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izmeinaIt's been a strange day in Izzieland. First thing was to pay all those bills that had been piling up and the stuff Iz needed from the shops. Was so nice last night to finally buy a bottlie and sit outside sipping a glass of red by the moonlight and then to go for a snooze listening to the library's copy of Azkaban on CD. Stephen Fry has a very annoying posh accent for narrative but at least he does most of the characters well - especially Draco. But almost felt like issuing a fatwah when I listened to the first chapter of Goblet and heard what a sad snotty thing he made of Voldi. He was more like some Ludicrous Lord of some decrepid manor with delusions of grandeur than the cold calculating creature that Iz had imagined.
I guess Izzie loves northern English accents but detests and despises certain southern varieties - especially the Eliza Dolittle and Margaret Thatcher versions.
Tonight decided to sit by the river waiting for the nearly full moon. Normally would have continued reading one of the two books on the boil at the moment -"The Two Towers" or "Goblet of Fire" but there was an interesting program on the radio so listened to that instead. Last night there was some intriguing stuff about Ralph Waldo Emerson and that Thoreau fellow (forgot his first name) Have heard so much about the pair of them and will one day actually get around to reading some of their stuff. Seems sort of reminiscent of Goethe and William Blake.
Tonight was even more fascinating. It was about the latest 'New Age' craze - "The Kabballah" and a centre in Los Angeles dedicated to promoting it.
Iz was particularly amused by 'the scarlet thread' to ward off the evil eye. Sort of reminds me of the threads that the upper class Hindu castes wear to distinguish themselves from the lower orders.
Then there was the 72 names of God which are supposed to serve as a sort of subconscious key - well so Iz understood.
When Iz many moons ago was going to Kuala Lumpur - among the duty free stuff they had in the catalogue was the '99 Names of Allah' poster. Iz utterly adores Arabic calligraphy but unfortunately these particular posters were not available on the plane but could only be ordered and picked up in the shop. (Not doing a good job in converting interested infidels thinks Iz) In Izzie's flobberworm days in Dublin, I acquired a very interesting book about the Arabic Alphabet and how to write it and used to copy lots of the sample words, texts and stuff. Such a pity that the language looks so so much prettier than it sounds. And Iz thought Dutch was froggy and guttural!
I guess I could always get them on Google.
I found it all very interesting and had never paid too much attention to Kabballah before because I just never liked the look of the 10 point numerological sort of diagram - tree of life thing that seems to be central to the subject. The Sufi 9 pointed circle enneagram is so much more aesthetically pleasing to the Izzie eye.
But the more Iz hears about these different traditions, the more they seem to have in common underneath the surface differences.
One could even claim that the Potter books are also full of interesting 'spiritual/ psychological ' techniques - the Patronus Charm being Izzie's favorite.
What Iz found interesting in "Prisoner of Azkaban" is that Harry has an intuitive understanding of the technique when he tries a rather primitive version to defend himself against Monster Marge by concentrating on his broom maintenance kit. But it does not work until he has seen the experts doing it, has plenty of practice and learns the importance of singleminded concentration. (and constant vigilance)
The same sorts of thinking seem to be behind all the original amulets, wands, scarlet threads or beads of whatever tradition.
The real danger seems to be that when something works, the more narrowminded followers then begin to believe that their way of doing it must be the ONE TRUE WAY and all others are misguided heresies.
Another book from the local library that Iz finds very fascinating is about the various mystical traditions from many different religions and philosophies. They really do seem to be just different cultural expressions of the same basic concepts.
So Iz has more interesting snippets to add to the 'Science of Serpentology'
Tomorrow will be time for yet another magical moonshine picnic. We may break with tradition and instead of going to the war memorial with 360 degree views of the horizon, go the same place we went tonight because the local Arts festival is opening tomorrow evening in those gorgeous government gardens and there will be time to go to that at 5pm and then catch the ferry to still be on the other side of the river for 7pm in time to watch the sun set and the moon rise at 7.40 pm.
I guess Izzie loves northern English accents but detests and despises certain southern varieties - especially the Eliza Dolittle and Margaret Thatcher versions.
Tonight decided to sit by the river waiting for the nearly full moon. Normally would have continued reading one of the two books on the boil at the moment -"The Two Towers" or "Goblet of Fire" but there was an interesting program on the radio so listened to that instead. Last night there was some intriguing stuff about Ralph Waldo Emerson and that Thoreau fellow (forgot his first name) Have heard so much about the pair of them and will one day actually get around to reading some of their stuff. Seems sort of reminiscent of Goethe and William Blake.
Tonight was even more fascinating. It was about the latest 'New Age' craze - "The Kabballah" and a centre in Los Angeles dedicated to promoting it.
Iz was particularly amused by 'the scarlet thread' to ward off the evil eye. Sort of reminds me of the threads that the upper class Hindu castes wear to distinguish themselves from the lower orders.
Then there was the 72 names of God which are supposed to serve as a sort of subconscious key - well so Iz understood.
When Iz many moons ago was going to Kuala Lumpur - among the duty free stuff they had in the catalogue was the '99 Names of Allah' poster. Iz utterly adores Arabic calligraphy but unfortunately these particular posters were not available on the plane but could only be ordered and picked up in the shop. (Not doing a good job in converting interested infidels thinks Iz) In Izzie's flobberworm days in Dublin, I acquired a very interesting book about the Arabic Alphabet and how to write it and used to copy lots of the sample words, texts and stuff. Such a pity that the language looks so so much prettier than it sounds. And Iz thought Dutch was froggy and guttural!
I guess I could always get them on Google.
I found it all very interesting and had never paid too much attention to Kabballah before because I just never liked the look of the 10 point numerological sort of diagram - tree of life thing that seems to be central to the subject. The Sufi 9 pointed circle enneagram is so much more aesthetically pleasing to the Izzie eye.
But the more Iz hears about these different traditions, the more they seem to have in common underneath the surface differences.
One could even claim that the Potter books are also full of interesting 'spiritual/ psychological ' techniques - the Patronus Charm being Izzie's favorite.
What Iz found interesting in "Prisoner of Azkaban" is that Harry has an intuitive understanding of the technique when he tries a rather primitive version to defend himself against Monster Marge by concentrating on his broom maintenance kit. But it does not work until he has seen the experts doing it, has plenty of practice and learns the importance of singleminded concentration. (and constant vigilance)
The same sorts of thinking seem to be behind all the original amulets, wands, scarlet threads or beads of whatever tradition.
The real danger seems to be that when something works, the more narrowminded followers then begin to believe that their way of doing it must be the ONE TRUE WAY and all others are misguided heresies.
Another book from the local library that Iz finds very fascinating is about the various mystical traditions from many different religions and philosophies. They really do seem to be just different cultural expressions of the same basic concepts.
So Iz has more interesting snippets to add to the 'Science of Serpentology'
Tomorrow will be time for yet another magical moonshine picnic. We may break with tradition and instead of going to the war memorial with 360 degree views of the horizon, go the same place we went tonight because the local Arts festival is opening tomorrow evening in those gorgeous government gardens and there will be time to go to that at 5pm and then catch the ferry to still be on the other side of the river for 7pm in time to watch the sun set and the moon rise at 7.40 pm.
