Reviewing the Twilight Saga is not as easy as it sounds. It’s a complicated story exploring the progression of unrequited love among frustrated lives struggling to be normal while living under a cloudy sky and perpetual rain in Washington near the Canadian border. The tale is based on the four novels written by Stephenie Meyer and is being told in five movies that faithfully follows the books.

Bella Swan, portrayed by Kristen Stewart is an attractive seventeen year old girl of divorced parents who arrives in Forks, Washington in the first film, Twilight, released in 2008. Her self image expresses a wounded psyche, “I’m the kind of girl that suffers in silence” as she apologizes for her clumsiness rather than seeing the beauty others see in her.

The most outstanding thing about the film, directed by Cathrine Hardwicke with a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg is the rain. When Edward played by Robert Pattinson and his family enter the lunchroom everything changes. Mysterious, he sulks as Bella gazes at him and their eyes lock. Later, in biology lab Edward appears as if he is going to vomit when he looks at her, storming out of the classroom leaving her feeling reviled. Finally, after some puzzling events, Bella googles, “the cold one’s,”  and discovers that the Cullen’s are vampires, and Edward has been seventeen for a long time, accumulating decades of teenage angst at the age of 109. He later reveals his attraction to Bella,”I’ve never craved anyone’s blood like I want yours.” She responds, “I trust you. ”

Bella’s relationship with her father from whom she has been estranged is awkward, adding to the alienation she already feels. Charlie, played by Billy Burke, is her young dad who is himself trapped in his own emotional withdrawal in a boring existence without any passion as the chief of police. Although the love and concern they have for each other is apparent, the conversations between them are strained as they have little to talk about.

The stakes are amplified as Bella is threatened by James, a powerful rogue vampire who almost kills her. He is eventually dismembered and burned to cinder by the Cullen clan, allowing Edward to take Bella to the prom night dance where she declares her love and expresses a desire to become a vampire and lurk the forest with him.

New Moon, released in 2009 was directed by Chris Weitz in a screenplay again written by Melissa Rosenberg picks up where the first film left off. Bella and Edward are now openly involved, but age is catching up with her as her eighteenth birthday approaches and she dreams of getting so old that Edward will no longer want her. A party is planned at the Cullen’s house and the event turns into a nightmare as she cuts her finger dripping blood on the carpet that turns Jasper, Edwards brother played by Jackson Rathbone into a carnivorous rage. Edward, realizing the danger decides to leave Bella for good, “you don’t belong in my world,” he says, asking her not to do anything reckless and in return promises, “this is the last time you will ever see me, and you can go on with your life without me.” The plot proceeds to develop the love triangle between Bella and Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner as the younger post pubescent member of the Quileute tribe who she seeks solace from as months of deep depression take its toll after Edward leaves.

Bella soon realizes that by taking risks, Edward comes to her as an apparition guiding her towards safety. She becomes intentionally self destructive and seeks to provoke his appearance, hoping he will come back. She uses Jacob to ease her pain as he begins to get feverish and discovers his werewolf nature, a genetic trait he inherited from his Native American heritage carried by his ancestors to protect the tribe and it’s land. Life gets even more problematic for Bella as Victoria, the vampire mate of James from the first movie stalks her to seek revenge for his death by the Cullen’s.

As Jacob and his pack protect Bella, Edward calls to see if she is well but is led to believe by Jacob who answers the phone that she is dead.  Overwhelmed by sadness, Edward decides to go to the Volturi, the vampire counterpart of the Vatican located somewhere in Italy to ask to be killed. The Volturi is the ruling body of vampire law with members who have special powers to maintain order. Distraught and intent on saving Edward, Bella flies to Italy to stop him from ending his life. Alice, his sister,  superbly played by Ashley Greene accompanies her. When Bella saves Edward, she also encounters the Volturi who intend to kill her, but agree to let her go with the provision that she be turned into a vampire.

Eclipse, the third installment of the saga, released on June 30, 2010 was directed by David Slade with the script (all five) written by Melissa Rosenberg. Now we have an army of newbie vampires, created and trained by Victoria to track Bella and destroy the Cullen clan who has formed an alliance with the wolves to protect her and Forks in a final confrontation.

The love story between Bella and Edward becomes more complicated as she is now approaching her nineteenth birthday, two years older than Edward in mortal reckoning. She is pressuring him to turn her before the age difference becomes more noticeable. He urges her to marry him first, but she is reluctant to tie the knot, “Its just a piece of paper,” she remarks. He reminds her, “I come from another era when courting, drinking iced tea on the porch and asking her father for her hand in marriage is the way it was done.” When Charlie expresses his discomfort with Edward, Bella proclaims, “Hey dad, I’m still a virgin.” Charlie responds, “well, I like that boy even more now.” But Edward still grapples with guilt over turning Bella because he feels it would be a selfish act and understands the consequences to her soul even if she doesn’t.

The action is predictable, a final battle between Victoria’s army and the alliance of the Cullen clan and Wolves end in success for the forces of good but not without some physical injuries to Jacob who also hurts when he hears that Bella has accepted Edwards proposal of marriage. She kisses Jacob but declares to Edward, “I love him, but I love you more.”

Despite the flaws in the script, the bad acting and the incessant rain, I liked all three installments. It’s a story narrated from Bella’s perspective about how everything that has happened has led her to make the decision to become a vampire.

At the end of the film she says to Edward. “This wasn’t a choice between you and Jacob, it was between who I should be and who I am. I’ve always felt out of step, literally stumbling through my life, I’ve never felt normal because I’m not normal. But now I know I don’t want to be. I’ve faced death and loss and pain in your world, but I’ve also never felt stronger, more real, more myself because its my world too. Its where I belong.”

The Chosen One – The Story Of Buffy’s Sacrifice And Unrequited Love

Chronic Dissatisfaction And The Strigoi Of Europe

One path to enlightenment is recognizing that contemplating infinite outcomes is the only way to anticipate the effects of the present on future events. Calculated endeavors, even with the best of intentions, are usually surrounded by varying degrees of uncertainty and exists as aspirations that can appear vague and formulaic even if the motive is clear.

Any series or set of circumstances, also a mathematical construct, relates immeasurable amounts of events that can transpire or be erroneously interpreted as boundaries that can cloud perception. However, if reasonable goals are set and sufficient time is allowed for them to be realized, then they can serve as positive milestones.

Although this sounds a bit simplistic, most philosophies and religions say the same thing in symbolic form, open to interpretation while being scientifically nebulous at the same time. “Patterns that were previously unnoticed can now be revealed as their existence which has  always been part of the surrounding reality is reaffirmed,” so the claim goes.

The other important foundation of any evolutionary movement is the emotional balance necessary to avoid distractions especially by things that complicates judgement and obscures the path towards a transformed state. Ultimately, how it is all interpreted depends on one’s location within the transcendental experience.

An analogy is comparing life to a multiple choice test. Whoever formulates the questions are not interested in testing you on the things you are expected to know. Its usually the exceptions which become the focus of  inquiry, and perhaps also by illustrating  how easily the student is distracted by irrelevant facts.

When dreams act as mirrors in the library of infinite scenario’s, knowledge of language proves inadequate, offering little or no help making it easier to identify an experience in any other way then by using art in its broadest sense. Dreams can stimulate thought in two, three or four dimensions becoming ideal in expressing introspective experiences without the frustration of articulating them. Frequently, they are presented as a portrait of symbols etched like a canvas upon the soul.

Poetry depends on the pause between lines created by space that use or omit punctuation marks as a way, some say, to evoke imagery about the presence of something tangible, constructed with or without rhyme. Dreams on the other hand do not follow simple linear logic but spring from distant or recent memories, visceral emotion, and the ability to bring it all back into waking consciousness.

An analysis of dreams often reveals a wide range of learned responses, limited only by the boundaries of one’s curiosity. Inevitably someone will point out that, “language is linear and made up of letters, words and sentences recorded as pictures, vocalized with a pause between characters.” Suddenly, space takes on more significance, revealing that the difference between art and language is nothing more than semantics and the thought of creating something from nothing evokes the premise that space does not contain anything except whatever it is that cannot be seen. However, since space has the potential for perceivable ‘things,’ imagination is justified.

Ideas are sparked from the effects of illusions about creation although the knowledge is already embedded in the subconscious and usually recognized most when the question is asked.

It was the ancient ones who first recognized the nature of cycles,  passing down the knowledge, gifted in written text and oral traditions to the chosen of each generation to keep records of what was meant. The task for them was to create an atmosphere where harmony exists without interfering with choice.

The ancient ones were aware that cosmic forces are immense and subtle, remaining invisible until sensitivity to them is developed much as knowledge is often hidden among the clutter of pointless facts noticed before a truth is revealed.  On the other hand they contended that “nothing is useless as long as its appropriately prioritized.” An approach no different than subjecting students to a multiple choice test who are given more information then they need to choose the correct answer, a way of encouraging the development of  knowledge by also sharpening the ability to use a sound process of elimination (guessing).

Who the ancient ones were is less important than what they said about the universe describing it as “a lot of space with ‘things’ suspended within, in constant motion  as everything moves in relation to their previous position and/or mutual gravitational effects on each other.” They were aware of the closest and farthest currents although they attracted less attention by being silent and occasionally leaving inspiring hints along the way, sometimes misinterpreted, becoming the basis for cults.

According to them, the universe could be interpreted as a conduit for the cosmic pulse, while the veil is defined as “anything that is not known,” frequently misunderstood as a symbol for whatever prevents revelation, neglecting to consider its dual purpose as a protection from the knowledge one is not ready to receive. They indicated, “the ability to verify existence or calculate cycles is not necessary to understand the imperceptible.”  Only a rudimentary comprehension of mathematics is important as one silently listens to the cosmic breadth and reads the poetry of light, sound and motion.

Fragments of fable and myth  have been passed down revealing some things about the first ancient one, said to have been born in a small town in the Himalayan Mountains.  Originally the youth, like the other men of the village, was a peaceful farmer. However, an elder villager held in great respect somehow gained certain  knowledge which he shared with the one who later became the first of the ancients. Both began exploring the secrets of the universe learning how to harness cosmic energy for their own uses, although their motives were quite different. While the elder focused on  building a vast empire, the youth wished to use it for the benefit of his fellow villagers. A great struggle ensued between the two, symbolic of the battle between selfishness and selflessness, as  the legacy of the ancient ones remains a contemporary theme about power.

Another reminder of cycles are found in  remnants of The Mayan civilization, which constructed the most mathematically accurate calender ever devised, informed with future astronomical events which influenced their culture along with paganism and human sacrifice. Survival they realized depended on planting crops at the right time and understanding the forces that effected their growth much of which involved cycles of climatic regularity and change. They found ways to ensure a continuation of their society until they vanished, leaving only mystery and myth for scientists to fathom, although their calender and some written hieroglyphs remain.

The Mayan calender calculates the end of one cycle and the beginning of another at 11:11 am GMT on December 21, 2012.  All they contended was that the transformation from one to another would be characterized by “great changes,” as the Sun and its planets approach the center of the galaxy, an event that occurs once in twenty eight thousand years.

What happens after this date is unwritten suggesting that it must be left to those who are now alive to determine the shape and intensity of the change.