When Faust Killed Valentine and Those Spirits Wandering About When the Bells Toll at 8




Emotion. I'm writing or rather trying to write a critical analysis on the theories of emotion by a number of leading psychologists from James to Lange, to Cannon, Freud and Jung and the rest of the behaviorists. Only that even as I tried to start, my mind seemed rusty and allergic to venture into this kind of discipline. Me thinks that I read Faust again. I just wanted to explore the scene when Valentine attempted killing Faust for having taken advantage of his sister. I just want to refresh my mind of the descriptions used by Goethe of the heightened emotions between the two characters that resulted to Faust killing Valentine in the process.

These stuffs really put me in reverie of the past events in my life beginning from my early childhood when Balete seemed to be filled with bizarre, if not mysterious phenomena. I remember how the old folks told me stories of aswang and other bad spirits going out of their lair once the bell tolls at 8 in the evening. Fr. Tito subtly discontinued the practice to erase in every child psyche the association of such practice to evil spirit lurking around the town. The original intention when priests of old had the 8 o'clock tolling of bells done was to call the faithful to recite the Nunc Dimittis (Lord, now let your servant go in peace...) during the Compline (or Night Prayer). As years went by, the practice is forgotten and in its stead, the ignorants concocted such stories of the "enemies, prowling like a roaring lion looking for unsuspecting souls to devour..." once the bells are tolled at 8.

Such emotions. Such memories. Are they existentially real?

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