Sleepy ramblings about how nice it is to have a body, even though it hurts.

Published: July 22, 2007, 4:24 pm

Tags: headspace, disability, psychology, bodies

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, there are two important characters, Baruch and Balthamos, whose great tragedy is their lack of having bodies. This is a curse for them, not to be able to fully experience texture, taste or smell. Not to be able to properly touch one another. The concept is heart-breaking.In my more desperate moments, I can totally dig that old-fashioned European dualism lark, back when Earth was the physical center of the universe; heaven literally above us, hell literally below us. Your soul was trapped in your body, constantly trying to ascend; a helium balloon inside a phonebox. Meanwhile, your body was rooted to the ground. Your body's inclinations were associated with sin; gluttony, lust and sloth, with the other sins mostly concerned with worldly goods, worldly power, wordly desires. And your body would eventually deteriorate, die and return, through decomposition, to the Earth from which it came. Ashes to ashes, funk to funky.The body is cast as

[ Full article ]

Blog link

Rating: 0

Comments