Summer 2024: Adventure
What is adventure?
ad·ven·ture | ədˈven(t)SHər | noun
an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity
Most adventures are fun but sometimes they are full of danger. Adventure introduces us to something new that we have not encountered before.
In Whitehead's ontology, the basic units of reality are "actual occasions" or "actual entities." These are dynamic events of experience that continuously arise and perish. Each actual occasion incorporates the past, synthesizes it with novel elements of creativity, and gives rise to a new experiential reality. Talk about adventure!
Within this framework, "adventure" can be understood as the ongoing process of actual occasions unfolding and evolving. Each moment of experience is an adventure in itself, as it involves the exploration of possibilities, the integration of past influences, and the emergence of new forms of actuality.
Please join us for explorations into multiple experiences of adventure.
In This Issue
- Into the Unknown
- Facing Dragons: Adventures in Imagination
- Plus Ultra: Reflections on Holy Adventure
- The Final Journey
- Eco Adventure
- Adventure in Color: It Was All Yellow
- Ubuntu: The Idea Gets Bigger
- Taking up A Pilgrimage
- Journeys: Words Take us Places
- On the Topic of Adventure
- A Soundtrack for Adventure
- Adventures in Reading
- Exploring Myths: Journey to the Underworld
- Next Season
“
The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done with them.
”
Into the Unknown
Photo courtesy Leio McLaren
Adventure is the heartbeat of life, pulsing with the promise of the unknown and the thrill of exploration. It beckons from the farthest corners of the world, whispering tales of daring deeds and undiscovered lands. It may be a hero’s journey or an exciting mythological saga. Sometimes the adventure is quiet and gentle, but it can also be lifechanging and frightening. When I think of adventure I go to the image in the Tarot card deck of The Fool.
The Fool as portrayed in the Tarot, embodies the essence of spontaneity and new beginnings. He is an archetype or as Whiteheadians might think of him, a potentiality, Often depicted as a youthful figure standing at the precipice of a journey or adventure, the Fool symbolizes the courage to embrace the unknown with unwavering optimism. With a small bag in hand and a loyal companion by his side, he represents the innocence of starting afresh and the boundless potential that accompanies every new adventure. Yet, the Fool archetype also serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between bravery and recklessness, urging us to approach new experiences with mindfulness and awareness. In his simplicity, the Fool invites us to trust in the journey, to welcome the twists and turns of fate with open arms, and to embrace the transformative power of stepping into the great unknown. Adventure is a leap into the abyss. It challenges us to break free from the mundane and embrace the extraordinary.
In the pursuit of adventure, one finds not only the physical journey but also the journey within – a quest for self-discovery and growth, the embrace of uncertainty, and the exhilaration of pushing beyond comfort zones. It is the essence of life itself, calling out to the brave-hearted souls who dare to seek it.
May your adventure be rich!
“
We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
”
Facing dragons: Adventures in Imagination
Fantasy tabletop role-playing game.
Photo courtesy Clint Bustrillos
In the 1970’s, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson invented a brand-new game called Dungeons and Dragons. In fact, it was not just a new game, but a whole new kind of game, called a role-playing game. In a role-playing game, a group of people take on the personas of fictional characters adventuring through their fictional world. In the traditional version of Dungeons and Dragons, the players become fantasy characters like the ones you might read about Tolkein’s book The Hobbit, and their goal might be to rescue lost children or remove a curse that has descended upon an innocent town. In other role-playing games, the players might play fictional astronauts exploring other planets, or they might be retired writers solving crimes, like Angela Landsbury on Murder, She Wrote.
If you were sitting a table playing Dungeons and Dragons, the person running the game – who has the slightly silly title “the Dungeonmaster” – would describe the fictional fantasy world your character sees around them. Together with the other players, you’d make a decision about what your characters want to do. Maybe the fantasy heroes decide to climb down the crumbling steps into a lost underground city, and if so, the Dungeonmaster would describe what those heroes see as they descend the steps. This interactive storytelling continues, with the fun upshot that you’re not just reading a story, but creating it -- the players’ decisions affect how the story turns out. Random chance plays a role too. Sometimes you roll dice to see if things go well or poorly – whether you manage to climb down the mossy ladder without slipping, or whether you can sneak past the sleeping dragon without waking it. This makes the storytelling more exciting. Just as in life, success isn’t guaranteed, and so what are you willing to risk to succeed at your quest?
Dungeons and Dragons has been far more influential than most people realize. Today, many people in creative industries, especially in the film and video game industries, played Dungeons and Dragons as kids. It gave them a fascination with storytelling, and it taught them the basics of that art well. Today, the video game industry earns 180 billion dollars annually, and many of those games are more or less just digital versions of role-playing games. Novels by George R. R. Martin, an avid player of role-playing games, were turned into the wildly successful television show Game of Thrones. It’s no exaggeration to say that huge portions of popular culture would be totally different if Gygax and Arneson hadn’t published their little game back in the 1970’s!
What matters most about Dungeons and Dragons is probably not its influence, but how much joy it has given the people who play it. It’s estimated that 50 million people worldwide have played Dungeons and Dragons, with tens of millions still playing it now. In fact, more people play Dungeons and Dragons now than ever before.
What is so enjoyable about playing Dungeons and Dragons? Partly it’s that the game is something of a chameleon – it can be molded to the interests of the people who play it, and so they can turn it into a game that’s perfect for them. That doesn’t happen with any other games, where the rules are fixed and you either enjoy them or not. For example, if you’re playing Dungeons and Dragons and you like math problems, you can focus on the random dice and how the probabilities play out in a tense fight with a goblin king. If you didn’t like math and were a drama-club student in school, then you can focus on developing a rich personality for the elven warrior you play in the fictional world. If you like solving crosswords and Sudoku, then you can focus on the puzzles and problems that the fictional characters face when exploring a long-lost underground tomb.
Photo by Timothy Dykes
What’s even more important about Dungeons and Dragons is that it brings people together. In a typical evening of Dungeons and Dragons, five or six friends get together and sit down at a table to play the game. But actually, the game never starts right away. Instead, you spend some time catching up with your friends, hearing about what’s happening in their lives, getting news on how their parents or children are doing. This kind of in-person human contact is more important now than ever. These days, it’s all too easy to stop seeing people in person -- we email them instead, or we just ‘like’ something of theirs on social media. But Dungeons and Dragons brings people together and gives them real, human contact. You talk to your good friends each week, at game night.
There’s one more reason why Dungeons and Dragons is so popular. We all know that in real life, when people live through important events together, they often form deep, lasting bonds. A group of neighbors might bond by helping each other stay safe after an earthquake, and work colleagues might feel a lasting friendship after they work long, hard hours to save their company. Dungeons and Dragons is not exactly like that, of course – nothing that happens in the game is real. But until you’ve played the game, it’s hard to understand just how strongly a group of people can bond over their dramatic game accomplishments. In excited voices, Dungeons and Dragons players say things like “Do you remember that time we tricked that troll under the bridge?” or “Do you remember that long trek we made across the ghost-haunted desert?”
This happens because the game world is so richly detailed, and because players only thrive in that world together. In a Dungeons and Dragons game, your group of heroes travels together, discovers together, fights to survive together. If one fictional hero gets hurt, it affects everyone else. Every abandoned castle hints at good and bad possibilities, and whatever possibility the group chooses leads to new possibilities and adventures. Life and death decisions are made, and they’re made together.
“
Always remember, it’s simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren’t any dragons.
”
Plus Ultra: Reflections on Holy Adventure
Early in my teaching career I discovered the phrase, plus ultra, translated as “there is more” or “further beyond.” The national motto of Spain, it was intended to challenge another phrase, non plus ultra, “there is no more” or “nothing further,” which according to legend was inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar.
At the time, it was believed that the edge of the known world marked the farthest edges of the human adventure. Death and destruction lay beyond. Yet, soon intrepid and imaginative adventurers discovered the high seas and the boundaries of the Western world were expanded to include the Americas. Thousands of years earlier, other intrepid and imaginative adventurers crossed the Bering Straits to become the first inhabitants of the Americas. No doubt, in both cases, naysayers advised these adventurous spirits, “Stay where you are. Don’t leave the safe and familiar. There be dangers and monsters out there.”
The call of adventure – the adventures of ideas and geography – expanded the Eastern and Western horizons and continue to shape the human adventure in the macro world of sea and space travel and the micro world of medical research.
I was so captivated by the phrase plus ultra, that I chose it to be the title of my first published article, now nearly forty years ago, if memory serves me, in the journal Encounter. Like it or not, chosen or not, life pushes us forward to new adventures. All things flow, as the philosopher Heraclitus noted, and as Whitehead added, the pure conservative, trying to preserve the status quo and to return to the good old days, goes against the nature of the universe.
People who know me well observe that my theological experience, and my encounter with the Holy, is inspired as much by hymns and songs as doctrines and treatises. I am constantly, often to my wife Kate’s chagrin, singing hymns around the house, making up alternative words as I go along or repeating the words of old evangelical standbys. Educated in the Anglican church, Whitehead also had affinity to the hymns of his childhood as portals into the nature of reality. Whitehead notes that the polarities of permanence and flux can be described by the words of Henry Lyte, who as he was weakening due to tuberculosis asserted that life’s adventure calls us to action regardless of our condition and that “it is better to wear out than rust out.” Lyte wrote words invoked by Whitehead in Process and Reality:
Abide with me Fast falls the eventide.
The philosopher, as well as the lyricist, recognized that stability and perishing are essential to reality and to a healthy, adventurous life. Life is constantly changing and yet we need something – along with the Dude of the “Big Lebowski” – that abides. We need a usable past and a hopeful future. We need the delight of novelty and the confidence that while our lives perish, they also live evermore as part of God’s evolving and adventurous creative-responsive love. We need a past to build on to launch us forward, inspired by “the high hope of adventure.” This requires the creation of healthy and affirming communities, families, and societies and the healing of past negativity, trauma, and limitation.
I have pondered the dynamics of adventure as I move into the early years of my seventies. I enjoy certain daily rituals: rising before sunlight, meditating, writing, and then walking. I have practiced these for over five decades, although for over thirty years I was a predawn jogger. Wherever I am, home or abroad, these four activities are the cornerstone of my day, giving me a spiritual, intellectual, and physical framework from which to venture forth. But, even here, life is change: the panorama of my walks is new every morning, the birds sing novel tunes each day, the seasons change, and the clouds scud by in ways never seen before this one wild and precious day. The words I write and the thoughts that intrude in my meditation are also novel and occasionally even surprising to me. When you are open to the Divine, wisdom appears in unanticipated ways to take your work in ways you hadn’t expected. The wind blows where it wills.
Photo courtesy Jon Flobrant
Vitality involves embracing adventure and letting go of preconceived images of the future. I know that the years ahead will bring a new set of adventures just as they now do for my eleven- and thirteen-year-old grandsons. “Oh, the places you’ll go” even if you choose a familiar environment. Standing still or moving, life beckons us forward. The Spirit lures us toward new adventures.
While I am not in terms of my daily life the most adventurous person, I have tried to live by the motto, “I have a vision but not an agenda” as a teacher, writer, pastor, administrator, and friend and family member. I set intentions each morning to guide the day and then let go of them, seeing them only as pointers and guideposts on the walk of life and remembering that the moment I encounter another person, turn on the news, or step out my door, everything can change. As a professor, I still my students that “I put together my syllabus in my arts and crafts chair all by myself and then you show up and now the syllabus is already out of date!”
I try to nurture my sense of adventure, modest as it may be to others, by beginning my day with the question, “What new thing will happen to me today? What creative and loving action will I be called upon to do today? In what ways will I be challenged to do something beautiful for God today?” (Saint Mother Teresa) These intentions never fail to be realized, even on a rainy day when I am confined to home.
God is faithful and God’s mercies are new every morning, and in opening to moment by moment change and adventure, joining ritual and novelty, behold we too do a new thing as God’s companions on each day’s holy adventure. Plus ultra, go further, there is more.
“
You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!
”
The Final Journey
Photo courtesy Erik Mclean
My dad died twice.
We were unprepared for either of his deaths. 25 years ago, on a warm evening early in June my dad woke my mother and complained of indigestion. He had a cigarette and took some antacid. Later he started breaking out in a sweat and felt worse. My mother drove him to urgent care. There he was triaged, seated in a wheelchair, and waited to be called. He waited and waited until he collapsed in his wheelchair chair. My mother screamed for help and help came. He was rushed to the back in a clumsy attempt to attend to him, but his feet were dragging and pulling him . . . he was almost falling out of the wheelchair.
Just like in the movies, there was shouting, rib breaking pumps to the chest, CPR a traumatic almost violent but lifesaving act. paramedics arrived . . . this was urgent care, not a hospital. More shouting and rushing . . . equipment coming out of boxes . . . defibrillator . . ., more shouts... arrest! ready? Clear, got it . . . lost it flat line . . . no heartbeat! Again! Got it. No, Nothing . . . over and over. My mother stood in the hall frozen watching the scene play out in slow motion. Then realizing that my father’s life was slipping away she became angry or hysterical . . . shouting you killed him you let him die waiting, you killed him! The staff ignored her. It was just another noise in the chaotic scene.
My father was flat lined . . . cardiac arrest. Then a call for the syringe, the last resort Epinephrine.
Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is a hormone that stimulates the heart and promotes the flow of blood. It is injected directly into the heart. 1 milligram of epinephrine every 3-5 minutes during resuscitation. I believe my father only received 1 injection . . . Then field intubation for assisted breathing.
Without an advance directive or a POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) this CPR will go on and on until that last resort does not work. In my father’s case take into account that precious minutes are passing. Heart tissue is dying, tissue that will not regenerate nor heal.
They got a sustained heartbeat from a severely damaged heart. My father was transported and admitted to ICU, unconscious, incubated and on mechanical ventilation. He remained that way for 2 weeks. That was the maximum time before a tracheostomy would be required. They attempted extubation and he was stable. We thought he had a close call but somehow made it through. He survived and modern medicine saved his life. There was so much we didn't know but would soon learn...much to late. My father couldn't talk for the first days after his extubation. His throat was irritated from the breathing tube. He put two fingers to his mouth as he did when he smoked. He was asking for a cigarette. We were in disbelief. I guess dad is back and he's alright, I said. The cardiologist wanted to perform a heart cath to determine what caused the heart attack.
Cardiac catheterization involves, inserting a long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter into a blood vessel in the groin. The catheter is then threaded through the femoral artery and advanced to the heart. Contrast is injected and x-rays are taken. This is a routine procedure that is performed often. Many years Later, in my work, I would go on to read many of these procedures, and often go to the cath lab to discuss these interventional radiology procedures with cardiologists.
But at the time my father’s heart cath, I knew nothing.
After the procedure the cardiologist spoke to my mother and me and I still knew nothing. You see she was in a hurry, and she spoke another language...doctor speak. She had bad news for us but if you give bad news wrapped in medical language...you aren't really saying anything. It's just a report. Just the facts. But so much can be understood by those facts when you know how to interpret them. Years later I could read a heart cath report and know who would die soon and who would live a normal life. I could tell who could qualify for a bypass and who wouldn't. What the doctor told us is that my father wouldn't have Coronary bypass surgery. His heart had a lot of damage.
We thought he had a close call but somehow made it through. He survived and modern medicine saved his life.
My dad's diagnosis was CHF.
Congestive heart failure. He was given multiple prescriptions including blood thinners and dietetics. The blood thinner Coumadin required regular blood tests. An INR (international normalized ratio) to monitor clotting time. One of those questions I reflect on in hindsight was why would they want us to drag my father back and forth and poke him with needles when they knew, even if we did not that his heart would not last much longer? Going through the motions and not thinking much beyond protocols to the human element . . . to my father’s quality of life for the little he had left.
He should have been on hospice but that was 25 years ago.
We should have Googled about it but again, that was 25 years ago. Google had just been founded so there was nothing to find quite yet.
What followed for my father was a fast decline. His damaged heart struggled to sustain his body. It couldn't pump the oxygen needed and that started affecting his brain. He had Terrible hallucinations...he saw little monsters crawling around under the furniture. He thought a plane had crashed in the backyard and wanted to go out and save the pilot.
His doctor suggested that we take him to a psychiatrist . . . a relational perspective on the body would have had them deal with the oxygen rather than medicate his symptoms. We added the unnecessary psychiatrist drugs to his long list of meds . . . another doctor’s visit requiring my very ill father to attend.
My father’s health declined. He was hospitalized again to give a stronger dose of Lasix.
Our neighbor across the street was a RN. She came over to ask how he was doing. She saw our lack of understanding of the situation. She saw our confusion. She sat us down and explained the situation with my father’s CHF. Of course she couldn't cross the line and tell his that he was dying . . . but looking back, she knew. She was in a bind, and it wasn't her responsibility to tell us.
She was the first person to take the time to explain in a way that we could understand.
The next day my mother got a call from the hospital advising us that we might like to get a priest. We were shocked.
We rushed to the hospital and were ushered into a room where a doctor explained that my father was dying. He told us about his damaged heart. He told us more at that point than anyone else had. We were blindsided.
My father died in a hospital room that night with his wife and children around him. It had been a month since his heart attack.
Years later I would come to understand everything. In my work in health information management clinical documentation. It is sad of course that my father died.
What adds to the sadness is the lack of communication, or even consideration for my father as a human being. A man with a family. A man who might have like to spend his final days saying goodbye to friends and family, speak to clergy and ponder the mystery of death.
From a May 7th Presentation at “Tuesday John Cobb and Friends” Titled, “ I Sing the Body Electric: A Process Relational Critique of Compartmentalized Medicine”.
“
To die will be an awfully big adventure.
”
Eco Adventure
A vacation is an adventure. Whether your vacation involves hotel rooms or tents, we can find ecological options.
Sustainable travel encompasses a mindful approach to exploring the world, prioritizing the preservation of natural environments, cultural heritage, and local communities. It involves making conscious choices to minimize one's environmental footprint while maximizing positive social and economic impacts. From opting for eco-friendly accommodations and transportation methods to supporting local businesses and engaging in responsible tourism activities, sustainable travelers strive to leave destinations better than they found them. [1]
Photo by Raimond Klavins
Here are some ways that you can make a positive difference:
Eco Adventure Tips
- How far will you need to travel? Most forms of transport contribute to climate change. To minimize your holiday emissions, choose a destination closer to home and/or one you can reach by transport other than plane.
- Look at eco-tourism options. Many travel companies now offer holidays which support sustainable development, do not impact negatively on the environment, and provide financial support to local communities.
- Choose the most environmentally friendly form of transport. Can you drive or take the train to your destination instead of flying? Try to especially avoid short haul flights, and if you must fly, choose airlines with higher occupancy rates and more efficient aircraft.
- Choose environmentally friendly accommodations. Look for hotels and other accommodations with effective waste treatment systems, that recycle, that are energy efficient, and, where possible, that use environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy or hydroelectric power.
- Respect the local environment. Stay on trails and public footpaths; do not remove plants or feed animals; and never litter.
- Choose reputable, conservation-minded tour operators and suppliers.
- Conserve water. Take showers rather than baths; use a refillable water container, sterilizing water when necessary rather than buying bottled water. Minimize your use of personal care products and detergents to wash linen, and reuse your hotel towels and bed linen.
- Limit energy use. This includes your use of air-conditioning and hot water. Turn off all lights and taps when you leave hotel rooms.
- Dispose of sanitary waste properly. Don’t flush cotton buds, condoms, tampons and plastics down the toilet.
- Recycle and reduce. Recycle newspapers, magazines and your beverage containers (many can be returned for refunds), and reduce the number of bags, napkins and disposable cups you use when you eat fast food.
- Choose environmentally friendly transport. Rather than hiring a car, choose other ways to get around like taxis, trains or buses. In many places you can also rent bikes. And don't forget your feet!
- Avoid damaging recreational activities. Avoid sports which have a significant harmful impact on the environment or choose more progressive establishments (e.g. golf courses which recycle water).
[2]
Ecotourism: A Possibility
Have you encountered the term "ecotourism" in your quest for your next getaway, yet found yourself uncertain about its essence? Ecotourism emerges as a compelling and conscientious approach to global exploration. Unlike conventional tourism, this sustainable method not only invites travelers to discover natural marvels and culturally rich sites but also yields manifold benefits for the environment, local communities, and the global ecosystem when practiced thoughtfully. Here's why acquainting yourself with ecotourism ahead of your next adventure is worthwhile.
Conservation Focus
A fundamental advantage of ecotourism lies in its commitment to conservation and safeguarding. By advocating responsible travel, ecotourism endeavors to shield delicate ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Protected zones and national parks offer ideal destinations for vacations as they are already safeguarded by law.
Supporting Local Communities
Another pivotal aspect of ecotourism is its dedication to bolstering the communities you visit. Cultivating meaningful connections between travelers and locals stands as a crucial yet often overlooked facet of tourism. Rather than mere spectators, ecotourists engage with the vibrant local culture to gain profound insights into traditions and ways of life. Seek out local guided tours, small enterprises, family-owned eateries, and more. Embracing diverse cultures actively contributes to supporting local economies and empowering people in their heritage and land preservation efforts.
Educational Opportunities
Embarking on ecotourism journeys offers abundant educational prospects. Conservation areas typically offer engaging avenues to learn about local ecosystems and wildlife. Delving into the intricacies of your vacation spot enhances your connection and appreciation of the region, rendering your stay more enriching. Explore local programs hosted by museums, historical societies, and workshops centered around the surrounding environment. Learning about the area becomes a delightful and enlightening aspect of practicing ecotourism.
Promotion of Sustainable Practices
By opting for ecotourism, you become an active participant in conservation endeavors. Your expenditures on activities or tickets to state or national parks contribute to conservation projects, wildlife protection, and habitat restoration. Being mindful of your travel choices, purchases, and dietary preferences further enhances the sustainability of your trip. Conduct thorough research before embarking on your next adventure to ensure your journey is as environmentally friendly as possible.
Traditional mass tourism often detrimentally impacts the surrounding environment through resource overuse and disruption to local communities. Ecotourism seeks to minimize these adverse effects by adhering to responsible guidelines and adopting low-impact practices. Refrain from littering and opt for greener modes of transportation when exploring the area. For instance, walking and biking not only enable you to soak in the sights and culture but also contribute to your well-being. The objective is to preserve the purity of visited places while honoring local residents and economies.
[3]
“
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
”
Wherever you go on your adventure, remember to honor the native people of the land, the people whose story is woven into the earth, the flora and fauna. Remember them.
Tongva Creation Story Excerpt
A Nehooko, Nehooko (A long time ago)
In the world before the time of the ancestors
In the world before the time of Hawk and Coyote
In the world before the time of the speaking animal people
In the world before the time of the many Gods
Was QUAOAR
He was alone. There was no sound and it was lonely. So Quaoar began to sing…Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee. Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee . Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee . Then Quaoar began to dance as he sang. Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee. Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee. Neo pune pune Wee Neo pune wee. As he danced he felt joy and he danced faster and faster and he sang louder and louder until he heard another voice singing with him… Neo pune , neo pune, neo pune wee. Neo pune , pune pune, neo pune wee.
Quaoar stopped and looked at where nothing was before, now he saw Weywot who would be known as Sky Father or Tomear of Tukupar (the Tongva god of the sky) He was no longer in no time, but in “all time” .
He existed from the end of “no time and to the end of “all time”
Weywot spoke into the hole in the darkness but the words went to no place. They were meant to be heard by Tobohar and Pahavit who had not yet been formed (the Tongva Adam and Eve)
So Weywot created the sky and then spoke these words into the darkness and as he spoke, sparks filled and fixed places in the direction of his words.
Here is what Sky Father said:
Respect everything, for all is sacred
Preserve balance
Maintain the land
Take and use only what is needed.
This story was taught to me by a Tonga Elder and I took part in the ritual of this creation story many times upon invitation. I share it with respect for the Tongva people. Kat Reeves
Claremont California, physical home to the Cobb Institute, is on the land inhabited by the Tongva poeple who were called the Gabrieleños by the Spanish settlers. May we listen to their wisdom with respect and humility.
Replica Tongva kiiy and California native elderberry in blossom at Tongva Sacred Springs in Los Angeles.
It is estimated that nearly 6,000 Tongva lie buried on the grounds of Mission San Gabriel from the mission period.
Sources
- Sustainable Travel Tips. “Navigating the Future of Sustainable Travel,” March 22, 2024. https://sustainabletraveltrips.com/2024/03/22/navigating-the-future-of-sustainable-travel/.
- WWF. “Have an Environmentally Friendly Vacation,” n.d. https://wwf.panda.org/act/live_green/travel/on_vacation/.
- NH Department of Environmental Services. “February 2024: ‘Ecotourism’ and How It Can Change the Way You Vacation,” February 2024. https://www.des.nh.gov/news-and-media/blog/february-2024-ecotourism-and-how-it-can-change-way-you-vacation.
Adventure in Color: It Was All Yellow
Van Gogh's appreciation for vibrant colors and their interplay was profound, partly inspired by Japanese prints. These prints influenced his technique, encouraging the use of large, flat areas of bold, monochromatic tones accentuated by strong, often black, contours. Through his extensive correspondence, consisting of over 2000 letters, van Gogh provided insights into the essence of his art and his inner world. He articulated that in his later works, realism took a back seat; instead, he sought to evoke emotions such as sensitivity, intensity, or disquietude solely through the juxtaposition of colors, transcending the need for faithful representation of subjects.
For instance, ‘The Night Café’ (1888), characterized by its yellow tonality, depicts the nondescript interior of a half-empty café. However, its colors bear a deeper meaning, as the artist describes in one of his letters:
“In my painting of The Night Café I’ve tried to express the idea that the café is a place where you can ruin yourself, go mad, commit crimes. Anyway, I tried with contrasts of delicate pink and blood-red and wine-red. Soft Louis XV and Veronese green contrasting with yellow greens and hard blue greens. All of that in an ambience of a hellish furnace, in pale sulphur. To express something of the power of the dark corners of a grog-shop. And yet with the appearance of Japanese gaiety and Tartarin’s good nature.”
But could there be some other reason for the circular yellow swirls in Van Gogh's paintings? Extracted from foxgloves, digitalis was once used as a treatment for epilepsy. Could a side effect have triggered the artist’s “yellow period”? Could it be some other illness?
Art and vision share an intimate relationship, where the act of painting and its observation both rely heavily on visual perception for full appreciation.
In this Seasons adventure in art the focus shifts to Vincent van Gogh's experience of "yellow vision." Xanthopsia, a condition marked by a predominant yellow bias in vision, can stem from various causes, including certain medications and medical conditions (Lee, 1981). Roman scholars associated "seeing yellow" with mental instability, while later theories attributed it to physiological factors such as jaundice (Trevor-Roper, 1997).
Van Gogh's renowned oeuvre, characterized by vibrant colors, notably his prominent use of yellow, invites speculation about his visual perception. Despite over 150 posthumous diagnoses, including bipolar disorder and temporal lobe epilepsy (Blumer, 2002), medical historians suggest digitalis-induced xanthopsia as a likely affliction during his stay at the asylum (Marmor & Ravin, 2009).
However, doubts arise regarding the role of digitalis in van Gogh's color palette. Dr. Gachet's cautious approach to medication and van Gogh's consistent use of yellow predating his asylum admission challenge the hypothesis (Smith). Furthermore, van Gogh's correspondence emphasizes his deliberate color choices for expressive purposes rather than visual impairment (Bakker & Jansen, 2010).
Critics also propose subacute angle closure glaucoma as a potential cause of van Gogh's visual distortions, yet evidence from his letters contradicts this notion (Marmor & Ravin, 2009).
Ultimately, van Gogh's art transcends mere visual representation, inviting viewers to perceive beyond the surface. As Edgar Degas aptly remarked, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
Van Gogh's mastery lies not in his visual acuity but in his ability to evoke emotion and meaning through color and form.
References
Lee, T. C. (1981). Van Gogh’s vision. Digitalis intoxication? JAMA, 245(7), 727–729.
Trevor-Roper, P. (1997). The World Through Blunted Sight (3rd ed.). London: Souvenir Press.
Blumer, D. (2002). The Illness of Vincent van Gogh. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(4), 519–526.
Marmor, M. F., & Ravin, J. G. (2009). The Artist’s Eyes. New York, NY: Abrams.
Bakker, N., & Jansen, L. (2010). The Real van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
Blum, H. P. (1964). Colour in Dreams. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 45, 519–529.
“
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where –"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”
”
Ubuntu: The Idea Gets Bigger
TIn Cape Town, South Africa from March 21 - 24, 2024 the Big Idea of having the Beloved Community meet Ubuntu was realized and the Big Idea became something more. The event was the 2024 Ubuntu Festival, a four-day global conference held in conjunction with South Africa’s Human Rights Day.
I am a resident of Claremont, California and a University of La Verne professor of Religion and Philosophy. My wife Denise and daughter Rochelle traveled to Cape Town, SA with International Reggae sensation Pato Banton, his wife Antoinette Rootsdwatah and the Now Generation Band to promote the idea of Ubuntu and the screening of their documentary “The Spirit of Ubuntu”. Ubuntu can be understood as “I Am because We Are.” My research interests are related to the connections between Ubuntu and the Beloved Community. The Beloved Community is an idea promoted by Martian Luther King, Jr. where harmonious and peaceful relations are established as societal norms.
The Big Idea of having the Beloved Community Meet Ubuntu is packed with symbolic and historical importance. Mother Africa is the source of the transatlantic slave trade initiated in 1619. This has resulted in 400 years of systemic forms of American oppression leading to the social unrest that can be seen today. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) cry of the early 21st century stresses the obvious fact that Black Lives Matter along with the lives of other human beings. The BLM cry itself illustrates the cultural problem of perceived inequality not being adequately addressed. On the continent of Africa, the stain of colonialism remains a historical reality.
The Congo is both one of the richest areas on the planet in terms of natural resources yet remains one of the poorest in terms of individual standards of living. Political instability in the context of Western exploitation has had a devastating impact on the quality of life experienced by people of the land. Apartheid arose in South Africa in the second half of the 20th century. Apartheid classified the population based on racial categories with the whites given a place of superiority in all social accommodations. The symbolic act of bringing people together from both continents of black oppression with messages of hope despite the challenges they have experienced is a powerful message of triumph for humanity on a global scale.
The Big Idea to have the two continents reunite was the natural progression of a course called Building the Beloved Community (BBC). That course received funding through a program designed and offered through the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. The Yale program helps students discern the shape of a flourishing life by reflecting on life’s big questions. In the course BBC we brought ogether four spiritual traditions to examine the approach each has to helping adherents lead a good life”. From the Indigenous perspective we saw that people and land are good medicine for ach other. Secondly, Hinduism and the term namaste reminded us of the divinity that is within each erson. The third tradition, Christianity, emphasized God’s involvement in human history. Finally, by sing the theological lens provided by the concept of the Beloved Community we saw how these separate spiritual ways of understanding humanity could work together as pieces of the solution to achieve social peace in the world today. The students in the course were able to see how the idea of shared service can be extended to social agencies. Through community service the students volunteered with agencies committed to Building the Beloved Community.
It has become evident that the reason the strategy is successful rests in the notion that each entity is able to work within its designated area of public service and expertise. When separate there is the possibility of siloed existence. Siloed existence, because it is not in line with the natural order of Ubuntu, causes disharmony in the social order. We find that when each is working well and functioning in co-existence with the others through love and justice we are approaching the ideal Beloved Community. Ubuntu holds the notion of cooperative unity as the ontological starting point, ongoing reality and achievable goal. I am because of who we are is the unlimited potential of oneness to exercise its unity to realize its potential harmony. What I realized through teaching the course and through the interaction within the Ubuntu Festival is that the “key to life” is glimpsed when the Beloved Community is grounded in the idea of Ubuntu.
The implications of the term Ubuntu are vast. It recognizes that no person is an island unto themselves. Ubuntu then moves deeper into the interconnected nature of our relation to one another. The conclusion is that when one person suffers, we all can feel the pain and joy works in the same way. We are who we are because of our relation physically, emotionally, and spiritually with one another. All of this aligns with the principles of nonviolence, love, and justice ingrained in the Beloved Community. There is a certain conceptual and experiential space needed for the notion of Ubuntu. Ubuntu cannot be manufactured. It is a place of beginnings. It is an internal reality that can be seen manifested in concrete action.
In order to bring the Principles of Ubuntu and the Beloved Community into public discourse we are establishing the Justice For All Party (JFA) in CA. The Justice for All Party is a grassroots effort built on democracy, equality, and community wellness. According to Israel Armstead a Party organizer, “These pillars stand at the core of our mission, driving us to cultivate an inclusive democracy where every voice is heard, to fight for equality that respects the dignity of all individuals, and to nurture the holistic wellness of our communities. Joining the JFA Party means actively participating in these transformative efforts.” I invite you to join our efforts. You can get more information by visiting our website (https://www.cajusticeforall.org/). It is time for this Big Idea to continue to grow.
Every generation has the opportunity to make the world better for the generations that follow. This time is ours. After the challenges of Covid-19, in the year 2020 and following, our global society was able to see clearly our interdependence. We can turn the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the suffering it brought to our global community into a vision of cooperative unity by Building the Beloved Community through Ubuntu. Embrace the Big Idea!
Dr. Richard Rose In South Africa
Taking Up A Pilgrimage
“
“No walking stick is needed to wander the wild of the mind, the high country of the heart.”
”
The scallop shell is a well-known symbol of the Camino de Santiago, a walking trail that leads to Santiago de Compostela. It's used to guide pilgrims along the trail, pointing them in the direction of Santiago. Pilgrims also wear the shell as a badge of honor or souvenir.
Photo courtesy Burkard Meyendriesch
The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes that lead to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The routes date back to 814, when the tomb was discovered, and the Camino is Europe's oldest, busiest, and most well-known traditional pilgrimage route.
The Hajj, in Islam, is the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim must make at least once in his or her lifetime.
On pilgrimages, pilgrims often meet each other as they travel along shared routes, pausing at common rest stops, shrines, and places of worship. These encounters foster a unique sense of camaraderie and mutual support, as pilgrims share not only the physical journey but also their spiritual aspirations and personal stories. The shared experiences of overcoming challenges, whether they are physical hardships or emotional struggles, create deep, lasting bonds. This fellowship is marked by a profound sense of solidarity, as pilgrims come to rely on one another for encouragement, guidance, and companionship, transforming their individual journeys into a collective quest for spiritual growth and fulfillment.
In Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," pilgrims from various walks of life come together on their journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. This diverse group, including the Knight, the Miller, the Wife of Bath, and the Pardoner, among others, forms an unlikely but closely-knit community as they travel. Through storytelling, they share their life experiences, beliefs, and values, revealing their unique personalities and forging connections. The camaraderie and mutual support that develop among them illustrate how the shared goal of pilgrimage can bring together disparate individuals, creating bonds that transcend social and personal differences. This collective experience transforms their pilgrimage into a microcosm of medieval society, highlighting the unity and fellowship found in their shared spiritual quest.
But you might design a personal pilgrimage that can be a deeply meaningful and transformative experience. Unlike traditional pilgrimages such as the Camino de Santiago, a personal pilgrimage is tailored to your unique spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. It can incorporate specific places of personal significance, activities that foster reflection and growth, volunteering, service, and goals that align with the pilgrim’s personal journey.
For instance, someone might choose to visit sites connected to their ancestry, engage in a series of meditative retreats in natural settings, or follow a route that includes locations of artistic or historical inspiration. The flexibility of a personal pilgrimage allows for a customized path that can address specific life questions, provide solace during times of transition, or celebrate personal milestones.
You might miss the camaraderie found on the intentional pilgrimage but instead discover unintentional pilgrims who share their stories. We are often pilgrims even if we don’t think of ourselves in those terms.
Photo courtesy Burkard Meyendriesch
Photo courtesy ekrem osmanoglu
Photo by Tomasz Anusiewicz
“
Walking gets the feet moving, the blood moving, the mind moving. And movement is life.
”
Photo courtesy Hester Qiang
Photo courtesy Eleanor Philips
Transcendentalist Pilgrimage In Concord
“The Native Americans, whose wisdom Thoreau admired, regarded the Earth itself as a sacred source of energy. To stretch out on it brought repose, to sit on the ground ensured greater wisdom in councils, to walk in contact with its gravity gave strength and endurance. The Earth was an inexhaustible well of strength: because it was the original Mother, the feeder, but also because it enclosed in its bosom all the dead ancestors. It was the element in which transmission took place. Thus, instead of stretching their hands skyward to implore the mercy of celestial divinities, American Indians preferred to walk barefoot on the Earth: The Lakota was a true Naturist – a lover of Nature.
~
A pilgrimage to Concord to contemplate the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and other transcendentalists would be a profound journey into the heart of American philosophical thought and its intimate connection with nature.
This pilgrimage might begin with a visit to the Emerson House, where Ralph Waldo Emerson penned many of his essays advocating for self-reliance and the inherent goodness of people and nature. expressed profound ideas about nature in his works, particularly in his essay titled "Nature" published in 1836. Emerson articulated that nature was a source of inspiration and a means of transcending the material world. He wrote about the interconnectedness of all living things, suggesting that nature was a manifestation of God's presence on Earth. One might ponder how we got so far from seeing nature as an active, living force in the world.
A silent, reflective walk to Walden Pond might follow, where Henry David Thoreau's simple cabin once stood. Here, pilgrims could sit by the water, reading passages from "Walden," immersing themselves in Thoreau's meditations on simple living and nature's serenity. Walking among the trees, one might wonder if Thoreau walked under these same trees.
The journey would likely include a visit to the Concord Museum, which holds many artifacts from the transcendentalist era, offering deeper insights into their lives and philosophies.
Pilgrims might also explore Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, paying respects at Authors Ridge, where Emerson, Thoreau, and other transcendentalists rest.
Throughout this pilgrimage, there would be ample time for quiet contemplation, and journaling under the canopy of Concord’s lush forests. This immersive experience would underscore the transcendentalist belief in nature as a source of spiritual nourishment and personal growth, echoing their teachings that to connect deeply with nature is to understand the divine within oneself.
Photo courtesy Annie Spratt
“
Sun, my sail, and moon my rudder
As I ply the starry sea
Leaning over the edge in wonder
Casting questions into the deep
Drifting here with my ship's companions
All we kindred pilgrim souls
Making our way by the lights of the heavens
In our beautiful blue boat home
”
"Blue Boat Home" by Peter Mayer, copyright 2002 Photography by Thomas Jay Oord Video production by Kathleen Reeves and Richard Livingston
Journeys: Words Take us Places
LUNA
amid swirl
of verdant dust
pale blue orb
escapes black void
chaperoned
by Aurora
silently
eyeing
its exodus
By Veronica Michalowski, © October 18, 2020
Painting, “Untitled” by Ken Sheffer, acrylic on canvas, 24”W x 30”H
Published in ARTS POETIC: Ekphrastic Poetry, 2021
Whale Watching
tiny boat
on the ocean
rises and falls
like the breath
in my chest
the hump
of the gray
whale crests,
curls back deep
into darkness
before she rises
again, a blast
loud, wet, together
we exhale
all that must
be cast out
expel with power
spouts of salt,
water and air
inhale life
tail fluke
slaps the waves
calls to my
ancient soul
sister whale
descends, deeper
I follow
By Kat Reeves
White Mountain Summit
Distinct, aloof,
the granite massif stands alone,
a moss free pinnacle remote against
its arching crown of sky,
abiding, silent, open to
the infinite:
a worthy goal
to guide her steps
over ankle-twisting tree roots
up the shadowy boulder strewn rail
into the light-filled clarity
of open granite crags
reaching rise above rise
toward the summit, now often
hidden from view.
At last, atop the pinnacle she sees
that all trails up ascended to the peak, and any
could have brought her here to this
triumphal destination point;
but still the world
full circle lies below
outstretched with living possibilities,
awaiting now her choice of pathway down
revealing, only then,
her own true destiny.
By Lynn Sargent De Jonghe, 2018
Photo courtesy Todd Cravens
I’m flying
without feathers
naked and wet
I soar across
a vast sea of
white tiles
to land upon
granite stone
cut and polished
I see my reflection
closer turning
into a kiss
or slap across
my face
crash landing
on the bathroom
sink belly flop
upon the commode
and a drop and roll
onto the floor
with a final thud
like a punch
into silence
this flying
is for the birds
By Kat Reeves
Photo courtesy AKASH PORTHEL
The Transcendentalists’ Daughter
This daughter, sinless born,
a child of transcendentalists
was never baptized, never taught
to fear a dark damnation
but trusts the path of reason’s course
however steep it leads
through glacial granite crags or
icy snow fed streams.
In time she learns to climb
up rock strewn trails, to know
the mountain cascade’s ecstasy
explore the murky river currents deep,
embrace the all-encircling sea,
rejoice in silent starlight symphony.
For she is a child of the cosmos, birthed
in fracture, fire, and fusion
rearranged from ancient atoms,
energy and matter infinite,
her compounds recombined each day
like bread baked fresh on every morn
she rises to breathe
the rhythm of the spinning world
her porous skin an endless
landscape of open coastline
that maps out capes
and coves of endless fractals,
diverse as snowflakes,
river deltas, fern fronds.
Peering through her mother’s telescope
she grasps the logic of immortality
releasing her father’s ashes into tidal swells
confronts her own mortality
aware of her unbounded choices, yet
constrained by countless complex webs
of unseen limitations, embraces
gratitude, grief and wonder.
By Lynn Sargent De Jonghe
“
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”
”
On the Topic of Adventure
The Artistic Beauty of Cooking: A Process-Relational Worldview
By Jennifer Zechlin | November 6, 2023
Cooking is an intricate and dynamic event that embodies the interconnectedness of all things. Each culinary process, from ingredient selection to preparation and consumption, is a series of interrelated events in which the “process” of cooking is a fundamental concept. Ingredients evolve and interact, engaging in a dance of transformations, as they shift from raw to cooked, solid to liquid, and separate to blended states. Jennifer Zechlin is an excellent cook and she shares her process approach to cooking in this month’s Novel Becomings.
Alaska: A Poetic Journey in Process Philosophy
By Dwayne Cole |September 15, 2022
Tennessee to Alaska seems like a long way. Parts of Alaska are still wild and untamed. This retired Presbyterian minister moved to be near his Grandchildren. He became a photographer and poet in order to spotlight God, the poet of the world. Process theology gave him a language from which to communicate with in those moments of pure awe and wonder. Join us as the Rev. Dr Dwayne Cole takes us on an adventure to beautiful and wild Alaska.
Stepping in the River
By John Roedel | July 15, 2022
Comedian turned poet John Roedel takes on his journey of “becoming” with a surprising number of vocations. Roedel has been changed along the way. He is going with the flow because as Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice. For it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
The Fusion of Horizons
By Steven Thomason | August 15, 2022
Drawing is seeing. Seeing is understanding. Understanding is the beginning of wisdom. This is Steve Thomason’s approach to life. In each interaction between art and viewer something new happens that is unique to that moment. Hans Georg Gadamer calls it the fusion of horizons where the interaction creates something new that expands the viewer into a new way of being in the world. We invite you to enjoy Thamason’s own fusion of horizons.
On Not Having A Body
By Kathleen Reeves | April 27, 2022
Meet Dave Huth. He loves beetles, salamanders, frogs and all creatures very small. He is a teacher, storyteller, picture maker, and whistler of jaunty tunes. In this piece, Dave offers a glimpse into his obsession with finding new and effective ways to draw people into deep thinking and even deeper feeling about ecology and human life.
A Soundtrack for Adventure
What is your soundtrack for embarking on an adventure, whether outward or inward?
Each step taken, whether under the warming and hopeful rays of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun" or along the winding paths of the "Wayfaring Stranger," symbolizes a movement towards enlightenment and personal evolution. “Here Comes the Sun” is a song about hope. We all go through difficult times, difficult moments in our life. And some of these moments feel like they last a long time -- just like the long, cold, lonely winter. But eventually it does change, the winter does end.[1]
As one finds themselves "Walking in Memphis," amidst the echoes of soulful melodies, they navigate the landscapes of their own soul, seeking meaning and connection. Marc Cohn has said that "Walking in Memphis" is "100 percent autobiographical". He has described it as a song about "a Jewish gospel-music-lover” and added that "the song is about more than just a place; it's about a kind of spiritual awakening, one of those trips where you're different when you leave." He was inspired to write "Walking in Memphis" by a 1985 visit to the Memphis, Tennessee, area. At the time, he was working as a session singer in New York City while pursuing a recording contract. In 2014, he recalled:
One night while listening to all of my demos, I came to the realization that I shouldn't be signed, because I didn't have any great songs yet. ... I was 28 years old and not in love with my songs. James Taylor had written 'Fire and Rain' when he was 18, and Jackson Browne wrote 'These Days' when he was only 17. I thought: 'I'm already ten years older than these geniuses. It's never going to happen for me.' So, it was a pretty desperate time, and I went to Memphis with that struggle at the forefront of my mind.
Willie Nelson’s "On the Road Again," the anthem of wanderlust and freedom, calls forth the spirit of exploration and the thrill of the unknown, urging travelers to embrace the ever-changing scenery of life's journey.
With Bob Dylan's timeless wisdom in "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," adventurers are reminded to let go of attachments and embrace the impermanence of the road ahead, finding solace in the freedom of movement.
Finally, with the B-52s' "Roam," the call to adventure resounds with infectious energy, beckoning travelers to roam far and wide, both outwardly and within.
These songs inspire adventure and growth, inviting explorers to embark on a voyage of self-discovery and expansion, both outwardly into the world and inwardly into the depths of the soul.
The Cobb Institute Music in Process Cohort explores music together. We invite you to join us.
Sources
- Explained in English. “Learn English with the song Here Comes the Sun,“ n.d. https://explainedinenglish.com/podcast/herecomes.html
Adventures in Reading
Adventures Across Space and Mind
This issue compares three travel adventures looking back from 2024 to 1759. James (2024) is based on the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1884, and looks back to Voltaire’s Candide (1759). Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Volume 1 of The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis, was written in response to the horror of World War I and the threat of World War II, but looks forward to our coming planetary apocalypse. Bound together across time by their philosophical commitments and common themes, each one is also a classic of great writing.
From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Best-selling author, Percival Everett, has upended Twain’s Huckleberry Finn by telling the story of James, who is trying to gain his freedom and prevent his wife and children from being sold away. An erudite slave, he has trained his children how to speak in the code of slave language. As James puts it:
White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them. The only ones who suffer when they are made to feel inferior is us. Perhaps I should say “when they don’t feel superior.”
In Twain’s tale of Huckleberry Finn, Huck has faked his own death in order to escape his drunken, abusive father and Jim has set out after hearing the news that he is about to be sold. After Huck and Jim fall in together, rafting along the Mississippi River, Huck struggles with the contradictions between the racist beliefs he has been taught and his own developing sense of right and wrong. In Everett’s novel James is struggling to move beyond his sense of enslavement to discover what it means to be capable of encountering a white person on equal terms.
Like his author, James has read widely, and is intimately acquainted with Voltaire, whom he admires, and Locke, whom he detests as a racist defender of slavery. The adventures of James and Huck follow closely, not only those described by Twain, but also by Voltaire in Candide. Twain’s book has sections devoted to Huck in which Jim fades into the background. Everett’s book puts Huck in the background and highlights these sections with James’ adventures which recall Candide’s struggles to save his beloved from Cunégonde repeated rapes and near executions. There is vivid description, suspense, horror, and gore enough to make this book a real page turner, but its real power is its intellectual command. Everett’s irony eviscerates proponents of racism, classicism, and slavery. His erudition sent me to the dictionary to review the various forms of irony. I had to reread Voltaire's Candide to appreciate its many connections to James. And I had to be reminded that John Locke wrote the original constitution of the Carolinas.
This book has received lavish praise from the New York Times (3/28/24), The New Yorker (3/15/24), NPR (3/18/24) and the Times Literary Supplement (4/5/24). Everett, who lives in Pasadena and teaches at USC, is a veteran writer of over thirty novels. He is well known as a critic of mainstream literature for its failure to appreciate the rich and diverse reality of Black life. American Fiction, the film based on his critically acclaimed, bitterly funny novel Erasure (2001), won this year’s Oscar for best adapted screenplay. His new book, like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is one for the ages.
Candide
Candide, written in 1759 by Voltaire (1694-1778) is a satirical adventure story of a hapless man who follows his love into perils across Europe and through South America, following the advice of his philosopher master, Pangloss. The character of Pangloss is based on the philosopher Leibniz who argued that the world is optimally designed, even if life is not always perfectly happy: “Suffering is explicable—not defensible but explicable.” Voltaire put this idea into the mouth of Pangloss, who pronounced: “Pigs are made to be eaten and so we have pork.” The parallel with the white supremacy and the institution of slavery is obvious. Voltaire rejected this conclusion, just as he rejected the presence of slavery and racism. He laid out his satire of optimism in the form of a picaresque novel, caricaturing hideous struggles in a bitter but matter-of-fact tone, reminiscent of a Monty Python movie.
The novel is set against two historical events: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). The quake in Lisbon, which struck ironically on All Saints Day and killed over 12,000 people, created a rich backdrop for Voltaire to ridicule religion. The Seven Years' War, called by Winston Churchill the first real world war, caused well over a million deaths. It was a global conflict involving most of the European great powers, led by England and France, and fought not only in Europe and the Americas, but also in West Africa, the Ottoman Empire, India, and the Philippines. Students of American history may remember this bloody conflict as the French and Indian War. Voltaire blandly recounts the horrors of this war to demonstrate two of his cautionary aphorisms:
Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.
Those who can be made to believe absurdities can be made to commit atrocities.
Candide’s adventures to save Cunégonde, which closely parallel James’ attempts to save his wife, end in this antihero’s renunciation of optimism and his realization that "life is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one's garden.”
Out of the Silent Planet
Fast forward from 1759 to 1937, and we find society reeling from the atrocities of World War I and sliding irrevocably into World War II. Literary scholar C. S. Lewis and his close friend J.R.R. Tolkien, who had both experienced the horrors of trench warfare, were commiserating on how to prevent repeating these evils. The two friends made a pact to write novels using space and time travel to illustrate the barbarity of current thinking and to point the way to a better future. Lewis published Out of the Silent Planet in 1938 and proceeded to complete The Space Trilogy in 1945, just as World War II was ending. Tolkien continued to work on his epic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings from 1937 to 1949, but abandoned his time travel novel, The Notion Club Papers, in 1945.
In Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis makes a passionate plea for ending the divide between the sciences and the humanities to order to save the earth from its impending destruction. It tells the adventures of Dr. Ransom, a Cambridge philologist, who is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he comes to know as Mars. His captors are led by Dr. Weston, a ruthless and arrogant physicist, who mocks classics and history in favor of hard sciences:
The Weston... You know the great physicist. Has Einstein on toast and drinks a pint of Schrödingers’s blood for breakfast.
Weston is plotting to plunder the planet's treasures and plans to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who live there. Ransom discovers he has come from the "silent planet" whose tragic exile from the solar system is known throughout the universe.
In his portrayal of Mars, unlike that of H.G. Wells, Lewis portrays a world of different species living in harmony, while members of his own corrupted species have been expelled as bringers of violence and exploitation. The hrossa, covered with sleek fur like otters, also possess a poetic wisdom superior to most humans. As the hross Hyoi explains:
A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered...What you call remembering is the last part of pleasure, as the crah is the last part of a poem. When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But still we know very little about it. What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then–that is the real meeting. The other is only the beginning of it. You say you have poets in your world. Do they not teach you this?
The Space Trilogy opposes what Lewis sees as dehumanizing trends of contemporary science and modern literature: the triumph of metaphysical naturalism and the rejection by science of the humanities. The character of Elwin Ransom is based in part on Tolkien, and Lewis makes an appearance in the final pages of the book. Although this book was written in response to the devastation of World War I and the impending threat of World War II, readers will immediately recognize parallels to our apocalyptic age of devastating climate change and to current debates between capitalist technocrats and Eco-civilization activists. Many may draw comparisons between and Dr. Weston and Elon Musk and between Elwin Ransom and Ian McGilchrist.
These three classics, each superbly written, each with deep philosophical roots, each make a passionate case for righting the wrongs of society. James and Candide are biting attacks on racism and slavery. Candide and Out of the Silent Planet portray the horrendous stupidity of warfare. And all three demand that we take action to prevent further atrocities on our beloved pale blue dot. So let us go forth to cultivate our garden.
Journey to the Underworld
The lord of the underworld, Hades, and his powerful queen, Persephone, epitomize archetypal figures deeply embedded within the human psyche, as proposed by the Jungian school of psychology. These mythic personas are not merely symbolic constructs but are perceived as living entities within the depths of the human consciousness, akin to characters in literature. James Hillman emphasizes the intrinsic richness of archetypal images, such as the myth of Hades and Persephone, which continually yield insights and layers of meaning upon deeper exploration. The name "Pluto," meaning "wealth" or "riches," ascribed to Hades, reflects the inexhaustible depths and complexities inherent in the underworld realm. Even though Hades and Persephone serve as beloved figures, they also function as psychopomps, guiding souls to deeper realms beyond their own existence.
From a Jungian perspective, Persephone's story can be interpreted as a powerful metaphor for the individuation process and finding one's own path to fulfillment and passion.
The overbearing mother archetype, embodied by Demeter, represents the controlling and stifling aspects of the psyche that inhibit personal growth and autonomy. Demeter's possessiveness over Persephone symbolizes the dominance of societal expectations, familial pressures, or internalized beliefs that suppress individuality and self-expression.
Persephone's descent into the underworld can be seen as a metaphorical journey into the unconscious, where she confronts the shadow aspects of herself and the repressed desires that have been buried beneath the surface. This descent represents the necessary process of facing and integrating the darker aspects of the psyche in order to achieve wholeness and authenticity.
As she embraces her role as Queen of the Underworld, Persephone embodies the transformative power of embracing one's true self and pursuing one's own desires and aspirations.
Go Deeper
Hillman, J. (1977). Re-visioning psychology. Harper & Row.
Hillman, J. (1979). The Dream and the Underworld. Harper & Row.
Hillman, J. (1992). Mythic figures. Spring Publications.
Jung, Carl G. “Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation.” Trans. R.F.C. Hull. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Ed. Sir Herbert Read, et al. New York: Bollingen, 1959. 275-289.
Jung, Carl G. “The Psychological Aspects of the Kore.” Trans. R.F.C. Hull. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Ed. Sir Herbert Read, et al. New York: Bollingen, 1959. 182-203.
“
I love you. Even if the Fates unraveled our destiny, I would find a way back to you.
”
Artist: Walter Crane - The Fate of Persephone (1877)
“
Imagine Persephone for the first time in the absolute intoxication of dark, her senses stretching languid, the cave as moist as lover's breath. The feast, the chair, the plate, the fruit: red. Imagine a story whose moral is mute desire.
”
The Story
Persephone, Queen of the underworld, emerged as the offspring of Zeus and Demeter, the deity presiding over harvest and fertility. Also known as Kore, signifying "maiden," she blossomed into a captivating young woman, drawing the admiration of numerous gods. Yet, Demeter harbored an ardent affection for her sole progeny, warding off all suitors.
The most persisting suitor of Kore was Hades, the god of the Underworld. He was a dark and mysterious loner, living in the depths, among the shadows of the Dead. But his heart softened when he saw Kore and was amazed by her youth, beauty and freshness. When he asked Demeter for her daughter, Demeter got furious and said there wasn't the slightest chance for that to happen. Hades was undeterred and driven by a passion he had never known and decided to woo Kore no matter what.
Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 1882
On a particular day, while the young girl enjoyed the day and gathered flowers with her companions in a serene valley, she caught sight of the most captivating narcissus she had ever beheld. As she stooped down to pick the flower, the earth beneath her feet suddenly cleaved open and through the gap, Hades himself came out on his wild black horse. Kore was amazed at the majesty and charisma of this exotic and mysterious figure. He jumped off his horse and took the hand of the lovely maiden.
At his touch, a heat rose through her body making her feel dizzy as if under a spell. But this heat rose from within her core not from Hades who was a cold figure like the dead he ruled over. The warmth from Kore’s touch spread between the two of them like a wildfire. He wanted to possess her, to own her. Before he knew it, he pulled her to him and looked deep into her eyes. She looked back at him without fear. He must have her, and she did not resist when he mounted his horse and pulled her up to him. The couple then descended into his underworld kingdom while the opening in the earth filled in behind them leaving do evidence of any disturbance. Hades took the maiden to his bed and that first time, she gave him her innocence.
Persephone: Acropolis Museum in Athens
Hades and Persephone’s days and nights were filled with passion. The sheltered Kore discovered a new life, as Eve biting the apple. Persephone was awakened to who she was and what she wanted when out of her mother’s shadow. She is not the same girl who was seemingly abducted. Hades sees that the woman rising is not the same person as the girl who went down into Hell with him, and he literally can’t own her. It’s not possible. She is no longer the meek maid she was when he first saw her. She has evolved, matured, changed, and there is no way to revert her to her former state. It is at this point she adopts the name Persephone. Hades soon comes to the realization that he now admires her more. She stands as his counterpart, his equal. He must win her with love.
Back above in the land of the living, the other girls were oblivious to the sudden disappearance of Persephone, the events unfolding too swiftly for them to grasp. Yet, Zeus, father of the maiden and sibling to the abductor, along with Helios, the Sun god, bore witness to the entire incident. Zeus, opting for silence to avert conflict with his brother, while Helios wisely chose not to entangle himself in affairs not his own. Meanwhile, a distraught and heartbroken Demeter roamed the earth in search of her daughter until her confidante Hecate, goddess of wilderness and childbirth, advised her to enlist the aid of Helios, the all-seeing Sun god. Moved by Demeter's anguish, Helios revealed the truth: Persephone had been seized by Hades. Demeter, enraged, yearned for revenge, but Helios suggested that perhaps being the wife of Hades and queen of the dead wasn't entirely unfavorable. Despite attempts to convince her, Demeter would not give up her daughter to a new life. Demeter's fury persisted, exasperated by Zeus's silence on the matter. In her grief and to admonish the gods, Demeter withdrew indefinitely from her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility, unleashing dire consequences. The earth withered, crops failed, and famine ravished, prompting the anguished cries of humanity to reach the divine ears of Zeus. Realizing the gravity of his wife's wrath and its threat to humanity, Zeus sought a solution to appease both Demeter and Hades.
He promised Demeter to restore Persephone to her if it can be proven that the maiden stays with Hades against her will. Otherwise, Persephone belongs with her husband.
Hades learned this agreement and told his bride, who was had begun to create a life for herself comforting the dead. She found her life to be fulfilling and meaningful. Zeus sent a messenger to pull Persephone out of hell. As she was pulled from her bed in the night screaming and reaching for her husband, Hades was able to place 3 pomegranate seeds in her hand which she quickly placed in her mouth and bit down. The sweet red juice flowed over her tongue and dripped onto her lips. This was the taste of love.
During the assembly before Zeus, when Persephone was questioned about her preferred residence, she declared her desire to dwell with her husband. Hearing this, Demeter erupted in fury, accusing Hades of somehow deceiving her daughter.
Persephone, now a strong woman said,
“You think he took me? You think I knew not what I did when I placed those crimson seeds upon my tongue?”
Demeter was furious and threatened that she would never again make the earth fertile and everyone on Earth would die.
Zeus decreed that Persephone would split her time, spending half of each month with her husband in Hades and the other half with her mother on Olympus. Although neither mother nor daughter found this arrangement satisfactory, they reluctantly accepted it as their only option.
Each fall as Persephone descends into to hell to take her place as Queen of the dead wife of Hades, there is a hush in the air. Leaves dry and fall to the ground as if in mourning but secretly they dance in the autumn wind. Demeter may think she is punishing the earth, but we descend into darkness like Persephone. We need this time to make ourselves whole again, to remember who we are.
And when Persephone rises to be with her mother, she reluctantly leaves her husband and her fulfilling work behind. Although Demeter ushers in spring and summer, it is out of balance. Demeter did not allow the natural “becoming” of her daughter. She interfered and so the climate is reacting to the imbalance. The earth is suffering.
Not everyone can quiet the unquiet dead and the gods know there is need for such a gift. Anyone who has witnessed the ravages of war can attest to that. Singing over the bones of those who went to their graves unsettled, balming the souls of those who were left behind, these are roles in traditional cultures that keep things neat and tidy, truly healthy, for the generations yet to come. But Persephone must leave her work undone as she ascends to earth. The dying are not tended to and they often die in fear.
When you remember Persephone, ditch the rogue story of her as an unwitting accessory to someone else’s glory. Remember her as the embodiment of grace, power, dignity, and purpose that she is. And remember that change is inevitable, When we interfere with the natural process of “becoming” we only cause imbalance.
Pomegranates: Watercolor By Kat Reeves
“I asked him for it.
For the blood, for the rust,
for the sin.
I didn’t want the pearls other girls talked about,
or the fine marble of palaces,
or even the roses in the mouth of servants.
I wanted pomegranates—
I wanted darkness,
I wanted him.
So I grabbed my king and ran away
to a land of death,
where I reigned and people whispered
that I’d been dragged.
I’ll tell you I’ve changed. I’ll tell you,
the red on my lips isn’t wine.
I hope you’ve heard of horns,
but that isn’t half of it. Out of an entire kingdom
he kneels only to me,
calls me Queen, calls me Mercy.
Mama, Mama, I hope you get this.
Know the bed is warm and our hearts are cold,
know never have I been better
than when I am here.
Do not send flowers,
we’ll throw them in the river.
‘Flowers are for the dead’, ‘least that’s what
the mortals say.
I’ll come back when he bores me,
but Mama,
not today.”
― Daniella Michalleni
A tondo from a red-figure kylix depicting Persephone and Hades. Vulci, c. 440-430 BCE. (British Museum, London).
A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture.
kylix, in ancient Greek pottery is a wide-bowled drinking cup with horizontal handles, one of the most popular pottery forms from Mycenaean times through the classical Athenian period.
Go Deeper: Diving Deep & Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quest
Truths that arise out of the depths of a woman's life experience are not necessarily mystical or spiritual in nature, but they can activate personal changes which can lead to transformation of the complete self, including the arenas of political activism and ecological responsibility. Christ says that we need not isolate a spiritual awakening from a social one as these are two aspects of a progression toward wholeness. The spiritual/mystical experience is seen as being interior, ineffable and transient, but it can generate profound insight and lead to a more concerned interaction with the exterior world.
Diving Deep and Surfacing reveals how the writings of Kate Chopin, Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Adrienne Rich, and Ntozake Shange can inform women's search for spiritual renewal. A new afterword testifies to the importance of spiritual autobiography for women.
Next Season: Autumn
The next issue of Seasons will by published in September
Photo courtesy Vladimir Tomić
“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
Support the work of the Cobb Institute
We're so grateful that you're a part of our community. We wouldn't be here without the financial support of the Friends of the Cobb Institute.
We hope you will consider all the programs and events that you enjoy when you consider giving to to The Cobb Institute by becoming a recurring donor. We need your financial contributions to support our staff and realize our vision.
Donating to the Cobb Institute is a powerful investment in enriching lives and fostering ecological well-being. Whitehead's worldview emphasizes interconnectedness and interdependence, encouraging a holistic understanding of our existence. Your donation becomes a catalyst for positive change and contributes to the promotion of a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the environment, fostering a mindset that values healthy relationships between one another and the larger community of life. This shift in perspective has the potential to inspire sustainable practices, innovative solutions, and a collective responsibility toward environmental stewardship. We can only do this work together.