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A quick reminder to those interested, the first meeting will be tommorow night (tues) at 7pm at Tupelo Honey.
I went to two lectures at Treadwells last week and they were both great. The first was ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
morbidfrog's on occult books in London Libraries based on her MA dissertation. I'd read her dissertation before and it was great to see the way she adapted it to a lecture. Her talk was very informative and practical. And reminded me that there are still many libraries in London that I need to visit. The theosophical library and the Welcome library being top of the list!
The second lecture I went to was by Irving Finkel who is a curator in the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum. He specialises in Babylonian magical, medical and literary inscriptions. He was very informative and very funny. The talk was structured as a discussion between the different magical traditions of Mesopotamia and the rest of the world. (Christina had specified western traditions in her introduction, but I had to talk about China and another lady brought up Japan!) For me it was fascinating to see the similarities between the Mesopotamian beliefs and Chinese beliefs. (Or perhaps practices would be a better word to use than beliefs).
The written record for Mesopotamia continues for 3000 years of history. In reverse to China it started with practical measures and became increasingly more magical as time went on. Magic in Mesopotamia was primarily curative and preventative. It was based on disease and trying to heal the disease. (This reminded me a lot of early Celestial Master practices, but without the references to sin and confession). Mesopotamian magic did not contain spells such as how to turn yourself invisible or fly etc. Rather its focus was exorcistic. Demons were the crucial component and Finkel wanted to know if this was a literal belief or a metaphor. He believed that in ancient Mesopotamia it seemed to have been a literal belief.
In Mesopotamian belief there was a huge register of gods. Each area had a local god and these were put into a huge register by scribes, each given a position, wife and servants depending on their popularity. Finkel mentioned the problem with using this source was that the average Mesopotamian would not be aware that it existed but would only be aware of one or a couple of Gods and not the bigger picture as worked on by the scribes. The gods in this pantheon were very human and foible.
The demons were also similar to the gods. (However in writing the gods have an extra symbol to indicate the divine status and the demons have nothing, not a word indicating demonic status, just their name). Finkel gave examples of several different demons. There was the Creeper or the Jumper who waited by the city gates to get anyone who wandered out in the middle of the night. There was Mashta (sp) who affected pregnant women and babies. There are records of rituals which were to control her and to get rid of her. Finkel also talked of different methods for dealing with sickness. One kingly ritual had the King ejaculate into a woman who was then tied onto a horse and sent across the border to get rid of the King's illness.
Illness was seen as a result of possession and had to be exorcised and could be protected against through the use of amulets. The fact that so many rituals cost so much time and exposed people to danger seems to indicate that the belief in them was very strong. One ritual had the King leave his court and live in the forest for a period of weeks as it had been divined that the gods were going to attack the King on a certain date, so he would have to leave and have a stand-in take his place. Finkel reported how this happened quite regularly in some cases as often as every three months. It also brought up the point of how the court was run by astrologers. There were also examples of interesting developments in the study of these magical texts. A lot of these texts were sexual in nature. There was one example of a ritual that was to make a woman "speak" which was originally interpreted as have an orgasm, however later scholars decided that it simply meant to speak, as in to reveal the name of the person she was having an affair with. There was also a great cure for impotence which involved the recitation of the line, "when I enter the city gates all the virgins celebrate!"
It was also not just demons that were exorcised by the ritual specialists, (referred to as Rasputins by Finkel as they were all men with long beards) but also ghosts could be exorcised as well. The ghosts exhibited many of the same characteristics and powers as the demons but had a more human origin.
One interesting question arose about the nature of demons, were the descriptions the same from text to text? This brought up medieval grimoirs (sp) with eye of newt etc. Finkel said how in ancient times these words were just code names for different herbs and not to be taken literally as they were in later times.
In the texts there were references to the different demons a ritual was supposed to keep out, these ended with the phrase "any other evil" which ended up becoming the name of a demon in its own right. It ended up having its own picture and descriptions. Finkel said this was like the idea of a created elemental in modern magic.
It was interesting to hear that there was no difference in magical practice between Summerian and Babylonian times. All in all it was very enjoyable and I learned a lot.
morbidfrog's on occult books in London Libraries based on her MA dissertation. I'd read her dissertation before and it was great to see the way she adapted it to a lecture. Her talk was very informative and practical. And reminded me that there are still many libraries in London that I need to visit. The theosophical library and the Welcome library being top of the list!The second lecture I went to was by Irving Finkel who is a curator in the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum. He specialises in Babylonian magical, medical and literary inscriptions. He was very informative and very funny. The talk was structured as a discussion between the different magical traditions of Mesopotamia and the rest of the world. (Christina had specified western traditions in her introduction, but I had to talk about China and another lady brought up Japan!) For me it was fascinating to see the similarities between the Mesopotamian beliefs and Chinese beliefs. (Or perhaps practices would be a better word to use than beliefs).
The written record for Mesopotamia continues for 3000 years of history. In reverse to China it started with practical measures and became increasingly more magical as time went on. Magic in Mesopotamia was primarily curative and preventative. It was based on disease and trying to heal the disease. (This reminded me a lot of early Celestial Master practices, but without the references to sin and confession). Mesopotamian magic did not contain spells such as how to turn yourself invisible or fly etc. Rather its focus was exorcistic. Demons were the crucial component and Finkel wanted to know if this was a literal belief or a metaphor. He believed that in ancient Mesopotamia it seemed to have been a literal belief.
In Mesopotamian belief there was a huge register of gods. Each area had a local god and these were put into a huge register by scribes, each given a position, wife and servants depending on their popularity. Finkel mentioned the problem with using this source was that the average Mesopotamian would not be aware that it existed but would only be aware of one or a couple of Gods and not the bigger picture as worked on by the scribes. The gods in this pantheon were very human and foible.
The demons were also similar to the gods. (However in writing the gods have an extra symbol to indicate the divine status and the demons have nothing, not a word indicating demonic status, just their name). Finkel gave examples of several different demons. There was the Creeper or the Jumper who waited by the city gates to get anyone who wandered out in the middle of the night. There was Mashta (sp) who affected pregnant women and babies. There are records of rituals which were to control her and to get rid of her. Finkel also talked of different methods for dealing with sickness. One kingly ritual had the King ejaculate into a woman who was then tied onto a horse and sent across the border to get rid of the King's illness.
Illness was seen as a result of possession and had to be exorcised and could be protected against through the use of amulets. The fact that so many rituals cost so much time and exposed people to danger seems to indicate that the belief in them was very strong. One ritual had the King leave his court and live in the forest for a period of weeks as it had been divined that the gods were going to attack the King on a certain date, so he would have to leave and have a stand-in take his place. Finkel reported how this happened quite regularly in some cases as often as every three months. It also brought up the point of how the court was run by astrologers. There were also examples of interesting developments in the study of these magical texts. A lot of these texts were sexual in nature. There was one example of a ritual that was to make a woman "speak" which was originally interpreted as have an orgasm, however later scholars decided that it simply meant to speak, as in to reveal the name of the person she was having an affair with. There was also a great cure for impotence which involved the recitation of the line, "when I enter the city gates all the virgins celebrate!"
It was also not just demons that were exorcised by the ritual specialists, (referred to as Rasputins by Finkel as they were all men with long beards) but also ghosts could be exorcised as well. The ghosts exhibited many of the same characteristics and powers as the demons but had a more human origin.
One interesting question arose about the nature of demons, were the descriptions the same from text to text? This brought up medieval grimoirs (sp) with eye of newt etc. Finkel said how in ancient times these words were just code names for different herbs and not to be taken literally as they were in later times.
In the texts there were references to the different demons a ritual was supposed to keep out, these ended with the phrase "any other evil" which ended up becoming the name of a demon in its own right. It ended up having its own picture and descriptions. Finkel said this was like the idea of a created elemental in modern magic.
It was interesting to hear that there was no difference in magical practice between Summerian and Babylonian times. All in all it was very enjoyable and I learned a lot.
1，空， 这有五个空位。
2， 做客 请你到我家做客吗？
3，越来越 天天我越来越忙了。
4，打的 公共汽车很慢的。你想打的吗?
5，四合院 在英国人们不住四合院。
6，院子 昨天晚上两个孩子在院子玩儿。
7，种 那棵树种很大
8，棵 院子里有一棵树。
9，结 这棵树结枣。
10，枣 我不喜欢吃枣。
11，尝 请你尝这个菜。
12，甜 这个菜太甜。
13，越越 中文很难越学越忘。
14，盖 现在伦敦不盖小房子。
15，搬 我不喜欢搬家因为我有很多书。
16，遗憾 那太遗憾了。
17，离开 别离开。
18，打扮 我先生不喜欢打扮
19，随便 明天晚会随便。
20，体会 你爸爸比你体会多了。
21，靠 你可以靠你的朋友。
22，父母 他不知道他的父母。
23，出门 妈妈觉得很遗憾因为孩子都出门。
24，嘛 这本书很好嘛。
25，胖 我得猫很胖。
26，人们 人们都喜欢喝酒。
27，装饰 这个年我不买装饰。
28，节 春节快乐！
29， 欢乐 生日欢乐！
30， 祥和 结婚的时候很祥和。
Extra words
飞 鸟飞了。
只 两只鸟飞了。
书柜 我有六个书柜
铺？
雨 今天天气下雨
2， 做客 请你到我家做客吗？
3，越来越 天天我越来越忙了。
4，打的 公共汽车很慢的。你想打的吗?
5，四合院 在英国人们不住四合院。
6，院子 昨天晚上两个孩子在院子玩儿。
7，种 那棵树种很大
8，棵 院子里有一棵树。
9，结 这棵树结枣。
10，枣 我不喜欢吃枣。
11，尝 请你尝这个菜。
12，甜 这个菜太甜。
13，越越 中文很难越学越忘。
14，盖 现在伦敦不盖小房子。
15，搬 我不喜欢搬家因为我有很多书。
16，遗憾 那太遗憾了。
17，离开 别离开。
18，打扮 我先生不喜欢打扮
19，随便 明天晚会随便。
20，体会 你爸爸比你体会多了。
21，靠 你可以靠你的朋友。
22，父母 他不知道他的父母。
23，出门 妈妈觉得很遗憾因为孩子都出门。
24，嘛 这本书很好嘛。
25，胖 我得猫很胖。
26，人们 人们都喜欢喝酒。
27，装饰 这个年我不买装饰。
28，节 春节快乐！
29， 欢乐 生日欢乐！
30， 祥和 结婚的时候很祥和。
Extra words
飞 鸟飞了。
只 两只鸟飞了。
书柜 我有六个书柜
铺？
雨 今天天气下雨
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/GayRights/
Another post today I know, but this one I added because its so important. I find it totally incomprensible that religious bigotry is being treated so seriously.
I also find it strangely odd to see online petitions with a gov.uk url. Perhaps that means they have slightly more validity here than in the US?
Another post today I know, but this one I added because its so important. I find it totally incomprensible that religious bigotry is being treated so seriously.
I also find it strangely odd to see online petitions with a gov.uk url. Perhaps that means they have slightly more validity here than in the US?
.