tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78179112170989742292024-03-13T18:29:26.723-04:00e g r e g o r e sA blog about Paganism, history, philosophy, politics, and more.Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comBlogger1086125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-88975911919153797402021-11-26T13:46:00.000-05:002021-11-26T13:46:00.644-05:00Meanwhile, somewhere in the Carpathian MountainsThe surviving members of the Egregores Collective have just recently emerged from a very strict three-year retreat in our meditation center nestled among the Făgăraş Mountains of Transylvania. We wish to take this opportunity to announce to the world that our new favorite band is a Romanian DJ. That is all for now. At some point in the future we may or may not have more to say about what (else) we have (or have not) been up to.
<iframe width="986" height="555" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q4unZ0rgnY4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-46284262872572359182018-08-11T17:54:00.001-04:002018-08-11T17:54:31.283-04:00MUSIC VIDEOS!!!<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ywsS4WteceM" width="854"></iframe>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DWtSyorjXv4" width="854"></iframe>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7hlGqj3ImQI" width="854"></iframe>
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<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FbfHjOHq1FE" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-43618641375862965432017-11-02T17:17:00.000-04:002019-04-11T16:46:25.608-04:00weedsonce upon a time there was an Ancient Forest. and then one day the humans came and cut it all down and put up a parking lot for one of their "shopping malls". and then one day the humans left.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9E7_C6wakl9H2p35GhFXultZZqZTICyfMkrmrPvjb1JKnli4i12e2TivEIqNSlCKDVx3r4TH_ZWOLx4qyVsYV6rLWqKJPGWqC-qastmEAW636-Sfp1r96tGXCTG1rurlhM8aU__O9Acg/s1600/mall1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9E7_C6wakl9H2p35GhFXultZZqZTICyfMkrmrPvjb1JKnli4i12e2TivEIqNSlCKDVx3r4TH_ZWOLx4qyVsYV6rLWqKJPGWqC-qastmEAW636-Sfp1r96tGXCTG1rurlhM8aU__O9Acg/s320/mall1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
after the humans left, more and more cracks started opening up in the parking lot, and more and more weeds started growing up through the cracks.<br />
<br />
some of these weeds remembered the Ancient Forest. that's because they were descended
from those few weeds that had continued to look for every crack in the concrete,
back when the humans were still around. no matter how fanatically the humans
tried to keep their shopping mall parking lot weed free, there were always little sprouts
of green poking up through the inevitable cracks. there had always been weeds
like this. and they were the ones who remembered the Ancient Forest.
<br />
<br />
some weeds, however, were embarrassed by these weeds-that-remembered. they said,
"please stop being such Romantic Fools. you are embarrassing us!" They also said,
"we are just weeds, and weeds is all we ever were and all we ever will be. the humans
cut down the forest and it is gone. get over it. it is gone forever. it will never
come back."
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgmWaj45m0nKC8HnA06diM-S8PROf6vu5KquOv81sLQ3_M9nRl1ML1aQ3_QhNTkdm1I_bQjxLrQN3CENn3kqXbdZDKQAqmfAWTnpJSicoXb-qUSA54CzrloGl8chN1jJcOvLXs2ZncFs/s1600/malll2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgmWaj45m0nKC8HnA06diM-S8PROf6vu5KquOv81sLQ3_M9nRl1ML1aQ3_QhNTkdm1I_bQjxLrQN3CENn3kqXbdZDKQAqmfAWTnpJSicoXb-qUSA54CzrloGl8chN1jJcOvLXs2ZncFs/s320/malll2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
but there were still other weeds who said, "it's good that the humans are gone,
but the Old Forest was bad, too. we are weeds, and the Old Trees were our oppressors.
they blocked the light from us and lorded it over us. in our New Forest we must all
be equal, so no plants should ever grow too high. that way we can learn from our
past mistakes and Make Progress."
<br />
<br />
but wait, there's more. there were also weeds who said, "hey! we are not 'weeds'!!
as a matter of fact, 'weed' is a perjorative term, and no plants in the past ever
called themselves 'weeds'. we reject 'weed-privilege' and demand to be called by
various hyphenated verbal monstrosities that we either make up as we go along, or
that we borrow incorrectly from scholars whose works we have never read, much less
understood!!!!" who knew weeds could shout like that!<br />
<br />
but mostly the weeds were just weeds. they kept busy pushing up through the cement toward
the light, but remaining firmly rooted in the darkness that will always be there if they ever
need to return again. they were busy, too busy for much anything else, slowly turning
the vast parking lot erected by the humans back into a Forest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yVATCzfDRR7U1t6ygs76_Qp_VUIZtwE2M0zA4nO_J_z4P4l08HiaPjp6PKV5qcHkjuCP82c8e4ONww5YMtYGvEYzX_zUQeuCAcd9AWK9Cix5ZGYnpBrLXTWVyZYVfI59mD7FIoBtz2k/s1600/mall3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yVATCzfDRR7U1t6ygs76_Qp_VUIZtwE2M0zA4nO_J_z4P4l08HiaPjp6PKV5qcHkjuCP82c8e4ONww5YMtYGvEYzX_zUQeuCAcd9AWK9Cix5ZGYnpBrLXTWVyZYVfI59mD7FIoBtz2k/s1600/mall3.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKSAsaRgGJ99dikuJvOZMIOtmzh5EHgJ0OwFFs_0W5LONmYIB18qF1biunMDymnyGQo8s74tqCuFdeRWOJivnB1nnQox82YL2XuS2BToHjpTMhgoj0iwOyP3h0DZcNkPMjtCIeC76Sr0/s1600/Biogradska_suma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKSAsaRgGJ99dikuJvOZMIOtmzh5EHgJ0OwFFs_0W5LONmYIB18qF1biunMDymnyGQo8s74tqCuFdeRWOJivnB1nnQox82YL2XuS2BToHjpTMhgoj0iwOyP3h0DZcNkPMjtCIeC76Sr0/s640/Biogradska_suma.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
(This was originally posted on May 11, 2015.)
Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-82984220630668448072017-10-01T18:31:00.001-04:002017-10-01T18:31:44.977-04:00Forget Russian Videos - Bring on the Ukranian Videos<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hsNKSbTNd5I" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08P7pyHBlq0" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fuPX8mjeb-E" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DeSwK5fkTs" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kberVmJCR34" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-47101761502777428682017-09-09T16:51:00.000-04:002017-09-09T16:51:17.465-04:00just some russian videos<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vewWf8HDKF0?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-IfXCtC1qzs?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nUzJI4Palq0" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-37446852850777650862017-09-09T16:40:00.001-04:002017-09-09T16:40:50.608-04:00Firyuza (it turns out that 1979 was a very good year for cosmic jazz fusion in Turkmenistan)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gRm96SAz8zc" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-44384107088441995242017-09-04T15:05:00.000-04:002017-09-04T15:07:27.676-04:00Witches, Poisoners, and the book of Exodus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5ILY2E7dSrN-flxXqZQ6kcWrrR5Bqo0D7zU0p9KfXEXhL53ztbksdWEtxR4BBsvFpKuVSuCeBUUz-4oMhxqAoPaeSoOw737ZAgLTnZtsXIjaZbQCWgGQGC2FkJeqjRce2M5nbGfGBmE/s1600/witch_of_endor_brochart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5ILY2E7dSrN-flxXqZQ6kcWrrR5Bqo0D7zU0p9KfXEXhL53ztbksdWEtxR4BBsvFpKuVSuCeBUUz-4oMhxqAoPaeSoOw737ZAgLTnZtsXIjaZbQCWgGQGC2FkJeqjRce2M5nbGfGBmE/s400/witch_of_endor_brochart.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
When Jewish scholars translated the Tanakh into Greek over 2000 years ago (resulting in the Setptuagint, aka "LXX"), they translated the 18th verse of the 22nd chapter of the Book of Exodus as:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>φαρμακοὺς οὐ περιποιήσετε </b></span><br />
<br />
(from: <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/exo/22/1/s_72001">https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/exo/22/1/s_72001</a>) <br />
<br />
The original Hebrew for this verse (which, just to make things even more potentially confusing, in modern Jewish versions, whether in Hebrew or in translation, is invariably numbered as verse 17, not 18), is:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>מְכַשֵּׁפָה, לֹא תְחַיֶּה.</b></span><br />
<br />
(from: <a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm">http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm</a>) <br />
<br />
For comparison we can also look at Jerome's Vulgate translation of this verse:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Maleficos non patieris vivere. </b></span><br />
<br />
And then there is also Luther's German translation:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Die Sauberinnen sollst du nicht leben lassen. </b></span><br />
<br />
So, just what do these four words ( <span style="font-size: large;"><b>מְכַשֵּׁפָה</b></span>, <span style="font-size: large;"><b>φαρμακοὺς</b></span>, <span style="font-size: large;"><b>maleficos</b></span> and <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sauberinnen</b></span> ) mean? The King James Bible gives the English equivalent as, simply, "Witch", as in "Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live."<br />
<br />
Here are three modern Jewish translations of this verse into English:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. "Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live."</b></span><br />
Mechon Mamre: <a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm" target="_blank">http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm </a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. "You shall not allow a sorceress to live."</b></span><br />
JPS Tanakh, 1917: <a href="http://biblehub.com/exodus/22.htm">http://biblehub.com/exodus/22.htm</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. "You shall not allow a sorceress to live."</b></span><br />
Chabad.Org: <a href="http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9883#">http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9883#</a><br />
<br />
Below is an excellent overview of the meaning of these tricky words which nicely deals with the silly and completely unfounded claim that the passage in Exodus is only referring to "poisoners". This overview is from <a href="http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/users/363/frank-luke" target="_blank">Frank Luke</a> who posted it to the Biblical Hermeneutics section of Stack Overflow (<a href="http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/5392/can-pharmakous-mean-something-other-than-sorceror" target="_blank">link</a>):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="background-color: beige;">
Forms of the Hebrew word<b> כַשֵּׁף</b> are translated into Greek with equivalent forms of <i>pharmakous</i>: <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Exodus+7:11" rel="nofollow">Exodus 7:11</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Exodus+22:18" rel="nofollow">Exodus 22:18</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Deuteronomy+18:10" rel="nofollow">Deuteronomy 18:10</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/2+Chronicles+33:6" rel="nofollow">2 Chronicles 33:6</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Isaiah+47:9" rel="nofollow">Isaiah 47:9</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Isaiah+47:12" rel="nofollow">Isaiah 47:12</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Jeremiah+27:9" rel="nofollow">Jeremiah 27:9</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Daniel+2:2" rel="nofollow">Daniel 2:2</a>, <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Malachi+3:5" rel="nofollow">Malachi 3:5</a>. As you said, most of these places rule out poisoner from the context. Poisoner simply cannot work in them. The LXX also uses <i>pharmakous</i> in these verses:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Exodus+9:11" rel="nofollow">Exodus 9:11</a> The <b>magicians</b> could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the <b>magicians</b> and on all the Egyptians. (for the Hebrew <i>chartim</i>, an occult magician)</li>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Psalms+58:6" rel="nofollow">Psalm 58:6</a> that does not respond to the <b>magicians,</b> or to a skilled <b>snake-charmer</b>. (for <i>lachash</i> and then <i>cheber</i>)</li>
</ul>
Then three times in the Aramaic sections of Daniel (<a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Daniel+2:27" rel="nofollow">2:27</a> - <i>ashaph</i> conjurer, and <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Daniel+5:7" rel="nofollow">5:7</a> and <a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Daniel+5:8" rel="nofollow">5:8</a> - <i>chartim</i>, occultist). In writings original to Greek, forms of <i>pharmakous</i> are also found.<br />
<ul>
<li>Wisdom 12:4 whom you hated for deeds most odious-- Works of <b>witchcraft</b> and impious sacrifices; (NASB)</li>
<li>Wisdom 18:13 For though they disbelieved at every turn on account of <b>sorceries</b>, at the destruction of the first-born they acknowledged that the people was God's son. (NASB)</li>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Galatians+5:20" rel="nofollow">Galatians 5:20</a> idolatry, <b>sorcery,</b> hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions,</li>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Revelation+18:23" rel="nofollow">Revelation 18:23</a>
Even the light from a lamp will never shine in you again! The voices of
the bridegroom and his bride will never be heard in you again. For your
merchants were the tycoons of the world, because all the nations were
deceived by your <b>magic spells</b>!</li>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Revelation+21:8" rel="nofollow">Revelation 21:8</a> But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice <b>magic spells</b>,
idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake
that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death."</li>
<li><a href="https://net.bible.org/#%21bible/Revelation+22:15" rel="nofollow">Revelation 22:15</a> Outside are the dogs and the <b>sorcerers</b> and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood!</li>
</ul>
The Greek lexicons give these defintions:<br />
<ul>
<li>Liddell, Scott, Jones: links it to magic from drugs and specifically states using poisons. </li>
<li>Friberg: one who prepares and uses drugs for magical purposes or ritual witchcraft</li>
<li>United Bible Society: sorcerer, one who practices magic or witchcraft</li>
<li>Lou-Nida: sorcerer</li>
<li>Thayer: pertaining to magical arts. And points out how it is used for <i>kashaph</i>.</li>
<li>Lust, Eynikel, Hauspie: mixer of magical potions, sorcerer, magician</li>
<li>Gingrech: magician</li>
</ul>
Only one of the major lexicons mentions "poisoner" as a meaning of
the Greek word, several point out the drug use, but all agree that it is
magical. There was also the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmakos" rel="nofollow">cult of Pharmakos</a> which used drugs on their ritual victims.</div>
</blockquote>
Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-69733179654920378792017-08-27T17:08:00.001-04:002017-08-28T21:18:43.166-04:00"Many sides" in Late Antiquity?On August 11-12, 2017, torch wielding, sieg-heiling, "Jews will not replace us" chanting, wanna-be Nazi nimrods rioted in the streets of Charlottesville, VA, culminating the the murder of anti-fascist activist Heather Heyer in a vehicular terrorist attack that also left at least 19 others injured. United States President Donald Trump responded by proclaiming: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides."<br />
<br />
This kind of prevaricating obfuscation is designed, and quite obviously so, to absolve those genuinely responsible for violence by pretending that the victims of violence share, equally (at least), in the blame with those who perpetrated violence upon them. In the case of Trump's response to the events in Charlottesville, this refusal to focus on and hold accountable the swastika-sporting white-supremacists has been, correctly in my opinion, interpreted as symptomatic of Trump's own personal sympathy with the cause of those he cannot bring himself to reproach by name.<br />
<br />
This scenario of victim-blaming exculpation should be quite familiar to those acquainted with the modern scholarly field of "late antiquity studies". Indeed, nothing is more characteristic of the period of history labeled as "late antiquity" than the state and church sponsored violence of Christians against Pagans, and nothing is more characteristic of the so-called "scholars" of this period than their Trump-esque (and ever-so-revealing) refusal to acknowledge this violence for what it is, and the perpetrators of the violence for what they are.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCsEvDMwO2v7a7aToN1l3HrKormQ0zGqaTNMSgmVj_Tg3URKHYZXWfNDrDFnKR3ZEJY1BTZXzNGl7N3WNvQTdGJMVvJqTvUjtV08ZXcqduswDykBIfM9i-OEEHK4BB2Lngbuo8Y8UKVE/s1600/tiki-torches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCsEvDMwO2v7a7aToN1l3HrKormQ0zGqaTNMSgmVj_Tg3URKHYZXWfNDrDFnKR3ZEJY1BTZXzNGl7N3WNvQTdGJMVvJqTvUjtV08ZXcqduswDykBIfM9i-OEEHK4BB2Lngbuo8Y8UKVE/s640/tiki-torches.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-90121743544847082842017-04-29T19:00:00.001-04:002017-04-29T19:00:46.088-04:00The Decline and Fall of Late Antiquity Studies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In September of 2015 the Los Angeles Review of Books published an online essay by noted Byzantinist Anthony Kaldellis entitled "Late Antiquity Dissolves." Here are three excerpts to whet your late antiquarian appetite:
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>1. </b>"there is an imperative to turn the sources toward the study of social and cultural history, specifically to reconstruct the ideological value systems that underpinned groups and communities. Texts, their contents, and their authors are treated as instrumental or exemplary in such broader social processes .... So Prokopios has to be pressed into service as an exponent of imperial ideology; or, if he is allowed to speak against Justinian, he has to be made into the spokesman for a senatorial opposition (whose existence has yet to be proven) or imperial ideology 'in general.'"
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>2.</b> "Difference, like identity, was but a discursive construct, an artifact
produced by texts that ostensibly postulate essences, but we should not
be fooled by them, for what they really offer are 'negotiations' among
ideological options floating in the common soup of the late antique
mentality .... The field also exhibits a Christian bias in the way it reconstructs the generic mentality of late antiquity, treating pagans often as a troublesome inconvenience."
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
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<b>3.</b> "Religious hatred that reached the level of bloodshed is frequently
analyzed under the irenic guises of identity construction and discursive
negotiation, as if we were dealing with merely textual communities
cultivating positive role models along parallel tracks that rarely
intersected. But euphemism and discursive amelioration will never fully occlude the fact that the later Roman Empire was the site of tremendous and unparalleled religious conflict, which was accompanied by what seems to be an intensification of state violence too."
</blockquote>
Check out the full article here: <a href="http://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/late-antiquity-dissolves-by-anthony-kaldellis/">http://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/late-antiquity-dissolves-by-anthony-kaldellis/</a>
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-51135055345795157152017-04-26T18:24:00.000-04:002017-04-29T19:30:24.733-04:00EderleziSofi Marinova is amazing:
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PhoRi2jABH4" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Dikanda
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ep1PSG2rwzc" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
Time of the Gypsies
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EZf00ad3G6o" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-88424155725842681352017-01-15T16:17:00.000-05:002017-01-15T16:17:45.728-05:00EZ PZ Black eyed peas and pintos1 can pinto beans<br />
1 can black-eyed peas<br />
1 can diced tomatoes<br />
<br />
spices:<br />
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds<br />
1/3 - 1/2 teaspoon oregano<br />
<br />
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-23243985569997489262015-11-18T18:04:00.000-05:002015-11-18T18:04:15.159-05:00"Most" Muslims "dislike" Isis. Let's do the math.When polled, how many Muslims freely acknowledge that they approve of Isis?<br />
<br />
4% of Indonesians have a favorable opinion of Isis. That's 250M x 0.04 = 10 million Isis supporters.<br />
<br />
8% of Turks have a favorable opinion of Isis. That's 75M x 0.08 = 6 million Isis supporters.<br />
<br />
11% of Malaysians have a favorable opinion of Isis. That's 30M x 0.11 = 3 million Isis supporters.<br />
<br />
9% of Pakistanis have a favorable opinion of Isis. That's 182M x 0.09 = 16 million Isis supporters.<br />
<br />
So, the "good news" is that in just four Muslim majority countries there are 35 million supporters of Isis.<br />
<br />
Source (link to to Pew Research website):<br />
<b><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/17/in-nations-with-significant-muslim-populations-much-disdain-for-isis/" target="_blank">In nations with significant Muslim populations, much disdain for ISIS</a></b>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-29116528302822486232015-09-23T18:45:00.003-04:002015-09-23T18:59:01.415-04:00"in the space of emptiness everything has a space to play and affect each other""everything is hanging on and functioning by virtue of mere conditioning - and that's all we have, mere conditioning, and not the slightest tinge of any intrinsicality"<br />
<br />
"how come there is the difference between projecting a snake on a rope and a snake on a snake?" <br />
...<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zuBT_3Mthcg" width="623"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-6145511321059561432015-09-22T20:03:00.002-04:002015-09-22T20:03:53.373-04:00Meet The New PopeIt is always the high point of any papal visit to any nation: the canonization of one of that nation's own indigenous "saints". And these "saints" are always the same everywhere: they were fanatical jihadists dedicated to the forced conversion and/or extirpation of all Jews, Heathens, Heretics, Atheists, and anyone else deemed to be enemies of the One True Faith.<br />
<br />
There are, perhaps, here and there, genuine exceptions to this rule. But these are, necessarily, quite exceptional. The man whose name Pope Voldemort II now obscenely bears is arguably one of them. <br />
<br />
But neither the New Pope nor the evil wretch <span>
Junipero Serra
are in any way deviations from the usual assortment of highly successful con-artists (like the Pope) and murderously accomplished thugs (like Serra) who have always done and will always do the Dark Lord's bidding in the name of the Great Commission.<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/17/father-serras-sainthood-sanctifying-legacy-domination">http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/17/father-serras-sainthood-sanctifying-legacy-domination</a><br />
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-serra-saint-20150116-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-serra-saint-20150116-story.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/08/15/567667/-The-Great-California-Genocide">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/08/15/567667/-The-Great-California-Genocide</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/25/pope-francis-junipero-serra-sainthood-native-american-controversy">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/25/pope-francis-junipero-serra-sainthood-native-american-controversy</a><br />
<a href="https://zinnedproject.org/2015/03/california-missions-and-indians/">https://zinnedproject.org/2015/03/california-missions-and-indians/</a><br />
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-18207123351487349062015-09-20T18:02:00.000-04:002015-09-20T18:02:16.942-04:00"furthest from him is best"[From Book 1]:<br />
<br />
Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,<br />
Said then the lost Arch-Angel, this the seat<br />
That we must change for <span class="varspell" title="Heaven">Heav'n</span>,
this mournful gloom<br />
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For that celestial light? Be it so, since he<span class="line" id="line245"> [ 245 ]</span><br />
Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid<br />
What shall be
right: <span class="varspell" title="farthest">fardest</span> from him is
best<br />
Whom reason <span class="varspell" title="has">hath</span> <span class="varspell" title="equalled">equald</span>, force <span class="varspell" title="has">hath</span> made <span class="varspell" title="supreme">supream</span><br />
Above his equals. <span class="varspell" title="Farewell">Farewel</span> happy Fields<br />
Where Joy for ever dwells:
Hail <span class="varspell" title="horrors">horrours</span>, hail<span class="line" id="line250"> [ 250 ]</span><br />
Infernal world, and thou
profoundest Hell<br />
Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings<br />
A mind not
to be <span class="varspell" title="changed">chang'd</span> by Place or Time.<br />
The mind is its own place,
and in it self<br />
Can make a <span class="varspell" title="Heaven">Heav'n</span> of Hell, a Hell of <span class="varspell" title="Heaven">Heav'n</span>.<span class="line" id="line255"> [ 255 ]</span><br />
What matter where, if I be still the same,<br />
And what I should be, all but
less <span class="varspell" title="than">then</span> he<br />
Whom Thunder <span class="varspell" title="has">hath</span> made greater? Here at least<br />
We
shall be free; <span class="varspell" title="the">th'</span> Almighty <span class="varspell" title="has">hath</span> not built<br />
Here for his envy, will
not drive us hence:<span class="line" id="line260"> [ 260 ]</span><br />
Here we
may reign secure, and in my <span class="varspell" title="choice">choyce</span><br />
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:<br />
Better to reign in Hell, <span class="varspell" title="than">then</span> serve in Heav'n<a href="http://./">.</a><br />
But wherefore let we then our faithful
friends,<br />
<span class="varspell" title="The">Th'</span> associates and
copartners of our loss<span class="line" id="line265"> [ 265 ]</span><br />
<span class="varspell" title="Lie">Lye</span> thus <span class="varspell" title="astonished">astonisht</span> on th' oblivious Pool,<br />
And call them not to share with
us their part<br />
In this unhappy Mansion, or once more<br />
With rallied Arms
to try what may be yet<br />
<span class="varspell" title="Regaind">Regaind</span> in <span class="varspell" title="Heaven">Heav'n</span>, or what more lost in Hell?<span class="line" id="line270"> [ 270 ]</span><br />
<br />
[From Book 5]: <br />
<br />
That we were formd then <span class="varspell" title="sayest">saist</span> thou? and the work<br />
Of <span class="varspell" title="secondary">secondarie</span> hands, by task <span class="varspell" title="transferred">transferd</span><br />
From Father to his Son? strange point and new!<span class="line" id="line855"> [ 855 ]</span><br />
<span class="varspell" title="Doctrine">Doctrin</span> which we would know whence <span class="varspell" title="learned">learnt</span>: who saw<br />
When this creation was? <span class="varspell" title="rememberest">rememberst</span> thou<br />
Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being?<br />
We know no time when we were not as now;<br />
Know none before us, self-begot, self-<span class="varspell" title="raised">rais'd</span><span class="line" id="line860"> [ 860 ]</span><br />
By our own <span class="varspell" title="quickening">quick'ning</span> power, when fatal course<br />
Had <span class="varspell" title="circled">circl'd</span> his full <span class="varspell" title="Orb">Orbe</span>, the birth mature<br />
Of this our native <span class="varspell" title="Heaven">Heav'n</span>,
Our puissance is our own, our own right hand<br />
Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try<span class="line" id="line865"> [ 865 ]</span><br />
Who is our equal: then thou shalt behold<br />
Whether by supplication we intend<br />
Address, and to begirt <span class="varspell" title="the">th'</span> Almighty Throne<br />
Beseeching or besieging. This report,<br />
These tidings <span class="varspell" title="carry">carrie</span> to <span class="varspell" title="the">th'</span> anointed King;<span class="line" id="line870"> [ 870 ]</span><br />
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.<br />
<br />
[From Milton's <i>Paradise Lost</i> - full text here: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/contents/text.shtml ]<br />
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-59730952838599161842015-09-16T18:39:00.002-04:002015-09-20T18:04:14.162-04:00How many of these lists of "greatest books" have you read?In honor of Voldemort II's impeding visit to Our Nation's Capital, today's blog post is dedicated to the benighted subject of literary canonization. <br />
<br />
Is there any form of middle-brow psuedo-intellectualism lower than the old "ooooh, how many of these eleventy-eight books have you read?" twaddle?<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://thegreatestbooks.org/">http://thegreatestbooks.org/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/1000novels" target="_blank">http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/1000novels </a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_books#Sample_list">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_books#Sample_list</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/">http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/" target="_blank">http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/ </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/072098best-novels-list.html">http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/072098best-novels-list.html</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.listology.com/ukaunz/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die" target="_blank">http://www.listology.com/ukaunz/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica">http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/books/23read.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/books/23read.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/askreddit/comments/34m5n6/reddit_what_are_some_must_read_books/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/askreddit/comments/34m5n6/reddit_what_are_some_must_read_books/ </a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rd4PAAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">The Greatest Books in the World: Interpretative Studies, by Laura Spencer Portor</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/08/overrated.html" target="_blank">Overrated: Authors, critics, and editors on "great books" that aren't all that great.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-zmmzxCo8_IC" target="_blank">Dialogues With/and Great Books: The Dynamics of Canon Formation</a></li>
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Image created at: <a href="http://3dthis.com/morph.htm">3Dthis.com</a>.<br />
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Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-76906066005823143042015-09-14T17:55:00.000-04:002015-09-14T17:57:34.922-04:00Max Beauvoir: "I don't believe there is any significant Christian-Vodou syncretism or Christian inclusions in the Vodou religion."In 2007 while a student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Elaine Panter (now a legal consultant at the World Bank) published an essay on "Religion and Politics in Haiti", in which she wrote <b>"The two official religions in Haiti are Catholicism, and Vodou. Due to the phenomenon of syncretism, Haitians are said to be 80% Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant and 100% Vodou."</b><br />
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However, in an accompanying footnote we read the following:
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"Not all scholars agree on the existence of such syncretism. As stated by Max G. Beauvoir: <b>'No, contrarily to what even good scholars have stated, I don't believe there is any significant Christian-Vodou syncretism or Christian inclusions in the Vodou religion. To the best of my knowledge, I have not found any incorporation of Christian materials in Vodou. Jesus Christ in not a Lwa or Expression of God, meaning an important figure of the 401 divinities of Vodou. I have never seen or heard of someone who had ever been possessed by Jesus Christ, possession being an important characteristic of the religion. Neither has any one been possessed by the father, the son, or the Holy Ghost, meaning by one of the major figures of the Christian faith.'</b>"
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Source: <b><i>Haiti: Understanding Conflict 2007</i></b>, published by Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, edited by Dr. I. William Zartman. Link to pdf: <a href="https://www.sais-jhu.edu/sites/default/files/2007%20Haiti%20Report_0.pdf">https://www.sais-jhu.edu/sites/default/files/2007%20Haiti%20Report_0.pdf</a><br />
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-44826082232569375022015-09-08T18:05:00.004-04:002015-09-08T18:36:05.553-04:00Going Beyond the Sangh (from Koenraad Elst's latest blog post)Koenraad Elst's latest blog post on "<a href="http://koenraadelst.blogspot.com/2015/09/how-west-looks-at-india-debating-hindu.html" target="_blank">How the West Looks at India</a>" is worth reading in full - but I found one part, toward the end, especially helpful: a list of "new communities shedding the Sangh baggage and trying to serve the Hindu cause through new analyses". Some of these I haven't been able to track down yet, but here are three with websites definitely worth checking out:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Bharata Bharati</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/" target="_blank">Hindu Human Rights</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.indiainspires.org/" target="_blank">India Inspires</a></li>
</ul>
Examples of what you can find at the above sites:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/homosexuality-and-hinduism-beware-of-alien-morals-swami-aksharananda/" rel="bookmark" title="Homosexuality and Hinduism: Beware of alien Christian morals – Swami Aksharananda">Homosexuality and Hinduism: Beware of alien Christian morals – Swami Aksharananda</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/caste-games-battleground-india/" target="_blank">Caste Games: Battleground India - Ranbir Singh</a></li>
<li>I<a href="http://www.indiainspires.org/indiainspires/videos/14" target="_blank">ntroduction to Sita Ram Goel's Work - Koenraad Elst </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/divine-shakti-slaying-the-demons-of-monoculture/" target="_blank">Divine Shakti Slaying the Demon of Monoculture - Tina Sadhwani</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/mother-teresa-and-her-millions-susan-shields-walter-wuellenweber/" target="_blank">Mother Teresa and her millions – Susan Shields & Walter Wuellenweber</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/ishwar-sharan-interview/salutations-to-sri-dakshinamurthy-adi-shankara/" target="_blank">Salutations to Sri Dakshinamurthy – Adi Shankara</a></li>
</ul>
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-76048594719842721832015-08-10T17:41:00.000-04:002015-08-10T17:41:09.650-04:00"I never wanted to be your weekend lover ..."<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t5yAaBxNkpQ?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sd0gMmlw86g?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-23028606626700195482015-08-01T19:12:00.002-04:002015-08-01T19:12:18.606-04:00"Rent a flat above a shop, cut your hair and get a job."<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rNrfIRUElGU?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
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<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yuTMWgOduFM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-54207793984959914332015-05-22T23:52:00.000-04:002017-10-01T18:42:31.758-04:00The Neodiabolist Clique in Modern Witchcraft Scholarship and It's Agenda[This is really just a very rough draft. But I think it gets the point across.] <br />
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Anyone who wishes to learn about the history of the Burning Times has a very tough row to hoe. Not only is there an ever growing mass of scholarly literature to sift through, but it turns out that a great deal of this scholarship is tainted by systematic bias. This bias does not render the works in question totally, or even mostly, without value. But it does create an even greater-than-usual need to treat these works <i>critically</i>, rather than simply accepting and assenting to the conclusions and assumptions therein. <br />
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To be somewhat more precise, certain scholars in the field of historical Witchcraft studies are aggressively and systematically promoting a set of seven interconnected claims about the nature of Witchcraft in general and of the early modern European Witch-hunts in particular. I call this scholarly clique "neodiabolists" in order to draw attention to the fact that their guiding ideology is in many ways little more than a slightly sanitized version of the early modern Christian theory of diabolical Witchcraft.<br />
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The main thrust of neodiabolism is an exculpatory narrative, addressed as much (and often more so) to public opinion as it is to their fellow scholars. In promoting this narrative, neodiabolists openly seek to exonerate both Church and State of any blame for the Witch-hunts. Simultaneously, neodiablists try to shift the blame to "the common people", and even to the accused Witches themselves, or at least to what it was that they were supposedly imagined to be (by "the common people"): universally hated workers of purely malefic magic. <br />
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Neodiabolism rests upon seven main pillars:<br />
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1. <b>Demonization</b><br />
Neodiabolists assert that Witches and Witchcraft are intrinsically (and even metaphysically) evil. This requires the absolute rejection, despite all evidence to the contrary, of any connection between Witchcraft and beneficial magic, or any other positive portrayal of historical Witchcraft and Witches. This assertion flies in the face of the well-documented linguistic history of the English word "Witch". A major theme of public pronouncements by neodiabolists is their robotic insistence that all positive connotations of the word "Witch" invariably constitute very recent deviations from the "traditional" use of this word, and that such deviations are due only to the ignorant and ahistorical confabulations of romantics, feminists and modern Pagans. It is first and foremost because of their insistence on the equation of Witchcraft with Evil that these scholars are appropriately labeled as "neodiabolists".<br />
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2. <b>Exculpation</b><br />
Neodiabolists assert that "the common people" were to blame for the Witch-hunts, not the religious and political leaders and institutions of the day. Thus, both Church and State are absolved of any blame for the Witch-hunts. In fact, the political and religious powers-that-were are actually portrayed by the neodiabolists as high-mindedly <i>resisting</i> Witch-hunting when they could, and only very reluctantly acquiescing to Witch-hunting when they were
powerless to hold back the bloodlust of the ignorant masses (and even then, the elites are congratulated for slowing down and tempering the violence of "the common people").<br />
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3. <b>Obfuscation</b><br />
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Neodiabolists assert that Witch-hunting is a relatively generic and nearly ubiquitous feature of human societies, rather than a well-defined historical phenomenon specifically associated with early modern European Christendom. More specifically, neodiabolists attempt to draw specious parallels between early modern European With-hunts and isolated incidents of supposed Witch-hunting in modern-day (20th and 21st centuries) non-European societies, especially in Africa and India.<br />
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4. <b>Compartmentalization</b><br />
Neodiabolists either ignore or outright deny any connection between Witch-hunting and other forms of religious persecution and social violence generally. In doing so they decouple Witch-hunting from the context in which it must be understood: as just one aspect of the generalized atmosphere of persecution and intolerance that was characteristic of medieval and early modern Christendom.<br />
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5. <b>Minimization</b><br />
Neodiabolists insist that both the absolute scale and the historical significance of the violence involved in
the early modern Witch-hunts has been wildly exaggerated. By focusing attention on isolated instances in which genuine exaggerations (which are today taken seriously by precisely no one) have taken place, the neodiabolists attempt to produce the impression that, in essence, <i>all</i> those who express concern, let alone outrage, over the early modern Witch-hunts, are naive romantic simpletons misled by fictionalized accounts. At the same time, the neodiabolists also aggressively argue that
the Witch-hunts do not actually represent any great moral failing on the
part of either European society or Christendom.<br />
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6. <b>Exaggeration</b><br />
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Neodiabolists exaggerate (often wildly) the quality, completeness, and accuracy of the available historical data on the Witch-hunts. This is especially notable in their fixation on low-ball estimates of the total number of trials and executions based on data that is difficult to interpret, incomplete and often misleading.<br />
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7. <b>Pontification</b><br />
Neodiablists present themselves to the public as objective and high-minded debunkers who have a responsibility to "set the record straight". Through popular book-length works, websites, articles in the mainstream media, public speaking, youtube videos, etc, neodiabolists promulgate their personal opinions of Witchcraft and Witch-hunting, presenting their heavily biased point of view as established fact.<br />
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Related posts from this blog:<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2014/06/witchcraft-and-malefic-magic-can-you.html" target="_blank">Witchcraft and Malefic Magic: Can you handle the truth?</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2014/04/until-fifteenth-century-witchcraft-was.html" target="_blank">The origins of the offence of Witchcraft in Europe</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-few-quick-notes-on-historical.html" target="_blank">A few quick notes on historical Witchcraft</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-christian-demonization-of-magic.html" target="_blank">On the Christian demonization of Magic</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2013/08/critiquing-historical-witchcraft.html" target="_blank">Critiquing Historical Witchcraft Scholarship: The story so far</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2013/08/critiquing-historical-witchcraft.html" target="_blank">Ancient Pagans and Medieval Christians Defined Magic Very Differently (Duh)</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2013/03/witches-and-other-evils-jacqueline.html" target="_blank">"Witches and other evils": Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud on Witches and Witchcraft</a> </b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2012/12/charming-and-witchcraft-in-early-modern.html" target="_blank">Charming and Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland (a la Joyce Miller)</a> </b></li>
</ul>
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<br />Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-68878008259508876762015-03-28T18:46:00.001-04:002015-03-28T18:46:47.404-04:00because<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eD-SABImqtI?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cEo-JW-LMMU?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-70926505882187287362015-02-22T18:17:00.000-05:002015-02-22T18:50:19.057-05:00Doth Trithemius Protest Too Much? From the preface to Trithemius' <i>Polygraphia</i>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All and singular arise from God, with a true conscience, without injury to the Christian faith, with the
integrity of the Ecclesiastical tradition, free of any superstition, without idolatry, with no involvement or
implication at all of evil spirits; without suffumigation, adoration, veneration, worship, sacrifice or offering
to demons, and free from all guilt or sin, both pardonable and mortal.<br />
<br />
omnia & singula cum Deo, cum bona conscientia sine iniuria Christianae fidei, cum integritate
Ecclesiasticae traditionis, sine superstitione quacunque, sine indololatria, sine omni pacto malignorum
spirituum explicito vel implicito; sine suffumigatione, adoratione, veneratione, cultu, sacrificio, oblatione
daemonum, & sine omni culpa vel peccato tam veniali quam mortali</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjbPi00k_ME?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-67636336953979906782015-02-17T14:36:00.000-05:002015-02-17T14:36:18.082-05:00"It is impossible to see all this as a mere coincidence."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXI9Do0eCIQYs12AbKEJB-pCHifuTh75i_f-c1NrG2aDp5xbGMv59Bfud9qBP7NOFO3q7Cmb4nVRjGdgfR7-_gcjM3ZmDE1RpbwDYTI4DrwiCW-pV-Hh2qKVuOzWv6lzPz1oRCT4Gbtck/s1600/malleus-maleficarum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXI9Do0eCIQYs12AbKEJB-pCHifuTh75i_f-c1NrG2aDp5xbGMv59Bfud9qBP7NOFO3q7Cmb4nVRjGdgfR7-_gcjM3ZmDE1RpbwDYTI4DrwiCW-pV-Hh2qKVuOzWv6lzPz1oRCT4Gbtck/s1600/malleus-maleficarum.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In 1486-1487, Pico and Ficino were forced to write <i>Apologiae</i> for their theses on magic, which form the core of (respectively) Pico's <i>Conclusiones</i> and Ficino's <i>De vita coelitus comparanda</i>. In the same years, two Dominican monks, Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris (Kramer) published <i>Malleus maleficarum</i>, a tract directed against adepts of magic who, of course, had few speculative, dialectical, ad political means at their disposal to defend themselves. Just before condemning Pico, Pope Innocent VIII was induced by Kramer to issue his famous bull against witches. This bull, the <i>Summis desiderantes affectibus</i>, was included as a preface to <i>Malleus maleficarum</i> in 1487--the Pope's stamp of approval. Together, the bull and the tract established the criteria for repression for two centuries to come. Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola were undoubtedly very different in culture and influence from the simple countrywomen accused of witchcraft. Nevertheless, these two scholars aimed at establishing a natural theory of magic urgently needed in a period when more and more witches were being burned at the stake. It is impossible to see all this as a mere coincidence. Only then could they return--without incurring too much danger--to their readings and hymns, free to continue their speculation and fumigation in peace.</blockquote>
Excerpt from <i>White Magic, Black Magic and the European Renaissance</i>, by Paola Zambelli (<a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/White_Magic_Black_Magic_in_the_European.html?id=Tp6PhNsz43EC" target="_blank">link</a>), pp 21-22.Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-81495897473725969932015-01-18T14:54:00.000-05:002015-01-18T15:00:49.205-05:00Nuns making out and other things that will not cause deadly rioting (yet more blasphemous imagery)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Digging up another old post that still seems relevant. This one originally appeared on April 3, 2011. And be sure to check out the list of other blasphemous material at the bottom.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
--------------------------------<span style="background-color: #d9ead3;"></span></div>
<br />
Christian preacher Terry Jones finally made good on his threat to burn the Koran. And, predictably, this has resulted in a wave of deadly violence in the Muslim world.<br />
<br />
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The following images say more than any quantity of words ever could about how different Islam is from other religions, including even it's closest rival for most violent and intolerant religion of all time.<br />
<br />
It is worth pointing out that many, probably most, of the following examples of blasphemy were in large part motivated by a desire to grab attention, and also were done with the intention of being offensive, or at least in the full knowledge that they would be offensive.<br />
<br />
Ticket to hell (from <a href="http://ladyboyjesus.com/commentary/proposed-irish-blasphemy-legislation/">Marshmallow Ladyboy Jesus</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGttyzptMBrj1DUKWAveXU6db17wcd6R4DI3M71-8sWYR1IBlo6GTuwyuNXxhOLp84m1_jXSIk-WjvmPjSUsiJWumqU-rrnmHTVaw5ZzOWZU7JKd7VmbjNNM5mwypF8hcUa8_hysp12Tk/s1600/blasphemysnickers.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGttyzptMBrj1DUKWAveXU6db17wcd6R4DI3M71-8sWYR1IBlo6GTuwyuNXxhOLp84m1_jXSIk-WjvmPjSUsiJWumqU-rrnmHTVaw5ZzOWZU7JKd7VmbjNNM5mwypF8hcUa8_hysp12Tk/s320/blasphemysnickers.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591353302935581474" style="cursor: pointer; height: 256px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
BRB (lol) (from <a href="http://www.motifake.com/64627">motifake.com</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfikdMfb_PwjvpjrKvJcxDOdV-xB-gHteO9uJrTd5Ky6X9TX3nTTYZgmY-AC5bx5DQRNP6TRmQrd6WPQaMf-OhpuQZVnBTlLl8IjfgsS86OEHoBvVj7veqW_EOtXmD60Z-3leU85MKTms/s1600/brb-jesus-ascention-blasphemy-demotivational-poster-1248275213.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfikdMfb_PwjvpjrKvJcxDOdV-xB-gHteO9uJrTd5Ky6X9TX3nTTYZgmY-AC5bx5DQRNP6TRmQrd6WPQaMf-OhpuQZVnBTlLl8IjfgsS86OEHoBvVj7veqW_EOtXmD60Z-3leU85MKTms/s320/brb-jesus-ascention-blasphemy-demotivational-poster-1248275213.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591361288228165218" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 259px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Jesus Kanye Christ (from <a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/11009059/ns/today-entertainment/">Rolling Stone</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4xItrwiWy1SiSzjWMtvmj6PXj-U9XeQbNp2KkJrGVYpWcosBb_iwDyfOKQZFzJGAz4B_AOV4RSRD7znNyHzLJQOyqrS_MRr3yK2h-UHSxZVd1oeY9IYXR0ffqnpLAz9qmGXbNhFRHwo/s1600/jesus-kanye.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4xItrwiWy1SiSzjWMtvmj6PXj-U9XeQbNp2KkJrGVYpWcosBb_iwDyfOKQZFzJGAz4B_AOV4RSRD7znNyHzLJQOyqrS_MRr3yK2h-UHSxZVd1oeY9IYXR0ffqnpLAz9qmGXbNhFRHwo/s320/jesus-kanye.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591355895534341202" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 284px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Sing-along Blasphemy from <a href="http://hjhop.blogspot.com/2009/09/happy-international-blasphemy-day.html">Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLel54ui2glA9Ji-pzUeHBNRtVJNn6UBD0B3HG1XX_EtzLjc2V8r4T3INsXMaymkttH9awZ8ej9QAcdsfUPBqaDE1lf84uR0hjiJj6VeHwYUa1ZORr3i2ezos-rnRn6YVUCwK2mceDr0/s1600/clap-hands-blasphemy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLel54ui2glA9Ji-pzUeHBNRtVJNn6UBD0B3HG1XX_EtzLjc2V8r4T3INsXMaymkttH9awZ8ej9QAcdsfUPBqaDE1lf84uR0hjiJj6VeHwYUa1ZORr3i2ezos-rnRn6YVUCwK2mceDr0/s320/clap-hands-blasphemy.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591353580421935506" style="cursor: pointer; height: 281px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Blasphemous Dog (from <a href="http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2009/9/30/17379/9030/Diary/Your-God-is-an-Asshole-">TheYoungTurks.Com</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNZty2j9iRKoHwnW3oxdGoabI5JTb6ZI0hUSdPtvrqMC-9PwPboXW4BsdJNHJ8ZSwHC7G5CA8xjfoP1541ChJQ7cw5ub6cHOPI4my-1-KW3HXbvt3cFvpU0Hp2kRmO1N0OeFwZrIXmkg/s1600/blasphemous-dog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNZty2j9iRKoHwnW3oxdGoabI5JTb6ZI0hUSdPtvrqMC-9PwPboXW4BsdJNHJ8ZSwHC7G5CA8xjfoP1541ChJQ7cw5ub6cHOPI4my-1-KW3HXbvt3cFvpU0Hp2kRmO1N0OeFwZrIXmkg/s320/blasphemous-dog.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591354335679846626" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 275px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Milo Manara draws a nun (from <a href="http://hyacint.soup.io/since/287488528?mode=friends" target="_blank">hyacint's soup</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUlFhZTQN6TrU4R1uN5rbm5p6_ZS8xJC0LYHqtvirthnDPQz41YDwqVyGlFgIMGgHlBDWCP_syi7vfNGfZJ2me3G0CUExPHQie9A1lY7NT2EZFaaZxxIzaEc_PCZMhz7Ko4l6ZJ-BaOI/s1600/manara+nun.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUlFhZTQN6TrU4R1uN5rbm5p6_ZS8xJC0LYHqtvirthnDPQz41YDwqVyGlFgIMGgHlBDWCP_syi7vfNGfZJ2me3G0CUExPHQie9A1lY7NT2EZFaaZxxIzaEc_PCZMhz7Ko4l6ZJ-BaOI/s320/manara+nun.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591364677850785346" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Nuns making out:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0V8mPZNkjH8NTZGPAdShK3ZQKp-jDJPUWJM9eClqM56INOXT8N7ok-A0kjbTMqAwweome3urRcVLwI53X2fl8DxSnm4rN3VntnK9_fj5NuxUHoQIkThqMhblyVdt0cDxWNBBd0srPFhk/s1600/nuns-making-out.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0V8mPZNkjH8NTZGPAdShK3ZQKp-jDJPUWJM9eClqM56INOXT8N7ok-A0kjbTMqAwweome3urRcVLwI53X2fl8DxSnm4rN3VntnK9_fj5NuxUHoQIkThqMhblyVdt0cDxWNBBd0srPFhk/s320/nuns-making-out.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591370115744398626" style="cursor: pointer; height: 210px; width: 320px;" title="Holy Bells of St. Mary's, Batman, that sure as hell looks like Ingrid Bergman! Is this from the Director's Cut?" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07Hv1vdQ3MxE5YxenMSjVwJEzBsY3CK5QN6NszpZ44upzw3QLsPTw_IOPJaxxCARW7x1DbIvXhUGHQYIXiCvUxGOqWajshFAvc-R-cHMkrK42RU6XNgsWwG-R2e-yMRSxREgnOhK50xA/s1600/Sexy-nun-makeout-scene.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07Hv1vdQ3MxE5YxenMSjVwJEzBsY3CK5QN6NszpZ44upzw3QLsPTw_IOPJaxxCARW7x1DbIvXhUGHQYIXiCvUxGOqWajshFAvc-R-cHMkrK42RU6XNgsWwG-R2e-yMRSxREgnOhK50xA/s320/Sexy-nun-makeout-scene.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591356048979319922" style="cursor: pointer; height: 215px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fn0qlk0LQUm2dTZx3weMclBQiBbZ18cVOk4ocMdBOUhZw6yne0Qtq4fZIa1llSENT2UHOAbqy7QaWqPrSIZvSoO07C-QBcFUiYCrIjwsy7y-Z-IiXXUaLgE0VZV836S2E8dYtDWQInA/s1600/nuns-2-on-1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fn0qlk0LQUm2dTZx3weMclBQiBbZ18cVOk4ocMdBOUhZw6yne0Qtq4fZIa1llSENT2UHOAbqy7QaWqPrSIZvSoO07C-QBcFUiYCrIjwsy7y-Z-IiXXUaLgE0VZV836S2E8dYtDWQInA/s320/nuns-2-on-1.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591356529282048834" style="cursor: pointer; height: 206px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Nun with whip:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomPoL1Px7b9YnKlUvAy2yIKrmOq8jCaMMHJy-KCPs53MErlJcUAL2UAelamrre8T6xGR9IS3c7svUJ4Gdhq9wnnEJYnB3wjM8XXNDMt-PlAOonYHNvpmgSD2KXbHUrmQMs8PtTToCwI0/s1600/Sexy-Nun-With-Whip.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomPoL1Px7b9YnKlUvAy2yIKrmOq8jCaMMHJy-KCPs53MErlJcUAL2UAelamrre8T6xGR9IS3c7svUJ4Gdhq9wnnEJYnB3wjM8XXNDMt-PlAOonYHNvpmgSD2KXbHUrmQMs8PtTToCwI0/s320/Sexy-Nun-With-Whip.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591356327835376434" style="cursor: pointer; height: 170px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Nun with pierced tongue:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuMpcO9LTzcydMSo-9gtKm6P3Xtnt2C4XxREE5jVmTJoRxxveJ9UMb07t_ki8zOACtwWOLx9gjPk8m8ShLh1CmiPL4SLzuaemvtb_3YkGWPB2ZW_9QA0NGvcsfVxoWnijJ4PbYxCQVSE/s1600/nun-piercedx4.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuMpcO9LTzcydMSo-9gtKm6P3Xtnt2C4XxREE5jVmTJoRxxveJ9UMb07t_ki8zOACtwWOLx9gjPk8m8ShLh1CmiPL4SLzuaemvtb_3YkGWPB2ZW_9QA0NGvcsfVxoWnijJ4PbYxCQVSE/s320/nun-piercedx4.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591831377728099650" style="cursor: pointer; height: 260px; width: 174px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Look on the bright side of life:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEwvpvQqQBY-0dYnKT2jylhmW7HaKvf6HyP_7AQ7m4w1EJAZIBsencxcHLMH5CeK4TnXBbgmGPBxg9LUDmRfHk5yKHyF_JlzNUmXveUEBRnly3hK07eODWZpVn-OhaW8Fw52ny1eGJN4/s1600/lookonthebrightsideoflife.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEwvpvQqQBY-0dYnKT2jylhmW7HaKvf6HyP_7AQ7m4w1EJAZIBsencxcHLMH5CeK4TnXBbgmGPBxg9LUDmRfHk5yKHyF_JlzNUmXveUEBRnly3hK07eODWZpVn-OhaW8Fw52ny1eGJN4/s320/lookonthebrightsideoflife.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591355487727804402" style="cursor: pointer; height: 188px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Leather Gas Mask Nun:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAicUAf2_WWNSFT6Z4RDZ7bW_tKKq65cNX1g1ngJnssWGq7IDALoF3lLh8QWxFzKWUxtS2vqJuMYnEIKsNgInd7gLJ0CzMVYnuONQy9vFZDcorW2i1ywIEWmBzJSNFZydWbcrhw1K0do/s1600/nun-latex.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAicUAf2_WWNSFT6Z4RDZ7bW_tKKq65cNX1g1ngJnssWGq7IDALoF3lLh8QWxFzKWUxtS2vqJuMYnEIKsNgInd7gLJ0CzMVYnuONQy9vFZDcorW2i1ywIEWmBzJSNFZydWbcrhw1K0do/s320/nun-latex.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591355026774137106" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 224px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Artistic Blasphemy from <a href="http://crispysea.blogspot.com/2009/09/is-this-blasphemy.html">Too Many Questions</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OKeD_EQwQGR3o4pYuBv0ppAzBXbtoIYTG3scViiREVuT20abBYgnZ6XAgGMu8YbaLGX9G4b_QjXwjpYnmKQeR-qpYOHC3W0fMJ8bpHna2Rn3tr-utQDWeQmlNCKewGtt_InZdWcilx4/s1600/touch-winkie-blasphemy.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OKeD_EQwQGR3o4pYuBv0ppAzBXbtoIYTG3scViiREVuT20abBYgnZ6XAgGMu8YbaLGX9G4b_QjXwjpYnmKQeR-qpYOHC3W0fMJ8bpHna2Rn3tr-utQDWeQmlNCKewGtt_InZdWcilx4/s320/touch-winkie-blasphemy.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591354711146540594" style="cursor: pointer; height: 257px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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German soft-drink ad:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIqcItuOmYGgvBQc2uFdzDTk1WWNencCr8j59z2xIKpXxpY41nTUXaD3FXw14nwrVEDYy4Txw_f2D9lCd6GE84G_TG41W6NXkYIGWZChDAl1gan0Iqs8ZCOQHSWVzvcf26uPlnJT58vs/s1600/afri-cola-nuns2.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIqcItuOmYGgvBQc2uFdzDTk1WWNencCr8j59z2xIKpXxpY41nTUXaD3FXw14nwrVEDYy4Txw_f2D9lCd6GE84G_TG41W6NXkYIGWZChDAl1gan0Iqs8ZCOQHSWVzvcf26uPlnJT58vs/s320/afri-cola-nuns2.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591375016976959922" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 294px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Love-Making Jesus:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUT714l6MXXCpvYdrng4uI-qp7DJXL4zbFPWBXOKAGWMTEJBYPoKM-lE-oL6U4GwKJrP-dJh4DqS5q03Q9KOymDXjqhGsHvi9DgFpTEOUF7AfIovAUh92Z4Q_Q9CsvWHva6aaHuc5p0VY/s1600/Love-Making-Jesus-Might-Be-Little-Blasphemous.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUT714l6MXXCpvYdrng4uI-qp7DJXL4zbFPWBXOKAGWMTEJBYPoKM-lE-oL6U4GwKJrP-dJh4DqS5q03Q9KOymDXjqhGsHvi9DgFpTEOUF7AfIovAUh92Z4Q_Q9CsvWHva6aaHuc5p0VY/s320/Love-Making-Jesus-Might-Be-Little-Blasphemous.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591354492545770530" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Christopher Hitchens' book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Position-Mother-Teresa-Practice/dp/185984054X" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Missionary Position</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj1fjgooqO-V4C14lLSZWNT0HxibmTcnAzLHHLvSwP4tepDe6IGdi3ClW6WlBcPTWKo2JDTLqb5hYefuvWZrruLZ9hlaKnNUZoCqKgjuxJeEjdxr1YuqFmwFh1zRv0P9qX07vSi0YX-M/s1600/missionary-position-mother-teresa-in-theory-practice-christopher-hitchens-paperback-cover-art.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj1fjgooqO-V4C14lLSZWNT0HxibmTcnAzLHHLvSwP4tepDe6IGdi3ClW6WlBcPTWKo2JDTLqb5hYefuvWZrruLZ9hlaKnNUZoCqKgjuxJeEjdxr1YuqFmwFh1zRv0P9qX07vSi0YX-M/s320/missionary-position-mother-teresa-in-theory-practice-christopher-hitchens-paperback-cover-art.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591356948722456978" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 195px;" /></a><br />
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Jesus Tap Dancing Christ:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHiMhd0yE8cjcQs4eOKNLra7rqUc0WtF-LRiwVNgCHDiMx4lUkdbla9i10hZR59yzP-qRrNsJh5srzlSWPM_PkNL6-UnZbUKzxLC2NXyaRaKymCSeZgvtQ5-RAhE3Tsh5ll6rZJwYn7sg/s1600/jesus_tap_dancing_christ_blasphemous_funny_t_shirt-p235944570936396860qiuw_400.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHiMhd0yE8cjcQs4eOKNLra7rqUc0WtF-LRiwVNgCHDiMx4lUkdbla9i10hZR59yzP-qRrNsJh5srzlSWPM_PkNL6-UnZbUKzxLC2NXyaRaKymCSeZgvtQ5-RAhE3Tsh5ll6rZJwYn7sg/s320/jesus_tap_dancing_christ_blasphemous_funny_t_shirt-p235944570936396860qiuw_400.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591354203108895426" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Kathy Griffin sez: <a href="http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=43470" style="font-weight: bold;">"Suck it, Jesus!"</a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1CenCjosqQpIb-yBzcELVhmS_Fea4J9FS4Qt6uU7cTOXf8zlD1M4MusRykPqxUI-TrISy5D9SfjViViByQgmBcwurh1gshxBR4q9uHMLGjdbSMErQytyUMcG-RvpC5LDREmZFb6BTtQc/s1600/Kathy-Griffin-Emmy-Awards.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1CenCjosqQpIb-yBzcELVhmS_Fea4J9FS4Qt6uU7cTOXf8zlD1M4MusRykPqxUI-TrISy5D9SfjViViByQgmBcwurh1gshxBR4q9uHMLGjdbSMErQytyUMcG-RvpC5LDREmZFb6BTtQc/s320/Kathy-Griffin-Emmy-Awards.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591384640964435058" style="cursor: pointer; height: 214px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Evie Delatosso, from her x-rated film, <a href="http://xxxhorror.com/TGP/Evie_Delatosso/lost_salvation/richi-4-28-09.html">Lost Salvation</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80gbMFRVcO1QbMnqrgrFrVszAzVOhyB3pXZJ3qqYarpADJ0C7o_3QQ7HRr4PtcfpeckJOB6nmKDkGFb2J8DwkXZ3eKv03H7m2qLLMMYN3n1xpzc4FzLXzkpoYzvA-fkSf3BgAyFsgjgA/s1600/EvieDelatosso_LostSalvation_0045.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80gbMFRVcO1QbMnqrgrFrVszAzVOhyB3pXZJ3qqYarpADJ0C7o_3QQ7HRr4PtcfpeckJOB6nmKDkGFb2J8DwkXZ3eKv03H7m2qLLMMYN3n1xpzc4FzLXzkpoYzvA-fkSf3BgAyFsgjgA/s320/EvieDelatosso_LostSalvation_0045.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591358139007181394" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 213px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ_%28film%29">Last Temptation of Christ</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb9q9y2yyUr_GyR0DxiZYJ8nfwMiATBJSKL5hfKZBFzEajf9hR-qjBfZ7s2XgE51DQj58602fbm90qmdKsXL6HYhnqebn8m5tr4BHRByYuj9yrnzXmR_gWFOqn6W_UDAEWLaFqVsKCtk/s1600/banned-dvd-last-temptation-of-christ.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb9q9y2yyUr_GyR0DxiZYJ8nfwMiATBJSKL5hfKZBFzEajf9hR-qjBfZ7s2XgE51DQj58602fbm90qmdKsXL6HYhnqebn8m5tr4BHRByYuj9yrnzXmR_gWFOqn6W_UDAEWLaFqVsKCtk/s320/banned-dvd-last-temptation-of-christ.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591373298323939202" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 214px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_%281994_film%29">Priest</a> (a personal favorite, here is a review at <a href="http://alternatesexuality.blogspot.com/2010/12/priest-uk.html">Alternate Sexuality</a>):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUq583aBFtxh5CwkbGwqfnyaYDj7C3NzdX_vLxwU6iapZkPMEqxp7gVtgc4gba3Ifwjl_xD9oHeIo8fcCl42hkm6qin2ZGvbwjPnD0vLqcPFPelhrEqJt0oJloH7p1YmtZnGQ6T3jhwk/s1600/priest.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUq583aBFtxh5CwkbGwqfnyaYDj7C3NzdX_vLxwU6iapZkPMEqxp7gVtgc4gba3Ifwjl_xD9oHeIo8fcCl42hkm6qin2ZGvbwjPnD0vLqcPFPelhrEqJt0oJloH7p1YmtZnGQ6T3jhwk/s320/priest.png" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591375803365603346" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 222px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_%28film%29">Hail Mary</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SLqPy7XWGa-CQEiMYmR1df_nN_iUtvawPG4tssvLSLpRiWiVtmdMVfIC6UgP0Ruj5QZ4F9fJgxDTqSsrdqVYmKEj3DyJvijm-0dHwjHZmgaYA-5O-pTgqU3FAm4UA5nm69aX_Erg6uU/s1600/hailmary.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SLqPy7XWGa-CQEiMYmR1df_nN_iUtvawPG4tssvLSLpRiWiVtmdMVfIC6UgP0Ruj5QZ4F9fJgxDTqSsrdqVYmKEj3DyJvijm-0dHwjHZmgaYA-5O-pTgqU3FAm4UA5nm69aX_Erg6uU/s320/hailmary.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591376793416505858" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 225px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma_%28film%29">Dogma</a>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvqIWubcmGOTSNJbESrQ6pUo2bwRr9f1JGqy4coXMPSAGPtgBu9Y81VrurRPAoc2fPI9c-G4jNHO38Xjv0tyfFHCLyZJnPfem2RuVLhOooppRnR5WarGjGIZpoLfw4o9OlaDRiOj3KFE/s1600/dogma-movie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvqIWubcmGOTSNJbESrQ6pUo2bwRr9f1JGqy4coXMPSAGPtgBu9Y81VrurRPAoc2fPI9c-G4jNHO38Xjv0tyfFHCLyZJnPfem2RuVLhOooppRnR5WarGjGIZpoLfw4o9OlaDRiOj3KFE/s320/dogma-movie.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591377536249159010" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 226px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcZHVMHVSP_MJ5F7K1W8euLE0tH2Fb0qo0-VuOBwyB9BTqmrM39cqub4OMoEgCOR4FKQ_66gfVBLegY-SbzJbYx4cJmA7UXo1DcbPdu8pIR4cgeKnYsxgLnk9W14qUToYgj3svYFKPS8/s1600/nun-bong.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcZHVMHVSP_MJ5F7K1W8euLE0tH2Fb0qo0-VuOBwyB9BTqmrM39cqub4OMoEgCOR4FKQ_66gfVBLegY-SbzJbYx4cJmA7UXo1DcbPdu8pIR4cgeKnYsxgLnk9W14qUToYgj3svYFKPS8/s400/nun-bong.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517168572625860050" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt; width: 319px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">more <span style="font-style: italic;">blasphemy</span> at</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">e g r e g o r e s</span></span>:<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;"></span></b><span style="font-size: 85%;"><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/10/possibly-blasphemous-images-of-virgin.html">Possibly blasphemous images of the Virgin Mary</a></b></span></li>
<li><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/09/blasphemous-images.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;"><b>Blasphemous Images</b></span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/09/blasphemy-part-deux.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;"><b>Blasphemy, Part Deux</b></span></a></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;"><b><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/09/blasphemy.html">Blasphemy</a></b></span></li>
<li><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/08/right-to-oppose-islam.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;"><b>The right to oppose Islam</b></span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/08/plague-on-both-their-houses-notes.html" style="font-weight: bold;">A plague on both their houses</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/08/melanie-philips-on-lars-hedegaard.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Melanie Phillips on Lars Hedegaard</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/07/republicanism-irreligion-heresy.html" style="font-weight: bold;">"Republicanism, Irreligion, Heresy, Paganism, and Sodomy."</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/06/blasphemy-case-against-nergal-dismissed.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Blasphemy case against Nergal dismissed</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-on-nergals-case.html" style="font-weight: bold;">More on Nergal's case</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/06/doda-forbidden-fruit-tastes-better.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Doda: "Forbidden fruit tastes better." </a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/06/two-more-hate-speech-cases-rearing.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Two more "hate speech" cases</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/05/sex-religion-art-music-freedom-of.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Sex, Religion, Art, Music & Freedom of Expression in Poland</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/04/holocaust-denial-is-ok-but-criticizing.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Holocaust Denial is OK, but criticizing Islam is not. Apparently</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/03/early-march-2010-blasphemy-world.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Early March, 2010 Blasphemy World Roundup!!</a></span></li>
<li style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://egregores.blogspot.com/2010/03/kids-are-alright-in-which-i-praise.html">The kids are alright (in praise of Blasphemous Metal)</a></span></li>
</ul>
Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com5