Dear! of all happy in the hour, most blest
He who has found our hid security,
Assured in the dark tides of the world that rest,
And heard our word, ‘Who is so safe as we?’
We have found safety with all things undying,
The winds, and morning, tears of men and mirth,
The deep night, and birds singing, and clouds flying,
And sleep, and freedom, and the autumnal earth.
We have built a house that is not for Time’s throwing.
We have gained a peace unshaken by pain for ever.
War knows no power. Safe shall be my going,
Secretly armed against all death’s endeavour;
Safe though all safety’s lost; safe where men fall;
And if these poor limbs die, safest of all.
I'm off on another vacation/fishing trip. This time I plan on bagging one of them oceanic blubber beasts. Hopefully, one that is white and of great size. Wish me luck, I don't want to share the fate of one of my role models -- Captain Ahab.
I have posts lined up to be automatically published. Have a good one all.
For reasons of propriety, the bathroom is often overlooked in art and
literature, but the humble bathroom is a fixture in our life. So here are some
paintings of the room.
Halloween is upon us and soon the neighborhood brats will be out and about trying to mooch candy off of us. I plan on handing out spinach leaves this year. I figure the word will get out that I'm a Halloween deadbeat and I'll have plenty of peace and quiet with a silent doorbell. Of course, my pumpkins will get smashed, and my house likely TPed, but that's a small price to pay for a night of serenity.
Anyway, have a happy Halloween and should you find spinach in your treat bag just remember -- it's the thought that counts.
The above video is from a Taiwanese hell temple which is located beneath the main temple. These sorts of places are scattered through Asia and are meant to portray Buddhist hell. Well, it's not really hell, but rather a sort of purgatory. Instead of spending the rest of eternity in it you only spend some time getting tormented for your karmic shortfalls before being shipped off to your next life. Still, what monumental pain in the you-know-what having to go through all that torture every time you keel over at the end of your life. Please, please, please -- don't reincarnate me as a mayfly.
The White Fungus article Hell Is the Main Attraction has a good explanation of the Chinese mythological hell. Below is an exerpt from the article.
Tainan, in southern Taiwan, is home to one of the island’s more idiosyncratic entertainment and religious narrative displays. In the basement of Madou Daitian Temple (麻豆代天宮, Temple of Heavenly Viceroys), one may encounter—if they desire—an animatronic rendering of Chinese mythological hell. In this transitory purgatory, sinners atone for earthly misdeeds before being recast into the world anew. Unfolding across eighteen gory levels, each realm enacts its own distinct form of brutal cosmic justice.
...
Punishments are meted out according to the crime, with some being gender specific. Those who have told lies, for instance, have molten lead poured down their throats, searing their insides. Through a slow, excruciating process, a murky pool of guilt is refined into a transmissible narrative product. As Charles D. Orzech explains in his article, “Mechanisms of Violent Retribution in Chinese Hell Narratives,” “Information is the excuse, not the goal of torture.”
Above ground, in the world of the living, priests, monks, nuns, folk practitioners, and various mediums attempt to “grease the wheels of bureaucracy with their ritual knowledge and with community offerings to obtain release for imprisoned souls.” The lords of hell are not above accepting bribes—received through the burning of ghost money—and there is an uneven efficacy to these rites of karmic retribution. The infernal bureaucracy is known for its occasional bungling, yet the wheels of justice grind on.
All souls of mortals, upon death, must pass through the underworld—but this is purgatory, not eternal damnation. At the final level of hell, the wheel of fortune spins, assigning each soul to its next life vessel—whether human, insect, or another animal. Meng Po (孟婆), the goddess of oblivion, offers each mortified being a cup filled with the Broth of Oblivion (孟婆湯), a powerful elixir that erases all memories. Upon drinking this celestial potion, all is forgotten, and the cycle of life continues.
With Halloween nearly upon us I figure it is time for some ghost paintings.
They were actually more difficult to collect since most of the ghost paintings
returned were in the cheerful and goofy looking Casper the Friendly Ghost
style of white sperm-shaped blobs that I suppose were supposed to be spirits
in sheets (and why do ghosts wear clothes?).
Anyway, I hope the samples I've collected aren't too terrifying and that
you'll be able to have nightmare-free sleep tonight.
