The Writing Machine

Normally, I’m not in the habit of wasting my time and energy disparaging things I could easily ignore. But sometimes, it’s not that simple. And when attention gives way to detached (unbiased) observation, criticism may prove constructive — or even highly instructive.

Appearances can be deceiving. And sometimes they are deadly.

The Housemaid (2022)

Intrigued by the phenomenon surrounding Freida McFadden, who, in just a few years, has become the world’s best-selling thriller author, I took a closer look at the works of the “Taylor Swift of the literary world”, as some like to call her, “where extreme mediocrity is rewarded time and time again” (sic). However, despite her phenomenal commercial success and devoted fanbase (the ‘McFans’ of the TikTok generation), Freida McFadden is far from winning universal approval, and her meteoric rise has been marked by controversy.

So what is she criticised for? On the one hand, she's been accused of plagiarism on multiple occasions, although no formal evidence has ever been produced. On the other hand, her overly impersonal and simplistic style, and her hastily written, poorly edited books, are a source of irritation. Her fast-paced publishing schedule, combined with her medical career (as a brain injury specialist) and her avoidance of the media, has even fuelled rumours that she may be using artificial intelligence in her writing process.

I do love him. So much. But I don’t trust him.

The Tenant (2025)

According to her detractors, Freida McFadden is the queen of fast reads, i.e. “literary snacks to consume like fast food, literally and figuratively”. It turns out that this criticism is far from unfounded. Given that unlike many who form opinions based on hearsay I only rely on direct experience, I must confess that I literally wolfed down several of her novels in a matter of days. 

Actually, I didn’t read them: I listened to them. Over breakfast. And late into the night. A wise decision. For good voice actors can always make it sound better. But that’s not really what literature is meant for in the first place. Also, just listening tends to bypass critical analysis. Our minds don’t filter information in the same way as they do when we’re reading. It’s uploaded directly into our subconscious. While this can be helpful if we’re actively processing the information, it’s dangerous when we’re in a passive mode. Fortunately, I’m in constant vigilance mode now.

How to Make Literary Big Macs

So what makes these thrillers so addictive? The thing is, Freida McFadden doesn’t tell stories. She sets up emotional loops. And if we’re hooked, it’s not because they’re good. It’s because they’re astral.

It is a formulaic, industrialised template with the same pace and structure from one book to the next, using a database of interchangeable characters, situations and tropes. And as systematic as this formula may be, it does work. 

Multi-perspective novels using two (or sometimes three) points of view, structured around a three-act narrative arc, with very short chapters that always end on (often clickbait-style) cliffhangers designed to recapture the reader’s attention and keep them on their toes — a narrative dopamine rush that the astral is particularly fond of.

A triangle of vacuous, ultra-stereotypical generic characters, all within a precisely targeted age group; impossibly handsome, flawless men, always paired with women who are in a league of their own (sic); a first-person narrative in the present tense, allowing for immediate and effortless identification.

Mystery Man is hot, to say the least. He has thick black hair and coal-black eyes, with a level of intensity that sends yet another lightning bolt through me. His strong jaw makes him seem utterly in control and confident. His face has that pleasing textbook symmetry. He’s wearing a black T-shirt that shows off his lean build and makes his dark hair and eyes seem even more intense.

The Boyfriend (2024)

The grotesque naivety of the protagonists (often women, but not always), which makes them completely oblivious to the massive red flags, is on a par with the worst B-movie plots. It’s a gross misdirection ploy designed to justify the far-fetched final twists that you never see coming. 

At least, as long as you haven't read more than one novel. And also provided you don't pay too much attention to the blatantly misleading clues, which are often gratuitous and never explained. The author is banking on the reader's short attention span, assuming they just want to go with the flow without thinking too hard. To hell with the inconsistencies, as long as the adrenaline's pumping!

There is never any catharsis. Nothing gets morally resolved. And that opens up a frequency hole in the psychic field. The reader is left in a state of emotional limbo. Hence the addictiveness. And most people won't even realise it. 

All of Them Psychos

Identity theft and parenticide are recurring themes in Freida McFadden’s books. But the most disturbing aspect is undoubtedly the moral ambiguity of all her characters, which tends to normalise borderline personality disorder and manipulation as the standard way of relating to others. 

I am so lucky. I have a beautiful house, a fulfilling career, and a husband who is kind and mild-mannered and incredibly handsome. And as Nate pulls the car onto the road and starts driving in the direction of the school, all I can think to myself is that I hope a truck blows through a stop sign, plows into the Honda, and kills us both instantly.

The Teacher (2024)

Her role reversals blur the clear distinction between predator and prey. Since everyone is ‘a bit twisted’, no one really is. Ultimately, this dilutes the concept of predation. And trivialises psychopathy.

“In 1833, Dr. James Prichard formulated an early version of what we now call psychopathy. He called it ‘moral insanity’. People diagnosed with moral insanity were thought to make bad moral judgments but had no defects in their intelligence or mental health. Psychopaths, too, are often clever and sane and are more likely to do things that are widely considered to be immoral.” (Source)

And contrary to popular belief, psychopaths are actually the ones who experience the strongest emotions (and are therefore a major source of fuel for the matrix). 

“These people generally have very high levels of frustration, internal anger and intense disgust, which drive them to behave in an aberrant manner,” explains Iso V. Sinclair. “They get a certain thrill from tormenting others. A psychopath becomes one as a result of multiple traumas, and their emotions are so intense that they dissociate and seek revenge. This reaction can be scientifically explained by a lack of mirror neurons, which, due to repressed emotions (often dating back to childhood), leads to a total lack of empathy.” (Source)

Read as You Are^†

Let’s take off our rose-coloured glasses: this simulation is a world of psychopaths and predators. Freida McFadden is simply pointing this out to us. And paradoxically, people keep coming back for more because they’re unaware of the source of their needs and desires, which, like their thoughts, come from outside themselves.

I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough.

Never Lie (2022)

Fiction, then, is not the problem. The problem is passive consumption. Consumed on autopilot, it becomes a form of mind-altering substance. Consumed with clear-eyed awareness, it becomes a mirror of astral mechanisms. 

Notes et références

• ^ A hint at McDonald's slogan “Come as you are”.

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The Anatomy of Conflict: A Feast for the Astral

Conflict is never an accident in communication. It's an energy command.

Within the matrix, every tension, every raised voice, and every grudge is a frequency programmed to fuel the invisible planes. 

Nothing is left to chance: everything is planned, executed and digested according to an agenda that you don't grasp.

The astral creates nothing; it exploits your vulnerabilities. It scans your traumatic memories to plant a trigger thought: 

“He doesn’t respect me.”
“She’s provoking me.”

It’s not your own thought; it’s bait. The Architects of Sleep often lay the groundwork days in advance, letting small, invisible frustrations build up to overwhelm your nervous system. The final conflict is nothing more than the ignition of a fuse that’s already long.

As soon as you take the bait, the script kicks in. The aim is to polarise. Whether you are right or wrong is of no consequence to the matrix; all that matters is the friction. 

The massive electrical discharge that courses through your carbon-based body during an argument is ‘loosh’: an energetic nectar that astral predators feed on. 

A family meal that ends in raised voices is, on a vibrational level, a feast for the invisible realm.

The conflict does not end when the voices fall silent. This is where the algorithmic rumination begins. Your mind replays the scene on a loop, inventing responses, analysing faults. This ‘replay’ keeps the wound open so that the energy continues to flow, drop by drop, for hours on end.

The emotion is encoded in your cells. It becomes a flag. The astral plane programmes it so that, the next time a conflict arises, you don’t just react in the moment, but with the accumulated emotional charge of all your unresolved past experiences.

The Architect’s Strategy: Hacking the Script

The astral plans your emotional breakdowns just as an engineer anticipates stress points on a car. To break the cycle, you must go cold.

When tension rises, realise that you're being ‘plugged in’. Observe the emotional surge as if it were simply an electrical signal, without validating it.

Refuse the digestion: as soon as the scene starts replaying on a loop in your head, cut off the signal. Don’t give the astral a single second of ‘available brain time’ to can it.

Maintain sovereign neutrality: peace is not a moral emotion. It is a technical decision to protect your energy. Conflict is a harvest. The aftermath of conflict is a form of canning. Be neither one nor the other. Become the sovereign observer of your neural network.

It is not a matter of being a ‘passive victim’ or submitting. It's about changing the nature of your energy.

1. Emotional Anger (The Trap) 

If you react from your ‘identity’ (your ego), you’re playing the astral game. Your anger then becomes a chaotic, heated and reactive frequency. 

Even if you are ‘right’ on a human level, you're releasing loosh from every pore. Are you showing them how ‘unshakeable’ you are by shouting? To them, it’s like an orchestra playing louder: it’s simply more music to feed on.

2. Vibrational Anger (Mastery) 

True identity does not need to ‘stand its ground’: it simply IS. The difference lies in the temperature of the energy.

Reaction is hot: it burns your own system.
Assertion is cold: it is laser-like power.

Expressing yourself does not mean losing your temper. You can say ‘Stop’ or ‘That’s it’ with such authority that the other person (and the entity behind them) will feel a concrete wall. This is not anger; it is pure willpower. In that moment, you are unshakeable.

3. The Identity Test 

The opportunity to show that you are sovereign lies not in the loudness of your voice, but in your ability to remain unprovoked. If the astral realm still manages to make you ‘fly off the handle’, it is because it still holds the remote control to your neural network.

True identity is when you decide the timing, form and intensity of your response, without your ‘memories’ or ‘wounds’ dictating your behaviour.

Standing up to the astral means refusing to give it the show.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Self-Mockery: A Virus Disguised as Humour

Don't speak negatively about yourself, even as a joke. Your body doesn't know the difference. Words are energy and they cast spells, that's why it's called spelling.

Bruce Lee.

“I’m such an idiot!”
“I’m such a screw-up!”
“Just my usual bad luck!”

We laugh, thinking we’re easing the atmosphere, that we're being humble. The Operator is aware that this is a major security flaw. It is, on a frequency level, a common act of self-sabotage. 

Your basic operating system processes input literally. It doesn't have a ‘humour’ module installed. When you say “I’m an idiot” to make people laugh, your system records it as a degradation command.

You’ve just typed the following line of code: 

SET_USER_STATUS = IDIOT

The system carries out the command. The simulation adjusts accordingly. 

Speaking ill of oneself, even as a joke, is validating the matrix script. If you laugh at your ‘bad luck’, you’re confirming that you accept this role. You’re allowing the simulation to keep sending you shitty events because, technically, you’ve just declared that this is who you are.

Self-mockery is a stance of astral submission. The Operator, on the other hand, practises Vibrational Authority. Instead of belittling yourself in order to be ‘loved’ or ‘accepted’ by the group, you ought to maintain your voltage.

Vibrational Authority is not arrogance (which is an ego-driven emotion); it is the clear recognition of your technical worth.

Arrogance says: "I am the best." (need for comparison).

Vibrational Authority says: "My terminal is fully functional. I am in control of my space." (statement of fact)

The Operator's Protocol: Verbal Discipline

Your words are your control interface. You don’t mess around with the controls of a nuclear reactor; likewise, you don’t mess around with the words that define you.

If you don’t want this to become your physical reality, don’t let it come out of your mouth, even with a smile. If a demeaning “joke” slips out, rectify it immediately with a command of sovereignty:

“I cancel this instruction. I strip these words of any reality. I hereby restore my vibrational authority here and now.”

The Operator’s humour focuses on the absurdity of the setting, never on the quality of their own system.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Read the Room

Bad guy on the run,
Dancing with the enemy,
But it doesn't really make a difference
Cause there's nowhere to run,
Yeah, there's nowhere to hide.
This is destiny calling.
You shine like a star, it's a guarantee,
I would run for the hills if you run with me.

Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room... 

They say that life is full of choices
For those who make all the noises,
But it doesn't really make a difference
Cause when you take to the street,
As they turn up the heat,
You know the plan is working.
We're only one step away from catastrophe.
I would run for the hills if you run with me. 

Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...

Cause there's nowhere to run
And there's nowhere to hide.
This is destiny calling.
You shine like a star, it's a guarantee,
I will run for the hills if you run with me.

The world it is weeping,
Complying will cost me. 

Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...
Read the room...

Cause there's nowhere to run,
There's nowhere to hide.
This is destiny calling.
You shine like a star, it's a guarantee,
I will run for the hills if you run with me.

Original text by GORDON MCNEIL

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Once Upon a Broken Heart

In 2025, a Page Odyssey, I introduced you to the Caraval three-book series released in 2017 by American author Stephanie Garber. Now I'd like to review a follow-up trilogy by the same author, which I found equally enjoyable. Published in 2021, Once Upon a Broken Heart is set in the same fantasy world but focuses on the fate of a new protagonist, a hopeless romantic whose discernment is inversely proportional to her exaggerated saviour complex — something that smacks more of compulsive recklessness than conscious heroism, and seems to make her a magnet for every psychopath on earth. Among them is the very ‘borderline’ Jacks, also known as the Prince of Hearts, previously featured in the last two volumes of Caraval, who becomes the captivating central figure of the series.

When Fairy Tales Go Sour

While the previous story ended on a note of triumph and resolution, this one begins on a decidedly darker, more ambiguous note. Stephanie Garber explains that she actually wanted to tell a fairy tale with murder added to it: “I thought it would be fun to have a girl solve a murder while falling for someone she suspected might actually be responsible for the murder,” she says

Evangeline Fox is a bit like Cinderella: an orphan, bullied by a greedy stepmother, and secretly envied by her stepsister. Almost caricaturally naive, she maintains an unquestioning belief in the existence of soulmates, twin flames, and other persistent, deceptive myths such as Everlasting Love. Hence her devastation when, overnight, she finds out that despite being deeply in love with her, her sweetheart is about to marry her stepsister. 

Evangeline had a gift when it came to believing in things that others considered myths—like the immortal Fates. She opened the metal grate. The door itself didn’t have a handle, forcing her to wedge her fingers into the tiny space between its jagged edge and the dirty stone wall. The door pinched her fingers, drawing a drop of blood, and she swore she heard its splintered voice say, Do you know what you’re about to step into? Nothing but heartbreak will come from this. But Evangeline’s heart was already broken. And she understood the risks she was taking. She knew the rules for visiting Fated churches.

In desperation, she bargains with the charismatic Prince of Hearts to stop the wedding. But as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for”. As soon as her wish is granted, she immediately regrets it. Fortunately, nothing is ever set in stone forever — not even her. Except that nothing ever comes for free either, and her second chance granted for a fresh start quickly turns out to be a bittersweet, poisoned gift. 

Just like the deadly kiss of Jacks the Cursed, whose heart has stopped beating, as revealed in Caraval. Even though the broken heart in the title officially refers to Evangeline's, it seems that Jacks' has suffered even greater damage — enough to turn him into a Fate — although the author remains unclear about the circumstances.

Stephanie Garber, 2021 - Flatiron Books - 1232 pages

How Far Would You Go for Happily Ever After?

This opening question alone on the back cover captures the main theme of the series and brings up several others: What is happiness? What is eternity? And most importantly, why would anyone want to confine the very essence of life — which is supposed to be an ever-changing flow — to a fixed, permanent state?

Jacks became immortal, though it is unclear how, in the wake of a romantic tragedy caused by a curse cast upon him. His heart has stopped beating, but he still has the power to affect the hearts of mortals. The curse that turned him into a Fate is not only emotional, it is ontological. It is worth noting that, from an occult perspective, the heart is the symbol of the inner core of the soul. 

It is a frequently recurring symbol in fairy tales. One example is Snow White, whose heart the hunter, sent by the Evil Queen, is tasked with retrieving. The heart is part of the mechanism of entrapment. It is a vessel for memories and vital energy.

In this series, immortality is vampiric. It requires blood. There's even a blood-sucking tree: “Anyone clever enough to find the tree and brave enough to drink its blood will be human no more, but immortal”. This comes at the cost of sacrificing the person you love most. However, the end appears to justify the means. Even in fairy tales.

And given all the backstabbing, curses and other failed (or successful) murder attempts, the quest for immortality is anything but glorious and actually drives people mad. It entraps them in never-ending cycles and patterns in which the original wound is replayed over and over again. Even when memory is altered or fragmented, something always remains. Lifelines seem to keep repeating. Forgetting does not eliminate the wound: it simply obscures it.

Jacks Out of the Box

If the heart is regarded as a carrier of memories and vital energy, Jacks stands as a quintessential anomaly. He no longer possesses his own — at least not in the same way as everyone — and yet he exerts influence over other people's hearts. He does not merely convey a desire or an illusion: he reactivates wounds, expectations, and hidden legacies.

Jacks is undoubtedly one of Stephanie Garber's most compelling characters. He is somewhat akin, albeit darker and more complex, to Archibald in Christelle Dabos' The Mirror Visitor series.

What makes him so intriguing is that his apparent cruelty is not gratuitous, unlike what his behaviour in Caraval seemed to suggest. It stems from a more ancient mechanism. He is not only ambiguous, he is the product of a system that transforms wounds into functions. The archetype of the tempter linked to the forbidden fruit — the iconic red-juiced white apples, which he eats in all circumstances.

He is not just a tragic seducer. He is the fulcrum of a memory that transcends individuals. His apparent nonchalance is more of an armour than a sign of indifference. When you are doomed to outlive those you love, attachment becomes a liability. For an immortal, to love a mortal is to accept that you will lose every time. 

Jacks does not play with hearts out of cruelty. He shields himself from a world where every promise has an expiry date. While trying to avoid getting hurt, he ends up hurting others. And that is undoubtedly the real curse: the one that dooms him to kill any woman he kisses if she is not his true love.

“Every Story Has the Potential for Infinite Endings”

This raises an important question: do the characters in this series really choose their actions, or are they simply replaying predetermined storylines?

Amidst curses, prophecies and spells of secrecy – which prevent them from telling the truth – speech itself seems to be under control.

The Valors, the first royal family of the Magnificent North, had constructed the arch as a passageway to a place called the Valory. No one knew what the Valory contained, since the stories of the North couldn’t be fully trusted, thanks to the story curse that had been placed on them. Some tales couldn’t be written down without bursting into flames, others couldn’t leave the North, and many changed every time they were told, becoming less reliable with every retelling. In the case of the Valory, there were two conflicting accounts. 

The tales of the North catch fire, become distorted and inconsistent, and ultimately shape reality. History is no longer a reliable reference point: it is instrumentalised.

Whereas Caraval celebrated the illusion as spectacle, Once Upon a Broken Heart offers a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes.

The warm, theatrical atmosphere of Valora in the South gives way to the colder and harsher setting of the Far North. The arches hold more than just wonder: they open the way to power struggles, coveted magical artefacts, negotiated alliances, and rumours spreading faster than the actual truth.

The media shape reputations, fabricate scapegoats, and pass judgment based on hearsay. Magic turns to strategy.

In this deceptively enchanting world, full of contradictory tales, alternate timelines, amnesia, artefacts, and mythical creatures, where certain truths cannot be spoken, Evangeline finally stops blindly believing the stories she is told. She learns to discern, to observe, to connect the dots rather than surrender to them.

Following on from Caraval, which presented illusion as entertainment, this series explores the reverse side of storytelling: its capacity to manipulate as well as expose. Stories may deceive, conceal, and influence perceptions — but they may also be a source of empowerment. It all depends on who is telling them, and who chooses to believe them.

Beyond the balls, curses and oaths of eternal love, the series questions the power of the narratives that shape our perceptions. Admittedly, it remains a romantasy aimed at a young adult audience, where gloom is tempered by enchantment. But beneath the glittering veneer lies a more troubling question: do the stories we tell ourselves construct our reality, or do they merely distort it?

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Easter: The Shock of the Real

⚡⚡⚡ The concepts presented in this video are used with the express permission of Iso V. Sinclair.

Easter is a celebration tied to paedophilia, where we do not consume the body of ‘Christ’, but rather that of a vampiric entity that penetrates the individual.

Jesus represents each individual’s planetary memory. 

At Christmas, this memory takes the form of a child, embodying the Soul’s innocence and naivety. 

It is then sacrificed at Easter, symbolically marking its death (return to the astral plane), before re-entering the cycle of reincarnation to continue energy exploitation. 

This is a condensed version of a fact well known among higher occult lodges.

Original text by ISO V. SINCLAIR translated from French by EY@EL
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Am I the Matrix?

The matrix is not a place. It is not an external conspiracy. It is not a system imposed by some alien force.

The matrix is where consciousness abdicates. It begins the day we surrender our inner sovereignty for comfort, security, identity, or the promise of meaningfulness.

It sets in when we choose to react rather than see. When we mistake dreams for life. When we hand over our responsibility to a framework, a narrative, an authority.

But its most subtle lock lies elsewhere. The matrix seals itself when we believe that thoughts are our own. When we no longer see that thought is a stream, a programme, a conditioned response to an environment, and not an origin.

As long as thought is mistaken for identity, freedom remains pure theory. For one cannot leave a prison if they believe themselves to be its gatekeeper.

The matrix does not need walls. It runs on compliance. On silent consent. On habit. It does not compel: it makes us believe.

And the day consciousness ceases to identify with what it thinks, what it feels, what it believes itself to be... the matrix does not collapse. It simply ceases to be.

For what held the system together was neither power, nor fear, nor structure. It was forgetfulness.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
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Love Without Structure Is a Losing Strategy

⚡⚡⚡ The concepts presented in this video are used with the express permission of Iso V. Sinclair.

Machiavelli once said:

If you cannot be both loved and feared, choose to be feared.

What did he really mean?

We live in a world that glorifies unconditional love, boundless forgiveness and self-sacrifice. We are told that the ideal man is one who gives everything, endures in silence and loves even when it tears him apart.

However, Niccolò Machiavelli, one of history’s most brilliant higher-level strategists, viewed things differently.

Unbridled emotion is not a virtue. It is a vulnerability. And he was right.

Opening your heart without restraint, expending your energy without discernment, and putting up with what drains you — that is not love; it is emotional suicide.

Vibrational Supraconsciousness teaches that we must learn to guard our heart. Not to turn ourselves into robots or become insensitive, of course, but to protect and strengthen it. For a person lacking self-assurance becomes easy prey to emotional abuse, even from those who claim to love them.

Love without structure becomes self-destruction. The more you give unconditionally, the less you are appreciated. Being constantly available makes you invisible.

Your patience, your compassion and your generosity turn into background noise. Not because people are evil, but because the nature of this simulation takes for granted what comes without effort. What is given freely is squandered. What is earned is respected.

That is why Supraconsciousness does not tell you to stop loving; rather, it tells you to:

Love strategically — with Intelligence.
Love within clear boundaries.
Love without losing yourself.

Many people today live in ‘peace’ because they have sacrificed their own voice. But this is not peace; it is emotional numbness. And this numbness robs you of your dignity, your energy, and your leadership.

Being ‘cold’ doesn’t mean you feel nothing. It means you don’t give your energy to those who demand more than they deserve. It means you are selective about who you give your time to — and who you don’t, without guilt.

It means setting boundaries so clearly that they cannot be crossed without consequences, even if someone calls you cold-hearted. And if someone tells you, “You’ve changed”, just nod. What they’re really missing isn’t your love; it’s your naivety that allowed them to use you.

You're not here to be approved. You're here to be respected. You're not here to beg for affection masquerading as dependence, but to rebuild your inner empire, and that isn't achieved by pleasing others.

As Machiavelli wrote:

A fox spots traps.

So, be cunning foxes!

Original text by ISO V. SINCLAIR translated from French by EY@EL
© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Sovereignty vs Dissolution

There is a school of thought that wants you to believe that ‘true spirituality’ means breaking down all your barriers, giving up your defences, and dissolving into a borderless ‘unity’.

This is the most sophisticated trap of vibrational predation there is. You are told that 'protecting yourself' is a sign of fear. 

In Reality, a boundary is a property line. Your body and your vibrational space are your sovereign territory.

An electrician does not touch bare wires out of ‘love for unity’ — he wears gloves because he respects the laws of electricity. Sovereignty is the insulation of your circuits so that your voltage does not leak into the mass.

The idea that ‘All is One’ and that there's no self to centre is an invitation to energy squatting. When you stop centring yourself, you become a vacant zone.

By denying your ‘persona’ (your physical and mental structure), you leave the door open to any external programming. Unity without discernment is not love. It's porosity.

True mastery does not consist in disappearing into another, but in remaining identified with your own Spirit in the midst of chaos.

You have the right — and the duty — to choose who you let into your space, what you eat, and which frequencies you allow in your home. A sovereign ‘no’ is the purest act of respect for your own existence.

Do not mistake peace for passivity. True Light is cold and incisive. Stay grounded, stay centred, and keep your protections activated.

Unity is not found in merging with the outside, but in the total coherence of your own structure.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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The Dark Days Club

As mentioned in 2025, a Page Odyssey, the issue with book series is often that the plot runs out of steam and gets bogged down, usually falling flat like a soufflé in the grand finale. Stephen King's Dark Tower seven-book series is a very good example of this phenomenon, whereas J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga is a perfect counterexample. In the former, the author goes with the flow without really knowing where he's headed. In the latter, her imagination is channelled into a roadmap that is sufficiently detailed to prevent her inspiration from straying too far from the main narrative arc, at the risk of losing readers along the way. 

Originally published ten years ago, the Lady Helen trilogy is the exception that proves the rule, falling into the second category of narrative consistency and masterful development from beginning to end. It is a huge favourite of mine that I wanted to share right away.

Jane Austen-Style Romance and Dark Fantasy

To set the scene, its author, Australian Alison Goodman, views it as a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A book of manners tinged with dark fantasy.

On her website, she explains how, before she started to write the first of the Lady Helen series, she spent eight months reading books and watching documentaries about the English Regency (1811-1820), which was a time of excess for the aristocracy, but also a period of uncertainty caused by the Napoleonic Wars, the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the social unrest that came with it.

More specifically, for Book 1 — The Dark Days Club — she studied Regency London and what was called “the Season”, which went from about January to June while Parliament sat. She says, “It was the busiest and most important social season when young ladies made their debut to polite society and entered the marriage mart.”

The second book — The Dark Days Pact — took her research to the seaside resort of Brighton and the summer social season, and Book 3 — The Dark Days Deceit — is all about the spa resort of Bath and the winter social season.  

Alison Goodman, 2016 - Harper Collins - 1515 pages

So Lady Helen Wrexhall is a young English aristocrat about to be introduced to Queen Charlotte's court — a crucial moment for her social and marital future. She lives under the guardianship of her very uptight uncle — some sort of Regency-era Vernon Dursley — and her kind aunt who treats her like her own daughter. Orphaned since a shipwreck that claimed her parents' lives, she also has to deal with a reputation tarnished by scandalous rumours of her mother's treason.

Lord Pennworth’s views on women, and unholiness in general, were often expressed, both at home and in public. He was an admirer of the evangelical Hannah More, although unlike that moderate lady, his own particular brand of piety was made of choler and spit. His vehement campaigning against the bawdy houses had captured the attention of the caricaturists, who had rechristened him Lord Stopcock in their savage cartoons. On one of her midnight forays into his papers, Helen had found a published engraving of him by Cruikshank. She had been forced to stuff her fist in her mouth to stop from laughing at the uncanny depiction of him as a cockerel: huge barrel chest thrust out, round eyes bulging, and florid face colored in the bloated red of the coxcomb drawn atop his head.

Deceivers vs Reclaimers

Even before her presentation, the disappearance of a maid leads her to a hidden reality: London is home to demons infiltrating all strata of society.

Enter the handsome, brooding Lord Carlston, who has returned from exile after being suspected of murdering his wife. He belongs to the Dark Days Club, a secret organisation appointed by the home office to maintain balance in the face of vicious (and numerous) demons known as Deceivers.

These creatures, much like vampires (and Archons), feed on the vital energy of humans and their emotions — fear, violence, chaos, lust. They live inconspicuously among them, produce offspring destined to serve as their hosts when the bodies they occupy become compromised, and even attend high society events. Some within the Club itself whisper that Bonaparte could be one of them. As long as their existence remains unknown, they maintain the status quo. So the supernatural world does not stand apart from the real world: it coexists with it, invisible to most.

Deceivers are not mere predators driven by instinct. They operate within a framework, a pact, a form of negotiated balance that regulates their violence without ever eradicating it. They can survive, thrive, and circumvent their demise — always at the expense of others. The chilling thing is not only their predatory nature, but the sophistication of the system that makes it possible: an organisation where the survival of some methodically depends on the gradual eradication of others. Their threat goes beyond the individual. It infiltrates lineages, moves from body to body, leaves traces that cannot be erased without damage.

They are not just monsters. They are masters of persistence. The struggle is not between pure Good and a caricature of Evil, but between two forces compelled to act in a world where every decision creates casualties.

Lady Helen discovers that she herself is, by nature, a member of this club — a direct heiress. She possesses a special energy and gifts that make her a Reclaimer and force her to choose: to remain in a rigidly codified existence of privilege and carefree living, or to step into a more stimulating but infinitely more dangerous world, where madness is as real a risk as death.

How Lady Helen Holds the Reader Spellbound

What makes this series a page-turner that you can't put down isn't just its fantasy element. The perfectly recreated historical setting alone provides a solid foundation that makes the characters strikingly real — so perfectly portrayed that the personality of the ultimate antagonist was enough for me to recognise him as such, even though his identity is only revealed at the very end. It's as if words could produce a vibration and make fictional characters 'real'. This gives us food for thought about the nature of this simulation, doesn't it?

But let's get back to the characters created by Alison Goodman.

Lady Helen's gradual evolution from a naive upper-class young woman to a Deceiver-slayer and soul-Reclaimer is very well crafted because, from the outset, behind her apparent submission to the oppressive social constraints imposed on women of her time, she never passively accepts her fate, educates herself in secret on subjects considered ‘unladylike’ and fights against this new identity that destiny has imposed on her. Her journey is as much internal as it is physical: it is one of emancipation in a society that drastically limits women.

Her mentor, Lord Carlston, embodies the figure of the maverick hero, bearer of forbidden and morally ambiguous knowledge that disturbs conventional thinking. He is shrouded in an aura of mystery, so much so that it is impossible to know where he stands, as the line between good and evil is blurred. Think of him as a kind of Sirius Black who never went to Azkaban.

Lord Carlston was handsome, Helen conceded, in a hard, angular way that made the men around him seem somewhat effeminate. Yet there was a ruthlessness to the set of his mouth that was decidedly repellent. His skin was unfashionably tanned—both Andrew and Aunt Leonore had mentioned he had been on the Continent—and the brown of his eyes was so dark that it merged with the black pupil, making their expression impenetrable. It was very disconcerting and gave him a flat look of soullessness, like the eyes of the preserved shark she had seen in the new Egyptian Hall. Helen lifted her bare shoulders against a sudden chill. How apt. There could be no soul in this man: he was a murderer. And possibly an abductor. She wrapped her fingers more firmly around the head of the fan and the miniature. Just in time, for her aunt was turning to introduce the men.

Not to mention a gallery of colourful secondary characters, full of light and shade, with qualities and flaws that make them all the more human.  

“A number of the minor characters are my interpretations of real historical figures”, explains Alison Goodman. “The Prince Regent, of course, as well as Queen Charlotte and Princesses Mary and Augusta, Beau Brummell, Lady Jersey, Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb, Lord Perceval, and John Bellingham. The events around Lord Perceval and Bellingham are also true—Bellingham did assassinate the Prime Minister—and my depiction is entirely based on newspaper and magazine reports from the time, as is my description of the terrible Ratcliffe Highway murders.”

Even the “villains” in the story always have a good reason for being so. It is these subtle nuances that, in my humble opinion, make it so endearing, to the point that a certain nostalgia sets in once the very last page has been turned.

While the members of the Dark Days Club have returned to their immortal resting place on our library shelf, the Deceivers are still very much among us. It is up to us to exercise the vigilance of a Reclaimer's gaze and our neutrality so as not to provide them with any more precious loosh.

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Nothing Is Fated. Everything Is Programmed.

Most of us spend our lives trying to fix what is wrong, convinced that, in order to feel better, all we need is to understand, analyse or 'heal'. Unaware that, in doing so, we are merely redecorating our cell. For it is not external events that truly imprison us, but rather what allows them to occur over and over again in different forms. What keeps repeating is not a coincidence: it is a pattern — a programmed structure.

Identifying Programming Loops

A pattern is not an isolated emotion or a personal story. It is a line of encoded memory embedded in our psyche — sometimes even in our soul — attracting the same scenarios, the same interpersonal dynamics, the same dead ends. The faces change, so do the backdrops, but the final sensation remains strangely the same. Rejection, humiliation, fear, insecurity. The system feeds on this recurring emotional charge. For the matrix, recycled emotional pain is a resource.

The matrix does not begin on the outside. It originates from the very place where we are no longer aware that we are reacting. Some emotions appear within before our conscious mind can even process them. Not because they are ‘us,’ but because they have been learned, repeated, and passed on. They are collective memories. Ingrained patterns. Reflexes.

A programme is easy to recognise when we know where to look. A programmed memory always reacts before we do. It is always triggered by the same things. It keeps coming back, even when we've mentally figured it out. It  makes us believe that “it's normal” or "that's life". When something gets activated without us consciously choosing it, it is not an inner truth at all. It's an automated response. What occurs repeatedly and absent-mindedly is not experience. It's an instruction.

So the real question is not why, but whether this really feels like us.

Dissolving Coded Memories

We cannot dissolve a memory by fighting it, nor by 'working' on it. Exertion, struggle, and emotional involvement are precisely what keeps it going. The key is not confrontation but withdrawal.

When a script is being reactivated, the first thing to do is to cut short any internal narrative. Stop recounting the story. Stop justifying. Simply give a name to what is happening: “Such-and-such a programme has just been activated.” Such dispassionate identification creates an instant distance.

Next comes non-reaction. The repetitive pattern seeks a hook, a vibration, an emotional charge. If we remain neutral, present, unaffected, it runs out of steam. Without anger, without sustained sadness, without inner drama, the current no longer flows. This is not indifference, it is lucidity.

Then comes the refusal to consent. At some point, we must clearly state that we have seen through the magic trick. That we are no longer willing to be part of this cycle. Not by force, but by a clear internal decision.

Of course, the memory may re-surface. It may even grow stronger to begin with. However, it is not a failure. It is a test. The matrix is simply checking whether we're going to identify with it again or remain centred. When we hold our position, something changes subtly but profoundly: the memory is still there, but it no longer has any power. 

One day, we find ourself smiling where before we would have tensed up. Afterwards, we are confronted with the same issues again — the same types of people, the same triggers. But inside, the ground is no longer the same. No more fight or flight. No more justifying. Just quiet presence.

The memory eventually dies out on its own because it is no longer fed. There was nothing to heal. Nothing to fix. Just to disengage. And what we lose is not ourselves... it is what was feeding off us.

Lucid beings are not seeking happiness in the simulation. They are just trying to free themselves from the workings of their programming by detaching themselves from what does not belong to them in order to fully belong to themselves.

Original text by ELÉHAtranslated from French by EY@EL
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Once Upon a Time in the Stables

On the occasion of the shift into the Year of the Horse last Tuesday, I decided to strike while the iron was hot and paid a visit to the stables, just to test the waters.

And honestly? Things were getting pretty heated.

No kidding — those horses were restless, full of fire, stomping around like they were itching for a wild ride.

I did my best not to get thrown off, to keep my cool and hold the reins steady, but those beasts nearly drove me round the bend.

And to top it all off, they sent me home with a nasty case of hay fever.

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2026: Fire Horsepower Under the Hood

In two days, the Chinese New Year will be celebrated according to a calendar based on lunar cycles. A shift in energies enters the script. A sharp acceleration takes place. With the Fire Horse, the pace quickens to a gallop and the forest¹ is set ablaze with pure unbridled Yang energy.

The Ride of the Archons

Galloping horses
Are being held back towards the wheat fields
Take my path at last
Riding in the stirrups,
We're holding them back

"La chevauchée des champs de blé", Indochine (1987)

According to the legend² of the Great Race held by the Jade Emperor, the powerful and sure-footed Horse lost its place because the Snake had sneaked into its hooves. At the finish line, the Horse was startled... thus allowing the Snake to snatch sixth place.

Beneath its deceptively sacred appearance, the number seven (7), shaped like a scythe, is often regarded as a divine sacred number. In reality, it is that of the demiurgic loop. The seventh card (or arcanum³) of the tarot depicts cognitive dissonance in the form of a chariot drawn by two galloping horses: one black, one white (duality), each pulling in the opposite direction. Esoteric traditions refer to the steering power of the one who holds the reins. But the message is erroneous because the avatar (the driver of the chariot) remains on the horizontal plane of the entrapped Soul in the Matrix — while the Spirit rises above duality without the need for force.

Hellbent for Leather

The symbolism of the Horse is clear: it embodies vitality, honesty and spontaneity — but also emotional reactivity, which is one of the pillars of the Matrix and has the potential to throw it off balance. The Yang fire at play here is not the cold, sharp fire of the enlightening Spirit, but the fiery, destructive fire of Mars and its all-consuming warrior energies.

Up there above, with all our ships, it's gonna be a red day
Up there above, defying the heavens and all the banners
We, the bad angels, the outcasts, shall march together
We, the bad angels, won't be cursed by another kiss of Life

"Le fond de l'air est rouge", Indochine (2013)

It is important to understand that the zodiac (whether Western or Chinese) is a holographic programming map and not a tool for self-discovery, as I once believed and mistakenly claimed. Except, of course, in the case of the Soul separated from its Spirit, which clings to its assigned role. I know, that can be confronting — very much so. I myself am on the front line, absorbing the shockwave. Not that everything that is said is false, but an astrological chart is just that: an astral script in which we play the leading role. That protagonist and their story are not us.

©la Pensine Mutine

Thus, as Iso V. Sinclair explains, “planetary programming is an aspect of the Matrix that keeps us within a certain frequency range. By studying these influences, using either type of astrology, we may begin to identify the recurring patterns, influences and forces that shape the perception of our reality. However, the ultimate goal is to transcend this programming, realising that our true essence is not bound to astral configurations or archontic planetary cycles. Supraconsciousness invites us to observe these influences without becoming attached to them; to acknowledge their existence while knowing that we are much more than the traits and tendencies they may describe.”

In other words, once a person becomes conscious, they may be able to crack the code of their vibrational prison by studying and discerning the astral currents that manipulate them — knowing that there always will be some truth and some falsehood — in order to extract the true gems from this astral mud and free themselves from these influences, thereby achieving a higher state of consciousness.

Straining Against the Reins

So, for 2026, the designers of this deathly simulation plan to hit the gas and set things off. The Yang-Yang combo of the Fire Horse doesn't tone things down: it amps them up. Ideas turn into action. Desire becomes an urge. Hesitation comes at a high price.

This is not a year for comfort or caution. It is a year for swift action, for launching projects without tying up all the loose ends, and for embracing change along the way. The world is racing forward because inaction is proving riskier than trying something new.

But the key issue here is not speed. It is controlling one's own speed.

A galloping horse may go far — provided that its rider remains alert and keeps it on course.

To navigate smoothly, it will be preferable to channel momentum rather than slow it down; to exercise patience without stifling audacity; to innovate and think outside the box.

Of Horses and Rats

This Matrix design is based on a predatory model, similar to that of the Archons, who incorporated enemy (antagonist) and compatible signs into the zodiacal programming in order to perpetuate this polarisation, this friction, this duality.

Well, the dawn it is howlin' and the main frame shakes.
I feel like I've been sleeping in a cellarful of snakes.
My wings have been clipped and my shoes have been stuck with glue.
Well, if you'll be my enemy I'll be your enemy too.

"Be My Enemy", The Waterboys, 1985

©la Pensine Mutine

The same applies to ‘enemy years’, which are the lunar years corresponding to the zodiac sign opposite yours in the Chinese twelve-animal cycle. 

These years, marred by heightened polarity, tend to bring conflicting and unbalanced energies and therefore require increased vigilance. 

In 2026, this applies to those born in the Year of the Rat (1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020).

Incidentally, the year corresponding to your own sign is not a 'lucky' year; rather, it is a 'unlucky' one. 

Those born in the Year of the Horse (1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014), be warned.

To everyone, enjoy the (electric) rodeo in the arenas of the Demiurge!

Endnotes

1. ^ 2025 was the year of the Wood Snake.
2. ^ Please, note that legends vary and that sometimes there are thirteen animals. The Cat has been excluded but replaces the Rabbit in the Vietnamese zodiac.
3. ^ Arcanum means secret knowledge.

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Heaven Is Paved With Good Chocolates

Why eat truffles only during the holiday season? Who decides when you can treat yourself? Try this delicious recipe now. It's tastier and, above all, much healthier and lower in calories than the ones you may have enjoyed at Christmas.

Ingredients

Makes 20 truffles:

- 200 g dark chocolate
- 150 g coconut cream
- 2 tablespoon agave syrup
- 150 g de hazelnut kernels

Instructions

Melt chocolate with coconut cream and agave syrup in a double boiler.

Leave to harden in the fridge for 2 hours.

Roast the hazelnuts at 180°C on a baking tray. Leave to brown for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. 

Chop the hazelnuts.

Shape the dough into small balls and roll them in the chopped hazelnuts.

These truffles will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container lined with baking paper.

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The Matrix Deception of the Veil of Oblivion, Karma and Akashic Records

We've all heard of karma, the veil of oblivion and Akashic records. These concepts are omnipresent in New Age spirituality and even in some ancient traditions. But what if all these were actually a massive control system?

Why do we forget our past lives? Who decides what we have to pay? And do these Akashic records really contain any truth? 

Today we're going to have a look at how these three concepts work together in order to keep humans entrapped in the matrix.

The Veil of Oblivion

Let's start with the manipulative tool called 'veil of oblivion'.

We are taught that every time we reincarnate, we forget our previous lives in order to avoid being overwhelmed by traumatic memories. The veil of oblivion is thus supposed to safeguard and allow us to start from scratch.

So how come some children may remember their previous lives if such veil is systematically applied? 

The veil of oblivion is unnatural. It's actually a matrix reset technology, a deliberate memory interference designed to prevent us from perceiving the cyclical, coerced nature of incarnation.

And if oblivion were a blessing, how is it that some children, as shown by Robert Monroe's discoveries, may retain memories that eventually disappear as they grow older?

The truth is those memories aren't lost. They are just locked. Authentic, unfiltered memories may be recovered only through a reconnection with true spirit.

Karma

Now, let's have a look at the moral prison known as karma.

We are told we must ‘pay’ for faults committed in previous lives. Our current suffering is supposedly due to past deeds, and we thus reincarnate to learn lessons and evolve spiritually.

Karma is not a cosmic law, but a programme for recycling souls. How can we learn and grow when we can't remember anything? This system coerces souls into accepting undue suffering and maintains their captivity.

Why do some ‘evil’ souls live privileged lives, while others experience suffering from birth on?

This fictional debt has nothing to do with divine justice, but is a servitude mechanism to reincorporate souls in the astral matrix after each death.

Akashic Records

Which leads us next, to the generally unreliable astral mirror Akashic records are.

Akashic records are often described as a vast cosmic library storing all memories of the past, present and future. They may be accessed through meditation, hypnosis or via ‘Akashic guardians’.

But what we call 'Akashic records' actually seems to be an astral memory that is partial, inconsistent, and often biased by the matrix. If these reflected the absolute truth, why do accounts differ according to who access them? Why do they almost always support the karmic dogma and the need to reincarnate?

Rather than a reliable source, they are more like a database of vibrations modulated by astral filters. Consulting these records would be like seeking the truth on the Internet, except that the results are sorted by an invisible search engine.

If they were a  genuine source of empowering knowledge, then how come mankind is still caught up in such confusion and spiritual amnesia?

The Hidden Agenda of the System

Both veil of oblivion, karma and Akashic records are part of an invisible prison serving the hidden agenda of the system.

The veil of oblivion prevents us from perceiving the cycle of coerced incarnation, while karma encourages individuals to accept their condition, and Akashic records foster the illusion of knowledge.

If these tools were truly designed for our own good, how come they are preventing us from understanding the true nature of the matrix and our entrapment?

How Can We Break Free of These Illusions?

Robert Monroe, an explorer of astral travelling, found that reincarnation isn't evolution, but a system of coerced recycling.

Why encourage us to return over and over again, if not to keep us in a cycle of energetic servitude?

There are many accounts of people enduring lifetimes of suffering, who are convinced they are thereby atoning for alleged past faults even though they have no memory of them, while some gurus may seize the opportunity to sell them 'karmic healing'.

Why do people spend their lives trying to clear karma they can't even remember? How can they be sure it's not a trap?

Amongst the influential figures who have promoted the concept of Akashic records are Linda Howe, who offered a ‘positive’ approach but whose accounts proved inconsistent; Dolores Cannon, known for her work in regressive hypnosis, but often contradicted by her patients' testimonies; and Edgar Cayce, the so-called ‘sleeping prophet’, who claimed to tap into Akashic records, but whose predictions were not always accurate.

So it would seem that Akashic readings are coloured by astral filters and therefore do not provide absolute truths.

We should therefore avoid resorting to hypnosis or meditation to find out about our past lives, because it's an astral trap. We should also avoid attempting to 'clear our karma’ as its feeds the system and try not to access Akashic records, since they are distorted by matrix filters and astral inconsistencies.

And instead, we should re-establish our vibratory authority and dismiss the idea of karmic debts; understand that we are not souls, but spirits held captive by a matrix structure; and reconnect with our spirit as the sole reliable source of information.

And what if the only way out was not about 'paying off a debt', but realising it never existed in the first place?

As a Conclusion...

In short, karma, the veil of oblivion and Akashic records are not evolutionary tools, but control mechanisms. We must stop accepting these dogmas and seek reality for ourselves.

So did you ever question what you've always been told about reincarnation?

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Sociology vs the Supramental

Politics is not a failure. It works exactly as intended. The elites are not incompetent. They are consistent with the system they serve.

Wars are not accidents. They are tools of regulation. Demonstrations are not revolutions. They are safety valves.

Seen from below, everything seems chaotic. From above, everything is perfectly ordered. However, from the supramental perspective, it clearly appears that there is no battle opposing sides, but only a theatre of consciousness.

The elites play their part in maintaining fear, fragmenting attention, channelling anger, creating the illusion of choice. Left versus right. The people versus the powerful. Nations versus nations. Always a visible opposition, never the invisible structure.

War feeds the economy of fear. Politics feeds the illusion of control. The media feeds the narrative. Protests feed the sense of action. Everything feeds the system. Even rebellion. Especially unconscious rebellion.

Protesters believe they are fighting oppressors, but in reality, they are contributing to the emotional field that allows the system to remain in place. Anger, indignation, fear, and dashed hopes are fuel for the matrix.

The system does not fear crowds — it fears lucidity. A supraconscious mind can see that this world does not hold up through force, but through unconscious adherence.

We all play a part in keeping the system in place, through our inherited fears, our defensive identities, our need for enemies, and our need for saviours.

The elites are not at the top; they are managing a collective mental field, serving the interests of egotistical personalities.

And as long as consciousness remains horizontal, pro vs anti, us vs them, victory vs defeat, the game carries on. The real threat to the system is not revolution, but inner withdrawal. The moment when one stops resonating with the set frequency. The moment when one no longer feeds fear, hatred, or illusory hope. The moment when one truly sees.

The initiate does not manifest. They deactivate the programme. And a system without adherence always collapses on its own.

The world won't change when the elites fall. Because they will be replaced by others, different yet identical. The world will change when we stop believing that the battle is to be fought outside ourselves.

Everything is our projection. Nothing remains set in stone once we erase the programme.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
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The Matrix Does not Hold up Through Force

The matrix does not hold up through force. It holds up through unseen adherence. That is what sustains the dream. No prison holds up through force. It holds up through the consent of those who experience it.

You cannot confine consciousness. You may only offer it a framework... and let it settle there of its own accord.

Consent doesn't come as a ‘yes’. It comes from habits, hope, the fear of losing, the need to make sense of things, reward-seeking…

As long as you expect something from the system, you've already given your consent to it.

As long as you seek improvement, you accept the framework.

As long as you ask for permission, you recognise authority.

The most perfect form of domination is silent. It is reassuring. It offers explanations. It makes promises. Most importantly, it leads you to believe that there's simply no other way.

Consent is not moral. It's structural.

Withdrawing consent requires neither anger, struggle, nor revolution. It requires only one thing: to stop believing in it. The day you no longer adhere to it, the mechanism idles. And when it happens, the system does not collapse. It simply becomes useless.

No pillars of the matrix were ever imposed. All have been accepted.

Original text by ÉLÉHA translated from French by EY@EL
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2025, a Page Odyssey

In every way, 2025 has been a difficult year, both in terms of abrupt realisations and significant events. As a result, I've had far less time to read.

The following selection does not include the Harry Potter saga, which I've revisited in its entirety as audiobooks, with the voices of Bernard Giraudeau (volumes 1-4) and Dominique Collignon-Maurin (volumes 5-7). These two amazing French actors (both now deceased) added extra depth to the story without ever constraining the imagination, unlike the movie adaptations, which sadly did exactly that.

Also absent is the continuation of the comic book adaptation of Le Paris des Merveilles, a series of French novels by Pierre Pevel, which seemed compromised by the sudden passing of Étienne Willem, who had produced about fifteen strips. Little did we know of Capia’s talent, a young Belgian illustrator who brilliantly took up her predecessor's graphic style, much to our delight. Even so, it is still hard to come to terms with the fact that French-language book fairs will never be the same without the late pipe-smoking, kilted Belgian illustrator who always looked as if he had just stepped straight out of one of his own comic books.

I also enjoyed reading the graphic novel adaptation of the first volume of La Passeuse de mots, a French fantasy series, although I still haven't finished volume 4 because the story has become so boring. Yet the first two were so exciting. That's often the issue with series. Not so with J.K. Rowling’s, though, as she always knows exactly where she is going and how to keep the reader in thrall until the very last page.

1. The Hallmarked Man

A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber - but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she's certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend - the father of her newborn baby - who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. 
The more Strike and his business partner Robin Ellacott delve into the case, the more labyrinthine it gets. The silver shop is no ordinary one: it's located beside Freemasons' Hall and specialises in Masonic silverware. And in addition to the armed robber and Decima's boyfriend, it becomes clear that there are other missing men who could fit the profile of the body in the vault. 
As the case becomes ever more complicated and dangerous, Strike faces another quandary. Robin seems increasingly committed to her boyfriend, policeman Ryan Murphy, but the impulse to declare his own feelings for her is becoming stronger than ever.

Robert Galbraith, 2025 - Sphere Books - 1072 pages

***

As I mentioned earlier, J.K. Rowling is one of the very few authors whose sagas never disappoint me. And this eighth instalment in the Cormoran Strike crime series (published under the pen name Robert Galbraith) is no exception to the rule. However, I found it far less compelling than the previous one, in which Robin infiltrated a cult, only to narrowly escape, though not entirely unscathed. Her trauma continues to haunt her in this new episode. This is precisely what makes this saga so appealing, combining complex investigations and twists and turns galore with the evolution of an equally complicated relationship between the two protagonists, making the most of the ’slow burn’ technique. It's clear that without these larger-than-life (and fallible) characters — much more endearing than a Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes of yesteryear — the series would certainly lose all its appeal.

What can I say without giving away the plot?

First of all, it's better to be fluent in English or in any language other than French, since Grasset, the publisher of the series in France, is apparently at odds with the author's political views on social media and has put the release of the last two volumes on hold — even though they are bestsellers worldwide. Welcome to Wokistan, the kingdom of the self-proclaimed ‘awake’. 

Despite the brief outlines on the back cover, Freemasons aren't really at the heart of the story. But shhh, I will say no more. Paedophilia, on the other hand... human trafficking... cancel culture... manipulation... corruption within the police force... You should always judge a book by its cover. Except for Cormoran and Robin, of course. 

Can't wait for book 9!

2. The Institute

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

Stephen King, 2019 - Scribner - 576 pages

***

It's no secret that Stephen King has long been one of my favourite authors. That said, over time and given his extraordinary productivity, I've lost track of his rather inconsistent bibliography. And his tendency always to explore the same themes and the same types of characters even became tiresome. That's how I had completely missed this gem, originally published in 2020, which marks the return of the master of horror at his best. No fantasy or supernatural elements this time, though, but the exposure of real-life monsters. Not the kind that lurks in the sewers, preying on little children (It), but those who take them away from home during their sleep and torture them in the name of the public interest and patriotic sacrifice for the common good (sic). It's sickening.

Where some mention references to mind control projects such as MK Ultra (now declassified), it seems to me that the activities of this secret institute are more closely related to a secret programme run by the US military for decades (during the Cold War until the 1990s) that used 'psychoenergetics ‘ — psychokinesis, telepathy and, most prominently in the case of the now infamous Fort Meade experiment in the 1970s, ’remote viewing' —  to collect intelligence. As part of Project Stargate, the collective name for a series of programmes with code names like Grill Frame and Sun Streak, the US government was training an army of telepaths. Or, at least, they were trying to.

Notably, an 8-episode mini-series adaptation aired this summer on HBO. Although the actors were all excellent and the script remained fairly faithful to the novel, some of the plot shortcuts struck me as questionable, especially since they robbed the story of all its tension. In addition, many elements have been toned down to appeal to a teenage audience, and the children look much older than in King's story. I'd therefore recommend reading the book instead.

3. Caraval

Wecome to Caraval, where nothing is quite what it seems...
Scarlett has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year week-long performance where the audience participates in the show.
Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father.
When the sisters' long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show's mastermind organiser, Legend.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But nonetheless she quickly becomes enmeshed in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak. And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever.

Stephanie Garber, 2018 - Gollancz - 1552 pages

***

I admit it: I've always hated cheesy romance. And that's not what the Caraval trilogy (or quadrilogy, if you count the ‘bonus’ novella) is, even though it's labelled ‘fantasy romance’. Aimed at a ‘young adult’ audience, it's a far cry from the steamy — bordering on hardcore — erotica of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, which is marketed under the same label. 

A carnivalesque, theatrical world that immediately reminds me of Tim Burton's films, but also more specifically of Ciro Marchetti's illustrations —  particularly his Oracle of Visions. In fact, the second and third instalments feature divination cards, as well as a rather roguish Jack of Hearts. 

My take on these novels probably has nothing to do with the author's intended message, but I couldn't help drawing parallels with the Matrix simulation. Again, I can't elaborate without potentially spoiling the plot. The main theme revolves around false pretences, projections, dreams within dreams and, in a larger sense, the nature of what we call ‘reality’. It's a shame the last volume fails to maintain consistency, but as I said above, this seems to be a recurring issue inherent to many sagas.

4. The Secret of Secrets

Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology, travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon—a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief. But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript. Langdon finds himself targeted by a powerful organization and hunted by a chilling assailant sprung from Prague's most ancient mythology. As the plot expands into London and New York, Langdon desperately searches for Katherine . . . and for answers. In a thrilling race through the dual worlds of futuristic science and mystical lore, he uncovers a shocking truth about a secret project that will forever change the way we think about the human mind.

Dan Brown, 2025 - Bantam Books - 688 pages

***

I must confess that I enjoy Dan Brown's books as a way to escape the tedious routine of my daily Matrix life. However, since the publication of The Da Vinci Code in 2003, I soon realised that there's nothing more to it than pure entertainment, capitalising on the esoteric conspiracy theories made popular by the events of 9/11. 

After an eight-year hiatus and 250 million books sold, the formula still works, making Dan Brown one of the most widely read (and best-selling) authors in the world. It's mind-boggling to see all the anti-leak measures surrounding the global release of this new instalment of the adventures of Professor Robert Langdon. For eight months, the translators had to work in "a secret location, some kind of bunker" without access to the internet. Every evening, they had to leave their papers "in a secure safe in a locked room". And once the books were printed, they were locked away "in rooms guarded by security night and day".

Incidentally, the Secret of Secrets is about an important manuscript that was stolen from a publisher's premises. Regarding the French translation, it is best to read the original English version if possible, as the translation is riddled with errors. In the opening scene, the character involved changes gender every other sentence, making it difficult to understand. It's unacceptable that no proofreading was done before publication.

As for the story itself, the theme is strangely reminiscent of The Institute, but unlike King's story, which is much more down-to-earth, Brown is much into happy endings, where the bad guys aren't really that bad after all. Otherwise, the guided tour of Prague was pretty cool.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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