make sure to refresh this page every time you access it;

updated: 1/17/18

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How's the Water?

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INTEGRATE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN AND THE RIGHT, YOUR ANIMAL AND YOUR "HUMAN" SIDE........

SOME OF OUR GOALS

To develop the sympathetic imagination, the basis of all ethics [see below].

To unify the self: our goal is to maximize our potential by cultivating both sides of our brains, developing all our multiple intelligences.

[2A2a] To return to the traditional college goals of developing character and conscience

[2A2b] To practice replacing fear and greed with love, compassion, tolerance, and the sympathetic imagination,which is essential to morality and ethics.

Trying to imagine what it was like to be someone else is a form of experiential learning, the kind that can stick with you later. All of this depends on your willingness to be an actor, to willingly suspend your disbelief long enough to play the part. That willingness also enables you to FREE yourself from the world views that you may have inherited without conscious thought or decision on your part.* Trying out the worldviews of other cultures is the humanities equivalent of a scientific experiment. When you adopt, however briefly, another Weltanshauung, and see and feel as a member of that culture would, you test out whether any part of that philosophy of life is one you want to adopt and/or, by contrast, what part of the worldivew you inherited you may consciously want to embrace as an adult.

William Blake called them your "mind-forged manacles"

MEDITATION AND GUIDED IMAGERY:

"A Zen-inspired blend of meditation, breathing exercises and focus techniques are in vogue in corporate America—championed by blue-chip employers like Google Inc. and General Mills Inc. as a simple but potent mind-sharpening tool." Gershman, Jacob. "

"Lawyers Go Zen, With Few Objections." WSJ.* June 18, 2015.

Accessed September 20, 2015 by Starfish, E603A

Lovingkindness is a form of meditation designed to cultivate feelings of warmth and kindness to all people, including oneself, the researchers said. Practicing the technique may activate a soothing-caring regulation system that is probably deficient in chronic self-critics, they suggest [that] this practice may...... help in breaking down perfectionist tendencies. I know that at least for me, if I choose to allow myself forgiveness, encouragement, and grace, then I will be happier and more peaceful. The harshest of "self-critics" can use this meditation to learn how to better handle their self-judging nature. When we are less demanding of ourselves, we can in turn, be less demanding of others.

Lukits, Ann. "After Meditation, Self-Critical People Ease Up." WSJ. August 13, 2015. Accessed September 20, 2015 by Starfish, E603A.

Dass Guided Imagery

The Mystery

Relate to the practice of meditation:

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Mathematical Circles

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Pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.

David Foster Wallace, Commencement Speech

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Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfill them... for it alone joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth."
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Dass Guided Imagery

"LOVE AND DO WHAT YOU WILL" St. Augustine

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#1-18 "Best and Worst" in pairs on best and worst of winter break;

Award Ceremony: Order of the Hammer

;[ Looking Ahead: Gawain 2, Hedgehog Leading Class on 25;]

Today 1 Gawain and Perfectionism; Quiz in class on Brown 107-120 and First Half of Gawain; extra credit for all for coming in costumes from the Arthurian/medieval period;explore multimedia below; perform script below; get actors for next time; discuss blogs (primarily next time)

107-120 Brown , Daring Greatly:Perfectionism vs. Vulnerability; Ideology;Leadership

174-204 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North

Gawain

TODAY'S GOALS: “to know thyself.” To know one’s strengths and weaknesses . Self-awareness is essential not only for leadership and ethics, but for good writing for it enables self-management of time and emotional as well as intellectual resources. Goals for Best and Worst: see list

TODAY'S TOPICS:perfectionism; Gawain;

original ed. J RR Tolkien stanzaic trans Deane 1999 trans. Neilsen audio

UP TO 10 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT PER DAY FOR ANY STUDENT COMING IN ARTHURIAN COSTUME BOTH DAYS

Items supplied by instructor: paper crowns, toy axe, green giant mask, plastic ivy, king's robes (white)

UP TO 12 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR PERFORMING ON OF THESE ROLES (FROM A SCRIPT)

Narrator Arthur Green Knight Gawain

Narrator: [wait for end of music] As the sound of the music ceased, and the first course had been fitly served, there came in at the hall door one terrible to behold, of stature greater than any on earth; from neck to loin so strong and thickly made, and with limbs so long and so great that he seemed even as a giant. And yet he was but a man, only the mightiest that might mount a steed; broad of chest and shoulders and slender of waist, and all his features of like fashion; but men marvelled much at his colour, for he rode even as a knight, yet was green all over…….
The knight rideth through the entrance of the hall, driving straight to the high daïs, and greeted no man, but looked ever upwards; and the first words he spake were,
GK: "Where is the ruler of this folk? I would gladly look upon that hero, and have speech with him."
Narrator: He cast his eyes on the knights, and mustered them up and down, striving ever to see who of them was of most renown……Then Arthur beheld this adventurer before his high daïs, and knightly he greeted him, for fearful was he never.
A: "Sir," "thou art welcome to this place--lord of this hall am I, and men call me Arthur. Light thee down, and tarry awhile, and what thy will is, that shall we learn after."
GK: "Nay," quoth the stranger, "so help me He that sitteth on high, 'twas not mine errand to tarry any while in this dwelling; but the praise of this thy folk and thy city is lifted up on high, and thy warriors are holden for the best and the most valiant of those who ride mail-clad to the fight. The wisest and the worthiest of this world are they, . . . .
HOLDS UP HOLLY BRANCH
Ye may be sure by the branch that I bear here that I come in peace, seeking no strife. . . . But if thou be as bold as all men tell thou wilt freely grant me the boon I ask."
A: "Sir Knight, if thou cravest battle here thou shalt not fail for lack of a foe."
GK: "Nay, I ask no fight, in faith here on the benches are but beardless children, were I clad in armour on my steed there is no man here might match me. Therefore I ask in this court but a Christmas jest, for that it is Yule-tide, and New Year, and there are here many fain for sport. If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy, 4 so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this axe, . . . . and I will abide the first blow, unarmed ….Then shalt thou give me the right to deal him another, the respite of a year and a day shall he have.
N: Now if the knights had been astounded at the first, yet stiller were they all, high and low, when they had heard his words.
GK: "What, is this Arthur's hall, and these the knights whose renown hath run through many realms? Where are now your pride and your conquests, your wrath, and anger, and mighty words? Now are the praise and the renown of the Round Table overthrown by one man's speech..”
A: “"Now by heaven foolish is thy asking, and thy folly shall find its fitting answer. I know no man aghast at thy great words. Give me here thine axe and I shall grant thee the boon thou hast asked."
N: “ Then Arthur took the axe and gripped the haft, and swung it round, ready to strike.”
G (GAWAIN): “"I beseech ye, my lord, let this venture be mine. . . . if I bear myself ungallantly then let all this court blame me."
N: Then the Green Knight swiftly made him ready, he bowed down his head, and laid his long locks on the crown that his bare neck might be seen. Gawain gripped his axe and raised it on high, . . . The sharp edge of the blade …. smote through the neck, …. and the fair head fell to the earth that many struck it with their feet as it rolled forth.
ALL: Kick the football about under the table (this I the origin of football: kicking the head of the sacrificial victim, now known as the pigskin).
N: the Green Knight “caught the head, and lifted it up” and said to Gawain
GK: “such a stroke as thou hast dealt thou hast deserved, and it shall be promptly paid thee on New Year's morn. Many men know me as the knight of the Green Chapel, and if thou askest, thou shalt not fail to find me”

LOOKING AHEAD:

UP TO 10 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR ANY STUDENT COMING IN ARTHURIAN COSTUME BOTH DAYS

UP TO 12 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR PERFORMING ON OF THESE ROLES (FROM A SCRIPT) Narrator: ? Green Knight:?Gawain: ?

Items supplied by instructor: paper crowns, toy axe, green giant mask, plastic ivy, king's robes (white) NA, WITH GK AND G ACTING OUT THE WORDS:

Then the Green Knight made him ready, and grasped his grim weapon to smite Gawain. With all his force he bore it aloft with a mighty feint of slaying him: had it fallen as straight as he aimed he who was ever doughty of deed had been slain by the blow. But Gawain swerved aside as the axe came gliding down to slay him as he stood, and shrank a little with the shoulders, for the sharp iron. The other heaved up the blade and rebuked the prince with many proud words:
GK:

"Thou art not Gawain, who is held so valiant, that never feared he man by hill or vale, but thou shrinkest for fear ere thou feelest hurt. Such cowardice did I never hear of Gawain! Neither did I flinch from thy blow, or make strife in King Arthur's hall. My head fell to my feet, and yet I fled not; but thou didst wax faint of heart ere any harm befell. Wherefore must I be deemed the braver knight."

SECOND STRIKE: NA: The Green Knight “heaved aloft the axe with fierce mien, as if he were mad. He struck at him fiercely but wounded him not, withholding his hand ere it might strike him.

THIRD STRIKE: NA: He lifted the axe lightly and let it fall with the edge of the blade on the bare neck. Though he struck swiftly it hurt him no more than on the one side where it severed the skin. The sharp blade cut into the flesh so that the blood ran over his shoulder to the ground.

GK: First I menaced thee with a feigned one, and hurt thee not for the covenant that we made in the first night, and which thou didst hold truly. All the gain didst thou give me as a true man should.

The other feint I proffered thee for the morrow: my fair wife kissed thee, and thou didst give me her kisses--for both those days I gave thee two blows without scathe--true man, true return.

But the third time thou didst fail, and therefore hadst thou that blow…..I sent [my wife] to try thee, and in sooth I think thou art the most faultless knight that ever trode earth …. But thou didst lack a little, Sir Knight, and wast wanting in loyalty,"

G: For fear of thy blow cowardice bade me make friends with covetousness and forsake the customs of largess and loyalty, which befit all knights. Now am I faulty and false and have been afeared: from treachery and untruth come sorrow and care. I avow to thee, Sir Knight, that I have ill done;

GK: thou hast made such free confession of thy misdeeds, and hast so borne the penance of mine axe edge, that I hold thee absolved from that sin, and purged as clean as if thou hadst never sinned since thou wast born. And

this [WRIST BAND] that is wrought with green, like my raiment, do I give thee, Sir Gawain, that thou mayest think upon this chance when thou goest forth among princes of renown, and keep this for a token of the adventure of the Green Chapel,

G: as for thy [WRIST BAND], that will I take with good will, …. in sign of my frailty. I shall look upon it when I ride in renown and remind myself of the fault and faintness of the flesh; and so when pride uplifts me for prowess of arms, the sight of this lace shall humble my heart..

GK PUTS THE GREEN [BAND ON] GAWAIN’S [WRIST]

BACK IN ARTHUR'S COURT

N: he bare the shining [WRIST BAND], in token that he was taken in a fault--and thus he came in safety again to the court…. He showed them the wound in the neck which he won for his disloyalty at the hand of the knight, the blood flew to his face for shame as he told the tale.

G: "this is the bond of the blame that I bear in my neck, this is the harm and the loss I have suffered, the cowardice and covetousness in which I was caught, the token of my covenant in which I was taken. And I must needs wear it so long as I live, for none may hide his harm, but undone it may not be, for if it hath clung to thee once, it may never be severed."

N: Then the king comforted the knight, and the court laughed loudly at the tale, and all made accord that the lords and the ladies who belonged to the Round Table, each hero among them, should wear bound about him [HER WRIST] a baldric [BAND] of bright green for the sake of Sir Gawain.

And to this was agreed all the honour of the Round Table, and he who ware it was honoured the more thereafter.

KING ARTHUR NOW ASKS EACH MEMBER OF THE ROUND TABLE IF S/HE RENOUNCES PERFECTIONISM. IF THEY ANSWER ‘I DO’ THE KING KNIGHTS EACH MEMBER OF THE ROUND TABLE AND THE GREEN KNIGHT BESTOWS THE GREEN BAND ON EACH. NEWLY KNIGHTED, EACH MEMBER PROCLAIMS LOUDLY

"HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE"

Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North to Arthur's Round Table:

BBC DOCUMENTARY

WARD DOCUENTARY

AUDIO VERSION FIRST NINETY LINES

AMATEUR MOVIE VERSION

ANIMATION PART One

ANIMATION PART TWO

ANIMATION PART THREE

A green man looks down on the Christians at Christ Church cathedral, Oxford

"Green Men" sculptures at Winchester, at York, and at Oxford: Balliol Library, the Bodleian Library, Merton Chapel, and City Hall

"Green Women" on the tomb of St. Frideswide, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Green Giant in the home of the Vikings

The Orders of the Garter and the Thistle

Online Resources

Luminarium Resources

Related Images

the Cathedral of the Gothic North: the York Minster:
Mermaid
Dragon
~~Dragon and Egg~~
Dragon in manuscript
Wildman

updated: 1/17/18

=============================================================

How's the Water?

=============================================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTEGRATE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN AND THE RIGHT, YOUR ANIMAL AND YOUR "HUMAN" SIDE........

INTEGRATE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN AND THE RIGHT, YOUR ANIMAL AND YOUR "HUMAN" SIDE........

SOME OF OUR GOALS To develop the sympathetic imagination, the basis of all ethics [see below]. To unify the self: our goal is to maximize our potential by cultivating both sides of our brains, developing all our multiple intelligences.

SOME OF OUR GOALS

To develop the sympathetic imagination, the basis of all ethics [see below].

To unify the self: our goal is to maximize our potential by cultivating both sides of our brains, developing all our multiple intelligences.

[2A2a] To return to the traditional college goals of developing character and conscience

[2A2b] To practice replacing fear and greed with love, compassion, tolerance, and the sympathetic imagination,which is essential to morality and ethics.

*William Blake called them your "mind-forged manacles"

MEDITATION AND GUIDED IMAGERY:

"A Zen-inspired blend of meditation, breathing exercises and focus techniques are in vogue in corporate America—championed by blue-chip employers like Google Inc. and General Mills Inc. as a simple but potent mind-sharpening tool." Gershman, Jacob. "

"Lawyers Go Zen, With Few Objections." WSJ. June 18, 2015.

Lukits, Ann. "After Meditation, Self-Critical People Ease Up." WSJ. August 13, 2015. Accessed September 20, 2015 by Starfish, E603A.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Mathematical Circles

Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfill them... for it alone joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth." ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

"LOVE AND DO WHAT YOU WILL" St. Augustine

#1-18 "Best and Worst" in pairs on best and worst of winter break;

Award Ceremony: Order of the Hammer

;[ Looking Ahead: Gawain 2, Hedgehog Leading Class on 25;]

Today 1 Gawain and Perfectionism; Quiz in class on Brown 107-120 and First Half of Gawain; extra credit for all for coming in costumes from the Arthurian/medieval period;explore multimedia below; perform script below; get actors for next time; discuss blogs (primarily next time)

107-120 Brown , Daring Greatly:Perfectionism vs. Vulnerability; Ideology;Leadership

174-204 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North

TODAY'S GOALS: “to know thyself.” To know one’s strengths and weaknesses . Self-awareness is essential not only for leadership and ethics, but for good writing for it enables self-management of time and emotional as well as intellectual resources. Goals for Best and Worst: see list

TODAY'S TOPICS:perfectionism; Gawain;

Recommended Reading:

UP TO 10 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT PER DAY FOR ANY STUDENT COMING IN ARTHURIAN COSTUME BOTH DAYS

Items supplied by instructor: paper crowns, toy axe, green giant mask, plastic ivy, king's robes (white)

UP TO 12 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR PERFORMING ON OF THESE ROLES (FROM A SCRIPT)

Narrator Arthur Green Knight Gawain

LOOKING AHEAD:

UP TO 10 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR ANY STUDENT COMING IN ARTHURIAN COSTUME BOTH DAYS

UP TO 12 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT FOR PERFORMING ON OF THESE ROLES (FROM A SCRIPT) Narrator: ? Green Knight:?Gawain: ?

Items supplied by instructor: paper crowns, toy axe, green giant mask, plastic ivy, king's robes (white) NA, WITH GK AND G ACTING OUT THE WORDS:

SECOND STRIKE: NA: The Green Knight “heaved aloft the axe with fierce mien, as if he were mad. He struck at him fiercely but wounded him not, withholding his hand ere it might strike him.

THIRD STRIKE: NA: He lifted the axe lightly and let it fall with the edge of the blade on the bare neck. Though he struck swiftly it hurt him no more than on the one side where it severed the skin. The sharp blade cut into the flesh so that the blood ran over his shoulder to the ground.

GK: First I menaced thee with a feigned one, and hurt thee not for the covenant that we made in the first night, and which thou didst hold truly. All the gain didst thou give me as a true man should.

The other feint I proffered thee for the morrow: my fair wife kissed thee, and thou didst give me her kisses--for both those days I gave thee two blows without scathe--true man, true return.

But the third time thou didst fail, and therefore hadst thou that blow…..I sent [my wife] to try thee, and in sooth I think thou art the most faultless knight that ever trode earth …. But thou didst lack a little, Sir Knight, and wast wanting in loyalty,"

G: For fear of thy blow cowardice bade me make friends with covetousness and forsake the customs of largess and loyalty, which befit all knights. Now am I faulty and false and have been afeared: from treachery and untruth come sorrow and care. I avow to thee, Sir Knight, that I have ill done;

GK: thou hast made such free confession of thy misdeeds, and hast so borne the penance of mine axe edge, that I hold thee absolved from that sin, and purged as clean as if thou hadst never sinned since thou wast born. And

this [WRIST BAND] that is wrought with green, like my raiment, do I give thee, Sir Gawain, that thou mayest think upon this chance when thou goest forth among princes of renown, and keep this for a token of the adventure of the Green Chapel,

G: as for thy [WRIST BAND], that will I take with good will, …. in sign of my frailty. I shall look upon it when I ride in renown and remind myself of the fault and faintness of the flesh; and so when pride uplifts me for prowess of arms, the sight of this lace shall humble my heart..

GK PUTS THE GREEN [BAND ON] GAWAIN’S [WRIST]

BACK IN ARTHUR'S COURT

N: he bare the shining [WRIST BAND], in token that he was taken in a fault--and thus he came in safety again to the court…. He showed them the wound in the neck which he won for his disloyalty at the hand of the knight, the blood flew to his face for shame as he told the tale.

N: Then the king comforted the knight, and the court laughed loudly at the tale, and all made accord that the lords and the ladies who belonged to the Round Table, each hero among them, should wear bound about him [HER WRIST] a baldric [BAND] of bright green for the sake of Sir Gawain.

And to this was agreed all the honour of the Round Table, and he who ware it was honoured the more thereafter.

KING ARTHUR NOW ASKS EACH MEMBER OF THE ROUND TABLE IF S/HE RENOUNCES PERFECTIONISM. IF THEY ANSWER ‘I DO’ THE KING KNIGHTS EACH MEMBER OF THE ROUND TABLE AND THE GREEN KNIGHT BESTOWS THE GREEN BAND ON EACH. NEWLY KNIGHTED, EACH MEMBER PROCLAIMS LOUDLY

"HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE"

Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North to Arthur's Round Table:

BBC DOCUMENTARY

AUDIO VERSION FIRST NINETY LINES

ANIMATION PART One

ANIMATION PART TWO

ANIMATION PART THREE

A green man looks down on the Christians at Christ Church cathedral, Oxford

"Green Men" sculptures at Winchester, at York, and at Oxford: Balliol Library, the Bodleian Library, Merton Chapel, and City Hall

"Green Women" on the tomb of St. Frideswide, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Green Giant in the home of the Vikings

Online Resources

the Cathedral of the Gothic North: the York Minster:

CONNECT, HAMMER INTO UNITY: Your Head and Your Heart

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTEGRATE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN AND THE RIGHT, YOUR ANIMAL AND YOUR "HUMAN" SIDE........

SOME OF OUR GOALS

To develop the sympathetic imagination, the basis of all ethics [see below].

To unify the self: our goal is to maximize our potential by cultivating both sides of our brains, developing all our multiple intelligences.

Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfill them... for it alone joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth."
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin