Georges Bataille was a philosopher who, in the 30's started two groups simultaneously. One, the College of Sociology, and it's more private side, the Secret Society of Acephale.

Acephale anonymously published works attempting to "retake" Nietzsche from the fascists, the Nazis, who had started abusing his work.

The Acephale publications were writings of a very anarchic nature, which utilized Nietzsche's philosophy, the sociological work of Durkheim on Religion, and its relationship to the Profane or to the Sacred, to try to understand the changing world they existed in. Some of the publications come with meditations to carry out.

To Bataille, the entire world had become profane. Capitalism, States, Fascism, and the "Communist System" of the Soviets had destroyed the Sacred itself. All of the possible Sacreds, constantly demoted to Profane by the uncaring mechanical logics of these systems.

Bataille wanted an explosion of the Sacred across the entirety of the world. And, to skip forward quite ahead, eventually thought that to complete this explosion of the sacred, he needed to sacrifice himself. To become an Acephalic figure, headless, like that of the universe. He wanted his friends to kill him, but none wanted to.