For those who have been reading my Patheos postings, you’ve no doubt noticed I keep referencing Icarus, the mythological risk-taker who flew too close to the sun and perished from his tragic fall back to earth. The inspiration which sparked my recent article came from an Oscar Wilde poem:
Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight. For the greatest tragedy of them all, is never to feel the burning light.
Bruegel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” (ca. 1558) is famous for relegating the fall to a scarcely noticed event in the background — red arrow [added by me] marks the spot.
Psychosynthesis ties this complex to those whose religious/spiritual ambitions exceed the reasonable limits of their own personalities. They are characterized by self-gratifying, attention-seeking behavior and obsessions with apocalyptic “crash & burn” predictions. Interestingly, they also have an emotional fascination with fire (e.g. burning sexual desires, moral works tried by fire, scorching eternal punishment, etc.).
To say the least, there’s enough with all of this to keep me busy for months, writing and making inferences!
The Red Arrow
As it concerns my recent articles, my chief motivation can be found in the painting above. Icarus’ fall (red arrow marks the spot) is depicted as an unnoticed non-event. Farmers, travelers, fishermen, sailing merchants, they all continue their day-to-day tasks, unconcerned with the tragic splash below.
So, what is it that best represents the uninteresting splash? Without knowing the painter’s intentions, I’ll attempt to offer my own insights.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Maybe the uneventful splash is symbolized by all the rising/falling religious-spiritual fads, trends, obsessions, predictions and ever changing, contradictory dogmas? You know, the elusive transcendental stuff. If this painting were a contemporary work, we could theorize the splash to be the numerous rapture theories or Zionist Temple Mount predictions featured by Charisma Magazine each month.
Or, we could point to the televangelists’s hyper theatrics serving up hot, steamy love songs to God followed by oratory hell-laced admonitions to the Divine’s captive bride.
Or, our thoughts could turn to Oprah’s recommended reading list and all the eager Super Soul Sunday guru guests.
The splash of week-old TV ratings certainly constitutes as a non-event.
Cable specials about angels and demons, books left out of the sacred canon, dinosaur-sized giants, ancient aliens, Nessie and Bigfoot exposes and alchemy secrets revealed… splash! splash! splash!
The latest, greatest study bibles promising word-for-word translations, religious programming’s annual pledge drives, right and left wing talking points, political call to arms and Church/State promises to use your tithes and taxes to honor God and country… SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
Who Gives A Crap?!?
For many, if it doesn’t impact grocery and gas prices, vacation resort deals, or 401K gains… who gives a crap?!?
Week after week, month after month, and year after year, many have learned to ignore the splashes. It’s just entertainment after all, right? Umm…
I’m a romantic, so I like to think the splash is not Icarus sinking into Davey Jone’s Locker. I like to envision him getting close enough to the burning light of reason, he realizes his world is upside-down. He no longer fears falling and sheds his father’s wings. He’s actually flying; for real, he… is… flying!
Think Neo being unplugged from the Matrix.
My romantic self likes to think of the splashes as being all the social, religious, political, inhumane mechanical bodies–the dim promises of transcendent flight–plunging into the waters of stupidity far below. Like Icarus, I envision myself shedding my inherited biases to soar high, far above the superstitious storytellers, religious dogma and prejudiced contemporary philosophers.
Together, we live without regret in the brilliant light of free thought and discovery.
Have I peaked your interest?
More romantic, sentimental musings to come soon… #Icarusflew #noregrets
Daedulus and Icarus drawing by Lyle Saunders – click pic for link
FreshLA.me 
Quite an intriguing subject. It made me think what a greatly improved culture we’d be living in in the US if those of our population were interested in Greek mythology instead of believing Judeo-Christian mythology was anything more than mythology.
“Lately, I’ve been questioning why I’m obsessed with making inferences to Icarus.” Sounds like a healthy metaphoric form of personal psychoanalysis; far better than wondering why a non-existent Jewish God of War isn’t answering your prayers or those of the millions of abused women and children on our planet. 🙂
My personal mythology obsession has been with the Oedipus complex and the story of Aphrodite & Adonis.
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