A wicked man who reproaches a virtuous one is like one who looks up and spits at heaven; the spittle soils not the heaven, but comes back and defiles his own person. ~ Buddha, The Sutra of Forty-Two Sections
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Confucius said: … When a man carries out the principals of conscientiousness and reciprocity he is not far from the universal law. What you do not wish others should do unto you, do not do unto them. ~ From The Golden Mean of Tsesze XIII
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“You contain a universe inside yourself. There’s no end to it – your conscious, your subconscious. There is no limit to what’s inside you. We are very much connected. There’s no end to it.” ~ Ann Shulgin
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“The door between the worlds is always open.” ~ Rumi
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“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
— Richard Feynman
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Steven Seagal: “Ukraine was known for human trafficking, organ trafficking, narco trafficking, child sex trafficking, biochemical warfare labs, fascism and Nazism.”
Sandstone relief from Mathura , Uttara Pradesh, Kushan period, 2nd century. I just came across this sculpture of a man seizing or restraining a woman by both arms; another woman at right appears shocked. Abduction scene? dunno. One source suggested she was a drunken courtesan, but then why restrain her? My first thought was Draupadi being taken by Duryodhan, but no sari-pulling or hair-pulling. Maybe someone knows. In that instance, war resulted, culminating in the battle of Kurukshetra as recounted in the Mahabharata.
But this got me thinking about rape in epic literature (originally a contradiction in terms, since epics were sung, but no matter). It’s all over the Iliad and Odysseus, and Greek myth in general (I wrote a book documenting that, see Comments.) There are the foundational stories about the Rape of the Sabine women in the establishment of Rome, and the rape of Lucretia which led to the overthrow of the monarchy and founding of the Roman Republic. Other stories refer to rape as triggering wars.
Biblical stories refer to Shechem abducting and raping Dinah, daughter of Jacob (Genesis 34:1–31). In another chapter, the men of Sodom tried to rape two visitors to the house of Lot; he refused and offered them his virgin daughters instead. (Genesis 19:4–9). [Demerits to all the scholars who tried to explain this as a manifestation of traditional hospitality, not the utter devaluation of women; how was protection of family against violence not traditional?]
A similar dynamic plays out in the story of the Benjaminite men who demand that a traveler be surrendered up to them to be raped. He puts his concubine out the door instead. (I’ll tell this horrific story in Comments, but trigger warrning, and same goes for what follows.) This rape-murder leads to the other Israelite tribes making war on the Benjaminites, who refused to surrender the rapists. A bloody civil war follows, with much slaughter.
Then, having killed off most of the tribe, they felt sorry for nearly wiping out one of the Twelve Tribes. Having slain the people of Jabesh Gilead, including women, all except for virgins they had taken captive, the other tribes gave the teenager survivors over to the Benjaminites. But more female chattel were needed for wives (they must have killed a lot of women), so a plan was concocted for the Benjaminites to abduct the maidens of Shiloh at a festival dance.
Judges 21:20: “Look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin.”
“When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them’.” (New International Version)
This mass abduction followed by serial rapes resembles the Roman story of the Sabine women, also seized at a festival. Actually, now that I think of it, Greek stories have this same theme, especially around the capture of maidens dancing at festivals of Artemis. And even an elaboration in which Spartan men dress up as maidens for a dance, either to ambush the neighboring Messenians, or to use as a pretext for invading western Greece.
Readers may be able to name other instances of this theme of rape triggering war, in ancient literature, in epic traditions of whatever nationality, or in historical legends. It is not a subject much discussed, as far as I can see, and deserves more attention. Reply in Comments.
An unseen female told the curator and his posse of trafficking bro hoes, “You have destroyed everything we’ve tried to do here.” Whatever species she is, they aren’t happy.
Scripture said this would happen long before modern politics or economics.
Psalms 2:1–2
“Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahuah and against His Anointed…”
This isn’t chaos. It’s coordination. Kings don’t merely rule — they counsel together. The people imagine it will last. Scripture calls it vain.
Fast-forward to the end of the system:
Revelation 18:3
“…the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich together…”
And again:
Revelation 18:23
“…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
Notice the language: • Kings act together • Merchants grow rich together • Nations are deceived together
This is not competition. This is mutual benefit.
Psalm 2 shows the planning. Revelation 18 shows the profit.
Add the prophets:
Isaiah 23:8
“Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?”
Commerce and rulership merge. Merchants become princes. Princes protect the merchants.
That’s the pattern.
So when people say, “These groups are fighting each other,” Scripture answers: No — they are counselling together. They quarrel in public and coordinate in private.
The deception isn’t that there is order. The deception is believing it’s new.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
“There is no new thing under the sun.”
What’s new is the scale. What’s old is the alliance.
Bottom line: If you still believe the kings, merchants, and powers of this age are enemies of each other, Scripture says you’re watching the theatre — not the counsel.
Babylon falls suddenly because it is unified. And what is unified against Yahuah is already judged.
Thirty-one-year-old Eleanor Hartwell dies at Connecticut psychiatric hospital on June 12, 1930, from hyperthermia after being locked in fever cabinet heated to 106 degrees for three hours as treatment for “melancholia” that psychiatrist Dr. Wagner believed required inducing artificial fever to “shock brain into normal function.” Eleanor was institutionalized eight months ago after postpartum depression following stillbirth—grieving, unable to function, husband committed her for psychiatric treatment. Wagner diagnosed melancholia requiring aggressive intervention, prescribed fever cabinet therapy—new experimental treatment using heated box to induce high fever, theory being extreme temperature would reset brain chemistry.
Eleanor is stripped naked, locked in wooden cabinet with only head exposed, cabinet interior heated to 106 degrees by steam pipes, body temperature rises to dangerous levels while Wagner monitors believing fever will cure depression. Eleanor begs for release after thirty minutes—cabinet is unbearable, she’s burning, can’t breathe hot air. Wagner refuses—protocol requires three hours at target temperature, early termination compromises treatment, Eleanor’s discomfort is necessary for therapeutic benefit.
Eleanor spends three hours experiencing life-threatening hyperthermia while Wagner documents her responses, records vital signs, watches her die from heat exposure he’s inducing for psychiatric treatment.
This tintype from 1930 shows Eleanor two hours into treatment, age thirty-one, locked in fever cabinet with face showing extreme distress. Only her head is visible protruding from wooden box—face is bright red, dripping sweat, eyes unfocused from heat exposure. Thermometer shows cabinet interior at 106 degrees, Eleanor’s body temperature is 105.8 degrees—approaching fatal hyperthermia. Dr. Wagner stands beside cabinet taking notes—recording Eleanor’s responses, documenting treatment progress, observing patient’s deterioration as experimental data. Behind him, other psychiatrists observe—learning fever cabinet technique, discussing Eleanor’s symptoms, considering adopting treatment for their own institutions. Eleanor has been in cabinet for two hours, has one hour remaining, is experiencing dangerous hyperthermia Wagner believes will cure her melancholia. Cabinet is locked, Eleanor can’t escape, must endure full three hours regardless of physical damage. Wagner calculates she can survive temperature for treatment duration, considers her suffering necessary cost of psychiatric cure. Eleanor is dying from induced fever Wagner calls medicine, experiencing heat torture psychiatrist calls healing.
Eleanor dies at 3:47 PM—body temperature reaches 107.2 degrees, organs fail from hyperthermia, dies while still locked in fever cabinet Wagner heated to cure her depression. Wagner documents death as “treatment complication,” notes fever induced successfully but patient couldn’t tolerate therapeutic temperature, recommends reducing duration for future treatments. Hospital reports Eleanor died from complications of melancholia, doesn’t mention she was killed by experimental fever treatment, tells husband psychiatric condition proved fatal despite aggressive intervention.
Eleanor’s body shows heat damage—internal organs cooked from hyperthermia, brain damage from elevated temperature, evidence she died from being heated to 106 degrees for three hours.
Wagner faces no consequences—fever cabinet therapy was experimental but accepted psychiatric treatment, Eleanor’s death was treatment risk not malpractice, psychiatric innovation requires accepting patient casualties. Wagner continues using fever cabinet on other patients, reduces treatment to two hours, continues believing induced hyperthermia cures mental illness, kills additional patients before fever therapy is eventually abandoned in 1940s.
Eleanor’s husband discovered truth in 1965 through hospital records—found photographs, treatment notes, evidence Eleanor was heated to death treating postpartum depression. Testimony from nurse who witnessed treatment: “Eleanor Hartwell died from fever cabinet treatment at Connecticut hospital in 1930. She was 31, had postpartum depression after stillbirth. Dr. Wagner said melancholia required fever therapy. Locked Eleanor in wooden cabinet, heated interior to 106 degrees. Kept her there 3 hours. Eleanor begged for release after 30 minutes. Wagner refused, said full treatment was necessary. I watched her dying from heat. Body temperature reached 107.2 degrees.
Organs failed. She died locked in cabinet. Wagner called it treatment complication. Hospital told husband psychiatric condition proved fatal.
Eleanor died from being heated to 106 degrees treating depression that didn’t require killing her with hyperthermia. That photograph shows Eleanor locked in fever cabinet. Shows Dr. Wagner monitoring. Shows patient dying from psychiatric treatment. That’s how asylums treated depression in 1930. Heated patients until organs failed.”
opensenseme 