Wicca

As was brought up in class following a discussion of the witches in His Dark Materials, I wanted to discuss and clear up many misunderstandings of Wicca, as Wicca and witches are usually quite misunderstood. My older sister is Wiccan, and so I have read many books on the subject. The foremost important motif that is always stressed in Wicca is "If it harm none, do what you will." As any witch will tell you, witches are not satanists. And even any sort of witches that practice black magic are an extreme minority, although of course, that is what Hollywood, horror movies, and the media like to focus on.

The Wiccan church defines Wicca as "a religion that emphasizes growth through harmony in diversity, knowledge, wisdom, and exploration." Important aspects of Wicca include the following:
I. Development
A. Starting in the early nineteenth century, a new natural religion gradually evolved. It gathered momentum in the mid-twentieth century.
B. Many authors and philosophers helped to develop the magical modern religion and to articulate parts of its belief structure.
C. The religion finds its roots in ancient ways. It has psychic connections and sympathy with those who were burnt in the medieval period, and indeed with all individuals who have been oppressed and killed in the name of religion.
D. The recent "festival" movement has enhanced the growth and diversity of the religion.

II. Literature
There is no official text; for the Craft is a religion of life and of nature, not of "the book."

III. Explicit Religious Doctrines
A. God (deity) is immanent and transcendent.
B. Every living entity has a spirit which is connected to and part of every other spirit. Humans are a part of nature.
C. Divinity manifests itself through all living beings. Nature itself is divine (but not something to directly "worship") as is the Cosmos as is each person.
D. God and goddess images are recognized as aspects of a greater divinity that is unknowable.

IV. Ritual and Worship
A. Observances may be group or solitary. Regular worship services are scheduled in harmony with the moon's phases by groups (covens or congregations) of members.
B. Each worship site is constructed anew on each occasion of meeting. It is defined by new consecrated circles, and may be located anywhere.
C. Only coven members are allowed to enter the innermost circle.

To expand your Wiccan horizon, go to http://www.wicca.org/

A Mad Tea Party

My favorite chapter of Alice in Wonderland is A Mad Tea Party because it is very fun and because it has some philosophical commentary. First of all, it is fun, although like the rest of Alice, it is deconstructive fun.
" 'No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. 'There's plenty of room,' Alice said indignantly....
'Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
'I don't see any wine,' she remarked.
'There isn't any,' said the March Hare.
'Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.
'It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare." (ch. 7)
As the Cheshire Cat warns Alice before she goes to the tea party, everyone is mad in Wonderland, including you and me. Of course, it is extremely nonsensical for Alice, but as my deconstructionist theories go, it makes sense in Wonderland because Wonderland doesn't make sense.

The philosophical commentary is implied when the Mad Hatter is explaining to Alice that they just move down a seat when everything is used up at one place at the table.
" '[I]t's always tea time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'
'Then you keep moving round, I suppose?' said Alice.
'Exactly so,' said the Hatter,'as the things get used up.'
'But what happens when you come to the beginning again?' Alice ventured to ask.
'Suppose we change the subject,' the March Hare interrupted." (ch.7)
Every time they need something new, a change, they move down to a clean spot on the table and start over. But when Alice asks what happens when they get to beginning again, the March Hare changes the subject. You can't just move along in life and throw the past away because sooner or later, it will catch up to you or you will catch up to it. Ultimately, you're moving in circles, and you will have to eventually clean up your proverbial garbage.

Six Impossible Things

Six Impossible Things I Thought of Before Breakfast:

1. Pink hamsters with wings cooking empanadas for French slaveholders
2. Not getting divorced after you've been married (in the U.S.)
3. Not learning someone's history from the color of their skin
4. World hunger solved
5. Global warming stopped
6. A black man with the middle name Hussein gets elected President of the U.S.

If the latter can be realized, although impossible, maybe the first five can be achieved also.

Jungian Interpretation of Wizard of Oz

As Carl Jung believed, every story is told in terms of archetypes, with the same ones being ever-present, including, but not limited to, the Self, the Anima/Animus, the Shadow, and the Wise Old Man. The Wizard of Oz is no different from any other text every written or read.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy represents the Self, since the story centers around her. Glinda, the witch of the North, represents the Anima, since there is no animus since animus's are male. The Anima has the same goals as the Self, and also the same gender. This describes Glinda, since she wants Dorothy to safely find her way home. The Self and the Anima are usually allies in a story. The wicked witch of the West represents the Shadow, since the Shadow does not have the Self's best interests in mind. Also the Shadow has opposing goals from the Self and is part of the darker side of the Self's consciousness. This describes the wicked witch of the West, since she wants Dorothy dead. Another common archetype in stories is that of the Wise Old Man, which is represented by the Wizard in this case. Everyone is seeking him out for help, and when they find him, he gives them the best help they could possibly get: advice. It turns out that the scarecrow had a brain, the tin man had a heart, and the lion had courage all along.

Angry Response to weird blog found by B. Spevacek about Pullman

The most common word used by that guy is "stupid," and it seems to describe him well. He is obviously not the brightest crayon in the box. Saying that Pullman's message is a lame pro-atheist soapbox is an extremely incorrect interpretation. Although some flowery scholars like to say that there is no such thing as an incorrect interpretation, this one is the best example I have ever found. Pullman's message is not one of anti-religion, but of anti-organized religion and all the superficial bullshit that comes with it. This guy is probably pre-med, or is at least not an English major because no English major would be stupid enough to only see the surface structure and plot of the book, and not peer a tiny bit deeper to the deep structure and themes that underlie this story. It is people like him who try to ban To Kill a Mockingbird because it is racist because it uses the word "nigger."

Theories of Schizophrenia, Mrs. Parry continued

The reason we try to categorize and diagnose people with mental disorders and illnesses isn't for shits and giggles of the APA (American Psychology Association). We do it so that we can better predict and understand behavior, so that we can better control and treat people with these disorders. There has been a lot of controversy recently about the nature of schizophrenia that the DSM IV-TR was supposed to resolve, but the authors ducked the issue.

There are four types of schizophrenia: catatonic, paranoid, disorganized, and undifferentiated, the latter being diagnosed when a schizophrenic does not fit any of the previous categories, or more than one. The issue of controversy is that two types of schizophrenia, catatonic and undifferentiated, can be helped with medication, and so seem to have a more chemobiological basis. However, paranoid and disorganized schizophrenics are not greatly aided by medication, and so treatment for these people is more psychologically and therapy based. The DSM IV-TR was supposed to clear up these issues, and most likely, catatonic and undifferentiated schizoprenia are going to be reclassified into another illness entirely, rather than that of schizophrenia. The DSM IV-TR, however, merely added a little blurb in the back of the manual under an NOS (not otherwise specified) heading, which admits that there is an issue, but does not in any way clear it up. Many APA members were infuriated when the DSM IV-TR did not address this problem, but ultimately it is for the better. Better to wait and be absolutely sure of the research and the treatments and the biology of the different types of schizophrenia, than to jump the gun and reclassify because that would hurt a lot of people and temper them getting better. The DSM V, however, is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2012, so perhaps by then we will have some clear answers.

Learn more about theories of schizophrenia or learn more about treatment of schizophrenia.

P.S. Even though the comic at the top was about multiple personalities, that is not a type of schizophrenia, as many people believe. It's not even called multiple personality disorder anymore, as the publication of the DSM IV reclassified it as Dissociative Identity Disorder. Like the reclassification of schizophrenia, this has greatly helped victims of the disorder to be better treated.

Mrs. Parry's Schizophrenia

"Will realized...that those enemies of his mother's were not in the world out there, but in her mind" (307). From the symptoms mentioned in His Dark Materials, it would appear that Will's mother is suffering from an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia. According to the DSM IV TR (the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), the checklist for schizophrenia includes the following:
1. At least two of the following symptoms, each present for a significant portion of time during a one-month period:
a) Delusions
b) Hallucinations
c) Disorganized Speech
d) Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
e) negative symptoms
2. Functioning markedly below the level achieved prior to onset
3. Continuous signs of the distrubance for at least six months, at least one month of which includes symptoms in full and active form (as opposed to attenuated form)

First, Will's mom suffers from delusions. The most common form of delusions are that of persecution, where the person often believes that they are being followed, stalked, spied on, slandered, threatened, attacked, deliberately victimized, or plotted against. She suffers from delusions of persecution, in that she always believes she is being followed or watched or victimized. Later on, Will realizes that she really was being followed to some extent, but not to the extent that warrants her behavior, at the grocery store, for example. "Will had first realized his mother was different from other people...when they were at the supermarket...they had to put an item in the cart only when no one was looking....When his mother couldn't find her purse...she said the enemies must have stolen it...Mummy was really frightened...the enemies were tracking them down by means of her credit card numbers" (306). Perhaps she started out with actual fears of persecution, but she was so overly full of fear, she started to lose her grip on reality and became more fearful than she needed to be, or when there was nothing to fear, again like at the grocery store.

Mrs. Parry also experienced the negative symptom of social withdrawal. People who withdraw from their social environment and attend only to their own ideas and fantasies, like Will's mom, lead to a breakdown in social skills, including the ability to recognize other people's needs accurately. You can tell that this is occurring when Mrs. Parry wanders out of the house in one of her fugue states, which is when Will found the other children wanting to hurt her; and also by the fact that Will takes care of her, instead of the other way around. If she could recognize other people's needs accurately, like her own son's, she would be taking care of him. This is the second symptom of schizophrenia that Mrs. Parry displays.

The third symptom that Mrs. Parry overtly displays is that of disorganized thinking and behavior. "And every so often she'd start thinking things that weren't true. And having to do things that didn't make sense-- not to me anyway. I mean she had to do them or else she'd get upset and afraid, and so I used to hlep her. Like touching all the railings in the park, or counting the leaves on a bush" (489). Mrs. Parry clearly has a few of her wires crossed, or maybe neurons or neurotransmitters. In any case, there is often not a lot of logic behind her actions. While she falls under three of the five main symptoms of schizophrenia, the information provided about her in His Dark Materials is extremely limited. No one could make a diagnosis from such a small amount of information, without knowing the duration of the symptoms, but from the glimpses we have, she does appear to be suffering from schizophrenia.

To learn more about the types, symptoms, treatments for, and theories about schizophrenia, or any other mental illness, check the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV-TR. You can find it online at http://www.dsmivtr.org/.