Migratory Patterns of Cultural Tales. Mythos, Saga, Sacred and Logos.

Cultural Role of Tales - The Universal Hero's Journey - Frank Heckman

2011-10-10T09:23:00.000-04:00

Cultural Role of Tales

Some set out and never quite get there.

Others set out and make it.
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Whose journey. What the goal, the result.

What qualities from the old tales recur.

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Worlds of tales and commerce blend, with Frank Heckman of the Netherlands. He sees that even ordinary people (like the Jacks of old) can learn to be champions at something. Follow his approach, as he has developed it in his work as a consultant to such people: "The Hero's Journey", see http://www.broadenthehorizon.eu/uploads/049_FRANK%20HECKMAN_EN.pdf. How to succeed. How to want to succeed. How to translate the wisdom of the spirit, culled over centuries, into day by day. Mythology plays a strong part, as he works with people seeking excellence in sport, business, arts. Mythology promotes excellence.
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What is the role of the cultural tale in setting a framework for business. Can we tap our childhoods, if we were lucky enough to have stories and books abounding. And comfy chairs, and darkening afternoons in the cushions, a single lamp over a shoulder, shadows moving.

Try his general framework on any tale, or life in process:

1. THE GOAL. Hear and heed the call to adventure. Discover your own dream. Determine your own course. Free yourself from social control. Choose a destination.
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2. THE BALANCE. Seek "flow" -- the feeling of total focus in circumstances where you can see yourself succeeding -- you can perform optimally as you go. This takes a balance, between the challenge of the task, and the ability of the seeker. Too great a challenge leads to fear, tension. Too little challenge leads to boredom.
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3. THE COMPANIONS. Create your own world and find companions for your travels. Fellowship matters. Find new qualities in yourself. Your companions will influence how you proceed. Choose well.
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4. THE OVERCOMING. Expect the Dragon. Work through the inevitable disappointments. Overcome resistance, fear. Return to another great tale, Jason and the Golden Fleece.  A Dragon clause can be the key to a successful agreement, see http://martinlutherstove.blogspot.com/2009/12/golden-mean-fleece-dragon-and-law-of.html#!/2009/12/golden-mean-fleece-dragon-and-law-of.html
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5.  THE IMPLEMENTING. Implement, "stand in your own truth," carry over, follow through, execute

6. THE SIGH; AND RETURN. Evaluate, reap rewards in knowledge, experiences, return and apply.  What do you bring back with you, your "grail". Can you sustain it?

Mr. Heckman's co-author is Steven de Bie, whose interests in sustainability arrive from a different direction, see his work in biodiversity at http://www.reg.wur.nl/UK/Staff/Bie/ .

Thumbs up. A Cultural Concept Updated, Garden Variety

2011-08-05T15:45:00.005-04:00

Tracing Cultural Oddities
Tomato Language Where Digits are Ambiguous

I. Thumbs up, thumbs down

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Body language. What is meant by thumbs up or thumb down. In the East and some cultures, it is an obscenity. Gestures are not universal in meaning. See http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap5.html.
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In the West, we have been schooled to think of thumbs up or thumbs down as Roman citizens voting life or death to those battling in Colisseums and which gladiators will live for another day, but is that so? There appear to be several basic meanings to the thumbs up, including its meaning

nothing at all, or something else: 'Okay'. Okay? What does that mean? Okay to what?
the number "one"; for some, where a single index finger up is the obscenity, so is never used for 1. Two would be thumb and forefinger, but never 1 as forefinger alone
a "sexual insult";
hitching a ride;
other meaning, not in this list (no particular implication); a direction. See http://bernd.wechner.info/Hitchhiking/Thumb/

In that list, where is Rome, and the Colisseum? The Gladiators looking up to see their fate? It didn't happen. It just didn't happen. Read the site. The thumb moved in some way, to indicate the fate, but there is no evidence of which way, how, when, etc.

II. With the myth of digits de-mythed, how to update the imagery?
Use color.
Go green. Or red.

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Here we propose a similar idea in vegetative form, not digital: the ultimate T-shirt, mug, tchotchke, calendar, and other accessory decoration and other use imagery. Our very own, garden-grown Ultimate Tomatic Image to indicate approval or disapproval; or otheer use.
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Hitching a ride.

Tomato thumbing a ride

Tomato repeating its seeking a ride

Thumbs up Hot Tomato

Tomato get back in line Tomato resting

Tomato up periscope

Thumbs up Hot tomato

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We have to show them all to prove there is no glue or other photoshopping involved.
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Thumbs down.
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Thumbs down Once Hot Tomato

Greeting card: Now where did I put those glasses....

Thumbs down Once Hot Tomato #1

These also, of course, can illustrate other emotions, sorts and conditions. Greeting card: So sorry, please forgive. Of course! Of course!

III. Imagery conveys ideas more strongly than words

A culture can associate images with concepts thanks to advertising, political repetition without debate, simply putting images on posters and passing them out to people on buses. Apply grotesqueries to elected persons, for example, to inspire derision. Emotional connection cemented, without providing voters with full transparent facts for their own analysis.

Can that be countered by education, analysis tools for regular people, to defuse the professional persuaders. See Unbrink the Nation.

Or do we need Counter-Tomatoes?

IV. Side use: Throwing tomatoes

This brings us to the tradition of throwing tomatoes on-stage. See http://www.tomatocasual.com/2008/02/07/the-history-of-throwing-rotten-tomatoes/ Apparently this tomatic fate could not have been imposed on Shakespeare's actors, because there were no tomatoes commonly around at that time. So, we stay with our new use of the tomato, without advising offensive theatrics, see http://www.tomatoandhealth.com/index.php/magazine/history_article/Modern_uses_of_Tomatoes/

Tomatic antics. Catch the tomato-throwing festival, La Tomatina near Valencia, Spain, see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPQCH1b_LgE

We are drying the seeds.

Mother Goose Contemporary -- Here, from Berta and Elmer Hader's 1930 Picture Book of it

2011-07-30T20:30:00.005-04:00

Mother Goose as Insight
And new versions sadly deficient

Perspective of Centuries

I. Who is Mother Goose

II. Interpretations fit the times

III. The Rhymes, with contemporary application

I. Who is Mother Goose.

Mother Goose as an idea, and various identities as the teller of tales, wisdom source, benign vehicle for imagination, goes back to about 1650. See http://www.librarysupport.net/mothergoosesociety/who.html. Is there an element of the macabre, or sorcery? None that we find.

Watch how versions of old tales change to meet cultural agendas. Ask, in looking at representations of Mother Goose, by what authority do American publishers and Disney turn every wise single woman into a witch, by costume manipulation? The process is as demeaning to the character as Disney and others turning Uncle Remus into a patsy. Look for Uncle Remus, for real, in old texts; as you now look for Mother Goose for real, in her older texts and illustrations.

Our book is first edition (covers missing), from 1930. Current renditions of Berta and Elmer Hader's Mother Goose and illustrations, such as this from 1995, are pale and lifeless. See http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Book-Mother-Goose/dp/0681006064. They are so far removed from the depth of the original as not to be "copies" at all. Even a preschool child would be bored to tears. Here is a 1930 first edition, complete with covers (ours was too much loved), see http://www.abaa.org/books/413826265.html

My 1930 Mother Goose, with unsurpassed illustrations by Berta and Elmer Hader, starts off with a fine lady with benign face peering back at me, while she is in flight, not in black, no pointy hat, just a brimmed and substantial, tall Puritan-type hat, with buckle and flat top at the narrower end up top. Now go to Images on your browser. See the witches so wickedly substituted for a wise woman. Tall pointy hats mean witch. And we worry about other people's cultural systems brainwashing them? How about us. Here is the Berta and Elmer Hader Mother Goose, at Hader, A Picture Book of Mother Goose, pagebooks. My cover was in deep and lighter blue, see http://www.hader.pagebooks.net/hader_berta_and_elmer_hader%27s_picture_book_of_mother_goose.jpg
Berta and Elmer Hader's Picture Book of Mother Goose, 1930, Coward-McCann NY. With that date, is copyright finished? I see none of its brilliant illustrations anywhere online. Teal, burgundy, gold, and some silhouette, black and white, the variety is dazzling. May I copy them here? Would someone please put this back on the market? Do away with the modern fakery.

Berta and Elmer Hader - beloved illustrations, medieval towns and lanes, houses, wee children, animals. My copy, dated 1930 (predates me, of course), has long lost its front and back cover, but the inside is intact and beautiful. Firmly located in the heart.

Mother Goose and Imagination - recourse of the helpless, the small, and also for the excitement-seeker. Under her name came tales, and rhymes and songs and little games. Nursery rhymes

Nursery rhymes may well reflect political and other events of the time, or satire, where direct commentary on individuals and issues would be punished. Some helped feed and seed revolutions. See http://www.rhymes.org.uk/. At the least, nursery rhymes gave the adults, who knew, some likely enjoyment, even if the children saw surface meaning.

Revive the Rhymes for today. Here, we use italics for emphasis, but otherwise quote. ...............................................

II. New: Some character names in interpretation, references. Contemporary context.

These will change, depending on the issue. Mother Goose is eternal. Illustrations come and go.

Cross pollination. Some characters from other folk and literary sources may find themselves here. There are some morphs from Alice in Wonderland and The Night Before. Find, perhaps, in this Goose more Adventures of the Hatter, MitchMouse and Eric the Hare who does not Care; or Unhappy Harry the White Rabbit, and Neat Nancy, and Other People and Issues. .............................................................

III. The Rhymes

A. Rhymes and Songs

1. Old Mother Goose

"Old Mother Goose when she wanted to wander, would ride through the air on a very fine gander."

She has a big smile on her face; and a Puritan-type hat with buckle, that in the US we see on the Pilgrim men, not the mobcap of the woman. She rides side-saddle, and the gander has the bit in his mouth. Big moon behind. Equal rights; the rightful place of woman. Note to Obama. Equal Rights Amendment; to be submitted with any Balanced Budget Amendment: .......................................................

2. Willy Boy, Willy Boy

"Willy boy, Willy boy, where are you going? I will go with you, if I may. I'm going to the meadow, to see them a-mowing, I'm going to help them make the hay."

Bill Clinton. Clear reference to altruism and Bill Clinton, The role model for Eric the March Hare who does not care, and the Teas who live in tightwad bags. ........................................................

3. Harvest Home, Harvest Home

"Harvest Home, harvest home, Ne'er a load's been overthrown."

Obama. The Optimist, Mediator, Non-defensive communicator overall. He has the Congress he has. He is getting done what he can. The Stealth progressive. ........................................................

4. Dickory, Dickory, Dock

Dickory, dickory, dock. The Mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck "one", The Mouse ran down, Dickory, dickory dock. Dickory, dickory, dock. The Mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck three, The Mouse ran away, Dickory, dickory dock. Dickory, dickory, dock, The Mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck ten, The Mouse came again, Dickory, dickory, dock.

MitchMouse, the Dormouse, peeps out when convenient, irregularly, runs out the clock, ducks away again, over and over. Default dangers? Unimportant. Illustrators take note: MitchMouse --The epitome of pursed-lip, frightened-eyed Intransigence, can never be out there alone. ................................................................. 5. Little Betty Pringle

Little Betty Pringle she had a pig. It was not very little and not very big. When he was alive he lived in clover. But now he's dead, and that's all over. Johnny Pringle he sat down and cry'd, Betty Pringle she lay down and dy'd. Johnny Pringle he, Betty Pringle she, and Piggie Wiggie.

The death of environmental protection. John as the Hatter Speaker - powerless even to act in his own interest. All demise around him. ..................................................................... 6. The Cock's On The Woodpile

"The cock's on the wood pile a-blowing on his horn, The bull's in the barn a-threshing of corn, The maids in the meadow are making of hay, The ducks in the river are swimming away."

Hatter John blowing, but the jobs of bull and maids are outsourced and now in China. Tea ducks duck responsibility. ................................................................... 7. Hickety Pickety

"Hickety Pickety, my black hen, She lays eggs for gentlemen; Sometimes nine, and sometimes ten, Hickety Pickety my fat hen."

Who owns blacks or any other minority? Has to work for the rich, is that it? ....................................................................... 8. I Love Little Pussy

"I love little Pussy, Her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her, She'll do me no harm. I'll sit by the fire and give her some food, and Pussy will love me, Because I am good."

The delusion of Congressional ethics, news events, international exploitation and violence debacles. See Dominique's mindset that nobody really minds. Just don't hurt her, and she's yours. Dominique was wrong. ................................................................... 9. Polly, Put the Kettle On

"Polly, put the kettle on, Polly, put the kettle on, Polly put the kettle on, And let's drink Tea.

Sukey, take it off again, Sukey, take it off again, Sukey, take it off again, They're all gone away."

Unhappy Harry, the White Rabbit, held his office door open for any, any Republican to enter and discuss mutually satisfactory terms to avert default. Nobody came to negotiate. Nobody. Law of propaganda: Never debate, never cite facts, repeat. ................................................................ 10. Little Girl, Little Girl, Where have you been?

"Little girl, little girl, where have you been?"

"Gathering roses to give to the Queen."

"Little girl, little girl, what gave she you?"

"She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe."

Tea party girls gathering roses for the Koch brothers. Nice rewards. ..................................................................... 11. What's the News of the Day?

"What's the news of the day, Good neighbor, I pray? They say the balloon is gone up to the moon."

Murdoch's empire. ................................................................ 12. Pipe, Cat; Dance, Mouse

"A cat came fiddling out of a barn, With a pair of bagpipes under her arm; She could sing nothing but "Fiddle cum fee, The mouse has married the bumble bee." Pipe, cat, dance, mouse; We'll have a wedding at our good house."

. Inter-species marriages, approved by Mother Goose ......................................................................... 13. Little Robin Redbreast

Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree, Up went Pussy-Cat and down went he; Down came the Pussy-cat and away Robin ran; Says little Robin Redbreast, "Catch me if you can.

The Redbreast Polluter and the Pussy-Cat Regulator. ........................................................................ 14. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes, sir; yes, sir; Three bags full. One for my master, One for my dame; But none for the little boy Who cries in the lane.

The attack on who needs "entitlements" .......................................................................................... 15. Barber, Barber, Shave a Pig Barber, barber, shave a pig, How many hairs will make a wig? 'Four and twenty, that's enough,' give the poor barber a pinch of snuff." Union busting. That's enough. Barber is a loser. A shave and a wig, both for a pinch of snuff? Go home, loser. .................................................................................. 16. Smiling Girls, Rosy Boys

"Smiling girls, rosy boys, Come and buy my little toys -- Monkeys made of gingerbread, And sugar-horses painted red."

Only the rosy need apply for toys. ...................................................................... 17. A Dog and a Cat Went Out

A dog and a cat went out together To see some friends just out of town, Said the cat to the dog, "What d'ye think of the weather?" "I think, ma'am, the rain will come down; But don't be alarmed, for I've an umbrella That will shelter us both," said this amiable fellow.

Washington to dream of. A red dog and a blue cat out together, and the red dog shares. ...................................................................................... 18. A Crooked Man

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, And he found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked little house.

The crooked get elected. ........................................................................ 19. Pussy Sits By The Fire

Pussy sits beside the fire. How did she come there? In walks a little dog, Says -- "Pussy, are you there? How do you do, Mistress Pussy? Mistress Pussy, how do you do?" "I think you kindly, little dog, I fare as well as you."

Sheer fantasy. Where is the equal rights amendment to help her fare as well as he? ...................................................................................... 20. Three Sisters In a Hall

There were three sisters in a hall, There came a Knight amongst them all; Good morrow, aunt, to the one; Good morrow, aunt, to the other, Good morrow, gentlewoman, to the third. If you were my aunt, As the other two be, I would say good morrow, The aunts, all three.

Three sisters, two are aunts, and one is a gentlewoman, says the knight. If she were also an aunt, as she is not, he would say good morrow. What is she to him? And he already said Good morrow to her. What is this all about? Have to find out. Do "Three Sisters" refer to the garden threesome, corn, squash and beans? See http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/1366/ Or the Bronte sisters? But they come later, as does Chekhov. Moving on .... .......................................... 21. Little Bird

"Once I saw a little bird Come hop, hop, hop; So I cried, little bird, will you stop, stop, stop? And was going to the window To say How do you do? But he shook his little tail, And far away he flew."

Bird of economic recovery, flown far away.Talk won't do it. ............................................. 22. Blow, Wind, Blow

"Blow, wind, blow! and go, mill, go! That the miller may grind his corn; That the baker may take it, And into rolls make it, and bring us some hot in the morn."

Incentives needed to make the banks lend, the companies hire here. We just want to be ok. See and hear Ingrid Michaelson at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt955Fj7_JI ........................................................ 23. Hickory, Dickory, Sacara Down

"Hickory, dickory, sacara down! How many miles to Richmond town? Turn to the left and turn to the right, and you may get there by Saturday night."

How far and how to resolution of the debt ceiling crisis. As made up as sacara down, no meaning found that makes sense yet. Some Spanish verb derivations, perhaps the name of a "down" or green, meadow, heath. ..................................................... And on. Our main point is that politics can be lightened and enlightened by a look at old rhymes; and especially fine old illustrations. Where to find these online? For lost lyrics and their meanings, try http://www.rhymes.org.uk/lost-lyrics-old-nursery-rhymes.htm

Wolf, Wolf. Aesop's Tale and Modern Application

2011-03-08T07:28:00.001-05:00

WOLF! WOLF!

Some old tales raise their heads today.

Old, Aesop version: scroll down to Shepherd's boy and the Wolf at ://classics.mit.edu/Aesop/fab.1.1.html/

I. There was a shepherd boy near a village, with a flock of sheep. Bored, he cried out loudly, "Wolf! Wolf!" The villagers came running, and when they saw there was no Wolf, the boy just laughed at them. And sat back to watch the sheep.

Soon, though, a real wolf came. "Help!" cried the shepherd boy. "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers ignored him. And the Wolf, without fear, ate his fill.

II. New. News today. Libya needs help, populations in danger; US is hamstrung from having invaded enough, and on false pretenses, in Irag etc., Middle east.

There was a Nation in the world, that could reach other countries. Bored, the Nation cried out loudly, "WMD! WMD! Invade!" The Nation's people and others in the world came running, and when they saw there were no WMD, no reason to invade, the Nation just laughed at them. And sat back to do whatever.

Soon, though a real reason to invade came. "Help! Cried the Nation. "Invade! Invade! Innocents are being slaughtered!"

But the world ignored the Nation. And the slaughterer of innocents, without fear, killed his fill.

Moral (several versions): A liar, individual or nation, will not be believed, even when speaking truth. Or, calling a false alarm will mean no-one comes when there is a real alarm.

Cultural Roots. Foundings: Rome, Romulus, and Remus

2010-12-05T21:31:00.006-05:00

Rome
The Cultural Founding Tale

The Wolf Who Nursed the Babes. Here, from an old Victorian hatpin.

The Simple-Minded Spin that Followed,
Conveniently Omitting the Gritty, Murderous Essentials of the Founding Character

I. The Question.

We are looking at "founding chemistry" of earliest events, and do elements of those events leech into the culture that follows. Or is there a later winnowing out of earlier crusty values, that enabled a founding, but were embarrassing later. Can early unsavory traits survive the purge. Do they somehow still waft about and take root at seemingly genetic levels in later generations. How is that possible. But it appears to be true. There is a transmission, is there not.

Here we are at Rome.

Empire that lasted for centuries, military might, organization that destroyed tribal societies, stole resources for itself, built transport roads, established political structures and buildings that live on even today. But it was also murderous, ruthless, tolerated no deviance, and that carried on to the religious branch that bears its name, Roman Catholicism, the successor Empire -- a mere transfer of the skills that kept the military order going and did a lateral pirhouette into the so-called spiritual. Is there something about the Roman founding that drove its people along the founders' track/

So we looked it up. Rome's founding. We knew about hills, a wolf that nursed twin boys, the boys founded Rome. Big Deal. But there is a bigger deal behind. Long ignored, as the unsavory parts of any history are quietly buried in later glamor.

II. The overview.

Rome. The City on a Hill. The panoply of gods and goddesses preceding its founding; and continuing.

Then the Empire: the Roman militarist tradition, hierarchies on the march, on the roads, forcing nonconformists to conform, taking territory, taking others’ goods and services, taking, taking, imposing its Order; its philosophers branching out from the earlier Greek; and its hierarchical obsessions dribbling over into that later Church that bears its name. Roman Church with tentacles now global.
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How did the story of Rome’s founding shape its later character as militaristic, unrelenting, an implementer of strategy in order to secure for itself the resources it needed when it outgrew Italy and its immediate environs.

It started with the saving grace of an animal, a wolf. Animal guide. Totem. And the babies saved were, according to legend, in the line of Aeneas, a hero of Troy. See the family tree at ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/family15.html#Alba/.

But for the Wolf, no Rome.

The Wolf did us no favors.

We would have been better off without either Romulus or Remus founding the city that named the Empire, is that so? Or was Rome "destined.". If those particular two wee babes had shriveled in the sun and under a cold moon, would others with their qualities of aggression and tenacity and experiences have sprung up regardless, a Karma idea: That Rome was destined to be. The genii in the geni.

Is that so, did the Wolf enable that militarism and self-serving sense of superiority that has plagued Western Cultures ever after. Or was the Pattern already global, already part of the human story, unstoppable, whether Persian, Alexandrian, Asian, Andean, or King Amulius.
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III. The story:

The Violence of the Founding of Rome.

The Pattern Fixed in the Genes

Characters:
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1. The Royal Niece Rhea Silvia:

She was royalty, of the Family Alba Longa. Were they the ruling family, so that the King was also Alba Longa? Or was his surname different. Not clear. Either way, Rhea Silvia, of the Alba Longas, was, one day, in a sacred grove, looking for water, minding her own business. Another account suggests she was sent to a temple to serve as a vestal virgin by her uncle Amulius, who also earlier deposed his brother Numitor, father of Rhea Silvia. The hope was, for Amulius, that Rhea Silvia would bear no children to threaten his position. See Tales of Rome at ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation/.
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2. Violent Mars:

God of War and other things. He spotted Rhea Silvia. Had his way upon her. Seduced her, he did. Is seduction a violence, when the target ultimately says yes? Is a giving in enough. How do we know whether her consent was voluntary, or merely realistic, a wearing down. Who could save her against a god? Maybe she just wanted him to go away. If I let you do this without scratching you to death, will you just go away. Please. Go away, you unworthy fellow.
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3. Violent King Amulius:

He was Rhea Silvia’s uncle. Was he also of the family of Alba Longa? Not sure. This site says he was the brother of Numitor, so that would also make him of the house of Alba Longa. See ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation/

What’s this, says he, the King? Our nice niece, Rhea Silvia, pregnant? How did that come about, woman! And he put her in a prison, whether a mere restriction to an otherwise nice place for the niece, or not, we do not know. Imprisoned nonetheless. What if Rhea Silvia had asked him before, that her ladies come with her, and the Uncle, whom Mars had earlier favored, looked the other way. Complicit?
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More Violence from King Amulius

Instead of letting his niece Rhea Silvia raise her children, even in seclusion or banishment, he takes the babes, and has them abandoned, exposed on the banks of the Tiber River, death watching. The Tales of Rome site provides that he set the babes afloat on the Tiber in a basket on the advice of his priest -- sounds like Moses. See ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation. The site also says that Rhea Silvia, according to custom, after the birth, was buried alive, or drowned herself in the Tiber.
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4. Wolf.

The Wolf in Rome’s founding. Wanders down by the riverside. The savior by suckling. Nursing the abandoned twins, Romulus and Remus. She did us no favors. Should have let them go, but that is against Motherhood’s urges. Query: how would she move them? They have no scruffs of neck. Perhaps grab a fist and a foot, and trot off. A softie mouth, hers. And wise. Did no harm.
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5. Faustulus the Shepherd; who finds the babes.

There is a shepherd in Rome’s founding. The savior by kidnapping, technically, if animals had right.. So the Wolf had no chance of keeping the little ones. She had done fine -- No finding of neglect. Still, the shepherd cannot be faulted for taking the babes from the Wolf, and raising them as his own children. The time had come. The shepherd's wife was Accra Larentia, see ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation

Taking the twins from the wolf s an event in itself might be seen as nonviolent, even nurturing if the children were already toddlers and the wolf couldn’t cope with these two-legged explorers: but he did a rotten job of it.

No sooner were the kids grown than they turned to robbery. Nice job, Faustulus. Good example for the kiddies. Tell us, where did they learn that trade? Violence in the shepherd's hut? However, the Tales of Rome site mentions no robber tendencies at all: the two brothers continue to act in concert. Not in a life of crime.
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6. Violent Romulus and Remus the Robbers.

Now adult, and robbers (remember, this is the Roman Guide site, not Tales of Rome), they make a bad choice. They were out on the Aventine Hill, one of the seven hills later made part of Rome.

They target there as an easy mark one of the King’s own shepherds. The King is still King Amulius, the same King who had the twins born to his luckless seduced niece, Rhea Silvia, abandoned at the outset.

And the twins failed. Botched this job. Shepherd & co. gave chase, and captured Remus. And they bring him to King Amulius. Tales of Rome says both simply went to the town and killed Amulius.
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The Reveal.

Meanwhile, Romulus high-tailed it back to Faustulus, the Good Daddy who taught them robbery. And Faustulus, hearing of Remus’ fate, told Romulus that he had found both babes by the river.
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The Revenge.

Romulus took off to rescue Remus from Amulius. He got that done, and then killed King Amulius. What?

Something doesn’t fit. We need an investigation into who knew what when, because letting these kids go amok with Faustulus for so long meant a bad end for lots of lives in being. The King obviously knew of it. Why did Amulius let the kids, that he had abandoned so they would die, live, and be raised as robbers. How did he learn of Faustulus? When and how did Faustulus learn of Amulius’ connection to the babies. And, after the initial abandonment, Amulius let the kids go on their own.

Cultural choices
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Rhea Silvia.

The forgotten one. Leave the kids with her, and none of this would have happened this way.

Think of the choices a culture could make. If a culture would make it possible, desirable even, in terms of status and dignity, for the mothers of all children (even the results of seduction and worse) to be mothers, we would be better off. Let her decide whether to incubate, keep and raise, if she wants to, those children, in status and dignity. Provide that status and dignity and problem solved.

If she decides to Rid, it is her consequence with her deity or panoply of deities. No force needed or justified by any third parties. We could have avoided Rome. Rats. Too late. Force anywhere in childbearing or rearing, either way, is not in the world’s best interest.
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The Succession:

7. Numitor.

New King by Regicide.

Romulus, this robber with royal blood, somehow having power to choose a successor now, chooses Rhea Silvia’s father, Numitor. See again the family tree and accounts at ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation/. Amulius was Numitor's brother.

Interesting twist. How would Romulus even know his grandfather? Did he ever meet Rhea Silvia? Romulus, after killing Amelius and rescuing Remus the Hapless, put this Numitor on the throne. An Alba Longa. Romulus and Remus, down the matrilineal line, going back up that matrilineal line to find Numitor. Who? The grandfather of Romulus and Remus, therefore the father of Rhea Silvia.

Rome: The New City founded on a Quarrel

With an Alba Longa ensconced on the throne of that area, wherever it was, Rome-ish area, the twins decide to found their own city. Where?

Where the wolf had found them. Great idea. But they were mere babes in the sand and could not remember where the wolf found them. So they fought about it. Romulus said he had been given a sign from the gods (which? Mars, his father? Nobody connects the dots) and laid out a boundary on the Palatine Hill for the new city. Nuts to that, said Remus. That’s no boundary at all. And to prove his point, he jumped over the line. He wanted the city to be situated on Aventine, see ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation

Ha! Says he. Feeble boundary that. No defense at all.
.

Romulus: King by Fratricide.

Romulus said, I had a sign, Remus you worthless one; and what you are doing is sacrilege.

So Romulus killed Remus. Romulus then became the first King of this new city. The time is 753 BC. See ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Foundation
.

Revving up the City of Misfits.

What city? A city but without people, silly. Our Romulus, the killer, needed people. So he set up a refuge for outlaws and runaways from the rest of Italy. Live here! Be safe! Be a citizen! This place was called Asylum. Here in Hartford, we have Asylum Avenue, Asylum Hill, a place that had housed a refuge for orphans, I think. Asylum – origins in the first concept of Rome. It was on the Capitol Hill.

Rome’s hills: So far, the story has these.

· Avantine – where Romulus and Remus went up the hill to rob a shepherd lowly, they botched the job, and Remus was caught, and Romulus went tumbling after.

· Palatine – where Romulus scratched out his silly line of a boundary, Remus scoffed, and Romulus killed him for it. Later, there were indeed walls, and huts, and graves found there by archeologists and others, supporting the idea that Rome began on Palatine. A cult developed around that idea – cult? Why not call it a religion? What was it?

· Capitol -- where Romulus the Fratricider, the Regicider, Robber, Royalty Half-God, set up his Asylum to people his city with the undesirables whose genes went on forever ye gods. An ancient Australia. A prison colony on the loose. No mind. It wears off, and maybe some were wrongly so labeled.

· Add Quirinalis, from ://www.pantheon.org/articles/q/quirinus.html/ This hill had been peopled by the Sabines, and was somewhat northeast of Rome. If you saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers a million years ago, you might remember, O, Them Sabine (Sobbin’) Women, as the brothers of our Wild West carted off some women to their remote l’il ol’ ranch, in the same manner as the Rape of the Sabine Women of old, except without the plunder and rape, in the Hollywood version. The Sabines are said to have worshiped Quirinis. Their settlement was known as the Quirinal. No jokes about that, please. This account says that Jupiter and Mars ideas were joined to become the new god of the Roman state, Quirinus. This site places Quirinus separately from Jupiter and Mars, but equal, as Three Flames of Rome, see ://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/487539/Quirinus

King Romulus Gets Busy.

In the next 40 years, Romulus had devised and set up

· the senate,

· the army, and

· population divisions, into three tribes. The Pinta, the Nina, the Santa Ma---no! Not that!

And no religion. Then again, Mars had his way with the army being established straight away. Romulus liked fighting, obviously, and was reviewing his troops on the Campus Martius (is that another hill, or just the traditional place for war games?), when there was this huge thunderstorm.

And …

The Ascension of Romulus.

The Gentleman Vanishes. The Romulus Ascension. Romulus then disappears. Poof. There was this big cloud, it covered him all up, and Romulus was gone from human view.
.

Legend fills in the gaps: One legend provides that Mars came with his chariot (swinging low, sweetly), and took his worthy son, Romulus, to heaven. Both names -- the Mars and the Romulus -- were later connected with another name, Quirinus. Some say they were worshipped under that Quirinus label.

Conclusion:

Rome had a violent founding, with characters who took and did as they liked, in a time of fratricide and regicide and abuse of women especially who got pregnant even when gods put upon them, and all went for power and military. Enter the Church after the Empire left so many unemployed. There you go. Is that so? The Miasma. Early violence winnowed out. Vestiges then start growing again in a militaristic, intolerant religion, enlisting the unemployed and those whose mindsets are already fixed, obey or you are out. Is that so? What parts of that are unfairly stated?

.....................................................................................

Research ongoing: so far, see Roman Guide at www. romanguide.com/ancientrome/romulus-and-remus.html; and Tales of Rome at ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/family15.html#Alba/ Where there is no other source listed, the source is Roman Guide. The Tales of Rome site has other legends, stories about the founding, including that Romulus and Remus were more likely one person, later separated into separate characters. Do see the full site at ://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/rome.html#Twins

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2010-10-04T18:13:00.003-04:00

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Middle Eastern Tales - Baghdad, then Iraqi Jews, Kurdish, Other Sources

2010-03-27T18:51:00.001-04:00

A favorite theme among cultural tales is the comeuppance - the evildoer or trickster who ultimately is foiled, often by his own means.

In these days of cultural divides particularly between Muslim and Christian culture, see this commonality in a Middle Eastern story, dating back to the time of the Thousand and One Nights

1. Read "The Enchanted Storks" at http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/019.html/. There was a mighty Caliph, a good man and revered ruler, who often disguised himself with his Vizier, and hoth went into the city to learn of the talk of the citizens. He and the Vizier fall prey to a spell when all they wanted to do was enjoy a fine flight above Baghdad.

But, is the beggar who told them the magic words, and gave them the mysterious box, really a beggar? Does sorcery as a shortcut ever work. What happens when the Caliph and Vizier disappear? Who comes to take power, and is there a comeuppance.

This is not a long story - find it at the site.

"The Enchanted Storks: - a retelling by Aaron Shepard, from an earlier written tale that then became told frequently. Do a search for his name. It is seldom that a full tale is online, and this is a delight for us who are overused to European tales.

2. Still in the Middle East -- Tales of Iraqi Jews - collected in Israel, representing a long tradition.

See ://babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/pub7.htm/. This, however, does not offer access directly to the folktales.

Changing websites: There used to be reference to these folktales at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, but its site has moved to www://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/welcome.htm. Now we cannot locate the Iraqi Jews tales.

Still, Nanzan University in Japan offers much in cultural tale collecting, and the Iraqi Jewish tales may still be there, see http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/English/index.html, that also has a fine section (indexed) on Japanese folktales about the human condition, at ://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/AFSMonographs/pdf/AFS%20Monograph%208.PDF

Go to pages 184 ff.

3. Kurdish folktales -see http://www.scribd.com/doc/2490840/Kurdish-folktales/ Scroll down and enjoy. Start at page 4 for the index of titles: as you read of Iraqi divisions in politics and war, and the Kurdish identity crossing borders, take time to see them as a culture with concerns and lessons through stories similar to ours.

We started scrolling around and started with the Black Slave. Start where you like --

King of the East
The Cleverness of the Three Brothers
The Black Slave (a moral - find and ascertain facts before acting)
Brokenhearted Uncle Homar
The World-Revealing Goblet
The King Who Had Seven Sons
The Results of Stinginess
Give Up Your Head But Don't Divulge Your Secret
The Grateful Bear
Hasan the Trapper
The Result of Greed
The Zay Tree and the Tay Falcon
Hisayn the Water Carrier
King Amad
The King and Fate
The Weaver's Son
Strike, Strike, What You Saw Is All You'll Get

Pick one.

Start reading. We have ....

Ma Liang and His Magic Brush; and The Red Shoes. Repetitive Motion. Western Darkness.

2009-06-25T13:30:00.002-04:00

This is about a Chinese story child, and his magic writing implement that will not stop doing what it does, when it is taken by the wrong person. What happens next? Compare to The Red Shoes, also about repetitive motion. Watch for the uses of involuntary repetitive motion, a result once highly desired and practiced for - the muscle memory. But in some stories, the repetitive motion takes over. What occurs when the repetitive motion becomes uncontrollable. It becomes a as a punishment, a morality idea, but thereafter -- See how East is bright, and West is dark in what it means.
.

Ideas cross cultural boundaries to reach a human condition. But how the cultures treat the theme? Night and Day.

I. Ma Liang and His Magic Brush

Ma Liang and his friends; from Jon's trip to China

Here is a little boy named Ma Liang who is artistic and observant, though he finds little time for his pastime because of all the work he must do to help support the family. One day, he falls asleep and has a wonderful dream. He was drawing with a real brush, and paint.

And, more wonderful, when he woke, he found a marvelous brush in his own hand. Ah, he says. I will try. And he draws this, and it comes to life. And he draws that, and it also moves on its own.

cormorant

Then, a cormorant of pen and sketch spreads its wings and flies out to sea. Such a wonder!

I will do good with this gift, thinks the boy, and he does. He draws nets for fishermen whose nets are in tatters, and words of his good deeds spreads.

Unfortunately, the emperor hears, and wants the pen for himself. So he imprisons the boy and takes the brush in his own hand..

Guan Di, Emperor, 7th Century China, venerated as god of war

But the bad emperor wants only to benefit himself, and soon --- and then --- and still he kept going, and then the brush would not leave his hand, and it would not stop, it went on and it drew and it drew and the things came to life, and the jewels he coudl not stop drawing amassed around him higher and higher and on and....

Meanwhile....

Find parts of it, a google book at ://books.google.com/books?id=95qSZFs3pWUC&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=Chinese+folktale+cormorant&source=bl&ots=WB2Y17U3xI&sig=d_wa7Pegj_lQUDGSTLuQikPZqfA&hl=en&ei=h6VDSpeGOpLmM6DzqZ8B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4/.

A child can understand. Live it. See it. Feel it. Learn from it. Do good, and good comes back to you, that sort of thing. Want all the good for yourself, and watch out.

II. The Red Shoes.

The tale. Now, reread The Red Shoes, by Hans Christian Andersen, and see the dark side pushed so far that the tale itself becomes scary.

In the Hans Christian Andersen tale, find a girl who is given a pair of red shoes, but when she is adopted, they are burned.

She cannot resist another pair when they appear, and must have them, the temptation is go great. And, having the red shoes, while the other little girls in their black and gray file into the church; for a time the shoes are so wonderful. All good things! More and more, they open up the world to her. But -- then the more she enjoys it, the more she cannot stop. Chop off my feet! So I can repent! And on the story goes....

See the ballet: Moira Shearer in 1948, at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slo5FZyPtfw&feature=related/ for Part I. Click on Part II in the left hand vertical menu, and go seamlessly to Part II. See it all happen. Across the stage after her flights into the joys and cinders of the world, the people who turn to paper before her eyes, come the The Christian overlay of sin, repentance, vanity, all the things that keep a story from being a tale of common sense, help-others morality that all can understand; and it becomes instead a frightening, threatening ideology. Watch out, little girl. See what happened to little Karen here....See The Red Shoes, at ://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/984/

Listen for the Dies Irae as a booming undercurrent just barely recognizable in the ballet, and hear it as chant at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0/; and a simpler version at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMHms5Cvsw/

Again, the clergy, cold, pale, and the people, worse. No warmth, just in lock-step. Ah,the girl, who indulged her talent, went on her own, shone until she dropped. And she did. And the shoes?

Coming to a mall near you....

Now: Back

Tale: Who Will Bell The Cat? Piers Plowman; and 14th Century Social and Economic Theory

2009-04-11T15:11:00.005-04:00

Who Will Bell The Cat

Where a later elaboration
improves the original.

Free Markets, Intervention Issues.

Aesop's simplistic Fable becomes Philosophical: a Model for Economics;

In Piers Plowman,
Poem by William Langland
1332-1400

Learn what happened after the mice acknowledged that their plan would not work, to save themselves by belling the cat. The idea was to construct an alarm to sound whenever the cat approached. Then the mice in the vicinity could escape. But no-one was willing to risk himself to do the belling. No-one emerged to do the deed.

William Langland was an Englishman in about 1377. He wrote a long poem, "Piers Plowman," and in it is a creative addition to Aesop's "Who Will Bell The Cat?"

But that addition - a kind of a post script - has been largely forgotten and the only tale we remember is Aesop's. It ends when noone will step up to implement the plan.

The Langland addition focuses on philosophy -- the consolation, in a way. What might have happened if the mice actually had succeeded in belling the cat - was it worse than what they were already enduring. If the cat had been saddled with a bell, so it could not catch its mice, would the population of mice so increase that everyone in the community would suffer. Would not many cats then come to enjoy the feast. And those new cats would not be wearing bells. Is it more in the common interest to allow a degree of death and destruction to a few, so the many can survive. Is the solution to watch out for one's own, one's own family, see that they are as safe as can be, and let others do the same.

tolerate limited damage or death to a few, so that the larger group may live.

The story:

A group of mice gets together to address a common problem of attacks on their numbers by the local feline, and decide that the solution is to bell the cat.

Most versions stop with the original from Aesop's fables, the mice unable to find anyone with the will or ability to take on the risk of belling the cat for the greater good, so the idea falls apart. See Aesop's Fables, Belling the Cat, at ://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables/Belling_the_Cat_p1.html/ Aesop had a way of being brief.

Piers Plowman's character's post script:

The story, however, goes on in the later version by William Langland, in about 1377 - but his creativity does not get reported. The reported part also refers to no mouse man enough to bell the cat. See ://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bell+the+cat,+who+will/.

The unreported part of William Langland's version is more important: William Langland, 1332-1400. This is from his "Prologue to the Vision of Piers Plowman, Version B,} at History Guide, ://www.historyguide.org/ancient/langland.html/

Piers Plowman? (really Quebec 2008)

Langland offers us a look at life among the poor in the 14th Century England.

Read slowly, absorb. Do a "find" for "mouse" to get to this section on belling the cat, because the Prologue is long: Fair use bits here. In the story, there is a mouse who continues with wisdom after the group finds it is unable to get someone to bell the cat. The wise mouse gets them to consider what would have happened, had they prevailed against this particular cat:

* * * * *

`Though we killed the cat yet there would come another,

To scratch us and all our kind though we creep under benches.

Therefore I counsel all the commons to let the cat be,

And be we never so bold to show to him the bell;:

***

:For better is a little loss than a long sorrow;

He's the fear among us all whereby we miss worse things.

For many men's malt we mice would destroy,

And the riot of rats would rend men's clothes,

Were it not for that Court cat that can leap in among you;

For had ye rats your will ye could not rule yourselves.

As for me,' quoth the mouse 'I see so much to come

That cat nor kitten never shall by my counsel be harmed,

Nor carping of this collar that cost me nothing.

Though it had cost me full dear I would not own to it

But suffer him to live and do just as he liketh:

Coupled and uncoupled to catch what they can.

Therefore each wise wight I warn to watch well his own.'

* * * * *

II. So, what is the moral?

To each his own interpretation of anything, but try this:

If the damage from a death-dealer is contained, and only the survival of some is at stake, a relatively small group, then apply the rule of tough. Leave the cat alone. A few will die, but the group will live.

If the damage extends too far, to the wellbeing of all, the demise of the entire community and repercussions thereafter, there may have to be a different result.

III. But What Do We Tell Our Children?

Then, see an absolutely ridiculous version of belling the cat: drippy, soft, foolishly surface, watered-down version for kids with no thoughts allowed to enter between their ears, at ://www.kidsfront.com/stories-for-kids/bell_the_cat.html

Note that in the real story, there is more than just the mice who came up with the great solution to the cat problem - a bell on a collar. And more than the fact that the idea failed because noone came forth to actually do it.

IV. What else does it say?

This little tale is also a (would you believe) hymn to the free market, to be wary of interventions that could lead to worse.

So is the mouse's idea to limit any intervention that could be implemented, so it is truly temporary, lest greater evils result? He says that evern if the mice could kill this cat, another arises, is the idea, so be realistic.
.

So: Is this the moral for a modern age:

Regulate when needed, clearly needed for the really greater good,. not just to protect a few who were in the wrong place in the wrong time. Each to watch well his own in that case. Fair enough. Here: criteria met. Regulate, find the whatever means needed and available. Bonuses? May be unstoppable in retrospect, because of contract law. But recoup, Obama, recoup it.

Is that it? That works. Do it. A cat out there? Better is a little loss, than a long sorrow.

Fair use finis.

Tale: The Peasant In Heaven. Grimm; and the Bible's Camel

2009-03-25T11:42:00.008-04:00

How hard it is to get into heaven?
Grimm says, a rich man gets in very 100 years.

The Bible analogizes (0r does it?)
to camels getting through eyes of needles.

Not.

Read: The Peasant in Heaven.
Then explore the role of translations
in what specifically we are told to believe.

Find this Grimm Tale at://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_peasant_in_heaven/

Poor Fellow

Why are there so few rich people in heaven. Glad you asked. A poor fellow arrived in heaven at the same time as a rich man. Such a celebration for the rich man! But no-one paid attention to the poor fellow.

Why, asked the poor man of St. Peter? Why? Why does no-one pay attention to me?

Because the poor often arrive here, says St. Peter, but a rich man only arrives once in a hundred years.

Fine: and now comes to mind a Bible story about how hard it is for a rich man to get into heaven. As hard as a camel passing through the eye of a needle. See Matthew 19:24. But go to the transliteration at ://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/mat19.pdf/ It has "needle" and "camel" but lots of words not transliterated at all. Also at Mark - ://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/mar10.pdf/. Still, could be the camel and the needle.

The difficulty for the rich in getting into heaven - easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven. Some interpret it as meaning the shape of the gate itself, low so that a camel has to bow its head, and take a straight path. Thus, fine for the rich to get into heaven so long as they go through the gate on a straight path.

Others debunk the strained interpretation in favor of the more literal - it is just harder, thank you, ://www.debunker.com/texts/needleye.html/

Then see the translators' issues with the meaning of the word given to us as "camel" at ://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm/ That says that the translation of camel is wrong. From the Greek, the word we see as "camel" is a close but misspelling from the word that should have been translated as "rope". It is harder to thread a needle with rope, than for a rich man to enter heaven or whatever.

Translations. Get us in trouble all the time. Nobody wants to find out their precious image is just plain wrong. Is that so? Are we stubborn as camels? Are they stubborn? or sensible, knowing their limits and what they will tolerate.

The Bawdy. The Lange Wapper, Flanders, at Antwerp's Steen

2009-03-24T16:44:00.008-04:00

The Lange Wapper

Once upon a time, at the little town of Antwerp, there lived a giant so big that the people were dwarfed around him. And he had an Attribute that awed the whole country and there was a statue put up and that caused the women of the village and even beyond to come and hope and whatever and thereafter to have lots and lots of children. And so they did. And the town became famous.
.
The Lange Wapper, Steen, Antwerp, Belgium
.
Then, in the 17th Century, along came certain well-organized institutional religious persons.

And in the minds of these religious persons, the statue with the Attribute was unseemly. And they were jealous of the attention to it and the jocularity abounding about.

And they said, with gravitas, that such an Attribute on a statute was not to be used instead of doctrine.

Incensed, they declared that an Attribute was not to be used as an object of veneration. No longer could it be considered as having magical powers that superseded their institutional organized ways to ask for children.

So.
They.
Lopped.
It.
Off.

They censored it. And the people were disappointed, and thought it silly for the uniformed ones to lop while imagination easily put the Attribute back, and with even more fun, but nonetheless, there they were. FN 2

But the people prevailed.

Centuries later, they named a great modern bridge "The Lange Wapper" - see ://www.flanderstoday.eu/content/lange-wapper-bridge-plan-collapses-under-weight-protestors/

And they named a newspaper after it, see ://de.langewapper.be/

But the grinches keep trying to mold the story and leave out the Attribute, see ://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/lange_wapper.html, as though little children have no sense of humor or, worse, no common sense. Others just say he roamed the streets looking for the drunkards. ://www.hotels-belgium.com/albums/antwerp/antwerp-112-steen.htm/ Now, in a pose like that, is he out looking for WUI's? FN 1

We are looking to see what the original Lange Wapper looked like - was it actually this one? This one looks too modern. Back in a sec.

...................................................................

FN 1 Go see. Behind there, in the picture, is the Steen - a castle in Antwerp, Belgium, at the entry to the city center, on the River Scheldt. There is a maritime museum inside.

Steen means a castle-like fortification, and this one is special because it was made of stones, perhaps in the 13th Century. At the time, most buildings were still made of wood. You can see the line where the big reconstructions started. See://www.trabel.com/antwerp/antwerp-steen.htm/

FN 2 Now, people in many places will rub a statue for luck, or to get a wish granted, or for homage. People also kiss statues, icons. See ://www.saintignatiuschurch.org/icons.html - scroll down past the icon of Mary for the description, the theology.

Gregor of Nin, Croatia

Here, in Nin, Croatia, see the great toe of Bishop Gregory. He used the local language for mass. But along came.... and he was out.

The toe is worn and shiny. The toe knows.

Tale: Jack, the Giant-Killer, King Arthur, Cornwall, Cormoran, and St. Michael's Mount

2009-03-23T04:58:00.007-04:00

Jack, the Giant-Killer

Distraction and displacement as propaganda tools.

St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall, England

St. Michael's Mount is an island Cathedral site, with village and shops, where once Jack killed the Giant.

Mount St. Michael is on the way to the long Cornwall peninsula, England. This island monastery was modeled after Mont St, Michel, in France. But its history is not religous. It is here that the brave lad, Jack, slew the giant, named Cormoran, who was eighteen feet high; and if you measured him around, he measured nine feet.

The time was long ago - in King Arthur's time. The giant would sleep in a cave on top of the mountain there, and wade to land for his prey, heaving the hapless oxen, sheep and hogs on his great shoulders. He had a fierce tongue, apparently, striking fear in the people. But the giant did not eat people, so was not all bad.

Read the story at "The History of Jack the Giant Killer at ://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/291.htm/

Saucy Jack dug a deep pit and lured the giant to fall in, and there whacked his head with a pick-axe.

Another giant, however, Blunderbore, heard of this and also met his end at the hands of Jack. Then came Galligantus, also done in. And the Welsh giant was induced to do himself in, and so on. The giants were falling!

What had the giants done to Jack? The first giant had only taken livestock for food, and had a scary mouth. Is that so bad? Is lack of real justification, is our Jack a serial killer? Consider.

When you visit St. Michael's Mount, get there at low tide so you can walk the cobbled causeway out to the island. The tide comes in fast - part of the old defense thinking - and we were up to our knees by the time we got across. Then it was back by little motor launch ferrying the folks home again.

But why is so little of this story known as originating there. Why do we only hear of angels, not Jack and the giants. Which is more fun? Why did the Christian story take over.

What happened after the Christians took over is a tale in itself in cultures around the world. The story of our Jack was subsumed, by the Christian Archangel's doings, and the mountain on the island with the cave became a monastery pilgrimage site. See ://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/stmichaels_mount.html/ Distract from the old tale with something new.

Why am I thinking of an amoeba now when I think of Christianity. The glob sees a bit of food and simply surrounds and overwhelms it by its bulk, absorbing it in. So the bit is no more. Effective, but not merit-based. Is that so? Boom.

Tales: The Big Birds. The Phoenix; The Turul

2009-01-28T20:08:00.090-05:00

The Turul, Budapest

Cultural Big Birds

I. The Phoenix:
The Undying. Perishes in the Flames
But Its Ashes Give Rebirth

II. The Turul:
The Origins, Saving and Guiding of the Magyar
..............................................................

I. The Phoenix

Whose version of the Phoenix is the oldest: and what does it mean to each culture. Why the similarities? What common roots. See "Phoenix Rising: Mythical Realm at ://www.mythicalrealm.com/creatures/phoenix.html

Chinese - Feng Huang

symbolizes virtue and grace, prosperity, power; union of yin and yang, crushes nothing - it is so gentle - eats only dew (see Arabia below)
symbolizes the Empress - the Emperor would be the Dragon; only the Empress would wear the symbol, as it represnted power from the Phoenix to her
in home decor: means loyalty and honesty in the people who live there
in jewelry: the wearer has high moral values
composed of many parts: cock's beak, swallow's face, snake's neck, goose breast, tortoise back, stag hindquarters, fish tail
appeared first 7000 years ago - often attacking snake
seen in jade, or as good luck item;
2200 years ago: represented the direction South (male and female phoenixes facing each other), carrying scrolls and singing song of the five whole notes of the scale; feathers of the basic five colors, black, white, red, green, yellow
Confucian virtues: loyalty, honesty, decorum, justice; put the phoenix on graves, tomes

Japanese - Ho Oo

Male is Ho, female is Oo
6th-7th C AD
nests in pawlonia tree, only appears at birth of virtuous ruler, does good deeds, then returns to celestials. Or, appears only in just and prosperous times, very rare.
Symbol of royal family, especially Empress. Represents the sun, justice, fidelity, obedience
see it on mirrors, lacquerware, furnishings

Russian - Firebird

Arabia -

scarlet, gold, melodious, big as an eagle, a dawn song so enchanting that even the sun god stopped to listen
only one Phoenix lives at a time; life spans vary 500-12,994 years
as its death time approaches, it builds a pyre with aromatics, including myrrh, sets it alight, is consumed; and from its ashes three days later, it rises - some say from the midst of the flames; the newly young phoenix takes the ashes and puts them into an egg of myrrh and takes it to the city of the sun, Heliopolis to the altar of the sun god.
represents death and rebirth of the sun; lives on dew, kills nothing, crushes nothing,
early references Hesiod in 8th C BC, and Herodotus in 5th C BC, references to Ganges also, Assyria,

Native American - Yel

Eqyptian - Benu

longing for immortality
heron, depicted with two large head feathers, ostrich plumes, or crown, or disc of sun
its cry marked the beginning of time, at creation as dry land appeared,
manifestation of resurrected god Osiris; perches in sacred willow
Clement of Rome (end of 1st Century AD) made allegory: the phoenix now represented the risen Christ, life after death; also the undying Rome and it appears on Roman coins

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II. The Turul

Massive. There above the highway on the mountain, 'way up. Huge wingspan. On the way from Bratislava to Budapest. See Hungary Road Ways, Turul.

Meet the great mythical falcon, there on the top of the tree of life, appearing variously in the "Altaic" culture (have to look that up) as a vulture, and in the Sumerian as the im-"Dugud" eagle with its lion head. Divine intervention through the messenger, Turul , established the royal family, according to the version of the Arpad clan (another to look up). The Turul appears in Asian legends as bringing the priesthood to Emesha, a woman, and ensured her fertility. /And so, the line of rulers.

The Turul is also the symbol of the House of Attila. Find all this at "The Legend of the Turul" at ://forums.skadi.net/archive/index.php/t-91868.html/. The problem at the site is the typeface - tiny - but it does compress the information down. Easier to skim to what you may want. Find youreyeglasses first.

Fey Tales: Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Selling the Otherwise Unbelievable

2009-01-18T04:17:00.016-05:00

Bog. Who lives here? Mwah ha ha.

The World of the Fey:

Imagination and "Tetch" in Fairy Tale;

The Prophetic and the Inspired in Religion

Expressing truths sideways; buying the sell.

Believe! Click your heels. Clap your hands. Why do we do it?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of the suspension of disbelief back in 1817 - see site from the University of Pennsylvania at ://www.english.upenn.edu/~mgamer/Etexts/biographia.html/.

That willing disbelief constitutes what he called a "poetic faith." The process in this poetic faith first requires a semblance of truth, or some fact for persuasion purposes, just enough to get the reader over the hump of disbelief for the time being. Enough to perhaps get hooked.

We use it all the time in entertainment, religion, fairy tales, politics. Why does it work so well?

Psychoanalysis may call this process of suspending disbelief as dependent on "regression" in order to work. See blurb at PsyArt Online Journal at ://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/2003_holland06.shtml/. Do we go back to being children, waiting to be fed.

Kant just called it "false belief," see the PsyArt blurb.

These ideas can start explaining the process, but not why we are so ready to jump on board. Disbelief. We need disbelief. Why suspend it? Disbelief is a brake on imagination and inspiration both, an anchor in reality. See disbelief at ://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/disbelief.html/

1. We like entertainment mixed with politics.

Look at one person impersonating another, conjuring up while on stage. Look at the wealth of information and persuasion conveyed, in a look, a gesture. Tina Fey? See, or not, video at ://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/13/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-o_n_126249.html/ The point is not the politics here, but the example of an eerie ability to channel, conjure, by inflection, gesture, mimicry, barbing. Truly fey.

2. We like mystery, vague threat, the chill of someone who knows

an otherworldly foreboding of doom,
fated,
otherworldly,
visionary,
able to see the future.

In fey tales, prophesies come true, at one extreme. Anointed ones arrive to fit the bill. Or, at the other, seen as jest a little bit tetched - quaintly unconventional - see ://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fey/.

3. We never grew up, no we'll never grow up

We want (judging from films, video games, books) What is the role of fantasy and scariness, suspending disbelief, focusing on oddity, and strange explanations and warnings, in a child's upbringing. What do our imaginings or beliefs reflect. A truth or a need? Whose view is imagination, or manipulation; and whose is inspiration. What is fable, and what is parable. Battles are fought. What is Fey-ble?

Call the fey "religion" and it becomes doctrine. Call the fey a "fairy tale" and it gets told at bedtime.
.
The world of film engages this as a matter of course. See Media College at ://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/s/suspension-of-disbelief.html/ It must "seem" believable, or the person must want so so badly to believe - as in politics - that they will follow anyone who says what they want to hear. But without a kernel of credibility, mere confusion and ridicule can result.

The sense that there is Truth in the Oblique.

Can truths be best expressed by the oblique, the angle from the side; not the direct examinaiton of a lab microscope slide with the amoebas, and the petri dish and the magnifying glass for human truths. The angle in.

Is that the appeal, the survival ability of the fey. Truth through the oblique. The fey, the tales. The sideways.

Is that why so many religions adopt the fey that exists in the locale when the new religion comes in to convert the loals, spin the fey that was already there, into their own. Because the local fey does indeed convey truths.

That is the key to survival of the fey. Any that did not convey some truth would drown in the bog, not wait there for the passerby, to inspire or destroy.

5. The Range of Themes.

We still do it. We are attracted to the fey. Even prefer it to the dogma plunked on top, forcing an interpretation.

Tree, just past the clearing in the deep wood. It will soon be hungry again. Run home, little child. It is getting dark ....

5.1 Getting back in touch with the fey.

First, go to a commercial bookstore and sit in the children's section and read a while. Go to the Tolkien level for reading for older young people and adults. See the Science Fiction, the Fantasy sections. We love it as a culture. See the kids' gaming areas.

Then look back at the characters and events and warnings and oddities recorded with such care in older tales - try this site: "Faerie and Fairy Names," at ://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/faerie.htm/.

That offers a context, a description, and the kinds of activities of all those folk.

Great Britain,
Romania,
Slav,
Eskimo,
Assyrian,
Jewish,
German,
Inca,
etc

Any ancient heritage - see them there, in the lists of their beings. Which ones help who else, which fake being this or that, which craft mischief, which similarities carry over like memes. Are we imagining our place, or are we inspired as we express it.

Genesis Before "Genesis" - Early Tale of Origins, Mechanical Translation OT Excerpt

2009-01-13T03:57:00.015-05:00

Montenegro

Genesis Pre-Genesis

Tale of Beginnings -

Out of a Textual Whole,
What Do Cultures Elect to Emphasize

A read-aloud creation cultural story here. Absorb its flow, if you can, free of your own theology, if any.

Hear: Hear these words as a tale of origins, as any culture has a tale of origins. A tale, a myth, an inspired idea even about understandings of first creations, is something to be told. Take an index card to hold your place on each line, and see how the words flow, and what impressions you get from the text. This format is as free of later theologies as we can get so far.

Here: Here we offer fair use and transformative use of transliterated equivalent of Genesis 1-4, a portion of the entire Old Testament transliterated mechanically (mechanical translation) in an interlinear format with notes and symbols explaining, at www.scripture4all.org/ At that site find the entire Old Testament transliterated in that painstaking interlinear way, word by word corresponding to each hebrew construct, from early Hebrew; and the entire New Testament transliterated from Greek. *

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.

GENESIS 1-4
Tablet Sources, Parchments?*
.

in beginning he created Elohim the heavens and the earth and the earth she became chaos and vacancy and darkness over surfaces of abyss and spirit of Elohim vibrating over surfaces of the waters and he is saying Elohim he shall become light and he is becoming light and he is seeing Elohim the light that good and he is separating Elohim between the light and between the darkness and he is calling Elohim to (the) light day and to (the) darkness he calls night and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day one and he is saying Elohim he shall become atmosphere in midst of the waters and he shall become separating between waters to waters and he is making Elohim the atmosphere and he is separating between the waters which from under to (the) atmosphere and between the waters which from on to (the) atmosphere and he is becoming so and he is calling Elohim to (the) atmosphere heavens and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day second and he is saying Elohim they shall be flown together the waters from under the heavens to place (ri)and she shall be seen the dry and he is becoming so and he is calling Elohim to (the) dry land and to confluence of the waters he called seas and he is seeing Elohim that good [Our Genesis 1:11-19] and he is saying Elohim she shall cause to vegetate the land vegetation herbage sowing seed tree of fruit making fruit to species of him which seed of him in him on the land and he is becoming so and she is (bring)ing forth the land vegetation herbage sowing seed to species of him and tree making fruit which seed of him in him to species of him and he is seeing Elohim that good and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day third and he is saying Elohim he shall become luminaries in atmosphere of the heavens to to separate of between the day and between the night and they become for signs and for appointments and for days and years and they become for luminaries in atmosphere of the heavens to to (give) light of on the earth and he is becoming so and he is making Elohim two of the luminaries the great ones the luminary the great to ruling of the day and the luminary the small to ruling of the night and the stars and he is giving them Elohim in atmosphere of the heavens to to (give) light of on the earth and to to rule of in (the) day and in (the) night and to to separate of between the light and between the darkness and he is seeing Elohim that good and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day fourth [Our Genesis 1:20-28] and he is saying Elohim they shall roam the waters roamer of soul living and flyer he shall fly over the earth on faces of atmosphere of the heavens and he is creating Elohim the monsters the great ones and every of soul the living the moving which they roam the waters to species of them and every of flyer of wing to species of him and he is seeing Elohim that good and he is blessing them Elohim to to say (be) fruitful you and increase you and fill you the waters in (the) seas and the flyer he shall increase in (the) earth and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day fifth and he is saying Elohim she shall forth the earth soul living to species of her beast and moving and animal of him land to species of her and he is becoming so and he is making Elohim animal of the land to species of her and the beast to species of her and every of moving (animal) of the ground to species of him and he is seeing Elohim that good and he is saying Elohim we shall make human in image of us as likeness of us and they shall sway in fish of the sea and in flyer of the heavens and in (the) beast and in all of the earth and in every of the moving (animal) the one moving on the land and he is creating Elohim the human in image of him in image of Elohim he created him male and female he created them and he is blessing them Elohim and he is saying to them Elohim (be) fruitful you and increase you and fill you the earth and subdue you her and sway you in fish of the sea and in flyer of the heavens and in every of animal the one moving on the land [Our Genesis 1:29-31'and he is saying Elohim behold I give to you every of herbage seeding seed which on surfaces of all of the earth and every of the tree which in him fruit of tree seeding seed for you he is becoming for food and for every of animal of the land and for every of flyer of the heavens and for every of moving animal on the land which in him soul living and every of green herbage for food and he is becoming so and he is seeing Elohim all of which he made and behold good very and he is becoming evening and he is becoming morning day of the sixth [Our Genesis 2:1-10] and they are being finished the heavens and the earth and all of host of them and he is finishing Elohim in (the) day the seventh work of him which he did and he is ceasing in (the) day the seventh from all of work of him which he did and he is blessing Elohim day of the seventh and he is making holy him that in him he ceased from all of work of him which he created Elohim to to do of these genealogical annals of the heavens and the earth in to be created of them in day of to make of Yahweh Elohim earth and heavens and any of shrub of the field ere he is becoming in (the) earth and any of herbage of the field ere he is sprouting that not he caused (the) rain Yahweh Elohim on the earth and human (there) is no to to serve of the ground and humidity he is ascending from the earth and he irrigated all of (sur)faces of the ground and he is forming Yahweh Elohim the human soil from the ground and he is blowing in nostrils of him breath of lives and he is becoming the human to soul living and he is planting Yahweh Elohim garden in Eden from east and he is placing there the human whom he formed and he is causing (to) sprout Yahweh Elohim from the ground every of tree being coveted to sight and good for food and tree of the lives in midst of the garden and tree of the knowledge of good and evil and stream forth (go)ing from Eden to to irrigate of the garden and from there he is being parted and he became to four heads [Our Genesis 2:11-19[ name of the one Pison he the one surrounding all of land of the Havilah which there the gold and gold of the land the (s)he good there the pearl and stone of the onyx and name of the stream the second Gihon he the one surrounding all of land of Cush and name of the stream the third Hiddekel he the one going east of Asshur and the stream the fourth he Euphrates and he is taking Yahweh Elohim the human and he is leaving him in garden of Eden to to serve of her and to to keep of her and he is instructing Yahweh Elohim on the human to to say of from any of tree of the garden to eat you shall eat and from tree of the knowledge of good and evil not you shall eat from him that in day of to eat of you from him to die you shall die and he is saying Yahweh Elohim not good to be of the human to alone of him I shall make for him helper as in front of him and he is forming Yahweh Elohim from the ground every of animal of the field and every one of flyer of the heavens and he is bringing to the human to to see of what he shall call to him and all which he is calling to him the human soul living he name of him [Our Genesis 2:20-25] and he is calling the human names to all of the beast and to flyer of the heavens and to every of animal of the field and for Adam not he found helper as in front of him and he is causing fall Yahweh Elohim stupor on the human and he is sleeping and he is taking one from angular (organ)s of him and he is closing flesh under her and he is building Yahweh Elohim the angular (organ) which he took from the human to woman and he is bringing her to the human and he is saying the human this one the once bone from bones of me and flesh from flesh of me to this one he shall be called woman that from man she was taken this one on so he is leaving man father of him and mother of him and he clings in woman of him and they become to flesh one and they were two of them naked ones the human and woman of him and not they are shaming (them)selves [Our Genesis 3:1-10]

and the serpent he became crafty from all of animal of the field which he made Yahweh Elohim and he is saying to the woman indeed that he said Elohim not you shall eat from any of tree of the garden and she is saying the woman to the serpent from fruit of tree of the garden we are eating and from fruit of the tree which in midst of the garden he said Elohim not you shall eat from him and not you shall touch in him lest you shall die and he is saying the serpent to the woman not to die you shall die that one knowing Elohim that in day of to eat of you from him and they are unclosed eyes of you and you become as Elohim ones knowing of good and evil and she is seeing the woman that good the tree for food and that yearning he to the eyes and being coveted the tree to to make intelligent of and she is tasting from fruit of him and she is eating and she is giving moreover to man of her with her and he is eating and they are being unclosed eyes of two of them and they are knowing that naked ones they and they are sewing leaf of fig (tree) and they are making for them(selves) girdle-(skirts) and they are hearing sound of Yahweh Elohim walking in (the) garden to wind of the day and he is hiding self the human and woman of him from faces of Yahweh Elohim in midst of tree of the garden and he is calling Yahweh Elohim to the human and he is saying to him where you and he is saying sound of you I heard in (the) garden and I am fearing that naked I and I am hiding [Our Genesis 3:11-19] and he is saying who he told to you that naked you from the tree which I instructed you to so as not to eat of from him you ate and he is saying the human the woman whom you gave with me the she gave to me from the tree and I am eating and he is saying Yahweh Elohim to (the) woman what this you did and she is saying the woman the serpent he lured me and I am eating and he is saying Yahweh Elohim to the serpent that you did this being cursed you from all of the beast and from all of animal of the field on torso of you you shall go and soil you shall eat al of days of lives of you and enmity I am setting between you and between the woman and between seed of you and between seed of her he he shall hurt you head and you you shall hurt him heel to the woman he said to increase I am increasing grief of you and pregnancy of you in grief you shall (give) birth sons and to man of you impulse of you and he shall rule in you and to Adam he said that you listened to voice of woman of you and you are eating from the tree which I instructed you to to say of not you shall not from him being cursed the ground in sake of you in grief you shall eat her all of days of lives of you and thorn and weed she shall sprout for you and you eat herbage of the field in sweat of nostrils of you you shall eat bread until to return of you to the ground that from her you were taken that soil you and to soil you shall return and he is calling the human name of woman of him Eve that she she becomes mother of all of living one and he is making Yahweh Elohim for Adam and for woman of him tunics of skin and he is clothing them and he is saying Yahweh Elohim behold the human he became as one from us to to know of good and evil and now lest he is stretching (forth) hand of him and be taking moreover from tree of the lives and he eats and he lives for eon and he is sending (away) himYahweh Elohim from garden of Eden to to serve of the ground which he was taken from there and he is driving out the human and he is causing (to) tabernacle from east to garden of Eden the cherubim and flame of the sword the one turning her to to guard of way of tree of the lives [Our Genesis 4:1-10] and the human he knew Eve woman of him and she is (becom)ing pregnant and she is (giv)ing birth Cain and she is saying I acquired man (with) Yahweh and she is proceeding to to (give) birth of brother of him Abel and he is becoming Abel shepherding of flock and Cain he became serving of ground and he is becoming from end of days and he is bringing Cain from fruit of the ground present (offering) to Yahweh and Abel he brings moreover he from firstlings of flock of him and from fat of them and he is (giv)ing heed Yahweh to Abel and to present (offering) of him and to Cain and to present (offering) of him not he gave heed and he is (be)ing hot to Cain very and they are falling faces of him and he is saying Yahweh to Cain to what he (is) hot to you and to what they (are) downcast faces of you not if you are (do)ing good to lift (up) of and if not you are doing good to (the) portal sin (offering) reclining and to you impulse of him and you you are ruling in him and he is saying Cain to Abel brother of him and he is becoming in to become of them in (the) field and he is rising Cain to Abel brother of him and he is killing him and he is saying Yahweh to Cain where is Abel brother of you and he is saying not I know one keeping brother of me I and he is saying what you did voice of bloods of brother of you ones crying to me from the ground [Our Genesis 4:11-19]

and now being cursed you from the ground which she opened wide mouth of her to take of bloods of brother of you from hand of you that you are serving the ground not she shall proceed to give of vigor of her to you one roving and one wandering you shall become in (the) earth And he is saying Cain to Yahweh great depravity of me from to bear of behold you drive out me the day from on faces of the ground and from faces of you I shall be concealed and I become one roving and one wandering in (the) earth and he becomes every of one finding of me he shall kill me and he is saying to him Yahweh therefore every of the killing of Cain sevenfold he shall be avenged and he is placing Yahweh for Cain sign to so as not to smite of him every of one finding of him and he is going forth Cain from to faces of Yahweh and he is dwelling in land of Nod east of Eden and he is knowing Cain woman of him and she is (becom)ing pregnant and she is (giv)ing birth Enoch and he was building city and he is calling name of the city as name of son of him Enoch And he is being born to Enoch Irad and Irad he generated Mehujael And Mehujael he generated Methusael and Methusael he generated Lamech and he is taking for him Lamech two of women name of the one Adah and name of the second Zillah [Our Genesis 4:20-26] and she is (giv)ing birth Adah Jabal he he became father of one dwelling of tent and cattle (man) and name of brother of him Jubal he he became father of every of one handling of harp and shepherd’s pipe and Zillah moreover he she (gave) birth Tubal-Cain one forging of every of one tooling of copper and iron and sister of Tubal-Cain Naamah And he is saying Lamech to women of him Adah and Zillah listen you voice of me women of Lamech (give) ear you saying of me that man I killed for injury of me and boy for welt of me that sevenfold he is being avenged Cain and Lamech seventy and seven and he is knowing Adam further woman of him and she is (giv)ing birth son and she is calling name of him Seth that he set forth Elohim seed another instead of Abel that he killed him Cain And to Seth moreover he he was born son and he is calling name of him Enosh then He is started to to call of in name of Yahweh

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* Considerations

See the evolution in our own texts, from these early creation concepts and words, to what is emphasized now in any Bible you have around the house. How did we get from this to that? As in any cultural tales, whose interest is served by revisions and interpretations that are made from time to time, what is the purpose, of the changes.
Even here, see the choices made among alternatives for the mechanical translation - see how others interpreted the texts, as at ://www.hebrewoldtestament.com/ Young's Literal there, for example. But he was Victorian, and are we ever free of our culture? Even Jerome and his translating into Latin. Substitute another of the choices, and the meaning changes. Age-old issue of shaping. And at scriptures4all, no translation of "kngdv" in the margin narrative.

Our interest

presenting a new format, a new communication here. This is not a copy of scripture4all - it puts those translations words in a scholarly, analytical unreadable form. Do look up that site up to appreciate the scholarly work and presentation there. We sought the narrative.
distil the narrative content of the story that results from that exhaustive and exhausting transliteration at the scripture4all site.
Compare the transliteration here with others, as at ://hebrewoldtestament.com (see Young's "Literal" there as well, but his Victorian background seems to shape even what he says). But how else to get the flow, unless we take away the scholarly and leave merely transliterated words.

We like seeing early texts as they read today, as the words flow or bump along to our ears, not just in how the transliterator got there in not scholarly equivalence of terms. That critique is for experts.

Use of "Tale" for Biblical material is a generic concept for cultural story transmission. The term does not diminish the belief of those who believe in a literal inspiration of any particular story. Our format, the original, no-punctuation, no verse, all terms equal, raises the issue instead, for those who believe literally, of which "literal" is chosen for belief by a culture. What is"literal." For what purposes, by whom, defined how, and when and why. Versions of tales change. See all the versions of Bibles out now. See also topics at Martin Luther's Stove, Eden's Mystery Job Description.

Navigation, Scope of Site. Sanitizing Fairy Tales. Culture Filter Attacks on Story-Telling

2008-07-26T18:29:00.001-04:00

Culture Filters and our Earliest Tales

Life Watered Down

Cultural and Religious Dogma Invade the Nursery

We are looking at how the factual content changes in cultural tales, fairy tales, myths, from the oldest we can find, to the newer ones.

Bojnice Castle, Slovakia. The tale from a distance.

How do the requirements for teaching roles and risk to children, as shown in the stories we tell them, change with the society du jour. See the process from early translations and works, to the vastly different and pap-filled Disney, and those truncated, horrid series of little children's books that put anyone to sleep.

Here is our process:

1. Find the oldest "original". Refresh your recollection.

A good start for a straightforward, relatively comprehensive online site for the fairy tales, as at ://www.surlalunefairytales.com/.

2. Then check yours against our old Grimm's -- "Grimm's Fairy Tales," translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas, illustrations (breathtaking, but some are gone) by Arthur Rackham, Doubleday & Page NY 1909. This, we understand, is out of copyright, so we reproduce some of the illustrations.

3. See the differences. Ask:

why is so much violence is edited out, only to return to us and our kids in other ways - slasher flicks, video games blam blam,
"entertainment" films of animal attacking animal, gore abounding.
Do we need a constant of violence somehow, so that no matter what we keep out and give to Disney, comes back at us in other ways? Say not so. But do enjoy the stories.

4. Research serious studies of fairy tales. Other sites are more complex.

Symbolism, especially in the Grimm Tales, and other fairy and religious tales, particularly the themes of coming to maturity, see ://www.onlinehumanities.com/myths.html; and the proper roles for people to take in a culture.

Themes of cultural myths and how they seem to affect the unconscious (do a search, see if you agree) and help guide us as adults. See the onlinehumanities site. See also ://www.folkstory.com/articles/onceupon.html. If the tales as written are significant psychologically in helping a child develop whatever, then what do we do by watering them down? Are we depriving or children of this step in learning to manage adversity.

Bojnice Castle, Slovakia. The tale up close. Bullet holes. War. And personal.

We leave those to the experts, another day. For now, we think our children can handle reality along with the fantasy. And at the same time. It's adults who can't. Even blogs have the wits to pick this up. Where are the parents? See //digg.com/arts_culture/The_Evolution_of_Fairy_Tales_into_Sanitized_Disney_Stories/.

Tale: "Red Riding Hood" - Cake, Wine, Vivisection - Stone-dragging and Remorse

2008-07-25T13:56:00.003-04:00

Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in the Woods, Fairy Tales of hte Brothers Grimm, illustration by Arthur Rackham, Lucas Translation

Red Riding Hood
Girl Wonder

Read the story again, even if you think you know it. Find an online or other version of Red Riding Hood, to refresh your recollection. If you find a version at "SurLaLune," it will be shorter than the one we use, in our book

We have an old "The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm" - known more familiarly as Grimm's Fairy Tales, Lucas Translation, 1909.

See what is here:

Red Riding Hood: Here she is, in the wood, but her basket of goodies consists of cake and a nice bottle of wine for Grandma, to do her good. The wolf in the first illustration is wolf-size - that is, not exaggeratedly big at all.

First, the wolf finds out where Grandma lives, and eats her, putting on Grandma's gown. Red Riding Hood later arrives, questions Grandma's big eyes etc., and the wolf leaps out and eats her also. The SurLaLune version ends there, with a moral attached.

Our version goes on from there: the Wolf then fell asleep.

Enter the Huntsman, who heard the snoring. There is a strangely Christian interchange: Huntsman to Wolf, asleep: "Do I find you here, you old sinner?"

Instead of shooting the wolf, the Huntsman thinks that maybe the old lady is still alive inside, so he takes his knife and begins to cut open the wolf, who remains asleep.

Out pops the little girl! Out pops Grandma!

Red Riding Hood then shows her resourcefulness. She gathers big stones and they all fill up the wolf with them.

The wolf awakes!

The wolf tries to spring away but is weighted down with the stones, so they drag him back and he falls down dead. "They were all quite happy now." Page 119. The Huntsman skins the wolf, and keeps the skin.

Grandma eats the cake, drinks the wine "and she soon felt quite strong."

Red Riding Hood also has learned a lesson: "I will never again wander off into the forest as long as I live, if my mother forbids it."

What if mother does not forbid it?

Tale: "Rapunzel" - [Psst. She Had Twins] - Lucas Translation 1909

2008-07-25T13:25:00.004-04:00

Rapunzel, Witch Climbing Up, Grimm's Fairy Tales, illustration by Arthur Rackham, Lucas Translation

Rapunzel
Girl With Natural Drive

1. Sanitizing violence, negatives; whitewashing. This happens over time for cultural reasons.

First, see this site to get the scope of the issue, article from the Boston Globe, at "Fear of Fairy Tales," by Johanna Weiss at ://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/09/21/fear_of_fairy_tales/.

2. Then see our experience as we find sanitizing going on, using our "original" and seeing what is there, compared to the pablum on the shelves:

Our Rapunzel

In 1909, life was life and that was that, we suppose. And in 1909, our "The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm" tells us that Rapunzel had twins. That does not appear in later versions.

Yes. Page 83. The Prince had seen the Witch climb up Rapunzel's braids to access the tower, so he also climbed up her braids. He came every evening. The Prince and Rapunzel made promises to each other.

The Witch found out that the Prince was arriving by night, after she had been there by day, and the Witch banished Rapunzel and then lured the Prince up once more (having herself cut off Rapunzel's braids and dangled them down).

When the Prince saw that Rapunzel was not there, he threw himself out the window and scratched out his eyes on the thorns below, wandering thereafter in the wood for some years, mourning his "beloved wife." He ultimately made his way to the wilderness.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel had been living in the wilderness in poverty "with the twins who had been born to her, a boy and a girl." Page 83. The Prince heard her voice, recognized it, and there is a splendid scene of her falling, weeping, on his neck, and her tears falling on his eyes "and they immediately grew quite clear, and he could see as well as ever." The go to his kingdom, he is received with joy and they live long and happily together.

Title page, The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Arthur Rackham illustrator, Lucas Translation

Here is our version, from 1909. We can't find an online full version of this one, with the wonderful illustrations by Arthur Rackham (no, ours is not signed). But we did find this one ://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/index.html.

No mention of the babes at all in that translations.

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But see now the translation by Margaret Hunt in her volume, "Grimm's Household Tales." Even here, the site says that versions differ, go to://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/009.txt.

But we see the twins here - a boy and a girl - just as in ours. The site mentions a subsequent, even more accurate version by a William Barker, but we tried to get to it and are barred.

The site does mention violence and anti-Semitism, but we have no idea what may or may not be accurate in this online version.

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Water it down, everyone, water it down, lest reality peep through to your children. Just say no, Rapunzel.

Tale: "Fitcher's Bird," a Grimm Tale Presented and Clever Girls Prevail

2008-07-24T09:58:00.001-04:00

Fitcher's Bird, The Brothers Grimm

The mystery of translations.

Our full version is reproduced below, hand-typed in for your quick reference from a photocopy pamphlet-folder version received years ago, without attribution of source. We do that for another reason: to encourage you to read it aloud to yourself, or your own spooked children.

Goal here: We want to know which of the several versions available is more authentic, as being closest to the original German in "Fitcher's Bird." This is one of the lesser known stories from the Brothers Grimm. This tale is not in our big "Grimm's Fairy Tales" translation 1909, Lucas., that we use as a reference for several other tales here.

Other sites show "Fitcher's Bird" online, with some variations. All of them, gore, revenge, strong characters, imagination, courage; but they show victimizing young beautiful girls only.

We have a different version, far more inclusive - anyone can be victimized - and detailed, and in a six-sided folding pamphlet (like a tryptych). All sides are used, the cover plus 5 pages for story, and it looks photocopied from somewhere, but is not on copy paper. Instead, it is well done on a lightweight,soft construction-type texture paper.

See part of it here, "Fitcher's Bird," from several decades ago, distributed at a discussion group about cultural learnings. We can't find where it came from. It has no identification, no copyright, no author, no year.

But it is gripping and graphic, far better than the online versions we now see. It also is neutral as to the victims - anyone can come under the wizard's power, not just hapless girls. So the violence is broader in reach, but then the ending is gentler. Our version, however, omits a little verse that gets repeated in the onlines. Read and see. Which is closest to the original German? We have no idea.

Enjoy anyway. Where is it from? We are still looking. For all we know, it is someone's own retelling, not related to Grimm. We share it anyway - as an example of fine telling. As to the differences between it and the onlines, we continue to try to find out which is authentic; why the changes; and what do we learn about the place of violence in cultural and child development.

See story below. And, some discussion points at the end.
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QUOTE FROM HERE ON

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FITCHER'S BIRD

FAVORITE TALES FROM GRIMM

Now this is a story for those who are not squeamish, for it is about a wicked wizard who liked to cut people up.

This wicked wizard's name was Fitcher, and he used to go about disguised as a poor man, with a basket into which he put his victims and carried them away. His power was such that all he had to do was touch someone, and that person could not move away from him and had to do what he wanted.

One day Fitcher, disguised as a poor beggar, went to the house of a man who he knew had three lovely daughters and as many sons. He had his basket with him. "Alms, alms for the poor," he cried weakly, approaching the man's door. Out came the oldest daughter with a piece of bread. When Fitcher reached for it, he touched the maiden's hand, and she was then in his power and had to get into the basket and be carried off.

He took her to his house, which was very rich and beautiful, and which stood in the middle of a dark and dismal forest. All around were strange beasts and birds that Fitcher had enchanted.

At first, Fitcher treated the maiden kindly and gave her everything she wanted. But that did not last long. Within a few days he said, "My dear, I must go on a journey, but you will be quite safe. Here are the keys to the house, which you are free to explore all you like; I think you will find much that pleases you. But you may not go into the room that the smallest key opens." He handed her the keys and pointed out the smallest one. Then he gave her an egg, saying, "Take this egg with you wherever you go, and be very careful with it, for if it is lost, great misfortune will follow."

The maiden was curious, but she promised to obey Fitcher in everything he said. As soon as he ws gone she began exploring, and she found many wondrous things - rooms with rich furnishings, silver and gold in great chests, strange birds with sweeping feathers, bottles and jars of magic potions -- but these were in a locked cabinet for which there was no key. Several times she passed by the door of the forbidden room, but at last she could no longer stifle her curiosity, so she unlocked the door.

As soon as she was inside, she gasped and wished that she had not gone in, for in the center of the room stood a large cauldron filled with blood and the remains of cut-up people. The maiden was so frightened at the sight that she dropped the ege into her cauldron. Quickly she pulled it out and, glad to see that it was still whole, she wiped the blood off -- but the blood appeared again immediately, and no matter how she washed it, she could not get the egg to stay clean.

When Fitcher came back, he greeted the maiden and said, "Now where are my keys and where is the egg?"

"Here they are," she said, handing him the keys first and then, trembling, the egg.

When he saw the stains on the egg, he knew she had disobeyed him. He seiqed her, killed her, and added her body to those in the cauldron.

Then he set off for the same house again.

"Alms, alms for the poor!" he cried in a piteous voice, and soon the second daughter came out with a piece of bread. He touched her as he had touched her sister, and she had to get into the basket and let him carry her to his house in the wood. All happened as before, and soon Fitcher went off again with his basket, this time to fetch the third and youngest sister.

The youngest sister was also the cleverest, and she was already suspicious of Fitcher. Again, all happened as before" Fitcher carried the youngest sister away in his basket, treated her kindly at first, and then, in a few days, told her he must go on a journey. He gave her the keys and the egg, and instructed her as he had instructed his sisters.

But this maiden first put the egg away in a box lined with goose-down. Then with great care she explored the house, and came at last to the room she was not to enter. Like her sisters, she went in, but she kept her wits about her -- though she cried out and then wept when she was what was i8n the cauldron. But soon she dried her eyes and with determination she set about gathering the parts of her sisters together. Soon she had laid all the pieces out correctly -- and lo! when she had done so, her sisters' arms and legs began to grow together with their bodies and soon they could move and speak and were in all ways whole. The three maidens then likewise helped the other poor victims in the cauldron, who thanked them joyfully many times over and then hastened away to their homes.

But the sisters whispered together, making plans. When all was decided, the youngest hid the other two in a little room Fitcher rarely entered. Then she waited for him to come home.

When Fitcher arrived, he greeted the youngest sister and demanded, "Where are my keys and my egg?" She brought him both, and the egg was white and unstained.

"My dear," he said after he had examined it, "you have passed the test all others have failed; you shall be my bride."

The maiden was not pleasedwith that, but she pretended that she was and agreed. And that meant that Fitcher could no longer have power over her, and that he had to do everything she wished.

"Before I can marry you," she said, "you must share your gold with my poor mother and father; I shall put some in a basket for you and you must carry it to them on your back. While you are gone, I will get ready."

Fitcher was not pleased with that, but he knew he had to agree.

The maiden, saying she would fill the basket, went to where she had hidden her sisters and said, "rejoice, for we now can fulfill our plan. Climb into this basket, and he will carry you home, --but remember, as soon as you arrive, send our father and brothers and all our cousins to help."

The older girls climbed into the basket, and their youngest sister then covered them carefully with gold. Then she caled Fitcher, and, showing him the basket, said, "You must now carry this to my father's house -- but do not stop along the way, not even to rest. I shall be watching you through my little window and if you stop I will know."

The wizard lifted the basket onto his back, and carried it away, but it was heavy, and sweat poured off his face with the effort of carrying it. After a while he felt he could go no further, so he sat down. But before he had eased the basket from his shoulders, the oldest sister cried, "What, Fitcher, did I not tell you not to rest? I can see you through my little window; go on your way!"

Fitcher thought it was his bride-to-be who spoke, and, as he had to do whatever she wished, he stood up again and walked on.

Again he grew tired and, thinking now he must surely be so far away she could no longer see him, he sat down again. Just as he was about to untie the basket, the second sister cried, "Fitcher, you lazy creature, I see you from my little window! Get up and go on!"

So up Fitcher got, and every time he wanted to rest, one or the other sister ordered him on. So in a while, exhausted, he stumbled into the parents' house, and dropped the basket on the floor. Then, gasping, he sank down to rest -- and while his back was turned, the two girls crept out of the basket and spoke to their father and brothers and sent for their cousins.

Meanwhile, the youngest sister saw to it that Fitcher's house was made clean for the wedding, and she sent invitations to all the friends whose names were listed in a book of his she found. Then she took a skull that he, being a wizard, used as an ornament, and decked it with flowers and jewels so that from a distance, it would look like a living person.

When the day came for the wedding guests to arrive, the bride-to-be poured honey all over herself, and then she cut open a feather bed and rolled in the feathers until she looked like a feathered creature herself -- like one of Fitcher's strange birds. Then she hopped down the path leading from the house, bobbing her head and holding her arms like wings. Soon she met a party of wedding guests, who, since they were the wizard's friends, were used to seeing strange creatures around him. "Look at the great bird," they said to each other. "It must be one of Fitcher's creatures." One guest went up to the feathered-covered maiden and said,"Good day, Fitcher's bird. Where have you come from?"

"I have come from Fitcher's house," said the maiden.

"Ah," said the guest, "then you must know what the bride is doing?"

"Yes, indeed," said the maiden. "She has cleaned the house from top to bottom, and made all ready for the wedding. Now she iw watching from her window for the bridegroom to return.

The guests went on, andin time the maiden met Fitcher himself.

Now Fitcher had so many strange creatures around him that he did not remember them all, but he knew he might easily have a bird such as this one, and os he said, "Food day, Fitcher's bird -- for you must have come from my house, did you not?"

"Yes," said the maiden, taking great care to disguise her voice.

"Ah," said the wizard, "then can you tell me what my bride is doing?"

"I can," said the maiden. "She has made all ready for the wedding and she is now watching from the window for your return."

So Fitcher walked on toward his house, and the maiden walked on toward her father's house. Fitcher reached his destination first -- but on her way the maiden met her father and brothers and cousins.

When Fitcher drew closer to his house, he looked up to the little window and saw from a distance the decorated skull. Thinking it was his bride, he waved and smiled and called out to her. Then he hurried the rest of the way and in time reached the house and went inside.

While he was preparing himself for his wedding, changing his travel-stained clothes, the maiden's father and brothers and cousins arrived. They sent the wedding guests away, and locked the doors of the house and burned it down with Fitcher in it, and so he troubled no one ever again. The three sisters lived on with their parents and, in time, all married happily and lived in joy with their husbands.

END QUOTE

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1. Translations.

1. Cultural constants. What is taught by violence in stories. Why do we water down our fairy tales (Disney-ize) and then create equally horrendous video games in fantastic settings. We could as easily keep the gory parts in the fairy tales, and perhaps reduce the need for videos? This one has elements of "Bluebeard." There appears to be a constant here - that we need X degrees of gore and hard reality in our upbringing and recreation regardless; and if the book police and Disney dilute reading material and the stories, then we will get it another way, thank you. Our grandparents and great-grandparents had the real Grimm. We don't. So we make it up for ourselves elsewhere.

Where to look: There is a Brothers Grimm museum in Kassel, Germany - next time over, will someone ask about the translations. See Germany Road Ways, look for post dated January 8, 2007. See also ://myweb.dal.ca/barkerb/fairies/grimm/046.html

2. The Sway of Translations. Authenticity. Translations matter as to what meaning and impact are conveyed. We need to get back to the original language, and the best, closest translation to it. Retellings may be fun (as in our pamphlet), but may not be accurate. We would like to know where our pamphlet came from.

Splendid retellings or translations should be shared either way, with the warning as to authenticity. Here is one we have. Compare this to any of the onlines, e.g. ://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm046.html; ://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-fitcher.htm; http://myweb.dal.ca/barkerb/fairies/grimm/046.html; http://www.19.5degs.com/ebook/fitcher-s-bird/526#list.

Do that and watch yourself keel over asleep like McCain faked it on Conan. The onlines are like someone telling you about the story. The pamphlet tells it, inch by inch, Eeeeee!

3. Abuses in Translation: Changes to teach a cultural message. Is that happening here? If the pamphlet is correct, as the best and most authentic original translation (who knows), then the onlines show how stories get twisted to convey an ideology. Here, the onlines describe the victims only as women and girls, as though men and boys are not susceptible, and as a way to scare girls and keep them in line, to show their special vulnerability?.

The introduction and the story itself in our pamphlet version does not so limit the tale by gender of victim - the acts can be and are against anyone. Against "people." This draws everyone in. Boys, girls, men, women, beasts, birds, all can and do come within the wicked wizard's power, by his single touch. Anyone or anything can be taken in by his disguise. Equal opportunity gore. Watch for the even-handedness of the pamphlet's unfolding tale, compared to the preachiness of the onlines.

Also watch for the scope of undoing the evil deeds, the power of agreements - what has to occur in order for a balance of power to shift, and the stress on planning and carrying out plans. The onlines shortcut the plot. Open a window for an online, then compare the pamphlet tale to it as you go. See how much is left out. Which is right? No idea. Who can look up the old original German?

4. Sheer enjoyment. Appreciate the authenticity issues, then check it out only on merit for entertainment, holding attention. Read it aloud - look at the opportunity for description, dialogue, different voices. Not just chronologies of events.

Then note, that the Grimm stories were circulated also in Victorian times, when women were to be shielded and their nervous systems not taxed, see Bogomilia, Protest Within Convention, Victorian Mary H. Seymour.

5. Other translations: at ://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm046.html; an 1812 version at ://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/story038.pdf/

6. Story trace. Update 3/2010. The story is in the line of "Bluebeard" themes, and a new Bluebeard film is pending, see http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/andrew_ohehir/2010/03/26/bluebeard; and Fairy Tale Endings, Death by Husband, at ://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/movies/28bluebeard.html

Tale: The Elves and the Shoemaker - Generosity Rewarded

2008-07-22T18:19:00.005-04:00

The Elves and the Shoemaker

This site offers translations to other languages. The tale is as in our book://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_elves

Itinerant cobbler's bench, 18th century early 19th?

The poor shoemaker finally leaves his bench with work undone, oh, so tired.

He goes to bed and - what is this? He wakes to find the shoes all made.

This happens several times. So he and his wife hide one night, to see who is doing it. Out came two little naked men who get to work and do not stop until all is done. We must thank them, say the couple, and the Wife makes them little shirts and clothing, and they lay them out.

The little men come, see the clothes, and instead of getting to work, put them on and dance out the door.

The shoemaker, however, fared well at whatever he did as long as he lived.

Tale: The White Bride and the Black One - Racism amok, or not.

2008-07-22T18:13:00.011-04:00

The White Bride and the Black One

Here is a story that may show that all that refers to black and white is not necessarily racism. See the role of the colors here. Do we superimpose too much if we jump to conclusions.

A mother, her daughter, and her stepdaughter met God in the form of a poor man. The mother and her daughter refused to help. But the stepdaughter did help. So God was angry with the mother and the daughter and turned them "black as night and ugly as sin."

Then God said he would grant three wishes to the stepdaughter. She asked for these:

to be as beautiful and as fair as the sun
to have a purse that is never empty
to go to Heaven upon her death

All the wishes were granted, and the Lord went away. The stepdaughter went home, but was so lovely, white and fair that the ugly, black mother and daughter plotted against her. But her brother, who loved her, said he would paint her portrait so he could always see it; and she said, let noone else see it. So he painted the portrait and went back to his work at the castle, for he was a coachman to the king.

The king happened to see the portrait, and it reminded him of his deceased wife, and he wanted to marry her. He sent the brother to fetch her, but when he arrived at home, the mother and daughter were jealous. The stepdaughter was glad of the offer, but the mother acted quickly and half-blinded the brother, and made the stepdaughter half-deaf. On the way to the castle, all of them together, the mother (now called a witch) tricked the stepdaughter into thinking her brother was asking her to change clothes with the black daughter, then, when they got over a bridge, pushed the stepdaughter out and she turned into a white duck.

The king was upset at the ugliness of his bride, but became accustomed, and they married and were happy.

Finally the white duck repeatedly came to the castle, and after several visits, the king heard of it.

He found out the duck's tale from the brother and wanted to see for himself. When he went to the gutter where the duck emerged, he lopped off her head and she turned into the lovely white bride he had been expecting.

So he punished the mother and the daughter, dreadful doings not for the fainthearted, and rewarded the brother, and married the white bride and they also were happy.
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The end.

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Read ot at ://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_white_bride_and_the_black_one/ or at ://everything2.com/title/The%2520White%2520Bride%2520and%2520the%2520Black%2520One/

Why?

If we don't look our culture in the eye, how do we root out our assumptions. And how do we vet our own assumptions about uses of black and white.

Vet assumptions. All ways. Here, it is not the blackness or the ugliness that leads to the ultimate horrible end. It is the evil behavior that did not change. Did it make a difference that the couple ultimately were happy? The blackness and ugliness did not matter then. But the earlier behavior, when it came out did. This particular story is not in our Grimm - I wish it had been included. The concepts are more than just "black and white." The grimmstories site has what looks to be a complete listing of stories.

Black, white. Old uses. New sensitivities. How to see these kinds of stories. As an absolute horror for repeating the old idea of black as sin - or is the story really focusing on the behavior, if we only will let it. Will our lens, sensitized as our lens is, allow us to see also beyond it while including it.

Recall that blackness was not neccessarily bad. Religious figures were familiar in Europe, particularly in Germany - see the Black Madonna at Altotting, Germany Road Ways, Altotting, Germany, Black Madonna;

Altotting, Black Madonna, Germany

And in Poland, for easy examples, see Poland Road Ways, Czestochowa Black Madonna.

.Black, in and of itself, is not a pejorative in religious terms. It is an object of veneration in the cases of the Black Madonnas. Do your own search for all of them.

Obviously, white is ordained and to be rewarded, but is it "blackness" that is to be punished, or is it "ugliness" or is it, in the end, behavior and neither the blackness or ugliness.

Additional Vetting: Look how the ugly black daughter becomes beloved by the king anyway. He does marry her, and they do fine. Her blackness, imposed as a punishment for her first failure to help the poor man, did nto get in the way of the king later loving her. It was her continuing selfish, deceitful, even murderous behavior that did her in.

More to talk about. Not as simple as merely calling it an example of "racism" suggests. The "black" is just as "night" in contrast to the "white" of light - no comparison, no pejorative. Or is there?

We do note that the "ugly" is not part of the "black" at all, but additional to it.

Tales: Eve's Various Children. Each To His Place.

2008-07-22T18:03:00.009-04:00

More Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

Eve's Various Children

This is a new one to us, a social stratification explanation, and the story is not in our Grimm's: our Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Arthur Rackham, illustrator; Lucas Translation, 1907. Read this new one at ://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/eve_various_children.

The Plot:

Adam and Eve, at their house, are expecting the Lord to arrive.

Eve lines up the pretty children; but hides the homely ones.

The Lord enters, admires the children, and grants high status to the pretty ones - they are to be a burgher, a count, a knight, a nobleman, a learned man.

Eve, seeing this generosity, brings out the homely children.

The Lord looks at them and says that He will bless them as well - but this one is named a peasant, that one is named a tradesman, this a weaver, that a smith, potter, a wagoner, sailor, errand-boy and scullion - for life.

Why? Why? asks Eve, seeing the differential treatment.

Because, says the Lord, it is "right and necessary" that the world be supplied, and if all were princes, who would do the work?

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The disconnect. Are all workers to be homely?

Social stratification by divine ordination. Oh, my.

Tale: The Jew Among the Thorns - Anti-Semitism in Fairy Tales

2008-07-22T17:55:00.006-04:00

The Jew Among the Thorns

A rich man refused to pay his faithful, hard-working servant after the end of a year, saying he could save money and the faithful servant would surely remain.

So, the second year, the servant did stay, and continued to work hard. Still no pay.

And the third year. No pay. The servant complained, and the master reached in his pocket and brought out three farthings - a pittance - but tellint the servant that it was a fortune, and that the servant would not get more elsewhere.

The servant considered; then figured. And he figured he surely had enough to go enjoy himself, with this bounty of a full three years' wages.

So he stopped his work and merrily went his way. A dwarf saw him, and asked for half of what the servant had in his pocket since the servant could easily earn it again, while he, the dwarf could not. The honest servant had a big heart, and did so. Thank you! cried the little man, and now I shall grant you three wishes.

Wonderful. The servant asked for gun unerring in its aim, a fiddle that would cause all who heard to dance, and that if he ever asked a favor, the one asked would give it to him.

The servant went on his way, and came upon a Jew who sought to possess a particular bird in the treetop, for its song. The servant heard him, said he would shoot the bird down; and did; and the Jew crawled into the thicket to retrieve it.

Then the servant, feeling humorous, began to fiddle and the Jew in the briars had to dance, and his legs went all over, and the thorns pricked. Stop, please! cried the Jew. I do not want to dance. And the servant said, you have fleeced so many in your life now you shall be fleeced.

Take this purse of gold, said the Jew, but stop fiddling. And the servant took the gold, and went his way.

As soon as the servant had gone, the Jew began to abuse him and shout and went into the town to complain. The judge had the servant led back to the town, and after bearing both sides, believed neither.

Servant sentenced to hang. Old print.

But the servant indeed had the gold on him, so he was sentenced to hang.

Grant my last wish, said the servant. Let me play my fiddle. No! cried the Jew. Why not, said the judge, and the servant began to scrape away at the fiddle. Soon everyone was dancing.

Exhausted, the judge cried, I give you back your life if you will just stop fiddling. So the servant stopped, and so did all the dancing.

The servant went over to the Jew, and said, confess where you got the money. Yes, I took it, I stole it, said the Jew, but you have earned it.

And the judge had the Jew hanged as a thief.

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Roots of prejudice. Double standards. Moral? Cultures use ridicule and harsh punishments to keep people in line. As here, ://www.familymanagement.com/literacy/grimms/grimms175.html, or ://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_jew_among_thorns. Here, nothing happened to the rich man at all for his cheating.

This is a complex and violent version of the ethnic, and blond, unfunny jokes, geared to enhance the status of one at the horrid expense of others.

What redeeming value is here.

Tale: Rumpelstiltskin - Ok

2008-07-22T17:40:00.003-04:00

Online version: ://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/044.txt. Watered down, little preserving of the original fun, and just a dull accounting of the ending.

Our Grimm:

A father wants to appear important, so he brags to the King that his daughter can spin straw into gold. Get her, says the King, and I will test her. The girl is locked in a room with the straw, not knowing what to do, when a Mannikin appears - if I help you, what will you give? My necklace, says the girl. She does, and he spins, and the King is pleased, and next day puts her in a bigger room. Same events - what do I get for helping? My ring! She does, and he spins. King pleased, next day, bigger room. Do it again, says King, and I will marry you. Same events: what do I get for helping? I have nothing! So give me your first child as Queen. Ok.

Child born, Queen weeps when the little man comes to take it. Little man feels sorry for her, gives her three days to figure out his name, and if she does, she keeps the child.

Queen racks brain - thinks of Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar on day one. Nope. Thinks of Cowribs, Spindleshanks, or Spiderlegs. Nope. But on day 3, a messenger comes with news - spied a little house where "an indescribably ridiculous little man was leaping, hopping on one leg, and singing (a song with his name in it - Rumpelstiltskin).

Is your name Tom? Nope. Dick? Nope. Rumpelstiltskin?

" 'The devil told you that! The devil told you that!' shrieked the little man; and in his rage stamped his right foot into the ground so deep that he sank up to his waist.

"Then in his passion, he seized his left leg with both bands and tore himself asunder in the middle."
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Look at the fun in reading this aloud to a child. Or yourself. And the little fairy tale lessons - self-importance and what it brings, gloating, even cheating works - not guessing at all.

Online: Not bad, but just tearing yourself in two is not as fabulous as tearing yourself asunder in the middle. And the names used in the last guessing are dull., but not awful.

Tale: The Bremen Town Musicians - Euthanasia Avoided, Resource Lists.

2008-07-22T16:59:00.007-04:00

The Bremen Town Musicians

Again, we are reading the Grimm Fairy Tales from 1909, Lucas translation. For the Bremen Town Musicians, see these characters:

The Ass. The old Ass was getting old, couldn't work any more the way it used to, so the master began thinking of how to cut down on its feed. The Ass sensed mischief against his self-interest, so he ran away - thinking to become a town-musician.

The Hound. On the way he met a hound, Growler, panting. "Ah," said the hound - I get weaker daily, I can no longer keep up with the pack, so my master wanted to kill me. So I left - now how will I earn my bread. Join me, I am going to Bremen to be a town-musician and I shall play the lute and you the kettledrum."

The Cat. The cat, Whiskers, was "sitting in the road, with a face as long as a wet creek." He also ws getting old, feeling of no use, and his mistress was seeking to drown him. So the cat ran off, as had the ass and the hound before - now what. Join up and be the serenader.

The Rooster. Barn-door fowl, Red-comb, crowing like mad. It did all it could but its mistress wants it for soup. Neck to be wrung. Crowing while he can. Join up, say the others. Add quality to the music.

Robbers. Then they all spy a robbers' den! They want some food and drink, so they climb up on each other's backs to see in - and the plan is, start their music and frighten the robbers off. They do, and they did.

Robbers return. Uh-oh. False alarm, think the robbers, from a distance. One tiptoes back in, and startles the cat who flies at his face. Hound jumps up and bites his leg, Ass kicks him as he runs across the manure heap, and the Cock crows on.

The robber runs back - There is a witch, a man with a knife, and a black monster and a judge, he cries, so I hurried away!

And the robbers did not go back, and the four Bremen musicians who found their usefulness in each other joining forces, stayed put and never wished to leave.

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1. Types of tales, sources. Animals and others in exile - a familiar theme - see www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0130.html/. This site names the Aarne-Thompson motif and tale types in folktales, and this tale is included. See Professor D.L. Ashliman, at the University of Pittsburgh, retired, at site http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/ashliman.html. Now doing folklore research, southern Utah. Excellent! Overall, this site turns out to be a handbook - links to

://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folklinks.html, all sorts of fairy tale sites.
://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/mythlinks.html, for the germanic/old norse - gods, monuments, vikings.

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2. Our education system strangles our own heritage, diminishes children in underestimating their insight capabilities. Can they cope with complexity? Yes. Let them.
For an example of the ridiculous stuff we feed our children instead, look at this children's version, for tots, at ://www.brementownmusicians.com/story/chapter/1/page/1.

If this is to be a child's first exposure to literature, please skip it. No wonder kids don't want to read. They are better off with original new stories geared to teach what somebody wants to teach, rather than take fine old tales, with meaning and addressing cultural issues, and turn them into soap.
In the watered-down version, there is no mention of the main issue here - what to do when one gets too old to be useful in the ways that one was useful before. There is no reference to how fear can be used to get what one wants, even if there is no reality behind the fear. Use the tactic anyway. There is no reference to the strength in working together - so much could have been included. The theme of getting old and feeling useless. Worth exploring.

4. But there are other excellent other translations - Here is a Margaret Hunt translation at ://www.fln.vcu.edu/grimm/bremereng.html. Very close to our Grimm. See another one like it, and the famous statue in Bremen, Germany, at ://www2.bremen.de/info/skp/stadtmusikanten/townmusicians.htm

5. Best overall - back to top. This site gives a list of various translations, and an overview - same tale, and the site also says that this tale remained essentially unchanged - see ://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm027.html

Links

2008-07-18T10:04:00.001-04:00

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