Alan Moore is a cult figure in the comic book scene. Having created comics like “V for Vendetta“, “The League of extraordinary Gentleman” and more, he is often described as the best comic book writer of all time. On his 40th birthday he declared himself to be a magician to his family and friends, and since then occult and magic have become part and parcel of his work and his being. To say that the man is intelligent is like saying that the sea is sort of big.
Below you will find an interview with him. It is fantastic, to say the least. My favorite quote from the interview would have to be this one:
The substance that has most effect upon our culture and upon our lives is completely invisible. We can only see its effects. This substance is information.
Ok don’t freak out – it’s an hour and seventeen minutes long – much too long for the average viewer. However, if you’re interested (like I am) in how art and magic overlap, in magical thinking and in creating art that transforms, you will look far to beat the incredibly clear, well articulated ideas this man puts forward.
In short, it’s the most worthwhile viewing experience I’ve had in a long, long time.
This is a beautiful video and reading of Chapter 3 of Thomas Berry’s book “The Dream of the Earth”. The video is 25 minutes long, but the content and message is so extraordinary that I found myself crying whilst watching it. If I could stand on a rock and shout this message out to everyone who would hear it, I would, but blogging it seemed like a good start. Here goes:
A couple of years ago I saw an episode of Oprah on which she interviewed women in their fifties, sixties and seventies who were still youthful for their age.
One woman religiously jumped off the roof of her house everyday and swan dived into the pool below, which she swore was the secret to her youthfulness. Another women said that hers could be attributed to her sexual prowess. Another had some magic cream that she swore was the secret to her velvety smooth skin.
The woman who stole the show though was tall and elegant, and she had a “lightness” to her that made her almost radiant. She was practically beaming. “When I was in my twenties,” she said to Oprah, “I started doing Transcendental Meditation, and it changed my life!” It showed. I wanted it. And from that day on, I became interested in TM.
Three or four years later I still haven’t gotten round to taking a proper Transcendental Meditation course, and I’m not happy about it. (My friend Sonia Esgueira went off and learned to do it in Johannesburg and has been singing the praises of it ever since, which has re-awakened my interest in it.)
What I really like about (what I’ve read about) TM, is that it sounds totally do-able. You meditate for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening, which to me sounds just about right.
For months I’ve been considering attending the local Vipassana Centre to do a free ten-day course there, but quite frankly, the idea of sitting and meditating for more than eight hours a day for ten days and (as I understand) concentrating only on the tip of my nose for the first three, sounds painful.
Only a couple more to go, and then I get to tell you all about it.
First things first: In a moment of inspired overhauling I changed my free blog theme this weekend. I’m having some problems with it that should hopefully be resolved later this week. In the meantime, there might be the odd hitch here and there. (One day I’ll get a beautiful paid site with all the bells and whistles, but alack alas, it’s not yet to be.
Bentinho Massaro is a 23 year old Dutch boy who is making waves in the international spiritual community. There’s heaps of his videos on youtube - if you like the one below, there’s hours more where that comes from. I really like this guy. I like his message, his attitude and his naughty little laugh in the video below.
It’s about three minutes long – watch it! I promise it will put a good spin on your week.
