The Pantheon

Just another bit of light horror. Beyond commentary on how much of our morality we are willing to give up for the sake of normalcy, this isn't much more than a bit of fun.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

There are more types of freedom than we imagine. Freedom from the tides of our own anger is one. We like to ignore that one here on Earth, but doing so often compels us to ruin our own lives, instead of the lives of those who injured us. I am no fan of forgiveness without recompense, but sometimes there is context to a crime that we cannot, must not ignore. Sometimes it is best that we shed our anger. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

There is a kind of addiction to despair. When all things seem awful, it seems that the worst thing that can happen you is something good. Why? Because in terrible times, the very essence of good is madness, another type of evil trying to sneak into your life and make things worse. This is one thing that makes a pit of despair difficult to claw out of on your own. Guilt is a terrible thing, especially guilt for things you had no control over. Very often, empathetic people will take blame that is not truly theirs, and let it simmer in their minds. Give that guilt time, and you'll have forgotten the facts of the matter. What was once only partially your fault is now fully your own. The solution? We'll get to it. But for now, simply try to track those feelings of guilt. Do not let inappropriate guilt fester in your soul. There are many things you do that are evil. Do not drive yourself insane focusing on one.As an aside, I literally just challenged myself to write a story about a donut and this fell out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Doesn't mean there's not a lesson to be learnt or anything, but I am fairly impressed that I managed to make it work even a little. But my pride's getting to me.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

The plot thickens. One man might have remorse for the entire world, but then even still, they are tiny compared to the totality of their society. There are more stories to tell, more paths to follow to the end. There are many ways to react to crisis, real or imagined. Faced with absurd circumstances, one is tempted to move towards absurdity to use it as your shield. Fire with fire, and whatnot. Sometimes that is practical. But very rarely. Without the application of logic and empathy, all situations can get worse.TBH, did not plan this episode for the current pandemic. Wrote it weeks before it was international news. Coincidence? Yes. Very much so. The advice still stands. Stay safe. This is no time to turn to madness, and yet it is still a time to embrace caution. And, as always, it is a time to question what slavery your gods impose upon you. Do your ideologies bring you to insanity at this moment? Probably.Take lessons from the characters within. In learning what is usually wrong, you will find it easier to determine what is right.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White.Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

The trials continue. Memories are flooding back. Is a sacrifice really a sacrifice if it is not acknowledged or remembered? If only you could forget that you ever asked the question, all sacrifices would then be so easy. We're about halfway through on this one.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

Memories are like pests; you can get rid of them for awhile, but they will always come back. The only way to keep them out of your house (or mind) is to burn the house down. That sacrifice is never worth it. The best solution to terrible memories? Try and not make them in the future, bear the torment that you deserve for your past. You'll only escape that pain by burning your house straight down. You will never find forgiveness unless you work to deserve it. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

It's so easy to forget things, especially things that are important and cause your mind to writhe about in pain. But always remember: an empty mind is the most easily manipulated. Give trust to others only at your own peril, especially with the way things are going up about in the real world. A simple mind is a simple puppet, another tool for evil in the guise of good.Things are getting interesting, aren't they? Quite a bit more to come. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

You convince yourself of your murder. What then? Where do you take the blame when there is no one else left to forgive you?It's so cold outside. It would be unbearable if you didn't understand that it was your fault. That makes it less painful, somehow, almost as if you think that you deserve this...The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

It's cold inside. But why is it cold? How can we escape it? Is the most important part of making up for a crime recognizing that you committed the crime in the first place?This is the first part of a larger story that I'm going to be putting up here in succession. It's fairly simple, I think, but the message of the story will be difficult to parse out until the end. Up until that point, it's just a nice little cosmic horror ditty.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

My first attempt at poetry in a loooonnng time. I don't remember the genesis of it, save that the idea it gave me of depicting various monsters in literary form was the genesis of The Pantheon itself. It's got a bit of morality thrown into it too. Far too often we see other people in the world as evil when their choices in life were quite limited. Is an evil committed strictly for the purpose of survival really evil? Not really. Of course, with humans, there's a lot of nuance in our actions, but with a beast or a natural force? A hurricane and a swarm of mosquitoes are equally evil, in that, well, they aren't. To be honest, this is me trying to make up for missing my usual deadline time. Apologies.Written and produced by Joshua White. Background music by Erokia from Freesound (https://freesound.org/people/Erokia/) on whose behest I've donated to the Freesound platform.Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

Just another random horror story. It probably won't tie into anything, but I quite like it. There's no specific moral, either. Just have fun. We forget that we need that every once in a while in this new gilded age. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

What horror must a man have committed to deserve such a fate? Search in your own soul. Are you so much more virtuous that a plea for help from your fellow man can go unanswered?A Reasonable Request is more of a typical horror story, something I've loved to craft and play out in front of friends over the years. It's less morally loaded, but it still asks the important question about the value of another person's life. Are those we consider slightly evil worthy of death? I'm not agnostic on this issue, and neither should you be. Thank you for listening, and thank you for continuing with me into the future. Sincerely,Joshua White, your fellow human in a chaotic and barbaric world.The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White.Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

 What is the West? People have lots of ideas about it right now, but they're probably on the wrong track.  The West is a standalone tale, independent of The Pantheon. I'll probably be dropping a lot of these sorts of things over here from time to time. I've done this one first because I particularly liked it, but, of course, there's a lot of moral overtones to it too. As we live in a very causal universe, any action of own will have repercussions. Obvious stuff, but we tend to give ourselves a pass on the repercussions of our own actions while eviscerating those of others.  Season 2 will be used as an indication that this is a miscellaneous story. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Music by Erokia (https://freesound.org/people/Erokia/), on whose behalf I have donated to the Freesound platform.  Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

The final god of the trinity of nihilism, the most worshipped deities in present humanity. The One Who Wasn't is certainly the least harmful of the trio, least in our present time. There is much to be dissected about them, but nothing to be followed, not yet.It is very easy to become disillusioned in these years, especially if you seek to be good, or have the world be good in any meaningful way. Many problems are colossal, completely unsurmountable to the individual, and yet they still stare at you, day after day. If you let your helplessness get to you, there is nowhere to go but the void, to be crushed by silence. Keep a little flame of hope with you at all times, and do not let yourself fall too deep into misery if you have the chance.It ain't over 'til we're all dead. And it might not be over even then. Written and produced by Joshua White. Background music by Erokia from Freesound (https://freesound.org/people/Erokia/) on whose behest I've donated to the Freesound platform.Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

The Prophet is visited in the middle of the night, long ago. This visitor is quite odd, quite harsh, and in fact has already graced us in the first episode of the podcast. The visitor comes to people at their lowest, seeking to grant them something that might be appealing under those conditions: bloodlust. But this bloodlust it gives never ends, even when there is not another drop of blood left to be shed. How do you turn away this beast at your lowest point? What things can give you hope? There are many things. Here is one.There's a lot of contemporary talk among the young of the "blackpill," the embrace of absolute, bloody nihilism in the face of the colossal problems of the present. This viewpoint, is, of course, spread by the first great antagonist foundational ideology. Victims of it are hopeless. Most will simply wallow in hopelessness and apathy, but a few will turn to bloodshed. As time passes and The One Who Isn't is left unopposed, the number of these people will grow larger and larger, until they perhaps take over the bulk of society. Best to avoid that. The Pantheon is written and produced by Joshua White. Music by Erokia, distorted to fit. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

A love-letter to those who would identify themselves as consumers. We are many things, and hunger is one of them, but should not be the primary thing we identify with. Unfortunately, contemporary culture is obsessed with the idea of consumption; those who create and consume more are seen as inherently better than those who create and consume less. When you try and view this ideology from the outside it's quite odd, for even though luxuries and the like are good for our lives and experiences, binding our entire lives to them, to their creation, consumption, and propagation is making us less and less happy. If the idea of eternal creation/consumption is allowed to continue to rule over us, we will all die, in a very horrific fashion. We notice it. We understand it, but do nothing about it, because we are obsessed with smaller issues, smaller gods. Of course, I'll elaborate more on this later. Written and produced by Joshua White. Background music from Erokia, distorted to fit.Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

The One Who Isn't is not a god, although you've got quite a lot of people around today thinking that it is. Perhaps we will not be able to leave this god behind in the future, but we can diminish its grip on our minds. In case the metaphor is lost on people, all the "gods" I will depict are reflective of our own true personal gods: ideologies. Let's be honest. We all have gods. Even if we don't dress up and sing chants for them, they still dominate us, shackle us, make us give up our lives for nothing. I will try in this series to destroy as many of those shackles as possible, so that we might be truly free.  The One Who Isn't is representative of the death drive that drives much of modern politics, particularly among the disaffected. They'll be making lots of appearances. And... that's about all I'm willing to say right now. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy as the dulcet tones of apparent insanity wash over your ears. Do your laundry. Clean your room. Work out. Be a human, and I will be the author.  Much more to come.  Written and produced by Joshua White. Background music by Erokia from Freesound (https://freesound.org/people/Erokia/) on whose behest I've donated to the Freesound platform. Sharing Links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pantheon/id1498984739https://www.buzzsprout.com/811181https://open.spotify.com/show/6Pmngtn7BBnOeAiOzAriHJhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-pantheon-57860820/https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTExODEucnNz

One of the best ways to learn about yourself is to ask someone else whom you can trust about who and what you are. Same with societies, cultures, etc. We lose insight to hubris all the time. That being said, perhaps we can get even greater insight about ourselves not from our friends, but from our greatest enemies. 

Oof. This one's painful. And not just painful in the sense that I've been missing for a month. See, one of the problems here is that if you seek to find ways to make things non-sacred, you can find them. Cynicism, apathy can devour all, even your dreams.Flames can devour dreams too, though. It's a balancing act between the two; the line to walk is far too fine.Melinsk is in flames. Or was. Or will be. The timeline doesn't and never will make sense. 

You should have listened to the PSA. I did. That's why I'm still here, behind you. But you're not. Not there. Not in your shell. You should have listened. It meant you no harm. Nor did I. But the other thing...