Sometimes images betray unintended information about the human psyche. Benvenuto Cellini had his reasons for creating this image of Jesus Christ crucified almost five hundred years ago. He wasn’t the first of the last to show Christ nude. What is vital today, is that this image has so much to tell us about our human psyche and condition today. That is the power of what I can only say is a numinous image. A numinous image is one that is more than…
I saw a tweet on Twitter earlier today that had someone who was proud to state that he had been living nude 24/7 for more than 200 days. That is an accomplishment to be sure. However, I have to ask, at what cost? And when I ask this question, I am talking about myself should I attempt to do the same. Like most nudists and naturists, I prefer being without clothing. Clothes don’t cut it for me. If I lived…
So why do I and many others, slip away from the centre, from the normal worldview, and risk family, friends, community, and even freedom? When one slips off the edges of what is commonly held as acceptable, one is at risk. There is little love for those who stray from the centre regardless of what moral truths are to be found outside of that centre. The further from the centre, the greater the risk. Now before I get too involved…
I have been reading a few sections out of a book called Tolerable Differences: Living With Deviance, by Robert Stebbins (1996). Of special interest in the book is the section on nudism and at the beginning when deviance is defined. Here is an important look at deviance: “Deviance from or non-conformity with the norms of the group with an interest in morality is one of humanity’s oldest concerns. Collective life is possible only when certain crucial rules of behaviour are observed by all…
It was hard trying to begin today’s post. I found it hard to sit still at the computer and get started. My mind kept racing all over the place. I was making plans for all sorts of activities over the next several months in my head without recording any of these ideas. The time out I gave to myself to sit quiet in meditation helped for a short while, but even that peace began to be drowned out by the…
The Greeks had created a word, Gymnosophy to name a group of individuals, in their world at that time – men, they saw as naked philosophers or naked wise men. Now, it doesn’t escape me that among the number of people who have embraced naturism, there are more than a few who would modern-day versions of naked philosophers. Unlike the ancient Greek civilisation, today’s naked philosophers aren’t only men. However, before I get carried away with the topic of gymnosophy,…
Perhaps the most courageous thing anyone can do is to confront the reality of themselves. In today’s world of mass media doing its best to sell us anything and everything, and in the process convincing us that we are not okay, we are not beautiful or handsome, we are not smart enough, we are not spiritual enough, we aren’t even lovable without the goods and services that they are more than willing to sell to us, it takes courage to look…
In the book, Dark Nights of the Soul, Thomas Moore talks about the need to come to terms with the fact that within each of us there is darkness and that we need to not only recognise this darkness, but to own it as part of the whole, the totality of who and what we are. Moore says; “In your dark night you may learn how to become darker. It isn’t enough theoretically to believe in shadow. You have to…
Nudity isn’t all about seriousness. I have been talking a lot about the spiritual aspects of being naked and somehow, I think that we mistake spiritual with seriousness. There is definitely an element of humour and goodwill in being a spiritual person, or in meeting with our personal spiritual aspect. Nudism shares a sense of goodwill and acceptance of others whether they are naked or still shy of making themselves vulnerable to others through nudity. After all, we all know…
I am returning to Pastor Ed Raby’s post, Naked Before God – Part 1, and talk about the fourth positive spiritual aspect, that of genuineness. This one gives me a bit more trouble than some of the other aspects because, in my opinion, being naked has no guarantee that one is being genuine. A few days ago one of my acquaintances posted a brief note about his being with a few friends, naturist friends. The guys in the group did their…