Raphael Hythloday
@eshuelegbara.bsky.social
Abyss-gazer, monster-fighter, part-time bartender. Full-time movies, philosophy, books, chess, and baseball.
when i'm not skeeting into the abyss, I write here: https://substack.com/@eshuelegbara
when i'm not skeeting into the abyss, I write here: https://substack.com/@eshuelegbara
Pinned
A Quick Intro (for anyone curious)
Here’s how I’m using each platform:
🌀 Blue Sky — quick hits, personal thoughts, jokes, politics, music, media, and the occasional chaos. If it touches my brain and doesn’t need a whole essay, it lands here.
Here’s how I’m using each platform:
🌀 Blue Sky — quick hits, personal thoughts, jokes, politics, music, media, and the occasional chaos. If it touches my brain and doesn’t need a whole essay, it lands here.
I overheard a woman on break saying she’s “dating men again,” but only if one can give her the lifestyle she wants: a farm, no job, no stress.
That’s modern romance in a capitalist world.
That’s modern romance in a capitalist world.
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I overheard a woman on break saying she’s “dating men again,” but only if one can give her the lifestyle she wants: a farm, no job, no stress.
That’s modern romance in a capitalist world.
That’s modern romance in a capitalist world.
I’ve been noticing something lately:
Every minor social inconvenience gets medicalized.
A harmless joke becomes “gaslighting.”
Awkwardness becomes “autism.”
Any childhood discomfort becomes “trauma.”
Every minor social inconvenience gets medicalized.
A harmless joke becomes “gaslighting.”
Awkwardness becomes “autism.”
Any childhood discomfort becomes “trauma.”
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I’ve been noticing something lately:
Every minor social inconvenience gets medicalized.
A harmless joke becomes “gaslighting.”
Awkwardness becomes “autism.”
Any childhood discomfort becomes “trauma.”
Every minor social inconvenience gets medicalized.
A harmless joke becomes “gaslighting.”
Awkwardness becomes “autism.”
Any childhood discomfort becomes “trauma.”
Got invited to a subreddit called r/CosmicExtinction and… man, Camus called this decades ago.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Got invited to a subreddit called r/CosmicExtinction and… man, Camus called this decades ago.
Around 2000–2005, something broke.
Online identity stopped being something you became over years of work and started being something you performed overnight.
Online identity stopped being something you became over years of work and started being something you performed overnight.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Around 2000–2005, something broke.
Online identity stopped being something you became over years of work and started being something you performed overnight.
Online identity stopped being something you became over years of work and started being something you performed overnight.
We live in a world where no one wants to say, “I made a bad choice.”
Everything has to be the system’s fault, or biology’s, or trauma’s.
But sometimes the truth is simpler — you just did the thing you chose to do.
Not because the world made you, but because you wanted to.
Everything has to be the system’s fault, or biology’s, or trauma’s.
But sometimes the truth is simpler — you just did the thing you chose to do.
Not because the world made you, but because you wanted to.
October 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
We live in a world where no one wants to say, “I made a bad choice.”
Everything has to be the system’s fault, or biology’s, or trauma’s.
But sometimes the truth is simpler — you just did the thing you chose to do.
Not because the world made you, but because you wanted to.
Everything has to be the system’s fault, or biology’s, or trauma’s.
But sometimes the truth is simpler — you just did the thing you chose to do.
Not because the world made you, but because you wanted to.
Identity today feels like it’s always in motion.
We reinvent ourselves, often because we can’t bear the version we were before.
We reinvent ourselves, often because we can’t bear the version we were before.
October 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Identity today feels like it’s always in motion.
We reinvent ourselves, often because we can’t bear the version we were before.
We reinvent ourselves, often because we can’t bear the version we were before.
🪞
We used to call it a midlife crisis.
Now it happens five times before 30.
People used to live, reflect, and face what they’d done.
Now they delete, rebrand, and pretend the old self never existed.
We used to call it a midlife crisis.
Now it happens five times before 30.
People used to live, reflect, and face what they’d done.
Now they delete, rebrand, and pretend the old self never existed.
October 22, 2025 at 10:46 AM
🪞
We used to call it a midlife crisis.
Now it happens five times before 30.
People used to live, reflect, and face what they’d done.
Now they delete, rebrand, and pretend the old self never existed.
We used to call it a midlife crisis.
Now it happens five times before 30.
People used to live, reflect, and face what they’d done.
Now they delete, rebrand, and pretend the old self never existed.
I feel bad for this generation.
They’re trying so hard to live up to the curated selves they’ve built online — perfect mirrors they can never match.
#reflection #identity #philosophy #generation
They’re trying so hard to live up to the curated selves they’ve built online — perfect mirrors they can never match.
#reflection #identity #philosophy #generation
October 21, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I feel bad for this generation.
They’re trying so hard to live up to the curated selves they’ve built online — perfect mirrors they can never match.
#reflection #identity #philosophy #generation
They’re trying so hard to live up to the curated selves they’ve built online — perfect mirrors they can never match.
#reflection #identity #philosophy #generation
Das Man is watching me, piercing and true,
He knows what I do, what I did, what makes me you.
I hate those gypsy eyes, surveilling my very soul,
Telling me who I am, what must be my role.
It builds a simulation where I am always lost —
And me? I only ever wanted
the cost I never bought.
#poetry
He knows what I do, what I did, what makes me you.
I hate those gypsy eyes, surveilling my very soul,
Telling me who I am, what must be my role.
It builds a simulation where I am always lost —
And me? I only ever wanted
the cost I never bought.
#poetry
October 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Das Man is watching me, piercing and true,
He knows what I do, what I did, what makes me you.
I hate those gypsy eyes, surveilling my very soul,
Telling me who I am, what must be my role.
It builds a simulation where I am always lost —
And me? I only ever wanted
the cost I never bought.
#poetry
He knows what I do, what I did, what makes me you.
I hate those gypsy eyes, surveilling my very soul,
Telling me who I am, what must be my role.
It builds a simulation where I am always lost —
And me? I only ever wanted
the cost I never bought.
#poetry
Online, we get to choose how we represent ourselves — and in doing so, we build a shadow self.
A second, curated version of who we wish to be.
But it’s never the full self.
A second, curated version of who we wish to be.
But it’s never the full self.
October 21, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Online, we get to choose how we represent ourselves — and in doing so, we build a shadow self.
A second, curated version of who we wish to be.
But it’s never the full self.
A second, curated version of who we wish to be.
But it’s never the full self.
Two people at work said,
“Outside of work, everyone loves me. But here, people think I’m negative. I don’t get it.”
I get it.
“Outside of work, everyone loves me. But here, people think I’m negative. I don’t get it.”
I get it.
October 21, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Two people at work said,
“Outside of work, everyone loves me. But here, people think I’m negative. I don’t get it.”
I get it.
“Outside of work, everyone loves me. But here, people think I’m negative. I don’t get it.”
I get it.
A lot of people from the youngest generation don’t realize they’ve been corrupted by the internet — raised in a world that taught them they could reinvent themselves endlessly.
October 21, 2025 at 11:16 AM
A lot of people from the youngest generation don’t realize they’ve been corrupted by the internet — raised in a world that taught them they could reinvent themselves endlessly.
The problem with the youngest generation isn’t morality — it’s time.
They were raised in the perpetual now of the internet. A place where nothing ever truly passes.
They were raised in the perpetual now of the internet. A place where nothing ever truly passes.
October 21, 2025 at 11:07 AM
The problem with the youngest generation isn’t morality — it’s time.
They were raised in the perpetual now of the internet. A place where nothing ever truly passes.
They were raised in the perpetual now of the internet. A place where nothing ever truly passes.
🌕 Daily Tao Reflection 41 is out now.
Paradox, compassion, and a modern Good Samaritan.
Read: wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#DailyTaoReflection #TaoTeChing #Kindness #Compassion #Wisdom
Paradox, compassion, and a modern Good Samaritan.
Read: wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#DailyTaoReflection #TaoTeChing #Kindness #Compassion #Wisdom
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
🌕 Daily Tao Reflection 41 is out now.
Paradox, compassion, and a modern Good Samaritan.
Read: wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#DailyTaoReflection #TaoTeChing #Kindness #Compassion #Wisdom
Paradox, compassion, and a modern Good Samaritan.
Read: wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#DailyTaoReflection #TaoTeChing #Kindness #Compassion #Wisdom
Blind Faith with a Gnostic Deist — Psalm 128, Psalm 42, Proverbs 17.
On awe, depression, resilience, and prayer.
Drops 5 PM on Substack.
🔗 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaithSeries #Psalms #Faith #Hope
On awe, depression, resilience, and prayer.
Drops 5 PM on Substack.
🔗 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaithSeries #Psalms #Faith #Hope
October 17, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Blind Faith with a Gnostic Deist — Psalm 128, Psalm 42, Proverbs 17.
On awe, depression, resilience, and prayer.
Drops 5 PM on Substack.
🔗 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaithSeries #Psalms #Faith #Hope
On awe, depression, resilience, and prayer.
Drops 5 PM on Substack.
🔗 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaithSeries #Psalms #Faith #Hope
Daily Tao Reflection 40 — Return is the movement of the Tao.
A new reflection on patience, cycles, and the bartender’s horse.
Drops at 10 AM on Substack.
🌀 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TaoTeChing #BlindFaith #SpiritualWriting #Ouroboros
A new reflection on patience, cycles, and the bartender’s horse.
Drops at 10 AM on Substack.
🌀 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TaoTeChing #BlindFaith #SpiritualWriting #Ouroboros
October 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Daily Tao Reflection 40 — Return is the movement of the Tao.
A new reflection on patience, cycles, and the bartender’s horse.
Drops at 10 AM on Substack.
🌀 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TaoTeChing #BlindFaith #SpiritualWriting #Ouroboros
A new reflection on patience, cycles, and the bartender’s horse.
Drops at 10 AM on Substack.
🌀 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TaoTeChing #BlindFaith #SpiritualWriting #Ouroboros
📜 The Spiral Testament: Tablet IX
Prologue to The Mirror Cycle.
Recovered from the Archive of the Ninth Universe.
“Entropy is the only prophet that never lies.”
Available 11 AM EST —
👉 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TheMirrorCycle #SpiralTestament #Mythology #ScienceFiction #Philosophy
Prologue to The Mirror Cycle.
Recovered from the Archive of the Ninth Universe.
“Entropy is the only prophet that never lies.”
Available 11 AM EST —
👉 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TheMirrorCycle #SpiralTestament #Mythology #ScienceFiction #Philosophy
October 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
📜 The Spiral Testament: Tablet IX
Prologue to The Mirror Cycle.
Recovered from the Archive of the Ninth Universe.
“Entropy is the only prophet that never lies.”
Available 11 AM EST —
👉 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TheMirrorCycle #SpiralTestament #Mythology #ScienceFiction #Philosophy
Prologue to The Mirror Cycle.
Recovered from the Archive of the Ninth Universe.
“Entropy is the only prophet that never lies.”
Available 11 AM EST —
👉 wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com
#TheMirrorCycle #SpiralTestament #Mythology #ScienceFiction #Philosophy
Morgan le Fay
Transformed from queen to something unseen,
Curious, virtuous, bright—
Then twisted into fright.
A priestess of old, half-druid, half-divine,
Healer of Arthur in Avalon’s line.
Villain or paladin? Neither fits—
Morgan would say, I simply did.
#Poetry #Myth #Arthurian #MorganLeFay
Transformed from queen to something unseen,
Curious, virtuous, bright—
Then twisted into fright.
A priestess of old, half-druid, half-divine,
Healer of Arthur in Avalon’s line.
Villain or paladin? Neither fits—
Morgan would say, I simply did.
#Poetry #Myth #Arthurian #MorganLeFay
October 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Morgan le Fay
Transformed from queen to something unseen,
Curious, virtuous, bright—
Then twisted into fright.
A priestess of old, half-druid, half-divine,
Healer of Arthur in Avalon’s line.
Villain or paladin? Neither fits—
Morgan would say, I simply did.
#Poetry #Myth #Arthurian #MorganLeFay
Transformed from queen to something unseen,
Curious, virtuous, bright—
Then twisted into fright.
A priestess of old, half-druid, half-divine,
Healer of Arthur in Avalon’s line.
Villain or paladin? Neither fits—
Morgan would say, I simply did.
#Poetry #Myth #Arthurian #MorganLeFay
I Am Become Shiva — A Mantra for the Storm
(Image: “Shiva as Lord of the Dance,” ca. 11th century, Tamil Nadu — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
(Image: “Shiva as Lord of the Dance,” ca. 11th century, Tamil Nadu — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
October 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I Am Become Shiva — A Mantra for the Storm
(Image: “Shiva as Lord of the Dance,” ca. 11th century, Tamil Nadu — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
(Image: “Shiva as Lord of the Dance,” ca. 11th century, Tamil Nadu — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
✝️ Blind Faith with a Gnostic Deist
On ecological repentance, moral renewal, and the trembling of the earth
Yesterday’s reflection (10.15) is now live.
Read it here → witgsteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaith #FaithAndEcology #ChristianPhilosophy #DailyReflection #SpiritualRenewal
On ecological repentance, moral renewal, and the trembling of the earth
Yesterday’s reflection (10.15) is now live.
Read it here → witgsteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaith #FaithAndEcology #ChristianPhilosophy #DailyReflection #SpiritualRenewal
witgsteinsmonster.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:19 PM
✝️ Blind Faith with a Gnostic Deist
On ecological repentance, moral renewal, and the trembling of the earth
Yesterday’s reflection (10.15) is now live.
Read it here → witgsteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaith #FaithAndEcology #ChristianPhilosophy #DailyReflection #SpiritualRenewal
On ecological repentance, moral renewal, and the trembling of the earth
Yesterday’s reflection (10.15) is now live.
Read it here → witgsteinsmonster.substack.com
#BlindFaith #FaithAndEcology #ChristianPhilosophy #DailyReflection #SpiritualRenewal
🌿 New in 1 hour (10:00 AM): Daily Tao Reflection 39 — Harmony and Hierarchy
Humility > ego. Question after performance. Stop barking at reflections.
Sound & Sip: Common — “Cold Blooded.”
Read: open.substack.com/pub/wittgens...
#DailyTao #TaoTeChing #Philosophy #Humility #WorkEthic #Parable
Humility > ego. Question after performance. Stop barking at reflections.
Sound & Sip: Common — “Cold Blooded.”
Read: open.substack.com/pub/wittgens...
#DailyTao #TaoTeChing #Philosophy #Humility #WorkEthic #Parable
🌿 Daily Tao Reflection 39
Harmony and Hierarchy
open.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:56 PM
🌿 New in 1 hour (10:00 AM): Daily Tao Reflection 39 — Harmony and Hierarchy
Humility > ego. Question after performance. Stop barking at reflections.
Sound & Sip: Common — “Cold Blooded.”
Read: open.substack.com/pub/wittgens...
#DailyTao #TaoTeChing #Philosophy #Humility #WorkEthic #Parable
Humility > ego. Question after performance. Stop barking at reflections.
Sound & Sip: Common — “Cold Blooded.”
Read: open.substack.com/pub/wittgens...
#DailyTao #TaoTeChing #Philosophy #Humility #WorkEthic #Parable
Reposted by Raphael Hythloday
Mamdani: "I just want to speak directly to the president. I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to stay out of jail. I won't be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own."
October 15, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Mamdani: "I just want to speak directly to the president. I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to stay out of jail. I won't be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own."
One bird in the bush
is worth two in the hand.
But the bush contains three?
Four in the mind’s eye,
and fifth takes flight.
For, in our six in a seat,
to seven—to make it complete.
is worth two in the hand.
But the bush contains three?
Four in the mind’s eye,
and fifth takes flight.
For, in our six in a seat,
to seven—to make it complete.
#BirdOfTheDay theme today is #BirdInABush
Reef Heron in the Green
#Nature #Birds #Photography #SciArt
🪶 📸📸 🌿🖌️ #Print4Sale #BSNM #EastCoastKin
Print Available on Darkroom:
lucidillusions.darkroom.com/products/flo...
Reef Heron in the Green
#Nature #Birds #Photography #SciArt
🪶 📸📸 🌿🖌️ #Print4Sale #BSNM #EastCoastKin
Print Available on Darkroom:
lucidillusions.darkroom.com/products/flo...
October 15, 2025 at 10:50 AM
One bird in the bush
is worth two in the hand.
But the bush contains three?
Four in the mind’s eye,
and fifth takes flight.
For, in our six in a seat,
to seven—to make it complete.
is worth two in the hand.
But the bush contains three?
Four in the mind’s eye,
and fifth takes flight.
For, in our six in a seat,
to seven—to make it complete.
A vigil for Virgil on the day of his birth—
Maybe wine, buca, or grappa—some mirth.
But my mind’s eye can’t help but ask,
A rhyme all kinds of askance:
If the weather we have caused,
That should’ve made us all pause,
Hasn’t melted the devil from his cage
While we refuse to turn from hellish ways.
Maybe wine, buca, or grappa—some mirth.
But my mind’s eye can’t help but ask,
A rhyme all kinds of askance:
If the weather we have caused,
That should’ve made us all pause,
Hasn’t melted the devil from his cage
While we refuse to turn from hellish ways.
Birthday Remembrances. Today, Oct 15, 70 BC – #Virgil, Roman poet (d. 19 BC) was born.
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil )
👉 GustaveDoré drew this illustration of Virgil & Dante seeing #Lucifer trapped in Frozen Hell for Canto 34 of #Dante’s #DivineComedy
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil )
👉 GustaveDoré drew this illustration of Virgil & Dante seeing #Lucifer trapped in Frozen Hell for Canto 34 of #Dante’s #DivineComedy
October 15, 2025 at 9:32 AM
A vigil for Virgil on the day of his birth—
Maybe wine, buca, or grappa—some mirth.
But my mind’s eye can’t help but ask,
A rhyme all kinds of askance:
If the weather we have caused,
That should’ve made us all pause,
Hasn’t melted the devil from his cage
While we refuse to turn from hellish ways.
Maybe wine, buca, or grappa—some mirth.
But my mind’s eye can’t help but ask,
A rhyme all kinds of askance:
If the weather we have caused,
That should’ve made us all pause,
Hasn’t melted the devil from his cage
While we refuse to turn from hellish ways.