Penelope’s Loom

Let’s take a gander at a couple of dieties.  Uh, guys.  No, Prophets.  Sigh.  Use whatever label makes you comfortable, Dear Reader. A Near Eastern god, Mithra, was born of the earth (a rock, actually) bearing a torch and a knife--note the duality here, i.e. light and dark. Jesus of Nazareth was of woman born, in a manger.  HOWEVER, notice one similarity here:  both figures were born of what each religion held to be sacred-- Mithra from the earth (goddess?), and Jesus from a divine and sexless birth, yet still using a woman as the vessel.  Remember, though, that  Mithra was a mythical figure, whereas Jesus was most likely a man living in Nazareth, a city in a province of the Roman Empire--Judea. But, were both guys were born on the same day? Well...that's what some scholars think. First and foremost:  allow me to wish you all Happy Holidays.  But, since this entry is around December 25th… NOTE:  as an historian, I am predictably anti-social, and completely agnostic .   Therefore, p

 We were speaking of Scorsese’s film. The first three quarters are difficult to follow—I told you Dear Reader, that this is an intricate tale. Yet, I believe he did his best. The film comes together in the final hour, with the arrival of the BOI guys (that's the "bureau of investigation," i.e. future g-men). With undercover agents and flat-out intimidation, these men are able to unravel a nasty story, involving William Hale (played with a galling, banal, evil by Robert Deniro), and his nephews (Leonardo DiCaprio plays one of them, Ernest Burkhart, a simpleton who becomes a willing participant in Hales’ schemes. His performance is pretty solid, but to my mind he used too many physical affectations when he didn’t need them. You judge, Dear Reader, and let me know what you think. I do have to point out that DiCaprio most likely used Marlon Brando’s trick of padding his mouth with something). Lily Gladstone, who plays Molly Burkhart, does well as Ernest’s diabetic Osage wife.

                           We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. ---Chief Seattle Kind of like a plague of locusts  It is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost ― Black Elk Speaks:  Being the life story of a man of the Oglala Sioux "I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man." - Sun Bear, Chippewa The spiders, honeybees, yellow jackets, and mud daubers: these insects still speak - a language that is older than humans. The buffalo, elk, wolf, coyote -they still talk too. It's we, the people, who have forgotten how to listen. --[Osage Spider Story, an Osage Legend, told by Archie Mason, Jr S

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Before I do my best to communicate the history of this icon, let me warn you, again, that I am an irreverent SOB, who doesn't subscribe to any belief system whatsoever.  So, if you enjoy this day from any kind of religious or faith-based perspective, then please don't read this.  Proceed at your own risk!  : )  It's almost that time of the year again, Dear Reader:  the fat guy in his red suit, a reindeer with a baseball sized red flashlight for a nose, and Boris Karloff (yeah, that's right, you remember, the voice of the 'Grinch'  you know you just have to watch it just once before the big day..).   We also must not forget other equally important traditions of the occasion:  obligatory opening of gifts, bad holiday sweaters, and drunken filial fights at the dinner table. One of the persistent 'myths' surrounding this young commercialized holiday, is Santa Claus--the kindly old man who rides a sleigh, doling out presents to all the kiddies in the world-ee