June 16, 2018

A school of educators who call themselves constructivists argue that young students actually construct knowledge on their own.

But is this really true?

Apart from the dedication & efforts of their teachers and the concrete, specific goals that their teachers & parents & caregivers formulate for them & then track, I think that most students do not construct knowledge.

There may be visible vestiges of this that appear like ghosts from time to time – facsimiles and simulacrums, that the irrational can point to & claim: “There! There it is!”

But too often, these are chimera, products of wish-fulfillment & expectations on the part of adults who fervently believe that ideology may, perhaps, override reality if we wish hard enough.

It is true that knowledge & learning are always possible in a vacuum or in mental vacuity, but the only individuals who can achieve these great gifts without the help & assistance of educators already possess them.

JLS

May 18, 2018

I created a glog recently to express my understanding of the dimensions important for early education to take root & blossom. 

https://edu.glogster.com/glog/dimensions-of-identity/2kvtd7540pt

In the center is the image of a multi-dimensional figure, expanding up, each dimension emerging & linked to the preceding sequence of figures, spawning as it were from each of the heads.

The dimensions make it possible for the secondary school teacher to create student profiles.  The foundation for the profiles is the data amassed by the teacher as she attempts to know & understand her students

But it is important to recognize that these profiles & their foundations are not necessarily linked to the integration of the self.

The self is an amorphous, nebulous entity, ever-changing, ever-shifting, fragmented at times, integrated at other times, but always in a state of flux.

Consequently, there can be no cause-and-effect connection between such a fluidic, transitory thing and any human-centric empirical process, particularly when it comes to the educational process.

It is a pleasant hope that learning might contribute to an integrated self, but there is also the possibility that it might not, and other, disparate factors, such as age, maturity, life experiences, technology and popular culture, may play an even more important role in shaping or, in fact, disintegrating the self.  

I have juxtaposed the mirror images of the integrated self and the fragmented self in the upper right and lower left corners of the glog.

The wall behind the glog represents a vast, blue goddess, the Goddess of Space & the Earth, pouring abundant waters upon the planet & nourishing it.

The waters, perhaps, nourish the tasks that the secondary school educator has set for herself.  And though her pursuit may end up yielding mixed results it is nonetheless an important pursuit; a positive reminder that the stakes here may be less than we might wish for, and yet, important & worthy of whatever attention we can give them. 

JLS

May 14, 2018

I am going to be a guest at PARAHORROR 2018 in Buffalo, New York at the end of summer.

I will be giving a two- day presentation, book signings & tarot readings on Saturday, August 25, 2018, 11 AM-7 PM and Sunday, August 26,2018, 11 AM-4 PM.

My young daughter Ligeia Leigh Steadman will be joining me for the Tarot readings.  She has become an accomplished reader in her own right- this makes me very proud.

Tickets can be purchased online at the ParaHorror website:

https://www.parahorror.com/

ParaHorror is an annual event, created to bring the fans of all things horror together with the lovers of all things paranormal.

My presentation on Saturday, 8/25 & Sunday, 8/26 is “H. P. Lovecraft’s Monsters.” I will be discussing the two sets of monsters that appear in Lovecraft dark, macabre fiction: the extra-terrestrials & the trans-dimensional entities.

I will demonstrate that none of these are really “monsters” at all in the strict sense; they are merely different, alternative live forms that are superior in many ways to humankind.

So. come out and see me; let's talk about Lovecraft's monsters and perhaps, the monsters that you see (or think you see) around you & in you. 

There are, ultimately, no monsters other than those that you create yourself. Drive a stake through their hearts if you can or kill them in some other way.

Quite frankly, you must do so if you plan to move forward past gods, demons, & devils.

JLS

May 3, 2018

I am going to be a guest at PARAHORROR 2018 in Buffalo, New York at the end of summer.

I will be giving a two- day presentation, book signings & tarot readings on Saturday, August 25, 2018, 11 AM-7 PM and Sunday, August 26,2018,  11 AM-4 PM.  My young daughter Ligeia Leigh Steadman will be joining me, along with my beautiful wife.

This is a three-day event, starting on Friday the 24th and running over the weekend.  The Friday hours are  August 24, 2018, 5 PM-9PM.

Tickets can be purchased online at the Parahorror website.  Contact Parahorror: http://www.Parahorror.com ; info@Parahorror.com ; John@beyondghosts.com ; Chrissy@beyondghosts.com

Tickets can also be purchased at the door of the event.  There is free admission for children 10 and under.

Parahorror is an annual event, created to bring the fans of all things horror together with the lovers of all things paranormal. 

Parahorror is the brain child of the creative & cutting-edge team from Beyond Ghosts LLC.  It is “for the people, by the people”, and truly, Buffalo & Western New York’s very own Art, Horror, Oddities and Paranormal supershow.

For the last several years, Parahorror has been held in the Buffalo Central Terminal, 495 Paderewski Drive, Buffalo New York. The terminal is a 17-story, art deco building which was active as a bus & train station from 1929-79 but is now abandoned.

It is an impressive, imposing structure, rising up huge & monolithic in the middle of a desolate landscape, reminiscent of the eldritch, other-worldly edifices that are usually found only inside the borders of Lovecraft country.  A perfect place for Parahorror!

On the Saturday & Sunday, I’ll be signing copies of my recent book: H. P. Lovecraft & the Black Magickal Tradition, published by Red Wheel/Weiser.

My presentation, “H. P. Lovecraft’s Monsters”, will take place on each of the two days; the time is to be determined by my hosts.  Using PowerPoint slides,  I will be discussing the two sets of monsters that appear in Lovecraft dark, macabre fiction: the extra-terrestrials & the trans-dimensional entities.  I will demonstrate that none of these are really “monsters” at all in the strict sense; they are merely different, alternative live forms that are superior in many ways to humankind.

I will also be giving Tarot readings all day on Saturday & Sunday.   I have been reading the Tarot for a very long time now & my readings are not only insightful, but fun.  I do my readings like narratives; woven tapestries of future prospects & dreams.

My daughter Ligeia has just completed her second year at Michigan State University, majoring in Japanese & Asian languages and she will be giving Tarot readings as well.   Ligeia has a new deck, the Manga Tarot, which she finds enchanting & accurate.  She is eager to try it out at Parahorror.

Ligeia & I are a perfect fit for Parahorror; we celebrate the curious, the unusual, and the supernatural.

So come out this year to see us!

May 1, 2018

Tonight is Walpurgis Nacht, and all of you know what that is; the forces of darkness hold sway tonight until the dawn, and then the forces of light take over.

But isn't this true of all nights & all dawns?  And to be accurate, there is little difference between the night and the dawn.

I rarely get good feedback from fortune tellers; I usually tell my own fortunes with my cards & it works well for me.

But the fortune teller told me: Finding exotic uses for what others ignore will make your special fortune.

And this has been true for me- my books and my essays are all exotic and they have made a reputation for me.  They have made me successful & happy.

So, my friends, go and do the same thing.  Search out the exotic things that make you different from everyone else- the things that are most you.

And pursue them as hard as you can & for all of your life.  And you will succeed, I can promise you that. And you will be happy.

JLS

April 22, 2018

New Dawn Magazine has just published my article “Aliens: Extra-Terrestrial or Trans-Dimensional?” in the New Dawn Special Issue Vol. 12 No. 2.

In this article, I make the case that aliens are essentially not extra-terrestrial, but rather, trans-dimensional, inhabiting the myriad layers of alternate dimensions that interpenetrate the Multiverse, “in” the world as we know it and yet, not really “of” the world.

The first issue of New Dawn magazine appeared in May 1991 in Melbourne, Australia. From humble beginnings, New Dawn has grown into a unique 80 page bi-monthly publication distributed nationwide throughout Australia and New Zealand, with a 

growing international readership.

In 2004 New Dawn magazine commenced publishing Special Issues devoted to ancient mysteries and the unexplained. These Special Issues, now published every two months, are a thought-provoking and highly readable examination of the greatest mysteries of the past, the present, and the future.

Please order a copy of the New Dawn Special Issue & read my article, and the other fine articles; topics include the secret space programs & the cover-ups;  hybrid humans; and nuclear conflicts on earth in ancient Mesopotamia, 450,000 years before nuclear power was developed by humankind.

JLS

https://www.newdawnmagazine.com/special-issues/new-dawn-special-issue-vol-12-no-2

April 17, 2018

I am going to be a guest on Nightwatch Radio at 11 PM Eastern Time tonight, April 17, 2018. This is 10 PM Central Time; Eastern Time is 1 hour later than Central.

The interview will run for 45 minutes.

Nightwatch Radio is the show for “Things That Go Bump in The Night.”

It is the largest independent, alternative radio show in the world, broadcasting in 14 countries besides the US, including Europe, Australia, Japan, China & Canada.

My hosts will be Todd Sheets & Chris Wiesbach.

We will be discussing my book H. P. Lovecraft & the Black Magickal Tradition (2015), along with a variety of other topics: occultism; the paranormal; Ufology; the nature of reality & the limitations of human perception.

So please listen live!

JLS

http://www.zombiebloodbath.com/nightwatch/nw-listen.html

http://www.zombiebloodbath.com/nightwatch/front.html