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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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What are your thoughts on Jekyll/Hyde and his archetype of the human periodically changing into a monster ?

Jekyll & Hyde was the 2nd horror story I read following Frankenstein, I got it off the same library and it always stuck very strongly with me even before I got into horror in general. I even dressed up as Jekyll/Hyde as a kid for a school fair by shredding a lab coat on one side and asking my sister to make-up claw gashes on my exposed arm and paint half of my face, although in hindsight I think I ended up looking more like Doctor Two-Face than Jekyll/Hyde, but I was 12 and didn't have any Victorian clothing to use so I had to make do. The first film project I tried doing at film school was intended to be a modern take on Jekyll & Hyde, and I didn't get much farther than a couple of discarded scripts

Much like Frankenstein, Mr Hyde as a character and a story is something that's kind of baked into everything I do artistically. And it's not just me, as even in pop culture itself, none of us can escape Mr Hyde. I would go so far as to argue Mr Hyde may be the single most significant character created by victorian fiction, if only by the sheer impact and legacy the character's had.

(Fan-art by guilhermefranco)

Part of what makes Mr Hyde such a powerful and lasting icon of pop culture is that the very premise of the book invites a personal reading that's gonna vary from person to person. Because everyone's familiar with the basic twist of the story, that it's a conflict of duality, of the good and evil sides, but everyone has a more personal idea of what those entail. Some people make the story more about class. A lot of readings laser-focus on sex and lust as the driving force, and there's also a lot of readings of Mr Hyde that tackle it to explore a more gendered perspective, and so forth.

I don't particularly take much notice of the Jekyll & Hyde adaptations partially because the novel's premise and themes have become baked so throughly into pop culture and explored in so many different and interesting ways, that I'm not particularly starving for good Jekyll & Hyde adaptations the way I am for Dracula and Frankenstein. The Fredric March film in particular is one that orbits my head less because of the film itself (although I do recommend it), but because of one specific scene, and that's when Jekyll first transforms into Hyde on screen.

Out of all the things they could have shown him doing right that second, they instead took the time to show him enjoying the rain.

Just Hyde taking off his hat and letting it all cascade on his face with this sheer enthusiasm like he's never been to the rain before, never enjoyed it before, and now that he's free from being Jekyll, he gets to enjoy life like he never has before. It's such an oddly humanizing moment to put amidst a horror movie, in the scene where you're ostensibly introducing the monster to the audience, and it makes such a stark contrast to the rest of the film where Hyde is completely irredeemable, but I think it's that contrast that makes the film's take on Hyde work so well even with it's diverging from the source material, even if I don't particularly like in general interpretations of Hyde that are focused on a sexual aspect.

Because one, it understands that Jekyll was fundamentally a self-serving coward and not a paragon of goodness, and two, it also understands one of the things that makes Hyde scary: He wants what all of us want, to live and be happy. He's happy when he leaves the lab and dances around in the rain like a giddy child, he's happy when he goes to places Jekyll couldn't dream of showing up, he's happy as a showgirl-abusing sexual predator. Hyde is all wants, all the time, and there's not that much difference between his wants, his domineering possessiveness, and the likes exhibited by Muriel's father and Jekyll's own within the very same film, which also works to emphasize one of the other ideas of the original story, that Edward Hyde doesn't come from nowhere. That no monster is closer to humanity than Mr Hyde, because he is us. He is the thing that Jekyll refused to take responsability for until it was too late.

(Art by LorenzoMastroianni)

While many of the ideas that defined Mr Hyde had already been explored in pop culture beforehand, Hyde popularized and redefined many of them in particular by modernizing the idea. He was the werewolf, the doppelganger, The Player On The Other Side, except he came from within. He was not transformed by circumstance, he made himself that way, and the elixir merely brought out something already inside his soul. To acknowledge that he's there is to acknowledge that he is you, and to not do that is to either lose to him, or perish. Hyde was there to address both the rot settling in Victorian society as well as grappling concerns over Darwinian heritage, of the realization that man has always had the beast inside of him (it's no accident that Hyde's main method of murder is by clubbing people to death with his cane like a caveman).

I've already argued on my post about Tarzan that the Wild Man archetype, beginning with Enkidu of The Epic of Gilgamesh, is the in-between man and beast, between superhero and monster, and that Mr Hyde is an essential component of the superhero's trajectory, as the creature split in between. That stories about dual personalities, doppelgangers, the duality of the soul, the hero with a day job and an after dark career, you can pinpoint Hyde as a turning point in how all of these solidified gradually in pop culture. And I've argued otherwise that The Punisher, for all that his image and narrative points otherwise, is ultimately just as much of a superhero as the rest of them, even if no one wants to admit it, drawing a parallel between The Punisher and Mr Hyde. And he's far from the only modern character that can invite this kind of parallel.

The idea of a regular person periodically or permanently transforming into, or revealing itself to be, something extraordinary and fantastic and scary, grappling with the divide it causes in their soul, and questions whether it's a new development or merely the truest parts of themselves coming to light at last, and the effects this transformation has for good and bad alike. The idea of a potent, dangerous, unpredictable enemy who ultimately is you, or at least a facet of you and what you can do. That these are bound to destroy each other if not reconciled with or overcome.

You know what are my thoughts on the archetype of "human periodically changing into a monster" are? Look around you and you're gonna see the myriad ways The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde's themes have manifested in the century and a half since the story's release. Why it shouldn't be any surprise whatsoever that Mr Hyde has become such an integral part of pop culture, in it's heroes and monsters alike. Why we can never escape Mr Hyde, just as Jekyll never could.

It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character that almost every country in the world has learned to fear and despise. Our Barbie-doll president, with his Barbie-doll wife and his boxful of Barbie-doll children is also America's answer to the monstrous Mr. Hyde.

He speaks for the Werewolf in us; the bully, the predatory shyster who turns into something unspeakable, full of claws and bleeding string-warts on nights when the moon comes too close… - Hunter S. Thompson

There is a scene in the movie Pulp Fiction that explains almost every terrible thing happening in the news today. And it's not the scene where Ving Rhames shoots that guy's dick off. It's the part where the hit man played by John Travolta is talking about how somebody vandalized his car, and says this:

"Boy, I wish I could've caught him doing it. I'd have given anything to catch that asshole doing it. It'd been worth him doing it, just so I could've caught him doing it."

That last sentence is something everyone should understand about mankind. After all, the statement is completely illogical -- revenge is supposed to be about righting a wrong. But he wants to be wronged, specifically so he'll have an excuse to get revenge. We all do.

Why else would we love a good revenge movie? We sit in a theater and watch Liam Neeson's daughter get kidnapped. We're not sad about it, because we know he's a badass and he finally has permission to be awesome. Not a single person in that theater was rooting for it to all be an innocent misunderstanding. We wanted Liam to be wronged, because we wanted to see him kick ass. It's why so many people walk around with vigilante fantasies in their heads.

Long, long ago, the people in charge figured out that the easiest and most reliable way to bind a society together was by controlling and channeling our hate addiction. That's the reason why seeing hurricane wreckage on the news makes us mumble "That's sad" and maybe donate a few bucks to the Red Cross hurricane fund, while 9/11 sends us into a decade-long trillion-dollar rage that leaves the Middle East in flames.

The former was caused by wind; the latter was caused by monsters. The former makes us kind of bummed out; the latter gets us high.

It's easy to blame the news media for pumping us full of stories of mass shootings and kidnapped children, but that's stopping one step short of the answer: The media just gives us what we want. And what we want is to think we're beset on all sides by monsters.

The really popular stories will always feature monsters that are as different from us as possible. Think about Star Wars -- what real shithead has ever referred to himself as being on "the dark side"? In Harry Potter and countless fantasy universes, you have wizards working in "black magic" and the "dark arts." Can you imagine a scientist developing some technology for chemical weapons or invasive advertising openly thinking of what he does as "dark science"? Can you imagine a real world leader naming his headquarters "The Death Star" or "Mount Doom"?

Of course not. But we need to believe that evil people know they're evil, or else that would open the door to the fact that we might be evil without knowing it. I mean, sure, maybe we've bought chocolate that was made using child slaves or driven cars that poisoned the air, but we didn't do it to be evil -- we were simply doing whatever we felt like and ignoring the consequences. Not like Hitler and the bankers who ruined the economy and those people who burned the kittens -- they wake up every day intentionally dreaming up new evils to create. It's not like Hitler actually thought he was saving the world.

So no matter how many times you vote to cut food stamps and then use the money to buy a boat, you could still be way worse. You could, after all, be one of those murdering / lazy / ignorant / greedy / oppressive monsters that you know the world is full of, and that only your awesome moral code prevents you from turning into at any moment. And those monsters are out there.

They have to be. Because otherwise, we're the monsters - 5 Reasons Humanity Desperately Wants Monsters To Be Real, by Jason Pargin

(Two-Face sequence comes from the end of Batman Annual #14: Eye of the Beholder)

For good or bad, Hyde has become omnipresent. He's a part of our superheroes, he's a part of our supervillains, he's in our monsters. He lives and prattles in our ears, sometimes we need him to survive, and sometimes we become Hyde even when we don't need to, because our survival instincts or base cruelties or desperation brings out the worst in us. Sometimes we can beat him, and sometimes he's not that bad. Sometimes we do need to appease him and listen to what he says, about us and the world around us. And sometimes we need to do so specifically to prove him wrong and beat him again.

But he never, ever goes away, as he so accurately declares in the musical

Do you really think That I would ever let you go...

Do you think I'd ever set you free?

If you do, I'm sad to say It simply isn't so

You will never get away FROM MEEEEEE

(Art by Akreon on Artstation)

#tw: injury #tw: blood #tw: disfigurement #replies tag #dr jekyll and mr hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #robert louis stevenson #two-face #batman #monster tag #universal monsters #horror tag

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satashiiwrites · 3 years

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Andromeda 5-0

For @mreyder-week Day 3: Partners in Crime. Yes I could not think of a better title (I’m open to suggestions though!). Yes it is very very heavily influenced by H50. Am I still obsessed with the Idea? Yes. Yes I am.

Not quite ready for posting the first chapter this morning, so here’s the title/moodboard and a snippet.

Title: Andromeda 5-0

Fandom: Mass Effect Andromeda (borrowing from H50/inspired by)

Pairing: MReyder, Sara/Vetra (background), past Reyes/Zia, Zia/Brecka

Tags: Alternative universe, Cop!Reyes, NavySeal!Scott, Dad!Reyes

From chapter 1: Standoff—cut for length

Today had gone to hell in a hand basket incredibly quick despite starting out with spending a few minutes with his son who was the light of his life. Keema was still sidelined from her injuries from their last case together three months ago and the lieutenant had given up on assigning Reyes temporary partners after he’d gone through three of them. He’d mostly been working on his own when he wasn’t attached to another unit to work as a UC. He’d taken a meeting with organized crime and the proposal they’d had for him would make his career if it wasn’t for the fact that it also made something go cold in his bones.

It was a risky assignment they’d offered him. Risky but someone needed to do it.

He was thinking about it—that’s what he’d told Kandros despite running the test this morning which had gone off perfectly.

They wanted someone like him—someone latino who could walk the walk and talk the talk. Reyes was known for being a chameleon when it was called for but if he screwed up on this assignment the chances of him ending up dead were pretty high.

On the other hand… Zia hadn’t let him see Mateo in three weeks other than for brief rides to school twice a week when the live in nanny she’d hired had the morning off for college classes. He’d had no time with his son. Just ten minutes twice a week.

Yesterday she’d threatened to cut him off entirely citing his inability to pay the hefty child support she was demanding from him when she was all but married to her currently much richer beau. She didn’t even need money from him—it was just a way of pushing him away from their son.

Reyes was working class—blue collar through and through. Brecka was inherited old money, Russian, and hadn’t yet made the mistake of marrying Zia even if he’d moved her halfway across the country and installed her in a mansion that was forever out of someone like Reyes’ price range.

The comparisons between himself and Brecka made Reyes very aware of his own shortcomings—financially as well as socially. The things Brecka could give his son were things that Reyes never would be capable of in a million years. Tennis lessons. A trilingual nanny who didn’t speak Spanish but did speak Mandarin, Russian and English. Why would his son learn anything about his own heritage that his mother was determined to replace with her new lover’s better one?

He was a cop, son of a firefighter. Public servant that had graduated college just not a fancy Ivy League one like Brecka. He was street smart, having to live by his wits out in the world every day. Reyes didn’t rub elbows with the same rich people that Brecka did—he wasn’t a member of the Fortune 500. He preferred home cooking to fine dining or diner food to caviar. He’d married Zia because she’d gotten pregnant and thought—foolishly—that love would grow with their family.

They’d had fun together until it suddenly became a lot less fun and more work.

Relationships were work as his abuela told him. He’d been willing to work for it.

Zia… hadn’t. She’d filed for divorce when Mateo was three and they’d spent the next year arguing through lawyers until she’d gotten a judge that had taken one look at Reyes’ dark tan skin and had instantly sided with his wife.

She’d cleaned him out almost entirely. House and half his pension gone as well as most of his savings that wasn’t set aside for Mateo’s college fund. He’d been living on his Abuela’s couch eating peanut butter and ramen noodles for months until he’d managed to scrap enough together to get a one bedroom apartment and apply for visitation rights as she’d been awarded full custody too.

Reyes had been raised to do the right thing when you got the girl pregnant so he’d done the responsible thing and gotten the true love of his life out of it even if the divorce had felt like it tore him apart. Mateo was the reason for him to get up in the morning. His son was the cutest kid ever. Smart and always happy with a smile on his face that made him look like Reyes’ much happier mini-me. Reyes tried to shelter him from the arguments Zia picked with him every time they were together more than two minutes but the way Mateo clung to him at every school drop off told him he wasn’t hiding anything from his little boy.

His son didn’t deserve the problems Reyes had with his mother. He bit his tongue to not bad mouth Zia in front of him and just focused on the little scraps of time they had together.

Reyes regretted nothing that had given him Mateo and he’d fight for him with his last breath. Zia could try again and again to cut him out of his son’s life but he’d sooner die than let her. He’d moved halfway across the country away from all his family to be here for Mateo and he’d do it again if he had to.

#mreyderweek2022 #mreyder #andromeda 5-0 #NavySeal!ScottRyder #Cop!ReyesVidal #reyes vidal #scott ryder #kidfic #dad!Reyes #mateo vidal #heavily inspired by H50 #fic preview

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havana-great-time · 2 years

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September 4th, 2022. La Habana.

Mis amores —

Yet another thrilling day, with so many new impressions I can hardly sort them all in my mind.

We began the day after another visit to our dear friend, the ETECSA office. They still face a complete lack of permanent lines, but I was able to quickly and effectively pick up a temporary 30-day SIM card. My data is quite limited, so I shall continue to be difficult to contact except perhaps through Whatsapp; but at least I have a way to be contacted now.

Our program rented a van to take us to La Habana Vieja, the highly touristic and absolutely incredible part of the city overlooking the bay, just along the Malecón. La Habana Vieja, if I am being quite honest, is more like what I had expected all of Cuba to be like: grand colonial-era buildings, made from local stone and marble, with narrow cobblestone streets; ancient churches at its centers, the rest of the city fanning outwards from this plaza; museums, art galleries, and monuments on every corner; old buildings, yet well-maintained and newly repainted in cheerful bright colors. It is a well-deserved UNESCO world heritage site, and so it should perhaps not be so surprising that the rest of Cuba is less well-maintained. Perhaps one day I will walk to La Habana Vieja in the morning and attend mass at La Catedral de La Habana.

(As an exciting note for my research, we came across a maternity and infant home intended to produce better outcomes. It was named after the mother of José Martí, the national hero.)

After lunch, we were brought to Cuba Libro, an English bookstore that simultaneously serves as a community center and a lovely café. It is there that we will have the opportunity to volunteer as English tutors, a post I am thrilled to assume. It is also there we were able to talk to a recent graduate of the Universidad de la Habana — and luckily, the topic revolved almost entirely around the Código de la Familia, a favorite research project of mine.

The Código de la Familia, if you would be so kind as to indulge in my brief lecturing, is the set of laws that defines a Cuban family in legal terms — who can marry, how property is distributed, how family members should treat each other, the rights and responsibilities of children, parents, and the government. The current Código de la Familia dates back to 1975; even this was radical, particularly in terms of its hardly followed provision to divide household labor more equally, but the basic definition of a family unit is not far removed from that of a nuclear family under capitalism. This is changed by the proposed new Código, a process that has been in the works since 2017, with a final referendum on the 25th of this very month. The proposed Código legalizes same-sex marriage, for one; but it also opens adoption to anyone with the means to provide for a child, allows the government to intervene in case of abuse, and both recognizes and legally obligates parents to recognize the autonomy and indeoendent desires of their children, including (for instance) their gender identity. It is truly radical, and I cannot wait for it to pass (inshallah!). The graduate we talked to was able to provide valuable predictions, sources, and responses of the Catholic Church. (Fascinating!!)

I have accomplished precious little else today, save for walking along the Malecón, calling my dearest family at my nearest internet park, and attempting to choose classes. With the difficulty I am having in making decisions, I may have to attend a full nine-to-five day of classes every day this week. Truly a wonderful solution for me.

Con amor, siempre,

MICHA.

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was-it-really-worth-it · 3 years

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Game 173 - Life is Strange: True Colors by Deck Nine

What did I think it was at first? I was a big fan of the original Life is Strange game, so I knew this would be a must-play for me. I am super excited about this one.

This review is not going to be spoiler free. Since the game is mostly story, it'd be really hard to discuss the things I loved about it while not talking about the story!

How was the character creator? Alex is not customizable outside of her outfits, but you can decide what kind of person she is. You make a myriad of smaller choices as well as a few key ones. Alex also isn't defined by her powers - she can choose to minimize them or to lean on them more throughout the story.

Alex is Asian-American (it wasn't clear to me what her heritage was precisely, and as a white person I'm not really the best person to adjudicate the game's portrayal of race), and there are several nods to her background throughout the game. She also comes out of a foster-care background. Her superpower, which involves sensing, reading, and manipulating the emotions of others, really reminded me of behaviors that people impacted by trauma develop in order to cope and survive in the world. Her world felt very realistic to me, and Alex seems like a real person.

One of the things I loved about Alex is that she's not the video game archetypal body. She's a little short (and the game has somewhat diverse character models! would have liked more diversity in size, but they are not all identical) and a little heavier than your average protagonist. The mocap work here is phenomenal as well. The expressions on all of the characters are realistic. Even Alex's body language - I can recognize gestures in her hands when she's anxious or notice the movement in her shoulders when she's angry.

How was the game? Last year, I played Red Dead Redemption 2 early in the year and then went on and on about how great it is for the rest of the year. It's premature, but this might be the game I obsess over for the rest of the year.

As I'm sure you can tell from the excessive amount of pictures in this post, the game is absolutely gorgeous. There aren't a lot of different environments, but the game makes up for that with lush detailing of each set piece and voiced remarks from Alex on many individual items. Haven feels like a real place, and it's the coolest place in the world.

And the audio design! The soundtrack! The indie music! It's great!

The cast here is also pretty small, so you really get to know them as Alex. Even your brother, who dies in the first act of the game, is really charming and funny and easy to get to know. The romance options, Ryan and Steph, both have their own unique personalities. I also really enjoyed the feature where you can read the town's social media as well as Alex's journal and texts with her friends - including events that take place before the game and during time skips between chapters. It really helped flesh out each of the characters.

The game is divided into chapters that you work through as you solve a mystery. A lot of the plot points in the game are missable, so it rewards careful exploration. Moral quandaries take center stage here, and the choices you make determine how the story plays out.

I don't want to spoil too much of the game, so I'll keep it short - my favorite sequence of the game involved a town-wide LARP in a D&D inspired world. I love Dungeons and Dragons, and the way the town came together to put on the event honestly made me cry. I cried twice in this game, actually.

What did I not love? Here I am going to really talk about the ending - if you have not finished the game, beware the spoilers below!

The ending chapters where you explore Alex's history - her mother's death, her father's neglect, and her experience in foster care - are some of the strongest storytelling moments I have seen in a video game. However, the ending chapter of the game felt weak to me. It's kind of like Mass Effect 3 where I'm sure no ending would really be satisfying, but here we go:

When Jed betrays Alex by shooting her and leaving her in the mine, I really felt like it was a rehash of the original Life is Strange where your father figure and mentor ALSO betrays you and puts you in a situation where you will die. It...wasn't great? Is this a series mainstay? I don't intend to play 2 but will get to Before the Storm eventually.

I also thought the game went a little far by making Jed responsible for the death of Alex's father. It seemed a little too cheesy and hackneyed. He had already committed a massive sin. It was too much to add Alex's history to it.

The ending council meeting felt good, and I was able to earn the approval of almost the whole town on my first playthrough. However, when I tried to find information it didn't really seem like there were consequences for not passing the tribunal? At the end of the game, Alex chooses whether to leave Haven or stay, and her love interest will go with her. It didn't feel like the stakes were as high as Max's decision to save Chloe or Arcadia Bay.

At 10 hours and $50, was it really worth it? god this game was so good. Everyone play this game. I'm going to play the DLC later and add another review, but I can already give it a glowing recommendation.

One caveat: the DLC isn't really worth it. Alex has a pretty good closet already, and you can't wear the outfits for the whole game. Steph's story, Wavelengths, is neat as a prequel but didn't feel as well done to me. It's exciting if you're into Critical Role, though, and the references to the original Life is Strange do help tie the story together.

#c reviews #gaming #life is strange #life is strange: true colors #deck nine

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st-just · 3 years

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Barely coherent rambling about nation-states, culture, the Hapsburgs, and Canada

Because why have a blog except to occasionally purge one of the essays floating around half-formed in your brain. To be clear, it’s still half-formed, just on tumblr now. 1,666 words, here’s the Deveraux essay mentioned. Book is Martyn Rady’s The Hapsburgs: To Rule The World

So I’ve had like, nationalism on my mind recently.

And so there’s a kind of recurring beat in left-of-centre American political discourse (like, not ‘internet rnados screaming at each other’ discourse, ‘people with doctorates or think tank positions having debates on podcasts or exchanging op eds’ discourse) where you have some people on the radical end list some of the various horrible atrocities the country is built on, the ways that all the national myths are lies, and how all the saints of the civic religion were monsters to one degree or another – this can come in a flavor of either righteous anger or, like, intellectual sport. And then on the other end you have the, well, Matt Yglesiases of the world. Who don’t really argue any of the points of fact, but do kind of roll their eyes at the whole exercise and say that sure, but Mom and Apple Pie and the American Way are still popular, and if you’re trying to win power in a democracy telling the majority of the population that their most cherished beliefs are both stupid and evil isn’t a great move.

Anyway, a couple weeks back Deveraux posted an essay for the 4th of July (which I don’t totally buy, but is an interesting read) about why the reason American nationalism is so intensely bundled up into a couple pieces of paper and maybe a dozen personalities is precisely because it isn’t a nation at all. Basically, his thesis is that in proper nation-states like England or the Netherlands or wherever, there really is a core population that is the overwhelming demographic majority and really have lived in more or less the same places since time immemorial, and that once the enthographers and mythologists finish their work, all those people really do identify with both the same nation and the same state as its expression. America, by contrast, is by virtue of being a settler nation whose citizenry was filled by waves of immigrants from all the ass ends of Eurasia in a historical eyeblink, even before you add in the native population and descendants of slaves lacks any single core ethnicity that is anywhere close to a majority, as well as any organic national traditions or claims to an ‘ancestral homeland’ that aren’t obviously absurd (and we are trying to include the descendents of slaves and the native population these days, to varying levels of success). All this to say that his point is America is a civic state, not a national one, with the identity of ‘American’ being divorced from ethnicity and instead tied to things like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the whole cult around the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and [FDR and/or Reagan depending on your politics].

Which, like I said, don’t totally buy, but interesting. (to a degree he overstates how homogenus ‘actual’ nation-states are, he makes America sound very special but if his analysis holds that it’d presumably also apply to several other former settler colonies, in the American context there’s a fairly solid case to be made that the whole ‘nation of immigrants’ story and the racial identity of whiteness were constructed to function as an erratz national ethnicity, with incredible success, etc, etc).

But anyway, if we accept that the American identity is bound up in its civic religion and the mythologized version of its political history, it’s absolutely the case that there’s several segments of the left who take incredibly joy in tearing said civic religion and national mythology apart and dragging whatever’s left through the mud. I mean, hell, I do! (reminder: any politician whose ever had a statue dedicated to them was probably a monster). And, well, call it a greater awareness of historical crimes and injustice, or the postmodern disdain for idols and systems leaking out through the increasingly college-educated populace, or the liquid acid of modernity dissolving away all unchosen identities, or a Marxist cabal undermining the national spirit to pave the way for the Revolution or whatever you like, but in whichever case, that critical discourse is certainly much more prominent and influential among left and liberal media and politics types that is was in decades past.

And, okay, so I finished Martyn Rady’s The Hapsburgs a few days ago. And I mentioned as I was reading it that the chapters on the 19th and 20th centuries reminded me quite a bit of courses I’d taken in school on the late Ottoman Empire and Soviet Union. Because all three are multi/non-national states (Empires, in Deveraux’s terminology, though that’s varying degrees of questionable for each, I think. Moreso for the Hapsburgs than the rest) who outlasted their own ideological legitimacy. And in all three cases it just, well, it didn’t not matter, but even as all the ceremonies got more absurd and farcical and the politics more consumed by inertia punctuated with crises, things kept limping along just fine for decades. Even in the face of intense crisis, dissolution wasn’t inevitable. (The Ottomans are a less central example here, admittedly, precisely because of the late attempt to recenter the empire on Turkish nationalism. But even then, more Arab soldiers fought for the Sultan-Caliph than ever did for the Hashemites, and most prewar Arab nationalism was either purely cultural or imagined the Empire reformed into a binational federation, not dissolved).

But as Rady says in the book – losing WW1 crippled Germany, it dissolved Austria-Hungary. And in all three cases, as soon as they were gone, the idea of bringing them back instantly became at least a bit absurd.

And okay, to now pivot to talking about where I actually live but about whose politics I (shamefully) know significantly less than America’s. I mean, maybe it’s because most of my history education from public school was given by either pinko commies or liberals still high off ‘90s one-world universalism, or maybe it’s just a matter of social class, but I really can’t remember ever having taken the whole wannabe civic religion of Canada seriously (the only even serious attempt at sacredness I recall was for Remembrance Day). Even today, the main things I remember about our Founding Father is that he was an alcoholic who lost power in a railroad corruption scandal.

Really, in all my experience the only unifying threads of national/particular Canadian identity are a flag, a healthcare system, those Canadian Heritage Minute propaganda ads, a bill of rights from the ‘60s, and an overpowering sense of polite smugness towards the States.

And that last one (or, at least, the generally rose-colored ‘Canada is the good one’ view of history) is taking something of a beating, on account of all the mass graves really rubbing the public’s noses in the whole genocide thing. At least among big segments of the intellectual and activist classes, most of the symbols of Canadian nationhood are necessarily becoming illegitimate as Canada is, in fact, a project of genocidal settle colonialism.

But it really is just purely symbolic. Most of the municipalities who cancelled their Canada Day celebrations are going to elect Liberal MPs and help give our Natural Governing Party its majority in the next election, no one of any significance has actually challenged the authority of the civil service or the courts. And, frankly, most of the people who are loudly skeptical of all the symbols of the nations are also the ones whose political projects most heavily rely on an efficient and powerful state bureaucracy to carry out.

(This is leaving aside Quebec, which very much does have a live national identity insofar as the vigorous protection of national symbols is what wins provincial elections. If I felt like doing research and/or reaching more there’s probably something there on how pro-independence sentiment has largely simmered down at a pace with the decline of attempts to impose a national Canadian identity).

I mean, Canada does have rather more of a base for a ‘national’ population core than the US (especially if you’re generous and count the people who mark French on the census as a core population as well). At the same time, no one really expects this to continue to be the case – even back in Junior High, I remember one of the hand outs we got explaining that due to declining fertility most or all future population growth would come from immigration (I remember being confused when my mother was weirdly uncomfortable with the idea when it came up). I suppose our government gets credit for managing public opinion such that anti-immigration backlash hasn’t taken over the political conversation. Which you’d think would be a low bar but, well.

But anyway, to try and begin wrapping this rambling mess up – it does rather feel like Rady’s portrayal of the late Hapsburg empire might have a few passing similarities to the future of Canada. A multinational state whose constitution and political system and built on foundations and legitimized by history that no one actually believes in anymore, or at least no more than they have to pretend to to justify the positions they hold, but persisting because it’s convenient and it’s there and any alternatives are really only going to seem practical after a complete economic collapse or apocalyptic war. (Though our civil service is a Josephist’s dream by comparison, really.)

Or maybe I’m premature, and the dominant culture will just be incredibly effective at assimilating immigrants into that civic identity. Anecdotally, the only people I know who are at all enthusiastic about Canada as an idea are first generation immigrants. I could certainly just be projecting, really – I’ve never really been able to get all that invested in the nation-state as an idea of more moral power than ‘a convenient administrative division of humanity’, and certainly liberating ourselves form the need to defend the past would certainly rectifying certain injustices easier.

Or maybe I’m just being incredibly optimistic. Half the economy’s resource extraction and the other half’s real estate, so decent odds the entire place just literally goes up in flames over the next few decades. BC’s already well on its way.

#politics #political theory #nationalism #in this essay I will #this is theoretically a writing blog #the hapsburgs: to rule the world

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whiterosebrian · 4 years

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Q Shaman and Deeper Problems

I for one hoped that this year would get off to a nicer start than the previous year—but it certainly did not! By now you should have seen frightening videos of partisans of a wannabe strongman invading the Capitol in Washington DC. You might have even seen that one man wearing Nordic pagan symbols as tattoos along with a mock-Lakota headdress. I was unsure if I wanted to write about it. I wasn’t sure if I could add any meaningful commentary on top of what so many others have written or spoken. Maybe I should still at least attempt to add my voice in public.

I don’t want to center whiteness, but I do need to address it to some extent. It’s no secret that the wannabe strongman has appealed to whiteness as an ideology and an entire social structure. Whiteness might be considered a hivemind, one that largely flattened and assimilated European peoples before going on to outright colonize other peoples and lands. I’ve said before that I am a man of Northern European descent and have started reconnecting to the old Northern European spiritual heritage. I’ve even seen it suggested that such a spiritual walk might be part a project of decolonizing alternative spirituality. Just as many indigenous people of Turtle Island want to renew with their ancient heritages, settlers might also do the same for themselves. Perhaps there’s a truth that folkish and Nazi heathens grotesquely distort.

More and more I’ve seen a reckoning over systemic white privilege and conspiracist mentalities within alternative-spirituality circles. Anyone who pays attention to criticisms from certain communities might already be aware of the appropriation of precious spiritual traditions on the part of New-Agers. Furthermore, you may have heard the neologism “conspirituality” to describe how easily New-Agers can fall into the most dangerous conspiracy theories. You may have heard of David Icke’s notorious stories about alien reptilians (sometimes used as a code-word for Jewish people)—but that’s the tip of the iceberg. That “Q Shaman” character, the one with the tattoos and headdress, has promoted the now-infamous Q-Anon movement, hence the name. Many, many more people, including those with substantial online followings, have been seduced by a movement that seemingly champions children caught up in horrible crimes. There are plenty other people who will describe Q-Anon to you in depth.

Even as I oppose white supremacy and conspiratorial fascism, I need to remember why I do so. I have my share of privilege, however vulnerable I am in other respects. I need to keep in mind the goal of bending the arc towards justice for various marginalized people and the earth itself. I feel like I merely shout into the void (or, worse yet, I risk coming off as merely performative) because I’m an autistic warehouse worker who doesn’t always have energy for any creative, intellectual, or mystical endeavors, much less anything remotely resembling activism. Should I still say something in public?

What can neopaganism offer to the world? That’s a question that conscientious neopagans need to ask. As important as it is to oppose fascist and exclusionary appropriations, that can’t be the only thing that neopagans do in public. They need to show what neopaganism offers while they decenter whiteness.

As I’ve done research into the pre-Christian religions that neopagans do their best to rebuild, again and again I’ve come into animism. In case you need your memory refreshed, animism is a belief that elements of nature, human and nonhuman animals, special places, and special objects have spirits. Speaking of “the other side” is not wrong at all, but the “other side” intersects with our world all the time. They influence our world and our lives. Humans can (and should) have relationships with these spirits too, whether in terms of humble respect or close friendships. Some people who are specially called—or, for people such as me, feel a strong desire—might learn work directly with the very powers of life. There is, in fact, an entire web of life. Heathens and occultists such as Arith Harger and Freyia Norling have helped me learn all that.

Pagan gods have no pretenses to being omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omnipresent, or omniscient. Many neopagans will say that makes more philosophical sense. Norse myths are very notable for illustrating the limited nature of deities. Pagan gods are better seen as powerful intelligent forces who dwell invisibly among us. Many mythical creatures can also be seen that way. In fact, the gods themselves might be seen as personifications of aspects of nature and life. Thor might be seen as thunder and lightning and rain, obviously, but Odin can be seen as a howling, restless wind while Freya might be seen as anything fertile. The myths are, first and foremost, expressions of spiritual truths—anyone who seriously studies historical mythologies will tell you that.

What can neopaganism offer to the world? It can offer a new friendship with the entire web of life. Humans too are a part of life, and marginalized people deserve to be treated as fellow members of the web of life. To my understanding, the Druids of the British Isles and other Celtic lands were learned in the sciences of their day as much as religion and magic—there is most certainly a place for reason and science along with spiritualism and mysticism. They were also civil leaders. While today’s separation of church and state is necessary to prevent an ugly form of authoritarianism, spiritual practitioners need to take responsibility for their human and nonhuman siblings. Interestingly enough, the later Germanic settlers of the British Isles also had leaders who, depending on translation, might be called Druids.

I’ve pondered what more I can do to help more people, to build up an inclusive and compassionate neopagan faith, to assist in correcting the of colonization, hyper-capitalism, and authoritarianism. Throughout my webpages, I’ve made multiple references to a novel that I’ve been very slowly writing. Part of a druid or shaman’s duty is storytelling, and I do wish to have a similar role within our world, so I don’t intend to give up on fiction writing. I may also start brainstorming a sort of book of personal essays about spiritualism, environment, historical injustices, inclusion, and more. In fact, that is what ultimately prompted me to type up this journal entry. I already have a lot of things going on personally, though—and furthermore I may not be yet deeply educated enough to make a really effective collection of essays. I really wish I had more energy when I’m not at the mass-mailing warehouse—my hours may not be much (I only work part-time), but I’m not a hardy man.

Maybe I really did make a tiny contribution by composing and posting this journal entry. Do you suppose that I did? I’m only one man with a very meager online following. I hope to do much more for marginalized and vulnerable people along with the rest of the web of life.

#spirituality #paganism #politics #social justice #pagan

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 4 years

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16th January >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saturday, First Week in Ordinary Time

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saturday, First Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

Hebrews 4:12-16

Let us confidently approach the throne of grace.

The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15

R/ Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.

R/ Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.

R/ Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; The ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.

R/ Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

R/ Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Gospel Acclamation

Luke 4:18

Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mark 2:13-17

I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.

Jesus went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed Jesus. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either:

First Reading

Genesis 3:9-15, 20

I will put enmity between your offspring and the offspring of the woman.

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me– she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

OR: --------

First reading Genesis 12:1-7 The Lord spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever (Luke 1:55).

The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.

”I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

OR: --------

First reading 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-11, 16 The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father (Luke 1:32).

When King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” Nathan answered the king, “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: “Go tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?’ “‘It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

OR: --------

First reading 1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2 They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent which David had pitched for it.

David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the LORD to the place which he had prepared for it. David also called together the sons of Aaron and the Levites. The Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with poles, as Moses had ordained according to the word of the LORD. David commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as chanters, to play on musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals to make a loud sound of rejoicing. They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent which David had pitched for it. Then they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When David had finished offering up the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

OR: --------

First reading Proverbs 8:22-31 Mary, seat of Wisdom.

The Wisdom of God says:

“The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water; Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet the earth and fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.

“When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; When he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; When he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.”

OR: --------

First reading Sirach 24:1-2, 3-4, 8-12, 18-21 Mary, seat of Wisdom.

Wisdom sings her own praises and is honored in God, before her own people she proclaims her glory; In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth, in the presence of his power she declares her worth.

“From the mouth of the Most High I came forth the first-born before all creatures. I made that in the heavens there should arise light that never fades and mistlike covered the earth. In the highest heavens did I dwell, my throne on a pillar of cloud.

“Then the Creator of all gave me his command, and he who formed me chose the spot for my tent, Saying, ‘In Jacob make your dwelling, in Israel your inheritance and among my chosen put down your roots.’ Before all ages, in the beginning, he created me, and through all ages I shall not cease to be. In the holy tent I ministered before him, and in Zion I fixed my abode. Thus in the chosen city he has given me rest, in Jerusalem is my domain. I have struck root among the glorious people, in the portion of the LORD, his heritage and in the company of the holy ones do I linger.

“Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits; You will remember me as sweeter than honey, better to have than the honeycomb my memory is unto everlasting generations. Whoever eats of me will hunger still, whoever drinks of me will thirst for more; Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, whoever serves me will never fail.”

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

The LORD spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel which means “God is with us.”

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 9:1-6 A son is given us.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, As they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, And the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:9-11 I rejoice heartily in the Lord.

Thus says the LORD:

Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the LORD has blessed.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

OR: --------

First reading Micah 5:1-4a Until the time when she who is to give birth has borne.

The LORD says:

You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. (Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.) He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.

OR: --------

First reading Zechariah 2:14-17 Rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! for he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

-------- ________

EITHER: --------

Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God. I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength. The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil. The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“The LORD puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again. The LORD makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“He raises the needy from the dust; from the dung heap he lifts up the poor, To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Judith 13:18bcde, 19

You are the highest honor of our race.

“Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth.”

You are the highest honor of our race.

“Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God.”

You are the highest honor of our race.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

From the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised. High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens is his glory.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor To seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Luke 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55