Spirituality
Okay, I've got a question about spirituality and gender. It's probably a bit random, but that's what happens when I spend too long doing essays on English Literature.
Excerpt from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce ( Read more... )
Excerpt from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce ( Read more... )
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Aye, that was pretty much what I was shooting at. It's one of the problems I have with Jung labelling spirituality as pretty exclusively female.
But then I realized that the Virgin Mary is very popular, too. We get in hot water because it sometimes seems she's elevated to an esteem that God clearly says isn't for anyone but Him. Maybe because some people do have a need to associate spirituality with the feminine?
It's fascinating you bring this point up when I'm discussing Joyce. The dude, Stephen, worships the Virgin Mary to a huge degree, and she's in a lot his imagery. Even when he turns away from the Church, he seems very drawn to the idea of her.
You know, it kinda bothers me that such a big deal is made of the virgin aspect, actually. I mean, of all the virtues a human being can have, not-having-had-sex is the one we praise in a woman? Hm.
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I think Catholics are the only ones who cling to her being "ever Virgin," and that probably came along during one of our particularly repressed historical periods. It was a big deal in the Bible that she was a virgin, obviously, to make it clear that the baby must have come from God. But I thing a number of Christians believe she went on and had a proper family with Joseph ( ... )
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I've always considered my muse male, honestly. I identify better with the male characters, at least in the world of HP and in the real world. Nothing against my gender, I just don't identify with A LOT of them.
As for spirtuality...I think it's all in the eye of the beholder. Some people's spirituality is a firey and emblazened thing that might be likened to a warrior more than a woman. But for other's it is more ethereal and fleeting, so it would/could be likened to a woman. Then again, there have been bold and firey women, and softer, gentler men. So, again it's just me, it might be in the eye of the beholder.
Just my two knuts. :)
~ Hez
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Hee. It's funny, but if I identified with a fiery and emblazened thing, it would definitely be a woman. That's part of why I identify with Ginny so much - she's a bit of a warrior. I just wouldn't associate fire with man. Obviously that's just my personal thoughts, so it's fun how that can be different.
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You're so funny. Yeah, I think of myself as tough, but I also have a very very mushy and gushy soft side as we've often discussed, I tend to lead from the heart.
And as for fiery and emblazened being a woman, I think I mentioned that above, also. And yes, we all know your love of all things Ginny. :P
As for my male muse, I would think of him as having a soul of a poet, he would definitely be much more like Moony than anyone methinks. But that's just me, again.
Hee! This is a fun topic. Go you!
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And as for fiery and emblazened being a woman, I think I mentioned that above, also.
You certainly did. I was just thinking about my own thoughts. I sure weren't disagreeing with yours. Hee. Ginny-love rocks.
Do you know, I know a couple of women who identify with men because they are simpler. I'm not sure how to relate that back to spirituality, though...
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That being said, I don't think of my muse as a person - it's more like a fountain or a well that yields what I need. (And I frequently have to go looking for it again! :))
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Yep, that's what I suspected, too. A common idea in Feminism is the idea of "the Other", which is frightening at the same time as being alluring. Of course, the problem there is when an actual person is forced into the idea of what being the muse or the other or the within means - which can be very entrapping.
I don't think of my muse as a person, either. Fact, I haven't thought about it much at all. I just tend to think of it as my subconscious, which, when I'm think about or to it, the main idea I get from it is that it's big. Like a lot, lot bigger than me. Hee. Like a gigantic huge chasm of water over over my head with a couple of cracks at the base.
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Didn't Einstein say that he had no particular genius, he was just inquisitive. So maybe that ties in with the picking up ideas thing. And yes, I just compared you to Einstein.
Funny, sarcastic, angry kid, huh? *smiles*
Well, turning this to me, I write stories that I know I'll enjoy. If I don't think my book is the best book I've ever read, then I'm not trying hard enough. That usually means I'm the only one who finds the jokes funny or understands what the heck is going on with the plot, but that's the price one pays. I certainly laugh at my jokes and enjoy the writing. Yes, it's egotistical. But we all [i]need[/i] a bit of ego. Especially as writers.
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For me spirituality is an internal thing - my spirituality is part of me, thus I suppose if it had to have a gender it would be female. I don't think that spirituality can be separated from the person who is/is not spiritual.
Inspiration, I think like stmargarets, is impersonal. It's there and it can be sparked by almost anything - an experience, an overheard conversation, an abstract thought, a vision of beauty...
The Muse. Ah. Well, now there I'd say stmargarets is spot on once again. For me, it's a dark haired man with cheekbones that could cut glass and a smile that lights up the world. But he doesn't visit nearly often enough. *grins*
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I don't think St Margarets is impersonal. :p
It's interesting that you seperate the three. For me, just because something is a part of me, doesn't mean it has to be male. Like, for example, a muse is a part of person, surely, but often seems to have the opposite sex. I love the description of your muse, by the way. He sounds hot. ;)
*grins* It's all rather fascinating, isn't it?
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I would agree that this ephemeral, delicate, feminine imagery is not necessarily spiritual - but, I think, as you go on to point out, that it often is in mythical literature, which is interesting.
May I ask what tends to instinctually call up religious or spiritual feeling in you? Because I think I agree. I always find rain incredibly spiritual, for example, or a mountain landscape. Hmm.
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Part of this may have to do with the fact that there's something that doesn't fire in my frontal lobe, and I can't form mental pictures. Like I can't close my eyes and picture anything, though I could tell you what it looked like. So for me it has to be moments or images in a certain instant because for me they're all ephemeral.
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But yes, I certainly hear what you're saying.
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