Phantoms will phantom

“Mystery Cats of the World: From Blue Tigers to Exmoor Beasts” is crypto-zoologist Karl P N Shuker´s classical work from 1989 about cryptid felids from all over the world. The book is interesting and fascinating, and if you can´t get hold of it, don´t worry, Shuker is still active and maintains a blog where he discusses many of the elusive creatures mentioned in this fine work. “Mystery Cats of the World” could be seen as Shuker´s attempt to write an exclusively felid version of Heuvelman´s classic “On the Track of Unknown Animals”. If that was the purpose, I say the author succeeded eminently well.

Some of the cryptid cats discussed in the book are probably just unusual color morphs of known species, including spotted lions or blue tigers. There are also reports of known species outside their “normal” range, such as leopards on the Indonesian island of Bali. More contentious are claims about black cougars in the eastern part of the United States – here, both the color and the range are wrong! Other creatures discussed by Shuker must be species entirely new to science, such as the Onza in Mexico, which supposedly has both cougar-like and cheetah-like traits. Still other mystery beasts sound too good to be true, such as surviving saber-toothed cats or marsupial lions. Shuker has also included reports that straddle the paranormal, although he of course believes they are about real animals. The Alien Big Cats or ABCs – often black panthers – showing up in the UK, the US and Australia are cases in point. Pack-hunting felids in the Amazon (which nobody has actually seen, although their screams scare the living day lights out of the Natives) or aquatic jaguar-like creatures in Paraguay also sound folkloric rather than really real.

While the material in “Mystery Cats” is interesting, I must say that I´ve become more negative towards crypto-zoology lately. As already indicated, most of the phantom cats discussed in Shuker´s book from 1989 are *still* discussed by the very same author on his blog 30 years later, suggesting that very little has changed. The phantoms are still phantoms. Note also that many of the mystery felines have been "seen" by eye-witnesses since before World War II. It seems extremely unlikely to the present reviewer that dozens of big cat species are still unaccounted for after 100 years, bearing in mind the encroachments on nature by humans during the same period, not to mention all the scientific and non-scientific expeditions to various remote corners of the globe. Even specific attempts to catch a cryptid cat have failed – such as the hunt for the Exmoor Beast organized by the British Marines. Nor has there been any road kills on American highways or bush meat specimens at Vietnamese markets. Of all the dozens or so cryptid forms described in Shuker´s book, it seems that only one has been confirmed by science: the Kellas cat, which turned out to be a hybrid between Scottish wildcats and domestics. The Onza specimen reported in the book was just an unnaturally gracile cougar (proven by DNA tests). The author may not like it, but misidentification *is* much more likely in many cases than the specimen being a truly new species.

People see strange things all the time, including things which simply cannot be real. The peasants in the Swedish province of Småland encountered impossibly large snakes and dragons during the latter half of the 19^th century in areas which were apparently inhabited by humans. Of course, we know that no such creature ever existed. Some of them *can´t* be real, anymore than the Jersey Devil (see my review of “Om Draken eller Lindormen” by Hyltén-Cavallius). In the same way, we know that many of the tales collected in “Strange Creatures Seldom Seen” (also reviewed by me on this blog) can´t be true either, and so on. How likely is it that a breeding population of black panthers have survived in the UK for generations without the authorities (who have been *looking for it*, remember?) being able to apprehend a single one? The only way to save the appearances in this case is to postulate that many of the cryptids are really paranormal entities. Maybe they are, but that´s an entirely different proposition (and entirely different discussion) than the one we´re conducting right now…

My prediction is that “Mystery Cats of the World” will feel just as fresh in another 30 years - since exactly the same Alien Big Cats will still be at large. But sure, I could be wrong. The timeline *is* strange, so if we´re really lucky, perhaps a blue tiger or surviving saber-tooth will soon be apprehended somewhere in Suburbia. Probably by Donald Trump!

Den svarta fredagen

Köpbojkott på Black Friday? Inte på denna blogg!

Har beställt typ 55 böcker i ett jävla svep, hoppas de inte försvinner i posten eller blir stulna av jultomtens jävligt opålitliga medarbetare, 55 böcker säger jag, det blir många recensioner det, fast man måste ju läsa böckerna också, vi kanske är hemma till jul NÄSTA ÅR, ha ha ha. 

We have much to do, kids. And much to look forward to!  

Europe has never been larger, Neuropa vivat!

With all due respect to whoever made the above, Kalmykia is "European" in about the same sense as Chechnya or Dagestan. That is, not by much. 

I still distinctly remember an embarrasing Swedish news broadcast years ago which tried (in vain) to make the viewers more sympathetic to the plight of the Chechens by calling the war in Chechnya "European". Ahem, no, it´s "European" only in the purely geographic sense, but so fucking what? 

Istanbul is "European" by that standard, while Cyprus is "Asian" and the Canary Islands are "African". This is similar to people who call the African Wild Dog "the Painted Wolf" to make people more interested in saving it. 

I suppose an SJW would call it Euro-centric... 

What´s the point of this blog post? Absolutely nothing, except to annoy you, LOL. 

A message from Anonymous

The above (and below) is a message to Greta Thunberg from the network known only as Anonymous. I take absolutely no responsibility for this message (which seems to be anarcho-leftist) and reprint it her strictly for discussion purposes. That, and trolling!

[Message begins]

Greetings. This is a message to Greta Thunberg, from Anonymous. We understand and sympathize with your concerns about the environment, and agree that the blame lies with many of the world’s most powerful corporations. However, you may want to be careful that you are not led astray by people who are a part of the problem, and it appears that this may be happening. Many of the powerful politicians that you met with and took photographs with, are deeply involved with many of the industries you speak out against. Many of the policies that you are advocating for are also misguided, despite their seemingly good intentions. For example, heavy carbon taxes will not have much of an effect on the fossil fuel industry, aside from making their cost of doing business a little bit higher. The large corporations that are destroying the planet have teams of lawyers on standby for any accusations that are brought against them, and they have money budgeted specifically for dealing with all of the fines that they intend to violate. Fines, taxes, and regulations rarely actually cause corporations to do business any differently, but these policies usually do end up hurting average individuals who were never even the intended targets of the policies to begin with. This is because the average person does not have teams of lawyers or money ready for fines. In the case of carbon taxes, the average person driving their car will be the person who ends up paying the real cost, and it is highly possible that the corporations could make even more money under a model like this. It is also important to consider that just throwing money at a problem is not a feasible solution, especially for something like this. If billions of dollars are funneled into government coffers as the result of some type of “Green New Deal,” what happens next? There doesn’t seem to be any plan for what actually happens to the money, and when plans are actually offered, they typically fall short. For example, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who you recently met with, announced a plan to use money from oil pipelines to plant trees. This does not seem like much of a solution, as many of the native tribes in Canada, who are not very fond of Trudeau’s government, will still be forced off of their land, which they are taking good care of, to make room for dangerous pipelines that are prone to spilling. This type of solution is not much different than the carbon tax idea, it is a small, and likely counterproductive measure that won’t actually address the problems with how humans generate and consume energy, but instead, will just shift around more money through the hands of the ruling class. It is also important to mention that the environmental impact of war has been entirely left out of many of the recent climate change discussions. The military agencies of the world are responsible for the vast majority of the pollution on the planet, the United States government and their western allies, along with Russia and China, take a large share of the blame for this pollution. The people who are destroying the planet have names and addresses and they are on the news every single day, but they are never held accountable. In the rare cases where they are held accountable, they usually receive a fine that seems like a large number to the rest of us, but is merely a small percentage of their net worth, so the penalties amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Protecting the environment is important, but it is also important not to let people who are a part of the problem be in control of the solutions, because we run the risk of allowing them to make everything worse. If you truly do care about the future of the planet, be extremely careful of the people around you, and analyze their solutions very carefully, because you are currently surrounded by some very dangerous people who do not have the best interest of the planet in mind. We are Anonymous! We are Legion! We do not forgive! We do not forget! Expect us."

[Message ends]

Under tiden i yttre rymden...

Medan Jorden håller på att gå käpprätt åt skogen, händer det saker i yttre rymden. Vågar vi gissa att Big Bang-teorin kollapsar ungefär samtidigt som klimatet?

Svart hål förvirrar forskare: borde inte finnas!

Ny monstergalax upptäckt: "Som att hitta Yeti"

Det är något som inte stämmer i klimatdebatten

Extremt intressant och viktig artikel i Aftonbladet om hur det *verkligen* ligger till i klimatfrågan. Lägg förresten märke till att författaren erkänner att överbefolkningen är ett problem, liksom Kinas miljöförstöring! Lägg även märke till typ resten...

Det är något som inte stämmer i klimatdebatten

The magickal triumph of Donald the Major Trump

Here we go again…

OK, this was funny. Read the thread below the linked article, too! Wow. Some Neo-Pagans want to magically curse Donald Trump, while some occultists have decided to protect him. It seems Trump is one of the Major Trumps or something…

The magickal war of 2017

Why Greta Thunberg will fail

An article from "The National Interest" about the new Russian super-weapons. Or rather projected super-weapons. The author isn´t entirely convinced that Russia can pull these projects off. 

Well, what a relief.

I´m being ironic. 

I think it´s obvious how the world will look like during the next 20 years or so. Resource wars about oil, copper and REMs. A new arms race between the great powers. Civil wars and revolutions. And on top of this, that little thing called AGW which may kill millions of people, and permanently displace millions more. But sure, with a little luck, I suppose we could avert a literal apocalypse...

Perhaps Greta really should go back to school. Then both me and her could join a Buddhist monastery or something! 

See you all next week. 

Russia´s New Weapons

Have fun, guys

Amazing how US broadcasters can turn everything into entertainment. This CNN segment, from December 2018, features a guy who tries to act like a stand-up comedian when explaining Russia´s new doomsday weapons. Or is it just my Swedish seriousness that´s playing tricks with me?

Well, at least its good to know that *somebody* is having a great time around here!

The rest of us are running for our basements...

Går Nyheter Idag Irans ärenden?

Jag brukar ju normalt sett inte lajka innehåll i DN, men eftersom jag redan länkat till ett stort antal, ska vi säga, kontroversiella sajter den här veckan så kan jag lika gärna länka till en artikel i Dagens Nyheter också! 

DN-skribenten Michael Winiarski anklagar alt-media-sajten Nyheter Idag för att gå Irans ärenden i denna artikel, publicerad idag men antagligen skriven innan sajten gick ut med homosexanklagelser mot Najah al-Shammari, Iraks försvarsminister. 

Vi får se hur detta slutar... 

Michael Winiarski om den irakiske ministern


TILLÄGG 28/11. Har noterat att DN inte längre promoterar ovanstående artikel. Bring out da pop corn, guys!

A carbon-neutral apocalypse

It just struck me that the Burevestnik, the new Russian doomsday weapon, could be seen as carbon-neutral since its energy comes from a nuclear reactor. And a nuclear reactor is good for the environment, right? Or at least so they say.

What a relief to know that we will be killed by a carbon-neutral version of Dr Strangelove. 

Sometimes, there really is progress. 

Thou art saved, Earthlings. A message from the God-Emperor

He´s got the whole world in his hand, he´s got the whole world in his hand, he´s got the whole wide world in his hand... 

Trump, Salman and al-Sisi prepare ORB INITIATION to save Western civ (and Sunni Muslims) from evil Russian Burevestnik! 

How can this be? For he *is* the Kwisatz Haderach.

Stormy Petrel

I admit that this was *really* scary to read, no irony! It´s also one of the reasons why we can´t just stop using fossil fuels. Or fissile material, for that matter... 

Russia reveals unstoppable missile

So we are either fucked over by anthropogenic global warming, or nuked in the ass by the Burevestnik. 

Maybe Prince Siddharta was on to something after all when he sat under that tree! 

Chthonic Arthurian mysteries

“The UnderWorld Initiation” is one of the most peculiar works I read, or rather tried to read (I´m still trying to process it). It was originally published in 1985. The author, Robert John Stewart, is a Scottish composer and esotericist. “The UnderWorld Initiation” is considered to be his magnum opus. Stewart has also written on the faery – I haven´t read that material yet. At least broadly, his work seems to have tie-ins to Gareth Knight, Rudolf Steiner and even C S Lewis at his nature-venerating and paganizing best. I admit that I found it quite bewildering! The book is highly recommended by John Michael Greer, whose esoteric path combines Revival Druidry with Golden Dawn ceremonial magic. “Chthonic King Arthur mysteries” is the best shorthand I can come up with for Stewart´s system. It also has a “folkish” trait, since the author believes that old folk songs and ballads from the British Isles encode important esoteric truths.

Stewart describes a magical system he believes is both Celtic and ancient. It´s real provenance is unknown to the present reviewer. There do seem to be similarities with real mystery religions. The system also has certain Christian traits, but the author freely admits that most Christians would find it “heretical”. The initiation could be described as chthonic, but Stewart believes that the earthly or sub-earthly aspects esoterically reflect heavenly realities, so there is no contradiction between the two perspectives. The goal of the initiation is to shatter the old personality (this takes much fear and trembling) and replace it with a “resurrected” ditto, both spiritually and bodily. Most magical systems only work on the non-material parts of man, while the underworld initiation also transforms his physical body, presumably into an immortal state. This explains Stewart´s interest in parts of the Christian religion. 

The “earthly” character of this mystery cult can be seen in the idea that the initiators are referred to as the Ancestors, and that the Guardian on the Threshold is the lord of animals (complete with two horns on his head). Animal archetypes are important, including the Crow and the Pig. A successful initiation can only take place at the locality of your birth. Only there can you meet the various magical entities which will guide you through the initiatory process. This would presumably leave out most city people from participation, unless “Land” could refer to your entire ancestral homeland. Naturally, the author condemns modern destruction of the living environment.

Sex is part of the initiatory process, but since the path is solitary, it´s not entirely clear who the practitioner has a sexual relation with. One of the initiatory spirits? Stewart seems to believe that the female power is stronger than the male, and that the male is therefore saved by a female spirit. While this sounds “feminist”, the entire book is really written from a male perspective, where Woman comes across as the usual belle dame sans merci or dark muse. It would be interesting to know how the mystery initiation works for, say, gays or women... Part of the initiation is to realize that the forbidden fruit from the Tree, offered to man by woman, must be alchemically transmuted by the magician into something life-affirming and non-poisonous. The book contains complex speculations about how the Tree of Life associated with Qabalah can be extended into the UnderWorld.

The author is “Celtic” and Arthurian in his orientation. The Holy Grail and the Fisher King play important parts in his mythology. He tries to find parallels with Jesus Christ´s descent to Hell and harrowing thereof. The peculiar legends about Jesus visiting Britain during his “lost years”, especially Glastonbury, are interpreted literally. This isn´t surprising, since the author emphasizes that the spirit-beings encountered by the magician are very real indeed, not some kind of allegories or psychological archetypes (neither individual nor collective). As already pointed out, the resurrection of the Christ in a perfected physical body is seen as the central similarity between pre-creedal Christianity and esoteric paganism. Otherwise, the author is extremely critical of really existing Christianity, which he associates with a dread of nature, sex and everything “evil”. He also criticizes the obsession of Western esoteric thinkers with the Qabalah, Hebrew letters, the Hebrew name of God, etc. Why should we expect names and formulas developed by one tribal confederation in the Middle East to be privileged above all others? Why do we expect them to work for Europeans?

An intriguing idea found in “The UnderWorld Initiation” is that time moves in an ascending spiral. For this reason, the future can be in our “past”, which presumably makes prophecy possible! A lot to meditate on here…

The book ends with a retelling of a visionary experience the author had at Les Montz Grantez at the island of Jersey. At an ancient archeological site, R J Stewart encountered the spirit of an ancient tribal King who was voluntarily sacrificed here to the gods. Stewart believes that the entire solar system and the stars were somehow “inside” the ancient rocks. The old temple was used as a point of contact between the otherworld and our world, through which energies could flow mediated by the sacrificial victims, who were a kind of guardian-spirits. The King also acted as a guide, since he told the author how to change certain aspects of his magical ritual! Ten years later, when Stewart returned to the site, the Sacred King was gone.

In a foreword to the 1998 edition, the author reveals that his understanding of these issues have deepened since he first wrote “The UnderWorld Initiation”. He has written several books on the role fairies play in the initiation process. Also, he has realized that working with spirit-entities “awakes” them and “liberates” them, which could explain why the King had left Les Montz Grantez…

There seems to be more to explore here.

En vit rasistisk kontrarevolution?

Evo Morales. Hemma igen till jul?

Jag känner mig väldigt vänstervriden den här veckan, och länkar därför till nedanstående inlägg om händelserna i Bolivia. De är från Aftonbladet. Annars är det ju intressant att Bolivia och Venezuela, trots liknande "pink tide"-regeringar, ändå har utvecklats på så olika sätt. Det verkar nästan som om blandekonomi vore bättre än planekonomi, or something...

I Bolivia pågår en vit rasistisk kontrarevolution

Kuppen i Bolivia

The cosmic triumph of Donald Trump

For some time, I wondered why "Ashtar Command and Trump" is the most popular search term for those who find my blog. I mean, I assumed my QAnon proclivities were a well-kept secret and so forth. I just got the answer. My blog inadvertently comes up when people search for stuff like the one linked below. And here I´ve been complaining about Queer Vanatru being crazy...

Just another Thursday in cyberspace.

Donald Trump has the support of the Galactic Federation

This would explain a lot of things

Greta Thunberg in Canada, 2019 version.

According to a sensational photo from 1898, Greta Thunberg is a time traveler from the Yukon. You read it here first! Didn´t I say that Greta must go to the Yukon to hunt the Waheela? Yes, I did, and now it turns out that she was a cryptid-hunter already 120 years ago! :D

Greta Thunberg time traveler

XR and regime change

No idea whether this is true or not, but it´s certainly intriguing. The small Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) in Britain attacks Extinction Rebellion (XR) *from the left*, accusing them (among other things) of ties to the United States and the Deep State. The RCG believes that XR is pushing for "regime change" in Venezuela and Bolivia! Note also the criticism of the Labour Party´s Green New Deal in the second article.

XR launches propaganda blitz against Evo Morales

Fighting climate change: Beware of false friends


More about XR (and Labour) here:

Imperialism and climate change

Odin´s promise

OK, this meme was funny. Why is Odin better than Jesus Christ? From an anon at YouTube.

"Jesus promised to rid the world of sin. We still have sin. Odin promised to rid the world of the ice giants. Seen any ice giants lately?"

Endgame, Neo-Pagans

Sorry, Neo-Pagans, it´s over. Your "gods" are simply Brocken Spectres. See link below. Dissolve your groves, covens and catabombs, take a crash course in modern sociology, evolutionary theory or historical-critical research of Antiquity. Because you see, their gods weren´t real either. Next week: Fatima was a halo and Roswell was a weather balloon. Wanna bet? :P

Brocken Spectre

Fy fan vad töntigt

Lämningar efter Thule-kulturen på Grönland (inuiter). Måste byta namn?

Fram med vintermusten, kamrater, efter att ha avskaffat namnen "negerfink" och "zigenarfågel" kan vi nu fira ännu en stor seger för socialismens krafter i världen: asteroiden Ultima Thule heter numera Arrokoth. OK, kamrater, nu måste jag sticka till Centerns landsmöte och förhandla lite nedskärningar med Annie Lööf, hejsan svejsan hoppsan!

Ultima Thule slipper nazistnamn

The Celtic Golden Dawn

An interesting YouTube clip featuring our favorite crazy Irishman, Thomas Sheridan, who here discusses the Irish magical traditions. 

He claims that the Golden Dawn in the UK was heavily influenced by Anglo-Irish magic which emerged during the Protestant Ascendancy (including W B Yeats). Most of the clip discusses ghost stories, fairies, cursing and other folkloristic beliefs. The fairy faith is still particularly strong in Ireland according to the content-creator. 

Sheridan believes that the demonic "leanan sídhe" are real. Not only that, he has seen these gorgeously beautiful scarlet women and claims to know where in Galway City they congregate!

Oookay... :D  

Strangest Swedish dialect, now on YouTube

I´m fascinated by the YouTube channel "I Love Languages". 

As far as I can tell, this really is Elfdalian, the strangest Swedish dialect, still spoken by a few people in Älvdalen in Dalarna (Dalecarlia). 

I can hereby confirm that it´s almost *completely* incomprehensible to speakers of standard Swedish. Indeed, some believe it should be regarded as a separate language. 

And if you ever get tired of listening to Elfdalian, "I Love Languages" also offers samples of Old Saxon, Faroese, Mingrelian, Classical Latin, Circassian and - wait for it - standard Swedish! 

Har MIR tagit över Nyheter Idag?

Ja, den här (i och för sig intressanta) artikeln om Chile stod att läsa på...högersajten Nyheter Idag?!

Polisstaten Chile och kriget om sanningen

Seeing is believing

“Stora boken om naturfenomen” is a Swedish book by Clas Svahn, the former president of UFO-Sverige, one of the more skeptical UFO-logy groups. Svahn is currently a reporter working for Swedish daily paper Dagens Nyheter. After skimming this book, you might actually stop believing in UFOs, fairies and other supernatural phenomena. And then, maybe not…

Noctilucent clouds, haloes around the sun, rainbows caused by moon light, city lights reflected in the sky, enormous human shadows seen in the clouds, UFO-shaped clouds, St Elmo´s Fire…Svahn doesn´t even have to mention Venus or the inevitable barn owls to make the reader think twice about whether ETs from Roswell really dunnit. A gigantic jellyfish-like UFO captured on photo in 1974 turns out to be a vapor cloud. And so on!

Meanwhile, firmly on the ground, are all kinds of “fairy rings”, perfectly circular holes in the ice, or seemingly artificial structures made of snow, which all have a natural explanation. So do (we hope!) the bizarre sailing stones at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley.

What made me think twice about the debunking was the chapter on ball lightning. People see the fiery orbs all the time, some are even killed by them. Yet, scientists to a large extent *still deny that ball lightning is a real thing* cuz “impossible according to the laws of nature” or something. Svahn interviews a scientist who frankly tells him that nobody wants to research the phenomenon, since it seems implausible and you can´t base a scientific career on chasing something that might not even be real!

WTF???!!!

This reminds me of an unrelated topic I commented on previously: the recent discovery that lichens (which have been meticulously studied for generations) are *triple* organisms, not just double ditto. Funny how everyone can miss such a salient fact about an organism scientists are actually researching. Now imagine what they could possibly miss *if they aren´t even looking*.

“Stora boken om naturfenomen” is fascinating, but ironically, it made me even more sure that all kinds of really weird shit, some of it paranormal, still awaits to be discovered. Or rather awaits being acknowledged by the gate-keepers. Perhaps ball-lightning at the next CSICOP conference might do the trick? :D

Why Donald Trump broke the Blue Wall

Obama and Biden celebrating passing of Obamacare by Congress

I know I´m beating a dead horse here, but in case somebody still believes that Obamacare was good for working people, please read this *left-wing* criticism of the Affordable Care Act, published in 2014 at the US Socialist Worker website. One of the reasons why Trump won in several "blue states" in 2016 was his attack on Obamacare. Faced with only two options (taxation without health coverage and no taxation without health coverage), many workers opted for the second one...

Is Obamacare a step toward single-payer?

Resource Cold War

I forgot to link to this when we were discussing the geopolitics of rare earth metals a few months ago, so here goes...

Much of US foreign policy makes more sense if seen as an attempt to break the Chinese monopoly on rare earth metals, which (ironically) are needed by both the US military, the tech industry and the "green" energy industry (wind, electric cars, etc). 

The talks with Australia are pretty basic bitch in this regard, compared to Trump´s attempts to purchase Greenland or his peace negotiations with North Korea. Still, it´s part of the same pattern. Trump is clearly setting the stage for a full-scale "resource Cold War" against the PRC. China was previously interested in buying a large chunk of shares in Lynas Corp, but were rebuffed by the Australian government.

Pentagon in talks with Australia on rare earths plant

Ja, det gick ju inte så bra det där

Ha ha ha. 

Minskning i EU hjälper inte: Världen bränner mer kol igen

Maybe I was wrong about Kurdistan

Maybe it really is for the best that the Kurds ally themselves with this guy. Who knows?

Hur man får en vänsterliberal att stödja Donald Trump

From Red Menace to Yellow Peril. Or something

Hur får man en naiv korkad vänsterliberal globalist som tror att George Soros är "en stor filantrop" att ansluta sig till Donald Trumps begynnande resurskrig och geopolitiska dragkamp med Kina?

Man påpekar att Kinas ambassadör hotade ett KULTUREVENEMANG!!!

Ha ha ha ha.

Basic bitches. 

Sure hope they are just crazy

The concluding part of JMG´s essay on the Zeitgeist. JMG reaches the conclusion that the establishment and above all its hangers-on are crazy, and I certainly hope he is right! The only other alternative is that they are evil…

And while crazy people simply needs to be restrained (or straightened out), evil people...well, draw your own conclusions.

Dancers at the End of Time (Part 3)

Home for Christmas?

I don´t think we´ve seen the last of this guy quite yet…

Communists for Trump?

Not everyone agrees…

OK, not really, but here is a somewhat different tack on the Trump impeachment campaign, from the Socialist Workers´ Party (SWP).

Why working people shouldn´t join the liberals´ impeachment crusade

Teleologin måste övergå i teologi

Eller kanske i ironi? Ja, man vet aldrig var man har den här bloggen... See you all next week!

When in Rome, do like the immigrants

Inbillar jag mig bara, eller har global-liberalerna börjat hylla romarriket den senaste tiden?

Jag trodde annars att kalifatet Cordoba och möjligen Osmanska riket var libbarnas favorit-förtryckar-slav-samhälle från medeltiden. Inte romerska riket. Jag menar, romarna var ju vita. Dessutom konverterade en av deras kejsare till fel judisk avspjälkning. Or something. 

Fast detta verkar ha förändrats nu. Libbarna har nämligen upptäckt att Imperium Romanum var MULTI-ETNISKT. Hurra! De vill "riva murar"...utom Hadrianus mur, uppenbarligen.

Jag skulle inte alls bli förvånad om DN och AB snart ÖPPET kommer att hylla Augustus och Trajanus (AB toppar med Titus) och framställa t.ex. daker, pikter och bataver (AB toppar med judéer) som farliga nationalister som helt enkelt måste slås ner cuz reasons. 

Varför inte? De hyllar ju redan Sigismund och har ett gott öga till påven Franciskanus eller vad han nu heter på svenska. Kan man knäfalla inför jesuiter kan väl hylla hedniska romerska kejsare...

My fellow Batavians, you know what to do! 

Jan Guillou = Asset of the KGB?

En lika bitande som ironisk krönika av Jan Guillou, allas vår favoritextremist. Fast visst stödde väl Guillou afghanerna mot Sovjet på 1980-talet? Eller har jag fel? Och varför hoppar han över Mujahedins regering i Afghanistan? Talibanerna tog makten först senare, efter ett krig med Guillous gamla polare.

Men okej, det är väl bra att Jan äntligen kommer ut som KGB-agent...


Donald Trump får nog Nobels fredspris, han också

The immortality of the common cockchafer

Peacock: Ashtar Command, that crazy blogger in Swedish Lapland, claims that I´m the result of orthogenesis. I assumed I was your finest special creation!

Krishna: Nah, my finest creation is the common cockchafer. As for you, you´re a product of sexual selection, not orthogenesis...

Deer: Makes sense, Lord Krishna, makes perfect sense!

Mandela Effect update

In my posting on the Mandela Effect, I wondered where the heck the conspiracy wackos who believe in it got the idea that Gabriel (the archangel) turned from God and joined the dark side. 

I discovered the answer by chance...after reading another one of my blog posts!

Yes, it´s from "Hellblazer", published by DC Comics.

The Mandela Effect shit *must* be a troll... 

Ken Wilber did nothing wrong

To whom it may concern...evo-devo, orthogenesis and facilitated variation prove that God is real. 

There, I said it. 

A very Swedish resource war

The link below is to an article unfortunately only available in Swedish. Still, it´s interesting and perhaps something of a paradigm shift. The article, published in Swedish daily Aftonbladet, is signed by Ibrahim Baylan, the Swedish government minister responsible for issues relating to industry and trade, and his Finnish colleague Katri Kulmuni. It´s a typical Swedish article, reeking with “woke” hypocrisy while really supporting the latest evolution within global capitalism. As of now, copper mining is slowly becoming an important business in both Sweden and Finland, and I think it´s obvious that the point of the article is to give this profitable enterprise a “Green” and “progressive” gloss, while (of course) continuing as before.

Critics of the Green agenda have often pointed out that wind power, electric cars and electrification of entire industries now dependent on oil will require enormous amounts of rare earth metals (REMs) and copper. While copper is abundant, REMs are mostly found in China and perhaps North Korea. Greenland is a third possibility – why do you think Trump wants to starts a scramble for that island? Copper has problems of its own. Copper mines in the Congo are probably manned by child laborers and guarded by rapacious local militias with a penchant for genocide. In Sweden and Finland, the new copper mines are situated in Lapland, often on land traditionally belonging to the Sami (the Native people of that region). I wouldn´t be too surprised if copper is soon found in some of the national parks up there. Thus, the Greens want “clean” and “carbon-neutral” energy based on enormous mining operations on Native territory, or in problematic places such as China or the DRC.

Or maybe they don´t, since Green activists in Sweden have protested the projected copper mines in Lapland. The Swedish government, by contrast, seems ready to embrace the agenda of the more moderate and “bright” faction of the Green movimiento. In the article, Baylan and Kulmuni frankly admits that the demand for REMs will sky rocket in the years ahead. For instance, there will be a 1,000 % (sic) rise in demand for neodymium in electric engines in the member-states of the European Union. Neodymium demand for wind power aggregates will rise with a staggering 2,400 % in the EU. The figures are projections for a 15 year period. The figures for cobalt are similar. For some reason, copper isn´t discussed. Too close to home?

The two government ministers propose that REM producers must have certificates showing that their metals have been extracted under conditions of “justice” and sustainability. Yes, really. LOL! Of course, it´s not hard to make out what this really entails. Many products are already eco-labeled, but only a fool takes this labeling system seriously. This eco-labeling doesn´t seem to have slowed down environmental destruction appreciably. There are also “dolphin-safe” tuna salads and indeed various “justice” labels. In the same way, what are the chances that *mining corporations in Africa, China and North Korea* will live up to even basic safety standards at their mines? And what on earth does “sustainable mining” even *mean*? The labeling system is either a complete farce, or a very Swedish way of conducting a resource war. Perhaps consumers can be convinced to buy only electric cars with copper wires from Swedish mines, rather than from the hell-holes in the Congo? Note also how the labeling system could be used to squeeze China during trade negotiations.

I suppose it´s a good thing that Sweden comes clean about what “the fight against climate change” really means. Perhaps they should also include a certificate detailing how much oil went into the production and distribution process of said car…or perhaps not!

Vi kan säkra tillgången på rättvisa metaller

The Man of Light returns home

“The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism” is an extremely difficult work to review. Small wonder, since French scholar and author Henry Corbin tries to analyze Shia and Sufi mysticism in a manner that gives justice to their mystical experiences. In other words, an “emic” perspective, to use the lingo of anthropologists. Not an easy topic! The book´s focal point is the Illuminationism of 12^th century Islamic mystic Suhrawardi. Also analyzed are certain writings by Najm Razi, Najmoddin Kobra, Semnani and Ruzbehan of Shiraz. They all represent an esoteric Sufi spirituality within Islam centered on Persia. It´s not clear to me whether these mystics were Sunni or Shia, or if it even matters. Corbin certainly gives them a Shiite spin.

The author tries to describe the various stages of the mystical ascent from the “well” of darkness and matter to union with the divine. It´s obvious from context that he somehow believes in this kind of spirituality himself, and Corbin is indeed considered an important fellow traveler to the so-called Traditionalist school of René Guénon and Fritjhof Schuon. One thing that struck me when reading the book is that it sounds polemical, but it´s never spelled out who Corbin might be polemicizing against. Other scholars? Or, more likely, other mystics? He rejects the notion that the darkness at the beginning of the mystical journey is the same as the darkness at its end, perhaps a polemic against those who confuse the pre-personal with the trans-personal, to use Ken Wilber´s terminology. The darkness of matter is dense and really dark, the “black light” of God is really not black at all but transparent as the night sky. Note also the paradoxical expression “black light”. Corbin is also opposed to those who claim that somehow light and darkness are united in God. This is interesting, since many mystics do indeed claim this. Corbin rejects this kind of pantheist understanding of God in favor of one closer to classical theism, where God is wholly good. In his understanding, Suhrawardi´s path is dualist rather than monist or pantheist. Light and darkness absolutely must be separated from each other. Indeed, the author believes that Suhrawardi was heavily indebted to Manichaeism, Mandaeism, and Zoroastrianism. All three have strongly dualistic cosmologies.

Corbin spends considerable time discussing something he calls “the symbolism of the pole”, which is connected to seeming veneration of the Pole Star and legends about a paradisiacal land in the far North (compare Hyperborea). Corbin believes that this should be interpreted esoterically – many Traditionalists seem to rather interpret it literally, spinning all kinds of speculations about Arctic Ur-Heimats of the Aryan race and what not. To the author, the North is esoterically really the East, where the sun rises. It also seems to be a kind of axis mundi (compare Eliade). Corbin even sees it as an implicit criticism of evolution, which has no point of orientation, simply meandering away on the horizontal plane. By contrast, mysticism is connected to a vertical axis of ascent to God, and hence has a true teleology. Corbin also attacks those who have a “collective” or “social” view of mysticism, presumably again some kind of pantheists who want to turn the mystic into one drop in a vast “divine” ocean. To the author, by contrast, the mystical path is strictly individual and marks individual liberation from the power of the collective.

The mystical path is associated with many strange and wonderful events, including a meeting with a female angel (this is interesting – many male mystics meet her!), encounters with the Heavenly Twin of the mystic, a walk across the Chinvat Bridge, and visions of colored lights. Some mystics consider the green light to be the highest and hence a sign that the seeker has finally reached God. Others claim that the highest one is the previously mentioned black light. During his journey, the mystic develops entirely new organs of perception, and it seems as if he eventually turns into a Man of Light, who is simultaneously both a unique individual and yet a heavenly archetype. I get the impression that the mystic has an esoteric anatomy (compare kundalini yoga). Corbin believes that there is a kind of astral world in between the material and divine realms, an astral world in which matter is somehow spiritualized. This “mundus imaginalis” seems to be wholly objective. What happens in this heavenly twin world is real enough, and in that sense, religious visions of supernatural realities are “literal”. Of course, the higher the mystic reaches, the more he does away with the distinction between object and subject, between outer and inner, until the question ceases to be meaningful at all.

While “The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism” says very little about Christianity, one can draw certain parallels with Christian notions, although mostly Gnostic-heretical ones. The dualism and complex cosmology is similar in kind to that of Christian Gnosticism. Orthodox Christian mystics claimed to have the power to temporary divinize their physical bodies already in this life, making them emit heavenly light. Note also Jesus on Mount Tabor. Further note the distinction Paul makes between earthly and heavenly bodies. The latter are presumably the same kind of bodies as those in the “mundus imaginalis”.

Although I found Henry Corbin´s book peculiar in the extreme, I admit that I also found it strangely soothing and alluring. Perhaps I too long for a meeting with the Heavenly Twin and the Visio Smaragdina…