Seven Deadly Sins Playlist

In my final post....and sudden impulse of musical inspiration, I decided to compose a play list that I think would adequately describe the sins. A song or two for each sin.
If you have any you think would fit here, leave them in the comments!


LUST-

SLOTH-

PRIDE-

WRATH-

ENVY-

GREED-

GLUTTONY-

The Sin of Wrath

noun
1.
strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire.
2.
vengeance or punishment as
Punishments in Dante’s Purgatory- the wrathful continuously dismember themselves in the waters in the river Styx. The parts are brought back and they fight for eternity. Once again, I refuse to dissect the last sin out of inspiration for another means. Here is another poem personifying an aspect of wrath. I focused mainly on the Wrath we try to keep inside and control inside of us every day until it boils over and we loose that control. It doesn’t help that nowadays people with aggression don’t try to seek out true inner peace, but pop pills to postpone those feelings instead f dealing with them. Usually it’s the happiest looking people who Wrath uses as its biggest medium. How many public and school shootings and serial killings come from people who seemed like perfectly average run of the mill Joes with no indication to the spite they held whatsoever?

　

Wrath

The caged animal will soon get free
Clawing at the patience inside of me
Pacing pacing
Time elapse
It’s only too long before I snap
Inside of me
A raging storm
The Calm’s the mask
That I have worn
The hurricane grows
My peace is weak
This anger inside
Won’t admit defeat
A roar of thunder
Lightning clash
An energy like this
Won’t come to pass
So one dosage
Two dosage
Will keep you alive
Not feelings so stable?
Where’s what they prescribe.
A generation of pill poppers
Not Mad Hatters
The aggression will fade
That’s all that matters
Lithium
my saving grace
Would I cock the gun
If we met face to face?
But I’m quite normal
As far as they think
The rage has been put
Under lock and key
But it swells
And stirs
And builds
And storms
Not too long before they take there own form
Violent
Warlike
Merciless
Sadist
The adjectives I’m called by the accusing plaintiff
But it is not I
Who should take the stand
But that Wrath that birthed
Vengeance into my hands
It’s not my fault…I was…a little out of control…the consequence of anger.

The Sin of Pride

Mirror, Mirror On the wall Who is the fairest of them all? Did you know your appeal made angels fall? Why do I listen to you when you call? Could I face my reflection if I failed at all? As another foot adds to my pedestal I rule as my own majestic fool On a peacock throne I mock and I scoff Would an ego bruise well if one were pushed off? DEFINITION- –noun 1. a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. 2. the state or feeling of being proud. 3. a becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one's position or character; self-respect; self-esteem. 4. pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself: civic pride. 5. something that causes a person or persons to be proud: His art collection was the pride of the family. 6. the best of a group, class, society, etc.: This bull is the pride of the herd. 7. the most flourishing state or period: in the pride of adulthood. Punishment in Dante’s Purgatory-The prideful were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs to induce feelings of humility. The world is full of pride. As humans, what separates us from other animals is our incredible sense of self, and with that comes a sense of self-entitlement in which we use to manipulate the world around us. Some of us become so aware of this superiority, that it gets a little out of hand, and a world full of egomaniacs runs a muck. The most famous case of Pride in a Biblical reference could be Satan, the creator of sin himself. Lucifer, the once most beautiful and beloved angels of heaven, fell because of his incredible vainglory in his own perfection against others. This included God, and cost him a seat in Heaven he had to exchange for a nice dwelling of eternal flames. Some say that Pride is the deadliest sin, because it leads to all the others. I don’t believe this is true entirely, but I could see where some of the association would come in. Wrath could come about from injured pride. The desire for Greed could be fueled by the constant reassurance in one’s own abilities. Sloth could be caused by on over active sense or Pride where the person will believe they have no entitlement to do anything since they are “awesome enough as it is.” The list could go on and on. But it leaves nothing to say that we put a certain value on the aspect of Pride and Vanity in human society. We can have the ability to worship those with great beauty or great success because they have built there own pedestals and proclaimed themselves to the world as being of god-like status. A high sense of vanity can also hurt us in these modern times. It isn’t far from the truth when they say beauty is pain. Both physically and financially. We have people starving themselves, and surgically modifying themselves to attain celebrity looks. People poor their money into luxury good just to feel as if they been raised to some kind alternative status quo. This is a false vision. A Prada purse, Gucci shoes, a million dollar car, and the latest in iGadgets will not make you any happier and elevated on the inside than you think you are. That doesn’t go with out saying that no faith or pride in yourself is a good thing either. It all comes from inner motivation and strength. Everything needs moderation. Incredible outward vanity usually roots at a lack of inner self-confidence. On the other hand, true narcissism cab blossom from a seed of blind devotion to ones own needs and desires. The word is a good balance. A grip on yourself and the world around you is different than being consumed in the “glory that is you” while dwelling in the world around you.

The Sin of Greed

Defintion-

 excessive desire, as for wealth or power

Punishment in Dante’s Purgatory-

Being boiled oil for all eternity

I was bitten by a rabid muse, so instead of dissecting greed essay style, I wrote what one may call a poem/song/rap hybrid that could be a personification into the modern mentality of greed. Please enjoy.

Greed

Silence is golden

That’s what we need more of

So keep your mouth shut

As it keep raining love

That’s what I said

You don’t have it?

Buy it

Flash a million dollar smile

Sell your soul

And sign for it

As the zeroes keep on going

And your cup is overflowing

It still isn’t enough

But the stacks just keep on growing

With a Midas touch

Make injustice hush

Because the pay is lush

Oh you just can’t get enough

Keep your animals eyes

On the prize

No hindsight

Cause you’ve got to take what you can

No guarantee past this night

Got an iris of green

And an iris of gold

One for the metal in my veins

And the paper in my soul

All I’m saying in conclusion

Is I run with this delusion

Melodies ring on the register

Receipts proof of my confusion

Money makes the world go round

Go round

Got to get the latest digital version

Of the same old sound

It’s so old

It’s so known

You consume

You die cold

Got a gold plated grave

While you wait for fates unknown

Good luck

Envy

I sit in darkness
Eyes held glaring
Always thirsty
Yet always unmoving

I sit and wait
Forever patient
For your demise
In my frustration

And on the day
That you should fall
Above I’ll smile
As you crawl

My single success
It was the only way how
Why should I raise to your level?
When you’re in my trenches now
　
Definition-
1.
a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.
2.
an object of
3.
Obsolete . ill will.
(dictionary.com)

Punishment in Dante’s Purgatory- to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low


envious feeling:

GREEN with ENVY.

Ever heard that before? Personally, I find this statement incredibly ironic. Though I’m sure most are describing the green sickening feeling you get when viewing something you can never have, I think pairing a sin like Envy up with a color like green is contradictory. If you speak from a symbolic reference, which we love to do here on this blog, Green is acknowledged in color theory as a color of nature, harmony, and fertility.

Color theory 

Nature gives birth to abundance.
Harmony equals peace and tranquility with ones surroundings and circumstances.
Fertility recycles the flow of life and abundance.

That doesn’t sound synonymous with the definition of "discontent or covetous with regard to another’s advantages…"

Also, another confusion with envy may be with its place next to jealousy. People usually assume that they mean the same thing, but there is actually a distinct difference. Envy strictly deals with the unhappiness and in some one else’s success. Suzy got good grades, a new puppy, and was born a blonde bombshell. You don’t want Suzy to be happy, and you begrudgingly wish you could possess everything she is.
Jealousy on the other hand deals with a sense of resentment and self-entitlement. Not only do you wish you had Suzy’s good fortune, but you hate her for it and believe that puppy should have been yours in the first place. This works with relationships as well. Suzy steals your soul mate, and the (ironically) green eyed monster starts to rear their head because you truly believe you can be and are a better match for that person, so how dare she take who should be yours.

Jealousy will always involve some kind of sense of loss. (In relationships, jealousy could cause the failure when the loss is caused by the pre-anticipated sense of this loss) In true envy, there was no possession to begin with.
I could see envy being the complete polar opposite of the sin gluttony. If Gluttony is a state of constant consumption for self-satisfaction, Envy would be a state of constant misery from continued self-deprivation. The potential may lie before the envious, but they are so consumed with the loathing of the successful, they do not try to succeed themselves.
An example of envy in the real world could be the growing rate of mediocrity that is cried by those who wish for equality. It’s hard to deal with successful people, but if they can be knocked down to your level, you won’t have to raise to theirs. It’s like a warped case of sloth peppered with the dormant motivation for greed, but the greed is never fulfilled because the self destruction and self deprivation takes too much time.
Need an easier example?

Exhibit A-Taking dodge ball of schools

The slow kid with glasses can’t get out of the way of the ball fast enough, so instead trying to improve his own coordination, he whines to his mother who takes the PTA and the school board on a joyride of self indulgent solutions.

Exhibit B- A thriving sub-culture of online haters who jump and attack at the first hint of superiority

Do you honestly think there could exist one single youtube video that doesn’t include somewhere in the comments: "this BLOwZ!!!!" or "my dog could do better !!!" and of course, "this sucks harder than Justin beiber…"
…Everything always leads back to Justin Bieber…


In conclusion, the presence in Envy of a sin is confusing. It doesn’t quite hold the resentment of jealousy, but at the same time can hold a darker meaning than just thinking "I could do sooo much better than them!" Its true sin comes from the joy in witnessing the fallen. The delights in failure as you dwell in stationary disgust.
It’s the manifestation of the old saying,


"If I can’t have it, nobody can…"
　

So in my apparent fascination with the seven deadly sins, I was thrilled when I found this artistic depiction of them. Its from an artist on deviantART.com called blackeri, and she has some other wonderful drawing besides the sins. She put some specific symbolism in here, so click on the link if you would like to read her original intent instead of just my interpretation.

blackeri

I decided to share it with you all and talk about some of the elements in the picture I take symbolically. I'm taking a break from breaking the sins for a minute.

So my first thought is, I love how each sin is pictured as a female, because really...what's more tempting than a woman? >:)

Also, each sin has a color scheme and symbolic element in the picture that relate to the sin. I'll be going from left to right on these, so go back up to the picture for reference.

VANITY (PRIDE)-
-So vanity is depicted in the color purple, a very rich and aristocratic color.
-She is holding a hand mirror, a symbol of her own self-obsession.
-The surrounding frame is made of peacock feathers. I see this as a reference to Hera, Zeus’ wife from ancient Greek mythology. Her bird was the peacock, and she was highly vain in her position of power, belittling any of the mortals her husband chose over her.

GLUTTONY-
-Gluttony is represented in a grape fruit pink, a very aesthetic and appetizing color.
-Her borders are grapes, a shot to me at the classical depiction of the classic Ancient Roman Nobleman, sitting pretty and being fed grapes as he consumes in luxury.

AVARICE (GREED)-
-Shown in gold, symbolic of wealth.
-The border is a diamond the ultimate jewel in a sought after crown.
-The appearance of Avarice almost gives me a sense of Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt who sent Egypt crumbling after it was in the height of its decadence and luxury.

SLOTH-
-Sloth is depicted in a dream like state, blowing bubbles of idleness and sitting up on a cloud.
-The light blue of the color is very light and non-demanding. There is no depiction of action or urgency in this picture at all.

ENVY-　
-Envy is in the obvious green.
-I take the snake in the picture as a representation of Lucifer when he sent the talking serpent to smooth talk Eve into consuming the apple. The motives of the snake were driven by the envy Lucifer held for God’s power and Creation. It was the envy that drove him to fall, and then attempt to destroy that exact Creation.
-The model for Envy is thinner than the rest of the sins and has dark circles under her eyes. She seems to have been deprived of much, and the discontent of that is easily shown on her face.

WRATH (ANGER)-
-Wrath seems to be an image of tribal wildness and reckless intentions.
-Her hair is fire, and the color she is shown in is a flaming red. Fire is consuming and destructive.
-She holds within her hand a whip, giving a dominatrix impression. Think about it, when you're mad you want to draw out pain, not mercy. To me this shows the sadistic, and perhaps even masochistic tendencies that those engulfed in there own rage possess.

LUST-
-Lust is incredibly lost and sensual. Long hair, a perfect body, the ideal image for a symbol of Lust. It’s almost romantic in intentions to lure you in.
-The border behind her represents fire. Ironically, the punishment for those who have committed Lust face in purgatory is a walk through searing flames to purge them of there passionate desires.
　

So those are just some of my interpretations. Oh! There is another image I'd like to leave you guys with. For those of you who are familiar with America's Next Top Model, I found a series of pictures that they did during the fourth cycle of the show. The theme was the Seven Deadly Sins, and each girl depicted a sin in a coffin. The imagery in these pictures I found seemed HEAVILY similar to the artistic ones above. Do YOU see any similarities? >:)

　

The sin of Sloth

Sleepily dreaming in fantasy lands

You neglect to take the shovel into your own hands

                                                        

So as you wait for tomorrow to seize the day

Wasted Time slowly buries your life away

sloth  (slôth, slth, slth)

 -Aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence.

 -Any of various slow-moving, arboreal, edentate mammals of the family Bradypodidae of South and Central America, having long hooklike claws by which they hang upside down from tree branches and feeding on leaves, buds, and fruits, especially:.

- A company of bears.

Punishment in Purgatory-The slothful are thrown into snake pits.

Pure laziness doesn’t seem like it would be that severe of a sin to be sent to hell for. If watching a few extra episodes of your favorite show instead of doing your chores is damnation worthy, then we’d all be in trouble. The sin of Sloth seemed to be used as more of scare tactic to keep people active and devoted in the church. The more inactive members there are, the less power the church has.

A more in depth look into this philosophy can be viewed in this agnostic article that describes it with an outside opinion .  

Why should Sloth be punished by being thrown into a pit of snakes?

 An applicable view of Sloth today may be the inactive status many people take in there educational and political duties.

 The impression that I think the rest of the world gets of us is that we are typical "Lazy-Americans." We don't study up to par in our school systems in order to meet with the rest of the world. We neglect to learn multiple languages outside of English. The care of our political system is neglected by the younger generation because we never really "have the time to vote."

Measures are being taken to change this however. With emphasis placed on higher education these days, students are becoming educated far quicker. Students are taking on early college and are applying for all the financial aid opportunities available to them. The rest of the world may think we need to step it into the high gear, but when we do, we'll end up one step ahead again.

As for our political system, all I can is, it's one thing to stand as an American patriot when the flag passes by. It's an entirely different one to walk away and act as a patriot. Our nation is only as great as our citizens make it, and without individual dedication, America will be thrown to a pit of snakes when its darkest days are sure to come.

The sin of Gluttony

Take. Consume. Excess.
Is this truly happiness?
Intake anyway

Definition:
gluttony
n
the act or practice of eating to excess The punishment in Dante's Purgatorio-For those who "pigged out" their entire lives, they now spend eternity living in a rancid garbage heap guarded by the three headed dog Cerberus.

By Catholic definitions, gluttony was considered a sin because greedily consumed food was depriving the needy. Also in mediaeval times, the size of the meal you ate indicated your status in wealth and position, therefore consuming incredibly large amounts of food could cross the thresholds of Greed and Pride too. These negated the virtues of Charity and Humility. The church later on outlined more categories on how to commit this sin, such as eating too expensively, pickily, or too wildly without any self-control. If you also indulged in expensive foods, but then left many of it to waste, that was also considered sinful. Any worldly and physical need that became more important than your spiritual needs always landed you into damnation.

Now in today's society, an obvious picture of this may look like...oh say...the rising obesity rates, especially in America. But I had another thought.

You don't just consume food excess. You can drink alcohol in excess. You an intake drugs and other narcotic substances in excess. You can eat the words of others so hungrily, that acting upon those ideas you've consumed becomes mental and physical obsession.

So instead of THIS being the poster child for gluttony:

(OBESITY)

what about THIS?

(ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA NERVOSA)

or THIS?

(ALCHOHOLISM)

or any of THESE?

(COCAINE ADDICTION)

(NICOTINE ADDICTION)

(METH ADDICTION)

An addiction can be excessive indulgence of obsession.

What are your thoughts?

The sin of Lust

(Warning:May contain explicit content...just to let you know...)

I clutch
I grope
I hunger
I cling
This primal instinct is all that I need

With a red hot passion that comes to pass
All inhibitions have turned to ash

It’s a thirst to quench in the sultriest heat
The lure of temptation’s fruit smelling so sweet

The only cure is a dark and twisted affair
The power of the flesh is purity’s despair

Now our first sin to discuss is…Lust.

Definition (www.thefreedictionary.com/lust):lust (lst)

lust·ed, lust·ing, lusts Obsolete Pleasure; relish. Intense eagerness or enthusiasm: a lust for life. An overwhelming desire or craving: a lust for power.
Intense or unrestrained sexual craving.
To have an intense or obsessive desire, especially one that is sexual.

The punishment in Dante's Purgatorio (mediaeval novel depicting the seven sins and the circles of hell offenders are sent to for committing them): A walk within flames to purge oneself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings.

In a world like today, the lines between sexual deviancy and casual dating have been incredibly blurred since the mediaeval times when the sin was named. The changing roles of women in society have greatly affected this as well. Its not just about finding one man to settle down with and having the "stay-at-home-mom-behind-a-white-picket-fence" dream anymore. A girl that may have been seen as a strumpet for having one too many suitors, can be seen now as a single, strong and independent women whose main priority has not been finding a man to secure her future so she is at liberty to date whomever she likes. It’s just another principle of free expression.
I don’t think we can deny, however, that strong sexual themes are something we’ve been de-sensitized to as a society. Especially with the heavy influence it has in the media we are exposed to daily.
It's in the ads we see, depicting men and women as objects of lust which are supposed to lure the masses to their products. Some can take this sexual content a bit too far.

Back in 2007, Dolce and Gabanna released string of ads that were seen as highly violent, sexual and humiliating towards women. The most raved about one was a photo depicting a woman in a scandalous outfit, pinned down to the ground by a male model and surrounded by his peers. The imagery of what was about to happen appeared to be a "glamorous gang rape." This image was banned in several countries because of its graphic nature, not to mention angering many European feminists.

But an image like this also brings to mind a similar depiction of an overly sexualized advertisement that you may see daily on TV. Ever seen the Axe commercials? Where it’s usually one poor male, who uses the AXE products, and then unleashes the primal urges of every female within a five-mile radius? They are promoting the idea that increased demand for your own sexual exploitation is a positive thing, and that anything you can consume to achieve this is a necessity.

Then again, there’s always the unspoken double standard right? For females, this idea is degrading, scandalous and insensitive.
For males, this idea is every single sweet dream they’ve had since puberty hit.

But life can not be based on standard, so that stereo type should have no validity in common society whatsoever.
You can also get into the censorship issue as well. Who is anyone else to say that your artistic vision is too racy for the masses to comprehend? Why should an organization regulate your commercial methods based on the content and neglect your voice of free expression? Where is a line drawn between media control and personal choice? Or is it an illusion of media control? The more you prohibit something, the more it comes to forefront of everyone’s minds.

Another example of these images can be seen in an almost parodic music video released by popular artist Rihanna. The title of the song is S&M, and despite the clearly sexual lyrics, the video seems to illustrate a certain hold that media has in taboo content, especially sexual, and how they exploit it to turn profit and opinions.

(MATURE CONTENT CONTAINED)

Rihanna is the object of scandal and they bind her down as they forcibly report on her, turning her into a public image of Lust. The video seems to include many references to the rumored scandals that Rihanna has faced in career, and scrutinity of the style she’s chosen to represent herself. As much as the media in the video seem to condemn her image, they keep empowering it by exposing it, so Rihanna succumbs to the sexual demands but then becomes a dominatrix force over those who created her. In the end, it becomes one great big sadistic and masochistic party. The media holds the whips. The artists take the beatings because the exposure sells records.

But then again does Lust have to be explicitly sexual? In the definition above it says, "To have an intense or obsessive desire…" Would any obsession do? In grammatical context, lust is not just a noun, but a verb as well.
Some one can be "Lusting after Money" or "Lusting after Fame." They can "lust" after a whole list of damnations that cross into the other areas of the classic Seven Deadly Sins.
　
What are your thoughts? Who are some other "public symbols of Lust" you can think of? Share your comments and opinions!

Sooo...this is the beginning....

 Silence is golden
That's what they say
The words left unspoken mean more every day

If silence is golden
Guess I'm a poor girl
Since I speak my mind in this material world


Hi! My name is Anastasia, and I have an over productive muse. Seriously. I have about several hundred creative ideas floating in my head on a daily basis. I'm either pondering over analytical quotes, coming up with story and song ideas, or contemplating symbolic meanings of life. If it could be assumed, this drives me crazy while it just sits in my head, so if I can put it in tangible form that sometimes helps.


This blog is going to be about concepts that fascinate me. I have an obsession for symbolism, so any basic theme that can be applied to a higher meaning will be discussed here. The first one, which I believe can take up a few posts, is the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Catholic concepts of damnation I believe can have so many applications in today society. Or, perhaps the original seven are overrated, and some new categories need to be put into place. I will show you examples that I believe are applicable, and you can decide.