Large Fierce Mammal

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My grandfather survived “The Great War” and before leaving England married Violet Axtle of Surrey. The two returned to Canada, briefly residing in East Chester before moving to Montreal where they started their family of six, an even mix of girls and boys. The second youngest was my mother, Evelyn.

46 years old when the second phase of “The Great War” cranked up in 1939, my grandfather lied about his age and successfully rejoined the army. The picture at left shows both sides of a post card sent to him by my grandmother after his deployment to England. While my mother had already been born at this point, my grandfather’s survival was still of significance to the direction of this story. (more…)

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.”  ~ Zen saying

Much has been written about what people believe in. This article is exclusively about something my life experience has led me not to believe in – coincidence. Too many times I have found myself, through a seemingly random sequence of events and apparently capricious decisions, at a place and at a time where I was obviously supposed to be.

Divine intervention? Destiny? Kharma? Every system of belief, ancient or modern, abandoned or currently adhered to, has its own descriptives but whatever you call it, observant, thinking people throughout human history have always been aware that many things don’t simply “happen”. So, dear reader, to illustrate my point, I offer you the story of a very important Snowflake. (more…)

Yesterday, Mrs. LFM was able to capture an amazing phenomenon – that with his magick ball in his teeth, our dog Milo can fly!

Click the picture and experience more of the magick!

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Today marks the second anniversary of the best, brightest, and most perfect thing I have ever done in my life – on this day in 2008, my perfect Mate and I joined with a select few in a ritual that bestowed upon us the treasured titles of Husband and Wife. This Hallowe’en dark sentiment is dark in the sense that I talked about on Day 28. Take a moment to revisit that and then come back here. I’ll wait.

A year ago I posted an article titled Observations of a Blessed Man that likewise commemorated the magickal day Mrs. LFM became Mrs. LFM, and talked about how every tiny aspect of the process was effortless and perfect. Effortless and perfect in that way that speaks of deeper meanings than those that simply spring from flesh, blood, and lust. (more…)

WARNING: Links contained in this article will take you to EXTREMELY ADULT websites that may be disturbing to some readers.

The taking captive of another human being for the purpose of doing with them anything your little heart desires is a recurring theme in history. Torture, running the full gamut from titillation to full on state sponsored activities done in the name of the so called war on terror, is as big today as it ever was while the Grand Inquisition was in business. Tonight’s dark sentiment is about torture’s dark allure. We’re as entertained by it today as we ever were watching it done as a public spectacle in ancient history.

What is it that makes seemingly ordinary, balanced people derive pleasure – even sexual arousal – from having another person under their complete control? Being able to make them feel any sensation at a whim for as long or short a time as the captor desires? To be honest, I don’t care, because the phenomenon is so evenly distributed throughout the global population that I chalk it up to whatever passes for normal wherever I’m standing at the moment. (more…)

A picture from one of my favourite children’s books that regularly gave me nightmares.

Mrs. LFM here this evening. My Mate has granted me the honour of doing a guest post to share my love of dark entertainment.

I was introduced to dark stories at a very early age. I thrived on them. Happy endings were for wussies, I liked ’em bleak and dreary. My initiation into that world was with stories like The Little Mermaid, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Little Match Girl. Many of the original tales of Hans Christian Anderson, Grimm’s brothers and contemporaries are surprisingly dark for today’s sensibilities. If you don’t know what I mean, you must have been fed a Disney childhood where life is all roses and rainbows. The Little Mermaid did not marry the beloved prince that she gave up so much for. She was unable to communicate her feelings to him and was turned into foam on the sea. I won’t ruin the endings of the others if you aren’t familiar with them, but I will provide some links at the end of this post. I invite you all to go out and introduce yourselves to the proper endings of those great fairy tales, and share them with your children. (more…)

“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” ~ C. S. Lewis

Throughout this series I’ve applied the title of  “dark sentiment” to a variety of emotions, events, human acts, portrayals, and situations. Tonight we’ll talk about the darkest sentiment of all – True Love.

True Love is the darkest of sentiments both because it has the power to motivate those blessed enough to be possessed by it to the performance of feats that are incomprehensible to the great unwashed, and because, in its truest form, it does not exist to most of the world. In that, it is truly dark because True Love is only understood by the few who are granted its epiphany by the Gods. I speak in absolutes here because I, and my beloved Mrs. LFM, are so possessed. (more…)

Some sentiments are dark because they come of ignorance which is the darkest sentiment of all. Remember the words spoken to Ebenezer Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Present when the spirit exposed the two wretched, grasping urchins huddled beneath his robes, “This boy is Ignorance, this girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” What follows is all about doom spawned of ignorance.

Tonight’s Dark Sentiment is a Swedish/Danish silent film production titled Häxan, written and directed by Danish film director, screen writer, actor of film and stage, Benjamin Christensen. Häxan was made in 1922 and subsequently reproduced in a number of iterations for worldwide distribution, including one shortened version narrated by William S. Burroughs who really should never have thought of quitting his day job. That version postures to a degree that changes the film’s intent and does not do the original production justice. This presentation is the full bodied subtitled version. (more…)

The darkest sentiments don’t come from the realm of the supernatural, the outer limits, or the twilight zone. They spring from the human mind where all things truly diabolical are born. Today I’m presenting a short film titled Neighbours by Norman McLaren that was produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1952. The film itself is not diabolical. Keep reading, and then watch.

The film you are about to see won a Canadian Film Award, as well as being nominated for an Academy Award in the Short Subject (One Reel) and Best Documentary (Short Subject) categories. Interestingly, it won its Oscar in the latter, resulting in a press release from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences describing it as, “… among a group of films that not only competed, but won Academy Awards in what were clearly inappropriate categories.” (more…)

Artist Ray Villafane lives in northern Michigan with his wife and six children. Among other noteworthy accomplishments, he is famous for his pumpkin carving, and today I’m presenting a selection of seasonally appropriate creations that struck me as having come from the darker part of his soul.

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