RE: Subcultures and Social Trends: The Paranormal Investigators – Bring Out Your Dead
@xanoxt, when I look at the sensationalism of this, I can understand why you would think it strange, but I see it differently after digging through the sources to understand the history of how it came to be.
One constant which appeared over and over throughout history is human beings as a whole, appear to have a difficult relationship with the unknown. We have not only a desire to understand, but we are so unsettled with the phrase, "I don't know" that we are wiling to fabricate stories and even mythologies at times to provide comfort to convince ourselves we understand. At one point we did not understand thunder and lightning, so we created gods with human attributes to explain what we did not have the tools and understanding for (science and tech). Those who could explain and interpret in the system of mythology were given celebrity status and power, much like the current culture.
Regarding the paranormal and the supernatural, humans as a whole not only want someone to help them learn what goes bump in the night, but on a more fundamental level, they want someone to prove there is more and we do not simply cease to exist once we die. It is the holy grail of the unknown. Much the way priests of Zeus and Thor were granted celebrity status and power when they could interpret and explain lightning, paranormal investigators get celebrity and power because they can provide (rightly or wrongly) answers which soothe the fears of the holy grail of the unknown.
My $0.02 at least about the celebrity of the paranormal reality shows.
My experience and understanding is abit different than yours. I mean the terms "paranormal" and "supernatural" are misnomers in my book. If it is a phenomenon that exists (or even perceived) in nature, than there is nothing para- or super- about it. Even if it is a figment of imagination? Imagination is something natural.
There is a lot of weird stuff in my life, that could probably be labeled "paranormal" or "supernatural" by others. And while I don't understand a lot of it, I admit it freely. Yeah, there is a lot of sentiment behind not looking like a fool, I guess. But I don't mind if I look foolish.
There is a lot of harm because of people are taking themselves to seriously, and are locked into fearing to say "I don't know". That is the only way to learn something, if you first admit that you don't know.
Oh, and my view on Zeus is a bit different, but what would you say about Djehuti? I mean Thoth. There was nothing fearsome behind him? But after participating in a ritual dedicated to him with my egyptologist friends all I could do for almost a week is write and translate. :> Weird, huh?
Definitely not weird. Rather it's very cool. In the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth was always my favorite deity.
Have you considered sharing your own experience with that ritual in a blog post on Steemit? I would enjoy reading about it.
Yep, it is all there with a ton of other stuff that I am going to share at some point. Now that I have someone interested in it, it moved a bit closer to actually doing it. :)
Thanks for your interest. I am a bit under the weather, and have a ton of stuff I already committed to writing, but you can expect that post somewhere next week. Better yet, I should probably invite my egyptologist friend to steemit.