With news breaking of Iceland building a temple to old Nordic gods and Hollywoods current love of all things Superhero, the question is surely what is happening?
If God did / does not exist would it be necessary to invent one ?
People are embracing a semi - mythological pantheon of Gods and Goddesses in what appears to be a resurgence of pre - Christianity.
This is generally a sign of a spiritual longing.
It's a good thing - especially in a world where everyone seeks rationalisation - after all, what kind of a world is it where nothing but science and cold functional mechanisms hold sway?
No more magic, no more mists rolling through mysterious valleys and standing stone circles from time immemorial to puzzle and intrigue so many ?
What a sad world it would be... and what a dull race of intelligent but heartless beings we would be.
I don't want to re - ignite the debate on faith which has raged in the wake of the Religion driven massacres around the world.
But I do want to plead the case for mysticism
At least the sort of magic that works hand in hand with science - for instance - Toy Story, a great leap of imagination experienced and loved by many people of all ages -as well as the magical animation Spirited Away and similar fare from Studio Ghibli. These are recent examples of timeless stories, flights of imagination which are wed to incredible technical knowledge (the skills of CG animation).
These seemingly modern tales have their roots in the old spoken word tradition , and contain powerful, eternal moral subtexts.
It appears that these lessons remain to be learned, and are loved every time they are told.
Perhaps there is a great collective unconscious (getting into Carl Jung territory here) or a primal species memory that is triggered when these tales come around.
Heck, even Captain America and the Avengers have a place in this pantheon - as does The Dark Knight himself.
I'm not a huge fan of this current resurgence, but I can see the attraction for many (even if it is just Scarlett Johansson in tight - fitting latex). Cue gratuitous image:
Of course I'm guilty of preaching to the converted here.
It's all too easy to sit around feeling sophisticated and knowledgeable in the first world, where these films - .along with pretty much anything you want to see or learn about , are at our finger tips (or at least a quick tap of the remote and there they are on Netflix / You Tube).
I don't know about anyone else reading this, but I find it incredibly easy to forget that not everyone is patched into the internet.
First World Perception Gap right there.
But that's another story...
If God did / does not exist would it be necessary to invent one ?
People are embracing a semi - mythological pantheon of Gods and Goddesses in what appears to be a resurgence of pre - Christianity.
This is generally a sign of a spiritual longing.
 |
| Mjolnir: Thor's hammer |
No more magic, no more mists rolling through mysterious valleys and standing stone circles from time immemorial to puzzle and intrigue so many ?
What a sad world it would be... and what a dull race of intelligent but heartless beings we would be.
I don't want to re - ignite the debate on faith which has raged in the wake of the Religion driven massacres around the world.
But I do want to plead the case for mysticism
At least the sort of magic that works hand in hand with science - for instance - Toy Story, a great leap of imagination experienced and loved by many people of all ages -as well as the magical animation Spirited Away and similar fare from Studio Ghibli. These are recent examples of timeless stories, flights of imagination which are wed to incredible technical knowledge (the skills of CG animation).
 |
| Japanese poster for Spirited Away |
It appears that these lessons remain to be learned, and are loved every time they are told.
Perhaps there is a great collective unconscious (getting into Carl Jung territory here) or a primal species memory that is triggered when these tales come around.
Heck, even Captain America and the Avengers have a place in this pantheon - as does The Dark Knight himself.
I'm not a huge fan of this current resurgence, but I can see the attraction for many (even if it is just Scarlett Johansson in tight - fitting latex). Cue gratuitous image:
 |
| Any excuse... |
Of course I'm guilty of preaching to the converted here.
It's all too easy to sit around feeling sophisticated and knowledgeable in the first world, where these films - .along with pretty much anything you want to see or learn about , are at our finger tips (or at least a quick tap of the remote and there they are on Netflix / You Tube).
I don't know about anyone else reading this, but I find it incredibly easy to forget that not everyone is patched into the internet.
First World Perception Gap right there.
But that's another story...
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