They took him along to where seven trees stood in a row. They were enormous, older than the Vedas, and had survived four dissolutions of the universe. Their branches swept the heavens. No one, not even Brahma, could measure the distance between the top and bottom of these trees.Rama stood in front of the seven trees and twanged his bow string, the resonance echoing through all the hills and valleys. Then Rama took out an arrow and shot it through not only the trunks of the seven trees but also through the seven worlds, and the seven seas, and all things in seven; and then it returned to its starting point in the quiver.
mythology
How Long is an Eternity?
Apr 27, 2021(edit)
How to Be More Spiritual
Aug 21, 2020(edit)
I had an epiphany while writing last week’s article: I want to be more spiritual and explore it in my art and writing. I don’t actually want to do this because talking about spirituality is…icky. But then I asked myself, “What’s the point of ‘following my bliss’ if I just turn around at the first sign of fear?” How do you become more spiritual? In this article, I share the approach that I’m learning from the books of psychoanalyst James Hollis and comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.… View More
There are two things that one should never talk about: politics and religion. I’m breaking that rule today. As I “follow my bliss,” I’m grudgingly realizing that I need to explore spirituality in my art and writing. I really don’t want to. Because, well, of the first sentence of this article. It was with great trepidation that I kept reading James Hollis’s book, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (affiliate link). In his view, the two main tasks during the second half of life are recovering a personal authority and discovering a personal spirituality. I already wrote about personal authority in part 1, so this article will focus on spirituality.… View More
Coronavirus Preparations & Nature of Life
Mar 23, 2020(edit)
Coronavirus preparations at home and what mythology has to say about the battle with the coronavirus.… View More
From Raw Material to Dream
Jun 24, 2019(edit)
Photography has a disadvantage of being based on reality. Something has to be in front of the camera for a photograph to result. If this is a negative, why is photography my chosen medium? For precisely the same reason—that photography is based on reality.… View More
Is there room for mythology in the 21st century
May 28, 2019(edit)
Joseph Campbell tells us that mythology had four functions: cosmological, social, eliciting a sense of awe, and psychological. One of these haven’t been replaced by something created by humankind. Which one? The cosmological function explains how the universe was created. In Greek mythology for example, out of the void (referred to as Chaos) came the… View More
The Artist’s Journey by Steven Pressfield
Sep 19, 2018(edit)
I love Steven Pressfield. His book, The War of Art, is the best book I’ve found that describes the internal struggle some artists face when creating new work. It certainly describes my struggle. The procrastination, the second-guessing, the indecision… View More
Following the Path That is No Path
Aug 4, 2014(edit)
The nights of the King Arthur’s court were seated at a table and Arthur would not let the meal be served until an adventure had occurred. And, indeed, an adventure did occur. The Grail itself appeared, carried by angelic miracle, covered, however, by a cloth. Everyone was in rapture and then it… View More