I’ve always like Plato’s Allegory of the Cave because demonstrates so well the way much of the world works — where shadows become reality. It takes courage to take the steps to seek out the light and pursue “true things.” I am reminded of what John Steinbeck said about Ed “Doc” Rickets:
“He loved true things and believed in them.”
A lot of folks don’t know what true things are. For them, the shadows in the cave are “true.”
Regarding the Allegory of the Cave, I have been doing my own spin of it for years (I will share it with you some time). Meanwhile, please check out this 7-minute video where the contemporary artist MEAR ONE (http://www.mearone.com) does his spin, titling it “Allegory Of Complacency.”
Special shout out to Ness Lopez who brought this to my attention from a FB post done by Kevin Ross.
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Now step back and look at the mural. What popped into my mind was a passage from The Power of Myth where Joseph Campbell talked about “The Great Seal.”
“Look at a dollar bill. Here is the Great Seal of the United States of America. Look at the pyramid on the left. The pyramid has four sides. These are the four points of the compass. There is somebody at this point, there’s somebody at that point, and there’s somebody at this point. When you’re down on the lower levels of this pyramid, you will be either on one side or on the other. But when you get up to the top, the points all come together, and there the eye of God opens. (p31)
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