Dark Society

In this episode, I discuss eschatology and apocalypse rhetoric in religion and pop culture. I highlight Zoroastrianism, the Abrahamic faiths, contemporary beliefs, Y2K, 2012, and my favorite movie, Interstellar! When we think of an apocalypse, we typically think of the Book of Revelations in the Bible, death, destruction, dystopian wasteland, human enslavement, rapture, the bunkers, nuclear war... Apocalypse is a term which refers to a revelation; a revealing or unveiling. Reality is unveiled in times of great chaos. Apocalypticism is often accompanied by the belief that esoteric knowledge will be revealed in a major fight between the forces of good and evil. This fight is usually destined and it will change the course of history.  There are plenty of places to see cosmologies, ideologies and notions of an apocalypse in our secular world. We are seeing waves of great change ripple through communities across the nation and the globe. I think this opens up certain questions to ponder: Will we change the fundamental ways in which we think and behave as a society? How will humanity move forward beyond this point? Is the world getting darker, or is it simply being revealed for what it is?

It is officially the launch, and this is the first episode where I dive deeper into a specific topic. This episode is about ossuaries, charnel houses, catacombs, crypts, sepulchers, etc. A house of bones is a striking way to revere the dead, while also serving as a reasonable way to maximize space for burial and solve overcrowding issues in cemeteries within city limits. Ossuaries are sites that serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains and they are usually used where burial space is limited. They house anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand skeletal remains. These houses of bones are more than creepy crypts or spooky sepulchers. Many are churches and chapels to venerate the dead. Many are home to thousands of mass death victims, while others are home to holy people. Ossuaries and charnel houses are compelling because they act as a timeless reminder of death even today. A true memento mori. The human skull is universally recognizable, making it the most profound symbol of death for humanity. When we look at a skull, we are looking at a reflection of our deepest selves. When we regard it with reverence, we revere ourselves. Death is not an event to fear, but one to make peace with, to prepare for, and to honor. There is a plaque in a crypt in Rome that reads, “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.” List of references and resources can be found on the website.

This is the first episode of the Dark Society podcast and it is an introduction to the conversations and topics that will show up throughout the podcast. There will be no shortage of dark topics in the realms of death, the spiritual, the supernatural, the spooky and that which the collective considers occult. There are no limits on the hidden themes we can explore. I’ll share my research on topics such as: cemeteries, crypts, the process of embalming, near death experiences, cremation, Spiritualism & seances, deities of death, and much more. It’s going to be steeped in ritual and myth and I’m going to dive deep, finding interesting pop culture connections. I will pose deeper questions about our relationship to the myths and rituals of death.