Saturday, January 28, 2012

Myth as Truth and Bible as Myth

               In a world where religion seems at the forefront of corruption, it can be hard to find any truth behind manipulated words. Now is not the time to discuss exploitation of religious doctrine within organized religion across the world, and I also don’t mean to step on anybody’s toes here. Actually, I believe religious doctrine has insight into some universal truth, but I think it is unfortunate it is used to promote hate. It can be confusing especially because we live in a world that likes to dismantle the stories as being implausible, and therefore untrue. Obviously the words don’t ring literal truths, but on a symbolic level they are far-reaching, and I frequently find similarities between completely un-related doctrine from the most random of cultures. Mythology is another word for religion, because people believed in these stories, just as people believe in the bible. Myths were used to explain the world without science. On a symbolic level, they describe human truths that are innate. In particular, Creation stories are similar in their birth imagery, where earth and water (feminine) meets the sky (masculine) and life is created after 7 months/days/years (a long mothafuckin’ time ago gestation—pregnant lady- was only 6 or 7 months). I will spare you that lecture and try to put it in terms that we all may be somewhat familiar with- Genesis Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve story as a myth about human development-
            Because many of the stories in the Bible contradict each other when look at from a literal point of view, it was most likely intended to be read as a collection of favored stories; they are myths, what Campbell calls the truest of stories because they reflect and explore our inner sentiments so we can better understand our self. Since the story of Adam and Eve logically contradicts Genesis I (God creates man and woman at the same time on the 6th day), it better reflects a myth about human development. The story of creation tells the birth of life, earth, and more specifically, when humans are born. The next story chronologically coincides with this notion; Adam and Eve is a metaphor for human growth from childhood into maturity.
            God’s relationship to Adam and Eve parallel and reflect a relationship between parents and their children. God first creates man, placing him in the Garden of Eden and providing him with comfort and food but warns him, “from the tree of knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat,” (Genesis 2). Here God sounds like a parent telling their child not to touch the hot stove, or not to press that big red button, with pure intentions but nonetheless making it a tempting thought. God then creates woman. They live like infants in the comfort of a parent’s (God’s) house (Garden of Eden), being taken care of, fed, and running about naked without shame. 
Chapter 3 begins with the image of the serpent. The symbol of the serpent dates back to ancient times, representing nature, rebirth and the cycle of life because of the snake’s ability to shed its skin and appear as a new body. The snake speaks to woman, telling her “your eyes will be opened” for eating fruit of the tree of knowledge. The snake symbolizes the life cycle, and it is leading Eve into maturity. The fruit is sexuality- apple-like fruits are an old symbol of sensuality; Eve is on the eve of puberty. Eve remembers God’s warning, “for on the day you eat from it, you are doomed to die,” (G1). If she eats the fruit she is doomed to die because she is beginning a new process of reproduction and moving into a new stage of life. At this stage of life we develop our self consciousness, and idea borrowed from the Epic of Gilgamesh (1st epic ever, dude) in which Enkidu (the dudeliest of dudes raised in the wilderness) is made ‘civilized’, made self conscious, by the Harlot (revered prostitute, sexy times). The references to opening eyes are not meant to be literal, but a symbol of coming into self consciousness. Adam and Eve eat the fruit, meaning they have sex, causing them know they were naked and feel embarrassed, thus a sign of coming into self consciousness.
With maturity and the end of childhood comes responsibility. God shows up and realizes what has happened. He responds by punishing snake, woman, and man. To women he gives ‘the curse’ of menstruation, which is also a sign of coming into womanhood. She becomes ruled by man, though it is she who is the giver of life for accepting the apple. Man must now work the land to eat, or work to provide for himself. When God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He mimics a parent telling his offspring, ‘Under my roof you will live by my rules. You want to live your own life? Go get a job and take care of yourself!’ God’s last statement, “for dust you are/ and to dust shall you return,” reflects that they are mortal, and becoming part of the reproductive cycle brings you closer to death, and certainly the death of naïve freedom from responsibility. With the knowledge of self consciousness, man and woman are left to make their own lives, and ends with a sense of individualism. Therefore, it was necessary for Eve to eat the apple for humankind to gain individuality and grow up, or else they would stay stuck in a childlike state. Hence Eve as the “giver of life”.


So what does this all mean? I don’t have an answer for you, but for me- well, I think it gives me hope. There are things in this world that are sacred, have always been and always will be. It’s beautiful, really..

[I don’t want anyone to be mistaken, I am not a Bible scholar, nor have I ever even taken a theology course, or even any sort of Bible course. However, as a literature major you come across all sorts of religion, whether it is Greek Mythology or Catholicism.]

Assorted Streams?

kinda sorts some streams-of-consciousness. just wrote what i felt. mainly about lyMe dis-ease

           Washed

It's like I'm seventeen nautical miles into
A twenty-two nautical mile race
The open ocean splashing my boat
Wind whipping up white caps
Blistered hands and bloody oars
Almost Empty but Almost There
Don't wanna get too excited and
Burn up my tank
Just maintian 3/4 power
No scale but my soul
I just gotta keep on pushin'
One stroke at a time.
I'll get there.


When I look in the mirror
                   I see the color coming back to my face.
______________________________________________________________

You know what makes me feel
     good?

That,
            underneath it all,

I'm wearing knee-high lime green wool socks.
_____________________________________________________

this one is about dementia caused from late-stage lyme disease, but more vaguely the addictive quality of bad habits:

              TICK

Fact: Clinging to what seems to be
                                            the only way.

There's no way out but in These habits are creeping,
Creeping and haunting Oh so subtly in the backdrop.

Because there are things about ourselves
                                       that we do not like,

But we do them anyway. Tendency
Toward the easy way out can be, well,
All too easy. And who's to blame? We are
Wired for comfort & if that's the way it is
Then that's the way it goes...
Besides, we've all got a lot on our minds.


Escape

      That
           Thing.
Compulsion. Grasping it. Loving it.
Wondering why We would want anything more,


Every once in a while
     We imagine and itch on the thick of our skins.
What is that itch?
______________________________________________________________

All I can do is all I can do
Is all I can do
Is
   all
       I
         can
               do.
What can I do?
_________________________________________________________________________

Because There Are Things About OurSelf
                                             We Do Not Like,
But We Do Them Anyway.
______________________________________________________________

The Moment You Realize You Must Pray
_______________________________

and how do you pray? to each man their own
but there are general trends. the Right words, body position-
the rules are not as important as focus. Look
to your core and open within, wish upon your might
that you want your love to reach, to exert energy
through true heart's will, to love and grasp
that idea in your mind, feel it,
accept it, but pray to that which is
Unknown, Please.


the agnostic girl prayed: "to whom it may concern. . . ."
_____________________________________

okay that's probably enough slam, shit got kinda serious......

Diet/Gym Fads

Okay guys, seriously, I know we all wanna Look Good but some of these gym/diet fads are whack, and really bad for you…

Atkins/South Beach- okay, whoever thought eating bacon all day was gonna make you skinny forever?. Ya, when you put your body into shock and take away a vital nutrition source, youre gonna drop weight quickly, but it is not healthy to trick your body like that. Also, when you lose sight of your diet for just a moment, you will gain twice the weight because your body has been conditioned to the unavailability. The less you eat carbs, the worse they are for you. But I assure you [as a Sicilian], carbs are good for you (in moderation obviously). Pasta has a low glycemic index and releases sugar into your bloodstream slowly, whereas things like corn syrup release quickly giving a sugar rush and diabetes. I tend to think if it’s a food we’ve been eating for hundreds maybe thousands of years, like bread and beer, it’s probably okay for your long-term health. For healthy diet choose your carbs wisely, but depriving your body is not good.
Diet Pills- Give yourself a heart attack and take years off your life, get fat once your off them. Speed will make anyone lose weight, at the cost of their life.

So those are the obvious, but there are a lot of things out there that people trust without looking into the actual nutrition involved, and whether the results are temporary or good for their long term health. Even a lot of the gym fads out there are not necessarily good long-term.

P90X/Insanity- It is genius in its design, in its ability to sculpt your body quickly and efficiently. It breaks down barriers of plateaus and constantly challenges your body, sculpting it with such definition that has never even really been seen before recent times. Back in the day, men had muscles but their burly bulk was more of a hunk than a sculpted washboard. Today we want to etch every line, needing visual proof that the muscle is there. However, it is really not good to push your heart that hard all the time. You will get results quickly but it is because you are inflicting anxiety on your body. Athleticism doesn’t come from killing yourself every day for a month, but slowly building so that strength is more permanent. The best way to judge athleticism is by how low your resting heart rate is, or how well your lungs absorb oxygen. Breaking it down further, the best thing for your long term health is taking a brisk walk every day.

What has being “in-shape” turned into? Appearance? Athleticism seems secondary in this sort of approach. The fact that people get muscular implants is a bit horrifying to me. Although that is an extreme example of that mindset at work, I think many people have forgotten the value of just being healthy. Unfortunately, it is representative of the value placed on appearance. Beauty has been turned into a mold. But beauty is more than a mold, beauty is more than appearance. Beauty is the gut feeling of the sublime when you embrace something not perfect. It has character, it has feeling. Health and athleticism is beautiful, no picture image could grasp that.