Tag Archives: death

Gentleman Overboard: Existential Loneliness

“‘Where is it,’ thought Raskolnikov. ‘Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d … Continue reading

Posted in Gentleman Overboard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Symbolism of the Cave

A well-known passage from Plato’s Republic describes how a group of people, chained to the wall of a deep cavern, spend their entire lives looking at the shadows dancing on the cave wall in front of them. The captives are oblivious to … Continue reading

Posted in cave | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Durga

I. “Salutations to Thee, O giver of blessings! Dark Virgin, observant of the vow of chastity, Whose form is beauteous as that of the rising sun, And Thy face as that of the full moon; … Thy body is like … Continue reading

Posted in Durga, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Wheat and War

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, еxcept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”(John 12: 24) Out of the numberless reasons why we are all so … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Frida Kahlo’s Symbolism of Life

Frida Kahlo stands today for much more than art; she is a symbol and an icon of feminism, a heroine of the disability rights movement, anti-racism movements and LGBT communities. Her boundless creativity drew no lines between life and art; … Continue reading

Posted in Ambition, frida kahlo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Hermopolis: the City of Beautiful Renewal

“Let us praise Thoth, the exact plummet of the balance,from whom evil flees,who accepts him who avoids evil,the Vizier who gives judgement,who vanquishes crime,who recalls all that is forgotten,the remembrancer of time and eternity,who proclaims the hours of the night,whose … Continue reading

Posted in Hermes, Hermopolis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The House of the Black Madonna

One of the most important Black Madonna shrines in Europe is The Basilica della Santa Casa (Basilica of the Holy House) in Loreto, Italy. Catholics believe that it enshrines the authentic house, where Mary lived, where she heard the Annunciation … Continue reading

Posted in Black Madonna | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

A Hymn to Plant Life

While listening to a talk of Alan Watts recently, I was struck by one of his observations. He said that in Daoist inspired landscape painting was a statement against anthropocentrism, which sees humans as the crown of creation. In a … Continue reading

Posted in plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reading The Red Book (35)

“I have united with the serpent of the beyond. I have accepted everything beyond into myself.” C.G. Jung, The Red Book, Liber Secundus, chapter XXI This is a continuation of the discussion of the final twenty-first chapter of Liber Secundus … Continue reading

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Sirens as Psychopomps and Muses of the Underworld

I came across this beautiful description of the Sirens in Karl Kerenyi’s Gods of the Greeks (first published in 1951). It seems that far form being the evil seductresses often portrayed in literature, they were in fact guides of the … Continue reading

Posted in sirens | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments