The International Necronautical Society
From the International Necronautical Society‘s Manifesto (1999):
Philosophy
Accept death, embrace life.
Light a candle. Watch the flame for a while. Feel its heat, then blow it out. Watch the smoke drift away. Look at the blackened wick. That is birth, life, death, and non-existence. If you re-light the candle, that’s a new life; the original flame exists only in memory. Now remember the smoke and consider … Read moreAccept death, embrace life.
“As If”
Sam Dresser writes for Aeon: Two puny words shoulder a substantial, if diffuse, philosophical outlook: as if. Epicurus was perhaps the first to put this unexceptional construction to good use. He felt that life was about attaining whatever passing happiness we might find, while avoiding as much pain and suffering as we can. In neither … Read more“As If”
“You, author of life, let hope be your final loss. Anything can be.”
Poetic graffiti found on a bridge railing in Chicago’s Humboldt Park.
“If I die young”, by Fernando Pessoa
If I die young, Without having been able to publish a book, Without having seen how my verses look in print, I ask those who would protest on my account That they not protest. If so it will have happened, then so it should be. Even if my verses are never published, They will have … Read more“If I die young”, by Fernando Pessoa
“We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose”
Alexis Shotwell writes for Psyche on Ursula K. LeGuin’s practical philosophy:
“Tuesday” (2024)
Recommended viewing. There hasn’t been a new addition to the canon for quite a while; this movie qualifies.
“No-one Gets Out of Here Alive” (The Emerald)
Josh Schrei offers a beautiful spoken word meditation on the meanings of death and life.
“Metamodernism and Poetic Faiths”
In connection with the launch of Poetic Faiths: New Religions and Rituals as Works of Living Art, here’s my recent conversation with Metamodern Meaning luminary Brendan Graham Dempsey. We discuss the Poetic Faith ethos from a variety of perspectives, the structure and aims of the anthology, my own practice of the Mysterium as an example … Read more“Metamodernism and Poetic Faiths”