Happy Valentine's Day
thirty-three-year-old spoiler warning here, but I guess that goes without saying
Now to start it off the Princess Bride is a story within a story and if we go deep enough
It's a story within a story within a story within a story
Inviting us to look deeper at our own lives and to break free of the attachments to the life stories
we live out on a day-to-day basis and
learning to identify at a higher level but the main focus of the Princess Bride is two main points a
Story of true love and all of the ways that true love manifests and a story of sovereignty
On its surface the Princess Bride appears like a fun take on the traditional
Damsel in distress narrative girls in trouble guys gotta rescue her
in fact, we have an almost 95% male cast in the movie and yet buttercups role here is
foundational to the deep spiritual themes underlying this tale
When the story begins we see Buttercup in a state of sovereign freedom
She can do what she wants live as she pleases as so many movies often depict the female character needing a man to be fulfilled
Here we see Buttercup as already fulfilled in her life
this is a fundamental lesson right off the bat that true love happens when two people are content with themselves first and
Already in a good relationship with themselves if they're attached and needing someone else to fulfill them and make them feel. Okay true
Love doesn't have the opportunity to blossom naturally
fortunately in the story we are presented with it does as
Buttercup makes requests of her farm boy Wesley. He responds simply as you wish which she comes to realize means
I love you
Wesley doesn't push himself on her and she slowly begins to realize that she loves him, too
The way that this movie opens sets the stage for the rest of the film because without true love there is no story
I
Also wished to draw attention to the higher story outside of the book for a moment the boy at one point interrupts the father reading
and remarks about there being kissing in this book not something he's really into it's curious because of the
Transformation of the boy by the end of the store, but let us continue with the main journey for now
In addition to the main ideas of true love being the benevolent force in the film
so too
Do we see the antagonist force soon coming into play which is the patriarchal energy of masculine dominance
This energy is made manifest personally in Prince Humperdinck and count Rugen and in a way it also
manifests in Wesley
We see shortly after we're introduced to these characters
Wesley goes off into the world to seek his fortune so that he can provide a good life for buttercup and himself
While this appears to be a noble cause on the surface that drives the plot. We also must ask why couldn't they do that together?
from Wesley leaving
it sets the stage for
Buttercup to be thrust into the same masculine dominant world as she discovers that Wesley was killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts and
Several years later ends up soon to be married to Prince Humperdinck a man who does not value her as a person
Seeks to control her manipulate her and even kill her all in the name of his own personal game
This is why sovereignty is actually at the heart of this story as we see the plot focus on and spiral around
various masculine forces attempting to capture or dominate the feminine and the
Masculine on the other hand as Wesley seeks to rescue his damsel what he is fighting for is not her specifically
But her right to choose her freedom and her sovereignty
Buttercup herself also represents a more active participant in this while she does seem powerless against the might of Humperdinck forces
She is not silent and accepting of the fate that is thrust upon her but is braved
courageously speaking up for the truth and what she really wants a
Continued thing that is brought to our attention throughout the entirety of the film
Is that in his heart Wesley loves Buttercup and it's this love in his heart that keeps him motivated and able to overcome any
obstacle whether it's fencing within ego surviving the terrors of the fire swamp or being tortured to maximum limit break overdrive in
All of these circumstances the love in his heart never goes out even when he dies
We see the spiritual lesson here because even if it's romanticized in movie
Many traditions teach us the virtues of love and that love itself is one of if not the greatest force in the universe
If we have love in our hearts
We will steer our lives straight and true and this movie can help to remind us to connect with that inner love
So that we too may overcome the obstacles we face in our daily lives in
Addition to the true love that blossoms between Wesley and Buttercup
We also see love manifesting throughout the film in another way in the form of brotherly bonding. This is also important to discuss
Especially for Valentine's Day because many of us in the world have not found that perfect partner yet
And what's more not everyone even wants that to begin with? So the thing here?
Is that both Wesley indigo and Fezzik are all brought together through various?
Circumstances and at first in ago and Fezzik our Wesley's enemies
Nevertheless the enemies become friends and they set off to right some wrongs together
It's through their shared companionship that they are able to accomplish things
That would have been much more difficult to do on their own without indigo and Fezzik
How would Wesley have come back to life without Wesley? How would indigo have found the six-fingered man?
through scenes like these we are reminded of the spirit of human connection and that when we band together for a noble cause
Great challenges become even easier
There is a phrase that goes
Faster alone perfect together and when we learn to embrace each other share the load work together
We can accomplish much more than if we try to do everything ourselves
While the first half of the film was more of a solo journey
The second half is about the journey together and the companionships we make along the way which are just as important
Speaking of iñigo we find that he demonstrates to us the power of affirmations
Indigo continually remarks to himself the same phrase over and over
My name is inigo. Montoya
Who killed my father prepare?
To die
The fact that he continuously tells himself this he is preparing himself and keeping himself
Focused on his goal of defeating the six-fingered man. He affirms to himself over and over. This is my destiny. This is my fate
I will avenge the death of my father
In doing so he also is affirming to himself his own ego death
Which comes by the end where he is complete on that part of his life and moves into something new a spiritual death
Which many cultures tell us is a kind of transformation
this affirmative energy of his line teaches us the power of
Affirmations - if we wake up every day and tell ourselves that we are creating a certain life for ourselves
Perhaps it is to meet true love perhaps. It's to create great wealth or perhaps
It's to warm the hearts of others then we keep ourselves focused on the path that we're on
Affirmations are powerful because they directly program the subconscious mind with
direction and this assists us in creating our realities with more clarity and focus and
Now let us speak for a moment on Vizzini. He had a classic and hilariously overused line
inconceivable inconceivable
Inconceivable if he was in the heart, I don't know what you think it means
demonstrating the nature of arrogance and pride
By it being represented to us in this way
It teaches us the viewers not to identify with these qualities or reflect it to us if we already do
Over and over Vizzini remarks how brilliant he is. Have you ever heard of Plato Aristotle?
Socrates
Yes morons, right? He thinks he's so smart
But that's just it he only believes he is so smart where a true wise person knows that they know nothing
This is doubly more interesting that he repeats
Inconceivable because how could a person who knows everything find anything to truly be inconceivable?
Ultimately, this arrogance is his own undoing and Wesley easily outsmarts him in a simple game of wits this once again reminds us
Not to brag or pretend. We have all the answers
No, what we need to do in our hearts humble ourselves before who we can stand to learn from and strive for goodness always
Finally the story outside of the story between the grandfather and the grandson
We see here two important lessons
One is the transformation of the boy and his own growth and emotional maturity in the beginning as we saw
He remarks to his grandfather. Is this a kissing book way?
Way, but by the end he learns to have a respect for the emotional health of the characters not just the action and adventure
I
Don't mind so much
Being that they are outside of the story
this reflects that the entire story is happening within them within the little boy and so as he
Evolved with the characters his own personality grew as a result. And so we must ask ourselves
How did we grow and evolve as a result of watching the movie the story within a story?
Within a story and if we go one level deeper we see the story of the Dread Pirate Roberts
Who in and of himself is just a story
Second and returning to the highest level of the story. We see our final manifestation of true. Love you see true
Love is not just when two people fall in love and live happily ever after in this beautiful relationship
And we see this when the boy asks his grandfather to come back and read the story again
As you wish the grandfather responds bringing the heartwarming story to a close in this we see that the grandfather
Truly loves his grandson and is more than happy to come and spend time with him read him a story and make this heartfelt connection
We learned here that love permeates through many layers of human connection and they demonstrate beautifully the wisdom of the ten of disks
Legacy the understanding that true wealth is not money
But the lasting connections that we create together throughout our lives and the passing along of love and wisdom from generation to generation
Further in the completion of our old stories. We are free to forge new ones
And so we bring this week's episode to a close. I ask you with kindness and humility
What story are you writing into your life?
Affirm it for yourself now by sharing it in the comments and while you're at it
let us know what other episodes you'd like to see the hidden spirituality of
Happy Valentine's Day and we'll see you next week