“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me, and when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there […]

Science fiction and fantasy books and movies often delve into the fantastic, the unreal, the magical, the impossible…and yet so often they reflect a deeper truths. Sometimes, what looks like magic is actually just incredibly advanced technology. I’m an admitted nerd for the old 1980’s David Lynch movie Dune. However, I never read the book […]

“Whether ’tis Nobler in the minde to suffer The Slings and Arrowes of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?” — Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1 Growing up the middle child in a dysfunctional family gave me two intense compulsions to carry on into adulthood: 1) to always try to […]

Certain Masonic lodges include a preliminary mini-ritual preceding the initiation of an Entered Apprentice. In it, the candidate is seated at a desk in a small room called a Chamber of Reflection, an allegorical representation of an ancient initiatory cave. He is instructed to solemnly contemplate certain things of importance relating to the degrees which […]

“Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon Photographer Bob Gruen remembered John Lennon as a man who could never be exposed in a biography nearly as well as he had exposed himself to the world in life. Lennon was unafraid to be naked and vulnerable to the […]

The hero is always wounded. The hero has always sustained some traumatic damage in their past that ultimately leads to their final victory. In fact, the hero ultimately cannot overcome the final test without their wounding. It’s called the Sacred Wound when heroes heal enough to take strength from what he has learned. They succeed in […]

I’ve been a fan of both Jesus and Superman for almost as long as I’ve been alive, and one thing I can tell you about both men is that their stories fit the mythic hero archetype. This is why, whether intentional or otherwise, Superman can be seen as an allegory of any one of handfuls […]

When I went to technical college, I lamented to my father about having to take Calculus classes. I knew that in my chosen field (which I had already been working in for several years), calculus was something I would never be called on to use. In responding, my father described having a similar experience while […]

“What is seen is transitory; what is unseen is eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:18 “Fear is the mindkiller. Fear is the little death.” — Frank Herbert, Dune Life is presented to us through the five senses. What we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch are communicated from body to mind, the mind processes the […]