Heroes and Mystics 2025

 I recently read Kerouac's On the Road , and I thought I might draw parallels between the character of Enkidu and the character of Dean Moriarty. To start, I'd better summarize. In The Epic of Gilgamesh , Enkidu is a character created by the gods to be a sort of equal and opposite power to Gilgamesh-- Gilgamesh is too energetic for the people of Uruk to handle, so the gods make Enkidu to divert his exertions. Though they wrestle at first, the two quickly become friends. Enkidu, who comes from the wild, inspires Gilgamesh to go out into the cedar forest with him and kill a serpent/dragon creature of some sort named Humbaba. After the two insult the goddess Ishtar, Enkidu (spoiler alert) is cursed with some sort of wasting away disease that eventually kills him. In grief, Gilgamesh goes on an adventure to try and find the an escape from death. On the Road is a semi-autobiographical novel, loosely based on Kerouac's adventures on the titular road across America and Mexico. De...

       In Dr. Redick's lecture on the statue of St. Teresa of Avila, he brought up the idea of beauty. We all desire and follow after things we find beautiful. In relation to aesthetic experiences discussed in "Following the Uncharted Way", this desire for beauty draws us towards "the good". However, beauty is not necessarily objective. Different cultures, time periods, and people all have different standards of beauty. Nevertheless, beauty is related to our senses. It is an exterior desire, which incentivizes us to move towards the interior. For example, the beauty of the statue, draws one in to look deeper into the meaning of the art piece. The statue is an artifact created to portray St. Teresa's experience of deep feelings that are felt within the depths of her body, the "bowels of compassion".      Dr. Redick described these "bowels of compassion" as the feeling of "suffering with someone". You feel the feelings so deep tha...

 Water, one of the most ubiquitous elements on Earth, possesses an undeniable power to transform. Its fluid nature mirrors the emotional spectrum, shifting between tranquility and chaos, beauty and destruction. Yet, for many, including myself, water’s vastness and unpredictability evoke fear—particularly when it takes the form of large, foreboding bodies like oceans or waterfalls. As Professor Redick once described, waterfalls are "the vagina of the universe," a phrase that, while peculiar, underscores water’s life-giving and awe-inspiring force. However, the true consciousness that seems to reside in water- its capacity to wield emotions and reflect the violent, viscous nature of weather—remains incomprehensible.  Professor Redick is insane and should not have stuck his hand into the drain of the shower. However, how important his soap was to his life meant that he would reach down into the unknown (the most disgusting water known to man) and say, “It's something, but I ...

            Animals crawl into small places and feel safe. Of course, cats and many other animals do it, but I have never seen anyone love small spaces as much as my dog, Bailey. She is a highly anxiety-ridden dog who craves attention and love constantly. To console herself and feel comfortable when she sleeps, she likes to curl up in the smallest dog bed in the house. She is half hanging from the side of it, yet she remains steadfast in her determination to curl up in our 7-pound dog’s bed. She does this because it brings her comfort. In her way, she is mediating her symptoms through self-regulation and mindfulness.  When these ideas were discussed in class, they reminded me of how individuals react differently to stress. What causes people to prefer certain types of comfort over others?  Some ideas: nurture (raised with those values) nature (genetics) randomness?           In my opinion, what impacts these pref...

Who is your hero?   This is a question I have been asked many times both in interviews and by family and friends. The idea of having a role model or a hero is important in our society. We look up to our heroes, we strive to be like them and live with their morals. Did this idea of a real-life hero stem from fantastical heroes? I think it is in our human nature to look up to those who do something special. Each of our definitions of what a hero is will be different. We all have our own biases and personal experiences that shape who we are and how we view the world around us. For some people, a hero will be someone who is strong and has done acts of bravery. For others, a hero is someone who has shattered the “glass ceiling” and has broken a stigma or stereotype. And again for others, it will be someone who has solved world problems, is a genius in mathematics, or speaks multiple languages to communicate with many different communities. I think you get the point: everyone’s expecta...

 In class we discussed cave paintings in reference to myth and ritual. In previous times, cave paintings are revealed to describe how people once lived. It shows the majority of animals people saw, how they lived, and the myths that date back to such time. From a historical standpoint, cave paintings provide insight into life before it could be recorded on paper. These cave paintings show the most primal of living, and how they lived. In class the paintings that were shown begged the question of myth. Some images rather than depicting an animal as an object among their daily life, it was apart of ritual and spiritual belief. The connection of these animals to rituals, and the action of painting them on particular walls as a sacred action. There was no coincidence in were these paintings were placed or how; these paintings give insight to the myth and ritual that existed then. It gives a nod to the importance of nature that existed among ancient groups of people. These markings were...

People put each other in boxes. Instead, one must give oneself to each other to pass no judgment and show ones authentic self. When we discussed this in class it made me think of a well-known mythological figure, Medusa. Her story is a haunting reflection of how society often punishes survivors instead of holding perpetrators accountable. In mythology, Poseidon’s assault on Medusa in Athena’s temple led to Athena’s wrath—not against Poseidon, but against Medusa herself. Transforming her into a Gorgon with serpentine hair, Athena ensured Medusa would be feared and isolated, a tragic symbol of victim-blaming. Yet, Medusa’s transformation also gave her power. Her gaze could turn men to stone, a metaphorical shield against further harm. For many, she represents resilience and the reclamation of independence and strength in the face of trauma. However, her eventual death at the hands of Perseus underscores the harsh reality that society often silences or destroys those who challenge its nor...

Last weekend, I went to New York City to see a Broadway performance of Hadestown! I went to my local high school theatre department with my mom and boyfriend. I was so privileged to have that opportunity and got to experience so many amazing things. My boyfriend recently auditioned to play Orpheus at a theatre in Richmond, so it was eye-opening to see the depth of the story. He often has different perspectives on society, which is equally frustrating and interesting to discuss. Before seeing Hadestown, by simply relying on the music recordings to interpret meaning, he believed that Eurydice was a greedy golddigger who was in it to flirt with Hades. Seeing her memory through that lens hurt because I wanted him to understand her the way I did, but it made it all the more rewarding to see him learn the truth behind her choices.  From my exploratory essay on Hadestown, you’ll know that the first time the show made me feel angry with Orpheus for his faults. Walking outside the theatre...

Today professor Reddick discussed the idea of poetic vs prosaic. This is the comparison between:  Poetic Writing : Emphasizes rhythm, imagery, and emotional depth. Often uses metaphor, simile, alliteration, and other literary devices. Prosaic Writing : Focuses on clarity, directness, and logical structure. Used in everyday communication, essays, and novels. Essentially the metaphor vs. reality which is a unique concept that we can find in our everyday lives, from breathing and eating to keep the prosaic alive to being creative to keep poetic alive. We need both of these concepts to live and be happy in our lives. For me I find the poetic in looking at the sunset and being glad that I have the ability to see and take in the spectacle that others may not be able to do. Although this is not a necessary concept to living it helps me make it through the day knowing that I have been granted this ability to love the world and that I should use it. In terms of the prosaic, I enjoy going to...

For my thesis project, I was curious about whether I could connect something I enjoyed with something academic. I am a huge horror fan, especially of the found-film type genre. Analog horror is a subgenre of the found-film horror genre. It is inspired by the look of older media such as cassettes and VHS tapes. A common theme in analog horror is the use of liminal spaces. Liminal spaces pertain to the threshold between two things or states of being. These are used to create a sense of unease and uncomfortableness because they are meant to resemble things that are familiar yet also unfamiliar. Because of this, the settings and aesthetics of analog horror that use liminality as a cinematic device often feel familiar and unnerving at the same time. The aesthetic of liminal spaces to make the audience uncomfortable is used in many examples of analog horror. I have included a few examples of how popular analog horror films have used liminal spaces, both physical and metaphysical, to create ...

     Hello again! I was, once again, looking for something to write about when I stumbled upon "Myth Become Fact" and as the resident Atheist in the room, I felt it was my duty to share my perspective for why I think Christianity is a myth like anything else. (I am not trying to say your religion isn't valid. You opinion matters. This is mine tho.)     I think my perspective on religion is decently unique. I view all of them as, in the nicest way possible, fancy fanfiction. What I mean by that is that to me, it looks like a writer took an existing character or archetype, changed them slightly, and put them into a story to explain a message or moral. As an example, take The Odyssey, one of my favorite stories ever. Do I think that Odysseus got help from Gods, fought a witch that turned people into pigs, and visited the underworld? No. Do I think that Odysseus was based on a real person? Yeah. More accurately, I think he he's based on a title (King of Ithaca), and...

 Professor Redick shared the story and video of the robins in winter on his morning walk and it left me puzzled. I love it when animals do strange things, theorizing the reasons behind actions is a fun game I enjoy. From pigeons in New York City, a family walking through Walmart, or robins knocking snow off of a tree, everything has a complicated story hidden within them. I find it so fascinating because today, many people are so absorbed in their lives and are too distracted to take notice of the deeply rooted, outstanding evolution of the plants and animals around them.  During class I had a few questions I needed answered: What makes the robins gather together in flocks? (I only ever see one or two together) Aren’t the fruit of holly trees poisonous? How did they learn to scavenge in this way? From a few searches and articles, I learned that robins gather in flocks and scavenge trees for fruit in the winter. They will pick a tree and then pick it until it is bare and then f...

 I was reading the book of leviticus last night, and came across the quote, "Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:4). The idea of metal gods struck me as eerily reminiscent of the computers our society has come to idolize.  Nowadays, we humans spend far more time on the metal rectangle in our pockets than we do practicing religion, with the average screentime for students my age coming in at 7 to 8 hours per day. Drawing on my previous blog, we follow the moral code our metals gods instill in us, tuning in to agendas on social media, and following the opinions of the people we see in comment sections.  Those with a cellphone addiction, (a genuine majority of the U.S. teenaged population), prioritize their phones above all. Imagine the average teen put half of their screentime hours into productive activites, and the impacts this could have on society.  Most teens, including myself, know they have a problem wit...

Morality can be defined as the standard to which one complies with what it means to be good. For most people, this idea can be sort of second nature. Most people dont want to hurt others or cause problems, and so we must respect the tradition of morality.  When reflecting on what it means to be moral, one will realize that the majority of this code is really something else, to not be immoral. Some parts of immorality are self explanatory and very reasonable to be a part of any moral code. Things like lying, stealing, rape, or murder make sense because they can greatly hurt others.  On the other side of this, some popular elements of immorality are not always so crystal clear. For example, what makes being homosexual immoral, or worthy of guilt? Some would struggle to come with an answer, others would point to the bible.  In this way we can see that the bible is a code of ethics, a construct of morality. It has become deeply rooted in the values of many traditional individ...

Recently, I have performed Gustav Holst’s The Planets as part of a choral ensemble in the last movement: Neptune. Each movement in the piece represents a different planet, with each movement differing from the last. Each movement paints the picture of the planet. Mars, the bringer of war and the first movement in the piece, uses musical techniques and instruments to simulate aggressive tone and almost war-like articulation. Venus is the bringer of peace. Jupiter is the bringer of jollity. Neptune represents the Mystic. All seven movements represent a different planet and each movement paints a different picture of the planet, using musical techniques. The Planets does not have words, even the choral part is only meant to be sung on one vowel (often an open Oh or Ah). Yet, the movements tell a story, coming together to form our universe. I find it very interesting that we can come up with images and stories in our head without the use of words. We can connect instrumental music to cer...

  I believe that being humans means creating stories. Without stories, we would have no music or books. As a child, I remember making up stories about bugs or worms that I saw on the sidewalk. As I grew older, I began writing poetry about things that cannot speak, having a fascination with the context of historical remains and how we can create stories with physical human history. Several years ago, two skeletons were discovered, locked in an embrace at the time of death. These skeletons gained the name: the Hasanlu lovers. Based on the name, it is assumed that there is a story of romance. It is speculated that these skeletons are both male, based on skeletal structure. Are these lovers locked in an endless embrace? What if this was a father and son? What if it was a man and a woman (one who had similar bone structure to a young man)? There are things that we will never know, because these skeletons cannot speak. As we talked about in the beginning of the year, humans communicate...

I wrote my exploratory essay on this topic, however, I want to emphasize the importance of liminality. As we have talked about in class, liminality is used to describe the space between two states. It comes from the Greek word “Limen” meaning “threshold.” Kurt Lewin talked about liminality in terms of managing change in an organization. He talked about unfreezing fixities (norms or values that you previously held) in order to go through change or liminality. The only way to change, is by letting go of things from our previous phase in life in order to accept things in our new way of life. Kurt Lewin wrote this management theory in terms of organizational structure and leadership, however I believe that we can connect this theory to other contexts that pertain to liminality. For example, in my essay, I explored the liminal phase of prisoners in Auschwitz when they first enter the concentration camp. To achieve this, I used Viktor Frankl’s first hand account: Man’s Search for Meaning. ...

 "IT IS THE VAGINA OF THE UNIVERSE."                    -Prof. Kip Redick, on the fourth day of class " PROFESSOR I UNDERSTAND NOW WHAT YOU MEANT ABOUT THE WAYERFALL. WATERNIS SO SPRIITUAL AND RELIGIOUS!! "                    -Me, in an email, in a rush of dopamine after taking a walk in the rain. Listen, when I first heard Professor Redick say that, I thought 'Jesus, this is gonna be our professor?' and wrote him off. Because who would say that being under a waterfall is likened to be the vagina of the universe?  But then I started thinking (which is almost never good) more about it, and I'm starting to go, 'Yeah. This guy's right.' Water is so prevalent in symbolism. It represents being reborn, a change, adapting to your circumstances. It is amazing. When I was a kid, I loved going into the pool and floating. Have you ever done that? Floated in the wat...

 Liminality, as discussed in class, is the phase of being 'in-between' two worlds. In our day-to-day lives, liminality can occur when one is between two things (think: moving houses, changing jobs). It comes with a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety and presents the challenge of adjusting to the new change while still having the mindset of before the change. For me, I experienced liminality in coming to CNU. As a freshman, last August marked the beginning of my adult life when I unloaded my things into my form room. Like other typical liminal phases, I was overwhelmed by feelings of stress concerning my new home and new way of life, and it almost didn't feel real. I existed in a space of uncertainty, where my old routines no longer applied, and new ones had yet to solidify. This feeling persisted for months after coming here, until at some point it began to feel like home. It didn't help with my transition that I was feeling homesick and driving home almost every weeken...

 In class, the discussion of Homo Ludens  and ludic action intrigued me, so I did a little more digging. In 1938, Johan Huizinga wrote a book called  Homo Ludens,  Latin for "the playing man." In the work, he writes about ludic action, which entails any leisurely or playful action we take. He argues that playing is a fundamental aspect of human nature and teaches us valuable discipline and lessons in life.  As children, we come to understand the world around us through playing. Learning games teach us how to count and the ABCs, while simultaneously keeping us engaged. Even in college, as a 19-year-old, I know that no matter how dull and disengaged a class is, the moment a teacher puts a Kahoot code on the board everyone suddenly becomes attentive. It's in our nature to get distracted, and playing can bring out our competitive spirit to give everything our all. I however find this idea most relatable when concerning athletics and sports. Growing up playing sports...

     I know this post may be ridiculously off topic, but I just finished my exploratory paper, and it's been driving me insane with how good the music is in Alien Stage. Once again, if you want to watch alien stage... don't. But, I need to rant because it's so good.     Let's start with what I wrote my paper on, that being the character Ivan and his 3 songs. In my paper, I interpreted Ivan as autistic. And something that autistic people tend to do is something called masking. It refers to when a neurodivergent person pretends to be neurotypical to avoid judgement and discrimination. Now why is this important? Well, I was listening to the instrumentals of his three songs and something stuck out to me. Every single instrument is digital. It's not real. Despite every single other song having live recordings of instruments, his songs are the only ones to be synthesized.  I literally jumped for joy when I found that out. The Ivan the audience sees isn't the real...

 I recently finished reading Tolstoy's War and Peace , and one of the characters has stuck out to me in particular. The character, named Pierre Bezukhov, is a Russian member of high society who inherits a large fortune at the beginning of the book. (Spoiler alert, by the way.) Pierre spends most of the book trying to discover what will make him happy. Getting all that money, for one thing, doesn't. It only causes him more anxiety and doubt-- who to give to? where to spend it? The next thing he tries is getting a wife. However, he finds that he doesn't really like her, and they prefer to be separated. Next, he is recruited into the Freemasons (a religious sort of men's club back in the day), and becomes a devout Christian. He utilizes his newfound morals to try and improve the condition of his serfs, but he isn't a very good businessman so he is largely unsuccessful. But after all this, he isn't truly happy.  Pierre's ultimate form of happiness comes in an un...

       Although this blogger post may look similar to my essay it discusses an entirely different approach to the experiences we have while playing video games. Before spring break, we discussed the idea of flow and how that state allows us to focus and home in on what is going around us while becoming hyper focused on specific concepts of nature. This idea is also apparent in video games as many individuals experience a state in which the outside environment becomes almost an outside world secondary to the game. Much like Professor Redick discusses in the American Camino with the sounds of nature - in the game we can hear our teammates sheathing their swords, pounding boots of our enemies running in our direction and the racking of ammunition in our left ear while we are warned about out impending death in our right. These games speed up pour lives significantly in terms of experiences we will never get to have outside of the video game but slows down the moments we...

  In a world filled with digital screens and endless stories, we often find our minds drifting into realms beyond the physical. Daydreaming—whether sparked by a captivating book or the hypnotic glow of a screen—can feel like an out-of-body experience. We are there but not truly present. This mental journeying is a testament to the power of imagination and our ability to transcend the confines of the tangible for solace and recreation. Yet, it raises a profound question: How can one balance being fully present in the physical world with the transcendence of thought, ensuring that moments of disconnection from reality serve a purposeful and meaningful transformation rather than mere escapism? Though feeling disconnected from reality is an essence of entertainment and creativity, one can become transformed within their meditations. The difference between mythical realms of thought and realistic daydreamings is to be fully and holistically present in the situation. The spiritual eleme...

KOINONIA Just before spring break started, I attended a panel discussion hosted by Veritas Forum (in which Dr. Redick was one of the speakers) that used dialogue to try and discern what happiness is. Each of the speakers brought different perspectives to the table, and it got me thinking about the concept of κοινωνια that was mentioned in Chapters 1, 2, and 6 of the American Camino book. Koinonia was defined in Chapter 1 as “[sharing] with someone in something that he has” (p. 9). But it goes deeper than just sharing tangible things. Koinonia can be translated as “fellowship” and describes the spiritual connection that we derive from community. The Stoics even went as far as to call it “the model harmony… which is found in the universe and which is the basis of its preservation” (p. 9). Happiness could be seen as the individual, internal harmony that comes as a response to favorable perceptions of external situations. It mirrors that which is displayed around us. Happiness is then jus...

 In class we've discussed the Sipapu, the hole in the floor of native American religious structures where people are believed to have come up from the fifth world into the current world. This ties into the idea of the world navel that Campbell mentions in The Hero With a Thousand Faces. I thought it'd be interesting to examine why humans seem to have a deep connection between human origins and the ground itself-- something that occurs in many different religions. Jews and Christians believe that Adam was made out of dust, and in Greek mythology Prometheus is believed to have sculpted humans out of clay-- and many native American myths also depict clay as our original material. It's very common to see the idea that humanity originally came out of the dirt. But why is this?  One explanation is that people have a circular way of thinking. When people die, they are (usually) buried in the ground and then slowly decompose into dirt. Ancient people would have observed this. Perha...