Logos Soup

The French Symbolist movement was a brief moment in art history that bridged gothic romanticism with decadent, surreal modernism. The movement was concerned with articulating immortal human truths through art, rather than reason, and as a result, it invoked the psychological resonance of Carl Jung's Archetypes in profoundly unique ways. This episode analyzes the uncanny masterpiece of Gustav Adolf Mossa, a painting of Elle, the sublime goddess of death and devourer of men.

Who is Pablo? In Kanye West's 2016 album, he invokes the images of the three different "Pablos" who inspire him (Pablo Escobar, Pablo Picasso, and Saint Paul), and mediates on the "Pablo" who he is, and the "Pablo" who he wants to become. This episode analyzes the structure, aesthetics, and lyrics of The Life of Pablo, in order to understand the internal conflict within Kanye West.

Can giving sight to one blind man enlighten the entire world? When Jesus cured a man of blindness, He divided the community, and forced the people to question, "Who is the bearer of God's power?" The Pharisees believed that authority lies in the status quo and the teachings of the past, while Jesus' disciples believed that authority lies in the people who act out God's virtues. Through this story, we learn that only through The Logos can a person come to consciousness and elevate others out of blind unconsciousness.

What happens when The Logos converges with The Anima Archetype? In a 2009 Pokemon video game, a bizarrely surreal event happens where a woman named Cynthia communicates with the Pokemon god, Arceus, and creates the egg of a new god. When examined using a Jungian-Archetypal framework, the sequence takes on many deeper meanings, with hallucinogenic, alchemical, and Christian allusions.

The philosophies of Christianity and Daoism both warn about the tragedy of violence, and describe the strengths that a person can achieve through peacefulness. While these philosophies offer parables and poetic sayings, Friedrich Nietzsche argued that Christianity champions weakness as its highest virtue, and in doing so, causes people to repress their own drives and will to power. Is it possible to embrace a philosophy of Christian or Daoist peace without starving the drives of our human nature?

As his last work before he died, the great artist Gustave Doré created a series of etchings based on Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece, "The Raven." This episode is a blend of poetry and art analysis as I explore the symbolic and psychological meanings of "The Raven," and Doré's ghastly, ominous final artworks.

In his poem, A Dream Within a Dream, Edgar Allan Poe meditates on the tragedy of time passing, and cherished moments fading away into oblivion. The poem uses two "dreams" to portray a dualistic reality; one in which the conscious psyche quietly accepts the loss of every beloved moment, while the unconscious psyche desperately clings to each memory, and begs the unforgiving universe to it him hold on.

Today's Coronavirus Pandemic is a stark reminder of how disease resonates in psyches of a population. In 1842, Edgar Allan Poe published a short story meditating on the reality of petulance, the paranoia of contagion, and mankind's often fruitless attempts to keep illnesses out. The Masque of The Red Death, while (hopefully) not prophetic, is undoubtedly a portrait of the spectral role that disease plays in the life and unconscious of every human.

Is life a tragic journey between birth and death? Jesus met a Samaritan woman near a drinking well, and told her that the water He can give her will prevent her from ever going thirsty again. This episode analyzes His encounter with the woman, and discusses the meaning of two sacramental symbols of Catholicism — the waters of Baptism, and the blood of the Eucharist.

This episode is a continuation of yesterday's discussion on what Carl Jung called the "Anima Archetype," and the two ways in which she can manifest in art, stories, and dreams; either as a loving spiritual guide, or as a seductive Femme Fatale who devours the consciousness of heroes. In this episode, I analyze two paintings, both titled "Salome." The first painting was created by Franz Stuck, and the second by Jean Brenner; both painters articulated in their own ominous and psychoanalytically meaningful visions of the horrifically beautiful Salome.

In Jungian Psychoanalysis, the Anima Archetype is the guide that leads a person to higher consciousness. The Anima also represents itself in art, literature, and dreams in two forms; the benevolent and the devouring. In this two-part art analysis series, I will be contrasting paintings of two of the most iconic Anima images in art history; Beatrice (the benevolent) and Salome (the devouring). One is an image of intimate, divine connectedness, and the other is the femme fatale who took the life of John The Baptist.

As a continuation of yesterday's episode about Jesus Christ's Transfiguration, this episode discusses a related vision that Carl Jung wrote about in The Red Book. The episode starts off with a short summary of three chapters of The Red Book, and then explains the interrelated concepts of The Anima Archetype, The Ego, and the creation of The Christ-Child.

As Jesus prepares to face his crucifixion, he encounters the prophets Moses and Elijah, and is transfigured into a form whose, "face shone like the sun and [whose] clothes became as dazzling as light." This episode analyzes the Catholic Mass readings for March 8, 2020, and discusses the question, "How powerful can people become if they unflinchingly follow the voice of greater consciousness?"

In this episode, @Haram.Shitposting and I compare and contrast the theologies of our Islam and Catholicism. We discuss topics such as The Holy Trinity, evolution, psychedelics, and art, in an attempt to understand what both religions offer people in an increasingly Atheistic world.

I found John Ciardi's poem, "My Father's Watch," while browsing r/salvia. The poem, in addition to its dream-like elements, includes allusions to Dante's Divine Comedy,  elements of Freudian psychoanalysis, and an overall motif akin to Friedrich Nietzsche's idea of "The Death of God."