ANTAKALIPA

Nobody Told Me  On the square to watch a Masterpiece "Nobody Told Me" , very early on and you are looking at a Production of the Year contender. A Poignant, reflective, wrenching and deeply compassionate play exploring life in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland for Jewish residents under German occupation. Nazi's the instigaters - Swastikas, German efficiency, in uniform, Poland, WWII, heil Hitler.  Nobody Told Me is a contemporary stage play written by Luc Albinski. It’s a dramatic theatrical work inspired by true family history and the experiences of a Jewish doctor in World War II Warsaw. It follows the emotional journey of Wanda, now in her 80s, and her son Luc (the playwright), as they explore long-buried family secrets about Wanda’s mother — Dr Halina Rotstein, a Jewish physician who worked in the Warsaw Ghetto’s Czyste Hospital during the Holocaust. The story shifts between present-day conversations and flashbacks to the 1930s–40s in Warsaw, showing ...

The Kybalion: The Hidden Architecture of Reality “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding.” Published anonymously in 1908 by the so-called Three Initiates, The Kybalion presents itself not as an original work, but as a distillation of ancient Hermetic wisdom attributed to Hermes Trismegistus—the mythical synthesis of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek Hermes. Whether historical or symbolic, Hermes functions as an archetype: the messenger between worlds, the translator of divine order into human understanding. Unlike philosophical systems that seek truth through argument, The Kybalion assumes truth already exists—eternal, immovable—and that human suffering arises from ignorance of its laws. The book does not plead its case. It instructs. It whispers. It challenges the reader to rise to its level rather than stoop to explain itself. At its core are the Seven Hermetic Principles, not as beliefs to adopt, but as laws to be recognized. To know them i...

The Alchemist: Destiny, Desire, and the Language of the Soul Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is often dismissed as a spiritual fairy tale—too simple, too optimistic, too eager to reassure. Yet its endurance across cultures and generations suggests that it touches something older and deeper than literary fashion. Beneath its parable-like prose lies a mythic structure that speaks directly to the human confrontation with desire, fear, and meaning. The Alchemist is not a novel of complexity but of clarity, and its power lies precisely in its refusal to intellectualize what it believes must be lived. At its core, the novel asks an ancient question: What does it mean to live in alignment with one’s destiny? Santiago and the Call to Adventure Santiago, the Andalusian shepherd, is an archetypal figure. He is not remarkable by worldly standards—he owns sheep, sleeps outdoors, reads the same book repeatedly. Yet he is restless. His recurring dream of treasure near the Egyptian pyramids ...

Think and Grow Rich: Desire, Faith, and the Architecture of Inner Power When Think and Grow Rich was published in 1937, Napoleon Hill did something audacious: he claimed that wealth is not primarily a material problem, but a psychological one. Money, he argued, is not attracted through luck, intelligence, or even labor alone—but through the disciplined alignment of desire, belief, imagination, and persistence. Despite its occasionally mystical tone and old-fashioned optimism, Think and Grow Rich remains enduring because it addresses a timeless question: Why do some individuals transform intention into reality while others remain trapped in longing? Hill’s answer is radical in its simplicity: the mind is the starting point of all achievement. The Genesis of Desire: Wanting as a Creative Force Hill begins not with money, but with desire—and not vague wishing, but obsession-level clarity. He distinguishes sharply between wanting and burning desire. The latter is the engine of ...

Power vs. Force: The Invisible Architecture of Human Motivation David R. Hawkins’ Power vs. Force begins with a radical claim: that human behavior, social systems, and historical movements can be understood not merely through psychology or politics, but through levels of consciousness. These levels, Hawkins argues, are not metaphorical—they are measurable, energetic states that determine whether individuals and institutions uplift life or parasitize it. At its core, the book draws a sharp distinction between force—coercive, reactive, fear-driven—and power—effortless, life-affirming, aligned with truth. This distinction may sound abstract or even mystical, but Hawkins’ insight is unsettling precisely because it maps cleanly onto history, leadership, religion, propaganda, and personal psychology. What follows is not merely a self-help framework, but a diagnosis of civilization itself. Force: The Language of Fear and Control Force operates through pressure. It compels rather t...

Edward Bernays and the Invisible Government Propaganda, Mass Psychology, and the Engineering of Consent When Edward Bernays published Propaganda in 1928, he was not writing a warning. He was writing a manual. The shock of the book lies not in its cynicism, but in its calm confidence: Bernays assumes that democracy requires manipulation. Not as a regrettable flaw, but as a structural necessity. The masses, he argues, are irrational, emotional, and easily overwhelmed by complexity. If society is to function smoothly, someone must pull the strings. That someone, Bernays tells us, is the propagandist. Bernays’ central claim is delivered without apology: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.” This manipulation is carried out by what he famously calls an “invisible government”—a small group of specialists who shape public opinion while remaining largely unseen. To modern reader...

Mastery: Apprenticeship, Obsession, and the Long Formation of Creative Power Robert Greene’s Mastery is often mistaken for a motivational book. It is nothing of the sort. It offers no encouragement, no affirmations, and no shortcuts. Instead, it delivers a slow, almost ascetic vision of human development—one that stands in quiet opposition to modern culture’s fixation on speed, visibility, and effortless talent. Mastery, Greene argues, is not a gift bestowed at birth but a condition achieved through prolonged submission to reality. To make this argument, Greene does something crucial: he grounds abstraction in biography. Mastery is not an idea; it is a lived process, traceable in the lives of those who endured it. The Life’s Task: Leonardo da Vinci and the Tyranny of Curiosity Leonardo da Vinci is often portrayed as a miracle—an effortless polymath, touched by divine intelligence. Greene dismantles this myth. What defined Leonardo was not genius in the abstract,...

The Art of Seduction: Desire as Power, Illusion, and Psychological Gravity Seduction is one of the oldest forms of power, yet also the most misunderstood. We tend to associate it narrowly with romance or sexuality, reducing it to charm, attractiveness, or flirtation. Robert Greene’s The Art of Seduction dismantles this naïve view. Seduction, Greene argues, is not about beauty or conquest—it is about psychological gravity. The seducer does not force, threaten, or persuade directly. Instead, they awaken desire, create emotional narratives, and allow the target to move toward them of their own accord. What makes seduction uniquely powerful is its voluntary nature. The seduced believes they are choosing freely. This illusion of autonomy is precisely what distinguishes seduction from coercion. Power becomes invisible. Resistance dissolves into longing. Yet Greene’s work is not merely a catalogue of manipulative techniques. Beneath its historical anecdotes and archetypes lies a d...

The 33 Strategies of War: Life as a Battlefield of Perception Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War is not truly about war. It is about conflict as a permanent condition of human life—in politics, love, work, art, and the inner self. Greene strips warfare of its romance and exposes it as an extension of psychology: fear, deception, timing, morale, and narrative. The battlefield may be literal or symbolic, but the principles remain the same. Those who fail to understand this reality are not spared by their innocence; they are simply defeated more easily. Greene’s central premise is unsettling yet persuasive: we are always engaged in struggles, whether we acknowledge them or not. To deny this is not moral superiority—it is strategic blindness. The book does not advocate aggression; it advocates awareness. In a world shaped by power dynamics, misunderstanding conflict is itself a form of surrender. I. The War Within: Mastering Emotional Terrain Before confronting external e...

The 48 Laws of Power: A Moral Anatomy of Power, Illusion, and Human Nature Power is one of the last great taboos of moral discourse. We speak endlessly about justice, virtue, and empathy, yet shy away from the raw mechanisms by which influence is gained, maintained, and lost.  Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power enters this forbidden territory unapologetically. It does not ask how humans should behave, but how they do behave when status, survival, and dominance are at stake. This distinction explains both the book’s enduring popularity and the moral outrage it provokes. Greene’s work is not a handbook for v illains so much as a mirror held up to civilization. The laws are drawn from courts, empires, revolutions, and corporate boardrooms, revealing power as a theatrical, psychological, and deeply irrational force. Like Machiavelli before him, Greene understands that morality often dissolves under pressure—and that ignorance of power dynamics is itself a form of vulnerab...

The Laws of Human Nature: Narcissism, Envy, and the Illusion of Reason Robert Greene’s The Laws of Human Nature is often misread as a guide to manipulation or personal advantage. In truth, it is something more unsettling: a diagnosis of the psychological forces that quietly govern human behavior while we insist—often passionately—on our own rationality and moral clarity. Greene’s central claim is not that people are evil, but that they are profoundly self-deceived. The greatest danger does not come from cruelty or malice, but from unconscious patterns masquerading as reason. At the core of Greene’s psychological framework lie three forces that shape nearly all human interaction: narcissism, envy, and irrationality. These are not pathological exceptions; they are the default conditions of the human psyche. Civilization merely teaches us how to disguise them. The Myth of the Rational Human Being Greene begins by dismantling one of modernity’s most cherished illusions: that hu...