Spirituality

| | | | | | |

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, pt. 5

From the discussion of the little bone flute, we then shift to an outside shot with Wulf Hein, an “experimental archaeologist” who is wearing a fur suit of reindeer skin which he made himself, in order to try to experience how folks lived and used tools back then. I was a bit confused to see…

| | | | | | |

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, pt. 4

Also shown during the tour was a wall with a series of red rhinos with, underneath them, “positive” handprints (i.e. you paint your palm, then press it to the wall, just like near the original cave opening) and a partial circle of nine red dots. There was a niche nearby with torch swipes on the…

| | | | | | |

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, pt. 3

When I say Herzog is excessively artsy in the film, I wish I were just joking. At one point in the film he’s standing there and talking about a silence in the cave which is so profound they can perhaps hear their hearts beat. He asks everyone to fall silent and simply listen. Initially it’s…

| | | | | | |

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, part 2

The entire cave system is more than 1300 ft. long, and as mentioned earlier the original cave opening was a walk-in. Interestingly, deep in one of the first chambers at the former entrance — where the sunlight would never illuminate — there is a vertical wall covered with red dots, created by placing the painted…

| | | | | | |

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, part 1

A film by Werner Herzog. From the little I know of Werner Herzog, he’s a famous cinematographer renowned for his stream-of-consciousness art films. The impression I get from the article or two I read about him was that he struggles to portray the sometimes-insanity of life as realistically as possible in his films. If this…

| | | |

New arting! Calla lily & rose

Got another tambourine completed — this one’s just a little 6 incher. The theme seemed perfect for spring though: a calla lily on the silhouette of a rose. I’ve always loved the creamy texture of calla lilies, and wanted to try replicating, in art, that interestingly smooth crinkle effect as they curl. Both the rose…

| | | | | | | | | |

Why study Women’s Spirituality?

I was recently asked the following question: “Why is it important for feminists to study and comprehend women-centered cultures?” While I thought it a good question, I also think it can and should be fruitfully expanded, in that I do not think only feminists should study these fascinating matriarchies. Learning is good, and as the…

| | | |

Thoughts on thought

My school emphasizes various forms of psychology, and this weekend there’s a small conference on transpersonal psychology. Sitting in the student lounge at school, I happen to be listening to two enthusiastic and excited fellow students discussing at what moment in human history “true consciousness” emerged. They were not deeply familiar with human evolution, so…

| | | | | | | | |

A Short History of Myth, part 4

Source material that is simply bad To be fair to Armstrong, I would assume much of her previously mentioned double standards arose from her source material. I do not know why she chose to lean so heavily on such dated and inaccurate material for a book written in 2006. I do not refer here to…