Bedeviled
Good and Evil in the Grand Canyon
About 1977, my mother and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon. At our first stop, Mather Point, I was surprised to hear someone call my name. I turned to my left and saw a fellow employee approaching me. We both worked as editors on the same newspaper chain in Bellflower, California. In fact, he sat at the desk in front of me. He was on his way back from vacation; I was just beginning mine.
At the time, I did not think much of this interesting coincidence as I had heard of people meeting friends while touring Europe. However, two decades later, as the coincidences began to pile on, I reexamined the trip and found meaning in the location of our meeting.
I had purchased a photography guide at the Grand Canyon. The booklet recommended against shooting pictures at midday; the bright, overhead sun made the canyon look featureless. Better to shoot near dawn or sunset, when shadows gave depth and beauty to the canyon walls. Inclement weather also gave good opportunities for interesting shots, said the guide, which showed examples of storm clouds rolling along the top of the canyon and a post-storm rainbow arching across the walls.
The Grand Canyon is like life: Many only want to venture out when the Light and Goodness is everywhere, but at such times life is flat and uninteresting. Only when Light struggles with Darkness, and Good fights with Evil, do we see true beauty and drama. The shadows and storms of existence show us the depth and dimensions of life.
Another chance meeting occurred about 1994 on a Christmas trip to Southern California. Halfway from Napa to Buena Park in Orange County, I heard a honking horn from a passing recreational vehicle. At the next rest stop, near Kettleman City, I believe, I was approached by one of the occupants of the RV, who was a former girlfriend I had known from a few years back. She was returning to Los Angeles. Later, on that trip, I took her to dinner, and we exchanged gifts, but the evening ended early. As we met in the "middle of nowhere," I was not sure of the metaphysical meaning, if any, to be interpreted from the encounter.
Devil dance I noted a similar encounter reported on a reformatted episode of the Lawrence Welk Show that aired in 2000 on PBS. Dancer Bobby Burgess, a former member of the Mouseketeers, recalled that during a trip to Lake Tahoe, he had decided on a whim to stop at the Devil's Postpile, a rock formation east of Yosemite. The Postpile consists of columns of dark volcanic rock that display a honeycomb pattern. As he walked back from the site, Burgess spotted Walt Disney, his former employer, coming toward him. They exchanged comments. Shortly thereafter, Disney died.
Again, I wondered if the site of the meeting, the Devil's Postpile, had any significance. Perhaps such unusual encounters and other forms of synchronicity are the "work of the devil." If so, we need to rethink our concept of Satan.
I got out my California map. West of Kettleman City, the site of my coincidental meeting with my ex-girlfriend, is the Diablo Range. Diablo means devil.
Fatalism The battle between Allah and the devil may not be a conflict between good and evil but a contest between free will and fatalism. Allah argues that we are free to choose our path in life. Satan counters that meaningful coincidences are evidence that our lives are scripted and free will is an illusion. The paradox is that if humanity accepts Satan’s argument, it would then recognize how it is being manipulated and, for the first time in history, truly exercise free will.
Alas, that could mean the game or show is over. We, the actors, have refused to read our lines and have walked off the stage. Allah might “end the program” and all the data and memory that constitutes the history of the universe would be recycled into another game.
About 1977, my mother and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon. At our first stop, Mather Point, I was surprised to hear someone call my name. I turned to my left and saw a fellow employee approaching me. We both worked as editors on the same newspaper chain in Bellflower, California. In fact, he sat at the desk in front of me. He was on his way back from vacation; I was just beginning mine.
At the time, I did not think much of this interesting coincidence as I had heard of people meeting friends while touring Europe. However, two decades later, as the coincidences began to pile on, I reexamined the trip and found meaning in the location of our meeting.
I had purchased a photography guide at the Grand Canyon. The booklet recommended against shooting pictures at midday; the bright, overhead sun made the canyon look featureless. Better to shoot near dawn or sunset, when shadows gave depth and beauty to the canyon walls. Inclement weather also gave good opportunities for interesting shots, said the guide, which showed examples of storm clouds rolling along the top of the canyon and a post-storm rainbow arching across the walls.
The Grand Canyon is like life: Many only want to venture out when the Light and Goodness is everywhere, but at such times life is flat and uninteresting. Only when Light struggles with Darkness, and Good fights with Evil, do we see true beauty and drama. The shadows and storms of existence show us the depth and dimensions of life.
Another chance meeting occurred about 1994 on a Christmas trip to Southern California. Halfway from Napa to Buena Park in Orange County, I heard a honking horn from a passing recreational vehicle. At the next rest stop, near Kettleman City, I believe, I was approached by one of the occupants of the RV, who was a former girlfriend I had known from a few years back. She was returning to Los Angeles. Later, on that trip, I took her to dinner, and we exchanged gifts, but the evening ended early. As we met in the "middle of nowhere," I was not sure of the metaphysical meaning, if any, to be interpreted from the encounter.
Devil dance I noted a similar encounter reported on a reformatted episode of the Lawrence Welk Show that aired in 2000 on PBS. Dancer Bobby Burgess, a former member of the Mouseketeers, recalled that during a trip to Lake Tahoe, he had decided on a whim to stop at the Devil's Postpile, a rock formation east of Yosemite. The Postpile consists of columns of dark volcanic rock that display a honeycomb pattern. As he walked back from the site, Burgess spotted Walt Disney, his former employer, coming toward him. They exchanged comments. Shortly thereafter, Disney died.
Again, I wondered if the site of the meeting, the Devil's Postpile, had any significance. Perhaps such unusual encounters and other forms of synchronicity are the "work of the devil." If so, we need to rethink our concept of Satan.
I got out my California map. West of Kettleman City, the site of my coincidental meeting with my ex-girlfriend, is the Diablo Range. Diablo means devil.
Fatalism The battle between Allah and the devil may not be a conflict between good and evil but a contest between free will and fatalism. Allah argues that we are free to choose our path in life. Satan counters that meaningful coincidences are evidence that our lives are scripted and free will is an illusion. The paradox is that if humanity accepts Satan’s argument, it would then recognize how it is being manipulated and, for the first time in history, truly exercise free will.
Alas, that could mean the game or show is over. We, the actors, have refused to read our lines and have walked off the stage. Allah might “end the program” and all the data and memory that constitutes the history of the universe would be recycled into another game.
Swimming with the devil’s fish
In a dream I had in September of 2000, I was under the control of Satan, who was making my life miserable. I was stooped over and could feel the weight of his power on my back. His method of control was very clever and seemingly foolproof, but as the dream progressed, I forgot the secret of how he exercised his power. I also had a vague recollection that he had a female companion.
The devil then turned me into a fish. I remember swimming in a small stream and thinking that being a fish wasn't so bad. But as soon as I grew accustomed to this form, I was turned back into a man. Now I was in a fish restaurant accompanied by a small boy. I am carrying a tray with fish dinners for both of us. As I walk down the aisle, I see an angry man in a booth who I realize is about to trip me or shove me down. However, as the man gets up to attack me, he is thrown to the floor by some invisible person, who hits the man with invisible punches. I realize that the invisible man is the devil, who is now protecting me.
Next, I see the devil standing in a pitch-black room under a bright light, which puts him in great agony. His dark clothing begins to change. First, he is dressed as Superman, next as Batman, then as a football player. As the football player, he starts running down a field with the ball and is knocked out of bounds.
What did Satan look like before being transformed into a superhero? I don't recall an exact face, but he did not have horns, a tail, a pitchfork or any of the cartoon features usually associated with the devil.
Last Supper As the fish is a symbol representing Christianity, the dream seemed to suggest that I am the devil's fish and, thus, the devil's Christ or Antichrist. The fish dinners, suggestive of the Last Supper, symbolize my divinity, which I am sharing with the boy, who represents a future generation. The devil who had tormented me has now become my "hero" after being exposed to the Light of God. Satan will defend me against attacks and "carry the ball" for me.
In a dream I had in September of 2000, I was under the control of Satan, who was making my life miserable. I was stooped over and could feel the weight of his power on my back. His method of control was very clever and seemingly foolproof, but as the dream progressed, I forgot the secret of how he exercised his power. I also had a vague recollection that he had a female companion.
The devil then turned me into a fish. I remember swimming in a small stream and thinking that being a fish wasn't so bad. But as soon as I grew accustomed to this form, I was turned back into a man. Now I was in a fish restaurant accompanied by a small boy. I am carrying a tray with fish dinners for both of us. As I walk down the aisle, I see an angry man in a booth who I realize is about to trip me or shove me down. However, as the man gets up to attack me, he is thrown to the floor by some invisible person, who hits the man with invisible punches. I realize that the invisible man is the devil, who is now protecting me.
Next, I see the devil standing in a pitch-black room under a bright light, which puts him in great agony. His dark clothing begins to change. First, he is dressed as Superman, next as Batman, then as a football player. As the football player, he starts running down a field with the ball and is knocked out of bounds.
What did Satan look like before being transformed into a superhero? I don't recall an exact face, but he did not have horns, a tail, a pitchfork or any of the cartoon features usually associated with the devil.
Last Supper As the fish is a symbol representing Christianity, the dream seemed to suggest that I am the devil's fish and, thus, the devil's Christ or Antichrist. The fish dinners, suggestive of the Last Supper, symbolize my divinity, which I am sharing with the boy, who represents a future generation. The devil who had tormented me has now become my "hero" after being exposed to the Light of God. Satan will defend me against attacks and "carry the ball" for me.
In December of 2000 the devil seemed to make a real appearance as Superman when a man dressed as the superhero carried a sign proclaiming “The End” as he protested before the U.S. Supreme Court, which was weighing the issues in the disputed presidential election. To me it seemed that this hero (S is for Satan?) was marking the beginning of the end for our pseudo-democracy and preparing the way for my leadership.
The devil as Batman spread his wings in September 2004 when a protestor fighting for fathers’ rights perched on a ledge of Buckingham Palace: a dark but comical warrior against the excesses of feminism.
I wonder how long Satan has been following me. In 1961, while on an extended visit among relatives in Texas, my mother bought me a devil costume for Halloween. At one stop, I was met at the door by a priest who gave me a $5 bill with the comment, “I always wanted to do this.” My mother was aghast that I would accept money from a priest and seemed unaware of the irony behind the gift. She thought I had knocked at the door of the rectory, although in the dark the house seemed like an ordinary residence. She tried to return the money the next day, but the priest refused the offer. It was time for the Catholic Church to give the devil his due.
While serving as a reporter on the Cal State Long Beach newspaper back in the early 1970s, I interviewed the cultural director, who said his job was at risk and depended on the success of the upcoming Renaissance Faire on campus. After the fair, which did well, he called me on the carpet, berating me for falsely reporting his position had been at stake. I felt very humiliated although I thought I had made accurate notes of our conversation. As I recall, a few days later he was seriously burned when he used lighter fluid to stoke the flames in a fireplace. Perhaps those who obstruct or humiliate me will suffer their own hell.
Heads Up As a fan of televised Texas Hold 'Em, I discovered a poker-playing counterpart: Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott, a reformed safe cracker and famous English poker player whose last name, like mine, begins with a "U" and has seven letters. I don't know if he has ever played "heads up" against another respected player, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, but such a showdown would certainly be interesting: the poker Christ versus the poker Antichrist.
Dissing Jesus George Washington may have been the Antichrist who saved the American Revolution. Believing the Hessians to be in a stupor from too much holiday merriment, Gen. Washington in 1776 chose Christmas night to cross the Delaware River and launch the Battle of Trenton. Instead of honoring the Prince of Peace, Washington exploited the sacred day to kill an unsuspecting enemy. One could say the Arabs and Egyptians followed Washington’s example in 1973 when they chose the holiest day in Judaism to launch what became known as the Yom Kippur War.
Change In the 1999 movie The Omega Code, conspirators with a hidden agenda use computers to translate the “Bible Code,” a series of messages hidden in scripture, particularly the apocalyptic Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation.
Casper Van Dien portrays Gillen Lane, a motivational speaker with a Barack Obama message: “My goal is simply to create an environment to see change in peoples’ lives . . . We are the higher power.” In a Tom Cruise-like appearance on a female-hosted talk show, Lane jumps over a sofa and exhorts the audience, “Somebody out there say ‘change’!
Lane is tempted by the Antichrist, a European tycoon and politician, Stone Alexander, played by Michael York. Alexander tells Lane, “Like you, I’d like to create a climate to foster change in peoples’ lives.” Of course, the Antichrist wants to use Lane’s “change” message for his own purpose. I too have used Obama’s “change” to achieve my ends.
Alas, The Omega Code suffers from its determinism. It’s hard to hate the Antichrist when his every move is scripted by scripture. What kind of villain lacks free will?
Mark of the Beast In 2008 I consulted a urologist regarding a small lump in my scrotum. A test confirmed it was benign. The lump gradually grew larger, especially after my hernia surgery in June 2011, and is now about the size of a testicle. Thus, I have three dangling orbs that resemble the number 666. My urologist said my “666” observation was crazy. Still, it might provide an interesting anecdote at a urologist convention.
In China, the number 6 is considered lucky and even more so when the number is tripled. Thus, you will often see the number 666 throughout China. People will pay extra money to have 666 included in their phone number or on their license plate. These opposing views of 666 may be reflected in geopolitics. Given the rise of China and the seeming moral and political decline of the United States, one might conclude that the appearance of the Antichrist will be good luck for China and bad luck for America.
Springtime for China and Antichrist
Winter for US and Trump
What would the Antichrist drive?
In November 2002, the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) launched its "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, hoping to persuade the public and the auto industry that safe, fuel-efficient vehicles met a Biblical mandate to protect God's world and its people.
The question brought quick derisive responses from the right wing, which suggested that Jesus, being a carpenter, would have bought a pickup truck large enough to carry all his tools or would have purchased two SUVs to transport his apostles. The EEN, like any close-knit group of like-minded people, had no one among them who could have served as a devil's advocate to point out the potential flaws in their campaign.
My own thoughts about what I, the Antichrist, should drive, first began in August 2006 when the right door of my Toyota Tercel was bashed in by an unlicensed, uninsured driver in a shopping mall parking lot. The "wing" of my "falcon" had been broken, lending credence to my other identity as the old, crippled sun-god Ra. After first declaring my car totaled, the insurance company revised its evaluation to allow for the repair, considering the low miles and otherwise good condition of the vehicle.
Nevertheless, as the car never offered a smooth ride, I began in 2007 to shop around for a new vehicle. The only car whose name seemed to conform to the Egyptian sun-god mythology was the Toyota Solara, but the vehicle had only two doors, was a bit pricey and could not fit easily into my garage.
Little Deviant In October 2007 I finally settled on a Scion xD, which met my requirements for a short, thrifty versatile vehicle. Scion, a subsidiary of Toyota, introduced the vehicle with a website game in which viewers were invited to play the role of the "Little Deviant" who kills the boring, conformist Sheeple. The choice of victim was apparently inspired by John 10:14-15: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep."
The game featured a Bible-like "Book of Deviants," which opened to show various locations, such as a city street, park and laboratory, where Sheeple were maimed and tortured. The Little Deviant drove from scene to scene in a 2008 Scion xD.
In another Biblical reference, a lone Sheeple stood on the page of the "Book of Deviants" as the narrator asked if this survivor could be the Savior of the Sheeple. The book slammed shut then reopened to show the flattened Lamb of God staggering away from a pool of yellow-green blood.
The game content suggested that the Scion xD was indeed the vehicle for the Antichrist.
Unlike the antihero of the Scion game, I have no interest in personally torturing the sheep of God (or Allah); they are quite capable of tormenting themselves, as witness those Opus Dei members who purportedly wear a ring of spikes, the cilice, around the upper thigh and the Shia Muslims who engage in self-flagellation with chains or blades.
Statues of Jesus suffering on the cross may have a special appeal for devout women, as suggested by this account of the Christ-like torment of the god Prometheus: “He brought fire to the cold clay of mankind, for which he was punished by being chained to a cliff — forever, as I remember it. Every day two eagles flew to him and ate his liver, but as he was immortal, every day he grew it anew. For some strange reason that story gave me a powerful sexual thrill.” — Nancy Friday, Women on Top.
In November 2002, the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) launched its "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, hoping to persuade the public and the auto industry that safe, fuel-efficient vehicles met a Biblical mandate to protect God's world and its people.
The question brought quick derisive responses from the right wing, which suggested that Jesus, being a carpenter, would have bought a pickup truck large enough to carry all his tools or would have purchased two SUVs to transport his apostles. The EEN, like any close-knit group of like-minded people, had no one among them who could have served as a devil's advocate to point out the potential flaws in their campaign.
My own thoughts about what I, the Antichrist, should drive, first began in August 2006 when the right door of my Toyota Tercel was bashed in by an unlicensed, uninsured driver in a shopping mall parking lot. The "wing" of my "falcon" had been broken, lending credence to my other identity as the old, crippled sun-god Ra. After first declaring my car totaled, the insurance company revised its evaluation to allow for the repair, considering the low miles and otherwise good condition of the vehicle.
Nevertheless, as the car never offered a smooth ride, I began in 2007 to shop around for a new vehicle. The only car whose name seemed to conform to the Egyptian sun-god mythology was the Toyota Solara, but the vehicle had only two doors, was a bit pricey and could not fit easily into my garage.
Little Deviant In October 2007 I finally settled on a Scion xD, which met my requirements for a short, thrifty versatile vehicle. Scion, a subsidiary of Toyota, introduced the vehicle with a website game in which viewers were invited to play the role of the "Little Deviant" who kills the boring, conformist Sheeple. The choice of victim was apparently inspired by John 10:14-15: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep."
The game featured a Bible-like "Book of Deviants," which opened to show various locations, such as a city street, park and laboratory, where Sheeple were maimed and tortured. The Little Deviant drove from scene to scene in a 2008 Scion xD.
In another Biblical reference, a lone Sheeple stood on the page of the "Book of Deviants" as the narrator asked if this survivor could be the Savior of the Sheeple. The book slammed shut then reopened to show the flattened Lamb of God staggering away from a pool of yellow-green blood.
The game content suggested that the Scion xD was indeed the vehicle for the Antichrist.
Unlike the antihero of the Scion game, I have no interest in personally torturing the sheep of God (or Allah); they are quite capable of tormenting themselves, as witness those Opus Dei members who purportedly wear a ring of spikes, the cilice, around the upper thigh and the Shia Muslims who engage in self-flagellation with chains or blades.
Statues of Jesus suffering on the cross may have a special appeal for devout women, as suggested by this account of the Christ-like torment of the god Prometheus: “He brought fire to the cold clay of mankind, for which he was punished by being chained to a cliff — forever, as I remember it. Every day two eagles flew to him and ate his liver, but as he was immortal, every day he grew it anew. For some strange reason that story gave me a powerful sexual thrill.” — Nancy Friday, Women on Top.
Lions and falcons and beasts. Oh my!
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats is a classic poem of prophecy. The verses written in 1919 look backward at the violence and false promises of the French and Russian revolutions. However, Yeats also seemed to predict the rise of Nazi Germany and the “beast” Adolph Hitler. Today, the poem seems even more prescient as another monster prepares to take the stage.
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The word gyre may be drawn from Yeats’s book The Vision, in which he claims the “spirits” informed him that history takes the form of two cone-shaped corkscrews (gyre being the arc of the screw), one inside the other, in which the widest part of the first cone forms the base of the tip of the second cone, and the widest base of the second cone forms the tip of the first cone.
The places where the cones meet represent major changes in human history. Yeats’s description of the physics of history is suggestive of a more contemporary work, The Tao of Physics (An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism).
As the falcon is my icon, the poem suggests to me that my vision and hunt for knowledge and power are exceeding the control and grasp of established authority, the falconer. The widest circle of my flight will form the core of a new era.
The poem’s often cited phrase, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity,” described the weak and venal politicians of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), who eventually submitted to the demands of the passionate Nazis. Indeed, when the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which finalized Hitler's grasp on power, "the centre cannot hold" literally described the Centre Party, which acted in its own narrow self-interest in acceding to Hitler's demands. The “blood-dimmed tide” was loosed in World War II.
In today’s version of the Weimar Republic, centrist who call for moderation and compromise are the“best” who lack all conviction, while the “worst” are the passionate alt-right factions and Antifa activists.
“Spiritus mundi” (Latin for “spirit of the world”) is the collective unconscious, where individual minds are connected and communicate through the spiritual language of symbols and metaphors. The spiritus mundi has taken physical form through the internet.
“A shape with lion body and the head of a man” describes Saddam Hussein, who was harried by the “indignant desert birds,” the American jet fighters and bombers that ended his reign.
While Christians foresee a “Second Coming” of Christ, Yeats envisions a much different figure, a “beast” who could be the Antichrist. Works for me. I am slouching toward my birth of power, bent under the weight of my insecurity and the ridicule of others. My gait is slow and faltering, and the path is crooked. But I am getting there.
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats is a classic poem of prophecy. The verses written in 1919 look backward at the violence and false promises of the French and Russian revolutions. However, Yeats also seemed to predict the rise of Nazi Germany and the “beast” Adolph Hitler. Today, the poem seems even more prescient as another monster prepares to take the stage.
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The word gyre may be drawn from Yeats’s book The Vision, in which he claims the “spirits” informed him that history takes the form of two cone-shaped corkscrews (gyre being the arc of the screw), one inside the other, in which the widest part of the first cone forms the base of the tip of the second cone, and the widest base of the second cone forms the tip of the first cone.
The places where the cones meet represent major changes in human history. Yeats’s description of the physics of history is suggestive of a more contemporary work, The Tao of Physics (An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism).
As the falcon is my icon, the poem suggests to me that my vision and hunt for knowledge and power are exceeding the control and grasp of established authority, the falconer. The widest circle of my flight will form the core of a new era.
The poem’s often cited phrase, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity,” described the weak and venal politicians of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), who eventually submitted to the demands of the passionate Nazis. Indeed, when the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which finalized Hitler's grasp on power, "the centre cannot hold" literally described the Centre Party, which acted in its own narrow self-interest in acceding to Hitler's demands. The “blood-dimmed tide” was loosed in World War II.
In today’s version of the Weimar Republic, centrist who call for moderation and compromise are the“best” who lack all conviction, while the “worst” are the passionate alt-right factions and Antifa activists.
“Spiritus mundi” (Latin for “spirit of the world”) is the collective unconscious, where individual minds are connected and communicate through the spiritual language of symbols and metaphors. The spiritus mundi has taken physical form through the internet.
“A shape with lion body and the head of a man” describes Saddam Hussein, who was harried by the “indignant desert birds,” the American jet fighters and bombers that ended his reign.
While Christians foresee a “Second Coming” of Christ, Yeats envisions a much different figure, a “beast” who could be the Antichrist. Works for me. I am slouching toward my birth of power, bent under the weight of my insecurity and the ridicule of others. My gait is slow and faltering, and the path is crooked. But I am getting there.
The Case of the Demon Dog
While the conventional wisdom is to dismiss dream interpretation as an amusing and harmless parlor game, ignoring the meaning of a dream can kill you.
In December 2006 an acquaintance related to me a dream he kept having. In the dream, he is a bum wearing tattered clothes, he can't find a parked car, he fights someone, he sees a pretty butter dish, and he encounters a vicious black dog that is trying to scare him away.
I advised him that, according to a dream dictionary, dark demon dogs protect graveyards and are guardians of the underworld. The dog may be chasing him away from thoughts of death. Searching for a parked car indicated that he did not know where he wanted to go in life. To dream that he is a bum revealed that he is feeling like a failure or outcast. Tattered clothes suggested that he is too concerned about how other people see him. Fighting indicated inner turmoil.
The one seemingly benign image, the pretty butter dish, was a sign that he needed gratification and pleasure "dished out" to him.
With recurring dreams, the message may be so important or powerful that it just will not go away. The frequent repetition of the dream should force him to pay attention and confront the dream.
However, I also told him that he was free to dismiss these interpretations as just a bunch of New Age nonsense. "It's your call," I told him. I was speaking to a person with a much richer life experience than me, was a success in the business community, and seemed in good spirits on the phone. Nine months later he committed suicide. He had hidden his problems from everyone except his wife.
The time gap between the dreams and the death may seem large enough for many to dismiss these events as coincidences. However, on September 1, 2007, I was watching on TV the movie U.S. Marshals, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes. In one scene, Jones and his partner followed a suspect to a chapel in a graveyard. As they waited outside, the partner stood behind a tombstone engraved with my last name, URBANEK.
The next day, my acquaintance called to ask if I was related to a woman named Urbanek who he had read about in a newspaper obituary. Like my mother, she had been born in Texas and had come to California in the 1930s. No, I was not related. On September 9 he shot himself. Apparently, the juxtaposition of the movie tombstone and the newspaper obituary, both with my last name, was a sign that I was dealing with a "grave" situation.
While the conventional wisdom is to dismiss dream interpretation as an amusing and harmless parlor game, ignoring the meaning of a dream can kill you.
In December 2006 an acquaintance related to me a dream he kept having. In the dream, he is a bum wearing tattered clothes, he can't find a parked car, he fights someone, he sees a pretty butter dish, and he encounters a vicious black dog that is trying to scare him away.
I advised him that, according to a dream dictionary, dark demon dogs protect graveyards and are guardians of the underworld. The dog may be chasing him away from thoughts of death. Searching for a parked car indicated that he did not know where he wanted to go in life. To dream that he is a bum revealed that he is feeling like a failure or outcast. Tattered clothes suggested that he is too concerned about how other people see him. Fighting indicated inner turmoil.
The one seemingly benign image, the pretty butter dish, was a sign that he needed gratification and pleasure "dished out" to him.
With recurring dreams, the message may be so important or powerful that it just will not go away. The frequent repetition of the dream should force him to pay attention and confront the dream.
However, I also told him that he was free to dismiss these interpretations as just a bunch of New Age nonsense. "It's your call," I told him. I was speaking to a person with a much richer life experience than me, was a success in the business community, and seemed in good spirits on the phone. Nine months later he committed suicide. He had hidden his problems from everyone except his wife.
The time gap between the dreams and the death may seem large enough for many to dismiss these events as coincidences. However, on September 1, 2007, I was watching on TV the movie U.S. Marshals, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes. In one scene, Jones and his partner followed a suspect to a chapel in a graveyard. As they waited outside, the partner stood behind a tombstone engraved with my last name, URBANEK.
The next day, my acquaintance called to ask if I was related to a woman named Urbanek who he had read about in a newspaper obituary. Like my mother, she had been born in Texas and had come to California in the 1930s. No, I was not related. On September 9 he shot himself. Apparently, the juxtaposition of the movie tombstone and the newspaper obituary, both with my last name, was a sign that I was dealing with a "grave" situation.
My animal cruelty pajamas
In 2017, I ordered a pair of summer pajamas from J.C. Penney, in navy blue with a small pattern I did not recognize on the web page. Upon receiving the package, I discovered the product displayed fox hunting, with a hunter on horse accompanied by two foxhounds and a whipper on foot, also accompanied by hounds.
Of the various patterns/colors on display online, the fox hunting tableau was the only one on sale at the time, perhaps because of its politically incorrect design.
According to animal rights activists, foxes killed by hounds often die from multiple dog bites and in many cases are disemboweled first.
Given my general belief that there is no such thing as a coincidence, I interpreted my purchase as a mandate to use my particular skill sets as a “hunter.” So, I sit in my PJs at the computer, stalking the small minds on political forums, and eviscerating their ideas and arguments.
It’s a cruel, cruel summer.
Gargoyles in the bedroom
I had been aggravated for several months by noise from a neighbor. On October 14, 2020, a boisterous backyard gathering dispersed shortly after 10 p.m. but my anxiety kept me awake until about 4 a.m.
At approximately 5:15 I was awakened by a light. To my left, what had been a shuttered window was now a blank wall softly lit with a slight yellowish tinge, as if illuminated by candlelight.
Then, near the top of the wall, appeared the living head of a monster, like a cathedral gargoyle. The beastly head was replaced by another after a couple of seconds, then followed by another. This happened five or six times. One head had glowing eyes. Another appeared to be a cross between a man and a lion. Then the heads disappeared.
I turned to my right to turn on a light and make notes. When I looked back, the shuttered windows had returned.
While this vision might be related to my anxiety, this seems to be a spectacular display for something as mundane as a noisy neighbor. Perhaps the event released demons from my subconscious. Did I purge beasts from my mind only to release them into the world?
I looked up gargoyles on Wikipedia. One section noted “gargoyles are said to protect what they guard, such as a church, from any evil or harmful spirits” but another passage said “The primary use of the gargoyle was to illustrate evil through the form of the gargoyle.” The demonic creatures may be calling forth my inner tyrant. “Authoritarianism is like a gargoyle lurking over the cathedral, ready to pounce.” — Mitt Romney, quoted in The Atlantic, November 2023
The neighbor’s parties stopped in a couple of days and a few weeks later they moved away.
I had been aggravated for several months by noise from a neighbor. On October 14, 2020, a boisterous backyard gathering dispersed shortly after 10 p.m. but my anxiety kept me awake until about 4 a.m.
At approximately 5:15 I was awakened by a light. To my left, what had been a shuttered window was now a blank wall softly lit with a slight yellowish tinge, as if illuminated by candlelight.
Then, near the top of the wall, appeared the living head of a monster, like a cathedral gargoyle. The beastly head was replaced by another after a couple of seconds, then followed by another. This happened five or six times. One head had glowing eyes. Another appeared to be a cross between a man and a lion. Then the heads disappeared.
I turned to my right to turn on a light and make notes. When I looked back, the shuttered windows had returned.
While this vision might be related to my anxiety, this seems to be a spectacular display for something as mundane as a noisy neighbor. Perhaps the event released demons from my subconscious. Did I purge beasts from my mind only to release them into the world?
I looked up gargoyles on Wikipedia. One section noted “gargoyles are said to protect what they guard, such as a church, from any evil or harmful spirits” but another passage said “The primary use of the gargoyle was to illustrate evil through the form of the gargoyle.” The demonic creatures may be calling forth my inner tyrant. “Authoritarianism is like a gargoyle lurking over the cathedral, ready to pounce.” — Mitt Romney, quoted in The Atlantic, November 2023
The neighbor’s parties stopped in a couple of days and a few weeks later they moved away.
Deformed and tormented souls
In a dream from January 2022, I am in a room with creatures in human bodies. One breaks out of his skin: a larger than human mix of frog and dinosaur.
I am then outside in a paved lot with other strange beings. Two small people with small skulls and poorly formed faces are mocking a handsome, young shirtless man. A man from outside peeks over the wall, looking for women. I see a blonde woman with a doll-like face. She is topless, but flat-chested with six nipples. Another woman has round, red blotches on her left arm.
I concluded I had taken a trip to Hell where people reveal their inner monsters and deformities. I was the young normal outsider they were mocking.
In December of that year, I dreamt I was in an old, maybe Medieval European setting. A peasant woman, who looks a bit like a young Cloris Leachman, is waiting by the side of the road for her lover, who is cheating on his wife. But he is late and may not show up. A woman driving a covered wagon shows up and begins a conversation with her. She then offers her a ride. The mistress enters the wagon.
There is a commotion inside the wagon and, as the wagon leaves, the head and face of the passenger can be seen sticking out of a hole in the wooden planks of the wagon rear. Her face is expressionless; I think she might be dead. But then the wagon stops in a town and the woman is thrown from the wagon.
She twists and turns in agony as she lies on the road next to a building. I think she might have been stabbed but I don’t see any blood.
At first, I thought the woman driving the wagon might be the offended wife. Then it occurs to me the woman is a demon in Hell who collects and torments sinful people. If the mistress is still being punished for what she did in Medieval times, she may have been in Hell a long time.
Images Grand Canyon view from South Rim, Roger Bolsius, CC BY-SA 3.0; Antichrist woodcut, 1498, Abrecht Dűrer, CC0 1.0, public domain: detail from Stafford sleepwear, fair use; detail from Hell by Eduard Wiiralt, 1932, CC BY-SA 4.0
Robert S Urbanek grew up in Southern California and earned a BA in journalism from California State University, Long Beach, in 1973. He has more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor for community newspapers and medical and legal-related publications, which included several years each with the National Notary Association, The Doctors' Company, and CCH Incorporated. © Robert S Urbanek