So you knew it was coming ... This week is examples of Anglo-Saxon humor!

Spirituality in Music

I feel that, no matter what your views on spirituality are, there is no way to escape it. As much as America is supposed to be a secular government, spirituality permeates into most aspects of our culture, especially music. I cannot think of too many songs that have lyrics that could not relate to spirituality in any way. Love songs, especially, could relate to a relationship between two people or between God and a human. One of my favorite bands, Relient K, is typically classified as a "Christian band", but the lyrics that they write could relate to any affectionate relationship between two people. I don't think that spirituality and American culture will ever become complete separate.

Some Examples:

"I believe there's a God above me
I'm just the god of everything else"
New Gold Flow-Kanye West
-Side Note: Even Kanye West, who has an ego as big as the Earth, acknowledges spirituality....even his own.











Getting Into You-Relient K    We Can't Stop-Miley Cyrus

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Spirituality and Nature From Disney

Disney, as we know it, is an empire that signifies true American Capitalism. It has taken over our childhoods and seems to stick with us as we age. From Disney movies we learn valuable lessons on friendship, family, and that "good" always conquers. We are instilled with this idea that nature is at the very core of who we are and that we are "one." This sense of spirituality we find in nature in fact can be connected with the movies that as children, we not only watch but in which we are totally immersed.

Pocahontas focuses heavily on the reliance of nature and the respect that must be given to it in order to maintain a healthy world balance. Grandmother Willow offers advice and Pocahontas is told to listen to the wind and to listen to her heart, where she will find the answers. The Lion King does just the same, explaining that there is a natural order that must be followed and that that order must be respected. The Lion King also emphasizes the need to look into yourself to find the answers.

Recently Disney has created a film as part of their DisneyNature series. The movie Oceans allows the viewer to meditate on the wonders of the world and to reflect upon the connections made between humans and this other world. This idea of sharing or being "one" and how we each need the other to have a balanced world and balanced self is the take home message.  From these movies we are taught to believe that nature and spirituality within embodies us and that when the heart is followed, good prevails. These are the lessons we teach our young and carry with us throughout life. Unfortunately some get caught up in the struggles of life and materialism and tend to stray away from this bond. Perhaps, as Disney suggests, that is why the world is unbalanced.

Star Wars, Merlin, and Avatar

At the risk of exposing the nerdy side of myself, I would like to talk about the spirituality in Star Wars. While it is definitely not an overtly religious series of movies, a lot of people have discussed the idea of the Force and the juxtaposition of the dark and light side as being religious. There is definitely a sense of evil vs. good portrayed in the movies. The Force is a more abstract kind of idea, but it portrays a power beyond what the characters in the movie really could understand.

As for Merlin (which ended in disappointing fashion I must say), the use of magic is an integral part of the series. After all, what good would Merlin be without his magic? I mean, he'd still be an attractive, fun loving character, but he would not be able to save the day like he did.

Lastly, Avatar the Last Airbender has a whole different kind of spirituality. Let me clarify by saying that I'm talking about the animated tv series, not the movie with all the blue people. In the series, the people drew their power from the earth and its different elements. In order to bend the elements, they had to be one with it in a way, and channel its power. Meditation and concentration were also important spiritual elements in the show. If anybody hasn't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Religion(s) in Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones, HBO's hit TV series based off of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, takes place in an imagined, medieval-esque world. The many different regions of the Game of Thrones world practice different fictional religions.

In Westeros (the continent in which most of the story takes place), the Seven Kingdoms practice the Faith of the Seven. This faith says that there is one god with seven faces: the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger. The faces represent different facets of life.

This picture depicts the faces of The Seven

Also in Westeros, people of the North worship the Old Gods of the Forest. The Old Gods are many unnamed spirits of nature, and followers of the religion go to Godswoods (also known as Weirwoods) to worship the spirits. This religion became obsolete in most of Westeros, once people started following the Faith of the Seven.

This is the Godswood at Winterfell

Every Godswood has a Heart tree, which appears to have a face and be crying tears of red sap

The people of the Iron Islands worship the deity of the Drowned God. This god justifies their lifestyle of piracy and raiding. The Islanders find honor in paying the "iron price" for their belongings, which means they believe in killing a person to take his things. The Drowned God is essentially the Islander's version of the Christian God, and their version of Satan is the Storm God, who leads sailors into storms and misfortune.

In this photo, one of the Iron Born characters is about to be blessed with sea water, in the name of the Drowned God

Spirituality in Doctor Who

In today's culture there are a lot of hits of spirituality, if not always Christianity. Several examples come right to mind, even if some of those examples are of religious fanatics who turn out to be the murderers (That's always unfortunate; I mean, on the bright side it makes it so you can almost always tell as soon as you see them on a cop show. Just like, Oh! It's that guy. He is a Christian so he definitely killed that girl.)

Especially, in popular shows and series, there will at some point up the topic of spirituality will be brought up. Often, there will a conflict of emotions or opinions, and in the end as far as I've seen, the believers tend to still believe and the unbelievers tend to continue in unbelief. Then there are other times when tinges of spirituality just come up in passing, bubbling to the surface every so often.

One prominent example I've seen is Doctor Who, a very popular BBC show. Throughout the series the Doctor is occasionally referred to as "the lonely god" and "lonely angel." He is compared to a god, with all of the things he knows and things he can do; he could change a whole history at the drop of a hat.

I don't know if you can get any better than the Doctor Who and owls.

Then, more explicitly, there are episodes such as a two part episode, the second of which is called "The Satan Pit;" in it the Doctor comes face to face with some manifestation of a devil. In response to the admittedly terrifying creature, he goes off about the different "gods" he's had to contend with in all his years of traveling and what he really believes in (Which as it turns out, is Rose, which though a bit sacrilegious, is kinda cute.)

 I feel like the show's writer/designer
people were just like, "let's give people nightmares today."

In another season he comes in contact with something akin to a Minotaur that appears to act as a god to the planet on which it resides. That one is even called, "The God Complex."

This was just one example, but it's not an uncommon topic to bring up, because at some point in everyone's life- even, apparently, fictional characters'- spirituality is a matter that has to be addressed, even if it just comes to the person or character having none.

This week we begin thinking about the role spirituality plays in literature. Where do you see the most spirituality still evident in modern culture outside the church? Think beyond things like contemporary Christian music and overtly religious works. Can you see its influence in other works?