Forthcoming in March 2015: "The Serpent and its Priest", a new annotated
translation of the 2000 years old satire "The Pseudomancer" by Lucian
of Samosata. This is the extraordinary historic record that inspired our
"Romanike" novels: How Alexander of Abonuteichus, the Rasputin of the
ancient world, founded a religious order that deceived even the emperors
of Rome and how one sceptic, Lucian, tried to unmask his fraud.
Read more about Glycon, Alexander's man-headed serpent god, on these blog entries:
"Present-day skeptics are fond of presenting their kind of thinking as
the latest thing, a relatively new invention that was developed only
with the struggle and sacrifice of freethinkers and scientists during
the Enlightenment. However, the writings of Lucian of Samosata, who lived in present-day Syria nearly two thousand years ago, show that the skill skeptical inquiry is quite ancient.
Lucian writes of the popular god Glycon,
a god who was said to have descended from the heavens to take on the
earthly form of a snake. That snake was held in the arms of Alexander of
Abonoteichus, who was said to have discovered him. Upon hearing of the
wonders of Glycon, who was said to have been able to heal the sick and
raise the dead, Lucian went himself to see what it was all about."
Read more: Ancient Skepticism and the Snake God Glycon
"Human existence requires the suspension of disbelief. Sure she loves
you. Of course the boss values your contribution. Your children aren’t
little savages. And if you work hard enough, someday your genius will
be recognized. Or maybe you’re just born, muddle through life, and die,
and no matter what miraculous feats you’ve accomplished and Sisyphean
tasks you’ve somehow triumphed over, in a few thousand years you will be
unknown and unmourned. But that’s just plain boring. Suck it up
cowboy, and make some noise. Invent a new philosophy. Start a
revolution. Write a timeless song. Finish that heartbreaking novel.
Or, if you’re feeling edgy like the Greek prophet Alexander of
Abonutichus (105-170 A.D.), make yourself a hand puppet and declare it a
god. It’s bold. It’s ironic. It worked for Jim Henson. After all,
if Fozzie Bear has not yet been nominated for sainthood, it is no doubt
merely an oversight by the beatification committee. Or perhaps he’s
Protestant. Some sins are just unforgivable. There were a lot of
philosophies and theologies indolently laying about the Greco-Roman
World in at the opening of the 2nd Century A.D, but Alexander
of Abonutichus’ cult of the snake god Glycon achieved stunning
popularity given its foundation in puppetry. ..."
Read more: Muppet Theology
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