According to Rumi, one's words should pass through three gates: 1. Is it true? 2. Is it necessary? 3. Is it kind?
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" The internet widely attributes this quote to Groucho Marx, but the gist of the joke is that the line was spoken by Chico Marx, while dressed as Groucho. In a movie (Duck Soup, 1933). In other words, you cannot trust what you see or... Continue Reading →
Could it be that any Creator worth existing must be beyond human understanding, so that religion is actually a human construct? Perhaps speculating on human behavior in regards to religious habits should be no different than studying any other type of human behavior, because if God is behind it at all, God is behind it... Continue Reading →
Apocryphon of John contains one of the most complete and detailed narrations of a gnostic cosmogony, explaining how the invisible and visible realms emanated from the original monad in a highly sophisticated narrative. The tractate takes the form of the popular "apocryphal acts of the apostles," after the Greek "romances", pseudepigrapha attributed to the disciple John,... Continue Reading →
Enoch: Culture Hero, Antediluvian Authority, Divine Man The collection of texts called 1 Enoch currently comprises five books, themselves largely composited of earlier source texts by various authors, often resulting in some level of narrative tension. Chapters 72-82, the Astronomical Book (henceforth AB), is the oldest section, composed in the third century BCE. Chapters 1-36,... Continue Reading →
The following is my examination, from a sociological perspective, of how false realities find traction in society. My focus was the "Satanic Ritual Cult Scare" of the 1980s and 1990s, but I share it to impress upon my audience the fact that these false realities can be plausible, partially true and accepted by individuals who... Continue Reading →
The following suffers from parameters of subject, style and brevity (plus the general fumbling around in the dark that is the learning experience). It connects the "sons of God" from Genesis 6 who had some mysterious relationship with the "daughters of men" to interesting apocryphal literature, including the books about Enoch. This paper explores relationships... Continue Reading →
Pass Three Gates 