#solarism

[thenewolympian]

The purpose of ancient (classical) ethics was to cultivate excellent human beings; a truth easily and readily bastardized. Aristotle’s eudaemonia, for example, is routinely translated as “happiness,” rather than “flourishing.” As a result, moderns believe that the pinnacle of life is both excess and ease together — standardized into a permanent human state. 

But this notion of ease extends beyond academia, since most religious conceptions trade this life’s comfort for an eternal one in “paradise.” The result, on both sides of the coin, are infantile adults.

In the Abrahamic religions there is nothing like a concept of “restoring the Forms,” nor an ethical imperative to Actualize, because they are all — essentially — messianic religions. They hinge on the idea of God returning. When He does, time will end, sin will end, injustice will end, and all things will be finally set right. All that’s left is to wait . . . and abstain. The hyper-focus on avoiding and expunging sin constantly is a byproduct of that need to wait. 

We therefore glimpse two metaphysical ideals; one in which the co-creator must become an excellent Man (or Woman), and one in which the imperative is to become a good boy.

[librarycomic]

Harvey Knight's Odyssey by Nick Maandag. Drawn & Quarterly, 2023. 9781770466326. 168pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781770466326?partnerid=34778&p_bt

This graphic novel contains three separate strange, deadpan stories. Two of them star author and artist Nick Maandag himself.

In "The Plunge" Maandag decides to start making his own coffee at work with a French press, and the process becomes something of an event for everyone there.

"Full Day" starts with a trash machine sucking the hat right off Maandag's head as he goes to work in the morning. Thus begins a day that includes a meeting that's difficult to interpret and a random efficiency check of his work, among other bits of weirdness. Toward the end there's a lewd act (or brilliant piece of performance art, you be the judge) on a subway. (It's my favorite story and reminds me of my strangest day working at a public library.)

"Harvey Knight's Odyssey" is the longest story. It involves the religion Solarism, whose members believe humans are products of both light and dark, and that over time, through exposure to light, they can become pure beings. (They use high-powered tanning beds.) The story contains corruption, nudity, cavity searches, sunburns, spiders, and owl-eating.

Worth noting: The endpapers contain ten comic strips. And, despite the cover image, I don't remember a shark or a bird with human feet anywhere in the book, though it's full of so many odd moments that I feel like I may have overlooked both.

[catchymemes]

Ohio Total Solar Eclipse

[destielgaysex]

NO OTHER PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM GETS TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES!! THE SIZE AND DISTANCE OF OUR MOON FROM EARTH AND THE SUN MAKE THE PERFECT CIRCUMSTANCES TO GET TOTALITY!!! THE EARTH AND MOON ARE SOOOO COOL AND OF COURSE OUR SUN!! I LOVE LIVING ON EARTH I LOVE YOU EARTH I LOVE YOUUUUU MOON I LOVE YOU SUN

[maculategiraffe]

nasa: we're going to shoot three rockets directly at the sun during the total eclipse. for study and research purposes.

me: oh cool

nasa: we have named the rockets apep. this stands for atmospheric perturbations [in the] eclipse path.

me: oh cool

nasa: apep is also the ancient egyptian deity of chaos and darkness, who ceaselessly seeks to extinguish the sun. we launch these rockets directly at the sun in the name of apep.

me: oh... cool?

[yuumei-art]

Respire

Part of my Ashes collection

[suddenlysomewherethatsgreen]

[political-us]

[thenewolympian]

DCXLIII Ghengis Khan believed the sky was god, and so naturally, was unimpressed by holy books and temples. “God cannot fit inside these things.” Here we have a barbarian with a greater understanding of transcendence; an understanding acquired from looking Up, not down at a book with hunched shoulders.

[sleepyyghostt]

inspired by the scariest words my dm has ever said to me and the subsequent coolest (AND SCARIEST) scene of my life

[ibis-radish]

I don't have any glasses for the eclipse someone relay it to me when it happens

[mysharona1987]

[catchymemes]

Solar eclipse shadows

[without-ado]

Total Solar Eclipse l April 2024 l U.S. & Canada

Cr. Deran Hall l Rami Ammoun(236) l GabeWasylko l REUTERS l KendallRust l Joshua Intini l Alfredo Juárez l KuzcoKhanda

[kitskiis]

What I am gathering from current fandom discussion