Merry Christmas Everyone!
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Thursday, December 8, 2022
December 8, 2022
There was a west in ancient days, a place for the west
wind and for the raging sea, and the ancients named the sea the Ancient of Days
and put him in a blue robe, safely anthropomorphic.
But the Gods of
the Earth knew the sea as Leviathan.
There was a east in ancient times; the sun rose there
and so, the sun was thought of as immortal by those who should have known
better. But things always seem to rise
in the east no matter what we think we can do about it.
And we really can’t do anything about it except talk
and notice and hope and pray: “Yes! The
sun will rise! Yes, the sun must rise!”
But there is still the west, the Ancient of Days. And there is still the east, waiting for the sun that will surely rise, not because it must, but because humans need it so much.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157863587X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/178904510X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_
Monday, November 21, 2022
November 21, 2022
In isolation, we often can see the truth of something that has plagued our minds with doubt and inconsistency. Today, I see young people and older people becoming increasingly isolated.
They stare down at the screens of their smart phones
as though hypnotized, irrespective of where they are, or whatever they are
doing. They could be sitting on the white sands of a beach, a gorgeous sunset
taking place right in front of them, and they can't be bothered to lift their
eyes to glance at it. If they are sitting on
that beach with others, the others are, likewise, hypnotized by their glowing
screens.
Is this a bad thing? I really don't know, but I can't say that I disapprove.
Isaac Asimov argued that we, as a culture, are
evolving into a specialized form of human beings known as "Spacers",
who prefer living alone on large plantations on other planets, attended by
hundreds of robots, but keeping other humans at bay, and unwilling to engage in
any human contact except by phone, or computer monitor.It is possible that we may be seeing, perhaps, the
emergence of the spacer in our own time and on our own world.
For more speculations such as these, please check out
my two books; they are both committed to seeing the truth of things that have
plagued human minds with doubt & inconsistency.
JLS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157863587X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/178904510X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i1
Monday, October 31, 2022
Sunday, October 30, 2022
October 30, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
The last week of October!
Before ending my series of October postings, it is
only fitting to cite Edgar Allan Poe, an autumn person to the roots of his
heart & soul.
In his greatest poem “Ulalume”, Poe describes the
October dream-scape that his narrator is journeying through on his way to a
mysterious destination. It is clear that
this nightmarish experience is taking place on Halloween night.
The leaves they were crisped and sere-
The leaves they
were withering and sere:
It was night, in
the lonesome October
Of my most
immemorial year:
It was hard by the
dim lake of Auber,
In the misty mid
region of Weir:-
It was down by the
dark tarn of Auber,
In the ghoul-haunted
woodland of Weir.
The narrator encounters weird visions- including the “specter” of a planet- a ghost planet! – and ends up standing before the tomb of his beloved- the Lady Ulalume.
The narrator has been tricked by the woodland ghouls
into a confrontation with Death. And
this is the ultimate Halloween trick or treat!
JLS
Thursday, October 27, 2022
October 27, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
Halloween is only a few days away! H. P. Lovecraft, as much a patron-saint of autumn as Ray Bradbury, writes in his poem “October”:
Mellow-fac’d, with eyes of faery, wistful clad in tinted leaves,
See the brown October tarry by the golden rows of sheaves;
Oak
and acorn in his garland, fruit and wineskin in his hands,
Mystic pilgrim from a far land down the road to farther lands.
The “farther lands” referred to in the last line are what Halloween is all about- half-seen sights from the outer distance & half-heard sounds from the outer spheres.
JLS
Thursday, October 20, 2022
October 20, 2022
Reverend John Hale of Beverly, in The Crucible, makes
the statement: “The Devil is precise; the marks of his Presence are definite as
stone.”
But is he, & are they? I think not.
The Devil is chaos personified- part & parcel of
the Dionysian Great Mother- Female, not Male, Goddess not God –which is why
Baphomet has breasts.
What is really precise is to think for
yourselves. To make up your own
minds. To accept yourselves, as deep
down, autumn people –thinking autumn thoughts; keeping autumn shrines.
During this Halloween season, some of you will celebrate the Devil, and some will celebrate God.
But God, Goddess, Devil, Demon, come as you are &
as only imperfect shadow-puppets.
You, all of you as individuals, are more than the
shadow-puppets that you insist on holding in your mind & subjugating
yourself to.
So, celebrate that!
JLS
Monday, October 17, 2022
October 17, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
The third week of October!
Ray Bradbury describes October in his book The October
Country as: “that country where it is
always turning late in the year......where the hills are fog and the rivers are
mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights
stay.
It is a country composed in the main of cellars,
sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the
sun..... whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts.....”
But there are autumn people who have souls & are
not evil; they love autumn & celebrate the death of the year & the
renewal that always follows.
JLS
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
October 5, 2022
Greetings!
This summer, I sat down for a podcast interview with
psychologists Daniel Chadborn and Thomas Brooks, both of whom are professors at
New Mexico Highlands University. Messires
Chadborn & Brooks host the Psychosocial Distancing Podcast, a podcast that
creates "a space to discuss the implications and applications of
psychological principles", as they argue in their mission statement.
I spent a very enjoyable hour with my hosts discussing the psychology of magic &
religion. Naturally, I also talked about
my two books H. P. Lovecraft and the Black Magickal Tradition and Aliens, Robots & Virtual Reality Idols in
the Science Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov and William Gibson.
In particular, we focused on the following specific
topics:
* The enduring influence of Lovecraft's works on
modern day religiosity/occultism
* The meaning of being human
* The belief in secret societies of witches &
devil worshippers and how that plays out in popular culture in the 2020's
You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Goggle
Podcasts, Overcast, Radio Public & Copy RSS.
JLS
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
September 21, 2022
It is September 21, 2022- Autumn Equinox!
Halloween is coming up fast and as such, it is
appropriate to think a little about Death.
Death can be personified if you like; usually, people
personify Death as a figure wearing a long black robe and cowl that conceals
the face, sometimes with skeleton hands and arms, or sometimes carrying a
scythe. And if you are the type of
person who feels the need to personify, then you should feel free to personify
Death as you like.
But seriously, Death is not really a “thing” at all;
it is merely a transition from one state of being to another. In terms of the physical body, it is a
stopped clock only, a simple cessation of the human life-force and the
breath. But the subtler parts of the
person continue on to their next states of being.
The secret to a successful Death is to embrace it. Even if you fear Death, or find it
distasteful, embrace it anyway like a lover embracing the person that she loves
most of all. And pretend to love what
holds you; pretend that Death is, in fact, the person you love most of all.
And then, unexpectedly, you will believe instead of
pretending; you will really believe that Death loves you. And when that happens, you will easily pass
to the next state and then continue on to new levels of creativity and fulfillment.
This is what Halloween is, Dark Friends and Colleagues, the acceptance of Death and the celebration of Life!
JLS
Saturday, September 3, 2022
September 3, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
Autumn is here!
My favorite season. Now, it all
begins. The air will become more crisp,
the shadows longer in the day with slanting beams of sunshine, the skies orange
& ash gray at twilight and Halloween just around the corner!
Ray Bradbury, the patron-saint of autumn, writes about
Halloween:
"Night
came out from under each tree and spread ...The wind nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in
invisible treads like unseen cats....Anyone could see that the wind was a
special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was
All Hallows Eve. Everything seemed cut
from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys
like the plumes of funeral parades...." (The Halloween Tree)
This is a time for reassessment of our lives, our goals & our relationships. A time, also, for renewal, for the pursuit of knowledge & perfection!
If you get the chance, check out my two books! They are for
all seasons- but especially for
autumn- the season that inspires us to reassess & pursue perfection.
So check them out on Google, Amazon, or any other
online or real-time bookstore.
And, of course, they
are essential reading for anyone who is a fan of the great New England
horror writer H. P. Lovecraft & for readers who like science fiction,
horror & fantasy literature.
Happy Autumn to All!
JLS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011T57HKU/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JHFJQ8N/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
August 30, 2022
Greetings
Everyone!
When it
comes to Lovecraft's monsters- his extra-terrestrial, terrestrial,
trans-dimensional aliens & his hybrid, degenerative "Others"-
they are meant to be interpreted as actually existing, ontological entities-
they are not meant to be interpreted as tropes, symbols, or metaphors for
something else than what they are.
We must be
remember this, when we see critics interpreting these entities as symbols or
metaphors, which they often do in order to "extricate" Lovecraft's
texts from his own beliefs, views & literary purposes- especially his
racist beliefs-so that they can use Lovecraft's texts to further their own pet
theories & personal, even political, purposes.
Read all
about Lovecraft's monsters- and the likewise ontologically-existent robots
& VR idols- in my second book.
JLS
Thursday, June 9, 2022
June 9, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
When it comes to Lovecraft's monsters- his
extra-terrestrial, terrestrial, trans-dimensional aliens & his hybrid,
degenerative "Others"- they are meant to be interpreted as
actually existing, ontological entities- they are not
meant to be interpreted as tropes, symbols, or metaphors for something else
than what they are.
We must be remember this, when we see critics interpreting
these entities as symbols or metaphors, which they often do in order to
"extricate" Lovecraft's texts from his own beliefs, views &
literary purposes- especially his racist beliefs-so that they can use Lovecraft's texts to further their own pet
theories & personal, even political, purposes.
Read all about Lovecraft's monsters- and the likewise
ontologically-existent robots & VR idols- in my second book.
JLS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JHFJQ8N/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Friday, May 6, 2022
May 7, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics, expresses optimism that humankind will survive any apocalyptic event in the future. But this will only happen if (and this is a big "if") individual humans achieve "Type IV Status"- which means that humans must learn to manipulate at will the space-time continuum.
H. P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov & William Gibson- the greatest science fiction writers of all time- each proposed their own versions of the Type IV human being.
You can read all about this in my recent book: Aliens, Robots & Virtual Reality Idols in the Science Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov and William Gibson!
JLS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JHFJQ8N/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Friday, April 8, 2022
April 8, 2022
Hi Everyone!
Please read the following passage from H. P. Lovecraft’s “Herbert West-Reanimator” and then ask yourself: Is this just an example of morbidity (there are similar passages scattered throughout Lovecraft’s fictional works & he was, indeed, a rather morbid man).
Or: Is there something more - is this, as Michel Houellebecq insists, Lovecraft against the world, against life?
Or: Is something else going on here?
What do you think?
“I can still see Herbert West under the sinister electric light as he injected his reanimating solution into the arm of the headless body. The scene I cannot describe- I should faint if I tried it, for there is madness in a room full of classified charnel things, with blood and lesser human debris almost ankle-deep on the slimy floor, and with hideous reptilian abnormalities sprouting, bubbling, and baking over a winking bluish-green spectre of dim flame in a far corner of black shadows.”
JLS
Sunday, March 20, 2022
March 20, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
Spring is here! A time for reassessment of our lives, our goals & our relationships. A time, also, for renewal, for the pursuit of knowledge & perfection!
If you get the chance, check out my two books! They are for the spring & for all seasons- for all seasons can inspire us to reassess & pursue perfection.
My books are easy to understand, jargon-free & fun to read. And they make the perfect gifts for friends & family members.
So check them out on Amazon, or any other online or real-time bookstore.
And, of course, they are essential reading for anyone who is a fan of the great New England horror writer H. P. Lovecraft & for readers who like science fiction, horror & fantasy literature.
Happy Spring to All!
JLS
Saturday, February 19, 2022
February 20, 2022
The Inhuman Mind expands from No-Thing, Nothing & Nothingness into Apocalypse. And this is much more appalling than the lesser apocalypses imagined by human minds. - John L. Steadman
Thursday, February 17, 2022
February 18, 2022
Greetings Everyone!
Recently, I was a guest on Miami Ghost Chronicles, a weekly paranormal talk show hosted by Marlene Pardo Pellicer. The podcast interview has been uploaded to Stories of the Supernatural on Spreaker.
Marlene & I discussed a wide range of delightfully weird topics, including my newest book Aliens, Robots & Virtual Reality Idols in the Science Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov and William Gibson.
Please listen in or download!
JLS
https://www.spreaker.com/user/miamighostchronicles/john-steadman
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
January 26, 2022
Here's a recent Amazon review from Sir Readsalot about my new book!
“Nonfiction books of this variety are few and far between. High concept and academic, yet accessible. Specific, yet covering all required bases and sticking a solid landing.
This book expanded my thinking on the subjects of aliens, robots, and VR – all quite common sf topics and, if I’m being honest, got me excited again to think of these things as much more than tropes, but as deliberate conversation pieces within our fiction.”
I hope you will agree after you read the book! So please pick up a copy!
https://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Reality-Science-Fiction-Lovecraft/dp/178904510X
JLS
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