Journey & Meaning Making in Russian Folklore: Emily Tucker

 A Russian Folktale titled "Ivan the Fool".  

A summary is as follows:

Ivan is the youngest of three brothers. The older brothers are considered ambitious and clever but are guided by greed and social status. Ivan is looked down upon because he is naive and simple minded. Ivan goes on a journey where he discovers his own meaning through experiences that teach him kindness and courage. He develops an intuitive wisdom that is void of the greed and power his older brothers seek. While on his journey, he helps both animals and strangers, without expecting anything from them. He faces tests that measure his moral character but receives help from magical beings because of his kindness. By the end he has gained a sense of purpose and deeper understanding of himself.


This Folktale contains many of the themes we have discussed this semester. Ivan's older brothers are representative of people who are deeply rooted in the marketplace and seek only external wealth and status. Ivan, however, is emptied of these things, which allows him to be receptive of the magical beings while on his journey. He shows "Trail Magic" to animals and strangers by giving them help and aide without expecting anything in return, creating a non-transactional relationship. He goes through hardships and tests, just as many pilgrims do. He finishes his journey with an internal transformation, where he now has a better understanding of himself. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Collective Unconscious and the Importance of Ego (Serial Experiments: Lain) - Carter Jobe

I just finished watching the short series Serial Experiments: Lain and was inspired to write this blog about the many spiritual inuendos that touched me throughout this experience, along with elements I found relevant to this class. There is an underlying element of the Jungian collective unconscious throughout the show, and it is represented by the Wired, a mix between the internet, a higher reality like a heaven, and a connection between all people and the world around them. The antagonist, "God", aims to deplete everyone's ego and superego along with their bodies, diminishing everyone into a digitized version of the collective unconscious. Humanity would become one, and there would be no sin or differences. Certain characters throughout the show commit themselves to this idea and rid themselves of their burdens to become a part of the wired.  Lain herself is compelled to do the same at one point. In the climax of the show, Lain claims that we don't need our bodies,...
Read more

Kip Redick Example Post

  Page 4 Michael Taussig would suggest Juan's understanding of the meaning of a place emerges out of the process of an imitation of all the “differences” that we discern there. We mimic (in language and action) the full range of sounds, movements, and other sensory perceptions that come to us from the more than human world.” It’s hard to put a place that strikes us as sublime into mere words; we can try to describe it as a feeling and try to put language to that feeling, but sometimes the feeling of the beauty of nature or the power of a sacred space is too big to try to translate or make sense of. Would every place and experience be subjective, and would the discourse be the same? Would the mountain top make me feel the same as another? Or does my personal experience with the natural world and divine keep it intimate/ unique, or would my experience be relatable enough? The author uses the messiness, ambiguity, and mystery of people's deeply personal experienc...
Read more

Dante's Inferno, a pilgrimage through hell

 Dante Alighieri was a prolific author of the 13th century. He wrote many pieces, but one that he is most well known for is his book Inferno. This book follows Dante as he travels through the seven rings of hell, he is guided by his now dead mentor Virgil. This book was the first piece of media from this time period to really explore the idea of what hell would entail. Each ring is split into level of sin, it starts with purgatory, an eternal waiting room for people who are between heaven and hell. The first ring is the tamest, with the least appalling of the eternal punishments. The last ring is for only the most atrocious of sinners and hold the worst punishments.     Dante travels through hell as a living man, so he has no fear of being tortured  as he journeys deeper into the pit of mans greatest threats. Dante begins cautious but excited, he has been given an opportunity of a life time, to document such a prolific place that is so deeply rooted in the core of so...
Read more