Movie Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon July 23, 2009

Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a fanciful retelling of the early life of St. Francis of Assisi as conceived by Franco Zeffirelli. As with all of Zeffirelli’s work, it’s beautifully filmed, but this movie contains a number of “conceptual” shots that attempt to bring Francis’s divine revelations to the viewer in a way which may not work for everyone. Also, if you are the sort who likes to have everything explained at some point in a story, you’re probably going to be frustrated.

The movie opens with the young Francis returning from a bloody, traumatic war and being nursed back to health in his father’s house. During his recovery he has terrible visions and finally, a spiritual revelation which causes him to crawl out his window onto the adjacent roof chasing after a little bird, much to the amusement of the neighbors and the consternation of his family. After his recovery, Francis spends a lot of time wandering around agog at the wonders of nature and ignoring his responsibilities as the son of a rich merchant.

One day, in a bout of ascetic fervor, he hurls bolts of expensive fabric out the window of his father’s shop, exhorting onlookers to turn from the temptations of the material world (and is mostly ignored by the delighted townsfolk). He then appears before the local authorities, uttering a passionate speech about spiritual riches before doffing all of his rich clothing and abandoning the town and his family forever.

The film then follows Francis as he struggles, first alone and then with like-minded brethren, to live a life of poverty, chastity and prayer. Along the way he meets the future St. Clare, a girl from the town who is kind and brave enough to give bread to the local lepers. Eventually Clare becomes a nun and joins Francis in his efforts, living alongside the brethren and sharing in their difficult life as they strive to rebuild an abandoned church in the countryside for the people.

Perhaps one of the most striking scenes in the entire film occurs when Francis’s completed church is finally open for Mass and is filled with peasants who are clearly in awe of the poor brothers and their humble yet hard-won gift. Meanwhile, the town’s wealthy nobles and merchants gaze around disgruntledly at their own richly decorated and empty church. The spectacular and often grotesque wealth of various churchmen of the time is portrayed in the film via elaborate costumes, which one of my housemates asserted are historically accurate — massive heavy velvet and brocade robes, incredibly uncomfortable-looking standing collars, and giant, bejeweled velvet letters hanging on chains around the neck, like medieval rap stars.

Francis’s struggle to convince the Church that he is in earnest continues through the second half of the film, culminating in a visit to the Pope, where the marked contrast between the barefoot, threadbare monks and the obscenely overdressed cardinals and bishops is most apparent. Alec Guiness (before he was “Sir”) portrays Pope Innocent III with admirable gravity. Although the exchange between Francis and Innocent as portrayed is completely fanciful, it is a matter of historical record that the Pope did indeed meet with Francis and eventually gave his approval to the fledgling mendicant order. However, no mention is made of the dream Innocent III is attested to have had prior to Francis’s audience with him, which would have added considerably to the story, in my opinion.

Since much of the film is wordless it is sometimes hard to follow, and one must pay close attention to the dialogue to be able to understand what’s going on. Knowledge of the actual facts of Francis’s life will probably have some viewers snickering or scoffing. Because this film was made in 1973, it was evidently somewhat influenced by the hippie movement, and perhaps even targeted to same — it’s also got music composed and performed by Donovan, including the title song. The back of the DVD even says that Francis was “history’s first ‘drop-out.’” Far out, man!

If you’re looking for an accurate historical account of the early lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, this is not the movie for you. Nor is it a scathing indictment of the wealthy Catholic Church; religious dogma does not play a strong role in the narrative at all. Its real value lies in being a lush and artistic (but admittedly not very realistic) portrayal of a god-touched person driven by faith and love of nature to consciously turn away from all that he knows and follow his vision of a spiritually rich life. Because of that, it has potential appeal for monastics of many faiths.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Starring Graham Faulkner, Judi Bowker and Alec Guinness as Pope Innocent III
Written by Franco Zeffirelli and Lina Wertmüller
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Paramount Pictures, 1973

High Holidays and Why They’re Important July 15, 2009

I haven’t yet decided if or when I’m going to separately address each of the eight high holidays (or Sabbats, as some Pagans call them.) If so, that will probably start happening around Yule, since the Winter Solstice marks the new year for many modern Pagans. However, I’ve been thinking about the function of celebratory events in a specifically monastic context, and this is what I have come up with.

I feel that it’s very important for monks and nuns to enjoy the high holidays with as much enthusiasm and revelry as seems fitting and as one is capable of showing. Some may not see much point to this — after all, aren’t monastics already striving for a constant state of reverence for holy things? In a sense, there is really no difference between the contemplative devotionalism of the monastic path and the pomp and circumstance, joy and fun of a celebration which may be broadened to include one’s family, religious community or even one’s community at large. The former does require a keen awareness of the interior life, while the latter largely emphasizes the world around us — plants and animals, stars and moon and sun, sky and weather, seas and wind and stones, trees and people. Both of these, however, seek to unite the seeker or the worshiper with the gods and spirits and with all that is sacred — which, for Pagans, includes the natural world, the body and all that goes with it.

Because we may be heavily influenced by other religious traditions where embodiment is seen as an obstacle to enlightenment, Pagan monastics might sometimes have a harder time honoring that immanent sacredness, especially if one is on a more ascetic path. It can be tempting to feel that one’s moral integrity rests on never deviating from one’s work routine or spiritual restrictions, even for ritual or celebratory purposes. That’s a matter for one’s own conscience (or perhaps one’s own gods) to determine, but remember, moderation is our friend — and after all, we’re only talking about eight times a year. Joyful acts like feasting, drinking, dancing, making love or other earthy, sensual activities force us to acknowledge before all the gods as well as our fellow mortals that embodied existence is quite a good thing, really.

I’m not saying here that less prosaic acts of spiritual devotion are inferior or that an individual cannot learn on his/her own to appreciate or honor the physical.  However, there is something special about coming together with like-minded folk to celebrate each of the turning points of the year, during which the seasons shift and the natural world undergoes its many spectacular changes. The energy raised during a good ritual is as much of a celebration as any prayer, offering or sacred drama, and the gods and spirits feel and savor that energy as much as we do — which is part of the point. But even if all you can manage is to share a special meal with people who are close to you, if you’re paying attention, you will sense the difference.

So I think that participating in household or community celebrations of the high holidays provides a useful and necessary counterpoint to the vast amounts of time a monk or nun may spend in solitary devotion and contemplation, even if that solitude only exists in the privacy of the mind. I also feel it’s important for us to acknowledge that we do not live in a vacuum, and that we are all part of something greater than ourselves whether we’ve donned a habit or not. Before the might of the gods, and in celebration of the powerful tides and forces that rule our planet, we humans might seem frail and even superfluous. Around the sacred fire or in the ritual circle, however, the divisions between us and everything else drop away, and we may see into the heart of the Mystery…even though it is staring us in the face every day.

Another page July 6, 2009

I’ve made a Bibliography page listing some books I like. These will not be reviewed in the blog, although that isn’t to say that books I do review here won’t eventually make it onto the list as well.

Community Service July 5, 2009

It is late and I am tired, so this is somewhat rambly. Here’s hoping the point is made anyway.

This week I’m going to attend a small gathering where I have volunteered to do some of the cooking for the entire camp. Specifically, I am making breakfast for everyone and lunch and dinner for the vegetarian/vegan attendees. This is the first time I’ve been to this gathering and I am largely unfamiliar with the sponsoring group as well, so I’m a bit wary. I’m also not exactly a member of what you’d call the target demographic; the event is primarily aimed at transmasculine people, whereas I am somewhat female of center. Nevertheless, this was something I chose to do because I felt it’d be a good experience, and it was a good excuse to go camping in the mountains and spend my non-cooking hours doing nothing. (These days if I get to leave the house for an extended period it’s probably connected with my work in some way.)

It is hard to be a monastic and not have a community of like-minded individuals — many solitaries have teachers and even the early desert fathers and mothers of Chrisitian tradition had elders to advise them whether or not they lived in isolated huts in the desert. I personally do not know any other Pagan monks or nuns, although I know they exist. Sometimes I even wish I were Catholic or Buddhist, not because I want to give up my religion and my relationship with Himself, but because of the fellowship and support to be found in a community of fellow monastics all devoted to the same religious calling. If I want a sense of community I need to look elsewhere. Fortunately, as I mentioned, I don’t have to look very far.

Some of the same people I’ve seen at spiritwork events, Pagan events and kink events are going to be at this one. Others who were in attendance at one or the other of those wouldn’t be caught dead at this particular gathering, or are at best totally uninterested. I suppose from one standpoint, the fact that I don’t move in the same circles with the same people is a liability — perhaps even more of a liability for a nun than for a lay person. However, rather than feeling deprived because my community is so fragmented, with such varying interests, I feel that my life is enriched by having so many friends and colleagues whose interests may or may not overlap.

Admittedly I am not always consistent or gracious about it, but I can’t use the excuse that opportunities don’t exist right here at home and that in order to be of service to other people I need to travel all the way to West Virginia, as I’m doing later this week. There’s my household, which currently consists of me, three housemates and a plethora of animals, including a highly energetic dog who needs lots of attention and exercise. There’s my geographic community — the semi-rural neighborhood and the town where I live. There’s the aforementioned Neo-Pagan church, and also the exclusively Norse/Germanic kindred I helped found. There are the friends and colleagues I know who are shamans, diviners, magicians and other technicians of the occult from various traditions. There’s the kink community, of which I am but a peripheral member — but hey, I get a kick out of hearing stories from my friends. There are other god-spouses and other Lokeans, many of whom have been kind enough to say nice things about Trickster, My Beloved. I can’t say that I serve one or another of these groups than I serve the rest, or that the lines between them are neatly drawn, or that the service is all the same. Most of the time it’s something They have requested that I do, and how it might help other people isn’t clear to me until it’s long finished.

Would I be as involved in “worldly” things if I was part of an established Pagan monastic tradition? Probably not. But as one of my other jobs is to act as a priestess when called to do so (which happens more often than you’d think) retreating entirely from the rest of the world isn’t an option for me. I have to be available to a certain extent, and I have to be just as willing to be of service as I am when it’s all my idea, or when I can clearly see how beneficial my service is to others. I have a harder time seeing that as a priest, and often the things I do in that capacity take longer to come to fruition.

And, of course, my primary obligation of service is to Loki and Hela. In fact, many times when I do service to others I serve Them as well, often unwittingly. (Little did I know that Loki would later use my devotional to woo other consorts to His side, for instance.) Knowing that, however, often makes hard tasks easier and takes the sting off of the unhappy but inevitable lack of acknowledgement or thanks that happens from time to time. I know it isn’t all about me, but it’s natural to want to have one’s efforts recognized, and when they aren’t, I have to remember that ultimately I am working for Her Ladyship, or doing something to please Himself. And in that light, it hardly matters whether or not I am part of a community of fellow religious, because They often send me where I am most needed and useful…even if it’s not necessarily what I might have chosen to do myself.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, since I’m not part of a monastic community and do have to do priestly duties from time to time, my focus has to be on service. At the same time, I have to be a part of various communities without prioritizing any of them over my religious calling. That can be really difficult to pull off all the time. But then, I expect that I wouldn’t have found myself in this situation if it wasn’t good for me in some way to learn to grapple with it, and it’s not my gods’ responsibility to make sure I can do my job correctly. It’s mine. And if that means taking a 14 hour drive to make pancakes for a bunch of strangers next a weekend, I suppose it’ll be what they call a “learning experience” no matter which way it falls out.