Otto Greiner (1869–1916), Die Feilbietung (The Sale), 1898. Lithograph, 25 × 20 cm. Public domain.The devil as auctioneer, mankind as eager bidder - Greiner’s vision of damnation is less warning than mirror, a Halloween reminder that we often sell ourselves far too cheaply. Night and day belong together. One can’t savour dawn without knowing what … Continue reading Night and Day: The Devil’s Auction and the Radiant Company
Tag: Christianity
The Girl at the Crossroads: The Legend of Kitty Jay
The wind remembers what the Church forgot. Two for the price of one. Today I managed 2.5k words of my book; today’s project was a sombre one so it’s fitting that I pull out these two old essays and share them with you here. I came upon her grave quite by accident, though I suspect … Continue reading The Girl at the Crossroads: The Legend of Kitty Jay
Ashes of Defiance: Anne Askew and the Fire at Smithfield
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” — Song of Solomon 8:7 History is littered with martyrs, but some rise from the ashes not as mournful relics, but as burning questions. Anne Askew — born in 1521 in Lincolnshire, unwilling wife, unyielding believer, and finally unwilling guest at Smithfield’s stake — … Continue reading Ashes of Defiance: Anne Askew and the Fire at Smithfield
The Devils of Loudun: Possession in the Age of Reasonable Madness
There are two kinds of devilry in this world: the kind that froths and foams in the convent, and the kind that wears a signet ring and drafts policy. Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun is about both — a tale where hysteria kneels before power and calls it holy. I’ve long thought that if Lucifer … Continue reading The Devils of Loudun: Possession in the Age of Reasonable Madness
Imagine: A Hymn to Nothingness
For years I tried to learn and perfect this song on my guitar, and then my piano. That is, until I realised just how useless this song is. It’s become something of a secular hymn, hasn’t it? Imagine — that soft, self-satisfied lullaby for the spiritually sedated. A song so sanctified by sentimentality that to … Continue reading Imagine: A Hymn to Nothingness
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