I don't want to be possessed by a demon." Despite this line, she seems to be conversing with a demon. At one point, the screen even flashes red. Perhaps Sinfan is involved?

"Steps to a hidden life, a dry and parched anima." Anima, according to Google Dictionary, means "The soul, especially the irrational part of the soul as distinguished from the rational mind."

"Recognizing myself as wrong is a sign that the devil has controlled me."

"I can't stop even with my silly melecholy." According to Google Dictionary, melancholy means "a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause." Ruka seems to find her sadness is worth nothing, and seems to be berating herself for feeling it.

"I'm just living so deceptively, so, please..." Perhaps Ruka falsley presents herself as a happy person?

"I'm just so sick of everything! I want someone to replace me, and after that, I don't know, so please-!" She wants to be replaced, yet she doesn't want to die, proven by the line "Find the time to die, find it. But I don't want to be dead." and doesn't want to be possessed by a demon.

Lets move onto the runes.

There are three sets of runes that appear, along with Roman numerals. While I won't be going into the Roman numerals, the person who translate the runes has.

The runes translate to "God didn’t save me |Until this curse breakers | Never wake up"

The runes in front translate to "Darkness is warping powerand "

And the ones in the back translate to "Atone for people’s sins"

The runes were translate by Lordarash1. They did an amazing job on it!

While I personally am not all too sure what the runes mean, I can make a vague guess to maybe Ruka takes responsibility for the others sins?

I'm not sure how Vita and the other songs are related, and when I do more research, I'll be sure to expand on this theory more.

Thabk you for reading, I know this one was a lot shorter than my others. I'll update it as I collect more research and link the songs.

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Sources/references:

Pistolero2314

Lordarash1

Google Dictionary

Ms. K/Tackmyn Y

[legend-collection]

Puck/Robin Goodfellow

Puck may also be called Robin Goodfellow or Hobgoblin, in which Hob may substitute for Rob or Robin. The name Robin is Middle English in origin, deriving from Old French Robin, the pet form for the name Robert. Similar to the use of "the good folk" in describing fairies, it reflected a degree of wishful thinking and an attempt to appease the fairies, recognizing their fondness of flattery despite their mischievous nature.

The earliest reference to "Robin Goodfellow" cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1531. Anthony Munday mentions Robin Goodfellow in his play The Two Italian Gentlemen, 1584, and he appears in Skialtheia, or a Shadowe of Truth in 1598. William Shakespeare may have had access to the manuscript of Lewes Lewkenor's translation of The Spanish Mandevile of Miracles, or, The Garden of Curious Flowers (1600), a translation of Antonio de Torquemada's Jardin Flores Curiosas. The following passage from The Spanish Mandeville discusses the mischievous spirits:

Luduvico: I pray you let me somewhat understand your opinion as concerning Robingoodfellowes and Hobgoblins, which are said to be so common, that there is scarcely any man but will tell you one tale or other of them, of which for my own part, I believe none, but do make reckoning that every man forgeth herein, what pleaseth him.

Antonio: Many of them without doubt are forged, and many also true, for these kinds of Spirits are more familiar and domestical than the others, and for some causes to us unknown, abide in one place, more than in another, so that some never almost depart from some particular houses, as though they were their proper mansions, making in them sundry noises, rumours, mockeries, gawdes and jests, without doing any harm at all: and though I am not myself witness thereof, yet I have heard many persons of credit affirm that they have heard them play as it were on Gyterns & Jews Harps, and ring Bells, and that they answer to those that call them, and speak with certain signs, laughters and merry gestures, so that those of the house come at last to be so familiar and well acquainted with them that they fear them not at all. But in truth, as I said before, if they had free power to put in practice their malicious desire, we should find these pranks of theirs, not to be jests, but earnest indeed, tending to the destruction of both our body and soul, but as I told you before, this power of theirs is so restrained and tied, that they can pass no farther than to jests and gawdes: and if they do any harm or hurt at all, it is certain very little, as by experience we daily see.

After Meyerbeer's successful opera Robert le Diable (1831), neo-medievalists and occultists began to apply the name Robin Goodfellow to the Devil, with appropriately extravagant imagery.

Puck might do minor housework, quick fine needlework or butter-churning, which could be undone in a moment by his knavish tricks if displeased. A domestic spirit, he would assist housewives with their chores, in expectation of an offering of white bread and milk. If this were neglected he would steal that which he believed was owed.

Pucks are also known to be inherently solitary creatures.

[kaminohana]

the meme man full analysis

Yeehaw here we go. Analysis of Mikoto Kayano’s video and song, along with some theories about the many themes and symbols in the video. Note: If there’s any other supplemental material for him out there, I haven’t read it. This is just an analysis with the music video we were given. If I happen to miss stuff that was mentioned before, I may talk about it in another post lmao

I was SUPER invested in this video as I watched it and soon realized “Oh shit, I think Mikoto’s plural”. Cuz, you know, I’m plural too (not disclosing what kind) and it felt SO good to see some actual parallels to stuff I go through- though of course not to Mikoto’s degree.

That said, I feel I should make a disclaimer in passing: yes, portraying your only plural character as homicidal ain’t the best representation. But, you know, we’ve seen other cases like that in Milgram so I’m just gonna leave it at that. Personally, I’m not that offended because the execution is SO top-notch. Though, hey, I totally understand how this can be very frustrating to other systems to see plurality depicted in such an unhealthy light- if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.

Keep in mind the point of the Milgram series is to make you uncomfortable in so quickly incriminating someone; if you’re hesitating to determine someone as guilty, hey, that’s probably intended and good! It’s about personal decision, so I’m not going to judge you one way or the other in voting. I just find it fascinating how these videos can put us in such conflict. This is all just my own perspective, BTW, so if you disagree with some of these points, good! I’m just hoping to share my thoughts since I can make a lot of connections. I’m by no means an expert in plurality or tarot, I just have some background in both and decided to try my hand at this analysis, so I really don’t the final say on what’s going on in the video.

Now, onto the actual video analysis.

I’m sticking with the basic idea that Mikoto is split into two parts; his more loveable, gentler side, which I referred to in another post as Softboy Mikoto, and the more violent side which may be acting as a catharsis to his frustrations. I referred to this side previously as the Devil alter, as he is depicted with the Devil major arcana tarot card. I can see how this could be taken badly, so for now I’m just going to refer to him as the shadow alter. There are many themes of duality in the video, most commonly with the symbol of the half moon which appears so many times. Shadow of the moon etc etc. I’ll be bringing this up several times as I analyze the lyrics. I’ll be breaking down the lyrics as evidence to support the idea that Mikoto is plural, and to show how softboy Mikoto (and shadow alter Mikoto) view this particular relationship and how this culminates in murder. Sometimes I refer to Mikoto (as a whole), softboy Mikoto, or shadow alter Mikoto depending on what I’m trying to describe in the below.

First piece: the title. MeMe. Me x2. A dead giveaway, like Umbilical. Also, it can be a meme, which is interesting taking the definition of the word meme in this context: “an element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by imitation or other nongenetic means” (Oxford Dictionaries).  HMMMM. I know memes are generally within the context of a community, but I think it’s interesting to actually apply this to Mikoto. What exactly is being passed on? Could we argue that Mikoto’s frustrations from one of his parts is being passed on to the other? Interesting to think about, though it may not be relevant.

Going into the lyrics:

So from here I’m guessing there was a point in Mikoto’s life where his plurality was not an issue; or, potentially, there was a time before his split. These were the good times.

Playing dead vs. being alive – representing duality. May refer to how, when one side has their way, the other is locked away in the headspace with no control, thus feeling like being dead. In the context of “if only”, perhaps he’s wishing that he just didn’t do anything if only to prevent things from getting this far.

“If” I could end- I believe Mikoto (particularly softboy Mikoto) is saying “Hey, I have no control over my other side. If I did, would things still be the same? Would I still be ‘letting’ this happen?”

“Keep it” and “hide it away” I feel like are both representative of his shadow alter and of the desires that alter represents. Many words related to destruction are tied to this alter, so it could be seen as Mikoto trying to hide those urges as well.

“’I’ will save ‘me’”- this is a very interesting line that I think very well encapsulates the shadow alter’s initial motives; he’s saying “hey, I’m going to take care of us,” I believe to try and convince softboy Mikoto to let him out. As far as if softboy Mikoto can actually “let” him out is TOTALLY up for debate.

Part of the reason I refer to the other alter as softboy Mikoto is because there are softer words I notice used by him in the song; here’s I’m seeing “snuggle”, so I think this side of him is more vulnerable and soft.

SWITCH, shake up that brain- wow couldn’t be any more obvious here

This is where the chorus starts. This I think is from softboy Mikoto’s perspective, PARTICULARLY when he’s trapped in the headspace. There are many forms of plurality IRL in which alters cannot simultaneously front, so one or more are “pushed” back into the headspace. This very act occurs several times throughout the song in the weird minimalist vaporwave shadow realm room, where the tarot cards are. During this time, we can assume that is when the shadow alter is fronting. Softboy Mikoto slowly starts to become more helpless and fearful in this space as the song goes on, and this is where he makes his celtic cross tarot spread that quite frankly defines the whole song. I discussed that in my other post.

Another facet of plurality that is applied here is amnesia, which is common, especially when alters are pushed back to the headspace. Within the headspace, there may be a lack of awareness to the outside world, which Mikoto seems to express in his confused sentiments like the above (in the video, he is also scratching his head, which as a gesture can represent being confused). “Why am I here?” can act as a double entendre, both referring to “Why have I suddenly been pushed to this headspace?” as well as the whole point of Milgram- “Why am I in prison?”. He may not be aware of exactly what he did, hence why he feels it’s a mistake. He may be experiencing amnesia of what his shadow alter is doing, so he doesn’t even know what crime he committed. However, he at least has enough awareness to tell someone else is present in his body doing things, so he begs the viewer “Hey, just watch whatever my body is doing and it’ll all eventually make sense. I don’t have access to this information, but you do.” I thought this was an interesting fourth wall break.

The truth revealing itself could also be the truth coming to light from the particular tarot reading he does in the headspace; note that the cards only seem to be appear in this place and not in the outside world. So softboy Mikoto is trying to figure out what’s going on this way. If he can’t figure it out himself, maybe the cards can give him some direction.

Another duality- “I won’t forgive you if you reveal the truth” vs. “However I know I’m right when I say I’m innocent”. Or he could be right about something else.

I’m wondering if the breaking here is just reflecting the shadow alter or is softboy Mikoto actually wishing he could end the shadow alter. He at least wants things to change; the way things are right now is not something he’s okay with. Though, it sounds like he isn’t getting help with this and has no idea if he can even arrest full control again. It seems at this point, this has been going on for a while so he’s stopped trying.

In the video, the shadow alter is doing a GREAT job hiding the evidence; while of course probably just trying to not get caught, the shadow alter may also be trying to hide his crime from softboy Mikoto so he’s none the wiser.

He’s hoping he can be rid of the shadow alter side, but I think he also is dumping all his difficult feelings onto the shadow alter. Maybe he feels its some sort of release, even if he can’t control it, so he feels a lot of guilt over the shadow alter’s existence, even though that alter is serving a purpose as a conduit for those emotions.

I really really think though that there IS some connection between softboy Mikoto and shadow alter Mikoto. Maybe they are both truly aware of each other, hence the scene where they are viewing each other through the mirror. I think here, softboy Mikoto might be admitting that it feels good to let the shadow alter out, like a hug. The “minus energy” probably refers to the shadow alter.

“Maybe it’s okay that we’re separated like this?” he wonders. There seems to be a sense of feeling alive at least that is conveyed through the shadow alter.

SPLIT IN HALF- yeah, again, pretty encompassing.

In the video, I think this is when we have a switch, as Mikoto’s expression changes in the outside world mirror.

The chorus again, softboy Mikoto is shoved into the vaporwave shadow realm headspace. He’s asking the audience to investigate him here, but I also like to joke that he’s like “uwu look at me I could never harm anybody, pwease let me out”, which may be true only so far as softboy Mikoto is out.

I wonder if in “I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me” is directed at the shadow alter instead of the audience? Like softboy Mikoto is saying “I swear to god if you murdered someone im gonna be so pissed, but I also already kinda know it’s happening.” Just another take.

In the video, softboy Mikoto is THROWN into the headspace, where he is gifted with just one hint of what’s going on: The Devil tarot card.

You DARE accuse Miette of murder? Oh! 1000 years jail for Milgram viewer!

Now the vaporwave space starts to turn into a bloody mess; perhaps now softboy Mikoto is starting to put two and two together.

“Hurting it, holding it down, it doesn’t change anything, does it”- I definitely understand this being plural, like if your alters are causing problems, you may try and chastise them, or you may try and lock them away deep inside, but that often doesn’t stop them from existing. It’s really cool how that idea is present here. Like YES that’s how it is quite often. So even if softboy Mikoto TRIES to smother or accuse his shadow alter, that’s not going to change anything.

It being the same anywhere he goes makes me think he’s been putting up with this for a long time, that it’s not about what environment he’s in because his shadow alter is with him everywhere he goes.

“It’s like what’s wrong isn’t wrong”- may be referring to multiple things:

-the shadow alter having a different morality (hence why murder is okay for him, his indulgence in smokes and…redbull/alcohol, etc)

-OR, how softboy Mikoto’s amnesia isn’t letting him understand the full picture so everything is okay when he’s out fronting (shadow alter cleaned the place up and stuff, perhaps hiding all evidence of murder)

-“I’m already the fake one”- a very common sentiment for plural folks, worrying if you as an alter aren’t “the original” or if you’re not actually split and it’s something you’re making up, etc. I think softboy Mikoto is having these feelings. Poor boy, wish we could get you some therapy instead :/ (all of Milgram would be very different if only most of these people could get therapy, let’s be honest)

Now, what’s special here is that BOTH alters are in the headpace, with shadow alter Mikoto looming ominously behind softboy Mikoto.

During this next instrumental, just a side note: we see what’s going on through security footage. The security cameras reflecting a third person perspective is kind of neat in context of pluralism, where someone else fronting can feel like a third person awareness to another alter. I may be thinking too much into this one, but it’s a fun connection.

Another thing many plural folk go through: DISSOCIATION FROM REALITY. Ah yes, my good friend dissociation. Especially like in Mikoto’s case, where the consequences of being split have drastic consequences, he could be running away from the truth which may always be partially concealed to him. Something’s VERY wrong, he knows this for sure, and it may be at this point he really realizes “Oh shit. I just committed murder.” But instead of taking responsibility in any way, he’s trying to imagine that it’s a fabricated reality. I’m not going to say if this makes him bad or not, but it is a known coping mechanism.

I know I mention that the bad habits of smoking and drinking may be the shadow alters habits, but they could also be softboy Mikoto’s own methods of escapism, which definitely fits with the above lyrics. “I need to wake up soon”- but he still realizes that he’s going to have to face the harsh truth of reality soon.

Now this point indicates a marked change in softboy Mikoto and shadow alter Mikoto’s relationship: I believe there may be a time when softboy Mikoto expects to come back out to the front, but now the shadow alter is starting to take over fully and keep softboy Mikoto locked inside. This is supported by the Outcome card in his celtic cross spread being The Devil. Not only does this card have its own meanings, but here it may mean that the more violent side of him takes over.

Again, don’t know if he’s talking to the audience or his shadow alter in never forgiving this outcome. I believe softboy Mikoto does have a clearer morality in that murder is NOT okay, and if he were to fully acknowledge that he as a whole was capable of that, I think he’d break down. So he’s like “it better NOT be true” because he doesn’t know how he’d be able to deal with that.

Interesting in the video is when Mikoto snaps and the headspace turns red again; I would think this is when the shadow alter is entering the scene and taking over. The snap here is symbolic of the switch.

Now presumably softboy Mikoto is like “PWEASE WET ME OUT MISTEW OBAMA”, which, again with the double meaning, can refer to letting him out of the vaporwave shadow realm headspace OR letting him out of prison. Both apply.

“That it’s a lie

That I’m right”- a nice duality here. Mikoto is having difficulty separating the truth from reality.

Also NOW he is forgiving. Forgiveness vs not forgiveness (grudge)

I think it’s gotten so bad that he’s like “okay fine. Fine if I committed murder, fine if you’re accusing me of murder, but please help me understand what’s going on. Let me out”. Maybe he’ll forgive the shadow alter if only he fesses up to the murder.

Of note for the scene however is that shadow alter Mikoto is holding up The Fool card, which represents softboy Mikoto in this case. “I’m right” may be the shadow alter’s sentiment.

-THE CARDS AT THE END-

Then, all the cards show up in more detail, all depicting weapons instead of the standard minor arcana that you might see in your standard Rider Waite tarot deck (which these are based off of). The Wands are baseball bats, the Swords are kitchen knives, the Cups are…poison cans? Acid? The Pentacles are….records but I can see these being rotary saws if you squint. The Wheel of Fortune has car wheels with a snake….GTA time baby (the snake being hidden danger, the devil’s temptation, etc). The chariot is a really weird motorcycle death machine. I was thinking how like, people would drag people along behind them while driving a vehicle as a method of torture so there is that.

Now we see some cards not in the original spread- I think this represents shadow alter Mikoto inserting himself into the headspace and changing things to fit his goals. We see a couple placed in the original spread, but some don’t and are just free-floating, but you’ll see below we have enough context to decipher their meaning.

First, it’s the Page of Pentacles, which has taken over the position of the 7 of swords as the current challenge affecting the issue. This card indicates “Manifestation, financial opportunity, skill development”. I think this means the shadow alter is finally learning to take full control.

Then we see the reverse 2 of swords, which represents “Indecision, confusion, information overload, stalemate”. This could probably represent softboy Mikoto not suddenly understanding why the shadow alter is ALSO in the headspace. Maybe his dual presence in the outside world AND the headspace is indicative of exactly when he learned to take full control. This was NOT in Mikoto’s original spread.

Wheel of Fortune again, which was in the original spread. “Bad luck, negative external forces, out of control”. Yup, that confirms it.

Next, the Five of Swords from the original spread comes up. “Conflict, tension, loss.png, defeat, win at all costs, betrayal”. Softboy Mikoto is now being completely taken over. There is a facedown card on the chair. This might be the one that reads as Death later, so it may be that softboy Mikoto is…KILLED OFF?

Cup of Ace, “Love, compassion, creativity, overwhelming emotion”. I think this one is also meant to represent softboy Mikoto, but it could be that the shadow alter sees it as an act of mercy to take full control for softboy Mikoto. Maybe he feels his alter can’t handle reality and he’s going to take over full time. Or more likely he just has ulterior motives.

Reverse King of Cups. “emotional manipulation, moodiness, volatility”. Softboy Mikoto was lead along, thinking it was okay to leave things to the shadow alter or to exist alongside him. Now we see that isn’t a viable solution.

Reverse Five of Wands. “conflict avoidance, diversity, agreeing to disagree”.  I went over this more in the other post.

Chariot is the last one, WHICH ALSO WAS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL SPREAD. “Control, willpower, success, action, determination”. The shadow alter Mikoto has taken full control. Which is very quickly followed by…

Shadow alter Mikoto drawing Death. Also not in the original spread. Perhaps effectively “killing off” softboy Mikoto and betraying him.

Concluding Thoughts.

Now, I understand I do take most of these lyrics from softboy Mikoto’s perspective, but I’m sure there’s a layer of deception added on by his shadow alter. The Challenge card of the 7 of swords did represent betrayal. So softboy Mikoto’s only context into what’s going on outside may be his headspace tarot reading. If you want to question some of the lyrics, or even think one of the alters is lying, that would add SO much to the complexity of the situation, and I wouldn’t put it past the Milgram team to add something like that.

Common Themes/Symbols:

The mirror, both in the headspace and in the outside world bathroom

The Hanged Man- in a painting in the headspace and on Mikoto’s shirt. Indicative of being wrongly accused or martyred. Softboy Mikoto is likely represented with this, as well as The Fool. The Fool painting probably is there to show that he doesn’t know any better, that he is without the knowledge of what his shadow alter is doing (or doesn’t believe he’s doing anything wrong)

The Half Moon- a light side and a dark side. Pretty self-explanatory. Symbolically, it can also represent life and death. NICE.

Sorry if the conclusions end up being kind of vague. That’s the way a lot of this video is; what’s really going on, as it usually is, is up to viewer interpretation at this stage. I was just hoping to provide a bit of context into the images in the video, plural life, and narrator interpretation. I just really love this video and after this full analysis hope others can at least appreciate the work that went into it.

[l-u-c-i-i-e]

[The Mirror] /French Folk Traditions

Tenacious belief everywhere in France even today that the mirror absorbs vital energy, so the mirrors are covered during a death; and that breaking it brings misfortune and desolation.

Formerly made of polished metal (bronze, copper, silver), the Greeks named this divinatory art "catoptromancy" (from "katoptron", "mirror") and Pausanias (…) tells that there was a fountain in Achaia, in which a mirror hanging from a thread was lowered in order to read a patient's chances of survival. When one went up the mirror, and according to the content of the reflection it presaged health or a future death.

Abbot Thiers gives an example of the use of the divinatory mirror in popular magic : "It will be necessary to write with its own blood on its forehead, the name of the three Kings, and the hour of our death will be written on the first mirror in which we will look at ourselves."

Magic mirrors, metallic or crystal, are used by magicians of the Middle Ages, but they will be especially in vogue during the Renaissance. Catherine de Medici claimed to see the actions of her enemies there and the obsidian stone of the magician John Dee is in the British Museum in London.

In the 19th century, Colin de Plancy in his Infernal Dictionary describes sorcerers who "bring the devil into a large mirror so that he shows the past, the present, the future."

Young girls must consult their mirror in total darkness, after having placed it on a cushion, at the first stroke of midnight, to see the face of their future husband.

In Loire Atlantique, the mirror can also show a priest or a nun, indicating that one will end up in a convent; or else an obstacle across a path, which will announce an approaching death.

-

[Excerpts arranged by me from Sebillot / Van Gennep / Delmas. Pic here.]

[oonathefaewitch]

Hey so I'm a self-taught witch who practices independently and I was hoping to learn a little bit from others as well. Do you have any books/resources/people you recommend looking into?

Hi there!

I'm a self-taught witch as well and I'm still at the beginning of my journey, at the moment I'm yet to finish the big blue book Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft of which I'm also sharing the lessons (you can find tose posts in my archive here) so for now I can only really recommend that one, but I'm marking down all the recommendend supplementary redings at the end of every lesson if you wanna check them out!

I'm also reading a very interesting and complete book about tarot called Holistic Tarot which i really recommend, it's a bit expensive maybe but it's totally worth it

Other than that I can write down here the list of recommended reading at the end of the blue book (with extra books other than the ones already listed at the end of every lesson), I can't recommend those personally (even if I did buy some of them but I still have to read them) but I think they're worth a shot if you'd like to know more, I'll add the other two I mentioned above in the list, in any case if you find other books online read carefully all the reviews cause many books are not serious about this topic

Also I'm not sure but I think these books below are all from white people and mainly about white cultures (and most of them are very old), so If you (or anyone else) have some recommendations about other cultures' book about witchcraft or ancient traditions I'd be glad to know more about that too!

As for people and other resources, I follow some witches on Twitter that shares interesting stuff, it would be too long to link all of their profiles so I can give you directly the list of people I follow here

I hope you'll find this helpful~

Color Healng by Mary Anderson

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece by Edward E. Jr Barthell

Crystal Gazing by Theodore Besterman

I-Ching: The Book of Changes by J. Blofeld

Primitive Song by C. M. Bowra

Gerald Gardner: Witch by J. L. Bracelin

The Lost Gods of England by Brian Branston

Development of Religion and Thought is Ancient Egypt by J. H. Breasted

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft / Amazing Secrets of the Psychic World / Color Magick / Gypsy Dream Dictionary / A Pocket Guide to the Supernatural / Practical Candleburning Rituals / Scottish Witchcraft & Magick / The Tree: Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft / Wicca For Life / The Witch Book: Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, WIcca and Neopaganism / Witchcraft From the Inside by Raymond Buckland

The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries by Zsuzsanna Budapest

Amulets and Talismans by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge

Egyptian Language by Oxford University Press

How to Read the Aura, Practice Psychometry, Telepathy and Clairvoyance by W.E. Butler

Ancient Ways by Dan and Pauline Campanelli

Handbook of Unusual and Unorthodox Healing by J. V. Carney

Handbook of Bach Flower Remedies by Philip M. Chancellor

Color Therapy by Linda Clark

Precious Stones: Their Occult Power and Hidden Significance by W. B. Crow

Lid Off the Cauldron / The Witches Speak Athol by Patricia Crowther

Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper

Earth Power / Living Wicca / Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham

Practical Guide to Astral Projection by Melita Dennings and Osborne Phillips

The Silent Path by Michael Eastcott

Patterns of Comparative Religion / Rites and Symbols of Initiation - Birth and Rebirth by Mircea Eliade

The Dream Game by Ann Faraday

What Witches Do / Eight Sabbats For Witches / The Witches' Way by Janet and Stewart Farrar

Magical Rites From the Crystal Well by Ed Fitch

The Golden Bought by Sir James G. Frazer

The Wisdom of Pagan Philosophers by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy

Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud

Witchcraft Today / The Meaning of Witchcraft / High Magic's Aid / A Goddess Arrives by Gerald Gardner

Complete Herbal by Gerard

Stalking the Healthful Herbs by Euell Gibbons

Witchcraft, the Sixth Sense, and Us by Justine Glass

Seasonal Occult Rituals by William Gray

The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemay Ellen Guiley

Ancient Art and Ritual Kessinger by Jane E. Harrison

Palmistry, the Whole View by Judith Hipskind

Myth and Ritual by S. H. Hooke

Witch: A Magickal Journey by Fiona Horne

The Runes and Other Magical Alphabets by Michael Howard

Witchcraft by Penethorne Hughes

Memories Dreams and Reflections by Carl G. Jung

Aradia, Gospel of the Witches of Italy by Charles Godfrey Laland

Witches: Investigating an Ancient Religion / Gogmagog - the Buried Gods by T. C. Lethbridge

Healing For Everyone by E. Loomis and J. Paulson

Numerology by Vincent Lopez

Commond and Uncommond Uses of Herbs of Healthful Living by Richard Lucas

The Herb Book by John Lust

Pagan Parenting by Kristin Madden

Witta: An Irish Pagan Tradition by Edain McCoy

The Principles and Practice of Radiesthesia by Abbè Mermet

The Hearbalist by J. E. Meyer

The Craft by Dorothy Morrison

Green Witchcraft series by Ann Aoumiel Moura

Sexual Occultism by John Mumford

The Family Wicca Book by Ashleen O'Gaea

Reclaim the Power of the Witch by Monte Plaisance

Potter's New Cyclopedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations by R. C. Potter

How to Make and Use Talismans / The Art of True Healing by Israel Regardie

The Seventh Sense by Kenneth Roberts

High Magic's Aid by Scire

The Book of Charms and Alisman by Sepharial

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion L. Starkey

Medical Palmistry by Marten Steinbach

Is This Your Day? by George S. Thommen

Magic and Healing by C. J. S. Thompson

Where Witchcraft Lives / An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present / Witchcraft For Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente

The Rites of Passage by Arnold Van Gennep

Herbal Manual by H. Ward

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen

The I-Ching by R. Wilhelm

The Christians As the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft by Denise Zimmermann and Katherine A. Gleason

[celiabowens]

25 books recs from my 2020 reads

I’ve been wanting to make this post for a while, but I wanted to wait and see how my last reads of the year would go. Also, narrowing them down to 20 was a nope, so I just made a bigger list instead lol. I’ve tried to include a vague description of each book and the main trigger warnings and rep. I apologise in advance if I forgot anything (for trigger warnings, I suggest double checking on the site booktriggerwarnings).

Adult SFF

A Memory Called Empire: it feels like I’ve raved about this one enough but just in case: A Memory Called Empire is a space opera following an ambassador who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and a political conspiracy. It’s got brilliant world building and a nuanced and intricate reflection about culture, language and colonialism. Subtle slow burn f/f romance on the side (+ a poly relationship shown in flashbacks). TW: suicide.

Black Sun: first book in an epic fantasy series inspired by pre-columbian Americas. Great cast of characters and very interesting use of mythology + the main plot is focused on political and religious conflict and the author handles both sides of it quite well. The book has bisexual and non-binary rep, one of the main characters is blind. TW: suicide, abuse, self harm. There’s some gore, although it’s not extremely graphic.

The Sword of Kaigen: a Japanese inspired stand alone epic fantasy. The book is not focused on battle or war, although they play an important role in the plot itself, but on family dynamics and personal growth. It’s a very character driven novel, with some rather conventional elements (elemental magic) and some more original reuses of traditional fantasy tropes. TW: abuse.

Empire of Sand: first book in a duology of companion novels inspired by Mughal India. Mostly focused on religious and political conflict, although romance is heavily featured in both books. Pretty good slow burn romance in both cases. TW: abuse, slavery, torture, sexual assault, self-harm.

The Light Brigade: a rather unconventional space opera with a complex non linear narration. This is not an easy read in every possible way, but the pay off is worth it. Also it’s one of those cases in which I think it’s best to go in knowing nothing or almost nothing. TW: torture, murder, ptsd, war, gore, infectious diseases (yeah you need a strong stomach for this........).

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a coming of age story set in Mexico during the Jazz age. A bit of a lighter read, a journey-adventure featuring a god slowly becoming human, tasks to complete etc. TW: bullying.

River of Stars: more of an alternate history than pure fantasy, as most of GGK’s novels are. This one in particular was inspired by Chinese history and it’s ideally a companion to Under Heaven. Both can be read as standalones but I find their parallels and differences very interesting. I’d also recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Brightness Long Ago, by the same author. All of them revisit historical events from the point of view of rather ordinary people who find themselves in the middle of events they can’t control. 

Empire of Gold: the last book in a trilogy, starting with City of Brass. The first novel is more trope-y and naive in places, but I found both the second book and the conclusion of the trilogy more nuanced and satisfying. There’s a m/m relationship on the side. TW: mass murder, torture, enslavement, abuse.

Adult SFF novella edition

The Deep: novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. The novella deals with trauma, both personal and generational one.

This Is How You Lose The Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war. Enemies to lovers f/f romance. Very character driven, don’t expect a lot of world building.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. 

YA SFF

Return of the Thief/The Queen’s Thief series in general: the last book in the queen’s thief series! Honestly just read this series it’s literally too good? It is carefully planned from start to finish and it has politics, adventures, characters with extremely questionable morals and good banter? TW: loss of a limb, torture (not extremely graphic), ptsd.

The Kingdom of Back: probably Marie Lu’s best book yet? think of the concept of “shakespeare’s sister” as explained by Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, but with the Mozart siblings. I actually had no idea Mozart had a sister prior to reading this. It’s a quite emotional read, as it shows how little opportunities women had to be recognised for their talent.

Adult Literary Fiction

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and gender. TW: war, ptsd, death.

Augustus: an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Not even remotely historically accurate, but a lot of fun to read if you’re familiar with historical accounts of that period.

A Gentleman in Moscow: following Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A peculiar novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life.

How Much of These Hills Is Gold: following two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era, the book is an adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration. TW: abuse, sexual assault, racism.

The Memory Police: published in Japan in the mid 90s, but translated recently, it’s an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories of certain objects and feelings slowly disappear.

The Nickel Boys: the book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist. TW: abuse, racism, death.

Manga/Graphic Novels

The Girl from the Other Side

Opus: very meta, much like most of Satoshi Kon’s movies. Kon actually never finished this (the magazine he was publishing it on was cancelled) and a last chapter was published after his death after his family found the sketches for it.

Oriental Piano: based on the story of the author’s grandfather, who invented a musical instrument in Beirut in the 1960s, combining Arabic music and a western musical instrument. Sort of reminiscent of Satrapi’s style. 

Webtoons

Lore of Olympus (TW: sexual assault)

Clara and The Devil

Non Fiction

The Professor and the Madman: the peculiar and extraordinary tale behind the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. TW: self-harm, ptsd, war.

Honourable mentions: The Binding (TW: abuse, sexual assault, suicide. Gay rep.), The Silence of the Girls (TW: sexual assault, death, war), To Be Taught, If Fortunate (bi, ace, poly rep), The Kyoshi Novels (bi rep, f/f relationship).