Theology and The Haunting of Bly Manner

[themannerofblytheology]

Ghost of the Dance 2

Hello Folks,

I am a ghost.

I have been busy running around with things of passing importance like board exams, feeding myself, sleeping, working, DnD, and staying sane. 

I will write when I have time and hope each piece finds you well or perhaps coaxes you back to wellness. 

Life is hard and road is weary making.

I wish you the magicalest of life and the courage to seek it out. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely, Them of the Dance

[themannerofblytheology]

01 The Haunted Lover

When considering where I could start, I was fascinated with how Dani began the story haunted and steeped in tragedy. Rowan Ellis notes how odd this is in the horror genre where the protagonist usually begins their adventure in the normal world and then enters into the haunted one [https://youtu.be/Yhb9-yAQfVk].

Originally, I had tried to compare Dani to the Creator (more commonly known as God in the English vernacular). In my mind, Dani’s haunting reminded me of a Creator so haunted by the rejection of their beloved ( human kind’s rejection of the Creator via the attempt to ascend to Creator’s “level” because we believed that we were in some hierarchy - lacking or un-whole) that they devoted both their physical body and their very essence to the effort of convincing us that we are loved so thoroughly. Not even “the gates of hell could stand against that” [Matthew 16:18]. In other words, the Creator could not leave us to “the way we took” [Robert Frost] - could not leave us to the toxic sense of shame, see Berne Brown’s definition, that prevents us from fully connecting with ourselves and others and the world itself.

Nevertheless, drawing parallels became difficult primarily because at the start Dani’s decision to move to England was not motivated by sacrificial love, but rather a deep sense of shame, fear, and slightly misplaced guilt. This realization along with a timely reminder from Pastor Nancy led me to the better parallel - the Story of Ruth.

Now for a bit of background to those unfamiliar with the story of Ruth, the story begins when a Hebrew woman named Naomi, her husband, and her two sons leave Israel because the land was in famine. This is an odd start because as the chosen people, Israel, they were “supposed” to be a relatively prosperous nation. To make things odder, they settled in a land occupied by a people group who have traditionally been at odds with their own. Still, they are able to make a life there with their sons who eventually married Moabite women (a no-no in traditional Hebrew culture).

However, tragedy strikes and Naomi’s husband dies along with her two sons. In light of this tragedy, Naomi makes plans to return to Israel to live out the rest of her days in misery. Surprisingly, Ruth, a Moabite woman who was married to one of Naomi’s sons, insists on following her mother-in-law from her homeland of Moab back to Israel (le gasp an outsider showing more faithfulness than the chosen people).

Once in Israel, she works in a field owned by a distant-ish relative named Boaz who by Jewish law could marry Ruth and restore Naomi’s family line in the process. After a bit of extra-marital shenanigans, Ruth and Boaz get married, the family is restored, and all is well in the world.

One of the wildest parts of this story is power and agency predominantly stemming from the women in the story which is unusual for their patriarchal society and the general context of patriarchy. Even more scandalous, the protagonist is a woman from an enemy people group. In my ever so humble opinion, redemption is achieved without one mention of divine intervention and through the union of two different people groups by way of consenting to bind their lives together.

So how does this relate to Dani and the Haunting of Bly Manor?

Out of Death Life [Wonder - The Lord of the Rings the Musical]

Much like Dani, Ruth is steeped in personal tragedy and chooses a harder path by way of leaving most of what is familiar to her. Similar to Dani, Ruth’s husband had just died leaving her without a child let alone a male heir. This also her means of survival have just departed as well. However, Ruth still has an option to stay in Moab, find a new husband, and begin life anew. Yet, in the gayest way possible Ruth wakes up and chooses hardship, suffering, and uncertainty by way of declaring:

“Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. May [the Creator] deal with me ever so severely if anything but death separates you and me.”

Ruth 1:16-17

*Note: While this declaration from one woman to another may appear queer to the modern-day reader, there is always room for interpretation. The ancient notions of queer relationships vary vastly from what we understand them to be today. Furthermore, the ancient audience hearing this declaration may not necessarily have understood this to be a queer relationship. What can be said is that the word used to describe how Ruth “clung” or “clove” to Naomi as she made this covenant can also be found in other portions of the bible where marriage is the understood relationship or the creation of a new family unit. Given the mere fact that these words have found their way to many an alter of a straight marriage ceremony indicates to me Ruth's is devotion and love for Naomi that transcends gender. Yet to the readers who need to see reflections of themselves in the religious texts, this declaration of love may hold just enough water to survive in a foreign and hostile land. In other words, I believe there is value in being a queer person reading (wrestle with the text until if gives you a blessing) and perhaps feeling seen in what is clearly a deep love between these two women who are venturing into the unknown together [;) Frozen II].

Dani faces a similar situation because no one, but her now deceased fiancée knows that she is in fact gay and has been since the start (a stranger in a society who does not have a place for her). She has a place still in the land she calls home. Her mother-in-law is in fact quite accepting of Dani and longs for her to feel supported by them. Nevertheless, for reasons that are not necessarily important to the notion being explored here, Dani cannot bring herself to stay and resolves to leave.

Out of death life. I chose this title because what I observed in Dani and Ruth’s stories is even in the face of death (the gates of hell so to speak) both women embrace an unknown world and through love plant seeds for new life to spring forth.

“如果你爱上了一个人，希望会从泥土中重新绽放，热烈地拥抱生命” 《花木兰》

If you are able to love one person, hope will burst forth from the dirt like a flower and enthusiastically embrace life.

One of the thematic topics Bly Manor heavily explores and revolves around is the concept that “love and possession are antithetical to one another” and when love embraces another without possession, not even the spiteful remnants of an ancient ghost can stand against that. Ruth’s declaration to accompany Naomi through life mirrors Dani’s declaration that she could do right and well by Miles and Flora which was encouraged and tended by the Gardner. Both do not see the recipients of their love as beholden to them but are simply promising themselves to the recipients even in the midst of their own tragedy.

This all being said, perhaps my earlier attempts to compare Dani’s devotion to the children and eventual *spoiler* devotion to the gardener do indeed mirror the Creator’s love. In in the muck and mire and for lack of a better word - the shit of life - Creator simply offers themselves to us regardless if we are like Naomi, capable of understanding the weight and burden our Lover is carrying for us, or like Miles and Flora who remain totally oblivious to the cost of the love extended has.

Thus concludes my thoughts on the Haunted Lover.

If you have any questions, comments, insights, or concerns, please feel free to comment them below.

I wish you the magicalest of life and the courage to seek it out.

Sincerely,

Them of the Dance

[themannerofblytheology]

Ghost of the Dance

Hello Folks,

Apologies for being a ghost. I have been busy running around with things of passing importance. 

Enough of that. I am back and will hopefully be posting at least one short essay a month. I hope each piece finds you well or perhaps coaxes you back to wellness. 

Life is hard and road is weary making.

I wish you the magicalest of life and the courage to seek it out. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely, Them of the Dance

[themannerofblytheology]

The Manner of Bly Theology

In the wise words of CS Lewis there is no such thing as Christian literature and non-Christian literature, rather good literature and bad. My father and I enjoyed taking this concept to its extreme. We went as far as to say that the bible is not even Christian literature. And given the relative age of the concept of a Christian when looked at in context of the Jewish tradition and the fact that Jesus critiqued his people’s tradition from within the house so to say... I find that statement to be a beefy enough leg for me to stand on. However, that is beside the point.

I personally believe <The Haunting of Bly Manor>  would fall squarely in the good literature category if not, dare I say, the great category. I will not begin to posit what CS Lewis would think of a series with an open only queer lead and  protagonist in the savior figure were he alive today. His work would not lead one to believe that he is very affirming of queer identities and sexual orientations though he may be accepting from a theological standpoint. To drill down into what I mean by affirming and accepting:

Affirming refers to religious organizations that openly support of LGBTQ+ identities and sexual orientations. It means the community welcomes the LGBTQ+ person to embrace their identities and enjoy the same rights and privileges of their heterosexual neighbors. This includes, but is not limited aspects such as capability to serve in leadership and ability to both legally and ceremonially marry. 

Accepting refers to religious organizations which accept that one’s identity of gay or bisexual may not be a sin worthy of a one-way ticket to hell, but puts limitations on how that person can then behave and still be moral “within the will of God”.

As a wee caveat before we move on, there are most likely official and more in depth definitions of affirming and accepting (maybe even  a different word) religious organizations, but I will direct you to the all knowing google or your favorite search engine for that one.

Nevertheless, I get a sense that in the sequel to this life CS Lewis would not care very much. He is far too busy waiting for God to lift the gates to Life at its Fullest. Furthermore, I get a strong sense that in this waiting period CS Lewis would also be very happy to leave those conversations up to the nudging of God. If you would like to learn more about the Spirit led insights which lead to conclusions lying outside of the written word (which God is rather known for giving) I suggest you read the introduction to the book “Crucifixion of a Warrior God” by Gregory Boyd. There he lays out a rather well thought out case for such realities.

 Before we begin, I would like to take the time to clarify a few things. Before that even, this aspect of the discussion precedes any ranking and must be acknowledged. There is a longstanding, painful history between the religious community and the LGBTQ+ community. This is made more distressing given one of the most prominent and prolific modern theological writers of the Christian faith (that is my perspective), CS Lewis, did not appear to have affirming theological perspectives. 

My response it this: much like how CS Lewis described his thoughts on Christianity in his radio talks which later became the book “Mere Christianity”, if you find what I write useful, I am glad. If not please chuck it into the nearest dumpster fire or forgo engaging with the content at all. 

The first is as a fledgling member of the LGBTQ+ community I would like to recognize that my interaction with <The Haunting of Bly Manor> and my relationship with theological texts associated with Protestant Christianity has limits. I am barely out to myself and I have little to no connections with queer community. Additionally, I am not a theologian nor a very learned human in the topic of sociology and gender studies. In fact, my higher education has placed me firmly in the realm of hard science with a touch of business.  Thus, I am likely to make as many if not more mistakes than those with the more applicable degrees. I certainly hope (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise) that the work I do does not bring further harm. Still, I know I will most likely make an offense or two. When I do floc up, I certainly hope to be corrected and I shall attempt to take it in stride with grace. 

The second bit is, I will only be sharing what has stood out to me.  My understanding of how <The Haunting of Bly Manor> captures, cultivates and develops the seed of all good stories fondly reminds me of the Gospel story found in the Judeo-Christian traditions. The hope is by sharing what I find interesting, you may also find it helpful. 

The third point being the last one I have at this time is that I do not think it was the creators intention to have theological parallels within their story. Sitting down in the writers room, I do not believe they wrote this series to live as an allegory to the one we find in the Christian religious text (hitherto known as “The Bible”). That however does not stop me from making known the parallels I found and finding joy there in.

If this concept intrigues you, I am excited to share with you what I have and hope to journey with you on this for as long as we walk.

Sincerely,

Them of the Dance