Key Concepts
Cognitive frames of reference informing the design and purpose of this web site:
Antinomianism – taboo-breaking as a means to wisdom, e.g., the “transgression” of Georges Bataille, Ikkyu , the “left hand” or “short path” of Tantra and Vamamarga.
Animism – the underlying assumption of indigenous shamanism is that everything is alive and capable of communication: rocks, [...]
God’s Promise
A hippie dies and goes to the Pearly Gates. St. Peter looks him up, and says, "I'm sorry, but you'll be going down to Hell."
The hippie, astounded, peers through the gates and sees God walking in the distance. "God!" he says. "What gives? Remember that time I was tripping on acid? I [...]
Jesus in Hell
A long-standing Christian tradition holds that Jesus spent the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection rescuing Old Testament prophets and holy men who had been accidentally damned to Hell, the idea being that since pre-Christians monotheists like Noah and Abraham had been deprived of Jesus’ saving grace in life, they required an extra [...]
Answers & Questions
"The only interesting answers are those which destroy the question." – Susan Sontag
"What is the function that a clergyman performs in the world? Answer: he gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell." – H.L. Mencken, Minority Reports
"That is the essence of science: [...]
Black & White
"How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps [...]
Demiurge
"You see, the religious people — most of them — really think this planet is an experiment. That’s what their beliefs come down to. Some god or other is always fixing and poking, messing around with tradesmen’s wives, giving tablets on mountains, commanding you to mutilate your children, telling people what words they can say [...]
Fear of God
"The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom." – Clarence Darrow, Why I Am An Agnostic
"Those that worship God merely for Fear Would worship the Devil too, if he appear." – Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, No. 6419, 1732
"In [...]
Hell
"Maybe this world is another planet’s hell." – Aldous Huxley
"I believe that I am in hell, therefore I am there." – Arthur Rimbaud
"I couldn’t claim that I have never felt the urge to explore evil, but when you descend into hell you have to be very careful." – Kathleen Raine [...]
Invention
"God forgives those who invent what they need." – Lillian Hellman, 1905-1987
Mind
"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven." – John Milton
"The mind can make substance, and people planets of its own with beings brighter than have been, and give a breath to forms which can outlive all flesh." – Lord Byron, [...]
