So, I know it’s been a while since I’ve written. I’ve been
traveling quite a bit and am excited to share what I learned from my
adventures! But, I’ve been busy trying to catch up on everything so I haven’t
had the time to write it all down.
Anyway, I decided to sit in a few creative writing classes
this semester and this week’s assignment was to choose one of the seven deadly
sins and write something to “sell” the sin. In order to do that, I did a little
bit of research. So, lucky me, I’m killing two birds with one stone until I have more time to gather my thoughts!
Before I start: this postis not intended to make any religious statement or convey any opinion or belief of any single religion. It is simply the facts as collected from varies sources.
Like I said, there are seven deadly sins. Why
seven? Well, God’s magic number seems to be seven. It took seven days to create
the Earth. The seventh day is a day of Sabbath, rest and religious
reflection/observation.
Here is a brief description of each…
Pride: Some people believe that pride is the underlying cause of all sin. Pride, or vanity in some texts, is the need/want to be better than
others. A person takes self-love to the extreme and it leaves them blind to the good
in others. In hell, you will be broken on the wheel, your animal in a horse and
color is violet.
Lust: Commonly thought of as intense sexual desire but can also be
applied to the excessive drive for anything. Your eternal damnation will be
spent surrounded by fire and brimstone (a.k.a. sulfer). The animal you are
assigned is a cow and your color is blue
Gluttony: The most complicated if you ask me. Most people
think of it as excessive eating which deprives the hungry of food. If you are
Jewish, this is true. But if we look at the medieval Catholic church, eating
too soon (before scheduled meals), eating elaborate foods (anything with
spices), eating too quickly, eagerly or daintily are all considered offenses.
What will you be doing in hell? Eating of course! Unfortunately it’s rats,
toads and snakes… Your animal is a pig (obviously) and the color orange paints your walls.
Greed: Refers to the desire to acquire unnecessary things.
It is usually applied to material possessions. Hoarding, theft and pursuit of
material wealth are all part of being greedy. If you are guilty of this sin,
you have a pot of boiling oil to look forward to, being friends with a frog and
loving the color yellow.
Sloth: Can refer to general avoidance of physical/mental
actions but mostly it is the avoidance of that one is supposed to do. You won’t
be lazy any longer when you are thrown in a pit with snakes, your only company
is a goat and you are wearing light blue.
Wrath/Rage/Anger: Uncontrolled hatred towards someone or
something. It often goes hand in hand with envy. You will be sentenced to dismemberment, possibly by your bear companion and see only red.
Envy: Coveting what another has. This may or may not be
accompanied by wrath or ill feelings towards the person. Maybe some freezing
water will teach you and your green dog a lesson.
Note: all references to animals/color/punishments are in
accordance with the views in the The
Picture Book of Devils, Demons and Witchcraft, by Ernst and Johanna Lehne and engravings by George
Pencz. Plus it’s pretty important to point out that almost all sins were seen to be
related to women somehow way back when. Some might see this as sexist but I’m
choosing to say it’s because women are in touch with their emotions and not
afraid to express what they want!
Each of the
sins is associated with a demon from religious texts. Pride is the
sin Satan committed when he was banished from heaven, Mammon was guilty of
greed, Asmodeus lust, Leviathan envy, Bellzebub was a glutton, Ammon succumbed
to his wrath and Belphrgor was guilty of sloth. Maybe some other time I’ll go
into the details of each demon but it would definitely take a while so we will pass on it for now.
For each sin, we possess weapons, in the form of virtues, to
control ourselves. Kindness can control envy, abstinence defends you against gluttony,
chastity takes down lust, patience stops wrath, humility can help you
swallow your pride, diligence keeps you away from sloth and liberality will
combat greed.
Of course, there are many more types of sin. Violation of
the Ten Commandments is one example. But these are the sins that supposedly will
provide a one way ticket to hell. I personally am guilty of gluttony and sloth
on a regular basis. There is nothing like a lazy day spent eating junk food in
my opinion. I took both of the following quizzes which told me as such…
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/personality/quizshow.php?title=what-seven-deadly-sin-are-you&quesnum=1
http://www.4degreez.com/misc/seven_deadly_sins.html
Take the quizzes if you dare and share your results in the comments!