mythos

What if I bade you leave
The cavern of the mind?
There's better exercise
In the sunlight and wind.

I never bade you go
To Moscow or to Rome.
Renounce that drudgery,
Call the Muses home.

Seek those images
That constitute the wild,
The lion and the virgin,
The harlot and the child.

Find in middle air
An eagle on the wing,
Recognize the five
That make the Muses sing.

Those Images ~W. B. Yeats

mythos

What if I bade you leave
The cavern of the mind?
There's better exercise
In the sunlight and wind.

I never bade you go
To Moscow or to Rome.
Renounce that drudgery,
Call the Muses home.

Seek those images
That constitute the wild,
The lion and the virgin,
The harlot and the child.

Find in middle air
An eagle on the wing,
Recognize the five
That make the Muses sing.

Those Images ~W. B. Yeats

wise beyond hope

~MStillman

Many are the awesome things but nothing more awesome than man
This being on the stormy surface of the gray sea goes, through the roaring
swells making his way.
Of the gods the highest, Earth unfailing, untiring, he wears away with the ploughs' passage, year by year with the horse-like breed tilling.
The fickle clan of birds he traps and directs, and the tribes of beasts and the sea kin of the deep in his mesh-woven nets, ingenious man.
He controls, with his devices, of the wilderness beast the mountain-going, the hairy-necked horse he breaks with harness about its neck, and the bull, ruler of the mountain
Speech and wind-like thought and city-ruling desires he learnt, and from
chilling frosts and harsh rain's clear-aired arrows to shelter, always ingenious.
He goes into nothing unprepared for what may come.
From Hades alone he will not avoid but he has made himself an escaper from incurable diseases.
Cleverness in ingenuity, something wise beyond hope, sometimes moving him to harm and sometimes to good...
Respecting the land's laws and the gods' oath-bound justice, he is of a high city but an outlaw is he for whom the dishonorable is companion because of his audacity.
Never by my hearth nor in agreement of thought may anyone who does such things be!
SOPHOCLES Antigone

2

Harper's, June 07

Many things are formidable, and yet nothing is quite so formidable as man.
Over the gray sea and the storming south wind,
Through the foam and welling of the waves, he makes his perilous way;
The Earth also, highest of the deities, who never shows fatigue, nor exhaustion, nor decay,
Ever he furrows and ploughs, year on year, with his ploughshare, muzzles and horses.
The light-seeking birds of the air he stalks and traps, the wild beasts of the forest, and the salty brood of the sea, he catches with his richly woven net–
He, the cunning one,
And by his arts he achieves mastery of the savage game, of the creatures who
wind their way upon the heights, tamed through his wondrous art,
And the defiant steed he bends to his will under the bit.
Speech and wind-driven thoughts and emotions form the foundation upon which he builds the city,
All of this he has taught himself; and to take shelter before the inhospitable torrents of the heavens, and the freeze of the winter sky.
He is prepared for everything; against nothing does he want for protection.
Even against once perplexing ailments he has developed an escape.
Only against death has he at last no refuge.
Supplied with cleverness of every imaginable type,
He ventures once towards evil, and then towards good.
If he honors the laws of the land and the right attested by the Gods,
Then may his city prosper. But homeless shall he be if he boorishly debases himself.
–Sophocles, “Antigone,” Chorus (lines 340-380) (S.H. transl. after Hans
Jonas)

3

Wonders are many, yet of all
Things is Man the most wonderful.
He can sail on the stormy sea
Though the tempest rage, and the loud
Waves roar around, as he makes his
Path amid the towering surge.
Earth inexhaustible, ageless, he wearies, as
Backwards and forwards, from season to season, his
Ox-team drives along the ploughshare.

He can entrap the cheerful birds,
Setting a snare, and all the wild
Beasts of the earth he has learned to catch, and
Fish that teem in the deep sea, with
Nets knotted of stout cords; of
Such inventiveness is man.
Through his inventions he becomes lord
Even of the beasts of the mountain: the long-haired
Horse he subdues to the yoke on his neck, and the
Hill-bred bull, of strength untiring.

And speech he has learned, and thought
So swift, and the temper of mind
To dwell within cities, and not to lie bare
Amid the keen, biting frosts
Or cower beneath pelting rain;
Full of resource against all that comes to him
Is Man. Against Death alone
He is left with no defense.
But painfull sickness he can cure
By his own skill.

Surpassing belief, the device and
Cunning that Man has attained,
And it bringeth him now to evil, now to good.
If he observe Law, and tread
The righteous path God ordained,
Honored is he; dishonored, the man whose reckless heart
Shall make him join hands with sin:
May I not think like him,
Nor may such an impious man
Dwell in my house.
trans H. D. F. Kitto

********

The city state and individual. The gods and the mortal. Fate and choice. Genius and self/ego. Rocks and hard places.

Down the road a bit, off in the sand:

"I am the light, and create the darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord, that doeth all these things." (Isa. 45:7)

That's Yahweh being very clear, little concerned for the tireless who so endlessly feel obliged to apologize for his darkness.

Bless paradox. Bless us all who find a way to live with bend not break, the deep message of Antigone.

---

"Listen, Moirai (Fates) ... hear our prayers ... send us rose-bloomed Eunomia (Good Order in civic government) and her bright-throned sisters Dike (Justice) and garland-wearing Eirene (Peace), and make this city forget its heavy-hearted misfortunes." - Greek Lyric V Anonymous Fragments 1018 (from Stobaeus, Anthology)

wise beyond hope

~MStillman

Many are the awesome things but nothing more awesome than man
This being on the stormy surface of the gray sea goes, through the roaring
swells making his way.
Of the gods the highest, Earth unfailing, untiring, he wears away with the ploughs' passage, year by year with the horse-like breed tilling.
The fickle clan of birds he traps and directs, and the tribes of beasts and the sea kin of the deep in his mesh-woven nets, ingenious man.
He controls, with his devices, of the wilderness beast the mountain-going, the hairy-necked horse he breaks with harness about its neck, and the bull, ruler of the mountain
Speech and wind-like thought and city-ruling desires he learnt, and from
chilling frosts and harsh rain's clear-aired arrows to shelter, always ingenious.
He goes into nothing unprepared for what may come.
From Hades alone he will not avoid but he has made himself an escaper from incurable diseases.
Cleverness in ingenuity, something wise beyond hope, sometimes moving him to harm and sometimes to good...
Respecting the land's laws and the gods' oath-bound justice, he is of a high city but an outlaw is he for whom the dishonorable is companion because of his audacity.
Never by my hearth nor in agreement of thought may anyone who does such things be!
SOPHOCLES Antigone

2

Harper's, June 07

Many things are formidable, and yet nothing is quite so formidable as man.
Over the gray sea and the storming south wind,
Through the foam and welling of the waves, he makes his perilous way;
The Earth also, highest of the deities, who never shows fatigue, nor exhaustion, nor decay,
Ever he furrows and ploughs, year on year, with his ploughshare, muzzles and horses.
The light-seeking birds of the air he stalks and traps, the wild beasts of the forest, and the salty brood of the sea, he catches with his richly woven net–
He, the cunning one,
And by his arts he achieves mastery of the savage game, of the creatures who
wind their way upon the heights, tamed through his wondrous art,
And the defiant steed he bends to his will under the bit.
Speech and wind-driven thoughts and emotions form the foundation upon which he builds the city,
All of this he has taught himself; and to take shelter before the inhospitable torrents of the heavens, and the freeze of the winter sky.
He is prepared for everything; against nothing does he want for protection.
Even against once perplexing ailments he has developed an escape.
Only against death has he at last no refuge.
Supplied with cleverness of every imaginable type,
He ventures once towards evil, and then towards good.
If he honors the laws of the land and the right attested by the Gods,
Then may his city prosper. But homeless shall he be if he boorishly debases himself.
–Sophocles, “Antigone,” Chorus (lines 340-380) (S.H. transl. after Hans
Jonas)

3

Wonders are many, yet of all
Things is Man the most wonderful.
He can sail on the stormy sea
Though the tempest rage, and the loud
Waves roar around, as he makes his
Path amid the towering surge.
Earth inexhaustible, ageless, he wearies, as
Backwards and forwards, from season to season, his
Ox-team drives along the ploughshare.

He can entrap the cheerful birds,
Setting a snare, and all the wild
Beasts of the earth he has learned to catch, and
Fish that teem in the deep sea, with
Nets knotted of stout cords; of
Such inventiveness is man.
Through his inventions he becomes lord
Even of the beasts of the mountain: the long-haired
Horse he subdues to the yoke on his neck, and the
Hill-bred bull, of strength untiring.

And speech he has learned, and thought
So swift, and the temper of mind
To dwell within cities, and not to lie bare
Amid the keen, biting frosts
Or cower beneath pelting rain;
Full of resource against all that comes to him
Is Man. Against Death alone
He is left with no defense.
But painfull sickness he can cure
By his own skill.

Surpassing belief, the device and
Cunning that Man has attained,
And it bringeth him now to evil, now to good.
If he observe Law, and tread
The righteous path God ordained,
Honored is he; dishonored, the man whose reckless heart
Shall make him join hands with sin:
May I not think like him,
Nor may such an impious man
Dwell in my house.
trans H. D. F. Kitto

********

The city state and individual. The gods and the mortal. Fate and choice. Genius and self/ego. Rocks and hard places.

Down the road a bit, off in the sand:

"I am the light, and create the darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord, that doeth all these things." (Isa. 45:7)

That's Yahweh being very clear, little concerned for the tireless who so endlessly feel obliged to apologize for his darkness.

Bless paradox. Bless us all who find a way to live with bend not break, the deep message of Antigone.

---

"Listen, Moirai (Fates) ... hear our prayers ... send us rose-bloomed Eunomia (Good Order in civic government) and her bright-throned sisters Dike (Justice) and garland-wearing Eirene (Peace), and make this city forget its heavy-hearted misfortunes." - Greek Lyric V Anonymous Fragments 1018 (from Stobaeus, Anthology)

Karen Gillian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_cahQdr9So

Karen Gillian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_cahQdr9So

The Will to Survive

Have a listen. JMU alum. http://www.purevolume.com/TheWilltoSurvive

The Will to Survive

Have a listen. JMU alum. http://www.purevolume.com/TheWilltoSurvive

alchemy in reverse

Funny, those cute little dinosaurs, plastic and colorful, sold in sets complete with plastic rocks, palm trees, and cave people. Plastic. Hydrocarbons are miracles when it comes to building things, even in producing life-saving vaccines, antibiotics, and the syringes used to squirt them into our bodies. We need them. But we don't need them to keep transporting us and heating us when they create such havoc, are in limited supply, and are both politicized and the force behind self-perpetuating technologies. Think of the electric car and how it was first received. Think of the failed (because dismantled) energy programs Congress crafted in the 70's. Think of Reagan smiling as he took down the solar panels on the White House roof.

By manipulating a myth (and religion) of a free-market, owners of Oil have long worked to dig our social and technological trenches deeper. The interstate highway system was built at taxpayers' cost, while rail and public-transit paid their own way. Hence the suburbs and all the trimmings. The manicured lawns, ever-growing to accommodate the even bigger houses, status symbols enforced by vigilante neighbors watching out the window. A life style defined by commerce, the car as one's self-definition.

And now it continues, pedal to the metal, the blatant thwarting of alternatives embedded in political parties and whole media networks, religious crusades sold to us, and will continue be as sold to us as long as the sweet crude flows in the Biblical deserts. Obama, whose stimulus was centered on a revolution of developing alternative energy, has been literally demonized and castrated by it. Stimulus money still sits unspent, and no one seems to know that, though I suspect projects will be rolled out in time for the Party of No to take credit for them.

Worst of all -- worst of all -- the fracking has begun, sold quietly behind the scenes, unwatched. How lucky we are, discovering our own stash of hydrocarbons right beneath our feet! Why throw tax-payer money at wind or solar? At all costs, we need to pay down the deficit, let the mighty keep their taxes low, for everyone knows they "give" you your paycheck! Never mind that work doesn't work without workers.

And it's not just the US. The myths rule, and the creditor nations rule all. Krugman wrote yesterday

What I guess I’d say is that the creditor-oriented mindset permeates the whole world of men in suits sitting around tables talking policy. And the world will suffer for it.

Black gold, that's what oil has been. Civilization as alchemy in reverse.

alchemy in reverse

Funny, those cute little dinosaurs, plastic and colorful, sold in sets complete with plastic rocks, palm trees, and cave people. Plastic. Hydrocarbons are miracles when it comes to building things, even in producing life-saving vaccines, antibiotics, and the syringes used to squirt them into our bodies. We need them. But we don't need them to keep transporting us and heating us when they create such havoc, are in limited supply, and are both politicized and the force behind self-perpetuating technologies. Think of the electric car and how it was first received. Think of the failed (because dismantled) energy programs Congress crafted in the 70's. Think of Reagan smiling as he took down the solar panels on the White House roof.

By manipulating a myth (and religion) of a free-market, owners of Oil have long worked to dig our social and technological trenches deeper. The interstate highway system was built at taxpayers' cost, while rail and public-transit paid their own way. Hence the suburbs and all the trimmings. The manicured lawns, ever-growing to accommodate the even bigger houses, status symbols enforced by vigilante neighbors watching out the window. A life style defined by commerce, the car as one's self-definition.

And now it continues, pedal to the metal, the blatant thwarting of alternatives embedded in political parties and whole media networks, religious crusades sold to us, and will continue be as sold to us as long as the sweet crude flows in the Biblical deserts. Obama, whose stimulus was centered on a revolution of developing alternative energy, has been literally demonized and castrated by it. Stimulus money still sits unspent, and no one seems to know that, though I suspect projects will be rolled out in time for the Party of No to take credit for them.

Worst of all -- worst of all -- the fracking has begun, sold quietly behind the scenes, unwatched. How lucky we are, discovering our own stash of hydrocarbons right beneath our feet! Why throw tax-payer money at wind or solar? At all costs, we need to pay down the deficit, let the mighty keep their taxes low, for everyone knows they "give" you your paycheck! Never mind that work doesn't work without workers.

And it's not just the US. The myths rule, and the creditor nations rule all. Krugman wrote yesterday

What I guess I’d say is that the creditor-oriented mindset permeates the whole world of men in suits sitting around tables talking policy. And the world will suffer for it.

Black gold, that's what oil has been. Civilization as alchemy in reverse.

Hello Sweetie.

Stephen wrote:

.... If you consider the developmental movement inward, because the biological/primal fact is we--men and women--are issued from mothers, this asymmetry comes into relief. So, the movement for a woman is via the integration of the discriminating, penetrating animus (or logos brought into consciousness,) is to arrive at the feminine soul, whereas for man, it is via his anima, and, in effect "back to" his feminine soul....

That really gels the meaning, doesn't it. And as we live as individuals, that's where the soul work takes place. Can also marry it to the Apollonian Dionysian continuum.

Funny. When I write fiction -- long works in which you embed seem necessary for me -- I find my sword wielding animus is taking over less. It took almost a decade to finish the last novel, and I understand why now. I was changing. My relationship to my animus was changing. Reading it now, it comes clear. Makes me smile. That's Jung's active imagination.

Observing the collective -- well, just so much conflict going on between the unconscious and the commercial filters (especially re our old fbuddy snake). Public lives, forbidden fruit, droves of classy call girls employed by upstanding righteous leaders. "Suicides" of DC Madams. The internet, so full of perfect strangers. What a crazy culture we have. Interesting years. And we know things are simply changing, growing, working their way out. The filters can interfere in this as it tends its way toward equilibrium, as they always have -- just as they also help slow things down so we can analyze them. But it's the bubbles that filters can erect that keep things apart and thwart growth. The table-ready schemata with super-sized helpings of finger-licking-good confirmation bias. With so much manipulation, I hope the telomeres are strong!

We choose the reality we lean toward. All of us, works in progress.

Best,
Deborah

ps.

Don't know if you watch Dr.Who, but this year's episodes have been about a girl and her animus! The past few years, it's been the doctor appreciating his anima.

Long live Sarah Jane!

Hello Sweetie.

Stephen wrote:

.... If you consider the developmental movement inward, because the biological/primal fact is we--men and women--are issued from mothers, this asymmetry comes into relief. So, the movement for a woman is via the integration of the discriminating, penetrating animus (or logos brought into consciousness,) is to arrive at the feminine soul, whereas for man, it is via his anima, and, in effect "back to" his feminine soul....

That really gels the meaning, doesn't it. And as we live as individuals, that's where the soul work takes place. Can also marry it to the Apollonian Dionysian continuum.

Funny. When I write fiction -- long works in which you embed seem necessary for me -- I find my sword wielding animus is taking over less. It took almost a decade to finish the last novel, and I understand why now. I was changing. My relationship to my animus was changing. Reading it now, it comes clear. Makes me smile. That's Jung's active imagination.

Observing the collective -- well, just so much conflict going on between the unconscious and the commercial filters (especially re our old fbuddy snake). Public lives, forbidden fruit, droves of classy call girls employed by upstanding righteous leaders. "Suicides" of DC Madams. The internet, so full of perfect strangers. What a crazy culture we have. Interesting years. And we know things are simply changing, growing, working their way out. The filters can interfere in this as it tends its way toward equilibrium, as they always have -- just as they also help slow things down so we can analyze them. But it's the bubbles that filters can erect that keep things apart and thwart growth. The table-ready schemata with super-sized helpings of finger-licking-good confirmation bias. With so much manipulation, I hope the telomeres are strong!

We choose the reality we lean toward. All of us, works in progress.

Best,
Deborah

ps.

Don't know if you watch Dr.Who, but this year's episodes have been about a girl and her animus! The past few years, it's been the doctor appreciating his anima.

Long live Sarah Jane!

Protest the Hero No Stars over Bethlehem guitar cover

Protest the Hero No Stars over Bethlehem guitar cover