Talitha Cumi’ was an X-files episode

Yeah I just watched it last night. Good episode too.

Fascinating stuff. Keep it up!

Rushkoff created an intriguing comic (Testament) in which particular stories from the Bible are told, and simultaneously retold in a parallel reality with different characters and contexts. I haven’t read it yet, but it apparently has quite the impact on the reader. It seems to suggest that the power of these stories and characters comes from their archetypal content.

I just bought and started reading the Testament graphic novel today. And as much as I love Rushkoff, I have to say that the comic kinda sucks!

Think of it like basketball (or whatever sport): you don’t need to believe it or “see the point” to enjoy it or to get something out of the experience. But if you approach the activity with an open mind and a commitment to discipline, then you will probably get a great deal more out of it than someone who only plays casually.

Most important points to consider if you do decide to embark on this exercise: choose one book of the Bible to read. Make sure you read it out loud. And only read one chapter a day. Try to be in a meditative state before and after you do it.

The bible is like…

a playbill for the play within the play within the play that doesn’t matter much to the actual plot but somehow got a lot of attention.

It is, to me, neither the most interesting, original, mystical, entertaining, enlightening or profound of religous texts.

I know this must sound awful - I am not trying to dissuade you but I am curious as to your motivation.

I feel a strange compulsion that is against my nature here - I want to support something from which postive things can come (Tim studying the bible) yet I am more inclined to badmouth Christianity than usual.

Maybe I am jealous? Or better, protective of Tim and his considerable scholarly gifts and occult inclinations?

The bible, to me, is the liberetto for the wrong opera. Or maybe a playbill for the play within the play within the play that doesn’t matter much to the actual plot but somehow got a lot of attention.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/trailer1/medium.html

Skeptics will certainly call this “confirmation bias.” And it’s totally natural to want to wrap strange experiences in a linear linguistic container.

Only skeptics? I’d say that anyone aproaching it with the intent of finding the truth of the situation would be adding that to the list. Right, wrong, it’s one explanation which has a fair probability of being the case and which, as a result, deserves fair consideration before writing it off. Is it really so evil to weigh all possible angles to explain an occurance that a evil skeptic strawman has to be thrown in?

As to the reading out loud, that reminds me of an urban legend about St. Augustine converting people because his ability to read the bible silently was considered almost superhuman. Myth, but a fun one.

It is quite unfortunate that one of the negative effects of my schooling experience is an ingrainted urge to “hurry hurry hurry hurry” through whatever I read… even when it is something I’m 100% insterested in. Frequently I’ll find my eyes racing ahead with the motive of covering ground instead of taking it in. A habit, no doubt, I picked up from those nasty assigned books from English class.

The entire “out loud” idea seems to short-circuit this entirely. I love reading things outloud, memorizing movie quotes, etc. I can still rattle off the Ezekiel 25:17 from Pulp Fiction without missing a blink, a favorite passage from Pulp Fiction I internalized in high school. There defintely seems to be a majestic power in the voice that has nothing to do with superficial “information” (as understood by the rational mind) but instead delves into the depths of us all.

PS — I highly recommend Rushkoff’s “Testament” graphic novel. The Biblical parallels are of course great, though I’m suprisingly quite taken by the artist’s depiction of several stories from the Bible (especially anytime that a diety intervenes). A great preview (with the first few pages and commentary from Rushkoff) can be found here http://www.popimage.com/content/testamentpreview2005.html

http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_egyptianmagic17.htm

BTW, being ‘raised’ is also part of a Masonic initiation.

http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_egyptianmagic11.htm

I attended an unprogrammed Quaker meeting yesterday and had an insight about meditation during meditation. The story of Matthew 14:22-33 can be thought of alchemically, “the waters” representing what they always do alchemically, and Peter’s attempt to imitate Christ (who comes to meet them despite the ongoing storm) fails because he directs his attention to the waves instead of to the still point and axis, the Christ who is at that moment leading Peter to forget himself and have faith enough to come to him.

If there is magic power in any book (imo, there is no doubt!) it is because the same spirit that animated the authors of the book animates us, the symbolic narrative cause us to forget our self and turn our attention to our Self.

1. Some words in the Bible have a magickal quality to them
2. Some stories in the Bible have a magickal quality to them

As for the former, couldn’t you say this for all words? Perhaps some more than others. Whether this has to do with age, prevalance, sound, or meaning I don’t know. Maybe a combination of both. Personally I think words are most magical when they are fully harmonious with themselves, as in when the sound of the word matches its meaning in some way. Not merely in terms of mimicry, but also on a deeper level of energy imprints or archetypes. The same elemental dynamic, common to multiple levels of manifestation.

In a way, the same counts for the second notion. Stories also have an archetypal level to them, a result of the characters and their choices. Whether you resonate with a story depends on your (subconscious) ability to identify with the archetypes expressed in it. Since the Bible is all about archetypes being expressed, combined, and remixed, it basically covers the whole of the human experience. An interesting query is whether you can have the same kind of resonance with a story from a different source. Especially if that source has been imprinted in your consciousness from a young age. Would a Muslim have the same experience reading the Quran in this manner?

Rushkoff created an intriguing comic (Testament) in which particular stories from the Bible are told, and simultaneously retold in a parallel reality with different characters and contexts. I haven’t read it yet, but it apparently has quite the impact on the reader. It seems to suggest that the power of these stories and characters comes from their archetypal content.

The principle of this, in one sense, could be compared to the difference of experience you get when you sing along with and dance to a song as opposed to just listening to it passively…

See what happens!