Thursday, January 20, 2005
Random thoughts
I've been reading a book on world mythology, and it's amazing how many similarities there are between heroic epics from all over the world.
For example, roughly 75% of them begin with some young hero (obviously suffering from the last stages of testosterone poisoning) hearing about some monster and randomly deciding to gain honor and reknown by killing this monster. Most of the time, the poor monster hasn't even done anything wrong, and the hero's just picking on him because that's what heroes do. So the hero journeys to the forest or wherever and picks a fight with this monster who, though he may be big and ugly, is really just sitting in the forest or wherever minding his own business. The hero kills the poor monster, then is famous all throughout the world ("the world" consisting of the country in which the myth is told) and everyone lives happily ever after except, of course, the monster.
And, of course, the prophet/prophetess/seer/oracle/god/omen tells the hero EXACTLY what's going to happen to him, and how he's going to be betrayed by a friend or is going to kill the friend or something like that. The hero NEVER listens to a word of it, and eventually ends up fulfilling the prophecy. And EVEN THEN he doesn't realize what he's done, until the prophet/prophetess... reappears and tells him, "Oh, by the way--that prophecy? It's just been fulfilled" and repeats the entire thing ALL OVER AGAIN, just for the benefit of the hero and the especially slow-witted audience members.
It's amazing how these kinds of situations pop up all over the world. Forget Jung's archetypes; I want to know why no one has ever written of the universal unconcious cliche.
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For example, roughly 75% of them begin with some young hero (obviously suffering from the last stages of testosterone poisoning) hearing about some monster and randomly deciding to gain honor and reknown by killing this monster. Most of the time, the poor monster hasn't even done anything wrong, and the hero's just picking on him because that's what heroes do. So the hero journeys to the forest or wherever and picks a fight with this monster who, though he may be big and ugly, is really just sitting in the forest or wherever minding his own business. The hero kills the poor monster, then is famous all throughout the world ("the world" consisting of the country in which the myth is told) and everyone lives happily ever after except, of course, the monster.
And, of course, the prophet/prophetess/seer/oracle/god/omen tells the hero EXACTLY what's going to happen to him, and how he's going to be betrayed by a friend or is going to kill the friend or something like that. The hero NEVER listens to a word of it, and eventually ends up fulfilling the prophecy. And EVEN THEN he doesn't realize what he's done, until the prophet/prophetess... reappears and tells him, "Oh, by the way--that prophecy? It's just been fulfilled" and repeats the entire thing ALL OVER AGAIN, just for the benefit of the hero and the especially slow-witted audience members.
It's amazing how these kinds of situations pop up all over the world. Forget Jung's archetypes; I want to know why no one has ever written of the universal unconcious cliche.
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Monday, January 17, 2005
Hello. My name is Kacie
... and I'm a church snob.
I can't help it. I go to the best church in the world, and after it every other church just looks shabby.
I know I'm not supposed to judge a church by whether its choir is on key, or whether the person that made the PowerPoint presentation knows how to use a comma, or whether the pastor is as well-spoken as mine. What SHOULD matter is the heart of the church, whether they really have a passion for God.
I'm just a hopeless church snob.
I don't know what I'm going to do when I go to England. I've been to a couple of Anglican services, and I must say I wasn't impressed. First, is this a worship service or a calisthenics class? You sit, then you stand, then you kneel, then it's back to standing... Second, if the congregation is supposed to say something in unison, WRITE IT DOWN so I know what I'm supposed to be saying.
What really gets to me, though, is how everyone drinks out of the same wine cup. Eeewww! It's FLU SEASON, guys! I don't think I want to be sharing food with my family, much less complete strangers! And trust me, wiping the rim with a cloth will not get the germs out.
My church has always used grape juice instead of wine anyway. No one ever told me that some of the more traditional denominations still used wine. I found out the hard way when I went to my father's Lutheran church, got wine instead of the expected fruit juice, and came THIS CLOSE to spitting it at the minister. Then no one could hear the sermon for the next five minutes because I was hacking and coughing. Not a fun experience.
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I can't help it. I go to the best church in the world, and after it every other church just looks shabby.
I know I'm not supposed to judge a church by whether its choir is on key, or whether the person that made the PowerPoint presentation knows how to use a comma, or whether the pastor is as well-spoken as mine. What SHOULD matter is the heart of the church, whether they really have a passion for God.
I'm just a hopeless church snob.
I don't know what I'm going to do when I go to England. I've been to a couple of Anglican services, and I must say I wasn't impressed. First, is this a worship service or a calisthenics class? You sit, then you stand, then you kneel, then it's back to standing... Second, if the congregation is supposed to say something in unison, WRITE IT DOWN so I know what I'm supposed to be saying.
What really gets to me, though, is how everyone drinks out of the same wine cup. Eeewww! It's FLU SEASON, guys! I don't think I want to be sharing food with my family, much less complete strangers! And trust me, wiping the rim with a cloth will not get the germs out.
My church has always used grape juice instead of wine anyway. No one ever told me that some of the more traditional denominations still used wine. I found out the hard way when I went to my father's Lutheran church, got wine instead of the expected fruit juice, and came THIS CLOSE to spitting it at the minister. Then no one could hear the sermon for the next five minutes because I was hacking and coughing. Not a fun experience.
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