Birthmark, Redux

I previously posted about a play I adapted from Hawthorne's The Birthmark way back in 1998 (I think) and shared some photos.  

During the story, the "mad scientist" Aylmer photographs his wife Georgina, so our actor actually took a photo during the performance (his idea).   I was the director, and all my decisions were final, but it was fairly democratic and each performer made great contributions in terms of props and stage design -- including spinning hypnotic discs and a plant marionette that could "die" and be "resurrected".  We usually had informal votes on what to implement, though I may have overridden one or two things.  We weren't exactly a pure democracy, more like a democracy where one person could veto the majority.  So not a democracy at all!

I think we did seven performances in total.  

The first three images below were certainly shot during the performance.  Not sure about the second two -- we may have changed the moment he took the photo.  The last two were shot from the audience.

I include the repetitions because you can see that the actor taking the picture (Kevin) is in a slightly different position, but our actor playing Georgina (Korlee) is remarkably consistent with her expression.  

BTW, Kevin and Korlee remain together until this day and have a lovely son!  Oh, and I just heard from Carl after 20+ years!  Carl played Aminadab and made the aforementioned discs and flower....

Anyway, just thought I'd pop these online because I can be a compulsive completist!

Hand of Glory

 

 

 

from Found Objects, John M. Bennett, 1973

 

Hip-Hop & Freemasonry: Example 1

If the way all those MCs hold their hands up like triangles is any indication, the Spirit of '76 -- Bavaria-style -- is alive in well in Hip-Hop.

In Freemasonry and Black Nationalism I touched (far too) briefly on Freemasonry in the Hip-Hop community.  I should have said a lot more, but I ran out of steam -- but not out of information.  It seems at quick glance that both pro- and anti-Masonic lyrics are fairly common in Hip-Hop, as are references to the the Illuminati.  Indeed, a whole genre of conspiracy theory has grown up around this subject and a Google or two will bring up scores of videos, articles and even books dedicated to the Illuminati's Hip-Hop hijinx.  A word or two is required to light up the shadows cast by these large-looming and wonky ashlars of bad information.  Or to put it another way, there are a lot of turds caught up in the slick green threads of the Internets!

If my memory serves me well, Public Enemy and X Clan referred to Masonry quite frequently, often echoing the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam.  Quite a few groups had NOI affiliations to some degree or other.  The Five Percent Nation, an offshoot of the NOI with Masonic influences, was a huge influence on the development of Hip-Hop slang.  It's clear some MCs were drawing from a rather deep lyrical well when addressing the subject. 

On the other hand, it almost appears that in recent years dropping references to Masonry or the Illuminati has been a kind of fashion among MCs, perhaps as a way to enhance their mystique, or as another means of projecting power, much like references to firearms and symbols of physical prowess, sexual charisma, financial success and lyrical mastery.

I'm hoping perhaps LoS follower Burger Boy will help us out here!  He had this to say in response to a recent post

Jamaican DJ Vybz Kartel openly displays his Masonic affiliation, especially prior to his recent arrest on murder charges (in no way am I attempting to connect his Masonry with his arrest). He proudly displayed his Masonic ring on one of his most recent CD releases. Vybz is not what dancehall fans would call 'conscious' or 'Rasta.' He's more along the lines of guys like Bounty Killer or Ninja Man, in that they are 'slack' with their themes/lyrics.

The Wu Tang Clan was overtly 5%'er, as were groups like Poor Righteous Teachers. Wu Tang would wear you out with 5% proselytizing, and I've read that ODB was, suprisingly, the most adept at its teachings.

So whaddaya say, BB?  For that matter, it's an open call to anybody.

• Can you cite us any references to Masonry and/or the Illuminati in Hip-Hop lyrics?  I know a few, but I haven't really listened to Hip-Hop on a regular basis since the 90s.
• Do you know of any MCs or DJs who are Masons?  What about affiliations or sympathies with the Nation of Islam?? The 5 Percenters?

I'd like to tackle this one in a bit more depth, but I'll be fishing for leads for a while.  For the moment I'll just whet yer thirst with an example by Rick Ro$$, featuring Jay-Z, whose appearances last year in Five Percenter gear prompted a minor media hubbub....not to mention my own post.  This track appeared on Ro$$' album Teflon Don (2010), a critical and modest commercial success.

from Ro$$' Free Mason

Free Mason, freelancer, free agents, we faster
Big contracts, big contractors, built pyramids, period we masters
No caterpillars, it was just a lot of niggas
A lot of great thinkers and a lot of great inventors

I have nowhere near the breadth of knowledge necessary to do this topic full justice, so any advice or references are welcome.  I think my track will be to look at the origin of the conspiracy theory and its variations, a broad overview of lyrical references and finally, try to see if I can compile a reliable list of Masons in Hip-Hop.  But I'm open to suggestions and collaboration on this one.

The devil you say

At the risk of being dreadfully inappropriate, I draw your attention to the following video from CNN.  This article about the memorial to Vicki Soto includes a photomontage with the following image, about 55 seconds in.

Soto was a teacher killed in the Newtown shooting and is widely being hailed as a hero after locking her students in a bathroom and standing guard outside the door.

Another version from ABC News prudently crops the photo so the offending hand doesn't appear, whether by chance or design, who can say? (about 52 seconds in).

I don't know who first saw this, or created the photo still, but I saw it on my Facebook newsfeed.

A strange photobomb indeed.

The Birthmark

OK, this is a pure me-me-me post, somewhat contrary to the prinicpal intent of LoS, but I'd like to put some photos out there to document some stuff I was up to in times past....

Back in 1999, when I was living in Jemez Springs, NM, a drunken night found me doing some improv at the then-fledgling Gas Station Theater [still around?] with my pal José.  Impressed with our vignette about a dying robot on the surface of Mars (!), the director immediately asked me to put together a play to present for Classic Spooky Stories Pt. 1, the first of a planned annual Halloween show of short plays.  Being drunk, I agreed on the spot.  I then spent the next several weeks finding both a play to perform and a cast, getting the set and the visual look together and then, rehearsals.  We took it seriously but had a blast; we were democratic, but my vote counted twice so to speak.  Something like a veto that could not be overridden.  It was community theater, let's be real, but I think we did a pretty good job and injected a bit of avant-garde into a fairly straightforward story.  Not a simple one, though.  Like many of Hawthorne's works, The Birthmark is rich in symbolism, allegory and metaphysical musing.

This story, first published in 1843, revolves around two characters, Alymer, a natural philosopher, and his wife Georgina.  Alymer's assistant Aminadab has a smaller role but is important nonetheless as both a symbol and a counterpoint to the tragically-obsessed Alymer.

The tale turned out to be rather easy to adapt and practically wrote itself.  The dialogue of the play was straight from the story, except for a few additions at the end, which would have otherwise required "heavy-handed" narration to make sense of the action.  So I invented a few lines to push it along.  With three characters and three settings, it was easy  to stage.  To avoid heavy scene changes we put all these settings onto one stage, divided by lighting and color motifs.  When one scene was being played out, we lit it up that part of the stage and darkened the rest.  The lights and sets were decorated with the primary colors.  Alymer's lab was lit in blue and his table draped in blue felt; the drawing room was likewise draped in red and Aminadab's forge was in yellow.  Each featured a votive candle of the same color.  The characters also dressed in the corresponding color, going so far as to dye their hair.

They did a great job, by the way.  They really put a lot of time and effort into it.  Easy and fun folks to work with.  Korlee, aka Georgina, was kind enough to make these photos available.

We even manged some nifty special effects:  spinning spiral dics which were activated at a dramatic moment and remained spinning until Georgina dies, under Alymer's spell to the end.  When Alymer photographs Georgina (a real photo each time), an enormous illuminated hand lit up the back of the set (an idea inspired by a set designed by Jim Morrison while at FSU).  This red hand became more brilliant as the lights faded at the end; as Georgina dies, it too fades.  We even had a flower which came to life and then died, a kind of marionette manipulated from backstage with an invisible length of fishing line.  I ran the light-board and did the narration, using a free hand to make sound effects with some chimes.  These little touches added a lot, I think; they were certainly fun to make and manipulate.  On the night of the biggest performance, the brother of the actor who portrayed Alymer played improvised music on a wheezy old piano, to great effect.  Except for a false start on the first night due to a technical malfunction with the flower's guy-wire, a brief moment of chaos which a more-experienced actor wouldn't have stopped the show for (the show must go on and the like), it went off pretty damn well.

On a personal note, I only now realize these were the earliest inklings of my interest in triangles, the story being a kind of dialectic....and dismebodied hands....

Anyway, short of going into my interpretation of the story, I'd merely like to share these photos, which I've only recently seen after all these years.  Anyone wanting to perform this play should leave a comment.  I've got the script in my archives and would be more than happy to share it, as well as any tips on set design.  Of course, anyone interested could stage it anyway they wanted.  Or use these photos as a template.

Since this play my only other experience in the theater is running the light and sound for a another show of one-acts at Ithaca's (NY) Firehouse Theatre (defunct since 2002) and watching my wife perform in an avant-garde dance-theater troupe, Pasina et Cie.  Maybe one day she'll pick it back up again.  Or maybe we can adapt The Birthmark yet again, into French....

Enjoy the photos.

Aminadab - Georgina - Alymer, cast photo

Alymer - Aminadab - Georgina, cast photo

Alymer vows to remove the hand-shaped stain (larger than life in the background)

Georgina, on the verge of death, observes the disappearing birthmark

Alymer, obsessed

Alymer soothes Georgina, who has become upset by the stain on her cheek

Aminadab needs a little convincing

Kora, Daurade, Carl

The program, cover

Credits and thanks

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Armand Cambon, La République, 1848-1849

Like everywhere else in Europe, the first half of the 19th century was an especially turbulent time for France:  the First Republic (1792-1804) gave way to Napoleon's Empire (1804-1814/15), in turn followed by the Bourbon Restoration (1814-1815--"The 100  Days"--1815-1830).  The July Revolution of 1830 led to the so-called July Monarchy of the House of Orléans, which ruled until 1848.  In 1848 the Second Republic was established and the year is considered as the end of France's "revolutionary era" (The current state, btw, is no less than the Fifth Republic, proof that the turbulent times were far from over!)

In any event, to celebrate the newborn Second Republic, a competition was held to find a painting that could be displayed in town halls across the country.  Between 1848 and 1849, Armand Cambon created the painting above as his entry (he didn't win).  La République is a symbol-heavy allegory and many of these Republican symbols are quite obviously also Masonic.  But as I've said before, half-jokingly, what symbol isn't?

According to the website for the museums of the Midi-Pyrenées, the woman is an allegory of the Republic, or perhaps the Law, crowned with a victory laurel, thus recalling the recent overthrow of the last French monarch Louis-Philippe.  The flag crowned with the eagle and the lion immobilizing the serpent symbolize the Republic's capacity for defense.  The clasped hands, the square and the hand in benediction represent Equality and Justice; the beehive, Fraternity and Work.  The tricolor rainbow is said to symbolize the glory of Republican government.  (We've seen the hand before on Urbain Vitry's tomb, 1863.)

I feel that this is a simplification of the symbolism.  I can't vouch for Cambon's intentions, but let's take the clasped hands as an example anyway.  I've always read that they symbolized Fraternity and/or unity.  It wouldn't be too far a stretch to assume it also hints at a new social contract between citizens.  Not quite the same as the interpretation above.

Of the symbols in this painting, the square, the clasped hands, the beehive and the rainbow are still regularly used in Freemasonry.  The eagle might also be a not entirely implausible link as well.  A double-headed eagle is used in the Scottish Rite, but more importantly, it is also the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, one of the two patron saints of Freemasonry.  St. Mark, for that matter, is symbolized by a lion, and while I'm not saying the eagle represents St. John, I'm sure the lion is more a symbol of strength, dignity and leadership and is even less likely to have a connection to the evangelist. 

What I find interesting about this lion is that he is subduing a serpent, most likely the sneaky enemies of the Republic, which in and of itself is not so remarkable; what is striking here is that the image of a subdued serpent has a long history in Marial iconography, or what George P. Landow calls "prophetic typology"....the Virgin vanquishing Satan and Original Sin.  I propose that Cambon is making a sly anti-clerical statement here, tweaking the nose of would-be counterrevolutionaries in the Church, the lion has replaced the Virgin, but this is not an air-tight case by any stretch of the imagination.

Let's also look a bit more at the rainbow.  Another website about Cambon's painting bluntly states: "L’arc-en-ciel est un symbole de fraternité."  The rainbow is a symbol of Fraternity.  So we already have two differing interpretations and I'm not sure either quite gets it right.

The most famous rainbow in Western Civilization involves the story of Noah and the Ark.  It is a rainbow which indicates that God entering a new compact with Man.  Genesis 6:17:  "And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."  Compare this to the Epic of Gilgamesh: 

Then Ishtar arrived. She lifted up the necklace of great jewels that her father, Anu, had created to please her and said, "Heavenly gods, as surely as this jeweled necklace hangs upon my neck, I will never forget these days of the great flood. Let all of the gods except Enlil come to the offering. Enlil may not come, for without reason he brought forth the flood that destroyed my people." 

The value of such a symbol for the French Revolution is self-explanatory.  The Revolution wiped away the old to make way for a new, more lawful order.  Interesting that the first interpretation of the allegory has the women as either the Republic, or the Law.  The rainbow appears just after God has set before Noah a reiteration of the laws he gave Adam and Eve, having added a seventh.  Sealing the deal with clasped hands?  This last law is a kind of meta-law, as it calls for establishing courts of law.

The Jewish Noachide Movement also uses the rainbow as a symbol, the seven colors representing these Seven Laws of Noah which are binding not just for Jews, but for all humankind.

Gilbert Stuart, "Lansdowne portrait", 1796

The rainbow is also featured in the famous "Lansdowne portrait" of George Washington.  In this symbol-heavy piece, storm clouds are to his right while to his left a rainbow appears.  Certainly the story of Noah is being evoked here to represent that the American Revolution, if not Enlightenment ideas, were leading to a "new world order" to coin a phrase, of peace and progress.

A Washington website (where you can explore an interactive version of the portrait) has this to say:

The Masonic rainbow is sometimes interpreted as the Arch of Heaven, supported by the pillars of Wisdom and Strength. A rainbow appears in the ritual apron given to Washington by Marquis de Lafayette, his comrade-in-arms in the Revolutionary War. 

Indeed, the pillars of Wisdom and Strength (two of the seven Biblical Pillars of Wisdom) will return to our story as towers.  The website in question features a detail of  the rainbow ending not in a pot of Lucky Charms, but on a pillar topped by a globe in the fashion of Jachin and Boaz.

A striking Masonic link with Cambon's symbolism is to be found in the logo of the International Order of Rainbow Girls:

Rainbow Girls logo

A tricolored rainbow in the French and American colors arcs over a pair of clasped hads.  The Masonic delta is prominent and the hemispheres in different colors, like the colors in the Noahide flag, represent 7 virtues.

This order was created by Freemason Rev. W. Mark Sexson (ha ha) in 1922, based on the Order of DeMolay for boys.  DeMolay also promotes 7 cardinal virtues.  Could the number of these virtues be a reference to Noah's laws?  Given the rainbow, it is quite possible.

Another Masonic rainbow is found in the Royal Arch, an additional set of degrees in the York Rite, considered at one point to be a continuation and completion of the 3rd Degree in regular Craft Masonry (1°-3°).  As a visual metaphor, the rainbow reappears in various Royal Arch contexts.

Indeed, it has been shown "...showed that the Rainbow symbol formed part of an early Royal Arch ceremony..."  But the tradition of associating the Rainbow and the Arch continues.

For example:

It has been said that “The Royal Arch stands as the rainbow of promise in the ritual; it stands as promise of the resurrection; of that which was lost and shall be recovered.” The Royal Arch accepted the rainbow, that God put in the Heavens as a covenant between God and man, that he would not destroy the world by water again-but by fire.

I don't know where exactly this has been said, but I found the same quote here.  Dig also the following:

While Zerubbable was a "Prince of Judah" as proclaimed by Cyrus, another "Prince" was coming, a Prince of Peace.  One that would establish God's kingdom in the hearts of man, causing each to be a "Temple of God."  The covenant as exemplified by the rainbow, the Royal Arch of the Noahchide promise, must give way to the Royal Decree of, "This is my beloved Son.  Hear ye Him!"

I'm not exactly sure what that means, to be honest.  I should also point out that Mackey's Encyclopedia does not contain an entry on "Rainbow".  Which is actually quite surprising and leads me to wonder if perhaps I'm not making too much of the symbol's Freemasonic usage.  On the other hand, it's appearance in the contexts descibed above are a legitimate connection, so I'm not exactly sure what to make of it.  The proposed meanings seem contradictory and confusing.

Perhaps there is another explanation: 

"[James] Anderson’s reference to Masons as ‘Noachidae’ was not simply harking back to an early tradition. As a ‘basis of that natural religion’ on which all Masons can agree he is here suggesting that we are those who accept the Noachite Laws as our standard."

Noah again....

For the moment, however, I would like like to return to the following quote and look at the Honduran coat of arms. 

The Masonic rainbow is sometimes interpreted as the Arch of Heaven, supported by the pillars of Wisdom and Strength.

The Masonic imagery in this coat of arms should be obvious: the delta, or pyramid, forms the backdrop to a radiant rising sun, which was originally a Phrygian cap--one of the most ubiquitous of symbols from the French Revolution.

Spanish Wikpedia says the rainbow symbolizes peace, the unity of the Honduran family and high ideals. The triangle signifies equality before the law.  The castles represent the conflict between the Aboriginal Hondurans and the Conquistadores. The rising sun symbolizes freedom, patriotism and hope.

The two castles, or towers, also bring to mind those the pillars of Strength and Wisdom, aka Jachin and Boaz, which support the Arch of Heaven, or rainbow, and which would appear to be depicted in the Lansdowne portrait of Washington.

The Wisdom and Strength of the Republic are essential meanings contained within Cambon's symbolic painting.

We have long spoken on LoS about the symbolic meaning of pillars at the entrance of sacred space, perhaps too much, but I did come across an interesting discussion about the symbolic meaning of two towers in church architecture--or lack thereof--which I'd like to quote:

The earliest of walled permanent human settlements had access gates flanked by towers for defensive and observation purposes. Since the city/city state was the most important thing in most people's eyes, these gate towers were not only defensive, they marked the entrance into an "important space." As these cities grew and other "important spaces" were incorporated within them, such as temples, etc, these spaces were also entered through doubly towered gates. The concept of 'towered entry' to important space had carried over from the symbolism of the city gate towers themselves. Pairs of large single stones frequently mark the entry to sacred space from the earliest of times. The great temples of Egypt were fronted by twin pylon towers. The gate towers of many ancient cities became works of art and symbols of civic pride. 

..."Two" may have started out as a practical form of defense for a gate type or restricted space, but "two" was also recognized as something of visual balance - or to give balance to something else... 

... 

Any symbolism you may find regarding the subject would be rather recent in origin and an example of "symbol emerging from utility"rather than symbolism actually driving the original design. 

I think there is a lot of merit in this argument, but on an "archetypal" level, the evocation of Egyptian and (to my mind) Phoenician sacred architecture belies the "symbol emerging from utility" argument.  Medieval architects were certainly aware of the appearance of Solomon's Temple, designed by a Phoenician, so it's quite possible that this symbolic heritage entered into the equation, not instead of but in addition to the process described by this author.  Which brings up an important point when discussing symbolism in general; once one thing has become widely accepted to represent another, its use will multiply exponentially.  Thus when we see symbols in Freemasonry repeated (or borrowed) from other contexts, we should remember this point.

I'm not sure I want to make too much of these towers as a substitute for Jachin and Boaz, but I can't help but think of this idea of strength, or earthly power and wisdom, or divine insight as being both sides of the same coin.  Or the same side of different coins, no matter!  I also cannot help but think of the Toulouse coat of arms, surmounted by a crown composed of three towers, while the shield itself has an image of a castle and a church: earthly and spiritual authority side by side.  Some have proposed that this is, in fact is the significance of two pylons or obelisks in front of Egyptian "important spaces", thus leading via Solomon's temple into Freemasonic usage.  But this leads us deeper into a realm of unsubstantiated speculation.  I have in fact already posted about Masonic imagery in Latin American heraldry, and towers don't figure into those images at all.

We could add that the coat of arms of the United Grand Lodge of England, the closest thing to a world authority for Grand Lodge (as opposed to Grand Orient) Masonry, features a coat of arms with three towers, among other things.  I wonder too, out of the blue, if this is why Mary Magdalen, whose name itself means "tower," is often pictured wearing a crown in the form of a tower, as if eartlhy might rests upon the seat of wisdom.

It may also be worth examining at some point the Empire Sentinels.  This was a Scouting group founded by Major David Cossgrove in New Zealand circa 1910;  Sentinels were organized into “Towers” and the scheme had three degrees based on religious duty, patriotism, sacrifice and work, each with a corresponding “Watch,” or ritual.  The watchtower is an important symbol in the ritual and organization.  It was also influenced by Masonry, which is reflected quite clearly in it's rituals.  Watchtowers are also an important feature of Enochian magic.  Enoch is the seventh of ten antediluvian patriarchs and is also usually referred to as an "ancestor" (great-grandfather) of....Noah. 

I think at this point I need to make like Ham and delve deeper into Noah.  This is the second time he's popped up withing the context of symbol-heavy French allegorical paintings (first time was here), and this Noachide Movement is intriguing....

Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini

album cover courtesy of Wickedpoodia

Whenever I see an American band in Toulouse, I always try to buy a vinyl to help 'em get a tank of gas for the next gig.  Such was the case with Secret Chiefs 3, who I saw rock the house at Mix'art Myris Thurday night.  Great band, great show.  Their chops heavy, tightly structured and Arab-influenced psychedelia, not to mention their cowls and other face-hiding headgear, remind me of the Master Musicians of Bukkake.  I think I've read these guys have played together.  Wouldn't surprise me if they were pals or members had switched through various incarnations of one another's various projects.

SC3, for instance, has a number of "subgroups" and this vinyl is from one of them:  Traditionalists.

I got this one because it was the only one I could afford and liked the cover.  I know enough Italian to have guessed the title Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini had something to do with hands, but it wasn't until I looked at the cover again this morning, sober, that I saw the title translated as The Severed Right Hands of the Last Men.

Which means nothing to you, I'm guessing, but it's highly meaningful for me.  Some time ago the meme of the severed hand crawled all over this blog like Thing from the Addam's Family. 

Severed hands!  They just keep on finding me!

A show of hands

I've always noticed that when you start looking into something, like triangles, you start seeing them everywhere.  Coming upon us unexpectedly, the recurrence of images in which we've taken an interest can be delightful, startling, even alarming.  Crediting these sudden appearances with special significance, however, is more than a paranoid delusion; for some it's a sign of conspiracy, for others mystical synchronicity.  It certainly has a poetic aspect to it.  For many it's simply an excuse to say "It's like, weird" and go on to mimic The Twilight Zone theme music.

Or write blog posts.

Following my bout with hand fetishism (see The hand is the whole), I happened to read C.J Samson's Dissolution, a historical crime novel set against the backdrop of the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Cromwell.

It follows the adventures of a hunchback named Shardlake, sent to investigate the murder of a commissioner in a fictitious Benedictine monastery.  Along with the murder, the monastery church has been desecrated, which includes the sacrifice of a black cock upon the altar and the theft of a sacred relic:  the hand of the repentant thief crucified at Jesus' side.  This hand was nailed to a piece of wood and set in an emerald-studded casket.

Roman Catholic tradition calls the thief Saint Dismas.  His repentance is described in only one gospel, Luke (23:39-43), and he isn't named until the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which came together some time in the 4th century.  His name comes from a Greek word which can mean "sunset" or "death".  His feast day, March 25th, is also that of the Annunciation, when Gabriel announced to Mary she would miraculously conceive a child.  Thus he is linked both with Jesus's death (sunset) and inklings of his birth (sunrise?)  The sun set and rises again....as does the son.

The sun just just keeps popping up as a symbol of rebirth and and an emblem of "illumination". 

Also, you may recall from our previous post that a "Hand of Glory", the hand of a hanged man, was a tool used by thieves to unlock doors and cause paralysis.  As for relics, the hand of St. John Kemble is still kept in a reliquary at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Heresford.  Also, today (3/3), I stumbled across a blog entry in which a guy describes making a steampunk-flavored lamp using a severed animal paw; he links his macabre contraption to the Hand of Glory and calls it...the Torch of Saint Dismas! 

I've also just remembered that last night I watched Simon of the Desert (Luis Buñuel, 1965) and there's a scene where a thief holds up his stumps--hacked off for his crimes--and our eponymous hero Simon prays from atop his pillar and the thief's hands miraculously reappear....



Simeon (390-459 CE) was an actual saint who lived 37 years atop a pillar in Syria.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this 6th century depiction of the saint, currently to be found in the Louvre.  See Jesus was in shape for our rather extensive discussion on the snake/pillar motif.  It all ties together somehow.  Paranoia or perceptual matrix?

So, I really just wanted to bring up these coincidences/synchronicities.  A pair of novels in which the action begins with a severed hand:  one discovered in The Lost Symbol and one lost in Dissolution.  Handy bookends for a post inspired by the local tale of an actual severed hand (A gruesome discovery) and followed by yet more thief-related hand motifs in quick succession.

I'm sure there's a discourse on perception and meaning to be wrung out of this, but not today.

Aucamville Project 9.5: A resolution of sorts

The human forearm discovered two weeks ago in a wooded area near the chapel of Notre Dame de Boisville has been matched to its owner (see A gruesome discovery).

La Dépêche du Midi reports that the methodical search by gendarmes and military personnel yesterday has turned up a body.  The badly decomposed cadaver was found 500 meters away from the arm on a slope covered with dense underbrush.  A loaded pistol was at his side and a bullet was lodged in the skull.  The arm appeared to have been carried off by a wild animal, which the reporter adds parenthetically:  was "surely a fox."  How he knows that I'm not sure.

The identity of the man hasn't been released, but he is said to have been an 85 year-old who disappeared from Toulouse on the 28th of August, 2010.  He was known to have been depressed and  suicidal.  Before his disappearance he left a note:  "You will never find my body."  The only mystery left now is how he ended up in this relatively secluded spot.  Did he know the place?  How did he get here from Toulouse, 40 kilometers away?  Good questions.

This area has been inhabited since time immemorial, so it's no surprise this macabre story is not without precedent.

As I mentioned before, a religious hermit who had taken refuge in the chapel was murdered here by two brothers.  According to a monograph on the chapel in my possession, the chapel was guarded by a recluse by the name of Frère Paul, who lived from alms.  He had already been robbed of some money and two chickens when he was found murdered a few days before Easter, 1754, his body thrown into a ditch.

But there is a more recent and similar case.  In May, 1999, a group of schoolchildren and chaperons were doing Spring cleaning on the banks of the Garonne near this chapel and found....a human leg and part of its thigh.  And they were only looking for soda cans and other detritus.

It was never matched to a body.  The police speculated it had been washed down following the annual high waters of Spring resulting from the runoff caused by melting snow in the Pyrenees.  A week later all that could be said was that the person was between 1.69 and 1.76 meters tall, between 35 and 65 years old....and wore a size 44 shoe.  The leg was wearing a black one.

But it gets weirder.  Three months later, in Moissac, a spine, three ribs and strips of flesh were discovered near the river.  "WTF?" I ask.  The Dépêche noted at the time that "Nature regularly exhumes human remains.  Last May 29th a leg was discovered at Verdun.  The only certitude is that it was a man's leg.  Other than that, the coroner isn't able to give any more clues that might help investigators."  It furthermore noted that the leg had not been identified....I don't know about the Moissac remains.

That is definitely some weird shit.  I mean, a vertebral column?

And there is another story, this time in Aucamville proper.  Just across the road from where I live there is a handsome house which has been empty since I moved in, and is falling into disrepair.  It was a tavern named the "auberge de Tail."  The full story is a bit hazy, but apparently the owner Altobella Capelleri had "hired" a homeless guy by the name of Georges Haurdin.  Now, this guy was a bit slow and was subject to the worst abuse.  He was eventually beaten to death after having been kept like a slave for an unknown period of time.  During this period he was beaten regularly and also raped and filmed by a "family friend" on several occasions.  His body, however, was never found.  As the story goes he was beaten and left for dead by Capelleri herself.  She then had her husband and son bring the body to the pigs, then afterward to a well, where it lay rotting for 6 months.  Unhappy with the progress of decomposition, they retrieved the body, burnt it in the tavern's kitchen chimney and then disposed of the ashes in various trashcans in Toulouse.  (Full story here).

No wonder the house lays falling apart.  Cursed forever.

Although Capelleri concocted an elaborate tale of an "accident", a son from her first marriage testified to her sadism, which included burning his penis with a cigarette.  What horror for this poor boy and his siblings, revisited upon a hapless vagabond years later.  The exact date of the murder is unclear, however; sometime between October, 1993 and July, 2004.

People began thinking of this when the arm was discovered, despite the years separating the events.  In any event, Capolleri was sentenced to 20 years in prison last September.

So.  A dismembered forearm, a floating leg, flesh, ribs and spine....and then this horrifying tale.  Long-time readers of LoS will see many familiar themes here, but I'll leave that for you to ponder.

The hand is the whole

In A gruesome discovery (Jan. 19) I listed a few literary appearances of the dismembered human hand.  I list them again here for quick reference:

• The Lost Symbol; a severed hand starts the action.
• Star Wars:  Luke Skywalker /Darth Vader....Vader is actually referenced in Symbol in what I took as a nod to the severed hand mytheme.  
• Peter Pan:  Captain Hook.  His lost hand drives his fury and thus, the plot. 
  
• The Monkey's Paw revolves around the magical power of a monkey's paw, or hand.
• This guy has a neat collection about the Hand of Glory "and other gory tales about human hands."  The severed hand in The Lost Symbol is in fact a Hand of Glory (explained below).
• The Bible:  Jesus, according to some translations, said:  "If your right hand offends you, cut it off...."  (Matthew 5:30; Mark 9:43).

One theme of The Lost Symbol is how archetypes span cultures and that in all religions we find common elements, signposts pointing us towards the same goal.  Dan Brown is basically cribbing Joseph Campbell, simplifying his ideas just as Campbell put the ideas of Karl Jung into a more accessible form.  Not a particularly good book, the idea is nevertheless a useful starting point, if only for the fact I'd just finished reading it when Aucamville's severed hand made headlines.  As we will see the literary appearances address some rather large spiritual concerns.

The central conflict of Peter Pan between Pan and Captain Hook is instructive.  To begin with, Hook is named for the tool that has replaced his missing hand.  As you may recall, Pan cut off Hook's hand and fed it to an alligator.  This alligator also has a clock in its belly and the mere mention of the beast haunts Hook.  Its approach is announced by the ticking of the clock, which I take as an intimation of Hook's mortality.  The missing hand is the reason behind Hook's rage and the cause of endless humiliations at the hands of the boy who refuses to grow up.

I see in this the bitterness of the old, who are replaced by the young and who envy what they once were:  carefree, virile and exuberant.  The old resent the young.  In this post-Freudian world, this will obviously be read as a kind of Oedipal conflict and the de-handing a symbolic castration.  But I see the severed hand in and of itself as a potent symbol of power and need not necessarily represent a castration.  On the other hand, the hand does historically have an association with sexual imagery.  Yeah, go ahead and laugh.  I'm not talking about Rosy Palm and her five sisters. 

In cheiromancy, or palm-reading, the hand is a microcosm of the entire human, so as a metonymy, it's not merely a phallic substitute.  It represent the whole entity.  Furthermore, according to the cheiromancers, the human is him/herself a microcosm, a mirror of the universe.  It is there unsurprising to see that the hand has a history of being used to represent certain gods and in the Western tradition, God Himself.

I see the Pan/Hook conflict repeated in the conflict between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.  Luke/Pan, the powerful youth, is sought by the Emperor to replace his father, Vader/Hook.  (I know that Hook is not Pan's father, but he is usually linked with Wendy's father.  This is certainly true in the Disney films and in the play, the same actor ususally plays both Hook and Mr. Darling).  Unable to turn Luke to his will, Vader must destroy his son.  But he never does.  He does render him powerless, however, by cutting off his sword hand.  When Luke finally confronts his father again, his severed hand has been replaced, he is again whole and powerful.  In the ensuing physical conflict Luke cuts of his father's hand and at end of their struggle, reconverts him to the side of good.  Interestingly, we later learn in the prequels that Vader, as a youth, lost his hand in an earlier struggle that precipitated his original turn towards evil.

The hand is a liminal device; it holds keys and opens doors, in this case between a very Manichean good and evil, light and dark.  Perhaps this might also be implied in the saying of Jesus referenced above.  The hand represent sinful thought and action....it is a point between good and evil; if it can facilitate the passage between a state of sin and a state of grace, removing it can shut the door it has opened.

The monkey's paw in W.W. Jacobs' story is also a kind of tool. It is a magical talisman with great power.  In this case, the power of life over death.  Tellingly, as the story opens, a father and son are playing chess, the same father and son conflict between light and dark we see in Star Wars.  In the story, a family is presented with the monkey's paw, which can grant three wishes.  Jokingly, the family wishes for money.  As a result, the son dies and the bereaved mother and father receive monetary compensation.  The mother then uses the paw, or hand, to wish the boy back to life.  As the wind rises up, there comes a banging at the door:  the dead son wants to re-enter the world of the living through the front door.  As the mother fumbles at the door to let the boy in (a sexual metaphor as well?) the father wisely uses the hand to wish for the revenant son to disappear.  Here the father/son conflict and a hand which are critical elements in the transition between states.  Life and death in this case, but why not grace and sin, good and evil?  "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

Might not the monkey's paw in fact be the monkey's pa?  Men being the monkey, pa being God the Father?  It's worth exploring....

The Hand of Glory was also a magical talisman, made from the severed man of a hanged man.  It's powers included the ability to paralyze, but tellingly, it was said to have the power the unlock any door.  It was thus used by thieves and figures in a number of macabre tales.

In these literary iterations of the severed hand, I have detected the theme of transition between states and raised the idea of its use as a metonymy.  It is used as the latter quite frequently in current idiom.  Consider the following examples:

• His response was a bit heavy-handed.  
• She rules the office with an iron fist.  
• The man was strong-armed into signing the contract.  
• He can't escape the long arm of the law.

It seems clear to me that the idioms involving the hand relate to a second theme of power and the exercise thereof.  This does not surprise me.  The human is an animal and, to a greater or lesser degree, his/her success or failure depends upon the capacity to exercise power, whether this be via physical prowess, mental superiority, with a gun....The human animal has survived with an element of cunning, to be sure, but back in the caves, when man was closer to the other beasts, dominance was established with brute force.  Whether by fist or by club, the hand was ultimately the instrument of the exercise of power.  The fist strikes the head and the club or knife is wielded by the hand.  Even Luke and Vader, in a world of startlingly powerful technology, wield sabers, more intimate than the distant and "clumsy" blaster.

What do the paleontologists tell us set the human a species apart?  A fortuitous combination of intelligence, binocular/color vision and opposable thumbs.  The importance of these latter two may be expressed in the myths described in the paragraphs to come, in which the hand and the eye are sometimes opposing magical elements.

When I heard about this severed hand in Aucamville, I thought immediately about the hand on Urbain Vitry's tomb.  As we have discussed in previous posts, Vitry was influenced by  Egyptian precedents.  On his tomb there is a Christian version of a most ancient symbol:  the hand.  At the center of the cross the hand is formed into the gesture of benediction, or blessing, representing the power of Christ invested in priests.

Tomb of Urbain Vitry, died 1863

The use of sacred hand gestures is not limited to Catholic or Christian practice.  Hinduism and Buddhism have a highly evolved system of powerful signs called Mudras, and organizations such as Freemasonry and Scouting use hand gestures as salutes, modes of recognition and, like the Hand of Glory, a way to gain entry into restricted spaces.

 

Tanit Votive Stela, Carthage, 4th c BCE; 

This Carthaginian example may have been the precursor of the hamsa, or hand of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammed.  It is so prevalent in both Arab and Berber culture that it figures in the symbolism of modern Algeria (a distant grandchild of Carthage). 

"Hamsa hands often contain an eye symbol. Depictions of the hand, the eye, or the number five in Arabic (and Berber) tradition is related to warding off the evil eye, as exemplified in the saying khamsa fi ainek ("five [fingers] in your eye")"  [The expression "a thumb in the eye" is still used in English, to refer to taunting or antagonistic action]

"Archaeological evidence indicates that a downward pointing hamsa used as a protective amulet in the region predates its use by members of the monotheistic faiths.  It is thought to have been associated with Tanit, the supreme deity of Carthage (Phoenicia) whose hand (or in some cases vulva) was used to ward off the evil eye.^" 

"The hamsa's path into Jewish culture, and its popularity particularly among the Sephardic Jewish community, can be traced through its use in Phoenicia. Jews sometimes call it the hand of Miriam, referencing the sister of the biblical Moses and Aaron. Five (hamesh in Hebrew) represents the five books of the Torah for Jews. It also symbolizes the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, "Heh", which represents one of God's holy names. Many Jews believe that the five fingers of the hamsa hand remind its wearer to use their five senses to praise God"

Interesting that in this example were looking back to our old friends the Phoenicians, from whom it has found its way into the Abrahamic religions.   You will also note that in the votive image above, a raised hand is ensconced between a pair of pillars, which in Egyptian and Phoenician architecture, as well as in Solomon's temple and down to Freemasonry, have been markers of sacred space.  If the pillars represent the gate, the hand would seem to represent the key.

But as we can see in the examples of the Hand of Fatima or Miriam, they also represent a power, specifically a power against the eye.  Interesting too that it is associated with a woman's hand:  Miriam, Fatima, and  Carthaginian Tanit, this latter associated with Phoenician Astarte and Egyptian Neith (incidentally, like our recently discussed Dorcas, Neith was associated with weaving--Neith meaning "weaver).  The femininity of this hand is interesting in that it serves as a popular folk talisman in decidedly male-dominated spiritual traditions--Judaism and Islam.  I find it especially striking that that Tanit's hand could ward of the evil eye....a power sometimes attributed to her vulva.  Tanit, Astarte and Neith are all fertility goddesses.

Tanit was symbolized by an ankh-like glyph with a triangular base surmounted by a bar and circle.  This in turn was surmounted by a symbol representing a crescent moon which also evokes the eye.  In the standard work on the symbol, F.O. Hvidberg-Hansen interprets this symbol as a woman raising her hands.

Bruno Barbatti, in Berber Carpets of Morocco:  The Symbols Origin and Meaning, sheds further light on the sexual symbolism hinted at in my look at The Monkey's Paw, with attention being paid to the hamsa's use as a door-knocker.  If you recall, the zombie son returns banging at the door, while his mother struggles to let him in.  The paw is then used to ward him off.

These two khamsa specimens reflect a combined symbolism:  the palm of the hand, decorated with a lozenge....together with the shortened thumb and little finger symbolize the bell-shaped vulva.  The three (!) middle long fingers on to which, corresponding to their significance, a snake and daggers have been inlaid, embody the male presence.  This is the tongue which makes the bell ring.  It is no coincidence that the hand of Fatima is often used as a door-knocker, serving the one who wishes to enter, and at the same time warding of evil.

So here the hand is not only associated with a vagina, but with phallic symbols as well, phallic symbols which in turn are associated with the tongue, the organ of speech.  We have already spoken of its use as a way to ward of the evil eye.  This conflation of the senses may explain its Jewish symbolism, that is its use as a reminder to praise God with all five senses.

I mentioned Rosy Palms earlier as a slang term for the hand which masturbates....is the hand/eye conflict the origin of of the myth that having a wank will cause a man to go blind?

I should also add that until reading this, I'd forgotten that in France, a disembodied hand is a traditional door-knocker.  This may have something to do with its use in the Arab world, a recollection of a pre-Christian diffusion of North African religion spread into Gaul by the Romans.  Or maybe not.  One knocks on a door with the hand, makes sense to forge a knocker in the shape of one.

If I may add a cruder thought, it occurs to me as in the paw of the monkey, the paws of any creature correspond both to feet and hands.  So if we speak of an animal's toes, we are in a sense also speaking of its fingers.  I'm thinking here of "camel toe", the slang term for a woman's labia as seen through tightly-fitting pants.  Here we have yet another conflation, "labia" are of course "lips", bringing us once again to idea of the mouth.  Hey, I'm not the first one to make this point.  Ever here of the vagina dentata, or "toothed vagina"?   This myth appears in both European and South American mythologies.

One need not look as far as Tanit, Polynesia or Paraguay, however, to find the hand as both symbol of divinity and of human speech.  The disembodied Hand of God, or Manus Dei, is a long-standing motif in both Judaic and Christian art.  It would be a task in itself to document this motif, but I'd like to note a few aspects of its use which seem most relevant here.  The Manus Dei is, above all a metonymy.  The Hand represents God Himself.

This motif has its origins in Judaism, in which depictions of God are still considered unacceptable, much like in Islam.  This even extends to writing the names of God....you will often see "G-d" written by observant Jews in order to bypass this interdiction.  In Western Christian art, images of God both as the Father and the Son have become acceptable and the motif is most prevalent in Medieval art.

According to Wikipedia, "Gertrud Schiller distinguishes three functions of the hand in Christian art: as symbol of either God's presence or the voice of God, or signifying God's acceptance of a sacrifice."  This idea that the Hand of God is a stand-in for His voice is particularly intriguing  It seems that research has indicated that both words and gestures stimulate the same areas of the brain.  So, why not symbolize the Voice of God with His Hand

Of course, it's fairly evident that this hand relates also to the hamsa talisman found in both Islamic and Jewish contexts, and which may originate from Phoenician prototypes.

The hand motif is a varied and complex phenomenon, but I would like to here note its use as a sign of divine approval of earthly power.  Examples date back to fourth century, and apparently was most often associated with the crowning of Empresses.  Traditional French coronation regalia included a kind of scepter terminating in a hand forming the gesture of benediction and "represents the justice-dispensing power of God as being literally in the hands of the king." (emphasis added)  The King, as God's representative on earth, thus is by proxy both His hands and His voice.

Hoo-boy.  No doubt I could go on and on, and it would be useful for someone more inclined than I to look at this outside of the North African and European contexts--my passing references to Mudras notwithstanding.  Not looking into these should not be seen as an ethnocentric diss.  I'm just less versed in other cultures and more focused on Mediterranean cultures at this point in my life.  Even in this, I think I've left out a lot in what is sometimes a swift and choppy read, to be sure.

Finally, I hope for friends who read this they've gained some insight into why the severed hand found near my house has exercised such a fascination over me.  I mean, aside from the fact a person was either murdered and dismembered in the vicinity of my house or murdered elsewhere and then distributed in the woods nearby.  True Crime is powerful stuff; as much for the rational fears about violence as it is for its mythological resonance.

Cut.  That's a wrap....

Note from The Gid:

"Based on a quick glance, though, I want to ask: Have you addressed shaking hands? In regards to hands as a gateway or liminal device, it seems like hands powerfully connect us to other people. Not just the handshake, but, well, you know, touching other people ... "touching others" is a metaphor for a transcendental connection with other people (i.e., the hand as the liminal device), maybe, or I'm just drunk and being sloppy in my thought and relaying a "touching" tale. And we can see other people and talk to other people, but you can't just go around touching everyone for crying out loud. Lay your hands on another person, and you'd better be a priest, doctor, or lover."

I should quote this again from an earlier post:


Another inconclusive symbol, found in a round medallion at the center of the cross atop the tomb, is a human hand. By chance we stumbled across another entry in Mackey's Encyclopedia--Hand (p. 317)--illustrated by an engraving of the hand in a nearly identical gesture:

"In Freemasonry, the hand as a symbol holds a high place, because it is the principal seat of the sense of feeling so highly revered by Masons....Horapollo says that among the Egyptians the hand was the symbol of a builder, or one fond of building, because all labor proceeds from the hand." Mackey continues, explaining its use in Christian iconography in a gesture of benediction: "The form of this act of benediction, as adopted by the Roman Church, which seems to have been borrowed from the symbols of the Phrygian and Eleusinian priest or hierophants, who used it in their mystical processions, presents a singular analogy, which will be interesting to Mark Master Masons, who will recognize on it a symbol of their own ritual. In the benediction referred to, as given in the Latin Church, the thumb, index and middle fingers are extended, and the other two bent against the palm. The church explains this position of the extended thumb and two fingers as representing the Trinity; but the older symbol of the Pagan priests, which was precisely of the same form, must have had a different meaning. A writer in the British Magazine (vol.i., p.565) thinks that the hand, which was used in the Mithraic mysteries in this position, was symbolic of the Light emanating not from the sun, but from the Creator, directly as a special manifestation....Certainly, to the Mason, the hand is most important as the symbol of that mystical intelligence by which one Mason knows another "in the dark as well as in the light."

Given that the symbol is used as a sign of benediction, it may not be anything more than a sign of his Catholic faith. But maybe it's a Masonic reference. It's certainly an eye-popper. Given Vitry's passion for Egyptian architecture, by which his tomb was inspired, it may simply be a nod to the use described by Horapollo. It's worth recalling the notion that the Egyptian obelisk is also thought to symbolize a petrified ray of light, much akin to our anonymous British writer's theory that the hand symbol represents the light emanating from the Creator. Again, like the square and compasses, it lead to tantalizing speculation but nothing conclusive. Maybe the hand is simply a brazen variation on the Anahinthan cock's comb.

Back to the present:

Given this post, I think it less likely to be a Masonic reference....