> From: Richard Landes [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> i wd be less quick to dismiss the link. it's a little like saying that
> now
> that dante has purgatory he need not get apocalyptic. there's always room
> for apocalypse in xn culture, no matter what the focus. as De Lubac
> pointed out, by the time you get to full-fledged (pseudo-)dionysian
> celestial hierarchies, you begin to lose any distinctive xn flavor. the
> revelations of the mystic can, in fact, have some pretty powerful
> apocalyptic messages, all the more likely to become activated in periods
> when the mysticism spreads rapidly in the population.
>
Agreed.
> mysticism is often post-apocalyptic (shift from horizontal and temporal to
> vertical and spatial), but it contains the dynamics of the disappointment
> in it (pure mysticism is the booby prize,... what about all those lost
> souls?)
>
The fear may be a purely local phenomenon that is not immediately
obvious to us at this distance. Sudden disruption of the society after a
purely local flood, famine, epidemic, or weird weather event is one type of
possibility. Or it may be related to drastic change in society--that last
gasp of the conservative elements before the society in general moves
forward. The presence and nature of such changes may not be immediately
apparent to us. For example, the role of social prosperity--or lack
thereof--was not apparent as a cause of the witchcraft hysteria at Salem
Village, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. But it effectively
created a tension between the haves (the accused) and the have-nots (the
accusers).
Francine Nicholson
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|