Mythic Tales in Theaters Near You
 
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Inspired Planet went to the movies this summer and was wowed by the spectacular Disney production, Prince of Persia. Drop all judgments against a video game spin-off, comic book lit, and enjoy this film. Why? Because the Central Asian mountains (actually shot in Morocco) and stage sets are lavishly beautiful, because the legendary castles, the ancient Persians, the palaces and warriors are brought to life, and because there are satisfying moral virtues served at the end of this banquet. Yes, you will have to endure non-stop action sequences, and unbelievable escapes, but there are sensitive moments and the welfare of the realm beneath the leather, gore, metal and bravado. The romance between Princess Tamina played by dark-haired/ivory skinned beauty, Gemma Arterton and the athletic, low-born, but noble-minded Prince Dastan, Jake Gyllenhaal, is a fiery, hard-won relationship of trust, respect and admiration. And they do look gorgeous together, in the Disney romantic tradition. We were very interested in the powerful charms they wore. Daston has a cluster of silver and horn amulets for memory and protection on his muscled chest. Tamina carries a crystal vial filled with a magical substance between her breasts. Together they brave dangers and ordeals for the legendary dagger, a mythic talisman that has magical powers. The cast of villains is led by treacherous evil uncle, Ben Kingsley and a mystically sinister gang of shape-shifting assassins. Our hero is aided by a comic band of scoundrels, yet pitted against his own royal family. Ultimately love and wisdom prevails, the world is saved and a timeless message is declared, “We must make our own destiny.”
Amulets, Talismans and Charms
In legends throughout the ages and around the world mankind has sought love, protection, healing, fertility, abundance and strength with specially empowered objects. Think of keepsake pendants, sorcerer’s potions, the hero’s weapon, wrapped prayers, symbolic emblems like crosses, old stones and bones of the dead still holding spirit. Every religious, pagan and medicine tradition has charms, devices and tools to aid our survival. Shamans carry bundles of magical objects, hunters pack lucky talismans, sea captains stow a lock of their sweetheart’s hair before going to sea. Inspired Planet’s collection includes empowered amulets of antique silver, tusk, horn, shell, sacred seeds, precious stones, fierce skulls, crystal and gold to bless each man and woman’s quest. |
Alex Grey’s Visionary Community
Grey is a visionary painter known for creating sacred space at Cosm in NYC and now psychedelic community at his new location in Wappinger Falls. Grey's work illustrates his mystical experiences with references to Eastern philosophies of spiritual energy and flow. Alex Grey’s visual artwork is associated with the post-rock group Tool for whom he’s done numerous album covers. Grey is also the author of numerous books based on art and spirituality, most notably Mission of Art.
Timothy Leary's Mind Mirror
The revolutionary voice of self-induced consciousness expansion, Timothy Leary, devised during the early stages of cyberspace travel a digital "appliance" to which humans could use. He calls it an appliance because it would be used just as a toaster oven or refrigerator, as a piece of technology capable of bettering human conditions. Leary’s program, Mind Mirror allows you to digitalize yourself and control how you are and what you will become. He felt it would allow the coming generation to be the first in human history to be whatever they chose and to have direct control. Technology interfaced with human consciousness. |
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Inspired Music-Shpongle
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Cacao- Our audiophile favors analog recordings, violin concertos and spotted bananas
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Through the use of computers, Shpongle's Simon Posford and Raja Ram blend a plethora of traditional world music into a visual landscape of ever-expanding human consciousness. Posford's technical mastery, as seen with his solo project Hallucinogen, shines with Shpongle's open-ended approach to the musical spectrum. Shpongle explores the vast history of musical language, a mix of tradition and evolutionary technology. Shpongle's discography include their 1998 release, Are You Shpongled? Also Tales of the Inexpressible and their latest Nothing Lasts... But Nothing is Lost.
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Visual Arts:
Mars-1 (aka Mario Martinez) is an American abstract visual artist whose spherical, cyclical and psychedelic pieces have a strong feeling of interconnectedness. You can see influence of graffiti in his shading and the use of geometric designs. Mars-1's pieces are usually large enough to consume your entire viewpoint when standing in front of them. It feels much like looking into another dimension.
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The Virtual World of Game Culture
By Bart Barker
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n many ways the newness of the internet gaming and social networking isn't all that new after all. There are many analogs in from the pre-digital age. But there is one unique aspect specific to gaming, the shared experience of multiple human consciounesses in disparate locales. Before, you could communicate with a pen pal, form a relationship, fall in love and share the experience of your life with another from another land and your pen pal could share their experiences with you. But you would have no joint experiences. Now a large number of people from all over the globe can be playing in a single virtual location and all carry essentially the same memories of an event as though they were all in a single physical location. Will that bring us all together? Or will it just make physical location irrelevant?
You and I could create "avatars" in a virtual world and agree to meet at a certain time in a certain location within that virtual world and share a virtual iced lemon. We couldn't taste it, but our conversation over the lemon would be just as real as if I were really there, sitting at a table with you on the sidewalk in front of a cafe in Thailand.
So, we seem to have bridged the physical distance barriers. Can we bridge the temporal barriers? To meet virtually and have a conversation, we'd have to interact with a computer at the same time, early in the morning for you and late at night for me, let's say. Maybe the next step is to find a way to overcome the barrier of time.
http://www.facebook.com/l/f12d9;www.hardcoregamer.com/
http://www.facebook.com/l/f12d9;thehardcoregamer.com/
http://www.facebook.com/l/f12d9;www.gameculture.com/
There's even an academic journal:
http://www.facebook.com/l/f12d9;www.eludamos.org/
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