Eerie, uncanny, ominous, numinous, carrying within it the shadow of some strange unknown.

I really need some new music in my life! Recommend me something!

Some bands and artists that I like include:
- Vnv Nation
- Assemblage 23
- Metallica
- Lamb of God
- Metal Church
- Cream
- Jefferson Airplane
- Astral Projection
- Talamasca
- Pleiadians
- The Hives
- Sage Francis
- Nine Inch Nails
- Flobots
- Saul Williams
- Nicki Minaj
- Lady Gaga
- Bad Religion
- Combichrist
- God Module

Favorite genres include:
- speed metal
- black metal
- psytrance/goa
- EBM
- Industrial
- blues
- ’60s psychedelic

But, yeah, the only types of music I can think of which I really do not care for are the “mainstream”/”white cowboy hat” kind of country music, although I do enjoy some alternative country including Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, and Grayson Capps, among others; and most R&B, which for whatever reason has never really appealed to me.

music-keepsmysanity asked: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15!

1.) Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I read a lot of books! Lately I’m on an astronomy kick, but I like all kinds of different subjects. The best book I read recently was probably Mircea Eliade’s “Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy”.

2.) Name a favorite of each: food, drink, color.

Food: Italian bread; I avoid breads because I like them far too much; Drink: mocha (nonalcoholic), margaritas (alcoholic); color: dark blue

5.) If you were given the opportunity to spend 48 hours with absolutely anyone (living or dead), who would you spend it with and what would you do?

I had to think about this one, but I think it would be a toss-up between Carl Jung or Ernest Becker. Both have been incredibly influential on my own intellectual and spiritual life.

6.) Name a LEAST favorite of each: food, drink, color.

Food: almost all cheeses; Drink: Milk; color: I’m not big on yellowy mustardy green colors, like those ones you see in ’70s decor in questionable combination with a lot of browns and burnt oranges.

7.) What is the first initial of the name of the person you like/love?

S

13.) What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself?

You know, honestly, I’m at a point in my life where I don’t care as much as I once did what other people think of me. I had trouble thinking of an answer to this. I kind of grew up being constantly insulted, directly or indirectly, by my peer group up until about junior year of high school or so. I ended up internalizing this attitude where I kind of almost EXPECT to be insulted. I wish I could answer this question better, but I can’t think of much of anything right now. I suppose I don’t care all that much about being insulted. (Then again, it’s like 6 AM and I’m only halfway caffeinated so far).

15.) If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why?

I think it would be very interesting to become an animal that uses echolocation, such as a dolphin or a bat. What would that be like, qualitatively, to experience? It’s hard, as a visually oriented human being, to imagine that. I also think it would be interesting to be a star-nosed mole. Their star nose is a truly fascinating tactile organ, and from what I understand, within the animal’s brain, information from this structure is relayed to areas associated with the retina in other mammals, which leads me to wonder if this animal, as far as how it might experience things, might “see” with its star-nose.
Or, alternatively, I’d like to be reincarnated in this scenario as a sentient alien species of some sort, from an entirely different planet and galaxy.

I find Sanskrit to be an unusually mellifluous language, almost ethereally beautiful. I knew I’d heard that term in a mantra or stotram of some sort; I recognized “param” as “greatest” or “supreme”, but had to google it to check “balam”.

I also discovered a beautiful new Sanskrit saying/motto: “Gyanam Param Balam”; it means, “Knowledge is Supreme Power”. I could not agree more with that sentiment.

To compensate for all the texty whatnot, here’s a depiction of Lord Krishna revealing to Arjuna his true form (the Vishvarupa).