The painting above is of Urizen created by William Blake as part of an illustrated book of his own creation mythology. "Urizen represents alienated reason as the source of oppression." Blake also rebelled at the abuse of power by organized religion. Philip Pullman was inspired by William Blake. Oppression by the powerful Magisterium underlies all of Pullman's Lyra books.
The Rise and Fall Of Adam and Eve -- Believers Endured
Adam and Eve is a story from the sacred books of three religions that told of God, the beginning of the world, the first man and woman, good and evil and sin. And for centuries it was believed to be literally true by religious authorities, scholars, rulers, and common people. Stephen Greenblatt, scholar, historian, and author of several insightful, prize winning, and very original books, has now written about the phenomenal history of Adam and Eve. The book, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, is researched through the centuries, and raises a multitude of questions about the credulity of humanity and the power of dogma. Here are excerpts from the book.
"Pious men and women struggled to make good on a theological proposition attempting to treat the tale of naked man and woman and a talking snake as a strictly accurate account of the events that initiated life as we know it . . . Authorities of church and State reacted harshly to skeptics."
For centuries, arguing with organized religion could cost you your life. With time, culture changed and so did thinking. As Michael Schaub wrote in his excellent NPR review: "Literal belief in the Adam and Eve story fell out of favor in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Greenblatt credits Voltaire and Charles Darwin, along with the discovery of ancient fossils, with the now-popular belief that the story is an allegory. 'Dinosaurs helped to destroy the Garden of Eden,' he writes. 'Paradise was not lost; it had never existed.' "
The illustration is by Julius Schnorr von Carlsfeld.
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"We tell our selves stories in order to live."
Joan Didion
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Philip Pullman's Inspiration
Philip Pullman had an epiphany at the age of 16 when he came to know the works -- both poetry and visual art -- of William Blake. With time, we all grow and change. Yet the work of Blake has endured and still resonates with Pullman. The excerpts that follow are from an incredible Philip Pullman article from the Guardian entitled William Blake and Me.
"Sometimes we find a poet, or a painter, or a musician who functions like a key that unlocks a part of ourselves we never knew was there. The experience is not like learning to appreciate something that we once
found difficult or rebarbative . . . It’s a more visceral, physical sensation than that, and it comes most powerfully when we’re young. Something awakes that was asleep, doors open that were closed, lights come on in all the windows of a palace inside us, the existence of which we never suspected . . .
My mind and my body reacted to certain lines . . . with the joyful immediacy of a flame leaping to meet a gas jet. What these things meant I didn’t quite know then, and I’m not sure I fully know now. There was no sober period of reflection, consideration, comparison, analysis: I didn’t have to work anything out. I knew they were true in the way I knew that I was alive. I had stumbled into a country in which I was not a stranger, whose language I spoke by instinct . . ."
The illustration is by William Blake
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What Did Philip Pullman Mean When He Said, "The Lyra Books Were Inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost."
Personally, I found the Lyra Trilogies, His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust (we wait for book three), very engrossing, unlike anything else I have encountered. And I have great respect for the fact that over 17.5 million readers in 40 languages have read these books. Therefore, I was very curious about what Pullman meant when he said that he was, "Inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost". I have now done research and found illuminating insights into what he meant.
The excerpt that follows below is from an introduction to Paradise Lost, and was written by Pullman for the British Library website. While reading, I followed his suggestions (below) for reading aloud and experiencing Milton. I found the article brilliant.
The photo of Lyra, played by Dafne Keen, is from the BBC TV version of His Dark Materials.
Pullman on Milton's Paradise Lost
"The experience of reading poetry aloud when you don't fully understand it is a curious and complicated one. It's like suddenly discovering that you can play the organ. Rolling swells and peals of sound, powerful rhythms and rich harmonies are at your command; and as you utter them you begin to realise that the sound you're releasing from the words as you speak is part of the reason they're there. The sound is part of the meaning and that part only comes alive when you speak it. So at this stage it doesn't matter that you don't fully understand everything: you're already far closer to the poem than someone who sits there in silence looking up meanings and references and making assiduous notes."
The illustration from Paradise Lost is by John Martin.
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“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.” -- Philip Pullman
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Then War Broke Out In Heaven
"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."
Excerpt: Paradise Lost in The Book of Revelation 12: 7-12, in the New Testament (the Christian Bible).
The illustration is a page from the 15th century Cologne Bible.
The illustration of Lyra from His Dark Materials is by Chris Wormell.
The Book of Dust
"The quest to understand, use and destroy Dust is central to His Dark Materials. But as well as being analogous to dark matter, Pullman has said that it is a metaphor for the original story, which he based upon Milton’s Paradise Lost. In His Dark Materials, the Magisterium regards it as evidence of original sin, which must be destroyed before children emerge from puberty into adulthood when their daemons, the animal familiars that represent their spirits, take their final form.
Dust is an analogy of consciousness, and consciousness is this extraordinary property we have as human beings,” Pullman told the Today programme."
The excerpt above was written by Danuta Kean for the Guardian Book of Dust Announcement.
The book Cover illustration is by Chris Wormell.
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"I think, therefore I am" -- Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method, 1637 ..................................................................................................................................................................
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Palm Rot
Tropical Sci-fi fantasy.
Ryan Gillis Creator/director.
Music Waylon Thornton, Sound Design Owen Granich-Young.
USC School of Cinematic Art, Adobe.
Link to Palm Rot Time 7.28
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Saving Buried Books -- The Battle of Britain and Meaningful Children's Books
"We are cultural excavators. Some of our biggest political and moral challenges have been addressed by voices long lost to history. We will unbury neglected authors and books from the twentieth century, before we are buried." — From the Little Mole & Honey Bear Press mission statement
During WW2, for over a year, London was under a ceaseless all out air attack. In the midst of destruction from the bombs. multitudes of children were evacuated to the countryside, separating children from their families. It was a very difficult and painful time.
Dorothy Burroughes, a very accomplished writer and artist of children's books -- forgotten in our current era -- created a delightful book entitled. Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse.
"In Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, Burroughes alludes to the difficult conditions faced by the British people during World War II by transforming them into animals and thus estranging young readers so that they would not possibly suffer anguish while reading her books. Indeed, one of the difficulties for British children at that time was accepting the fact that they had to move from cities to the countryside to escape the Nazi bombings. The adjustment to country life was always a problem on both sides – the city dwellers and the rural people. Thus, Teddy, an immigrant, so to speak, shows unusual courage when faced with a life style that is very strange. Burroughes depicts the mouse as courageous and talented. It is his art, . . that is, his playing the flute that enables all the animals at the farm eventually to make peace with their enemy, the cat. Implicit in this hopeful story is a critique of how animals resolve their conflicts better than humans. Instead, the refugee mouse shares his talents to defeat an oppressor, while the animals welcome the cat into their community despite previous animosity. In this regard, Burroughes’ startling color illustrations celebrate the joy of pacifism." Jack Zipes
The illustration is by Dorothy Burroughes.
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Biddy Mason Speaks Up Video
Biddy Mason began life as a slave in the south and ended up, after struggle, a freed, single mother of three children in 19th century California. This is an amazing true life story of courage and fortitude. Ultimately, she became wealthy through wise real estate investments.This condensed video of 4.5 minutes, 'The Biddy Mason Story' is adapted from "Biddy Mason Speaks Up", an installment of the Fighting for Justice book series, written by Arisa White and Laura Atkins, illustrations by Laura Freeman. This video is part of a larger project entitled "Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California" (goldchainsca.org). Produced by the No.Cal. ACLU.
The Illustration is by Laura Freeman.
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Therapy Dogs Changing Lives.
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When Does It Stop ?
More than half of all police-involved killings in the US go unreported with the majority of victims being Black, according to a new study published in the Lancet, a peer reviewed journal. Link: Guardian
Photo credit Barbershop Books
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For ages 4 and up with an adult's help, or 6 and up for beginning readers.
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How the Snow Valley Heroes Saved Christmas
Two of Santa's incredible flying reindeer had been kidnapped. Never again would there be Christmas. The King of the North has secretly captured the reindeer and hidden them away in his Ice Castle.
No one knew what to do. Not Santa, nor the elves, nor the Tundra Town Traders
Help came from the Planet Of The Dogs. And from Daisy and Bean, a sister and brother who knew the dogs.
Many dogs came to help: brave dogs, clever dogs, and winter dogs. Even small dogs.
The dogs later became know as the Snow Valley Heroes.
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"Labradors make lousy watchdogs. They usually bark when there is a stranger about, but it is an unmitigated expression of joy at the chance to meet somebody new, not a warning." -Norman Strung
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