Father’s Day

“Any man can be a father, but it takes a man to be a dad.” – Anne Geddes, Australian photographer.

Tomorrow, June 15, 2025, is celebrated as Father’s Day here in the US. Across the country, fathers will be recipients of cards, mugs, and t-shirts printed with “World’s Best Dad.” 

Honoring ancestors, both living and dead, isn’t new. The ancient Greeks had a practice called Genesia that honored deceased ancestors. Chinese culture has honored ancestors since Neolithic times. Confucianism further reinforced this Chinese tradition. And Abrahamic religions have the famous directive, “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (Ephesians 6:2)

 

Whether or not someone follows the practice of venerating an ancestor is a personal matter. You shouldn’t think that traditions are absolute and binding. The author Eliot Schrefer is credited with writing that “Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people.” 

While there is no mandate for venerating ancestors, there are benefits to the practice if you choose to do so. Respect for others seems to be in short supply. Which is a shame because we all need to be acknowledged for the good that we do. And from my own experience as a father, I know how challenging being a dad can be. 

I’m lucky that I have a great dad. I’m proud to be my father’s son. So, I’m going to honor him this Father’s Day, and I will mean it.

However, not every father deserves to be called “World’s Best Dad.” In fact, some are downright awful. 

Keep in mind I’m not talking about the average father who makes occasional mistakes. Maybe even serious mistakes. We need to remember that no one’s perfect. As the proverb goes, to err is human. I’m talking about the father who leaves a trail of destruction in their wake. 

No one has the right to guilt you or demand that you honor an abusive ancestor. Victims have the right to ignore Father’s Day if they choose. It’s a valid option. 

For those interested, I have some positive alternatives to simply ignoring this day if you wish. 

One option is to turn June 15th into a day of self-care. Go shopping and splurge on yourself. See a movie. Hang out with friends. Whatever you choose to do, make this day about you. 

Another option is to honor someone who deserves it. Skip a generation if you want. Also, you’re not limited to honoring relatives. Ancestors don’t have to be related by blood. I suspect that most of my readers can recall someone from their past who was helpful and kind. Someone that they still look up to and respect. You can use this day to honor them. 

Most importantly, however you handle June 15th, be gentle with yourself.

Note: for an excellent blog post that ties into this topic, I highly recommend “Ancestor Work” by Druid priest John Beckett, posted on April 18, 2021.

A Disturbing Trend

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Isaac Asimov, American author.

There is a trend that I’ve been concerned about for some time. The growing acceptance of political violence by Americans.

The trend appears to have started with the attack on the US Capital by the political Right on January 6, 2021, in an attempted coup to overturn the election. The following year, on October 28, 2022, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic representative Nancy Pelosi, was attacked at their San Francisco home by someone obsessed with Right-Wing conspiracy theories. 

Violence isn’t limited to the political Right. Brian Robert Thompson, the CEO of the American health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York City on December 4, 2024. On December 9, 2024, authorities arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione and charged him with Thompson’s killing. 

Political violence isn’t new to America. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is one example of political violence by the American political Right. The year before, in 1919, anarchists (advocates for a Left-wing ideology) committed a series of bombings in the US. 

What concerns me most about the current trend of American political violence is its growing acceptance. President Trump has openly stated support for the January 6th terrorists and pardoned most. While many on both sides of the aisle criticized the attack on Paul Pelosi, some on the political Right treated it as a joke. The murder of Brian Robert Thompson also drew many criticisms; however, there were a shocking number of people on the political Left who declared the accused Mangione a hero for Thompson’s murder.

One of the prerequisites for eudemonia, an ancient term for a flourishing life, is a society that’s both safe and stable. It’s challenging to live a life that's flourishing when you’re constantly having to watch your back. Violence, if not condemned by society, will likely continue to grow and threaten us all.

The glorification of political violence in America needs to stop.

Nine

“If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you.” - Calvin Coolidge, US President.

Among the various divination methods, I find the tarot to be the most useful. The results I get from it, while sometimes cryptic at first, often provide great insight. 

Contrary to the claims of some, the tarot, while old, isn’t ancient. The tarot cards were created by the 15th-century Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo for the Visconti family of Milan. The cards were initially used for gambling, but since the early nineteenth century, occultists and others have found the tarot rich in symbolism and valuable for spiritual practices, such as divination and exploring deeper esoteric meanings.

In this blog post, I want to explore the role of the number nine in the tarot. 

The number nine applies to two cards of the major arcana of the tarot. The Hermit card is the ninth card in the major arcana. This card represents turning inward toward the unconscious mind.

If we double the number nine, which is a common practice in numerology, the number is eighteen. In the major arcana, the eighteenth card is the Moon. The Moon is an introspective card, just like its predecessor card, the Star. However, while the Star represents inner calm, the Moon card represents fear of the unconscious. The Moon card is the opposite of the wise hermit. It’s the animal side of humans. The Moon card can represent the Shadow Self, which can indeed be most frightening.

When one looks at the minor arcana, number nine is both bad and good. According to Rachel Pollack, author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, in the minor arcana, cards with the nine represent struggle and compromise. The Nine of Wands represents a strong defense arising out of conflict, resulting in someone ready to go on the offensive. In contrast, the Nine of Cups represents using physical indulgences as a defense mechanism to avoid conflict. We might think of these cards as fight-or-flight responses. 

Even constructive solutions have their duality. The Nine of Swords represents extreme pain and worry. In contrast, the Nine of Pentacles represents the enjoyment of the fruits of our labor. These two cards represent the fear of failure and the hope of success. Both of which are present in any endeavor.

Bluesky

“Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies do I see.” – Blue Skies, composed by Irvin Berlin.

Social media is a big part of the modern Internet. Like anything, it evolves over time. 

Recently, there’s been a hard right turn in the evolution of social media platforms such as Facebook and X. And Truth Social was never an option for many of us, including myself. Thankfully, we now have an alternative because a positive new social media platform has arisen. 

Bluesky is my new home on social media. 

Bluesky is owned by Bluesky Social PBC. A PBC is different than your standard corporation. PBC stands for “public benefit corporation.” A public benefit corporation is still a for-profit company that generates profits for shareholders. However, unlike a standard corporation, it’s legally obligated to consider the public good in its decision-making process.

As a user, Bluesky has several advantages over other social media. One is that it’s designed to be decentralized. This means you don’t have a single company or entity controlling the network. This helps to reduce the risk of censorship. Another advantage is that you control the content you see on Bluesky rather than the corporation. This gives you the power rather than the corporation to filter content that goes against your values. But simultaneously, you’re not controlling what the other person posts. 

My Bluesky account is frater-tenebris.bsky.social. Stop by and say hello.

Chi

I recently watched a documentary by Lucasfilm titled Medicine in the Middle Kingdom. The subject of the film was Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The documentary was fascinating. It was respectful of TCM while at the same time avoiding the New Age nonsense so typical in the West. Nor was it full of the crass skepticism one finds so often. The interviews with Western scholars pointed out that TCM shows some effectiveness, even if they’re not exactly sure what is happening.

One of the many intriguing comments made in the documentary was about the Western understanding of Chi. Ted Kaptchuk, the Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard University, and the author of The Web That has no Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine, stated that translating Chi as ‘Life Force’ is incorrect because Chi is present in all phenomena, not just the living. Instead, according to Kaptchuk, “Chi is a statement of interconnectedness.” He went on to say that Chi is seen in TCM as an active part of a ‘Dynamic Harmony’ and therefore viewed as essential.

Here in the West, we’re beginning to better understand the world’s interconnectedness. The world’s ecosystem is often compared to a spiderweb, where pulling on one thread impacts another. Just like disrupting a thread on a spiderweb can cause it to become unstable, a disruption to the interconnectedness of bodily functions can set up illness.

While Western science is a powerful tool, Traditional Chinese Medicine has much to offer.

Facebook Problems

Dear Readers,
My Facebook page is currently down. I will continue posting here as a I work to resolve the issue with Facebook.
 

Thank you for your patience,
Frater Tenebris

Thought Experiments

Thought experiments have been around for ages and are powerful tools. The online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines thought experiments as “…devices of the imagination. They are employed for various purposes such as entertainment, education, conceptual analysis, exploration, hypothesizing, theory selection, theory implementation, etc. Some applications are more controversial than others.”

Recently, I came across an interesting blog by Adarsh Badri. On April 13, 2023, they posted “15 Philosophical Thought Experiments That Will Definitely Blow Your Mind.” The post includes “The Ship of Theseus,” “The Prisoner's Dilemma,” “The Trolley Problem,” and more. They briefly describes the scenario of each, what philosophical issues are explored, and a summary of its challenges. 

I think Badri provides an excellent service by posting these thought experiments. You should hang out on his blog after reading his post. It’s a good read.