Weblog 120

May 25, 2008~ 12:15am
Curses!.....this past week I've been reading up on Egyptian curses, and I find them fascinating. Anyone who's ever gotten chills watching Boris Karloff in what I think was his scariest role in "The Mummy", wonders about the reality of those hierogyphed hoodoo tablets, and whether or not there was ever any real evidence that bad stuff happened to folks who opened up the tombs of dead kings.

  

Most have been chalked up to legend or coincidence or exaggeration, but I still wonder. I mean, those curses had heft- they sizzled and hissed. And some of 'em are even funny...take these for example:

" I shall seize his neck like that of a goose" (Inscription of Hermeru, Dynasty 6)

"He shall die from hunger and thirst" (on a statue of Herihor, High Priest of Amun, Dyn. 20-21)

"He shall have no heir" (inscription of Tuthmosis I, Dyn. 18)

"His years shall be diminished" (on a statue of Monthuemhat, Dyn. 25-26)

"His lifetime shall not exist on earth" (tomb of Senmut, Dyn. 18)

"He shall not exist" (tomb of Khnumhotep, Dyn. 12)

"His estate shall belong to the fire, and his house shall belong to the consuming flame ... His relatives shall detest him" (tomb of Tefib, Dyn. 9-10)

"He shall be miserable and persecuted" (tomb of Penniut, Dyn. 20)

"His office shall be taken away before his face and it shall be given to a man who is his enemy "(on a statue of the scribe Amenhotep, Dyn. 18)

"His wife shall be taken away before his face" (Apanage Stele, Dyn. 22)

"His face shall be spat at" (El-Hasaia tomb, Dyn. 26)

"A donkey shall violate him, a donkey shall violate his wife" (Deir el-Bahri Graffito No. 11, Dyn. 20)

"His heart shall not be content in life" (on a statue of Wersu, Dyn. 18)

"He shall be cooked together with the condemned" (tomb of Khety II, Dyn. 9-10)


Now you have to admit, those are pretty fine curses- and somebody meant business when they warned, "DO NOT OPEN!" (See the funny one up there?- it made me laugh)- so I'd better be careful.




And WHO THE HECK is that bearded guy in this old picture? Creeps me out, it does. Through every age there's a resurgence of interest in Egyptology because they were strange folk. Talented-- (some say visited by an alien race from the stars) and steeped in ritual, crusted in gold and jewels.




They were, well...interesting looking. All that kohl rimmed round the eyes, and brothers marrying sisters, a rich mythology with an Underworld thick with gods and goddesses half-human, half-animal. And oh, yes........retribution. A desire to cling to power and control, even after death had claimed life. Having pets and servants- and things people loved and needed in this lifetime- sent along like someone was packing a lunch.....

There's something touchingly human in that, I think. Their biggest concern seems to have been how to hang on-- even after death shuts the door, they stuck their foot in the jamb and said, "Not so fast.....and don't even think about making off with this stuff...."

I'll always have a fascination with Egypt. A beautiful, truly exotic place-- with really mean-assed curses!




May 25, 2008~ 10:30pm
Every now and then, you come across a picture so strange, it defies explanation. Feast your eyes on this....




LOL!! What is Batman doing, winking and pointing at the sturdy looking rump of an older female? (See the wrinkling at the elbow? Dead givaway.) Why this?? What is it from? What does the Spanish mean?? (I translated from Babelfish and the translation is: "or we are going to have fun " and "for adults only". LOL!!! ) Holy buttocks, Batman! Is this what you do during downtime between catching crooks? Something 'oddball' to tickle your fancy.....I love when I come across stuff like this! Too bizarre for words.




May 27, 2008~ 8:00pm
If I show you this picture, what do you think of???



Does it look like a pink alien? Perhaps sitting on a mushroom, like the hookah-smoking caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland perched on a mushroomy throne? Nooooooooo......

it's my NOSE...


which I have just noticed...has asymmetrical nostrils!

Were they ALWAYS like this? It struck me as so completely strange today, I had to draw it for you. LOL!!! I am absolutely nasal-asymmetric! (I remember on the first date I had with my ex-husband, he asked me if I'd ever had my nose broken, and I was highly indignant. Even though I've never liked this turned up pug, I never thought it looked broken) but now, I think I can see why he asked.

It means I can now join the ranks of Modigliani's masterful, lopsided ladies.....


  

  


And now, looking at these miscreants, I can't help but notice their resemblance to the EASTER ISLAND Moai's.....same close eyes, long noses......same remoteness.....




And what ARE they doing, standing around like that? How did they get there? SEE???? Another world mystery. I have a theme going here this week! WORLD MYSTERIES. Like my nose.

If you ask me though, I'd say the biggest mystery about the Easter Island Moai, is why THIS GUY gets to wear the HAT...




All the other blokes look downcast and expectant, standing in line with their bare bellies hanging out-- then there's THAT guy- looking like Leonid Brezhnev- are they ALL waiting for HATS? And in that heat....he can KEEP the damn hat!

So we've made this mysterious journey from my nose, to Modigliani, to the Moai of Easter Island --and finally to the former premier of Russia! Cripes.

You should talk to me in person some time. (You know how those telephone cords that keep tangling up on ya'?) Yah....that's what it's like.




May 30, 2008~ 12:15am
Here she is.....



the newest grandchild- (number six!)- Shiloh Sarai. My son's first daughter. (You can tell she's in the family.... see the straitjacket? LOL!!) No, no... baby is trussed up in coziness is all- fairly duplicating the warm, close quarters she's been used to up to now. Happy World, little one.... you pink beauty, you. xoxo





***

(Return To Weekly Archives)