Before getting onto Homer and Hesiod and then to the philosophers, I'm going to include a couple of interesting individuals, similar to Orpheus, who can't be dated because of the legendary accretions surrounding them. There really isn't much to go on so the short entries on Wikipedia will suffice.

Melampus^[1]

A legendary soothsayer and healer, originally of Pylos, who ruled at Argos. He introduced the worship of Dionysus, according to Herodotus, who asserted that his powers as a seer were derived from the Egyptians^[2] and that he could understand the language of animals. A number of pseudepigraphal works of divination were circulated in Classical and Hellenistic times under the name Melampus. According to Herodotus and Pausanias (vi.17.6), on the authority of Hesiod, his father was Amythaon, whose name implies the "ineffable" or "unspeakably great";^[3] thus Melampus and his heirs were Amythaides of the "House of Amythaon".

In Homer's Odyssey,^[4] a digression concerning the lineage of Theoclymenus, "a prophet, sprung from Melampus' line of seers",^[5] sketches the epic narrative concerning Melampus with such brevity that its details must have been familiar to Homer's audience. With brief hints, a sequence of episodes is alluded to, in which we discern strife in Pylos between Melampus and Neleus, who usurps Melampus's "great high house", forcing him into heroic exile. Melampus spends a year as bondsman in the house of Phylacus, "all for Neleus' daughter Pero". At his extremity, Melampus is visited by "the mad spell a Fury, murderous spirit, cast upon his mind. But the seer worked free of death" and succeeded at last in rustling Phylacus's cattle back to Pylos, where he avenged himself on Neleus and gave Pero in marriage to his brother Bias. But Melampus's own destiny lay in Argos, where he lived and ruled, married and sired a long line, also briefly sketched in Homer's excursus.

A work attributed in antiquity to Hesiod exists (Melampodia) in such fragmentary quotations and chance remarks that its reconstruction, according to Walter Burkert,^[6] is "most uncertain." (Wikipedia)

Again, there isn't much of a factual nature about Orpheus though there is a lot of speculation about Orphism. So, Wikipedia again:

Despite hysterical disinformation from the mainstream media, average July temperatures around the world were in line with previous years and were actually lower in some countries in the northern hemisphere.

It's worth noting that global warming alarmists blame hot temperatures for the raging wildfires around the world, but even if there has been a slight increase, some have been reported as arson (almost all of them in Greece for example), and others could have been caused by the increase in thunderstorms and isolated lightning strikes. In lesser cases, meteorites and overhead explosions can cause forest fires, in addition to outgassing.

Increased accumulation of conductive dust (volcanoes, comets, etc.) or rain promotes electrical discharges between higher layers of the atmosphere and the ground, which can manifest as lightning, intense tornadoes, waterspouts, more severe storms, or hurricanes. Something we can see quite clearly this month.

Here are some of the most remarkable precipitation and flooding events around the world for July 2023:

• Bacolod and Manila, Philippines - 3 floods in 11 days triggered by Super Typhoon Doksuri.
• Beijing, China - Heaviest rainfall in 140 years triggered by Super Typhoon Doksuri.
• Sichuan Province, China - 11.8 inches of rain in 14 hours - 40,000 evacuated.
• Sochi, Russia - 2 months of rain in 24 hours.
• Milan - Italy - 2 weeks of rain in just 3 hours.
• Netherlands and Germany - Storm Poly became the strongest summer storm on record.
• Southwest Japan - Biggest rainfall on record - 16 inches of rain in 24 hours.
• Lahore, Pakistan - Biggest rainfall in 30 years - 11.4 inches of rain in 10 hours
• Kentucky - 11.2 inches of rain in 24 hours - Historic rainfall.
• Vermont - 9 inches of rain in 24 hours - Historic flooding.
• New York - 7 inches of summer rain in 24 hours - Severe flooding.
• Chicago - 6 inches of rainfall - Historic summer flooding.
• Valencia and Castellon, Spain - Hailstorm destroys more than 20,000 hectares of crops.

In recent years, a larger percentage of precipitation has come in the form of intense single-day events. Nine of the top 10 years for extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1996

And some unseasonable snow events:

• Europe's Dolomites and Alps - Rare summer snow.
• Skardu, Pakistan - Unexpected summer snowfall breaks 18-year record.
• Himachal Pradesh, India - 4 feet of summer snow.
• Sierra Nevada - California - Snowpack at a staggering 1,000% of normal

It should be noted that increased precipitation along with colder-than-usual temperatures is the perfect mix for an intense winter. The Farmers' Almanac is already forecasting it:

With El Niño conditions brewing for later in 2023, cold temperatures will bring ice, sleet, and snow in January and February to those living on the I-95 corridor, between Washington D.C. and Boston.

Again, are we witnessing the first stages of an ice age?

The Sun has entered into the modern Grand Solar Minimum (2020-2053) that will lead to a significant reduction of solar magnetic field and activity like during Maunder minimum leading to noticeable reduction of terrestrial temperature. - Zharkova, 2020

Time will tell. Just remember that natural climate changes are not linear and periods of calm can be followed by sudden and rapid changes. Look for the signs and prepare accordingly.

Following the previous post, I am going to include here a little table that lists the dates of the various cosmic catastrophes on Earth based on the four main sources discussed. There are other scientists who research and write on this topic that I discuss elsewhere, but I'm trying very hard (it's difficult) to keep this review as condensed as possible.

Below the table is a short list of comet sightings mostly from the Chinese records. These sightings could, possibly, be associated with a destructive event somewhere on the planet. This list is derived from Yeomans, Donald K. (1991), Comets: A Chronological History of Observation, Science, Myth, and Folklore, Wiley Science Edition.

Do human beings have 'higher bodies'? Is there an essence or essential part of one's being that individuals can consciously help to grow? And what does the development of the personality have to do with these possibilities? Philosopher and teacher G.I. Gurdjieff presented the world with an esoteric framework for self-development that has been carried forward by a number of thinkers.

What does esoteric growth look and feel like? What are some of the processes involved? And how does one go about verifying that such a process is even occurring? Does an inner questioning end when one reaches a higher state, or does it just go deeper? Joining us for his third appearance on MindMatters is author/teacher Alan Francis. Alan's decades of experience with Gurdjieff's work have helped him crystalize some insights as to how we may become more than what we are. He is the head of the International School of the Fourth Way, and the author of 'Secrets of the Fourth Way.'


Running Time: 01:27:54

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I know I said in the previous post that I would get right to the discussion of philosophers and philosophy in this post, but as I review my 400 page text, I realize that a few other things should be covered first. It will become clear why it is essential to know what was going on to fully understand what the Greek philosophers were and what they were about.

Cúchulainn: The Comet of a Thousand Faces

In Mesopotamian, Greek, Egyptian, Celtic and Native American mythology (and others), we are able to see the characteristics of comets, their celestial 'Olympus', and come to some reasonable understanding of their adventures. The representations of gods taking the form of animals and animal-headed gods can be seen in the many forms and configurations taken by comet heads and tails, not to mention their electrical activities. And obviously, there were some of the comets in the ancient sky that were regular, recognizable visitors that became the principal gods.

Fragmenting comets acquired partners, children and extended families. Comets could have 'virgin births' or parents could devour their children or vice versa. The name of the principal comet can be traced in the various cultures and the time described when the founder of the dynasty of the gods was single and alone in the sky: the giant comet that entered the solar system perhaps 70,000 years ago. As years passed, the stories mixed and mingled in confusing ways. But still, the primary features remain clear as long as the 'supernatural' elements are not stripped out, (which is what I was doing myself in the early days of research). Mike Baillie gives an example using the Celtic god, Cúchulainn:

Forget "global warming," we are now "in the era of global boiling," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week, citing 'the science'. What crack are Western leaders smoking? It's been a relatively COOL summer - at least in Europe - so far this year!

In the first hour of this NewsReal, Joe and Niall plumb the depths of Western lunacy regarding the weather, followed by a discussion of the latest anti-colonial, pro-Russia coup in central Africa.


Running Time: 01:37:00

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Most of what is included in this post is directly from the book, Comet and the Horns of Moses, though selected and edited for brevity. I intend my main focus to be on the philosophers but I find that what I have written on that topic would be incomprehensible without the background and context. It seems to me that none of what the various early philosophers were saying, doing, or writing can be easily comprehended if one does not have a good grasp of the history of the time. And that history is not just social and political, it is also environmental. Even with such knowledge, you are handicapped because the Christian scribes who took charge of literature for centuries made sure that their story was as consistent as they could make it. One has to pay attention to everything in order to adduce anything sensible about historical matters.

The general theme of Horns of Moses is that cyclical, cosmic catastrophes have played a major role in the shaping of the history of our planet and its civilizations. A lot of scientific research is covered in the first half of this book. I will review that as briefly as possible. It can't be avoided because the facts on the ground mattered and had considerable influence on the thinking of the Greek philosophers.

Though there has been a lot of resistance to the idea of catastrophism (probably mostly by the authoritarian-follower-type scientists), a few years ago the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science published a study by an international team of scientists who reached general agreement that a meteorite or comet fragment storm hit the earth a little more than 12,000 years ago and is likely to have been responsible for the extinction of megafauna and many prehistoric peoples that occurred at that time. It is also now being said that evidence for the extreme heat produced by the equivalent of thousands of overhead nuclear explosions has been found on at least two continents.

The scandal was never about Hunter's sordid sex life and drug abuse. It was about Joe Biden's abuse of power — and all those covering it up.

When the New York Post broke the news that documents recovered from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop implicated Joe Biden in a pay-to-play scandal, the corporate media — to the extent they didn't frame the story as Russian disinformation — pretended the reporting solely concerned Hunter Biden's personal life.

The scandal, however, was never about Hunter's sordid sex life and history of drug abuse. Rather, it concerned Joe Biden's abuse of power as vice president for financial gain. But now it reaches much further — including 10 distinct scandals.

Saturated in Scandal

1. The Many (Uncharged) Crimes of Hunter Biden

While the current scandals swirling around the laptop are unrelated to Hunter Biden's sex life or drug abuse, the president's son features in the first scandal: Evidence indicates Hunter Biden committed numerous crimes, including felonies.

Evidence suggests Hunter Biden acted as an unregistered foreign agent for, at a minimum, Ukraine and China in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The confidential human source's (CHS) reporting suggests Hunter also accepted bribes from Burisma or alternatively helped extort $10 million from the Ukrainian oil and gas company for himself and his father.

IRS whistleblowers and federal prosecutors also believed the evidence supported multiple felony tax counts. Lying on a federal firearm application is a serious felony as well.

The evidence that the president's son likely engaged in extensive criminal conduct for over a decade is a huge scandal, but it also bred a separate scandal: the DOJ and FBI's efforts to protect him, No. 7 below.

The NATO-backed Ukrainian 'counter-offensive' to break through Russian defensive lines in southern Ukraine (now claimed by Russia) is still - two months in - going nowhere fast. Last week the Ukrainians targeted the Kerch Bridge - again - ending the 'grain deal' and shutting down Ukrainian access to the Black Sea.

Putin, confident the offensive has been a complete failure, claims it has cost the lives of over 26,000 Ukrainian and foreign mercenaries. He is also 'exposing' Polish designs on moving into, and militarily occupying, western Ukraine, suggesting a new and more dangerous turn in the Great NATO-Russia War of 2022-2023.

Also on this NewsReal, Joe and Niall discuss the outrageous lies being passed off as 'weather news' by the media, which somehow manages to simultaneously cover up the REAL 'Earth changes' taking place all over the planet...


Running Time: 01:45:06

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J.D. Haltigan is a developmental and evolutionary psychologist who writes the Multilevel Mailer on Substack. His research and writing focuses on psychopathology, social media-induced mental illness in the young, and the psychological phenomena underlying Woke ideology and the culture wars. Lately he has been writing about the negative effects of traits like compassion and empathy when not balanced and held in check by trait systematization. J.D. has also written a review of Andrew Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology tying its insight to our current sociopolitical situation.

How does a doctor of Developmental and Evolutionary Psychopathology see psychopathology at play within academia - from the inside out as it were? Gender ideology, race differences, the censorship complex, emotional dysregulation, leftwing authoritarianism, 'vulnerable narcissism', the weaponization of compassion, etc. - there is a whole slew of prominent features and developments in academia (and Western society as a whole) that, to the classically trained academic of psychopathology, are hard to ignore. And ignore it he doesn't - even if it means taking a step back and away from some of the institutions he would normally be working within.

This week on MindMatters J.D. Haltigan, PhD, gives us his unique perspective on what's wrong with the woke and culturally Marxist mindset so prevalent today in many of the West's top schools. And using his background and research, delves into such questions as how pathology has become something of an evolutionary strategy, how the most prominent traits of men and women have been skewed and weaponized, and just where political ponerology fits in with all that we're seeing.


Running Time: 01:00:46

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