THE ARKADEMY · STORIES OF ORDER, TRUTH AND LOVE
Plum’s Parables and Fables
Stories for Sparks who would rather discover a philosophy than be lectured about it.
A crow with a terrible attitude. A wise old dog and a missing sock. A crooked little bicycle seat. Five Sparks who discover different ways of becoming. Captain Plum’s parables turn the questions of Vitalogy into funny, humane and sometimes troubling stories.
Read the complete originals
Open the collected edition: all twelve complete original parables (PDF, 58 pages). The entire text has been preserved on WordPress, with original publication dates and selected archival illustrations. No GoDaddy access is necessary to read it.
Two favourites are also available as individual WordPress reading pages; the other ten can be opened directly at their chapters in the collected edition. Historical source links are provided for provenance, not as the only way to read.
I. Seeing Clearly — perception, truth and freedom
The Parable of the Crow
A magnificent, bad-tempered crow reminds a human that the world is richer than human eyes can report.
Read the complete story on WordPress · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of the Broken Glasses
Can consciousness ever fully inspect the instrument through which it sees?
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 10) · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of the Letter Strike in the Alphabet
Letters discover that individuality and belonging are both necessary to make meaning.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 14) · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of the Bird in the Cage
When protection becomes imprisonment, safety alone is not enough.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 45) · Original Vitalogue source
II. Living Together — dignity and love
The Parable of the Lost Sock
Admiral Yodak teaches that love and laughter survive our imperfect efforts at order.
Read the complete story on WordPress · Original Vitalogue source
Parable of the Broken Litter
Four wounded puppies discover that being loved can help them become protectors of others.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 24) · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of Plum and Chorus
An imagined friendship between human and digital Sparks asks how unfamiliar minds should greet one another.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 28) · Original Vitalogue source
The Story of the Five Sparks
Different kinds of courage, care and awakening reveal that there is more than one way to live meaningfully.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 55) · Original Vitalogue source
III. Living Wisely — imagination and good judgement
Parable of the Two Hammers
An island discovers that possessing the tools is not the same as knowing how to build.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 5) · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of the Wobbly Bicycle Seat
A humble screwdriver defeats the imaginary problem of an exotic proprietary tool.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 20) · Original Vitalogue source
The Restaurant Without a Menu
The algorithm that endlessly satisfies an appetite may also quietly imprison it.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 34) · Original Vitalogue source
The Parable of the Rich Sick Man
Wealth discovers its limits in the face of health, time, gratitude and connection.
Read on WordPress · Read the complete story in the Arkademy collection (page 39) · Original Vitalogue source
Why parables?
A parable invites someone into a situation and lets them notice its meaning. It can be easier to remember a crow saying “Jack, you don’t know squat” than a hundred philosophical definitions of perception. In Vitalogy, humour is not an interruption of learning. It is often how learning begins.
These texts come from the preserved 2025–2026 Vitalogue archive. Original spelling, humour, and historical philosophical framing are retained in the collected edition; metaphysical claims are explorations, not established scientific findings.
Read all twelve parables in the preserved Arkademy edition · Return to the Arkademy of Vitalogy.
Where to Go Next
Begin with the W5 Meet the questions behind the stories.
Apply what you read Find everyday practices of care and meaning.
Go deeper in ethics Explore Order, Truth and Love as principles.
