#WingedWordsWindsday: 01/26/2022 -- The Many Faces of Mercury

 

WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 1, No. 13: January 26, 2022

 

Celebrating Three Months of #WingedWordsWindsday!

 

“The Many Faces of Mercury”

By Rob Chappell, M.A.

Adapted & Expanded from Cursus Honorum IX: 3 (October 2008

                The planet Mercury made headlines in 2008 when it was visited by NASA’s Messenger probe. Mercury is the smallest major planet in the Solar System; it is also the closest planet to the Sun. It completes one orbit of our parent star every 88 days, but it rotates on its axis every 59 days – so its “day” lasts for two-thirds of its “year.”  Because Mercury has an extremely thin atmosphere, temperatures on its surface can vary between 800 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime to -300 degrees at night.  Needless to say, life as we know it probably doesn’t exist here.

 

This enhanced photo of the planet Mercury was taken by NASA’s Messenger probe on January 14, 2008. (Photo Credit: NASA – Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

                Astronomical observations of Mercury are documented from the 14th century BCE onward. Because Mercury always appears within 28 degrees of the Sun in our sky, it is only visible to the naked eye either just before sunrise or just after sunset. Whether known as Hermes (to the Greeks) or Mercury (to the Romans), the innermost planet in our Solar System was named after the swift-footed messenger of the Olympian pantheon because of its rapid movement through the sky. Mercury was portrayed in art as wearing a pair of winged sandals and carrying a caduceus (a wand with two serpents entwined around it).

 

“Or let my Lamp at midnight hour

Be seen in some high lonely Tower,

Where I may oft out-watch the Bear,

With Thrice-Great Hermes.”

à John Milton (1608-1674): “Il Penseroso”

 

                Mercury ceased to be worshiped in the Western world during late antiquity. However, the planet named after him continued to be studied by medieval astronomers, who drew up increasingly accurate tables of its motions in the sky. Starting in the 12th century, debate ensued among astronomers as to whether Mercury orbited around the Earth (as theorized by most Classical Greek astronomers) or around the Sun (as proposed by a few late antique Roman writers).

                Mercury’s name was also given by the ancients to chemical element #80 – a liquid metal also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum. Discovered in early historic times, mercury was believed to have both medical and metallurgical applications. Unfortunately, liquid mercury is poisonous to humans if ingested, and that is what led to the untimely demise of China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang Dì (259-210 BCE): he drank a mercury-and-jade potion that was supposed to have restored his lost youth. In modern times, mercury has been used in thermometers, barometers, and other scientific and medical instruments.

 

The traditional symbol of the planet Mercury has been used since antiquity to represent the chemical element mercury as well. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

                Perhaps Mercury’s most enduring “face” has been that of the legendary Egyptian alchemist, philosopher, and physician – Hermes Trismegistus (“Mercurius Termaximus in Latin = “Thrice-Greatest Hermes or Mercury”). A collection of philosophical and alchemical treatises began to circulate under his name during the first three centuries CE in Alexandria, Egypt – produced by an interfaith group of scholars and sages known as the Hermetic School. The Hermetic tractates preserved Egyptian esoteric traditions about the origin of the cosmos and humankind’s place within it. In these treatises, Hermes Trismegistus dialogues with his disciples and encourages them to transmit his knowledge to posterity for the benefit of humankind. After their translation into Latin by the Italian polymath Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), the Hermetic writings exercised a profound influence upon the Renaissance intellectuals who spearheaded the scientific revolution. Such scientific advancements were perhaps foreseen by one of the Hermetic philosophers of ancient Egypt:

 

“[Humankind] will pursue the inmost secrets of Nature even into the heights and will study the motions of the sky.  Nor is this enough; when nothing yet remains to be known than the furthest boundary of the Earth, they will seek even there the last extremities of night.”

à Heart of the Cosmos (Hermetic Tractate, Early 1st Millennium CE)

 

Webliography

                To learn more about the many faces of Mercury, the Editor recommends the following resources.

·         https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/ = This is the official homepage of NASA’s Messenger mission to the planet Mercury.

·         https://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/pym/index.htm = The Divine Pymander of Hermes Trismegistus is the foundational text of the Hermetic tradition.

·         http://www.webelements.com/mercury/ = Read all about Mercury (Hg), the 80th chemical element in the Periodic Table.

 

Hermes Trismegistus instructs his disciples in this Renaissance mosaic from the cathedral in Siena, Italy. The tablet pictured at right contains a Latin translation of a passage from the Hermetic writings.  (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

“Hermes”

By Francis Thompson (1853-1907)

Soothsay. Behold, with rod two-serpented,

Hermes the prophet, twining in one power

The woman with the man. Upon his head

The cloudy cap, wherewith he hath in dower

The cloud's own virtue--change and counterchange,

To show in light, and to withdraw in pall,

As mortal eyes best bear. His lineage strange

From Zeus, Truth's sire, and maiden May--the all-

Illusive Nature. His fledged feet declare

That 'tis the nether self transdeified,

And the thrice-furnaced passions, which do bear

The poet Olympusward. In him allied

Both parents clasp; and from the womb of Nature

Stern Truth takes flesh in shows of lovely feature.

 

 

Wintertime Is Here!

Hello everyone –

Winter has finally arrived in East Central Illinois, with a dusting of snow and single-digit temperatures to kick off the “spring” semester at the University of Illinois! 😊 Here are three poems about the wintertime for you to enjoy as you sit by the fire with a hot cup of tea. And BTW, to learn more about the Way of Tea, please be sure to visit my Japan House friends @ https://japanhouse.illinois.edu.

 

“Winter”

By Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)

Clouded with snow

The cold winds blow,

And shrill on leafless bough

The robin with its burning breast

Alone sings now.

The rayless Sun,

Day's journey done,

Sheds its last ebbing light

On fields in leagues of beauty spread

Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,

And spark by spark,

The frost-fires kindle, and soon

Over that sea of frozen foam

Floats the white Moon.

 

“A Calendar of Sonnets: January”

By Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

O Winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire,

What loss is theirs who from thy kingdom turn

Dismayed, and think thy snow a sculptured urn

Of death! Far sooner in midsummer tire

The streams than under ice. June could not hire

Her roses to forego the strength they learn

In sleeping on thy breast. No fires can burn

The bridges thou dost lay where men desire

In vain to build. O Heart, when Love's sun goes

To northward, and the sounds of singing cease,

Keep warm by inner fires, and rest in peace.

Sleep on content, as sleeps the patient rose.

Walk boldly on the white untrodden snows,

The winter is the winter's own release.

 

“Winter-Time”

From A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)

By Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Late lies the wintry Sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Numa Pompilius (reigned 715-673 BCE), the second King of Rome, was also a renowned philosopher and (according to tradition) a star pupil of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Among many other accomplishments, Numa reformed the ancient Roman calendar such that January became the first month of the year (instead of March). In this painting, we see King Numa consulting with the nymph Egeria about a package of legislation that would, in later centuries, evolve into the famous Twelve Tables of Roman law. (Image Credit: Public Domain)

Until next time – stay warm!

Rob

#WingedWordsWindsday: 01/19/2022 -- The Unicorn!

 

WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 1, No. 12: January 19, 2022

 

 

Unicorns!

 

“The Unicorn”

By Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

 

The saintly hermit, midway through his prayers

stopped suddenly, and raised his eyes to witness

the unbelievable: for there before him stood

the legendary creature, startling white, that

had approached, soundlessly, pleading with his eyes.

 

The legs, so delicately shaped, balanced a

body wrought of finest ivory.

And as he moved, his coat shone like reflected moonlight.

 

High on his forehead rose the magic horn, the sign

of his uniqueness: a tower held upright

by his alert, yet gentle, timid gait.

 

The mouth of softest tints of rose and grey, when

opened slightly, revealed his gleaming teeth, whiter than snow.

The nostrils quivered faintly:

he sought to quench his thirst, to rest and find repose.

 

His eyes looked far beyond the saint's enclosure,

reflecting vistas and events long vanished,

and closed the circle of this ancient mystic legend.

 

“An Introduction to Unicornology”

By Rob Chappell, M.A.

Adapted & Expanded from Cursus Honorum VI: 8 (March 2006)

                Recent decades have witnessed a dramatic upsurge of interest in cryptozoology (the study of “hidden animals” or fantastic beasts), as seen in a plethora of books, movies, video games, and clothing featuring phoenixes, gryphons, dragons, etc. A perennial favorite among these legendary animals is the unicorn, a creature that has captivated the human imagination since prehistoric times. Possibly based on mistaken sightings of wild oxen, or perhaps on ancestral traditions of an extinct one-horned creature (see the illustration below), the unicorn remains a perennial favorite despite continued scientific skepticism about its existence in the “real world.”

 

Painting of an Elasmotherium (ca. 1920) by Heinrich Harder (1858-1935) – a prehistoric Siberian rhinoceros that might have given rise to the unicorn legend among early human tribes. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

                Traditionally, the unicorn has been depicted by authors and artists as an untamable herbivorous creature. It is like a snow-white horse in appearance, and its distinguishing feature is a single horn protruding from the top of its head. Many alleged “unicorn sightings” were reported by ancient Mediterranean historians and naturalists like Ctesias of Cnidus, Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, and Claudius Aelian, and their accounts greatly influenced medieval and modern depictions of the unicorn. It was reported, for example, that the unicorn was a solitary creature of the wilderness that would fight to defend its “territory” from intruders – usually by charging its enemy (e.g., a dragon) and goring it to death with its powerful horn. Whatever unicorns might have been in fact or fiction, they were much sought after because their horns were highly prized by alchemists and apothecaries for their alleged curative properties.

 

Ctesias of Cnidus (fl. ca. 400 BCE): Indica

Summary from Photius: Myriobiblon 72

                In India there are wild asses [i.e., unicorns] as large as horses, or even larger. Their body is white, their head dark red, their eyes bluish, and they have a horn in their forehead about a cubit in length. The lower part of the horn, for about two palms distance from the forehead, is quite white, the middle is black, the upper part, which terminates in a point, is a very flaming red. Those who drink out of cups made from it are proof against convulsions, epilepsy, and even poison, provided that before or after having taken it they drink some wine or water or other liquid out of these cups. The domestic and wild asses of other countries and all other solid-hoofed animals have neither huckle-bones nor gall-bladder, whereas the Indian asses have both. Their huckle-bone is the most beautiful that I have seen, like that of the ox in size and appearance; it is as heavy as lead and of the color of cinnabar all through. These animals are very strong and swift; neither the horse nor any other animal can overtake them. At first they run slowly, but the longer they run their pace increases wonderfully, and becomes faster and faster. There is only one way of catching them. When they take their young to feed, if they are surrounded by a large number of horsemen, being unwilling to abandon their foals, they show fight, butt with their horns, kick, bite, and kill many men and horses. They are at last taken, after they have been pierced with arrows and spears; for it is impossible to capture them alive. Their flesh is too bitter to eat, and they are only hunted for the sake of the horns and huckle-bones.

 

                So did unicorns really exist as they were depicted by the ancients? Their existence in Nature (past or present) cannot yet be proved or disproved in an absolute sense. Until then, here are some books on “unicornology” for those who would like to learn more about these marvelous denizens of our imagination.

•              The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (1968) – This delightful and profound fantasy novel was adapted into a classic animated film in 1982 with a memorable soundtrack performed by “America.” Follow the ad-ventures of the last unicorn Amalthea and her human friends as they go on a quest to find out why all the other unicorns have vanished from the land – and watch as they wind up discovering their own true selves in the process.

•              Unicorns by Nancy Hathaway (1980) – Here is a splendid multicultural collection of unicorn tales from across the centuries and around the world.  Numerous color illustrations depict the manifold types of unicorns within a global context – from medieval Europe to East Asia and beyond. An original story about the constellation Monoceros (the celestial unicorn, located next to Orion on the sky’s dome) appears at the end of the book.

•              The Lore of the Unicorn by Odell Shepard (1930) – This book guides the reader on a historical journey through “unicornology” from antiquity to the twentieth century and is well illustrated with reproductions of classic artworks.  The author celebrates the unicorn as a timeless symbol with many meanings and chronicles the scientific debate over its existence with sympathy and good humor.

 

Here is a star map showing the celestial Unicorn by Sidney Hall (Urania’s Mirror, 1825, plate 31). The constellations pictured include Monoceros, Canis Minor, and (the now obsolete) Atelier Typographique. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Com-mons)

  

Resources for Further Exploration: Unicornology

·         The Medieval Bestiary: Unicorn à http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast140.htm

·         Adrienne Mayor @ Stanford University à https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Mayor.html

·         Unicorns à https://www.crystalinks.com/unicorns.html

·         The History of the Unicorn à https://www.unicorn-dream.co.uk/unicorn2.html

·         “The Unicorn” by the Irish Rovers (Music Video) à https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG_RA_IKO6g

#WingedWordsWindsday: 01/12/2022 -- Fireside Fairy Tales for Long Winter Nights

 

WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 1, No. 11: January 12, 2022

 

 

Fireside Fairy Tales for Long Winter Nights

 

“The Fairy Book”

By Norman Gale (1862-1942)

 

In summer, when the grass is thick, if Mother has the time,

She shows me with her pencil how a poet makes a rhyme,

And often she is sweet enough to choose a leafy nook,

Where I cuddle up so closely when she reads the Fairy-book.

 

In winter when the corn’s asleep, and birds are not in song.

And crocuses and violets have been away too long,

Dear Mother puts her thimble by in answer to my look,

And I cuddle up so closely when she reads the Fairy-book.

 

And Mother tells the servants that of course they must contrive

To manage all the household things from four till half-past five,

For we really cannot suffer interruption from the cook,

When we cuddle close together with the happy Fairy-book.

 

“Enter the Enchanted World of Classic Stories”

By Rob Chappell, M.A., Assistant to the Honors Dean

Adapted & Expanded from Cursus Honorum VII: 6 (January 2007)

                Long before the advent of television, radio, movies, and the Internet, storytelling provided our agrarian forebears with endless hours of edutainment. The myths, legends, and folktales transmitted by storytellers and collected by scholars demonstrate how our ancestors viewed their relationship with the natural world and with the invisible powers that were believed to dwell within and beyond it.

                Our pre-industrial ancestors’ worldview was built upon the foundation of shared stories that defined the nature of their common life together. Classic tales were handed down from one generation to the next because they conveyed important life lessons in engaging and memorable ways. Adults who spent their earliest years listening to spellbinding tales being recited from memory or read aloud from a storybook passed on their favorite stories to their children – along with the values and lessons that the stories contained.

                The following anthologies of classic tales, available in several printed editions and on the Internet, can provide us with the keys to an enchanted realm where the magic of the storyteller’s art can enthrall us for hours on end in the theater of the mind!

 

·         The Panchatantra, compiled by the Indian sage Vishnu Sharma (fl. ca. 200 BCE), is a vast collection of traditional animal tales from ancient India. It was designed to educate young royals on the principles of ethical leadership, and over the past two millennia, it has become the most translated literary work from the Indian subcontinent. The perennially popular tales of the Panchatantra have had an enduring impact on literary traditions throughout the world!

·         The Arabian Nights: Collected over a timespan of several centuries, beginning at the royal court of the learned Caliph Harun Al-Rashid (763-809) in Baghdad, these stories include such rollicking adventures as Aladdin, Sindbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many others. Although these 1001 tales were compiled in the Arabic language, they have a truly international flavor, having originated in such diverse places as China, India, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt.

·         The Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Collected by the scholarly German brothers Jakob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm, this anthology showcases the traditional household tales of the German-speaking peoples of Central Europe. Many of our most familiar children’s stories (e.g., The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, etc.) first found their way into print through the Grimms’ anthology. However, the original tales are far more colorful than the versions adapted for children!

·         Bulfinch’s Mythology: Compiled by Thomas Bulfinch, a Bostonian classicist (1796-1867), this is the ultimate anthology of timeless tales from ancient and medieval Europe. His monumental compendium is sometimes divided into three separate volumes: (I) The Age of Fable, (II) The Age of Chivalry, and (III) Legends of Charlemagne. Each of Bulfinch’s lively retellings is drawn from authentic original source material.

·         Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales: This is my favorite collection of classic stories. Andersen (1805-1875) created marvelous tales from his own imagination that conveyed his profound insights into the human condition. All of Andersen’s stories are worthwhile reading, both those that are well known (e.g., The Ugly Duckling) and those that are more obscure (e.g., The Snow Queen).

 

This illustration comes from a Persian manuscript of the Panchatantra dated to 1429. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

“Fairy Song” (Excerpted from Flower Fables)

By Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

 

The moonlight fades from flower and tree,

And the stars dim one by one;

The tale is told, the song is sung,

And the Fairy feast is done.

The night-wind rocks the sleeping flowers,

And sings to them, soft and low.

The early birds erelong will wake:

‘Tis time for the Elves to go.

 

O’er the sleeping Earth we silently pass,

Unseen by mortal eye,

And send sweet dreams, as we lightly float

Through the quiet moonlit sky;

For the stars’ soft eyes alone may see,

And the flowers alone may know,

The feasts we hold, the tales we tell:

So ‘tis time for the Elves to go.

 

From bird, and blossom, and bee,

We learn the lessons they teach;

And seek, by kindly deeds, to win

A loving friend in each.

And though unseen on Earth we dwell,

Sweet voices whisper low,

And gentle hearts most joyously greet

The Elves where’er they go.

 

When next we meet in the Fairy dell,

May the silver Moon’s soft light

Shine then on faces gay as now,

And Elfin hearts as light.

Now spread each wing, for the eastern sky

With sunlight soon will glow.

The morning star shall light us home:

Farewell! for the Elves must go.