Tag: monsters

Fighting Monsters: Culture at Liberty Center in Butler County that is healthy and wise

The recent Lunar New Year celebration at Liberty Center in Liberty Township, Ohio, brought back a flood of memories for me. On February 28, 2026, the mall complex—always a wonderful development just north of the I-275 loop—hosted a vibrant Lunar Festival organized by the Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts. The event featured classic dragon and lion dances, Chinese music, Asian drums, acrobatics, Taiji demonstrations, and more, filling the space with energy and drawing crowds from the local community in Butler County. It was a positive, constructive way to launch the next phase of the year, embracing Eastern cultural traditions in a modern American setting. The performances were well-coordinated, tasteful, and joyful, with vendors offering dumplings and other treats amid the festivities, and watching the dragon soar and the lions prance reminded me of my own early experiences with these rituals.

As a teenager in the mid-1980s—around 1984, 1985, and 1986—I had one of my first real jobs at Emperor’s Wok, a highly decorated Chinese restaurant on Chester Road in Sharonville, Ohio. It was one of the most elaborate spots in Cincinnati at the time, with intricate interiors dedicated to Chinese culture. Everyone went there for authentic food in an immersive environment. The owners and family were wonderful; I got to know the cooks and the performers who handled the dragon dances. My role included customer service—dressing sharply in a bowtie to hustle tips in a classic, high-energy setting—but during Chinese New Year, it became something more adventurous. They kept the dragon costume and props in a closet year-round, and I was tasked with climbing onto the roof and the magnificent awning where cars pulled up for drop-offs. The restaurant had a grand entrance, and the parking lot would fill with spectators as the traditional dragon dance unfolded.

The dance lasted about half an hour, complete with booming drums, crashing cymbals, and the performers underneath the long, colorful dragon puppet. My job was to feed strings of thousands of firecrackers off the awning, setting them off in bursts that exploded above the dragon’s head as it twisted and leaped below. The noise, smoke, and flashes created an electric atmosphere, scaring away bad spirits in the tradition while entertaining the crowd. Firecrackers were key—loud explosions to drive off evil—and the whole thing felt proactive: humans creating their own spectacle to combat terror. Seeing similar elements at Liberty Center in 2026 brought it all rushing back: the coordination, the percussion, the acrobatics, and the sense of community triumph over unseen threats.

These dances aren’t just entertainment; they’re deeply rooted in Chinese mythology and serve a spiritual purpose. The lion dance, prominent in southern China, is often associated with the legend of the Nian (or Nian beast), a ferocious monster that terrorized villages on New Year’s Eve. Descriptions vary—some say it resembled a flat-faced lion with a horn, others a massive creature larger than an elephant with sharp teeth—but the core story is consistent. The Nian feared loud noises, bright lights, and the color red. Villagers discovered this and used firecrackers, fireworks, red decorations, lanterns, and couplets on doors to repel it. Over time, these customs evolved into annual traditions: red envelopes for luck, staying up late, and performances to ensure protection and prosperity. The lion dance mimics this defense, with performers in vibrant, red-heavy costumes embodying strength and courage. The dragon dance, dating back to the Han Dynasty or earlier, honors the dragon as a symbol of power, wisdom, benevolence, good fortune, and control over rain and water—essential for agriculture and abundance.

A key figure in many lion dances is the Laughing Buddha, or Big Head Buddha (Dai Tou Fat), often portrayed as a jolly, potbellied character in a mask, waving a fan. This isn’t the historical Buddha of Buddhism but a folk figure inspired by Budai (or Hotei), the “Laughing Buddha” known for joy, prosperity, and contentment. In the dance, he provides comic relief, teasing and guiding the lions—sometimes playfully chasing them or interacting with the crowd—while coordinating to the music. His presence adds lightness: amid the fierce combat against evil, there’s laughter, pranks, and confidence. The potbelly symbolizes a full, prosperous life, laughing in the face of danger. It’s a brilliant touch—turning fear into joy, showing human ingenuity in overcoming darkness through humor and skill. The martial arts elements, acrobatics, and kung fu displays highlight dexterity and strength, reinforcing that humans can triumph over lurking monsters.

This reverence for the spirit world extends across Eastern cultures. In Japan, Shinto temples feature similar beliefs in kami (spirits), with rituals to balance the seen and unseen. Korea and other regions share roots in warding off malevolent forces through noise, color, and performance. The thin veil between the physical and spiritual worlds means monsters or evil spirits—rambunctious and ever-present—must be managed proactively. Red wards off negativity; mirrors on costumes reflect evil back; drums and gongs create an overwhelming sound to dispel it. It’s optimistic: approach the unknown with boldness, abundance, and good fortune, much like fortune cookies that always deliver positive messages.

These patterns aren’t unique to the East. Globally, cultures confront “monsters” or paranormal threats through ritual. North American Indigenous traditions often involve drums, yelling, colorful regalia, and dances to connect with or control spirit visions—sometimes blurred by hallucinogenic plants in shamanic practices, creating colorful, terrifying projections that demand management for societal harmony. The use of red, loud percussion, and aggressive displays taps into the idea of warding off evil, much like firecrackers or mirrors. In Christianity, demons are pushed out through prayer, exorcism, or faith in divine protection. Everywhere, humans develop mechanisms to live with terror—whether invisible forces, cryptids, or existential fears.

This brings me to the Mothman legend from Point Pleasant, West Virginia (close to Ohio roots). Sightings in 1966-1967 described a large, winged humanoid with glowing red eyes, often near the TNT area (a former munitions site). It became tied to the tragic Silver Bridge collapse in December 1967, killing 46 people, turning Mothman into a harbinger of doom. Some link it to Native American lore, such as thunderbirds or curses (e.g., Chief Cornstalk’s), or even misidentified birds, such as sandhill cranes. But the archetype persists: a monster emerging seasonally or in crisis, attacking or foretelling harm. Around Christmas or New Year periods, it echoes the Nian—seasonal terror tied to transitions. Both involve communities responding: firecrackers and dances for Nian, vigilance and folklore for Mothman.

Expanding further, many speculate on shared origins for such creatures. Ancient astronaut theories suggest amphibious or serpentine beings from places like Sirius (as in Dogon African traditions of Nommo from Sirius B) influenced global myths. Chinese dragons—long, serpentine, benevolent yet powerful—might reflect memories of advanced visitors or natural phenomena, migrating from regions like the Indus Valley over the Himalayas into East Asia. From the Near East westward, dragons became adversarial (e.g., biblical serpents or European fire-breathers), but in the East, they’re auspicious. Amphibious gods (e.g., Babylonian Oannes or Dagon) appear in Sumerian and other lore, possibly tied to seafaring or aquatic extraterrestrials who seeded civilization. The persistence of monster myths—winged humanoids, serpents, beasts—suggests a universal human concern with the “other”: unseen threats in the dark, whether paranormal, spiritual, or existential.

Yet cultures don’t just fear; they innovate. Eastern approaches—optimistic, proactive, laughing at danger—offer lessons. The Laughing Buddha prances confidently amid monsters, embodying joy despite peril. Drums attack the spirit world aggressively, red banners proclaim victory, and firecrackers create human-made chaos to counter it. This mindset—embracing abundance, prosperity, and humor—helps build constructive societies. Liberty Center’s event wonderfully blended this ancient wisdom with modern community life, reminding us that engaging with other cultures enriches our own without duplicating rituals wholesale. We have strengths in the West, but learning to face “monsters”—whether literal cryptids, personal demons, or global uncertainties—builds resilience.

My time at Emperor’s Wok taught me early about cultural depth beyond surface festivity. Friendships with the family performers, the thrill of the rooftop explosions, the cultural immersion—all shaped how I view the world. Watching the 2026 festival, I saw echoes of those days: positive energy pushing back darkness, joy in the face of the unknown. It’s a healthy reverence for survival, a reminder that humans thrive by confronting fears creatively. Watch out for the monsters—they’re everywhere—but find ways to laugh, drum, and dance them away.

For further reading and research:

•  Wikipedia entries on “Nian,” “Lion dance,” “Dragon dance,” and “Mothman” provide solid overviews with sources.

•  Britannica’s article on the Chinese New Year details legends and traditions.

•  Books like The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel explore the Point Pleasant events.

•  Robert K.G. Temple’s The Sirius Mystery discusses Dogon-Sirius connections (though controversial).

•  Academic sources on shamanism and global folklore, such as studies on Indigenous North American rituals or comparative mythology.

Rich Hoffman

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Why Women Run Off With Bad Men: How evil comes into the world

Probably because it’s the Holiday season, and it’s on people’s minds, Bible references have come up a lot, and some of the conversations I’ve been in have been interesting, especially on the topic of evil and how it comes into the world and why so many people would like to be good but act in such an evil fashion.  It often rocks us off our center when we have to confront it because we don’t understand how it arrived there in the first place.  So this provoked a rather detailed conversation with me that ended up being one of my long, hour-long utterances about some interesting topics, one of which was why women are the vehicles for evil in the world and what we can do about it.  Now, keep in mind that this is a psychological conversation, not one built out of woke politics and leftist social sentiment.  The needs of human beings are not aligned with political power plays, social construction, or reconstruction.  To that point, I would argue that feminism was never created to free women of a slave relationship with men but to destroy the very foundation of family building because governments in the world have radical beliefs about how many humans should be on earth, and they want through abortion, contraceptives, and family planning to discourage as many births as possible, for all kinds of reasons, most of them not sane.  So, just because there are rules that came up with what we can discuss regarding feminine roles in the world, it doesn’t mean that those rules were ever justified or constructive.  And that there is a good point to the original sin and the long history in the Bible of women who turned to evil and gave it a foundation to destroy the world. 

There is a reason that most women are unhappy with their nice husbands, and I would say that it’s not their fault.  God made them that way, and God shows throughout the Bible that he’s very mad, perhaps even at himself, for making human beings the way they are.  Women are being taken from Adam’s rib to serve him as a companion.  She is physically of weaker sex to fulfill her roles in the procreation of new human beings.  If she’s too masculine like Adam, the motivations for procreation aren’t as robust.  So, there is a balancing act genetically that is the problem behind all sexual interplay.  What makes people want to have sex with each other is not the same thing that might make them want to form and run a country.  So, in the Garden of Eden, the young couple of Adam and Eve are told not to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  But of course, Eve does so because the snake seduces her, and all humanity is thrown into a tailspin of perpetuating evil for which Jesus Christ has to come along to wash away the original sin through his sacrifice.  But why did Eve eat the apple from the forbidden tree?  Well, for the same reason that most people do evil things, out of a sense of personal security.  Rather than fight evil, people, men, and women seek to appease it out of self-preservation.  When a woman has a man she does not think can fight evil off, out of their sense of security, they seek to appease it.  So, in the original sin, Eve listened to the snake because it was a strange force of evil that she wasn’t sure Adam could protect her from. 

This is undoubtedly the case of one of the great villains of the Bible, Jezebel, who was known for turning the people of her kingdom to Baal worship at the expense of Yahweh.  God, all through the Bible, was constantly upset that his people, the Israelites, would turn to the temptations of other gods, specifically Baal, and Jezebel was one of the worst, who ended up being tossed out of a window and into the mouths of dogs below who ripped her to shreds, which we are supposed to applaud in reaction as the audience reading from the text.  But what made her so vile? Why didn’t she honor her husband, King Ahab?  Well, because he didn’t make her feel safe.  Women often seek the shelter of a monster to protect them from other monsters because they think they can control the beast with sex.  It’s the classic Beauty and the Beast scenario.  When a woman doesn’t think the man in her life can protect her from the many monsters of the world, she will, most of the time, pick a monster she believes she can control for her own self-preservation.  Her man might be fine with making children, cooking, cleaning, and talking to them.  But if he can’t protect her from monsters, out of her need for security, she will seek out her own monster to protect her from other monsters.  This is why Jezebel was so evil; she tossed away the protection of her husband and of God himself to seek refuge in the ultimate monster, Baal, a rival of God in the pantheon of the Divine Counsel.  This is the ”bad boy” complex that many women go through.  They might marry the nice guy who can hold a good job and raise good kids, but they seek to run off with the bad boy covered in tattoos, smokes, drinks and is a social wreck because she thinks having one of those monsters of her own will protect her from a world of other monsters.

When we look at a beautiful woman and she is with a disgusting man, we wonder why, after all, she could have anybody in the world that she could want.  Why that guy?  It’s because she doesn’t feel safe in a world full of monsters, and she thinks she can use sex to control her own kind of monster.  So, she seeks to appease one for her own protection.  And this was the problem King Solomon had.  He was married to a lot of women from all over the world, and God became very mad at him because he built temples for them to appease their gods, as they rejected Yahway.  Solomon had all the power and treasure on earth then, but it wasn’t enough for his women to honor and worship him as their husband.  So he found himself chasing after their attention to make them feel safe and secure.  He could at least build a temple to their gods.  This is the same kind of problem Mary Magdeline had with her seven demons until she found a good guy in Jesus to give her some temporary relief.  Jesus was a rebel that the authority figures wanted to kill, and he was removed from her life before she could abandon him for being too nice of a guy.  And through death, he gave her a purpose that would last well into history.  Most women aren’t so lucky.  They attach themselves to a good man either by accident or default and fall out of love with them because they aren’t beastlike enough.  But when the world’s beasts kill off their version of the beast, there is at least a crusade to pursue, and Christianity was born, which has been great for the human race.  But you don’t find that a good woman marries a good man and they live happily ever after anywhere in history.  Certainly not in the Bible.  There is always evil coming into the world, and it comes through the front door that women let in because of the need for safety and security that women have as the weaker sex.  And God, even though he created the universe and everything in it, is perpetually frustrated by the notion.  He tries over and over again to solve the problem through apocalypse after apocalypse.  But evil is never appeased, and the world is often overrun by the beasts of the world who take women for themselves without any level of respect and destroy the world through their bad conduct because other men never quite figure out that the best way to keep a woman is to be a bit of a beast themselves.  And to walk that fine line between being a good guy and a bad guy is a very fine line.  And the only way to make everything work out properly.  Which many never figure out in their lifetimes.

Rich Hoffman

Click Here to Protect Yourself with Second Call Defense https://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707