Essays, Blogs, & Commentary
Close reading for the whole humanities stack: literature, theology, language history, myth, film, and music. We trace symbols, etymology, archetypes, and cultural echoes — from Milton's Satan to rock music to Jane Austen.
Browse 20+ blogs, essays, and long-form pieces built to give teachers, readers, and curious insomniacs better context than a plot summary alone.
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Germanic Peoples and Corded Ware (Video Review)
Article review of the 'Origins of the Germanic People' video from Fortress of Lugh discussing etymology, the Corded Ware culture, and the origns of Germanic peoples in Bronze Age Europe.
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Kant's Ethics and Critique of Pure Reason
Overview of Immanuel Kant's life growing up in Prussia, his theories on 'pure' reason, and the categorical imperative.
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Norupo (ᚾᚩᚱᚢᛈᚩ): Das norwegische Runengedicht in Heilungs Stimme
Was „Norupo" aus dem Norwegischen Runengedicht übernimmt, warum es ein Jüngeres-Futhark-Alphabetgesang ist und wie jeder Runenname auf konkrete, alte Vorstellungen verweist—Vieh und Wohlstand, Hagel und Härte, Eibe und Ausdauer.
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Norupo (ᚾᚩᚱᚢᛈᚩ): The Norwegian Rune Poem in Heilung's Voice
What 'Norupo' adapts from the Norwegian Rune Poem, why it's a Younger Futhark alphabet chant, and how each rune name points to concrete, old ideas—cattle and wealth, hail and hardship, yew and endurance.
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Collective Consciousness: God as Memeplex
God is the memeplex encoding of a coalition's sacred values, rules, narratives, and enforcement mechanisms. Multiple coalitions ⇒ multiple gods. Secular ideologies (Nation, Rights, Science, Progress) are successor memeplexes occupying the same coordination niche.
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Witches in Film: A Complete Symbolic Guide to Argento's Suspiria (1977)
Argento's Suspiria (1977) decoded for Halloween: a 13-part guide to its witchcraft system—architecture, color, gaze, and Goblin's score—plus Freiburg's lore, Disney inversions, and the Three Mothers cosmology.
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Pejoration vs. Amelioration in English: Churl, Knight, Queen & Quean (with the 1066 split)
How English words change status over time — why some fall (pejoration) while others rise (amelioration). Case studies: churl/knight, knave, lady, queen/quean, and the Norman Conquest split between French prestige and English 'low' register.
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The Devil's Advocate (1997): Supernatural Field Guide + Temptation Archetypes from Milton to Goethe
A spoiler-light theological analysis of The Devil's Advocate (1997): its supernatural cues, Mary Ann Lomax's archetype, and how Pacino's tempter echoes Milton's Satan and Goethe's Mephistopheles.
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From 'manu' to 'vir' and 'anthropos': How Indo-European Languages Say 'Human' vs. 'Male'
A clear, comparative guide to the Indo-European words for 'human' and for 'male', from Proto-Indo-European through Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic.
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Etymology of Indo-European Colors
How Indo-European color words evolved: blue via Arabic and Frankish, orange via the fruit, yellow/green's ghel- blur, red's reudh- vs. kras-, and black/white from bhel-.
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Pakikisama Meaning in Tagalog: Why 'Going Along' Matters in Filipino Culture
A clear explanation of pakikisama in Filipino culture — why 'going along' to keep harmony is praised, why being 'walang pakikisama' is social death, and why Westerners often get tagged as rude or uncooperative.
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Rammstein's Zeit and the Five Stages of Grief
An analysis of Rammstein's 2022 album Zeit, read through the lens of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, and their ultimate acceptance of death itself.
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Leute, люди (ljudi) und Liberty: Eine gemeinsame indogermanische Wurzel
Deutsch 'Leute', russisch 'люди' (ljudi) und englisch 'liberty' gehen auf die indogermanische Wurzel leudh- 'Leute/Freie' zurück — keine Entlehnung, sondern echte Kognaten.
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Leute, люди (ljudi), and Liberty: A Shared Indo-European Root
German 'Leute', Russian 'люди' (ljudi), and English 'liberty' all trace back to the Indo-European root leudh- 'people/free men'—not a loanword, rather true cognates.
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Heilung Krigsgaldr Liedtext (auf Deutsch): Analyse und Bedeutung
Heilung — Krigsgaldr (auf Deutsch): Musikvideo, Analyse des Eggja-Runensteins, Zeile-für-Zeile-Übersetzung ins Deutsche sowie Hintergrund zu Runen und Galdr.
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Heilung Krigsgaldr Lyrics: Deep-Dive into Heilung - Krigsgaldr Meaning
Heilung's 'Krigsgaldr' explained with music video context, line-by-line lyrics meaning, Old Norse rune sources like the Eggja stone, and how reconstructed ritual vocals echo Iron Age magic traditions.
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Diskarte in English: Understanding the Filipino Concept of Madiskarte
Discover the true meaning of 'madiskarte' in Filipino culture, its Tagalog origins, and the best English translations for this clever, resourceful life skill.
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ChatGPT Conversation: Do Boomers 'Crash Out' When They Hear Zoomer Slang?
Why Gen Z slang like 'crash out' confuses Boomers, how each generation hears disrespect vs. realism, and what this clash says about attention, anxiety, and online culture.
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What Language is Spoken in Bangkok? Thai, English, and Other Languages Explained
Which language people actually speak in Bangkok: Thai vs. English in daily life, how dialect and script work, and what visitors should expect.
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Heilung's 'Alfadhirhaiti': An Invocation of the All-Father
Heilung's ritual chant 'Alfadhirhaiti' — a modern reconstruction of Proto-Germanic invocations to Odin. How ancient runes, throat-singing, and recreated Iron-Age instrumentation combine in a trance-inducing ceremony of Norse spirituality.
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Tracing the Origins of East Asian Languages: Linguistics, Genetics, and Ancient DNA
How linguistic reconstruction, population genetics, and ancient DNA inform the origins and divergence of East Asian language families like Sino-Tibetan, Kra-Dai, Transeurasian, Japonic, and Koreanic.
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Heilung's 'Traust' Explained: Lyrics, Meaning, and Ancient Germanic Ritual Magic
Heilung's 'Traust' through Old Norse spells, the Merseburg Incantations, and Germanic protective magic. Includes translation, ritual context, and how the song adapts Iron Age healing and battle charms.
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The Ritual Soundscape of Heilung's 'Asja'
An in-depth breakdown of Heilung's 'Asja' — a Proto-Germanic reconstructed ritual chant invoking protection, love, and spiritual resonance through ancient language and sound, plus the Heilung lyrics and English translation.
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How Social Media, LLMs, and Rage Bait Rewire the Human Brain
How modern social platforms, outrage loops, and LLM-personalized content quietly retrain emotion, attention, and political identity through dopamine and neural reinforcement.
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Proto-Germanic '-az' Suffix Origin and Etymology
The origins and evolution of the Proto-Germanic '-az' suffix, its Indo-European background, and how it survives in modern Germanic languages.
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Tagalog (Filipino) Etymology and Historical Overview
Tagalog's roots from Austronesian to Hokkien, Spanish, and English influence. How trade, colonization, and cultural mixing shaped modern Filipino.