The Seven Deadly Sins (or Seven Heavenly Virtues) Postcard Packaged Set Project:
BACKGROUND INFO/HISTORY:
7 Deadly Sins: As Defined in Dante’s Inferno
Pride is the deadliest of the deadly sins. In fact,
all sin is in some way a form of pride because
sin elevates our ego ahead of all else.
Some of the sins that fall under pride include:
- disobedience
- boastfulness
- hypocrisy
- contention
- obstinacy
- discord
- love of novelties
Avarice is also called greed or
covetousness. It is the excessive desire for riches and possessions.
There's nothing wrong with private property or wealth in itself; in
fact, according to the Bible, it's not money that's the root of all
evil, but the inordinate love of it: thinking that having more money, or
more of anything for that matter, will fulfill you or make you happy
outside of God. The anecdote virtue is generosity.
Some of the sins that fall under avarice include:
- treachury
- fraud
- falsehood
- perjury
- restlessness
- violence
- insensibility to mercy
Lust is the distortion of sensual
desire. Lust ignores God’s purpose for marital relations, and uses sex
outside of God’s blessing, instead of as an act between a husband and
wife, which is the only time God made it for. Church Fathers comment on
how the first time the Bible mentions God “blessing” man, is accompanied
by marital relations, because it is meant to celebrate God’s gift of
allowing man and woman to share in his co-creative power of bringing a
new child of God into existence. To use it in any other way, is saying
“no” to God, and then stealing his gift of blessing; which makes it
inherently evil.
Some of the sins that fall under lust include:
- blindness of mind
- thoughtlessness
- inconstancy
- impulsiveness
- self-love
- contempt of God and his Church
Envy is pleasure in the sorrow of
another or resentment over their happiness or success. Envy is wishing
others not to have something good that they have.
Some of the sins that fall under envy include:
- hatred
- tale-bearing
- detraction
- joy at somebody else's misfortune
- sadness at another's success
Anger, as defined by St. Thomas Aquinas: “The passion for revenge, which goes beyond the control of reason.”
Anger becomes a sin when it comes out of an extreme feeling that things
aren't going the way you think they should be between people groups or
even nation's; worst of all, is when it festers and grows in a person's
heart.
Some of the sins that fall under anger include:
-indignation and arrogance
- belligerence and creating "drama"
- taunting and other means of fighting
Some of the sins that fall under sloth include:
- malice and spite
- laziness and cowardice in practicing religion
- despair of God's mercy
- luke warmness in our spiritual life
- aversion to God and his Church
- letting our minds wander in sinful thoughts
Gluttony is an excess of love for food
or drink over the love of God. Gluttony may also refer to the immoderate
preoccupation with food or drink, either quantity or quality or the
timing of eating or drinking; only eating fancy gourmet food, or eating
or drinking when a person should be doing other things, for example.
Gluttony doesn't necessarily refer to the quantity consumed, but rather
the disordered relation to or attitude towards it.
Some of the sins that fall under gluttony include:
- disordered obsession with pleasure
- overindulgence in things that exclude God
- intemperance [including locquaciousness]
- laziness towards understanding/discretion
In the fourth century, a Christian monk named Evagrius Ponticus wrote down what’s known as the “eight evil thoughts”: gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, sloth, sadness, vainglory and pride.
Evagrius wasn’t writing for a general audience. As an ascetic monk in the Eastern Christian church, he was writing to other monks about how these eight thoughts could interfere with their spiritual practice. Evagrius’ student, John Cassian, brought these ideas to the Western church, where they were translated from Greek to Latin. In the sixth century, St. Gregory the Great—who would become Pope Gregory I—rearranged them in his commentary on the Book of Job, removing “sloth” and adding “envy.” Instead of giving “pride” its own place on the list, he described it as the ruler of the other seven vices, which became known as the seven deadly sins.
“They’re called ‘mortal’ or ‘deadly’ because they lead to the death of the soul,” says Richard G. Newhauser, an English professor at Arizona State University who has edited books about the seven deadly sins. “Committing one of these mortal sins and not confessing, not doing penance and so on, will result in the death of the soul. And then you’ll be in hell for eternity, or your soul will be in hell for eternity.”
This project allows each of you to create a packaged set of 7 postcards (5" x 7") plus an Intro card, that is referenced or Inspired by the controversial original concepts of the Seven Deadly Sins. Each of you may interpret these "Seven Deadly Sins" in any way/shape/form you wish. You might choose to use the original names along with your visuals or you may choose to represent them in other forms/words/visuals. The concepts are up to you to explore as a "jumping off place" for this project. Be creative and think conceptually on what form this boxed/packaged set takes when it's complete.
Perhaps you even reference these contemporary concerns?
destroying the environment
genetic manipulation
obscene wealth
creating poverty
drug trafficking
immoral scientific experimentation
violation of the fundamental rights of human nature
Gilligan's Island was coincidentally about 7 Castaways on a deserted Island.
Disney's Snow White and The 7 Dwarfs comes to mind as well.
1. Vainglory / Pride
2. Avarice
3. Envy
4. Wrath
5. Lust
6. Gluttony
7. Sloth
You can use illustration, typography, mixed media, paintings/drawings, photography or any form of visual expression you wish to explore the concepts above. You could create a game, you could create a photography portfolio, you could reference them to anything in your own life, you could create a set of 3D cards with glasses, you could create a set that sends you to a website using a QR code...anything goes with this final project. These could also be silk-screened, sewn, stitched, torn, xeroxed, rubbings, etc. Maybe the cards have hidden doors you open with messages or they are created using braille or other tactile offerings.
SPECS:
ONE 5"x7' postcard for each Sin/Virtue on heavy card stock OR you can simple adhere two 5"x7" pages together (back to back) to give the card weight/thickness as if it were card stock paper.
The back of each card can be treated as a place for additional information, postcard references/stamp/address or you can create it's alter ego on the reverse. It should not be blank.
Plus an Introduction/Cover Card for the other 7 included.
Plus, Some form of packaging/boxing/wrapping/cover for the entire set.
They can be Black/White or Color or Pop-Out or cut/folded but must come together in some shape/form to a 5"7" format-ish.
PREVIOUS EXAMPLES BELOW:
Take a look at Austin Watson's Behance site showing his interpretation of The Seven Deadly Sins entitled The Saints which shows all his production work on these silk-screened cards.
Seven Deadly Sins: The Saints
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