#I COULD GO INTO DETAIL WITH ALL THE RELIGIOUS IMAGERY IN THIS SONG

[silenceandpatiencepining]

I am dusting off my little blog here because TTPD has my mind absolutely reeling. I am really wondering if anyone else listened to this and had this feeling that the album confirmed everything that they were thinking was going on with her. I know we talk so much about reading her songs beneath the surface of muses or certain details used to craft a story, but to me, TTPD reads so strongly of her reckoning with her life in the industry. like, it's so much more than the relationships. it's the comp het, it's the religious trauma, it's the being exploited as a child star, it's deep wound of abandonment and neglect when she as a person got split off from her brand and both could not thrive, it's giving everything to this brand and career and fandom and that still never being enough. it's her codependency with the very people that exploit her. it's the fact that she is bigger than she ever imagined and none of it feels how she wanted. it's the simultaneous love and resentment she has towards her family, and relationships, and career, and yes, even her fans.

the rawness of this album, the unrefined feel, the summation poem talking about this as mania, the continuation of the cage imagery and themes of escaping to her mind/fantasy, the coping with criticism, numbing it all with alcohol, the willingness to burn it all down and disgrace her name because none of this is what she wants or at least not how she wants.

I have seen so many criticisms of the album and honestly, I understand where they are coming from, but I also think the things they criticize make the exact point of what this body of work is - something that exists for it's own sake to turn things back on the people that made her into what she is now. art created not to be acclaimed but because it demands to be expressed. it is an exorcism, an expulsion. it is something that erupted from her. and it's so meta because this fandom and the industry are voyeurs in an echo chamber so desperate to see what they want that they miss that this is about them. that is what makes it brilliant to me - it is self-indulgent and metaphorical, and complex, and so direct, but yet still masked just enough that people miss it. her entire life has become performance art. it is a play within a play. and I fear the audience has not caught on.

it feels like she is reclaiming it all. I feel like this could either be a hint at a new beginning or a signal that she has broken and this is the end. this felt like the tell-all memoir written in code that everyone else will finally understand when she really leaves this spotlight. it's the lucky one come to life. she is daydreaming about fucking it all and leaving this life behind so she can finally have some goddamn peace.

I love this album for it as art. it is so expressive. it is so heartbreaking. it's messy and nuanced, and I think it is going way the fuck over most people's heads, especially when you really dig into poetry being the theme and the specific works she references. it's only been a week and I am just starting to really dig in but talk about a fucking iceberg.

#ttpd #tsttpd #tortured poets department

[weird-life-of-a-closet-fangirl]

I keep thinking about the line "the tomb won't close" from would've could've should've in relation to Lazarus from the bible. For Lazarus to come back to life, he had to be sealed in that tomb. He spent four days in that tomb, dead, before he was brought back to life. Taylor says "the tomb won't close" and asks "why won't it die" and I keep thinking about Lazarus, and how he had to die and his tomb had to be sealed before he was brought back to life, and how this tomb isn't closing, isn't sealing, isn't letting her come back to the world of the living. She's stuck in limbo, half dead and half alive, half damaged and half healed, and the tomb isn't closing.

#midnights #midnights 3 am version #taylor swift #would've could've should've #GOD REST MY SOUL I MISS WHO I USED TO BE #this song has fundamentally altered my brain chemistry #also lets not think too much about 'you're a crisis of my faith' and how lazarus was actually one of jesus' most faithful friends #and how it implies that he shook her faith so much that its disrupting her entire lazarus process #no healing through faith #in something #doesnt necessarily have to be religion #but she has no faith in anything that could help her heal because he shook her up so much #I COULD GO INTO DETAIL WITH ALL THE RELIGIOUS IMAGERY IN THIS SONG #but i wont i have a surgery due at 11:59

[historical-fashion-polls]

Could we get some medieval fashion polls perhaps?

hello my dear!

thanks so much for sending in this lovely suggestion! my answer majorly got away from me here, for which I apologize! I'm going to put my ramblings below the cut for anyone who wants read it all, but the tl;dr is this: medieval fashion is complicated for many reasons and I currently don't have the time or resources to do the necessary research on medieval depictions of garments that I could use to create polls. however, if there is someone with that knowledge and/or those resources, please do let me know!!

the medieval period has a special place in my heart since I was originally planning to be a medievalist, so I would absolutely love to include medieval fashion on the blog, I just want to make sure I can do it justice!

thank you again for your wonderful suggestion, and as I mention in more detail at the end of my ramblings beneath the cut, please let me know if there's something specific (like a particular garment, illustration, manuscript, etc.) that you have in mind, and I'll do my absolute best to put together a poll around that!

I hope you have a lovely day!!

yours in appreciation of the medieval,

charlotte 🩵

part of the reason that I haven't done any medieval fashion polls is because medieval fashion is... well.... complicated lol 😅 compared with the 19th century, for example, we have very few depictions of medieval fashion and even fewer extant garments. the advent of relatively inexpensive mass printing that allowed for the proliferation of fashion plates that we have from the mid to late 18th century onward makes it fairly easy to get a sense of what fashion looked like and how it changed from year to year or even season to season. unfortunately, that's just not something that is available to us for medieval fashions

additionally, the purpose of illustrating fashions was quite different since the illustrations I post here are almost exclusively fashion plates, meaning that they served as a kind of catalogue for people to look through and select the styles they wanted. essentially, these are commercial objects that are depicting fashions with the intent to highlight the garment and draw customer interest. on the other hand, most medieval depictions of clothing that remain to us function in the service of something else: often a religious text, but also illustrations for stories or songs. because the clothing isn't the focus, the garments are often not highlighted or emphasized in these depictions, and may not even represent the actual fashions of the period

because of all this, I haven't really approached the possibility of constructing polls around medieval fashions, since I likely wouldn't be able to get very accurate dating on the styles, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to find enough sets of garments that are analogous enough to each other to be placed in a poll together

HOWEVER, all this being said, if you have a specific garment in mind, or a particular period or illustration or manuscript that you'd like to see as part of a poll, I am absolutely willing to see what I can put together! my main problem is that I simply don't have the time or resources to do all the research that would be necessary to pull together multiple polls that span the medieval period

or, if anyone happens to know of resources that focus on medieval fashion and period depictions of medieval garments, that would be amazing!! or if you or anyone else has any other ideas of how to go about sourcing medieval fashion imagery, please let me know and I will absolutely look into this further!!

thanks for reading if you made it all the way to the end, and I apologize again for the long and likely unsatisfactory answer 💕💕

#the curator speaks #curatorial updates #medieval fashion #curatorial correspondences

[mtdthoughts]

Heaven & Hell Pt. 1 (Migi & Dali Analysis)

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

If you've paid close attention to Migi & Dali, you may notice several references to Heaven and Hell. In the original Japanese, this is 天国 and 地獄.

One of the lines in the OP lyrics can be translated as, "Welcome to the garden of Heaven and Hell." In the OP, there is imagery of Migi walking in the light (Heaven) and Dali crawling in the darkness (Hell). This motif with Migi being associated with light and Dali with darkness is shown repeatedly throughout the story.

Also in the OP, the twins are shown underwater, with Migi rising up (i.e. towards Heaven?) and Dali sinking down (i.e. towards Hell?)

The manga chapter where the twins first visit Akiyama's house is titled "Heaven and Hell".

The OST that plays during the twins' visit to Akiyama's house is also titled "Heaven and Hell", where the "Hell" version plays when Dali is stuck with a clingy Akiyama and when Migi has to search Akiyama's sister's dark room, and the "Heaven" version plays when Migi is suddenly rewarded for his hard work with... a sweet treasure (his words).

When Maruta looks down and sees barbed wire (yikes!) in the Ichijo lawn, the "Hell" version of the OST plays, and when he finally makes it to Karen's room, the "Heaven" version plays.

These concepts may be significant. For example, there's the obvious duality of the twins, a recurring theme. To get into more detail, we should clarify what is meant by "Heaven" and "Hell."

It may be possible that Sano was referring to the Buddhist concepts of Heaven and Hell, since the story was written in Japanese and did take place in Japan. However, I argue that she was actually referring to the Christian concepts of Heaven and Hell. Indeed, the story takes place in a setting reminiscent of 90's Americana, where Christianity was the predominant religion. Furthermore, in the manga, the twins' school was actually a parochial (Catholic) school. We see Eiji confessing before a priest, and at Christmas, we also see Youko singing "Joy to the World," a Christian song that celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ to save humanity from sin and to provide salvation.

I don't think Sano would go out of her way to depict these if she did not intend on using Christianity, specifically Catholicism, to some extent. After all, she could have just made the school a regular school (like in the anime), and she could have made Youko sing a different Christmas carol. That being said, it's also possible that she simply introduced these details for aesthetics and to give us a bit more immersion to the story. Nonetheless, we can still refer to the basic concepts of Heaven and Hell that is similar to the Christian understanding of these concepts.

*Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am neither a theologian nor a religious scholar, so do take my words with a grain of salt.

In general, the realm of Heaven can be seen as an eternal divine reward reserved for those who lived morally upright, while the realm of Hell is an eternal divine punishment for those who have committed moral transgressions (i.e. sins) and have remained unrepentant.

Christianity makes these definitions a bit more specific by specifying that entrance to Heaven is attained by living in accordance with God's teachings, seeking forgiveness for sins, and being in a state of grace through faith and good deeds, while Hell is a consequence of freely chosen, unrepented mortal sin, and the rejection of God's love and mercy.

Again, I want to emphasize that Sano was probably not trying to preach Christianity to her readers/viewers, but rather was using Christian themes to highlight the twins' differences, their development, and how they eventually found and accepted happiness. It is interesting to note the drastic differences in how they did so, and it is Dali's acceptance that is more impactful. This, as well as the significance of the concepts of Heaven and Hell in the story will be elaborated in a bit more detail in a subsequent post.

#migi and dali #migi to dali #analysis

[lav-endermoon]

hiya lav! i know that this might be a difficult question to answer (as i'm indecisive and have a difficult time answering it myself lmao) but what would you rank as your 5 all-time favorite los campesinos songs?

OOOOHOHOHO this is a difficult question indeed but i will try :)

in no particular order:

in medias res - one of my fav album openers ever. love the strings, love the little sentimental details in the lyrics, love the slow buildup to the end, love the outro so so so much. i could go on for ages this song is a religious experience fr. and the acoustic version??? oh my god

to tundra - also a religious experience istg. super calming and upsetting at the same time. the imagery is so beautiful and when that guitar solo hits something Happens to me

we are beautiful, we are doomed - need i say any more. the energy in this song just blows me away. some of my favourite lyrics ever

this is how you spell HAHAHA… - that monologue scratches my brain just right. translating goosebumps from braille? hello????

for a fifth one i’m torn between who fell asleep in and i just sighed (i’m a romance is boring girlie through and through). the lyrics to who fell asleep in are actual poetry and the ending of i just sighed is,,, ethereal??

might be a basic answer but you! me! dancing! and death to los campesinos! get honorable mentions

tysm for the ask <33

#los campesinos! #my post #asks #music

[red-dyed-sarumane]

ok ok but actually i want to know ur thoughts on the en titles like even with my limited understanding of japanese im????? on half these titles and worse i gotta memorize them bc youtube forces u to read them that way. nooo its not testament its kyuuyaku hankagai nooo its not blade its shuuen touhikou....

okay i actually have my yt set to jpn so all i see of the eng titles is actually second hand but from what i know

last i checked aru sekai shoushitsu was left untranslated. i dont know how i feel about that.

problem for me starts with kyuuyaku hankagai. kyuuyaku IS old testament yes thats where the eng testament comes from. hankagai is actually a bit of word play on magus part bc there IS a word hankagai meaning like a business district or busy downtown area but the hanka magu uses in the title is actually for scientific generalizations with the suffix of town at the end. so u end up with something like town of the old testament's generalizations which. right away u can see how much extra context ur getting from that alone. reducing it to JUST testament leaves out a lot of detail & makes it more open to interpretation. if i didnt know the og title id see testament & go "oh its called testament bc its a testament of her will to work so hard and go thru all this horror time after time after time" but thats not it. look im not a religious person at all but it goes beyond word choice here the opening text is reminiscent (at the very least) of dante's inferno, 2 songs later we get more church imagery & a whole angel, this isnt a one time thing its also a part of the story & to leave it as just testament makes it so easy to ignore or overlook that part. and then there's the fact its one of the songs tied directly to a certain world's disappearance. disappearance has its main lines distributed under specific headers of sorts, each being a single 2 syllable kanji. the first of which is kyuu which is literally "past". translating both to reflect this in eng is. difficult esp when it gets to other songs but even if u leave it as old testament the "old" is Still There & its a lot more possible to catch onto the connection (hard maybe but not impossible)

shuuen touhikou makes me need to talk a walk and im not joking. fucking "blade" sounds like ur trying to appeal to edgy middle schoolers. aside from that when i hear blade im thinking its going to be a fighting song - maybe not a physical fight, but theres going to be conflict- and yes! there IS conflict in this song! its not what i would expect from seeing blade tho! she is fighting & yes the lyrics are like. using her sword to try and forge her own path out when the others let her down, but blade makes it seem like idk some noble fight or something. but u read demise escape & u KNOW shit's serious. it IS a fight but its that kind of "god i dont want to die like this" type of primal fight and not some cool miku swordfighting action. this girl's been told to sit tight and it will work out & she knows thats wrong & the only thing left is for her try whatever she can so that maybe MAYBE she can make it out alive. demise escape as a title hits the type of fear & heaviness thats in the series and gets across and entirely different picture than what blade could ever do. and. again. as one of the main songs blade completely lacks anyway to tie back to the og song. the lines in shoushitsu are shuu which becomes the shuu in shuuen. end & demise are harder to accurately translate in both songs so even with the more accurate eng title its not that easy to tie back into shoushitsu but like. at the very least u can add it as a fun fact or something somewhere.

oumen mokushiroku i just have to sit here & accept that it actually works much to my own dissatisfaction. the direct translation is concave revelation BUT mokushiroku is part of the lyrics in shoushitsu & it has an alternate reading of being pronounced "apocalypse" so a series accurate title here is concave apocalypse & concave is for the most part just tying back to the ou/concave lines in shoushitsu. for as much as i think about this song i actually dont have anything deep to say about the concave part of the title beyond that so like. fine. reduce it to just apocalypse fine whatever i hate it but [throws my hands up] u win this time magu

unplanned apoptosis is accurate the only problem is in jpn u can catch the a-a alliteration in the title but thats not a problem with the translation thats a problem with the english language itself. the alliteration thing is in fact series context btw it keeps in with that repeating fractal theme they emphasized in shoushitsu and kyuuyaku. same with marshall maximizer but there u can actually see it. kanons fine.

kugutsu ashura is. hm. im nitpicking here. literally its puppet ashura. this isnt connected to a shoushitsu heading so ur not losing anything in that regard. however. from what ive been told about ashura (thank u my friend emimin) they arent very.... in control of things. per se. so when u compound that with puppet in the title it just really drives home what she's doing is not her own will. she cannot affect anything beyond how shes supposed to (i guess thats an okay way of putting it) which saying this is also why the motif isnt in this song either but thats off topic. ashura by itself doesnt bother me as much as the others but theres just that little extra context u get from knowing the first part is puppet that adds to it from a series standpoint.

laboratory is fine the only thing is in jpn it has the separation (labo-ratory) so its obvious its on of the songs with the alliteration theme going on. more of a fun fact than actually being wrong. its fine.

as far as i know yamete kudasai and kannagi dont have the official eng titles?? even if they did idk what to say about them bc these titles are already weird from a series standpoint anyway. they dont fit into the 5 kanji title songs category they dont fit into the alliteration category theyre just kind of here. if there IS thematic importance to them we're only going to know when more songs get posted. they dont have any keywords or kanji that tie into any other specific song either. theyre just here.

#asks #kuki #aru sekai series #THANK U FOR ENABLING ME #no one gets into the series anyway so im just insane about this for no reason really #there is a fan theory some of the side songs are trying to spell out amakakeru fractal with with syllable is alliterated #but that may or may not be disproven at this point. since both kanon and kannagi would be ka #and the ya from yamete kudasai is just not there at all #or maybe thats JUST STRICTLY for alliteration songs. cant tell at this point #anyway that would be impossible to know for eng only speakers so its not much point to know here

[atherix]

New story? 👀👀

-🍂

mm 👀 So spoilers under the cut for the album, but the album that has given me these brainworms is a rock opera concept album called Broken Bride, consisting of 5 songs that tell a story. Each song is in a different style. **A bit of a warning, the album does contain religious imagery (the endtimes, not redemption or salvation or damnation) as well as descriptions of mild gore and suicide.**

Broken Bride from Ludo shares a similar story to The Time Machine film, where the plot is driven by the death of the protagonist's partner (thus the Broken Bride).

I want you to know I started rambling IN DETAIL about each individual song holy shit I stopped myself and started over because I was getting. Way too into it.

So the story is the protagonist is driven by obsession for fifteen years to try and save his wife who died in a car accident, by going back in time and keeping her from getting out of the bed that morning. It turns out time machines are hard to control and he ends up propelled back to the age of the dinosaurs, where he's driven into a cave by pterodactyls. It cuts to the far distant future at the endtimes, with a conversation between a young boy and the mayor of a city. The mayor states there's nothing he can do about the families suffering outside, denounces god (real smart move at the endtimes huh) and praises their king before shooting himself in front of this kid. The boy has seen some shit by now so just steps up and rallies the people not to just pray for saving, but to fight. Back to the past, the protagonist reminisces on the days he and his wife spent together, and how after she died no one could help him or convince him to move on, and he reaffirms that he will save her. He makes a run through the swarm of pterodactyls and gets to the machine, only for the machine to malfunction and send him- you guessed it- to the endtimes. He witnesses firsthand what is happening here, learns about the king who is fighting against god. The dragon of the endtimes rises and the protagonist is watching so many people die, and in that moment he realizes he can't change what has already happened but he can change what could happen. He sacrifices his time machine, saying "I've got dragons of my own," indicating he brings the fucking swarm of pterodactyls to the future to fight the dragon, the machine blows up and kills him but the endtimes are stopped with the fall of the dragon. He is confronted by god or angels, not sure which, who praise his sacrifice but notice despite saving them, he's still suffering. He requests one more day with his late wife, just long enough to say goodbye as he's realized he can't save her. They grant this and he goes back to his home the morning she died. Instead of trying to keep her home, knowing he can't change what happened, he gets in the car with her. The accident still happens, only this time he's with her. (I assume for paradoxical purposes that this had no bearing on reality and he was only there in spirit, since he was already dead? Idk lol)

So. The story in my head that this album has shoved there- obviously we’re replacing all the religious stuff with Minecraft stuff, I’ll probably use my Pantheons stuff and the Ender Dragon. So yeah.

Just a warning- this contains Major Character Death as well as canon characters in antagonistic roles.

So obviously Mumbo would be the inventor. He and Grian, an Avian ofc because I’m me, have known each other for a long time, and been together from nearly the beginning- think “as soon as they were old enough to date.” Like highschool sweethearts, maybe even middle school sweethearts. They were the It Couple, deeply loyal to one another. It was not necessarily a healthy relationship, the depths of their devotion to each other, but they were happy and they took care of each other.

One day there’s a tragic accident in which Grian unfortunately does not survive, which naturally drives Mumbo to the brink of madness. He dedicates himself to building a time machine to try and stop the accident, and he successfully builds one after years and years of trying only to end up stranded throughout time- he meets new and interesting people in different time periods he gets thrown into, and maybe has a little run in with a Wither and maybe even a Warden along the way. Ancient Cities in flesh and blood, long-dead kings and queens- he sees it all. 

Until one of the time periods he gets thrown into is the far future, where the Ender Dragon is destroying everything and the world is under siege of the undead. Everything has gone wrong- think Blood Moon in RLCraft, only all the time. He meets Scar, an Elf who works for the King (Ren) to try and fight the Ender Dragon and save their world. Mumbo is separated from his time machine by Ren, who is going a bit mad now and is slipping, and Mumbo’s trapped for months in this apocalypse under Scar’s watch. The two of them bond over this time, and Mumbo learns more about what happened; the end of the world started when Scar was a child, he’s lived his entire life under siege of the dead and the dragon. He became involved with the king’s court when he was barely a teen, when he stopped asking for help and started helping others instead, fighting off the hordes of undead and trying to save as many people as possible. He is now one of the most respected warriors, though he wants nothing more than to be able to put down his bow and just create. 

Of course, there’s undertones of Redscape during this time but Mumbo is still deeply devoted to the long-dead Grian and can’t bring himself to move on. Scar, after Ren goes off the deep end and starts supporting the End, breaks Mumbo out of the castle and gets him back to where the time machine is hidden away, telling him to go back home and live his life in peace, thousands and thousands of years before the End Dragon breaches the unprepared Overworld.

Mumbo has started to realize by now that he can’t rewrite the past, as it’s what makes up his present- who, what and where he is now. These are all things that are going to happen, no matter what he does; it’s already witnessed and already written. What isn’t set in stone is how this war ends, as it has not been witnessed or written yet. So, knowing now that he can neither save Grian nor live happily without him... he makes a choice.

And that’s all I’m going to say :) I won’t say it’ll have a sad ending but it is a very bittersweet one. It’s not a 1:1 with the song but I don’t want to say what it would be hjghjjk

#ask #hermitshipping #🍂Autumn🍂 Anon #Long Post #also full of spoilers btw #I am. I have many thoughts about this song #many feelings #also the level of unhealthy devotion it would take to spend 15 years agonizing over a time machine #mans has problems #but ya know #god I am. this album. I used to put lyrics to these songs in the calculators #specifically #'you cowards and your wrathful god will see what power means' #tw religion #tw suicide mention #tw death #<- for the song(s)

[asteracaea]

What’s your favourite song on Midnights and which one do you think is gayest?

hi anon thanks for the question ^_^

i am sooooo madly in love with midnights, i just adore every single song so it's hard for me to choose just one! also i really love the way they all flow into each other so my mind almost doesn't even separate them. it's like one cohesive piece of work.

but to rave more specifically (and i'll try not to just list all of them lol) my top tracks today are mastermind, would've could've should've, question, bigger than the whole sky, vigilante shit, midnight rain (......ok i can see i'm just listing the whole album lol)

as for the GAYEST, hooooo boy! i feel like the 3am tracks are much more explicitly gay than the main album songs, which makes sense (possibility that fewer ppl will listen to "bonus tracks" ? or consider them part of the whole).

paris. "i want to transport you to somewhere the culture's clever, confess my truth in swooping sloping letters." i think that says it all.

glitch, omg, i don't know how a person could hear this beauty as anything other than about a woman falling in love with another woman (and specifically taylor falling in love with her alliterate model who KODES : GLITCH!!?) "we were supposed to be just friends" but oops she hates accidents except when they went from friends to this 🤭 "i'll go back to wanting dudes who give nothing" "i thought we had no chance" (cause they're both girls and they shouldn't) "i was supposed to sweat you out" makes me think of "fever dream high in the quiet of the night" in cruel summer which i think is about the same story. i imagine her being told by a higher-up to get over this infatuation a la harold zidler telling satine to get over christian in moulin rouge because he's bad for business and it can't be allowed to become something real. (that was an image i'd had simmering for a while) and then of course there's the ridiculously specific "2190 days" which if you haven't heard what we calculated that matching up to, give it a look ☺️😉

"a brief interruption, a slight malfunction, i'd go back to wanting dudes who give nothing, i thought we had no chance and that's romance (let's dance)" ohhhh it's just so goddamn sexy in a forbidden sapphic love way that ahhh 🫠 i cannot get over it!! taylor alison swift wrote this song recorded it and put it on an album skfjekiwkendjk

as for would've could've should've, i'm as gaylor as they come but i honestly hear this song as about a man. it's funny, i honestly feel like her most scathing angry rageful vicious songs are about men (and the tender lovely deep foreverlove ones are about women lol it's just my gut!). definitely in part because of the age 19/dear john reference, but also because of the unfairness of misogynist society "if i was some paint did it splatter on a promising grown man?" a how there are endless instances of older men hurting younger women, romantically or reputationally or other.

however, one day i decided to listen to it with my gay-ears and it was QUITE interesting !! it is full of religious guilt imagery, sinning and pondering her own accountability in that, as well as blaming the other person for "ruining" her. it's an extremely powerful interpretation, imo, even though there are details in the beginning that don't fit. but hey, she's added hetwashing details to other songs (like dress, betty, love story, etc) that would be SUPER undeniably gay if she hadn't thrown those things in, so! that hasn't stopped me from hearing deliciously overt queerness in her songs before, and i hope it won't stop you because it is so so interesting to listen to it that way!

i must wrap this up but i could talk for daysssss about midnights, so perhaps i'll add on to this in the future ☺️

[hoodoobarbie]

The mythology of the Siren, Mermaid, Water Spirits & Mami Wata and it’s origins within black feminity.

Today I had to listen to other another black woman rant about how mermaids/sirens/mami wata are evil low key. So this educational post was born in response. 

Did you really think the divine essence of the black feminine wouldn’t protect itself ? That energy exists for a reason.  Suddenly it’s evil, to have teeth and protect yourself from predators. Water is a precious resource. You will be tested to see if you are deserving of it or not. Also these spirits will defend natural resources so they don’t get fucked up by human greed. 

It’s common for some places in Africa for people to offer the Sirens/Mami Wata/Water spirits or make an offerings/contracts with them in order to use the resources on their land. It also keeps the white ppl away too because they cause so much trouble.

Sirens are also associated with being the killers of children and men, but often this is completely misrepresented intentionally.

Men fear the power of the siren because she can override the patriarchy at core and can completely unravel them. The orgins of many water spirits lie in matriachal societies, temples divine feminine and motherhood. This is why temples and sacred magikal knowledge was intentionally destroyed and stolen, especially to empower the white patriarch.

Sirens are also described as thiefs of children and child killers. Sirens have been known to kidnap kids who were being abused or have were murdered near water and take them to their kingdom to restore them.

Sometimes the child returns, sometimes they are not. However in general they are big on kidnapping people, mostly women and giving them powers, if they decide to return. The idea of them eating and killing children, was a lie perpetuated by Greeks to cover up some truly horrific acts. Unfortunate these false accusations have been allowed to continue to perpetuate.

If a siren is acting in a predatory way, there is a reason why as their energy as been disturbed. Sirens are natural guardians. 

So the real question is . . . what did you do ? Did you destroy their habitat ? Abuse a child or a person ? Commit an egregious act against a woman ie rape/murder etc ? Disrespect a sacred place, the land, the seas or rivers ? Steal precious resources that weren’t yours to take ?

These sacred traditions are more than just deities, spirits and our ancestors. All forms of ATR are access to our spiritual mind state as an entire community. When you move in Vodou, you can sense the whole of black consciousness and all of our problem spots, specifically  areas that need healing. 

Oxum-Oshun, Olokun, Yemaya, the Mami Wata, La Baliene, La Siren, Met Agwe, The Simbi - these are all spirits with a connection to waters. Water is life and has always been inherently associated feminine energy. I’m not going into detail about all these cross connections but let’s chat about La Sirene, specifically.

La Sirene, Queen of all Mermaids is more than just a powerful sorceress and queen of song/music and dreams, she is also a keeper of secrets an a guardian of sacred memories & knowledge.

Many of the souls of slaves, from the Transatlantic slave trade that were thrown off the boats into the ocean are her children, citizens and warriors now. She comforts them eternally & they live in paradise. That doesn’t mean all of these souls are at rest, plenty continuously ask their mother if they will be avenged, especially the young children. She also has a close connection with the Indigenous Taino. The isle of Hispaniola also known as Haiti (Ayiti) & the Dominican Republic is her most known domain. 

Let’s not act like slavery and colonization was a cake walk. Rape was common place and mermaids, water spirits offered African and Indigenous women protection and power over men. They became demonized overtime for their hypnotic powers and killing men, who often overstepped their boundaries. Women could leave offerings to these spirits, work or commune with them and be quickly avenged or gain great power and wealth. All of this was threatening to the white patriarchal standard.

La Sirene’s presence in Haiti and other merfolk tales that float around the Caribbean/West Indies, is not without purpose. She has ties to many people and many different cultures. Her sacred symbols are global. This is why I speculate she is much older than people think. La Sirene, is a fairly young evolution. She clearly has ties to much older things. Her older names might have been lost but she has evolved, to save her self and also document other forgotten elements of history in the process. There are those who speculate that La Sirene is the embodiment of a cross mixed culture, the evolution of Indigenous & African water spirits combined, due to the excess trauma of colonization and so the Mermaid Queen was born. Others will argue that she is the Orisha Yemaya but a newer avatar of her.  I hate to argue semantics but I will say this, she exists and her presence is felt to this day, all around the world. 

La Sirene is often depicted as a mulatto woman with eyes like the sea but if you have been blessed to see her in dream state, she does appear sometimes as a brown or dark skinned skinned woman of possibly mixed Indigenous/African ancestry with glowing hypnotic eyes.  Alot of her older depictions, deal with colorism and slavery, but as things have grown in the modern world this imagery has begun to change. However mermaids, are known for their shapeshifting powers - to truly behold her true form, is a gift reserved for the rare few. 

As a keeper of the mysteries, La Sirene also access to many forgotten things in the black subconscious. The element of water is an intensely psychic sign.  Water is her domain, and what is the human body 80% of? WATER! The truth does not hide from her hypnotic eyes. This sacred connection to water and her essence, also means you can  track forgotten elements black history and connect to other deities/cultures who’ve had contact with her & her whole court or other black water spirits as a whole. So let’s take a short historical trip down memory lane.

The Greeks & Black women. Sirens, Aphrodite, Sibyls and other Children of Water 🧜🏾‍♀️

The deity Aphrodite/Venus is of Grecian and Roman legend.  

A little known magikal fact is that Aphrodite/Venus is half siren. She is a child of the water, she was literally birthed this way after Uranus got his balls cut off & thrown into the sea. Much of her Venusian influence and powers of love and beauty come from this element. Now my Mambo doesn’t like mentioning it but Aphrodite, is tolerated by the oceanic court of sirens/mermaids. Any child of water, falls under the domain of the queen. La Sirene has a sort of strange fondness for her and so does Aphrodite for her. However this doesn’t mean they are best friends.  It’s tentative friendship at best and comes with some perks. Aphrodite works quickly for children of water sirens and often will send mermaids to her devotees who misbehave. She has deliberately placed me around her people have pissed her off, to cause mischief. She’s quite petty but also  very generous. I won’t go as far to dare and say she is in the queen’s court, but she does curry favor with the queen. Being born of water, her half siren/mermaid influence has definitely attributed to legends of her beauty in myth but also her treachery with men 🧜🏾‍♀️😂. She clearly also has some sort of homesickness for the world underneath the water, because many of her offerings are gifts of pearls, kisses, sea shells, beauty products etc. Anyone who serves the Mermaid Queen knows the meaning behind those gifts. If you’re a black gyal with water or siren energy and decide to work with Aphrodite, do it!  If you ever irritate her, the least she’ll do is give you pimples and fuck up your skin, she won’t have the full power to completely fuck up your love life like she does with the white girls.  And let me tell you, she has completely ruined some white girls lives by giving them terrible lovers or men.  

The trident 🔱 is known for its connection in Greek and Hindu cultures.  However La Sirene or other African water spirits are depicted carrying it, which is largely ignored in the occult world.

You can track the trident in Hinduism, with the serpent spirits, the nagas or Lord Shiva but let’s focus on it’s Grecian connection. The usage of the trident and Poseidon, even in mainstream society today is associated with him.  This lets us know there is a connection between the mermaids, merfolk and La Sirene/African water spirits. Poseidon’s trident was rumored to made in Athens by the Cyclops - this is the city of Athena. So now we can track an element of black history all the way to Poseidon & Athena. Keep that in your thoughts we’ll come back to that later.

Tridents were also used ceremonially in Africa & India as well, as scepters, tribal weapons and religious symbols.

They were also associated with the sea faring people and fishing. It’s highly likely the origins of the trident are cross mixed between these two societies. Indo-African relations, go back to the Bronze age and the Indus Valley civilization. Which means traveling over by sea to reach each other was necessary. There is historical evidence of African millet being found in a Indian city Chanhudaro, including a cemetary or burial ground for African women.  Maritime relations between these two groups existed before Grecian & the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasties.

Now of course there are some deranged historians that will try to whitewash history and say the trident has its origins from the labyrs but the Ancient Greeks & Africans/Indians interacted regularly. The trident also looks nothing like a labyrs, which is quite literally a double sided axe.  This is one of the more painful obvious pieces of white washing and historical revisionism. 

Regardless, the trident is associated with water, ceremonial/religious purposes, fishing, battling in the coliseum and the symbol of power for a few African,  Black diasporian an Hindu deities.

🧜🏾‍♀️ Oracles & Sibyls

Some sibyls/oracles were known to be African prophetesses/Mamissi to the Mami Wata/Sirens in Africa, some were stolen or captured by Greeks or Romans, sold into slavery and made to be oracles, some of whom became quite famous in legend. Their connection to these water spirits, is what gave them their gift of prophecy. Not every sibyl or oracle was African but SOME were.  This lead to the sharing and theft of sacred knowledge. It’s likely these women shared this sacred information, with their colleagues, some whom may or may not have been enslaved or kept in these temple and likely this information was traded, for their freedom, power or money etc. This gave way to the usage of sacred spirits and magick being used by men. A great example of this is the snake spirits of the genii, genius spirits (not to be mistaken with genies) and which then evolved into a diluted lesser energy in Greek society being known as daemons (not to be confused with goetic demons) Instead of a woman commanding these specific energies/spirits, the patriarchs decided that these specifics powers were only worthy of being used by men. These spirits were whitewashed, adopted into their religious practices and said to only be given to men at birth. No woman was allowed to possess them anymore.

🧜🏾‍♀️ The whitewashing of Medusa & Lamia. 

In mainstream society these two women stories have been white washed but also to hide a very shameful history and narrative. These two were beautiful women, in older stories of black black mythology were known to be black and they were children of water & daughters of the powerful water spirit/snake/siren divine mother/feminine goddess. 

Medusa was raped by the GREECIAN GOD OF THE SEA, POSEIDON  and Athena covered it up, refused to avenge her and punished her by making her ugly to everyone. It’s speculated in several magikal circles that the snakes in her hair were actually dreads, due to their lack of understanding of black hair and also allegorically might have been a reference to her devotion to the fish or water snake, great mother goddess. A child of the divine feminine, mother goddess was assaulted in a temple by a man and a woman covered it up & celebrated it.

Let’s start there ... cuz this story says a lot! It’s one of the first historical cases  in myth that really documents the issues that surround the black feminine specifically and it was intentionally whitewashed. Then to add insult to injury, Athena made her hideous to all men and her chopped off her head and used as a symbol of protection but also a subtle sign of disrespect to the fullest. This still goes on to this day.

In fact ALGOL, the demon star, which is considered to be strongest protective magick talisman in the occult world today is the HEAD OF MEDUSA. The child of water! BITCH! This energy is invoked constantly and the spirit of medusa is never allowed to rest.

However these egregious acts did not come without a price. Athena at time was a goddess of fertility. However desecrating a child of water or the sirens, is seen as an attack by the divine feminine and can will cause people to be afflicted with fertility and other mental health issues as well. This is speculative but it’s also likely that after this they were constantly visited by droughts, floods or repeating issues with water sanitation & purity after this. Lowered fertility rates and miscarriages might be more prominent, for Athenians and Athena devotees & likely continues to this day.

Devotees of Athena may also develop severe issues when it to their mental health because of this connection. They completely lose touch with their feminine energy and become extremely misogynistic after continued work with her.

Not only did Athena, cause Medusa to be seen as hideous throughout the land but she celebrated when she was murdered and proudly wore Medusa’s decapitated head on her shield. From the feminist eye this virgin deity/woman was extremely male identified and adhered to the patriarchal standard. She was tested by the divine feminine and failed.

Even more strange, Athena’s birth allegorically proclaims her essential character: her wisdom is drawn from the head of a male god; the bond of affection between father and daughter; her championship of heroes and male causes, born as she was from the male, and not from a mother’s womb. A dreaded goddess of war, she remained a virgin and a servant of the patriarchal society and remains so to this day. She is the misogynistic cool girl and very asexual at the core. In fact if you explore more of her mythos, it becomes very clear she hates women. I’m bewildered at how she has become associated with lesbians and the feminine at large, when it’s been very clear that she was intent on transcending her gender from the very beginning, but never managed to escape it.  

To top it off, I’ll leave you with this quote from Aeschylus’ Oresteia by Athena:

“There is no mother anywhere who gave me birth, and, but for marriage, I am always for the male with all my heart, and strongly on my father’s side. So, in a case where the wife has killed her husband, lord of the house, her death shall not mean most to me.”

Queen Lamia was a said to incredible beauty who seduced Zeus, (a literal man whore) which as made Hera jealous. Hera cursed Lamia with infertility and insomnia. She went insane and is said to have killed her own children and ate them. Zeus is said to be the one who gifted her prophecy and gave her the ability to take out her eyes, so she would not be irritated at the site of other happy mothers.

She became associated with a child eating monster who was half woman and half snake, which ties into the Libyan snake cults. She was associated with phantoms, the shapshifting laimai or empusai and the daemon spirits.

Medusa and Lamia were Libyan by heritage and came from a place in Africa where temples to the water snake mother goddess & divine feminine were common before they were destroyed by invaders intentionally. These women likely had extreme gifts of seduction, mind control and other abilities etc. It’s highly likely that Queen Lamia used her powers of seduction, at the behest of her people to save them from colonization and was demonized for it. Zeus’s temple was in Cyrene in Lybia, so this is far more than an allegorical story. This may be a real life story that was disguised in mythos. Unfortunately deeper research into this subject has turned up many dead ends for me. It’s highly likely Medusa was a priestess of the the matriarchal Mami Watas or water goddess/snake spirits and was likely raped intentionally in Athena’s temple, as a show loyalty to the rising patriarchy by descrating the symbolism of the great mother and the divine feminine. This was likely an attempt to lessen power and status of the matriachal societies that existed at the time. Rape was common war tactic amongst colonizers and news of such disgrace would likely spread like wildfire. This also solidified Athena’s place amongst the male gods and gaining her their respect. Athena and her devotees went a step further to show their allegiance to the patriarchy, by stripping Medusa of her beauty supposedly and exiling her, then parading her decapitated head on shields, when going into battle likely with Libyan enemies.

This is just a brief explanation of a few horrific acts in history, which were whitewashed & explain why the essence of the black feminine has evolved to become more protective, predatory and fierce. She learned to defend herself. Now she kills those who threaten her. 

Fun history tip: Usually anytime you see a snake in Grecian mythology, just know something got whitewashed, because the truth was really fucked up, made them look really bad & a black woman was there.

🧜🏾‍♀️ The black feminine is capable of more than you know.

Yes, mermaids/sirens/snakes & the mami watas can be scary at times but that’s what stepping into mysticism of deep waters is like. Water is capable of many things, it is one of the most powerful elements on earth. It can nourish you and kill you, and that’s the beauty of it really.

We should all be grateful the black feminine is so beautiful, fierce & scares the living daylights out of everyone.

You would be dead if it wasn’t.

#merwitch #black girl magic #mermaid #hoodoo #medusa #mami wata #libya #yemaya #la sirene #blackbloggers #Libya #trident #Poseidon #Athena #aphrodite #Venus #vodou #haitian vodou #olokun #orisha #african traditional religions #atr #dogon #greek mythology #black femininity #black women #black lesbian #matrichary #patriarchy #intersectional feminism

[dwellordream]

“…At the same time, however, until the mid-eleventh century, the question of whether women were suited for militant activity had simply not been of any real concern to medieval scholars. To be sure, there were historical examples within Western Europe of women who were significantly involved in military activity, but they had not stimulated major debate on this issue. The legendary Boudicca, for instance, led a military revolt against the Romans in early Britain, yet her existence remained unknown throughout the High and Late Middle Ages and was only rediscovered in the sixteenth century.

Much later, another more well-known female military leader, Æthelflæd, the so-called ‘Lady of the Mercians’, led an army that won several battles within England and even invaded Wales in the early-tenth century, but her actions also aroused little comment in the contemporary sources. Though unusual, the activities of these women were not sufficiently contentious for contemporaries to use them as a basis for an argument in favour of female militancy.

Thus, it was not until the military career of Countess Matilda of Tuscany in the late-eleventh and early-twelfth century that we find the first clear evidence of works written in support of female militancy. Matilda, whose military career is examined in more detail in chapter two, inherited a large territory in northern Italy and became the chief means of military support and main defender of the Gregorian reform papacy in its struggle against the Western Roman Emperor Henry IV (1050- 1106).

Her continued military success raised fresh questions concerning women’s place in war, and forced many intellectuals who were dependant on Matilda to come up with new and inventive ways of defending and justifying her military actions. They were, in particular, driven by a desire to appease Matilda’s apparent reluctance to wage war against other Christians, as indeed she was doing by fighting the imperial German army. To this end, a range of innovative arguments were offered in support of Matilda’s cause and female military leadership in general.

Amongst the first to do so was a grammarian in her entourage, John of Mantua, known only for a biblical commentary he wrote on the Song of Songs in c.1081. In this tract he attempted to convince Matilda that an ‘active’ life fighting heresy and schismatics in the Church was just as noble as and indeed more useful in God’s eyes than leading a more ‘contemplative’ life as a cloistered nun. John also applied an allegorical form of biblical exegesis to argue that Matilda’s efforts in fact represented legitimate use of the ‘secular sword’ in defence of the Church, which itself wielded the ‘spiritual sword’ – an idea that was to later gain much currency amongst Church scholars.

Similarly Donizo, the author of a life of Matilda, employed biblical imagery to frame and contextualise Matilda’s accomplishments – military or otherwise – as the continuation of a long tradition in strong biblical female leaders, such as Deborah, Jael, Esther (an Old Testament queen), and Judith (another Old Testament heroine). Although the use of these biblical figures cannot necessarily be said to have legitimised Matilda’s leadership (none of the figures were actually rulers), they nevertheless still illustrated, to medieval eyes, how certain women throughout history had divine support for their actions, and in Matilda’s case, how her use of military force must have been approved by God.

A further attempt at explaining her success was that of Rangerius, bishop of Lucca, who defended Matilda’s actions by lauding her masculine qualities in ‘overcoming her sex and not fearing the brave deeds of men’. In thus construing Matilda as a sort of ‘honourable man’ as it were, Rangerius was able to avoid questions as to how the supposedly weaker female sex could defeat the other in a militarily battle, especially as women were thought to be ‘inherently...unfit for [military and political] command’.

Two others to defend the Church’s use of secular armies and Matilda’s participation by way of canon law were Bishop Anselm of Lucca and Cardinal Duesdedit. Both men wrote early, yet independent and influential collections of canons in the 1080s, each of which were identically titled the Collectio canonum. Anselm’s Collectio, especially book 13, is particularly notable because it represented the first canonical collection of its kind, in that it was the first canonical collection designed specifically to justify the Church’s armed struggle against heretics and other perceived enemies of the faith.

More importantly however, at least in terms of legitimating female military command, both Anselm and Duesdedit were the first to employ a little known, and previously ignored, letter by Pope St. Gregory I (590-604) to the Frankish queen Brunhild, in which the pope permitted the queen to use military means in order to defeat any aggressive or evil threats. In Anselm’s collection the letter is discussed under the heading ‘That the power to correct evildoers is granted to the queen’. When placed in the context of Anselm’s support for Matilda and considering the significance and importance of his collection as the ‘the first major systematic justification of warfare in the Christian tradition’, this statement constituted a strong endorsement of female military leadership.

Lest we assume that efforts by intellectuals such as John of Mantua or canonists like Anselm to sanction Matilda’s military activities meant that they actually believed all women might be suited for military leadership, one must remember the context in which their works were written. As Hay has suggested, it is important to realise that Matilda’s very support for the papacy and various persecuted clerics is what predisposed polemicists in the first place to find excuses for her military involvement and justify to both themselves and each other why they were supporting one woman’s military activity.

Indeed, were it not for the need to explain and defend Matilda’s continued wartime victories and political savvy, her supporters may never have gone to the extent they did to justify her actions. Although their efforts to go against the centuries of anti-feminine thought in political and religious circles could not hope to change, in the space of one generation, long- standing beliefs about the legitimacy of female military involvement, their efforts indicate, if nothing else, that ‘medieval conceptions of gender [allowed for] the occasional female combatant’, without contradicting the established belief in male superiority.

Some of the more explicit arguments offered against the idea of women in war in the Middle Ages were also promulgated during Matilda’s life by Bishop Bonizo de Sutri (c.1045-c.1094). Interestingly, although his earlier work, the Liber ad amicum, written in 1085 or 1086, represented an endorsement of her military struggle and the others fighting on her side for the Church, his later canonical law collection, the Liber de vita Christiana, completed 1089-1090, offers a decidedly negative assessment of Matilda and her illegitimate usurpation of masculine power. The reasons for this shift in opinion have to do with Bonizo’s career.

Initially bishop of Sutri, he had been expelled and captured by the Emperor Henry in 1082, then forced to find sanctuary in Matilda’s court where he composed the Liber ad amicum. In it he spoke glowingly of Matilda, calling her a soldier of God and a true daughter of St Peter, who must fight to defend the church against the anti-pope Clement III and his supporters, using ‘every means, as long as her resources last’. His circumstances changed however when, after controversially being elected to the see of Piacenza with only weak support from Matilda and the papacy, he proved unable to maintain his position in the face of opposition, and in 1089 was cruelly mutilated and ousted by his opponents from his seat.

The Liber de vita Christiana therefore, reflects Bonizo’s disillusionment with Matilda, an attitude that is evident in its argument that women must always be under male command; moreover, although he concedes that historically some women have held military or political leadership, he contends they have only ever brought destruction or misfortune to their subjects. Invoking various biblical and historical examples of women who he felt had gone against this divine order and suffered for it, Bonizo concludes by exhorting that a woman’s place is at home, performing domestic tasks, not leading armies on the battlefield, the obvious implication being that Matilda’s struggle could only bring harm to those involved and that she ought to desist in her military activities.”

- James Michael Illston, ‘An Entirely Masculine Activity’? Women and War in the High and Late Middle Ages Reconsidered

#matilda of tuscany #james michael illston #history #high middle ages #late middle ages #warfare #gender #religion #medieval

[wehatejulietsimms]

This is an Andy appreciation post. I’m re-listening to Vale because I never understood.

It has much religious imagery but it’s *more* than just metaphors and analogies.

There’s four views I’ve understood finally and maybe more.

I will not mention anything of the specifics BVB is fighting against in Vale because like I said, this is an appreciation post and I don’t want to bring up anything negative if I don’t have to make it a point. If anyone wants me to go further into detail about what specifically I feel is going on, just ask because my gut has a keen reception on lyrics and events.

1. Religious persecution:

To the unawakened folks or the ones that progressively sin in the name of God.

Fighting for equality that when people fuck up, it isn’t the death of them. Just the death of an ego and awakening into more self compassion.

2. Talking to the fans that are blind to reality

In many songs off Vale, Andy always talks about preaching but never fully being heard from the blind and innocent. He’s tired but he will keep fighting, because he wants to make an active change to the community in a way he can but feels weak from time to time, yet never giving up!

3. Ashley

When Ashley was outed publicly, Andy never dedicated this song to him but posted the lyrics with no caption when Ashley was accused. Throw the first stone.

4. Letter to self: acknowledging this is an end of a cycle. Hint: the album name and song lyrics.

Our Destiny is a big one. It’s not just a rock love song about trying to save a destiny between two people. It’s saving himself from his past “sins” “fuckups” and saying it’s not too late to heal, which it’s never too hate to heal from the past and present. I feel like it’s “hey, I’m going into ashes now but I’ve already made amends with it and I’ll rise again and again, however many times to make it out of mental and physical surroundings.” Also, I feel it was referencing Lost it All in a way, like most of his songs do, it’s a personal and universal message that there’s so much shit in life that will knock you down and you will heal while STILL in a hurt place physically. I really want to appreciate that truth that there’s a lot of healing that still is in the midst of pain. (Props to you, Andy!) Many abusive childhoods can resonate with that as well as being stuck in relationships/friendships/or generational curses including being in debt. (Which he mentions a lot in interviews) I really do think he’s gonna get out because he’s such a wise soul and nobody gives him props to healing, and being such a mature wise man even though he’s not at his highest or best surroundings. I mean, I don’t know any other artist that’s stuck in a shitty situation and is still uplifting, real, and promotes healing and is why so many BVB army members resonate with the music. I really respect he says that people heal themselves but use his music as a resonating device to heal, when fans say he’s their hero.

Andy has overcome addictions, has had to protect his life many times, has written so much uplifting and real wisdom from a dark place of mind or just straight up otherworldly strength and vulnerability which I admire because it’s beautiful and real, doesn’t have many real helpful people around him, has been a real role model by himself, is overcoming shame and lies & generation healing, he’s really had to rely on himself and I’m glad his band members really allow him to take control of the lyrics in such an inspiring way. Even though he’s still dealing and people pleasing to toxic people, remember everyone, people in abusive relationships and are trapped have to people please in order to stay alive and not get harmed. Many don’t understand that if they’ve never been abused. (They don’t need to understand, Andy! We see it) His perseverance is real and don’t judge someone for figuring out their own life. Sometimes freedom comes from music (even though other aspects from the rock industry contradict it). Let’s be supportive of him right now because he’s branching off into a new territory and finding out what’s working for him SAFELY. Yes, I don’t agree with a lot of what he says in his insecure moments in interviews and lies in his book/irl (gotta remember that’s a trauma brain response), but his music speaks in a way that is truth and can help many people going through many things and express it in a healthy way. Also I believe many fans live in denial about his life due to the fact that they’re probably living through it in their own life and can’t recognize it in another person. Or are attracted to his light but want nothing to do to help keep it alive as in tearing him down (secret haters). Anyways, I respect him for going above and beyond and it’s really admirable because like I said, nobody in the industry has ever done what he’s done. His art is perseverance.

5. He’s been a role model for so many hurting depressed people because they resonate to his own story and his strength is a catalyst for their own strength. I dislike when people deny he’s been living in trauma and overcoming many times in his life because that’s literally what this band was formed into. There’s so much evidence in his life and in the music. He’s had to take on a role for his (hurt & healing) self and it naturally became a safe space for BVB army to interact and resonate with him. He had to do that at 18/19 and if anyone’s that age or older, you know that age is just a child. I applaud him for being that young while having no parental guidance while creating something beautiful and divine, though I do empathize for his inner child. His albums are art that are darker, not evil, and is a place where children/adults who were rejected in any form can find solace in their own mind and thus can create healing. His words are moving and you have to applaud the man for keeping it together when people of all directions were hating on his every move and it was because he has such a big heart and everyone around him wants to keep him caged out of selfishness. Even when he had meltdowns and (not saying he couldn’t also be toxic because everyone has the capacity but meltdowns get overlooked because it’s a spur of the moment thing and everyone thinks it’s a violent episode but it’s due to triggers as well as not being sober) still wanted to show up for everyone including his own self that he knows himself to be, that he didn’t want to let rot. He’s really a strong soul and it gets overlooked a lot. He’s striving for betterment of himself for more than a decade (with so much persecution even in his own circle) and people keep wishing that “I hope he gets out” and this is how he’s helping himself for the moment until he can actually get out. So again, props to him. We’re proud of you, Andy! Keep going! We believe in you. Keep taking care of your overall being. Thanks for believing in us all of these years. Some of us even made it out of the hurt place we were in and are living happy, peaceful, healthy lives after trauma.

^^i literally almost teared up reading this. this is exactly why i love him so much (& what made me fall in love with him/BVB in the first place) you said everything perfectly. i honestly wish i could pin posts on here bc i really want this to be the first thing people read on the blog. as much as people think this blog is supposed to be outright hateful, (although it contradicts the name of the blog lol) i can assure you it's not. as fans we want the best for our favorite artists and when an artist has helped/continued to help you and so many other people out of dark places it sucks to see that through that they can't help themselves. i just want the best for him and for him to be 100% happy again. that's the purpose of this blog.

[scarletravenswood]

Who is John Barleycorn?

Gruesome Origins & Modern Retellings

I was planning on making a post about the different harvest traditions for the Autumn Equinox, but in the middle of doing research for that I came across a character so crazy and fascinating that I felt the need to devote a whole post to him.  So today let’s go down the rabbit hole together to explore the strange tale of John Barleycorn and what it might reveal about our Pagan history.  The Autumn Equinox, also known as Mabon, is the second of the three important harvest festivals.  Most Pagan harvest festivals embrace the idea of sacrifice, perhaps none more so than Mabon, which is the time when the last sheaf of wheat & barley would be harvested. This notion of Sacrifice is one of the key themes associated with the popular story of John Barleycorn. You may have heard one of the many musical variations of this story or perhaps you're more familiar with the Robert Berns version from 1782.  If you haven’t ever heard this English Folk Song, give it a listen The story of John Barleycorn actually has really old origins.  There is a Scottish poem with a very similar theme and wording included in the Bannatyne Manuscript of 1568, though it’s likely that John Barleycorn is even older.  This is because the Bannatyne Manuscript is a collection of pre-existing works, many coming from the ancient oral tradition.  And considering the many pagan themes in the story, it’s definitely possible that the origins lie in Pre-Christian times. Specifically there may even be a link between John Barleycorn and the mythical figure Beowa, which is a figure from Anglo-Saxon paganism whose name means "barley." Now, the prevailing theory is that the tale of John Barleycorn is a symbolic representation of the crop of barley being harvested each autumn. The song describes the process of preparing the land, sowing the seeds, waiting for the crop to grow, and eventually harvesting. Then the song describes making the products of beer and bread which were key staples of the diet of early agrarian people.  For the most part this all makes sense but those of you who have read the poem or listened to the song have probably noticed the really gruesome way that this harvest is worded.  For example: “They laid him out upon the floor, To work him further woe; And still, as signs of life appear’d, They toss’d him to and fro. They wasted o’er a scorching flame, The marrow of his bones; But a miller us’d him worse of all, For he crush’d him between two stones. And they hae taen his very heart’s blood, And drank it round and round; And still the more and more they drank, Their joy did more abound.” Sure, maybe that’s just meant to be a creative interpretation of how to turn barley into beer and perhaps the reason this story has survived so long is in part due to the violent imagery, which makes the story more interesting and memorable.  Though perhaps there’s a bit more to the story. I want to share a theory that I recently found that might have some merit. This theory proposes that the tale of John Barleycorn is more than just a metaphor for the barley harvest and that it in fact contains references to real human sacrifices that occurred in Ancient Britain. I know what you’re thinking - pagan human sacrifice is a big trope often used by others to slander paganism.   But hear me out for a second because there’s some really interesting passages in this poem that deserve further inspection. The poem begins with: “There were three men come out of the west, their fortunes for to try, And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn would die” It’s interesting that we start with 3 men coming out of the West.  We’re all familiar with the religious importance of the number three.  The Celtic triad & triple spiral are of course famous symbols in Celtic paganism.  I also think it’s interesting that these men are coming from the West because in Celtic myths coming from “The West” meant coming from the otherworld or realm of the Fae. Also, in the tale of John Barleycorn before the the cutting of the barley there is an interesting passage that states: “They let him stand till midsummer Till he looked both pale and wan, And little Sir John he growed a long beard And so became a man.” Of course the reference to midsummer is interesting from a pagan perspective but I’m even more interested in the “growing a long beard” part.  Firstly, I’m not sure how the beard part fits in if this poem is just a metaphor for the barley harvest.  Instead, I think it’s possible that it’s referencing the long beards of the druids.  The druids believed that our life-force was channeled through the extremities which is why Druid priests would grow their beards and hair long.  So perhaps our John Barleycorn is representing a sacrificial priest. Next in the story we have a death being depicted in the poem, but it’s a three-fold death.  The poem states: “They hired men with the scythes so sharp To cut him off at the knee, They rolled him and tied him by the waist, And served him most barbarously. They hired men with the sharp pitchforks Who pricked him to the heart.” The three-fold death is a really common theme in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon folklore.  Even Merlin in the Arthurian legends prophesied a three-fold death for himself which would occur by falling, stabbing, and then drowning. So already we’ve found references in the passages of John Barleycorn to: - The Celtic triad and the Faerie realm in the west - The spiritual tradition of beard growing among the Druids - The importance of the three-fold death in Celtic lore. So what’s really going on here? In the famous anthropological book called “The Golden Bough” by Sir James Frazer, he states that the Barley King was personified in ancient ritual practice by a real person.  This man was honored as a King during the yearly cycle and when it was harvest time he would be sacrificed and dismembered and his body was dragged through the fields to ensure a fertile harvest for next year. This reminds me of a particularly gruesome passage in the poem: “They've wheeled him around and around the field till they've come unto a barn And here they've kept their solemn word concerning Barleycorn They've hired men with the crab tree sticks to split his skin from bone.” If this is just a metaphor for harvesting the barley, then what is the purpose of wheeling him “around and around” the field.  Perhaps Sir James Frazer might be right and that this passage could be a reference to the sacrificed individual being dragged through the fields to ensure the fertile harvest. It’s definitely a pretty disturbing visual and I probably should point out that we don’t really have much historical evidence concerning Pagan religious sacrifice.  One of the most popular accounts of pagan human sacrifice comes from Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul where he reports to have seen the burning alive of victims in a large wooden effigy, which is now known as a wicker man.  Though considering the Celts were his enemy at the time it is possible he exaggerated some details.   So, while it’s likely that some human sacrifice occurred among the Celts and Anglo-Saxons we don’t really know too many details and it’s likely that the violence was probably a bit exaggerated. So when it comes to our story of John Barleycorn we have our two main theories: The first theory is that the story of John Barleycorn is just a metaphor of the barley harvest and that any violent wording was just added for extra flair and it doesn’t represent any wider themes. The second theory is that the story of John Barleycorn actually contains references to the practice of religious human sacrifice among the Celtic and the Anglo-Saxon pagans. So which theory is correct?  In my opinion I think it might be both.  I think the main purpose of the story is to be a metaphor for the autumn barley harvest.  Though because this story is in fact really old, I think it picked up some Pagan references, stereotypes, and motifs along the way.   But, I’d love to hear what you think the story of John Barleycorn represents.  So share your thoughts down below in the comments. 

#pagan #Autumn Equinox #traditional witchcraft #druid #english magic #english history #folklore #witches of the world #baby witch #wicca

[yamayuandadu]

The Ten Kings of Hell: a history

The main judge of the dead in many schools of Buddhism, known as Enma Daiō in Japan and Yanluo Wang in China is a well known figure, in no small part thanks to numerous popculture adaptations. However, the exact history behind Yama, a Hindu deity, transforming into a Chinese bureaucrat, as well as the identities of Enma's subordinate kings of hell and lesser courtiers are relatively obscure. Under the cut I will discuss the development of the idea of ten kings of hell, the history of Enma himself (and why in theory you could say there's two of him), as well as a number of associated figures. Read on if you want to find out which mythical figure the historical Buddha was purportedly disappointed with, how popular imagination turned a completely mundane government official into Yanluo's human guise centuries after his death, and much more.

When Buddhism entered China, it absorbed certain elements of local afterlife beliefs. Most important of these was the cult of Mt. Tai, one of the five sacred mountains of Taoism. Its deity, Taishan Fujun (泰山府君), is first attested in sources from the 4th century, but archaeological evidence and earlier references indicate that the landmark was an important site of religious rituals since antiquity. Like many other deities, Taishan was depicted in the garb of a monarch or court official. His main role was keeping track of human lifespans and judging the dead, and supposedly an underworld realm where the deceased lived existed under his mountain. For this reason, early Buddhist translators and interpreters in China sometimes translated the name of Buddhist hell, Naraka, as Mt. Tai. This in turn lead to a partial conflation of the Buddhist judge of the dead, Yama (Yanluo; 閻魔), with Taishan, resulting in the well known depictions of the former in the garb of a Chinese official. At times Yanluo was also portrayed with one of Taishan's symbols, the big dipper constellation, while a few texts and mandalas tried to identify Taishan as Citragupta, a Hindu deity considered to be Yama's scribe and assistant. It seems they were sometimes contrasted, with Yanluo depicted as compassionate and Taishan as harsh. Full conflation of Yanluo and Taishan never occurred – instead, an elaborate system of beliefs developed around them, elevating both of them to the rank of king of hell, and adding multiple other officials presiding over specific parts of the journey to a new incarnation after death. The concept of there specifically being ten kings determining the fate of each departed soul first developed in China during the reign of the Tang dynasty, with the names known today likely becoming the standard between the 9th and 10th centuries. The Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on the Prophecy of King Yama to the Four Orders concerning the Seven [Rituals] to Be Practiced Prior to Rebirth in the Pure Land (仏説閻羅王授記四衆預修生七往生浄土経), also known simply as Scripture of the Ten Kings (十王經) was the most influential work when it came to establishing the list of the kings, as well as the imagery which became a mainstay of Buddhist hell paintings in China and beyond. As some early sources, such as Sutra on Questions of Hells (問地獄經), attempt to link the kings of hell to the story about the death of the legendary Buddhist king Bimbisāra and his army, at times going as far claiming that the king became Yama himself after death, it's possible that this grouping of deities first developed in part as an extension of the well documented phenomenon of placating potentially vengeful spirits of dead military commanders by deifying them. Worth noting that in a few cases such figures, imagined as deities presiding over epidemics (as well as capable of protecting from them) were described as Taishan's subordinates. The belief in Ten Kings was most likely first introduced to Japan by the Tendai monk Jōjin (成尋; lived 1011–1081), as his travel diaries state that he obtained a copy of Scripture of the Ten Kings during his long pilgrimage to China. Japanese Buddhists eventually developed their own literature on the matter of hells and their kings – the most important example is The Scripture Spoken by the Buddha on the Causes of Bodhisattva Jizō Giving Rise to the Thought of Enlightenment and the Ten Kings (仏説地蔵菩薩発心因縁十王経), also known simply as The Sutra on Jizō and the Ten Kings (地蔵十王経). The popularity of Enma and his fellow monarchs of the afterlife grew considerably in Japan from the XIIIth century onward, with some Buddhist temples establishing separate halls housing figures of them, called Enmadō (閻魔堂- Hall of Enma) or Jūōdō (十王堂 - Hall of Ten Kings). The Ten Kings, as listed in aforementioned texts, are: #1: King Qinguang, or Shinko (秦広王): his name is seemingly derived from the state of Qin. No distinct iconography. Appears prominently in a text purportedly written by Nichiren, The Praise of the Ten Kings (十王讚歎鈔). #2: King Chujiang, or Shoko (初江王), “king of the river.” His name indicates he was seen as the overseer of the river separating the lands of the dead and the living, known as Sanzu in Japan. No distinct iconography. #3: King Songdi, or Sotei (宋帝王): his name is derived from the Song state (the one in the Zhou era, not the dynasty conquered by Mongols). No distinct iconography. #4: King Wuguan, or Gokan (五官王), “king of the five offices,” evaluated the weight of individual sins. The “offices” were understood as spirits serving under him who judged specific categories of evil deeds (killing, theft, fornication, lying and substance abuse), but the term was also a poetic way to refer to eyes, ears, mouth, nose and hands. He was seemingly significant in early Chinese sources even before the idea of ten kings fully developed, such as the 5th century Sutra of Consecration (灌頂經) as Yanluo's second in command, but it doesn't seem he was derived from a separate preexisting deity. Sometimes portrayed holding scales. He has assistants known as “the douji or good and evil” (善惡童子). #5: King Yanluo, or Enma (閻魔王), the Buddhist version of Hindu deity Yama, as described above.  Some Chinese sources stated that he was originally the first among the kings, but was demoted to the position of the fifth due to his sympathy for the sinners. In Japan, he's often portrayed with two assistants named Shimyo, who reads the judgments, and Shiroku, who acts as a recording clerk. In some Chinese sources, the soil deity Tudi Gong is described as a subordinate of Yanluo. Curiously, Scripture of Ten Kings states that Yanluo will be eventually reborn as a Buddha called Puxian (普賢). #6: King Biancheng, or Hensei (変成王), “king of transformations,” probably due to presiding over the specifics of assigning a path of reincarnation. No distinct iconography #7: King Taishan, or Taizan (泰山王), the guardian of lifespans. Maintains the registry of human deeds. As noted in Compendium Sutra of the Six Perfections (六度集経), Taishan can be bribed. #8: King Pingdeng, or Byodo (平等王), “the impartial” or “the king of equality,” might have originally been Yanluo's title, upgraded to the status of a separate deity. Notably appears in Manichean(!) texts, such as Manichaean Hymns of the Lower Section (摩尼教下部讚) No distinct iconography regardless. #9: King Dushi, or Toshi (都市王), “king of the capital,” likely derived from pre-Buddhist Chinese folk deities like Duguan Wang and Duyang Wang. No distinct iconography. #10: King Wudao Zhuanlun, or Godō Tenrin (五道転輪王), “king of the five paths of reincarnation” (the six realms minus Asuras – the matter of adding or removing new realms of rebirth frankly deserves a separate post at somepoint), an adaptation of an older, though nonetheless Buddhist in origin, Chinese deity. He presided over reincarnation itself after the judgements. Depicted in a suit of ornate Chinese armor.  In Japan he and Taizan were sometimes depicted as Enma’s assistants, in addition to Shimyo and Shiroku – to my knowledge, this has no direct precedent in Chinese art. The following example is stored in the Hoshakuji temple:

The Ten Kings were commonly associated with the bodhisattva Jizō , said to be a guardian of souls in hell. This topic frankly deserves a separate post, so I will not discuss it in detail here. Worth noting that its final stage were largely humorous Japanese depictions of Enma and Jizō engaging in various pastimes, such as this one by Ashi Kyōdō:

As noted above, the tenth king was, like Taishan, a preexisting deity integrated into the network of hell kings, known as Wudao Dashen/Godo Daishin (五道大神), and in Japan additionally as Godo Shogun (五道将軍) – the Great God or General of the Five Paths. Unlike well-established Taishan, Wudao is a figure whose origins are convoluted and puzzled writers as early in the 6th century. Prominent Taoist, Tao Hongjing (陶宏景; lived 452–536), noted that he was unable to pinpoint his textual origin: “I do not know who the Great God of the Five Paths is”(all translations in this entry courtesy of Frederick Shih-Chung Chen, from his article The Great God of Five Paths in Early Medieval China). It would appear that Wudao was a Chinese addition to the tales about the life of the historical Buddha, with the earliest versions mentioning him possibly dating as early as to the 3rd century. In these early texts, his name was Benshi (賁識 or 奔識) – his later one was merely a descriptive title. He was also sometimes known as “the great god among ghostly gods”. Benshi was described as a god of great martial prowess, armed with a sword and a bow. However, in all versions of the story, he casts his weapons aside as soon as he sees the approaching Buddha, and informs him he's destined to follow the path of devas. In a manuscript known as Puyao jing (普曜經), an interesting exchange occurs between them : Seeing the Bodhisattva coming, he [Benshi] released the bow, threw the arrows away, and untied the sword. He then stepped back. Then he kowtowed at the feet of the Bodhisattva. He said to the Bodhisattva: “In the era of Brahmadeva, I received the decree of the Celestial King to guard the Five Paths, but I do not know how this system works. I am not clever and lack understanding. I hope that you can tell me the meaning of it.” The Bodhisattva said: “Although you govern the Five Paths, you do not know where these beings are going or where they have originated. (...)”

Presumably, the Buddha was not impressed with Benshi's less than stellar performance; nonetheless, in the following paragraphs he entrusts him with guiding the dead to the correct realms of rebirth.

Wudao was commonly mentioned in the so-called „funerary passports” (the term is not metaphorical) and on votive objects, usually as a guardian guiding the dead through the afterlife and making sure they fulfilled the religious requirements. A later medieval Taoist source, Code of Nüqing for [Controlling] Demons (女青鬼律), claims that Wudao resides under the northwest spur of Mt. Tai. He was often invoked in exorcisms alongside the popular demon queller Zhong Kui. I found no source which would state directly when Wudao was introduced to Japan, but it is evident that he was featured in a number of esoteric Buddhist mandalas before the concept of ten kings became a fixed feature of the religious landscape of Japan, alongside fellow afterlife deities Enma and Taishan. All 3 of them were first and foremost bringers of longevity and prosperity in this context.

Enma in the context of esoteric mandalas is best understood as initially almost a fully separate entity from the Enma presiding over the ten kings. He was usually called Enma-ten (閻魔天) in them, and his depictions were much closer to the original Hindu Yama than to the Chinese bureaucrat he became in more mainstream Buddhism. An attribute he was portrayed with in them, the staff with one or two human heads, was nonetheless eventually absorbed into the image of Enma as a king of hell in Japan. Additionally, some of the latter mandalas, like the one below, combined both versions of Enma. Onmyodo rites such as Taizan Fukun no Sai and Enma-ten Ku also often invoked Enma as both a king of hell and esoteric deity capable of changing human fate, though it seems Taizan and other associated deities such as Myoken, Matara-jin or Shinra Myojin eventually became the default option in them, with Enma-ten being largely overshadowed by Enma as a king of hell.

One final matter worth discussing here is that in a bizarre twist of fate, real deceased officials eventually came to be associated with the Ten Kings in both China and Japan, as a bizarre echo of their possible origin as deified slain generals. In Japan, the most notable example is that of the Heian era courtier, scholar and poet Ono no Takamura (小野篁; lived 802–852); according to legends already well established in the Kamakura period, he found a pathway to hell, and due to his great skill was able to secure the position of Enma's third assistant for himself. Later sources, such as the Chikurinji illustrated scroll (篁山竹林寺縁起絵巻) elevate him to the rank of a king of hell in his own right, specifically as a replacement of Sotei. Evidently third official in the court of Enma was misinterpreted as third king at some point.

In China, the Song dynasty judge Bao Zheng (包拯; lived 999-1062), renowned in popular imagination for his dedication, willingness to punish not only commoners, but even nobles, and opposition to bribery (he famously stated that any of his descendants who will commit such a crime cannot be buried in the family mausoleum) came to be seen as either the human guise of Yanluo, or a replacement for him. It's likely the association between these historical and religious figures goes back to Bao's life – purportedly while he served as an official in Kaifeng, it was commonly said that he and Yanluo are the only judges in existence impossible to bribe.

Judge Bao's example illustrates well why the kings of hell remained a popular subject in art for centuries: for the average person, justice was unlikely to be served while they're alive, but the belief that everyone is equal in death, and the entities in charge of determining the fate of the dead are truly just and impartial, must've provided much needed hope. Simultaneously, the rare examples of truly just individuals in position of power must've seemed like almost supernatural occurrences, leading to the deification of figures such as Bao Zheng in folk religion.

Further reading:

Embracing Death and the Afterlife: Sculptures of Enma and His Entourage at Rokuharamitsuji by Ye-gee Kwon

Baogong as King Yama in the Literature and Religious Worship of Late-Imperial China by Noga Ganany

Officials of the Afterworld. Ono no Takamura and the Ten Kings of Hell in the Chikurinji engi Illustrated Scrolls by Haruko Wakayabashi

The Inflatable, Collapsible Kingdom of Retribution. A Primer on Japanese Hell Imagery and Imagination by Carolina Hirasawa

In Search of the Origin of the Enumeration of Hell-kings in an Early Medieval Chinese Buddhist Scripture: Why did King Bimbisāra become Yama after his Disastrous Defeat in Battle in the Wen diyu jing 問地獄經 (‘Sūtra on Questions on Hells’)? by Frederick Shih-Chung Chen

The Great God of the Five Paths (Wudao Dashen 五道大神) in Early Medieval China by Frederick Shih-Chung Chen

Indic Influences on Chinese Mythology: King Yama and his Acolytes as Gods of Destiny by Bernard Faure

The Scripture on the Ten Kings And the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism by Stephen F. Teiser

 David K. Jordan’s Jade Guidebook site

#kings of hell #japanese folklore #chinese folklore #chinese mythology #japanese mythology

[cometomecosette]

The classic staging of “One Day More” is a true wok of art. It imagery is iconic, it never fails to be an epic moment, and it’s beautifully layered, with different nuances to notice with every viewing.

First there’s the juxtaposition of Jean Valjean and Cosette at stage left with their traveling trunk, Marius and Éponine at stage right. In this alone I think we have potential layers to unpack. Did Nunn and Caird mean to draw a parallel between these two duos, and if so, was Valjean/Marius and Cosette/Éponine their intended analogy, or Valjean/Éponine and Marius/Cosette? The initial arrangement has Valjean and Marius downstage with Cosette and Éponine behind them, and the two men are the two who sing first, which would seem to parallel Valjean/Marius and Éponine/Cosette: the two men each find themselves at a distressing new turning point in their lives, while the two girls both quietly suffer, with the men too absorbed in their own anxiety to notice. But in some performances, Cosette kneels down in front of the crate while Valjean stays further back, which would seem to juxtapose Cosette with Marius and Valjean with Éponine, as does the fact that soon afterward, in all performances, Marius and Cosette run to center stage to sing together, leaving Éponine and Valjean alone. Those parallels fit too: we have the two lovers, both in despair at being parted, and each is also loved by another person (Valjean platonically, Éponine romantically) who needs to selflessly let them go. In Act II, Valjean’s interjections in “Every Day’ that echo Éponine’s in “A Heart Full of Love” certainly emphasize that parallel further.

Other small, easily-overlooked details worth appreciating are the belongings Valjean and Cosette pack in their trunk. Besides a generic blanket, they’re all items that mean something: the Bishop’s candlesticks of course, a wooden cross and a Bible emphasizing Valjean’s religious faith, Cosette’s clothes from when she was a little girl (a nice reference to Valjean’s secretly keeping them in the novel), and of course the doll he gave her. All ideal items for Valjean to pause over and ponder as he packs them away, reflecting on his journey so far as he faces an unknown future.

Then there’s Enjolras’s grand entrance at center stage. Marius and Cosette draw apart as if dragged by forces beyond their control, and where they were standing, as if to symbolize the revolution coming between them, Enjolras appears, clad in his signature red vest for the first time and brandishing a rifle above his head. All around him and behind him the Amis, Gavroche and the women all gather, hugging and pantomime-cheering, flushed with revolutionary fervor, yet amid the excitement Enjolras stands motionlessly majestic, the eye of the hurricane, belting out his call to arms. The imagery perfectly captures the feeling of the eve of rebellion and makes the audience eager to follow the revolutionaries to the barricades.

Meanwhile, the turntable makes a subtle but effective contribution, taking Valjean and Cosette to the side of the stage while bringing Marius and Éponine to the center, in front of Enjolras and co., as Marius debates whether to join them or follow Cosette.

While I know it’s not done in every performance, I also like the standard detail of Éponine taking Marius’s hand and leading him offstage at the end of his lines. It provides a nice shout-out to the novel by implying that it’s Éponine who convinces Marius to join his friends. While I doubt in the musical her motive is to lead him to die with her, it still makes sense that she should do this rather than let him go across the sea.

Then, after a brief moment of slow-mo, the revolutionaries shift into the iconic triangle formation, Enjolras at its head in all his red-vested, rifle-wielding glory, and they march back and forth in time to the music. Without a doubt this image is second only to the barricade as the production’s most famous visual and rightfully so. No other choreography could have so perfectly captured the heroic determination of the revolutionaries or or the pulsing thrill as their fight for a new world draws near. While the earlier staging of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” with its ragtag rallying atmosphere was stirring in its own right, this stylized formation and marching brings the revolutionaries a new dignity, making them come across not just as hot-blooded young rebels, but as true soldiers of freedom and righteousness.

Meanwhile, we have Javert at stage right, dressed in civilian clothes and donning his tricolor sash, then kneeling down to pray for success in his mission. A valuable reminder that faith and staunch values are what drive him, not malice, even as he sings of our heroes wetting themselves with blood.

Then the Thénardiers pop up from the sewer grate to sing their lines – an image that perfectly suits the loathsome creatures they are and nicely foreshadows Valjean’s encounter with Thénardier down there in Act II. The 25th Anniversary production’s just having them appear at a window can’t compare.

Meanwhile, we have a beautiful moment between Valjean and Cosette as they pack their trunk. I’ve written about it before, but I’ll write about it again. Valjean picks up Cosette’s old doll and shows it to her; she cradles it for a moment, then either packs it away herself or gives it back to Valjean to pack; and then they hug. This is my favorite of all the production’s minor details. The fact that Cosette puts the doll away, or gives it back to Valjean, reinforces that, no, she’s no longer a child. But the fact that she takes the time to cradle it first shows that she still treasures the memories of her childhood with Valjean – and still treasures him too, as emphasized by their hug. Valjean and Cosette have so little time onstage to show the depth and warmth of their father/daughter love, and I think it’s a shame that more recent variants on this scene have highlighted the growing distance between them instead (e.g. their pantomime argument in the Connor/Powell staging, or their staring out of opposite carriage windows in the movie). As far as I’m concerned, their semi-argument in “In My Life” and her lying to him in “Attack on Rue Plumet” do that well enough already. Let this moment reinforce their bond!

Then Marius and Éponine reenter through the triangle and Marius emphasizes his pledge to fight with his friends by taking his place at Enjolras’s side while Éponine foreshadows her own fateful choice by marching at Marius’s side in the same way.

Then comes the final iconic march as the various soloists sing their counterpoint. A student (Courfeyrac, I think) lifts Gavroche up onto his shoulders, giving him a prominent place in the tableau as well. Valjean kneels behind the seated Cosette with his hands on her shoulders as both gaze outward toward their uncertain future. At the back of the formation, another student waves the enormous red flag of the revolution. After Javert finishes his solo, he finally joins the formation too, while the Thénardiers pop back down into the sewers, not taking part in the song’s idealistic final chords. Smoke, used so atmospherically throughout the production, wafts through the air and brings a sense of mystical, mythic grandeur to the revolution’s eve. Then the turntable spins Valjean and Cosette to the front of the stage, placing them in front of the triangle of marchers for the final grand notes, with the massive flag of freedom waving above everyone.

At the very end, the stage abruptly goes dark with a final blast of white light. With multiple viewings, knowing that white light is used to signify death throughout the production, it’s hard not to read this moment as foreshadowing that the next day will bring tragedy, not triumph. But for first-time audiences, it ends Act I on an exhilarating cliffhanger, leaving them very, very eager to see what will happen next.

I’m sorry for writing a novel almost as long as the Brick, but there’s so much to explore in the classic staging of this scene. So many new things to appreciate every time you see it.

#les mis #les miserables #one day more #staging #i love the original nunn/caird production #long

[passionate-reply]

This week on Great Albums: Can you really try your hand at being a pop act with a name like “Severed Heads”? Despite a background in experimental, underground industrial music, these Australians made a pretty serviceable go at it. Find out more by watching the video or reading the full transcript below the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! For today’s installment, I’ll be looking at Rotund For Success, first released in 1989 by the Australian electronic act, the Severed Heads. If you’re familiar with the Severed Heads, you might be aware that some people consider them to be an industrial band. But, as is often the case with such labels, it’s one that the artists themselves would reject--not to mention many listeners and fans, in turn. I, for one, have heard them described as the industrial version of “elevator music,” and while I find that hard to imagine, I can sort of see it. Wherever you might fall on this issue, there are certainly strong elements of both synth-pop and dance music in much of the Severed Heads catalogue--as on one of their best known tracks, “Hot With Fleas.”

Music: “Hot With Fleas”

First released on their 1987 LP Bad Mood Guy, “Hot With Fleas” won some club play in its own time and remains one of the best known Severed Heads tracks. Structurally, it’s a fairly typical Severed Heads composition, combining sample-heavy experimental percussion grooves with a slight hint of a playful melody. Despite its danceability, “Hot With Fleas” also betrays the group’s love for the vile and repulsive, chiefly in its imagery of being infested with itchy parasites. The sense of disgust, combined with the heavy, clattering percussion, together make the strongest case for an interpretation of the music as a part of the industrial tradition. But whatever we choose to call this style, the Severed Heads would take an increasingly pop approach on Rotund For Success--without losing all of those more subversive themes.

Music: “All Saints’ Day”

“All Saints’ Day” served as the album’s opening track as well as its second single. All Saints’ Day is, of course, a feast associated with historical observation of Halloween, which might serve to make the track come across as a little bit “spooky.” The use of squealing or screeching samples here may be an extension of that theme as well. Perhaps the most noticeable difference between “Hot With Fleas” and “All Saints’ Day” is that the latter is much more melody-centered; where “Hot With Fleas” was content to have its melodic hook either buried in the mix, stuttered into oblivion, or both, “All Saints’ Day” feels more like a pop song that happens to have an out-there percussion track. In addition to some fairly clean and pretty synth work, “All Saints’ Day” also seems to take a step back from some of the more perturbed lyricism from earlier in the Severed Heads catalogue, focusing on an individual who seems to struggle with issues of faith. The narrator feels unable to see themselves in the lives of the saints, but also asserts, in the song’s powerful refrain, that they are “willing to believe,” and strive for greatness nonetheless. While not preoccupied with “filth” as “Hot With Fleas” was, there’s still a sort of sinister undercurrent to “All Saints’ Day”: does it imply that the narrator’s faith is an impediment in their life, something that holds them back or prevents them from feeling confident? Religious faith is also the main theme of the album’s best-known single, “Greater Reward.”

Music: “Greater Reward”

Both in its actual chart performance, as well as in structure and style, “Greater Reward” is the closest thing to a pop hit that you’ll find on Rotund For Success. While it has a broad similarity to “All Saints’ Day,” it’s a bit like “All Saints’ Day” with all of its knobs turned up: brighter synth, more toylike percussion, and an enthralling, soaring refrain. “Greater Reward” feels captivatingly confident, almost swaggering--a real feat for Severed Heads vocalist Tom Ellard, whose distinctively thin or frail voice might be compared to that of Neil Tennant, of Pet Shop Boys fame. Another thing that “Greater Reward” seems to have escalated compared to “All Saints’ Day” is its lyrical subtext. Where “All Saints’ Day” portrays a struggling believer, the narrator of “Greater Reward” is perhaps a little too confident in their belief--so zealous that they seem to shun the earthly pleasures of love in favour of the titular “Greater Reward” of the afterlife. It’s easy to see how this track more clearly portrays religion as a net negative, even in the face of its simperingly cheerful melody. The track “First Steps” tackles the theme of religion in a more oblique manner.

Music: “First Steps”

The title of “First Steps” obviously implies the first attempts of a child to start walking, and the song’s remarkably slow, plodding pace also evokes the idea of a hesitant and clumsy attempt at something. It’s tempting to interpret the lyrics of the song as being things that might be told to children when they’re very young, particularly the refrain, “if you tell lies, an angel dies.” This line seems to give a third independent critique of religion: not only can it confuse those who want to do good, and cause people to neglect happiness during the one life they know they have, but it also plays a role in the indoctrination of young children, with this lyric portraying a spectral punishment that awaits wrongdoers. But the real reason people shouldn’t lie is that it harms other people here on Earth...right? In another “fairy tale” turn, the narrator suggests visiting “somebody where love is money,” only to conclude that “you can’t pay yourself, to fill yourself with desire for someone.” Perhaps this is a maxim or cliche, in some other universe. And perhaps it’s true--at some point, no matter what age we are, we have to learn that love isn’t a commodity, but rather a feeling, that can only be freely given. While I’ve emphasized the religious themes on this album a lot, not all tracks on Rotund For Success seem preoccupied with it. Take, for example, “Big Car.”

Music: “Big Car”

With the longest runtime of anything on the album, even without including a separate two-minute track that precedes it simply named “Big Car Intro,” “Big Car” certainly feels like something of a centerpiece for the album. It begins the second side of the LP, and it was released as a single, though to significantly less success than the others. Starting off with a frightful crash of breaking glass, “Big Car” is quick to introduce us to the Severed Heads’ hallmark hypnotic rhythm, and its plaintive, slightly nervous melody. The narrator of “Big Car” addresses someone who has perhaps done them wrong in the past, asking them to visit, and promising them that “never an unkind word need be said, about [their] life overhead.” If “Greater Reward” projected confidence, then “Big Car” suggests fragility, with a narrator who seems to be putting on a happy face to disguise their desperation. A more pop-minded listener might read this as a tale of a lover who’s been cheated on, crawling back to the person who betrayed them. But at the same time, there’s nothing that really suggests that this song is about a romantic relationship between the two. I think a lot of Severed Heads tracks fall into this musical “uncanny valley,” with elements of pop as well as more underground or experimental music, and perhaps to some extent what we choose to interpret in their work has more to do with us listeners than the Severed Heads. At any rate, though it may have some synth-pop DNA, “Big Car” is far from a typical pop song, with its meandering, mostly instrumental structure.

While earlier Severed Heads albums often featured grotesque and gruesome imagery, the cover of Rotund For Success eschews that in favour of an almost pithy or banal design, dominated by a large, floating pumpkin. While an argument could be made linking the pumpkin emblem with the theme of “All Saints’ Day,'' I'm inclined to interpret it as something created to be aggressively and offensively meaningless, like a corporate logo that’s been focus-groupped into a semiotic void. The album’s title perhaps also suggests a meaningless slogan for some useless product, with the word “success” serving as a stand-in for anything and everything that the consumer might desire. Much as the Severed Heads’ earlier work centered the grotesque, musically, lyrically, and visually, the move towards a cheekily trite cover and title mirror the way this album took their sound into a more subtly mocking direction. Overall, *Rotund For Success* is an album that snubs the gory details in favour of making a more abstract commentary, and I think the surface-level prettiness that this album offers makes it an enticing first look at an act with a very complex legacy.

While the Severed Heads enjoyed a perhaps surprising amount of mainstream acclaim with Rotund For Success, as well as a remix of their earlier track “Dead Eyes Opened" at around this same time, they would soon fade back into the obscurity that one generally expects of grotesque and experimental music. Their follow-up LP, the more guitar-curious Cuisine (With Piscatorial), failed to reach the same levels of crossover interest, and it would become their final release on Nettwerk Records before being dropped by the label.

Music: “Estrogen”

My favourite track from Rotund For Success is the enigmatic “LFM.” What does “LFM” stand for? Well, I’m really not sure, but the lyrics of this track suggest that we ought to feel “the power and the glory” of it. Given the religious themes of “All Saints’ Day” and “Greater Reward,” it seems possible that “LFM” is something to put one’s faith in even if we don’t understand it. But whatever it is, this track’s outro is positively sublime, with what sounds like a chorus of chirping birds to play us out. It’s rare that you hear such a nature-inspired sound in industrial music, but it really works well here, and reminds me a bit of Gary Numan’s “Engineers.” That’s all for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “LFM”

#music #industrial #industrial music #experimental music #experimental electronica #severed heads #the severed heads #great albums #album review #album reviews

[bybdolan]

EDIT EXPLANATION - FOLKLORE SONGS AS BOOKS 1

1. the last great american dynasty 

The main inspiration for this cover were movie posters from the 40s, specifically the lettering of this one  and this one. I just wanted it to feel bold and bright and fun, while evoking a very specific time period. Though it wasn’t necessarily intentional, I love how it seems like Rebekah is reaching for something. It makes the whole design more dynamic.

2. illicit affairs I created this one on a whim and was immediately staisfied with my first design. I wanted to keep it simple and romantic but with a punch. It looks so sweet and sophisticated at first, the bubbly font, the soft pink, but then you read the tagline and it hits you that it’s all just a facade; that the romance is a lie. I also wanted to keep Taylor’s name very small, to highlight that she has to be hidden, that she is a secret.

3. my tears ricochet Concept-wise, this is my favorite cover of this set. I interpret my tears ricochet as a song about celebrity culture (even though I know Taylor likely didn’t intend the song to be about that) and wanted to create a cover based on that theme. I’ve always found the term “celebrity worship” super interesting and evocative, so I chose to combine religious imagery with images of celebrities. Originally, I wanted to make the collage more detailed, featuring more celebrities (I had Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson on the list), but when I added the pictures of Kurt Cobain and Marilyn, it all just kind of fell into place. I feel like Kurt and Marilyn are also some of the most obviously “tragic stars” out there, in that people tend to think about the bad aspects of their lives before thinking about their work as artists.  The gradient effect was just me playing around - I was inspired by the bold two-toned concert posters of the 60s and ended up with the red/purple combo because I liked how “violent” it felt. There is also a bit of an X-Ray vibe going on, which I love considering it can be linked to how we try to peek into famous peoples’ lives.

4. seven Oh look, it’s baby me! Inspired by this truly stunning edit, I looked through my own private childhood photgraphs to see if I could find something that matched the vibe of seven and - lo’ and behold - I got lucky. I love the tension in the picture and tried to further highlight that tension by turning the image sideways and using a rather aggressive chalk brush for the text. seven at it’s core is a song about love and innocence and not understanding the bad stuff in the world yet, and I feel like this picture evokes that. There is a bit of a “red riding hood meets the big bad wolf” vibe going on; I love the childlike curiosity mixed with a bit of underlying violence. Something about the red ball in the dog’s mouth and the fact that you can only see his muzzle makes him look dangerous (even though the dog pictured was a gentle giant in real life), and that sliver of fear that he might drop the ball and attack the child sells the cover to me. (The dog is meant as a symbol for the dad of Taylor’s friend in the song.)

5. mad woman Originally planned as a book about female rage in art, this cover also thrives off of the artwork used. I stumbled upon Matt Cunningham’s collage art while reasearching images that encapsulated the idea of the mad woman, and I was immediately hooked on his work. The 50s advertisement painting style juxtaposed with the animal face perfectly visualizes how women are forced to keep their emotions locked away, and it also visualizes how the calm vibe of the song is contrasting with the insanely bold, truly MAD lyrics. I tried to keep the 50s theme going with the simple font, but hand-scribbled the “A Novel” to ~spice things up~ a bit. Is it lipstick? Is it blood? Who knows.

#edit explanation #graphic design #rambliiings