Sacred Day & Favorite Films

Sacred Day

My sacred day would have to be New Year’s Eve. It is the time of a year when, as Eliade (2005) figuratively describes it, “the abolition of time is possible […], in which the world is destroyed and recreated” (p. 62). It is a day when my families and friends gather together at a friend’s house to enjoy and celebrate the start of a new year. On this day, everyone in my family would make a New Year’s list of resolutions while we drink our glasses of Sparkling Cider, and begin the countdown of New Year’s Day. This day represents Eliade’s idea of regeneration. People and objects regain definition; structure and order take shape but with new energy and vitality.

Favorite Films

1. Insidious 

2. Room 1408

3. Valentine's Day

Archetypal Patterns Within Lambchop's “Is A Woman”

In the song, “Is A Woman,” Lampchop conveys the notion that life is an endless cycle. He expresses this idea through Eliade’s archetypal patterns: abolition of past time, restoration of primordial chaos, and repetition of cosmogonic act. In his music video, he portrays an end of profane time and a start of sacred time by showing a dead leaf gently drifting away from a tree in the fall and entering the river in the winter. As the leaf steadily flows through the river, it seems it has come back to life because the animal starts to notice the leaf’s presence and winter is shifting toward spring. By coming back to life in the natural world, it has become supernatural; the spirit of the dead “lives” again. When the leaf finally gets out of the river, several other leaves join with it – representing indeterminate unity – to search for a tree. After the long journey through the river, a sense of rebirth or renewal comes into sight when the leaves climb up a tree and attach onto the branches while the sun gradually rise from the horizon. 

Celestial Model & Sacred Center

Celestial Model

DAVID: It is derived from the Hebrew name (Dawid), which means “beloved.” It could be pronounced in various ways: DAY-vid (English), dah-VEED (Jewish), da-VEED (French), DAH-vit (German, Dutch), dah-VEET (Russian). David was the second and greatest of the kings of Israel, ruling in the 10^th century BC. Several stories about him are told in the Old Testament, including his defeat of Goliath, a giant Philistine. According to the New Testament, Jesus was descended from him.

My dad named me David because he likes that name; he thinks it is masculine and it represents bravery, nobleness, and determination.

Sacred Center

One of my sacred centers is the tennis courts. From the time when I was six years old, I spent a majority of my time playing on the tennis courts. It is the place where I am able to physically express some of my emotions: disappointment, sadness, anger, and enthusiasm. It is also the place where I am able to reflect upon life and myself. 

The Song "Serious of Dreams"

In the song “Serious of Dreams,” Bob Dylan uses the symbols and archetypes of flying and falling to express the theme of humanity’s transformation.  According to Anthony Stevens, “it represents loss of social, spiritual, or moral status” (419). Opposed to the context of falling, the dream also mentioned flying: “Dreams of flying are invariably pleasant, often elating, giving rise to feelings of freedom and self-mastery, a sense of transcending the constraints of mundane reality” (419). In the song, “Serious of Dreams,” he says “wasn’t thinking of anything specific;” however, that was not the case when he says, “in one, I was running, and in another all I seemed to be doing was climb” (Dylan).

Archetypal Photograph

Quotes from Ariadne's Clue, pg.3-60

Interesting/Insightful Quotes:

-          “The eternally recurring themes of childhood and youth, love and sex, hunting and warfare, sickness and healing, death and rebirth, fertility and sacrifice – everything that constitutes a core experience of human life – has often share striking resemblances to one another, wherever on this planet they have been brought into being” (Stevens 17).

-          “Image, behavior, and emotion appear to be constellated round an archetypal core existing as an innate predisposition in the central nervous system of the species” (Stevens 23).

-          “The success (or failure) of our attachment bonds has profound consequences for our emotional lives. Fear that an attachment bond may be under threat can result in anger and aggression, as well as anxiety, depression, and sometimes, suicide. Renewal of an attachment bond, on the other hand, or reunion after a period of separation, can be experienced as source of profound joy” (Stevens 48)

Confusing Quotes:

-          ”The uroboric snake slumbering in the unconscious, coiled up in the lowest chakra of kundalini ascent, is the reptilian life still lurking in the nuclei of the nervous system” (Steven 33).

Dream

Last night I had a terrifying nightmare about a ghostly figure choking my neck while I was sleeping. It was a night that I would want to forget, for I woke up in the middle of the night sweating like a pig. Part of the reason why I had such a horrific dream was probably because I consumed an abundant amount sugary food prior to sleeping. Even though I knew eating heavy meals prior to sleeping is bad, I could not resist myself because I was hungry and as a result, I had an unpleasant dream.