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Bowie and the Devil in the Pool
In an age numbed by the constant glow of digital devices and the poisonous inoculation of indifference, the spiritual realm has become a haven for those who seek to pull themselves out of the mire of nothingness and depravity. However, still hypnotized by our culture of consumerism and it’s devilish daughter, self-gratification, some who seek escape are still held in bondage, turning to forms of spirituality that worship the self. Thus, the spiritual realm can be equated to just another form of entertainment, or at best a feel-good drug that satisfies our want for sensation in an otherwise bland and numb world. Spirituality has become a cerebral playground that one…
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A Paradoxical Wonder: The Double One
…A double man, made from two natures In an inexpressible wonder… O paradoxical wonder [You are] among… the creatures, Both immaterial and material: The material are the things that you see, And the immaterial are angels. Thus, among them are you The living man, the double one: Immaterial among the sensible [creatures] And sensible among the immaterial ones. +St Symeon the New Theologian, Hymn 53 As he looked on the vastness of the sky, contemplated the night stars and beheld the moon, the psalmist asked, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?” The question of the human person is an ancient itch that continues to gnaw away…
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The Opening of the Senses
By Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov Printed in Issue 6* PEOPLE become capable of seeing spirits by a certain alteration of the senses, which is accomplished in a way that is unnoticeable and inexplicable to a person. He only notes in himself that he has suddenly begun to see what before this he had not seen and what others do not see, and to hear what before this he had not heard. For those who experience in themselves such and alteration of the senses, it is very simple and natural, even though not explainable to oneself and to others; to those who have not experienced it, it is strange and not understandable….…
