By Stephen Russell-Lacy. The spirit of our times seems to no longer value beauty. Prince Charles was talking to the Royal Institute of British Architects at the occasion of their 150th anniversary about the proposed extension of the National Gallery. “What is proposed is like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and … Continue reading Beauty – Need to re-discover it?
Category: The arts
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The arts are the various branches of creative activity whether these involve musical or theatrical performance or works of craft or artistic production.
Art is a basic human instinct with a diverse range of form and expression. All the arts are an important part of being human and can be found through all aspects of our lives, regardless of culture or times. And so art and soul go together.
Below on this page and following pages you will find reviews of specific works of art. Also there are general articles about the arts. They often deal with spiritual questions & answers about our experience of life. The arts can express what is beautiful and unattractive, good and bad, true and false.
The arts can provide an inspiring vehicle for a deeper appreciation of what living a human life is all about.
Music
We sometimes hear of about classical music as a higher illumination of what is true. Does its language adapt itself to the listener? What music do we find good and beautiful? Do the words of popular song often resonate with our concerns and dilemmas? Do they express false ideas? What is unpleasant?
Visual arts
Paintings often show portraits or landscapes, or express themselves as an abstraction. Do they evoke deeper issues which catch the viewers’ attention?
Film
In the field of film animation, there is much modern work, creating good quality cartoons. Material below considers if these functions to teach children emotional intelligence or social skills.
Film these days may deal with folklore and myth. Posts consider any true or false connection between a transpersonal world view and supernatural entities.
Mythology
Deeper lessons of what is true and false can be found in Greek mythology. Like-wise do many Biblical stories promote children’s understanding of good ethical ideas as well as what is unattractive in life?
Poetry
Articles explore whether in the works of modern poets we can learn to appreciate how contemporary words and imagery express positive themes to do with wandering search, wonder in mystery, or peace in death. Does ancient mystical verse address the perennial issues of the human condition that reach beyond geography and history?
Drama
Television plays and the world of theatre often grips us with their dramatic portrayal of human response to life’s challenges. What is both good and bad in human situations.
Novel
Novels often deal explicitly with the emotional life of the characters. We have an intimate view of the way these fictional people deal with challenges. Do the context for the stories often have upheaval or difficulty common to our own experience? Does what is good in some shine through what is unattractive in others?
Music – A higher revelation
“ Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” (Beethoven) Music has always been important to me, something I’ve valued beyond words because words could never express my feelings adequately enough. Whether classical or jazz whether gospel or blues, music has always been with me to celebrate and inform my journey through this life. … Continue reading Music – A higher revelation
Abstract Art – Can It Evoke The Spiritual?
Traditionally, a sense of the spiritual has been evoked in the depiction of religious themes. For example the humanity of the divine shown in Christian pictures of Christ on the Cross, the image of meditation expressed in Buddhist images of the Buddha, and the ideal of order shown in Islamic decorative art-work using repeated geometrical … Continue reading Abstract Art – Can It Evoke The Spiritual?
Inside Out – Entertainment That Teaches?
Inside Out is a Disney-Pixar animated film which successfully uses graphics and humour to show what is going on inside someone’s head. This promises to be an entertaining way to teach emotional intelligence. General scenario of Inside Out Growing up can be a difficult time. This is true for 11-year-old Riley. Her father starts a … Continue reading Inside Out – Entertainment That Teaches?
Demons – need I be wary of them?
Lilith is an attractive figure. She is also a fictional entity in the American drama and horror television series Supernatural. The show features two brothers Sam and Dean who travel across the country in a black 1967 Chevrolet to hunt demons, supernatural creatures, and other paranormal entities, many of them based on folklore, myths, and … Continue reading Demons – need I be wary of them?
For the Love of an English Garden
How to talk to children about spiritual matters?
Children love stories. David the shepherd When young David offered to fight the giant Goliath he said to King Saul that he was always able to protect his sheep by fighting lions and bears. He said that he caught the lion by its beard and struck and killed it. David trusted his God to deliver … Continue reading How to talk to children about spiritual matters?
Denise Levertov: The Stream & the Sapphire.
Denise Levertov wrote many poems with spiritual themes throughout her career. For example respect for nature and life, nothingness and absence, and despair with the world. There were also positive ideas and images about peace in death, wandering search, gratitude to give, wonder at mystery, and dance of delight. It is as if she had … Continue reading Denise Levertov: The Stream & the Sapphire.
On the mystery of the incarnation.
It’s when we face for a moment the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know the taint in our own selves, that awe cracks the mind’s shell and enters the heart: not to a flower, not to a dolphin, to no innocent form but to this creature vainly sure it and no other … Continue reading On the mystery of the incarnation.
A Christmas Carol
Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious! Glorious! “What’s to-day!” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps … Continue reading A Christmas Carol