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Benedict Arnold

Who inspires the mystics?

Depending on the mystic, some will say God, some will say the Devil, some will say it's just your subconscious mind trying to burst through. 

William Blake was such a man -- artist, poet, mystic, eccentric. He wrote the hymn Jerusalem that was featured in Chariots of Fire but he produced many compelling paintings. Where did HIS inspiration come from?

Posted - February 4, 2017
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Responses


  • Questioning the status quo... supplying alternate answers... and then running quickly from the resultant inquisition
      February 4, 2017 11:31 PM MST
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  • I'm not sure what would have happened to Blake if he'd lived in one of the Catholic countries. It would undoubtedly have been painful. 
      February 4, 2017 11:34 PM MST
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  • I can see hot irons in the somewhere... and not to get his creases set
      February 4, 2017 11:36 PM MST
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  • Not sure if mystic really describes him. He seemed more like a  proto-nihilist.
      February 5, 2017 8:17 AM MST
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  • Sounds complicated! Normally I look up things I don't know but I'm rushing this morning. Trains to catch, places to go, horrors to endure. :( 

    I'll be back later today but may not have eyes to see. (Ophthalmologist is planning a bit of proto nihilism for my eye.)
      February 5, 2017 11:24 AM MST
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  • 2960
    Drugs and/or mental illness.
      February 5, 2017 8:18 AM MST
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  • Yup
      February 5, 2017 8:20 AM MST
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  •  

    A sad indictment, Mr B. ) 
    Surely there have to be other reasons for inspiration.

      February 5, 2017 11:25 AM MST
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  • "I don't know where it came from, but i know one place that it went."  CBS




      February 5, 2017 8:38 AM MST
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  • You certainly have the right man. Not sure what he'd have made of CBS. :D
      February 5, 2017 11:26 AM MST
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  • CBS used that poem, in the TV series The Mentalist, as a secret I.D. code/password for a corrupt, internal organization inside the U.S. Government, that was run by a serial killer ... who was called Red John.
      February 5, 2017 1:27 PM MST
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  • I think we had The Mentalist in Oz but I didn't get to see it. Sounds OK. 
      February 5, 2017 5:18 PM MST
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  • It ran for seven seasons, so somebody must have liked it ... besides me. :)
      February 5, 2017 5:28 PM MST
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  • 13395
    According to Carl Jung the subconscious can be a source of infinite depths of possibilities...
      February 5, 2017 9:17 AM MST
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  • For a man working at the infancy of psychology JUng had some enduring insights. "Infinite" is a tantalising idea but I'm inclined to think he was right. 
      February 5, 2017 11:27 AM MST
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