Frye Presentations: Mountain One

Looking back on the film that we presented to the class I am hard pressed to find anyone definite meaning. The conglomeration of our own ideas of the Frye as manifested in our short piece are really representative of the complexity and multilateral meaning that Frye can exude in people. For instance some of the skits in the film had no planning. Meaning that someone would bring up a concept from Frye and we would just run with it. I think the biggest hurtle for the group was overcoming Frye's complex ideas, because of the complexity it lent to an almost nonsensical feeling within the group. We were all over the place. Certain people held one interpretation while others in the group held exactly the opposite. This was difficult considering we had to come up with a sort of group consensus of meaning. The film I think did do a great job of being a representation of our confusion and alternative views. The medium of film allowed us to place somewhat individual perspectives in one a continuous act.

In terms of take aways I think it is hard to say. I would say that the overall idea of the mountain applies to this idea of ascension, both literally and spiritually. Like in the instance where we hiked up the 'M' that would have been representative of literal ascension. The change in altitude bringing us that much closer to God in the most literal sense with a physical change in location on the vertices's of the 'Axis Mundi' On the flip side the mountain as a metaphor alludes to a kind of spiritual ascension that brings about a change in spiritual perspective. Part of that ascension is to rise above the distractions and the literal. That is more or less why we included the interludes of absurd images in reference to distractions. By ascending spiritually we remove the distractions essentially clearing the way for a more in depth and non literal perspective of the Bible.

What I feel is key is that in both instances the person (reader, religious follower, literary theorist) must be an active participant in the act of ascending. In the case of hiking the mountain that is the literal an physical participation in ascension. While the spiritual ascension takes place within the mind, essentially putting the metaphorical mountain with in the mind. You could sit in one spot reading and still take part in the ascension of the mountain. Some would call this faith or spirituality. I don't really feel that either is more correct but both certainly offer different things. You gain a certain connection through the physical ascent and certain things through a metaphorical ascent. For example the Buddhist monk transcends the physical mentally through meditation and prayer, right? He moves without moving. The end result being a spiritual connection and alteration of their perspective. On the other hand you have astronauts who have walked on the moon. I recently watched a documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon" which documents the accounts of the surviving astronauts that stood on the face of the moon. Watch it and you will see that these men through physical act of ascension had a epephatic experiences that changed them forever. They talk about being on the moon like as if they had stood on the mountain top with God himself. So, whether physical or spiritually the ascension is key in human perspective.

Whether that came off in our presentation is another question.

Northrop Frye and the Axis Mundi

There is no doubt in my mind that Northrop Frye is a vast resource when it comes scholarly work on The Bible. However some times I feel that I am reading above and beyond my level of comprehension. For example Frye takes the notion of intertexualtiy to the next level with his seemingly endless conections of The Bible and other texts. Regardless of complexity he is quite interesting, definatley not lacking in the arena of literary intellect.

One thing I found inter woven in the text is the Axis Mundi. Not only in the beginning of the book in the introduction and the first chapter but later on in Frye's chapter "First Variation: The Mountain." To be honest I knew about the Axis Mundi in a sort of innate way prior to reading Frye, and only after reading portions of Frye did I have a name for the "Axis Mundi." Interestingly enough looking into the Axis Mundi I found that the Axis Mundi is sometimes considered to be, "a natural and universal psychological perception." Perhaps that explains this feeling of knowing the Axis Mundi before I "Knew of" the Axis Mundi. However I wonder if the conception of the Axis Mundi is so fundamental in the understanding of the self in relation to the world as portrayed in underlying ways by literature that we are never given an opportunity to conceive of any other form of relational existence. Regardless of the scientific evidence and the presence of the actual the Axis Mundi seems to be some what of a rational human manifestation.

This idea of the Axis Mundi also prompted me to open a book from my "personal archive" entitled You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katherine Harmon. The book touches on notions of personal geographies as a transcendence of the physical into the realm of the imagination, and the innate ability for humans to create within the mind; nations and borders without a prior knowledge of the like. Like the coded nature of words in Frye there is a coded visual language of the map. I feel this is interesting because the notions of the Axis Mundi proposed in Frye in relation to the literary is then manifest in visual form in the mind. What I really find interesting as I observed my mental image of Frye's Axis Mundi and other theoretical maps is that humanity lay in the center of things. We have this notion in of Ascension and Descension with God on top in what most would view as the position of power. While this may be true people have continued to place humanity in the middle, or the center of things. Now the top may be the power position, but being in the center of things has all sorts of implications of power and importance.

This is little excerpt from Leonardo Da Vinci:

"Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly this name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, so is the body of the earth. If man has in him bones which are the support and armor of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which also rises and falls every six hours for the world to breathe. If from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying through out the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water."


Yggdrasil from Norse Mythology (not "actual" axis mundi)

Lacking Direction

I feel that I am walking in the shadow of death and I am fearing evil. I really was hoping to be inspired by The Bible. You hear people all the time I was down and out and I found God so on and so forth. Well, for some reason I always felt that The Bible would carry a little bit of that in it. That in some way The Bible carried some codified message that upon reading would open your eyes make life clear and bring, I guess I thought The Bible would be Epiphatic in nature. Thus far I have found Sunday funnies more Epiphatic than The Bible. I must admit that I am only in the book of Numbers. That said I should probably hold off on any lasting judgement of The Bible until I have finished it, or at least until I have climbed from the depths of the old testament.

The Old Testament thus far was not with out good stories however. Adam and Eve always a crowd pleaser, Noah and the Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, Joseph and his Brothers. And the interesting thing is it precisely why these are the stories that are taught in bible school, and in mainstream Christianity, because they are interesting. The rest I feel like, are we serious? These laws through them out their old absurd contradictory, meddling, racist bigot news. Some are however pertinent but we don't need to Bible to tell us that. Don't have sex with your sister. Got it, thanks Bible good looking out. Don't commit murder, um... we are working on that one. Point being the judicial system has put God out of the smiting business. All this for me at least boils down to, "Why?"

They call it the Good Book in my opinion it should be called "The Shitty book: with some good parts." Yet the damn thing remains so freaking important because it has infiltrated every aspect of western society. What Northrop Frye wrote in Words with Power hit it right on the head, "Nobody would attempt to study Islamic culture without starting with the Koran...why should not a study of Western culture working outwards from the Bible be equally rewarding?" It is for that reason alone that I Roberto Amado-Cattaneo III continue to read The Bible despite an overwhelming internal struggle.

Quick story then I will terminate this communique. Back in June of 2006 I traveled with a group of volunteers to Africa through group called "Urgent Africa" in conjunction with another called "Slum Doctor". Both where not in any way shape or form in allegiance with any religious denomination. Our primary purpose was to deliver medicines and basic first aid to AIDS orphans and widows in a small village called Majiwa, Kenya which is located north of Lake Victoria close to the Ugandan border.Non the less drive from Nairobi we stopped in a small town called Homa Bay outside the larger city of Kisumu. There is were my disdain for The Bible was born.  I witnessed on multiple occasions sermons given by Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormon, etc... in which prophylactics were condemned, and God not science will save them. Heart breaking things to hear, all backed by quotations from The Bible. Not to say that this is all The Bible has to give, but my experience has by no means done The Bible any favors. As I read I try to keep an open mind both a literary sense and in a more "spiritual sense". 

I've got biblical blogger's block.

I know that we have left the Old Testament in the dust, because the semester must go on. However I am not and will not abandon my quest to read The Bible in its entirety. It may be slow going and you all may have left me in the old testament for the greener pastures of the new, but my will is strong and I resolve to finsih the task at hand no matter how long it may take. That said my blogs on The Bible are going to seem archaic, because I am writing of old news. My blog is now an oxymoron in and of itself. Besides being behind in my Biblical reading I wil try to contribute posts that are some what relevant to the class.

I read Leviticus 15: 19-33 to my girlfriend and her replie was:

"God! Not only insulting, but where and the fuck would I get two turtles and two pigeons let alone every month."

I thought it funny, maybe you had to be there.

Now a story. Last friday evening I decided to attend a meeting of which I had never been. So I ventured out alone into the night headed for the Gallatin Gateway. On the way traveling on 191 I almost hit a deer thank God the bugger turned tail at my bumper. Shaken but not detoured I continued on into the night. It was "black as a panther's asshole" that evening. I searched in vain to find the meeting. In hopes of finding it I turned onto the main drag that empty's the highway into town. Then like a specter through the gloom of the night shown bright red lights reading "BAR" over which were enscrolled the words "old faithful". Oh! I ought. The devils hand is at play in attempt to lure me away from new way of life back to the old. I felt like Job himself. With all earnestness I turned my steed of steel around to find that which I sought. As I made my way though town I got on the highway in hopes that my destination lay further down the line. Again in the dark shown another devious place. The "Buffalo Jump" shiny bright, welcoming among the cold and dark road. Oh! This is where the Buffalo jump was hidden and of all times to stumble upon it. I laughed. Oh! How the denial of temptation can be suffering itself. Again I righted myself and continued on. There a neutral ground lay ahead a gas station casino. I left my ride and walked inside I asked a nice old woman, "Do you know where I can find the Gallatin Gateway Community Church?" She replied, "Yes, it is just a couple blocks down on the right". Ah, and there it was down the road to the right. The church was completely dark but cars parked all around I new this was the place. My pseudo salvation hidden in plain sight. As I descended the basement steps the aroma of black coffee and linger of cigarettes clinging to coats. I was safe, I was home. The moral of the story being that it is easier to find sin than salvation. Like Job I stayed the course when it would have been so easy to give in to yield to suffering to succumb to pain. Doing the right thing is not easy.

The Slave: A beautiful tragedy

I am pleased to announce that yesterday I finished Isaac Beshevis Singer's The Slave. What an amazing story. Interestingly enough I didn't find the plot to be that "original", but something about the writing itself lends to the powerful and moving effect of the story on the reader. Lovers are destined for pain and suffering endured by the prospect of true love (e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Harold and Maude, Adam and Eve, The Odyssey). I find myself almost being able to tie love directly to life. Being alive entails suffering almost from the day a life leaves the womb. Similarly with love. The stronger the love for one another the more suffering endured by the lovers. The "love story" really has become archetypal in its portrayal of love- that it is almost always a tragedy. For instance even in a love story where lovers endure no pain and suffering, death is always looming in the background. For in death the lovers will be separated. Bringing to light that in even the most heavenly relationship there will always be a "breakup"- pain and suffering. Just look at The Slave it is absolutely beautiful portrayal of life and love, and further more it is absolutely tragic. I could even go as far as to say that what is incredibly tragic also makes the story incredibly beautiful. The loss of life and the loss of love and the prospect of reuniting seems to me to be a powerful driving force underlying the creation of heaven in The Bible. Just think the existence of heaven doesn't just serve the prospect of eternal life catering to human fears of mortality, but it is a place in which the image of our loved ones can forever reside. It would be too painful to know that the one you loved so dear is nothing more than food for worms (which is true in the most scientific sense). Not only that but the afterlife holds with it the prospect of reunion with those that we have loved and lost. Death brings about purpose, for example in the end Jacob's faith is never so clear and concise. His servitude his enslavement to religion, god, and love all come to a head with his approaching death. In those last pages is where Jacob acknowledges that his spirit will be united with that of god, and his love Wanda/Sarah. At this point there is no questioning his faith or his actions all had been preordained for that final moment. That destiny is never so clear when, "the spade struck bones." This also is a beautiful use of cosmic irony, again making the story that much more tragic. Ah...my heart pangs for Jacob. Job eat your heart out.

Those who have truly loved will not fear the prospect of death.

Argue with someone about The Bible: FAIL

Yesterday I was at the gym. While at the gym I typically try to squeeze in some reading. On this occasion I decided to catch up on some Northrope Frye while I enjoyed the warmth of the sauna, you could say I was Fryeing in the sauna (I love bad puns). While I read a couple gentlemen entered the sauna and took up respective seats on the tiered benches. Then at random one guy asks me what I am reading. I reply, "Northrope Frye's Words with Power." He then asks me if it is a religious book and I ended up explaining that I was in a class that focused on reading The Bible. This prompted him to ask how far in The Bible I have read. I tell him, "Leviticus 10." He then scoffs and says, "You are in the thick of it my friend, nothing as thick as the pentatuc." When he says this I realize this is the guy. I am going to argue the meaning and writing of The Bible in a sauna with this guy. When I asked him about his biblical experience he went on to give me a rundown of his history growing up in kentucky with baptists, and how he had gone to bible school etcetera. Honestly at this point I was thinking,"Fuck. Picked the wrong guy to argue The Bible with." This guy knew his shit. For instance when I would reference a story he could tell me the book and the chapter. That is how good he was. I felt like I had picked a fight with the skinnest nerdiest white kid I could find only to find out he was a quadruple black belt in, "FucYu up." To my shagrin he was knowledgable but did not force his opinions on me. For instance we talked about Exodus and Leviticus and how the rules in there were practical for the survival of the people in there quest in the desert. I agreed on some aspects of his arguement and argued my points of thematic value of story and the integration of societal laws as a method of government and control. All the while the third guy sat there in silence shaking his head periodically, and nodding even less. Come to find out that the guy I had been talking to left the church in college to become and atheist and is now going back to a presbetirian chuch as an adult living here in Bozeman. So fourty five minutes later we end up having exit the suana for risk of heat stroke. He recommened a book called The Message a contemporary translation of The Bible. So all in all I was pleased with the outcome; no punches were thrown, no yelling ensued, actually the whole thing ended with a hand shake.

Psalm 51 and Allegri's Miserere

After hearing the piece in class last week I went out (iTunes) and bought a version of Allegri's Miserere. The version that I purchased was that performed by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge (recorded in 1997). This version is much clearer than the more famous 1964 recording but lacked that really hair raising high C that we hear in the 1964 performance. The Cambridge choir does have the High C as part of the music however it just doesn't go to that breaking point that is so moving in the older recording. None the less the piece I purchased is still quite moving. That friday I sat down to do some homework which included reading Psalm 51, and as I read this I was listening to Allegri's Miserere. I read the Psalm and sat there with the Miserere Mei, Deus (Psalm 51) on repeat. I must have sat there for twenty minutes listening to the song. I was moved, I was in awe, I was speechless. Later that same day in the afternoon I went to my usual afternoon meeting (AA). Mind you up this point my day had been what I call typical not bad but not terribly exciting either. So the meeting continues as usual, people are speaking and saying useful things but nothing particularly revolutionary. Then as a person is sharing I start to tear up, then before you know it I start to cry. I start to cry in public out of nowhere. I am thinking what the he'll is happening to me? I ended up staying the course and sitting through the rest of the meeting instead of ducking out tail between my legs. People asked me what was up and I literally replied, "In all honesty I am fine". I ended up going for a walk to reflect. And what I came to realize is that I had come to terms at that moment with how fucked up my life had become and that I was the result, and that only a greater power than myself could restore me to sanity. I literally had a spiritual experience. What I think led to such moment of self realization was Allegri's Miserere. I honestly feel that the music had somehow found a chink in my emotional and rational armor making me vulnerable or susceptible to feelings and perceptions that I had defended against for so long and so furiously. Now this may sound extreme, farfetched, nuts, and impossible but it is what happened. This is the power of the word. Maybe Frye is right.