General Metaphysics

 
Spiritualism and the Rise of the Feminist Movement
 The Victorian Era was a difficult time for women. Legally, their status was essentially chattel property — with husbands (or fathers) as "owners." 19th century America ran on a rigid patriarchal system that suppressed the standards of living, expectations and options available to women. They were second-class citizens, repressed politically, financially,...
The Terror of 50 Berkeley Square
 I learned to read through ghost stories. My late grandmother filled my bookshelves with children’s tomes packed with cartoonish and playful tales of poltergeist activities, long-gone family members, pets returning to the save lives and historical figures cursed to roam the halls and battlefields of their mortal existences. My head would hang over...



A Time Traveller in a 1924 Charlie Chaplin Film?
Jung the Mystic: an Interview with Gary Lachman
 Gary Lachman is the author of several books on the link between consciousness, culture, and alternative thought. His books include Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius; A Secret History of Consciousness; In Search of P.D. Ouspensky; A Dark Muse; Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Thought; and The Dedalus...



Another View of Inception
 Well, I finally saw Inception. I hadn't planned on writing about it, however, as everyone from fanboy to critic to armchair PhD has already weighed in. Still, Christopher Nolan's latest certainly squeezed my mind grapes, so I figured I'd throw some ideas together. ++Dream a Little Dream++ Artists of all kinds have long been fascinated with dreams...
Linkdump: Things Are Not As They Seem
 The Council On Spiritual Practices offers information on psychoactive sacramentals in their Enthogen Project. While the New York Times reports on emerging studies with psychoactives. This is much along the lines of Aldous Huxley's beautiful deathbed experience. Troublesome Creek could be the name of your next band/novel/screenplay. Maybe...



Pseudonyms and Fuzzy Memories
 Over the past two years, I rode the rollercoaster of being a "professional" paranormal investigator. I joined and left three different paranormal groups: one documented in earlier Contrarian posts, and two recent groups where I used a pseudonym and a fabricated personal history in the hopes of hiding from my very "Googleable" existence (19,800 results...
On Sonic Aesthetics and Musical Craft
 This morning I awoke to a head full of thoughts — not an unfamiliar phenomenon, I must say. During coffee, something drew me to an online collection of interview snippets about/with Syd Barrett — the late psych-pop acid casualty and leader of the original Pink Floyd. Actually, I know exactly how I got there — I caught a random blog comment concerning...



Merry Christmas from the Process Church
 The Process Church of the Final Judgment was one of the more enigmatic of the Aquarian-age neo-Jesus cults to bubble up from the psychic well of the 1960s. It is my belief that there are points in history when societal structures — cultural mores, spiritual tenets, control apparatuses — go haywire, resulting in a funhouse reflection of human...
Christmas and the Supernatural
 The paranormal has long played a crucial role in storytelling, even Christmas tales. For proof of this, you only need to turn to one of the most beloved holiday stories of all time: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. For those not privy to cornerstones of Western lit (or suffering from severe amnesia), the book tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge...



Scotch Whisky, Lists & Existential Dread
 Greetings. I trust your Thanksgiving indulgences were agreeable. Now that the tryptophan coma has worn off, we can get back to business. Here's an update about some recent concerns at The Contrarian HQ. Scotch Whisky: I'm learning (or hope to begin learning more) about this magical beverage. I never much cared for Scotch, considering it to be another...
Para-Contrarian Interview #1: Tiffany Smith Johnson
 Today, I would like to begin a new venture with my posts here on The Contrarian — personal interviews. The more contacts I gain in the world of the paranormal, the more I want to spread the wealth to our readers. I have hopes of bringing in interviews with all walks of life in this para-world: television personalities, investigators, forefathers...



Poor Homo Sapiens
 No matter how bizarre/terrible the music in this video is, I find myself agreeing with the general sentiment put forth by "spoken word, poetry, philosopher and performance artist" Copernicus. Happy workweek, humans: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyErfpJRvqo I love it when he starts screaming "the quark is real!" Oh, and what do I need to do to become...
First Contact with a Negative Entity
 Today, I have chosen to reflect on an investigation that my former paranormal group took part in earlier this year. Granted, my former group was one dedicated to discussing their importance and prominence within the paranormal community versus actually doing something in the field — the three total investigations, not created by my own hand,...



Prime Time, but on the Back of a Milk Carton
 For those of you who have been reading my posts, the paranormal television show concept that I have been working on for a few months is in full swing. Filming begins next month on the show — we had our first photo shoot yesterday. All the research has been completed — three months worth. And we have a great cast, crew, and a few industry...