Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Fourth Dimension

Kronos (Time) was the youngest of the Titans, and as the heavens measure out time to us, and earth is considered its beginning, he is said to be born of Uranos and Ge. According to the ancient fable, Kronos is married to Rhea (Succession), and with them , commence a new generation of gods, by whom the former, in future times, are to be deprived of their power. Lasting forms now gain the superiority; yet not without a long struggle against all devouring Chaos, and all destroying Time, of which Saturn himself is a symbol. He creates and destroys; therefore it is allegoricaly said, that he devours his own children, and even the stones, because he consumes the most durable substances.

Fable says, that his mother, Earth, had predicted to him that one of his sons would deprive him of his authority, and therefore he swallowed his own children as soon as they were born. Thus the crime which he had committed against his father was revenged. For as Uranos formerly dreaded, so Kronos now dreads seditious power. And while he reigned over his brothers, the Titans, he, in the same manner as his father had done, keeps the hundred armed giants and Cyclops imprisoned in Tartarus. He fears ruin from his own children. The new born creatures still rise against the source of creation that threatens to swallow them up again. Even as Ge formerly groaned on account of her children's imprisonment, so Rhea now laments the cruelty of her husband - the all destroying power that spares not his own creations. When, therefore, the time came in which she was to become the mother of Jupiter, the future ruler of gods and men, she implored Earth and the starry Heaven, for the preservation of her child. But the ancient primitive deities were deprived of government and the early influence left them was in prophecies and counsel. The supplicated parents, therefore, advised their daughter to conceal her son as soon as it should be born, in a fertile part of the island of Crete.

Wild, roving Fancy, now fixing herself upon a certain spot of earth, finds on this island, where the divine child is to be reared, her first resting place. By the advice of her mother, Rhea presented a stone to Kronos instead of her new born child. The stratagem was successful; and by means of this stone so often mentioned by the ancients, bounds were set to destruction; the destroying power had, for the first time, taken death instead of life; and thus the latter gained time to rise, secretly, as it were, to light, in order to form and unfold itself. But it is not yet secure from the persecutions springing from the very source whence it derives its origin. Therefore the tutors of the child, the Curetes, whose nature as well as origin are enveloped in mysterious darkness, make a continual noise with their shields and spears, lest Kronos should hear the noise of the crying infant.

The education of Jupiter on the island of Crete forms one of the most attractive fictions of the imagination. The goat Amalthea, which was afterwards placed among the stars, and whose horn became a symbol of plenty, suckles him with her milk. Doves bring him nourishment; golden colored bees carry him honey; and the nymphs of the wood are his nurses. The physical, as well as intellectual powers of his future king of the gods and men, rapidly develop themselves. The old realm of Kronos approaches its end; - and, in addition to Jupiter, five more of his children are saved from his destruction: viz. Vesta, Ceres, Neptune, Juno and Pluto.

United with them, Jupiter, after having delivered the Cyclops out of prison, and received from them the thunderbolts, declares war against Kronos and the Titans. And now the modern gods, the descendants of Kronos and Rhea, separate themselves from the ancient deities or Titans, the children of Uranos and Ge.

The golden years of mortal men were placed by Fancy in those times when Juptier did not yet rule with his thunder; under the reign of Saturn, imagination collected together all that is desirable to man but gone to return no more. After having been deprived of his destructive power, Saturn escaped the fate of the other Titans, and

"Fled over Adria to the Hesperian fields."

There, in the plains of Latium, surrounded by high mountains, he concealed himself, and transferred thither the golden age, that happy period, when mankind lived in a state of perfect equality and all things were in common. He is said to have arrived in a ship at the Tiber, in the dominions of Janus, and in union with him to have reigned over men with wisdom and benignity.

While Jupiter, still in danger of being deprived of his usurped authority, is hurling thunderbolts against his foes, Saturn, far from the scene of violence, has arrived in the quiet fields of Latium, where, under his reign, those happy times pass away which are celebrated in song, as a good that is passed and gone, and now sought for in vain. Saturn's time was the grey time of yore; he swallowed his own children, buried in oblivion the fleeting years, and left no trace of bloody wars, destroyed cities, and crushed nations, which constitute the chief subjects of history ever since men began to record the events of the world. All that happy time, when liberty and equality, justice and virtue, were still reigning, men lived like the gods in perfect security, without pain and cares, and exempt from the burdens of old age. The soil of the earth gave them fruits without laborious cultivation; unacquainted with sickness, they died away as if overtaken with sweet slumber; and when the lap of earth received their dust, the souls of the deceased, enveloped in light air, remained as genii with the survivors.

In this manner the poets portrayed their golden times on which imagination, wearied with the scenes of the busy world, dwells with so much delight.

Saturnalia were festivals celebrated in honor of Saturn, and were instituted long before the foundation of Rome, in commemoration of the freedom and equality that existed among the inhabitants of the earth during the golden reign of Saturn. This festival was celebrated in December, and at first lasted but one day (the 19th); it was then extended to three, and subsequently, by order of Caligula and Claudius, to seven. This celebration was remarkable for the liberty that universally prevailed during its continuance. Servants were then allowed freedom with their masters; slaves were at liberty to be unruly without fear of punishment; and until the expiration of the festival, wore a cap on the head as a badge of freedom and equality. Animosity ceased; no criminals were executed; nor was war ever declared during Saturnalia, but everything gave way to mirth and merriment. Schools were closed; the senate did not sit; and friends made presents to each other. It was also the custom to send wax tapers to friends as an expression of good feeling; for the Romans, as a particular respect to this deity, kept torches and tapers continually burning upon his altars.

Among the Romans, the priest always performed the sacrifices with his head uncovered, a custom never observed before any other god. Fetters were hung on his statutes in commemoration of the chains he had worn when imprisoned by Jupiter. From this circumstance, slaves who obtained their liberty, generally dedicated their fetters to him. During the celebration of the Saturnalia the chains were taken from the statues, to imitate the freedom and independence that mankind enjoyed during the golden age.

In his temple and under his protection the Romans placed their treasury, and also laid up the rolls containing the names of their people, because, in his time, no one was defrauded, and no theft was ever committed.

Saturn is generally represented by the ancients as an old man, bent with old age and infirmity; he holds the sickle or scythe given him by his mother, and a serpent biting its own tail. Sometimes he is leaning on his sickle and clothed in tattered garments; to these were added wings and feet of wool, to express his his fleet and silent course. Upon ancient gems, he is sometimes represented with a scythe in his hand, and leaning on the prow of a ship, on the side of which rises part of an edifice and a wall. This is probably an allusion to Saturn's having built the old city of Saturnia, near the Tiber, on the hills where Rome was afterwards founded. In this manner, Saturn sometimes appears as a symbol of all destroying time, and sometimes, as a king who once reigned in Latium.

Fourth Dimension

Dating by blood type in Japan

By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Tokyo

Blood sample (file image)
Many Japanese believe blood type determines personality

People in most parts of the world do not think about their blood group much, unless they have an operation or an accident and need a transfusion.

But in Japan, whether someone is A, B, O or AB is a topic of everyday conversation.

There is a widespread belief that blood type determines personality, with implications for life, work and love.

It is Saturday night and a speed dating session is under way in a small building in the backstreets of Tokyo.

Men and women are sitting nervously at tables hoping to find that special someone.

The room is brightly painted in red and white, the staff upbeat and enthusiastic, but the conversations are rather stilted.

The couples have just a few minutes to try to sound each other out before a bell rings and they have to move on to the next lonely single.

At the interview for my first job they asked me about my blood type
Kouichi

It is a scene repeated in cities across the world but this speed dating session in Japan has a twist.

It is for women who want to meet men with blood group A or AB.

One says she decided to narrow down her search for a boyfriend after a bad experience with a man with type B.

"Looking back it seems trivial," she said. "But I couldn't help getting annoyed by how disorganised he was."

"I really would like someone with type A blood," added her friend. "My image is of someone who is down to earth, something like that."

'Burahara'

Interest in blood type is widespread in Japan, particularly which combinations are best for romance.

Japanese office workers in Tokyo (file image)
Blood type can have an effect on professional as well as personal life

Women's magazines run scores of articles on the subject, which has also inspired best-selling self-help books.

The received wisdom is that As are dependable and self sacrificing, but reserved and prone to worry.

Decisive and confident - that is people with type O.

ABs are well balanced, clear-sighted and logical, but also high-maintenance and distant.

The black sheep though seem to be blood group B - flamboyant free-thinkers, but selfish.

"At the interview for my first job they asked me about my blood type," said a man with blood group B, who wanted to identify himself only as Kouichi.

"The surprise was written on my face. Why? It turned out the company president really cared. She'd obviously had a bad experience with a B type blood person. But somehow I got the job anyway."


If you can hide behind blood types you can then tell someone indirectly what you think about them
Prof Jeff Kingston

Later, though, the issue of his blood came up again.

"The president was the kind of person who couldn't take her drink and at one company party she got drunk. So she sent B people home before the others. 'You are blood type B,' she said. 'Get out.'"

There is even a term for such behaviour in Japan, burahara, which translates as blood group harassment.

The preoccupation with blood ultimately dates back to theories of eugenics during the inter-war years.

One study compared the blood of people in Taiwan, who had rebelled against Japanese colonial rule, with the Ainu from Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, thought to be more peaceable.

Stripped of its racial overtones, the idea emerged again in the 1970s.

Debunked

Now, blood typecasting is as common as horoscopes in the West, with the whiff of science - although dubious - giving it added credibility.

Former Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso (file image)
Taro Aso was proud to identify himself as a type A while in office

Some firms organise work teams by blood type to try to ensure office harmony.

And people going on a date or meeting someone for the first time are liable to be asked: "What is your blood group?"

"This particular thing about blood types is a clever way of telling people what you think about them, but indirectly," said Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan.

"Here people don't like to be upfront and open about their opinions. So if you can hide behind blood types you can then tell someone indirectly what you think about them."

Scientists regularly debunk the blood group theory but it retains its hold - some believe because, in a largely homogenous society, it provides an easy framework to divide people up into easily recognisable groups.

The last Prime Minister, Taro Aso, even put the fact that he was a type A in his official profile on the internet.

If he had hoped that having a favoured blood group would give him a boost at the polls he was disappointed.

When the election came around, he lost.

Monday, April 26, 2010

ESTHER RUNS THE SHOW receiving instructions from MordecAI

The King Dethrones Queen Vashti

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, 3 that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him— 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.

5 And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. 7 And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king. 8 In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure.

9 Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. 10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.

13 Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times (for this was the king’s manner toward all who knew law and justice, 14 those closest to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who had access to the king’s presence, and who ranked highest in the kingdom): 15 “What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs?”

16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: “Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the princes, and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For the queen’s behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’ 18 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king’s officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath. 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. 20 When the king’s decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small.”

21 And the reply pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan. 22 Then he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, that each man should be master in his own house, and speak in the language of his own people.

Esther Becomes Queen

1 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; 3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai[a] the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.”
This thing pleased the king, and he did so.

5 In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. 6 Kish[b] had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah[c] king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. 7 And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

8 So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. 9 Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women. 10 Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it. 11 And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

12 Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. 13 Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

15 Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot


19 When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate. 20 Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.
21 In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. 2 And all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” 4 Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman to determine the day and the month,[a] until it fell on the twelfth month,[b] which is the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

12 Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.[c] 14 A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

1 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. 7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. 9 So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.
13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

Esther’s Banquet

1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.[a] 2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.
3 And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

4 So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
6 At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
7 Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”
Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

9 So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king.
12 Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. 13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”
And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.

The King Honors Mordecai

1 That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5 The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”
And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”

10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.” 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” 12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?” 6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”
Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. 4 And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, 5 and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. 8 You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.”

9 So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.

11 By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.[b] 13 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.

15 So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. 17 And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.

The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors
1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. 5 Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.

6 And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha— 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 11 On that day the number of those who were killed in Shushan the citadel was brought to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.”

13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. 15 And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 16 The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of the month[a] they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
The Feast of Purim

18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month[b] they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

20 And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but when Esther[c] came before the king, he commanded by letter that this[d] wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

Mordecai’s Advancement


1 And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute(taxes) on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2 Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.[a]

Friday, April 23, 2010

Creation not God Created all Life

CREATION, not God, created all life God is an idiot-savant neanderthaler tax-collector and insurance salesman (a toll-gater and pirate); a "weasel" who currently resides in the MOHO discontinuity, from where he (they) launched his ROMA dog-priests on Egypt, to kidnap our world, following the last ice age. Step-by- step "overstanding" LO STORY leads to verstanding reality .

As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he/she attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes. The impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the eternal. Those who have seen the boundary between these two have attained the end of all knowledge. Realize that which pervades the Universe and is indestructible, no power can affect this unchanging, imperishable reality. The body is mortal, but that which dwells in the body is immortal and immeasurable. You were never born you can never die, Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, you do not die when the body dies. As one abandons worn out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Soul(DNA), who lives within. The Soul cannot be pierced by weapons or burned by fire; water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it. It is everlasting and infinite, standing on the motionless foundations of eternity. The Soul is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change but at the same time forever changing, accumulating. Knowing this you should not grieve.


Death is inevitable for the living; birth is inevitable for the dead. Since these are unavoidable you should not sorrow. Every creature is unmanifested at first and then attains manifestation. When its end has come, it once again becomes unmanifested. What is there to lament in this? The glory of the soul is beheld by a few, and a few describe it; a few listen, but many without understanding. The Soul of all beings, living within the body, is eternal and cannot be harmed. Therefore, do not grieve. Those who understand cosmic laws know that the days and nights end. When the day dawns, forms are brought forth from the Unmanifest; when the night comes, these forms merge in the Formless again. This multitude of beings is created and destroyed again and again in the succeeding days and nights. But beyond this formless state there is another, unmanifested reality, which is eternal and is not dissolved when the cosmos is destroyed. Those who realize life's supreme goal know that it is unmanifested and unchanging. Having coming home to it they never return to separate existence. Its action is Creation and the bringing forth of creatures. It pervades the entire the universe in its unmanifested form. All creatures find their existence in it but it is not limited by them. Behold the Mystery! These creatures do not really dwell in it, and though it brings them forth and supports them, it is not confined within them. They move in it as the winds move in every direction in space. At the end of the of the eon these creatures return to unmanifested matter; at the beginning of the next cycle it it sends them forth again. The immature do not look beyond physical appearances to see its true nature as Creation. The knowledge of such deluded people is empty; their lives are fraught with disaster and evil, and their work and hopes are all in vain. But truly great souls seek its nature.


It is the father and mother of this universe, and its grandfather too; it is its entire support. It is the sum of all knowledge the purifier. It is the goal of life, the support of all, the inner witness, the abode of all. It is the only refuge, the one true friend; It is the beginning , the staying, and the end; it is the womb and the eternal seed. It is heat; it gives and withholds the rain. It is immortality and death; it is what is and what is not. It is the source from which all things come. It is the reality behind many, it is also the Ultimate Reality that transcends all opposites. It is both happiness and suffering, birth and death, being and non-being. It is beyond the dualities of existence and nonexistence, utterly beyond the constricting categories of the things of this world. Its true nature is beyond thought. It is the gambling of gamblers. Whoever understands its power and the mystery of its manifestations comes without doubt to be remembered with it. It is the source from which all creatures evolve. It is infinite time and sustainer whose face is seen everywhere. It is death which overcomes all and the source of all beings still to be born. It is the feminine and masculine qualities. It is the silence of the unknown and the wisdom of the wise. It is the knower and the thing which is known. It is both near and far, both within and without every creature, it moves and is unmoving. In its subtlety it is beyond comprehension. It is indivisible yet appears divided in separate creatures. Know it to be to be the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. Seek that the first cause from which the Universe came long ago.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Creation Personified

Krishna:

With your mind intent on me, Arjuna, discipline yourself with the practice of yoga. Depend on me completely. Listen, and I will dispel all your doubts; you will come to know me fully and be united with me.

I will give you both jnana and vijnana. When both these are realized, there is nothing more you need to know.

One person in many thousands may seek perfection, yet of these only a few reach the goal and come to realize me. Earth, water, fire, air, akasha, mind, intellect, and ego - these are eight divisions of my prakriti. But beyond this I have another, higher nature, Arjuna; it supports the whole universe and is the source of life in all beings. In these two aspects of my nature is the womb of all creation. The birth and dissolution of the cosmos take place in me. There is nothing that exists separate from me, Arjuna. The entire universe is suspended from me as my necklace of jewels.

Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings. I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of fire; I am the life in every creature and the striving of the aspirant.

My eternal seed, Arjuna, is to be found in every creature. I am the power of discrimination in those who are intelligent , and the glory of the noble. In those who are strong, I am strength, free from passion and selfish attachment. I am desire itself, if that desire is in harmony with the purpose of life.

The states of sattva, rajas, and tam come from me, but I am not in them. These three gunas deceive the world: people fail to look beyond them to me, supreme and imperishable. The three gunas make up my divine maya, difficult to overcome. But they cross over this maya who take refuge in me. Others are deluded by maya performing evil deeds, they have no devotion to me. Having lost all discrimination they follow the way of their lower nature.

Good people come to worship me for different reasons. Some come to the life, some in order to understand life; some come through a desire to achieve life's purpose, and some come who are men and women of wisdom. Unwavering in devotion, always united with me, the man or woman of wisdom surpasses all the others. To them I am the dearest beloved, and they are very dear to me. All those who follow the path are blessed. But the wise are always established in union, for whom there is no higher goal than me, may be regarded as my very Self.

After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare. There are others whose discrimination is misled by desires. Following their own nature they worship lower gods, practicing various rites.

When a person is devoted to something with complete faith, I unify his faith in that. Then, when faith is completely unified, one gains the object of devotion. In this way, every desire is fulfilled by me. Those whose understanding is small attain only transient satisfaction: those who worship the gods go to the gods. But my devotees come to me.

Through lack of understanding, people believe that I, the Unmanifest, have entered into some form. They fail to realize my true nature, which transcends birth and death. Few see through the veil of maya. The world, deluded, does not know that I am without birth and changeless. I know everything about the past, the present, and the future, Arjuna there is no one who knows me completely.

Delusion arises from the duality of attraction and aversion, Arjuna; every creature is deluded by these from birth. But those who have freed themselves from all wrongdoing are firmly established in worship of me. Their actions are pure, and they are free from the delusion caused by the pairs of opposites.

Those who take refuge in me, striving for liberation from old age and death, come to know Brahman, the Self, the nature of all action. Those who see me ruling the cosmos, who see me in the adhibhuta, the adhidaiva, and the adhiyajna, are conscious of me at the time of death.




In Sanskrit this chapter is called "The Yoga of Wisdom and Realization" or "The Yoga of Wisdom from Realization." The term used for wisdom is jnana; for realization, vijnana. There is room for confusion in this terminology, jnana and vijnana are open to differing interpretations. Both words are from the root jna, "to know," which is related to the Greek word gnosis. The prefix vi added to a noun usually intensifies its meaning; so vijnana could mean to know intensely or to a greater degree. In this context however, jnana is the standard term for the highest kind of knowledge; wisdom. If we take jnana in this sense, we are not left with an obvious meaning for vijnana, a "more intense kind of jnana." Ramakrishna takes vijnana to mean an intimate, practical familiarity with God who is masquerading as Creation, the ability to carry through in daily affairs with the more abstract understanding that is jnana. Ramakrishna says, "One who has merely heard of fire has ajnana, ignorance. One who has seen fire has jnana. But one who has actually built a fire and cooked on it has vijnana.

In this chapter Krishna is presented as the CREATOR of the world, his nature can be glimpsed in his creation. In much Hindu mythology, it is the god Brahma who takes credit for creating the world. It is he the four faced deity, who has flung forth the manifold worlds of this and former (as well as future) universes. But in the mythology of Vishnu, Brahma is born in the Lotus that grows from Vishnu navel. The Lotus is Vishnu's womb. In it Brahma is born, and at Vishnu's urging he creates the worlds. Vishnu is the real Creator, Brahma is a demigod born of Vishnu's will to create.

The word comes from the root ma, "to measure out," and originally meant the power of a deity to create what Indian philosophy calls "name and form": matter and its percepts. Maya (I AM~ami~friends)was the magical capacity to create from and illusion - a god's divine power to put on a disguise, or fling forth world after world of life. Maya is also the outward look of things, the passing show that conceals immortal being. Maya can be both delightful and dangerous, alluring and yet treacherous. The gunas, the three basic qualities of all created things, swirl within the world of maya. Crossing over the ocean of maya is the goal of the wise voyager, and one boat is devotion. Krishna's true nature is hidden by maya. The "delusions" - moha - of life in maya's world are hinted at; they are, essentially, the self centered attachments Krishna has been warning against. Moha which means confusion or delusion, is something like dreaming while awake, "living in a dream." The duality of attachment and aversion beguiles the mind into the moha swoon right at birth and of course devotion to Krishna/Saviour is the way beyond this delusion, typical problem~reaction~solution otherwise known as the dialectic.

ABYSS~ShapeShifting out of Y


THE ABYSS (1989)
Masonic Allegory


Abyss in the general sense, signifies any unfathomable gulf. It is also the name of a vast cavern filled with water, supposed to exist near the center of the earth. In scripture it is sometimes used for hell, in antiquity it is a name given to the temple of Proserpine and among alchemists, it signifies the receptacle of the seminal matter, and sometimes the seminal matter itself.

Abyssinia is the kingdom of Africa, bounded on the North by that of Sennar, Nubia; on the East partly by the Red Sea, and partly by Dancala; on the West by Gorham and Gingiro; and on the South by Alaba and Ommo-Zaidi. It was formerly of greater extent than it is at present, because several provinces have revolted, and the Turks have made encroachments to the east. The land is fertile in many places, and the air is very hot, except in the rainy season, and then it is very temperate. For four months in the year, greater rains fall there than perhaps in any other part of the world, which occasion the swelling of the river Nile, that its source in this country. It contains mines of all sorts of metal, except tin; but the inhabitants make no great advantage thereof. The fields are watered by several streams, except in the mountainous parts. The emperor, or king, is called Negus; and has been commonly taken for Prester John. His authority, and he often dwells with his whole court in tents. However, , Abyssinia is not without cities, as some pretend; for Gondar is a large place, where the king commonly resides when he is not in the field. The inhabitants are black or very near it. They make profession of the Christian religion religion, but it has a mixture of Judaism. The Abyssinian church established in the empire of Abyssinia is a branch of the Copts or Jacobites a sect of heretics, who admit but one nature in Jesus Christ. The habits of the persons of quality is a silken vest, with a sort of scarf; but the common people wear nothing but a pair of drawers.


And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. -Friedrich Nietzsche

Saturday, April 17, 2010

What is a Von Neumann Machine?

Suppose you had a very big engineering job to do, and I mean big, like strip-mining the entire surface of the Moon. You could build millions of machines to do it, but that might take centuries, if you were clever enough you'd make just one machine - with the ability to reproduce itself from the raw materials around it. So you'd start a chain reaction, and in a very short time, you'd have...bred enough machines to do the job in decades, instead of millennia. With a sufficiently high rate of reproduction, you could do virtually anything in as short a period of time as you wished.

-Arthur C. Clarke: 2010 Odyssey Two

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Baby Making Factory

PHILIPPINES are a religious society of young women, at Rome; so called for their taking St. Phillip de Neri for their protector, they consist of a hundred poor girls who are brought up till they are of age to be married, or becomes nuns, under the direction of some religious women, who teach them to read, write and work; and instruct them in the duties of Christianity. They wear a white veil, and a black cross on their breasts.

Friday, April 9, 2010

CHRONO-GENEALOGICAL TABLE

CHRONO-GENEALOGICAL TABLE
showing the Lineal Descent of
UNCLE SAM (JOHN BULL)

BIRDMAN
The government of the United States, is often personified by a representation of a tall, thin man having a white beard and wearing a blue swallow-tailed coat, red-and-white-striped trousers, and a tall hat with a band of stars: ãintent on giving states greater incentive to save both their dollars and Uncle Sam'sä (New York Times).

#1
ORIGINAL BLACK AFRICAN

#2
NEANDERTHAL APIAN

#3
ROMANY APIAN-APIAN
ABORIGINEE CRO-MAGNON BROWN GYPSY
ABORIGINAL MAROONED REDMAN

#4
SEMITE MIDDLEMEN
ARAB
ARAMEAN
BABYLONIAN
CARTHAGINIAN
ETHIOPIAN
HEBREW
PHOENICIAN

#5
YELLOW ASIAN

#6
WHITE (GREEN) CAUCASIAN

#7
HOMOSEXUAL

#8
BISEXUAL

#9
ANDROGYNY TRIPHIBIAN

#10
UBERMENSCH (UNCLE SAM)

#11
SON OF SAM

#12
GRANDSON OF SAM

#13
GREAT GRANDSON OF SAM


THE SCULPTOR

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne. The Master learned of this world in the public schools of Indiana, and as he grew, in his trade as a mechanic of automobiles. But the Master had learning from other lands and other lives that he had lived. He remembered these, and remembering became wise and strong, so that others saw his strength and came to him for counsel. The Master believed that he had the power to help himself and all mankind, and as he believed so it was for him, so that others saw his power and came to him to be healed of their troubles and their many diseases.

The Master believed that it is well for any man to think upon himself as a child of the universe, as as he believed, so it was, and the shops and garages where he worked became crowded and jammed with those who sought his learning and his touch, and the streets out side with those who longed only that the shadows of his passing might fall upon them, and change their lives. It came to pass, because of the crowds, that the several foremen and shop managers bid the Master leave his tools and go his way, for so tightly, was he thronged that neither he nor other mechanics had room to work upon the automobiles.

So it was that he went into the countryside, and people following began to call him Messiah, and worker of miracles, and as they believed, it was so. If a storm passes as he spoke, not a raindrop touched a listeners head; the last of the multitude heard his words as clearly as the first, no matter lightning nor thunder in the sky about. And always spoke to them in parables. And he said unto them, "within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another."

A mill-man spoke and said, "Easy words for you, Master, for you are quieted as we are not, and need not toil as we toil. A man has work for his living in this world." The Master answered and said, "Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river. The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self. "Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks at the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth. But one creature said at last," 'I am tired of clinging though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging I shall die of boredom.'

"The other creatures laughed and said, 'Fool! let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!' But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks. "Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him, free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more. "And the creatures down stream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, 'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah come to save us all!'

"And the one carried in the current said, "I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.' "But they cried the more, 'Saviour!' all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour. And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives, he went about that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he prayed.

And he said in his heart, Infinite Radiant Is, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. I'm sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will, let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men. And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said unto him, 'Not my will, but thine be done, for what is thy will is mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on the earth."

And hearing, the Master was glad, and gave thanks and came down, from the hilltop humming a little mechanic's song. And when the throng pressed with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for it feed it nonstop from his understanding to entertain it with his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them, "I quit." For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment. And he said unto them, "If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do as he is told?"

"Of course Master!" cried the many. "It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!" "No matter what those tortures nor how difficult the task?" Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked," said they. "And what would you do" the Master said unto the multitude, "if God spoke directly to your face and said, I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD AS LONG AS YOU LIVE 'What would you do then? And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood. And the Master said unto the silence, "In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and chose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please." And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.


-Richard Bach