So, Siskenet had a pretty interesting discussion with a Lord of Evil eh? What fertile ground has been prepared! And seeded! Such rich soil, such abundant energy, for future conversations and questions about topics like power, compassion, maturation, stereotypes of masculinity, personal responsibility, and Lord (of Evil) knows what else! This is one of…
115) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 3 – Philosophizing with Asmodeus
“It’s like a game, Siskenet. You like games?” After a pause, reluctantly, Siskenet nodded. “Right, so if you want a really excellent, super-satisfying game, what has to happen?” Siskenet answered right away. “You have to win?” The man laughed heartily, holding his belly. “Well,” he sniffed, wiping his eyes, “that does help.” He blew his…
114) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 2 – Asmodeus and Siskenet
Siskenet glanced sideways at Faeruz, hoping for a signal, a suggestion, anything helpful at all. Faeruz, unfortunately, was staring ahead, blank, as if in shock. Which made sense. They were, after all, being interrogated by a very large, terrifying, horned creature; an actual Demon, from the actual Hells. And not just one. This one,…
113) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 1 – A Sentient Universe
So, the other day, my kids and I made a deal with Baphomet. It was our second time making a deal with a Lord of Evil. Hmmm, you may be getting the wrong impression here. Let me explain. In my Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign, demons and devils are quite real, as the incarnation of…
112) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 6: Backlash, resistance, and dissociation
Why am I making such a big deal about Backlash & resistance? It’s because resistance, learning to feel into it, to approach it and eventually learn from it and harness it, IS much of the healing path. If you want to heal, or “grow” as a person, then you are working with resistance. Inevitably. …
111) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 5: What Backlash can teach us about ourselves
Backlash, as we were discussing, is a major impediment to healing. I believe the technical term is “pain in the ass.” Backlash causes so much bloody suffering, causes us to perpetuate our own misery, undermine our goals, mess up our relationships, underperform in our careers, neglect our health, and transmit our dysfunctions onto the next…
110) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 4: Healing, when you hate yourself, think you don’t deserve it, want to die, believe it’s impossible anyway, avoid doing what you most need, and constantly sabotage yourself
When you start to turn towards “healing”, you will very likely experience a backlash. Probably lots of backlashes. You and Mr/Ms Backlash are going to become really great friends, in fact. But first, you’re going to be enemies. Epic enemies. Like, Avengers vs. Thanatos kind of epic. Sparta vs. Xerxes. The Boston Bruins vs. Montreal…
109) The bad guys behind The Bad Guy: Or, How the West started this War
The thing that I wish our media talked about more often, and that we discussed more openly amongst ourselves, is how our governments are complicit in causing things like this war against Ukraine. There is a history here, leading back to the oh-so-celebrated “End of the Cold War”, which I remember clearly as I neared…
108) War, Part 4: Solutions?
It seems to me that war stops only when one of two conditions are met. Neither of these conditions are very likely, or easy. They are definitely easy to critique, easy to dismiss. But the alternative, as we discussed previously, is more war in a world, bristling with weapons, poised on the brink of global…
107) War, Part 3: The 21st Century
Now, in the 21st century, we can’t afford this tragic spectacle of war and obedience to the power-seekers, anymore. The future cannot be determined by the despots. The stakes are just too damn high. I mean, they always were; the cost of human suffering is incalculable. But now, it’s incalculable to the power of incalculable.…