Official Social Network of The Theosophical Society in America
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy
THEOSOPHY AND THE ARTS PROGRAM - 6 WEEKS
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Myth: A Once and Future Map to the Inner Landscape - John Algeo
Theosophy’s Influence on Visual Artists - Pam Lowrie
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
Creating a Personal Mandala - Pam Lowrie
Theosophical Principles in the Healing Art of Therapeutic Touch - Marilyn Johnston
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
A.P. Sinnett stated that Theosophical poetry should depict spiritual life in a beautiful way. It should for example, show the beautiful and attractive side of other planes of existence without denying the validity, importance, and wonder of this plane of existence. The Theosophical teaching, according to Sinnett, is more important than artistic merit. The focus of our discussion took seriously Sinnett’s belief about poetry but with the caveat that aesthetics are also very important. Craft, technique, clarity and imagination, in poetry, work to bring the very life force into being. We examined modern poets especially gifted at realizing through language the very essence of the mysteries they explored. These poets embodied most, if not all, of the major themes in Theosophy in their poetry and were able to do it through language, but with the mystery of music.
Download handout: Mystical Poetry and Theosophy
Discussion questions
(For general discussion questions on Theosophy and the Arts click here)
1) Forget about the idea of a poem for a second, and try to describe just what the word “poetic” means. (What is the “poetic” that a serious or deep poet is trying to convey?)
2) Often our first exposure to poetry is an unfortunate, tedius event characterized by a teacher trying to get students to analyze and decipher each line of a long poem, line by line, word by word. Describe a time when you had a positive experience, either with poetry or any other art (music, a play, a painting, anything), in which the literal meaning of the work was not necessarily of primary importance, and you still were able to have a deep connection with the work.
3) There seems to be a similar underlying theme in the following two William Blake quotes: “Better murder an infant in its cradle than nurse an unacted desire,” and “Active Evil is better than Passive Good.” How would you describe that underlying theme?
4) In the “The Song of the Happy Shepherd” by W.B. Yeats, what do you think the last line means? “Dream, dream, for this is also sooth.” (“Sooth” means “truth.”)
5) Have someone from the group read aloud, slowly, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” by W. B. Yeats. Discuss how Yeats’s use of sound adds to the effect of the poem.
6) In the section of the poem, “Alberto Rojas Giménez Comes Flying” included in the handout, why do you think Pablo Neruda repeats the line “You come flying” over and over. There could be numerous reasons; just name one reason, one possible effect that repetition might have.
7) From the handout, have the group facilitator read, “The First Elegy,” by Rilke out loud. Then read only the following line by Rilke out loud a couple times, “For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure.” Discuss possible meanings for that one line.
Proposed activities
If your group decides to refer to all five poets featured in the Poetry handout for this section, there should be enough material in those notes to create a useful context in which to read/discuss the poets. Your group might decide to focus on a few of the poets to allow time for the writing exercise. Either way, read aloud the notes for each poet before reading his/her actual work at the end of the Poetry notes pdf. Keep in mind that doing the final exercise, writing a creation myth, would be both fun and rewarding and shed a great deal of light on how poetry, images, and imagination relate to spirituality. Organizing the class so that there is at least 30 minutes for the final writing exercise would be ideal. You might not want to try to cover all five featured poets, perhaps just a couple, to give your group the opportunity to complete the writing exercise. Though often in a poetry class, there are specific discussion questions designed around the theme of a particular poem, we concentrated more on noticing the poet's spiritual and mystical qualities and merely witnessing, experiencing their poetry as one would experience a painting or a piece of music. Read the general introductory information about the poet and then, as a group, read the section of poetry by them also included in the notes. After your group has covered the poets you chose to discuss before the class, it is very helpful and interesting to allow your group ample time to try the writing exercises below. Though craft and technique and imagaination ARE finally important in evaluating poetry, any poetry, it is also true that nothing makes one appreciate the nature of an art form like practicing it does. When combining an art form with spirituality, the action itself can be a healthy part of a spiritual practice regardless. Thus the emphasis on these exercises is opening one up to the process and practice of combining spirituality with creativity. John Algeo, and Theosophy in general, remind us that using our will through creativity is a key exercise for our conscious spiritual evolution toward, some day, in some future life, becoming Dyan Chohans ourselves. A great way to inspire creativity is by practicing poetic writing exercises and by writing creatively.
1- Look Closely
a) The facilitator can set an object where everyone in the group can see it, and then, for five minutes, each person can focus on describing as specifically and concretely as possible. (For this exercise, our group used a couple of unique looking stones which just happened to be readily available; any object(s) will work.)
b) Remember Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings. Think about the way she looked so carefully at the segments of a flower. You can do the same thing for your poetry.
c) Look carefully at everything you see.
d) Take that thing in your hand and turn it. Smell it. Feel it. Then sit with it a while.
e) Start making descriptive notes about it. It is small. In my hand it feels cool. It reminds me of something or someone. Write about that.
f) After a while, you may find that you have made connection with something you had forgotten that you love
2- The Original Simile
Similes are powerful energetic writing devices because they help us to use concrete nouns, and three dimensional things, in the world of language, have the most energy. The goal here is to think up a simile that you haven't heard before. Smooth as silk will not do. Try to think of something smooth that you haven't heard used in that connection. Chocolate pudding perhaps?
as blue as a / as rough as a / as lonely as a / as tall as a / as talkative as / as eager as a / crying like a / praying like / reliable as / as expensive as / as mad as / milling around like / common as / regular as / as pretty as / as reluctant as / as smooth as / as quick as / running like a / creeping like a / as loud as a / as nervous as a / as green as / as angular as / as mellow as / as sure as / shaking like a / as rich as / as perky as / growing like a
3- Personification Exercise
We will use an inanimate object, and then write abut it as if it had a human sort of personality complete with moods and opinions. The facilitator will have a predetermined object (any object will do) and then place it where everyone can see it. Group members should spend five minutes writing about the object as if it had human consciousness, personality, etc.
4- Rhythm with William Blake
a) Read again part of Pablo Neruda's "Alberto Rojas Giménez Viene Volando." (This is included in the last section of the Poetry pdf notes.) A great way to create rhythm in writing is to use a common musical technique: repetition. This is very common in epic, mystical poetry from the Bible to the Upanishads to Whitman.
b) The group facilitator can make visible a predetermined William Blake painting, hopefully form an oversized edition, to all group members. William Blake's paintings are helpful for this exercise because he invented, completely, his own mythologies and cosmologies, and most people will not be terribly familiar with them. He has many striking images to write about that the group members should be able to approach in a fresh manner.
c) Inspired by a William Blake painting, group members will write with rhythm. Every other line will be Blake's famous "And all that lives is holy."
d) Every OTHER line will be a concrete description of the painting. Avoid abstraction, try to use similes, try to use personification, perhaps focusing on an object in the painting instead of just a person or an angel.
Thus the poem will look like this:
Writer's description of an aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Writer's description of an another aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Writer's description of an another aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Etc.
5- Creation Myth Exercise
A myth helps to provide a unifying framework for the people who believe, either literally or figuratively, in this shared account. It is not a falsehood or an unscientific lie; rather, it is a poetic and shared vision.
Some of these mythic elements that derive from the Oral Tradition are: i) The use of repetition for emphasis and ease of recall; ii) The use of poetic devices such as alliteration, personification, metaphor and simile, and symbolism; iii) A concern with numbers, often times repeated; iv) The power of "The Word" (Logos) and the subsequent use of concrete nouns to label important elements (both human and non-human).
Design your own creation myth story which should include some of the above highlighted elements along with:
- How evil and death entered the world.
- How and why a mate was created for the first human.
- What is the relationship between humans and other forms of created life? Are humans above the cyclical scheme of the natural world, or are they part of this organic cycle?
- Is the created world static, or evolving or devolving?
- Was the world / universe created out of something or nothing? What was this something? Was the original material undifferentiated, chaotic, or . . .?
Try to use repetition, perhaps a phrase you repeat often. Try to use similes--in fact try to use MOST of the similes you created in the simile exercise and William Blake exercise; just stick them right in, this is what writing exercises are for. Most importantly, have fun. Creativity is celebration.
There should be a set time (30 min. at least) for this final exercise and ideally it should be done in class. Thus the group facilitator, depending on how long your lodge/class will meet, should decide beforehand how much time to spend on the other exercises or discussion of other poets.
Resources: Books, audio and videorecordings on Poetry
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Myth: A Once and Future Map to the Inner Landscape - John Algeo
Theosophy’s Influence on Visual Artists - Pam Lowrie
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
Creating a Personal Mandala - Pam Lowrie
Theosophical Principles in the Healing Art of Therapeutic Touch - Marilyn Johnston
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
A.P. Sinnett stated that Theosophical poetry should depict spiritual life in a beautiful way. It should for example, show the beautiful and attractive side of other planes of existence without denying the validity, importance, and wonder of this plane of existence. The Theosophical teaching, according to Sinnett, is more important than artistic merit. The focus of our discussion took seriously Sinnett’s belief about poetry but with the caveat that aesthetics are also very important. Craft, technique, clarity and imagination, in poetry, work to bring the very life force into being. We examined modern poets especially gifted at realizing through language the very essence of the mysteries they explored. These poets embodied most, if not all, of the major themes in Theosophy in their poetry and were able to do it through language, but with the mystery of music.
Download handout: Mystical Poetry and Theosophy
Discussion questions
(For general discussion questions on Theosophy and the Arts click here)
1) Forget about the idea of a poem for a second, and try to describe just what the word “poetic” means. (What is the “poetic” that a serious or deep poet is trying to convey?)
2) Often our first exposure to poetry is an unfortunate, tedius event characterized by a teacher trying to get students to analyze and decipher each line of a long poem, line by line, word by word. Describe a time when you had a positive experience, either with poetry or any other art (music, a play, a painting, anything), in which the literal meaning of the work was not necessarily of primary importance, and you still were able to have a deep connection with the work.
3) There seems to be a similar underlying theme in the following two William Blake quotes: “Better murder an infant in its cradle than nurse an unacted desire,” and “Active Evil is better than Passive Good.” How would you describe that underlying theme?
4) In the “The Song of the Happy Shepherd” by W.B. Yeats, what do you think the last line means? “Dream, dream, for this is also sooth.” (“Sooth” means “truth.”)
5) Have someone from the group read aloud, slowly, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” by W. B. Yeats. Discuss how Yeats’s use of sound adds to the effect of the poem.
6) In the section of the poem, “Alberto Rojas Giménez Comes Flying” included in the handout, why do you think Pablo Neruda repeats the line “You come flying” over and over. There could be numerous reasons; just name one reason, one possible effect that repetition might have.
7) From the handout, have the group facilitator read, “The First Elegy,” by Rilke out loud. Then read only the following line by Rilke out loud a couple times, “For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure.” Discuss possible meanings for that one line.
Proposed activities
If your group decides to refer to all five poets featured in the Poetry handout for this section, there should be enough material in those notes to create a useful context in which to read/discuss the poets. Your group might decide to focus on a few of the poets to allow time for the writing exercise. Either way, read aloud the notes for each poet before reading his/her actual work at the end of the Poetry notes pdf. Keep in mind that doing the final exercise, writing a creation myth, would be both fun and rewarding and shed a great deal of light on how poetry, images, and imagination relate to spirituality. Organizing the class so that there is at least 30 minutes for the final writing exercise would be ideal. You might not want to try to cover all five featured poets, perhaps just a couple, to give your group the opportunity to complete the writing exercise. Though often in a poetry class, there are specific discussion questions designed around the theme of a particular poem, we concentrated more on noticing the poet's spiritual and mystical qualities and merely witnessing, experiencing their poetry as one would experience a painting or a piece of music. Read the general introductory information about the poet and then, as a group, read the section of poetry by them also included in the notes. After your group has covered the poets you chose to discuss before the class, it is very helpful and interesting to allow your group ample time to try the writing exercises below. Though craft and technique and imagaination ARE finally important in evaluating poetry, any poetry, it is also true that nothing makes one appreciate the nature of an art form like practicing it does. When combining an art form with spirituality, the action itself can be a healthy part of a spiritual practice regardless. Thus the emphasis on these exercises is opening one up to the process and practice of combining spirituality with creativity. John Algeo, and Theosophy in general, remind us that using our will through creativity is a key exercise for our conscious spiritual evolution toward, some day, in some future life, becoming Dyan Chohans ourselves. A great way to inspire creativity is by practicing poetic writing exercises and by writing creatively.
1- Look Closely
a) The facilitator can set an object where everyone in the group can see it, and then, for five minutes, each person can focus on describing as specifically and concretely as possible. (For this exercise, our group used a couple of unique looking stones which just happened to be readily available; any object(s) will work.)
b) Remember Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings. Think about the way she looked so carefully at the segments of a flower. You can do the same thing for your poetry.
c) Look carefully at everything you see.
d) Take that thing in your hand and turn it. Smell it. Feel it. Then sit with it a while.
e) Start making descriptive notes about it. It is small. In my hand it feels cool. It reminds me of something or someone. Write about that.
f) After a while, you may find that you have made connection with something you had forgotten that you love
2- The Original Simile
Similes are powerful energetic writing devices because they help us to use concrete nouns, and three dimensional things, in the world of language, have the most energy. The goal here is to think up a simile that you haven't heard before. Smooth as silk will not do. Try to think of something smooth that you haven't heard used in that connection. Chocolate pudding perhaps?
as blue as a / as rough as a / as lonely as a / as tall as a / as talkative as / as eager as a / crying like a / praying like / reliable as / as expensive as / as mad as / milling around like / common as / regular as / as pretty as / as reluctant as / as smooth as / as quick as / running like a / creeping like a / as loud as a / as nervous as a / as green as / as angular as / as mellow as / as sure as / shaking like a / as rich as / as perky as / growing like a
3- Personification Exercise
We will use an inanimate object, and then write abut it as if it had a human sort of personality complete with moods and opinions. The facilitator will have a predetermined object (any object will do) and then place it where everyone can see it. Group members should spend five minutes writing about the object as if it had human consciousness, personality, etc.
4- Rhythm with William Blake
a) Read again part of Pablo Neruda's "Alberto Rojas Giménez Viene Volando." (This is included in the last section of the Poetry pdf notes.) A great way to create rhythm in writing is to use a common musical technique: repetition. This is very common in epic, mystical poetry from the Bible to the Upanishads to Whitman.
b) The group facilitator can make visible a predetermined William Blake painting, hopefully form an oversized edition, to all group members. William Blake's paintings are helpful for this exercise because he invented, completely, his own mythologies and cosmologies, and most people will not be terribly familiar with them. He has many striking images to write about that the group members should be able to approach in a fresh manner.
c) Inspired by a William Blake painting, group members will write with rhythm. Every other line will be Blake's famous "And all that lives is holy."
d) Every OTHER line will be a concrete description of the painting. Avoid abstraction, try to use similes, try to use personification, perhaps focusing on an object in the painting instead of just a person or an angel.
Thus the poem will look like this:
Writer's description of an aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Writer's description of an another aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Writer's description of an another aspect of the painting
And all that lives is holy
Etc.
5- Creation Myth Exercise
A myth helps to provide a unifying framework for the people who believe, either literally or figuratively, in this shared account. It is not a falsehood or an unscientific lie; rather, it is a poetic and shared vision.
Some of these mythic elements that derive from the Oral Tradition are: i) The use of repetition for emphasis and ease of recall; ii) The use of poetic devices such as alliteration, personification, metaphor and simile, and symbolism; iii) A concern with numbers, often times repeated; iv) The power of "The Word" (Logos) and the subsequent use of concrete nouns to label important elements (both human and non-human).
Design your own creation myth story which should include some of the above highlighted elements along with:
- How evil and death entered the world.
- How and why a mate was created for the first human.
- What is the relationship between humans and other forms of created life? Are humans above the cyclical scheme of the natural world, or are they part of this organic cycle?
- Is the created world static, or evolving or devolving?
- Was the world / universe created out of something or nothing? What was this something? Was the original material undifferentiated, chaotic, or . . .?
Try to use repetition, perhaps a phrase you repeat often. Try to use similes--in fact try to use MOST of the similes you created in the simile exercise and William Blake exercise; just stick them right in, this is what writing exercises are for. Most importantly, have fun. Creativity is celebration.
There should be a set time (30 min. at least) for this final exercise and ideally it should be done in class. Thus the group facilitator, depending on how long your lodge/class will meet, should decide beforehand how much time to spend on the other exercises or discussion of other poets.
Resources: Books, audio and videorecordings on Poetry
Read our Guide to Community Features to learn your way around!
Also, check out our Guidelines for Community Conduct to review our rules.
Have a question or issue to report? Send a message to the moderators and let them know.
Do you enjoy using this site and other online resources provided by the Theosophical Society in America? Would you like to contribute to these efforts? Click below to make a monetary donation. Your support is appreciated and will help us to add to the resources we offer online.
Events
© 2009 Created by The Theosophical Society
