Mysteries

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Mysteries

William Blake

06

William Wordsworth

05

The Sublime

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Industrial Revolution

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Conclusion

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Concept of Mystery

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Title

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index

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Mystery refers to anything that is unknown, incomprehensible, or hidden, something that eludes full human comprehension. It can concern natural phenomena, spiritual experiences, existential questions, or truths that have not yet been revealed.

What is the concept of "Mystery"

The Industrial Revolution introduced new dynamics that contributed to creating a sense of mystery in society. In particular The advent of machines and industrialization forced man to confront productive and destructive forces whose functioning was not yet fully understood.

Industrial revolution

THE SUBLIME

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The poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth is full of a sense of mystery that manifests itself through nature, memory, and the perception of the invisible. One of the most enigmatic aspects of the poem is the idea of ​​a “presence” that animates nature and the mind. In the lines: "A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things." the poet suggests that there is an invisible force that passes through everything, a mysterious energy that connects man to the world around him. Wordsworth perceives nature as something that speaks directly to his soul. However, this connection is not entirely explainable: why does the landscape arouse such intense feelings in him? This mystery manifests itself in the moments in which the poet feels a presence that he cannot see or touch, but only perceive with his heart and mind.

William Wordsworth

For Blake, mystery is a profound reality that pervades human existence, nature and the divine. His poems are full of symbols that suggest the existence of hidden truths, accessible only through imagination and intuition. Blake believed that visible reality was only a part of a larger and secret universe. However, this Universe could not be observed by rational observation, but by imagination, capable of revealing what is occult. This concept is expressed in the famous verse: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite." (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell) Here Blake suggests that the human mind is veiled by illusions and limits imposed by reason and society (Blake saw the society of his time as a mental prison, in which men were chained by religious and political dogmas.), but those who manage to overcome these obstacles can glimpse the infinite and the divine.

William Blake

In The Tyger, for example, the poet questions the figure of an enigmatic creator, capable of giving life to a wild and terrible beauty: "What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" Here the mystery lies in the duplicity of creation: how can the same God who created the lamb (The Lamb) also have given life to the tiger, symbol of destructive power? The question remains open, underlining the impenetrable nature of the divine plan.

William Blake

What is Mystery for me?

The mystery for the philosopher?

"The thing in itself remains unknown to us; we know nothing but the phenomena, that is, the representations that it produces in us by modifying our senses." Kant (18th century) argued that there is an unknowable reality, the noumenon, which represents the deepest mystery of human existence.

So this problem represents the relationship between the innovative potential of new machines and the fear of their impact on society and the individual. This theme remains current today where technology continues to progress and raise existential questions about the future of humanity.

Industrial Revolution

Steam engines, mechanical looms and other technological innovations seemed almost magical to many, as the internal processes and workings of the mechanisms were unknown to most workers. New technologies allowed for an exponential increase in productivity, but at the same time introduced significant risks: accidents in factories, dangerous working conditions and, in some cases, the destruction of traditional professions. Technology was therefore seen as a dual force, capable of generating wealth and progress, but also of threatening social stability and individual security.

We cannot fully explain what we feel: our soul is caught by a feeling of amazement and fear that arises from the impossibility of grasping, with reason, the totality of the experience. This enigma, which surrounds the sublime, is twofold: from one side, there is the wonder in front of something so vast; on the other side, awareness of our vulnerability and limitation. So the mystery becomes an invitation to meditate on the limit of human knowledge

The sublime

The sublime is an aesthetic and spiritual experience in which man confronts the infinite, the immense and the indefinable. At the heart of this concept there is the mystery, understood as the indescribability of the experience that escapes complete from the rational understanding.When we find ourselves faced with a powerful nature or a phenomenon of great emotional intensity, our sense of limitation is highlighted. It is in this space, between what we know and the unknown, that the mystery manifests itself.