Week 7. "Plato's Cave" 18"x24" oil on canvas

"Fear is the mind-killer" says Frank Herbert in his Sci-fi classic, Dune. In Plato's allegory of the cave, the people existing within the cave sit facing the walls with a fire burning behind them. They see only the shadows cast on the wall in front of them. One of them eventually escapes and leaves the cave. At first, the sunlight is painful to the eyes but the escapee adapts and for the first time witnesses sunlight, reality. Understanding the importance of the discovery the escapee returns to free the others who, when told about reality, shun the idea. Ever since I heard the allegory of the cave I've been infatuated with it. It readily lends itself to so many different possible interpretations. Plato's interpretation states that the people in the cave represent those without philosophy or education. The ignorant. There is an obvious spiritual aspect to the story as well. I feel that the lynchpin to the allegory is fear, or the overcoming of it. The chains that keep one in the cave are made of fear. Fear is the hysterical scream that tries to convince that truth is not there to be found, that love is a lie and that life has no point. Fear tells me that, even if I'm living in hell, in a horrible lie, at least I'm familiar with it. Often, fear screams all the louder the closer I get to letting it go. I find that eventually fear makes itself ridiculous. The shadows on the wall become obvious, flat and lifeless. I start listening to the whisper that's telling me that there's more...