When the self is only a puppet

Those who have long inhabited, in their imaginations and fascinations, the crossover territory between religion and unitive spirituality on the one hand and supernatural horror on the other—in other words, people like me—will find much to fascinate in the following passage from Terence Gray, writing famously as Wei Wu Wei. The Ligottian vibes are especially strong in this articulation of the way the self is only a puppet:

[A] sentient being objectively is only a phantom, a dream-figure, nor is anything done via a psycho-somatic apparatus, as such, other than the production of illusory images and interpretations, for that also has only an apparent, imagined or dreamed, existence. All phenomenal “existence” is hypothetical…

“Our dreamed “selves,” autonomous in appearance, as in life, can be seen in awakened retrospect to be puppets totally devoid of volitional possibilities on their own. Nor is the dream in any degree dependent on them except as elements therein. They, who seem to think that they are living and acting autonomously, are being dreamed in their totality, they are being activated as completely and absolutely as puppets are activated by their puppeteer. Such is our apparent life, on this apparent earth, in this apparent universe.

—Wei Wu Wei, Open Secret (1965)

For comparison, here are two sections from Ligotti’s poem cycle I Have a Special Plan for This World that articulate perhaps the darkest possible angle from which an organism can intuit the nondual reality of things, including its own identity. It’s no accident that these appear next to each other, in succession, among the cycle’s thirteen numbered sections. I consider them to represent high points, veritable mountain peaks, both thematically and artistically, among Tom’s total body of work.

The muse is more interesting than your brain chemistry

  • Post category:Creativity
  • Reading time:2 mins read

Why is it that every time a headline says something like, “Study reveals fascinating new information about creativity,” the article proves to be not fascinating at all, but the most boring thing anyone ever thought to write?

“Researchers at XYZ Institute of Research into the BrainMind have published a new paper in the Journal of Creative Biological Studies of Brain and Mind that indicates the Ganglior Network in the basal singular portion of the brain is implicated in stochastular effusions of concatenated electrical impulses throughout the anterior dingalum. Lead researcher Dr. ABC, speaking for a ninety-seven person team distributed across twelve universities in six countries, stated, ‘These findings represent an astounding leap forward in our understanding of how creativity works. Because the concatenated electrical impulses have now been observed to be pervasive throughout the anterior dingalum, we know the Ganglior Network communicates continuously with the Markoff Parietal Network in a different region of the brain, suggesting that creativity is the result of these internal communications within the human nervous system. To put it in lay terms, whenever you receive a new idea, your brain is literally about to explode out the top of your skull.’”

Okay, I suppose that last part about a potential cranial eruption would qualify as interesting. But for some reason, the rest of it just doesn’t grab me. Call me weird or blinkered or out of touch, but I’m more interested in the muse or daemon itself, and in what it feels like to commune and collaborate with this intelligence, this force, this presence that arrives with the felt sense of a discrete entity with whom you’re partnered and allied. And I think such an interest, and such a communion, is far more exhilarating, and far more conducive to an actual experience of creative emergence and flow, than all those dry-bones attempts to explain the whole thing in terms of its possible neurobiological correlates and underpinnings.

Art as escape, art as reality

  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:2 mins read

There’s such a deep and delicate divide between art and ideas as expressions of reality and art and ideas as escapes from reality. Their status and function in each of our lives hinges on our inner state and attitude, our relative clarity of vision and intent whenever we engage with them, whether as creators or appreciators. I’m convinced that for most of us, most of the time, including me, the escapist intent, the desire to use art and ideas to abstract away from living reality, is dominant. I could cut out more than 90% of my reading, viewing, thinking, and writing, and lose nothing of value. In fact, I’d gain clarity and peace by lopping off one of the prime fuel sources for the mad monkey mind.

This is a key self-recognition, because that monkey mind is so very good at chattering to itself about how the exact opposite is true, about the supposed supreme spiritual value of continuing to wallow in mental and artistic representations of reality instead of just dropping the whole thing and resting in the present reality of what simply and actually is. This primary, unmediated Real is what that misguided outer search via artificial means is really after all along.

Ramana Maharshi famously observed that reality is simple, but we make it complicated. He said the average person won’t be content when told the simple truth, that “the kingdom of heaven is within you,” and will instead demand the elaboration of complex religious systems. The same holds true for our daily engagement with all of life. Life is simple. Reality is simple. It’s all given right here, with no holding back, immediately and totally, all of it at this moment. But we feel that we need to think something, say something, do something, create something, see/feel/hear know something, before it’s really real. The ultimate cosmic self-punking.

Spanish edition of ‘What the Daemon Said’ coming soon: Lo que el diablo me contó

  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:2 mins read

What the Daemon Said, my collection of essays and interviews on horror, creativity, and the numinous, is being released in Spanish this April by Dilatando Mentes Editorial. The Spanish edition is titled Lo que el diablo me contó, and it features a striking new design as part of their Línea Paraíso Perdido collection, with cover and interior illustrations by Luis Pérez Ochando, translation by José Ángel de Dios, and careful editorial work by Aine.

Here’s how the publisher describes the book:

Matt Cardin es uno de los críticos y estudiosos más interesantes y provocadores que trabajan en el campo del terror (gracias a sus amplios conocimientos de la filosofía y la religión aplicados al análisis de la ficción de terror); en este volumen se recogen una serie de interesantes ensayos sobre una amplia gama de temas dentro del género:

A lo largo de seis textos, Cardin acerca a la figura de Thomas Ligotti y aborda, entre otros temas, la influencia de H. P. Lovecraft en la obra y el pensamiento del autor, y se adentra en la naturaleza del terror en cuentos tan célebres como «Nethescurial» o «El Bungalow».

Pero también nos encontraremos con estudios sobre Ángeles y demonios, sobre religión y vampiros, sobre la naturaleza del horror cósmico, sobre el Frankenstein de Mary Shelley, sobre las películas de «Muertos vivientes» de George Romero, o sobre la naturaleza del weird.

Matt Cardin is one of the most interesting and provocative critics and scholars working in the field of horror today, thanks to his deep knowledge of philosophy and religion, which he brings to bear on the analysis of horror fiction. This volume brings together a series of compelling essays on a wide range of topics within the genre:

Across six texts, Cardin explores the figure of Thomas Ligotti, addressing, among other topics, the influence of H. P. Lovecraft on Ligotti’s work and thought, and delving into the nature of horror in such celebrated stories as “Nethescurial” and “The Bungalow House.”

But readers will also find studies on angels and demons, religion and vampires, the nature of cosmic horror, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, George Romero’s Living Dead films, and the very essence of the weird.

Preorders are available at the publisher’s website:

Lo que el diablo me contó

For English-language readers who missed the original release, you can find more information about it here.

Writing, nonduality, and the lurking presence beyond form

  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:1 min read

I recently joined Robert, host of the Leafbox podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation on writing, creativity, and spiritual purpose—topics we first explored in the online course that I taught last fall, based on my (currently unpublished) book Writing at the Wellspring.

For those who prefer reading to listening, I’ve created a refined transcript that goes beyond a literal transcription, much like The Power of Myth book differs from its TV counterpart. The revised version enhances clarity, corrects errors, and makes the conversation more engaging as a stand-alone text.

The discussion covers themes like the daemon muse, nonduality, meditation, creative quietude, and the intersection of religion and horror. You’ll find section headings and a deeper exploration in the full post.

Read the full transcript here:

Through the Magic Eye: Writing, Nonduality, and the Lurking Presence Beyond Form

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