tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post5202394669634727937..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: Sexuality and Spirituality, UnitedAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-91145398046927425772014-06-18T18:17:56.294-04:002014-06-18T18:17:56.294-04:00In my antiques business, I've handled stone to...In my antiques business, I've handled stone tools from as far back as Homo Erectus. In fact, Erectus may have had a larger brain than we do, so no surprise the people who did the French caves had sophisticated mental and emotional capacities comparable to ours. Of course, they couldn't imagine the distance we've come in technology, but neither could we understand and get by in their world. It's not everyone who can make an efficient stone blade without much trial and effort.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-40157346982635034802014-06-18T09:56:53.541-04:002014-06-18T09:56:53.541-04:00I do believe, Sacchi, that a spiritual sense is in...I do believe, Sacchi, that a spiritual sense is innate in us all. Different experiences will call it out from each of us. When I listen to Hildegard von Bingen's work, that's pure spirit poured into music. <br /><br />But then I feel the same way when I listen to great blues.<br /><br />Unfortunately, much of that which we call religion is more about power and control. Politics.Structure.The organized religions have all too often taken advantage of our innate spirituality and warped it into something ugly. Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-88220217739854192282014-06-17T20:55:14.289-04:002014-06-17T20:55:14.289-04:00I did see Cave of Dreams, Garce (on a rented DVD, ...I did see Cave of Dreams, Garce (on a rented DVD, Daddy X, so not in 3-D.) I've long been fascinated by cave art and petroglyphs and that sort of thing. The cave art, especially, is beautiful in and of itself, and clearly had higher meanings of a spiritual nature. Intriguing, and humbling to think of how long ago humans were creating such art. Hmm, if I'd thought of it in time, I might have worked in an excerpt from a story I wrote some thime ago that involved petroglyphs.Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-17624295598720850292014-06-17T19:03:27.744-04:002014-06-17T19:03:27.744-04:00Right on, Garce, but I'm sorry you didn't ...Right on, Garce, but I'm sorry you didn't see 'Cave' in 3-d. it was the most effective use of the 3-d medium I've seen yet. See my post tomorrow on dimensions.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-56965947846486415552014-06-17T18:55:44.908-04:002014-06-17T18:55:44.908-04:00Hi Sacchi!
I think spirituality predates religion...Hi Sacchi!<br /><br />I think spirituality predates religion almost from the earliest days of our existence. I recently saw on Netflix the Werner herzog documentary "Cave of dreams" where he explore 50,000 year old cave paintings and there are already images of animal spirits and humans merging together. Its somehow a part of us.<br /><br />And what you were saying about consciousness. There really are so many layers to us that are completely otu of our reach that influence us, its as though our heads were not so much human as haunted houses. <br /><br />That poem is nice. It makes me wonder what my last thoughts on earth will be.<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-26825845817447358352014-06-17T10:59:58.180-04:002014-06-17T10:59:58.180-04:00I generally fall asleep at the symphony, but Ella?...I generally fall asleep at the symphony, but Ella? Oh yes. Momma and I belong to SF jazz, and get transported on a regular basis. Just saw trumpet master Arturo Sandoval, who Dizzy Gillespie got out of Cuba. He also wails on keyboards and timbales. There was a movie made of his life "For Love of Country" with Andy Garcia. Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-3036229533980637182014-06-16T18:50:57.840-04:002014-06-16T18:50:57.840-04:00Now you're talkin'! If music be the food o...Now you're talkin'! If music be the food of love, play on - and all that jazz! I suppose that's as near to spirituality as I ever get - listening to a beautiful symphony or piano piece by Chopin. But if you want to hear pure perfection of voice listen to Ella Fitzgerald singing September Song - <br />"And these few precious days I'll spend with you, These golden days I'll spend with you"<br />Oh boy, those words and the sweetness of her voice carry me away to orgasmic delight.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10305127219838784688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-12732263113461400332014-06-16T15:55:11.036-04:002014-06-16T15:55:11.036-04:00Have to say that in a general sense, this topic is...Have to say that in a general sense, this topic is one of the more lively we've explored. Thanks to whoever suggested it.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-65755290829703837092014-06-16T14:59:19.465-04:002014-06-16T14:59:19.465-04:00Of course humans invented the gods, Fiona. You'...Of course humans invented the gods, Fiona. You've been commenting around here long enough you know my feelings re: religion (which has little to do with spirituality). The animist religions preceded otherworldly gods, which in mythology simply replaced the animist forms of the winds, fire, and all the other elements, which DID (and still do) affect people's lives in the real world. When the single-god theory came about, it fucked everything up. It introduced the idea that one entity could make decisions for us all, no matter where in the world we lived under what circumstances. It was a simple leap to say that god was on the side of a single person/government. <br /><br />But music? Now there's one pathway to a higher plane. yes, yes, yes. :>)Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-78568534766933928972014-06-16T12:56:49.750-04:002014-06-16T12:56:49.750-04:00I think that it wasn't just mortality that tri...I think that it wasn't just mortality that triggered religion, but the seemingly random (or even vindictive) threats posed by storms or wild animals or enemies. How do we make the rain start, or stop, or ward off disease? Are we being punished by a higher force, and, if so, how can we placate it/him? Sacrifice? Ritual? If our enemies conquer us, are their gods more powerful than ours, or better pleased by their rituals, or is it just another way for our angry god to punish us? <br /><br />You'd kind of think that in an age when we know so much (although not enough) about how weather, for instance, follows certain physical principles, we wouldn't think prayer could determine who gets hit by a tornado and who doesn't.Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-39172771523870182472014-06-16T12:25:45.636-04:002014-06-16T12:25:45.636-04:00Re: Annabeth: "concerts can often feel very r...Re: Annabeth: "concerts can often feel very religious to me"...Yes! When husband and I were in a local town and Kenny Wayne Shepard was shredding his guitar there, we'd only had a couple of beers each, so weren't in any way in an "altered state". But when he started riffing on "Voodoo Chile", made famous by Jimi Hendrix, we were both transfixed. Afterwards we both agreed we'd had a religious experience...we both "saw god!" Hearing good blues guitar work has always had that effect on me. <br /><br />And Daddy X, humans DID invent the gods, including God. Once we had to face our own mortality we were paralyzed with fear. The thought that all we were could be wiped out, never to appear again was too frightening to face. So we invented mythological figures who could teach us how to move to a higher plane, to keep on "existing", once our mortal flesh was gone into the ground. We invented "the soul" to explain what part of us would go on. The shame of it is, all religions promise that the harder your life is here, the better you'll have it in your afterlife. So they all function to keep the worker class under the boot heels of the rich folks. I sometimes wonder why rich folks even bother to pretend they believe in heaven, since they get anything/everything they want here...and all religions teach that their lot will be much worse off in the afterlife. None of them apparently believe that.<br /><br />Spirituality is very different from organized religion. One acknowledges the feelings of being bigger than your mortal body can encompass, which is a fleeting feeling brought on by various sensory stimulae, like excellent sex or, for me, blues guitars. The other is a tool to keep the proletariats' noses to the grindstone.Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-49673805165655303932014-06-16T11:51:16.918-04:002014-06-16T11:51:16.918-04:00It was said by some philosopher that If god did no...It was said by some philosopher that If god did not exist, humans would need to invent one. And I do agree that in a perfect world, the spiritual would be naturally integrated with the physical world in all its manifestations, including sex, of course. IMO, sex is the highest form of communication.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-24830874133378321012014-06-16T08:48:35.913-04:002014-06-16T08:48:35.913-04:00"It seems to me most likely that religion gre..."It seems to me most likely that religion grew out of humanity’s innate spirituality just as science grows out of our curiosity."<br /><br />I really like this idea. I've noticed that people tend to create religious experiences even outside of organized religion (for example, concerts can often feel very religious to me). <br /><br />Your post points to two divisions that seem common now but unnecessary to me -- first, the religion/science split (why couldn't explaining the universe be a unified pursuit?), and secondly, physicality and spirituality (and that division seems tenuous--as you point out, music is often very linked with spirituality, and its physical effect is certainly part of that). Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.com