gnostic virginity hedonistic pleasure & g ds child
~*~
SINCE,
as we have seen before,
our primal state is one of spiritual androgyny,
in which male~and~female means
neither male nor female,
our fulfillment would naturally be
a return to that state of noncorporeal
androgyny.
THIS
notion had,
moreover, social consequences
as well in the image of perfected human life
which PHILO
presents.
~*~
SINCE,
as we have seen before,
our primal state is one of spiritual androgyny,
in which male~and~female means
neither male nor female,
our fulfillment would naturally be
a return to that state of noncorporeal
androgyny.
THIS
notion had,
moreover, social consequences
as well in the image of perfected human life
which PHILO
presents.
~*~
~*~
IN his
On the Contemplative Life,
Philo describes a Jewish sect, the Therapeutae,
living on the shores of Lake Mareotis
near Alexandria.
It is clear
from the tone
of his entire depiction of this sect and its practice
that he considers it an ideal
religious community.
The fellowship consists
of celibate men and women who live in individual cells
and spend their lives in prayer and contemplative study
of allegorical interpretations of Scripture
[such as the ones that Philo
produced].
ONCE
a year [or once in seven weeks],
the community comes together for a remarkable ritual
celebration.
Following a simple
but nourishing meal and a discourse,
all of the members begin to sing hymns
together.
INITIALLY,
however, the men and the women
remain separate from each other
in two choruses.
The extraordinary element
is that as the celebration becomes more ecstatic,
the men and women JOIN to form ONE chorus,
"the treble of the women blending with the bass
of the men."
I suggest
that THIS model of an ecstatic joining of the male and the female
in mystical ritual recreates in social practice the image
of the purely spiritual masculo~feminine FIRST human of which Philo
speaks in his commentary, indeed, that THIS ritual of the Therapeutae
is a return to the originary
ADAM.
Although,
obviously, the singing and dancing are performed by the body,
the state of ecstacy [as its etymology implies]
involves a symbolical and psychological condition
of being disembodied and THUS similar
to the primal
androgyne.
THE CRUX
of my argument is
that a distinction between androgyny as a mythic notion
AND ONE that has social consequences
is a false distinction.
The MYTH
of the primal androgyne,
with all of its inflections, always HAS social meaning and social significance,
for PAUL no less than for Philo, for Rabbis,
AND for Corinthian
Christians.
~*~
TWO
points
are crucial here
as background for a reading of Paul
on gender.
FIRST of all,
the society and religious culture
depicted by Philo DO permit parity between men and women
and religious, cultural creativity
for women as for
men.
SECOND,
this autonomy and creativity in the spiritual sphere
are predicated on renunciation of BOTH sexuality and
maternity.
Spiritual
androgyny
is
attained
only
by
abjuring
the body
and its difference.
I think
two factors have joined in the formation of this structure -
which will be repeated over and over in the history of western religion,
including at least ONE instance within early
modern Judaism.
On the materialist level,
there is the real~world difference
between a woman who is bound to the material conditions
of marriage and child~bearing/rearing
AND a woman who is free of such
restraints.
Even more to the point, however, is the SYMBOLIC side of the issue.
JUST
as in some
contemporary feminist philosophy,
the category "woman" is produced in the heterosexual relationship,
so in Philo as well a female who escapes or avoids
such relationships ESCAPES from
being a woman.
The
issue
between Tertullian
and his opponents is whether "veiled" virgins
are women OR
NOT!
THIS
division in Philo
is reproduced as well in HIS interpretations of the status
of female figures in the Bible, who fall into
two categories:
women AND
virgins.
Those
biblical figures
defined as virgins by Philo are NOT women
and THUS do NOT partake of the base status
that he accords
to women.
ANY parity
between male and female subsists ONLY in the realm of spiritual
and ecstatic experience OR in the symbolic spiritual MYTH
of the primal androgyne.
WHAT about PAUL?
We will see
about
THAT
maybe sooner
or later!
For
NOW:
sleep well &
dream sweet
about "IT"
all
~
~
IN his
On the Contemplative Life,
Philo describes a Jewish sect, the Therapeutae,
living on the shores of Lake Mareotis
near Alexandria.
It is clear
from the tone
of his entire depiction of this sect and its practice
that he considers it an ideal
religious community.
The fellowship consists
of celibate men and women who live in individual cells
and spend their lives in prayer and contemplative study
of allegorical interpretations of Scripture
[such as the ones that Philo
produced].
ONCE
a year [or once in seven weeks],
the community comes together for a remarkable ritual
celebration.
Following a simple
but nourishing meal and a discourse,
all of the members begin to sing hymns
together.
INITIALLY,
however, the men and the women
remain separate from each other
in two choruses.
The extraordinary element
is that as the celebration becomes more ecstatic,
the men and women JOIN to form ONE chorus,
"the treble of the women blending with the bass
of the men."
I suggest
that THIS model of an ecstatic joining of the male and the female
in mystical ritual recreates in social practice the image
of the purely spiritual masculo~feminine FIRST human of which Philo
speaks in his commentary, indeed, that THIS ritual of the Therapeutae
is a return to the originary
ADAM.
Although,
obviously, the singing and dancing are performed by the body,
the state of ecstacy [as its etymology implies]
involves a symbolical and psychological condition
of being disembodied and THUS similar
to the primal
androgyne.
THE CRUX
of my argument is
that a distinction between androgyny as a mythic notion
AND ONE that has social consequences
is a false distinction.
The MYTH
of the primal androgyne,
with all of its inflections, always HAS social meaning and social significance,
for PAUL no less than for Philo, for Rabbis,
AND for Corinthian
Christians.
~*~
TWO
points
are crucial here
as background for a reading of Paul
on gender.
FIRST of all,
the society and religious culture
depicted by Philo DO permit parity between men and women
and religious, cultural creativity
for women as for
men.
SECOND,
this autonomy and creativity in the spiritual sphere
are predicated on renunciation of BOTH sexuality and
maternity.
Spiritual
androgyny
is
attained
only
by
abjuring
the body
and its difference.
I think
two factors have joined in the formation of this structure -
which will be repeated over and over in the history of western religion,
including at least ONE instance within early
modern Judaism.
On the materialist level,
there is the real~world difference
between a woman who is bound to the material conditions
of marriage and child~bearing/rearing
AND a woman who is free of such
restraints.
Even more to the point, however, is the SYMBOLIC side of the issue.
JUST
as in some
contemporary feminist philosophy,
the category "woman" is produced in the heterosexual relationship,
so in Philo as well a female who escapes or avoids
such relationships ESCAPES from
being a woman.
The
issue
between Tertullian
and his opponents is whether "veiled" virgins
are women OR
NOT!
THIS
division in Philo
is reproduced as well in HIS interpretations of the status
of female figures in the Bible, who fall into
two categories:
women AND
virgins.
Those
biblical figures
defined as virgins by Philo are NOT women
and THUS do NOT partake of the base status
that he accords
to women.
ANY parity
between male and female subsists ONLY in the realm of spiritual
and ecstatic experience OR in the symbolic spiritual MYTH
of the primal androgyne.
WHAT about PAUL?
We will see
about
THAT
maybe sooner
or later!
For
NOW:
sleep well &
dream sweet
about "IT"
all
~
~
07 aug 2005 - bewerkt op 17 mrt 2008
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