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N Marion Hage: Becoming Gandalf |
Category: Articles 13 comments 10 Feb 2006 @ 16:39 by gea : So right!I agree. (from another fan of Lord of the Rings) 12 Feb 2006 @ 22:06 by hgoodgame : He's one of my favorites too! Would be lovely to meet a real life Gandalf. :) 13 Feb 2006 @ 14:23 by swan : A blend of masculine and feminine wisdom, beauty and knowledge with compassion. Men and women alike can wear the archetype of Gandalf, but what fun to be Arogorn and Legolas, as well! 14 Feb 2006 @ 14:26 by poetsong : Interesting thought on It was an interesting statement to make about Archetypes. Solomon presented Wisdom in the feminine. Gandalf was of the Mair, and wasn't a human. In a mythological sense, he was an angel in a human body. Tolkien's Valar were "powers", and in many senses acted like the gods of Norse, Greek and Roman mythology; but they were a composite in type. They were angels who acted at times like mythological gods, and other times like angels, seeking the will of Iluvatar/Eru. (God) But wisdom is not gender specific, anymore than God is gender specific. And since angels are genderless, they can appear in either form. 14 Feb 2006 @ 16:15 by swan : Ah Yes, angels can appear in many forms :-) Wisdom has also been called Sophia, the feminine face of God. 15 Feb 2006 @ 15:26 by poetsong : Hi swan You brought up such an interesting topic. I once wrote on the futility of Gender wars. If you don't mind (this is not aimed at you) I'd like to use this as a springboard to speak on the topic for whomever might read over our shoulders later. Femininity is beautiful. Masculinity is beautiful. However, with this caveat- when expressed through the highest motivation, which is love. But when expressed through selfishness and self-centeredness, both masculinity and femininity have dark sides. Gender competition drives people to say and do things that sometimes make me sad. Gender completion is when two poles come together with various strengths to make a whole. Competition divides, completion units. It's only when we realize femininity and masculinity are not enemies, but both are strengths that we realize they don't need to work against each other. And in a sense, humanity has fallen to two sides insulting each other in so many ways, and worse, trying to make the other feel inferior. (Sadly men have led this downward spiral race) Many believe there is a fallen side to both femininity and masculinity as well as a beautiful side. The question is always, "Which side is the one we should aspire to?" Strength in a fallen nature is a bully. Insight in a fallen nature is a manipulator. The gender wars we've seen in recent generations are actually an offshoot of bitterness. Within the male nature is beautiful strength. However, strength tarnished is a tyrant. Strength that takes weakness for inferiority is a bully. And for times in civilization, brute strength ruled; the net result was that tenderness was seen as a weakness. Sad. Femininity has strength too. Relational insight is primarily a feminine quality, and women often can unite fathers and children through wisdom in seeing eaches nature. However, when tarnished, relational insight can even be a tyrant, rather than an overt bully. It can become a manipulative force using the weakness of the other for selfish purposes. I look at Cleopatra as an example, who rulled nations through the strength of Ceasar and Mark Anthony. They may have been amusing historical figures, but in some respects they all had a little tyrant in them. Love is the filter through which gender differences must be viewed. To say God is a man or God is a woman is actually to diminish God. I have quoted a verse that says, "God is not a MAN that he should lie..." . Some women might find that amusing. But the point is that God is far above genders, and in fact, is genderless. But this brings up a point. If man and women are in God's image, that leaves no room for one to bash the other without bashing God's beauty. Women and men are equally potentially beautiful once we understand how our strengths should be guided by love, and not selfishness. God has the best attributes of both. Or if we wish to see it this way, he took his attributes, and divided them, giving his feminine attributs to women, and masculine to men in "different measures", but he has given us enough of the other's nature to come to understand and appreciate each other. At anyrate, the solution to the gender wars are those who aspire to the beautiful side of their natures, who recognize their desires for selfish use of their gifts is wrong. Strength should be used to bless those who could benefit from it, not bully those it is able to. Relational insight can bring out the best in others, and unite, and help people reach their potentials in ways they never otherwise could have. Honestly, think about it. Most men's magazines are about strength and power, sports, or business. And even in sex it's about taking what is wanted. Not necessarily leading to much insight. But just to show that there is a side of man that aspires to strength with a purpose. Take that strength and give it a noble purpose, and the outcome is beautiful. Most women's magazines appeal to relationships in one form or another. In fact, most relational books are aimed at women, and bought by women, and left on nightstands for men to read, who generally don't read them. My wife's relational insight helps me understand when I pushed my sons too hard, or didn't understand their desires and fears and wants. In fact, her insights benefited us all and helped me to grow as a man. Hopefully someday countless strong men and women can speak to society and help them see the potential when we recognize each other's strengths as gifts and not flaws. And this is wisdom, because the contrast created by femininity and masculinity can help us understand that which would have been beyond understanding. Our differences actually make a beautiful whole when the right motivation brings them together in harmony. Thanks for bringing the subject up Swan. Nate 16 Feb 2006 @ 01:12 by swan : Your welcome, it is a pet subject of mine, gender equality. Here is a paragraph from an article in my newslog link below : "The dance of romance between complements can begin to happen as we begin to see and experience the innate beauty and power that is unique to women and the innate beauty and power that is unique to men, through the eyes of love and not fear. This is not power "over" the other as it is under a dualistic belief system, but the power that comes from just being in the unique expression of who you truly are. When we stand in our power and reflect that beauty, which complements the other, we will be on our way to healthily male/female relationships, which are a balance of intimacy and autonomy and a reflection of love." {http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v99/__show_article/_a000099-000011.htm} 16 Feb 2006 @ 15:40 by poetsong : Growing up when I did Excellent point. Growing up when I did, there was a time of questioning all things. There was also a tendency to correct a problem with an over-correction, that became a problem. When there is an injustice, which there was; in terms of how women and minorities were treated, they needed to be addressed. Unfortunately, when anger is mixed with a desire for justice, mixed-messages come through. The injustice was based on countless Archetypes that needed to be torn down, but there was a tendency by those who were angry to reach for insults and barbs, at least in our neck of the woods. So, instead of people reaching for the higher plane of love, and showing how that is the best expression of who and what we are, there was actually a dumbing down of insulting the opposite sex. Such insensitive remarks are often directed at piggish behavior, but when they are applied with too broad a brush, the net effect is sending a message, masculinity is a design flaw, and males are by nature pigish, which doesn't serve any good purpose in the long run. Well, things have changed much since then, but still, I doubt most people realize the potential they have, in terms of what "Real masculinity" can be, and "Real femininity" can be. Our basic core nature is a strength when it is filtered through the right motivations. It is a beast when filtered through the wrong motivations. In one sense, if we step back and see how masculine and feminine differ, our wiring actually compliments the other. Segmental thinking (more of a male quality) vs Integrated thinking (more of a female quality) actually are strengths in some arenas and weaknesses in others. In other words, we each have places where our kinds of thinking benefits the family unit and humanity, and other areas where the other's kind of thinking benefits the family and humanity, diffusing the males vs female mentality. One type of thinking is much better at communication and multi-tasking, whereas the other is much more geared towards focusing without distractions on a single task. Both are needed, and so males and females need not feel inferior because they don't have the same strengths, and shouldn't be made to feel so. 16 Feb 2006 @ 16:46 by swan : The beauty is... I as a woman contain a male counterpart, and you as a man contain a female counterpart. When we realize this we can access those qualities. Not in the same way but in our own unique way. When we integrate the opposite gender qualities we can be whole and stop projecting on others. 16 Feb 2006 @ 21:00 by poetsong : Interesting point. What I say now is my own belief, and so, I just lay it out to ponder. God made mankind (male and female) in his image, each with differing strengths to teach us through contrast. Everything in our sphere is an object lesson, family, animals, the stars...everything from the big to the small. If it can be seen and percieved it is meant to teach us something. Obviously, lessons are often lost, but if we look at the best of feminine nature and masculine nature displayed, we come closer to understanding God. Now, God is all strength undefiled, meaning masculine and feminine strength in the purest form. There is no greater strength and no greater tenderness. Nurture and power working together. The more a man or woman gets to God, the more their harder edges are blurred, because fellowship with God will cause us to see more like God sees. Males should become more tender and nurturing, even if it isn't their starting point. Some will say, "God is a man". No, it was said that God became "man", and in the beginning man was neither gender, undivided. And so when it said, "God made man in his image" It wasn't one gender, but two. Rather, later it said, "And God made man-male and female he made THEM" which meant "man" was generic for species, not gender in this case. Rather it is specified that, "God is spirit". Spirit is beyond Gender. At anyrate, within each of us is the capacity to understand God, which means both sides of God, feminine and masculine. And so, within each male is the capacity to understand the feminine, and within each woman is the capacity to understand the masculine. It just takes a will to get there. I may never understand fully, but I should at least be capable of understanding in part. 16 Feb 2006 @ 22:51 by swan : This might be the same as what you are saying. God is genderless, we are reflections of God, there for we are genderless. (both male and female) 17 Feb 2006 @ 14:55 by poetsong : Reflections of God We are, or at least, have the potential to be relections of God. I think as much as we misunderstand who we are, what our purpose and destiny is, the more we become poor reflections of who God is. This is why it is so important to have the understanding of our potential. What a great topic. If people could only understand this potential, which is so much more than our gender. It is also potentially expressed in whatever gifts and abilities we have, whether to teach, administrate, be an artist, or even to entertain people. When we understand who we are, and what our potential is, and how that is expressed, we express at least some side of God. It's an interesting comment on being genderless. I think this fits in the same category of understanding what our gifts are and accepting our gifts. Some people feel they have to run from their nature because it is somehow flawed, and being less masculine or less feminine is the solution. However, once we know how these can be gifts expressed, then we do not have to fear strength or nurture, and so a man can become more nurturing, and a woman more assertive without losing their core identity. Insofar as destiny, in eternity we are all eventually genderless like the angels. In being divided, we do not have fully equal strengths of femininity and masculinity. We may try to be more balanced, but we tend to lean by nature to one pole or the other, in degrees. But in eternity we shall be more clearly a reflection of God, and have more fully all of these qualities combined, untarnished. We shall then clearly see God, and we will be transformed to his likeness. 29 Apr 2016 @ 11:08 by Bandar Togel @103.12.162.4 : brilliant! 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