Form and substance are a duality with many names. They may be called truth and good, wisdom and love, or light and heat. I was thinking of how one could describe form and substance.
There are many easy analogies, one can think of blueprints to a house. the design precedes the building, it outlines and gives form to a use. the blueprints give specific form to a specific concept of shelter. The form may be simplistic like a child's box drawing, or as complex as . A form separate from any substance could only describe geometric shapes, but never make art.
Substance is like the lumber waiting to be built. it is potential energy, or perhaps like the flame of fire. Substance can be as mild and calm as a breath, a flicker, or as powerful as a volcanic eruption. A substance separate from any form could only describe raw elements like fire/water/air/earth but never give them function.
Form is never completely isolated from substance anywhere but in the mind. All of physical reality is the final product of the cohabitation of form and substance. Light the principle example of this duality. In science it is called a wave/particle duality. Light illuminates form for the eye to see, and warms substance for the body to live.
In a spiritual way form and substance may be expressed as wisdom and love. But Mr. Swedenborg expresses the idea better than I do so I'll just quote him here:
DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM ARE SUBSTANCE AND ARE FORM. The idea of men in general about love and about wisdom is that they are like something hovering and floating in thin air or ether or like what exhales from something of this kind. Scarcely any one believes that they are really and actually substance and form. Even those who recognize that they are substance and form still think of the love and the wisdom as outside the subject and as issuing from it. For they call substance and form that which they think of as outside the subject and as issuing from it, even though it be something hovering and floating; not knowing that love and wisdom are the subject itself, and that what is perceived outside of it and as hovering and floating is nothing but an appearance of the state of the subject in itself. There are several reasons why this has not hitherto been seen, one of which is, that appearances are the first things out of which the human mind forms its understanding, and these appearances the mind can shake off only by the exploration of the cause; and if the cause lies deeply hidden, the mind can explore it only by keeping the understanding for a long time in spiritual light; and this it cannot do by reason of the natural light which continually withdraws it. The truth is, however, that love and wisdom are the real and actual substance and form that constitute the subject itself. [DLW 40]
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
A thought on world-building
Designing an internally consistent fantasy world is easy if it is a tiny world, and if it follows the same rules of common sense as our regular world. Worlds become more difficult to maintain as they expand and elucidate details. To maintain in this sense is to retain verisimilitude and the sense of immersion.
There are two general patterns I have observed. First, as the world becomes more fantastic, one must progressively move out of familiarity and thus out of verisimilitude. Second, and in like manner, as the world becomes more complex it becomes more rigid and unable to expand.
You see evidence of the first in Tolkien's middle earth, where, the most fantastic/grand elements are the most shrouded in mystery. Such as Gandalf, Sauron, and the rings themselves. The most mundane are painstakingly detailed. Such as Hobbits, and the genealogies of characters. He has done this to keep the fantasy world grounded in a familiar setting. The same is true of our world where the same is evident. The psyche and dreams are very mysterious, as are the nature of meaning and being.
The second is a re-statement of the first observation, really. As elements of a fantasy world are explained and given a definite place, they lose their sense of the fantastic. The more a fantasy world is explained the more mundane it becomes. The extreme case being that everything gets explained and the fantasy becomes completely mundane. This pattern too is present in our world. We see that in a naive person the world is magical and inexplicable, however in a cynical person everything is "nothing but" a cause and effect.
What the great world-builder must do to satisfy his audience is to maintain a balance of fantasy and familiar. This is the case in the great stories we love, even outside the fantasy genre. The author must always know something we do not, but he gives us some clues to help us try and figure it out.
The same is true in our world. Our experience of life is grounded in the mundane, yet meaning and motivation are always glimpsed but never grasped. The author of our lives knows something we do not, but gives us clues to help us press onward.
There are two general patterns I have observed. First, as the world becomes more fantastic, one must progressively move out of familiarity and thus out of verisimilitude. Second, and in like manner, as the world becomes more complex it becomes more rigid and unable to expand.
You see evidence of the first in Tolkien's middle earth, where, the most fantastic/grand elements are the most shrouded in mystery. Such as Gandalf, Sauron, and the rings themselves. The most mundane are painstakingly detailed. Such as Hobbits, and the genealogies of characters. He has done this to keep the fantasy world grounded in a familiar setting. The same is true of our world where the same is evident. The psyche and dreams are very mysterious, as are the nature of meaning and being.
The second is a re-statement of the first observation, really. As elements of a fantasy world are explained and given a definite place, they lose their sense of the fantastic. The more a fantasy world is explained the more mundane it becomes. The extreme case being that everything gets explained and the fantasy becomes completely mundane. This pattern too is present in our world. We see that in a naive person the world is magical and inexplicable, however in a cynical person everything is "nothing but" a cause and effect.
What the great world-builder must do to satisfy his audience is to maintain a balance of fantasy and familiar. This is the case in the great stories we love, even outside the fantasy genre. The author must always know something we do not, but he gives us some clues to help us try and figure it out.
The same is true in our world. Our experience of life is grounded in the mundane, yet meaning and motivation are always glimpsed but never grasped. The author of our lives knows something we do not, but gives us clues to help us press onward.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
going into the field
Reading: [Heaven and Hell 197]
In the Word, places and times correspond to changes of state.
I'm working alongside a friend on changing our states of mind. More precisely, our perceptions and affects regarding an ideal woman. Our ideals say a great many things about ourselves, and when we investigate and refine these ideals, we learn about ourselves.
A few nights ago I had a dream, in the dream i was given the advice:
"Marry not the woman she is now, but the woman she is to become."
This gives some important clues.
If you think about the qualities of a person that change, physical features are not what one thinks of. So, in short, don't marry her for her body.
If you are thinking of a future state of being for an ideal woman, one should also disregard whims of the moment, current preoccupations. She won't fit your present lifestyle.
If you are going to marry the woman, it is for life, so you had better plan ahead. She is to become a wife, perhaps a mother, and you are to become a husband, perhaps a father. Plan accordingly.
If you marry the woman for who she is to become, you had better realize that does not mean who you want her to become. You will be delightfully surprised or very disappointed depending on how a real person matches up with any expectations you may have. This means your ideals must be reasonable, and grounded in character traits that will improve over time.
The reflective restatement of the advice from the dream would be:
"Marry not as you are now, but as the man you are to become."
In the Word, places and times correspond to changes of state.
I'm working alongside a friend on changing our states of mind. More precisely, our perceptions and affects regarding an ideal woman. Our ideals say a great many things about ourselves, and when we investigate and refine these ideals, we learn about ourselves.
A few nights ago I had a dream, in the dream i was given the advice:
"Marry not the woman she is now, but the woman she is to become."
This gives some important clues.
If you think about the qualities of a person that change, physical features are not what one thinks of. So, in short, don't marry her for her body.
If you are thinking of a future state of being for an ideal woman, one should also disregard whims of the moment, current preoccupations. She won't fit your present lifestyle.
If you are going to marry the woman, it is for life, so you had better plan ahead. She is to become a wife, perhaps a mother, and you are to become a husband, perhaps a father. Plan accordingly.
If you marry the woman for who she is to become, you had better realize that does not mean who you want her to become. You will be delightfully surprised or very disappointed depending on how a real person matches up with any expectations you may have. This means your ideals must be reasonable, and grounded in character traits that will improve over time.
The reflective restatement of the advice from the dream would be:
"Marry not as you are now, but as the man you are to become."
Friday, January 23, 2015
The Tree of Life2015
We have shared the soil since we were transplanted
The very third day amid the sudden garden
Standing above the seed of every flowering thing
Withholding our abundance from all save Elohim
Alas, I became known before the time was ripe
dehydration, I withered and was barren
A fallen bough has broken our former symmetry
Desolated I lie below your verdant branches
All I pray for now is that you would graft me on
a branch seeking succor from your living roots
The perennial in focus, lifting arms to heaven
Calling down lightning from the swollen sky
I cannot contend that our forest should be spared
Thickets crackle screaming as they timorously combust
The undergrowth stayed unchecked for many generations
Now bone dry drought parches the compass rivers
I will not pretend that our forest can be spared
For the wind is mighty and the flame all-consuming
All I pray for now is that you would graft me on
a branch seeking sap from your bleeding roots
All I pray for now is that you would graft me on
a branch seeking succor from your living roots
All I pray for now is that you would graft me on
a branch seeking sap from your bleeding roots
Why dream?
It's the secret of our tribe that we don't need to hide since there is no one believing. - Advena
I was going to write up a post about a dream I had, and my interpretation. But I'm over it. Anyone who wants to learn to interpret their dreams just has to start trying and eventually you will start figuring it out. You don't need someone else to figure it out for you, what you really need is to care enough to remember your dream and give it some thought.
But why are dreams even worth investigation? Lots of people have nightmares, or "don't dream" at all. They need it more than space cadets like me. Your dreams are where you spend a THIRD of your ENTIRE LIFE! When your body dies, that dream world wakes up and becomes part of your waking reality. Of course that is the general rule, but its very much worth figuring out.
Did you know that most of us out there are sleepwalkers? We wake up, go to the gym, go to work, and think we have left our sleep far behind. But the veil has never completely lifted, we always have one foot in heaven and the other in hell. partway dipped in the river styx.
I don't believe this I know it. I don't need to hide from myself or from the Lord. He made me and sustains my life, when I sleep He hovers over me, over the deep. Don't hide from yourself, don't hide from God. Though your dreams may terrify you. And standing in the sun, going towards the light is burning you to ashes. Still He will preserve what is left and cultivate you. After all, ashes make great fertilizer, and what are we but soil?
I was going to write up a post about a dream I had, and my interpretation. But I'm over it. Anyone who wants to learn to interpret their dreams just has to start trying and eventually you will start figuring it out. You don't need someone else to figure it out for you, what you really need is to care enough to remember your dream and give it some thought.
But why are dreams even worth investigation? Lots of people have nightmares, or "don't dream" at all. They need it more than space cadets like me. Your dreams are where you spend a THIRD of your ENTIRE LIFE! When your body dies, that dream world wakes up and becomes part of your waking reality. Of course that is the general rule, but its very much worth figuring out.
Did you know that most of us out there are sleepwalkers? We wake up, go to the gym, go to work, and think we have left our sleep far behind. But the veil has never completely lifted, we always have one foot in heaven and the other in hell. partway dipped in the river styx.
I don't believe this I know it. I don't need to hide from myself or from the Lord. He made me and sustains my life, when I sleep He hovers over me, over the deep. Don't hide from yourself, don't hide from God. Though your dreams may terrify you. And standing in the sun, going towards the light is burning you to ashes. Still He will preserve what is left and cultivate you. After all, ashes make great fertilizer, and what are we but soil?
Monday, December 15, 2014
stairwell
I have placed my feet on the landing
lines of sight end at a shut door
a hand fumbling a key ring
a fist pressing an unmoved lock
reluctant legs shoulder stiff hips
echoes ricochet around the well
sore hand leans on a cold rail
just steps to a near-felt rest
something falling down the well
beautifully lit by the stained glass
eye-first down the shaft following
a form, a speck, a black circle
something flapping up the well
rising faster than a turning eye
precedes a wake of fragrant air
a bouquet after the rainstorm
protesting thighs resume active duty
below-foot placed above foot
right-foot hungry for extra steps
a key hungry for its meaning
lines of sight end at a shut door
a hand fumbling a key ring
a fist pressing an unmoved lock
reluctant legs shoulder stiff hips
echoes ricochet around the well
sore hand leans on a cold rail
just steps to a near-felt rest
something falling down the well
beautifully lit by the stained glass
eye-first down the shaft following
a form, a speck, a black circle
something flapping up the well
rising faster than a turning eye
precedes a wake of fragrant air
a bouquet after the rainstorm
protesting thighs resume active duty
below-foot placed above foot
right-foot hungry for extra steps
a key hungry for its meaning
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Jeremiah 2:2
Last night I dreamed I was a young prince. I was betrothed to a princess who was my equal, and I adored her. We were still very nearly children, and we played very often in the company of other children in a big tree house. We had a slumber party, and the next day my princess discovered a drawing on the floor. It was of two shields laying side by side. They were the crests of my house, and that of another girl! This other girl had drawn them there, to symbolize that we had lain with each other. When questioned about it she reinforced this lie, perhaps hoping I would believe it myself and turn to her. My princess however, was furious, she considered the very accusation as proof of guilt. I tried to remember what really happened but was unable to articulate a defense. My blundering only reinforced the seeming of my crime.
I pleaded desperately but to no avail. After that, my princess tried to drive me to others, requesting that I escort her friends about the races, ignored me at parties. We lost contact.
After years apart I heard rumor that she was engaged to another prince. I came to them to discover the engagement was a political affair, she was acting out of duty. I investigated her and the prince, and found no love between them, but neither did i find any thing to besmirch their character. I did not know how to proceed, the only hope I had was to make some grand gesture, a plea on behalf of my everlasting love. While still making a plan, I woke up.
If this dream frustrates you at all, you can imagine how I felt. I wanted my prince vindicated, and my princess safe in my arms. This is the sort of dream a tragedy would be built upon.
Now coincidentally, when I wrote this dream in my journal, I found that the previous entry from some days or weeks ago was this bible verse:
I pleaded desperately but to no avail. After that, my princess tried to drive me to others, requesting that I escort her friends about the races, ignored me at parties. We lost contact.
After years apart I heard rumor that she was engaged to another prince. I came to them to discover the engagement was a political affair, she was acting out of duty. I investigated her and the prince, and found no love between them, but neither did i find any thing to besmirch their character. I did not know how to proceed, the only hope I had was to make some grand gesture, a plea on behalf of my everlasting love. While still making a plan, I woke up.
If this dream frustrates you at all, you can imagine how I felt. I wanted my prince vindicated, and my princess safe in my arms. This is the sort of dream a tragedy would be built upon.
Now coincidentally, when I wrote this dream in my journal, I found that the previous entry from some days or weeks ago was this bible verse:
Jeremiah 2:2
"Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying
Thus sayeth the Lord:
I remember of you, the devotion of your youth
the love of your betrothals
when you went after me in the wilderness
in a land yet unsown."
I am comforted immensely by this. That the Lord is no stranger to this frustration, that my God has endured not only the tragic misunderstanding of a lover scorned like my dream, but He has endured our real infidelity. Yet He still remembers us, in the beginning when we were nothing but potential, as children who adored our true Love. We are remembered still, and still pursued by the Lover of our souls.
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