"What I'm seeing here is a very modern dominance of the mind over the body, and man over the wild. "
YES. It's the old dichotomy and separation of physical = corrupt, lesser, and spiritual = pure, higher, superior. The physical is defined as something to be overcome, that will fade away, to reveal the spiritual.
It links into this idea that one can somehow beat the physical into submission with the power of the spiritual/mental (Prosperity Gospel? Miracle healings, anyone?), when in fact psychologists and neurologists are finding out more about how the mind and body are interlinked.
Through my own experiences, I'm leaning more towards the idea of brain and body as interlinked. What affects one affects the other. Anyone with a chronic illness experiences this. Brain fog, etc.
no subject
YES. It's the old dichotomy and separation of physical = corrupt, lesser, and spiritual = pure, higher, superior. The physical is defined as something to be overcome, that will fade away, to reveal the spiritual.
Actually I was reading an interesting article about this a while back: https://aeon.co/essays/feminists-never-bought-the-idea-of-a-mind-set-free-from-its-body - not pagan necessarily but relevant to the conversation, perhaps.
It links into this idea that one can somehow beat the physical into submission with the power of the spiritual/mental (Prosperity Gospel? Miracle healings, anyone?), when in fact psychologists and neurologists are finding out more about how the mind and body are interlinked.
Through my own experiences, I'm leaning more towards the idea of brain and body as interlinked. What affects one affects the other. Anyone with a chronic illness experiences this. Brain fog, etc.