{"id":17922,"date":"2020-02-23T03:00:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=17922"},"modified":"2020-02-17T19:20:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T01:20:27","slug":"fairy-propaganda-learning-true-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2020\/02\/fairy-propaganda-learning-true-sight.html","title":{"rendered":"Fairy Propaganda on TV and Learning the True Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the recurring themes on this blog over the past four years or so has been that the Otherworld and various Otherworldly persons are becoming more active in this world.<\/p>\n

At first, those who are more sensitive noticed that the Veil Between the Worlds<\/a> was becoming thin year round, not just at Samhain and Beltane. Then we started having more frequent encounters with what I\u2019ll generically call \u201cfolkloric beings.<\/a>\u201d More recently we\u2019ve seen a huge mainstream interest in occult practices, as illustrated in this article Why Witchcraft Is on the Rise<\/a> from The Atlantic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While I believe this trend is partly a natural, cyclical thing<\/a>, I\u2019m also convinced that certain Otherworldly persons are aware of these cycles and they\u2019re trying to use them to their advantage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next data point in this trend is this piece from Seo Helrune titled Story, Satanic Witches, and Hell(ier)<\/a>. It\u2019s nominally about the TV shows The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina<\/em> and Hellier<\/em>. Mainly, though, Seo Helrune uses some unlikely coincidences in storytelling to illustrate a key point:<\/p>\n

Story doesn\u2019t always come from humans, and sometimes there are non-human hands in the mix.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They go on to say:<\/p>\n

What do \u2018cave goblins\u2019, Irish fairies, and a long-dead Icelandic v\u00f6lva spirit have in common?<\/p>\n

If my sources are correct on this: they have all either historically been interested in modern communications technology and\/or media, have already arguably exerted their influence, or have reportedly expressed an interest in doing so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My own sources are saying much the same things.<\/p>\n

Otherworldly persons are influencing the stories we write, tell, hear, and see. And in at least a few cases, they\u2019re pretty much writing the scripts themselves.<\/p>\n

Why might this be, and what does it mean?<\/p>\n

Fairy propaganda<\/h1>\n

Morgan Daimler and Cliona Arract run a Facebook page titled Fae Propaganda Department<\/a>. They share fairy lore and academic materials, but their main attraction is sharing memes made by na\u00efve people who think fairies are twee: tiny, harmless, and inclined to help humans.<\/p>\n

Our ancestors knew better. We have people saying things like \u201canother Solstice has passed and no one has carried me off to Fairy\u201d \u2013 as though being carried off to Fairy wouldn\u2019t involve an eternity of servitude in the kitchens or stables.<\/p>\n

Are all these memes made by na\u00efve humans? Some of them seem more like traps laid for the unwary. Or as Daimler sometimes says \u201ckelpies gotta eat too.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what of the mainstream interest in mermaids, especially among young girls? Of course the Disney marketing machine deserves much of the credit, motivated entirely by financial reasons. Some of it is mermaids as metaphors for the difficult and unfair expectations our society has for women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cliona Arract runs another Facebook page, this one called Malevolent Mermaids<\/a>. It presents mermaids in their original form \u2013 as fairy beings who lure sailors to their deaths and then eat their hearts. The responses she gets from men proves we have learned nothing since the days when sailing ships would be dashed against the rocks and all aboard drowned.<\/p>\n

As with so much in magical and Otherworldly experiences, what can be written off as coincidence once or twice gets harder to dismiss after multiple encounters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Propaganda is a funny thing. Most people buy it, because it tells them something they want to hear, as in politics and advertising.<\/p>\n

But others see through it.<\/p>\n

Second Sight, First Sight, True Sight<\/h1>\n

When we talk about seeing the things of Fairy, we\u2019re often talking about the \u201csecond sight\u201d \u2013 the rare ability to see Otherworldly persons and things. But author Terry Pratchett (who packed a lot of truth into his fiction) talked about \u201cfirst sight<\/a>\u201d \u2013 the ability to see what\u2019s really there.<\/p>\n

People with a strong first sight can separate facts from opinion and experiences from interpretations of those experiences. They can manage their emotions well enough to see that what\u2019s enraging them is a lie. And if they\u2019re really good, they can see that sometimes, what\u2019s enraging them is the truth.<\/p>\n

I was born with very little second sight but a very strong first sight. That first sight has enabled me to grow my second sight.<\/p>\n

Except, I sometimes wonder if there really is such a thing as second sight or first sight. Perhaps there\u2019s just true sight. Either you see things as they are \u2013 despite how you wish they were, or how others try to convince you they are \u2013 or you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And if you see things as they are, you\u2019re left with a clear conclusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Age of Men is ending<\/h1>\n

In The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, Elrond says \u201cthe time of the Elves is over.\u201d The next age would belong to Men.<\/p>\n

Tolkien\u2019s works are not scripture but they are myths of the highest order \u2013 they\u2019re stories that teach timeless truths. And one truth is that there was a time when humans were simply one mostly-insignificant species among many others.<\/p>\n

Then something changed. Perhaps it was when we developed the capacity for language. I tend to think it was much later, around the time G\u00f6bekli Tepe<\/a> was first built, about 12,000 years ago. Humans began to dominate the planet, and in doing so we started crowding out other species\u2026 and other persons, of which the Fair Folk are one generic grouping.<\/p>\n

Scientists call this post-ice-age period the Holocene, and many say that in our current era of climate change and other human-caused shifts, we\u2019re now living in the Anthropocene<\/a> \u2013 an epoch of humans. They\u2019re not wrong \u2013 not at all.<\/p>\n

But the very changes we\u2019ve caused \u2013 combined with the very long cycles of nature and of magic \u2013 spell the end for the dominion of humans.<\/p>\n

Let me be perfectly clear: I am not saying our species is going extinct, or that civilization is ending, or any of the other apocalyptic scenarios thrown around by people who should know better<\/a>. Climate change will be bad enough without exaggerating its large-scale effects \u2013 it already is.<\/p>\n

But our near-monopoly on the physical world and on our end of the spiritual world is coming to a sudden end. Various persons are battling for supremacy in this new world, and many of them are not human.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re all trying to come out on top.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A time of strange bedfellows<\/h1>\n

The Otherworld is getting closer. Magic is getting stronger. The Age of Humans is declining. And propaganda from the Fair Folk and others is becoming more prevalent. What does all this mean?<\/p>\n

For most people, nothing. If you have neither second sight nor first sight, it\u2019s just a couple of interesting TV shows and a bunch of young women wearing black trying to be edgy. Go on about your business\u2026 but you might want to carry a little iron in your pocket.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s propaganda for the masses is a bright flashing sign for the rest of us.<\/p>\n

This is not the time to be a hermit. This is not the time to try to be \u201cSwitzerland.\u201d Those who fancy themselves Switzerland without Switzerland\u2019s mountains and riches soon find they\u2019re closer to Belgium<\/a>\u2026 and Switzerland has never been as neutral as they claim.<\/p>\n

Seo Helrune advises \u201ccleaving to \u2026 the relationships that have long sustained us\u201d \u2013 our Gods and ancestors. That\u2019s wise counsel at any time, and especially now.<\/p>\n

But some of our allies have rather complicated extended relationships \u2013 the Morrigan and Odin and their \u201chorse trading\u201d are only one example. And some circumstances call for new relationships and new alliances. We may find ourselves working with \u2013 or even for \u2013 persons we\u2019ve always been told to avoid.<\/p>\n

Such are the times in which we live.<\/p>\n

For now, keep working to develop the True Sight\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

This post is written for a very narrow audience. If it doesn\u2019t make sense to you, then it\u2019s not for you and you shouldn\u2019t comment on it. I\u2019ll be very liberal with the delete button, and if necessary, the block button.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Otherworldly persons are influencing the stories we write, tell, hear, and see. And in at least a few cases, they\u2019re pretty much writing the scripts themselves. 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