Funny in a Literary Sort of Way

This last Sunday, my friend Mike (www.michaelpoore.net) called me.  "Let's go for a ride," he said.  "Doesn't matter where."  I was getting off work and had nothing to do for the rest of the day, so I said okay.  So we took off, heading south, with no particular destination in mind.  In my mind, I was thinking that I was Sancho Panza to Mike's Don Quixote: he proposes something kinda hairbrained, and, even though I consider myself the sane one, I go along with it.  And, to be fair, it does usually turn out to be fun.  It pays to know crazy people.

The moment came, however, as we were driving south of Lowell that Mike said, in an enthusiastic voice, "I know, let's go see the windmills!"  Which prompted me to blurt out: "I knew it!  You really are Don Quixote!  I really am Sancho Panza!  Holy shit!"

Well, as it turns out, there are windmill fields south of Rensselaer, and they are very beautiful all lit up at night.   And Mike didn't attack any of them (although, if any were close to the road we were on, I'm sure he would have tried).

Here's the deserted road we stopped on to get a little relief:

I apologize to the people of Chalmers.

Forgot About #3

I forgot to mention the third book I've been considering reading.  It's a book I've been hesitating to read, which you'll completely understand when I tell you what it is, but the urge to read it has been growing in my mind.  The book is Mein Kampf by Adolf Hilter.  I've been watching the World War II channel, also known as the History Channel, which has been getting me interested in the war.  I would read the book solely for the insight into Hilter's mind and motivations, nothing else.  The Nazi's were horrible but also fascinating, kind of like watching When Animals Attack.  I don't think I'd get anything out of it personally except a satisfied curiosity, hence #3.  

So Many Books, So Little Time

The holidays are over and all the bacteria are dead.  Yay!  Now if only my ears and nose would drain so I could hear and smell again.

Here's my dilemma: what should I read next?  This is the eternal struggle of the bibliophile.  I'm not talking about novels.  I read novels like most people eat candy.  I'm talking about the hard, demanding books that require patience and attention.  

Contender #1 is Carl Jung's Red Book.  It looks like a medieval illuminated manuscript, but really it's Jung's account of a series of mystical experiences he had using a technique called guided imagination (or something like that).  It's extremely personal, and, in the end, the reader might not be able to take anything from it.

Contender #2 is The Zohar: Volume 1 trans. Daniel Matt.  This is the book about Kabbalah.  This not only contains the text but also extensive commentary so you can understand what you're reading.  It's a difficult book and note taking is required.  I'll probably never understand it completely unless I learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and study the Talmud (and I'm not even Jewish).  Still, having just read the very beginning, I've already taken a lot of notes.  And yes, I did say volume #1.  So far, there are five of a planned ten or twelve volumes.  I'll have to take this volume by volume.

As an aside, the great thing about Kabbalah is that it's like software.  It describes the universe.  You can use it when you need it.  There are other mystical and magical systems, other software, you can switch to if need be.  Kabbalah is just one, and it's a good one.

Okay, I think Kabbalah wins.  First, volume #1 of The Zohar.  Then, Jung's Red Book.  This might take awhile.

Liber Novus

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Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near,
Shadow and sunlight are the same,
The vanished gods to me appear,
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

1856 [1857]

A Day at the Races

I've created my own calendar.  I've actually created two, but I'll just talk about the one.  It's predominately a solar event-oriented calendar with the four solar events (the two solstices and the two equinoxes) as its main festivals.  The idea for it came during a class on literary criticism when I was bored.  I remembered that the Egyptians had considered the sun to be a different god depending on its position in the sky.  When rising, the sun was Khepri.  At noon, it was Ra.  At sunset, it was Atum.  I decided to apply this to the year as a whole.  The year can be divided in two, a light part and a dark part.  The dark of the year is the period between the Autumnal and the Vernal Equinoxes when the nights are longer than the days.  The light part then occurs between the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes when the days are longer than the nights.  The sunrise of the year is then the Vernal Equinox, the beginning of the light.  So this is associated with the god Khepri.  The noon of the year is obviously the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and therefore associated with the god Ra.  And the sunset is the Autumnal Equinox, associated with the god Atum.  Which just leaves midnight, the Winter Solstice.  Keeping with the sun god theme, this can be associated with Amun.  Amun was considered the hidden sun, the sun at night.  Other associations are possible here, such as Horus as a child, but Amun keeps the pattern better.

The other four festivals are nature festivals that I've also associated with other gods.  Beltaine I've associated with Horus (as a man, not a child), Imolg with Min, Lughnasadh with Set, and Sahmain with Osiris.  Of course, these are all the sabbats of the Wiccan/Neopagan calendar, but their origins are very ancient (Christianity: The Origins of a Pagan Religion by Philippe Walter, to cite just one source offhand).  

Also, the sun is Horakhty during the twelve hours of the day (Horus of the Two Horizons) and Khnum (the Ba of Ra) during its twelve hours of the night (according to the Amduat).  By the way, Khnum is an old creator god, originally pictured with a bulls head, who became identified as Ra's Ba and was given a ram's head.  This is because the Egyptians never met a pun they didn't like.  The Egyptian word for ram was also ba, because, well, baaaaaaaaaaaaaa. 

Yes, this does take the Egyptian gods out of their context, and some people might object to that.  However, even in ancient Egypt, gods changed context all the time, as with Khnum.  I'm not doing anything that every ancient culture didn't do.  I've researched each god (and continue to do so), and I think each placement is appropriate to the symbolism of that god.

I'm still working on developing this calendar.  The other one's on hold for the moment, though I'll get back to it.

A Night at the Opera

I've recently become an opera fan.  I never used to like the opera until earlier this year when I went to see one for the hell of hit.  Seeing an opera is a whole different experience than just listening to it.  But where did I see an opera, you ask?  Chicago?  I could've gone into Chicago and seen one, but actually I saw a live broadcast (well, the encore anyway) at my local movie theater from The Met.  They transmit some of their operas to six of the seven continents (I'm sure that the scientists on Antarctica are sorry they're missing out).  I've even gotten my friend Ken interested.  We have so far gone on two of the gayest "man-dates" that two straight men can go on with the possible exception of going to see The Wiz.  That would be THE gayest.  Apropos of nothing, my friend Mike knows the entire score to The Wiz by heart.  Just thought I'd mention that.