Ramblin' Rosen

According to an article in the Guardian, the Kabbalah Center (a.k.a. “Madonna Kabbalah") is starting a Spirituality for Kids programme to recruit British school children. The article duly notes Jewish leaders criticisms of this organisation, quoting London rabbi Yitzchak Schochet as saying:

The fact that they are now peddling their gibberish to children only compounds the tragedy of how the good name of Judaism is being brought into ill repute.

I agree with Rabbi Schochet—this is not Kabbalah or Judaism that is being promoted here but a money-making cult that smears the name of Judaism, Kabbalah and mysticism in general.

Unfortunately, the article does not make clear the distinction between real, serious study of Kabbalah (Jewish or otherwise) and the Kabbalah Centre. Although I am not a Kabbalist myself, it is disappointing to see the Kabbalah Centre’s appropriation of an ancient mystical tradition become the first thing most people think of as associated with that tradition. Since real Kabbalah is complex and takes a lot of work and study, I can’t see this situation changing in the near future.

There’s a reason why traditionally Jewish men had to be at least 20 years old (or 40 according to some accounts) and married before they could study Kabbalah—it takes maturity, discipline and stability to study any mystical tradition. I’m all for opening up mystical traditions more than they were in the past—as a woman, I’d be hypocritical not to be, as otherwise I’d be exluding myself from so many potential areas of study. However, this relative openess should not be a license for superficiality and lack of study or practice. Most people do not want to do the work, so they will continue to associate themselves with New Age charlatans more interested in money than true spirituality.

Two of the main symbols people associate with the Olympics, the torch relay and the five rings, are not ancient Greek, as is commonly assumed but were either created by or popularised by the Nazis according to this article on Newindpress.com. The torch relay was originally planned for the 1916 Berlin Games that were cancelled because of World War I, and Hitler was very keen for them to be used in the 1936 games as a testament to Aryan superiority:

Hitler, who admired the powerful imagery of Greek gods such as Zeus, wanted his Games to promote his belief in Aryan supremacy. The torch relay, memorialised in Leni Riefenstahl’s film Olympia, was part of the Nazi leader’s elaborate attempt to add myth, mystique and glamour to an Olympics intended to intimidate pre-world War II Europe. In Hitler’s eyes, the torch symbolised the perfection and victory of the German nation.

Of course, the black American runner and long-jumper Jesse Owens ruined Hitler’s plans to show off Aryan supremacy by winning four gold medals. And the torch relay is now an international event that promotes values like international brotherhood that the Nazis would have abhorred.

The five rings were also popularised during the 1936 Berlin Games, although they were originally used during the 1920 Games in Antwerp to symbolise the first five Olympics:

Riefenstahl, the Olympia filmmaker who also chronicled Hitler’s rise to power, had the rings carved into a stone altar at the ancient Greek city of Delphi, spawning the myth that they were a symbol dating back more than two millennia.

With Hitler’s influence, the rings became part of the Nazi pageantry at Berlin - and they’ve come to symbolise the Olympics ever since.

[Link courtesy of Explorator]

Roommate From Hell by Jim Munroe is a novel being published in the form of a blog. The premise is that Katie’s new roommate Lilith may or may not be a demoness, and on the blog is a poll to see if readers think she is or not. Jim is planning to write a spin-off based on the results of the poll.

The blog will consist of 88 entries, one post each day. For those who have to find out how it ends sooner, it has already been published in dead-tree form as An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil. Unlike the blog version, the book version will not feature any of the photographs.

I’m definitely planning to follow this, both because the idea of a novel in blog form is intriguing but also to see how Jim handles my favourite demoness Lilith (or not, if she really isn’t a demoness). So far what’s been posted is intriguing and is definitely making me want to read more.

[Link courtesy of BoingBoing]

I just received three emails all from the same person with the subject ‘Crowley’. Even though Spamnix had tagged them as spam, I had to doublecheck in case they were legit. Needless to say they were spam, spam for viagra and other such drugs, which is kind of fitting for Crowley spam.

The best bit was the typical spam nonsense phrase at the bottom:

‘textual,a moment later,wrangle,knew perfectly well,easygoing,the poets attempts,crete,through the ventpane.’

Is this a fragment of a lost poem by Uncle Al? Or is it too good and does it make too much sense to be him? You decide.

Last Sunday, I went to the British Museum to see the Queen of the Night relief (a.k.a. the Burney relief) in person. As I mentioned in my last post, it’s on display in the Reading Room temporarily. As can be expected, it is much more impressive in person, and, to be honest, I don’t think photos really do the relief justice. It’s still impressive in pictures, but anyone who has a chance to see it in real life should definitely go and see it. See my post on a virtual reconstruction of it for links to more information on the tour it is taking around England.

I tried photographing it, so I could post a picture of it here, but none of them turned out well, since the Reading Room has rather low lighting, and the relief was in a glass case. So when I tried with a flash, the flash reflected from the glass, and when I tried without a flash, it ended up out of focus. If I go back to the British Museum and it is still in the Reading Room, I will try again, as I’d like my own photos of it, but it will probably be easier to take a good picture when it is on permament display in a regular exhibition area.

One thing I noticed is that the British Museum has yet to exploit the commercial potential of the Queen of the Night yet–the only thing in any of the gift shops that I saw related to it was part of a picture of it on a new book. Not even a postcard yet, but I’m sure these things will come, and I’m sure I’ll buy at least one of the products, especially as the BM is a great institution to support just in general. I did see a Louis Wain paperweight that I plan to go back and get some time, but I didn’t want to buy it that day as I wasn’t going directly home afterwards and did not want to carry it.

If anyone else has had the chance to see the Queen of the Night in person, please post and give us your impressions.

The Burney Relief is an ancient Babylonian relief that some consider to be an image of Lilitu, the Mesopotamian predecessor of Lilith, though it could also be an aspect of Ishtar or her sister and rival Ereshkigal. It is most commonly associated with Lilith to the general public, which is why I have a picture of it on the front page of my Lilith Shrine, even though it’s more likely to be someone other than her.

Recently, the British Museum acquired the Burney Relief, renaming it to the ‘Queen of the Night’ Relief. It is currently on tour throughout Britain and is on display in the Reading Room while not on tour until the end of August. I have tentative plans to see it this weekend and will write about it here if I do.

Along with having the original on display in the museum, they also have a virtual exhibit that includes images done in Photoshop showing how the relief would have looked originally.

Many people do not realise that reliefs such as the Queen of the Night would originally have been painted and seeing them ‘in colour’ can be a shock at first, and often modern people prefer the ‘bare’ images, but I find the colour version fascinating and can’t decide which version I prefer.

Here’s a small picture of the reproduction with colour. Please visit the virtual exhibit to see a bigger version and to see a comparison between it and the actual relief.