Happy Halloween Everyone!

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 skies they were ashen and sober;

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

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

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

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.....”

 
                                                                   

In another book, Bradbury warns us against the autumn people, whom he claims are evil & seek to ensnare human souls.  In his gothic tales, Bradbury’s autumn people are indeed evil. 

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

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

https://anchor.fm/psychosocialdistancing/episodes/Episode-99-Lovecraft-and-the-Occult-A-Conversation-with-John-L--Steadman-e1lhgcn