When in China, a TV program caught my attention, that focused on demystifying myths. It was about the cultural belief that there are some village women, who are usually very ugly or beautiful, who are witches. The show tells of a case of a guy, who spoke to a woman, who passed him some food. [...]

Saw a modern gangland movie version’s retelling of Macbeth, which I studied in school years ago… A case of listening to witches’ hearsay (or heresy?), hearing only what he wanted to hear, his heart’s desires spelled out, trapping and tripping himself with over-confidence. Did the witches tell his inevitable future, or did he make his [...]

A short review of the movie ‘DMC (Detroit Metal City)’: Acting as a demon from hell, and singing the dark and profane, he unexpectedly draws legions of fans. Yet, what he wanted to do was to sing sweet songs of hope, and gives up his unworldly fame. Upon realising the power of his reach, of how [...]

‘The Others’ present a taut horror story of the extremes of demonisation (without demonic ‘demons’). The protagonists, whose roles we always play to ourselves too see demonise strange happenings in the house to be due to restless spirits and become jumpy. Yet, it turned out that they are the haunting ones, who are making the [...]

From the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln260/Vimalakirti.htm) are lesser known but some very surprising and illuminating teachings: ‘… Then the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the patriarch Mahakasyapa, “Reverend Mahakasyapa, the Maras who play the devil in the innumerable universes of the ten directions are all bodhisattvas dwelling in the inconceivable liberation, who are playing the devil [...]

In the movie ‘The Cave’, a parasite takes upon host humans, gradually taking over their bodies and minds entirely. A team of deep cave divers realise their leader was infected by this parasite, when they got trapped in a deep underwater cave. It made me wonder whether I’m a parasite for others or do I [...]

Language is an interesting tool. As much as it expresses, it can also limit… when words seem to be in want to say what you really want to say. As Alan Wallace mentioned recently, language can illuminate or obscure experience. Just because there is no word for guilt in Tibetan, doesn’t mean Tibetans never experience [...]

Best words of wisdom from the third Shrek movies, by Arty: Just because people treat you like a villain, or an ogre or just some loser doesn’t mean you are one. What matters most is what you think of yourself. If there’s something you really want, or someone you want to be, the only person [...]

A deal with the ‘devil’ appears good, so that it will be tempting enough to sign it, but will never come to any long-term good, because it is a deal with the ‘devil’ after all, with the ‘devil’ in the missed details, the fine print of guaranteed long-term harm. Any agreement with your inner demons [...]

‘A Serious Man’ is a seriously quirky yet enjoyable award-winning black comedy that centres on the nature of faith in a man’s life, which became chaotic in multiple ways for no apparent cause on his part – despite trying his best to be a ‘serious man’. Here is some of its dialogue and comments on [...]

A Tit for a Tat (75) Tit: What is that suspicious-looking cat doing? Tat: Looking at us suspiciously! Tit: Is it because he thinks we are suspicious? Tat: Or is because he is guilty of something? Tit: How would I know? Tat: So should we look suspiciously at him? Tit: But that might make him [...]

In ‘Hellboy: Darkness Calls’ by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fregredo, Igor Weldon Bromhead invokes the demonic Ilsa Haupstein, binding her to his command. Knowing that name gives him power over her. I used to be fascinated by the concept how naming the evil is able bring about control of the named. Here is how it [...]

From ‘X-Men: Messiah Complex’ by Ed Brubaker et al, are these files by Cyclops – File 27: The X-Men – The X-Men have always defended both mutants and humans, so that humans could see that, like them, there were good mutants, as well as bad… Comments: As many X-Men fans know, the ongoing theme of [...]

In the movie ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’, it was suggested to Saya (the half-vampire human) by her teacher that (vampirical) demons have no souls (in the sense that they have no conscience and are thus not redeemable or worth sparing), that ‘heaven’ put them in our world to test our virtues. Now, how virtuous can such [...]

After collecting about a dozen ‘Batman Black & White’ statues, which are released periodically into the market, I decided to give up. Okay, lest you mistaken, these are really statues worthy of showcasing – individually hand-painted porcelain ones – not tiny plastic action figures. They cost about SDG$100 each. I started collecting them because they [...]