Luz Mayor

I was sitting on a bench, in the sun, at the back of my house. Nothing special. Looking at fat clouds passing by. Suddenly I realize that the world will move on and planet Earth will keep turning around its axis. Every day one round. Keep on turning when "I" am not here anymore. Better: "I" will be shattered in tiny little pieces and be re-grouped in other different "things". I knew but somehow I lost track of it.

Marina de la Riva in her song 'Canción de Las Simples Cosas':

"Uno se despide insensiblemente de pequeñas cosas

(...)

Demorate aquí, a la luz mayor de este mediodía.

Donde encontrarás con el pan al sol y la mesa tendida"

P.S. Translation of quote from Spanish into English: "One is insensibly saying goodbye to little things
(...) Take your time here, in the light of this noon. Where you will find the bread in the sun lying on the table."
P.P.S. For next four weeks no letters from me. I will be on holiday. Working on my Cape Verde Islands translation. Read a little. Simple cosas.

Stars That Know No Rest

For the Ancient Egyptians:

(1) Gold had no economic importance. It was only important for their religion. With their eyes we are supposed to "see" divine, indestructible (color of) sun and not a huge pile of money. 

(2) Silver was more precious than gold.

If fact (1) and (2) are both valid for the Ancient Egyptians the question is: what  are we supposed to "see" with or for silver? Moon (color of)? Sun (another color of)? Primeval mond where the first rays of the morning sun rise or shine (benben stone)? Or ... Is there or could there be have been some religion in Ancient Egypt that worshipped the moon?

The source for (1) is found on The Internet (here) and is not substantiated with source references. On the other hand there are numerous source references for (2).

More details on silver. According to 'Shaw and Nicolson' silver was in the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian civilization, in the Old Kingdom (2681-2181 BC) more precious than gold. In the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650) gold was more precious than silver. It seems that they regarded silver ("white metal") as a variety of gold.

Sun, moon, other five known planets ("stars that know no rest") and stars what were they for the Ancient Egyptians? Answer: all of them travel during the night through the body of goddess Nut. They represent the unchangeable, undistinguishable and reciprocal cycle of birth and death. All this is painted, in great details, on the ceiling of the tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses VI (KV9 in the Valley of Kings): 

Detail of the journey of the sun in her body:

Born as white sun in the morning:

Swallowed as red sun in the evening:

For the Ancient Egyptians the cycle/ travel of the sun was the cycle/ travel of life.

• Sunrise was rebirth
• Morning was childhood
• Afternoon was maturity
• Evening was old age
• Night was death and renewal

Thoth as ibis or ape is the god of the moon. He is the shipper and the writer of the gods. He regulates the times and seasons. He makes eternity and everlastingness.  

Thoth is the black eye of Horus. The moon in all its appearances (from black moon to full moon).

According to 'Shaw & Nicolson' gold was the flesh of gods and silver their bones. The Ancient Egyptians had no coinage but gold could also serve the living by melting it down as exchange and as reward for individuals ('golden fly of valour' in New Kingdom).

Preliminary conclusion/ hypothesis. Sun and moon travel for the Ancient Egyptians both through the same unchangeable cycle inside the goddess Nut. A reciprocal cycle of birth and death. Gold represents the flesh of gods and silver its bones. There seems to be no indication that silver represents the moon, the color of a silver moon. The moon as representation of god Thoth makes time and the seasons. Read in month the 'moon'. Better: moonth.

Sources:

1. Wallis Budge, E.A., 'The Gods of the Egyptians, studies in Egyptian Mythology', volume I (New York 1969) page 400-415.

2. Betrò, Maria Carmela, 'Hiërogliefen. De beeldtaal van het oude Egypte' (Baarn 1999) page 153, 176 and 245.

3. Shaw I. and Nicholson P., 'The Illustrated Dictionary of Ancient Egypt' (Cairo 2008) page 46, 131, 150-151 and 304-305.

Sword down & Rose up

'If you want peace, prepare for war' (Latin: Si vis pacem, para bellum). Some say it's based on Plato, 4th century BC (source).

My personal crest is: Sword down & Rose up. It's my image that "we" can't live and enjoy love if we are not prepared to make war. Without the warranty of safety there is no room or space for love. Literally and figuratively.

 

Safety and love are in turn the prerequisites for getting even higher in Maslow's staircase. Higher as in ... - it's a Chinese Garden.  

P.S. I wrote on Maslow before: 'Follow' (2015), 'One Definition Fits None' (2012) and 'On Cincinnatus and Julius Caesar. Do selfish genes feel by definition: the chosen ones?' (2010).

P.P.S. Next week I'll write on gold as heavenly body sun and silver as heavenly body moon.

Be Mindful

Barafundle (1997) is the title of a sweet, folky and bit weird album of band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Where does 'Barafundle' come from? It comes from the name of a bay and beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales (UK). One of the top 12 beaches in the world (2004).

There is no road access directly to the beach. It was the private beach (1) of the Cawdor family of Stackpole Court. For easy access to the beach of Barafundle bay they made steps and a wall. The house 'Stackpole Court' (2) was built in the 1730s. At the start of World War II most of the Stackpole Estate farmland was requisitioned for training ground for British troops. This made the estate unviable for the Cawdor family and they returned to their Scottish estate, in Nairnshire, in the early 1940s.

Stackpole Court in 1935

Crippling taxes and lack of money on the empty house meant it was demolished in 1963.

Leaving behind the estate's outbuildings, parkland and beaches which are looked after by the National Trust since 1977. What remains is a remembrance stone.

Be Mindful!

The bigger picture is that after the imposing of death duties (1894), drop of income from the estates, raising of servants' wages and materials, and World War I (1914-1918) the backbone of the country house in the UK was broken. Too expensive. More than a thousand country houses have been demolished since 1920. More (with a lot of details): here.

P.S. I wrote on country houses before: June 2010 and April 2011.