When I first read this, I was disgreeing with it. But on the second reading, I find some agreement. There are an awful lot of fluffy 'new age' pagans out there, and iconoclastic Left Handers who do fit that description. Just take a look at your local bookstore, all the paper wastage devoted to one superficial 'expert' quoting another superficial 'expert'. It is also too easy to cast down the idol of Yahweh, and rebel, but never dig any deeper to see what religions existed before Yahweh and Christianity.

So maybe he isn't saying only anything OLD is good, like the reconstructionists who only do as the ancients did. That's a danger, too. For instance, I love digging in museum archives or scholarily archives for items relating to my favorite deity, Set. But I wouldn't want to be just limited to the way the ancient Egyptians did things. I think, too, if we aren't making our religious experience 'new', we are losing as well. Stasis and rote mechanicalism of ritual becomes a possibility.

So I think it's a balance. Superficiality is the real culprit in that 'eradication process'.

Sunday, February 12, 2006 C

"Ugly Truth"
8:52pm

The question for this week's 'Figment' is the opposite of last week's:

2.12.06 :: [Part Two] What does hell mean to you?

I have been there, I have known this ugly truth. I was very nearly swallowed up by it. But I somehow found the strength to beat it. That was over 25 years ago. Yet I don't forget how awful it felt.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 A

"Grace and Power"
6:28am

I spent last night both watching the figure skating pairs and digging into the Louvre's online info about its collections. The way they present the skating, laced between various sports I am not so interested in, encouraged that.

So when the figure skaters were on, I was there, watching intently. And when not, I was at the computer. You don't have good results if you try to use the English side of their website. You have to search in French. I pulled up a few interesting items about Set, which they spell as 'Seth'.

Here is the text concerning one item, Stele of the King Serpent:

Le titre "Roi de Haute et Basse Egypte" apparaît. La capitale Memphis, à la jonction des deux parties du pays, aurait été fondée par un nommé Ménès. Nécropole royale à Abydos, où est enterré le "roi Serpent", le seul un peu célèbre de la dynastie avec un de ses successeurs, Den. Le roi reçoit un nom d' "Horus d'or", et un cartouche entoure son nom de « roi de Haute et Basse Egypte ». Nécropole royale transférée près de Memphis au début de la dynastie, mais Péribsen (sous la protection de Seth au lieu d'Horus) et Khasekhemouy (prédécesseur de Djéser) sont enterrés à Abydos. The title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" appears. The capital Memphis, in the connection of both parts of the country, would have been founded by one named Ménès. Royal necropolis of Abydos, where is buried "king Serpent", the only slightly famous one of the dynasty with one of his successors, Den. The King receives a name from "Horus of gold", and one cartouche surrounds his name with "king of Upper and Lower Egypt". Royal necropolis was transferred near Memphis at the beginning of the dynasty, but Péribsen (under Seth's protection instead of Horus) and Khasekhemouy (predecessor of Djéser) is buried in Abydos.

The translation is from Reverso.com, slightly improved by what little knowledge of French I have.

This is all I can find on the stele with Ramses, Astarte and Set:

Ramsès II offre de l'encens et des papyrus à la déesse orientale Astarté calcaire H. : 48,50 cm. ; L. : 52,50 cm. ; Pr. : 8,50 cm. Au sommet, le dieu égyptien Seth. Département des Antiquités égyptiennes

No picture, just enough to confirm they do have it. But I did find a photo of another stele:

Strange that Nephthys is so small and rather faceless, but otherwise, it's a fascinating stele. I wish his crown wasn't broken.

Note of February 19, 2006
I read in Erik Hornung's Akhenaten and the Religion of Light the reason for these size difference:

It is because "the size of the individuals represented, whether deities, humans, or animals, did not depend on the accident of their appearance, but on their relative importance within the scene."(page47)

Therefore, the size difference is simply emphasizing Set's great power compared to that of his consort.

*   *   * Meanwhile, the skating, I love watching the skating. I wanted to find a picture of the Russian pair who won gold, the man's triumphant way he put his fist up after the successful routine. He had dropped his partner earlier, and it was a worry he'd do it again. He then got on his knee and kissed her hand, telling her his gratitude for staying with him and not giving up on him. But these words shall have to capture the memory.

And the Chinese pair, oh, he dropped her, threw her hard, she could hardly walk, but then she got determined to have back at it, and then they did perfectly, to get the silver medal. There are quite a few online photos of this pair, from Chinese news sources. Perhaps I will sketch from one.

I did manage a small quick sketch of Yao Bin:

Yao Bin is the Chinese coach. Back when he was skating, he had no knowledge, no trainers, and was trying to construct the art from merely looking at newspaper photos. Since then, he has done all he can to make the Chinese team full of grace and power. That they took silver, bronze and fourth place surely demonstrates his success. It is certainly a long way from his early days.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 B

"Grace and Power II"
9:51pm

Johnny Weir, the flamboyantly wonderful American skater...

Adapted from a photo of Shen and Zhao, the pair who won the bronze...

Forward...
Go Back to Archives...
Go Back to Beginning Page...
Go to Index of Joan's pages...

© Joan Lansberry