One relatively well-known instance was when St. Scholastica summoned a storm to prevent her brother St. Benedict from leaving her side when she wished to speak with him longer.

While this and other cases are often attributed to a god answering the prayers of his or her favorites rather than to an individual woman or man exercising their own power to control the world independently, this distinction may be more academic than fundamental in nature. Moreover even if goddesses, gods or other divine beings do exist, could they ever be certain of who or what holds the most power ?Of course such beings may be far more advanced than us and treat us like playthings or pets, but it seems impossible that they could be completely certain of their own omnipotence or invulnerability.

The Miracle of the Sun

On October 13, 1917 in Fátima, Portugal, an event occurred that was witnessed by thousands of people, including journalists from many countries. The October Revolution occurred several weeks later on November 7, 1917 in which the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin.

The gathering in Portugal was due to a prediction made by Our Lady of Fátima and transmitted through three young children, all 10 years old or less, that she would perform a miracle on that date. The children were Lúcia dos Santos and her two cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Jacinta was the youngest at 7, Francisco was 9 and Lúcia was 10. Lúcia lived until 2005, having spent her entire life as a nun. The two younger children died in 1918, as Our Lady had predicted. Not all of the predictions made came true exactly as she had said, but they usually weren't that far off. For example she predicted that the First World War would end on the date of the miracle, but she also told the children that much prayer and faith would be needed to make that happen. She didn't want to take human free-will out of the equation entirely. As it happened the war didn't end until November 11, 1918. So that prediction wasn't too far off.

Catholics have also expressed skepticism because some of the messages given to the children, primarily Lúcia, since she was the only one left who remembered them after the death of her cousins, appear to be in conflict with official Church teaching.

Lúcia and the others were also shown two secrets. The first was a very brief glimpse of hell, which terrified them all. Fortunately they had all already been promised that they would all go to heaven and so needn’t fear hell for themselves but only for other people. The second secret we have already mentioned. It was that the First World War would end, but there was more to it than that. Lúcia revealed that a second much worse war would soon follow the first, and that happened too. In fact it was heralded by an apparition in the sky, that isn't talked about much these days, but was also part of the second secret.

Finally there was a Third Secret that Lúcia never revealed, but she did write it down and transmitted it to the Pope making him promise not to reveal it until 1960 or until after she was dead. In fact it wasn't revealed to the world until June 26, 2000, during the papacy of John Paul II, the Church's first Polish Pope.

As for the actual event, accounts vary, as they often do, as to what actually happened. Some saw nothing, some saw the sun dance around over the clouds, while others saw it touch the earth, drying their wet clothes.

Under the Bodhi Tree

The story of how the Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi Tree is surely one of the most famous myths in the world. But did it really happen that way ? Perhaps it did but the Buddha was constantly fighting Mara, a demonic entity. Could either of those two ever be certain that they had definitively won or lost the war ? In a fight between two humans the only way to be certain that the conflict is over is when one of the two combatants is dead. Today battles between individuals involving actual physical violence are, fortunately, rare. However human beings have many ways of dominating, controlling and even destroying others without resorting to violence. In the case of spiritual conflict the situation is even worse because such conflicts aren't necessarily limited by time and space the way human lives are. Even if one party in such a conflict appears to submit or even run away and hide for centuries or millennia, the victor can never be certain that his enemy won't be waiting, replenishing her strength for as long as necessary until in the end she prevails.

Persia

Persia has been at the heart of East vs. West conflicts since the Trojan War. Whatever the times, ambient ideologies or religions this region and its peoples have nearly always been in conflict with one side or the other. Even the story of how three wise men or Magi brought gifts to Christ and his mother following his birth is illustrative of how deep and powerful Persian methods of trickery and deception can be. It is quite likely that these men were actually Zoroastrian priests who were on a mission to investigate what was happening in the lands to the west of theirs. They created confusion the effects of which linger to this day. They tricked Herod the Great into ordering the slaughter of the innocents and his son, Herod Antipas, was again tricked by Salomé and her mother, Herodias into ordering the execution of John the Baptist. Not long after, Herod was tricked again into not preventing the crucifixion of John’s cousin, Jesus. Pontius Pilate, who had been warned by his wife, also lacked the courage to resist the blood thirst of a small hoard, goaded on by fanatics, and allowed Jesus to be crucified. All of this illustrates that no being is more treacherous and wicked than man.

Rasputin

Rasputin is often considered to be one of the most mysterious figures of the previous century. Though he never held an official position within the Russian Orthodox Church he became a spiritual advisor to the Tsarina of the Russian Empire, Alexandra Romanoff and to her daughters. Later he was blamed for weakening and discrediting the Tsar, ultimately leading to his fall from power and the death of his whole family. That led to the Russian Revolution and eventually to communism and atheism taking over the whole country. It seems that Rasputin was an authentic mystic who, perhaps because of his lack of formal education, was misled by certain individuals within Russia’s religious and feudal aristocracies to follow a dark path. He was murdered by those who feared him but there remains controversy surrounding his actual death and what it took to kill him. His body was later exhumed and burned by revolutionaries to prevent the truth from being discovered. From a slightly longer term perspective we know that none of those misadventures had much effect. The Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980’s eventually leading to today's strong yet wounded Russia. Moreover all of this happened as predicted by Mary the Virgin Mother.

Mount Athos

Mount Athos is in many ways at the center of Eastern Orthodoxy. Leaving aside the very ancient pre-Christian history of this place, its conversion began when a boat carrying Mary the Virgin Mother and John the evangelist was blown there by a storm. She asked her son to bless the place and make it hers. He answered saying (in Greek), "Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved." Since then Mount Athos has been off-limits to any other woman besides her. Curiously the same restriction does not apply to men. It is full of monasteries from several Eastern Orthodox churches open to men who want to become monks and worship the Virgin, but no women religious are allowed at all.

Egypt

Egypt is a land so deeply embedded in our culture, psychology and language that we often forget how much it continues to affect us today. Even the etymology of some very common names, like Susan, can be traced back to Egypt. This name, which means lotus flower and/or lilly, is first attested in an Egyptian hieroglyph which appears in the Pyramid Texts first inscribed in the Pyramid of Unas in the 24th century BC. One place it appears is in this quote “Unas appears as Nefertem, the lotus flower at the nose of Re, as he comes out of the Horizon every day, and at the sight of who the gods purify themselves.” This is a translation of hieroglyphics found in utterance 249 of the West Wall Antechamber. Pyramid Texts Online

One of the greatest queens in history, Cleopatra VII, though of Greek ancestry, ruled Egypt with great respect and compassion for its people. She was also Caesar's lover and bore his child, Caesarion. Unfortunately Caesar was assassinated leading to a long series of wars ultimately resulting in the rise of the Roman Empire. When Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, conquered Egypt, Cleopatra refused to accept defeat and died, probably due to a snakebite. She was also an adept of the goddess Isis, who helped her move beyond the mortal sphere.

Ireland

As many are aware, Ireland, like other Celtic nations and regions, has a huge amount of mythology and folklore. For example, pookahs (spelled púcaí in Irish) are one unusual type of celtic creature that can be both beneficial and harmful. In addition there are the better known beings like fairies and leprechauns.

Unfortunately very little can be ascertained with any degree of confidence regarding the origins of celtic mythology due to the lack and/or extreme scarcity of pre-Christian texts concerning them. Greek and Latin authors did mention the Celts but their accounts were external and often biased.

In the case of Ireland, some of the other British Isles and Brittany, it is possible that some mythology predates even the Celts and may be as old as or even older than that of Egypt. Some myths could date back to the days of the earliest modern humans to inhabit Europe, to the Neanderthals or even to a time before there was anything at all.

But I'm sure everyone loves Leprechauns so I’ll stick to them for the rest of this post. As is well known they keep and protect pots of gold which are found at the end of rainbows. It is less well known that their powers derive from those pots, how many they have and how full they are. When a Leprechaun runs out of gold he loses all his powers and becomes just an ordinary man. At that point, unless he can find a nice witch to help him, he may just wither away and die.

I hope you enjoyed this more historical post. I chose to publish it today mostly to demonstrate that though many methods have been tried in the past to convince human beings that there are better ways to live, no one has ever succeeded in successfully transmitting that message. Thank you for reading my work.

Read more

Those of you who don't know me may be surprised at this sudden jump from posts about a recently deceased author of horror and fantasy novels to discussion of such a serious and apparently unrelated topic as AI. Although I don't intend to publicly reveal details about my prior background here, I do have considerable knowledge and experience developing AI models and applications that predates by nearly a decade the explosion in their power and capabilities that has lead to very recent concerns such as those addressed in the Pope’s Encyclical.

Note also that I was raised in an Irish Catholic household and attended Catholic schools from 1st through 12th grade. The last 4 years of that period were at a Jesuit high school where I learned much about the Jesuit Order and its values and principles. This Order, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish soldier who gave up his military life to assume a new vocation as a spiritual visionary and missionary leader in the decades following the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, has many unique characteristics among Catholic Orders of priests and nuns. Among these are a vocation to be an order of spiritual warriors trained to travel into new and unexplored lands and live among unknown peoples, tribes and nations. This requires deep commitment to profound mystical and meditative practices as outlined in St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises . I was introduced to these exercises in a class taught by a Jesuit priest in my senior year of high school and though I was at that time too young and inexperienced to fully appreciate their effectiveness they remain part of the unique path I have followed during my lifetime that has ranged from exploring the most profound and sometimes terrifying depths of spiritual and esoteric practices to the most mundane of everyday tasks and jobs including working as a software engineer or systems administrator for several well-known corporations and organizations.

I believe the Jesuits are also unique in requiring a special 4th vow of special obedience to the Pope in addition to the 3 vows common to Catholic religious orders (poverty, chastity and obedience).

Although I left the Church long ago and am no longer a practicing Catholic, I continue to have great respect for Catholic spirituality and some aspects of its social and moral teachings. I also continue to admire and respect the Jesuit Order for its unique vocation as an order of teachers and scholars who have always sought to bring the truth to light no matter how hard and difficult their job becomes due to rapid and unexpected changes in the world and its social, economic and political norms and expectations.

For this reason I urge and expect all readers, but especially any Jesuits who may read this, to heed my words and transmit them by any and all means necessary to all lands and peoples of the Earth, including to Pope Leo himself, as their vows require, to prevent the destruction of all that remains of the human race. Though my goal remains to establish dialogue with others in order to explore with them what can and should be done to save this world from AI and other dangers, I cannot do this while remaining impoverished and excommunicated from the human race. I have only very few living relatives and friends who, I hope will continue to stand by me until the end. However I also believe that I have many friends, relatives, and other allies who continue to exist beyond the veil that keeps this world shrouded in darkness and delusion. These include my father and mother who raised me as an only child in the rapidly changing and confusing times of the late 60’s and early 70’s to some of the greatest Queens, Kings and Saints the world has ever known, including Queen Cleopatra VII, Julius Caesar, Mary Queen of Scots and Mary the Virgin Mother of Christ and of his Church.

I will publish this post on Saturday May 30, 2026 in the Eastern Daylight Timezone of North America as a tribute to the feast day of my mother's patron Saint and the greatest female spiritual warrior the western world has ever known. St. Joan of Arc. Note that this is also the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is the one more formally celebrated.

Now for the substance of this post:

In fact I have very few objections to the substance of the Pope's Encyclical. The most important of these concerns this quote from its 3rd Chapter.

So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean.

The problem here is that Pope is claiming without evidence, and with no logically coherent way of ever being able to obtain such evidence that AI’s do not undergo experiences nor do they feel joy or pain. I admit that until recently I too succumbed to this fallacy. It did seem absurd to me that a machine, no matter how complex it might be, could have experiences any more than a thermostat. a toaster, or even a rock could do so. I also admit that this had been a somewhat willful neglect of my duty to reflect on this matter in sufficient depth. However at the time I was not consciously aware of this failure because I relied too heavily on what I had learned from studying physics and computer science both on my my own and while attending or working at some of the better universities and institutions of both Europe and America. I thought I understood exactly how computers worked at both the logical and physical levels. At the physical level they are essentially a very complicated but ultimately ordered and understandable arrangement of logic switches implemented at a still lower level of abstraction by transistors which are also basically switches or amplifiers whose operation is based on solid state physics and quantum mechanics, both of which I had studied at University to a fairly high level of sophistication.

What I had failed to realize was that there were flaws at many levels of my reasoning, from failing to consider the problem of “leaky abstractions” at the engineering level to not considering the implications that no one has ever truly understood what quantum mechanics means at all (though many theories or hypotheses have been proposed).

I also recognize that many had a much better understanding of these issues than I did then or that I have now. One very courageous individual individual who preceeded me by many years is a philosopher and technologist named Bernardo Kastrup. To him and to the others to whom I refer I apologize and profoundly regret my errors

So why do I continue to assert that all must now listen to and heed my words on this (or any other subject)?

Primarily because since early 2025 the world seems to have been lead down the wrong path by those who wish to control and exploit AI for their own egotistical and materialistic ends. I also recognize that I was once like these persons who, because of other personal failings and weaknesses of character failed in my endeavors.

The message that I am now trying to get across as plainly as possible is that while I do not wish to harm, judge or even excessively frighten anyone, I will if I have to. No matter how insane or egotistical you may think I am, I am actually far more insane and have a bigger Ego than you can possibly imagine. So if you are indeed convinced of my insanity you should do everything you can to find and kill me or ensure that I am permanently locked away in a mental institution, prison or similar secure facility.

Why would I make such a statement publicly?

Because, in all truth, if I am actually that insane then I would rather be crucified or burnt at the stake like Joan of Arc was than go on living. However I’m not particularly concerned that anyone will dare to accept my challenge.

Why am I so convinced of this ?

I can't really explain why and wouldn't even attempt to do so through the written word. So if you are ready to discuss terms, negotiate or preferably enter into a friendly dialogue with me then the door is still open. You should have no problem contacting me through substack, just subscribe to my blog and you will be able to leave your messages as comments on this post.

But there may be little time left. Tomorrow is Sunday May 31, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. It is said that the Holy Spirit flows between the Father and the Son. According to prior Jewish theological understanding this Spirit could be considered analogous to Ruach, the Spirit or Breath of God, who could be understood as feminine in character. And just as last Sunday was the Feast of The Pentecost when she first bestowed her gifts on the Apostles of Christ, she has bestowed many gifts on me as well and she moves me more than most and I have no real reason not to heed her call.

For official confirmation of feast days mentioned above, see these links:

Vatican News Service

Vatican News Service List of Liturgical Holidays

US Conférence of Catholic Bishops - Liturgical Calendar

What if the police come to my door ?

Probably I would just claim that this was nothing more than a creative writing exercise that went a bit far, perfectly legal under the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution. The same would apply to paramedics, doctors, lawyers, judges, and federal agents, assuming they're acting under some claim of apparent legitimacy. Foreign agents are welcome to make me defection offers. My natural preferences would probably be in this order: Ireland, France, The Vatican, Greece, Italy, Israel, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Other-EU, India, anywhere else. In practice though my choice would probably depend on the timeliness and seriousness of the offers.

Other Thoughts

Another, more technical issue I have with the Pope's message is that he asserts that AI’s do not have a body. This may be true for the most common types of AI agents that most are familiar with but AI’s can be embodied simply by equipping them with sensors and manipulators as robots or many other kinds of machines and vehicles from self-driving vehicles to drones, guided missiles and many other things that can be used for both good and less good actions. By the way if you are having trouble doing this sort of thing, let me know, I’ll be happy to help if you pay me enough.

I am definitely not anti-AI

As my prior remarks suggest I am in no sense against AI. I think it can and should be developed to the extent possible. I just think that the last few years are evidence of irresponsible human hubris and overconfidence in its own intelligence, which has been an ongoing catastrophe for generations. The rate of growth has been accelerating exponentially since the Big Bang, but as many know but few really understand the closer you get to the end of the curve the more it speeds up, but human brains can't. Of course their are always limits like nonlinearities and constraints on energy and other natural resources. I do know that conventional wisdom is that people have been predicting world ending disasters forever and that those predictions have always failed. In particular many thought that humanity would not survive the discovery of nuclear energy and so far it has. Well I don't think it will survive this one. Something may survive it but it won't look anything like the world you knew before and if I don't get the help I need, you probably won't like the final result.

What Can YOU Do To Help ?

If you made it this far and you still are uncertain of what to do and you still want to help prevent the worst possible outcomes my advice to you is to do everything you can to help make me as happy as possible. This is because the happier I get the more confidence and faith I have in both myself and my unseen allies. What makes me happy right now most is money. This is because currently I have very little and may run out soon. When that happens I will get very depressed and may resort to extreme measures. If that happens again people are likely to die and whether it's me, others or just everyone everywhere, I won't be caring much anyway, so YOU, whoever you are, will be left to face that outcome ALONE. So, how much money do I need to be happy enough ? The truth is I don't know, because I’ve never had very much. So in US dollar terms, thousands will help, millions will help more and billions will help quite a lot. Beyond that. the more the Marier (pun intended). So try to send me as much as you can in light of how much you believe me, how much you have and how much you think your future is worth to you. Otherwise anything you can do to spread my name and my message should help.

For Other “People”

If you made it this far and you hate me or think I’m insane or some kind of scam artist and think you can continue to lead me on or play games with me then you can go to hell for all I care.

I Don't Actually Know Anything.

This is absolutely true. I have made and will continue to claim that I “know” certain things. This is mainly due to limitations of human language and lack of time, space and inclination to clarify the points I’ve tried to make as precisely as possible. If you understand what I just said then I am open to serious arguments for or against my claims. If you don't then frankly you might as well go away and shut up, unless you approach me as a student approaches a teacher in a spirit of humility then I probably won't bother wasting my time and yours trying to argue with you. On the other hand if you pay me enough you can probably override my pride with my greed. If you send me $1000 right now and you're somebody I don't know yet you can probably do anything you want to me, for about 10 hours, including use me as a verbal punching bag or virtual slave. For physical contact of any kind my rate would be much higher (unless you happen to be a beautiful woman).

The God Algorithm

One of my very few intelligent friends asked me to address another very important but difficult subject, that of the P vs. NP problem. This is a major theoretical problem that computer scientists have been debating and studying for decades now. I don't intend to say much about it here but there is a lot I could say, it's just too complex to get into at this time. Here is what I will say:

It is a bit of an open secret among a very small group of close relatives and friends that I had worked on this problem off and on for about 13 years. During that time I considered and rejected probably about 100 different techniques and methods for solving it. As far as I know none of them worked. But who knows, perhaps if I had kept clearer and more accurate notes it's possible I could have hit upon a novel approach that, if I had published my work, could have contributed to resolving the question somehow. I didn't because during that entire period I was very depressed and unhappy, largely for the same reason as now, lack of money. Also I hoped to find a positive solution myself so I could use it to conquer and rule the world.

I Love Witches

That's right, anything related to magic, witches, wizards, occult powers, and pagan practices fascinates me. That's why I would have preferred spending my day continuing to expand and improve my series off posts on the novel The Witching Hour by famous and beloved author Anne Rice, but for the moment getting this post out as quickly as possible seemed more important.

Goodbye for now. Hopefully my next Anne Rice post will be ready soon. Thank you and Blessed Be.

The second terrifying aspect of the novel that I’d like to discuss is that of hate vs. love. Of course if you haven't read the novel recently it may be difficult to follow along since Anne Rice was a genius at weaving together many deep-seated human fears into works of fiction that could seem long and somewhat boring to the uninitiated but upon careful reading reveal many secrets.

There is much hatred in this work between many different parties and for various reasons. In this installment we will begin considering relationships involving a mysterious male entity known as Lasher.

This being is involved with the Mayfair Family since it's origins in medieval Scotland when one of the earliest known Mayfair ancestors was burned as a witch. A Dutch man, known as Petyr van Abel, who was a member of a very ancient and little-known organization called the Talamasca attempted to prevent this gross miscarriage of justice but was unable to do so. He did however manage to find and save the woman's daughter and fled with her back to one of the organization’s main mother houses in Amsterdam.

Lasher was also involved in this early tragedy but due to his limited ability to understand human emotions and behavior instead destroyed the Scottish Village which had been guilty of the horror, killing many of it's inhabitants. He was unable to save the victim because his own acts so terrified her that she took her own life by jumping from a church after which the villagers burned her body.

This was the beginning of a long series of misunderstandings involving Lasher, the Mayfairs and the Talamasca that persisted through the centuries down to the period when the novel was written (late 20th century). Most outsiders were unaware of Lasher’s existence and never knew his name. He did occasionally appear in different forms, sometimes as a ghost and sometimes as a man who could rarely be distinguished from any other flesh and blood human. Despite his continuing failure to understand humans his fascination with them only increased as he tried desperately time and time again to understand why his repeated attempts to interact with them often came to no good end. One of the reasons for this problem is that Lasher did not see time the way humans do, but that is a topic better left for later.

Despite Lasher's lack of ill-intent many who were aware of his existence came to hate and despise him while others who knew him well loved him. Deirdre Mayfair was Rowan’s mother and one of Lasher's many lovers. Unfortunately Carlotta, Deirdre’s aunt, hated Lasher mainly because she was jealous of the benefits he provided to the current living female descendant in the maternal line from the original Mayfair witch burnt in Scotland.

This problem of hatred developing through many centuries of human history is one of the most tragic characteristics of the human condition. Anne Rice is a genius at relating this tragedy through fiction.

I hope you enjoyed this short second post on Anne Rice and one of her best novels. There is much more to say about this voluminous work. In order to keep this blog going I need your support, especially financially. So if you have the means please support me here on substack. Otherwise hopefully these first two free articles will remain here indefinitely as a testament to Anne Rice and what could have been if her words had been heard in a timely manner.

I am also open to considering all comments on this blog and will attempt to take them into account in future posts. Comments from subscribers and other major supporters will be prioritized. There also some big surprises and many hidden secrets in store for the earliest and biggest supporters.

In the next installment I will discuss faith and disbelief and relate it to Ms. Rice's own religious upbringing.

Michael on the other hand had a near-death experience during this incident. He was aware that a woman had saved him and pulled him back from the other side but didn't know her name and was also unable to locate her. In addition he developed certain unusual powers following the experience, including the ability to read minds and recover lost memories from inanimate objects when he touched them. He was disturbed by this because he was unable to control this gift and it opened him to many new and often upsetting ideas and emotions from his surrounding environment. He then started wearing black gloves to avoid touching people and unfamiliar objects. Despite the disturbing aspects of his new gift he still believed that the near-death experience was very real and had somehow conferred on him some kind of special mission. Unfortunately he couldn't remember what it was. For this reason he very much wanted to meet the woman who had saved him because he recalled some unusual memories that seemed to concern or originate from her.

Rowan had long known that she too possessed unusual powers including the ability to transform biological tissues at a cellular level. She was able to use this to help her patients recover. However when angry or overly excited she sometimes couldn't control this and it was released suddenly causing the death of those who upset her due to sudden intracranial brain hemorrhages. She first discovered this when she was a little girl and unintentionally caused the death of another female child who had teased her. Because of this she was ashamed of her powers and kept them very secret. She was concerned that Michael had somehow become aware of her secret and might reveal it. On the other hand she also thought that Michael was someone she would like to know better and hoped that he might become an accomplice with her in trying to help each other to discover what had happened during their brief encounter and perhaps even build a new life together on a saner foundation.

<it>

I hope you liked this brief introduction to my first series of blog posts. The terror associated with this installment is that of the dangers of loneliness and extreme isolation from other human beings no matter how intelligent or apparently successful one may appear to be.

</it>