Hearth, hier in Deutschland, we say Herd! You are absolutely right in what you say plus cloaking religious objects during Lent, wow, I thought we are the only ones par churches who do that! I guess the internet is a devilish tool and most people do not have the maturity to use it and therefore it's another nail in mankind s coffin, but as Paracelsus used to say (and I have only recently been to his place of birth in Switzerland), it's the dosage which makes the poison - die Dosis macht das Gift! Also a 🔥 place is so romantic my wife says...even the Carringtons have one in Dynasty!!! So God bless you all, Frohe Weihnachten aus Bavaria, Maximilian und Adrienne
Thanks. I took your advice to "Meet up with people physically, even if you have to travel a ways to do it." Now I have been invited to participate in a "drum circle", with authentically Native-American-made drums. Can a Catholic participate in that?
First, I’m glad you’re trying the face-to-face advice. It’s difficult at first, sometimes, because we’re so used to virtuality these days, but it gets much easier!
As far as a Native American drum circle and whether we’re allowed to participate as Catholics...it depends. I don’t know much about these drum circles, though I certainly heard of them. Is it a type of religious activity or ceremony? What is the purpose? If it’s just to play drums in a certain way together for fun, it’s probably fine. But, if there’s ANY kind of underlying religious/spiritual/pagan purpose, I would stay away from it.
In that case, you could respectfully explain why you can’t attend, but invite the group out to do something else fun.
The cryptic and archaic emoting of the “anarcho-capitalist” liber-tard-ians, with their badly camouflaged epistemology is a mix of Russian Jew Ayn Rand and pedophile devil worshipper Aleister Crowley, who's Thelemite cult is really the brainchild of pedophile Jew Israel Regardie . . . their transexual Baphomet goat god is a creation of devil worshipping Jew Eliphas Levi . . .
From the Zodiac killer, to the Nightstalker, to Jonestown, to San Francisco . . . it’s the same cult of bloodthirsty, psychotic devil worshipping nutjobs . . . . . . Ukrainian Jewish devil worshipping pedophile Marina Abramović, Jewish devil worshipping pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell, and the former mayors of San Francisco, including Gavin Newsome, are all devil worshipping sex weirdos . . .
Elon Musk gives gay satanist Israeli operative Volodymyr Zelensky free Starlink satellite services that you'll eventually pay for, like the nearly $200 billion to Ukraine, laundered by FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (another devil worshipping Jew). It will surely be used for DNC campaign cash; the Democratic National Committee is just a huge terror cell masquerading as a political party.
This is great. You are right. Pieper's view was similar, that real leisure is not loafing around. It is an active thing, not passive.
As for the elites. They do indeed loathe us. It is not just a dislike, but a committed hatred. They view our lives as small and inconsequential. They cannot fathom how we can be happy with so little, when they are unhappy with so much. They lack the ability to reflect on their own dislocation from all that matters, like normality, a locale with roots and a stable home life. I suspect many are hedonists completely burned out.
Thank you for your kind words, Spaceman. I agree with you that they despise us with a hatred of the highest order. As far as being burned out hedonists -- do those types EVER get burned out in the true sense of the word? I’m not sure.
They have all this money, but if really amounts to nothing because they have no interior substance, no higher (as in transcendent) aspirations. Their gods are money, technology, deviant sex, etc.
I do think they get burned out. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason, as is lust. They do not sustain over a lifetime and they are distortions of healthier impulses like hunger or attraction.
Hedonism is destructive. I am convinced our globalist elites are quite literally bored and cut off from anything meaningful.
Oh they DEFINITELY are cut off from anything meaningful, anything which bestows true joy.
It’s interesting because many (most?) of them are quite intelligent--not anything approaching genius, mind you -- and have achieved things considered great and magnificent by much of the temporal world.
However, countless times over these past 3+ years, I’ve conversed with my husband and certain friends my observation that they’re blind in deep and profound ways.
St. Thomas Aquinas says that habitual sin darkens the intellect. I believe any above average God-given intellectual abilities they had in their younger lives have been darkened terribly.
I even see this darkening of intellect in some in my personal life who I know (for a fact) participate in habitual sins. They can STILL think in unique ways according to their special gifts (whether it’s scientific, business strategy, etc.), but it’s as if there’s something blocking them from seeing so many things apparent to others.
High intelligence comes at a price. Many of them live in their heads and are cut off from their physical bodies. That is why so many elites are drawn to utopian schemes. That is all fiction. It is exciting. But it isn't real.
I think pornography does similar things. It distorts. It takes natural desires and makes them easy to accomplish in a lesser way. That rewires the brain.
What a delightful article! I deleted all social media this past week, and I don't intend on using it anytime in the near future (if ever again). Modern society makes idols of work, consumerism, and utilitarianism. We must escape modernity and turn to Jesus.
Thank you for your kind words, Edmund. That’s fantastic that you’ve rid yourself of social media. I still have accounts for Instagram and “X,” but I rarely use them, except when I need to contact a work client using them, etc. I work from home, but must have at least though accounts for various purposes related to what I do (editing and writing). One day, however, I’ll quit those as well. And you’re right -- we must orient our hearts and minds to our Savior and the Heavenly Hosts.
I think fireplaces stopped being a staple because they aren't very efficient. Most of the heat goes out through the chimney. But I would very much like my next home to have an iron stove.
Iron stoves are great! My husband grew up with one in his home and it's still there and operating. He grew up in rural Connecticut. Fireplaces may not be as efficient as modern furnaces, or even wood burning iron stoves, but they're a symbol of what we've lost. We bought our current home brand new back in 2009. There's no way we would have purchased it if it didn't already have a fireplace.
When we move to our land in Idaho, we'll have both a fireplace and a wood burning iron stove.
Cultural secession and non-participation. The easiest way to start is to avoid everything on television, from Hollywood, the entertainment, corporate music, and sports media.
Absolutely, Old School -- Hollywood is lost as is corporate controlled music, sports...you name it...we must reclaim our analog lives. Then we can reclaim our arts and entertainment.
Yes, Vulkan. A while ago, someone pointed out to me that the TV takes center place in the great rooms of most homes nowadays, elevating it to a lesser god of sorts. We have a TV (I've been unsuccessful in getting certain people to agree with its total elimination), but we don't watch cable TV at all. We watch movies we love, most of which we've seen countless times. I love watching "It's a Wonderful Life," each Christmas season!
I always enjoy watching the Albert Finney version of Scrooge plus all those crappy Hallmark Christmas movies. I have just finished season one of Severence which I enjoyed (I use a free Apple TV thing rather than pay for a subscription lol.)
Yeah it’s a series. It really gets you asking some decent philosophical questions. Get a free Apple TV sign up and give it a go. Episode 1 is slow though.
I read Leisure the Basis of Culture my first semester in college forty years ago. It was a delightful little book, more like a long essay really. It only took an hour or two, but well worth it. I second your recommendation.
It's such an under-appreciated book, Lawdog. I read it back in 2009 while still homeschooling kids and it helped me gain a greater insight into the things I was teaching them about history. It's a treasure.
Ben, coming from such a magnificent writer as you, you just made my day. Yes, work is where "they" get us. I work from home, but as an editor, I must use a computer and email. But we don't use our phones on weekends or days off, or in the evening when everybody is home.
Can We/Me/You "Go" 1880 ??? No. Perhaps only 10% can survive an Electrical Grid Down event that lasts longer than 6 months. Of course that can never happen !!!
Hopefully, something like that (or something worse) won't happen until we move to our acreage in Idaho (less than 2 years now!). We don't live in the city, but do live in a suburb of Houston -- The Woodlands. It would be brutal here, but we've taken measures that I won't list here for reasons you might be able to guess.
Earlier is better than later, imo. I have been Wrong on the Time factor, though if I hadn't relocated out of densely populated FL in 2014 it would be impossible for me today economically.
While I do not know your specifics, and admitting my predilection for not letting my finger falter on the trigger ... 2 years seems like an eternity. Hopefully Idaho is getting something physically "created" now to have a lifeboat bug out if required.
Oh yes...we have 70 acres out there far away from any city and about 45 minutes from the nearest town. It’s going to be quite an adjustment (especially for me), but also a magnificent adventure.
I'm grateful you've said that, Judson. I have only a few people in my real life (besides my kids and husband) who understand the dangers of becoming too subservient to the digital world -- The Machine as Paul Kingsnorth calls it.
Hearth, hier in Deutschland, we say Herd! You are absolutely right in what you say plus cloaking religious objects during Lent, wow, I thought we are the only ones par churches who do that! I guess the internet is a devilish tool and most people do not have the maturity to use it and therefore it's another nail in mankind s coffin, but as Paracelsus used to say (and I have only recently been to his place of birth in Switzerland), it's the dosage which makes the poison - die Dosis macht das Gift! Also a 🔥 place is so romantic my wife says...even the Carringtons have one in Dynasty!!! So God bless you all, Frohe Weihnachten aus Bavaria, Maximilian und Adrienne
Thanks. I took your advice to "Meet up with people physically, even if you have to travel a ways to do it." Now I have been invited to participate in a "drum circle", with authentically Native-American-made drums. Can a Catholic participate in that?
First, I’m glad you’re trying the face-to-face advice. It’s difficult at first, sometimes, because we’re so used to virtuality these days, but it gets much easier!
As far as a Native American drum circle and whether we’re allowed to participate as Catholics...it depends. I don’t know much about these drum circles, though I certainly heard of them. Is it a type of religious activity or ceremony? What is the purpose? If it’s just to play drums in a certain way together for fun, it’s probably fine. But, if there’s ANY kind of underlying religious/spiritual/pagan purpose, I would stay away from it.
In that case, you could respectfully explain why you can’t attend, but invite the group out to do something else fun.
“So, remember, every picture tells a story, don't it…” ― Rod Stewart
https://cwspangle.substack.com/i/138320669/so-remember-every-picture-tells-a-story-dont-it-rod-stewart
_______________________________________________________________________________
The cryptic and archaic emoting of the “anarcho-capitalist” liber-tard-ians, with their badly camouflaged epistemology is a mix of Russian Jew Ayn Rand and pedophile devil worshipper Aleister Crowley, who's Thelemite cult is really the brainchild of pedophile Jew Israel Regardie . . . their transexual Baphomet goat god is a creation of devil worshipping Jew Eliphas Levi . . .
From the Zodiac killer, to the Nightstalker, to Jonestown, to San Francisco . . . it’s the same cult of bloodthirsty, psychotic devil worshipping nutjobs . . . . . . Ukrainian Jewish devil worshipping pedophile Marina Abramović, Jewish devil worshipping pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell, and the former mayors of San Francisco, including Gavin Newsome, are all devil worshipping sex weirdos . . .
https://cwspangle.substack.com/i/138320669/and-joining-the-ranks-of-this-satanic-dead-jew-society-san-franciscos-dianne-fiendstein
_______________________________________________________________________________
Elon Musk gives gay satanist Israeli operative Volodymyr Zelensky free Starlink satellite services that you'll eventually pay for, like the nearly $200 billion to Ukraine, laundered by FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (another devil worshipping Jew). It will surely be used for DNC campaign cash; the Democratic National Committee is just a huge terror cell masquerading as a political party.
https://cwspangle.substack.com/p/zelensky-biden-satanism-war-greed
This is great. You are right. Pieper's view was similar, that real leisure is not loafing around. It is an active thing, not passive.
As for the elites. They do indeed loathe us. It is not just a dislike, but a committed hatred. They view our lives as small and inconsequential. They cannot fathom how we can be happy with so little, when they are unhappy with so much. They lack the ability to reflect on their own dislocation from all that matters, like normality, a locale with roots and a stable home life. I suspect many are hedonists completely burned out.
Thank you for your kind words, Spaceman. I agree with you that they despise us with a hatred of the highest order. As far as being burned out hedonists -- do those types EVER get burned out in the true sense of the word? I’m not sure.
They have all this money, but if really amounts to nothing because they have no interior substance, no higher (as in transcendent) aspirations. Their gods are money, technology, deviant sex, etc.
I do think they get burned out. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason, as is lust. They do not sustain over a lifetime and they are distortions of healthier impulses like hunger or attraction.
Hedonism is destructive. I am convinced our globalist elites are quite literally bored and cut off from anything meaningful.
Oh they DEFINITELY are cut off from anything meaningful, anything which bestows true joy.
It’s interesting because many (most?) of them are quite intelligent--not anything approaching genius, mind you -- and have achieved things considered great and magnificent by much of the temporal world.
However, countless times over these past 3+ years, I’ve conversed with my husband and certain friends my observation that they’re blind in deep and profound ways.
St. Thomas Aquinas says that habitual sin darkens the intellect. I believe any above average God-given intellectual abilities they had in their younger lives have been darkened terribly.
I even see this darkening of intellect in some in my personal life who I know (for a fact) participate in habitual sins. They can STILL think in unique ways according to their special gifts (whether it’s scientific, business strategy, etc.), but it’s as if there’s something blocking them from seeing so many things apparent to others.
High intelligence comes at a price. Many of them live in their heads and are cut off from their physical bodies. That is why so many elites are drawn to utopian schemes. That is all fiction. It is exciting. But it isn't real.
I think pornography does similar things. It distorts. It takes natural desires and makes them easy to accomplish in a lesser way. That rewires the brain.
I agree completely!
“So, remember, every picture tells a story, don't it…” ― Rod Stewart
https://cwspangle.substack.com/i/138320669/so-remember-every-picture-tells-a-story-dont-it-rod-stewart
Fantastic post, truly inspiring.
Thank you, Mr. Raven. To have such kind words from you has made my already great Sunday far better.
Awwww...
I mean it. Thank you.
Outstanding, Samantha. I am working on a reply which will probably post tomorrow morning, because just saying THANK YOU is not enough. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Doc! Your kind words mean so much to me and I eagerly await your response.
I also just found this, which speaks to your topic: https://worldcouncilforhealth.substack.com/p/opt-out-social-credit
Now that looks interesting! Thank you.
What a delightful article! I deleted all social media this past week, and I don't intend on using it anytime in the near future (if ever again). Modern society makes idols of work, consumerism, and utilitarianism. We must escape modernity and turn to Jesus.
Thank you for your kind words, Edmund. That’s fantastic that you’ve rid yourself of social media. I still have accounts for Instagram and “X,” but I rarely use them, except when I need to contact a work client using them, etc. I work from home, but must have at least though accounts for various purposes related to what I do (editing and writing). One day, however, I’ll quit those as well. And you’re right -- we must orient our hearts and minds to our Savior and the Heavenly Hosts.
I think fireplaces stopped being a staple because they aren't very efficient. Most of the heat goes out through the chimney. But I would very much like my next home to have an iron stove.
Iron stoves are great! My husband grew up with one in his home and it's still there and operating. He grew up in rural Connecticut. Fireplaces may not be as efficient as modern furnaces, or even wood burning iron stoves, but they're a symbol of what we've lost. We bought our current home brand new back in 2009. There's no way we would have purchased it if it didn't already have a fireplace.
When we move to our land in Idaho, we'll have both a fireplace and a wood burning iron stove.
Nice, escape to the wilderness is the way.
Indeed!
Cultural secession and non-participation. The easiest way to start is to avoid everything on television, from Hollywood, the entertainment, corporate music, and sports media.
Absolutely, Old School -- Hollywood is lost as is corporate controlled music, sports...you name it...we must reclaim our analog lives. Then we can reclaim our arts and entertainment.
The fireplace was replaced by the TV as the centre of families lives and we all know how that’s gone.
Yes, Vulkan. A while ago, someone pointed out to me that the TV takes center place in the great rooms of most homes nowadays, elevating it to a lesser god of sorts. We have a TV (I've been unsuccessful in getting certain people to agree with its total elimination), but we don't watch cable TV at all. We watch movies we love, most of which we've seen countless times. I love watching "It's a Wonderful Life," each Christmas season!
I always enjoy watching the Albert Finney version of Scrooge plus all those crappy Hallmark Christmas movies. I have just finished season one of Severence which I enjoyed (I use a free Apple TV thing rather than pay for a subscription lol.)
Haha same here, except I’ve not heard of Severance. It’s a series?
Yeah it’s a series. It really gets you asking some decent philosophical questions. Get a free Apple TV sign up and give it a go. Episode 1 is slow though.
I read Leisure the Basis of Culture my first semester in college forty years ago. It was a delightful little book, more like a long essay really. It only took an hour or two, but well worth it. I second your recommendation.
It's such an under-appreciated book, Lawdog. I read it back in 2009 while still homeschooling kids and it helped me gain a greater insight into the things I was teaching them about history. It's a treasure.
Excellent. This really spoke to me (as i read on my phone). I am sincerely going to try to go analog except for work purposes as necessary
Ben, coming from such a magnificent writer as you, you just made my day. Yes, work is where "they" get us. I work from home, but as an editor, I must use a computer and email. But we don't use our phones on weekends or days off, or in the evening when everybody is home.
Can We/Me/You "Go" 1880 ??? No. Perhaps only 10% can survive an Electrical Grid Down event that lasts longer than 6 months. Of course that can never happen !!!
Hopefully, something like that (or something worse) won't happen until we move to our acreage in Idaho (less than 2 years now!). We don't live in the city, but do live in a suburb of Houston -- The Woodlands. It would be brutal here, but we've taken measures that I won't list here for reasons you might be able to guess.
Earlier is better than later, imo. I have been Wrong on the Time factor, though if I hadn't relocated out of densely populated FL in 2014 it would be impossible for me today economically.
While I do not know your specifics, and admitting my predilection for not letting my finger falter on the trigger ... 2 years seems like an eternity. Hopefully Idaho is getting something physically "created" now to have a lifeboat bug out if required.
You and Yours Are the Future.
Oh yes...we have 70 acres out there far away from any city and about 45 minutes from the nearest town. It’s going to be quite an adjustment (especially for me), but also a magnificent adventure.
It may be sooner than that, but currently that’s what DS says...about 18 to 20 more months.
I agree entirely!
I'm grateful you've said that, Judson. I have only a few people in my real life (besides my kids and husband) who understand the dangers of becoming too subservient to the digital world -- The Machine as Paul Kingsnorth calls it.