ABOUT

 

PHILOSOPHER STONED

An overview, an opinion, and a tip of the hat to James Linsday.

25 minutes read.

 

 

1. WHICH WAY IS UP?

 

This website tries to map worldview that underlines much of our cultural tensions.

Today, we may be tempted to adopt F. Fukuyama’s notion that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have reached the „End of history,” where all fundamental questions facing societies have been resolved, and liberal democracy has won. However, this perspective overlooks the profound influence and complexity of competing worldviews. We have become so accustomed to our own system that we fail to appreciate and recognize the distinct features of other systems.

Liberal democracy has a macrocosm of assumptions and conclusion waived into its fundaments. Upon ancient Greek thought and roman Christianity, we build a worldview that laid fundament for renaissance humanism. In turn, it formed enlightenment science and political system of liberal democracy.

The alternative which underlines current tensions: progressive social justice which challenges liberal assumptions. It offers complete world view developed from different assumptions about reality, society, humanity, and mortality. It has its own lineage: Its lineage can be traced back to ancient religious belief of hermeticism, which influenced esoteric and mystical cults. During the Renaissance, this worldview inspired alchemy and later influenced socio-political „sciences” like communism and fascism, challenging the conclusions of liberalism and the Enlightenment. Snakeology seeks to map the core philosophy of this alternative worldview and its resulting implications.

 

The name of the game

For the most part liberalism, monarchy, Christianity etc. are well known and fairly precisely described. But the alternative, that I attempt to illuminate: system drawing on hermetic principles – is not. Why?

Firstly, many scholars find it embarrassing to admit that some contemporary scholarship relies on foundations borrowed from alchemy and mystical thought rather than rigorous science. Academics often focus on specific characteristics that differentiate their field of study from its predecessors, rather than highlighting the common evolutionary line. This is similar to some peoples insistence that the differences between humans and chimpanzees can’t make us both primates. But the lady doth protests too much, methinks.

Secondly, the relative lack of clarity surrounding this alternative system stems from its syncretic nature. It freely borrows elements from other systems, believing it has discovered truer principles underlying them. It seeks to reorganize existing disciplines and redirect their purposes to fulfill its own vision. As a result, it can easily blend in with the very systems it influences. We usually see the host but fail to recognize the parasite that has latched onto it.

Thirdly, before the Enlightenment brought about rigorous methods, there were no clear divisions between disciplines, and many thinkers blended competing theories. This further complicates the process of identifying the concrete core of this alternative worldview.

 

To capture this core, I approach it with the maxim: „In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.” In other words, I apply the „platypus principle.” – When the platypus was first discovered, scientists were baffled by its seemingly contradictory characteristics: it laid eggs but produced milk, had a bill like a bird but fur like a mammal, a tail like a beaver, and venom like a snake. Due to its syncretic nature, it defied classification within existing taxonomies. While the naturalist fought battles about whether it is possible for such creature to exists – platypus simply did.

Similarly, we are dealing with a system that is intertwined with other philosophies. Its body is composed form “borrowed” elements. While these pieces may appear distinct on their own terms, this system nevertheless binds them together. . In tracking this philosophy, I do not focus on the differences between these elements, such as contradictions between hermetic principles and gnostic conclusions or the discrepancies between mystic dogmas and political science theorems. I don’t focus on how often postmodernists criticized Marxist statements or distinctions between decolonization movement and radical feminist liberation.  The movement simply is. It’s political practice is united by the banner of intersectional consciousness (“An important stage in the development of political consciousness is reached when individuals recognize the need to struggle against all forms of oppression.” bell hooks) I start from the fact that it exists, observe its functioning, and attempt to unravel the threads of philosophy that provide its coherence. Using the central symbol of hermeticism, the snake eating its own tail, I have named this project Snakeology.

 

Today, tensions manifest in slogans that present irreconcilable demands: „You must understand me!” and „You can never truly understand me!” We are asked to believe simultaneously that men can get pregnant but cannot comprehend abortion. Why progress is about equality and the “future is female”?  Why is the NBA diverse, while Swedish football is not? Why anti-racism requires discrimination of specific ethnicity? If England controlled colonies, why we need to decolonize England? Isn’t it abolishing its history and identity? Isn’t it what colonizers do? These and many other contradictions arise around concepts like diversity, political correctness, hate speech, freedom, equity, gender, and more.

It is impossible to make sense of these contradictions when relying solely on logic. However, if we approach the issue with good faith and assume that most individuals involved have good intentions, we may look elsewhere. Beneath the surface lies a worldview that presumes to unite contradictions. World view that differently judges logic, reality, and society.

Lastly, why do I assert that this is not simply a theory but a complete worldview? A worldview binds fundamental assumptions about epistemology, axiology, etc. into a coherent system. To illustrate this, I present a few metaphors: cymatics, where changing frequencies reorganize the structure of a material; a magnetic field that aligns compass needles in a common direction; or a musical note that takes on different contextual meanings depending on the tonal scale used (e.g., „good wife” in California means something different than in Saudi Arabia. Equality meant something different in England and the USSR.) That is why when we clash, we think we disagree about the same thing. But in actuality we argue about in which complex system to place the thing that sparked conflict. Some see the formation of worldviews as the proper function of theology, as exemplified by the medieval university, where theology served as a central discipline that organized and directed other fields to create a coherent society—like a wheel whose spokes revolve around a single axis.

To understand modern progressive social philosophy, we must examine its genealogy.

 

In summary:

 

2. HERMETICISM

 

Hermeticism was an ancient mystic religion. Its teaching are captured by seven central principles: The principle of mentalism interpreted reality as lower reflection of higher dimension. It asserted that everything is an expression of the higher, divine mind. Universe is an interconnected whole, a system within which everything is created, sustained, and imbued with divine consciousness. The principle of correspondence or „As above, so below” stated that there is a relation between different levels of reality, such as the physical, mental, and spiritual levels. What happens in one level, influences others. Only those who understand ultimate nature of reality can place hands on leverages that control it.

The Dimensions are interconnected, and lower ones contain seeds of higher levels: The principle of vibration or „differences in degree” holds that everything is in a state of constant motion and different levels of vibration correspond to different levels of matter and consciousness – Different degrees of the ultimate. The principle of gender holds that everything in the universe has both masculine and feminine aspects or energies. The principle of polarity or „quantity vs. Quality”. states that everything has two opposite aspects. Polarities are not absolute, but exist on a spectrum, with varying degrees of quality or intensity. The concept of quantity refers to the physical properties of a substance. The concept of quality refers to the inherent nature or essence of a substance. Where there is an Ultimate Higher, were living in the imperfect, lower dimension, which is only contains a spiritual or divine spark, reflection „All” or the „One”.

Hermeticism believes in magical transformation of reality: The principle of cause and effect „law of attraction” asserts that every event and action attract corresponding effects capable of transforming other dimensions, levels of existence. It emphasizes that we are active participants in the creation. The mind is seen as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms and has the power to create shape and transform reality using intentionality. Individuals can progress through levels of reality by purifying and refining a substance’s quality. They could unlock spiritual potential and transmute it into a higher form. Transformation involves the progressive refinement and purification of the individual’s nature to rejoin with the absolute.

The principle of rhythm holds that everything in the universe operates according to cycles and patterns and that understanding these rhythms is essential to understanding the order of reality. Together Principles of Hermeticism are represented by the symbol of the single eternal substance devouring and recreating itself, snake eating its own tail – Uroboros.

 

Practical

Hermeticism begins not with reality but with fantasy about reality. It narcistically believes one can see the picture of the ultimate and realize, remember that man is of the same essence as God and can transform reality to rejoin Ultimate.

It is parasitic because it considers everything else: mathematics, art, religion etc. as a lower understanding of itself, merely a shard of its own “true” vision of the Ultimate. It subverts and repurposes the structure and aims of every other discipline to serve goals of mystic process – reassembling it with the One or completing Unity, Freedom or Absolute.

It subverts actual merit and understanding with revealed truth, hermeticism explains that every level of ascension toward the Absolute requires rejection, on each stage, of the impure element of current dimension and entity it is directing. Therefore, ultimately, it kills its host.

Hermeticism has had a hand in parasitizing and twisting religions into sects: Islam into Sufism, Judaism into Kabbalah, and Christianity into Gnosticism. The latter belief holds that we not only are but are imprisoned in lower, material reality and that we need to reject it and escape by using our spiritual knowledge (gnosis) of the higher realm.

 

 

The only way to stop parasite is find and separate it from host. In ancient philosophy thinkers like Aristotle formulated principles trying to contain hermeticism i.e., principle of non-contradiction states that something cannot both be and not be at the same time and in the same respect. Christianity delt with gnostic cult by classifying it as heresy and expelling its believers from church. Consequently, Hermeticism fall into irrelevance and was forgotten.

 

Alchemy

During the Renaissance, the discovery of Hermetic texts sparked a huge interest, most famously in alchemy. Hermetics perspectives got reinstated with concepts like “Prisca theologia” – a one true ancient theology whose shards are ingrained in knowledges of all other disciplines and religions. In Alchemy, again, Reality was a lower dimension of higher divine Consciousness. The universal Mind is reflected in all aspects of creation. We can seek the essence of material and transform, purify it. Alchemists sought the ultimate material – the Philosophers Stone. They tried to transform the base metals like led into its hidden pure form, gold. They also believed in the possibility of healing the mortal, dying body with an ultimate essence, the elixir of life.

While these beliefs seem absurd to us today, they were popular in their time. Isaac Newton spent one-tenth of his writings on alchemy, and his death was hastened because in search of eternal life he injected mercury into his body. We revere his scientific achievements because clear standards of natural sciences separated them from his Alchemic dead ends. However, disciplines with less rigorous methods failed to filter out all mysticism and went their own way. The parasitic nature of Hermeticism allowed it to hide very well, as it took the shape of the host discipline and twisted its goals, context, and nature to serve its own.

Some mystical assumptions still lie at the core of many disciplines, twisting much of what was built on top of them. Like in the old USSR joke, „I bought a vacuum cleaner. Whichever way I assemble it, I get a Kalashnikov.”

 

 3. NEW BRAVE WORLD

 

New Theology: Sociology & Political Science

“If you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything”. In 18th and 19th century as the role of previous theology diminished under the rise of science, the vacuum was filled by other system. With the rise of republics, constitutionalism and liberal democracy the society was in the era of revolutionizing how we organize society. Social and political scholarship took place of theology as a system organizing all other disciplines. “Thus, the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics.” – Karl Marx

Just as parasitized religion produced cults, the pride of the enlightenment era: “science” was used as a host by scientism. Much of 19th century scholarship no longer focused on theories that describe reality, but rather on practices and rationalizations that allow tranformatory goals of theory (praxis). In the words of the father of “Scientific Socialism” Karl Marx: “philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world. The point, however, is to change it”. Or as George Soros said “Scientific method seeks to understand things as they are, while alchemy seeks to bring about a desired state of affairs. To put it another way, the primary objective of science is truth, – that of alchemy, operational success.”

Millions of people have been crushed when transformation became not a goal of the individual spiritual journey but became a goal of reforming whole society.

 

Genealogy

The somewhat clear beginning of translation of mysticism into political science can be traced to J.J Rousseau, who tried to understanding man’s natural essence. The switch of the “nature” that refers to the reality to the “nature” that describes esoterical essence can maybe be seen as a switch from English liberalism to French progressive leftism. Now the constraints were understood to be set not by reality or physical dimension but social constructs alienating true essence of Man. Rights flow not from nature but from social politics. And truth drifts from corresponding to reality to social consensus.

“Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains”. With this famous line in 1762 Rousseau translated ancient gnostic instinct into social sphere. For him social construction imprisons man, alienating us from our true nature and potential. The attitude of liberating man from social prison became a cornerstone of progressive political motivation that we today we most often call “Left”. “Modernity is equated with a deformed world, while Rousseau, the initiator of retrospective hostility towards one’s own time, set it alight on the last of the great styles: what spurred his revulsion was too much form, the denaturalization of society.” Theodor Adorno.

 

Hegel

In early 19th century G.W.F. Hegel took Rousseau’s impulses and framed them within complete system he called “science”. As host for mysticism, he used Kantian method into which (under the name of the Dialectic) he systematized strains of Hermetic world view. Crucially, where for Kant it was a method of refining arguments for Hegel it was method of transforming actual reality. As a mystic Hegel didn’t focus on difference between laws of argumentation, psychic fantasies and constrains of natural laws. And as such he begun with their rejection: “Philosophy, if it would be a science, cannot borrow its method from a subordinate science like mathematics”.

Hegel saw reality as a reflection of The Absolute Spirit (or Consciousness or Reason) which structures all aspect of creation. Hegel saw the origin of History in division, “the Fall”, of the One Consciousness (similarly to mystic Contraction). He saw Social Reality as lower dimension of Ultimate Reason or Mind. It was constructed by the “not yet” purified Spirit of the Time “Zeitgeist” which in turn is constructed from individual consciousness.

Dialectic divides comprehension into two: lower, the understanding of how things appear. And higher: knowing what their actual unrealized essence is, how they should be, or become. This hidden seed of higher essence is a spark of the divine in every thing and man and can be awakened. Awakening transforms self, which in turn transforms spirit of times which in turn rejoin the image of the Absolute Spirit.

Hegel pictured the March of History, in which consciousness reassembles the Absolute Spirit of the world by transcending forms of society in subsequent epochs of time. This progressing transformation is 'dialectical,’ where opposites, in light of more complete realization, are purified, joined, and transformed into higher, more united form. To him dialectic consists of three stages: “abstract”, its “negation” and an elevating synthesis in “concreate”. It is an example of “negative theology” where the essence of truth is best of approximated by negating every positive statement as insufficiently grasping essential point.

 

Marx

Fascinated by Hegel’s vision of society as constructed by the iteration of the Spirit, Karl Marx applied dialectic to political economy. For him society is constructed by iterations of forms material production. In describing it, he also amplifies the Rousseau’s instinct of seeing society as a prison created by social hegemon who controls means of production.

For Marx, “The Fall” begins with the division of labor. Society has special categories that divide society into groups (capital) to privilege some and oppress others (conflict theory). Delineated by those categories, society is a construct that imprisons and conditions us by determining what we are, know, have. To legitimize this structure, ideologies are invented. By experiencing the negative instincts, denied subjectivities (pathos) one can realize he is imprisoned.

Contrary to his proclamations, Marx didn’t reject mysticism, only inverted its source. For Hegel ultimate essence was “in heaven” – spiritual, to Marx it was found on “Earth” – the material dimension. He actually amplified the narcissism in esoteric thought: The hidden ultimate essence was still to be reassembled but instead Man rejoining hidden nature of universe the reality should be humanized – recreated to resemble the ultimate nature of the species Man – Socialist.

“Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.”, ”The outstanding achievement of Hegel’s Phänomenologie and of its final outcome, the dialectic of negativity as the moving and generating principle, is thus first that Hegel conceives the self-creation of man as a process… ”, “But since for the socialist man the entire so-called history of the world is nothing but the creation of man through human labor, nothing but the emergence of nature for man, so he has the visible, irrefutable proof of his birth through himself, of his genesis.“,

Those who awaken their consciousness see reality as a dialectical process and therefore know it’s ultimate goal. They can now understand their historical role and form movements and organization that will synthesize collective pressure to do social work (Vanguard and State). Being progressive on the right side of history means to apply approach of “negative theology” and criticize (purify) every aspect of this insufficient social reality and advocate for abolishing dividing categories – so society can be transformed into a united one (praxis). Each epoch changes when rising conflict burst, overthrows, and purifies the existing order. At the end no longer will individual aims push people to compete against each other. No longer will one’s success mean predation on others in the social environment. In this historical conflict, man is self-reconstructing his true potential form, the hidden ultimate substance of the species – Socialist Man (Collective Creator).

 

Failed attempts

Because whole program was born out of rejection of reality – it failed, to manifest fantasy. Its believers could abandon their religion or find a way to adjust and rescue it. Some went right, Mussolini painted the picture of nation state as the expression of ultimate spirit, Hitler led the National Socialist Party. Others like Lenin went harder to the left. His main modification was stating that the dialectical progress of history won’t happen spontaneously but needs a strong-armed Vanguard – Party that will usher us to the promised land.

Both version of ideologies sought to purify the status quo by eliminating its imperfections – people and categories that hindered the realization of the imagined state. They mainly disagreed about which category or group should be anointed as a priest of the progress. They promised that perfect social relations would be formed when we reach a stage where everyone is conscious of one ideological image – exemplified by the party, the nation, the movement, etc. Countless millions were murdered in this process of purification.

Failure after failure, with every monstrous massacre, the method was „criticized” – theory needed to be „purified”. Just like the evolution of wings in different environments, people in different cultural environment used the same mechanism, only switched the focus to a different conflict. From class to culture, sexuality, race, or identity. Whichever issue was the most salient was used as a lever, launching a new purifying process, mystical method in new disguise. And with every makeover, intellectuals were proud of inventing something “brand new”. And generations after generations were bewildered when a vacuum cleaner shot like a Kalashnikov. And intellectuals explained it is not a wing because it does not have feathers.

 

Left

Today, we are asked again to run the similar project. We have a conflict of intersecting identities. Society has special categories that divide it into groups based on sex, race, and gender. Categories privilege some and oppress others (conflict theory). Delineated by those categories, society is a structure that imprisons and conditions us by determining what we know, have, and are. To legitimize this structure, ideologies are invented (sexism, racism, cis-normative, ableism).

Progressives are conscious of the image of society we should strive towards – Socially Just. One can awakens their consciousness to see the process and it’s ultimate goal. Those who understand their historical role can form movements (LGBT+, BLM) and organization that will synthesize collective pressure to do social work (Vanguard & State). Being progressive on the right side of history means to apply approach of “negative theology” and purify (by criticizing, problematizing, deconstructing, decolonizing, queering) aspect of this insufficient society and advocating for abolishing of significance of dividing categories. Exclusionary distinctions between sexes, gender roles, private interests, and public ones, borders, citizens, and immigrants, private and public will be eliminated (praxis).

In the end instead of society where we compete against each other, where one’s success means predation on social or natural environment, society can be transformed into one affirming life instincts: unity and sustainable. Man, that creates self-subjectivities will act in seamless coordination with natural environment and community (Collective Creator).

 

Of course, I don’t mean that this system is the only danger we have today. It just happens to be the one that captured much of academia, spilled to law, business, entertainment, police and is subverting our culture. Also of course this, doesn’t mean that many problems it invokes aren’t real. Rather, they are used by a specific overarching method, „theology” that leverages conflict for gaining power and attacking whatever „is”. To address actual problems, It is crucial to focus on the framing of problems: To see if they are being solved or leveraged. While sanity prefers merit, a steady hand, stable ground, and open inquiry, this method offers something different. It encourages strong-hand control which directs moral indignations – indignations produced by restless, incompetent, and dishonest criticism framed as merit good faith and deep moral beacon.

 

4. PONOROLOGY

“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”

Valery Legasov

Chernobyl, HBO

 

It is a good and important thing that we all have instincts and intuition. At the same time they are scripts automated to work in environments they evolved in: small social circles, forests, for hunting etc. Those instincts are insufficient for functional complex civilization. Fortunately, we have different capabilities too. We outsource complex subjective judgments to be settled externally i.e.: experimental science or letter of the law. We use reason for careful evaluation and slowly learn skills that makes us masters of processes we utilize.

 

The trick of mystics is to switches skill and understanding for revelation, a picture one intuits. To lure as out of stable, verified dimensions mysticism creates sudo-realities, fantasies that are very salient, satisfying for our instincts. Here you don’t have to master a skill to survive within reality, fantasy bends its virtual boundaries to you – its source.

 

“You see things; and you say 'Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not? (…) Why not be born again and again as I am, new and beautiful every time?”

Bernard Shaw

“Back to Methuselah” Serpent talks to Eve

 

Rousseau imagined rejoining man with his true nature, emancipating seed of gold trapped in the low dimension of social constructions. He believed that this intuition, vision of man’s true essence is true – more real than actual real. He provided alternative for those Unwilling to bare reality can reject it: either because it oppresses them (Gnostic tilt) or is maybe unfulfilling to them and bores them. (Hermetic tilt).

 

Hermeticism sees Reality as a barrier and promises a method to overcoming it. It requires no skill or understanding how things work. Manifesting what has value doesn’t require creating it but deconstructing barriers that deny it from you. Ascending through level of reality means rejecting levels that don’t satisfy the vision. You purify yourself out of them. Deconstruction or criticism rejects aspects of reality that do not conform to the fantasy. If you reject enough reality, you will reach the „gold” that was hidden and denied. This entitlement demands transformation with your vision “true one” at the center.

 

JUDITH: Here! I– I’ve got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can’t actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody’s fault, not even the Romans’, but that he can have the right to have babies. (…)

REG: What’s the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can’t have babies?!

FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

“Life of Brian”, Monty Python

 

Power (Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder.)

I try to understand distinction between ideology and functional world view in the following way: World view maps all main aspects of reality and prescribes appropriate patterns of behavior that apply to specific situations. Ideology on the other hand begins with specific pattern of behavior as proper and judges reality based on whether it rewards it. In other words, it is a pattern of behavior at war with reality that denies it success. It expects reality to bend to itself.

If we won’t exercise careful judgment, if we ignore shifts in fundaments that anchor us in reality, we too may slip. And make no mistake, this method has no brakes. It was designed to crush and deconstruct every boundary. Distinctions and Categories are seen as alienating and therefore a cause of evil.

Hermetic method allows the manipulation of normal people because the vocabulary we have for pathological impulses blends with gnostic processes of rejecting and escaping reality, it calls them liberation or justice. The hermetic processes of attaining virtues and ascending to higher plane of sudo-realities is a mirror of criticism, rejection reality. For example It’s very tempting to replace proper, competent civil engagement with common affairs with „criticism”. Problem posing activism without understanding of how things works, what is possible and what is the cost of the alternative is very convenient. It is so easy to just believe that it is my part to criticize and society through work of others, maybe representatives, will find a solution. But Alchemist considered it an actual contribution that purifies society. Here what instincts we may even call pathological denial or resentment are rebranded as healing, reconstructing and liberating.

In the 20th century, this method became a perfect tool for sociopathic, power-hungry narcissists. They became vessels of higher consciousness; they saw the higher order and knew the direction of „progress”. They were the ones knowing the true essence, true purpose of every discipline of life and presumed it should bend to their vision. They resented those dimensions of life that didn’t bend to their vision. They saw them as social prison where social hegemon arbitrary “distributes” privileges. Here, resentment was presented as love of equality. Only those aware of “true” purposes, the “seed of gold” were considered truly human “Not to have a correct political point of view is like having no soul” – Mao. Consciousness of the anointed became the arbiter of reality. Vengeance against prison became justice. Applying negative theology, negation of everything insufficient, disagreeing with vision became heling „purification”. Blind destruction became a competent work of transformation and reconstructing society into something better.

Distinctions were liquidated. What was arrogance became merit. What was conformism became community/solidarity. Devaluing standards became including. What was infantilizing became respect. What was enablement became compassion. What was envy became the love of equality. What was hateful became “critical”. What was discrimination became a leveling of differences. What was destruction became healing purification – all transforming reality into a “more united one”. Entropy became realization of freedom. Free fall that reaches no bottom. Decay that denies death.

And the result is always the same – accumulation of power by the anointed as they preside over the destruction of those boundaries, construction of hierarchy of grievances, collective prosecution for „healing” discrimination. And never-ending hunt for those hindering the realization of yet to arrive utopia.

 

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

 

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

 

From

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

Rudyard Kipling