The+Cataracts+of+Heaven

=**The Cataracts of Heaven**= The flood archetype is an entire story in miniature of the human race...a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Death is something we know we must all face individually, but the desire to hang on as long as possible is strong. This archetype helps man create a vision that enables us to cope with the day of doom by imagining we get another chance through rebirth. Mythmakers often tell stories of destruction through water and the new life arises and is cleansed and new.

There are many reasons why people think that the Gods have used their power against man...to punish people for corruption, to clean up the earth, to start a fresh new race, or to remind us of a final day of doom. The symbolism is that it "kills in order to cleanse". The flood is life giving and life threatening...like the 2 sided gift talked about in the god-teacher archetype. It knows both sides--the dark depths of the ocean and the light spaces of the heavens. It is cylical - things happen over and over and dialectical--two sided.

Water is used in many initiation rites and rituals because it symbolizes a crossing over into a new stage of life. ie...remember Luke Skywalker in the garbage dump/ the belly of the whale. The quest or rebirth does not take place without a struggle and in order to triumph over the forces of chaos and death, one must show honor, integrity, love, courage, or perserverance through the storm. This enables man the power to pass through death, and turn survival into triumph.

The stories we are reading that relate to the flood archetype are about the end of time, but different things happen in each story. Below is your chance to be creative and put your imagination to work.

Assignment #5---The End of Time
Put yourself into a poem about the end of the world. ( 8-12 lines at least) Remember the poems and choral readings from class. Here are some ideas for your verses....What caused it? Where are YOU? How do you feel? What do you do about it? Are you like a Deucalion or the blue-eyed Son or a Thomas or someone else? Compare yourself to our characters in some way.


 * Then post it on YOUR PAGE as your name --Assignment #5. -- so you don't override the other pages**