Much more to the story

 

An apparent rando interviews explorer extraordinaire Graham Hancock and comes across as a pro. Hancock discusses a wide variety of topics in this conversation, and while avid fans have probably heard all of it before, it´s probably of considerable interest to those whose only exposure to the man is a recent Netflix series.

On purpose, the interviewer concentrates on topics presumably *not* covered by Netflix: the role of psychedelics in the evolution of human consciousness, research into telepathy, Hancock´s religious views (if any), Freemasonry, and the mysterious connection between the Knights Templar and Ethiopia. No less! Hancock also tells some weird anecdotes from his travels, such as the time he found *his own name* carved into one of the stones of the Great Pyramid…

Recommended, regardless of where the comet strikes next!

Low dick energy

Jag sa ju att tjejen egentligen har helknäpp humor...

"Här dissar Greta influencerns penis"

The wrong side of the river

 

“Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India”, published in 2008, is one of the few scholarly studies of the notorious Aghori, a Hindu sect based at Benares (Varanasi). The author, Ron Barrett, is an anthropologist who joined the Aghori during the course of his Indian fieldwork. The foreword is written by Jonathan P Parry, another anthropologist who studied the sect. To an American audience, the Aghori are most known from Reza Aslan´s bizarre encounter with their “cannibalistic” rituals (which was actually shown on CNN), or perhaps from Dakota of Earth´s all-Indian peregrinations on YouTube. Since the book was published long before the Aghori´s encounter with social media, it sheds very little light on this more recent situation. My impression is that Barrett is describing a very untraditional Aghori lineage, which has strongly de-emphasized the controversial elements usually associated with the sect, in favor of social work and piecemeal societal reforms. The lineage he describes even has an ashram in California and some American disciples (including, as already pointed out, the author himself). I noticed that all Aghori shown in the book are clean-shaven, while the ones shown on CNN or YouTube usually spout hair and beards (and very large hash pipes)…

The Aghori are usually classified as Shaivas and Tantrikas. Their historical origins are obscure, but there is probably some connection to the “kapalikas”, another Shaiva Tantra tradition, named after the habit of its followers to beg for food using bowls made of human skulls. The patron deity of the Aghori is Lord Dattatreya, interpreted as an antinomian form of Shiva. However, they also worship the Goddess, usually in her ferocious form as Kali. At Benares, the Aghori has traditionally been associated with the Dom caste of attendants at funeral pyres, a caste considered low and impure in the Hindu hierarchy. Note, however, that the Aghori themselves can be Brahmins or Kshatriyas. The sect has achieved notoriety due to its lurid practices, which include coprophagy (the eating of human excrement) and necrophagy (the eating of human corpses). Most of the time, however, the Aghor sage seems busy drinking alcohol and smoking hash. At least if the local town gossip is to be believed! Sitting on top of a corpse while meditating is another classic sadhana of this particular group. The point of these “left hand” Tantric practices is to learn to practice “non-discrimination” and overcome the fear of death, thereby gaining spiritual enlightenment. With this comes a large amount of spiritual power (shakti). Note that shakti can be personalized as Shakti, another name for the Goddess.

The lineage described in “Aghor Medicine”, Kina Ram, goes back to the 18^th century, when it was founded by Baba Kina Ram, described in the lineage legends as a miracle-worker and fighter on behalf of the poor and oppressed. Baba Kina Ram was associated with the Tantric goddess Hinglaj Devi, who revealed the location of the sacred pond Krim Kund to him at Benares. Krim Kund is still operational, forming part of the lineage´s central ashram. In more recent times, the two most important Kina Ram leaders have been Burhau Baba and Sarkar Baba. The former was a burly and unruly Aghor traditionalist, and is often depicted in the local lore as chasing children, “blessing” his devotees by hitting them hard with a stick, and drinking profusely. Already before his death in 1978, Burhau Baba´s authority seems to have been undermined by his heir-apparent, Sarkar Baba, who started a reformation of the group´s activities. Sarkar Baba turned the Kina Ram Aghori into a mixture of ashram and social relief organization. Heavy drinking and smoking was discouraged, antinomian activities curtailed (albeit not entirely abolished), and the practice of doing sadhana at midnight in charnel grounds (around animals habituated to eat human flesh) was replaced by another practice considered equally dangerous and polluting in a Hindu context…

Yes, that would be aiding lepers.

While leprosy is indeed a dangerous disease, it´s not particularly contagious and can be cured by modern medicine. The problem in India is that anyone who catches it will be stigmatized for life, and this even if they are completely cured of the condition. Lepers and former lepers are shunned by their own families, can´t get married, and are often forced to leave their home towns. Many lepers are forced into poverty and begging, which in turn reinforces the idea that leprosy is somehow “caused” by these things (and bad karma in general). Seeking treatment is difficult, since leprosy clinics are often easily spotted, and passers-by assume that everyone who enters them is indeed a leper. Rumors about their condition quickly spreads. In Indian folk superstition, harmless skin diseases such as vitiligo are associated with leprosy and are therefore met with the same social sanctions. By socializing with people afflicted by leprosy and various skin conditions, the Kina Ram Aghori are therefore deliberately “polluting” themselves in almost “left hand Tantra” fashion!

Bathing in Krim Kund was said to miraculously cure leprosy long before Sarkar Baba´s reformation, but today, the healing properties of the Aghori pond form an important part of the new regimen at the ashram. The lineage has also established a “treatment facility” for leprosy sufferers at the “wrong” (inauspicious) side of the Ganges river. It´s relatively close to a modern treatment facility, but although the medical care there is for free (and can actually cure leprosy), the Aghori facility has more patients. “Curing” the social stigma of the disease takes precedence over its actual cure. A leper who spends years at an “ashram” might be said to carry out a difficult religious duty, thereby (perhaps) lessening the stigma of his or her family. A cured ex-leper (and his entire family) still carries the curse. Other paradoxes are also at work. The Aghori may be “polluting” themselves by associating too closely with leprosy patients, but a holy man who “pollutes” himself is said to acquire immense shakti precisely by daring to tread where no ordinary man can go. Indeed, the supposed ability of an Aghor to cure leprosy is derived precisely from the fact that he can stand being “polluted” by them. The status of the Kina Ram Aghori is enhanced by the presence of lepers at their ashrams…but the status of *the lepers* doesn´t seem to change appreciably.

Which doesn´t mean that the Kina Ram Aghori aren´t social reformers. They arguably are, although their progress is slow. For instance, Sarkar Baba abolished dowry among his supporters, and widows can get the higher status of renunciates within the group. At the same time, the new respectability of the reformed Kina Ram lineage also creates pressures to conform to Hindu orthopraxy. To finance the lineage´s schools, orphanages and “treatment” facilities, the Kina Ram Aghori have created a large network of important contacts. Barrett claims that the lineage is supported by several former Indian state governors, and a former prime minister (he never names him or her). At an Aghori-related religious festival, the author ran into a former high-ranking civil servant from Nepal. Perhaps ironically, he even met a real medical doctor among the devotees! Meanwhile, the ashram in Benares is no longer as open as it used to be to the low-caste Dom. An entrance at the “river” side of the ashram has been closed, leaving the entrance at the “smarter” urban side the only one left. The Dom used the former.

The book´s title is “Aghor Medicine”, but if you´re looking for detailed descriptions of actual remedies, you won´t find them here. The Aghori, apparently like most Indians, are pragmatic and “pluralistic” in their approach to medicine. They aren´t “against” so-called English medicine, but it seems that Ayurveda is the preferred approach. Or rather a revised form of it, since the Kina Ram lineage has changed many Ayurvedic potions, citing Sarkar Baba´s “divine inspiration”. Also, they play down the anti-leprosy statements in classical Ayurvedic scriptures. However, the most important part of Aghor healing isn´t this or that medical potion (dawa) but rather the blessing (duwa) bestowed through it by the Aghor holy man. Without the duwa, the dawa is pointless. And as already explained above, the most salient feature of any cure is the (attempted) removal of the social stigma attached to the disease. Or as Barrett puts it: “Disease discrimination is itself an illness”.

With that, I end this blog post.

Eye of Atlantis

 

Has YouTuber and Hancock wanna-be "Bright Insight" actually found...Atlantis??? "Bright" makes a more convincing case for the strange Richat structure being Atlantis in this recent clip than he did before. Very interesting! 

The dream is over

 

I´m becoming more and more skeptical to this kind of spirituality. Aren´t these people simply fucking with their own finite minds, rather than experiencing The Overmind? 

Merry Christmas

 

Credit: Wesley Fryer (Edmond, Oklahoma)

Merry Christmas everyone!

NATO önskar god jul

 

Från oss alla till er alla: NATO önskar en riktigt god jul! Gav just uttrycket "War on Christmas" en helt ny innebörd... 

Embrace the emptiness

 

This is such a bullshit spirituality. Embrace the emptiness, be an asshole, you are "special" if you´re a social outcast, und so weiter.

Note (once again) that this YouTube channel (pun intended), while claiming to be anti-dualist and all-embracing, has a perspective just as dualist as the worldviews she condemns! And where on Earth (pun intended again) is the "Ego death" in all this? 

The emptiness embraced here is a very special kind of emptiness...  

No???

 

Wtf?! 

Angel of False Light

 

Two somewhat paranoid expositions on the "false light" theme. Is this woman channeling the real one, or is she Lucifer masquerading as an Angel of Light? New level, new devil, yes?

The claim that the struggle between good and evil is somehow "false" is BS, and the worldview of this spiritual teacher is just as dualist (good/evil) as the worldviews she is condemning. As in duality between true and false light, perhaps...

Note the hidden attack on Donald Trump in the first clip, btw. It must be the ex-POTUS who is the "false divine masculine" and the "controlled opposition"!

Whoa. 

  

Project Sunshine

 

“Aliens and Demons: Evidence of an Unseen Realm” is an extended interview with Michael S Heiser, a maverick Biblical scholar who doubles as a kind of UFO-logist. I previously reviewed some of Heiser´s books on this blog, one of them indeed titled “The Unseen Realm”. The interview, dubbed a “documentary” on YouTube, gives a good overview of Heiser´s worldview, while also giving a strongly eclectic impression.

In the first portion, Heiser argues – more or less convincingly – that the UFO phenomenon is staged by the American military, and that there is a connection to Operation Paperclip and something called Project Sunshine. The “alien space craft” are military test flights of various exotic human technologies. The “alien bodies” might be bodies of young convicts, perhaps taken from death row and forced to participate in dangerous experiments. But when Heiser starts discussing MK Ultra, he suddenly switches gear and starts claiming that actual demons come through in the abduction experiences, when surely a secular explanation is just as possible here as at Roswell! Why not simply claim that “alien abductions” are an attempt to cover up MK Ultra´s mind-control experiments? In the same vein, contactee experiences are with lesser spiritual beings or outrightly demonic ones. Heiser points out that the notorious Swiss contactee Billy Meier claims to have met a gorgeous female space alien named Semjase, a name clearly related to that of the leader of the fallen angels in the First Book of Enoch, Semyaza or Semyaz…

Theologically, Heiser is somewhat heterodox. For instance, he doesn´t believe in the fall of Lucifer and the “war in the heavens” as an event taking place *before* the creation of Adam and Eve (and their subsequent fall). Instead, he puts most of his emphasis on the fall of the Watchers, the angels who mated with human females and gave rise to the monstrous race of the Nephilim (the Giants). This happened after the fall of Adam and Eve, but before the Flood. I get the impression that Heiser believes this to be an actual historical event. Heiser further argues that there are a number of different demonic beings in the unseen realm. Some of them aren´t actually demonic in the strict sense of the term. However, they are imperfect and have failed in the mission God assigned to them, that mission being to act like “gods” unto the Gentile nations. Other beings are outrightly evil and are probably the disembodied souls of dead Nephilim.

Thus, UFOs and aliens are either secretive military experiments or literal demons (or other entities) from a supernatural dimension. While there might be intelligent life in other solar systems, no evidence for space aliens ever landing on Earth exists. In one section of the interview, Heiser polemicizes against the inordinately popular TV series “Ancient Aliens”. He explains that the famous vision of Ezekiel – often said to be an early UFO observation – is really the Old Testament god sitting on a “Babylonian” chariot, symbolizing that Yahwe is above the pagan gods. Nor is there any evidence for the wild claims of Zecharia Sitchin about Nibiru and what not.

One intriguing point made by Heiser is that the Sumerians also had a legend of fallen angels, but in their version, the Watchers are good gods who want to save humanity from the Flood brought about by gods who hate us! Their way of doing so is to mate with human females, thereby giving their offspring a portion of divinity, while also teaching the human population the arts of civilization. This rather sympathetic myth was turned upside-down by the Hebrew scriptures. But, of course, Heiser doesn´t think it´s sympathetic and expresses support for the Biblical version.

I can´t help thinking that Heiser “should” be even more heterodox than he really is. For instance, what about the Divine Council? Why does God say “let us make humanity in our image”? Heiser clearly believes that the Divine Council exist and that God is addressing other powerful heavenly beings in this version. If the “gods” of the goyim actually exist, doesn´t that make Yahweh into a polytheist high god? And why should we believe that Yahweh isn´t just another national god, anyway? Also, Heiser seem to believe that God did create extraterrestrials, but curiously enough without “God´s image”. Are we *that* unique in the entire cosmos? Why not embrace the Mormon position that there are countless of gods, countless of creators, and hence countless of “divine images”…

With that reflection, I close this review.   

Among kings and necromancers

 

Previously posted on this blog on October 19, 2018. Reposted here due to, shall we say, thematic reasons...

This is a slightly bizarre book, only available in Swedish, about the occult pursuits of a group of aristocrats in late 18^th century Sweden. Their leader was Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, who was de facto ruler of Sweden for a few years after the assassination of King Gustav III. The group also included Duke Karl, who later became King of Sweden under the name Karl XIII. For a short period, Gustav III was also interested in matters occult. I knew that King Gustav and Duke Karl had been Freemasons, but clearly, I didn´t know half of it!

Those familiar with the confusing world of “Scottish” Masonry, Rosicrucians, alchemists, Mesmerists and magicians, will feel right at home in this material, which until recently was kept in the secret archives of the Swedish Masonic Order. Christian heresy-hunters and anti-Masonic conspiracy theorists will also have a field day, since many of the rituals described in this volume have a “Satanist” flare. That upper class people dabbled in what can only be described as black magic could be seen as slightly problematic even from a purely skeptic angle.

Duke Karl and Reuterholm seem to have been interested in all aspects of the occult: Hermetic and Cabbalistic speculations, the mysticism of Jacob Böhme, “Templar” Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism, alchemic experiments, treasure-hunting, animal magnetism and hands-on divination, including tasseomancy. Many aristocrats (including Gustav III) consulted a “wise woman”, Ulrika Arfvidsson, who lived in a small hut in the poorer part of Stockholm and divined with the help of coffee grounds. I admit I was surprised by this mixture of sophisticated esotericism and a more folkish version. The two main preoccupations of the Reuterholm circle were attempts to contact the angels through ritual magic, and necromancy. It´s the latter activity that make the activities of Reuterholm and his associates seem downright sinister. The necromantic work was carried out at cemeteries, and involved actual human remains procured specially for the occasion. According to the documents collected in this volume, the skull and wishbone of a 12-year old boy child should be used for the best effect, and apparently *were* used, which raises the question whose grave the aristocratic magicians had desecrated! Contact with “angels” involved animal sacrifice (of doves) or blood-letting from the magician himself.

The main purpose of these rituals was, as already noted, divination. Reuterholm claimed to hail from a family with prophetic abilities, who had supposedly predicted Swedish history correctly until the year 1720. His private reflections contain many references to precognitive dreams (alongside poltergeists, meetings with nature spirits, etc). Reuterholm, a notoriously vain man, also believed himself to be destined to greatness, a belief with apparent occult undertones. On this point, at any rate, he was to be sorely disappointed. When Gustav III´s son became king under the name Gustav IV Adolf, Reuterholm fell from favor and in 1799, he went into voluntary exile. He died at the estate of Danish prince Carl af Hessen, an esoteric Freemason who also protected the famed Count de St Germain. During his last years, Reuterholm used the telling pseudonym “Tempelkreutz”. A portrait painting shows him standing in full Templar (or pseudo-Templar) regalia alongside the symbolic coffin of Jacques de Molay!

Reuterholm´s erstwhile ally Duke Karl continued with occult pursuits alongside his wife Charlotta and the Rosicrucian Karl Adolf Boheman. Their initiation ritual included laying on top of a painting of a nude woman, symbolizing Nature. When Gustav IV Adolf (by all accounts a somewhat fanatical Lutheran) heard about the occult goings-on, at the Royal Palace no less, he had Boheman banished from the country and forced Karl and Charlotta to shut down their operations. It seems they were never taken up again, not even when Gustav Adolf was overthrown and banished, replaced by none other than Karl at the royal throne.

As for Reuterholm, his magical writings met with a varied fate after his death, a substantial portion eventually ending up in the hands of the Swedish Freemasons, which promptly decided to place them under lock and key…until now, when the non-Masonic part (ironically, the most sensational part) has been published in this volume, under the title “Gustaviansk mystik” (The Mysticism of the Gustavian Age).

Since this work is currently unavailable from Amazon, it might be of interest to know that the publisher, Vertigo Förlag, has a website…

Drinking the blood of the Master

 

I recently summarized an interesting article on the Swedish Order of Freemasons, only available in Swedish, and then came across another one, based on the same Norwegian book, “Frimureri” by Sverre Dag Mogstad, which I unfortunately haven´t read (it was published in 1994). The second article is written by Per Beskow, a highly erudite Catholic writer and scholar (he passed away a few years ago). He is mostly known for his book “Fynd och fusk i Bibelns värld”. I think “Strange Tales about Jesus” is the English translation. The Catholic Church prohibits its members from becoming Freemasons, so Beskow naturally has a critical outlook on the topic from the start. And yes, the Masons turn out to have some *very* strange tales about Master Jesus in their closet!

The short story of Svenska Frimurare Orden (SFMO) is that its rituals were developed by Duke Karl (Duke Charles) by the year 1800. Karl later became King of Sweden and Norway, using the title Karl XIII in Sweden (sometimes rendered Charles XIII in English). The Swedish Freemasons, who on many points differ from other branches of Freemasonry, have long been connected to the royal power, with many kings serving either as Grand Masters or Protectors of the Order. The present king, Carl XVI Gustav, is Protector but doesn´t participate in Masonic activities, apparently not even being a member of the Order. The last royal Grand Master, Prince Bertil, passed away in 1997. Apart from their close connection to the royal court, the SFMO also has a strong Christian (Lutheran) profile, actively recruiting and initiating priests. This is where it gets interesting…

The SFMO is also active in Finland (which until 1809 was part of the Swedish kingdom). The Swedish Rite or Swedish system also exists in Norway, Denmark, Iceland and parts of Germany. In these territories, it´s worked by independent Masonic bodies with fraternal relations to the SFMO.

The rituals and even some of the degrees and activities of the Order are kept strictly secret, but as usual everything has leaked out anyway. What makes the SFMO peculiar seems to be what Beskow calls its “pseudo-sacramental” character. There is a “clericate” of clergymen from the Lutheran Church of Sweden (the erstwhile national Church). The initiation rituals for clergy to some extent mimic Church rituals. The Catholic Beskow is particularly intrigued by the use of vestments, holy water and incense during a period when official Lutheranism in Sweden tended to shy away from such things. In the tenth degree, even a kind of communion is celebrated.

The most sensational and bizarre ritual comes in a degree known as X:2, an alternate tenth degree the very existence of which was kept a secret from non-initiates (the majority of the membership). Yes, the high degree Masons really drink blood! The initiate is supposed to partake of a liquid containing wine and blood. The latter comes from a mysterious “prism” which is said to contain a mix of the blood of every previous member of X:2. He also adds his own blood to the liquid. And now comes the clincher: the “prism” is even said to contain the physical blood of Jesus Christ?! To their credit, even some of the leading Swedish Masons were skeptical to the blood ritual. Karl XIII apparently feared that his own adopted crown prince, Karl Johan (the former French general Bernadotte), might destroy the “prism”, so he carefully hid it before his death in 1818. It didn´t resurface until 1852, but the new Grand Master, king Oscar I (Bernadotte´s son), refused to reinstate X:2. His successor Karl XV, by contrast, did so. The blood drinking and its appendant degree was finally abolished in Sweden in 1981, but is still practiced in various forms in the other Swedish Rite jurisdictions. The quasi-official position of the SFMO seems to be that the ritual hasn´t been practiced at all since at least 1900. It´s also interesting to note that the present HQ of the Swedish Order lacks an “Adytum Sacrum”, the secret vault in which the blood drinking was to take place.

Beskow, still basing himself on Mogstad´s book, then describes the secret legends of the Swedish Order of Freemasons. While they have a strong Christian coloring, they are also strongly heterodox or heretical from a more traditional Christian viewpoint. One of the legends claim that Jesus was initiated into the Essenes by John the Baptist. John is said to have transferred the wisdom of this ancient society onto Jesus at the baptism in the river Jordan. Jesus, now the new Grand Master, in turn initiated his favorite disciple, none other than John the Evangelist. I assume it´s not a coincidence that both the predecessor and successor of Jesus were named John! There is a claim in conspiracy circles that the Masons really are “Johannine” heretics, who believe that John the Baptist was the real Messiah. Is this true, then? Or is it a distortion of actual Masonic myths? The same myth further states that the Knights Templar met seven mysterious Syrian Christians when guarding the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and these men revealed the Essene-Jesus secrets to the crusading knights. (Compare legends about how Christian Rosenkreuz found wisdom in the Middle East, and so on.)

Interestingly, the idea that the Templars had the blood of Jesus in their possession comes from the 13th century, when the Templars were still thriving, and was thus no secret. The blood relic was supposedly bestowed onto the Templars in 1247 in the form of a crystalline flask containing the priceless liquid. Nor is this even considered heretical: Beskow mentions that the Benedictine abbey at Weingarten in Germany still to this day hosts a similar relic. Esoteric Freemasons has expanded considerably on these notions. In their version, Jacques Molay (the last Grand Master of the Templars), had an otherwise unknown nephew named Frankois de Beaujeu, who took possession of the most precious relics of the Templars after Molay´s execution in 1314. These included the “prism” and the royal crown of Jerusalem. Beaujeu and his associates also removed the body of Pope Clement V (who had ordered Molay´s execution) from his crypt, and replaced them with the ash from Molay´s burned body! Later, these last Templars absconded to Scotland and established contacts with the Stuart family. It´s interesting to note that the Swedish king Gustav III (a relative of Duke Karl) was an initiated Freemason and sent a delegation to the Stuart pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie, whom he believed was the secret Grand Master of the Temple. After the death of the “Young” Pretender in 1788, Gustav III forged a document according to which Bonnie Prince Charlie had transferred the grand mastership of the Temple to Gustav. Note the theological weirdness of this: a Lutheran king claims to head a secret version of a Catholic crusading order!

Beskow´s article ends with a more general criticism of Masonic esotericism contra Christian exotericism-only.

Very interesting!   

 

Den föränderliga liturgin

Intressant artikel om "den tridentinska riten" och katolsk traditionalism. Av Per Beskow. 

Den tridentinska riten i historiskt perspektiv

Frimureriet i offentlighetens ljus

Karl XIII. Observera frimurarkorset runt halsen!

Katoliken Per Beskow om det svenska frimureriet. Observera blodsritualen! Tydligen tror sig vissa frimurare dricka Kristi fysiska blod?!

Frimureriet i offentlighetens ljus

Among priests and Freemasons

Karl XIII as Grand Master of Swedish Masons.
Note the Templar banner in the background!

This is an English summary of an article from “Folkvett” about Swedish Freemasonry, available on the web. “Folkvett” is published by a Swedish skeptics´ group. The article is based on a Norwegian book supposedly revealing the secrets of Swedish (and Nordic) Freemasonry – which it perhaps does. (I haven´t read it, and the article is from 1995.) I also included some info from Swedish Wiki and other sources.

The Swedish Order of Freemasons, Svenska Frimurare Orden or SFMO, has its roots in the 18^th century, and counts Duke Karl, later King of Sweden under the name of Karl XIII, as its most important Grand Master. Indeed, he seems to have developed most of its rituals. SFMO always had a strong connection to the royal court, with the king serving either as the Order´s Grand Master or as its Protector. The present Swedish king, Carl XVI Gustav, is the first since the mid-18^th century who isn´t an active Freemason at all, but he is apparently still counted as formal Protector. The last Grand Master of royal blood, Prince Bertil, passed away in 1997. Since then, all Grand Masters have been commoners.

Internationally, Freemasons are split into many different factions, and very often they only have the name in common. The Swedish Freemasons are recognized as “regular” by Anglo-American Masonry, but seems to have very little in common with them in practice, being more explicitly Christian and even more conservative. The “Swedish rite” or “Swedish system” is also “worked” among the Masons in Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. The Swedish Rite Masons in Finland are affiliated directly with the SFMO (since Finland was originally a part of the Swedish kingdom), while the other groups are independent. The rituals are kept strictly secret, but has inevitably leaked out, although it´s of course difficult to *really* double check claims about secret rituals. Unsurprisingly, the rituals of the higher grades are the most interesting.

In the eight grade, the Mason is dubbed a knight and gets to wear a Templar outfit. He is also expected to design his own coat of arms. Note the aristocratic angle. There were originally two tenth grades, one of which was kept secret to everyone except the initiates. That is, nobody else even knew about its existence. Initiates were supposed to drink a liquid consisting of the blood of every other secret tenth degree member! In Sweden and Finland, this bizarre ritual was abolished during the 1970´s, in Norway it´s only symbolic, while in Denmark it apparently still exists. (No info on Iceland.)

The role of priests in the Swedish Rite is interesting. The eight degree and above have a chapel, the very existence of which is kept a secret to those of lower rank. I assume initiated priests serve in this chapel. The priests also officiate at the “regular” Masonic rituals in the eight degree and above. Instead of being dubbed knights, the priests undergo a ritual similar to their priestly ordination, but in place of regular vestments, they wear Masonic outfits. Duke Karl was steeped in 18^th century esotericism, and the secret teachings of the SFMO are supposed to be a mix of Christianity, Rosicrucianism, Kabbala and even astrology. If anyone really believes this is unclear – according to another source on the web, a visiting brother from New Zealand (i.e. a mainline Anglo-American Mason) was told by the Swedish Masons that these rituals exist mostly for “traditional” reasons, but perhaps they told him this to keep the man in the dark? You never know with esotericists…

The Swedish Order of Freemasons is described as a “dictatorship” by the skeptics at “Folkvett”, since the Grand Master is elected for life by the Supreme Council (consisting of all Masons of the eleventh degree). He can´t be replaced and has unlimited decision-making powers. The other Swedish Rite groups have an identical structure. Note the similarity between the structure of the SFMO and the semi-absolutist regime of late 18^th century Sweden. A royal Grand Master with sweeping powers preside over an organization of “knights” (nobles) and Lutheran priests (the nobles and the priests were the two non-commoner estates in the Swedish Diet). Sweden was allied with pre-revolutionary France, so the similarities between this and Jacobite “Scottish” Freemasonry is probably no co-incidence either.

With that, I end this presentation!

Blod och esoterism

En intressant artikel från Folkvett om de svenska frimurarnas hemliga ritualer. Det enda som överraskade mig var att de faktiskt brukade dricka blod i en av de högsta graderna! Det prästerliga inslaget har jag hört talas om tidigare, men inte så detaljerat som här. 

Observera också detta: "Från och med den åttonde graden tar logens präster hand om de rituella (liturgiska) uppgifterna. Från och med denna grad får också kristna idéer en betydligt ökad roll i den blandning av bl a kristendom, astrologi, kabbalism och rosenkorsmysticism som frimureriets ordenslegender och övriga läror bygger på."

Frimurarnas hemligheter

Apparently, we should all be dead

 

“Weird or What?” is a TV series on the paranormal, presented by former actor William Shatner (Captain Kirk in “Star Trek”). At least in this episode, both true believers and skeptics (and even some kind of moderate believers in parapsychology) get to present their respective takes on the cases mentioned. The first one is the most ridiculous: the claim that the famous painting of the “crying boy” is cursed and can cause fires. The story was probably invented in 1985 by the notorious British tabloid “The Sun” (their “reporter” is actually interviewed by Shatner´s sidekicks), which also wrote that the painting itself was never harmed in the fires it supposedly triggered through paranormal means.

Since “the crying boy” was hanging on the wall in millions of British homes, it´s difficult *not* to find some homes destroyed by fire in which the painting was present. But how could it survive a fire? Probably because of the material it´s made from, and because the painting would fall from the wall during fires – the temperature at floor level is cooler. My family had a “crying boy” on the wall throughout my childhood, and so had everyone else in our part of town (including a crazy Gypsy woman – scary or what?), and yet there were no fires. Logically, we should all be dead! So should everyone at the “The Sun”, since they told the readers to send them their crying boy paintings, and yet, the editorial office never caught ablaze, and neither did the local post office…

Next, we have the evil doll Robert in Florida, which supposedly curses everyone who doesn´t show it proper deference. Some kind of hoodoo thing, apparently. Comments probably unnecessary. Finally, Shatner takes us to California and the admittedly strange Winchester House, supposedly built by a cursed heiress to placate the spirits of people killed by Winchester guns! In reality, most stories of the mystery house are urban legends and even the stranger architectural features have mundane explanations. Sarah Winchester, the owner, probably did what many other rich people in America did at the time: build fancy and weird big houses (think “baroque”).

The main take away from this episode of “Weird or What?” seems to be that curses only work on people who believe in them! No surprise there, tbh… 

Equal to the apostles

 

?????!!!!!

Saint Nino

Heaven´s secret agent

Previously posted on November 18, 2020 under a different title

"Emanuel Swedenborg, Secret Agent on Earth and in Heaven. Jacobites, Jews, and Freemasons in Early Modern Sweden" is a 800-page scholarly work by Marsha Keith Schuchard, an American historian specializing in William Blake and his sources. I suppose this is about those sources!

The book is extremely detailed and deals more with political and Masonic intrigue than with esotericism, although that subject is also touched upon. Indeed, one of the author's points is that the distinction between "real" espionage and esoteric activities aren't that obvious, anyway. 

The center of attention is Swedish esotericist Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), the so-called Seer of the North. Schuchard argues that the real life Swedenborg was very different from the picture painted by his later followers in the Swedenborgian "New Church". Swedenborg was deeply immersed in esotericism and the paranormal since his childhood. He had contacts with a wide array of antinomians, ecstatics and mystics before he began to have revelatory visions himself. Swedenborg probably practiced yoga and various erotic-spiritual techniques akin to Tantrism. With such a background, it would have been strange *not* to experience visions from the spirit-world!

But Swedenborg was more than just an apolitical scientist turned prophet in old age (or religious nutjob, if you're more skeptical). Most of his life, Swedenborg was a secret agent of the French. He was part of a shadowy "underworld" of scheming and plotting spies, double agents, turncoats, adventurers and Freemasons. In other words, 18th century European politics as usual...

After the death of Swedish warrior-king Charles XII (Karl XII) in 1718 and the defeat of Sweden in the Great Northern War, the former regional great power fell on hard times. The so-called Age of Freedom following the king's death saw a succession of weak, "parliamentary" governments. Factional bickering was rife. The two main factions in the Swedish Diet, the Hats and the Caps, were both on foreign payroll. The Hats took subsidies from France, while the Caps were underwritten by Russia and Britain. The Hats were the slightly reckless "war party", dreaming of a restoration of the Swedish great power, something Russia and Britain wanted to stop at all costs. This explains why France - Britain's perennial adversary - backed the Hats. The British and the Russians, just as inevitably, backed the Cap "peace party". While both factions were dominated by nobles, the Caps had a more "democratic" image than the obviously aristocratic Hats. 

Swedenborg had began his political career working for Charles XII, whom he greatly admired. He also supported the king's controversial minister of finances, Görtz (who was disgraced and executed after Charles XII's death). During the Age of Freedom, Swedenborg was a Hat (albeit a fairly moderate one). He was a member of the House of Nobles in the Diet, and sometimes attended meetings of the Secret Committee, where Swedish foreign policy was decided upon. Above all, Swedenborg was a Hat-French intelligencer. 

The French king Louis XV was running a vast intelligence network all over Europe, known as Secret du Roi. Or rather *not* known, not even to the king's own ministers. The French court was split into several factions (including a pro-British "peace party"), and Louis clearly didn't want to risk sensitive information getting into the wrong hands. Schuchard considers it more or less proven that Swedenborg was on Louis XV's payroll. Despite a frugal life style, the future Seer of the North always had mysteriously large sums at his disposal. When the Hats joined forces with the so-called Court Party (which called for more royal power), the Age of Freedom was drawing to its close. Swedenborg supported king Gustav III, seeing him as the savior of Sweden and as a new Charles XII. In 1772, after Swedenborg's death, Gustav III did carry out an "auto-golpe" with Hat support. Perhaps it saved Sweden from being dismembered by Russia. 

Due to their secrecy, Masonic lodges were excellent vehicles for espionage and intrigue. France operated a network of pro-French Masonic orders. The Hanoverian regime in Britain created their own international Masonic network in turn. Later, Gustav III would set up a pro-Swedish Masonic network, with himself as Grand Master of the Swedish Order. The most important component of the Francophile lodges were the Jacobites, Catholic supporters of the House of Stuart, who had fled Britain after the 1688 Glorious Revolution and the subsequent defeat of James II at the Battle of the Boyne. The Jacobites (many of whom were Scottish) became French "assets". A whole series of attempted invasions of Britain and other plots against the British government involved the Jacobites. Their de facto leader Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) became a romantic figure, moving around Europe in heavy disguise, secretely visiting various Masonic lodges, and eventually elevating himself to the Grand Master of the Temple during the 1745 Jacobite invasion of Scotland. Apparently, Gustav III later took over the title, despite being a Protestant! Sweden often aided Jacobite attacks on the British. Schuchard believes that Charles XII's attack on Norway (during which he was killed) was part of a wider plan to invade Britain. The mysterious "Madagascar pirates" were also Jacobites...

I always assumed that the Jacobites were ultramontane Catholic fanatics, but if Schuchard is right, the picture is cobsiderably more complex. The loyal followers of the House of Stuart did believe in the divine right of kings (royal autocracy), but on other issues, they were surprisingly "enlightened". The Jacobites called for religious tolerance for all Christian groups, but also for Jews and Muslims. Jewish immigration to Europe should be encouraged. Alliances with the Muslim Ottoman Empire were seen as non-problematic. The tolerance towards other faiths weren't simply driven by economic (Jews) and political (Muslims) factors. The esoteric aspects of Jacobite "Scottish" Freemasonry also played a part. There was a strong interest in both the Jewish and the Hermetic Kabbala, in Jewish-Christian syncretism, Hebrew studies, and even Quranic studies. Swedenborg was (of course) part of this milieu, a kind of occult-Jacobite underground. This might explain why a Masonic body claiming descent from the Catholic Knights Templar could nevertheless have a Lutheran Grand Master.

Going back to Swedenborg, Schuchard believes that many of his "paranormal powers" have more earthly explanations. How did Swedenborg know about the great fire of Stockholm in 1759 while he was in Gothenburg? Perhaps he had access to secret British intelligence? The fire may have been the work of British agents. Some of his visions were wrong! The author speculates that Swedenborg may have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. 

Schuchard has written a (perhaps) more accesible work on this murky topic, "Why Mrs Blake Cried". The work under review is for specialized research libraries only. Still, a compelling and fascinating book! 

Nothing to see here, dear Messalians

From an old blog post: 

>>>I did get one insight, for all it´s worth, while reading the book. Johansons points out that medieval guilds, including powerful merchant guilds such as the Hansa, had initiation rituals featuring ordeals. The stone-masons had secret recognition signs, and many guilds had fictitious founder myths which the members were supposed to learn (perhaps as another sign of recognition). Thus, the stone-masons claimed that Moses was the first of their trade! 

>>>What this means, of course, is that we can lay all conspiracy theories about the Knights Templar to rest. The fact that the Templars might have had secret initiation rituals and “heretical” lore (“heretical” to the heresy-hunters of later centuries) doesn´t prove that they were a truly occult-heretical brotherhood. Their practices seem to have been medieval Catholic commonplaces! What a pity.

Exactly. Note also that the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping a severed head named Baphomet. Which sounds like a wordplay on John the Baptist (Ioannes Baptista) and Mahomet (the Turkish name of Mohammed). Bunk, of course. But note that the Knights Hospitaller, who were never accused of anything, openly venerated...wait for it...the severed head of John the Baptist! 

Note finally that Bernhard de Clairvaux, the original inspirator of the Knights Templar, had an almost "Tantric" bride-chamber mysticism. Which wasn´t considered heretical either at the time.

Are we on to something here?

Oh, and the Templars sometimes wore "Abraxas stones", but I´m sure that´s just a co-incidence!   

Bääääää!

Väljarna vill frysa med sossarna istället för att frysa med moderaterna. Bääääää! 

Rödgröna tokökar i ny mätning

God is not the point

Interesting, but perhaps somewhat basic, points in this one. 

Saint Lucy´s Day

 

Trying somehow to celebrate Saint Lucy´s Day as we speak...

Auto-trolling?

 

Credit: Chtrede

Why is this considered "trolling"? A more reasonable explanation is that the Namibian president really wants the Germans to return to their old colony!

I´m old enough to remember when SWAPO was considered a "leftist" organization, but what the heck do I know...

Namibia trolls Germany?

Meanwhile in America

Fusion power? Really, anon???
Credit: Marie@Bunnie_cosplay (Twitter)

HA HA HA. 

US scientists reach long-awaited breakthrough, Biden to make statement, etc etc

The Kali Yuga never ended

 

“The Great Year” is a documentary narrated by famous African-American actor James Earl Jones. Not sure why, but no hard feelings! The docu, or perhaps extended presentation, is attributed to the Binary Research Institute, a front for the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), a religious group promoting the “Kriya Yoga” of Hindu guru Paramahansa Yogananda. A member of the SRF is featured in “The Great Year”, which also mentions Yogananda´s guru Swami Yukteshwar (whom I have mentioned before on this blog). The concrete astrological, astronomical and “Vedic” speculations mentioned in the documentary are apparently associated with Yukteshwar.

On one level, “The Great Year” promotes an alternative scientific hypothesis, according to which our sun has a companion, being part of a binary star system. The second sun, which is very difficult to spot, causes civilizations to rise and fall, although it´s not clear how in this particular scenario. Maybe the explanation is purely “spiritual” in nature, since the second sun is said to cause the precession of the equinox, which in turn affects the astrological ages. Alternative science seamlessly transitions into the occult. The fall of Atlantis and the Bronze Age collapse are mentioned as possible effects of these astrological forces. And although Graham Hancock isn´t personally featured, “The Great Year” does mention some of his investigations.

However, the main point of “The Great Year” seems to be something else. Rather than preaching catastrophism in the strict sense, the Binary Research Institute (and therefore the SRF) believe we are at present in an *ascending* phase of the astrological cycle. This is obviously the Age of Aquarius of New Age fame. One of Yukteshwar´s innovations to the standard Puranic scheme of ever-alternating yugas was the idea that the Kali Yuga marks the nadir of a cycle, and after it, the ages start to gradually improve again. In the standard scenario, the Kali Yuga will end with a gigantic apocalyptic conflagration followed immediately by a new Golden Age. Yukteshwar apparently believed that the Kali Yuga had already ended! Note the obvious similarities with Theosophy and Anthroposophy, and the later New Age (already pointed out).

Apart from this documentary, the Binary Research Institute also has its own website (link below). The theory of the sun´s “invisible” companion is interesting, to be sure, and seems to have tie-ins both to more serious scientific speculations and to a whole lot of conspiracy thinking (compare Nibiru). This particular versions seems to be the only optimistic one on offer, although I could have missed something. Unfortunately, the more pessimistic takes seem more realistic, since we are – after all – stuck in samsara! Yukteshwar and Yogananda were clearly wrong about that ascending cycle…

The Kali Yuga never ended.

Binary Research Institute

Heretics of the Temple?

Previously posted on November 25, 2020

"Restoring the Temple of Vision: Cabalistic Freemasonry and Stuart Culture" is a peculiar book by American scholar Marsha Keith Schuchard. So far, I only read 284 pages of this 800-page "door stopper", but I decided to make some preliminary comments anyway!

Schuchard's main thesis is that "Scottish" Rite Freemasonry really did come from Scotland and that the notorious Schwärmer Chevalier Ramsay (who claimed that the Rite had an ancient and illustrious pedigree) may not have been entirely wrong. A startling claim, on the face of it! What *is* clear is that the kind of esotericism which attracted many people during the 18th century, had earlier roots in the Renaissance. The 17th century Rosicrucians (studied by Frances Yates) could perhaps be seen as a kind of proto-Masons. 

Schuchard believes that the rabbit hole goes deeper. She attempts to trace the Masonic tradition to the Knights Templar, Jewish trade-guilds and Kabbalistic mystics all the way back to the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. In this scenario, the Templars really were "heretics" or heterodox. Even more controversially, the author believes that the mystical secrets are sexual or erotic in nature. I suppose the word "Tantric" could usefully be inserted here.

Today, many believe that original Israelite religion was polytheist. Referencing "The Hebrew Goddess" by Jewish historian Raphael Patai, Schuchard claims that it was also an orgiastic fertility cult. The two cherubs in the Holy of Holies were intertwined in sexual embrace. After the final destruction of the Second Temple, a kind of Temple cult survived among the mystics, who "interiorized" it. The Jewish mystics could "see" the Temple and meet God in anthropomorphic form during their ecstatic visionary experiences. The mysticism was often erotic in nature. This later became the Kabbala, which also included manipulations of Hebrew letters, speculations about cosmic geometry, and the like. Some Christian mystics were influenced by this kind of Jewish mysticism including Erigena and Raymond Lull. The latter had also studied Sufism.

At first glance, the connection between this and actual stone masons seem pretty remote. Schuchard believes otherwise. The builders of temples, synagogues, and cathedrals were skilled artisans and architects with closed guild organizations. The knowledge of how to build large structures was almost "esoteric". Sometimes it was literally esoteric, since religious buildings often had an intricate symbolism, known only to the priesthood and the builders. Jewish master builders probably knew about Temple lore and mysticism, since synagogues and other Jewish buildings attempted to mimic certain traits (or supposed traits) of Solomon's Temple. The Temple was a representation of the cosmos and God's presence in it. Hence the connection between geometry and mysticism, so baffling at first sight. Just as God had used sacred geometry to create the world, the builders used it to erect a building symbolizing God's creation. Schuchard believes that the so-called Art of Memory, a mnemonic technique popularized by Giordano Bruno during the Renaissance, comes from the Jewish builders. It also influenced Raymond Lull. Above all, the splendid Gothic architecture of the High Middle Ages is a Jewish influence on the Christians, mediated through Muslim Spain. This points to a connection between Christian and Jewish masons (or at least their lore).

The traditional Christian take on the Jewish Temple is that its destruction by the Romans in AD 70 was a good thing, a fitting divine punishment for the Jewish rejection of Jesus. Schuchard doesn't explain why Christians eventually began to revere the old Temple instead, but the change was obvious in the case of the Knight Templar, whose very name indicate the reversal. During the crusade, the Templars guarded Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Muslim Dome on the Rock had been converted to a Christian church. Many Templar churches in Europe were circular, apparently in the belief that the original Temple of Solomon had looked this way (perhaps the Muslims believed the same thing - the Dome is circular). Schuchard's theory is that this peculiar Christian cult of the Temple must have been the result of Jewish influence on the crusading knights!

Everyone familiar with "Ivanhoe" of course "knows" that Templars were proto-Nazis with a penchant for anti-Semitic witch-burning, but reality turns out to have been more complex. As I pointed out in another blog post, Jews were usually not persecuted in Christian Spain before the 14th century. Schuchard points out that there was a prominent Jewish family in Aragon called "the Men of the Temple". One of their members was known as Judah de la Cavalleria (Judah the Knight)! He closely worked with both the king and the Knights Templar. In crusader-controlled Acre, there was almost 1,000 Jews, many of them rabbis. They supported the crusaders against the Muslim Mamluks. Apparently, Jews were also involved in the trade and banking operations of the Templars. While this doesn't prove much in and of itself, it at least shows that the Templars weren't hermetically sealed off from the rest of medieval society (which included many Jews).

The next landfall is in Scotland, where Scottish Freemasons would emerge centuries later during the Early Modern Period. During the Middle Ages, the Scots developed some pretty peculiar legends. They were supposed to be descended from a Greek mercenary in ancient Egypt who married a daughter of the Pharaoh. There were also "Jewish" connections. The Scottish royal coronation stone, the Stone of Scone, supposedly belonged to the Biblical patriarch Jacob. The Scots identified themselves with the Maccabees, who had cleansed and rededicated the Temple. One Scottish king, actually called David I, was associated with the Knights Templar. A guild of builders based in Scotland had an extremely complex founding myth involving Hermes and Pythagoras alongside Biblical characters, suggestive of the previously mentioned connection between operative masonry and speculative esotericism. It's not entirely clear whether Schuchard believes in the popular story that some French Templars managed to escape persecution by absconding to Scotland, where they aided Robert the Bruce at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The Templars already existed in Scotland and may simply have switched their allegiance.

I admit that I found "Restoring the Temple of Vision" interesting. A quick search on the web confirms many of the references. Still, I have two problems with the book so far. First, I find it difficult to believe in a single "tradition" going back 2,500 years. Constantly evolving traditions interacting with each other in a slightly chaotic fashion seems more likely. Another problem is that no direct evidence for Templar heterodoxy seem to exist.

Yet, something nevertheless struck me when reading Schuchard. The Bible actually contains an erotic poem attributed to Solomon. Yes, that would be the Song of Songs. One of the greatest mystics during the Middle Ages based his "bride-chamber mysticism" on it. His name was Bernhard of Clairvaux. And Bernhard was the foremost inspiration behind...the Knights Templar.

Hiding in plain sight? 

Boaz and Jachin

Credit: Wolfgang Sauber

It just struck me that the esotericism of the Knights Templar is right there, hiding in plain sight.

Can you see it?

Why would a Christian crusading order call themselves Knights TEMPLAR? 

Början på allt

Har inte läst den här boken, men den verkar intressant, trots det "politiskt korrekta" anslaget. Observera förresten AB-krönikörens märkliga angrepp på minoernas Kreta! 

Allt du lärt dig om historien kan vara fel

Middag med Pol Pot

Åsa Linderborg slår till igen, med en mycket baserad tagning. Blev faktiskt själv förvånad för ett tag sedan när jag insåg att Forum för levande historia faktiskt är en *bokstavlig* statlig myndighet! 

"Lägg ner Forum för levande historia"

"Hon har röstat på trotskister"

Inte trotskist, men väl ledamot
av Franska Akademien!

Jag vet att det inte är Svenska Akademien som arrangerar Nobelfesten, men visst är det *lite* roligt att SD är portade från den, med tanke på...ja, nedanstående kanske? Svenska Akademien trampar i klaveret igen, förmodligen fullt medvetet. Dekadenter och litteratööörer! 

Nobelpristagaren är en politisk galning

Kritiken efter Nobelpriset: "Vidrigt och upprörande"

Aktivismen går före literatturen för Ernaux

The picture of Dorian Gray

 

Masked Canadian atheist-skeptic "Logicked" (whose real identity is completely unknown) is extremely patient here, trying to explain the fallacies of the so-called Mandela Effect, one of the most stupid conspiracy beliefs on the web. Even the flat earth people are a *bit* more rational, I mean, it sure as hell look flat!

Dödsängeln

Men vad fan...

Modejätte gjorde reklam för självmord

Kanada föreslår handikappade att begå självmord

Gruppvåldtagen 17-årig flicka fick laglig hjälp att begå självmord

Reichsbürger

Credit: ziegelbrenner 

Kuppförsöket har slagit ned, och den liberala demokratin visat sig vara stark och helt enkelt världens bästa system. Alltså behöver vi inte ta itu med Versailles-freden, hyperinflationen, massarbetslösheten, och så vidare. 

Ja, blotta påståendet att vår republik skulle ha några problem över huvud taget kan tyda på att du är sympatisant med kuppmakarna!

Hälsningar från Weimar

En dåres försvarstal

SAC:s Centralkommitté i sitt trygga rum 

En väldigt smart dåre, i så fall. Särskilt den här meningen: "Den här nya attityden förstår jag inte, där man anammat allt med nyliberalismen utom yttrandefriheten, där man på en och samma gång är extremt känslig och extremt intolerant, och vill kasta ut allt som är opassande. Om de inte ens kan tala med sina egna, hur ska de kunna tala med andra?"

Just det. SAC har sällat sig till den postmoderna pseudo-vänstern, som egentligen är ett slags auktoritära nyliberaler. Om ens det!  

Kajsa Ekis Ekman skriver själv om tiden på Arbetaren

Men Lavrov hade rätt...typ

Hade kanske inte heller velat se Lavrov inne på en damtoalett om jag varit qvinna...

Lavrov hånar svensk toalettkultur

Dogman Tales

The Dogman is a bizarre werewolf-like creature situated in the greyzone between flesh-and-blood cryptozoology and demonology. It´s not clear from this YouTube documentary (featuring Matt from Mattsquatch) what the enthusiasts really believe it to be! 

It´s not even clear whether the eye-witnesses are phenomenologically seeing the same thing, or whether the cryptid-hunters have decided to interpret certain stories which are really very different as "Dogmen". 

That being said, if ghost stories and emerging folklore is your thing, this production might be of some interest. Cultic tulpas, government-created chimaeras, imaginary friends of children...or something even scarier? Watch and decide for yourself!