based on the novel of the same name by May Sarton

Directed by Linda Thornburg

reviewed by Khrysso Heart LeFey,

PIR contributing editor and Mrs. Stevens Productions publicist

The Muse

Ripples the waters, opens doors,

Lets in sunlight, dazzles and delights ...

There is no way to make it happen by will.

No muse appears when invoked, dire need

Will not rouse her pity.

She comes when she can,

She too, no doubt, rising from the sea

Like Aphrodite on her shell when it is time,

To play a difficult role she has not chosen,

To free a prisoner she has no reason to love.

--May Sarton, "#9" (1)

May Sarton wrote novels, poems, diaries, and memoirs and was a popular lecturer. She was an out Lesbian and a Unitarian Universalist. And she constantly made references to Greek mythology.

Sarton spent a lot of time contemplating the Muse. The above poem was published in 1984, but twenty years earlier she, in the guise of her autobiographical character Hilary Stevens, was saying,

As an artist myself, I experience accountability to the Holy most clearly in terms of my own relationship to The Muse. It is for this reason that I was attracted to and transformed by Sarton's novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing back in the early 1990s.

I was introduced to the book by my friend Linda Thornburg, a Lesbian Buddhist in Columbus, Ohio, whence I hail. Linda owned the movie rights to the book, a fact which I thought was very cool: I hadn't known anybody associated with a feature film before.

It is the nature of independent film that it can take a long time to produce, and so it was with this one: It took 22 years for Linda to premiere the film, which made its debut on Beltane this year at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Sarton has written elsewhere about Aphrodite and Medusa:

THE RETURN OF APHRODITE

Under the wave it is altogether still,

Alive and still, as nourishing as sleep,

Down below conflict, beyond need or will,

where love flows on and yet is there to keep,

As unconstrained as waves that lift and break

And their bright foam neither to give nor take.

Listen to the long rising curve and stress,

Murmur of ocean that brings us the goddess.

From deep she rises, poised upon her shell.

Oh, guiltless Aphrodite so long absent!

The green waves part. There is no sound at all

As she advances, tranquil and transparent,

To lay on mortal flesh her sacred mantle. (2)

THE MUSE AS MEDUSA

I saw you once, Medusa; we were alone.

I looked you straight in the cold eye, cold.

I was not punished, was not turned to stone.

How to believe the legends I am told?

I came as naked as any little fish,

Prepared to be hooked, gutted, caught.

And I saw you, Medusa, made my wish,

And when I left you I was clothed in thought.

Being allowed, perhaps, to swim my way

Through the great deep and on the rising tide,

Flashing wild streams as free and rich as they

Though you had power marshaled on your side.

The fish escaped to many a magic reef;

The fish explored many a dangerous sea.

The fish, Medusa, did not come to grief

But swims still in a fluid mystery.

Forget the image: your silence is my ocean,

And even now it teems with life. You chose

To abdicate by total lack of motion,

But did it work? For nothing really froze.

It is all fluid still, that world of feeling,

Where thoughts, those fishes, silent, feed and rove,

And fluid is also full of healing,

For love is healing--even ruthless love.

I turn your face around! It is my face.

That frozen rage is what I must explore.

Oh secret, self-enclosed, and ravaged place!

This is the gift I thank Medusa for. (3)

Sarton's work has been quoted in Gods and Mortals: Modern Poems on Classical Myths, edited by Nina Kossman and published by Oxford University Press (2001). The publisher comments, "For centuries, poets have looked into the mirror of classical myth to show us the many ways our emotional lives are still reflected in the ancient stories of heroism, hubris, transformation, and loss that myths so eloquently tell."

As is not uncommon in the development of Greek mythology, the original nine Muses described by Ovid have, for writers such as Sarton (not to mention the author of this article), have been syncretized into one grand Muse. For the purposes of scholars of classical Paganism it is not incidental that Aphrodite and Medusa were not among those original nine ladies, Aphrodite being an Olympian and Medusa being a Gorgon.

However, for purposes of 20th-century literary studies, it could fairly be argued that for any classical myths to have survived in popular culture at all is itself deeply significant.

"Mrs. Stevens" is a great story--for poets and other artists, it is significant because of the way it explores inspiration and growth and discipline; for queerfolk it is significant because of its portrayal of Lesbian life pre-Stonewall; and for women over 50, it is significant because of the way it affirms a journey that has transcended the invisibilization of women inherent in western society.

“The story of Mrs. Stevens is not about ‘coming out’ but about embracing the whole self,” says Thornburg. “For Sarton and many women, that includes personal life and work, love and art, the discovery of personal power that equates with being ‘unmasked, vulnerable’ that is being completely, honestly oneself, and loving that self.

“The book and the movie are really about the universal journey to embracing and loving oneself as one is. It is always about embracing the particular self: one’s strengths, weaknesses, what we like about ourselves, what we don't, and the moment-to-moment changes that come with being alive.”

Thornburg is a Buddhist, and for her "Mrs. Stevens" resonates throughout with the most important truths of Buddhism. But as is so often the case, that which resonates with spiritual truth in one tradition also resonates with the important truths of others: notice that Thornburg's language here, in a Pagan context, translates as "magick."

This tenth novel of Sarton's is a tale of a poet whose work re-emerges on the literary world’s radar-screen after a lengthy absence following bouts of renown and outright notoriety.

The title character became famous in the 1920s for a daring Lesbian-themed novel (alluding to Radclyffe Hall’s controversial 1928 book, The Well of Loneliness).

In the ensuing years, Mrs. Stevens’ occasional collections of poetry garner attention for her, and following her most recent work, she is roped into granting an interview in which she is put on the spot as to the identity of the “Muses” who have inspired her poetry.

The Muses, she confesses to herself and her interviewers, have been women--and lovers.

Thornburg's screen adaptation is very faithful to the novel, taking into account post-Stonewall sensibilities when a director can be more open than Sarton was able to be in 1965. Thornburg makes beautiful use of the flashback sequences that advanced the story in the novel. It is a thoroughly absorbing and thought-provoking way to spend two hours of one's life.

The picture will be appearing on the Film Festival circuit through late 2005. Distribution plans are in the works, though it has not been released in theaters anywhere yet.

The film's web site is http://www.mermaidssinging.com

(1) May Sarton, Letters from Maine: New Poems, "#9". (New York: Norton, 1984).

(2) May Sarton, Collected Poems (1930-1973). (New York: Norton, 1974).

(3) ibid.

These and other science fiction films create alternate realities with their own belief systems. In the case of the Star Wars series, The Force - which contains elements of several real-world religions - has become a metaphor in popular culture for the life energy of the universe. Fans sometimes take these "invented" religions for their own, and occasionally it's difficult to discern the line where fandom and genuine faith intersect.

For the general audiences who read the books or watch the films, these fictional worlds are a modern extension of a long human tradition: storytelling as a way to express larger truths. All cultures have their narrative myths, and religion is often an essential element (think Greek mythology).

Princeton's WordNet defines cosmology as "the metaphysical study of the origin and nature of the universe." In this context, sci-fi films and popular speculative fiction are more than just escapism; they can contain messages that confirm deeply held convictions, or they can open new windows to understanding for their readers and viewers.

Why it matters
Religious themes often have been woven into popular fiction and found their way into film. The intertwining of art and faith creates a way for secular storytellers to touch the human need for narrative myth.

Questions for reporters
Are the movies attracting the same audiences? How do the moviegoers perceive the spiritual themes? How do audience members relate these issues to their own lives? Do sci-fi fans tend to have a specific religion - or is sci-fi their religion? Or entertainment? Do local clergy have a perspective on the religious elements in the movies? What do these futuristic films have to say about our future?

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy opened April 29 (Read the May 2, 2005, USA Today story, "Surprising 'Galaxy' hitchhikes to No. 1"). The Guide takes on cosmology head-on, with humor: A computer called Deep Thought sets out to discover the answer to "Life, the Universe and Everything."
• The cover of the hilariously erroneous cosmic guidebook used by the story's characters is emblazoned "Don't Panic." If the number 42 means nothing to you, spend some time in "The Guide to the Guide" on the official site for the movie.
• The Guide trilogy was actually made up of four - eventually, five - books by Douglas Adams. Read a synopsis of each installment at douglasadams.com. Hear a 1987 CBC radio interview in which Adams, who died in 2001, summarizes the plot points of the Guide.
• The Guide began as a BBC radio series in 1978, became a novel and also spawned several other BBC projects (read a review at the Museum of Broadcast Communications). It continues to be a favorite of science fiction fans.
• Read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Panentheism," in Science & Theology News.
• Read a transcript of an April 28, 2005, CNN program, "The Meaning of Life."
 

STAR WARS
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith opens May 19. The original Star Wars film
(now Episode IV: A New Hope) caused an international sensation when it debuted in 1977, and the concept of The Force set off waves of pop theology.
• Read "The Apocalyptic Cosmology of Star Wars" by John Lyden, associate professor of religion at Dana College in Blair, Neb., published in the April 2000 issue of The Journal of Religion & Film.
• Read "Any Gods Out There? Perceptions of Religion from Star Wars and Star Trek," by John S. Schultes, published in the October 2003 issue of The Journal of Religion & Film.
• Read "The Tao of Star Wars," by John Porter, posted by Beliefnet.
• Read about a hoax email in several countries urging fans to list Jedi as their religion in census records.
• Read "Galactic gasbag" by Steven Hart (Salon, April 10, 2002): "Beneath all the pseudo-mythic Joseph Campbell hogwash, the roots of George Lucas' empire lie not in The Odyssey but in classic and pulp 20th century sci-fi."
• Read "Of Myth And Men: A conversation between Bill Moyers and George Lucas on the
meaning of the Force and the true theology of Star Wars" (Time, Apr. 26, 1999).
 

Wasn't that the Aesir? 

Hollywood, etc., can't resist using our timeless traditional tales, and -- perhaps out of fear of Xian reprisals -- they can't bear to present them faithfully. We can expect the same kind of distortion of our religious heritage that saw the demonization of Hera, and for that matter, most of the Gods in Hercules and Xena.   For example, Ken Sorbo's Hercules' character was closer to that of Hector, than to anything the ancients wrote about Hercules or -- as the Greeks called him -- Heracles.  Each episode opened with the propaganda/disclaimer that "the gods were vengeful and cruel." 

Eye candy will be plentiful: King of the Gods is planned to be a "big budget tentpole project"
incorporating set pieces and CGI elements to create monsters and realistic elements. 

Producers are Gordon Gray and Mark Ciardi of Disney-based Mayhem Pictures and A.J. Marcantonio.  Sid Quashie (Boston Stranglers) is writing the screenplay.

Press Release from Oestara Publishing

Pagans and Ghosts Tie for the 2006 Eppie for Best Poetry:

The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry & Ghostly Embers


The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry edited by Cynthia Joyce Clay, Delight Clay, and Raymond T. Anderson is the 2006 Eppie winner for Best Poetry, tying with Ghostly Embers. The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry is the first Pagan poetry book to win an international literary award and is the first poetry anthology of modern day Paganism.

Key Biscayne, FL (PRWEB) March 29, 2006 -- The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry edited by Cynthia Joyce Clay, Delight Clay, and Raymond T. Anderson is the 2006 Eppie winner for Best Poetry.

"If you can’t find something in this collection that speaks to your soul ask yourself these two questions: First – Are you sure you’re Pagan? And second – Are you sure you have a pulse? Enjoy this collection. I did.”-- Mike Gleason, freelance book reviewer.

The awards given out by the Electronically Published Internet Connection (EPIC), an international authors‘ group, the Eppies are given for the best professionally published e-books. EPIC decided on the final winners of the Eppies in beautiful San Antonio, Texas on March 18th, just two days before the Tide turned to Oestara. Cynthia Joyce Clay accepted the award, but had lost her voice so used American Sign Language to say, "I've lost my voice. I am very happy. Thank you! All the poets thank you! Blessed Be." The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry, a paperback and e-book published by Oestara Publishing LLC in Key Biscayne, FL, is the first Pagan poetry book to win an international literary award. The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry is the first poetry anthology of modern day Paganism. It tied with Ghostly Embers for the Eppie in Best Poetry. The poets joked that Pagans and Ghosts would have to tie, and they did!

For Westerners, modern Paganism is a new and vigorous religious zeitgeist. Oestara Publishing LLC recognizing that great new art arises from new zeitgeists, held a poetry contest to celebrate this new world-view. The winners of the poetry contest were included in The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry. Among the poems are charges of the God, invocations to deity, experiences of the Lady’s manifestation, and Sabbat poetry. In free verse, formal poetic forms, and poetry received through trance and dreams, these poems showcase the beauty and depth of feeling, understanding, and devotion of modern Pagan spirituality.

This is the third time an Oestara Publishing title has placed in the Eppie finals. The novella "The Joshua Machine" by James H. Clay and the sf novel Zollocco by Cynthia Joyce Clay also were finalists. The third time’s the charm--The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry. For more information visit http://www.oestarapublishing.com/paganpoetry.htm.

Book and Audio Review
By Khrysso Heart LeFey, MTS


I read the book Lovers Legends with several sets of eyes: the eyes of a Pagan, a holder of a masters degree, a gay-rights activist, a lover of art, and a teacher of rhetoric and composition.

Reading with my Pagan eyes, I was pleased to encounter an engagingly narrated series of accounts from classical literature that I had not studied in any depth since high school: Though my mentoring in Paganism was at the feet of a Hellenist, I have paid far more attention to eclectic Neo-Pagan ritual and the Deep Ecology movement than I have to Greek Paganism. As a result, I am not qualified to judge the mythological integrity of these stories, though I believe the author when he says that his research has been exhaustive, revealing layers of meaning not often brought to the attention of modern readers.

As the author explains, to the Greeks of antiquity, these stories were not fiction or folk tales: They were encounters with the divine, and they were their history--as surely as the Declaration of Independence is US History. It is important to remind ourselves that myth means central story, not fictional account; that prejudice comes from scholars whose central stories lie in the texts of monotheistic Judaism and Christianity. Though I meet the Greek Pantheon in a metaphorical universe, as I meet all deities, I must acknowledge that the ancient Greeks and Neo-Hellenists alike meet them as the divine, the ones they literally worship.

Reading with my scholarly eyes, I draw parallels between Calimach's work and the work of Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Goddess in that they are fascinating studies of ancient mythologies, researched in depth and highly readable. However, all four books suffer, from the perspective of the academy, from the fact that none of them were researched in the original languages. Lovers Legends says in its promotional literature that it is based on primary sources in translation, but this phrase is an oxymoron: translations are, by definition, secondary sources. I fear that this book could miss getting some of the attention it deserves because it references the Greek (and, in some cases, Latin) only indirectly.

Certainly the book has value in the schools, certainly in high schools, especially alternative high schools where its frank dealings with pederasty (adult figures consorting with 15- and 16-year-olds) might raise fewer objections. It would probably serve good purpose in undergraduate courses, as well, at least in introductory courses, though I can't imagine it occupying more than a week of the syllabus at the outside, since it's a very short read. For the more advanced scholar, it could only serve as a reference to deeper sources--true primary sources.

As a reference work Lovers Legends is quite remarkable, and its lack of academic jargon and form renders it very user-friendly. A full third of the handsome volume is devoted to endnotes, acknowledgements, source listings, and an indexed glossary.

Reading with my gay-activist eyes, I am fascinated with the debate recorded by Lucian, Different Loves, woven in three installments among the stories. From this account I see that the reputed misogyny of same-sex-loving men has deep roots, millenia-old roots. Callicratidas, in his defense of male-male love, says, "If we were to see women as they rose from bed we would consider them uglier than those animals it is thought unlucky to mention before noontime--I speak of the monkeys."

Of course, the appearance of women avant-toilette (or, as we might say these days, pre-coffee) is not an issue in the discourse of Queer Theory, and Calimach acknowledges the same. In the cover notes, he explains, "G

In other words, male-male love, then as now, was not about what men rejected but about what they embraced.

In the text, he points out, several times, that male-male love, in Greek culture, was accepted as an intergenerational practice designed for mentoring older adolescent boys. To become the beloved (read: passive sexual partner) of a peer was considered as gauche as to take on a pre-adolescent partner, though if an intergenerational relationship continued into the boy's adulthood it was met with acceptance.

So I was torn, as I read, between my sensibilities as a religious professional who holds that statutory-rape laws exist in our culture for a reason and need to be supported, and my sensibilities as a gay man who recognizes that 16-year-olds are often physically more adult than childish. It is entirely possible that for some of the Greeks, homo-sex might indeed have been a function of authentically gay (or, as the stories often show, bi) love as we know it and not just of same-sex exploitation or pairings of convenience.

Reading as an art lover, I am particularly impressed with the lavish illustrations, high-quality photos of classical and classically-inspired sculpture and pottery from Europe's finest museums.

Reading with my English-teacher eyes, I am disgruntled with occasional copyediting weaknesses and with the author's tendency to splice together parallel phrases that I think would benefit from conjunctions. It's always a shame, I think, when a really handsome book with high production values doesn't live up, editorially, to its attractive appearance. Such, alas, is the downside of accessible publishing technology: things go to press before they are ready.

I am also unhappy with the occasional inconsistency of the narrative style: in general, the stories flow effortlessly with a literary grace that assures the reader that the author is also a poet. Then, suddenly, the author injects a vernacular phrase that is so out of place, even coarse, that the reader can't help feeling jarred (e.g., "the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen"). A couple times I wondered if a page out of a gay porn rag had found its way into the manuscript.

I was curious as to why Calimach, in telling the story of Tantalus, didn't reference the roots of that story in our English word "tantalize," and why, in telling the story of Narcissus, he didn't mention Echo, whose story intertwines with his in many versions.

My concerns notwithstanding, I will say that overall, Lovers' Legends is a remarkable book for its fine appearance, the thoroughgoing research that undergirds it, its readability, and its forthright treatment of a delicate subject.

Following in the footsteps he set down with Lovers' Legends, Calimach has recently published a shorter collection of the same stories in a considerably different but, if anything, more attractive-looking slim volume entitled, Lovers' Legends Unbound. The book contains the same stories, condensed and in isolation from the Different Loves debate, and with notes as interesting and useful as in the foregoing work: the appended material comprises 20 of the 87 pages.

The raison d'etre of this book is to accompany the CD, produced, the book cover declares, "because stories are meant to be told."

From reading the acknowledgements in the first book one can discern that Calimach has connections to the theater community--he mentions specifically that Agnes Agi Lev, who consulted with him in crafting the book' dramatic presence, is a theater director. Lev is a co-creator of the more recent book-and-CD project. Calimach and Lev have found a treasure in narrator Timothy Carter, who demonstrates a great dramatic presence in his reading, highly stylizing his delivery in a way that I thought got old after a while: he seems to spit out an unnecessarily large number of his words in a way that should, it seems to me, have been reserved for passages that call for genuine notes of gravity or disdain. Still, I would be irresponsible not to say, he has an uncommonly lovely baritone resonance to his voice that sustains the entire listening experience in a really soothing and entertaining--dare I say, even erotic?--way.

The wood-flute music by Steve Gorn is exotically haunting but never sad, and I was truly disappointed not to hear more of it--I had hoped that there would be musical interludes between all the tracks, but alas, Gorn's appearances were all too fleeting.

The lack of conjunctions between parallel clauses that irR.ted me in print struck me much more agreeable when read aloud, and I was pleased to note that the phrase gorgeous guy had been edited to sound more consistent with the tone of the rest of the text.

As with the previous book, the watchword with this volume is handsome.  Vividly colored without being garish, it would definitely serve as a conversation piece on a side table in a sitting room and could lead to a delightful afternoon of whiling away the time sitting around being read to. The illustrations, which, as in the first book, consist mostly of photographs of sculptures in illustrious museums, are exquisite. The stories are discreetly told so that children may listen to them as well as they could to any other author's versions of Greek myths, though it goes without saying that most of the illustrations feature full frontal male nudity. The $25 price tag is not exactly cheap as a cash outlay, but neither is it unreasonable given the media package it will buy you, and it could well expand young readers' consciousness in the same positive ways as Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate have done.
_________________________________

KHRYSSO HEART LeFEY

Rev. Chuck Waibel, an “out” Pagan in Milan, Minnesota, has published a novel about the dangers facing Rural Minnesota. “Phoenix, Minnesota,” concerns the fictional town of Asyl, as its residents face Climate Change, Terrorism, and the triumph of Agri-Business over Agri-Culture.

Asyl’s decline and eventual bittersweet triumph are seen through the eyes of Jody Neihaus, a teacher and artist, Karl Mueller, a dot-com millionaire who gives up on urban life, and Jimmie Olson, a city-bred freelance writer.

 “Karl is an overtly Pagan character,” said Waibel. “He brings fresh ideas to Western Minnesota, but finds that they harmonize well with the deep values of the people there.

 “I’m fortunate to live in a town with many thoughtful and progressive people. They got me thinking. When I was teaching at the U of M Morris in 2000, I started looking seriously at the threats to our rural culture. The situation is worse than I’d imagined. Huge agricultural monopolies are gobbling up family farms, the basis of our way of life. Big outfits like Wal-Mart are doing the same with our small businesses. The social ideas promoted in the Media are those of consumerist urbanites, which just don’t work out here. We’re becoming colonies of the Metros just as much as Africa and Central America were colonies of the Europeans. Add to that Climate Change and the War on Terrorism, and we’re an endangered culture. I had to write about where this could lead. Our hope lies in decentralization, and the spiritual focus that Paganism and the Creation Spirituality movement bring.”

 “Phoenix, Minnesota” is available for purchase in the bookstore section of 
 http://www.authorhouse.com/ 

  newworld@fedteldirect.net

 Chuck Waibel writes for PAGAN INSTITUTE REPORT.