The Devil's Dictionary
A Selection of the Bitter Definitions of Ambrose Bierce
The Peter Pauper Press c1958
"Ambrose Bierce was an angry young man who got angrier as he grew older. His strong talent was directed always by bitterness and despair. His wonderful stories were weird, cynical, shocking. His life was restless, his temper outrageous, and his death violent." ~Publisher's Note
**Your mission, should you choose to accept it,
is to take the entry that is your horoscope this week and use it to transform.**
See the truth of Bierce's personally-defined word as it relates to your own life (does it pertain to you, someone you hang with, a past you just can't let go of?) and become the master of your own positivity by deconstructing the elements of what is holding you down, casting it off and taking back the light!
Take note of your emotional reaction when you read the definition for your sign~ that may be where you find your personal truth. Honesty need not be painful~if we let go just that little bit of which we hold on to so blindly and tightly.
Using the anger and frustration of Bierce as a starting point, Open up to your reality and then use it as fodder to cultivate the exact present-tense that you desire. And maybe in the process, we can also bring a little peace to dear grumpy disillusioned Bierce.
**Your ego shall self-destruct in 60 seconds... **
CAPRICORN
Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.
AQUARIUS
History, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
History, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
PISCES
Indigestion, n. A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind.
Indigestion, n. A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind.
ARIES
Pitiful, adj. The state of an enemy or opponent after an imaginary encounter with oneself.
Pitiful, adj. The state of an enemy or opponent after an imaginary encounter with oneself.
TAURUS
Bigot, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.
Bigot, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.
GEMINI
Homicide, n. The slaying of one human being by another. There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another --the classification is for the advantage of the lawyers.
Homicide, n. The slaying of one human being by another. There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another --the classification is for the advantage of the lawyers.
CANCER
Laughter, n. An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises.
Laughter, n. An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises.
LEO
Calamity, n. A more than commonly plain and unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering. Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
VIRGO
Optimism, n. The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly; everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. it is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity.
Optimism, n. The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly; everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. it is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity.
LIBRA
Miss, n. A title with which we brand unmarried women to indicate that they are on the market.
SCORPIO
Slang, n. The grunt of the human hog (Pignoramus intolerabilis) with an audible memory. The speech of one who utters with his tongue what he thinks with his ear, and feels the pride of a creator in accomplishing the feat of a parrot.
Slang, n. The grunt of the human hog (Pignoramus intolerabilis) with an audible memory. The speech of one who utters with his tongue what he thinks with his ear, and feels the pride of a creator in accomplishing the feat of a parrot.
Patriot, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.
