ap·ro·pos

–adv.
1. fitting; at the right time; to the purpose; opportunely.
2. by the way.
–adj.
3. opportune; pertinent.

lab·y·rinth

– noun
1. a maze or intricate combination of paths or passages.
2. a complicated or tortuous arrangement.
3. any confusing state of things or events; a bewildering complex.

syn·es·the·sia

– noun
1. a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality.

Ru·dra

– noun
1. father of the storm gods and controller of the powers of nature.

a·nath·e·ma

– noun
1. a person or thing detested or loathed.
2. a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.
3. a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
4. any imprecation of divine punishment.
5. a curse; execration.

Jug·ger·naut

– noun
1. any large, overpowering, destructive force or object.
2. anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice.

im·pos·si·ble

– adj.
1. not possible; unable to be, exist, happen, etc.
2. unable to be done, performed, effected, etc.
3. incapable of being true, as a rumor.
4. not to be done, endured, etc., with any degree of reason or propriety.
5. utterly impracticable: an impossible plan.
6. hopelessly unsuitable, difficult, or objectionable.

re·lent·less

– adj.
1. that does not relent; unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting.

sin·cere

– adj.
1. free of deceit, hypocrisy, or falseness; earnest.
2. genuine; real.
3. pure; unmixed; unadulterated.
4. sound; unimpaired.

au·then·tic

–adj.
1. not false or copied; genuine; real.
2. having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; verified.
3. entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable; trustworthy.
4. executed with all due formalities.
5. a. having a range extending from the final to the octave above.
b. consisting of a dominant harmony followed by a tonic.

"...like a Dalínian mindfuck."

- Larry McDowell

plot

– noun
1. a secret plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, esp. a hostile, unlawful, or evil purpose.
2. the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.
3. a small piece or area of ground.
4. a measured piece or parcel of land.
5. a plan, map, diagram, or other graphic representation, as of land, a building, etc.
6. a list, timetable, or scheme dealing with any of the various arrangements for the production of a play, motion picture, etc.
7. a chart showing the course of a craft, as a ship or airplane.
8. a point or points located on a map or chart.
– verb
9. to plan secretly, esp. something hostile or evil.
10. to mark on a plan, map, or chart, as the course of a ship or aircraft.
11. to draw a plan or map of, as a tract of land or a building.
12. to divide land.
13. to determine and mark points by means of measurements or coordinates.
14. to draw a curve by means of points so marked.
15. to represent by means of such a curve.
16. to prepare a list, timetable, or scheme of production arrangements, as for a play or motion picture.
17. to make a calculation by graph.
18. to plan or scheme secretly; conspire.
19. to be marked or located by means of measurements or coordinates.

phy·lac·ter·y

– noun
1. a receptacle containing a holy relic.
2. an amulet, charm, or safeguard against harm or danger.

rel·ic

– noun
1. a surviving memorial of something past.
2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past.
3. a surviving trace of something.
4. a. remaining parts or fragments.
b. the remains of a deceased person.
5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.
6. the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.
7. a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.

au·gur

– noun
1. one of a group of ancient Roman officials charged with observing and interpreting omens for guidance in public affairs.
2. soothsayer; prophet.
– verb
3. to divine or predict, as from omens; prognosticate.
4. to serve as an omen or promise of; foreshadow; betoken.
5. to conjecture from signs or omens; predict.
6. to be a sign; bode.

au·gu·ry

– noun
1. the art or practice of an augur; divination.
2. the rite or ceremony of an augur.
3. an omen, token, or indication.

pen·chant

– noun
1. a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something.

en·tro·py

– noun
1. a. a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy.
b. a measure of the randomness of the microscopic constituents of a thermodynamic system.
2. a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted signal or message.
3. a hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is at a uniform temperature.
4. a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.

dog·ma

– noun

1. a system of principles or tenets, as of a church.
2. a doctrine or a corpus of doctrines relating to matters such as morality and faith.
3. an authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true.
4. a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle.

Rag·na·rok

– noun
1. myth about the ultimate destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with the evil powers.
2. the last battle of the world, in which gods and men will be destroyed by monsters and darkness.
3. "twilight of the gods."

Pro·me·the·us

- noun
1. a Titan who stole fire from Olympus and gave it to humankind, for which Zeus chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver, which grew back daily.

"What's more romantic than to die in the moonlight?"

- Tom Waits

re·flex·ive

– adj.
1. a. taking a subject and object with identical referents, as shave in I shave myself.
b. used as an object to refer to the subject of a verb, as myself in I shave myself.
2. reflex; responsive.
3. able to reflect; reflective.
4. a. noting a relation in which each element is in relation to itself, as the relation “less than or equal to.”
b. having the property that the dual space of the dual space of the given vector space equals the given vector space.

self·ish

–adj.
1. devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
2. characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself.

self·less

–adj.
1. having little or no concern for oneself, esp. with regard to fame, position, money, etc.

self-ag·gran·dize·ment

- noun
1. the act or practice of enhancing or exaggerating one's own importance, power, or reputation.

self-con·scious

– adj.
1. excessively aware of being observed by others.
2. conscious of oneself or one's own being.

self-crit·i·cal

– adj.
1. capable of criticizing oneself objectively.
2. tending to find fault with one's own actions, motives, etc.

self-por·trait

– noun
1. a portrait of oneself done by oneself.

self-re·al·i·za·tion

- noun
1. the development or fulfillment of one's potential.

self-ref·er·ence

– noun
1. reference made to oneself or one's own experience.
2. the property of a statement that is a statement about itself.

self-re·flex·ive

- adj
1. reflecting one's own self, having an image or reflection of one's self.

ad hoc

– adv.
1. for the special purpose or end presently under consideration.
– adj.
2. concerned or dealing with a specific subject, purpose, or end.

post hoc

- adv. & adj.
1. in or of the form of an argument in which one event is asserted to be the cause of a later event simply by virtue of having happened earlier.

"The sublime operates its project of terror by being unreasonable, even anti-rational, eternally ungraspable by reason, too big to be constrained within the tight boundaries of logic..."

- Thomas McEvilley

sub·lime

– adj.
1. elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc.
2. impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc.
3. supreme or outstanding.
4. complete; absolute; utter.
5. a. of lofty bearing.
b. haughty.
6. raised high; high up.

pal·imp·sest

– noun
1. a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

gliss·e·ment

- noun
1. a gliding movement.
2. an act of sliding.
3. to slip or shift.

ac·o·lyte

– noun
1. an altar attendant in public worship.
2. any attendant, assistant, or follower.

an·a·co·lu·thon

– noun
1. a construction involving a break in grammatical sequence.

as·pir·ant

– noun
1. a person who aspires, as one who seeks or desires a career, advancement, status, etc.

av·a·tar

– noun
1. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.
2. an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.

as·ke·sis

– noun
1. strict self-discipline or self-control, as for religious or meditative purposes.

"The more a story is told in a proper, well-spoken, straightforward way, in an even tone, the easier it is to reverse it, to blacken it, to read it inside out."

- Roland Barthes

an·am·ne·sis

- noun
1. the recollection or remembrance of the past; reminiscence.
2. recollection of the ideas, which the soul had known in a previous existence, esp. by means of reasoning.
3. the medical history of a patient.
4. the ability to recall past occurrences.

am·ne·sia

- noun
1. partial or total loss of memory, usually resulting from shock, psychological disturbance, brain injury, or illness.