Fiction or Faith?

Listen to “Fiction or Faith?” NOW from our archives at Unity Online Radio OR download the podcast from iTunes!

Original air date: Monday, March 30, 2015

What is it about a belief in magic, fairy tales, and the supernatural that has been so popular in society for the past several years? Your Pop Conscious pals, Malayna and Stacy, will look at several of the most popular TV shows, movies, books, and more that show our need to suspend our disbelief. How can we utilize the same to help people believe in more than just fiction? Perhaps it is time for a new paradigm for belief. Join us as we discuss and discover!

More awesomeness from David Hayward, at nakedpastor.com

NOTES from before the show:

• From Rev. Margee Grounds, Unity Southwest Region

  Could you two shed some light on the vampire programs on TV and “Charmed” and the like.  I’m sure they must be a metaphor exploration of the dark side archetypes or “thought people”, as Papa Charlie would say – but since they are kind of like “real life” crime shows or soap operas, I am wondering what you two have to say about what they portray about us 21st century peeps.

  To Rev. Margee:

• We have covered those topics a few times — probably most thoroughly at Halloween, and the part 2 which we did on Rev. Ogun’s show (link below).  We also talked about witches and angels in another show, but I’m not sure if we’ve covered “Charmed” much.  I’ll keep it in mind and figure out how and when to work it in soon!

  Thanks!  Here are the links if you feel like checking out the shows to see if there’s anything we missed.

  Supernatural, Metaphysical, and Spiritual

   

  Spooky Symbolism for a Meaningful Halloween

  Halloween Pop Culture

   

• So here are some theories! 

  Response to the world situation /outlook – during the Great Depression, Busby Berkeley musicals helped people escape to a world of beauty. In the 50’s with fears of Nuclear War, monster movies helped people work through fears of the unknown. – much like today.

  Slate.com article by Katy Waldman – quotes Susan Sontag: in 1965, the definitive essay on Cold War dystopian fantasy: “The Imagination of Disaster.” “We live,” she claimed in that piece, “under continual threat of two equally fearful, but seemingly opposed, destinies: unremitting banality and inconceivable terror.” The job of science fiction was at once to “lift us out of the unbearably humdrum … by an escape into dangerous situations which have last-minute happy endings” and to “normalize what is psychologically unbearable, thereby inuring us to it.”

  In other words, a good horror/fantasy/sci-fi flick provides a healthy dose of escapism, but it also keeps one eye fastened on what we wish to escape from. During the Depression, that could have been the exhausting grind of making ends meet. During the 1950s, it was relentless domesticity and something altogether more insidious: the Soviet Menace and the threat of nuclear war.

  http://www.examiner.com/article/why-supernatural-beings-are-so-popular

  Kya Aliana Stillson, Ft. Myers Young Adult Fiction Examiner

  Because we think we know our world – the thrill of not knowing exactly how these creatures function, and how they are always inventing and exploring new twists and solutions to problems and flaws

  Their problems make ours look simple.

  The world feels dangerous – what would it be like to not be afraid?

  A fascination with our own mortality…what we would accomplish in ten lifetimes.

  Forbidden love –

  The pressures of doing the right thing, versus the thrill of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons – passion of feeling alive!

  Maybe we don’t feel alive, but like robots, or zombies….

  We need contrast – sometimes we have to explore the other side to appreciate what we’ve got. – Anne Rice novels help her explore spirituality, religion and belief.

   

 

Charmed – was groundbreaking – and award winning!

Eight seasons from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006.

Charmed achieved both critical and popular acclaim, with its first episode “Something Wicca This Way Comes” garnering 7.7 million viewers, breaking the record for the highest-rated debut episode for The WB.^[1] During its fifth season, the series became the highest-rated Sunday night program in The WB’s history.^[2][3] At 178 episodes, Charmed is the second-longest drama broadcast by The WB and the second-longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads.^[4] The series has also received numerous awards and nominations. In 2010, HuffPost TV and AOL TV ranked Charmed within their joint list of “The Top 20 Magic/Supernatural Shows of All Time”, while in 2013, TV Guide listed the series as one of “The 60 Greatest Sci-Fi Shows of All Time”. Charmed has also become a pop culture reference in television shows and films, and several other witch-themed shows have been compared to the series.

http://www.aoltv.com/best-shows-ever/magic-supernatural-shows/

• Ghost Whisperer – love and light
• Fringe – drawn back to origins
• Angel
• I Dream of Jeannie
• Pushing Daisies
• Vampire Diaries
• True Blood
• Xena
• Addams Family

 

Hindsight to Insight Retrospective

Listen to the Hindsight to Insight Retrospective episode NOW from our Unity Online Radio archive

or download the podcast from iTunes

Original air date: Monday, December 15, 2014

Malayna and Stacy are going to look back at the past year in pop culture to mine it for gems of insight! We’ll look at the trends, events, and highlights, and maybe even provide some follow-ups on past guests. As always, the conversation will turn, and tangents will be traveled, but like a well-told Hollywood tale, the year’s life lessons and themes will be wrapped up with a bow, just for you! 

From Malayna’s Pre-Show Notes — but be sure to listen to see how the conversation really went!

It’s about Connection — getting to know what we already love, and getting deeper…

Jan

• How to Consume the Media Without Letting It Consume You – Original air date: Monday, January 27, 2014
• When I Grow Up: Then and Now – Original air date: Monday, January 20, 2014
• Sharing Our Pop Culture Influences – Original air date: Monday, January 13, 2014

Our Article:  Three Steps to Being a Conscious Consumer of Pop Culture on Unity.org

From the Resource page of Unity.org under 2014 theme

• The 2014 Unity yearly theme is Come Home: Realize Your Higher Self. You always have a home in Spirit, and you carry it with you. When you consciously link your mind with Divine Spirit, you rise to another level of being and living—as your higher Self.
• Jan – Expect Good – I affirm my good and accept the best

ONE	Unity, One Presence and One Power; divinity; undivided; masculine principle. The number of new beginning.

http://www.whats-your-sign.com/january-meaning-and-symbolism.html –

• The month of January was named after Janus for his ability to turn one face to reflect upon the past and a yet another face freshly pointed upon the future…. Janus, with all his hindsight and foresight opens doors of both reflection of our past and contemplation of our future.
• In essence, the god Janus is kind of a bellhop or doorman for the mansions within our soul.

Feb

• Super Bowl Spirituality and Groundhog Day Gratitude – Original air date: Monday, February 03,
• Love and Olympics: Games People Play – Original air date: Monday, February 10, 2014
• Pop Culture, Presidents, and Metaphysics – Original air date: Monday, February 17, 2014
• Global and Generational Pop Consciousness – celebrity guest Erika Eleniak

Original air date: Monday, February 24, 2014

This week, with celebrity guest Erika Eleniak, the Pop Conscious gals will be discussing pop culture that goes global and what captures the attention of young people. Do movies like E.T., (in which Erika was a cast member) still resonate with young people today?

Erika’s book – What Do You Do, If You Lose Your Lalabaloo? Link on our FB & Twitter, or search amazon “Eleniak Monroe” (Daniel Monroe, illustrator)

• What’s Your Sign – The word February is born from the Latin word Februarius, from Latin februare meaning to “purify” or “expiate.”
• Unity.org – Teach Compassion
• 12 Powers = Strength – green (green = heart chakra in vedic system)

TWO	Creative principle; male and female; spiritual and material realms.

March

• Supernatural, Metaphysical, and Spiritual – Original air date: Monday, March 31, 2014 – w/Sherry Hursey
• What Unity Kids Are Into – Original air date: Monday, March 24, 2014
• Love Powers the World – Original air date: Monday, March 17, 2014 (Stacy shares the five redeeming lessons she learned from watching the TV show The Bachelor, and Malayna shares the messages she gleaned from an international wedding and media that entertained her on her long journey home.)
• The Making of a Minister – Original air date: Monday, March 10, 2014
• The Oscars: The Power of Good Storytelling – Original air date: Monday, March 03, 2014

Sherry Hursey connected us with Lilly’s Light – (lillyslight.com), our sponsor for season 3 and Contagious Optimism! Our current sponsors!

• WYS? – Named after the Roman god of war, Mars, he was also god of agriculture and fertility – spring! “March meaning embodies a kind of reigniting of the hearts and consciousness of humankind. This month we feel the initial kicks of Spring from the deepest womb of the Mother (Earth). And like our ancestors, we are quickened…our soul- palettes are whetted for new conquest and bold assertion and we set a course for forward-momentum.”
• org – Express Wholeness (I am whole in mind, body and spirit)
• 12 Powers = Wisdom, yellow, solar plexus (How do we march forward? What direction is best?)

THREE

Every level of being –Mind, Idea, Expression; Spirit, Soul and Body; Superconscious, Subconscious and Conscious minds.

APRIL

• Pop Music to Rock Your Sundays – Original air date: Monday, April 28, 2014 w/Adam Chester
• Environmental Pop Culture for Earth Day – Original air date: Monday, April 21, 2014
• Be Your Own Superhero – Original air date: Monday, April 14, 2014
• God, Jesus, and the Bible in the Media – Original air date: Monday, April 07, 2014 (Noah movie)

Adam Chester – http://adamchester.com/ – Surrogate Elton, Author of S’mother, and “Eight Days and Nights” in honor of Hanukkah. It’s been played on KOST 103.5FM in Los Angeles for the past several years thanks to the best DJ in the world…Mark Wallengren.

• Wiki – aperire, “to open”, in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to “open”, which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her equivalent Greek goddess name Aphrodite
• org –Create Balance – centered in spirit, my life is in balance
• 12 Powers = Love – Harmonizing power

FOUR	Foundation. It can be in the form of a time of preparation or the four basic aspects of being – Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, Physical.

 

Halloween Episode Part 2

Listen to the “Halloween Pop Culture”episode of Rants to Revelations on Unity Online Radio, where Pop Conscious were the guests!

Original air date: Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Episode Description from Rev. Ogun Holder, Host of Rants to Revelations:

All Hallow’s Eve is upon us. It’s only fitting that we have a special Halloween pop culture edition! Our guests are Malayna Dawn and Stacy Macris Ros from Pop Conscious radio. The discussion started Monday when I visited their show. Now it’s time for Part 2 of Halloween Spirit-uality.

Also mentioned: Awakened World Film Festival and the movie Wake Up by Jonas Elrod

Examining Our Shadows – The Symbolism of Monster Archetypes

How about some Halloween Spirit-uality?

Before we begin examining the monster archetypes, it’s important to realize that they don’t just represent a dark, malevolent side of us, but rather the part of our being that is least familiar to our conscious mind.

They become hostile only when it is ignored or misunderstood–expressing themselves through behavior that often sabotages our wishes or image of ourselves. But they serve us by nudging us toward the light. The important thing is that if you feel some resonance these or any other symbolic roles, you should examine what they represent to YOU.

Let’s think of our inner monsters as our as unexplored power, bringing light to what is in shadow.

Vampire 

• Vampires survive by feeding off the life-force of another. Carolyn Myss describes the vampire archetype this way: “we sometimes form attachments to others because we desire their energy, a desire that manifests through the need to have the ‘other’ take care of our survival.  What has been defined as a co-dependent relationship could easily fall under the vampire template.  You may find it hard to identify yourself as a vampire, yet it is essential to review this archetype personally.  Patterns of behavior such as chronic complaining, overdependence, holding on to a relationship either emotionally or psychically long after it has ended, and chronic power struggles are all indicators of Vampire patterns.”

 

Mummy

• A mummy is someone who has died and been wrapped up for preservation.  The ones that walk among us in fiction are undead. I can imagine that someone who has been hurt in life would “die inside” and wrap themselves up to heal their wounds, and might feel like the walking dead.  But their wrapping would keep them from fully engaging in life.  They would be tied to that old way of thinking, preserved within the wrappings.  They might need to awaken to the realization that they are still able to walk, and to gradually let the old ideas fall away so they can be fully reanimated.

Werewolf

• A wolf man goes through unwanted change much like a teen struggles to identify with physical changes. But I can also see the werewolf as someone who is part something else, and being part one thing and part another makes you fully neither.  Maybe those struggling between two worlds could identify with this archetype. Another way to interpret the werewolf could be for someone who has something inside that is struggling to get out, that they may be keeping in for fear of the havoc it could wreak if let loose.  A werewolf would need to find a way to balance his two worlds in a way that brings him (or her) peace. 

Witch 

• A witch is someone who uses magic to defy natural laws.  So maybe someone who is always trying to change a situation could be identifying with a witch archetype –if they want to cast a spell to control things, rather than be mortal and human and deal with them.  They might need to focus less on an easy way out, or controlling another’s actions, and instead learn to face harsh realities with grace, changing only what they can within themselves.

Ghost 

• A ghost is all spirit without a body.  So perhaps someone whose words are insubstantial and transparent can be considered a ghost.  By only talking and not participating, they are only barely there, not tangible.  Their challenge would be to walk their talk, and stand in their truth.

Frankenstein’s Monster

• The Frankenstein Monster is one who has been patched together with things that have died.  So maybe someone who has been through a series of traumas could feel like Frankenstein, pieced together with old wounds, events, experiences.  And yet he lives anyway, with the help of a friend who reanimated him, he walks on, waking people up to his existence (who often chase him with torches and pitchforks—I didn’t say it was easy!)  Like the Mummy, he may need to focus on the fact that he is alive and aim to knit his various parts into the cohesive whole of who he is.

Skeleton 

A skeleton is all bones – no soft parts left to hurt, no parts to make pretty. They are dead, but they grin and dance.  In the Mexican celebration known as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, people dress up skeletons doing everyday things, to show us our grinning mortality.  Maybe they tell us not to be afraid of death? If we are feeling skeletal, perhaps we have lost touch with our humanity and need to nourish ourselves.  Maybe our eyes look empty, and we need to reinhabit our bodies.

Written by Malayna Dawn as part of a Halloween Sunday talk at Unity Community Church in 2005.  It can be found on her Symbolic Themes blog.