Eve Arthur - Sacred music

I've really enjoyed hearing the various examples of sacred communication through music, from contemporary to archaic, acapello to instrumentally enriched. It was also enlightening to note that the way in which one refers to the Divine affects whether a true connection is made. When one sings directly to the Divine (using the term "you") a holy union is formed; alternatively, when one refers to a deity by a certain name, the singer separates him or herself from the wholly other. In World Music Ensemble, we were instructed in Indian classical music. Our first lesson was about Rag Bhairav, a distinct collection of notes that, when sung in the ascending order, was symbolic of the sun (to some considered as Krishna) rising in the early morning. We also learned two spiritual songs written by Tagure: "Tomar holo shooroo" and "Orey grihabaashi." The first of these, based on the Raag Yaman (Yaman=god of death), exhibits a dualistic philosophy. The contrasts of light and dark, loneliness and companionship, land and sea, fear and courage are poetically incorporated into the piece. "Orey grihabaashi" is a devotional folk song about the coming of spring and the emergence of new life. The song is light-hearted and a lot of fun to sing! The song begins (translated from Bengali), "Oh you housebound people, open your doors, spring has struck! On land, on water, and in the woods, spring has struck." My favorite part of the song goes:

On the southern breeze comes the murmur of insects
Butterflies are fluttering between the blades of grass
Bumblebee is taking the nectar from the flowers and offering it to the gods

Eve Arthur - Drum circle

Our campus drum circle was really interesting (and a bit chilly). It was a great experience, and the structure was different from how I typically view such an event. My friends (Peso!) and I attend drum circle in Norfolk whenever we are able, at a little eclectic pagan shop called Mystic Moon. Held on monday nights, drum circle at the Moon is a gathering of some of the most animated characters you'll ever meet. There are two distinct crowds: the drummers and dancers, who are there to truly participate in the intended ritual, and the social types, who mainly come to hang out, chat, and smoke. The purpose of drum circle is to raise energy for healing, through the feet of the dancers and the hands of the drummers. At a point where high energy is present within the circle, Brian (an owner of the Moon and facilitator of drum circle and other magickal events) enters the space and reads off a list of names to whom the healing is directed. After voicing the names of our loved ones, Brian casts the list into the flames of the central fire, and the participants all hoot and holler to send the energies to those in need.

It was strange to participate in a drum circle where the use of vocal chords was taboo. I especially liked the concept of switching instruments - it seemed to suggest non-attachment, and at the same time inter-connectedness with the people around us and the earth beneath us. I'd like to know the significance of circling twice around the space - was this of dualistic meaning? I hope we have more drum circles in the future, I really like doing interactive, kinetic activities. It was good to see Kelly again too after the Maine trip (and the progress of his facial hair).

Eve Arthur - Utopia

Last week in my Ancient and Medieval Philosophy class we discussed Thomas More's "Utopia". In this work, More describes his image of a "perfect" world - in which his citizens operate under a communistic society. In More's utopia, crime is a symptom of maleducation, and should not be considered the victim's fault. Stealing should be punished with work, not death; similarly, all crimes should be rectified with the delinquent's participation in an arduous activity that taught some sort of moral lesson. Any religion was tolerated in Utopia, as long as the individual believed in something. No person owned private property, and citizens would "swap" occupations with one another each day. Curiously, no child would be taught their parent's true identity.

At the culmination of the class we were asked to consider our own view of Utopia, and whether it was more important for men to be free or equal. Personally, I would rather let man live free. The sustainable continuation of nature on this planet depends fully on strife. One species will compete with another for survival until this process is no longer necessary. In my version of Utopia, the population of homo sapiens would be at least 5.6 billion less. Humans would revert to a nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and more reverance would be held for the earth. We would no longer produce substances that could not be completely decomposed, reused, and regenerated by the earth, nor would we develop medicines and methods to prevent death. All species suffer disease (and sometimes predation) because it is a natural form of population control. We are the only species that has developed ways to prevent this, and look where it has brought us: overpopulation, starvation, povertyv - earth-mother annihilation.

Eve Arthur - More on Berkley's "what is"

I wrote this as an introduction to a paper submitted for my Ancient and Medieval Philosophy class some time ago. I believe it relates well with Berkley's monistic view of reality.

One sunny Monday at noontime I had the pleasure of sitting with two unpublished philosophers upon cushions of grass and pine needles in the dappled sunshine. Eating a lunch of sweet fruit found previously in the dumpster, we three soon discovered the holiness of reality. We came to realize that while sitting on the grass in the sunshine, supping on pineapple, that we were really sitting on god, in god, through god, within god, under and above god; eating, speaking, seeing, inhaling, exhaling, pondering, being – God. In this Zen moment we realized that it was only rarely that we tapped into this divinity – usually we missed the holiness of our existence because of supposedly important schedules and tasks. Why are we deemed self-conscious beings, yet still we are so disconnected spiritually? We believe we are elite, superior beings because of our subjectivity, yet we seem to miss the true meaning of what it is to exist here on this plane – now. As one of my philosopher friends speculates, we became more disconnected when we (as humans) came to the decision that we in fact, were god, and everything else in existence was separate and inferior.