From dab11e36daee18409f7eb9a79a7f10d365d2ac77 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: *anna* Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2021 16:32:41 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] nav --- tree/final.css | 2 +- tree/final.html | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++--------------------- tree/index.css | 2 +- tree/thesis.html | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- 4 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 45 deletions(-) diff --git a/tree/final.css b/tree/final.css index c7b1b2b..b22b88e 100644 --- a/tree/final.css +++ b/tree/final.css @@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ img.inText{ z-index: 0; font-size: 22px; line-height: 20px; - padding: 15px; + padding: 20px; z-index: 1; } diff --git a/tree/final.html b/tree/final.html index ac8709c..200d63f 100644 --- a/tree/final.html +++ b/tree/final.html @@ -43,7 +43,7 @@

- You ( ) would be lying to yourself if you told me that you already knew what was going to happen, where you wanted to go, or what you were looking for () when you started this journey (). The fact is that sometimes all these questions can temporarily take a back seat. On certain days, a path () that you didn't explore yet can appear in front of you. You just need to carry on walking (). + You ( ) would be lying to yourself if you told me that you already knew what was going to happen, where you wanted to go, or what you were looking for () when you started this journey (). The fact is that sometimes all these questions can temporarily take a back seat. On certain days, a path () that you didn't explore yet can appear in front of you. You just need to carry on walking ().
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder:[...]"
@@ -63,19 +63,19 @@
you looked for the newspaper owner
Moved by curiosity, you tried to find the author of the annotations on the newspaper. He turned out to be Ned, a former school janitor whose pen-name is N., the author of the articles concerning the school's suspect activities. Ned or N. is a school's whistleblower. He becomes your guide into the Pleasant Valley Elementary school's scandal.
- ✜ In 2017, on the image-board website 4chan, a user named "Q Clearance Patriot" started to drop some alleged government secrets, claiming to be a high-level federal administrator. The clues shared by the supposed government whistleblower originated the conspiracy theory QAnon. The latter is the alt-right conspiracy fantasy asserting the world's rulers are affiliates of a pedophile cabal. + ✜ In 2017, on the image-board website 4chan, a user named "Q Clearance Patriot" started to drop some alleged government secrets, claiming to be a high-level federal administrator. The clues shared by the supposed government whistleblower originated the conspiracy theory QAnon. The latter is the alt-right conspiracy fantasy asserting the world's rulers are affiliates of a pedophile cabal.



- As you ( ) probably noticed, at this point of the journey () you seemed to have taken a new turn: confident or not of your findings, you ( ) felt like continuing the investigation (). This is the moment where you entered a new dimension, unraveling another descending road (): the place where the true conflict () exists and manifests itself. + As you ( ) probably noticed, at this point of the journey () you seemed to have taken a new turn: confident or not of your findings, you felt like continuing the investigation (). This is the moment where you entered a new dimension, unraveling another descending road (): the place where the true conflict () exists and manifests itself.
"[...] fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won:[...]"
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@
you headed off to the Monteferro Food Enterprise
Together with your guide, you went to the Monteferro Food Enterprise, where Ned proposes you to look for traces of fluoride in the company's fields.
- ✜ Since the nineties, major agribusinesses like Monsanto have been accused to have introduced and promoted unsafe GMOs in the food supply while deliberately hiding the scientific evidence of their harmfulness. In China, conspiracy theorists like Peng Guangqian have long asserted that Monsanto, together with the Pentagon and leading private foundations in the US, are using GMOs as part of a devious plot to annihilate the Chinese people by causing various diseases and fertility issues. In 2015 an internet hoax alleged that Monsanto was creating genetically modified cannabis to supply to the cannabis industry.
- ✜ Fluoridation has been the subject of several conspiracy fantasies since the late forties when theories claiming that the technique was pioneered in Nazi Germany to make people submissive to those in power started to spread. In the fifties, some started to believe water fluoridation was in fact a Communist plot to deplete the brainpower of the American citizens. The conspiracy theory has been brought back to life by certain fringes of the New Age community alleging that the massive presence of fluoride in everyday products is causing calcification in certain areas of the brain, limiting its function. + ✜ Since the nineties, major agribusinesses like Monsanto have been accused to have introduced and promoted unsafe GMOs in the food supply while deliberately hiding the scientific evidence of their harmfulness. In China, conspiracy theorists like Peng Guangqian have long asserted that Monsanto, together with the Pentagon and leading private foundations in the US, are using GMOs as part of a devious plot to annihilate the Chinese people by causing various diseases and fertility issues. In 2015 internet hoax alleged that Monsanto was creating genetically modified cannabis to supply to the cannabis industry.
+ ✜ Fluoridation has been the subject of several conspiracy fantasies since the late forties when theories claiming that the technique was pioneered in Nazi Germany to make people submissive to those in power started to spread. In the fifties, some started to believe water fluoridation was in fact a Communist plot to deplete the brainpower of the American citizens. The conspiracy theory has been brought back to life by certain fringes of the New Age community alleging that the massive presence of fluoride in everyday products is causing calcification in certain areas of the brain, limiting its function.
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@
you followed Pat to the major's mansion
Pat urged you to follow the hairballs departing from the cat shelter. Following the thread, you reached the major's mansion where Pat reveals to you that the major and his family are not human: they are actually saurians coming from another planet to colonize earth. The cat shelter is used by them as a way to grow cubs and harvest them as food. Because the saurians are able to assume a human shape, you managed to see their true appearance by using Pat's magnifying lenses.
- ✜ Several theories assert that Saurians, also known as reptilians, are alien beings who originated from the Draco constellation that are now finding themselves colonizing the entire galaxy. Saurians are supposedly invading several planets by occupying positions of power in politics and finance. Their inner nature is malevolent and evil. The idea was popularised by English footballer and sports commentator David Icke who seems to be sure that blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, now hiding in underground bases, are trying to take over the world.
- ✜ In 2012 the French writer Renaud Camus hypothesized the existence of a hidden plan also known as "The great replacement" (in French Le Grand Remplacement) aiming at replacing the white Christian population of Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand through mass immigration and low birth rates. The theory reached wide consent in far-right, racist, and white-nationalist groups and has been linked, together with the White Genocide conspiracy theory, to mass shootings and terrorist attacks like the one of Christchurch, New Zealand.
- ✜ In 1988 John Carpenter’s movie They Live the homeless drifter Nada realizes the world is actually populated and controlled by alien entities who he can only see through a very special type of sunglasses. + ✜ Several theories assert that Saurians, also known as reptilians, are alien beings who originated from the Draco constellation that are now finding themselves colonizing the entire galaxy. Saurians are supposedly invading several planets by occupying positions of power in politics and finance. Their inner nature is malevolent and evil . The idea was popularised by English footballer and sports commentator David Icke who seems to be sure that blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, now hiding in underground bases, are trying to take over the world.
+ ✜ In 2012 the French writer Renaud Camus hypothesized the existence of hidden plan also known as "The great replacement" (in French Le Grand Remplacement) aiming at replacing the white Christian population of Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand through mass immigration and low birth rates. The theory reached wide consent in far-right, racist, and white-nationalist groups and has been linked, together with the White Genocide conspiracy theory, to mass shootings and terrorist attacks like the one of Christchurch, New Zealand.
+ ✜ In 1988 John Carpenter’s movie They Live the homeless drifter Nada realizes the world is actually populated and controlled by alien entities who he can only see through a very special type of sunglasses. Neo Nazis and white suprematist later declared that the movie was an allegory for the Jewish control of the world. The director instead noted that the movie was actually aiming to condemn unrestrained capitalism.
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
you went to the school canteen
You proceeded to the school canteen in order to find proofs that would incriminate the Monteferro enterprise and the school's administration. It is quite likely that these people, considering their involvement in nefarious activities like giving drugs to children, are not ordinary human beings anymore. It would be better if they were the adepts of a devil-worshippers gang.
- ✜ Satanic ritual abuse is the core of several moral panic phenomena that, from the eighties until today, report physical and sexual abuse of people --mainly children-- in the context of occult or Satanic rituals. Most of these cases ensued in trials where, like the case of the McMartin preschool one in the US or the scandal of “the devils of Lower Modena" in Italy, the accusation ended up being contrived. Satanic panic inspired the 2016 sex trafficking scandal Pizzagate and the more recent QAnon theory. This latter asserts that the world-ruling cabal members are using components derived from children's flesh to obtain a powerful drug they all consume called Adrenochrome. The substance has been allegedly introduced to them by performing artist Marina Abramovich. + ✜ Satanic ritual abuse is the core of several moral panic phenomena that, from the eighties until today, report physical and sexual abuse of people --mainly children-- in the context of occult or Satanic rituals. Most of these cases ensued in trials where, like the case of the McMartin preschool one in the US or the scandal of “the devils of Lower Modena" in Italy, the accusation ended up being contrived. Satanic panic inspired the 2016 sex trafficking scandal Pizzagate and the more recent QAnon theory. This latter asserts that the world-ruling cabal members are using components derived from children's flesh to obtain a powerful drug they all consume called Adrenochrome. The substance has been allegedly introduced to them by performing artist Marina Abramovich.
@@ -114,20 +114,20 @@ In order to find proof of the saurians' involvement in the kitten's massacre, you went to the butcher shop. You then realized that some of the meat processed in the storage room actually belongs to the poor cats. Sadly, Pat has been hit by the saurian butcher. Before she passed she revealed to you that she has reasons to believe that the saurian headquarters lies somewhere close to the local bus station.
- ✜ On September 12, 2003, during the provincial election campaign in Canada, a member of the Ontario Conservative Party referred to the leader of the rival liberal party as an "evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet". The leader of the Conservative Party, later on, admitted that the statement was probably over the top and that he probably drank too much coffee. The indicted, Mr. McGuinty, denied the accusation of ailurophagy. He declared "I love kittens, and I like puppies too,"
+ ✜ On September 12, 2003, during the provincial election campaign in Canada, a member of the Ontario Conservative Party referred to the leader of the rival liberal party as an "evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet". The leader of the Conservative Party, later on, admitted that the statement was probably over the top and that he probably drank too much coffee. The indicted, Mr. McGuinty, denied the accusation of ailurophagy. He declared "I love kittens, and I like puppies too,"

- Maybe, despite everything ( ) that you had been through, you realised that you had to enter in a phase of a different kind. You ( ) made a step for yourself but what about the others ( ) ? What can you do with your achievements if they cannot be translated for the outer ( ) world? + Maybe, despite everything ( ) that you had been through, you realised that you had to enter in a phase of a different kind. You ( ) made a step for yourself but what about the others ( ) ? What can you do with your achievements if they cannot be translated for the outer ( ) world? To survive the impact ( ) with it is not an easy task.
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@
you searched for the saurian's headquarter
Together with your army, you headed to the village's bus station where you eventually found the entrance to the saurian headquarters underneath an old warehouse.
- ✜Since its opening in 1995, the Denver International Airport has been the subject of several conspiracy theories, some of them asserting that its construction was actually a decoy for the presence of a Lizard people's headquarter as well as a series of secret bunkers, probably built by the Nazis. The rumors seem to be fuelled by several clues, including a capstone referencing Freemasonry and a giant sculpture figuring a blue mustang with red eyes that for someone represents a nod to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It doesn't help that the author of the latter tragically died when, before the inauguration, a piece of the statue fell on his leg and severed an artery. + ✜ Since its opening in 1995, the Denver International Airport has been the subject of several conspiracy theories, some of them asserting that its construction was actually a decoy for the presence of a Lizard people's headquarter as well as a series of secret bunkers, probably built by the Nazis. The rumors seem to be fuelled by several clues, including a capstone referencing Freemasonry and a giant sculpture figuring a blue mustang with red eyes that for someone represents a nod to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It doesn't help that the author of the latter tragically died when, before the inauguration, a piece of the statue fell on his leg and severed an artery.
@@ -162,17 +162,17 @@ You arrive at the place where the hypothesised abuse is happening. Your journey in the forest finally reaches the spot where the satanic abuse is currently going on. But probably it wasn't really happening. At times, the journey might be getting you to the wrong end of the stick.
- ✜ On December 4, 2016, a 28-year-old man from North Carolina fired his gun at a pizzeria in Washington DC in order to rescue the trafficked children who were allegedly held captive in the restaurant's basement. The restaurant played a relevant role in the Pizzagate conspiracy theory as it became the headquarter of the supposed democratic party's pedophilia ring. The man claimed to be there to self-investigate the theory.
- ✜ On January 6, 2021, a group of Donald Trump's most fervent supporters, white supremacists, and QAnon disciples stormed the United States Capitol in a violent attack. Most of them believed to be there to liberate the country from a reptilian pedophile cabal. + ✜ On December 4, 2016, a 28-year-old man from North Carolina fired his gun at a pizzeria in Washington DC in order to rescue the trafficked children who were allegedly held captive in the restaurant's basement. The restaurant played a relevant role in the Pizzagate conspiracy theory as it became the headquarter of the supposed democratic party's pedophilia ring. The man claimed to be there to self-investigate the theory.
+ ✜ On January 6, 2021, a group of Donald Trump's most fervent supporters, white supremacists, and QAnon disciples stormed the United States Capitol in a violent attack. Most of them believed to be there to liberate the country from a reptilian pedophile cabal.
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@



- After you met Amanda (), you probably found yourself a bit unsettled. Was everything a lie? How could you make such an error of judgment () ? I () can't really say, I have the impression you took this turn () without thinking it thoroughly, probably comforted by the fact that the world () you just explored () seems to exist only in a limited number of browser tabs. + After you met Amanda (), you probably found yourself a bit unsettled. Was everything a lie? How could you make such an error of judgment () ? I () can't really say, I have the impression you took this turn () without thinking it thoroughly, probably comforted by the fact that the world () you just explored () seems to exist only in a limited number of browser tabs. This is why I am guessing that for you, ( ), it was not so important to understand if the signals () you were getting from your surroundings were real or illusionary. Or if the people you met along the way were lying to you. If you considered what happened here really insignificant I would understand: in this place (), whatever wrong turn you might have taken was not affecting anything but you. As well, I do think that you are probably not the kind of person that is prone to be fooled by such silly clues in the outer world. Forgive me if you got this impression from me (). diff --git a/tree/index.css b/tree/index.css index 7ffc98c..947d7cc 100644 --- a/tree/index.css +++ b/tree/index.css @@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ span.button_text{ width: 550px; height: 115px; border-radius: 10px; - padding: 15px; + padding: 20px; border: #c94dff solid 1px; } #info_box:after { diff --git a/tree/thesis.html b/tree/thesis.html index 0350f9f..ceb7796 100644 --- a/tree/thesis.html +++ b/tree/thesis.html @@ -87,10 +87,10 @@ discussion. They were sharing their insights on China's supposed plan to destroy

In Andrei Tarkovsky's 1983 movie Nostalghia, the madman Domenico climbs up Marco Aurelio's statue on the roman Capitoline Hill. Before setting himself on fire he delivers a passionate speech. He calls out:  "There are no great masters left. That's the real evil of our time. The heart's path is covered in shadow. [...] We must fill the eyes and ears of all of us with things that are the beginning of a great dream.[...]". 

Similar to Domenico's sentiment, our path as humanity seems to be covered in shadow: an unavoidable ecological crisis, the economical collapse of a system appearing to be impossible to subvert, and ultimately a pandemic brought us on the verge of a chaos that is constantly becoming 1. Yet this is where the journey starts: when disarray dominates the surroundings there is space for a resolution to appear; when every path seems interrupted a new one sprouts out of the grove 2. Although difficult to recognise and therefore follow, a master can quickly emerge from nowhere when guidance is lacking 3. When reality doesn't fit an individual desire, a parallel universe may open its gates: to leave the ordinary world is all that is needed 4. 

✰

-

1 In mono-myth terms, this phase represents the starting of the journey and coincides with the hero experiencing an awareness of the troubles of their world. It is referred to in Ordinary World by Campbell (1949). 

-

2The hero is willing to confront the problem. This moment corresponds to the Call to adventure phase in Campbell's hero's journey (Campbell, 1949). 

-

3 Sometimes the hero is reluctant to change at first: their opinion can shift if a mentor or a supernatural aid is encountered. In Campbell's mono-myth these phases are named Refusal of the call and Supernatural Aid (Campbell, 1949). 

-

4This passage represents the entering of the hero in a new dimension and the end of the Departure Act: it is referred to as Crossing the First Threshold (Campbell, 1949).

+

1 In mono-myth terms, this phase represents the starting of the journey and coincides with the hero experiencing an awareness of the troubles of their world. It is referred to in Ordinary World by Campbell (1949). 

+

2The hero is willing to confront the problem. This moment corresponds to the Call to adventure phase in Campbell's hero's journey (Campbell, 1949). 

+

3 Sometimes the hero is reluctant to change at first: their opinion can shift if a mentor or a supernatural aid is encountered. In Campbell's mono-myth these phases are named Refusal of the call and Supernatural Aid (Campbell, 1949). 

+

4This passage represents the entering of the hero in a new dimension and the end of the Departure Act: it is referred to as Crossing the First Threshold (Campbell, 1949).

The universe (which others call the library) 

  “The library will endure; it is the universe. As for us, everything has not been written; we are not turning into phantoms. We walk the corridors, searching the shelves and rearranging them, looking for lines of meaning amid leagues of cacophony and incoherence, reading the history of the past and our future, collecting our thoughts and collecting the thoughts of others, and every so often glimpsing mirrors, in which we may recognize creatures of the information.”

-- Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel (1949)

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ discussion. They were sharing their insights on China's supposed plan to destroy

The Library of Babel's inaccessible knowledge stimulated the proliferation of many sects and cult-like behaviours like the one listed above. Yet another hope -or superstition- endures in Borges' story: that of the Man of the book, a librarian who found, in an undefinable moment of the past or the future, the book that contains the ultimate index of the library. Our librarian, who by now came to the end of his years, recalls the days when he was looking for him; and even though he never managed to find neither the man nor the object of his quest, he still hopes for an explanation to exist: 

 "I pray to the unknown gods that a man -- just one, even though it were thousands of years ago! -- may have examined and read it. If honor and wisdom and happiness are not for me, let them be for others. Let heaven exist, though my place be in hell. Let me be outraged and annihilated, but for one instant, in one being, let Your enormous Library be justified." (Borges, 1941)

✰

-

1 While Borges' philosophical approach to this narrative style and contribution to media theory is critical (Montfort, 2003) other examples of hyperlinked texts already existed in different spheres of fiction. The first example of hyperlinked literature was written by two women: Consider the Consequences! by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins was published in New York in 1930 and consists of the first example of Choose Your Own Adventure book (DeMarco, 2017). In the text, the reader is asked to proceed in the story as one of the three selected characters -one woman and two men- and follow the different pathways the plot can take accordingly to their decision. A decade later, Borges adopted a similar storyline concept for his story An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain (1941). Furthermore, the book represents an interesting work in terms of social and gender studies because of its examination of social roles and their possibilities in American society during the thirties (Paredes, n.d.). 

+

1 While Borges' philosophical approach to this narrative style and contribution to media theory is critical (Montfort, 2003) other examples of hyperlinked texts already existed in different spheres of fiction. The first example of hyperlinked literature was written by two women: Consider the Consequences! by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins was published in New York in 1930 and consists of the first example of Choose Your Own Adventure book (DeMarco, 2017). In the text, the reader is asked to proceed in the story as one of the three selected characters -one woman and two men- and follow the different pathways the plot can take accordingly to their decision. A decade later, Borges adopted a similar storyline concept for his story An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain (1941). Furthermore, the book represents an interesting work in terms of social and gender studies because of its examination of social roles and their possibilities in American society during the thirties (Paredes, n.d.). 

The golden apple of discord

In the April 1969 edition of the American magazine Playboy, something weird appeared on the readers' letters page. Together with several messages concerned about relationships and masturbation's side effects, the following message appeared: "I recently heard an old man of right-wing views - a friend of my grandparents - assert that the current wave of assassinations in America is the work of a secret society called the Illuminati. He said that the Illuminati have existed throughout history, own the international banking cartels, have all been 32-degree Masons and were known to Ian Fleming, who portrayed them as SPECTRE in his James Bond books - for which the Illuminati did away with mister Fleming'' (Higgs, 2013). The editors of the page were Robert Anton Wilson and Bob Shea: two characters who will become pivotal later on in this story. Now, the important questions may be: why did this kind of message appear in a Playboy forum? Where did all of this non-sense come from? 

In 1965 Greg Hill and Kerry Wendell Thorney wrote, assembled, and freely distributed 1, using a copy-machine of a friend of theirs 2, the religious text Principia Discordia, Or, How I found goddess and what I did to her when I found her under the fictional name of Macalypse the Younger. The zine was the result of a confrontation on the themes of chaos and order. They started from the assumption that the concept of order was an illusion that human minds tend to project on reality. Thus, religions represented for them a translation of this sentiment: all of them were intrinsically foolish in claiming the existence of an organising principle in the universe. According to the two men, the one and only entity operating in the world would rather be chaos. So they decided to turn it into a goddess. 

@@ -124,18 +124,18 @@ discussion. They were sharing their insights on China's supposed plan to destroy

Regardless of the contradiction, the same source is often being used by opposite sides of the barricade: one faction claiming it to be the proof of inconsistency, the other assuming it represents a relevant clue.  

As for many other stories in the conspiratorial world and not only, the fictional foundation of the Illuminati narrative became bigger than its historical roots, also because it offered a perfect landing point for the purpose of departing into a more extreme, yet easier to understand, version of reality. In these stories, signs and symbols kept being ruminated, until the thread with fiction was irremediably broken: somehow lost in the evolution of their meaning. The progression is often so troubled that the fictional narrative surrounding these symbols serves them back: it recirculates once again, ultimately validating the lie. 

✰

-

1 Principia Discordia, Or, How I found goddess and what I did to her when I found her was released into the public domain in 1965. The text was published under the phrase "All Rights Reversed" and “Reprint what you like” to signify its lack of copyright. Despite its author's intention, the book has been reprinted for monetary purposes by several publishers over the years, some of them even claiming to own the copyright on the text (Buxton, 2005).  

-

2 The copy-machine used to print Thorney and Hill's work was a Xerox machine (Buxton, 2005) belonging to the New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who is best known for his investigations following the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Higgs, 2013).

-

3 Discordianism's adepts and followers began to spread rumours about the identity of the text's authors: some of them asserting that the secret author was Timothy Leary, others that Macalypse was in fact Richard Nixon's pen name who "allegedly composed the Principia during a few moments of lucidity." (Wilson, 1990).

-

4 In Chaos magic, Jung's concept of synchronicity and its adaptations are often referred to as Synchromysticism. The term is a portmanteau of synchronicity and mysticism and consists in "the art of realizing meaningful coincidences in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance" (Valis, 2008).

+

1 Principia Discordia, Or, How I found goddess and what I did to her when I found her was released into the public domain in 1965. The text was published under the phrase "All Rights Reversed" and “Reprint what you like” to signify its lack of copyright. Despite its author's intention, the book has been reprinted for monetary purposes by several publishers over the years, some of them even claiming to own the copyright on the text (Buxton, 2005).  

+

2 The copy-machine used to print Thorney and Hill's work was a Xerox machine (Buxton, 2005) belonging to the New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who is best known for his investigations following the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Higgs, 2013).

+

3 Discordianism's adepts and followers began to spread rumours about the identity of the text's authors: some of them asserting that the secret author was Timothy Leary, others that Macalypse was in fact Richard Nixon's pen name who "allegedly composed the Principia during a few moments of lucidity." (Wilson, 1990).

+

4 In Chaos magic, Jung's concept of synchronicity and its adaptations are often referred to as Synchromysticism. The term is a portmanteau of synchronicity and mysticism and consists in "the art of realizing meaningful coincidences in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance" (Valis, 2008).

The Initiation Act 

"[...] fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won:[...]"

--Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)

The journey enters a new dimension, unraveling another descending road. It leads to a space where the true conflict manifests itself: it will be a place for definitive transformation 1. The intention to seek the truth will push the traveler to territories inhabited by repellent creatures 2. Ultimately, the challenge will be won, giving the seeker the possibility to discard their old self and move beyond3. 

✰

-

1 In mono-myth terms, this phase represents the series of tests that the hero must undergo to begin the transformation. It is referred to as The road of trials by Campbell (Campbell, 1949). 

-

2 The hero must recognise and confront whatever holds the ultimate power. This moment represents the central point of the journey. It corresponds to the Test, Allies, Enemies and Approach Innermost Cave phases in Vogler's interpretation of the hero's journey (Vogler, 2007). 

-

3 During this phase, the hero will obtain the achievement of the goal of their quest. In Campbell's mono-myth this phase coincides with the ones named Apotheosis and The Ultimate boon (Campbell, 1949). Instead, Vogler uses the word Reward (Vogler, 2007). 

+

1 In mono-myth terms, this phase represents the series of tests that the hero must undergo to begin the transformation. It is referred to as The road of trials by Campbell (Campbell, 1949). 

+

2 The hero must recognise and confront whatever holds the ultimate power. This moment represents the central point of the journey. It corresponds to the Test, Allies, Enemies and Approach Innermost Cave phases in Vogler's interpretation of the hero's journey (Vogler, 2007). 

+

3 During this phase, the hero will obtain the achievement of the goal of their quest. In Campbell's mono-myth this phase coincides with the ones named Apotheosis and The Ultimate boon (Campbell, 1949). Instead, Vogler uses the word Reward (Vogler, 2007). 

Reptilians, pedophiles, and Democrats

“How do you feel about this terrible thing?"

"Terrible," said Oedipa.

@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ discussion. They were sharing their insights on China's supposed plan to destroy

The QAnon conspiracy originated in 2017 on the image-board website 4chan, where a user named "Q Clearance Patriot"2 started to drop some alleged government secrets, claiming to be a high-level federal administrator. Q's messages, also known as "crumbs", reveal nonsense clues that seem to be open to endless interpretations. These lasts are elaborated by Q followers, named "bakers". Some of them believing Q to be an actual spy, some others just participating in the interactive quest for the sake of trolling.

A frame from the TV show V figuring one of the Visitors revealing his reptilian appearance 

-

An alleged spy who signs their messages as Q is one of the main characters of a novel --also called Q-- written in 1999 by four members of the Italian collective of artists and activists Luther Blissett, active today under the name of Wu Ming. The historical novel is set in Europe, during the years of the Protestant Reformation. In this turbulent context, a spy of the Roman Catholic Church is infiltrating groups of radical reformers who are hostile to both clergy and feudal authority. From there, this emissary reports to the Catholic establishment the stories of a maverick of a hundred names. His letters are signed Q like Qoèlet (from Hebrew קֹהֶלֶת‎): the bible's book of Ecclesiastes.

+

An alleged spy who signs their messages as Q is one of the main characters of a novel --also called Q-- written in 1999 by four members of the Italian collective of artists and activists Luther Blissett, active today under the name of Wu Ming. The historical novel is set in Europe, during the years of the Protestant Reformation. In this turbulent context, a spy of the Roman Catholic Church is infiltrating groups of radical reformers who are hostile to both clergy and feudal authority. From there, this emissary reports to the Catholic establishment the stories of a maverick of a hundred names. His letters are signed Q like Qoèlet (from Hebrew קֹהֶלֶת‎): the bible's book of Ecclesiastes.

Fig. 8:"Omnia sunt communia, figli di cane!"

A graffiti in Florence carrying a quote from Luther Blissett's Q. The first part of the sentence is a Latin expression meaning "all things in common" attributed to medieval theologist Thomas Aquinas. The latter, as one of the most influential philosophers and theologists in Christian philosophy, discussed in one of his treatises the concept of private property. While advocating for its legitimization for commercial purposes, he supported the option of discarding it in case of necessity (from Latin "In extrema necessitate Omnia sunt communia"). The sentence was re-purposed as a battle cry during the German Peasants' War described in Q.

@@ -165,9 +165,9 @@ discussion. They were sharing their insights on China's supposed plan to destroy

When the Q novel came out it was immediately regarded as an allegory of the broken promises of the sixties and seventies' countercultural movements. With its rebellious peasants and Catholic establishment spies, Q is the story of a rebellion that resulted in a stalemate: the nobles triumphed, the peasants lost and Martin Luther's fringe generated another unquestionable doctrine, depriving Protestantism of its radical side.Likewise, neoliberalism prevailed at the end of the 20th century, seemingly leaving the younger generations with no other options. 

Wu Ming 1, a pseudonym used by one of Q's authors, says that conspiracy theories give wrong answers to legitimate questions (Wu Ming 1, 2018). In Eyes Wide Shut's conspiracy story the imaginative effort is spent to dehumanise the Rothschild's. The storyline, instead of questioning the logic of the system that generated their power, only fuels dangerous anti-semitism. As philosopher and media theorist Boris Groys suggests: "Instead of analyzing the class interests behind the dominant corporate discourses, one assumes, for example, that these discourses serve a sect of pedophiles that uses children’s blood as raw material for producing drugs" (Groys, 2021). QAnon and similar conspiracy fantasies leave everything behind to fit into the rhetoric of the moral crusade and generate something that appears like a fight between good and evil. They also generate a paradox: conspiracy theories only end up reinforcing the establishment they pretend to fight (Wu Ming 1, 2018).

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1 QAnon is the American alt-right conspiracy theory asserting the world's rulers are affiliates of a pedophile cabal made by members of the democratic party like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and influential characters including Bill Gates, Tom Hanks, and George Soros. The cabal members are also known for being reptilians devoted to human trafficking. They are also believed to use components derived from children's flesh to obtain a powerful drug they all consume called Adrenochrome. This last has been introduced to them by performing artist Marina Abramovich (Friedberg, 2020). In this apocalyptic scenario, which managed to incorporate many other theories over the years, Donald Trump is a messianic figure sent to save humanity. Aware of the elite's plans he is trying to fight back, supposedly helped by Aryan-like aliens who really care about humans' destiny (Herold, 2018).

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2The username of the special agent refers to Q clearance as the name of the authorisation required to access restricted data belonging to the United States Department of Energy. 

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3 Theories like the one concerning Marco Dimitri became so widespread that they turned into an undisputed popular myth. Growing up in the Italian countryside in the early 2000s I remember, in those years, to have been invested in the popular activity of entering shacks and ruined houses in order to find clues that would ultimately prove the existence of satanist headquarters in the village. 

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1 QAnon is the American alt-right conspiracy theory asserting the world's rulers are affiliates of a pedophile cabal made by members of the democratic party like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and influential characters including Bill Gates, Tom Hanks, and George Soros. The cabal members are also known for being reptilians devoted to human trafficking. They are also believed to use components derived from children's flesh to obtain a powerful drug they all consume called Adrenochrome. This last has been introduced to them by performing artist Marina Abramovich (Friedberg, 2020). In this apocalyptic scenario, which managed to incorporate many other theories over the years, Donald Trump is a messianic figure sent to save humanity. Aware of the elite's plans he is trying to fight back, supposedly helped by Aryan-like aliens who really care about humans' destiny (Herold, 2018).

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2The username of the special agent refers to Q clearance as the name of the authorisation required to access restricted data belonging to the United States Department of Energy. 

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3 Theories like the one concerning Marco Dimitri became so widespread that they turned into an undisputed popular myth. Growing up in the Italian countryside in the early 2000s I remember, in those years, to have been invested in the popular activity of entering shacks and ruined houses in order to find clues that would ultimately prove the existence of satanist headquarters in the village. 

Belief and reward: the flat earth guru Mark Sargent and how he found bliss in the dome

“There is no top or bottom, no absolute positioning in space. There are only positions that are relative to the others. There is an incessant change in the relative positions throughout the universe and the observer is always at the centre"

― Giordano Bruno, De la causa, principio et Uno(1584)

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Flat earthers are not a unique case when it comes to beliefs that originated from a place of trauma. In New York Times' podcast Rabbit Hole, the speakers lead through the story of Caleb Cain, a young man who experienced being trapped in a YouTube echo chamber of alt-right and extremist content. He reports his experience of dealing with loneliness, together with the constant feeling of never fitting in. Living at his grandparents' house without a satisfying social life or occupation, his depression drove him to look for self-help content on Youtube, where he fell into a rabbit hole that would ultimately radicalise him. (The New York Times, 2020). 

There are plenty of stories like Caleb's: some of them ending in redemption, many of them resulting in further radicalisation or even xenophobic acts like in the case of the Christchurch terrorist attacks (Lewis, 2020). While the flat earth community stays in an area of belief that, unlike alt-right extremism, can still be considered innocuous, it raises the question of how society is pushing to its fringe people who are unable to comply with its demanding standards -- or who simply got stuck in an understanding process. In these regards, physicist Lamar Glover spoke to his colleagues at an astronomy event. He points out: "The worst-case scenario is you just completely push these individuals to the fringe of society. [...] And then society has just lost them." (Behind the curve, 2018). In this way, groups that are left behind function as emotional shells, impossible to be fully seen through by anybody else. At the end of the documentary, Sargent is asked what would happen to him in case he found the ultimate proof that discards his belief. He hesitates, leaving us with the thought that perhaps he would never abandon the flat earth belief, even if aware of the lie. 

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1 Although a real concern exists #freeBritney activists took the situation to extremes: the campaign quickly escalated into an interpretation game where fans are invested in finding secret messages on the pop star's Instagram pictures. In an attempt to stop the activity, Spear's social media manager had to officially declare that the singer is not leaving help requests on her Instagram page (Hautman, 2021).

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2 This sort of reaction, coming from facing uncomfortable truths, also reminds us of the case of climate change which, despite being studied and experienced for decades, is often treated like a theory that can still be debated. 

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1 Although a real concern exists #freeBritney activists took the situation to extremes: the campaign quickly escalated into an interpretation game where fans are invested in finding secret messages on the pop star's Instagram pictures. In an attempt to stop the activity, Spear's social media manager had to officially declare that the singer is not leaving help requests on her Instagram page (Hautman, 2021).

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2 This sort of reaction, coming from facing uncomfortable truths, also reminds us of the case of climate change which, despite being studied and experienced for decades, is often treated like a theory that can still be debated. 

The Return Act 

"The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” 

-- Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)

The journey soon comes to an end: it is the time for the adventurer to come back to the ordinary world. To survive the impact with it is not an easy task 1. Sometimes, the achievements obtained do not seem to find their immediate translation in ordinary life. The newly found key for healing and salvation needs to be adapted for both the inner and outer worlds 2. 

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1 In Campbell's mono-myth this phase represents the closing of the circle: the hero needs to cross the border between the ordinary and the extraordinary world once again. This stage is named Crossing of the Return Threshold (Campbell, 1949). 

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2 The hero might find the return home as insidious as any other stage: the only way to survive it is to adapt once again to the ordinary world's logic, confident of the value of their transformation. In Campbell's mono-myth this phase is referred to as Master of the Two Worlds (Campbell, 1949). 

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1 In Campbell's mono-myth this phase represents the closing of the circle: the hero needs to cross the border between the ordinary and the extraordinary world once again. This stage is named Crossing of the Return Threshold (Campbell, 1949). 

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2 The hero might find the return home as insidious as any other stage: the only way to survive it is to adapt once again to the ordinary world's logic, confident of the value of their transformation. In Campbell's mono-myth this phase is referred to as Master of the Two Worlds (Campbell, 1949). 

The great awakening: spiritual beings in the cosmic right 

On the morning of January 6th, 2021 Jacob Chansley wore his distinctive horned helmet and carried an American flag all the way to Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. Together with him, an angry mob of Trump supporters and fervent QAnon disciples stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the former president's defeat in the 2020 election. Chansley, who would later become known as Jake Angeli or the Q Shaman, is now in federal custody, facing a quarter-century charge in prison (Choiniere, 2021). His participation in the Capitol riots represented the pick of a relatively long career as a QAnon activist, as well as a shamanic practitioner. 

This cross-pollination between the world of conspiracy theories and the New Age movement does not represent an isolated case. In fact, the Q Shaman perfectly embodies a fringe that gained popularity in recent years, often named Conspirituality (Love, 2020). The term, a portmanteau of conspiracy theories and spiritual beliefs, was coined in 2011 to describe a phenomenon consisting of the merging of the traditional world of conspiracy theories, with its narrative involving corrupted global politics, and the New Age realm, characterized by a positive attitude towards the self (Ward and Voas, 2011). The concept of Conspirituality reinforces the vision of the conspiracy theorist as a seeker who is not only embracing a new quest for truth but is also following a spiritual path of personal salvation. 

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Regardless of the tangible aspects the great awakening was supposed to bring, Conspirituality also promotes another reading: the envisioned ascension may only happen inside the self. It can manifest itself through the acceptance of the individual path of spiritual enlightenment. 

It appears that, despite all the effort pushed towards establishing an apocalyptic mythology, Conspirituality doesn't really care about waiting for a new age: the individual's journey can perfectly inhabit our current times. In this world, rebirth only happens for the enlightened individual self: there is no need anymore for heaven on earth. 

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1Years ago, I used to categorize Laura as a progressive liberal. Until I've seen an Instagram story where she was asserting that, because of her special star-seed's power, she was now able to see how several multinationals were using aborted fetal cells in food production. Her proposed solution to stop these atrocities was a worldwide ban on abortion. 

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2 Some time ago I was watching a video where Laura was justifying to her followers the recent rise of the prices for her channeling session. According to the New Age's conception of money, she described how it had to be treated as spiritual energy as well (Aldred, 2002). In other words, she is claiming that it is fundamental to build a positive relationship towards money in order to obtain it: any other attitude will only reproduce financial distress. 

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1Years ago, I used to categorize Laura as a progressive liberal. Until I've seen an Instagram story where she was asserting that, because of her special star-seed's power, she was now able to see how several multinationals were using aborted fetal cells in food production. Her proposed solution to stop these atrocities was a worldwide ban on abortion. 

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2 Some time ago I was watching a video where Laura was justifying to her followers the recent rise of the prices for her channeling session. According to the New Age's conception of money, she described how it had to be treated as spiritual energy as well (Aldred, 2002). In other words, she is claiming that it is fundamental to build a positive relationship towards money in order to obtain it: any other attitude will only reproduce financial distress. 

Conclusion

“... we read novels because they give us the comfortable sensation of living in worlds where the notion of truth is indisputable, while the actual world seems to be a more treacherous place.”

― Umberto Eco, Six Walks in the Fictional Woods (1994)