Dark Night of the Soul

Though this is title of a poem by the 16th Century Spanish Mystic, St. John of the Cross, the idea is prevalent from the time of  St.Thomas, one of the 12 apostles. When the Resurrection of Christ occurred, he was not present & doubted the experience of his fellow apostles. Then Christ appeared before him & offered to show him his wounds. Then he believed.

St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th century Spanish Mystic, wrote in her book "Interior Castle" that it contains seven "mansions" or stages of spiritual progress. The penultimate mansion, the sixth, offers great trials including physical infirmity to the aspirant.

The next reference occurs in an allegorical way in John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" when Christian is imprisoned in "The Doubting Castle" by Giant Despair.

The nineteenth century St.Therese of Lisieux also suffered the dark night of the soul towards the end of her short life of 24 years.

She was later declared one of only four female Doctors of the Church.

Interestingly, this phenomenon is not confined to Christianity. Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu spiritual leader also experienced it. "M", the author of "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" records that the Swami told him that "there is no such thing as God." It should be remembered that this was during the last days of Sri Ramakrishna, who had already provided the Swami with many spiritual experiences.

The Other Elizabeth Taylor (1912 - 1975)

This one, an accomplished writer, was an older contemporary of her legendary  namesake, the iconic film star. According to Kingsley Amis, "She was one of the best novelists in 20th century." Antonia Fraser  rated her as "One of the most under-rated writers of the 20th Century."

She also wrote short stories, all of which are published in an omnibus volume. One of them, called "Sisters", begins like this: "On her return from shopping, Mrs.Mason was called upon in her house by a young man, who brought her to the edge of ruin." At the end of the story, she attends a bridge party, on leaving which, she wonders whether they were all talking about her already." This is because the young man, a journalist has ferreted out the secret that her sister, dead now, & kept hidden from her circle, had led a scandalous life & worse, written about it in a series of best-sellers, ascribing all the naughtiness to herself, the innocent sister. 

Another story, "The Flypaper", could well have been authored by Daphne du Maurier, the mistress of the deeply unsettling & horrifying stories. Here a little girl, seemingly rescued in public by a kindly woman from a male predator, finds out too late that they are in league with each other in private.

It is the readers' good fortune that her books are still in print.

Great Example of a Great Form

Bach's "Die Kunst der Fuge" (BWV 1080), though incomplete, is arguably the greatest example of the purest abstract form of Western Classical Music, the Fugue. It consists of 14 contrapuncti & 4 canons in D minor.

The Fugue is a musical form in which the stated subject is followed by an answer, an imitation of the subject, a perfect fifth above or a perfect fourth below it. Interestingly, the subject also continues simultaneously with the answer, providing a contrary melodic line, in harmony, which is now called the counter-subject. A Fugue can have four voices.

The Fugue also uses the mathematical concepts of the Fibonacci numbers & the Golden Ratio. The Fibonacci numbers 1, 3 & 5 are also the semitones used in the C major chord, C, E & G. A piano octave consists of a total of 13 keys, 8 white & 5 black. The ratio of 13/8 is approximately equal to the Golden Ratio of mathematics.

Though it was presumably written for a keyboard instrument, versions featuring a string quartet, orchestra & vocal versions are available.

Though Bach composed his monumental set of "The 48" comprising preludes & Fugues in all the semitones of an octave (12) in both major & minor keys (24) twice over (48), "The Art of Fugue" occupies a special space in his ouvre.

A Semantical Study of the Arabic word "Jihad"

Both "fight for righteousness" & "fight for justice" are understood to be represented by the word "Jihad" in Arabic. In fact, Quran Surah 2, Verse 190 explicitly states "Fight (in the cause of God) those that fight you, but commit no aggression. God does not love aggressors." So Jihad can be only defensive, never offensive. This is like the NFU policy of India, which has publicly declared that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.

Interestingly, this has been in vogue since the time of the two Avatars (Incarnations of God) in the Hindu pantheon. The central point in both Ramayana & Mahabharata are the wars for righteousness & justice. In one case, recovery of an abducted wife & in the other, recovery of a due share in the kingdom. In Ramayana, the first aggression was committed by abduction. In Mahabharata, just before the war, the foremost warrior of the Pandavas, even laid down his arms. Lord Krishna, God incarnate, persuaded him that fighting in a righteous cause for justice (Jihad?) is his bounden duty, to protect Dharma.

So in the original meaning of the Arabic word "Jihad", may lie the eternal human quest for righteousness & justice. Due to narrow self-interests driven by political/historical needs, the word has been downgraded to mean intolerant fanaticism.

Girls & Gables in Literature

The most famous girl associated with gables is the heroine Anne Shirley of "Anne of Green Gables" (1908) by L. M. Montgomery set in the fictional town of Avonlea in Canada. She is an orphan coming to live with middle-aged siblings Matthew & Marilla. Impetuous but good-hearted, she becomes an inseparable part of their household. She even sacrifices her ambition of a college education to live  with Marilla when Matthew passes away.

The second girl is Phoebe Pyncheon, who appears in "The House of

Seven Gables" (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who also wrote arguably the most perfectly constructed novel of all time, "The Scarlet Letter." H.P.Lovecraft, the famous master of horror stories, called "The House of Seven Gables" as "New England's greatest contribution to weird literature". In a role  reversal of "Romeo & Juliet", Phoebe Pyncheon marries a descendant of the feuding Maules. A TV film was also made, starring the (former) greatest child actress of all time, Shirley Temple as Phoebe.