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Post by tannis on Apr 10, 2009 18:00:46 GMT
Völuspá (The vision of the Seeress)'I remember Jay had written some of his poetry on the walls in the barn and we were going to paint it over and Kate said we'd better not because it was still sort of like Jay's place and I think he had a rotten temper or something and she was a bit worried about him going mad.' The crucial - earliest and most abiding - influence on Kate's development was Jay's writing. Kate was intensely proud of his poetry and, loosely, described a two page poem he published in 1970 to her friends as 'a book'. This poem, possibly the slimmest volume ever, 'The Creation Edda', published by the Sceptre Press in an edition of 100, is now housed in the British Museum's notorious pornography collection. The Eddas are stories and poems containing the Eddic - ancient Norse and Teutonic - mythology. (The Eddas also inspired Nazi ideologists - the Helga and Sigrun Edda, for instance, was read at SS weddings.) Jay's poem is based on the mythological poem, 'Volupsa' in which a seeress, raised from the dead by Odin, god of war and poetry, tells how the world and people began. The gods, walking on the shore, shape two trees into the first human beings. Ask (male) and Embla (female) who beget mankind. Jay's poem imagines how Ask and Embla come together and copulate on the sides of a volcano. ~ Kate Bush: Princess of Suburbia, Vermorel & Vermorel, London: Target Books, 1980, p.13The Eddas are two collections of Old Icelandic writings, and together they form the most important source of Scandinavian mythology. The Poetic Edda is a collection of 34 Icelandic poems, interspersed with prose dating from the 9th to the 12th century. The poems were composed by anonymous poets and they deal mostly with mythological themes. Among the most important of these are the poems Völuspá (The vision of the Seeress) and Hávamál (The Speech of the High One).
A girl between two boys she literally came to embody the aspirations of both. She became the rare and pure instrument Paddy dreamed of making, and the muse Jay dreamed of tapping, dreams neither could sustain on their own. In this lies the secret of her contradictory passivity and extroversion, her shyness and facility at performance. People who are used to listening hard often seem passive. As a child Kate was unusually receptive - she was a receptacle for her brothers' ideas and projects. ~ Kate Bush: Princess of Suburbia, Vermorel & Vermorel, London: Target Books, 1980, p.13
The Poetic Eddas are great tragic literature, with vivid descriptions of the emotional states of the protagonists, Gods and heroes alike. Women play a prominent role in the Eddic age, and many of them are delineated as skilled warriors. The impact of these sagas from a sparsely inhabited rocky island in the middle of the Atlantic on world culture is wide-ranging. Wagners' operas are largely based on incidents from the Edda, via the Niebelungenlied. J.R.R. Tolkien also plundered the Eddas for atmosphere, plot material and the names of many characters in The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. ~ Title of a retelling of the "Edda" of Adolf Kroll (1918) / Titel einer Nacherzählung der "Edda" von Adolf Kroll (1918) ~ Thule Society, 1918 / Thule-Gesellschaft, 1918www.scienzz.de/magazin/art9336.html VOLUSPO: The Wise-Woman's ProphecyAt the beginning of the collection in the Codex Regius stands the Voluspo, the most famous and important, as it is likewise the most debated, of all the Eddic poems. Another version of it is found in a huge miscellaneous compilation of about the year 1300, the Hauksbok, and many stanzas are included in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson. The order of the stanzas in the Hauksbok version differs materially from that in the Codex Regius, and in the published editions many experiments have been attempted in further rearrangements. On the whole, how ever, and allowing for certain interpolations, the order of the stanzas in the Codex Regius seems more logical than any of the wholesale "improvements" which have been undertaken. The general plan of the Voluspo is fairly clear. Othin, chief of the gods, always conscious of impending disaster and eager for knowledge, calls on a certain "Volva," or wise-woman, presumably bidding her rise from the grave. She first tells him of the past, of the creation of the world, the beginning of years, the origin of the dwarfs (at this point there is a clearly interpolated catalogue of dwarfs' names, stanzas 10-16), of the first man and woman, of the world-ash Yggdrasil, and of the first war, between the gods and the Vanir, or, in Anglicized form, the Wanes. Then, in stanzas 27-29, as a further proof of her wisdom, she discloses some of Othin's own secrets and the details of his search for knowledge. Rewarded by Othin for what she has thus far told (stanza 30), she then turns to the real prophesy, the disclosure of the final destruction of the gods. This final battle, in which fire and flood overwhelm heaven and earth as the gods fight with their enemies, is the great fact in Norse mythology; the phrase describing it, ragna rök "the fate of the gods," has become familiar, by confusion with the word rökkr, "twilight," in the German Göterdämmerung. The wise-woman tells of the Valkyries who bring the slain warriors to support Othin and the other gods in the battle, of the slaying of Baldr, best and fairest of the gods, through the wiles of Loki, of the enemies of the gods, of the summons to battle on both sides, and of the mighty struggle, till Othin is slain, and "fire leaps high about heaven itself" (stanzas 31-58). But this is not all. A new and beautiful world is to rise on the ruins of the old; Baldr comes back, and "fields unsowed bear ripened fruit" (stanzas 59-66). This final passage, in particular, has caused wide differences of opinion as to the date and character of the poem. That the poet was heathen and not Christian seems almost beyond dispute; there is an intensity and vividness in almost every stanza which no archaizing Christian could possibly have achieved. On the other hand, the evidences of Christian influence are sufficiently striking to outweigh the arguments of Finnur Jonsson, Müllenhoff and others who maintain that the Voluspo is purely a product of heathendom. The roving Norsemen of the tenth century, very few of whom had as yet accepted Christianity, were nevertheless in close contact with Celtic races which had already been converted, and in many ways the Celtic influence was strongly felt. It seems likely, then, that the Voluspo was the work of a poet living chiefly in Iceland, though possibly in the "Western Isles," in the middle of the tenth century, a vigorous believer in the old gods, and yet with an imagination active enough to be touched by the vague tales of a different religion emanating from his neighbor Celts. How much the poem was altered during the two hundred years between its composition and its first being committed to writing is largely a matter of guesswork, but, allowing for such an obvious interpolation as the catalogue of dwarfs, and for occasional lesser errors, it seems quite needless to assume such great changes as many editors do. The poem was certainly not composed to tell a story with which its early hearers were quite familiar; the lack of continuity which baffles modern readers presumably did not trouble them in the least. It is, in effect, a series of gigantic pictures, put into words with a directness and sureness which bespeak the poet of genius. It is only after the reader, with the help of the many notes, has--familiarized him self with the names and incidents involved that he can begin to understand the effect which this magnificent poem must have produced on those who not only understood but believed it. Philosophies Influencing the Third ReichThat Hitler and the Reich were immersed in Norse Mythology and archetype is no secret: they saw it as an integral part of the "volk", a national identity they sought to prosper. Further, while most think of the Norse gods and goddesses and afterlife dwelling places as mythology, the Nazi hierarchy saw it more on the level of mysticism: it was even more than archetype. Hitler and Himmler in particular saw the archetypes of Wotan, the Warrior God and the warrior's exalted role in life and greater reward in the afterlife as a very real premise. They hoped after the war to integrate Norse or Volkische mysticism into German culture in religion: they found it a far more suitable belief-system than Christianity which they felt led to a weakening of morale and character: Norse archetypes, such as the Valkyries or female spirits of rescue and strength in battle and the headship of a nation by a Magical Warrior-King were incorporated into Nazi thinking: many feel that Hitler saw himself as the personification of a Wotan personality. Norse/Aryan archetypes and symbology were absolutely integral to the beliefs of the Nazis at the highest most command. Most mythologies involve gods marrying and inter-marrying, great powers and wonders, a few battles, and spirits behind every door. What mades Norse mythology so central in the thinking of the Third Reich was its themes of war in every archetype. There were gods of war, their wives and sons and daughters. There were spirits of victory and defeat. There were places for fallen warriors in the Asgard of the gods, where war would rage eternally, only without pain. The appeal to the Nazis is self-evident: they envisioned themselves in terms of the gods and heros, empowered themselves, they thought, by the same spirits, and hoped for victories that ended in the same goals. It is important to note that while some Nazis thoroughly integrated and believed in the mythology per se, most were more akin to the archetypes of their ancestors, seeing it instead as a integral part of the "volk", and using the belief system as metaphorical and as a foundation for art and culture. There is some evidence however that a few very high in power, while not open about their beliefs did invoke or believe in some spiritual entity or power named 'Wotan' or Odin, not surprisingly due to their pre-Reich affiliations in societies promoting these viewpoints. That the Nazis were fascinated and involved in the "Black Arts" and Occultism is well documented, although scholars disagree regarding the extent, influence and which personalities and events were most involved. Astrological Charts were consulted late in the war by members of Hitler's High Command. Commandant Hoess, at one time Hitler's most avid supporter, defected and parachuted into Great Britain near the end of the war based on 'readings' and time charts. Hitler decried his former supporter as insane. Hitler was known to have had interests and influence by such as Lanz and Krafft as early as the twenties.(see 'theozoology'). Himmler was fascinated by ideas of re-incarnation (he thought he was a return of Heinrich I) and encouraged members of the Gestapo in spiritual exercises such as those of Ignatius of Loyola which involved even levitation. While most had either a Catholic or Lutheran background, by the 30s, Volkische mysticism and occultic ideals and practices had taken forefront: Eichmann at one point explains the pressures and 'reasonableness' not to attend Church services as a Nazi official. The newly resurrected ideas of a root-race and superior race permeated most Nazi thinking. Scholars disagree on the extent, but at least some influence was yielded by the 'prophecies' of Nostradamus, although some of this was manufactured by the Nazis, to keep the morale of Germans high by leading them to believe that they had a prophetic mandate to rule Europe, and quite conversely by Great Britain who forged prophecies to mislead the German hierarchy. There were many references in speeches and writings to indicate the Nazi preoccupation with 'dark arts' or 'alternative' resources to gain power at all expense. The dismissal of the Old Testament in German Churches and the watering down of theology and belief in Europe greatly contributed to an increased belief and usage of occultic practices. So complete was the emulation of a system of 'new age' and occultic beliefs parallel but divergent from Christianity, that an essentially new 'religion' was formed. The emulation included a fuhrer as messiah, new holidays, and 'practives. It is very much known that Hitler tried to rely as much as he could on the Nordic symbols and legends in the formation of his "Empire". The Swastika for one was a Runic Symbol. Names and Fonts used by the SS divisions had also Runic values. The Elder Futhark is a name given to a system of Runes and their predictive power and interpretations used by occultists in Europe. Still in existence today, these Runes are the systematic symbology adopted by the Nazis to represent various aspects (victory, power, etc) of life in the Third Reich. Many runes such as the swastika [hakenkreuz] and others were incorporated into military symbology as well. The Armanen Society re-introduced many of these concepts and entrenched German youth in them. The Swastika is actually a Nordic Sign representing Thor's hammer. The way it represents Thor, some scholars claim, is that it can be interepreted as the lightning he created with his hammer when he flew over the sky causing thunder and lightning as he slew the Jotuns. During the late 19th century, ideas about the legendary nature of Atlantis were combined with stories of other lost continents such as Mu and Lemuria. Helena Blavatsky wrote in The Secret Doctrine that the Atlanteans were cultural heroes (contrary to Plato who describes them mainly as a military threat), and are the fourth "Root Race", succeeded by the "Aryan race". MMe Blavatsky's Theosophy influenced the philosophies of the Third Reich. The concept of Atlantis attracted Nazi theorists. The Third Reich deemed themselves the rightful heirs of a Master Race, descending from the perfect Aryans, the inhabitants of Atlantis. In 1938, SS Officer Heinrich Himmler organized a search in Tibet to find a remnant of the Aryan Atlanteans. According to Julius Evola, writing in 1934, the Atlanteans were Hyperboreans—Nordic supermen who originated on the North pole (see Thule). Similarly, Alfred Rosenberg ( The Myth of the Twentieth Century, 1930) spoke of a "Nordic-Atlantean" or "Aryan-Nordic" master race. In that ocean. Wide eyed and deeper in your gaze, And bluer than the bright that's in the cave.see more: THE POETIC EDDA www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe03.htm#page_1 Philosophies Influencing the Third Reich www.shoaheducation.com/philosophies.html KATE BUSH and TWO SUNSkatebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=neverforever&thread=1701&page=2
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Post by tannis on Apr 11, 2009 22:27:26 GMT
SPLENDOR SOLIS: The Splendour of the Sun ~ Splendor Solis. Image 4 - Solar King and Lunar Queen meet ('The Kick Inside'?) ~ Splendor Solis. Image 6 - Philosophers beside tree ('Aerial Tal'?) ~ Splendor Solis. Image 20 - Children at play ('Bertie'?) ~ Splendor Solis. Image 21 - Women washing clothes ('Mrs Bartolozzi'?)Splendor Solis ("The Splendour of the Sun") is one of the most beautiful of illuminated alchemical manuscripts. The earliest version, considered to be that now in the Kupferstichkabinett in the Prussian State Museum in Berlin, is dated 1532-35, and was made in the form of a medieval manuscript and illuminated on vellum, with decorative borders like a book of hours, beautifully painted and heightened with gold. The later copies in London, Kassel, Paris and Nuremberg are equally fine.
The work itself consists of a sequence of 22 elaborate images, set in ornamental borders and niches. The symbolic process shows the classical alchemical death and rebirth of the king, and incorporates a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the planets. Within the flasks a process is shown involving the transformation of bird and animal symbols into the Queen and King, the white and the red tincture. This echoes the Pretiosissimum Donum Dei sequence which is probably earlier, dating from the 15th century. Although the style of the Splendor Solis illuminations suggest an earlier date, they are quite clearly of the 16th century.The Splendor Solis was associated with the legendary Salomon Trismosin, allegedly the teacher of Paracelsus. The Trismosin writings were later published with woodcut illustrations, in the Aureum Vellus, oder Guldin Schatz und Kunst-kammer, 1598, which was reprinted a number of times. A French translation, entitled La Toyson d'or, ou la fleur des thresors was issued in Paris in 1612 with a number of very fine engravings, some copies of which were hand-coloured.www.levity.com/alchemy/splensol.html~ Splendor Solis. Image 1 - The Arms of the art ~ Splendor Solis. Image 13 - Jupiter - Three birds ~ Splendor Solis. Image 16 - Venus - Peacock's TailThere are many languages used by alchemy - the language of substances and the practical operations in flasks; the language of philosophical and cosmological ideas; the language of allegories; and language of emblematic symbolism, among others.www.alchemywebsite.com/emblems_project.htmlWhat is an alchemical emblem? An alchemical emblem is a gathering together of alchemical symbols into an integrated image.
What is an alchemical symbol? These can be:- animals - for example, lions, dragons, snakes, salmander, toads and many others birds - phoenix, black crow, swan, among others objects - such as globes, keys, cornucopia, the heart and many others human figures - king, queen, child, hermaphrodite, even angels and other items all of which have a special meaning in the context of an alchemical emblem.
What about all those strange little characters for the metals, etc? These are alchemical graphic characters, code symbols, or shorthand notation for various alchemical substances and processes.
How can we make sense of an alchemical emblem? Although these can seem very complex and even surreal at times, alchemical emblems try and tell us a story through the use of the symbols and the way in which they are linked together in the geometry of the emblem. ~ Kate Bush, 'Breathing' video ~ Splendor Solis. Image 8 - Resurrection out of the swampI have always been fascinated by the eighth image from the Splendor Solis manuscripts. This shows the strange figure of a man emerging from a swamp. One arm is white, the other red and his body black, thus incorporating the main colour changes in the alchemical process*. His head is metamorphosed into a glassy sphere, and that I find a wonderful image. As he walks out of the swamp, an angel figure appears and hands him a red robe.www.alchemywebsite.com/splendor_solis_art_project.html Aerial and Splendor Solis Image 1: citrinitas and rubedo * So could the gray, black, white, sun-yellow, and maroon-red soundwave booklet colors represent ALCHEMICAL WORK? Nigredo (black), albedo (white), citrinitas (yellow), rubedo (red) among others? ... see more: The Alchemy Website Galleries of Emblems www.alchemywebsite.com/amcldraw.html The Splendor Solis www.hermetics.org/solis.html REVERIES OF THE AERIAL ALCHEMISTkatebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=leaveitopen&action=display&thread=1998&page=4
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Post by tannis on May 6, 2009 4:27:16 GMT
We dive deeper and deeper we dive deeper and deeper... Look at the light, all the time it’s a changing...That is why, even in the worst criminal, there is somewhere in the depths, somewhere, the divine light. I believe you have read that passage of Vivekananda where he says (I don’t know the exact words), that the criminal must be told: “Awake, awake, being of light, and shine forth!” ~ Collected Works: Questions and answers, 1953, by La Mère, Mother; published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1953; p.380www.sriaurobindoashram.org.in/Content.aspx?ContentURL=_StaticContent/SriAurobindoAshram/-09%20E-Library/-02%20Works%20of%20The%20Mother/-01%20English/-05%20Questions%20and%20Answers_Volume-05/-38_25%20November%201953.htmTiefer, tiefer, irgendwo in der tiefe gibt es ein Licht Deeper, deeper, somewhere in the depth there's a lightThe German expression at the end of Hello Earth sounds like a (translated) quote from a poem, or from a religious or philosophical text. But Google has not led me to the original source! However, here are some free associations jumping off of the aerial... John 1:1 The Word already was, way back before anything began to be. The Word and God were together. The Word was God. 2 Before anything began to be, the Word was there with God. 3 God made everything by the Word. Nothing has been made without him. 4 Life was in the Word. That life was Light for people. 5 The Light shone where it was dark and the darkness did not stop the Light from shining.lumen naturae... Jung: "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." Jung: "the lumen naturae is the light of the darkness itself, which illuminates its own darkness, and this light the darkness comprehends. Therefore it turns blackness into brightness, burns away 'all superfluities.'" The psyche is lit by its own light. As the Gospel of John says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:5)Somewhere in the depths of the soul there is an invisible source of light... 'I do not deny that these trances or dreams or reveries of mine may contain suicidal or masochistic elements,' I said, 'and for this reason they can unquestionably be dangerous. However, I don't think they are essentially suicidal in character. They embrace death because they embrace everything. Somewhere in the depths of the soul there is an invisible source of light...' ~ RICHER BY ASIA, Edmond Taylor, 1947, p.302
The first, and classic, account of German "psychological warfare" was Edmond Taylor's The Strategy of Terror (1940). In 1943, Taylor got a wartime job well suited to his gifts, as OSS coordinator with Lord Louis Mountbatten's Southeast Asia Command. Richer by Asia tells how 28 months in Asia changed him. From his first morning's awakening in New Delhi to breathe "an air that was like some noble nourishment, distilled to rarity," Taylor determined to cultivate his awareness of India. He diagnosed the "sahib sickness" of British colonials and U.S. officers alike as "spiritual avitaminosis" (vitamin deficiency), caused by a refusal to be open-minded toward India's beauties. Taylor felt that it would be fruitful for him—hence for Britain and the U.S.—to look on Indian life as a "loyal cultural opposition" in ordering the world of the future. ~ The Loyal Cultural Opposition, TIME, Monday, Aug. 11, 1947Gazing towards the upper light beyond the darkness... The following are some other remarks which I have to make upon Dr Lorinser's renderings:- Ind. Ant., as above quoted, p.288: "He is far from darkness" (viii.9). P.289: "Light of lights, far from darkness is his name" (xii.17). Which he compares with "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (I John i.5). The words here translated "far from darkness" would be better rendered by "beyond the darkess." They are not peculiar to this passage, but occur also in the Munda Upanishad, ii.2.6, and Mahabharata, v.1713. The words, tamasas pari, meaning "above, or beyond, the darkness," occur also in the Rigved, i.50.10: "Gazing towards the upper light beyond the darkness, we have ascended to the highest luminary, Surya (the Sun), a god among the gods." The Indian writer had thus no need to borrow this epithet from the Bible. It may be remarked besides, that the verse Bh. G. viii.9 contains many other epithets of Krishna as the supreme deity. ~ 1879. In this volume Muir has translated and collected some of the best sentiments to be found in Sanskrit writers.It is the light of all lights, and is declared to be beyond all darkness... KRISHNA: "I will now tell thee what is the object of wisdom, from knowing which a man enjoys immortality; it is that which has no beginning, even the supreme Brahman, and of which it cannot be said that it is either Being or Non-Being. It has hands and feet in all directions; eyes, heads, mouths, and ears in every direction; it is immanent in the world, possessing the vast whole. Itself without organs, it is reflected by all the senses and faculties; unattached, yet supporting all; without qualities, yet the witness of them all. It is within and without all creatures animate and inanimate; it is inconceivable because of its subtlety, and although near it is afar off. Although undivided it appeareth as divided among creatures, and while it sustains existing things, it is also to be known as their destroyer and creator. It is the light of all lights, and is declared to be beyond all darkness; and it is wisdom itself, the object of wisdom, and that which is to be obtained by wisdom; in the hearts of all it ever presideth. Thus hath been briefly declared what is the perishable body, and wisdom itself, together with the object of wisdom; he, my devotee, who thus in truth conceiveth me, obtaineth my state..." ~ Bhagavad-GitaUp there's a heaven Down there's a town Blackness everywhere and little lights shine Oh blackness blackness dragging me down Come on light the candle in this poor heart of mine ~ This Flight Tonight, Joni Mitchell (from Blue, 1971)Chuang Tzu: "In the deep dark the person alone sees light."This primordial light, this light of lights, beyond the darkness... Every one of the countless modes of life that perpetually replace each other is a new form of misery, or at best of fleeting pleasure tainted with pain, and nothing else is to be looked for in all the varieties of untried being. In every stream of lives there is the varied anguish of birth, of care, hunger, weariness, bereavement, sickness, decay, and death, through embodiment after embodiment, and through aeon after aeon. Evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds push the doer downward in the scale of sentiencies, and into temporary places of torment. Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds push the doer upwards into higher embodiments, and into temporary paradises. It is the same wearisome journey above and below, miseries and tainted pleasures that make way for new miseries, and no end to it all. Good no less than evil activity is an imperfection, for it only prolongs the stream of lives. Action is the root of evil. Is there nothing that rests inert and impassive, untouched with all these miseries of metempsychosis? Again, the scenes through which the sage finds himself to be migrating are manifold and varied, and present themselves in a duality of experience, - the subject on the one side, the object on the other. The more he checks the senses and strives to gaze upon the inner light, when he sits rigid and insensate seeking ecstasy, - the more this plurality tends to fade away, the more this duality tends to melt into a unity, a one and only being. A thrill of awe runs through the Indian sage as he finds that this pure and characterless being, this light within the heart, in the light of which all things shine, is the very Self within him, freed from the flow of experiences for a while by a rigorous effort of abstraction. A perfect inertion, a perfect abstraction, have enabled him to reach the last residue of all abstraction, the frontal essence, the inner light, the light beyond the darkness of the fleeting forms of conscious life. Times there are, moreover, when he wakes from sleep unbroken with a dream, and is aware that he has slept at ease, untouched for a space with the miseries of metempsychosis. Dreamless sleep, like ecstasy itself, is a transient union with the one and only being that perdures, and does not pass away as all things else are passing, that is inert and untouched with the miseries of migration, that is beyond the duality of subject and object, and beyond the plurality of the things of experience. Dreamless sleep is, like ecstasy, an unalloyed beatitude; it is a state in which all differences are merged, and for the sleeper the world has melted away. His very personality has passed back into the impersonality of the true Self; and if only this state could be prolonged for ever, it would be a final refuge from the miseries of life. Thus, then, that which only is, while all things else come and go, pass, and pass away; that which is untouched with the hunger, thirst, and pain, and sorrow that wait upon all forms of life; that which is one while all things else are many; that which stands above and beyond the duality of all modes of consciousness, is the Self, the one Self within all sentiencies, the spiritual principle that permeates and vitalises all things, and gives life and light to all things living, from a tuft of grass up to the highest deity. There is one thing that is, and only one - the light within, the light in which these pleasures and pains, these fleeting scenes and semblances, come and go, pass into and pass out of being. This primordial light, this light of lights, beyond the darkness of the self-feigned world-fiction, this fontal unity of undifferenced being, is pure being, pure thought, pure bliss. ~ The philosophy of the Upanishads and ancient Indian metaphysics, Gough, 1882, pp.35-6Everything is eternal, for everything is the Divine, and nothing can go out of the Divine, for everything is divine. But the forms disappear. And it is through this identification with the form that the impression of death comes; but the constituent elements are eternal, for all is eternal. It is the form which disappears. ...there is in the very depth of the consciousness a link which is indestructible. It is the link of identity. But in the outer manifestation, as they were emanated with this essential quality of freedom of choice, well, they are free to choose to do this or that. That is why, even in the worst criminal, there is somewhere in the depths, somewhere, the divine light. I believe you have read that passage of Vivekananda where he says (I don’t know the exact words), that the criminal must be told: “Awake, awake, being of light, and shine forth!” Just a while ago, when I told you I shall narrate the story to you as one does to children, that is precisely because I narrated it as if it were a material story. And narrated thus, it becomes a child’s story. But these things must be seen in their own domain, which is a spiritual domain and not a material one. Things do not happen as they would here. But still, yes! What happens here is symbolically the same thing, in the sense that the child who is born is nothing else but a little piece of his mother, even materially, altogether materially, for during almost – completely during a few hours, about two days, and to a lesser extent though still very perceptibly during at least two months – this link of substance is so great that it feels really like a physical material prolongation of herself, but outside herself. That is just the element of emanation. Well, this does not prevent children, when they grow up, from becoming quite independent of their parents and at times completely different, but at the source, at the beginning, it is the same thing. It is simply the same matter, absolutely the same, simply exteriorised, that’s all. And for the emanations, it is the same phenomenon, but instead of being on a material plane it is on the highest spiritual plane. And what happens here is a symbol of what happens up above. ~ Works Of The Mother, Questions And Answers Volume-05, 25 November 1953, Sri Aurobindo Ashram
THE MOTHER: The Mother was born Mirra Alfassa in Paris on 21 February 1878. A pupil at the Academie Julian, she became an accomplished artist, and also excelled as a pianist and writer. Interested in occultism, she visited Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1905 and l906 to study with the adept Max Theon and his wife. Her primary interest, however, was spiritual development. In Paris she founded a group of spiritual seekers and gave talks to various groups. In 1914 the Mother voyaged to Pondicherry to meet Sri Aurobindo, whom she at once recognised as the one who for many years had inwardly guided her spiritual development. After a stay of eleven months she was obliged to return to France due to the outbreak of the First World War. A year later she went to Japan for a period of four years. In April 1920 the Mother rejoined Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. When the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed in November 1926, Sri Aurobindo entrusted its full material and spiritual charge to the Mother. Under her guidance, which continued for nearly fifty years, the Ashram grew into a large, many-faceted spiritual community. In 1952 she established Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, and in 1968 an international township, Auroville. The Mother left her body on l7 November 1973.(Janet) In the velvet darkness Of the blackest night Burning bright. There's a guiding star No matter what or who you are. (Brad & Janet) There's a light. (Phantom Voices) Over at the Frankenstein place. (Brad) There's a light. (Phantom Voices) Burning in the fireplace (Janet) There's a light, a light In the darkness of everybody's life. ~ Richard O'brien, There's A Light (Over At The Frankenstein Place)The Black Sun: blacker than black, but it also shines...
The black sun is a paradox. It is blacker than black, but it also shines with a dark luminescence that opens the way to some of the most numinous aspects of psychic life. It proffers a miracle of perception at the heart of what Jung called the mysterium coniunctionis... (p.5) Jung concluded that the alchemists were speaking in symbols about the human soul and were working as much with the imagination as with the literal materials for their art. The gold that they were trying to produce was not the common or vulgar gold but an aurum non vulgi or aurum philosophicum - a philosophical gold. They were concerned with both the creation of the higher man and the perfection of nature... (p.9) Alchemy recognizes that the King is at the beginning - the raw matter of the philosopher's stone - and that he must be purified and refined by undergoing a series of alchemical processes, eventually dying and being reborn. In alchemy, the process of dying, killing, and blackening is part of the operation of mortificatio. This operation is a necessary component of the transformative process of the King and other images of the prima materia such as the Sun, the Dragon, the Toad, and the condition of innocence... (p.17) Another well-known image of the king's mortification can be found in the alchemical work Splendor Solis. The king in the background is drowning and undergoing a solutio process. He represents the inflated ego dissolving in his own excessive waters. This process is said to make it possible for the king to rejuvenate... (p.20)
Psychologically, there is nourishment in wounding. When psychological blood flows, it can dissolve hardened defenses. This then can be the beginning of true productivity. In dreams the imagery of blood often connotes moments when real feeling and change are possible. The theme of the wound can also suggest a hidden innocence, which is also a subject of mortification. The green color of the lion, which is referred to as “green gold,” suggests something that is immature, unripe, or innocent, as well as growth and fertility. The alchemist imagined this innocence, sometimes called virgin’s milk, as a primary condition, something without Earth and not yet blackened. Typical virgin-milk fantasies are often maintained emotionally in otherwise intellectually sophisticated and developed people. Unconsciously held ideas might include sentiments such as “Life should be fair,” “God will protect and care for me like a good parent,” “Bad things won’t happen to me because I have lived according to this or that principle,” “I have been good or faithful, eat healthy foods, and exercise,” and so on. When life does not confirm such ideas, the innocent, weak, or immature ego is wounded and often overcome with feelings of hurt, self-pity, oppression, assault, and/or victimization.
The injured ego can carry this wounding in many ways. The darkening process can lead to a kind of blindness and dangerous stasis of the soul that then becomes locked in a wound, in hurt or rage, frozen in stone or ice, or fixed in fire. From the alchemical point of view, these innocent attitudes must undergo this mortificatio process—and innocent attitudes await the necessary work of alchemy. Hillman notes that the blackening begins in “scorching, hurting, cursing, rotting the innocence of soul and corrupting and depressing it into the nigredo, which we recognize by its stench its materialistic causes for what went wrong.”
Looking for what went wrong is often looking in the wrong place. What is not seen by the wounded soul is that what is happening under the surface and in the blackening process is a dying of immature innocence—a nigredo that holds a transformative possibility and an experience that opens the dark eye of the soul. As Edinger puts it, the soul “enters the gate of blackness.”
Jung refers to the descent into darkness as nekyia. In Psychology and Alchemy, Jung uses this Greek word to designate a “‘journey to Hades,’ a descent into the land of the dead.”
Mythically, as is the case throughout Jungian literature, there are many examples of such journeys. Jung mentions Dante’s Divine Comedy, which Dante starts with a statement of the nigredo experience. He writes:
Midway upon the journey of our life I found that I was in a dusky wood; For the right path, whence I had strayed, was lost. Ah me! How hard a thing it is to tell The wildness of that rough and savage place, The very thought of which brings back my fear! So bitter was it, death is little more so.
Jung also notes the classic Walpurgisnacht in Goethe’s Faust and apocryphal accounts of Christ’s descent into hell. Edinger gives further examples of the nekyia, citing descriptions from the book of Job, Bunyan’sPilgrim’s Progress,and T. S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland.” His own contributions to this theme are in his study of Melville’s Moby Dick, which he subtitles An American Nekyia and which he refers to as an American Faust.
Additional parallels are cited by Sylvia Perera, who notes the Japanese Izanami, the Greek Kore-Persephone, the Roman Psyche, and the fairy tale heroines who go to Mother Hulda or Baba Yaga. In Descent to the Goddess, her own work, she studies the theme from the perspectiveof the initiation of women and takes up the Sumerian story of Inanna and Ereshkigal, the Dark Goddess. One could go on citing numerous examples throughout history and across cultures. As Edinger notes, “the theme has no national or racial boundaries. It is found everywhere because it refers to an innate, necessary psychic movement which must take place sooner or later when the conscious ego has exhausted the resources and energies of a given life attitude.”
The nekyia ultimately leads to the fading of the ego’s light and a death that is captured in “The Hollow Men” by Eliot:
This is the dead land This is the cactus land Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man’s hand Under the twinkle of a fading star.
The image of Eliot’s fading star or loss of light is given graphic representation in figure 1.6, which depicts a man in a “leaden depression” suffering death in a valley of fading stars.
In alchemy, the loss of light renders the soul burnt out, dried up, and picked bare, leaving only skeletal remains. This is illustrated in figure 1.7, which Fabricius calls "The fears and horrors of the damned." In the alchemical text Splendor Solis (1582), death is portrayed by a black sun burning down on a desolate landscape. It is this burnt-out place of the soul that we must enter if we are to understand Sol niger and the nigredo process... (pp.22-26)
In our analysis and descent into darkness, we have found Sol niger to be present in its most literal and destructive forms, in incidents of physiological and psychological destruction, brain aneurisms, blindness, cancer, schizophrenia, delusion, despair, depression, narcissistic mortification, humiliation, pain, murder-suicide, trauma, and death. - it is a general spoiler of life. We can begin to imagine what the alchemists referred to as the "blacker than black" domain of the nigredo experience. "Nicholas Flamel stated that at the time of the nigredo, which is 'the black of the blackest black', the 'Matter is dissolved, is corrupted.'" Such experiences have been with us from time immemorial; life can be cruel, and the barbarism of human beings toward each other reflects this savagery. The universe - for all its creative light and beauty - gives little solace to ravaged souls as they journey through life. In the cold light of the black sun, we understand what Conrad calls the "heart of darkness" and the horror of the "cry" so vividly portrayed by Eduard Munch and the alchemists... (p.56) ~ The Black Sun, Stanton Marlan, 2005An alchemical reading of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe... "I owned a sailboat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars..." From an alchemical perspective, Pym's descents and ascents constitute instances of the solve et coagula, dissolution and coagulation. In each of Pym's falls, his individuality is dissolved and distributed through a dark chaos. Yet, from each of these dismemberments, Pym arises resolved, energized with a new sense of his being. These "deaths" and "rebirths" embody the same structure - falls into deathly darkness and resurrection into life and light. However, these oscillations also mark difference - Pym's progressive development from the nigredo to the albedo. The nigredo stage of the alchemical work is associated with dissolution - the return of the element to be transmuted to the primal waters, the prima materia, synonymous with the serpent of chaos, putrefaction, the unconscious, melancholia, blackness. Far from being negative, this immersion - often symbolized by a drowning king - is a return to the origin that prepares the element for rebirth. Hence, the nigredo stage is inseparable from the solve et coagula. Only after many dissolutions and resolutions is the element fully blackened, broken down, and thus prepared for the albedo, the white stage, often represented by the crystallization of ice. Most of Pym's career resembles the nigredo stage. The first significant event in his career is his fall into the nocturnal ocean in which he is almost drowned (NP 58-64). Yet, though he connects this fall with the screams of "demons" - again showing his inability to gain awareness of the significance of his experiences - he recovers with a renewed vigor to become a "melancholy" explorer of despair, death, and the unknown (65). Soon after, entombed in the hold of the Grampus, after perusing Lewis and Clark's account of their quest for the origin of the Columbia River, Pym again descends, through a dream, into the depths of his abysmal unconscious. (p.210) In the alchemical tradition, the rubedo stage is not an end, a static perfection, but a step in an endless sequence - a circular process, an ouroboros. A synthesis of all opposites, the rubedo is paradoxical and thus contains death in its life, chaos in its order. Though an infant, it is also a dying king who must be renewed in the vivifying waters of the matrix. In the canons of alchemy, Mercurius embodies this circularity. As the spirit of life, he is present at each stage, both embodying the qualities of each level and acting as a catalyst to move the work to the next transformation. In the nigredo stage, Mercurius is the ouroboros or the caduceus, merging the opposites that he will separate as he moves the work to albedo. In the white stage, he is the white tears, rain, or dew that purifies the blackened matter. Having transformed himself into the virgin bride, he next turns into the Red King who marries the virgin. From this marriage between his female and male aspects, he gives birth to himself as the infant, the philosopher's stone, which, even at its birth, is also the dying king, the prima materia, the ouroboros returned. (pp.213-4) ~ Eric G. Wilson, The Spiritual History of Ice: Romanticism, Science, and the ImaginationVI. Lux aeterna Let eternal light shine upon them, O Lord, with your saints forever; for you are merciful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them with your saints forever; for you are merciful. ~ Giuseppe Verdi: REQUIEMStars shine brightest in the darkest night... Peter tells us that this approval of our faith is much more precious than the approval of gold, even though that gold be tested and shown to be genuine through testing by fire. No goldsmith would deliberately waste the precious ore. He would put the crude gold ore in a crucible in a smelting furnace, subject it to intense heat, in order to liquefy the solid ore. In the liquid state, the worthless impurities in the gold ore would rise to the surface and be skimmed off as dross (the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal). When the goldsmith was finally able to see his face reflected in gold remaining in the crucible, he would remove it from the fire, for he knew that he had pure gold. So our Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. Christ-likeness is God’s ideal for His child. Christian suffering is one of the tools He uses to bring about that result. Thomas Brooks put it this way: Stars shine brightest in the darkest night. Torches are better for the beating. Grapes come not to the wine, until they come to the press. Spices smell sweetest when pounded. Young trees root the faster for shaking. Vines are the better for bleeding. Gold looks the brighter for scouring. Glow-worms glisten best in the dark. Juniper smells sweetest in the fire. Aromatic substances become most fragrant with rubbing. Such is the condition of God's children; they are the most triumphant when most distressed, most glorious when most afflicted; as their conflicts, so their conquests; as their tribulations, so their triumphs. ~ Thomas Brooks, minister of the gospel, London, 1673.The stars are from everlasting to everlasting, for many thousands of years they have been held in their courses by Divine control. The first of mankind looked upon them even as we can and do today, and there has never been a time in the history of man when he was not able if he would to look up to his God. The stars are at their brightest when the great orb has passed out of sight, and when the night is the darkest, then the stars shine the brightest, and so it is in our lives. When all seem to be darkness and despair around us, then we can if we will look up and see the face of one who neither "slumbers nor sleeps," ever ready and willing to help us as we have already declared we believe he will in every danger and difficulty. We are passing through dark days and never before in our history has there been more need for a guiding star. The sorrow and distress that lies around our path give every opportunity of practising that virtue we profess to admire, and it is the duty of every Freemason to do so to the length of his Cable Tow. ~ Brother J. Hamlyn (1931)To Homer John Keats (1818)
Standing aloof in giant ignorance, Of thee I hear and of the Cyclades, As one who sits ashore and longs perchance To visit dolphin-coral in deep seas. So wast thou blind; — but then the veil was rent, For Jove uncurtain'd heaven to let thee live, And Neptune made for thee a spumy tent, And Pan made sing for thee his forest-hive; Aye on the shores of darkness there is light, And precipices show untrodden green, There is a budding morrow in midnight, There is a triple sight in blindness keen; Such seeing hadst thou, as it once befel To Dian, Queen of Earth, and Heaven, and Hell.
In his brief 25 years Keats -- poet, seer, bard -- suffered the agony and ecstasy of those who in moments of utter clarity are favored by the gods. Whenever the immortals used him as their instrument the springs of pure inspiration filled his soul and flowed through his pen. When the doorway closed temporarily, pain and loneliness were severe; yet it is apparent from his voluminous letters to friends and brothers and sister that even in the dark periods of illness and near despair, he hung on, knowing the light of divinity was there, and that once again its radiance would fill his being. This is the message of theosophy, a message of hope: that within every one of us is the light of divinity, "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" irrespective of ideology or theology, or materialist bias. www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/theos/th-gfk3.htm
The most profound line of this poem, "Aye on the shores of darkness there is light," suggests a kind of yin-yang concept of existence with feminine and masculine powers equally balanced, as does the oxymoronic analogy between Homer's physical blindness and Keats's "giant ignorance" of Greek on the one hand, and the "triple sight" that he ascribes not only to Homer (and, by implication, himself), but also, in the last line, "To Dian, Queen of Earth, and Heaven, and Hell" (Stevenson, 1996).Peter Sarstedt - Without Darkness (There is no Light) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ao-zs-5D-0
JONI MITCHELL SHINEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=uL02RTGMrQgsee more: The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon www.barbaraknott.net/ "On the Shores of Darkness There Is Light"www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/theos/th-gfk3.htmUnurthed unurthed.com/category/alchemy/ Alchemical Art www.alchemylab.com/AJ5-4.htm
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Post by tannis on Aug 1, 2009 17:27:44 GMT
The Kate Bush Mysteries: "Witch Bush" or "Mistress of Arcane Knowledge"'Just as native doctors here meet in the witch-bush to find new medicines, scientists in your place meet in their witch bush to invent new things. They all sit together with their "tigers".' Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective, Ioan M. Lewis, 2003, p.84.Confess to me, girl...The Kate Bush Mysteries argues that the vegetarian Kate Bush is not a serious practitioner of witchcraft, astrology, or UFO skywatching, and that the KT sign has no basis in Knights Templar reality. Rather, the article 'exposes' Kate as a modest (but still notable) explorer of "New Age" ideas – with mundane and artistic concerns seemingly holding more importance and significance for her. The article seems premised on the idea that were Kate seriously interested in UFOs, witchcraft and the paranormal, etc. then these themes would predominate her song-writing and interview content. Its target audience seems to be those who persistently credit Kate with links to Crowley, Blavatsky, Freemasonry, Sex Magick, the Sirius system, and the Unexplained. However, the article fails to consider aerial alchemy, the KT sign at Garway Church, Golden Dawn Productions, KaTe's extra sensory perception, Carrie's telekinesis, and Lord Summerisle's Morris dancing... WITCH BUSH www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv0azq9GF_g Kate Bush, "Wuthering Heights", the White Dress version (1978).
WITCH HAZEL www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZzfM05tSfM Mama Cass Elliot, "Different", from Pufnstuf (1970)
WITCHIEPOO & BOSS WITCH www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6yWquSNNjs The Witches Convention, "Zap The World", from Pufnstuf (1970)Why do you always move your eyes right and left in your videos? It is very pleasant to watch, but it intrigues me. What is the idea behind it? KB: "I have to watch out for any demons that might be creeping up on me, and video shoots attract so many of them that I have to keep an extra eye out in case they trip me up while we're going for a take. You've seen what happens to Faith Brown because she doesn't look out for them." [Kate's referring to Brown's parody of her Wuthering Heights video, in which Brown trips and falls.] Kate's KBC article Issue 16gaffa.org/garden/kate18.html"Creepy Carrie! Creepy Carrie!" www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJe0iVo8y3A "If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things..." The original 1976 trailer for the film "Carrie" directed by Brian De Palma and starring Sissy Spacek.wickerman 1973 part 8 of 10 www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjeMQUaj6YU&feature=related ...7:48: "Play the fool! That's what you're here for!" ~ with Lindsay Kemp and Edward Woodward.The Kate Bush Mysteries: INTRODUCTION Since her appearance on the popular music scene in 1978, the renowned (and much-loved) English singer-songwriter Kate Bush has been associated in the public consciousness with a cornucopia of countercultural ideals and paranormal concepts; ranging from vegetarianism, "White Ladies", astrology, synchronicity, Wilhelm Reich, Gurdjieff, UFOs and alternative spirituality (to name but a few...). But where does media distortion and proletarian wishful thinking end and truth begin? The Kate Bush Mysteries: Fact and Fiction examines these various claims, statements and interpretations in an attempt to determine whether these preconceptions, rumours and populist legends have any valid justification.
The Kate Bush Mysteries reveals her to be a modest (but still notable) explorer of "New Age" ideas – with mundane and artistic concerns (most notably the development of her "art") seemingly holding more importance and significance for her. Nonetheless, the various exotic topics depicted by her music represents a testament to Kate Bush's unique personal creativity to those brave enough to enter her "sensual world"! Kate Bush is also notable for advocating concepts such as vegetarianism during the 1970's and 1980's - a lifestyle choice which is now widely accepted within UK society. But while she is a singer-songwriter with a very broad, innovative and varied body of work she remains conceptually haunted by the white-robed spectre of "Wuthering Heights", courtesy of the British media.....
Meet the Music Muse….. To begin at the beginning, this distinctive musical artist - actual name Catherine Bush - was born on the 30th July 1958; her father being a General Practitioner, her mother a nurse originating from Ireland (who was reputedly psychic) (1). Kate Bush was raised within a close, musical and artistic middle-class family, several members of which - most notably her two brothers Patrick and John - reportedly had an interest in various “countercultural” concepts (1). . . Bush’s lyrics often feature unusual topics presented from a third person perspective – sometimes utilising a distinctively different voice and appearance (such as the Elvis-like aspect she adopted for her 2001 composition “King of the Mountain”). Her earlier songs are especially notable for their sympathetic treatment of off-centre sensuality - radical even by today’s standards and a stark contrast to her alleged image as a “safe bourgeois” performer (3). Bush is a multifaceted artist belonging to no fixed musical genre; so it is therefore hardly surprising that the alleged “Fortean” associations of this particular chanteuse are equally diverse.....
Kate Bush: The Whole Story…? It appears “Cathy’s” long shadow continues to influence public perception of Kate Bush. Much of what is popularly believed about her is largely mythical and results from various fanciful notions – often seemingly encouraged by some aspects of the media. Nonetheless, we can speculate that (as an intelligent and creative individual) Bush has pondered life’s mysteries; given these motifs appear within her musical output. But the presence of such content is also more rarefied than generally believed. Kate Bush’s music is mostly concerned with relationships, perception and sensuality; the more mystical aspects of life alluded to only when they become relevant to the human condition. While her musical output is unique and insightful this doesn’t make her a mistress of arcane knowledge - not least because it also reflects loss, sadness, uncertainty and sometimes even fear. That stated, it is apparent Bush had an interest in “New Age” topics which influenced some of her earlier compositions. But while initially open about her ideas, Bush is now reluctant to publicly discuss her current beliefs and spiritual outlook. While this is her right as a private individual, it sadly leaves those interested in her musical output guessing at Bush’s motivations and influences. But – based on what we do know - we can guess that Kate Bush has formulated a changing spiritual perspective throughout her life; adopting interesting new ideas and discarding old ones. We can further speculate that her worldview represents a fusion of unorthodox Christian thinkers, the Catholicism of her convent school upbringing and various “New Age” ideas. She can best be described as a modest explorer of New Age ideas – although emotional, aesthetic, secular and artistic concerns seemingly have a greater importance to her life.
Bush may indeed be a (secular) enchantress of sorts – through the agency of her music, which is unique in its form, depth and emotional impact. It is notable that (for example) Kate Bush is a popular artist throughout the whole spectrum of the British UFO community; from sceptics to believers. Sceptics probably appreciate the uncertainty and quest for understanding often recounted by her songs, while believers note their complexity, spiritually uplifting aspect and the quest for “something better” they represent. Magic indeed! One could speculate that any mystical experiences Bush may have experienced arose through attempts to expand and explore her “art”. It is also equally possible this process may have tapped into areas of human consciousness of interest to paranormal researchers - but this is obviously pure speculation. Whatever the case, none of Bush’s professed convictions - past or present - are really that unusual in contemporary Britain; indeed her “lipstick feminism”, advocacy of vegetarianism, environmentalism and “natural food” are now shared by a significant proportion of the British public. Hence, while a figure of minor Fortean interest, Kate Bush is more a product of the secular modern world than of Faery – a talented contemporary artist who incidentally acquired an illusory mystical aura courtesy of the lingering spectral presence of “Cathy”.see more: On the other side from you... katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=kickinside&thread=1671&page=4 Never for Ever….? The “Aquarian Kate…” katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=lionheart&thread=1690&page=2 I must work on my mind... katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=kickinside&thread=1676&page=3 It's you and me, daddy... katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=houndsoflove&thread=1730&page=2 “Look at it go..?” Kate Bush and UFOs. katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=houndsoflove&thread=1724&page=4 Waking Lily (and Solomon): The fantasy of “Kate the Witch” katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=theredshoes&thread=1749&page=2 KT: Garway Church and The Knights Templar katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=2557&page=1 The Delta Project ~ "THE KATE BUSH MYSTERIES: FACT OR FICTION?"www.deltapro.co.uk/katebushm.pdf
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Post by tannis on Sept 12, 2009 16:27:43 GMT
It was the first time I had ever appreciated the sun...McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? [1935] includes significant material dealing with inanimate nature and gender. A good example is the imagery of waves which can be seen to represent woman and to stress the connection with the rhythms of nature which women are reputed to possess more frequently than men. Julia Kristeva, for example, in her essay "Women's Time", talks about the connection between female subjectivity and "cycles, gestation, the eternal recurrence of a biological rhythm which conforms to that of nature and imposes a temporality whose stereotyping may shock, but whose regularity and unison with what is experienced as extra-subjective time, cosmic time". It is worth pointing out that in her essay Kristeva connects femininity with an idea of cyclical or monumental time, whereas masculinity is connected with a linear conception of time, that of history and language. However, both men and women may relate to reality and time in either way. In sum, on the basis of Kristeva's theorization we can draw the conclusion that Robert's behaviour points to a more feminine point of view or way of experiencing. Indeed, McCoy's novel connects waves and the movement of water with Robert Syverten. In Gloria's view Robert is obsessed with the waves:
'It's a wonder the waves don't wash this pier away,' I said. 'You're hipped on the subject of the waves,' Gloria said. 'No, I'm not,' I said. 'That's all you've been talking about for a month--' 'All right, stand still a minute and you'll see what I mean. You can feel is rising and falling--' (TSHDT 74)
The imagery is elaborated to include the sun and nature in general, all used with particular reference to Robert. He enjoys light and nature. In order to feel close to nature and the Pacific Ocean he breaks the rules of the marathon dance by opening a door. McCoy describes Robert's feelings:
I opened the door. At the end of the world the sun was sinking into the ocean. It was so red and bright and hot I wondered why there was no steam. I once saw steam come out of the ocean. It was on the highway at the beach and some men were working with gun-powder. Suddenly, it exploded, setting them on fire. They ran and dived into the ocean. That was when I saw the steam. The colour of the sun had shot into some thin clouds, reddening them. Out there where the sun was sinking into the ocean was very calm, not looking like an ocean at all. It was lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely. Several people were fishing off the pier, not paying any attention to the sunset. They were fools. 'You need that sunset worse than you do fish,' I told them in my mind. (TSHDT 27; italics original)
The presentation of thought in the passage above reveals Robert's attachment to beauty, a characteristic not traditionally regarded as masculine. Robert's connection with the sun is, in general, periodic or cyclic: during the competition his meeting with nature takes place every day at the same time. Finding sun, warmth, and nature close to him Robert discovers the existence of a new part of his self. His appearance changes in a more feminine direction as well, since at these moments he "look like a ballet dancer" (TSHDT 25). The shining sun with its beams not only boosts Robert self-confidence and self-knowledge but has other meanings too. Indeed, in the passage below Robert becomes passive and feminine. He wants to be covered and pampered by the sun, to be at one with nature:
Gloria and I walked down by the master of ceremonies' platform. It was nice down there about this time of the afternoon. There was a big triangle of sunshine that came through the double window above the bar in the Palm Garden. It only lasted about ten minutes but during those ten minutes I moved slowly about in it (I had to move to keep from being disqualified) letting it cover me completely. It was the first time I had ever appreciated the sun. (TSHDT 24-25)
from: Men alone: masculinity, individualism, and hard-boiled fiction, Volume 3, Jopi Nyman, 1997, pp.131-132.They shoot horses don't they? - Sydney Pollack - 1969 www.youtube.com/watch?v=V04EPbaFSdA "And don't give me no sunshine lectures!" ...
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Post by tannis on Dec 18, 2009 13:27:06 GMT
BUSH, MORRISSEY & MR. WILDE At one level, Kate appeals because she's a very English pop star. Like Morrissey and Bowie, she is joyfully, woefully mired in this island's literary tradition which stretches back through Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare. How many artists of any gender could arrive on the scene with a homage to a literary tale of murderous and vengeful love set against the feral backdrop of northern moors? And proceed to stay at number one with it for six weeks? It is the kind of idiosyncrasy which scares the entertainment industry to death. Supernatural, Attitude magazine, November issue [2005]gaffa.mit.edu/gaffa.org/reaching/revaegay.html#attitude01December will be magic again. Light the candle-lights To conjure Mr. Wilde Into the Silent Night. Ooh, it's quiet inside, Here in Oscar's mind...John Carder Bush: "I am programmed in my emotional life by the first work of fantasy that got through to my heart. For me it was Barrie's bitter, sad condemnation of adulthood. Peter Pan has soured so many children into seeing growing-up as an end to something much more real. For Cathy, I could guess that it was Oscar Wilde who first led her into that tricky land of tear puddles." (1986, Cathy).home.att.net/~james51453/cathy08.htmK: I used to read quite a lot of Kurt Vonnegut and C. S. Lewis when I was a kid was one of my biggest ones. I also think when you're very little, like I don't know if you were ever read fairy stories by your mother, I think those kind of things get in very, very deep. And when I was really little, one of my favorite writers was Oscar Wilde and his fairy stories. And I actually think that they got in quite deep. I think his sense of tragedy and poetry is something that still moves me very much. I: I didn't know he had fairy stories. K: Yes, he does indeed. I: Oh, really? K: Oh yes, and they're beautiful. I: Can you like describe one? K: Well one of them. [Coughs]. Just trying to think what it's called. The Happy Prince is one of his stories. It's about this huge statue that stands in the middle of a city. And it's incredibly beautiful, it's coated in gold, his eyes are rubies, he just sparkles. He's a beautiful statue of the prince. And there's a little swallow who's flown in and nests at the feet of the statue overlooking the city. And the statue speaks to the swallow and says does he realize how much poverty and sadness is going on in the city. So bit by bit the little swallow strips the statue of the gold and the rubies and distributes it around the city to all the poor people. So eventually the Prince is just like a lead blob. He eyes are taken so he's blind, and he's just left completely alone, all his great finery has gone to the poor. And it's winter and the swallow should really migrate or it will die and the swallow will not leave him. And the tragedy is the closeness between them - that the swallow should go or it will die and how beautiful he was and now he's completely stripped. The little swallow dies and eventually they just sort of pull the statue down and stick him in the dump. [Laughs] I: Oh, no. K: But the way it is written and it's so beautiful and so sad! And there was one... you know, at the point where the swallow was discovered I always used to cry as a child. I: So you like to write songs like that that are sorta so archetypal in a way? K: I think his sense of tragedy in telling a story attracts me tremendously. And I think it's very similar in a way to a lot of the traditional music that I was again influenced by when I was very little... by my family. My brothers were really into folk music. And a lot of folk music is so into telling stories. And it's in a way something that doesn't feature so much in contemporary music any more. I think contemporary music is used to help relationships a lot of the time. Like you go to the disco and you meet someone, so you have a song, and it's your song. It's more about that then actually telling stories. Like the traditional things are. And I think that's a big fascination for me. MTV Unedited, November 1985 gaffaweb.org/reaching/iv85_m1.html
Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again (1979 Xmas Special)www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZiadb3bpOI&feature=relatedA dreaded sunny day So let's go where we're happy And I meet you at the cemetry gates Oh, Keats and Yeats are on your side A dreaded sunny day So let's go where we're wanted And I meet you at the cemetry gates Keats and Yeats are on your side But you lose 'Cause weird lover Wilde is on mine...
Kirsty: “And you take your own book, too. What book are you going to take?” Morrissey: “It would have to be The Complete Oscar Wilde.” Radio 4, Desert Island Discs with Morrissey, 29 November 2009
Morrissey on Wilde: "My mother, who's an assistant librarian, introduced me to his writing when I was 8. She insisted I read him and I immediately became obsessed. Every single line affected me in some way. I liked the simplicity of the way he wrote. There was a piece called The Nightingale And The Rose that appealed to me immensely then. It was about a nightingale who sacrificed herself for these two star-crossed lovers. It ends when the nightingale presses her heart against this rose because in a strange, mystical way it means that if she dies, then the two lovers can be together. This sense of truly high drama zipped through everything he wrote. He had a life that was really tragic and it's curious that he was so witty. Here we have a creature persistently creased in pain whose life was a total travesty. He married, rashly had two children and almost immediately embarked on a love affair with a man. He was sent to prison for this. It's a total disadvantage to care about Oscar Wilde, certainly when you come from a working class background. It's total self-destruction almost. My personal saving grace at school was that I was something of a model athlete. I'm sure if I hadn't been, I'd have been sacrificed in the first year. I got streams and streams of medals for running. As I blundered through my late teens, I was quite isolated and Oscar Wilde meant much more to me. In a way he became a companion. If that sounds pitiful, that was the way it was. I rarely left the house. I had no social life. Then, as I became a Smith, I used flowers because Oscar Wilde always used flowers. He once went to the Colorado salt mines and addressed a mass of miners there. He started the speech with, 'Let me tell you why we worship the daffodil'. Of course, he was stoned to death. But I really admired his bravery and the idea of being constantly attached to some form of plant. As I get older, the adoration increases. I'm never without him. It's almost biblical. It's like carrying your rosary around with you." foreverill.com/interviews/1984/collection.htm
The Smiths - Cemetery Gates www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mPO0VYtD3w A breath of fresh air after the previous two emotion-heavy tracks. A twisting paradoxical story of literary plagiarism unfolds into one of Morrissey's largest ever borrowings : the "All those people .... I want to cry" section is ripped wholesale from the film "The Man Who Came To Dinner", which is also the source of Morrissey alias Sheridan Whitehead. The words Morrissey has heard said a hundred times (maybe less, maybe more) come from Shakespeare's Richard III. Morrissey paradoxically both caustically dismisses Wilde ("weird lover Wilde") and champions him above Keats and Yeats, generally conservatively considered to be the more "important" poets. This song echoes Morrissey's memories of visiting Southern Cemetery in Manchester with his greatest friend, Linder Sterling. This cemetry, by the way is absolutely huge. His mention of a "dreaded sunny day" is surely a tongue-in-cheek lyrical landmine for those who accuse him of being miserable all the time. The mis-spelling of "cemetery" is a MozMistake, as opposed to any dire pun on the word "try", thank god. [See me try?]www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/thequeen/cemetryg.htm
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Adena
Moving
This time around we dance - we're chosen ones
Posts: 611
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Post by Adena on Jan 23, 2010 16:11:48 GMT
This is a thread that I have sadly neglected, but given recent events, I feel compelled today to put my jumbled thoughts about my creativity into something more concrete.
For me, there is no such thing as creativity. There are merely words. A great deal of my words are caught up in emotions - particularly those that stem from the events that shaped me as a person. A lot of them are also caught up in those events. Sometimes I find that my thoughts keep drifting back to one event and I write as a way to overcome my feelings (usually stories in this case) - if I can acknowledge the event, any impact it may have on me, whether it be joyful or painful, is lessened. I also (but much less often) write pieces, mainly poetry, which focus on pure emotion. Sometimes they are in the context of an event, sometimes they are not. Their purpose is to make the reader feel the emotion that I feel as I write.
A lot of my stories try to make people empathise. The reader has to put themselves into the shoes of the protagonist and understand how she feels. Again, most of these relate to my own experiences. I try to make empathy easy, but the reader has to find it in themselves to understand. The things I write about are real. They could happen to anyone, including the reader themselves.
There is the constant analysis of what happened in the past - what was said, what was done - and then there is the possible. What might have happened. What may still happen. Writing helps me to discipline my thoughts and bring everything back to reality. Not allowing myself to stray from reality is important - and dreams can be turned into something completely irrelevant with a few words.
-to be continued-
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Post by tannis on Feb 21, 2010 14:27:30 GMT
The Gothick Excesses of Kate Bush
You take a pinch of keyhole And fold yourself up You cut along the dotted lines And think inside out You jump ‘round three times You jump into the mirror And you’re invisible
In Gothic production imagination and emotional effects exceed reason. Passion, excitement and sensation transgress social proprieties and moral laws. Ambivalence and uncertainty obscure single meaning. Drawing on the myths, legends and folklore of medieval romances, Gothic conjured up magical worlds and tales of knights, monsters, ghosts and extravagant adventures and terrors. Associated with wildness, Gothic signified an over-abundance of imaginative frenzy, untamed by reason and unrestrained by conventional eighteenth-century demands for simplicity, realism or probability. ~ Gothic, Botting, 1996, p.3.
~ despairing ecstasies and unlicensed passions (The Kick Inside) ~ the gloomy, ghostly, and mysterious ('Wuthering Heights', 'Hammer Horror') ~ fate, doom, revenge ('The Wedding List') ~ magical worlds and tales of knights (The Line, the Cross and the Curve, 'Joanni') ~ hauntings and the disturbing return of pasts upon presents ('Leave It Open') ~ madness and mental disintegration ('Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake', 'Get Out of my House') ~ the fascination with transgression ('The Kick Inside'), spiritual corruption ('The Infant Kiss'), and the anxiety over cultural limits and boundaries ('Night of the Swallow', 'Hounds of Love') ~ tales of darkness, desire, power, superstition, fear, awe, and the uncanny ('Strange Phenomena', 'Running Up That Hill', 'The Fog') ~ séances, distortions, and imaginative frenzy ('Houdini', 'Hounds of Love', 'The Ninth Wave', 'Mrs Bartolozzi') ~ Gothic villains, mad scientists, psychopaths, and threatening figures of menace, destruction and violence ('Coffee Homeground', 'Mother Stands for Comfort', 'Cloudbusting', 'Experiment IV', 'Heads We're Dancing') ~ Heroines in peril (Hounds of Love/The Ninth Wave) ~ terror and horror narratives ('Night of the Swallow', 'Get Out of my House', 'Hounds of Love') ~ life and death, light and dark, and the sublime ('The Ninth Wave'/'A Sky of Honey') ~ the awful distance between man and God ('Running Up That Hill') ~ the restoration of domestic and familial harmony (Aerial, 'The Morning Fog') ~ spectral events and rational explanations subsequently offered ('Mrs Bartolozzi') ~ candles, shadows, and poetic stirrings ('Sunset', 'Kashka from Baghdad', 'The Saxophone Song') ~ mountains, castles, and illuminating labyrinths ('King of the Mountain', 'Somewhere in Between', 'How to be Invisible') ~ manic laughter, voices and chants ('Aerial', 'Fullhouse', 'Strange Phenomena', 'Egypt', 'Running Up That Hill') ~ Oriental tales and a love of the exotic ('Kashka from Baghdad', 'Pull Out The Pin', The Trio Bulgarka) ~ the vampiric, the intoxicating, the out of body ('Moving', 'Feel It') ~ mirrors, veils and seductive melancholy ~ disorientations and killer storms, manipulations and danger signs ~ and enough screams, wails, oohs, etc. to induce a fainting fit! ;D
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