The God separated a spirit from Himself and fashioned it into beauty. He showered upon her all the blessings of gracefulness and kindness. He gave her the cup of happiness and said, "Drink not from this cup unless you forget the past and the future, for happiness is naught but the moment." And he also gave her a cup of sorrow and said, "Drink from this cup and you will understand the meaning of the fleeting instants of the joy in life, for sorrow ever abounds."

And the God bestowed upon her a love that would desert her forever upon her first sigh of earthly satisfaction, and a sweetness that would vanish with her first awareness of flattery.

And He gave her wisdom from heaven to lead her to the all-righteous path, and placed in the depth of her heart an eye that sees the unseen, and created in her an affection and goodness toward all things. He dressed her with raiment of hopes spun by the angels of heaven from the sinews of the rainbow. And he cloaked her in the shadow of confusion, which is the dawn of life and light.

Then the God took consuming fire from the furnace of anger, and searing wind from the desert of ignorance, and sharp-cutting sands from the shore of selfishness, and coarse earth from under the feet of ages, and combined them all and fashioned mMan. He gave to Man a blind power that rages and drives him into a madness which extinguishes only before gratification of desire, and placed life in him which is the spectre of death.

And the God laughed and cried. He felt an overwhelming love and pity for Man, and sheltered him beneath His guidance.

--Kahlil Gibran

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)

Well, there were hairs to split to start the discussion, but since I'm prone to getting interrupted at work, I've forgotten what exactly they were. Something about the distinction between the feminine "beauty", the masculine God, and the sum of "Man" as masculine or perhaps as "humankind", which would render "beauty" as the spirit Westerners have called "Sophia" ....

Anyway, sorry about losing the form of the questions, but that's what happens when I have to do what I'm actually paid for. :rolleyes:

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)

Tiassa,

"..getting interrupted at work..." Don'tcha mean getting interrupted by work?? :D

Moon--

:D

Well, y'know ... I only keep this job 'cuz it's super-kush. In the meantime, I'm waiting for my big break as a clog-dancer ;)

Semantics, semantics ....

I s'pose you're right. Most days I remember they're paying me.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)

Actually, I'm a little torn on how I read Gibran. I try to take it as religious poetry, though there are, as religious works are prone to have, many political overtones, some less subtle than others.

As a religious work, I'm inclined to read this as a beautiful account of emantations of God. As such, the female beauty is the Muslim equivalent of Sophia, whose name, quite frankly, escapes me at present. (I'll look it up later.) One compelling aspect I read here is that nothing is said of God's motivations or purpose, only His regard when viewing the results of His labors. However, it does imply something about God's sense of sentiment, for as wretched as He built us, He cannot, by this account, turn away.

In the political sense, I see a bestowal of institutionalized expectation upon Woman. The presupposition of sorrow as the standard for the spirit lends a political tone; Gibran only aimed at the wealthy when railing against them, but reserved his general tone for a sense of hopeful conflict among the "abstract" destitute.

As a political work, then, I see a juxtaposition between what a culture assumes of God's workings in the creation of Man and Woman. In the political, the words would characterize a perception of the culture Gibran saw around him, perhaps striking after the heart of the imbalance he perceived. Yet the sentiment of God seems to imply that, should the culture deem such a standard of spirit and difference of fundamental endowment by God, that God should have a conscience, and regard His creations as unfortunate or, perhaps as a mistake. This conclusion, of course, can only be combatted in two ways; the simpler being to declare Prophet Gibran a heretic, and the alternative--perhaps the author's intended response--would be to assert that the perceptions of the standard of sorrow and the fundamental endowments of Mand and Woman were not necessarily fixed. If Gibran could inspire proper sentiment, it would then be that the culture's perception of the standard must be flawed, if the idea that God could make a mistake is the inescapable conclusion. Certes, it all rests on contemporary rhetoric, but what of politics doesn't? Nor can I assert that my reflections are remotely appropriate.

It's speculation; it's a place to start ... but either way, The Creation reads pretty damn cool to me.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)

I think one of my favorite "creation" stories is the one I just read in Starhawk's "Spiral Dance". Just finally getting around to reading it, and that one is wonderful. Maybe when I get home I'll be un-lazy enough to post it here for everyone's enjoyment. But since I'm working on a Sunday, I ain't promising NOTHING! LOL!

In the mean time though, may Momma bless you Tiassa!
~MC

My copy of Spiral Dance is elsewhere at present, allegedly enlightening a friend of mine's bookshelf. Thus, I anxiously await your insights.

B/b ...,
Tiassa :cool:

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We are unutterably alone, essentially, especially in the things most intimate and important to us. (Ranier Maria Rilke)

[This message has been edited by tiassa (edited June 11, 2000).]

Tiassa,

I dunno how much insight I have on this, I just read it a couple days ago for the first time. I more just wanted to share it with everyone, I think it's rather moving, personally:

(To give credit, this is (according to the book) an oral teaching of the Faery Tradition.)

Creation

Alone, awesome, complete within Herself, the Goddess, She whose name cannot be spoken, floated in the abyss of the outer darkness, before the beginning of all things. And as She looked into the curved mirror of black space, She saw by her own light her radiant reflection, and fell in love with it. She drew it forth by the power that was in Her and made love to Herself, and called Her "Miria, the Wonderful."

Their ecstasy burst forth in the single song of all that is, was, or ever shall be, and with the song came motion, waves that poured outward and became all the spheres and circles of the worlds. The Goddess became filled with love, swollen with love, and She gave birth to a rain of bright spirits that filled the worlds and became all beings.

But in that great movement, Miria was swept away, and as She moved out from the Goddess She became more masculine. First She became the Blue God, the gentle, laughing God of love. Then She became the Green One, the vine-covered, rooted in the earth, the spirit of all growing things. At last She became the Horned God, the Hunter whose face is the ruddy sun and yet as dark as Death. But always desire draws Him back toward the Goddess, so that He circles Her eternally, seeking to return in love.

All began in love; all seeks to return to love. Love is the law, the teacher of wisdom, and the great revealer of mysteries.

I think part of the reason I like it so much is that this is a myth about the birth of the universe, and instead of focusing on pain and destruction that is part of any birth, it focuses on the love that caused the birth in the first place. :)