Re: A clean room for a specific exploration
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:05 pm
When I wrote:
"What I might worry about is that we'd make an exception for a good person who works within Anthroposophy. I know that isn't your intention."
I just meant that in starting with the 'yearning' you pointed to, I want that to include any and everybody. We'd recognize it even when it is trying to get an Anthroposophist to take a break from their favorite reading and maybe check out a person or style of thought that isn't necessarily endorsed from within Anthroposophy.
And then you asked:
"So what are the archetypal phenomenon we can perceive in all story structures, for ex., pointing us towards in your view?"
I just want to be careful about what we might be referring to as 'my view.' In the context of this conversation, my 'viewpoint' has a certain shape, I guess. And since I don't think of a given structure of thought (that exists out in the world) as representing my viewpoint, I'll assume we are talking about the 'kinds of ideas, concerns, interests I'm saying in this conversation.
Okay, if we are on the same page with what I just said, then....I think, perhaps, that when archetypal storytelling presents warnings about leaning onto
very helpful structures for too long or in the wrong contexts....Like when a hero develops a certain skill for very good reason but then doesn't realize that they are creating havoc when using it most of the time. Or when the hero must realize that the very thing (idea, understanding, skill) that got them this far is now exactly what they must let go of. Or when the hero realizes that their resistance to changing something they value has been more of the
problem than the 'problem' itself. And they hand it over to somebody less 'heroic'... Outside of the hero's story, I think archetypal stories present evil as any of the forces that want to over-expand the powerful-yet-delicate balance required of the hero, either into deeply dogmatic structures into into profoundly pleasurable temptations. And, finally, whenever a story can beautifully show that the hero must be transformed in order to continue and that they will look nothing like their previous selves once they let go and accept the change.
Now, my job is to think of my favorite stories and find examples of these things balancing acts Should be fun!
"What I might worry about is that we'd make an exception for a good person who works within Anthroposophy. I know that isn't your intention."
I just meant that in starting with the 'yearning' you pointed to, I want that to include any and everybody. We'd recognize it even when it is trying to get an Anthroposophist to take a break from their favorite reading and maybe check out a person or style of thought that isn't necessarily endorsed from within Anthroposophy.
And then you asked:
"So what are the archetypal phenomenon we can perceive in all story structures, for ex., pointing us towards in your view?"
I just want to be careful about what we might be referring to as 'my view.' In the context of this conversation, my 'viewpoint' has a certain shape, I guess. And since I don't think of a given structure of thought (that exists out in the world) as representing my viewpoint, I'll assume we are talking about the 'kinds of ideas, concerns, interests I'm saying in this conversation.
Okay, if we are on the same page with what I just said, then....I think, perhaps, that when archetypal storytelling presents warnings about leaning onto
very helpful structures for too long or in the wrong contexts....Like when a hero develops a certain skill for very good reason but then doesn't realize that they are creating havoc when using it most of the time. Or when the hero must realize that the very thing (idea, understanding, skill) that got them this far is now exactly what they must let go of. Or when the hero realizes that their resistance to changing something they value has been more of the
problem than the 'problem' itself. And they hand it over to somebody less 'heroic'... Outside of the hero's story, I think archetypal stories present evil as any of the forces that want to over-expand the powerful-yet-delicate balance required of the hero, either into deeply dogmatic structures into into profoundly pleasurable temptations. And, finally, whenever a story can beautifully show that the hero must be transformed in order to continue and that they will look nothing like their previous selves once they let go and accept the change.
Now, my job is to think of my favorite stories and find examples of these things balancing acts Should be fun!