Smells and Bells

In Jeffery Kripal’s book, Author of the Impossible , he analyzes the supernatural and the sacred, and how they have a unique relationship, and how as humans, we have unique perspectives and attitudes to the supernatural. I found his point on the “Great Forgetting,” especially interesting as he speaks on how humans believe that thoughts and society are created through “social construction," and original thinking but he argues that our thoughts have already been laid out for a long while. I pondered on this for a while, because my first instinct is to rebel against this, as I want to believe all my thoughts are from me and my experiences and creativity, but when we look at any social movements, we usually see a pattern throughout history. Social movements, such as feminism, or abolition, or even just rebelling against governments have been seen for centuries, so maybe Kripal is right, maybe our thoughts aren't as original as we would like to think. I think this is an interestin...

    

As an avid gardener, I found myself drawn into the words of Deborah Greene in her “Aroma of Righteousness, ” and her description of how the Hebrew Bible uses gardening and its smell as a form of the erotic. To some, this may seem strange, but as someone who spends summers revering the dirt permanently under my fingers and having permanent dirt lines outlining my feet from my Chacos (the elite gardening sandal,) I appreciate and can see how this can be powerful as a form of passion and love. Greene speaks on the connection between the garden in the Song of Songs, how it is similar to the bond of the dove and Eve, and how the dove and garden are symbols of the beloved. She connected the garden of Eve and the garden of Songs by its “fragrant” spices and how through the closure of males from the gardens, the arguments spices also bring with it arousal. (120) While I don’t grow cinnamon or balsam in the gardens of Farm House, we do have an array of spices, that bring a range of emotions. W...