April 2017

thinking about the idea that while the Time and Space aspects represent the fundamental dimensions of reality in modern science, the Light and Breath aspects represent fundamental spiritual dimensions of reality. to look at it one way, in many traditional religions the human spirit is considered to be breathed into the human body (into the clay Adam by God in Abrahamic religions, for example) (a symbol only strengthened by the Breath aspect’s connection with the Life aspect), whereas the souls of celestial and divine beings like angels are composed of holy light.

this is interesting, because it associates the male characters with the human or the physical aspect (Dave with the aspect of mortality, and John with the aspect of the mortal soul) while connecting the female characters with the heavenly aspect (Jade with the literal heavens and the workings of creation, and Rose with the divine soul). this is a very Gnostic idea, and it’s present in much of the rest of Homestuck (we see the hypermasculine Lord English serve as a direct analogue to Yaldabaoth, and his misogynistic influence on Alternia is what causes it to fail as a world; Calliope, on the other hand, is the muse who inspires creation).

the image of the divine feminine also plays a role in Homestuck’s spiritual predecessor Problem Sleuth, where the male protagonists take part in Quests of the Spirit that involve awakening a female version of themselves. this shines a very significant light on the apparent deep seated mythology that dictates that any man secretly wishes to have sex with a female version of himself. now that’s Gnostic.