CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
Here's a surprising bit of Hermeticism from Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine, 1885. A lady faces the setting sun and transmits a thought-message toward the light as she touches a dog's head. The Greek god Hermes (a.k.a. the Roman Mercury and the Egyptian Thoth) is a solar messenger. The Egyptians of course represented him with a dog's head.
The caption reads, "She stood at the window looking westward at the setting sun, her thoughts borne outward toward its glory, her hand resting on the head of Duke."