With a Cross at the Helm

Crusaders attacking Muslims
From a fourteenth-century manuscript
(Bibliothèque Boulogne-sur-Mer)

I didn't write anything on September 11, the morbid anniversary of the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in New York by Muslims. What is there to say? Now, twelve years later, it looks like we have learnt nothing from those attacks, and are meekly waiting for another (or blithely going about our own ways).

Laura Wood at The Thinking Housewife writes:

In a 2006 post at Gates Of Vienna, Baron Bodissey described the Battle of Vienna on September 11, 1683, when the Christian army under Jan Sobieski, the King of Poland, ended the Muslim siege of the city.

A commentator at her site writes:

It is good to be reminded of what should have been Christendom’s conclusive triumph over Islam, in the persons of the Ottoman besiegers of Vienna in 1683

[...]

So while we should lament that, through our moral weakness, Vienna was not the last word in the struggle between Islam and the West, we can draw hope from its example that the West can endure if we can only summon the will to prevail.

I think we are at a more difficult juncture than ever before. The Christian spirituality of the world, and especially the Western world, has diminished. Are we ever going to get those armies which march forward with the cross at their helm?

I think it is still possible, but it will be a difficult undertaking. The boldness of the Muslim world has occurred now because of our spiritual weakness. Muslims are not weak. They know they come in the name of Allah. We have to counter that by marching in the name of God.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Translations of the Pslam 42: Like As the Hart

The Wilton Diptych: Exterior [showing the white deer]
Painted in England or northern France
Around the time of Richard's second marriage in 1396

The Wilton Diptych in the National Gallery takes its name from Wilton House, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, where it was housed between 1705 and 1929. The name of the artist and the place where it was made are unknown. It has been suggested that the painter came from Italy or Bohemia, but it is probable that the diptych was made on behalf of Richard II himself and that it was painted in England or northern France around the time of Richard's second marriage in 1396. Surviving panel paintings from northern Europe dating from the late fourteenth century are very rare.

[...]

On the other panel is a white hart, Richard II's badge. Around its neck is a crown with a chain attached. The antlers stand out from the gold ground through the effect of light and shadow created in pointillé. The hart lies in a grassy meadow strewn with flowers and mingled with rosemary thought to be in remembrance of Richard's first wife, Anne of Bohemia. The green pigment has discoloured with age.
[Source: Richard II's Treasure]

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In my post: Like as the Hart and a Cacophony of Cicadas, I posted Psalm 42 where the phrase "Like as the hart" (or more precisely in the King James version "As the hart") occurs. Howell, who wrote the psalm to choral music, and whose version the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral performs, uses Like as the Hart for his composition:

The blogger A Clerk at Oxford analyzes various translations of the psalm. It is worth spending the time reading his analyses, albeit a little difficult at times.

Here is his post: Psalm Translations: Like as the hart
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Debussy's Golliwogg's Cakewalk

A YouTube video, more or less, featuring what’s purported
to be a live performance of “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” with the
composer himself at the keyboard, circa 1912. It’s billed
as a selection from the “Welte-Mignon Piano Roll #2733
Children’s Corner No. 6

’Golliwogg’s Cakewalk.’” We haven’t had the time to confirm
its authenticity, but it does reveal a performance that,
in many ways, varies considerably from contemporary
performances of the same popular piece.
[Source: In Series' evocative Debussy salon. Washington Times,
December 8, 2012. By Terry Ponick]

I heard the piece above recently on the radio.

Below is an article by a musician writing about how he explained the piece to his student. I think he gets too dramatic, and sanctimonious. Golliwoggs may have been caricatures of blacks, but Debussy's piece is a fun, playful and also musically sophisticated piece. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see what others say about those difficult racial works, and many resort to a confused lecturing, while at the same time praising those artistic endeavors.

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The original cover of Debussy's suite: Children's Corner

Golliwog's Cakewalk
By Charles T. Downey

One of my piano students has recently begun to work on Claude Debussy's rag-inspired piece "Golliwog's Cakewalk," the last movement in his petite suite pour piano called Children's Corner (1906–1908)...I had not practiced this piece myself since I was in high school, and I now have the chance to remember how much fun it was for me to learn as my student works on it.

When this student expressed an interest in the piece, I felt that I had to explain what it was about: in other words, I had to show him what golliwog and cakewalk meant. An excellent online essay on the history of this disgusting racist image (The Golliwog Caricature, by Ferris State University sociology professor David Pilgrim, who is the curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia there) gives a detailed history of the golliwog and shows numerous images. Artists have been fascinated with the golliwog image, such as Damali Ayo...and Kara Walker. The Golliwog character was made into a very popular children's doll, owned by the young Nabokov and by Debussy's daughter, which was the inspiration for the composer's drawing on the original cover and for the piece itself.

The cakewalk was a sort of dance or stepping competition for a prize of cake, sponsored by a plantation owner and featuring his own slaves who were allowed to mock the airs of their masters. This entertainment was often reproduced in minstrel shows, those horrible sentimentalizing idealizations of plantation life, featuring white actors in blackface, which were one very important influence on the creation of American musical theater...

It's hard for me to know what to do when I get to the point in a survey class that deals with 19th-century America. Some people think that we should just allow this part of music history to disappear into oblivion: don't let students play "Golliwog's Cakewalk" any more and don't teach them anything about the minstrel show. I admit that it does bother me to teach these subjects and have the students be exposed to these worst expressions of American institutional racism and find them funny. Maybe it really would be better just never to introduce today's students to these parts of the past. Ultimately, however, I value truth too much to edit these things out of our understanding of history.

When I looked through the catalogue of Debussy's works, I discovered that Debussy, perhaps to capitalize on the popularity of "Golliwog's Cakewalk," also composed another cakewalk pour piano in 1909 called Le petit nègre (The little negro), which I have never heard or played.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Response to Emails

I'm getting nasty emails and comments (which I immediately delete) calling me racist, homophobe etc.

I don't mind being called a homophobe. The definition of homophobe (or homophobia) according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary is:

irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals

The word that best describes my reaction is "aversion to." That is exactly right: I have an aversion to homosexuals and homosexuality.

So, I don't mind, and I even welcome, being called a homophobe. Racist is another thing. It somehow goes to a deeper core. I don't have and aversion to, and irrational fear of, or a hatred of other races.

The online dictionary at Dictionary.com defines racist thus:

The belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiority over others

Yes, there are racial differences. Everyone know that. Even those who cry "racist" at any occasion.

And yes, some races have accomplished more than others. Everyone accepts that. Even those who cry "racist" at any occasion.

But, I don't believe that any race is morally, or spiritually, superior that others.

This is hot button issue, and people like Larry Auster have spent years unraveling the difficult and volatile race-relations in America. But even Larry didn't believe in the superiority of one race over another.

My regular (now irregular) posts on Asians is not so much how inferior they are to whites, but how their accomplishments are inferior to whites.

Probably Asians will feel comfortable and at home in their own homelands. That is why at some point I was advocating a peaceful return of Asians (first, second, tenth generation) back to Korea, China and the Philipines and India. Race and culture is a strong, lingering element of the human psyche. Third generation Asians do not forget their Asian ancestry! They do not feel "at home" in the white culture of America and Canada. They subtly and earnestly maintain aspects of their ancestral culture, even if they have never been in their ancestral lands.

Look at Vera Wang, and her whole array of red wedding dresses - inspired by the red wedding gowns of her Chinese background. Wang was born and brought up in the United States. She is, for all purposes, an American. Yet, these many years on, she still cannot fully and wholeheartedly relate to the American, white culture.


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The Deterioration of Tennis

Rafael Nadal in the 2013 US Open. He goes on to win the title.
Serena Williams in the 2012 US Open. She goes on to win the title.

These are the tennis "champions" of our era. This is what they wear, this is how they behave on court, this is what sports aficionados admire (if they didn't, these characters would never be able to play the way they do).

Watching tennis is still a pleasure. There is something mesmerizing about that tiny ball making it back and forth across the court.

But now, not only do we have to put up with the aggressive, and often frightening, behavior of the players, there is a new trend where the players accompany their strokes with loud grunts.

Perhaps the grunts are understandable. Tennis has become a game of muscles, not of finesse. The athletes have become body builders maneuvering themselves around the court. Any smaller-built competitor is already at a disadvantage, not because of lack of talent, but because of his body size.


Nadal (left) with the leaner Djokovic in the 2013 US Open. Nadal won the championship

This is how it played out between Rafael Nadal, the current champion, and Novak Djokovic, who played him in the finals. Djokovic is a much leaner player, at least in muscle mass, and it was visible in his the force of his strokes. His precise and graceful style was over-powered by the forceful shots of Nadal.

And I wont even go into the transvestite-looking Serena Williams. The photograph at the top says it all.

I miss those days when court tantrums were defined by McEnroe. Now we have heavily grunting, testosterone-spiked players, who may actually attack the judges and their opponents.

Thus is our era eradicating civility, even in the most civil of sports.


Left: John McEnroe argues with the umpire during his semi-final match against Jimmy Connors
in 1980 at Wimbledon. McEnroe won the match.
Right: Serena Williams argues with tournament referee (right) in 2009 at the US Open during her match with Kim Clijsters. Williams lost the match.
[Notice the petrified look of the female grand slam supervisor Donna Kelso].

John McEnroe arguing with an umpire at Wimbeldon in 1980:
- Notice the safe height at which the judge is positioned.
- Notice McEnroe's unobtrusive tennis clothes
- Notice how the judge brushes off McEnroe, even reprimanding him
- Notice how McEnroe, since he cannot get close enough to act out his tantrum, resolves to arguing his point rather than attacking the judge

Serena Williams arguing with referee at the US Open in 2009:
- Notice how close Williams gets to the referee, frightening the female line judge who looks petrified at Williams' aggression and violent posture.
- The referee looks cautious and conciliatory (notice his outreached hand, as if to say that the decision is beyond his control: i.e. it is correct).
- Notice how there is nothing protecting the referee from a potential violent physical attack by Williams. In an age of more aggressive playing, safety measures are actually removed from the tennis court, compared to 1980.
- Notice Williams' pumped up, muscular physique against the tall and lean referee. She could throw him down with one swoop of her tennis racket.
- Her non-conforming attire, black and menacing, adds to her aggressive attitude.


1930s tennis outfits for men and women
Elegant and white
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Arms Akimbo

This is an image posted at Laura Wood's The Thinking Housewife, on a post about a mother who lets (or wishes that) the inner gayness of her child manifest itself. In fact, the story is about how this mother was so disappointed that her heterosexual son revealed to her that he is indeed heterosexual.

The photograph is from the Huffington Post, with this title: My Son Wore a Dress for Halloween.

There are many evils that emanate from this image:

- What young boy makes an independent decision to "do" anything? The ultimate arbitrators and judges are the parents. "No, you cannot wear that costume for Halloween." "You will eat your porridge, or no breakfast." "I'm not paying for that toy/DVD/popsicle/school trip. When you earn your own salary, you can buy whatever you want."

- What mother will plaster photos of her children on the internet, for all to see, judge, and even plan a trip to her home to find this fairy child?

- What mother (and father, because the father is presumably in agreement, even if his wife didn't initially consult him, since everyone will tell him about that photograph) wants her son to be a daughter (or a boy-child to be a girl-child?)

One other strange and disturbing aspect of this image is that this mother doesn't want her son to be any kind of girl (although she's playing around with the theme of a "fairy").

She has her son standing with his arms akimbo, in a sexualized pose.

What young girl stands with her arms perched on her (non-existent, immature) waist?

I suppose the falseness of the scenario manifests itself in that exaggeratedly sexualized pose. This boy reconstructed as a girl by the evil mother has to exaggerate, and corrupt, femininity in order for his transformation to be credible.

All children like to play dress-up. Somehow, this evil mother convinced her young son that it was ok to dress as a fairy girl. And as with all children, he used his imagination to play that role to its fullest. Where did he learn to use his imagination to that fullest?

Of course, it is not just the evil mother who builds these scenarios for her son: she has a whole army of complicits, from the school teachers, television personalities, politicians, and really almost everyone else that is now in our liberal world.
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Penn Station

Here is a lovely, delicate illustration of Penn Station in 1906.


Pennsylvania Station Interior, 1906
Jules Crow
Watercolor, Ink and Graphite on Paper
New-York Historical Society, Mckim, Mead & White Collection

I found the image at the webiste for the New York Historical Society, in an article titled: McKim, Mead & White’s Glorious Old Penn Station Turns 103. The New York Historical Society is on Central Park West, on 77th Street, a grand and beautiful location.

The original Penn Station (now demolished) was designed and built by McKim, Mead & White, who also built the Morgan Library, which I've visited and written about here.

The original architects for the New York Historical Society's building are York and Sawyer. According to Wikipedia:

The partners Edward York (1863–1928) and Philip Sawyer (1868–1949) had both trained in the office of McKim, Mead, and White. In 1898, they established their independent firm, based in New York City.

The building was later extended in 1938 by Walker & Gillette. And it went further renovations and extensions, by a third team of architects - Platt Byard Dovell White - which were completed in 2011.

Platt Byard Dovell White Architects make post-modern, ugly buildings, dominated by glass, so I was worried what they could have done to the Beaux-Arts and Roman Eclectic architectural styles of the New York Historical Society. Fortunately, they mostly "renovated" the building rather than restructure it.

Here is the list of renovations they made, none affecting the aesthetic structure of the building:

On the basis of a Master Plan developed early in the process, we reconfigured the following areas:

Entrances & Façade Improvements:
The building was made more visible, more inviting, and more accessible by reconfiguring the entrances on Central Park West and 77th Street and adding doors, ramps, and generous front steps as well as enlarged windows, new signage, and colorful exterior lighting. Exterior changes to the designated landmark required approval of the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Gallery Improvements:
The ground floor, formerly a warren of cloakroom spaces, has been transformed into a single gallery that puts the most popular elements of the collection next to the front door. We upgraded other galleries in a similar fashion with new wall and ceiling finishes, lighting, and climate control.

Auditorium:
Halfway through construction the Society asked us to renovate their neoclassical auditorium into a space that would support a variety of media productions and live performances. We completely reconfigured the plan and added a balcony to bring the capacity to 418, with excellent sight lines from every seat. New finishes, new lighting, and an 80’ wide screen make the auditorium the setting for a dazzling 18-minute introductory video and the centerpiece of a robust slate of public programs.

I had the NYHS on my list to visit during my last trip to the city. I didn't make it. It is a priority on my list for my next visit, especially as a place I can photograph as an illustrative image for my book.
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Sunday Sermons

Hour of Power Preacher: Bobby Schuller

In a previous post, I wrote:

Beauty takes on a mature happiness, a joyful engagement in the world around us, a desire to live in it, to improve on it, to share it, and to exalt in it. It is what God gave us, after all, albeit having sent us out of paradise. Our earth is not a "lost paradise" but a distorted paradise, where we can see bits of the real thing around us... [T]his drives us to find those "real" moments, and interject them into our world.

A couple of days ago, I was watching a silly movie - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - where the Norah says:

There's this part of Judaism that I like. Tikkun Olam. It said that the world is broken into pieces and everyone has to find them and put them back together.

I think this fits into what I was trying to say about beauty: that we live in a broken world, but we still have glimpses of the glory and beauty of the paradise we all intuitively know, and, in many ways, it is our task to try to reform that world, and return it to its original beauty through our own talents and abilities.

Most of the online sources explaining Tikkun Olam see it in societal terms, and eventually take on socialist connotations. But this rabbi's (Rabbi Paul Steinberg) explanation seems closest to what I'm trying to say:

The term tikkun olam is a deeply important Jewish concept and yet also commonly misunderstood. Tikkun olam is not a mitzvah to fulfill, but a term that generally refers to the Jewish impulse and commitment to perfect the world in accordance with God’s will through our own behavior, attitude, and action. Many scholarly critics point out that the term has been done an injustice by being flattened to simply refer to positive social involvement...

Another early Rabbinic reference appears in the Aleinu prayer, which originated in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, but became a daily prayer around 1300 CE. In the second paragraph, it says: “We therefore place our hope in You, that we might see Your glorious power, sweeping the world of detestable things... l’takein olam b’malchut shaddai – often translated as, “perfecting the world by Your sovereignty.” Here we see by way of context and grammar that the repairing of the world is done by God rather than our own powers.

Here's another explanation at the website The Temple Isaiah:

The phrase "Tikkun Olam" literally means "world repair." It is commonly used to refer to the pursuit of social action and social justice. However, few realize that the phrase and the concept behind it originate in kabbalah, in the teachings of the 16th century mystic Isaac Luria.

According to Luria, in order to make room for the world to be created, God needed to contract. That contraction is called tzimtzum. Kabbalists consider tzimtzum to be a great act of love. Think about the times in your life you've "held back" to make room for someone else to grow. God then created special vessels to contain the Divine light God would use to create the world. However, God's light was so vast, many of the vessels shattered, scattering shards all over creation. While most of the light returned to its Divine source, some attached itself to the broken shards. Kabbalists believe that these shards are all that is bad in the world, these broken pieces in which sparks of light are trapped.

Our purpose, therefore, is to help gather the lost light. That is the entire purpose of the mitzvot, commandments. Whenever we perform a mitzvah, we separate what is holy from what is profane and release the light within. Every day we have an opportunity to collect shards and release their light. [More at Temple Isaiah]

Of course, it is God who gives us the "power" to sweep the world of detestable things, but we have to first recognize, and be repelled by, those detestable things before we can even start to act and consequently receive that power.

I watch on Sundays the televised sermons of a couple of preachers: Charles Stanely and the Bobby Shculler.

This week, Dr. Stanley briefly mentioned the various "gifts" of personalities we are given as individuals. He listed them as:
- Service
- Teaching
- Exhortation
- Giving
- Organization
- Mercy

He has full sermons on each of these, and he got the list from Romans 12:6-8:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I'm sure each of us can immediately recognize which he has received. Mine is Prophecy, and here is the succinct list to explain the prophetic soul that the "Teacher" Stanely (I'm sure his gift is teaching) provided:

A strong need to express himself verbally
A strong ability to discern the character and motives of other people
Wholehearted involvement in whatever he is doing
Very open to correction
Extremely loyal
Willingness to suffer for what is right
Persuasive in defining truth

The quest for "Reclaiming Beauty" is in a sense a phrophetic quest. In his detailed list of nine elements to define the prophetic soul, Dr. Stanley writes this for point #7:

7. Those with the gift of prophecy are persuasive in defining truth.

I hope that I am persuasive in defining the truth of beauty (and its nemesis, ugliness). I also like his eighth point, which describes the "problems" I face with this personality of mine:

8. What are some common misunderstandings about the gift of prophecy? Those with the gift of prophecy are often seen as being intolerant because of their strong sense of right and wrong. They are thought to be poor listeners because they are eager to proclaim the truth. Their frankness may be viewed as harshness, and their interest in the whole group may be misinterpreted as lack of interest in a particular individual. Because they find new methods of accomplishment, they are accused of using gimmicks. These believers focus on their personal decision, and others accuse them of neglecting spiritual growth. Finally, their public boldness and strict standards can hinder them from experiencing intimate personal relationships.

"Intimate personal relationships" of course also means friends. And I think that is true, boldness in truth-seeking doesn't set the stage for easy friendships.

Stanely continues that we use our gifts with the spirit of God. Walking with them alone corrupts them, and us.

In conjunction with this almost arrogant boldness that our spiritual natures give us, the Schuller sermon was about humility. Schuller says:

Living humbly, in the shadow of the cross of Christ...is a reflection of God's great love for you...God has called us into the easy yoke of Jesus, which means very simply we don't have to prove anything, and we can live humbly in this life...

The full sermon is available here.

Humbly performing our "gifts" is the most effective way to achieve the results we want.
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Nectar For A Goddess

Please take the title as tongue in cheek. It is in reference to a previos post on wine which I titled Nectar for the Gods, where I discuss a delicate Irish beer. I continue with the theme of gods in my two posts on wine: The God Of Wine and Dionysus' Fury while also describing a vintage.

This time it is a rosé, and hence a call out to goddesses. Rosés are thought to be the quintessential feminine wine. Partly because they are such a pretty color, and they are between a red and a white in strength. But, some rosés come in robust tastes, and this White Zinfandel is one such.

I don't recommend drinking it chilled. I think the coldness distracts from tasting the wine and its notes and layers.

It does start out light, but stronger flavors linger on.

Description from the bottle:

Front:
Gallo Family Vineyard
White Zinfandel
California
2012

Back:
You can taste the Gallo family's dedication to the art of winemaking, passed down through four generations, in this White Zinfandel. This wine highlights flavours of scrumptious cherry and watermelon with hings of raspberry. Enjoy chilled.

This site adds dried cranberry to the list. The semi-sweet, semi-acidic taste of the cranberry does contribute to the "robustness" of this wine.

The watermelon is perhaps what contributes to the freshness, and the cherries to the sweetness, but without the cranberry, I think this wine would have been just another sweet, pretty rosé. The after-taste is smooth, unlike some inexpensive wines which leave a slightly bitter residue on the tongue.

A plebian reviewer at this site sees it as a late-evening summer sipping wine for the patio, to be drunk by itself. But I think it should be served with meals, and preferably with dinner. For example, with pork, perhaps using the wine as a marinade. Chicken might be too light, and beef too strong for this wine. One reviewer recommends fish. I would say again a more robust salmon, with an appropriately well-seasoned sauce. One commentator says it would do for a casual dinner, but I think it actually suits a more formal occasion.

Gallo does promote it's winery as an "everyman" wine, but the winery clearly doesn't sacrifice quality for popularity. The Gallo wines have won several awards.


Gallo Family Collection
Based in Modesto, California
An original display of a kaleidoscope of colors

Ernest Gallo, whose full name often figures on the wine bottles, is the son of Italian immigrants. He learned the wine trade through his father's California business. Gallo means rooster in Italian, and hence the rooster logo which fronts the Gallo wine bottles:


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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Pie Jesu

Gabriel Faure
Requiem
- Pie Jesu
- In Paradisium
Choir of King's College, Cambridge, 1967
Treble: Robert Chilcott

The solo soprano sings the prayer to the "good Jesus" for everlasting rest. The one line of text is repeated three times, the first two times asking for "requiem" (rest), then intensified for "sempiternam requiem" (everlasting rest). The first call is a modal melody in B-flat major of six measures, the second call is similar but reaching up higher. The words "Dona eis, Domine, dona eis requiem" begin with more expansion, but reach alternating between only two notes on two repetitions of "sempiternam requiem". The last call begins as the first and leads again to alternating between two notes in even lower range, until the last "requiem" has a gentle upward motion. [Source: Wikipedia - Faure Requiem]

Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu Domine Dona eis requiem Dona eis requiem Pie Jesu Domine Dona eis requiem Dona eis requiem Dona eis Domine Dona eis requiem Sempeternam requiem Sempeternam requiem Sempeternam requiem Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Domine Dona eis, dona eis Sempeternam requiem Sempeternam requiem

Merciful Lord Jesus Give them rest Give them rest Merciful Lord Jesus Give them rest Give them rest Give them Lord Give them rest Everlasting rest Everlasting rest Everlasting rest Merciful Jesus Merciful Lord Jesus Give them, give them Everlasting rest Everlasting rest

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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A Little Bit of History, And a Good Bit of Logic

On January 2007, almost seven years ago, I wrote this:

I strongly believe that Muslims are not to be underestimated in any manner whatsoever.

I wrote this in the very last line of an article, which was posted on Lawrence Auster's View From the Right, titled: Ethiopian Christian Tolerance, Ethiopian Islamic Jihad.

Almost all the media relates the conflict in the Middle East to a regional conflict of Arab territorial incursions. And these Middle East "experts" don't bring up Islam as a decisive factor in these "conflicts." Before I read Bat Ye'or's Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate (in 2011), and Sam Solomon's Al-Yahud: Eternal Islamic Enmity and the Jews (in 2010), I was aware that the "conflict in the Middle East" is really the recurring attempt by Muslims to turn (return) the world to Allah and to Islam, which is essentially a spiritually mandated mission, clearly delineated in the Koran.

A little bit of history, and a good bit of logic, is all I had. Larry was much further ahead, and more comprehensive, both in his historical knowledge and his analytical process. He had, by the time I sent him that article, written many articles for various journals, and many unpublished which he posted on his website, on that very subject, and with those very conclusions.
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Beauty's Strength

William Blake: 1757-1827
Illustrations to John Milton's Paradise Regained: 1816-1820

I wrote the following in my post on Baudelaire:

Beauty takes on a mature happiness, a joyful engagement in the world around us, a desire to live in it, to improve on it, to share it, and to exalt in it. It is what God gave us, after all, albeit having sent us out of paradise. Our earth is not a "lost paradise" but a distorted paradise, where we can see bits of the real thing around us... [T]his drives us to find those "real" moments, and interject them into our world.

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Baudelaire's Possession

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire, ca. 1863
By: Étienne Carjat (French, 1828–1906)

The photographer captured the evil emanating from Baudelaire's face.

[More information on the photograph here]

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I asked Tiberge, of Galliwatch, to comment on my comments on Baudelaire's essay Journaux intimes. Fusées. Mon coeur mis à nu, and she graciously sent me this:

http://www.necessaryprose.com/

The web page above has some ideas and quotations that you may find of interest. Scroll down to Baudelaire: Journaux intimes and click for an English version of the passage on beauty. You can compare it with your own. I like your comments very much but I am also attracted to the idea of something melancholy in beauty. Not beauty that is devoid of spirituality, but not too happy either. I feel happiness is transitory, while melancholy is symbolic of something deeper and more enduring. Melancholy is the loss of happiness, and I feel that a person, man or woman, but especially a woman, is more beautiful if she has suffered loss. I know this sounds perhaps strange and Lawrence Auster once told me he did not agree with that. He did not think that suffering was necessary to really be a "better" person. I don't mean to say that person should endure any kind of torture, but I do feel that loss, self-doubt, and resignation to one's fate (the fate which we inherit at birth, which is not fixed immutably, but which can be molded within strict limitations) help a person appreciate life more. Am I too pessimistic? I don't think so. There have been very few truly happy moments in my life, and I was wary of every one of them because I knew they were transitory. I am much happier without happiness, and without the idea of personal happiness. But I have achieved a kind of "wisdom" that gives me satisfactions and comfort.

I do not mean to deny happiness to others. For example, the rather plain Kate Middleton looked gloriously happy in a recent photo of her with William and the baby. She has blossomed so noticeably. That's wonderful. I do not begrudge anyone happiness. I'm talking more about myself and my own nature which has never been "happy", but which has been very adaptable and very curious.

The page on Baudelaire also has a most fascinating quotation from André Gide at the bottom. I would love to have the time to write about Gide's notion that the devil does NOT want us to believe in him. Here is much food for thought: it is necessary to believe in Satan in order to avoid him. You may be able to build an interesting post on this idea. I don't have the inclination right now.

While you are at that web page click also the article on Flaubert. The translation of Flaubert's erotic passages is of great interest to those, like myself, who have learned that a great writer, a great artist, is not necessarily a likable person. Read about how Flaubert loved prostitutes and could not keep away from them.

Bonne lecture.

I can understand how melancholy can drive us into its world. It is an introverted, and in many ways a quiet, state of mind. But, I think it is also a dangerous place. I think it attracts variations of Satan (whether through sad thoughts, introverted ways, and a distancing from the outer world).

I don't think happiness necessarily means mindless cheerfulness, although I do know people like that, and they are irritating, albeit in a harmless way. But I think Beauty takes on a mature happiness, a joyful engagement in the world around us, a desire to live in it, to improve on it, to share it, and to exalt in it. It is what God gave us, after all, albeit having sent us out of paradise. Our earth is not a "lost paradise" but in a distorted paradise, where we can see bits of the real thing around us. For some, this drives us to find those "real" moments, and interject them into our world. For others, it might make them sad, and melancholic. And those are the ones where Satan's lures can easily enter, where he pits us against God, telling us that we have been rejected by Him, and that he (Satan) can now deliver us from those travails.

I am glad that Larry Auster had similar views as I do (Tiberge mentions his disagreement with her view on melancholy and beauty above). It is hard to do much without the yolk of something better. And I think beauty is that quest for perfection, and it gives us support.

Below is Baudelaire's sinister inversion.

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Glory and praise to thee, Satan, in the most high,
Where thou didst reign; and in deep hell's obscurity,
Where, manacled, thou broodest long! O silent power,
Grant that my soul be near to thee in thy great hour,
When, like a living Temple, victorious bough on bough,
Shall rise the Tree of Knowledge, whose roots are in thy brow!


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All glory be to Thee, Most High,
To Thee all adoration;
In grace and truth Thou drawest nigh
To offer us salvation;
Thou showest Thy good will to men,
And peace shall reign on earth again;
We praise Thy Name forever.

We praise, we worship Thee, we trust
And give Thee thanks forever,
O Father, for Thy rule is just
And wise, and changes never;
Thy hand almighty o’er us reigns,
Thou doest what Thy will ordains;
’Tis well for us Thou rulest.

O Jesus Christ, our God and Lord,
Son of the Heavn’ly Father,
O Thou Who hast our peace restored,
The straying sheep dost gather,
Thou Lamb of God, to Thee on high
Out of depths we sinners cry:
Have mercy on us, Jesus!

O Holy Spirit, precious gift,
Thou Comforter unfailing,
From Satan’s snares our souls uplift,
And let Thy power, availing,
Avert our woes and calm our dread.
For us the Savior’s blood was shed;
We trust in Thee to save us.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

Baudelaire's Distortion of Beauty: Emanating from his Rejection of God

From Milton's Paradise Lost
Satan rouses his followers to wage war against God
Illustration by Richard Westall [1765 – 1836]
Engraving by Jean Pierre Simon [born before 1750 - died circa 1810]

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Tiberge, of Galliawatch, sent me the following passage by Baudelaire with the note:

"Why don't you comment on Baudelaire's idea of beauty? Or have you already done so? Here it is:"

The quote is from:
Journaux intimes. Fusées. Mon coeur mis à nu (By Charles Baudelaire)
Pp 18-20

The French edition, from 1920, is available here online.

Here is the passage:

J'ai trouvé la définition du Beau, de mon Beau.

C'est quelque chose d'ardent et de triste, quelque chose d'un peu vague, laissant carrière à la conjecture. Je vais, si l'on veut, appliquer mes idées à un objet sensible, à l'objet par exemple, le plus intéressant dans la société, à un visage de femme. Une tête séduisante et belle, une tête de femme, veux-je dire, c'est une tête qui fait rêver à la fois, — mais d'une manière confuse, — de volupté et de tristesse ; qui comporte une idée de mélancolie, de lassitude, même de satiété, — soit une idée contraire, c'est-à-dire une ardeur, un désir de vivre, associés avec une amertume refluante, comme venant de privation ou de désespérance. Le mystère, le regret sont aussi des caractères du Beau.

Une belle tête d'homme n'a pas besoin de comporter, aux yeux d'un homme bien entendu, — excepté, peut-être, aux yeux d'une femme, — cette idée de volupté, qui, dans un visage de femme, est une provocation d'autant plus attirante que le visage est généralement plus mélancolique. Mais cette tête contiendra aussi quelque chose d'ardent et de triste, — des besoins spirituels, — des ambitions ténébreusement refoulées, — l'idée d'une puissance grondante et sans emploi, — quelquefois l'idée d'une insensibilité vengeresse (car le type idéal du dandy n'est pas à négliger dans ce sujet); quelquefois aussi, — et c'est l'un des caractères de beauté les plus intéressants — le mystère, et enfin (pour que j'aie le courage d'avouer jusqu'à quel point je me sens moderne en esthétique), le malheur. Je ne prétends pas que la Joie ne puisse pas s'associer avec la Beauté, mais je dis que la Joie est un des ornements les plus vulgaires, tandis que la Mélancolie en est pour ainsi dire l'illustre compagne, à ce point que je ne conçois guère (mon cerveau serait-il un miroir ensorcelé?) un type de Beauté où il n'y ait du Malheur. Appuyé sur — d'autres diraient: obsédé par—ces idées, on conçoit qu'il me serait difficile de en pas conclure que le plus parfait type de Beauté virile est Satan, — à la manière de Milton.

I will only partially translate it, and write my comments underneath - translation in italics (here is a full translation into English, recommended by Tiberge]:

J'ai trouvé la définition du Beau, de mon Beau
I have found the definition of the Beautiful, my beautiful
[KPA: He is rather pompous, giving us "his" definition.]

C'est quelque chose d'ardent et de triste, quelque chose d'un peu vague
It is something passionate and sad, a little vague
[KPA: He gives it a definite, strong definition, then goes into the anticlimactic "sad" and "vague."]

He then wants to use it to describe a woman's beauty, a woman's face.
...une tête de femme, veux-je dire, c'est une tête qui fait rêver à la fois, — mais d'une manière confuse, — de volupté et de tristesse ; qui comporte une idée de mélancolie, de lassitude, même de satiété,
...a woman's head, I would like to say, is a head that makes one dream both of voluptuousness and of sadness, but in a confused way; which carries with it melancholy, laziness and even satisfaction.
[KPA: A seductive and beautiful face, he explains, is a woman's face. It is a face of dreams (and fantasies?), but a face which evokes sadness, weariness, and even melancholy.]

Why this negative approach towards a beautiful woman's face?

Even the life he gives to a woman's face, a woman's beauty, is negative:
[U]ne ardeur, un désir de vivre, associés avec une amertume refluante, comme venant de privation ou de désespérance
an ardour, a desire to live, linked with a returning bitterness, due to some lack or desperation.
[KPA: Bitterness and desperation are words that he uses, as he "livens up" a beautiful woman's face.]

Perhaps this is it. He continues:
Le mystère, le regret sont aussi des caractères du Beau.
Mystery, regret are also characteristics of the Beautiful
[KPA: Has he been rejected that many times by beautiful women that he has resorted to bitterness?]

Je ne prétends pas que la Joie ne puisse pas s'associer avec la Beauté, mais je dis que la Joie est un des ornements les plus vulgaires, tandis que la Mélancolie en est pour ainsi dire l'illustre compagne...
I don't claim that Joy cannot associate with Beauty, but, I say that Joy is one of the coarsest of ornaments, whereas Melancholy is, as it were, its exemplary companion.
[KPA: He admits that joy can be associated with beauty, but he finds this joy vulgar, whereas melancholy is beauty's best companion.]

...à ce point que je ne conçois guère (mon cerveau serait-il un miroir ensorcelé?) un type de Beauté où il n'y ait du Malheur.
...at this point, I cannot conceive of (could my brain be a bewitched mirror?) a kind of Beauty where there is no misery.
[KPA: Beauty is linked with misery for Baudelaire.]

...il me serait difficile de en pas conclure que le plus parfait type de Beauté virile est Satan, — à la manière de Milton.
...I would find it difficult not to conclude that the perfect kind of masculine Beauty is the Satan, - as Milton wrote.
[KPA: As much as a woman't beauty may best be associated with melacholy and a vague sadness, he is more definitive about masculine beauty: the perfect type of virile beauty is that of Satan.]

In any case, beauty can have no redeeming factors for Baudelaire.

I think this horror of beauty, and its association with Satan in Baudelaire's case, comes from artists (and people) who have rejected God. Looking for beauty without God puts us in Satan's territory, where the beautiful becomes horrifically transformed.

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Here is Baudlelaire's Les Litanies de Satan.

I have reproduced the complete poem, in English, below, to show Baudelaire's distorted and corrupted mind.

The Litanies of Satan

O thou, of all the Angels loveliest and most learned,
To whom no praise is chanted and no incense burned,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O Prince of exile, god betrayed by foulest wrong,
Thou that in vain art vanquished, rising up more strong,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O thou who knowest all, each weak and shameful thing,
Kind minister to man in anguish, mighty king,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou that dost teach the leper, the pariah we despise,
To love like other men, and taste sweet Paradise,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O thou, that in the womb of Death, thy fecund mate,
Engenderest Hope, with her sweet eyes and her mad gait,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou who upon the scaffold dost give that calm and proud
Demeanor to the felon, which condemns the crowd,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou that hast seen in darkness and canst bring to light
The gems a jealous God has hidden from our sight,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou to whom all the secret arsenals are known
Where iron, where gold and silver, slumber, locked in stone,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou whose broad hand dost hide the precipice from him
Who, barefoot, in his sleep, walks on the building's rim,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O thou who makest supple between the horses' feet
The old bones of the drunkard fallen in the street,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou who best taught the frail and over-burdened mind
How easily saltpeter and sulphur are combined,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Thou that hast burned thy brand beyond all help secure,
Into the rich man's brow, who tramples on the poor,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O thou, who makest gentle the eyes and hearts of whores
With kindness for the wretched, homage for rags and sores,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Staff of the exile, lamp of the inventor, last
Priest of the man about whose neck the rope is passed,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

O thou, adopted father of those fatherless
Whom God from Eden thrust in terror and nakedness,

Satan, have pity upon me in my deep distress!

Prayer

Glory and praise to thee, Satan, in the most high,
Where thou didst reign; and in deep hell's obscurity,
Where, manacled, thou broodest long! O silent power,
Grant that my soul be near to thee in thy great hour,
When, like a living Temple, victorious bough on bough,
Shall rise the Tree of Knowledge, whose roots are in thy brow!

— Charles Baudelaire

Translation by Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1936.

[Here's a brief background on the poem from Wikipedia]
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Antidote for Red and Black: Blue

What does a non-Western inhabitant of the West conjure up when she has to make a wedding dress in the West?

NOT makes a white dress.

And, since the color palette is her world, why not go for the most abrasive?

Last year, Vera Wang made red wedding dresses, from a bright "new blood" red, to a darker "older blood." They looked like what vampires might wear. I semi-excused her by saying her red dresses may be referencing her Chinese tradition (regardless that Wang was brought up as an "American" and as far as I know has never lived in China; that she married - and divorced - a white American; and her two daughters were apparently brought up as Americans).


Vera Wang Spring 2013 Bridal Collection: Vampire Theme

For her 2014 collection, it is clear that Wang's intention is once again to go as far away as possible from the traditional, Western white wedding dress. She's going black. She's done black in full tulle in 2010, and periodically since then.


Vera Wang's Charcoal Black Collection from 2010

This time, for her 2014 bridal collection, the black that Wang is adding is by accessorizing with long, black leather gloves. Her brides look like they're Harley Davidson bikers' brides, or they're in an S&M-themed wedding. But, Wang is clever. Those full-on black dresses cannot have been very popular, and the white dress with long, black pleather gloves will be more acceptable.


Vera Wang Black Wedding Dress
from her Fall 2014 Bridal Collection: S&M Pleather

Amsale, on the other hand, who I think is Wang's direct rival (being a non-white, prestigious wedding dress designer) is going for whimsical gowns. I have written that Amsale is probably channeling her Christian background, which grounds her closer to a Western mindset. The closest to color that Amsale has designed is off-white dresses. And these are very few.


Amsale, Spring 2014
Keeping it Simple

Carolina Herrera, another haute couture rival, keeps the gowns white, but her brides' bouquets are a a meddley of colors. The red roses reference her dramatic Spanish background, although she does have white and yellow bouquets:


Carolina Herrera Spring 2014 Bridal Collection

And finally there's Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, who adds color more subtly with whispers of "something blue" in delicate robin blue.

The strips of blue ribbon are also a cultural reference, and don't diminish the "whiteness" of the gowns.


Wedding Gown of Caroline Sieber
From the September 2013 Vogue
Inspired by a portrait of
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
by Franz Xaver Winterhalter


Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
1865
Oil on canvas
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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