During the transformations stage of the cosmogonic cycle, the life of the world reaches the apex of its manifestation. Life grows, continues, and begins to dissolve. The universe is at its furthest point from the unmanifest source which birthed it, and towards the end of this stage, it begins to turn back towards the divine realm.… Continue Reading
The Cosmogonic Cycle: Transformations
This is the second stage of the cosmogonic cycle. An overview of the cycle can be found here, and as usual, all quotations are from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces unless otherwise noted. As Joseph Campbell explains, “the first effect of the cosmogonic emanations is the framing of the world stage.” In Emanations, the… Continue Reading
The Cosmogonic Cycle: Emanations
In case you need it: here’s a quick overview of the entire Cosmogonic Cycle. Once again, all quotes unless otherwise noted are from The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The beginning stage of the cosmogonic cycle, emanations are the creation myths of the world, of which there are many forms. One of the most recurrent… Continue Reading
The Cosmogonic Cycle: An Overview
Where the hero’s journey describes the life of a single hero and his community, the cosmogonic round narrates the life cycle of the universe. Countless heroes live within the confines of a single cosmogonic cycle, and while it is almost never mentioned in discussions of the hero’s journey, the cosmogonic round is the journey’s backbone.… Continue Reading
Campbell’s Hero Journey: An Overview
To start with I’d just like to clear up that the following is based solely on Joseph Cambell’s theory of the hero’s journey. There are many other iterations and versions of the journey, and while I’m not arguing they are less valid than Campbell’s, his is my personal preference, and the source from which the others… Continue Reading
The Musketeers of Pig Alley: Birth of a Genre
Three years before D.W. Griffith would be immortalized with his epic Birth of a Nation, and a year later, Intolerance, he directed a one-reel curiosity named The Musketeers of Pig Alley. It may not depict the “birth of a nation,” but it is, rather, the birth of the gangster film. The Musketeers of Pig Alley… Continue Reading
Hitchcock’s Suspense and Surprise
In a famous interview with film critic and director Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock described the difference between suspense and surprise: “We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let us suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, “Boom!” There is an explosion. The… Continue Reading
Non Traditional Easter Movies
In honour of the upcoming Easter holidays, here’s a short list of movies to help celebrate. While most of these movies are not directly Biblical (I left out the obvious choices, like The Passion of the Christ), they are all either allegorical, make strong references to the life and characters of Jesus, or otherwise explore… Continue Reading
Dead Man Walking: The Way Film Speaks
Little drives me up the wall faster than the argument about which “kind” of art is better, or superior, to others. This usually comes in the form of “the book is always better.” Yet, we have this bizarre need to legitimize one artistic medium by comparing it to another: for example, when a video game… Continue Reading
Movies for St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us again and I thought I’d put together a list of movies in case pub crawling has gotten old (or, like me, it’s the 9th circle of hell). I’ve split this list into categories covering different aspects of Irish history and culture. This is by no means an exhaustive list,… Continue Reading