Spiritual Horror

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by Auditor

I'm not religious, but something tells me that I would be a better writer if I were frightened of some kind of metaphysical retribution.

Read Petrarch's Secretum for a taste of such fear. "No God anymore, or sweating in the dark/About hell and that..." is Larkin imagining an older person envying his generation. Petrarch does a lot of this sweating in the abovementioned book. But that was in the dark - Petrarch clearly called the book Secretum for a reason, and probably considered it unseemly to put his suffering on show.

Dazai had no such qualms and in No Longer Human says all he can do is bend his neck and await God's scourge - he can imagine His punishment, but not His love.

I know the feeling.

[Auditor]

Quote Originally Posted by qcrisp

Quote Originally Posted by Auditor I'm not religious, but something tells me that I would be a better writer if I were frightened of some kind of metaphysical retribution. Read Petrarch's Secretum for a taste of such fear. "No God anymore, or sweating in the dark/About hell and that..." is Larkin imagining an older person envying his generation. Petrarch does a lot of this sweating in the abovementioned book. But that was in the dark - Petrarch clearly called the book Secretum for a reason, and probably considered it unseemly to put his suffering on show. Dazai had no such qualms and in No Longer Human says all he can do is bend his neck and await God's scourge - he can imagine His punishment, but not His love. I know the feeling.

Interesting, I'll check that out

[Druidic]

Read Strength's post in "Cultural Relativism". Spiritual Horror? It's the real deal.

I think he has proven in the past it's more racial terror.

I want to read deeper into Christian theology on sin and damnation. I find Le Fanu's use of such ideas to be grotesquely fascinating. I'm also interested in inherited spiritual guilt from the Fall, as it's so horrifically unfair.

[Druidic]

What human beings do to each other is the ultimate 'spiritual' horror. It's childish to turn away one's eyes but many do. Oh, the dark satanic luster of the Supernatural!
But it's all fantasy, folks. Rape and torture are real.

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by Prince James Zaleski

I think he has proven in the past it's more racial terror. I want to read deeper into Christian theology on sin and damnation. I find Le Fanu's use of such ideas to be grotesquely fascinating. I'm also interested in inherited spiritual guilt from the Fall, as it's so horrifically unfair.

A worthwhile enquiry, I think, though one that ultimately demands rigorous sobriety. I speak as one deficient in sobriety myself.

As Pascal says:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/394...rly-to-man-how

Then again, life ensures sobriety is inescapable sooner or later. As Pascal also says:

Quote

Imagine a number of men in chains, all under sentence of death, some of whom are each day butchered in the sight of the others; those remaining see their own condition in that of their fellows and, looking at each other with grief and despair, await their turn. This is an image of the human condition.

I don't like Islam, but I don't really expect much intellectual rigour from the guy singing the praises of Anders Breivik (a guy who wants people like me dead) and declaring brown people an intellectual subspecies. There are many logical reasons to dislike Islam and be suspicious of its proliferation. You somehow miss most of them and go for some insular racialist rant. My dislike of identity politics extends to both sides.

I don't think this is even on topic, as spiritual horror isn't about being beheaded or tortured in the material realm. If we must have yet another TLO thread about why the greatest threat to human endeavour are the Muslims, it's the metaphysical terrors of Islam we should be focusing on here.

You deleted the posts, but I'm sure most of the regulars caught them. Thanks for calling me an SJW, but I need to be called a cuck to win on this internet political debate bingo card.

[Druidic]

The word 'spiritual' is meaningless unless one believes in a soul.

Cosmic Horror (which only requires the supernatural as a tasty spice) or 'nausea' or The Absurd are all valid concepts. You can talk about emotions or ideas, fine. Personally, I never use the word 'spiritual'.

It's meaningless. As Gurdjieff said, everything is matter.

[Druidic]

And, by the way, James, Islam has NOTHING to do with race. It's a religion. Like Christianity. When was the last time you referred to an anti-Christian as 'racist'?

But really Strength's post was about the horrors of female torture. You may have missed that.