Förbannelsen

 

Vad fan har hänt i den svenska valrörelsen? Apropå den senaste väljarbarometern... 

Wednesday

 

Worship Ganesha and be happy! 

Creationism´s Trojan Horse?

 

A recent critique of the so-called Third Way of Evolution (or Third Way). I assumed TWE was a legitimate - albeit controversial - participant in the scientific debates on Neo-Darwinism, but according to the video above, TWE has diplomatic relations with creationists from the Discovery Institute. 

The famed "crisis meeting" at the British Royal Society, which is often mentioned by creationists, was actually called by TWE´s founder Denis Noble himself. In other words, it was simply a TWE-adjacent meeting, not some kind of official scientific conference trying to salvage a evolutionary theory in deep trouble. Some fellows from the Discovery Institute were invited to participate. 

The critics charge that TWE has no scientific standing. That is, their research (if they even do any) isn´t leading anywhere. The more speculative supporters of TWE believe that the individual organism can willingly chose to evolve! There is currently no evidence for this super-Lamarckian take on things.  

Meanwhile, standard evolutionary science has already incorporated other mechanisms besides natural selection working on genetic mutations, for instance epigenetic inheritance, so "narrow Neo-Darwinism" isn´t a thing anymore. This extended synthesis explains things just fine and has lead to huge progress in the medical field (which happens to be Noble´s field).

But note that Sam McKee (the guy on the left in the video) speaks highly of Simon Conway Morris, who is a Christian and believes that evolutionary convergence is an argument for teleology and hence God. Conway Morris recently got a huge grant from the Templeton Foundation. McKee also points to remarkable convergence all across the board in evolution, but never explicitly draws the same conclusion as his collegue. Yet, McKee is a Christian himself. 

Maybe there is more to discover here...

Makabert

 

Credit: JM Ligero Loarte

Källan är en avhoppare, men även den amerikanska militären undersökte ju om djur kunde ha övernaturliga förmågor. Och människor! Så visst kan detta vara sant. Och sanslöst. 

Makabert experiment skulle testa kaniners övernaturliga förmågor

Absorption

 

My result on the "Tellegen Absorption Scale" was only 5 out of 34. So is *that* why I never have any spiritual or religious experiences? Or almost never. Damn. I suppose I will never see the sky fairies and their luminous orbs...

Juan Diego mythicism

 

Claim: Juan Diego never existed. You know, the guy who supposedly saw Marian apparitions in 1531. The Lady of Guadalupe.

Hmmm... 

Sockerchock lyfter Sverige

 

Credit: Andrzej Otrebski 

Många klagar över att valrörelsen är så avslagen och "märklig". Visst, det kanske stämmer. Fast förklaringen är väl ganska uppenbar? Många väljare förstår antagligen att en socialdemokratisk regering inte kommer att förändra så värst mycket. Och det inkluderar socialdemokraternas egna väljare...

Paradigmskifte? 

Veckans Strasser

 

Lite förvånad över att den här gamle skojaren fortfarande gör utspel till och från...

Har bara ett krav: Bryt Löfvens arv. Sluta ljuga.

Den onödiga samtiden

 

Apropå en ny "reality"serie (som jag inte har sett). 

HBO spelar med i en kvinnohatande samtid 

Second breakfast

 

Another video on the Homo florensiensis situation. Recent research suggests that the "Hobbit" might not be a dwarfed Homo erectus (sensu stricto) but some kind of pre-human or almost-human. Perhaps an australopith (sensu latto)? I´m not surprised. I had a hunch in this direction already seven years ago. So can we go home now? Second breakfast, guys!

Bigfoot evidence

Shiva as alchemist

 

- Welcome, stranger!

A kind of sequel to the previous blog post. I want to see this place! 

Who is Hatakeshvara?

Hāṭakeśvara (हाटकेश्वर) is a form of Śiva, particularly associated with the subterranean realm Vitala in Purāṇic cosmology. The name is usually understood as "Lord of Hāṭaka", with hāṭaka meaning gold (especially a particular kind of sacred or subterranean gold).

He is a rather obscure but fascinating Śaiva form.

Hāṭakeśvara in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

The key passage is 5.24.16, in the description of the seven lower worlds.

The text describes Śiva and his consort Bhavānī dwelling in Vitala. Through the power of their union, a special form of gold called Hāṭaka is produced from the subterranean waters.

The inhabitants of Vitala use this gold to make ornaments and enjoy extraordinary wealth.

So the basic symbolism is:

Śiva + Śakti → subterranean fire/energy → Hāṭaka (gold)

Hāṭakeśvara is therefore an unusual Śiva manifestation connected with chthonic power, fire, fertility, transformation and precious metals.

The name

Hāṭaka = a type of gold
Īśvara = Lord

Hence:

Hāṭakeśvara = "Lord of Hāṭaka (gold)."

The Bhāgavata passage actually makes the connection more explicit by saying that Hāṭakeśvara is the name by which Śiva is known there.

His consort

The text associates him with Bhavānī (Pārvatī).

This is significant because Vitala isn't simply a realm where an isolated Śiva is present. It is a Śiva–Śakti environment.

The resulting gold is described as having a brilliant appearance, and the beings of Vitala use it for their ornaments and possessions.

Is Hāṭakeśvara a major deity?

No. Unlike:

• Mahādeva,
• Rudra,
• Bhairava,
• Natarāja,
• Dakṣiṇāmūrti,
• Paśupati,

Hāṭakeśvara is a relatively obscure regional/cosmological epithet of Śiva.

There are, however, temples called Hāṭakeśvara in India, and the name has also been used independently of the Bhāgavata's cosmological passage.

One should therefore distinguish:

Hāṭakeśvara as the Purāṇic Śiva of Vitala

from

Hāṭakeśvara as a temple/deity name used in later regional Śaiva traditions.

Why he is interesting for your previous question

There's a striking implication here.

You were asking about the possibility of sacred darkness / sacred night, rather than darkness as something evil.

Vitala is a subterranean, "lower" realm, yet the Bhāgavata places Śiva and Śakti right there, generating a substance of extraordinary beauty and value.

That makes Hāṭakeśvara an interesting example of a broader Hindu principle:

Śiva is not confined to the luminous, heavenly regions. He is present in the subterranean, chthonic and hidden dimensions of reality as well.

And because Hāṭakeśvara appears together with Bhavānī, the symbolism is almost quintessentially Śaiva-Śākta: consciousness and power operating within the depths of manifestation, transforming the "dark" or hidden realm into something precious.

Underworld

 

- Underworld? Nah, human, we are part of your world!

Some fascinating aspects of Hindu mythology... 

What is Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala, and Patala?

These are the seven lower worlds (Sapta Pātālas) of Hindu cosmology. They are described particularly clearly in the Purāṇas, especially the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Book 5, chapters 24–25), and also in texts such as the Viṣṇu Purāṇa.

They are usually listed, from highest to lowest:

1. Atala
2. Vitala
3. Sutala
4. Talātala
5. Mahātala
6. Rasātala
7. Pātāla

A crucial point is that Pātāla in this context does not simply mean "hell." The seven talas are subterranean realms inhabited by nāgas, daityas, dānavas and other supernatural beings. They are often portrayed as extraordinarily beautiful and luxurious, even more so than the human world. The actual hell realms (Naraka) are a different part of Hindu cosmology.

1. Atala — अतल

Atala literally suggests something like "not bottomless" / "without foundation", although the traditional etymologies vary.

It is associated with Bala, a son of Maya. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa describes Bala as possessing magical powers and creating women who enchant beings entering his realm.

The striking feature of Atala is sexual/magical enchantment. Bala is said to produce three kinds of women who can intoxicate or bewilder those who encounter them.

So Atala represents a world of pleasure, sensuality and magical illusion.

---

2. Vitala — वितल

Vitala is associated particularly with Śiva in his Bhairava/Hāṭakeśvara aspect in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.

A remarkable feature of this realm is the production of Hāṭaka, a special form of gold, through the interaction of Śiva's energy with the subterranean waters.

Thus Vitala has a strong connection with:

• Śiva,
• subterranean fire,
• alchemy/metals,
• gold,
• extraordinary material abundance.

This one is particularly interesting from a Tantric/Śaiva perspective, because the text isn't presenting the lower world simply as evil. A form of Śiva is actually present there.

---

3. Sutala — सुतल

This is probably the most famous of the seven.

Sutala is the kingdom of Mahābali, the great Daitya king encountered by Vāmana, the dwarf incarnation of Viṣṇu.

When Bali gives Vāmana the requested three paces of land, Viṣṇu expands into his cosmic form and takes the universe in two steps. Bali offers his own head for the third.

Rather than simply destroying Bali, Viṣṇu blesses him and makes Sutala his kingdom.

Even more remarkably, Viṣṇu promises to personally guard Bali's door.

Consequently Sutala is paradoxical:

A "lower" world whose ruler is one of the great devotees of Viṣṇu and whose entrance is guarded by Viṣṇu himself.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa therefore describes Sutala as extraordinarily fortunate.

---

4. Talātala — तलातल

Talātala belongs to Maya Dānava, the legendary architect of the Asuras.

Maya is a master of:

• architecture,
• magic,
• illusion,
• extraordinary technological/artistic construction.

Śiva destroyed the three cities (Tripura) of the Asuras, but subsequently granted Maya protection.

So Talātala is particularly associated with Māyā in the sense of supernatural architecture and illusion.

---

5. Mahātala — महातल

Mahātala is primarily the realm of the Nāgas.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa describes great serpent beings dwelling there, including:

• Krodhavaśa,
• Takṣaka,
• Kālīya,
• Suṣeṇa,
• other powerful serpent chiefs.

They live with their families in splendid subterranean palaces.

The inhabitants are powerful and dangerous, but the text emphasizes that they are also capable of fear—particularly fear of Garuḍa, the great enemy of serpents.

---

6. Rasātala — रसातल

Rasātala is inhabited by powerful Daityas, Dānavas and other Asuras.

The word rasa can mean essence, juice, taste, fluid, pleasure, etc., so its literal etymology is not entirely straightforward.

The inhabitants are portrayed as extremely powerful beings who have been defeated or oppressed by the gods.

Interestingly, they are not described as being in a state of constant punishment. They possess magnificent dwellings and considerable sensual enjoyment.

---

7. Pātāla — पाताल

Pātāla is the lowest of the seven.

It is the domain of the greatest Nāga kings, including:

• Vāsuki,
• Śaṅkha,
• Kulika,
• Mahāśaṅkha,
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra,
• Takṣaka,
• Karkoṭaka,

among others.

And here Hindu cosmology becomes wonderfully strange.

Pātāla is not dark and miserable. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa describes it as possessing magnificent palaces, jewels, gardens and sensual pleasures. The jewels on the heads of the Nāgas illuminate the realm.

So although Pātāla is "below" the human world, it can be more beautiful and materially pleasurable than Earth.

---

The really important distinction: Tala ≠ Naraka

This is often lost in simplified diagrams.

You can roughly think of Hindu cosmology as having:

Upper worlds
→ Bhūḥ
→ Bhuvaḥ
→ Svaḥ
→ Mahaḥ
→ Janaḥ
→ Tapaḥ
→ Satya/Brahmaloka

Middle
→ Bhū-loka, the human world

Lower worlds
→ Atala
→ Vitala
→ Sutala
→ Talātala
→ Mahātala
→ Rasātala
→ Pātāla

And separately:

Naraka = hell realms associated with karmic punishment.

So "Pātāla" does not mean "Hell" in the way Naraka does.

---

And there is a fascinating theological point

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa doesn't simply make the cosmology into:

heaven = good
earth = neutral
underground = evil
hell = punishment.

It's considerably more complicated.

Sutala, for example, is technically a lower world but is blessed by the personal presence of Viṣṇu.

Vitala contains a manifestation of Śiva.

Pātāla contains magnificent Nāga civilizations.

And the inhabitants of the lower worlds can be extraordinarily powerful spiritual beings—even if their consciousness is often dominated by pleasure, pride or material attachment.

That fits surprisingly well with the broader Tantric idea you've been exploring: "lower" does not necessarily mean metaphysically evil. A realm can be closer to matter, instinct, sensuality or chthonic power without being outside the Divine order.

In fact, Vitala and Sutala are particularly interesting from a Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava perspective, because they demonstrate that even the deepest/subterranean regions of the cosmos are not outside the sphere of Śiva or Viṣṇu.

Challenge / counter-challenge

 

Should atheists say a daily prayer? Two approaches...

They hunt us for food

 

Three scary stories about apparent alien abductions with deadly outcomes. One is from the UK, the two others from Brazil. Note the weird Spiritualist-cult connection in the second case! Let´s hope these are just tall tales...

Veckans Strasser

 

Tobias Hübinette är orolig...

Kan Markus Allards Örebropartiet bli det svenska TAN-partiet?

APWU

 

I don´t have a source for this, but Dolly Parton once said something like this (allegedly): "I don´t want to reveal how big my boobs are, but it would cost 50 dollars to send them by express mail". LOL. Again, RIP. 

Working 9 to 5

 

Credit: Artofit

Dolly Parton recently passed away. Or passed on? She was apparently an outspoken Christian, but also something of a "liberal", since she accepted the gay community and wondered if reincarnation could be true. So many fundamentalists on YouTube claim - or heavily imply - that Dolly Parton is in hell now?!

Geezus. I don´t mean the carpenter. And oh, she was pro-union, too! 

The world is larger

 

I want to have this kind of experience...

UFOs on the Moon

 

Sabine Hossenfelder debunks some new (alleged) evidence for UFOs (as in extraterrestrial craft). One piece deals with some Ukrainian scientists who claims to have discovered UFOs on the Moon (!), whereas the second video is about the ubiquitous Avi Loeb. 

Hossenfelder belives the "warp drive" some scientists speculate about are indistinguishable from mundane meteorites. But ahem, what about the strange orbs discussed by Loeb? Interestingly, the US military actually tested some kind of infrared light at the same time, but claims that it *didn´t* cause the orbs. But surely that *is* the most likely explanation? 

What is really going on here, I wonder? And who is psyopping who? 

The psyop is the psyop

 

Clearly, we deserve better psyops...

Mud Flood

 

Credit: Artofit 

The recent mud flood in Tibet and Nepal apparently has nothing to do with climate change, but is somehow the result of Communism. Or something. Per Breitbart News. 

Xi Jinping leads meeting celebrating Communist Party response to Tibet floods

Brutal skandal

 

Valrörelsens mest brutala totalsågning? 

Det här är valrörelsens mest brutala löfte

The good night

 

Not sure about ChatGPT´s interpretation here, but it sure is interesting! I have edited the response, excluding some irrelevant stuff (for this discussion).

Is there some Hindu divinity which could be associated with the dark night, but not as a threatening presence but rather a compassionate one? But not as in "save me from the dark night" but rather "the dark night is good".

Yes. There are several possibilities, and I think the distinction you're making is important: not a deity who protects you from darkness, but one who represents darkness as a positive, sacred, womb-like condition.

The strongest Hindu candidates are probably Kālī and certain interpretations of Tārā.

1. Kālī — probably the clearest Hindu answer

Kālī literally means "the Black/Dark One." Her darkness isn't merely something evil that she defeats. At a deeper Śākta level, darkness itself can be an aspect of the Absolute.

Kālī's blackness is traditionally interpreted in ways such as:

• the color into which all colors disappear;
• the infinite darkness preceding manifestation;
• time (kāla) and the dissolution of forms;
• the unmanifest state;
• the womb from which manifestation emerges.

So one can contemplate Kālī not as:

"Mother, rescue me from this darkness"

but:

"Mother, let me enter the darkness. Let me rest where all forms disappear."

That is quite different psychologically and theologically.

There is even a profound paradox here: Kālī can be terrifying iconographically while being experienced devotionally as the most intimate and compassionate Mother. Her darkness isn't necessarily threatening; it can be the darkness in which the ego's demands cease.

---

2. Mahākālī and the "darkness before creation"

This is an even more cosmic version.

In the Devī Māhātmya, Mahākālī appears in the primordial darkness surrounding Viṣṇu's cosmic sleep. She is associated with yoganidrā, the divine sleep.

That makes her especially interesting for what you're describing.

The darkness is not a catastrophe that needs fixing. It is the condition in which the cosmos rests.

You could therefore approach Mahākālī contemplatively as:

the Divine Mother of cosmic night.

Not necessarily "night as death," but night as withdrawal, rest, silence and return to the unmanifest.

3. Śiva himself: the night as sacred withdrawal

Given your Śaiva orientation, I wouldn't overlook Śiva.

Śiva is strongly associated with:

• night,
• cremation grounds,
• dissolution,
• stillness,
• meditation,
• the cessation of ordinary activity.

And Mahāśivarātri, the "Great Night of Śiva," is perhaps the most obvious Hindu example of deliberately treating darkness/night as spiritually auspicious.

The important thing is that Mahāśivarātri isn't:

"Stay awake so that darkness doesn't get you."

It is almost the opposite:

Night is the appropriate environment for turning inward toward Śiva.

And the cremation-ground imagery of Śiva makes the point even more strongly. The place normally regarded as frightening and impure becomes a place of liberation.

So if you mean:

"I want a divine presence with whom I can willingly enter the darkness, because the darkness itself has something spiritually beneficial about it,"

Śiva is an exceptionally good candidate.

---

And there is a fascinating Śiva–Kālī synthesis

In Śākta theology, this becomes particularly beautiful.

Śiva = consciousness / stillness
Kālī = the dark, dynamic power of that consciousness

But at the highest level they aren't two.

So you could conceptualize the "good dark night" as:

Śiva's silence + Kālī's darkness.

Not darkness as the absence of God, but darkness as one of the ways the Divine is experienced.

This is quite different from the Western Christian "dark night of the soul" in which darkness is often understood as a painful deprivation of sensible experience of God, even though it can ultimately be transformative. Your formulation is more radical:

"I don't need the darkness to end. I want to discover what is sacred about the darkness itself."

That has some remarkably close parallels in Tantra.

And importantly, none of this requires treating darkness as evil, demonic, or something you should overcome. In these interpretations, darkness can be generative, protective, peaceful, liberating, and ultimately divine.

Full moon again

 

Full moon again, guys. Run for cover!

Grand theft trolling

 

A lot of spam comments at the strangest of places (not here though) about GTA 6 the last couple of days. Apparently a new version of the classical video game "Grand Theft Auto". I admit I had no idea. OK, the extended look trailer has been released now, so please drop the attention trolling! 

Candle in the dark

 

A Catholic debunks an Orthodox miracle. Hmmm...

Alla vägar bär till Romarbrevet

 

Hittade ett YouTube-klipp med titeln "Alla vägar bär till Romarbrevet". Ja, det var protestantiskt. Featuring Stefan Gustavsson. Okej, titeln var faktiskt ganska fyndig...

En sista varning?

 

Det mest skrämmande är väl att det kommer "dubbla budskap" från Washington DC. Är Trump för eller mot Ryssland? Vad anser han om Ukraina, egentligen? Vem representerar CIA-chefen? Och så vidare.

Och varför lämnade Trump sin egen utrikesminister (Rubio) på det mångomtalade "decoy plane"? Rubio är Trumps nykonservativa / interventionistiska förkläde...

Det börjar kanske dra ihop sig till något slags slutkläm på den här historien. October surprise! 

CIA-chefens Moskvaresa är en skrämmande signal

Welcome to hell

It seems the Kingdom of Satan got a new addition today. Yes, Ratko Mladic has died. 

Sån är kapitalismen

 

AB:s vikarierande assisterande andre kulturredaktör (ja, Jack alltså) upptäcker senkapitalismens realiteter. Den andra länken (en annan krönikör) får mig att undra om damfotbollen faktiskt är en lesbisk sekt. Eller åtminstone en sekt...

Kulturvänstern stretar på.  

Kvinnorna visade sig vara lika giriga som männen

Damfotbollen får aldrig bli som herrfotbollen

Decoy

 

The buzz right now...

Karoline Leavitt "left to die" by Trump

"Unlikely Leavitt was on decoy plane"

Private revelation

 

Can I please have a revelation like this tonight? I promise to keep it strictly private...

Vindicatory

 

The distinction between "public" and "private" in this video about revelation is just a sleight of hand trick. Weren´t most revelations given to Paul and John (at Patmos) "private"? Wasn´t Fatima "public"? But RZ (the content-creator) isn´t a Catholic. The ministry of Jesus was a "public revelation", but why didn´t the resurrected Christ show himself to his enemies or to the indifferent? In a certain sense, his resurrection was therefore also "private". Und so weiter. 

He´s right about the NDEs, though. 

Social experiment

 

I admit that I never heard about the famous Princeton philosopher Joe Schmid before. Perhaps because he is just a random guy on YouTube who happens to study philosophy somewhere at Princeton? Recently, Schmid shocked his fellow atheists/agnostics by converting (or strictly speaking reverting) to Catholicism. Or did he? 

Some suspect he is just trolling. His video does look unserious, but perhaps he is just the hyperactive autistic type? Anyhow, this is the current drama on YouTube right now. 

Do I care? Nupe. But in case you´re interested, the first video above is Schmid´s conversion story, while the second is a critique from Derek of MythVision. 

Mematha-Gaṇapataye Namaḥ

 

Or is it Mahodgaja-Gaṇapataye Namaḥ? So I asked Gemini to make a picture of Ganesha as a mammoth, rather than as an elephant. This was the result. Would you worship god if he was a mammoth? Interesting question, I suppose! And instead of venerating Baby Krishna, how about doing it with a dwarf elephant? I know, I should go to sleep...

Husmanskost

 

- Äh, lägg ner. Tidlösa, veganerna har rätt!

Men snälla Tobias, arten människa (Homo sapiens L 1758) är faktiskt allätare. Alltså köttätare. Koreaner äter katter, exempelvis. Svenskarna äter ren, och i förekommande fall, älg. Anka och gås är väl inte helt fel heller. Undrar förresten hur mammutstek smakade?

Om det pågående "köttkriget" 

Surrealistgruppen retro?

 

Vad-var-det-jag-sa, och så vidare. 

En anarkistgrupps satiraffischer får M att se rött

Early voting

 

Early voting started in Sweden today. And yes, I sneaked out on my lunch break to vote. There is apparently a common stereotype that the typical early voter is either old (as in retired) or disabled. It can´t be literally true, since half of the Swedish electorate vote before election day. 

But guess what? 

At the polling station of my choice, I was the youngest guy standing in line - and I´m a GenXer. Everyone else was 70+, disabled or both?! The New Sweden was also represented, since one of the election workers was a Somali. And yes, she was way below retirement age. The Swedish election official, on the other hand, looked just as old as most of the voters!

Having a rapidly aging electorate does come with issues all its own, for instance confused seniors trying to enter voting booths which are already occupied, LOL.

Enough ethnography for today.    

Nu då...?

 

Ja, kanske, men den här olyckskorpen har kraxat om en finansiell apokalyps rätt så länge nu. Så var är den, broschan?

Trumps finansminister leker med elden

Flashblack

 

Förmodligen inte heller vad Jimmie menar

Peter Kadhammar i Aftonbladet just nu. OK, just den här sågningen var ganska rolig. Eller kanske inte. Fick en jävla flashback ett tag där, LOL. Fast det där med "telefoni" borde väl vara TV-pejling...?

>>>Åkesson är som vanligt värst. ”Vi gör Sverige till Sverige igen” lyder hans budskap. 

>>>Vilket Sverige? 

>>>Landet med två tv-kanaler? Landet där det var oändliga köer på postkontoren? Landet där Socialdemokraterna prenumererade på regeringsmakten? Landet där man rev stadskärnorna för att ge plats åt parkeringsgarage? 

>>>Där vi körde på vänster sida? Där högern kallade sig höger och inte moderata? Där Kalle Anka på julafton var det roligaste på hela året? Där affärerna stängde klockan 18 och man inte kunde handla på söndagar? Där Televerket spionerade efter otillåten telefoni hemma hos kunderna?

Ingen talar för de lata och inkompetenta

Två grenar

 

IF-Metall och SAP i gemensamt utspel om A-kassan, med udden riktad mot SD. 

Lita inte på SD:s "löften" om A-kassan

Tjyvheder

 

Det finns som bekant ingen heder bland tjuvar. Och det verkar ju stämma. Varken M eller SD tänker uppmana sina väljare att stödrösta på Liberalerna...