What does Purgatory mean
northernsurferboy
Prak
wrote:
> Is the island in the middle of earth and the after life
I thought it was the place where God could decide whether you´re being
banned to hell, or you prove that you are good and so can be in
heaven. Something like: lets see, how he does it here, but i think it
´s such a stupid idea not only for LOST
thelo...@lost.lost
"God helps those who help themselves". If you google for "Purgatory", he
shall reveal to you the definition! :)
[I still think the Island may be in 'Purgatory Prime', the place much like
Purgatory, but not tied to any specific religion and thus a secular enough
concept for TV]
--thelostguy
Games I Play:
The Cerberus Incident, http://www.landofdev.com/cerberus/
Beer Asteroids, http://www.sb-software.com/beerasteroids/
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him...@animail.net
Theologically, it's a place where you "purge" your sins so that you
can get into heaven. It's a Catholic word from the middle ages. Most
other religions have the same concept without using that word. It
isn't always about purging sins; the Buddhists see all lives as a form
of purging pain, desires, and fears of all sorts, not all of them
sinful. I don't know why you think it's so silly...unless you're
taking it literally. Taken literally, pretty much all religious
metaphors are silly...E.G. thinking heaven really will involve sitting
around clouds in robes and Birkenstocks with harps. But we all have
crap in our lives that's holding us back, and the idea of purging them
in some sort of metaphoric purgatory isn't silly at all. It's pretty
much essential. Speculative fiction (like Lost) takes that metaphor
and (probably) makes it into a real world much like the religious
myths do, except that there's no pretense about it actually being real
in any way.
himiko
Steven L.
> On May 14, 8:09 am, Prak <alexander.gil...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> On 14 Mai, 15:47, northernsurferboy <northernsurfer...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Is the island in the middle of earth and the after life
>> I thought it was the place where God could decide whether you´re being
>> banned to hell, or you prove that you are good and so can be in
>> heaven. Something like: lets see, how he does it here, but i think it
>> ´s such a stupid idea not only for LOST
>
>
> Theologically, it's a place where you "purge" your sins so that you
> can get into heaven. It's a Catholic word from the middle ages. Most
> other religions have the same concept without using that word.
In Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), their purgatory is called "Gehenna"--and
the soul can only be there for up to 12 months, before being purged for
the world to come (afterlife).
*SPOILER*
Xevfgva@R!Bayvar fnvq bs gur hcpbzvat frnfba svanyr: Jura jr frr vg, jr
jvyy haqrefgnaq jul Ybfg pnaabg tb ba ybatre guna 48 zber rcvfbqrf. Vg
fbhaqf yvxr gurer vf fbzr xvaq bs n gvzr yvzvg ba ubj ybat gur Ybfgnjnlf
pna pbagvahr gurve nqiragher, nanybtbhf gb gur 12 zbagu gvzr yvzvg ba n
Wrj'f fgnl va Truraan.
*END SPOILER*
> But we all have
> crap in our lives that's holding us back, and the idea of purging them
> in some sort of metaphoric purgatory isn't silly at all. It's pretty
> much essential.
A crucial aspect is being able to leave all that sinful crap behind you,
so that you have a chance at clearing your sins faster than you commit
new ones. In Catholic purgatory or Jewish Gehenna, you die and leave
the temptations of the real world behind. In Lost, the Lostaways were
physically taken out of the real world too. Charlie is the most obvious
example--there are no drug pushers on the island so he's forced to come
to grips with his addiction.
The converse is true too--when you go to Purgatory/Gehenna (and then
hopefully to Heaven), those who knew you have given you up for dead. So
your break with the physical world is complete in both directions.
Well, Naomi has now supplied that metaphorical element too--Flight 815
was located off Bali and all the passengers are dead.
The other aspect is that in the afterlife, you can be made whole
again--the blind will see and the lame will walk and so on. Heaven
wouldn't be very "heavenly" if you were just as disabled as you were in
life. And as we've seen, for Rose and Locke, that's happened too. Rose
doesn't have to take pain medication for her cancer anymore.
So I agree, Lost Island isn't real purgatory, but metaphorically it's
accomplishing much the same purpose.
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
him...@animail.net
> him...@animail.net wrote:
>
> > Theologically, it's a place where you "purge" your sins so that you
> > can get into heaven. It's a Catholic word from the middle ages. Most
> > other religions have the same concept without using that word.
>
> In Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), their purgatory is called "Gehenna"--and
> the soul can only be there for up to 12 months, before being purged for
> the world to come (afterlife).
>
> *SPOILER*
> Xevfgva@R!Bayvar fnvq bs gur hcpbzvat frnfba svanyr: Jura jr frr vg, jr
> jvyy haqrefgnaq jul Ybfg pnaabg tb ba ybatre guna 48 zber rcvfbqrf. Vg
> fbhaqf yvxr gurer vf fbzr xvaq bs n gvzr yvzvg ba ubj ybat gur Ybfgnjnlf
> pna pbagvahr gurve nqiragher, nanybtbhf gb gur 12 zbagu gvzr yvzvg ba n
> Wrj'f fgnl va Truraan.
> *END SPOILER*
How VERY interesting. And I think Lindelof and Cuse are Jewish and
Catholic respectively. I just hope whatever Purgatory/Gehenna they
might have in mind is not too literal. I don't really think it will
be.
> > But we all have
> > crap in our lives that's holding us back, and the idea of purging them
> > in some sort of metaphoric purgatory isn't silly at all. It's pretty
> > much essential.
>
> A crucial aspect is being able to leave all that sinful crap behind you,
> so that you have a chance at clearing your sins faster than you commit
> new ones. In Catholic purgatory or Jewish Gehenna, you die and leave
> the temptations of the real world behind. In Lost, the Lostaways were
> physically taken out of the real world too. Charlie is the most obvious
> example--there are no drug pushers on the island so he's forced to come
> to grips with his addiction.
>
Yeah, but being an addict is not actually a sin in and of itself.
It's just something that held Charlie back. In the same way,
Desmond's fear of commitment wasn't a sin, but it was an issue. Same
with Jack's feelings of inadequacy, Claire's mommy guilt, Locke's
desire for meaning, etc. Murder, torture and major forms of theft
probably would rank as sins too, but the big thing is that they hold
the characters back from fully realizing their own lives.
Have you ever seen a movie called "Defending Your Life?" It's a very
funny take on the afterlife in which the characters find out how well
they did in their most recent life and whether or not they overcame
enough of their fears (fear, not sin, is the biggie) to move on to a
higher form of life...not heaven, although possibly another planet.
Anyway, it's a nicely done little movie you might want to check out.
> The converse is true too--when you go to Purgatory/Gehenna (and then
> hopefully to Heaven), those who knew you have given you up for dead. So
> your break with the physical world is complete in both directions.
> Well, Naomi has now supplied that metaphorical element too--Flight 815
> was located off Bali and all the passengers are dead.
Indeed.
> The other aspect is that in the afterlife, you can be made whole
> again--the blind will see and the lame will walk and so on. Heaven
> wouldn't be very "heavenly" if you were just as disabled as you were in
> life. And as we've seen, for Rose and Locke, that's happened too. Rose
> doesn't have to take pain medication for her cancer anymore.
>
> So I agree, Lost Island isn't real purgatory, but metaphorically it's
> accomplishing much the same purpose.
Which still leaves the question of what it really is. I'm going with
an alternate dimension/timeline.
himiko