Nathan Bloom - My Choice #4

For my fourth and final blog on the topic of my choice I would like to write about what I have learned in this class. The first time I took it of course I learned many of the same things which is natural because it is the same course. However, this time like anything I learned more and had a further understanding for the material. Every time you do something multiple times and study it again you will learn it better. As for reading the texts again I remember more things and also have a greater understanding. The entire section on liminality means much more now. As I said in an earlier blog I feel very liminal as a college student. Furthermore, I greater understand the mask of the Holy and am begining to see ordinary things that are truly extraordinary all around me. It has been a great class, thank you.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #3

For my third blog on the topic of my choice I would like to discuss historical buildings. I find it very interesting how certain places and buildings, even cars; after a certain number of years become designated a historical landmark or an antique. This is similar to designating a place to be sacred after a given amount of time. According to Belden Lane in his book, "Landscapes of the Sacred" there are four axioms that must be met in order for a place to be sacred, or four axioms that can help define a sacred place. Desiginating a place sacred becasie of its age does not meet Lane's principles.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #2

Ive been thinking about my paper that I wrote for this class. I am so fascinated by all the different religions and their practices. Their rituals for pilgrimage and how they all relate like was my thesis for my paper is very interesting and very relatable to this class. However, I find it so interesting how all the the religions are so similar and come from so much of the same history and past. I could also have written an entire paper just on the similarities of sacred place within each religion because many of them not only have sacred places for similar reasons but many of them, Christianity, Judiasm, and Islam, have the same sacred places like all of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock Ect. This is all fascinating because throughout the history of man there have been wars fought soley on the basis of differing religous beliefs when in fact all religions are very similar.

Nathan Bloom - My Choice #1

I was thinking about a movie a recently watched called Equilibrium. It is about society after world war 3 and the utopia that is created. No one has feelings because of the drug that the people are given. But there are a few outliers who escape the city and do not take there scheduled doses of of the drug and can feel. These people hold on to things like records, and paintings, and even decorative wallpaper. these items are all held sacred to theses last few people who can still feel. It made me think of topics studied in this class. How sacred place can be not a place at all but a memory of an event, of a feeling, or of an experience that one had.

Nathan Bloom - Natural Setting #2

Every time I go outside my house I see so many leaves, they cover the streets and would cover the sidewalks if we were to have any in my neighborhood. The leaves seem to walk themselves inside our house and sometimes up the stairs. They are everywhere. after a while you get used to them and if you go somewhere that is void of these massive amounts of leaves you almost begin to miss the colors and shapes that fill the streets. I was thinking about it while writing my last blog how just this morning I was in the Mariner's Museum Library on campus and there is so much great history that is right next to my house. Did you know that over 90% of the nations soft shell crabs come from the Chesapeake bay. This is a very interesting fact, however, the book was published in 1990 so alot has likely changed in 20 years.

Nathan Bloom - Natural Setting #1

When we took our mini nature hike around the Nolan Trail I thought it was really cool to see all the fish swimming up to the dam. I did the same hike last year when I took this class, but like Lane says, every time you visit a place your experience will be different. Last time when I went there it was earlier in the semester and was much warmer so there were more birds out and more leaves on the trees. It was altogether a completely different experience. I enjoy going to the Nolan Trail, it is so nice that we have such a wonderful display of nature so close to our campus.

Nathan Bloom - Outside Reading #3

In another class I am reading a text called Introduction to Political thinkers by Alan Ebenstein. I am a poly sci major and this book gives many political theories of many different philosophers and political theorists. Most of the authors, Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Machiavelli, etc. all speak of the state of nature, or the state of war, the states that man finds himself in prior to having government and community. In a previous blog I discussed Liminality and how it relates to a college student. I also believe that liminality applies to people who find themselves in the state of nature(mans original state) and the state of war. They are in between having nothing and being savage and have order and government. Its interesting how liminality applies in so many places but i had never heard the word before this class. also I see the philosopher kings journey in Plato's allegory of the cave as a pilgrimage. He leaves where he is comfortable like pilgrims and goes out to gain a better understanding of life and the outside world, this is similar to religious pilgrims.

Nathan Bloom - Outside Reading #2

I an thou by Martin Buber was an interesting piece and I found it difficult to understand. I guess if you read it a few times you can get the hang of it, the relation between I and you and how we help each other but with I and It the It can do nothing because I experience it. I would have liked to interview Martin Buber and ask him to better explain his philosophies in lamens terms. Have him cut through all the fancy language and tell me what he thought. It seems like a poem or song(although I guess some songs are just poems that are put to music) that we cannot truly know what the author meant when he wrote it. We can interpret it and dissect it and try our best to understand it. But when it comes down to it no person knows the true meaning and what was conveyed in the passage except the author. This is why i tend to dislike English classes because professors will give us their interpretation of a poem or grade us wrong for our interpretion when in fact no one knows what the long since dead author meant.

Nathan Bloom - Outside Reading #1

I recently read an article about the Pilgrimage practices of Muslims. It was for my paper for this class but when I read it and learned about the practice of Hajj it helped me to understand some of the significance that Mecca holds and how it has become a sacred place as we have discussed in class. I find that making pilgrimage a mandatory aspect of ones religion sort of defeats the purpose. You cannot pilgrimage to put a check in a box. It has to come from the heart and you have to be ready to pilgrimage and accepting of what you learn. I have nothing against the Islamic faith and I know there are aspects of Christianity that Muslims surely disagree with and I also understand that Hajj is something that has been done for centuries so to change now would alter their entire religion, but at the same time you simply cannot force pilgrimage, it must happen by itself.

Nathan Bloom - Class Reading #6

Belden Lane writes about the mask of the Holy in his book, Landscapes of the Sacred. The concept of a philosophical mask being on something in nature is funny, but his argument stands that many ordinary things that we see everyday hold greater meaning or when experienced in a different way can be seen in a new light. Lane gives the example of a tourist who goes back to a place but cannot capture the feeling or experience that he had there before. Lane says that sometimes memory of a place is better than actually going there again. When you think of a game you playes or a movie you saw or house you visited when you were very young and then to do that same thing again and its never as good as you remembered it. Often times I do that and think to myself, How could I have even enjoyed this as a child. Lane is very right; holding on to a memory is far more powerful and a better experience than repeating whatever it is you are remembering.

Nathan Bloom - Class Reading #5

In one chapter in Lane's book, Landscapes of the Sacred he discusses the tension between space and place. This is amusing because when I first began reading and before I took this class if someone were to have said tension of space and place I would have thought they were joking; they seem so similar and interchangeable. when Lane dissects the difference and their pros and cons on his diagram, freedom and threat, comfort and constriction, it makes you think. I am from NOVA and while it is no small town in which to find comfort it also most certainly does not give me the feeling of freedom from space, the closest feeling I can relate from it would be constriction because their are so many people always in your way or competing for the same thing, whether it be an apple at the grocery store or a job. While this is constricting NOVA also gives me a feeling of ultimate freedom because there is so much to do and so much to see. So I guess in a way this proves Lanes diagram correct, but it still leaves me wondering what NOVA is. From my above description it almost seems like an oxymoron but how can a whole group of cities be a conflicting idea? It really makes you wonder.

Nathan Bloom - Class Reading # 4

When comparing Belden Lane's book, Lanscapes of the Sacred I find it more interesting than Turner and Turner's book because it encompasses a wider range of topics. I understand Turner and Turner probably did not find the need to include other topic besides pilgrimage and they liked it like that, but as far as reading goes it kept me more entertained to read on many different concepts and topics that all tied in to Landscapes of the Sacred instead of many different accounts of pilgrimage. It is interesting that every place that Lane classifies as a Sacred Landscape according to the Four Axioms would be considered a perfect location for a pilgrim to travel too.

Nathan Bloom - Class Reading #3

Turner and Turner discuss Pilgrimage as a Liminoid phenomenon in their book, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. I remember this discussion from class and it makes me think of myself as a college student. I feel very liminal just a pilgrim must feel. Pilgrims are in between their old life and any revelations they may have and their new life after pilgrimage. While pilgrimaging they are still here on earth so to speak but not really in the "real world." The concept of communitas applies on the trails but not so much in the "Real World" As a college student I too feel very liminal. I am no longer living with my parents and am working to pay my own bills, but at the same time I dont have a real full time job, nor do I have any thoughts of starting a family and their is a good chance that upon graduation if I get job offers outside of Newport News then I will move to take one of those jobs. I am in between being under my parents wing and the real world. Its a funny thing to think about that college is not considered the "real world" and when friends graduate we all say, "good luck in the real world." So college is a journey that I should make the best of.

Nathan Bloom - Class Reading #2

The Chapter in Turner and Turner's book about St. Patrick's Purgatory was in interesting for several reasons. First, as I have said before I find pilgrimage very interesting so reading the rituals and purpose of a Catholic pilgrimage is intriguing. Also, the ritual that takes place at the shrine takes three days which is symbolic of Christs death and his resurrection from death. Most pilgrimages seem to try to imitate a journey or hardship that the leader of that religion took part in during his life. However, it is truly impossible to even come close to experiencing what Christ did. Which is fortunate because you dont have to imitate everything Christ did to get to heaven. Another interesting aspect of this chapter is Purgatory. It is not really discussed much at all in the chapter but What is purgatory? People have near death experience and can tell us little excerpts of what it was like, but no one goes to purgatory momentarily. From descriptions I have heard it seams like a horrible place. waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Nathan Bloom - Pilgrimage- Class Reading #1

10 December 2010

I find pilgrimage to be a fascinating concept. It is so widely practiced among so many faiths, religions and cultures and has been for so long. In the Introduction to Turner and Turner's book, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, they bring up the point that no one really knows the true origin of pilgrimage. Where did it really begin? They say some pilgrimages start and are based off of other religions but then where did those other religions start there tradition of pilgrimage? I guess it is just one of those things that has to be accepted as having always been around and I dont the origin is all that important to those who take pilgrimages anyway.

Tre Mace deserts

After reading a lot about desert life I am experiencing a pull of my own to the desert. I wish to visit the Mojave, the Sahara, and the Gobi, and learn from there people. They live a life completely different from what I have ever known, and know that I have much to learn. These people respect the land because they know it can provide them with life, but just as easily take it away. I want to have a relationship similar to theirs with the land I call home, but it is hard to even imagine with the amount of industrialization that has occurred, and the lack of wilderness that I have the ability to interact with.

Tre Mace Pilgrimage

My pilgrimage was a very difficult journey, but something I needed to experience. I was under the impression that I would be experiencing physical pain, which I have been able to get through in the past, but instead I was faced with a mental pain of not being able to walk because of an illness. This was a new thing for me and it was very difficult overcoming this obstacle, but I know that it made me a stronger person. I did enjoy the trip in the end despite all of the pain, and connected with people on a whole new level.

Tre Mace Space vs. Place

I have experienced this tensions many times myself. It is a cycle that lead me in circles before I was able to begin to find a place where I was happy without being constricted. A place where I could be myself, but still be free to try new things. This contradiction, was very hard to understand while going through it, but it is necessary to experience this to find a balance between comfort and freedom.

Tre Mace Masks

Reading about sacred place as a mask for the holy, brought to mind my experience in Spain, in which I participated in this relationship. I was at an old ruined castle, in the middle of the Meseta and I was able to see for miles in every direction. While atop the old castle I felt miniscule, humbled by what was around me. I knew then that I was insignificant in the big picture, and this castle revealed to me the glory of creation. This is what masks do they are able to reveal the nature of the holy and its glory, while at the same time concealing it from us. We must experience the holy to be able to begin to comprehend it.

Tre Mace Ich und Du

Being introduced to Martin Buber while in Spain created an interest in his philosophy and his writings for me. I read his most famous work, I and Thou, which focuses on the two different relationships that we engage in. The fist and most common is the I-It relationship, and that does not allow us to fully experience the other being in the relationship. The second, and more important, is the I-Thou or I-You relationship. In which we do not have any limitations on the You, and we are able to fully experience the You, whether the You is another being or nature or God.

Tre Mace Iron John, Bly

A book about men. This look into the journey from being a boy to entering manhood, has given me a new perspective on masculinity as a whole. It focuses on the lack of rituals in western cultures for this journey into manhood. And how the lack of these rituals has created a tension in how we see men and what we think a man should be. This lack of structure creates many problems in todays man, which we do not know how to correct. This book will ideally help me on my own journey into manhood and make me into a stronger more secure man.

Tre Mace reflection on as I walk

AS I was engages in the this relationship with the land around me I became aware of something new. I look at what I find to be important, and realize that although I am a very introverted person I need a connection with more than nature. I look back at the relationships built while living in communitas. This relationship with nature is necessary, but insignificant without people to share it with. I long for a new experience outside of social confines, in which i need not worry, but instead just live my life in the moment.

Tre Mace As I walk

As I walk through the forest I become focused and listen to what is going on around me. I close my eyes and hear the bird conversing, the squirrels scampering on the forest floor. The wind begins to talk to me as it flies through the canopy above me, and in that moment I am transported to a different land where I am completely alone. This does not worry me because the land around me begins to tell me its story. I can feel the age of the trees, and see what they have seen. I am part of the symbiotic relationship that has been around for millennia. I am humbled because I know that that this life, this relationship will continue long after my death.

Tre Mace poem

Trudging up the mountain, striving for the top
I feel the pain increasing, but I know I mustn't stop
And then I hear a stranger approaching from behind
He speaks an unknown language but I can feel his words are kind
We reach the summit together and look ahead at the vast wilderness
And in that moment we are on filled with joy and peacefulness

I-Thou. Jordan DUling. 12-4-10

Martin Buber's concept of I and thou is exemplified in the text by Belden Lane. Within the chapter entitled, "The Mountain That Was God," Lane discusses his spiritual experiences on Mt. Rainier. Buber's I-Thou concept is described as a relationship that stresses the mutual, holistic existence of two beings. It is a concrete encounter, because these beings meet one another in their authentic existence, without any qualification or objectification of one another. Lane discusses the majesty of the mountain and how he was humbled by the experience. While on a mission trip to Honduras in the summer of 2008, I too experience a similar sensation. While standing on a mountainside in the country of Honduras, I could see everything. THe beautiful landscape, houses of the wealthy and the shack of the poor. This experience spoke to me in a way as if the entire country were saying, "look upon me... consider the uniqueness of this image and ponder."

Cold Fever. Jordan Duling 12-4-10

The film, Cold Fever follows a japanese businessman traveling through Iceland in search of the river where his parents had tragically drowned seven years prior. This film show the importance of ritual and the effects it has on the human spirit. How was the protagonist changed throughout the film? This is a question we were asked in class. I found that the answer is quite simple... The ritual that was enacted in the movie showed the main character that tradition and family is ever important. The workings of the business world will come and go, but traditions and the love of family are forever.

Laura Stiles- Sacred Place

At the beginning of the class, I was under the belief that we were going to have to discver a sacred place and write and analyze about it, but the catch was that there are only so many sacred places, and they must be ancient and in far away countries. To my surprise and relief none of these things were true. For me this course was really about new ways of thinking about and appreciating nature and the wilderness. It is great to know that anywhere important to me, where I perform ritual, has the potential to be sacred. It's so empowering!

Laura Stiles- Research

While researching for my paper, I found an interesting study that surveyed visitors of the appalachian trail and asked them how secure they felt. Of day hikers, overnight hikers and section hikers 63% reported feeling very safe on the trail, while 74% of thru-hikers reported to feeling secure. While you may think thru 0hikers must just be more trusting people, get this. When asked how secure they felt in town surrounding the trail, day hikers, section hikers and overnight hikers dropped to 50% feeling very secure while only 26% of thru hikers felt a high level of safety. It my opinion that those safety numbers don't drop solely because some mountain town people are crazy. Most of it has to do with the fact that thru hikers become so comfortable and trusting of one another on the trail, they only feelin insecure when others are added into the mix. These feelings are most liekly brought on by good old communitas.

Laura Stiles- I and Thou

The more I explored Martin Buber's idea of "I and Thou" the more inspired I was. I'm grateful God gives us the capacity to form string relationships with whoever we please, however we please, and ultimately using the relationships to bring us closer to him. It's is optmism in the finest and provides hope for my everyday life, that the people in my life and the things I can't change about them are there for a reason.

Laura Stiles- A Walk in the Woods

For some of my oustide reading i chose the book A walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. If anyone's looking for a funny read, I would definitely recomend it, especially after having taken this class. Anyway, the point is that it got my thinking about how much goes into the preparation of a long hike. Everyhting has to be thought out. You can't just run to Walmart to grab something you need. It really does take a lot of faith to know you'll survive the experience and that you get help along the way. I'd would love to go on a backpacking trip, and though this book proves just about anyone can survive, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave the comforts of CNU.

choice 1 - cold fever - William Pfeiffer

In the movie ”Cold Fever,” there comes a time where the protagonist must journey out along a bridge with very little to hold on to or step on. This can be taken as a metaphor for liminality. At this point, he has been questioning his lack of faith, but after he crosses the bridge and completes the ritual, he finds the faith that had long evaded him. Although he had been tested before, this final test may have been the hardest to complete. With each step, there was a chance of falling and certain death.

Image and Pilgrimage 3 - William Pfeiffer

The third entry I'm doing from Image and Pilgrimage involves quotes from Bernard Lewis's from the Encyclopedia of Islam in which he contrasts the pilgrimages of Muslims and Christians. Paraphrased, he says that the pilgrimages Muslim's took led to a more organized society, with literature traveling across the lands and information about distant places coming in. Also, there was usually a common language spoken by all Muslims that aided in better communication among them. This is in contrast to the Christian pilgrimages where, for example, there were 25 different languages spoken among the Franks alone.

Laura Stiles- Cold Fever

The movie cold fever showed me the importance of ritual. The main character had no interest in going to Iceland but went anyway because if he didn't he felt like he was letting his grandfather down. He was to go there to properly bury and say goodbye to his parents. He learned from several helpers on his journey how important it really was to perform rituals for his parents. I can't imagine the burden of providing a proper goodbye for my own parents, hut he definitely did his justice. I realized through this movie that there really is no proper ritual, but rather a ritual is soemthing thatgives the ritual giver the closure they need and feel necesary.

Landscapes 3 - William Pfeiffer

Lane’s fourth axiom states, “the impulse of sacred space is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal.” This has two similar parts. First, the centripetal and centrifugal means that sacred space occurs in a person while it simultaneously occurs in the physical world. Secondly, the local and universal means that, while a person experiences sacred space at one particular location, sacred space can be experienced away from that location once it has occurred. For example, one place where I believe I have found sacred place is a large rock down near our creek. I can think back on it and experience it now as I write this.

Landscapes 2 - William Pfeiffer

Lane’s third axiom states, “sacred space can be tread upon without being entered.” When considering this axiom, we need to understand that this isn’t referring to walking into a church or temple, rather it refers to a metaphysical entering. It can be taken to mean going from darkness to light with the darkness representing the mundane of life and the light meaning sacred space.

Laura Stiles- Flow

The concept of flow was really easy to apply to my own life. I had the amazing opportunity to go on a mission trip to Latvia and run a summer camp for less fortunate teens and kids. It was a great experience that challenged my faith and let me experience flow. My team of about 30 americans with the help of about 50 latvian leaders lead camp for 200 teens and 200 kids and quite frankly it was exhausting. Every patience we had was tested but at the same time it was insanely rewarding. While we were in Latvia, it was hard to communicate with family and friends back home, so while i knew they were praying for, and supporting me I had to depend on my team members for immeadiate support. The entire two weeks all that mattered were the campers. They came before anything else, and all my fellow staff members became my family. I believe this is the true meaning of flow because for those two weeks camp was my entire life and all energy i had went towards it. As a result, my senses were heightened and to this day my memories of the experience are vivid.

Outside text 3 - William Pfeiffer

My last outside text comes from a PBS article about a former atheist who had a religious experience while skiing and how he now takes people out into the wild so they may try to experience the same thing he did. It started when the man was on a frozen lake cross country skiing and it was getting dark. He looked up and saw black trees etched against a purple sky. He held his arms out and felt a warmth come over him that said “it’s God.” Now he takes people out into the wilderness to that they can live in the moment and feel God’s presence. Out of the four hundred people he had taken at the time, only one person hadn’t felt anything the entire trip.

Choice 4 - William Pfeiffer

My fourth choice comes from watching the change in demeanor from freshman to sophomore year in relation to communitas. During freshman year, people are at the start of their journey and knew few, if any, other people. Slowly, bonds begin to form and they are brought together by common beliefs and view each other as equals. However, during sophomore year, this seems to stop. Sure there are new friendships forged, but not with the same intensity as freshman. I think this has to do with the fact that freshman year can be likened to a pilgrimage because of the unfamiliarity and toughness while sophomore is more of a trip because it has been done before but just slightly harder.