Blog
Illuminatrix is a blog devoted to philosophy, the occult, and business. Its name is taken from The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort, where Illuminatrix (“Lady of Light”) is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gives light to preachers.
At first glance, these subjects seem to have little in common. In reality, they are united by a single question: how does man come to know and live according to the truth? Philosophy seeks truth through the proper use of reason, ordering the intellect to reality as it is. The occult represents the opposite tendency. It promises hidden knowledge and power while appealing to emotion, pride, curiosity, and vice. It obscures rather than illuminates, making what is evil appear desirable and what is false appear profound. Business is where these competing principles meet the practical world. Every organization, decision, negotiation, and exchange is shaped either by reason, virtue, and sound judgment, or by manipulation, disorder, and deception. It’s here that ideas cease to be abstractions and reveal their real consequences.
This blog serves as a place to organize my thoughts, examine ideas, and share my perspective on a wide range of topics. Alongside essays and articles, I provide free resources for those interested in studying these subjects more deeply. My aim is to take what is often made unnecessarily complex and present it in a way that’s clear, direct, and easier to understand, because truth should be simple, not convoluted. A short note on my style: I have little patience for verbosity. More often than not, excessive words are used to create the illusion of depth where little substance exists. If an idea is true, then it can usually be stated plainly and concisely.
Author
I’m 37 years old and from the Chihuahuan Desert, where the sun is hot enough to teach you the distinction between essence and existence. My birthday falls on the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia according to the traditional Roman Calendar, which I’ve always taken as divine providence. We both love black, solitude, and simplicity.
I hold a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.Ed., both from the least imaginably prestigious university. I’m currently pursuing a DBA from a slightly more prestigious university, but only just barely. I suppose that means you’re now obligated to believe everything I say.
My view of higher education is much closer to Leonardo da Vinci’s than to the modern university. Institutions are perfectly capable of handing down the same errors for centuries. Real knowledge belongs to those willing to verify things for themselves, to look, test, and, when necessary, say, “I checked, and the authority is wrong.” At least in my own academic disciplines, I’ve found that to be the rule more often than the exception.
Modern education has also become remarkably effective at replacing the pursuit of truth with the pursuit of whatever ideological fashion happens to be in season. A depressing amount of my graduate coursework consisted of DEI orthodoxy and theoretical exercises on accommodating students so statistically improbable they might as well have been seven-eyed, three-legged, rainbow-colored, genderless, trans-species prodigies who simultaneously required extensive academic intervention.
Will Hunting put it better than I ever could: “You wasted $150,000 on an education you could’ve gotten for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.” Fortunately, my own degrees came from institutions without much prestige, which also means they came without the matching debt. That’s a trade I’ll happily take.
My real education has come from books, primary sources, debate, and the occasional hard life lesson. My interests include philosophy, theology, apologetics, the occult, cosmology, biology (particularly evolutionary theory, which I reject), and business, though only because the practical has an inconvenient habit of paying the bills.
When I’m not reading or writing, you’ll probably find me arguing with someone. Blood sport debates aren’t especially edifying, but they’re certainly entertaining. More than anything else, though, I love catechesis. Teaching the Catholic faith is what I enjoy most, and I consider it the highest use of whatever abilities I’ve been given.