I have lately been reading A Question of Time by Verlyn Flieger which discusses among other texts the text of J. W. Dunne An Experiment with Time. This work is an experiment dealing with dreams and time. J. W. Dunne conducted an experiment in which he would record his dreams the moment he woke up and discovered that dreams would happen later in life. He thought that dreaming was a way to get out of the time of this world and flit in and out more freely between times. This could be the distant or near past or future.
Now for some perspective, the work An Experiment with Time was written in 1929 and the film The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939.
The film has a dream sequence that is not present in the original text by L. Frank Baum. In the movie Dorothy falls asleep and dreams the land of Oz. In the book Oz is a real place and Dorothy visits the land frequently and eventually settles there. Now this would not be unusual except for the fact that time and dreams were already being played with and manipulated in literature and science (as in J. W. Dunne). So it is interesting that the mode used to make Oz more believable was a dream, the very mode to actually visit Oz at the time.
I think there is a connection between the movie and the text. I think that the film was adapted to make it more believable for the time period. I also think that the dream frame that the movie used follows closely Dunne's experiment and had influence on the film.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Of Faerie, Theology, Philosophy, and Literature - Post 5
My last post in this series is on heaven. I don't actually know what it will be like there, but there are some ideas I have had.
The Christian view of heaven is like a snapshot, to see heaven through a clear window. It is a visual view of heaven. Faerie is only a blurry picture, like an impressionist painting or a seal in wax. It captures not a view of heaven, but a feel of heaven. What little can be felt in mortal lands.
Heaven is like a glistening gemstone, but from here you can only see one facet at a time. One facet is faerie. I fancy that some of the others could be music, theology, and others. The whole vision I can not glimpse of even concive. Death is required for that.
Enjoy reading on your own. I think my next posts will be in relation of online courses by The Tolkien Professor.
The Christian view of heaven is like a snapshot, to see heaven through a clear window. It is a visual view of heaven. Faerie is only a blurry picture, like an impressionist painting or a seal in wax. It captures not a view of heaven, but a feel of heaven. What little can be felt in mortal lands.
Heaven is like a glistening gemstone, but from here you can only see one facet at a time. One facet is faerie. I fancy that some of the others could be music, theology, and others. The whole vision I can not glimpse of even concive. Death is required for that.
Enjoy reading on your own. I think my next posts will be in relation of online courses by The Tolkien Professor.
Of Faerie, Theology, Philosophy, and Literature - Post 4
The reason such absurdities as Chrisitianity and Faerie work is because of Paradox. Christianity as Chesterton displays is a great and wonderful paradox. That Christ was the the fiercest pessimist because the world needed to be changed and yet the greatest optomist to know it could be changed to what it ought to be. Just as a mother is willing to punish her child in hopes that he will change, knowing he cannot make that change on his own.
Knowing all this Paradox of Chestertons let us apply it to faerie. Christianity in its example and literary wealth is the history. It speaks of his great and terrible love and power. Faerie is the poetry of the Christian's heart. In faerie you can feel the terror and fear of the wrath of the lord, and yet you can also feel the unbridled joy and love of him. Christianity is the history, Faerie is the poetry. They are different facets of a view to him.
These facets Christianity and Faerie are however both incomplete. All facets are incomplete in this life. Because the greatest paradox of all is that we must die to live. As Chesterton states to seek life with vigor and treasure it, and yet give it up gladly without coveting more.
One of my favorite people in history is Joan of Arc. She was one such person, she chose a path to follow and went down it like a thunderbolt. She did more in life than many and she died doing that.
If you are lost in this post read Chesterton's Orthodoxy, a great read, and almost all of this post is from him. He says it better than I do.
Knowing all this Paradox of Chestertons let us apply it to faerie. Christianity in its example and literary wealth is the history. It speaks of his great and terrible love and power. Faerie is the poetry of the Christian's heart. In faerie you can feel the terror and fear of the wrath of the lord, and yet you can also feel the unbridled joy and love of him. Christianity is the history, Faerie is the poetry. They are different facets of a view to him.
These facets Christianity and Faerie are however both incomplete. All facets are incomplete in this life. Because the greatest paradox of all is that we must die to live. As Chesterton states to seek life with vigor and treasure it, and yet give it up gladly without coveting more.
One of my favorite people in history is Joan of Arc. She was one such person, she chose a path to follow and went down it like a thunderbolt. She did more in life than many and she died doing that.
If you are lost in this post read Chesterton's Orthodoxy, a great read, and almost all of this post is from him. He says it better than I do.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Of Faerie, Theology, Philosophy, and Literature - Post 3
Now there is a similar argument between Christianity and Faerie as there is between Beauty and Deception. On first glance one would think they are at odds with each other in name. We do have those who are christian who refuse to enact such faerie things as Santa Claus, and we have those who support them whole heartedly. Again we have an argument. Does Faerie help or hinder Christianity? Now lets just examine for a moment that it did hinder Christianity. I can think of some extreme examples. For example wishing for faerie to be real could distract a person from the more important fact to follow the greatest commandment to love the Lord your God. It is possible that we can be swayed by even the most virtuous things to break that command. However, I think it is more likely that the man absorbed in faerie will find its reality is Christianity. All those years they spent trying to find faerie they find that the world of faerie is Heaven. That all the great terror and beauty of faerie comes from no one less than God himself.
Now I have read or heard some quotes over the years that could help better portray this argument.
"Children need something as fantastical to believe in as Santa Claus otherwise how will they accept something so fantastical as the Son of God rising from the dead." This is a quote from my father and his take on this argument. Even though someday children find out the truth about Santa Claus they can search long and hard for the truth behind Christ's death and resurrection. What they will find though is the truth that it is true. Which leads me to by next quote by C. S. Lewis, "You must be careful what you read to remain Atheist." This is an argument C. S. Lewis expounds on in his own works that to be an Atheist the majority of all humanity in all history has to be wrong for Atheism to be true. If you continue to read and argue with the old texts you will find yourself up against arguments for which you have no answer, and you will be in danger of believing.
Now I have read or heard some quotes over the years that could help better portray this argument.
"Children need something as fantastical to believe in as Santa Claus otherwise how will they accept something so fantastical as the Son of God rising from the dead." This is a quote from my father and his take on this argument. Even though someday children find out the truth about Santa Claus they can search long and hard for the truth behind Christ's death and resurrection. What they will find though is the truth that it is true. Which leads me to by next quote by C. S. Lewis, "You must be careful what you read to remain Atheist." This is an argument C. S. Lewis expounds on in his own works that to be an Atheist the majority of all humanity in all history has to be wrong for Atheism to be true. If you continue to read and argue with the old texts you will find yourself up against arguments for which you have no answer, and you will be in danger of believing.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Of Faerie, Theology, Philosophy, and Literature - Post 2
I know that the idea that faerie is real is a bit of a stretch for most. In my studies of science, that I love, and other studies to the modern mind faerie seems a far fetched concept. Despite this I am going to explore the idea anyway because in my studies I have found it makes perfect sense. Science by the discovery of the Higgs Boson and the Higgs field have already laid the ground work for other worlds to exist. More important than the scientific argument is the philosophical argument that is historically important to understanding all this.
Across literature there has been excellent cases for both sides of an age old argument. Is beauty at odds with truth? Is beauty merely the sugar coating for something more sinister. Now historically this applied to any work that was not non fiction. In particular poetry took a heavy beating in being deceptive. Others argued that they were not at odds but were amplifiers of each other. Beauty was the way to tell people what they really needed to know without throwing the philosophical principles in their face. You see this in theology as well, that is what parables do. Now the two sides may dicker back and forth because they come from one view. A man will look at a piece of literature and base his decision on weather it is true or false purely on its beauty. That is probably foolish, at least to the modern mind. I think that if a person does not expect beauty to be true or false any deception will make itself clear and all that will be left is the truth augmented and relatable. In short you base your decision on content not beauty.
Lets think of it this way C.S. Lewis gives a good example of this concept. As a child you read school stories and fairy tales. You don't expect the world to be like the fairy tales you expect it to be like the school stories. What it turns out to be is that school is very different from the school stories and the fairy tales were more honest about life. I guess more clearly stated you find out what is true not through stories so much as you do by experience. Your experience brings out the points in the stories that are true.
Across literature there has been excellent cases for both sides of an age old argument. Is beauty at odds with truth? Is beauty merely the sugar coating for something more sinister. Now historically this applied to any work that was not non fiction. In particular poetry took a heavy beating in being deceptive. Others argued that they were not at odds but were amplifiers of each other. Beauty was the way to tell people what they really needed to know without throwing the philosophical principles in their face. You see this in theology as well, that is what parables do. Now the two sides may dicker back and forth because they come from one view. A man will look at a piece of literature and base his decision on weather it is true or false purely on its beauty. That is probably foolish, at least to the modern mind. I think that if a person does not expect beauty to be true or false any deception will make itself clear and all that will be left is the truth augmented and relatable. In short you base your decision on content not beauty.
Lets think of it this way C.S. Lewis gives a good example of this concept. As a child you read school stories and fairy tales. You don't expect the world to be like the fairy tales you expect it to be like the school stories. What it turns out to be is that school is very different from the school stories and the fairy tales were more honest about life. I guess more clearly stated you find out what is true not through stories so much as you do by experience. Your experience brings out the points in the stories that are true.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Of Faerie, Theology, Philosophy, and Literature - Post 1
I have longed to write a book on what I feel the importance of all four of these traits is and how they are connected. Sadly I lack the time. So here I begin my blog of what all of this so very importantly means.
Many of you are probably familiar with fairy tales and the versions presented by Disney and in story books. Those fairy tales are full of magic and miraculous happenings. This is not the end of faerie it is not even the surface. Many tales written reveal much more. "The Faerie Queen" by Sir Edwin Spencer is a wonderful classic example. There is a deep wonder revealed. The tale itself is a journey, you cannot predict the ending...in fact the ending almost is a minor feature to the breadth and glory of the tale. The world of Faerie is terribly treacherous and so beautiful. The trait of Faerie is that if it loses its treachery it looses its beauty. Much later this is presented the many stories of George McDonald. His stories of "Phantasies" and "Lilith" are also excellent portrayals of Faerie. You feel in the tale as if you are standing on the brink of something so breathless and vast that you feel guilty of your own flawed mortality. For Faerie is and always will be the land of immortals until we are immortal we will not belong.
I do not pretend to be an expert on this subject though, I am merely well read in its field. There are several who have studied it much more than I. J.R.R. Tolkien has written an essay on the subject called "Tree and Leaf." It contains an essay and most importantly a short story. The short story is called "Leaf by Niggle" and it precisely portrays the Land of Faerie. If you seek a scholastic study on the subject he is the author I would recommend.
There is one expansion on his ideas that he did not say that I wish to make. Professor Tolkien makes the distinction that the story is not real because your ideas of belief are suspended, but because it operates in a world with its own rules and follows them. As long as it follows its own rules you will believe. I feel that it is greater still. If the spell is so easily broken by not following an unspoken rule then how do we see the world of faerie beyond the fairy tales? Wouldn't the spell be broken, and therefore we lose our glimpse of what Faerie is? Yet it remains after Cinderella's third ball and lingers in our minds.
Now we have a couple options. Faerie is imaginary and exists only in tales as a tool for concealing good or evil. Now if it is concealing evil we have a very big problem on our hands, but I think this is not the case. I have never heard of a real man who was evil who proclaimed the words of any of these fairy tales. I have heard good men amuse and delight with them, some very successfully like Walt Disney. But even the good in the fairy tales is not really the whole point or the bones of the tale. The bones lie in the fact that something in the story is alive on its own. We don't write good into a fairy tale, it exists because it must. We don't write evil into a tale, it exists on its own. We cannot force faerie to be one way or another. It exists in the head of every man as a specific thing that is true for all. Faerie is real.
If you wish to study on your own here is a recommended reading list from easy to difficult.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Phantasies by George McDonald
Lilith by George McDonald
The Back of the North Wind by George McDonald
The Faerie Queen by Sir Edwin Spencer
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Non Fiction
Of Other Worlds by CSLewis
Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim
A Question of Time by Verlyn Flieger
Orthodoxy by Chresterton
Just remember this is a starting point many of these tales are a gradual reading. You may read a while, put it down for a month or two and come back to it. Faerie is not easy but it is miraculous to behold. You also may discover one book leads to another that I have not listed, that is the way it should be, a natural discovery of a natural thing.
Many of you are probably familiar with fairy tales and the versions presented by Disney and in story books. Those fairy tales are full of magic and miraculous happenings. This is not the end of faerie it is not even the surface. Many tales written reveal much more. "The Faerie Queen" by Sir Edwin Spencer is a wonderful classic example. There is a deep wonder revealed. The tale itself is a journey, you cannot predict the ending...in fact the ending almost is a minor feature to the breadth and glory of the tale. The world of Faerie is terribly treacherous and so beautiful. The trait of Faerie is that if it loses its treachery it looses its beauty. Much later this is presented the many stories of George McDonald. His stories of "Phantasies" and "Lilith" are also excellent portrayals of Faerie. You feel in the tale as if you are standing on the brink of something so breathless and vast that you feel guilty of your own flawed mortality. For Faerie is and always will be the land of immortals until we are immortal we will not belong.
I do not pretend to be an expert on this subject though, I am merely well read in its field. There are several who have studied it much more than I. J.R.R. Tolkien has written an essay on the subject called "Tree and Leaf." It contains an essay and most importantly a short story. The short story is called "Leaf by Niggle" and it precisely portrays the Land of Faerie. If you seek a scholastic study on the subject he is the author I would recommend.
There is one expansion on his ideas that he did not say that I wish to make. Professor Tolkien makes the distinction that the story is not real because your ideas of belief are suspended, but because it operates in a world with its own rules and follows them. As long as it follows its own rules you will believe. I feel that it is greater still. If the spell is so easily broken by not following an unspoken rule then how do we see the world of faerie beyond the fairy tales? Wouldn't the spell be broken, and therefore we lose our glimpse of what Faerie is? Yet it remains after Cinderella's third ball and lingers in our minds.
Now we have a couple options. Faerie is imaginary and exists only in tales as a tool for concealing good or evil. Now if it is concealing evil we have a very big problem on our hands, but I think this is not the case. I have never heard of a real man who was evil who proclaimed the words of any of these fairy tales. I have heard good men amuse and delight with them, some very successfully like Walt Disney. But even the good in the fairy tales is not really the whole point or the bones of the tale. The bones lie in the fact that something in the story is alive on its own. We don't write good into a fairy tale, it exists because it must. We don't write evil into a tale, it exists on its own. We cannot force faerie to be one way or another. It exists in the head of every man as a specific thing that is true for all. Faerie is real.
If you wish to study on your own here is a recommended reading list from easy to difficult.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Phantasies by George McDonald
Lilith by George McDonald
The Back of the North Wind by George McDonald
The Faerie Queen by Sir Edwin Spencer
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Non Fiction
Of Other Worlds by CSLewis
Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim
A Question of Time by Verlyn Flieger
Orthodoxy by Chresterton
Just remember this is a starting point many of these tales are a gradual reading. You may read a while, put it down for a month or two and come back to it. Faerie is not easy but it is miraculous to behold. You also may discover one book leads to another that I have not listed, that is the way it should be, a natural discovery of a natural thing.
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