Loading the Language

Apparently Robert Jay Lifton came up with the term:

"The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand."       (Loading the Language)

See also"thought-terminating clichés".

Raising The Wind

"Made idle by cynicism, these two bored intelligences turned to the study of prophecy and magic. While still young they learned of each other's existence and fame in such arts. They met secretly in Jerusalem and there made a pact to perform an operation known to occultists as "Raising the Wind". Then they separated and returned to their respective countries, where they patiently set to work preparing the operation. 

"This operation (which has never ever been successfully completed) involves the selection of an ordinary human conflict by powerful magicians who recruit for it's armies occult assistance and thereby raise the conflict to a higher power, investing it with apocalyptic significance. Finding Man's story long and wearisome, they wished to force the coming of the Antichrist and, what must follow, the coming of the Messiah and the End of All Things. To slake their boredom they wished to stage Armageddon in front of the pyramids. 

"The Father [of Cats] took the side of Islam, Cornu that of Christendom. The Father recruited healers; Cornu recruited the sick.  The Father summoned up assistance from the Alam al-Mithal [the dream world, the world of images]; Cornu struggled against the phantoms of the dream world."

      - The Arabian Nightmare, Robert Irwin

Celtic/Gaelic words

Three words of interest came up while perusing the Wikipedia entry on the Gaels (pursuant to naming my next bang Gaelic Lightning (a knockoff of Celtic Thunder)):

Nemeton - A sacred grove (or more generally other sacred site). Also the pagan organization which was refused funding during John Silber's tenure at Boston University.

Echtra - Celtic "voyage to the otherworld" stories focusing on the heroe's journey rather than the otherworldly destination itself.

Immram - Celtic "voyage to the otherworld" stories focusing on the details of the otherworldly destination.

The Kirghiz Light

"Forgive him as you forgave Tchitcherine at the Kirghiz Light."

Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon

Never found any other reference to the Kirghiz Light. Thought maybe it was related to the Tunguska event.

It's only referenced in Gravity's Rainbow in a couple brief passages like this. In my recollection the character Tchitcherine is not such a great guy, but apparently the Kirghiz Light was a life-changing and spiritual experience for him. The idea of boundless forgiveness and experience of awe.

It came to mind now because of the previously posted Nostalgia of the Infinite.

The Nostalgia of the Infinite

I love this painting and even just it's title. But the combination is magic.

"Nostalgia of the Infinite" inspires awe in me. Also a sense that it's not just awe at a potential thing that might theoretically exist. But instead at something that you know, and had known and experienced and enjoyed at one time, that you remember fondly (ie. theophany on a grand scale).

It warms the heart and produces a hope and yearning.

May have been silly, but commenting on my sister's blog it inspired me to write:

Remember, before we started constantly breaking everything down into tiny pieces to analyze and control? It used to just stretch out there before us, vaster than worlds, boundless and heart-shaking, beyond imagination.

Man, I long for that feeling again.

(And, via the wonder of "nostalgia" here it is!)

Y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado...

"Y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado," has been a favorite phrase since I learned it in Spanish class lo' those many years ago.

More details on it can be found here.

One variant I've come up with, which would be great if it occurred to me to use in the correct context would be:

"Y colorín colorado, este baño esta ocupado."