ral worlds, such that a divine influence or presence
is rendered as an aesthetic sensibility (an artistic,
visual representation of beauty). Poetry, in particu-
lar, abounds with examples of natural imagery that
is imbued with an ethereal quality reminiscent of
spiritual perfection. Writers might also include
symbols and motifs that emphasize aspects of faith
particular to one or more sets of religious beliefs and
values (the theology that can give rise to different
spiritualities). Such references are usually universally
identifiable by virtue of their iconic significance
or historical prevalence, and they can include both
occult as well as monotheistic images, such as angels,
the all-seeing eye, butterflies, the cross of Christian-
ity, the Celtic cross, the dove, the circle (or ring),
the evil eye, the hexagram (or six-pointed star), the
serpent or snake, the trident, and the triangle (or
pyramid).
For example, works such as Dante Alighieri’s
The divine coMedy, John Bunyan’s The piLGriM’s
proGress, and John Milton’s paradise Lost
address the theme of spirituality within an exclu-
sively religious or ecclesiastical context, since each
work is essentially an allegory or parable that posits a
fictional account of the respective Catholic, Puritan,
and Episcopal traditions of religious life and after-
life as described by believers. Indeed, the function
of parable in religion is to exhibit “form by form”;
thus, natural phenomena serve mainly an illustra-
tive function in religion. Accordingly, within each of
these works, the path to spiritual awareness is well
documented and the lines between good and evil
are clearly drawn; the individual’s experience in life
and on earth is characterized as a precursor to the
progress of their soul after death. Similarly, works
such as Herman Melville’s biLLy budd, saiLor;
Arthur Miller’s The crucibLe; George Eliot’s
siLas Marner; and William Blake’s sonGs oF
innocence and oF experience can also be consid-
ered parables in which the individual is subjected to
external, natural, and social forces characterized as
both good and evil in order to illustrate the power
of the spirit over the materiality and grossness of the
world, albeit at a price.
See also Anaya, Rudolfo: bLess Me, uLtiMa;
Black Elk: bLack eLk speaks; Carver, Raymond:
“Cathedral”; Davis, Robertson: FiFth busi-
ness; Dickinson, Emily: poems; Dostoyevsky,
Fyodor: criMe and punishMent; Emerson,
Ralph Waldo: “American Scholar, The”;
“Divinity School Address, The”; Equiano,
Olaudah: interestinG narrative oF the LiFe oF
oLaudah equiano, or Gustavus vassa, the aFri-
can, the; Hesse, Herman: siddhartha; Ibsen,
Henrik: hedda GabLer; Kipling, Rudyard: kiM;
Kureishi, Hanif: buddha oF suburbbia, the;
Reed, Ishmael: MuMbo JuMbo; Thoreau, Henry
David: waLden.
FURTHER READING
Blythe, Ronald, et al. Ink and Spirit: Literature and Spir-
ituality. Norwich, Eng.: Canterbury Press, 2000.
Drummond, Henry. Natural Law in the Spiritual World.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1892.
Huxley, Aldous. Perennial Philosophy. New York: Harp-
erCollins, 1945.
Colleen Pauzastages of life
If, as the American mythologist Joseph Campbell
has suggested, a primary purpose of storytelling is
“the reconciliation of consciousness with the pre-
conditions of its existence” (180), then, given the
undeniable precondition of mortality, it is to be
expected that the journey a life makes in its arc from
cradle to grave is a common concern of literature.
Indeed, most of the world’s religions include in
their respective mythologies ideas concerning life
comprising segments or movements. For instance,
Hinduism teaches that a life span consists of three
primary stages: the student, the householder, and the
retiree. The Talmud instructs that a man will find
himself playing seven roles in his life: infant, child,
boy, young man, married man, parent, and old man,
each in regular succession. Cree Indian spiritualism
holds that there are seven “times” that demarcate
one’s existence, each characterized by a condition
(e.g., confusion) or an action (e.g., planting).
Similarly, when we look at traditional folktales,
we find a persistent concern with stages of existence.
From Aesop we have the story of the horse, the ox,
and the dog who bestow upon man the gifts of their
natures with which to divide up his life. Included in
Grimm’s Fairy Tales is the narrative of God decid-stages of life 105