No Shortcuts to Now

Tag: mythology

  • Black Swans and Sacrificial Goats (5.5)

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    Falsifiable propositions do not inspire us to flee—Oedipus-like—out of anxiety or the fear of finding them true.  They do not oppress. They invite our questions and tell us how to test them. They submit to criticism, allowing us to discover and correct errors.

  • Not Every Riddle (5.4)

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    But Oedipus could not let it go. Something in the old man’s words… “Send for the servant.” She reached for him again, took his hands, and searched his face. “Let it be. He begged to leave the city.” “The city suffers. I will know.” He turned to his guards. “Bring him to me.” “Not every…

  • The Man You Seek (5.3)

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    K. L. Homme
    in , ,

    After entering Thebes, Oedipus learned that the people mourned the loss of their king, and feared who would fill his throne: Laius had left no heir. Then the Sphinx arrived with her riddle, demanding an answer. She killed those who could not provide one, piling at her feet the bones of the bold.

  • The Riddle of the Gate (5.2)

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    Descending from Mount Parnassus along the Pythian way, Oedipus traveled east toward the sunrise. By midday he had reached the triple meeting of roads. Behind him rose Delphi. Before him two roads diverged. One bent toward Daulia’s quieter fields. The other led to the great city of Thebes.

  • Nine Moons Certain (5.1)

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    Laius, King of Thebes, went to Delphi seeking counsel about his house. The oracle declared that if he fathered a son, that boy would kill him—and take Jocasta, his wife, as his own. Even so, one evening he lay with her and forged his fate. Nine moons waned, and the news was delivered: Jocasta had…

  • The Wombstone (4.3)

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    Cronus swallowed his children. The prophecy had foretold that, just as he had overthrown his own father, Uranus, so one of his own children would overthrow him. This foreknowledge tormented him. Transformed him.

  • The Wombfish (4.2)

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    K. L. Homme
    in

    Doris is a sea-goddess, a second-generation Titan who lived long before Zeus established his Olympian hierarchy. She’s no queen, but rather a natural node within a mythic network. She’s but a single, dew-bright strand within an interconnected web of life. She’s also the daughter of Oceanus, the world-circling river, and of Tethys, the fertile sea.…

  • Of Roots, Rhizomes, and Fish with Feet: The Lurid Bait of Egotism (4.1)

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    K. L. Homme
    in

    The purple mountain heather is a symbolic affront to the arrogance, the tyranny, the demagoguery that fancies itself the axis of the world. Had great Ozymandias been a botanist—had he studied the rhizome and grasped its implications—he would have been moved to feeble tears. Or else he’d have ordered every last one ripped from the…

  • The No Shortcuts to Now Audio Guide

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    A Complete Listening Map for the Trail Planning a holiday drive? Cooking, cleaning, or hiding from relatives? Here’s the full No Shortcuts to Now Audio Guide — all three chapters, in order, with easy links. If you’ve been curious about catching up, this is the perfect place to start. All the links you’ll find below. 🌋 Chapter…

  • Field Note 3.2 — All The King’s Candy

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    K. L. Homme
    in ,

    Every kingdom starts with a taste for something sweet. “Thus do men swallow the honeyed poison of the mouth.” — Lucretius, On The Nature of Things, Book IV “So long as man remains free, he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship.” — Ivan Karamazov, The Brothers Karamazov Ivan The Parable…