Posted by j mc on July 21, 2004 at 12:40:30:
In Reply to: Re: C.S. Lewis excerpt posted by giveawayboy on July 20, 2004 at 14:38:24:
I've heard "past life" people say these images are links to old lives...but as I don't believe in past lives, I don't buy it. I've also heard spiritualists say these images are pieces of thought from other entities that we pick up on subconsciously-- either other living people, or dead people, or other spirits altogether. You can think what you want, but it's an interesting concept... that our minds are not as private as we may think. Then again, maybe it's just our own creative ability patterned after the prime creative ability of God. The whole made-in-image thing. If God's imagination can spark actual independent existence, then perhaps ours can at least take on a limited life of it's own. Tolkien talked about this in some of his essays and lectures. The concept also shows up in the Silmarillion regarding the creation of the dwarves.
I tend to think our thoughts are often an amalgamation of influences from all kinds of places that resurface in sometimes unidentifiable new forms.
: yeah this is true. that last line about making up. it is a mysterious thing. i draw lots of rabbits. people ask me what the rabbits mean. i'm always hardpressed to tell them something. i mean, i guess they have taken on their own meaning over time, but how it all starter...well...they just sort of hopped into my drawings one day, just like Aslan bounded into C.S. Lewis' thinking. so i can relate to what he's saying here. thanks for sharing.
: Bill