but in reference to a semi-private conversation about the concept of owning a velvet elvis, I’ve been meaning to display my own, semi-treasured pink velvet elvis... and have now semi-successfully installed him on a semi-appropriate wall in my semi-strange kitchen....
now...what’s the use of having a velvet elvis...you (may or may not) ask?
and what’s the use of all this semi-silliness...you might (or might not) add?
well...being a Libra...I’d have to happily say “None” to the first question.
Art doesn’t have to be beautiful. It’s just gotta remind you of who you really are.
No...not literally!
But if an image doesn’t remind you that your life is beautiful...despite what that voice between your ears is constantly telling you...well...then it probably isn’t art.
and then...in response to the add-on...having too much Virgo for my own good hidden in my chart...I seem to have to qualify just about everything...
but here’s The Thing about Elvis....
he’s immortal...and he’s found everywhere...
now...even in my kitchen...
My mom met Elvis once. She still says it was the best day of her life
Posted by: marta | April 23, 2009 at 11:10 PM
There’s gotta be a name for that, Marta...
like when the king picks you outta the crowd and gives you a smile and a nod as he’s passing in some procession...
or like when I watched BHO working the crowd before his first state of the union address...
smiling those smiles of personal recognition, shaking hands...and nodding...
and hmmm...maybe that’s it...
the nod...
according to Jung...the bowing or nodding of a god is called in Latin...the numen...meaning a hint or a sign...
which is the origin of the concept of the numinous...
...when you have whispered into the ear of the god (as a statue or image) and then remain waiting patiently / meditatively...
(what in German is apparently called betrachten)
you will suddenly see that the statue is nodding!
the god or goddess has heard you and is nodding assent...
(which is also what happens with the Yi Jing)
and so the numen, or the numinous, is the assent and blessing of the divine power...
rewarding you...in a sense...for your attention...
meeting Elvis sure as hell qualifies as the numinous...with or without the Latin and the philologic background...
Posted by: kristo | April 24, 2009 at 03:38 PM