#traditional catholic royalty saints | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nameless-goddess94 · 3 years

Text

𝕯𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒 𝕯𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖞

𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖔𝖓 𝕱𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖙:

General Symbols-

Growing/Fresh:

- Youth

- Temptation

- Sensuality

- Fertility

- Prosperity

- Abundance

- Frutis of Labor

- Wealth

- Health

- Sweet Disposition

Rotting:

- Old Age

- Spoiled Innocence

- Bitter Endings to an Affair

- Corruption

- Financial Loss

- Failed Efforts

- Missed Opportunities

- Deterioration of Health

𝕬𝖕𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖘:

Sin of woman, downfall of man. Religious connections to Adam and Eve and a representative of knowledge both forbidden and sacred. This means it can also represent female liberation, independent thought, spiritual soul searching and self discovery. Also symbolic of the relationship between humans and nature, and the inherited desire to survive, as well as the ability to sustain off the land. Apples versatility make them good metaphors for adaptability, while the trees remind us that good things are bound to come with hard work and patience. Going back to knowledge apples are also a symbol of teaching, guidance and the cultivation of the next generation. Since apples are found in most cultures, and the trees bare fruit for generations, they can also be a nod to heritage.

𝕭𝖆𝖓𝖆𝖓𝖆:

Phallic symbol. Strong sexual desire. Can also represent humor and happiness due to their yellow color as well as their history being used as a comedic prop (banana peel); sometimes a suggestion to laugh at yourself. Bananas can represent the odd and strange as well as the surreal. There is a dark side to this symbol however. Bananas can represent male entitlement and patriarchy. Their historical ties to politics and business can elude to racial oppression, political strife, blatant consumerism and greed; as well as plain insanity or chaos.

𝕭𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖐𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 :

Blackberries are strange in that they can represent both beauty and ugliness, sometimes separately- and sometimes simultaneously. The deep color of the blackberry has been used to represent the blood of saints and martyrs, and therefore can elude to a necessary sacrafice, heavy responsibilities, or even trial and tribulation. On the flipside, martyrdom can also elude to scapegoating, unnecessary stress or spreading oneself too thin. Despite their connection with the sacred, blackberries can also be a symbol of the devil and may hold connotations of temptation, arrogance and empty promises. In this sense, depending on one's view point, they can also be bad omens, symbols of bad luck and even curses.

𝕭𝖑𝖚𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘:

Blueberries are representative of comfort, wholesome memories and warmth. Since blueberries are often portrayed in rural dishes, a blueberry can represent traditional values, family, and connectivity with nature. Blueberries often hint at nostalgia or yearning for a time since passed. There is a bitterness to blueberries however, and their appearance can sometimes elude to things appearing better than they actually are. Blueberries can sometimes act as a lesson to look again and be discerning of certain situations, opportunities or promises.

𝕮𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘:

Representative of virginity, youth and purity the plucking, or destruction of a cherry in one's dreams can be a metaphor of loss of innocence, growing up, or sexual liberation. With their pit found directly in the center, and their juice being a deep red, cherries can represent both the beginning and end of a life- and therefore signify the start or closing of a chapter in one's life. Cherries can also act as a reminder to count one's blessings in life as they are sweet and have connections to the Christian idea of paradise.

𝕮𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘:

Seen around the harvesting season, cranberries often hold connotations of abundance. They also have strong links to themes of family and comfort. Being native to the North Americas, cranberries can act as a symbol for American wilderness and nature. For the untameable.

𝕱𝖎𝖌𝖘:

Figs have connotations in both past and modern cultures. The fig, just as with the apple, is a symbol for the fall of man, and therefore shares similar meanings of knowledge and temptation. However, unlike the apple, the fig also is a symbol for modesty as Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. In literature figs have been used to represent ulterior motives and false pretenses, as seen in Shakespeare; as well as impropriety, ill wishes and ill regard. Figs have been used as a symbol of sex and, more specifically, vaginas throughout history.

𝕲𝖗𝖆𝖕𝖊𝖘:

Grapes allude to abundance and material wealth, especially when seen in a vineyard. They are also associated with political power, as seen in images where someone of great social stature is being fed grapes, as well as wrath. Since grapes are made into wine, they can also be a symbolism of frivolity, celebration and hedonism. Unless, that is, one were to take this symbol at a Catholic approach- in which case wine (and the grape) is the symbol of the blood of Christ and deep spirituality.

𝕷𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖘:

Symbol of luxury and wealth. The old world perception of lemons held them up as exotic and strange, thus making them a symbol of unexplored lands; of travel and international commerce. Due to their connections to wealth, lemons are also a representation of economics. A peeled lemon can offer a lesson in these things, and can warn of pride and the dangers of materialism. Peeled lemons can also symbolize fleeting joy and pleasure, as well act as a memento mori. Due to this connection to death, lemons can also represent bitterness, sourness and disappointment.

𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖔:

Though mangos do not hold a lot of symbolism in western culture, they have a high place in eastern symbolism. Mangos are symbols of spirituality and higher thinking, once desired by Ganesh as a source of knowledge as well as the supposed meeting place for Buddha and his followers. Mangos are also symbols of sexual desire, lust, love and fertility, as well as royalty and wealth. It should also be said, there is folklore stating mango trees have the abiltiy to grant wishes.

𝕻𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘:

Peaches are symbols of immortality and youth. Good health, especially female health are suggested by the appearance of this fruit. Peaches also allude to female sexuality, the female body, as well as sweet and wholesome dispositions. Peaches are also connected to country living and are representations of down to earth thinking and humble a attitude. In Chinese culture, peaches and peach trees are said to be able to ward off demons, or may be utilized to ward of evil.

𝕻𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖘:

Plums share many of the same meanings as peaches in terms of being a protection against evil, and an object of desire. However plums are more a symbol of general temptation and impulse. Plums also represent the coming of spring, and thus overcoming adversity.

𝕻𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘:

Pomegranates are interesting in that they often represent beauty that can be found in darkness. In the story of Persephone and Hades, Persephone is enchanted by the fruit and it is sometimes portrayed as the reason she returns to the underworld, because of this pomegranates are also a symbol of loyalty. The story of Persephone also makes the pomegranate a symbol of time, and the passing of the seasons. They can also allude to friendships, childhood innocence and purity. Pomegranates have been identified as symbols of passion and young love. Biblically they have been used to represent success, goodness and wisdom.

𝕽𝖆𝖘𝖕𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘:

Raspberries are berries protected by thorns, which can be seen both as a warning of appearances or a metaphor for overcoming obstacles. In Christianity they are symbols of kindness and, in medieval times, were often used as an ingredient in love spells; thus making them a symbol for unspoken feelings, or desires.

𝕾𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖜𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘:

Due to its heart shape and red coloring, the strawberry is a symbol of true love, understanding and friendship. Due to their connection to love, strawberries can also be seen as a calling card for Venus, the goddess of love. They are symbols of perfection, purity and virtue dating as far back as medieval times. In modern culture strawberries have been used as symbols of goodness and simple pleasures, as well as harmony with nature.

𝖂𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖓:

Due to its modern connection with childhood memories and summer, the watermelon is a symbol of growing up and nostalgia. It can also be a symbol of taking the bad with the good, as in order to enjoy a watermelon you must spit out the seeds. The seeds also can serve as a warning to be cautious while enjoying a good thing. Unfortunately, it must be said that watermelons (particularly in American culture) can be a representation of racism, harmful stereotypes, generational trauma and oppression.

#witchblr #dark academia #dream interpretation #dream symbolism #dream symbols #literary symbolism #literary symbols #divinaton #dreams #Intuition #witchcraft #masterpost #research #dream dictionary #dream divination

57 notes · View notes

troybeecham · 3 years

Text

The Church remember St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Princess. Ora pro nobis. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231 AD), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary, Landgravine of Thuringia, Germany, and a greatly venerated Catholic saint who was an early member of the Third Order of St. Francis, by which she is honored as its patroness. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her husband's death she sent her children away and regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death at the age of 24 and was canonized on 25 May 1235. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. Her mother's sister was Hedwig of Andechs, wife of Duke Heinrich I of Silesia. Her ancestry included many notable figures of European royalty, going back as far as Vladimir the Great of the Kievan Rus. According to tradition, she was born in Hungary, possibly in the castle of Sárospatak on 7 July 1207 AD. Elizabeth was brought to the court of the rulers of Thuringia in central Germany, to be betrothed to Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia (also known as Ludwig IV), a future union which would reinforce political alliances between the families.[a] She was raised by the Thuringian court and would have been familiar with the local language and culture. In 1221 AD, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth married Louis; the same year he was enthroned as Landgrave, and the marriage appears to have been happy. In 1223 AD, Franciscan friars arrived, and the teenage Elizabeth not only learned about the ideals of Francis of Assisi, but started to live them. Louis was not upset by his wife's charitable efforts, believing that the distribution of his wealth to the poor would bring eternal reward; he is venerated in Thuringia as a saint, though he was never canonized by the Church. It was also about this time that the priest and later inquisitor Konrad von Marburg gained considerable influence over Elizabeth when he was appointed as her confessor. In the spring of 1226 AD, when floods, famine, and plague wrought havoc in Thuringia, Louis, a staunch supporter of the Hohenstaufen Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, represented Frederick II at the Imperial Diet held in Cremona. Elizabeth assumed control of affairs at home and distributed alms in all parts of their territory, even giving away state robes and ornaments to the poor. Below Wartburg Castle, she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to them. Elizabeth is perhaps best known for the miracle of the roses which says that whilst she was taking bread to the poor in secret, she met her husband Ludwig on a hunting party, who, in order to quell suspicions of the gentry that she was stealing treasure from the castle, asked her to reveal what was hidden under her cloak. In that moment, her cloak fell open and a vision of white and red roses could be seen, which proved to Ludwig that God's protecting hand was at work. Her husband, according to the vitae, was never troubled by her charity and always supported it. In some versions of this story, it is her brother in law, Heinrich Raspe, who questions her. Hers is the first of many miracles that associate Christian saints with roses, and is the most frequently depicted in the saint's iconography. Almighty God, by your grace your servant Elizabeth of Hungary recognized and honored Jesus in the poor of this world: Grant that we, following her example, may with love and gladness serve those in any need or trouble, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

#father troy beecham #christianity #troy beecham episcopal #jesus #father troy beecham episcopal #saints #god #salvation #peace

6 notes · View notes

myscouterlife · 3 years

Text

2021-08 Fluer-De-Lis

One of the most notable symbols within Scouting is the Fleur-de-lis. This symbol has been used by many European nations, most notably within France where the translation is respectively “flower lily”.

This symbol is capable of holding many meanings at the same time. Religious, political, artistic, symbolic, and emblematic. Throughout history the fleur-de-lis has been used by French royalty. Within the Catholic church the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph are often depicted with a lily. This symbol is also often used on the compass rose found on maps and globes, a tradition started by Pedro Reinel. Some of you may even follow a pro football team that places this flower lily on everything that bears their name.

In the early creation of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden-Powell implemented the fleur-de-lis into the Scout’s badge. Here is what he has to say about the subject. Found in the book, Lessons from the Varsity of Life, by Lord Baden-Powell.

Lord Baden-Powell -

Years ago, soon after the Boy Scouts were first started, certain critics accused the movement of being a military one.

Whenever anything new is started there are bound to be people who get up on their hind legs to find fault with it, often before they know what it is all about.

In this case they said that the Scout movement was designed to teach the boys to be soldiers, and they quoted in proof that the crest of the movement was, as they described it: “A spear-head, the emblem of battle and bloodshed.”

I was asked by cable what I had to say about it. I telegraphed back: “The crest is the fleur-de-lys, a lily, the emblem of peace and purity.”

But it wasn’t for that reason that Scouts took it. In the Middle Ages, Charles, King of Naples, owing to his French descent had the fleur-de-lys as his crest.

It was in his reign that Flavio Gioja, the navigator, made the mariner’s compass into a practical and reliable instrument. The compass card had the initial letters of North, South, East and West upon it. In Italian the North was “Tramontana.”

So, he put a capital T to mark the North point. But in compliment to the King he made a combination of the letter T with the King’s fleur-de-lys crest. From that time the North point has been universally shown on the maps, charts, and compass cards by that sign.

The actual meaning to be read from the fleur-de-lys badge is that it points in the right direction (and upwards) turning neither to the right nor the left, since these lead backward again. The stars on the two side arms stand for the two eyes of the Wolf Cub having been opened before he became a Scout, when he gained his First-Class Badge of two Stars. The three points of the fleur-de-lys remind the Scout of the three points of the Scout’s Promise - Duty to God and King, Helpfulness to other people, and Obedience to the Scout Law.

#Scoutmaster Minutes #Scouting Heritage #Baden-Powell

2 notes · View notes

dustinreidmusic · 4 years

Text

DR. JOHN BIO

“All my sisters married doctors”, said Dorothy Cronin Rebennack, the mother of Mac Rebennack. “ But only I had a Dr. John”. Indeed, there can be only one Malcolm Rebennack, aka “ Doctor John Creaux, the Night Tripper”. There can only be one walking repository of the storied city of New Orleans’ thriving musical history. There can be only one author of such classic songs as “ Right Place, Wrong Time”, “ Such A Night”, “Litanie Des Saintes”, and “I Walk On Gilded Splinters”. There can be only one torchbearer for the Crescent City sound as it second-lines its way into its fourth century. So Mrs. Rebennack was right -- physicians are indeed a dime a dozen in this doctor-clogged country; but a musician of her son’s caliber comes along but once in a very blue moon. Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. was born in New Orleans a full month after term on Thanksgiving Day (November 20) 1942. Weighing a full ten pounds, Mac, as he came to be called, was born into a music-loving family in America’s most musical city. While still an infant, Rebennack starred as a model for various baby products, and showed remarkable musical ability in early childhood. By the age of three he was already hammering out melodies on the family piano, and soon exhausted the talents of the nun who was hired to give him lessons some years later. “If I play what his next lesson is going to be”, the sister complained, “he will play it right behind me, note for note”, His good-timing Aunt Andre, who it can be safe to assume had funkier taste than the nun, taught him the “Pinetop Boogie-Woogie”. My aunt was a groovy old broad”, Rebennack recalled in “Up from the Cradle of Jazz”. “I used to drive everybody mad playing it”. Malcolm Rebennack Sr. was an appliance store owner who, as is traditional in New Orleans, also stocked the latest hit records. Thus young Mac was privy from early childhood to almost any music he wanted. Some years later the Rebennack appliance store was forced to close, and Mac lost his pipeline to the goldmine. But soon his father found work in a line even better suited to those of musical bent: PA system repair. The two Rebennacks would often be seen trundling in tandem to various nightclubs around town, bloodbucket dives with names like the Pepper Pot and the Cadillac Club. Always forbidden to enter the clubs, Mac would wait for his father to repair the system, and then peer in and dissect the musicians. It was at the Pepper Pot, in fact, and in this manner that Mac first saw Professor Longhair’s magical keyboard frolics. At the age of seven Rebennack suffered through a bout of malaria. Even as a child, the over-modest Mac had decided that he could never cut it as a pianist in New Orleans. As he remembered wondering, “How was I going to complete with killer players like Tuts Washington? Salvador Doucette? Herbert Santina? Professor Longhair himself? And the list only began there”. He had, even before his illness, agitated to take up the guitar. His long convalescence enabled him to air his plea with such incessancy, such vehemence, that his beleaguered parents finally gave in. He was sent for instruction to Werlein’s Music Store on Canal Street, already at that time a New Orleans institution and still in business today. His teacher soon sussed that Mac was going to be a difficult, if talented student. The instructor delivered a verdict along the line of, “Good ear, will never learn to read music”. The fancy, store-bought lessons ceased forthwith; but Mac was still hard at it. He locked himself in his room for weeks on end, learning by ear the licks of his twin idols of the time: T-Bone Walker and Lightning Hopkins. “If I can’t make it as T-Bone, I’ll try Lightning, he told himself. His father, seeing that his son had a talent and drive, and being himself connected in the music scene, made a wonderful decision. He persuaded Walter “Papoose” Nelson to instruct his son. Papoose was Fats Domino’s lead guitarist (and the son of Louis Armstrong’s lead guitarist) and had long been a hero to Rebennack. As Mac recalled: “The first lesson, Papoose listened to my chops and said ‘Hey, man, you can’t play that shit and get a job. What are you, crazy? That outta-meter, foot-beater jive. You gotta play stuff like this’. Then he started playing legitimate blues, which I was on the trail of with T-Bone Walker. It was the Lightning shuffle that was off the wall as far as Papoose was concerned”. Papoose’s primary contributions to Mac’s musical education were twofold. First, it was Nelson who finally won Mac over to the benefits of learning to read music. Second, to impart musical discipline, Nelson would force Mac to play rhythm guitar for hours on end, never allowing him a solo. Mac’s next teacher, Roy Montrell, also imparted a valuable lesson. To his first lesson with this new teacher, Mac bounded in with his brand new guitar, “a cheap but flashy-looking green-and-black Harmony”. Roy took at the guitar and (said) ‘Why’d you bring this piece of shit over here?’ ‘It’s my guitar’, I said. ‘Give me that guitar’. He took it, walked outside into the backyard, laid it on the ground, picked up an axe, and split it right in half. Then he broke it in pieces and threw it in the neighbour’s yard”. That done, he called Malcolm Rebennack Sr. on the phone and arranged for Mac to come back next week with a second-hand Gibson, an axe that Mac found himself working overtime with his father to pay for. By the time Mac was on the cusp of his teens, he was a somewhat streetwise musician, hanging out in black clubs and scoring drugs in the projects for his older “junko partners”, or drug-buddies. Soon he was smoking pot himself, and in due course he progressed to pills, coke, and eventually junk. All the while, he was attending the south’s most prestigious Catholic high school, New Orleans Jesuit. In class, he daydreamed and wrote songs, which he would deliver to the offices at Specialty Records, and plotted gigs with several high school bands. Something had to give, and as one can imagine, it was school. He dropped out a year of graduation and later, while in prison, obtained a correspondence course diploma. Not that in his lines of work he needed any such qualification. Soon he was a fully-fledged constituent of the New Orleans underworld. In addition to his burgeoning songwriting work, his session playing, and road gigs both local and regional, Mac attempted half-hearted sidelines such as pimping, forgery, and as an auteur of pornographic movies. His running buddies included street characters with names like Opium Rose, Betty Boobs, Stalebread Charlie, Buckethead Billy, and Mr. Oaks and Herbs. Meanwhile, he entered into a star-crossed, drug-sodden marriage to Lydia Crow. Lydia, though no shrinking violet herself, did attempt to go straight from time to time. But Mac would hear nothing of it, and their marriage ended by 1961. His personal life a shambles, Mac’s professional life was faring better. He was kicking serious ass in the studio, and it is his guitar one still hears today on Professor Longhair’s, “Mardi Gras in New Orleans”. Mac-penned tunes like “Losing Battle” (a hit for Johnny Adams) and “Losing Battle” (recorded by Jerry Byrne) (the same song?) were just two of his fifty compositions recorded in New Orleans between 1955 and 1963. But (as is well-known today) the record companies of the 1950’s were not exactly ready coughers-up of royalties, so most of Mac’s compensation came from his sessions, gigs, and mostly ludicrous street tough sidelines. One such example of the corruption of the New Orleans music business of the ‘50s will suffice. Rebennack wrote a song entitled, “Try Not To Think About You” which languished unrecorded in the offices at Specialty Records for a while. Unrecorded, and more importantly, uncopyrighted. It eventually came to the attention of Lloyd Price, who changed the title to “Lady Luck”, switched record labels, and changed the composer’s name to - you guessed it - Lloyd Price. It would have been Rebennack’s biggest hit up to that date. After literally stalking Price, gun in hand (Mac planned on wasting him backstage after a show) for some time, he finally cooled off and chalked it up to bitter experience. An absurd coda ensured, when Rebennack’s parents unknowingly hired Price’s own attorney to sue Price for the royalties from “Lady Luck”. The lawyer, Mac related, “pocketed the change and did nothing. for a minute, I was afraid if I ever ran across that bastard, I’d kill him, too”. Such chicanery aside, New Orleans of the 1950s was a paradise for musicians. Always a wide-open town (by American standards), the Crescent City was never more raucous and hard-partying than it was then. Gigs abounded in the all-night bars, bordellos, tourist joints, society haunts, and neighborhood taverns. That Rebennack was far ahead of his time regarding race helped him find work, but also earned him some less-enlightened enemies on both sides of the color line. He began to run into flak from the two musician’s union (one black, one white) for having the temerity to play with opposite-hued musicians. Eventually these unions and the crusading, publicity-seeking New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison were to conspire to run Rebennack and most of the rest of the New Orleans music scene right out of town. The union began levying exorbitant fines on Rebennack (officially for playing scab sessions) and blacklisting record producers (like the legendary Cosimo Matassa) who dared to buy the latest equipment. Their short-sighted thinking was that new equipment would equal less studio time instead of more polished records and bigger hits. Garrison, for his part, launched a crusade on vice which closed down the thriving whorehouses and gambling dens, both important sources of income for both the music and tourist industries. Rebennack’s troubles were only beginning. A fracas with a Jacksonville, Florida hotelier resulted in Rebennack getting the ring finger shot nearly off his left hand. Doctors reconstructed the finger to a degree, but not to the point that would enable him to resume making a living with a guitar. He was forced into playing bass with the tourist-oriented French Quarter Dixieland bands, a gig that convulsed him with boredom. He sank deeper than ever into heroin, and it was then that his marriage ended. To top it all, he was busted by Garrison’s goons for heroin possession, a charge that was to send him eventually to a Federal prison hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. There he served as a guinea pig for the various and infamous rehabilitation experiments then -as now - rampant in the land. He was released embittered but not in the least rehabilitated. He returned briefly to New Orleans and was given some pointers on the organ from Crescent City keyboard maestro James Booker. However, he soon soured on Garrison’s Brave New Orleans and at the invitation of an old friend (saxophonist/arranger Harold Battiste) flew out to Los Angeles. A contingent of New Orleans musicians had already set up shop in the City of Angels, and Rebennack fell quickly to work doing studio odd jobs under the auspices of Battiste. Battiste was the brains (ahem) behind Sonny & Cher, and was a close associate of Phil Spector. Battiste mortared Rebennack in on some of Spector’s sessions, but Mac did not enjoy being just another brick in the ‘Wall of Sound’. He called it, “a monument to waste with echo all over the place! It was just padding the payroll, as far as I could see”. He held down a brief stint as Frank Zappa’s pianist, but found that stultifying as well. This gave him an entrée into the acid rock world, in his words, “all these little acid groups springing up like mutant fungus after a chemical spill”. He attempted to work with Iron Butterfly, whom he termed “Iron Butterfingers” and Buffalo Springfield to little if any effect. A frustrating term as in-house producer with Mercury Records followed, but Rebennack and his cohorts suspected that it was just a tax dodge. He was more musically frustrated than he had ever been in New Orleans, and his drug woes continued unabated. As a parolee, he was under the watchful eyes of a great many government agencies as well. But slowly, the concept was forming that was to take him to heights he wouldn’t have dared dreamt possible. Growing up in New Orleans, Rebennack had eagerly immersed himself in the City’s myriad native traditions and home-grown Afro-Latin religions. He himself was a half-hearted practitioner of gris-gris, New Orleans’ own unique branch of the voodoo tree. In his avid studies of the history and religion of the city, he had thrilled to the stories of John Montaigne aka Bayou John aka and most frequently, Dr.John. John was a Senegalese of self-proclaimed royal lineage who had been taken from Africa by slavers to Cuba. There he won his freedom, and shipped out as a sailor before eventually choosing to settle in New Orleans. He set up shop as a shaman, telling fortunes, healing, and selling a cornucopia of hexes. He was good at his job, and eventually prospered to the point where he even owned slaves himself. The kicker for Rebennack was coming across an account of a 19th Century vice bust in which John was arrested with one Pauline Rebennack for voodoo-related offences and suspicion of operating a whorehouse. For years, Mac had felt a spiritual kinship for Dr.John, and this account raised the quite possibility that one of his family had had the same feelings. Even so, the idea that Rebennack had been ruminating cast his friend Ronnie Barron in the roll of Dr. John. But when the project was finally greenlighted, Barron had other contractual duties and Rebennack reluctantly assumed the mantle himself. Between Sonny & Cher sessions, virtually on the sly, Rebennack recorded the “Gris Gris” album with a band of New Orleans natives. Atlantic executive Ahmet Ertegun was at first displeased with the move. “Why did you give me this shit”?, Rebennack remembers Ertegun bellowing. “How can we market this boogaloo crap”? Eventually the canny Ertegun sniffed something in the late-’60s zeitgeist that could enable an off-the-wall act like Dr.John to sell, and he (to Rebennack’s surprise) released the album. On “Gris Gris”, Rebennack played very little keyboard, contributing only organ parts on two tracks (“Mama Roux” and Danse Kalinda”). His aim was to introduce America to New Orleans’ mystical side, and also to “let us musicians get into a stretched-out New Orleans groove”. The album sold well enough to appease the suits, with very little backing, and meanwhile Rebennack’s fertile mind was cooking up a killer road show. Drawing on the venerable southern minstrel tradition and the pageantry of the Mardi Gras Indians, Dr.John and the Night Trippers’ road show boasted snake-festooned dancers, magic tricks, and costumes manufactured from the carcasses of virtually every living creature that ever crawled, slithered or flew in the bayou country. As Rebennack recalled, “When this stuff started coming apart in pieces, I had to start hanging around taxidermy shops big-time, scavenging new material.” He and his similarly attired band of New Orleans roughnecks unleashed this act the acid-drenched southern California of 1968 to no little astonishment. But by the time “Babylon”, the Night Tripper’s second album came out, the band began to dissolve. Rebennack (along with the most of the rest of America) felt the end time was at hand, as the title implies. The album reflects Rebennack’s chaotic personal life - his drug use and police persecution, his dissolving band -- and the state of American life in 1968, a year in which it seemed that violet revolution was at hand. It was a year in which both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King fell to assassins, riots consumed black ghettos in flames from Miami to Watts, and the Vietcong launched the ferocious TET offensive. The album features odd time signatures (11/4, 5/4,10/4), doom-laden lyrics, and hybrid Afro-Caribbean/avant-garde jazz feeling. As Rebennack later said, “ It was as if Hieronymus Bosch had cut an album”. Who better to chronicle those disorderly times? Things were about to get extremely untidy for Rebennack again, as well. While touring in support of “Gris-Gris”, the Night Trippers had been busted in St. Louis, and Rebennack as frontman shouldered the load. A lawyer arranged a deal in which Charlie Green (the manager of Sonny & Cher and Buffalo Springfield) was to pay off the St. Louis bail bondsman. The bondsman, unbeknownst to Rebennack, never collected. Green and partner Brian Stone then confronted Rebennack with the proverbial “Offer you can’t refuse”. Since he had gotten Rebennack sprung, Green put it to Mac, we get to manage you from now on. Rebennack, frazzled, saw no alternative. Green proved to be the worst of all managerial archetypes, the would-be star. Mac recalled, “He thought of himself as the star and me as the roadie of the operation. Even though I wasn’t on no kind of star trip or nothing, I didn’t want my manager hanging around, running some kind of Jumpin’ Jack Flash number and trying to upstage me. Beyond that was the basic problem: a drugged out band hooked up with a starry-eyed manager results in a chemically unbalanced situation and, in general, a fearsome sight to behold.” While at work on “Remedies”, the third of five of Rebennack’s Atlantic releases, Green and Stone persuaded Rebennack to check himself into a loony-bin, with an eye toward having him declared incompetent. This move would allow them to help themselves to a slightly higher percentage of Rebennack’s earnings than their current 25%, something more along the lines of 100%. Rebennack quickly wised up, escaped from the asylum, and exiled himself to Miami. Meanwhile, the managers had released the unfinished “Remedies” album. One of Rebennack’s chief aims for the album was to spread the news about Louisiana’s notorious Angola Farm, then as now America’s most deplorable and inhumane prison. Rebennack, incommunicado in Miami, was thus unable to put wise the Rolling Stone reviewer who took his lament Angola Anthem to be a protest song about the nation of Angola. A disastrous European tour followed, one in which was Mac was hamstrung by a third string band (most of the Night Trippers were unable to get visas). The tour was augured in by Mac from backstage the electrocution death of the Stone the Crows guitarist Les Harvey at a festival. At Montreux, his bass player without warning dropped his bass and brandished a trombone which he had concealed in the wings, and proceeded to (Rebennack related) “start dancing around the stage, playing Pied Piper to the audience’s mountain villagers”. At the end of this arduous road, Mac headed for London to round up session players for the album “The Sun, Moon, and Herbs”. Graham Bond, Eric Clapton, Ray Draper, Walter Davis Jr., Mick Jagger, Doris Troy, and a battery of drummers from virtually every West African and Caribbean country were on hand for a days-long, Opium and hash-fuelled epic of a session. He delivered the finished article to Green for post-production work a happy man. Some weeks later, Rebennack returned to find his beloved album chopped, diced, and filleted by Green. Material was added and deleted, more was overdubbed. Most of what Rebennack felt was the best music was simply gone. In addition, it came to his attention (when he was alerted to a pair of bounty hunters at his doorstep) that Green had not, in fact, bailed him out of anything. Green was summarily dismissed, and Rebennack and some engineers endeavored to salvage what they could of the “Sun, Moon, and Herbs” album. He signed next with manager Albert Grossman, of Joplin, Dylan, and The Band fame. He was the manager who “electrified” Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, which touched off a brawl between himself and folklorist Alan Lomax in front of several thousand bemused folkies. Lomax, though, was not the only one in the music scene who wanted a piece of Grossman. Soon enough, Grossman and Rebennack came nearly to blows. Grossman’s style was to play it cool with his artist, while his “bad-cop” flunkie Bennett Glotzer delivered such news as, “Thanks for signing with us. We now control 1/3 of your publishing”. Glotzer and Rebennack had two punch-outs, and things got so bad that Rebennack turned to his native gris-gris. He would each day leave a dead bird on Glotzer’s doorstep, surrounding by black candles and sprinkled with “goofer dust”. Eventually, this hell-broth boiled over when, in a tête-à-tête with Grossman, an enraged Rebennack snatched Grossman’s beloved peyote button, a pet psychedelic Grossman had been nurturing for three years, and devoured it, skin, pulp, stem and all, in front of his very eyes. The relationship dissolved into a maelstrom of threat and counter-threats, and now Rebennack had not one, but two oddball ex-managers scheming for his destruction. Somehow, Mac found the time to sit in the Rolling Stones’ “Exile On Main Street” sessions, and also to record one of his best albums ever. (While in the studio with the Stones, he discussed with them his and New Orleans songwriter Earl King’s idea for an album of dirty blues tunes. Back in the fifties, when he played the after hours joints, he had often played for an audience of street characters x-rated versions of old blues tunes. The Stones demurred, but later released “Cocksucker Blues” on their own, which irked Rebennack. He felt that since he had given them the idea, he should be compensated) His own effort produced “Gumbo”, an album steeped in the New Orleans of his youth. Featuring covers of songs by King, Professor Longhair, and several other lesser lights of that time and place, the album was his most direct tribute to his home turf to that date. To back the album, Mac ditched the voodoo shtick he had employed on the road since 1967 in favour of a revue format. As Mac termed it, he had “enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show”. The Gumbo tour, backed heavily by Atlantic, reached Carnegie Hall and other such bastions of the high life, and a single, ”Iko Iko”, cracked the top 40. The dark cloud to this silver lining was that hard on the heels of his chart success, several of his past employers saw fit to release albums of demos. Among them were Green, Huey Meaux (with whom Rebennack had worked as a session producer) and an unknown cast of characters. This very collection is one such unfinished product. Meanwhile, Rebennack had seen fit to employ yet another volatile, less than 10% straight forward manager. Phil Walden, who had hit the big-time managing Otis Redding was then cresting on the Allman Brothers doomed wave, and he also handled Rebennack’s New Orleans chums, The Meters. Clearly Rebennack thought, here at last was a manager with the Midas touch. In 1973, Rebennack and the Meters hit the studio together to record “In The Right Place”. At first, things with Walden and the album went swimmingly. Walden booked Mac and The Meters on some Allman tours, on which Rebennack enjoyed himself immensely, both professionally and personally. The album scored him both his biggest hit (the title track) and perhaps his most enduring composition. “Such a Night” is a stone-cold classic, a song that sounded as old and enduring as music itself from the very day it was waxed. This writer was astonished to learn that it was written by Rebennack in 1973, as I had always assumed it emanated from Cole Porter or some such. The relationship with Walden, which had been going so well, came to a screeching halt when Rebennack returned home road-weary to find his house bereft of furniture, furniture that had somehow found its way across town to Walden’s recording studio. It was this move that finally put an end to Rebennack’s reliance on anyone else to handle his business affairs. Since then he has managed himself. Later in 1973, a collaboration with white bluesman John Hammond Jr. and Mike Bloomfield brought forth the “Triumvirate” album. Meanwhile, Rebennack embarked on a tour of shows benefiting the Black Panthers, which, he recalled, “had the immediate effect of bringing serious federal heat down on our asses! I discovered that we’d jumped into a whole new level of criminality. We weren’t garden-variety dope fiends any more; now we’d become political activists, the most fouty-knuckled lames of them all”. The year ended with Rebennack attempting to aid a drink- and coke-addled John Lennon make the album “Rock ‘n’Roll” with Rebennack’s old boss Phil Spector. As active and fruitful as 1973 seemed (in addition to the above there were sessions with Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr), Rebennack was still broke and very bitter. He seriously pondered retirement, and had developed a reputation as a pain in the ass. The rest of the early seventies passed by in a blur of drug abuse and fallen sidemen. James Booker, the classically trained, extremely eccentric genius of the New Orleans keys, came and went from Rebennack’s band several times, before dying of a cocaine overdose in 1983. Ray Draper was whacked by New Jersey loan-sharks. Percussionist Albert ”Didimus” Washington was killed by a Cabbage-juice diet designed to heal his ulcers. As the seventies wore on, though, things very slowly began to turn around for Rebennack. A collaboration with legendary New York songwriter Doc Pomus (“Save The Last Dance For Me”, “Lonely Avenue”, “Suspicion”), produced the song “There Must Be A Better World Somewhere”, which B.B. King later picked up and won a Grammy. Tommy LiPuma persuaded Rebennack and Pomus to sign with his A&M-affiliated Horizon label. “City Lights”, the label’s second release, quickly followed. The album is something of a semi-autobiographical rock opera, co-written by Rebennack, Pomus, and Henry Glover (“ I Love You, Yes I Do”; “Drown in My Own Tears”) concerning the exploits of some ex-pat New Orleanians in the Big Apple. “Tango Palace”, another Mac-Pomus offering, came hard on the heels of “City Lights”, but not soon enough. The label foundered almost immediately after “Tango’s” release. Rebennack recalls the interlude with Horizon, during which he also gigged with 50’s R& B legends Hank Crawford and Fathead Newman, as being rewarding musically, if not commercially. In 1980, Rebennack began an association with Jack Heyrman’s Clean Cuts label. Heyrman persuaded Rebennack to confront a personal bugaboo and record two albums of solo piano and vocals. Rebennack had always had nightmarish visions of this being his end, that “I’d end up a solo-piano lounge act, staring at Holiday Inns or bowling alleys for the rest of my natural life”. Nevertheless, two Clean Cuts releases, “Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack” and “The Brightest Smile In Town”, ensued. On them, Rebennack erased the last vestiges of the Gris Gris act and tackled some more sophisticated and older forms of music. He wanted to appeal to “a spiritual awareness, not just that low-down meat level”, but hastened to add that, “The hardest thing to do is let the spirituality flow and turn the meat on. Doing that is creating art, radiating the 88’s”. Rebennack expanded on this with 1989’s “In A Sentimental Mood”, a collection of classics this time presented in a combo format. A duet with Rickie Lee Jones on Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson’s ”Makin’ Whoopee” took home the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Duet, and the album was one of the top-selling jazz albums of the year. Two more albums in a jazzy vein, “Bluesiana Triangle”, cut with Fathead Newman and the great Art Blakey; and “Bluesiana II”, cut again with Newman and others followed in the next two years. In 1989, Rebennack ended his 34-year relationship with heroin, and three years later released “Goin’ Back to New Orleans”, one of his most ambitious projects to date. Like “Gumbo”, “Goin’ Back” is solely a New Orleans affair, but it takes a much broader approach. Songs dating as far back as 1850 were recorded, with each of the ensuing cuts representing a stylistic breakthrough that has occurred since then. There’s a Mardi Gras Indian tune, homages to Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, Louis Jordan, Professor Longhair, James Booker, and Fats Domino. The Neville Brothers, Wardell Quezergue, Al Hirt, and Pete Fountain, among a great many others turned out in support of the project. Any one volume CD that endeavors to cover 150 years of music from America’s most tuneful of cities is bound to fail, through as Rebennack says, “ the only thing that can beat a failure is a try”. Ultimately, the album ranks in the top 5% of all New Orleans releases, a too-brief primer lovingly and excitingly presented by the best musicians the city had to offer at that time. By turns wistful, violent, joyous and tragic, it never loses the twin hallmarks of the city that birthed it - a sense of humour at the absurdities of life (and death) and some of the world’s most pulsating rhythms. In 1994, Rebennack wrote with co-author Jack Rummel the excellent autobiography, “Under A Hoodoo Moon”. From it most of these notes were cribbed, and though this has proven to be by far my most verbose liner-note project, not one tenth of the story is yet told . Far from being a typical rock & roll, ghost-written autobiography, it is a hilarious, tragic, brutally honest, and inspirational tale of one erudite and talented man’s struggle to make some good music in a country in which this has become increasingly difficult. The chapter in which his reminiscences of Professor Longhair are recounted in side-splitting detail is alone worth the price of the book. The rest of the mid-nineties saw Rebennack’s voice become seemingly ubiquitous on American television, singing the praises of Wendy’s Hamburgers, among many another strange fruit from his American orchard. He has released several anthologies and two albums of new material - “Television” on GRP in 1994 and “Afterglow” on Blue Thumb in 1995. Any questions regarding this bizarre genius’ contemporary relevance were abolished in 1991 and 1993 when P.M. Dawn and Beck, respectively sampled his “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” for their own recordings, with utilising the Doctor’s tune in his breakthrough anthem, “Loser”. In 1997 he recorded a smoking duet with B.B. King on his collaboration with Doc Pomus, “There Must Be A Better World Somewhere”. He continues to tour and record, and still there is no bowling alley or Holiday Inn big enough to hold the audiences that pay to see him. Like the city he came from, Mac Rebennack is a survivor. So is the music that they share. That indefinable blend of French, African, Caribbean, Spanish, and American ingredients, that gumbo of a city and a sound, the certain je ne sais pocky way hollers out Crescent City, has no living acolyte truer or more faithful than Rebennack. Long may he ramble! ~John Nova Lomax, November 1998

#drjohn #bio

6 notes · View notes

hydecurator · 4 years

Text

If not graven idols, what is Christian art?

For Christians, Sunday was Palm Sunday, the day they celebrate, and some even reenact, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, when his supporters climbed the tress and strew his path with palm fronds.

Anonymous (French), Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem, ca. 1325, stained glass (20 1/16 x 13 5/8 in.), The Hyde Collecction, Glens Falls, New York, Bequest of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde, 1971.114. Photo credit: Michael Fredericks.

In the Middle Ages, when every church was perceived as a manifestation of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the church became a representation of the early city. Galleries were built over the west door for the choir to occupy as the clergy and laity processed in as Christ had once ridden into the holy city. At Wells Cathedral, a hidden gallery was constructed within the stone façade to accommodate the choir. The boys’ voices emerged through holes in the wall behind sculptures of angels.

Detail: West facade of Well Cathedral, 1220-48, Wells, Somerset, UK. Holes behind the quatrefoils filled with sculpture allowed the sound of the cathedral choir to resonate as one entered the cathedral’s west door on Palm Sunday. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Wells Cathedral," in Smarthistory, July 18, 2017, accessed April 6, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/wells-cathedral/.

This week, Holy Week, is the most important in the Christian calendar. On Maundy Thursday, the faithful will commemorate Christ’s last supper with his disciple, when He washed their feet, mourn His crucifixion on Good Friday, and celebrate His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

At the end of the Maundy Thursday service, priests in Catholic and Episcopalian churches will follow the centuries-old tradition of stripping the altars of their rich liturgical paraphernalia. They will carry away candlesticks, chalices, and crosses, and fold up richly embroidered altar cloths. Statues will be removed or covered. The church will be left bare. The sacrament will be removed from the high altar and placed in a temporary Easter Sepulcher, representing the removal of Christ’s body to Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. I always find it striking to watch this ceremony. The congregation leaves the darkened, denuded church in silence.

It is a wonder, given the stricture against “graven idols” in the Ten Commandments, that Christian churches should have so much religious art and, indeed, such a rich cultural history of fine art, architecture, music, and the decorative arts. Once the Early Church started to accept Gentiles, particularly anyone who had grown up with the Greek and Roman pantheon of gods and statuary, it was something of a losing proposition to forbid all imagery. The fight was lost with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 315. He gave the Roman church silver statues of Christ and the apostles. Such cultural largesse was a standard form of imperial patronage and one the recently legalized Church was not in a position to refuse.

The Church developed several arguments for its use of and expenditure on art. Firstly, it needed to be able to perform the liturgy in a suitable building and with ritual implements. Secondly, as Pope Gregory argued in around 600, imagery helped to educate and catechize a largely illiterate congregation. The twelfth-century Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, who in some sense was the creator of the Gothic style, wrote in his defense of the artistic riches of his abbey church that the beauty of the bejeweled liturgical vessels and the aura created by the brilliant stained glass helped to raise his thoughts from the mire and sin of this world towards the glory of heaven. In truth, he was also motivated to use art in the same manner as royalty and the aristocracy. He sought to instill awe in those who might otherwise challenge the Church’s position. It was necessary to ape the trappings of secular authority to advance and protect the Church’s own claim of independence and internationalism over and above the power of local rulers. As a divinely established institution, the glory of the Church reflected the majesty of God.

The adoption of worldly trappings of authority is beautifully rendered in The Hyde Collection’s St. Peter Enthroned (ca. 1475-1500). Here Christ’s chosen head of the Church, the first pope is regally attired like a medieval monarch. He sits on a grand sculpted throne, swathed in a bejeweled cope of rich velvet and gold threads, wearing the papal triple tiara and holding the regalia of his office: the cross and the keys to the kingdoms of heaven and earth given to St. Peter by Christ Himself.

Unknown (Flemish or Portuguese, St. Peter Enthroned, ca. 1475-1500, oil on panel (12 1/4 × 8 1/2 in.) The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, Gift of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde, 1971.6.

There have been moments in the Church’s history when it has banned imagery. The Orthodox Church went through two periods of iconoclasm, the destruction of imagery, in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Calvinists during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation whitewashed church interiors. English Puritans decapitated sculptures and smashed stained before boarding ships and sailing for the New World where they built their stark, unadorned meetinghouses.

The Catholic Church enthusiastically reasserted the power of religious art in the Baroque period. Shaken by the Protestant Reformation, it reclaimed its authority and rebuilt itself, constructing massive, richly adorned churches. The princes of the Church were as magnificent as any lord or princeling, the Pope as any monarch. We see redecoration of churches The Hyde Interior of a Gothic Church after Pieter Neeffs the Elder (1625-50). The side altars are dressed in altar cloths and adorned with tall winged Baroque altarpieces. At the far east end of the church, through the arch of a rood screen that divided the world of the clergy from that of the laity, one can discern a high altar, bedecked with candlesticks and a colorful altarpiece.

After Pieter Neeffs the Elder, (Flemish, ca. 1578 - 1659), Interior of a Gothic Church, ca. 1625 - 1650, oil on panel (13 × 11 3/4 in.) The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, Gift of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde, 1971.31.

In its day, the painting would have been viewed as a confessional declaration. Protestants in the newly independent Dutch republic possessed paintings of their whitewashed church interiors. In this painting by Pieter Saenredam ( 1597-1665), the Calvinist emphasis on the spoken word over the liturgy performed at an altar is manifested in the prominent pulpit positioned halfway down the left side of the church.

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (Dutch 1597-1665), The Interior of St Bavo's Church, Haarlem (the 'Grote Kerk'), 1648, oil on panel (174.8 x W 143.6 cm), National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery, NG 2413, Photo credit: National Galleries of Scotland

The Hydes were Presbyterian. Charlotte Pruyn’s family were descendants of Dutch Calvinists. I have always thought that a certain Reformist modesty regulated their lives and collecting. It did not affect the quality of their collection, rather it manifested itself in the scale and tone of what they collected. Hyde House is unique in its design but not ostentatious in scale or decoration. The Rembrandt is the largest painting the Hydes ever bought. In collecting religious imagery, they avoided large altarpieces, gruesome martyrdoms, and Baroque saints in ecstasy. Neither did they buy grand eighteenth-century portraits alluding to an Old World aristocratic heritage.

As patrons of religious architecture, they were governed by an elegant restraint. We see this in their patronage of Ralph Adam Cram (1863-1942) architect of the First Presbyterian Church (1927) in Glens Falls. Cram was the leading American Gothic Revival architect of the early twentieth century, the architect of New York’s Riverside Presbyterian Church. The Hydes’ archive contains many letters to Cram concerning design and decoration. They traveled into the Midwest and through New England to visit and review other churches, garner ideas, and assess the work of craftsmen. The restraint in the architectural decoration at First Presbyterian is reminiscent of that of the Cistercian movement, founded in response to the lavish decoration of Benedictine monasteries like Saint-Denis. St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), the founder of the Cistercian order, argued that for monks who were devoted to the study of the Bible, narrative cycles, whether painted on walls or glass, were an unnecessary and indeed dangerous distraction. Direct access to scripture negated the need for religious art.

Ralph Adam Cram (American, 1863-1942), First Presbyterian Church, 1927, Glens Falls, New York.

For the Hydes as collectors, religious art exemplified styles and movements within the history of Western art. They largely overlooked its religious function and meaning. Yet the art was never intended simply to be pretty. Its raison d’être lay in its liturgical role, what it taught, or the power it projected. I will examine these roles in further postings this Holy Week.

#hydecollection #wells cathedral #gothic

1 note · View note

dutch-and-flemish-painters · 5 years

Photo

Master of the Death of the Virgin (maybe also known as Joos van Cleve) - Death of Mary - ca. 1513

Triptych with on it: Saints George and Nicasius, with the donors Nicasius and Georg Hackeney. The death of Mary. Saints Christina and Gudula, with the wives of the donors, Christina and Sybilla Hackeney.

The Death of the Virgin Mary is a common subject in Western Christian art, the equivalent of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Eastern Orthodox art. This depiction became less common as the doctrine of the Assumption gained support in the Roman Catholic Church from the Late Middle Ages onward. Although that doctrine avoids stating whether Mary was alive or dead when she was bodily taken up to Heaven, she is normally shown in art as alive. Nothing is said in the Bible about the end of Mary's life, but a tradition dating back to at least the 5th century says the twelve Apostles were miraculously assembled from their far-flung missionary activity to be present at the death, and that is the scene normally depicted, with the apostles gathered round the bed.

A virtuoso engraving by Martin Schongauer of about 1470 shows the Virgin from the foot of a large bed with the apostles spread around the three sides, and this composition influences many later depictions. Earlier depictions usually follow the standard Byzantine image, with the Virgin lying on a bed or sarcophagus across the front of the picture space, with Christ usually standing above her on the far side, and the apostles and others gathered around. Often Christ holds a small figure that may look like a baby, representing Mary's soul.

A prominent, and late, example of the subject is Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio (1606), the last major Catholic depiction. Other examples include Death of the Virgin by Andrea Mantegna and Death of the Virgin by Hugo van der Goes. All these show the gathering of the apostles around the deathbed, as does an etching by Rembrandt.

Three minor anonymous artists are known to art history as the Master of the Death of the Virgin.

A triptych (TRIP-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον "triptukhon" ("three-fold"), from tri, i.e., "three" and ptysso, i.e., "to fold" or ptyx, i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry.

Despite its connection to an art format, the term is sometimes used more generally to connote anything with three parts, particularly if they are integrated into a single unit.

The Master of the Death of the Virgin was an Early Netherlandish painter active between 1507 and 1537. He is believed to be responsible for a large group of paintings; two of these are altarpieces of the Death of the Virgin, one in Cologne and one in Munich, from which his name is derived. He is sometimes, but not universally, identified with Joos van Cleve. Nothing further appears to be known about him.

Joos van Cleve (also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485 – 1540/1541) was a painter active in Antwerp around 1511 to 1540. He is known for combining traditional Dutch painting techniques with influences of more contemporary Renaissance painting styles.

An active member and co-deacon of the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp, he is known mostly for his religious works and portraits of royalty. As a skilled technician, his art shows sensitivity to color and a unique solidarity of figures. He was one of the first to introduce broad landscapes in the backgrounds of his paintings, which would become a popular technique of sixteenth century northern Renaissance paintings.

He was the father of Cornelis van Cleve (1520-1567) who also became a painter. Cornelis became mentally ill during a residence in England and was therefore referred to as 'Sotte Cleef' (mad Cleef).

#Master of the Death of the Virgin #Joos van Cleve #16th #biblical #theory

17 notes · View notes

stjohncapistrano67 · 1 year

Text

A renaissance era Catholic religious art image of St. Louis IX King of France praying before the Crucifix. I don't know who the artist is.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic renaissance religious art #traditional catholic saints #traditional catholic saints images #st. louis ix #traditional catholic royalty saints #king of france #traditional catholic history

3 notes · View notes

silvestromedia · 1 year

Text

SAINTS FOR MARCH 26

St. Margaret of Clitherow. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England, in 1555, of protestant parents. Possessed of good looks and full of wit and merriment, she was a charming personality. In 1571, she married John Clitherow, a well-to-do grazier and butcher (to whom she bore two children), and a few years later entered the Catholic Church. Her zeal led her to harbor fugitive priests, for which she was arrested and imprisoned by hostile authorities. Recourse was had to every means in an attempt to make her deny her Faith, but the holy woman stood firm. Finally, she was condemned to be pressed to death on March 25, 1586. She was stretched out on the ground with a sharp rock on her back and crushed under a door over laden with unbearable weights. Her bones were broken and she died within fifteen minutes. The humanity and holiness of this servant of God can be readily glimpsed in her words to a friend when she learned of her condemnation: "The sheriffs have said that I am going to die this coming Friday; and I feel the weakness of my flesh which is troubled at this news, but my spirit rejoices greatly. For the love of God, pray for me and ask all good people to do likewise."

ST. CASTULUS, MARTYR ON THE VIA LABICANA, ST. CASTULUS, MARTYR ON THE VIA LABICANA-St. Castulus was a chamberlain, of the Emperor Diocletian, who hid Christians during the persecutions. Betrayed by an apostate, he was arrested and tortured, but remained faithful to Christ to the very end. According to tradition, he was buried alive in a quarry on the Via Labicana near Rome. Mar.26

St. Alfwold, 1058 A.D. Bishop and ascetic, a companion of St. Swithin and a devotee of St. Cuthbert. Little is known of Alfwold except for the biographical material gathered by William of Malmesbury. Alfwold was a monk in Winchester, England, before being consecrated bishop of Sherborne in 1045. His austere way of life set a Christian example for the local royalty. St. Swithin was Alfwold's patron in Winchester. Alfwold made a pilgrimage to St. Cuthbert in Durharn.

St. William of Norwich, 1144 A.D. Martyr. He was a young boy and an apprentice to a tanner in Norwich, England. William was murdered by two Jews in a terrible ceremony prompted by a hatred for Christ.

St. Garbhan, 7th century. Irish abbot honored by the town of Dungarvan, Ireland. He was part of the monastic efforts to preserve knowledge and culture in Ireland.

St. Mochelloc, 639 A.D. Patron saint of Kilmallock, Limerick, Ireland. He is also called Celloch, Cellog, Motalogus, and Mottelog.

0 notes

barbaramoorersm · 2 years

Text

January 9, 2022

The Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7

Isaiah speaks about the chosen one who has received God’s Spirit.

Psalm 29

The psalmist writes about the power of God.

The Acts of the Apostles 10: 34-38

Peter meets Cornelius’ family and says that God shows no partiality.

Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

Luke describes the events surrounding the baptism of Jesus.

Today ends the Christmas season and all four Gospels refer to the Baptism of Jesus by John. It is important to remember however, that the baptism Jesus experienced is not the same as the baptism you and I received. Soon John was going to be arrested and Jesus would launch his public ministry. By the time he was ready to do that, Jesus had received the critical ceremonies of the Jewish faith. That is circumcision and his bar mitzvah ceremony. He was born and he died a faithful Jew.

As the community of Jesus’ followers grew, they evolved gradually into much more than a Jewish Christian group. As Gentiles, like the family mentioned today in the Acts of the Apostles, jointed their ranks divisions began to occur and new ceremonies developed to meet the needs of the community. In time there was a separation between the ancient Jewish faith and the new way of Christianity.

I came across an excellent article in a Catholic newspaper that enlightened me regarding the differences between the Jewish faith and the Christian faith. I want to share some of these thoughts because they will assist us in understanding the differences between the two. The one from which we came and the one we now follow. Rabbi Yehiel Poupko a Jewish scholar has written, “Christianity is a religion. Judaism is not just a religion. It is much more. We the Jewish people are a family that became a faith and remained a family. In the words of a Catholic theologian, for Judaism the sequence is, ‘I belong, I do, I believe’; for Christians, the sequence is,” I believe, I do, I belong.’ Thus, one is born a Jew, but one becomes a Christian.” Thus, the sacrament of Baptism. I suggest that you spend a few moments with this description because it is powerful. One other important dimension of Baptism is often misunderstood. We are not Baptized Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, or Presbyterian but we are Baptized Christian, and we are raised in a variety of traditions.

After John’s baptism, Jesus was praying and according to Luke he experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit and heard a voice say, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”. In Matthew and Mark, the event happened as he came up from the water. In John it is a reflection back to the event and Luke seems to say that the voice came to Jesus while he was praying, perhaps he was alone.

However, after his baptism Jesus launched his public ministry. In time we will hear that it happened after John’s arrest. Some wondered why Jesus even went through John’s ceremony. Was it a sign of his support of his cousin, John? Was it a gesture of solidarity with the diversity of men and women who came to John to be blessed? We will never know, but one thing we do know is that very soon John would be killed and that his role was critical in paving the way for “The one to come”.

And so, Baptism is central to our weekend readings. For us as Christians, it is the fundamental sacrament of our faith. When we are anointed at the Baptismal font, male and female, different in culture and race, we ALL are anointed as “priests, prophets and royalty”. This sacrament levels the Christian playing field between saint and sinner, pauper and Pope, women and men. If only we could accept that reality so many heartaches would disappear, shortages in clergy and staff would be diminished and the Church would reflect the image of God; male and female both made in that image.

Finally, I believe it would be a wonderful gift if each one of us realized that the words Jesus heard today are being said to us. Every one of us. I think many of us wish we could hear it and some do not believe it is possible. “You are my beloved son and daughter; with you I am well pleased.” Imagine what might happen if we all believed that reality!

1 note · View note

allaboutjoseph · 3 years

Text

The 10 Josephine Mysteries of the Rosary (Catholic Doors Ministry)

Prayer from: https://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/josephian.htm

This rosary is slightly different from the previous versions:

The First Josephian Mystery: The Divine calling. [Mt. 1:24] • Joseph answered God’s calling when he obeyed the angel’s message to take Mary as his spouse. Thank you Saint Joseph for having obeyed God’s messenger. The Second Josephian Mystery: Protector of the innocent. [Mt. 1:19] • Having learned of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph was not willing to expose her to public disgrace. He took her as his wife, this action avoiding a public scandal and the stoning of Mary that could have been applied according to the Jewish Laws. Thank you Joseph for protecting the mother of Jesus and mankind. The Third Josephian Mystery: The finding of a shelter. [Lk. 2:7] • After asking for a room at the inn for the Virgin Mary who was with Child, Joseph had no choice but to accept a humble shelter where Jesus, the King of kings, was born. Oh Joseph, how heart broken you must have been when you could not find something worthy of Mary and her Child to be born. The Fourth Josephian Mystery: The Guardian of the Child Jesus. [Mt. 1:16, 13:55] • Joseph welcomed Jesus as his foster Son. With this decision came all the responsibilities related to being a loving and caring parent. Thank you Joseph for being a model to all the foster and adoptive parents who welcome children in their homes. The Fifth Josephian Mystery: Obedience to the Law; The circumcision of Jesus. [Lk. 2:21; Mt. 1:21] • Joseph obeyed the Jewish tradition, that every male child be “marked in the flesh” as a son of Abraham, a keeper of the Lord’s covenant. On the eight day after his birth, the Child was officially given the Name of Jesus. “After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” The Sixth Josephian Mystery: Submission to Divine Guidance. [Mt. 2:14-7] • The Flight to Egypt. As the Guardian of the Holy Family, Joseph saved his loved ones by fleeing to Egypt with Jesus and Mary. For Herod had ordered the murder of all the children age two and under in and around Bethlehem. Thank you Saint Joseph for protecting the Holy Family. The Seventh Josephian Mystery: The great anxiety. [Lk. 2:48] • Returning home from the festival of the Passover in Jerusalem, Joseph, the head of the Holy Family, noticed after a day’s journey that Jesus was not around. He searched among relatives and friends. When he did not find Jesus, he returned to Jerusalem with Mary to look for Him. When Jesus was found in the Temple, Mary said to Him, “Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” [Lk. 2:48] One can only imagine what went through Joseph’s mind when his foster Child went missing. The Eight Josephian Mystery: Royalty without a crown. [Mt. 1:2-16; Lk. 1:27] • Joseph was the son of Jacob, of the house of David. He was a descendant of a royal family. Joseph was a perfect example of royal humility. Nowhere in the Holy Bible do we find a reference to Joseph attempting to claim the royal crown that he rightfully deserved. The ninth Josephian Mystery: The restoration of God’s Kingdom on earth. [1 Sam. 8:6-7, 22; Jn. 12:12-9] • Through Joseph, God was restored as true King on earth as He is in Heaven. Since the days of creation, God was the King of this world. In the days of Samuel, God's people, wanting a human king, said, "Give us a king to govern over us." In response to this, God said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you [Samuel], but they have rejected Me from being King over them. Consequently, God said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice and set a king over them." It was not until the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem that God, through Jesus, was reinstated as the King of this world. This fulfilled the prophecy, “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” The Tenth Josephian Mystery: The declaration of “Saint Joseph as the Patron of the Catholic Church.” • In 1621, Pope Gregory XV declared the Feast of St. Joseph as a Feast of obligation. In 1726, Pope Benedict XIII inserted the name of Saint Joseph in the Litanies of the Saints. And finally, in December, 1870, according to the wish of the bishops and the faithful, Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph as the Patron of the Catholic Church. [Author of the Josephian Mysteries: Catholic Doors Ministry.]

0 notes

girlingoleitalia · 3 years

Text

6/22/21

Buon pommereggio and happy Tuesday! Here is another blog post with what we have learned today, including myths, a little bit of fascism, and the introduction to the Italian mafia.

Starting with this morning, The morning segment had a virtual lab on the Sorrento coast between myth and mystery. This probably had to be one of my favorite morning segments that we’ve had, even though it was shorter, because of the fact that we learned about some of the legends and myths that surrounded the city of Sicily. There were two categories that we have learned about: Greek and Roman mythology, and Catholic stories. By definition, a myth is a traditional story, especially when concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. In Greek mythology, many of the myths include the lives and activities of gods, heroes, and mythological creatures.

Starting with the first myth, we begin in Naples. While there are a lot of myths on Naples, there is one thing in common: it was founded with love and for love. The story begins with Ulysses, who was at sea on a ship and knew of the sirens that occupied the waters. To avoid being killed by them and their song, his men tied him to the ships mast upon on his request to avoid being lured out into sea. When the legendary siren Parthenope came closer to investigate why he wasn’t lured in by her song, she was really impressed and fascinated by Ulysses. she tried to seduce the hero with her beautiful singing but she failed, and never accepting the rejection, she ended up taking her own life in the sea. The sea dragged her to Megaride, where some fishermen worshiped her as a goddess. Here, Parthenope’s body dissolved, taking shape in the city of Naples. Desperate after her death, her Siren sisters turned into rocks, creating what are now the Li Galli Islands, in the shape of a dolphin.

The next tale takes place in what is now Sorrento. A young, beautiful girl named Sirentum, Who is the daughter of a farmer and Mirone (one of Parthenope’s sisters). She later became royalty when a prince had visited Marina grande and fell in love with her. But when Sorrento was invaded by Saracens, Sirrentum was kidnapped. In order to free her, the people from Sorrento gave all they had, and their city was then named after her.

For the Catholic stories, every city in Italy has a saint patron. This story, called the miracle of Saint Anthony, is one that is very popular. One day a mother and her little boy were at the beach, when suddenly the boy, who was playing in the sea, was eaten by a mythological sea creature. in her desperation, his mother prayed to the gods and to Saint Anthony, who actually heard his prayers. He had sent some fishermen down to where they were and the fishermen proceeded to catch the sea creature and free the boy from its stomach.

Those were the ones that I could remember best, but there are so many stories out there, that it wouldn’t be hard to find upon conducting more research.

I’ll add a second part that tells of what we did in the afternoon segment, so that this part doesn’t get too long.

0 notes

interfaithconnect · 7 years

Note

All mods: what works make up are your religious texts/scriptures?

Mod Jasper:

Though Hellenistic (and most other forms of) polytheism doesn’t have any official scriptures, both the ancient Greeks and Egyptians had several unofficial ‘rulebooks’ on how to lead an ideal, moral life - for the former, we have the Delphic Maxims and the Golden Verses, and for the latter the Negative Confessions. It can be difficult to know how seriously the ancients actually took these, or how widespread the texts themselves were, but they basically boil down to the concepts of arete (virtue/excellence, which is also intertwined with the concepts of eusebia [piety] and xenia [hospitality]) and ma’at (justice/balance), respectively. These concepts were absolutely essential to religious and social life and would have been understood by everyone, even if they were illiterate and/or unaware of the formal texts. Personally I also ascribe to the beliefs of Orphism, a specifically Hellenistic sect which has its own set of taboos and funerary traditions, a hymnal containing a slightly different understanding of the Greek pantheon, and a Theogony which differs from Hesiod’s description of the origins of the gods (the ‘mainstream’ version most of us are probably familiar with).

The myths, of course, while important for teaching us about the nature of the gods and about what constitutes goodness and right action, have many different versions depending on the writer and they’re not exactly standardized scriptures - nor are they meant to be taken literally, in my opinion; they’re parables which impart knowledge and lessons to the reader, but I generally don’t think they happened exactly as described, if at all. Other practitioners may feel differently, of course, and it’s again hard to know how the ancients felt on the matter of literalism. Similarly, the Egyptians had The Book of Coming Forth By Day (also called The Book of the Dead) as well as a number of other funerary and magical texts from at least the time of the New Kingdom which described the afterlife and outlined what a person must do to join the gods in the Duat (underworld). However there’s no single canonical version of it which every person absolutely ascribed to, and throughout the Old and Middle Kingdoms beliefs regarding the gods and the afterlife changed quite drastically (the unification of Egypt in the Early Dynastic Period is the point at which ancient Egyptian religion is described as becoming ‘democratized’, because in earlier generations it was believed that the average person had little chance of travelling to the Duat and an afterlife was guaranteed only for royalty; from the New Kingdom on, though, beliefs changed relatively little).

Ancient texts and understandings of the gods changed over time and place and politics, and we really have no way of knowing whether the version(s) that survived are the ‘true’ or most popular ones. That’s certainly not to say that what has survived is unimportant, but I wouldn’t describe my religion as really having scripture - it’s primarily based upon mythic and historical research, things which can be interpreted differently by different people.

Mod Kira:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a few texts that are collectively called Scriptures. These are the standard works of the church.

The Holy Bible:

King James Version, featuring the Old Testament and New Testament.

The Book of Mormon:

Another testament of Jesus Christ.

Doctrine & Covenants:

Contains revelations given to the prophet Joseph Smith in the early years of the restoration of the church. Also contains some additions by later prophets.

Pearl of Great Price:

Further revelations, translations and narrations of the prophet Joseph Smith.

In addition, the words of prophets delivered through the Spirit during General Conference (a worldwide church event where the prophet, apostles and many church leaders address church members to teach, inspire and deliver prophecy) are considered Latter-Day Scripture.

Mod Lydia:

The United Church of Christ considers the Old Testament and the New Testament as its scripture, though are quite liberal when it comes to application. The UCC typically approaches its holy text with the phrase “Take the Bible seriously, not literally.”

Within my family structure, we include various Apocrypha (mostly rejected “Gnostic” writings) as relevant religious texts alongside the canonical Christian scriptures. Personally, my faith mostly derives from the The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Philip, respectively.

Mod Sarah:

Hey! Most Protestants consider the Old and New Testaments of the Bible authoritative, as do I, and Anglicans, like Catholics, also include the Apocrypha in the scriptures. I consider those authoritative as well. Like Lydia, I take the Bible “‘seriously but not literally” and think it is good, useful, and true in a broad sense, but I don’t think it’s God’s Official Opinion or a faultless treatise on world history.

Mod Elana:

Hey there! First off, Judaism’s big book is the Torah, or, as it is sometimes called by Christians, the Old Testament. The Torah, which is a part of the Tanakh, is accompanied by the Nevi’im and Ketuvim. The name Mikra, meaning “that which is read,” is another word for the Tanakh.

The Nevi’im consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and the Latter Prophets, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).

The Ketuvim consists of poetic books, called Sifrei Emet collectively and consisting of the Psalms, Book of Proverbs, and Book of Job, and the five scrolls consisting of the Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Esther.

There is also a lot of rabbinic literature that has added to our understanding and interpretation of what is written in our texts. The Midrash is the early interpretations and commentaries on the written Torah and Torah as it was orally told. There’s also some commentary on halakha, or Jewish Law. All these different interpretations form a running commentary on specific passages found in the Tanakh.

Similar to the Midrash is the Targumim, which were spoken paraphrases, explanations, and expansions of the Tanakh that a rabbi would give in Aramaic. As translations, they largely reflect midrashic interpretation of the Tanakh.

Now, Halakha is the collection of Jewish laws derived from written and oral Torah, including the 613 mitzvot, Talmundic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions compiled in the Code of Jewish Law. Halakha can be interpreted as by the book or as loosely as possible, which is responsible for some of the divisions in the sects of Judaism. Halakha is not only a guide to religious practices, but to everyday life as well.

The Mishnah was written to teach the oral traditions by example, presenting cases brought to judgment with a debate on the matter and the judgment given by a rabbi based on Halakha, mitzvot, and Torah that guided the final decision. Basically, it’s sort of a legal tool but gives great insight as to how the different teachings can cross over from page to real life.

Mod Neha:

The most importantholy book in Islam is the Qu’ran, which also contains portions ofthe Gospel (al-Injil), Bookof Psalms, (Zabur),and Torah (Tawrat). This is followed in importance by the sayings of the Prophet, the hadith.

Worksthat chronicle the life of the Prophet and explanations of the Quran(called tasfir) areconsidered very important, although not holy in of themselves. There a lot of tasfir, so it depends on who you like!

Additionally,for ShiaMuslims the collectedsermons/sayings of the familyof the Prophet, ahl al-bayt, such as Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Nahj-ulBalāghah or The Peak of Eloquence, and Book of Fatima are central guidelines to faith and theology, more here.

There are many morebooks that are important to the specific beliefs and practices of various Islamic sects –for instance, the Mevlevi Order, based around the works of Rumi wouldnaturally consider Rumi’s works as central to their faith, whilethe Ahmadiyya Muslim community would consider their founder, MirzaGhulam Ahmad’s works central to theirs.

Mod Lily:

There is only one source of scripture for Sikhs, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which can be shortened to SGGS or just “the Granth” (Granth = book). To call the Granth simply our “scripture” or “holy book” doesn’t quite do it justice. The Granth is treated and revered as if it were a living, breathing person. Every Gurdwara (Sikh temple) is simply anywhere where a copy of the Granth is found. We sit the Guru on a bed, leave flowers and decorations, bow at its “feet” when we meet it, talk to it about our problems and lives, fan it during the day and carry it to bed in its own room at night. We cover our heads, remove our shoes, and wash our hands in its presence as a sign of respect, and we never turn our backs to it. The Granth’s presence sanctifies Sikh ceremonies and rites of passage like birth, marriage, death, and the giving of a child’s name. It’s a lot more than just a holy book, it’s also our Eleventh Eternal Guru, and we respect and care for it the same way Sikhs used to respect the ten human Gurus before the Granth. It’s made of 1,430 pages of hymns (shabads) which are meant to be sung in a devotional style called kirtan in order to bring the reader closer to the Divine through music. Most of the Granth contains the compositions of six of the ten human Gurus, but the latter sections include the writings of some Sikh saints and a number of Hindu and Muslim poets and saints who lived and wrote before the time of the Gurus. Because of the intense respect afforded the Granth and how central it is to every aspect of Sikhi, you can’t just buy a copy of the Granth like you can the Bible or Qur’an, unless you plan to open a Gurdwara of your own in your house (which some Sikhs actually do, if they are able). You can read it online, though, but it’s still best to cover your head before you do and offer even digital renditions of the Granth the same respect as you would a physical copy.

There are a couple ancillary texts which aren’t considered “sacred” but which are important to the Sikh literary canon. The Dasam Granth (“tenth book”) includes the writings of the tenth and final human Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, but it also includes many writings by Hindus and its overall authorship is contested. We don’t consider the Dasam Granth as a whole to be a holy text because of its controversial authorship, but select portions of the Dasam Granth which are known to have been written by Guru Gobind Singh are among the most important Sikh shabads and we recite several such shabads daily. There’s also controversy over certain themes found in the Dasam Granth which are sometimes claimed to be incompatible with Sikh teachings, particularly its references to Hindu polytheism (as opposed to Sikh monotheism) and certain sections which are interpreted by some as sexually explicit. A few Sikhs do still honor and respect the Dasam Granth, however, and in two of the five Takhts (Thrones, important places of Sikh authority) the Dasam Granth is displayed next to Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

The Janam Sakhis (birth stories) are hagiographic stories by various authors which retell the life and history of Guru Nanak and the Gurus who succeeded him, similar in nature to the Muslim Hadiths or the Christian Gospels. They’re extremely ahistorical and again not sacred texts, and contain many contradictions, exaggerations, and factually inaccurate or questionable claims. (The B40 Janam Sakhi, for example, recounts a meeting in Baghdad between Guru Nanak and Sheikh Sharaf, who died centuries before the Guru was even born! It’s still my personal favorite of the Janam Sakhis but that’s for another post.) But they’re still important from a religious and historical perspective in that they inform us what life was probably like for the earliest Sikhs and they form the basis for the cultural mythology surrounding the lives and deeds of the Gurus. There are a handful of other important historical texts, most famously Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnama, a letter written to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (who had carried out a mass genocide against the Sikhs and nearly eliminated the entire Sikh population).

Finally, the Rehat Maryada (Code of Discipline) is a recent document codified in the 1947 which formalizes the principles of Sikh discipline and code of conduct, especially for Amritdhari (baptized) Sikhs. The Granth is a purely devotional text and doesn’t proscribe any laws or mandates for Sikhs, so the Rehat Maryada was written to formalize what is expected of Sikhs by other Sikhs. Most Sikh sects respect and adhere to the Rehat Maryada, but it’s not a sacred because it was written by ordinary Sikhs, not by any saints or Gurus.

Mod Lakshman:

For most contemporary Hindus, the sacred text is the Bhagavad Gita; it’s widely regarded as the culmination of all spiritual knowledge found in the four Vedas, the first and arguably even more revered texts than the Gita.However, in conjunction with the Gita, I also use the Vedas themselves, and the Upanishads, specifically the Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads. These are commentaries on the Vedas. I do also try to incorporate the truths found in other texts as well, such as the Bible and the Qur’an.

#mod jasper #mod kira #mod lydia #mod sarah #mod elana #mod neha #mod lily #mod lakshman

39 notes · View notes