Welcome to Gaia! ::

We can post this as an announcement in the main page. That way we get more ideas and people who aren't selected for anything at the moment get to do something in the guild.

I've got a couple ideas. I'll post them here later. <3

When you are done, post in the thread and I will add them to the front page

Wow! That article is extremely interesting! xd I read all of the Narnia books years ago, but I never thought about the seven deadly sins in them. But, it makes so much sense! I've read most of the works that were mentioned in the article, but I haven't gotten around to reading The Divine Comedy. I'll have to read that as prep work for the ball. I'm thinking that I might even re-read the Narnia series. I have the complete collection of C.S. Lewis' theological writings too. heart

In the next couple of days, I will glean through Piers Plowman and pull out the key information about the Seven Deadly Sins. That should be helpful.

I hope you can use this information. It's from Piers Plowman, an area of expertise of mine. I hope that some of this info is beneficial. This was written not too long after the idea of the seven deadly sins came into being. Each of the sins is listed in order of appearance.

From Passus V of the B-Text of The Vision of Piers Plowman by William Langland, written around 1360.

Reason and Repentance – the ones in charge who each of the seven deadly sins confess to

Pride
• Personified as a woman (1st to repent), but doesn’t say what she did
• Threw herself on the ground and asked for mercy

Lechery (Lust)
• Doesn’t tell what he did, but says that he will do penance for seven years

(Pride and Lust have EXTREMELY short sections, and they don’t really give account for what they did. This is rather interesting because they are on either end of the spectrum from what is listed on the front page.)

Envy
• Pale and dressed in poor clothing, a farmer
• Likes to chide, challenge, backbite, besmear names, quarrel, and tell lies
• Hates his successful neighbor, but greets him like a friend on the street
• Secretly prays for his neighbor to come to ruin
• Hates everyone who has more than he does, and wishes all to be his servants
• His envy and hatred can never be assuaged even when he receives good things
• Envy invokes Wrath

Wrath
• A friar who used to work in a monastery garden, and actually did very good work
• Has white eye
• First angered at priests who have too many possessions (righteous cause at first)
• Turns people against each other while preaching spirituality
• Works in a convent as a cook, and spreads nasty rumors about the nuns
• When he is punished for his rumors, he gets revenge by sabotaging the food
• Has a foul mouth

Covetousness (Greed)
• Hollow cheeked and hungry looking, inflamed eyes, in his old age, wears a lice infested hat, has a beard, and wears a torn coat
• A traveling merchant who works under a master, would sometimes keep a little extra money for himself
• Dishonest in business deals, and would overcharge people at every chance
• His wife was a weaver who practiced honest trade, but he cheated even her from her rightful earnings
• He gave his wife cheap food that didn’t satisfy, while he kept the good stuff for himself
• Tries to repent, and fails miserably

Gluttony
• Said that he was planning on going to church, but someone from the tavern convinced him to skip church and go drinking
• Keeps company with many people from all different walks of life
• Debate over who a cloak belongs to, everyone wants to claim it
• Overly concerned with him rumbling stomach, hungrier that anyone else
• Pees half a gallon at a time (and says he does it in the amount of time it takes to say the Lord’s Prayer), vomits on a man’s lap
• Eats and drinks so much that he passes out and has to be carried to bed by his wife and servant
• His aunt in Abstinence, and he has hated her all his life

Sloth
• Used to be a priest
• Cannot be woken up to go to church or eat meals
• Falls asleep during confession
• He doesn’t remember the words to prayers, but he remembers all of the tales of Robin Hood (incidentally, this is the first time that the name Robin Hood is written in the English language) and of Randolf, Earl of Chester, occupies half his days with idle tales
• Makes many vows, but always breaks them
• Never performed penance, and was never sorry for his sins
• Never did anything charitable, but loves to hear obscene stories
• Does not pay his employees

A really interesting poem I found:

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

Forget about the other six, says Pride.
They're only using you.
Admittedly, Lust is a looker,
but you can do better.

And why do they keep bringing us
to this cheesy dive?
The food's so bad that even Gluttony
can't finish his meal.

Notice how Avarice
keeps refilling his glass
whenever he thinks we're not looking,
while Envy eyes your plate.

Hell, we're not even done, and Anger
is already arguing about the bill.
I'm the only otie who
ever leaves a decent tip.

Let them all go, the losers!
It's a relief to see Sloth's
fat a** go out the door.

But stick around. I have a story
that not everyone appreciates—
about the special satisfaction
of staying on board as the last
grubby lifeboat pushes away.

—Dana Gioia

Sin is the fabric that clothes every human life. Culpable evil, companioned by guilt, takes many forms. Sages across time have identified seven so-called deadly or cardinal sins. These are the hinges on which human vices hang.

Latin Translation:
Sloth Acedia
Envy Invidia
Lust Luxuria
Anger Ira
Gluttony Gula
Greed Avaritia
Pride Superbia
Sloth: indifferent, carless

The detestation of work and enjoyment of idleness, also associated with despair and suicide during the Middle ages.
2 Kinds of Sloth:

Optimistic: shuns work for more enjoyable occupations
Pessimistic: abstains from action due to lack of confidence or despair

-Aviad Kleinberg

A really long, but interesting poem:
The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins
-William Dunbar

Google it if your interested it is way too long to post here.

This is it so far, lots of literary information! More to come!

Wrath/Anger:
Heated words, cool malice, deadly feuds, the furious rush of adrenaline-anger is clearly the most destructive of the seven deadly sins. It can ruin families, wreck one's health, destroy peace of mind and, at its worst, lead to murder, genocide, and war.


Greed:
Grasping. Avarice. Covetousness. Miserliness. Insatiable cupidity. Overreaching ambition. Desire spun out of control. The deadly sin of Greed goes by many names, appears in many guises, and wreaks havoc on individuals and nations alike.

Envy:
Malice that cannot speak its name, cold-blooded but secret hostility, impotent desire, hidden rancor and spite--all cluster at the center of envy. Envy clouds thought, clobbers generosity, precludes any hope of serenity, and ends in shriveling the heart.

Gluttony:
obsessed with food and diet. And what is this obsession with food except a struggle between sin and virtue, overeating and self-control--a struggle with the fierce temptations of gluttony.

Lust:
Lust, is furtive, headlong, always sizing up opportunities. It is a trail of clothing in the hallway, the trashy cousin of love.

Sloth:
To lazy to even post it.

The rooms plot line is not due on the 8th, it should start planning then.

I'm going to put up a main post today or tomorrow-I'm sorry vie just been getting geared up for school! gonk