February 2

Groundhog's Day (he did not see his shadow),
but that is not the only thing we need to remember about February 2:
-Cassi Clampitt was born Feb 2, 1987 in GrandJunction, Colorado at approximately 7 am (remember this it will be on the test)
-Aztec New Year
-Purification of the Virgin
-Dr. Sexson's wedding anniversary
-and James Joyce's birthday

James Joyce wrote Ulysses, a book about one day (June 16, 1904-"Bloomsday") in the life of Leopold Bloom
-immortializing a day to find the extraordinary in the ordinary
--every day is a holiday (Holy Day)
-draws parallels between Ulysses (Odysseus) and Bloom

Gnosticism: we are all divine persons who have fallen to the world

The Man Who Fell to Earth: about a man who came to Earth to save his people, but forgot his purpose because he was distracted by television
-Other sources of distraction: For the Greeks: women, wine, and song (aka sex, drugs, and rock & roll)

"In Memory of W.B. Yeats" -W.H. Auden
-"In the prison of his days teach the free man how to praise."

Ideas in the movie Groundhog's Day: Eastern Metaphysics and the myth of the eternal return, deja vu (a glitch in the Matrix?)

Myth of Er: an analogy used in Plato's Republic. In the story, Er dies and sees the judgement of the dead; the morally good are rewarded and the bad are punished. Er is then allowed to live again to report what he saw.

Mysteries at Eleusis: provides rituals to remind the people of the time Demeter came to earth
-They would sing and tell dirty jokes in honor of Iambe.
-It was one of the greatest religions in the history of the human race, but it was supposed to be kept secret.
-It was a mystery what happened to the members to change them.
--All sororities are based on this.
-Something was said ("Rain conceive."?), something was shown (stalk of grain?), and something was done (drama of the story of Demeter?)
-Heightening of sense of speech, sight, and sense of ritual was achieved

Drama: comes from the Greek word dromenon -> drama

Alex has been assigned to recite Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 to a random girl in the SUB. We hopefully await the results!
-It is an assignment of heightened speech.

Marriage: a social and cultural arrangement between men

Tragedy: the loss of a life that hasn't been lived