For the first of this week’s Cinema Purgatorio offerings, we’ve chosen a short, surreal experimental film that is, hands down, one of the most challenging, engrossing, and overwhelming cinematic experiences on multiple levels — visceral, emotional, aesthetic, philosophical — that we’ve come across in ages. Like so many other items that we’ll be featuring in…
“Thatâs a Man Standing There Solid As Me” – Some Reflections on the Nature of Ghosts
For a moment leave aside whether you believe or disbelieve in the existence of ghosts. Would you know one if you saw it? Once, I would have said yes. I would have had a picture in mind of a spectral figure — the familiar trope of popular media — or perhaps an orb, a shadowy…
Liminality, Synchronicity, and the Walls of Everyday Reality
(Liminalities, Cycle 1, Part 1) A seminal moment in the formation of Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity came as he was treating a highly educated woman who, by his description, was locked in a rigid Cartesian rationalism that hindered her therapy. The basis of all depth psychotherapy is the airing of unconscious psychic content and…
Recommended Reading 17
This week’s recommendations encompass the spiritual past and future of money and capitalism; the use of neuroscience by tech companies to profit from Internet addiction; the future of books, libraries, and old movies in an age of digital instant gratification and a perpetually shrinking historical awareness; the deep appeal of fairy tales; thoughts on…
“We will never be out of these woods” – The terrors and pleasures of Robert Frost
We are on a routine journey home; we are on the threshold of the universe, serenity mingling with awe; we are far from civilization and terribly near the ancient fears: separation, insignificance, darkness. (âHe will not see me stoppingâ is one false step from âHe will not hear me screaming.â) The boundaries between these conditions,…
Angelic dread: Cinematic representations of terrible angels
Last December, in one of those minor seasonal news-cycle events that the sober and/or cynical among us have come to greet with a yawn, various mainstream media outlets reported that, according to a new poll (or, more accurately, yet another new poll), a majority of Americans believe in angels. “Angels don’t just sing at Christmastime,’…
“Metamorphosis” (SHORT FILM)
This post will launch our Cinema Purgatorio feature, wherein each Wednesday we’ll share one or more finds from the Internet’s rich trove of cinematic fascination. Whatever else may be true of the current state of our digital media-driven way of life — which flirts in so many ways with dystopian disaster — it’s a golden…
The official Teeming Brain posting schedule
In the past The Teeming Brain has proceeded on a schedule dictated by personal, mercurial whims, energy levels, and availability. But for those of you among the extended teem (as we like to think of our readers) who prefer some structure and regularity to your online engagement, we’ve now got you covered. Here’s the official…
Important for all Teeming Brain subscribers: Update your subscriptions to the new site
It’s crucially important for all Teeming Brain email and RSS subscribers at the old WordPress.com site to resubscribe here at the new site. See the simple process near the top of the right-hand column. This reminder is one of the final updates that will be sent both to the old list and to the new…
Discount for preorders of DARK FAITH: INVOCATIONS featuring my story “Prometheus Possessed”
Apex Publications announced yesterday that Dark Faith: Invocations, the sequel to their very well received Dark Faith anthology, is now available for preorder. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m pleased to be back again for this second outing with a new story — part dystopian science fiction, part supernatural/spiritual horror — titled “Prometheus Possessed.” I’m also…