The Work ~~~~~~~ “The work of the eyes is done. Go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke. Image: The Queen of Hearts playing card.

The dawn of the post-literate society And the end of civilisation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James Marriott jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o... #Literacy

“Don’t Hesitate” ~~~~~~~ If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this ... 1/3

Like It or Lump It ~~~~~~~~~~~~ “If you think all soup has lumps in it you will fail to recognise soup without them.” ~ Idries Shah, The Commanding Self. Image: Vegetable soup 3 / Tiia Monto / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; ~ John Keats, “To Autumn”.

Seekers After Truth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.” ~ Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment.

www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/bergson... The creation of the human species is, like any, a halt on the road of evolution, a check of the current of consciousness by the resistance of matter; but the same creative energy can be continued, beyond what nature “ordained” for our species

“[T]he purpose of the descent into the Underworld is to gain something that is missing in the upper world, some piece of information, some wisdom. This is symbolized at times by a jewel or other object of value ...” ~ Edward Edinger, The Eternal Drama.

Going Underground: Building a Caring Alternative Parallel Society – while we are still at liberty to do so ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/goin... Image: Underground Resistance Movement. #Resist #Resistance #Underground #CounterCulture #Survival #DarkAges

The Root Causes of Why We're FUBAR or “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-... #PostTrust #PostTruth #Materialism #Disenchantment #Resist #Resistance #Underground #Survival #DarkAges

“With the rise of our technological consumer society, collectively we have lost a sense of the sacred purpose & the encompassing spiritual context of life. We have lost the awareness that human lives are rooted in a deeper reality ...” ~ Keiron Le Grice, The Archetypal Cosmos.

“On the mythic view, or the psychic view, shared with many mystics, Creation is continuous. Jung writes, "The psyche creates reality every day." But this psyche is not localized inside our heads. Rather, we exist in it ...” ~ Tom Cheetham, Green Man, Earth Angel.

“[Jung] is saying that to have one’s soul and be in the world at the same time, one needs to be a little crazy. The idea of an interior self is a ‘crazy idea’ to a world that seeks only material security and social adjustment ...” ~ David Tacey, How To Read Jung.

"While collective events could release the demons of the unconscious, the only resolution to collective conflicts was through the inner revolution of the individual. Psychotherapy offered itself as a vehicle through which this could occur."~CG Jung, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧

Waking up is hard to do. That's why I'll be talking about Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and the 4th Way to the London Theosophical Society 21/9 at 6:00 PM GMT: theosophicalsociety.org.uk/Lecture/gary...

Hannah Spier, Iain McGilchrist, and the Partisan Attack on the “Cult of Progressivism” ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/09/hann...

What is Water? ~~~~~~~~~~~ “Fishes, asking what water was, went to a wise fish. He told them that it was all around them, yet they still thought that they were thirsty. (Nasafi).” ~ Idries Shah, The Sufis. Image: Aquarium Fish / Mike Fisher / Wikimedia Commons (orig. Flickr) / CC BY 2.0.

“[W]e prefer to imagine ourselves thrown naked into the world, utterly vulnerable and fundamentally alone. It is easier to accept the story of heroic self-made development than the story that you may well be loved by this guiding providence ...” ~ James Hillman, The Soul's Code.

“Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate; And though I oft have passed them by, A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.” ~ Frodo, in J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.

“The disaster that has overtaken the modern world is the complete splitting off of the conscious mind from its roots in the unconscious. All the forms of interaction with the unconscious that nourished our ancestors ... are largely lost to us ...” ~ Robert A. Johnson, Inner Work.

The Hidden Door ~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul, which opens to that primeval cosmic night that was soul long before there was conscious ego and will be soul far beyond what a conscious ego could ever reach.” ~ Carl Jung.

Going Underground: Building a Caring Alternative Parallel Society – while we are still at liberty to do so ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/goin... Image: Underground Resistance Movement. #Resist #Resistance #Underground #CounterCulture #Survival #DarkAges

The Root Causes of Why We're FUBAR or “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-... #PostTrust #PostTruth #Materialism #Disenchantment #Resist #Resistance #Underground #Survival #DarkAges

“[T]raditionally, and especially to people in southern Italy, the underworld was known as the place where we come to the great fork in the road: to a trihodos or 'three ways' where the fateful decision is waiting to be made between life and death ...” ~ Peter Kingsley, Reality.

“[A]ccording to Jung, the ego, full of distortions and projections, needs to be dissolved before the Self can emerge. The Self, however, which is the totality of the psyche, includes the ego. In the process of individuation one does not destroy the ego ...” ~ Radmila Moacanin.

Laughter in Heaven ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iain McGilchrist on politics and metapolitics ... iainmcgilchrist.substack.com/p/laughter-i... #IainMcGilchrist

The Hidden Economy of Love ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they give, the more they possess.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Source unknown. Image: Young Girl Giving Alms to an Old Man / Jan Steen / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain.

“The neglect of the education of the soul is characterised by a lack of intimacy, by an over-emphasis on “competencies” and “tools” – the distancing language of technology, military strategy, surveillance, corporate efficiency, quantification, target-setting ...” ~ Dr Jeremy Henzell-Thomas.

“[A] good work of fantasy awakens a "sense of wonder" that many of us lost as we grew from children to adults. But isn't that escapism? Many critics argue so. They agree with Rene Descartes ..." ~ Robin Robertson, Jung and Frodo: 7 Paths of Individuation in Lord of the Rings.

"Of the 63 programs suspended or eliminated without a replacement or another format available, 27% were in the humanities. Social sciences programs comprised another 24% of cuts."

Humanities, arts and social sciences degrees are disappearing in many UK regions. With more young people than ever studying close to home, course cuts are narrowing their choices at university. @timeshighered.bsky.social covers our 'Cold Spots' report today. Read more at https://bit.ly/46e3wOy

“Not all Sufis are teachers (technically termed ‘Directors’); but those who are such do need special capabilities. Nuri, the great Central Asian Sufi born in Baghdad who died in 908 AD, was called Jasus al-Qalb [Spy of the Heart] ...” ~ Idries Shah, Sufi Thought and Action.

Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? . That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again. ~ A.E. Housman.

Going Underground: Building a Caring Alternative Parallel Society – while we are still at liberty to do so ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/goin... Image: Underground Resistance Movement. #Resist #Resistance #Underground #CounterCulture #Survival #DarkAges

The Root Causes of Why We're FUBAR or “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-... #PostTrust #PostTruth #Materialism #Disenchantment #Resist #Resistance #Underground #Survival #DarkAges

“In every state, the Heart is my support: In this kingdom of existence it is my sovereign. When I tire of the treachery of Reason — God knows I am grateful to my heart.” ~ Khalilullah Khalili in Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn ...

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn. But in a rapidly changing world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to question our assumptions, rethink our beliefs, and change our minds. bit.ly/46K1CFJ

“[T]he imagination has the capacity to transform. What we dream is now happening or will soon happen within the psyche. The activity of the dream depicts movement and transformation within the psyche, and for this reason Jung called images “symbols of transformation.” ... ~ Jeffrey Raff.

Perfection or Wholeness of Being? ~~~~~ “Jung explored the psyche, saw what it was expressing, and what he saw has been vindicated. He knew perfection could no longer be upheld as a viable ideal and that wholeness would replace it in a new ethical dispensation.” ~ David Tacey, The Darkening Spirit.

I was thinking earlier on how, when things get energetic, it's easier to see the patterns within them, and how 'splitting' is used so much. Also, I note that feeling strong emotions can be quite a buzz, and for some people that is a strong draw to engaging in the mundane chaos-fest.

“To encounter the depths and rich complexity of the cosmos, we require ways of knowing that fully integrate the imagination, the aesthetic sensibility, moral and spiritual intuition, revelatory experience, symbolic perception ...” ~ Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche.

Some soul-searching feedback on the touching and compelling video, “Charlie Kirk’s Death Exposed the Biggest Scam in History”, by Chase Hughes: Take the Red Pill, It's Not About Left vs Right. Includes a link to the video ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/09/take...

No clearer way to express human purpose and responsibility

I thought the RIGHT needed to wake up but this former intelligence agent & body language expert WOKE ME UP. They are playing both sides. The people in power WANT us to fight. Please take the #RedPill and watch. It will change your perspective...and maybe save us all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=azE7...

“The Jungian school understands [the motif of the fallen or lower Sophia] as it relates to the process of individuation and the transformation of the psyche. The soul lost in matter corresponds to the unconscious self that must be redeemed and made conscious ...” ~ Jeffrey Raff.

Going Underground: Building a Caring Alternative Parallel Society – while we are still at liberty to do so ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/goin... Image: Underground Resistance Movement. #Resist #Resistance #Underground #CounterCulture #Survival #DarkAges

The Root Causes of Why We're FUBAR or “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” ... mystical-faction.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-... #PostTrust #PostTruth #Materialism #Disenchantment #Resist #Resistance #Underground #Survival #DarkAges

“The other side’s got an energy that our side en’t got. Comes from their certainty about being right. If you got that certainty, you’ll be willing to do anything to bring about the end you want. It’s the oldest human problem ...” ~ Philip Pullman, The Secret Commonwealth.

“I think one of the issues of the second half of life is not ‘how do I build the ego?’ That's the task of the first half. It's more ‘to what value, or task, should this ego now be in service?’ Or: ‘what really is my service to life or what wants to enter the world through me?’” ~ James Hollis.

I read a thing suggesting voices heard externally are a way of anonymising self-criticism. Rule of thumb I've used is: "external" voices = I am (very) stressed, "internal" voices = I am blessed!