"Mythical stories always lie at the foundation of something."
~The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony By: Calasso p.175
This is a little late, but better late than never?? We were asked to blog about when we stopped believing in Santa Clause. I remember in elementary school I had a friend and I vividly remember us both strongly arguing with our other classmates in 4th grade that Santa Clause did exist. It was later, either year or the next, that I found out that Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny were really Mommy Clause and the Easter Mommy. I had a different friend who tried to talk me out of these beliefs long before I was arguing that they did with my other friend. She used to set our carrots for the Easter Bunny, well one year her dad had orange teeth in the morning. That was the end of her fantasy. I on the other hand, similar to her, used to set things out for the Easter Bunny and Santa, but I made crafts. Well one year I was going through my parent's closet that they kept Christmas presents for us to give our friends in and I found one of those crafts I had taken the time to create and share with who I thought the Easter Bunny was. I was so disappointed, but what could I do? Besides that, no harm really done, once I got over the initial shock I was fine, plus, Mommy Clause and the Easter Mommy still come every year. =]
Dream Catcher
By: Nene Thomas
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Magus
"What came next were years of provicial goings-on, of which little would be known."
-The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Calasso p.192
I am about 450 pages into the Magus and I won't lie, I don't want to read anymore. It took past 400 pages for me to even begin to be somewhat indulged. The majority of the book has just made me frustrated. I feel like it could be getting the main focus across with a lot less filler words, reducing the book by half. And the sex. It's not that I can't handle it. I can, I just would prefer not to. I realize that in today's society it is almost impossible to get away from it as our culture has become very open towards the subject, however, I personally still put sex in a high position where it should not necessarily be openly publicized and should remain between a man and his wife. Call me old fashion, call me what you want, but I really am not a fan of having sex become the main image for the perception of love. Don't get me wrong, physical attraction is a very important aspect, but not the main focus. This being said, I am still not completely convinced that Nicholas really does love Julie in the Magus, but rather has been so deprived of any sexual pleasure from an actual person of the opposite sex for some time and has always been a sex addict. The only difference is Julie is probably the first decent girl he's met that he's been attractive to, so in that aspect, I hope he does truly fall in love with her.
As for the rest of the book, I am at the point where Nicholas just found out the "last chapter" from Conchis. The graphics were terrifying. I am a huge fan of war movies, fiction holocaust books, the like, but I usually can handle them better than I did that section. And the point? It just make me dislike Conchis more than ever and still dislike Nicholas and want the author to just get to the point of everything, all while my feeling of not wanting to finish it growing stronger. I would be perfectly ok with selling the book right now and never speaking of it again and my life would be grand. Most books I am ok with getting sucked into for a while, but this book, whenever I get that feeling the feeling of hate and discontent comes with it. At this point I just want to get the stupid book over with so I don't have to worry about anymore.
But moving on from my slight rant, I would like to say that if I were in that position he was in during the German invasion I would spare the few to save the many, or talk reason into the officers and soldiers to stop the barbaric acts, but one does not know what one would do when placed in that position of fear. I'm afraid I am a tish bit confused with Conchis's idea of "freedom". I agree when he says that freedom is the right to choose, but (I believe) freedom is also the right to know the truth. Which he seems more than happy to keep from Nicholas.
-The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Calasso p.192
I am about 450 pages into the Magus and I won't lie, I don't want to read anymore. It took past 400 pages for me to even begin to be somewhat indulged. The majority of the book has just made me frustrated. I feel like it could be getting the main focus across with a lot less filler words, reducing the book by half. And the sex. It's not that I can't handle it. I can, I just would prefer not to. I realize that in today's society it is almost impossible to get away from it as our culture has become very open towards the subject, however, I personally still put sex in a high position where it should not necessarily be openly publicized and should remain between a man and his wife. Call me old fashion, call me what you want, but I really am not a fan of having sex become the main image for the perception of love. Don't get me wrong, physical attraction is a very important aspect, but not the main focus. This being said, I am still not completely convinced that Nicholas really does love Julie in the Magus, but rather has been so deprived of any sexual pleasure from an actual person of the opposite sex for some time and has always been a sex addict. The only difference is Julie is probably the first decent girl he's met that he's been attractive to, so in that aspect, I hope he does truly fall in love with her.
As for the rest of the book, I am at the point where Nicholas just found out the "last chapter" from Conchis. The graphics were terrifying. I am a huge fan of war movies, fiction holocaust books, the like, but I usually can handle them better than I did that section. And the point? It just make me dislike Conchis more than ever and still dislike Nicholas and want the author to just get to the point of everything, all while my feeling of not wanting to finish it growing stronger. I would be perfectly ok with selling the book right now and never speaking of it again and my life would be grand. Most books I am ok with getting sucked into for a while, but this book, whenever I get that feeling the feeling of hate and discontent comes with it. At this point I just want to get the stupid book over with so I don't have to worry about anymore.
But moving on from my slight rant, I would like to say that if I were in that position he was in during the German invasion I would spare the few to save the many, or talk reason into the officers and soldiers to stop the barbaric acts, but one does not know what one would do when placed in that position of fear. I'm afraid I am a tish bit confused with Conchis's idea of "freedom". I agree when he says that freedom is the right to choose, but (I believe) freedom is also the right to know the truth. Which he seems more than happy to keep from Nicholas.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Hero Pattern
The Hero Pattern according to Lord Raglan
1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres.
Most every "hero" must bear this format in their lives. Or at least some form....not the life I would want to lead.....
1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres.
Most every "hero" must bear this format in their lives. Or at least some form....not the life I would want to lead.....
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Rituals and Baptism
"And a sad contradiction that would be..."
p. 248 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Calasso
Rituals. The topic that seems like something only foreign countries of "uneducated indigenous" people do anymore. Rituals in today's society has turned more into a habit, or a tradition that's lost its meaning. As I began to think of any "rituals" I might follow, they all seemed basic, habitual almost. My morning routine for example, it is pretty much always the same. I get up, maybe reset my alarm a couple of times, go to the bathroom, take a shower, try to pray while I'm in the shower since I failed to the night before, get out, brush my hair, wash my face, put lotion on my legs, get dressed, put on deodorant, brush my hair with my other brush (yes I do indeed have two brushes), eat some breakfast (usually cereal), finish getting dressed if I haven't yet, put on my jewelry, put on some body spray, make a lunch (if need to)/put backpack together, brush my teeth, leave. Guarantee this changes a little bit day to day, but for the most part, that is my morning habit.
Then I was thinking about holidays and the traditions that come with those. I remember growing up and one of the questions that I swear was asked by every teacher every year was, "What family traditions do you have that you use to celebrate.....?" Usually Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. I feel even these traditions become more habit and begin to loose their meanings over time. It is not until those traditions are broken or modified that we see how much they meant in our lives.
After some even more pondering, I began to think about the few things I do that I would consider more ritual - mainly all related to my relationship with the Lord God. In reference to what was covered in class, communion, I grew up taking communion the first Sunday of the month and on Maundy Thursday, or the Last Supper before the Crucifixion. And going to church every Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving Eve, and Bible study on Wednesdays. Out of all of these the only ones that I continue are going to church most Sundays (when I can), the Christmas Eve service because I'm actually home for that, and a bible study here or there, but I have not really plugged into one since I left home. (Although I think I finally found one I like! YAY!) As for the services on Maundy Thursday and Thanksgiving Eve, I am no longer home for these and am usually on the road. I haven't even had communion in a quite a few months!
I'm sure to most of you reading, you might not understand why most of these things are important or where I'm getting at with all of this....let me simplify before I get rambling too much. My point was that for a while all of these things were simply habit to me. Or I went because I had to. It was not until I was older that I began to see the value in each and every one of those things and began to miss them when I could no longer have them as readily or when it took more effort on my part to receive them. To me rituals are things that mean something. That is why they are done. They have a purpose. They are not simply, "something we do", as so put in class today. I do lots of things that I would not consider a ritual - such as discussed above.
Baptism was also brought up in class today, which got me thinking of the many different out looks on that one subject by the different denominations in Christianity. The majority of Catholics and Lutherans and I believe Presbyterian believe baptism is part of the means necessary to become one with Christ or the church - hence why they baptize infants. Since I do not know my individual denomination practices and reasons as well as I would like, I will not be specific to any that I am uncertain on. I do know however that some believe that you cannot get into heaven unless you are baptized, and that is part of the reason why infants are baptized, to cover the bases in case something happens. Others (such as I) would argue that it is not necessary to get into heaven, but more of an outward, public confession of one's faith. This means that you cannot be baptized until you are old enough to begin to understand that the Lord is the trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the only way to heaven is through him, Jesus Christ, the Son. And therefore if you truly believe this, there is no reason why one should not be baptized, for it is not only a public confession, but a bond between you and God saying that you truly do believe and give yourself to Him, therefore washing away the old, and bringing in the new. I have seen people at a young age all the way to adults in their 40's become baptized. Therefore, I also believe baptism does not have an age limit, it is different for every person.
Below are some verses on baptism that I found that tell more of this "ritual".
"I baptize you with water for repentance."
~Matthew 3:11a
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
~Mark 1:4
The Greek translation for “baptize” is “baptizō” which has three meanings:
1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
2) to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe
3) to overwhelm
The Greek translation for “baptism” is “baptisma” which means:
1) immersion, submersion
a) of calamities and afflictions with which one is quite overwhelmed
b) of John's baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptised after Pentecost.
c) of Christian baptism; a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.
(The above translations were found by using an online concordance -Strong's Concordance -that uses the King James Version.)
p. 248 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Calasso
Rituals. The topic that seems like something only foreign countries of "uneducated indigenous" people do anymore. Rituals in today's society has turned more into a habit, or a tradition that's lost its meaning. As I began to think of any "rituals" I might follow, they all seemed basic, habitual almost. My morning routine for example, it is pretty much always the same. I get up, maybe reset my alarm a couple of times, go to the bathroom, take a shower, try to pray while I'm in the shower since I failed to the night before, get out, brush my hair, wash my face, put lotion on my legs, get dressed, put on deodorant, brush my hair with my other brush (yes I do indeed have two brushes), eat some breakfast (usually cereal), finish getting dressed if I haven't yet, put on my jewelry, put on some body spray, make a lunch (if need to)/put backpack together, brush my teeth, leave. Guarantee this changes a little bit day to day, but for the most part, that is my morning habit.
Then I was thinking about holidays and the traditions that come with those. I remember growing up and one of the questions that I swear was asked by every teacher every year was, "What family traditions do you have that you use to celebrate.....?" Usually Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. I feel even these traditions become more habit and begin to loose their meanings over time. It is not until those traditions are broken or modified that we see how much they meant in our lives.
After some even more pondering, I began to think about the few things I do that I would consider more ritual - mainly all related to my relationship with the Lord God. In reference to what was covered in class, communion, I grew up taking communion the first Sunday of the month and on Maundy Thursday, or the Last Supper before the Crucifixion. And going to church every Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving Eve, and Bible study on Wednesdays. Out of all of these the only ones that I continue are going to church most Sundays (when I can), the Christmas Eve service because I'm actually home for that, and a bible study here or there, but I have not really plugged into one since I left home. (Although I think I finally found one I like! YAY!) As for the services on Maundy Thursday and Thanksgiving Eve, I am no longer home for these and am usually on the road. I haven't even had communion in a quite a few months!
I'm sure to most of you reading, you might not understand why most of these things are important or where I'm getting at with all of this....let me simplify before I get rambling too much. My point was that for a while all of these things were simply habit to me. Or I went because I had to. It was not until I was older that I began to see the value in each and every one of those things and began to miss them when I could no longer have them as readily or when it took more effort on my part to receive them. To me rituals are things that mean something. That is why they are done. They have a purpose. They are not simply, "something we do", as so put in class today. I do lots of things that I would not consider a ritual - such as discussed above.
Baptism was also brought up in class today, which got me thinking of the many different out looks on that one subject by the different denominations in Christianity. The majority of Catholics and Lutherans and I believe Presbyterian believe baptism is part of the means necessary to become one with Christ or the church - hence why they baptize infants. Since I do not know my individual denomination practices and reasons as well as I would like, I will not be specific to any that I am uncertain on. I do know however that some believe that you cannot get into heaven unless you are baptized, and that is part of the reason why infants are baptized, to cover the bases in case something happens. Others (such as I) would argue that it is not necessary to get into heaven, but more of an outward, public confession of one's faith. This means that you cannot be baptized until you are old enough to begin to understand that the Lord is the trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the only way to heaven is through him, Jesus Christ, the Son. And therefore if you truly believe this, there is no reason why one should not be baptized, for it is not only a public confession, but a bond between you and God saying that you truly do believe and give yourself to Him, therefore washing away the old, and bringing in the new. I have seen people at a young age all the way to adults in their 40's become baptized. Therefore, I also believe baptism does not have an age limit, it is different for every person.
Below are some verses on baptism that I found that tell more of this "ritual".
"I baptize you with water for repentance."
~Matthew 3:11a
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
~Mark 1:4
The Greek translation for “baptize” is “baptizō” which has three meanings:
1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
2) to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe
3) to overwhelm
The Greek translation for “baptism” is “baptisma” which means:
1) immersion, submersion
a) of calamities and afflictions with which one is quite overwhelmed
b) of John's baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptised after Pentecost.
c) of Christian baptism; a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.
(The above translations were found by using an online concordance -Strong's Concordance -that uses the King James Version.)
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Group 1's Contact Info (aka e-mails)
Please let me know if I accidentally copied these wrong.
Zach Mayer
zachary.j.mayer@gmail.com
Matthew Smaglik
matthewsmaglik@gmail.com
Jill Yoder
jyandodish@yahoo.com
Lisa Cold
lisac4442@yahoo.com
Jason (Sorry, I missed your last name when names were called.)
jo3hlhav@yahoo.com
Caitlin Fuller
caitlin.r.fuller@gmail.com
Me
chris_balsley@hotmail.com
Zach Mayer
zachary.j.mayer@gmail.com
Matthew Smaglik
matthewsmaglik@gmail.com
Jill Yoder
jyandodish@yahoo.com
Lisa Cold
lisac4442@yahoo.com
Jason (Sorry, I missed your last name when names were called.)
jo3hlhav@yahoo.com
Caitlin Fuller
caitlin.r.fuller@gmail.com
Me
chris_balsley@hotmail.com
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Eucharist and Jacob Wrestling with God
"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.' "
~Matthew 26: 26-29
"That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jacob. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 'Let me go, for it is daybreak.'
But Jacob replied, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.'
The man asked him, 'What is your name?'
'Jacob,' he answered.
Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.'
Jacob said, 'Please tell me your name.'
But he replied, 'Why do you ask my name?' Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon."
~Genesis 32: 22-32
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.' "
~Matthew 26: 26-29
"That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jacob. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 'Let me go, for it is daybreak.'
But Jacob replied, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.'
The man asked him, 'What is your name?'
'Jacob,' he answered.
Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.'
Jacob said, 'Please tell me your name.'
But he replied, 'Why do you ask my name?' Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon."
~Genesis 32: 22-32
Jacob means "trickster" and Israel means "God wrestler". Peniel means "face of God".
Stupid Technology
Can I please just rant? I had this nice beautiful long blog. Best one that I had written so far! And I went to go change one word because I realized I had made a typo. The reason for my rant? Some how over half of the blog got deleted and so when I went to repost it, 3/4 is now gone and I can't get it back. Of course I didn't save it else where because why would I? It automatically gets saved here. So I apologize for those of you who missed that blog. It really was a good one. I will try to repeat some of it, such as the stories from the Bible I had listed that the teacher had mentioned in class. I guess from now on I will type these on an open office document and transfer them in case something happens....dumb too smart for itself technology.....
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Thoughts
"Mythical stories always lie at the foundation of something."
~p. 175 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
In the class the other day when talking about the Wizard of Oz, the teacher had made the comment that every character in the movie was from people in her home town. He had said something along the lines that mythology is creation from things we already know. Not really thinking about this until later, the next morning I was sitting my one of my classrooms waiting for class to start and I looked over at one of the chairs in the room. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a boring, newer, tall table, wooden seat, metal legged chair. Well the chair looked kind of like a spider with it's long metal legs and how they arched out from underneath it. I thought to myself, "If that hair had four more legs, it could totally become a spider." After a few minutes of having fun imagining the chair as a spider, I remembered what Sexson had said. Although a week late, I had finally found my Oz in Bozo, through creating a new world in the present one.
Dreams are a great way for imagination, although most people believe that dreams are all just nonsense, I do believe that sometimes th
~p. 175 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
In the class the other day when talking about the Wizard of Oz, the teacher had made the comment that every character in the movie was from people in her home town. He had said something along the lines that mythology is creation from things we already know. Not really thinking about this until later, the next morning I was sitting my one of my classrooms waiting for class to start and I looked over at one of the chairs in the room. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a boring, newer, tall table, wooden seat, metal legged chair. Well the chair looked kind of like a spider with it's long metal legs and how they arched out from underneath it. I thought to myself, "If that hair had four more legs, it could totally become a spider." After a few minutes of having fun imagining the chair as a spider, I remembered what Sexson had said. Although a week late, I had finally found my Oz in Bozo, through creating a new world in the present one.
Dreams are a great way for imagination, although most people believe that dreams are all just nonsense, I do believe that sometimes th
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