Dromberg Druid Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland -- Facing the Unknown
It is thought that Druids led rituals and ceremonies in these rolling green hills around 3,000 years ago during the late Bronze and early Iron Age. Magic and people with powers were a part of life. Life was hard and mysteries abounded. Their perceptions of the known and the unknown have been largely lost to time.
Time makes room
for going and coming home
and in time’s womb
begins all ending.
Time is being and being
time, it is all one thing,
the shining, the seeing,
the dark abounding.
Ursula K. Le Guin Hymn to Time (excerpt)
The photo of her daughter, Nora, in the fog, is by Julia Soplop at Calm Cradle.
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Witches Witches are traditionally women with power, and, often, what we call magic.
I have mixed feeling about witches. I have compassion for the witches of the past -- from Joan of Arc to Salem and beyond -- who have been brutalised and suffered. I have mixed feelings about miracle working saints and relics. I have found the witches in Macbeth and the Wicked Witch of the West foreboding. I like the witches of Phillip Pullman and Glinda the Good Witch of Oz. I respect true healers of many kinds, past and present. Researching and reading about witches today has been filled with new awareness of the fear and misogny behind the perception and treatment of witches.
The illustration from the book cover of L. Frank Baum's 14th OZ book is by John R. Neill.
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From Baba Yaga to Hermione Granger
This is the title of an excellent Guardian article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett on "why we're spellbound by 'witcherature' ." Cosslett, a respected feminist author, critic, and editor, writes in this article about the evolution of current literature involving witches. Among the authors whose ideas are discussed are Lucy McKnight Hardy, Rebecca Hardy, John Updyke and Madeline Miller. Here are excerpts:
"Of course, the literary witch is nothing new. She has existed since storytelling began, from Circe, the first witch in western literature, to Hecate, Morgan le Fay, Baba Yaga, the Weird Sisters, the Wicked Witch of the West and Hermione Granger. At their worst, literary witches are stereotypical and derivative; at their best they are symbols of resistance against patriarchy and the harnessing of feminine power. . .
There has been a perennial literary fascination with witches; they are, as Marion Gibson, professor of Renaissance and magical literatures at Exeter University says, 'a shorthand symbol for persecution and resistance – misogyny and feminism in particular' A witch is a woman who has too much power. Or, to quote the novelist Madeline Miller, a witch is a woman with “more power than men have felt comfortable with.” History teaches us that witches are dangerous and must be brought down, punished and silenced."
Joan of Arc is the classic example here. After saving France, she was burned at the stake as a witch by the defeated British. A brutal death -- and how did this brutality affect the spectators, both women and men?
The top illustration of the Slavic witch, Baba Yaga is courtesy of the Allen Douglas Studio.
Link to Frances F. Denny's website portfolio of Witches in America.
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Stories Were Told
"People told stories to communicate knowledge and experience in social contexts. Though many ancient tales might seem to us to be magical, miraculous, fanciful, superstitious, or unreal, people believed them, and they were and are not much different from people today who believe in religions, miracles, cults, nations, and notions such as “free” democracies. . ." Jack Zipes, Oxford University Press Blog
The illustration of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes praying to the Virgin Mary is by an unknown artist.
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From Circe to Clinton: Why Powerful Women are Cast as Witches
This is the title of an insightful Guardian article by Madeline Miller tracing the oppression of women from ancient times through the present. Here are excepts:
"During the 2016 US presidential election, American social media was flooded with images of Hillary Clinton wearing a black hat and riding a broom, or else cackling with green skin. Her opponents named her The Wicked Witch of the Left, claimed they had sources testifying that she smelled of sulphur, and took particular delight in depictions of her being melted. Given that the last witch trial in the US was more than 100 hundred years ago, what are we to make of this. . .
In the late 19th century, the suffragette Matilda Joslyn Gage asserted something revolutionary. The persecution of witches, she said, had nothing to do with fighting evil or resisting the devil. It was simply entrenched social misogyny, the goal of which was to repress the intellect of women. . .
Many of the women accused of witchcraft were so-called “wise women,” older figures, often poor widows, who scratched out a living in the community with their experience as midwives, herbalists and hedge-doctors. Their solitary, vulnerable status and unusual knowledge made them perfect targets for people’s rage and fear when crops failed or babies died. . ."
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Circe -- The Power Of Witchcraft
Madeline Miller, a classics scholar, wrote her own, updated version of Circe (2018), a much lauded book which makes the classic myth more relevant and accesible. Her ideas will go beyond the book world. An 8-part miniseries adaptation of the book has been developed by HBO Max
The photoshop image of Hillary was posted on a now suspended account on Instagram by a Hillary hater, Cloyd Rivers.
Here is a link to a Guardian profile on Madeline Miller and books
Here is a link to Leonard Cohen singing Joan of Arc.
The painting of Circe (The Enchantress) is by Edmund Dulac (1911). Illustration: Courtesy of De Agostini Picture Library via Getty Images, via Rhiannon Lucy Gosslett in the Guardian.
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Fairly Take and Fairly Give
"Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give. . .
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little, listen much.
Honor the Old Ones in deed and name,
let love and light be our guides again."
Excerpted from the Wiccan Rede
This illustration of Circe is by John William Waterhouse
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The All Souls Trilogy -- A Crossover Success
There is a woman, Deborah Harkness, currentIy teaching at the University of Southern California, who has been writing best selling books about witches. The All Souls Trilogy -- A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life -- has an enthusiastic fan base with over 2 million copies sold in ten years! It has been translated into 35 different lanquages. There is a well attended annual convention; this year, it will be held in Philadelphia (Oct 23-25). And there is a TV series.
I have read A Discovery of Witches, the first book in the trilogy, where the central protagonist, in a fully realized alternate reality, is an academic witch who must deal with vampires, daemons, and people. Diana, the witch, has a heartfelt love affair with a fascinating 1500 year old vampire. The story and the historical detail are well done.
The books have had many favorable reviews in popular media. However, when reviewed as literature by Jenny Turner in the Guardian or Elizabeth Hand in the Washington Post, the reviews are not favorable. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of her readers is reflected in the over 2 million copies sold. I consider this to be a crossover trilogy.
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All Souls Trilogy: Harry Potter for Grown-Ups?
This was the headline wriiten by Peter Haldeman in the NYTIMES for his interview with Deborah Harkness about her best-selling books, her background (one of her ancestors was a Salem witch) and her new writing projects. Here are excerpts from his article:
"The trilogy. . . has also spawned a fan wiki, an annual convention attended by hundreds of adults who self-identify as supernatural and a merchandise line that extends to duvet covers. 'The series has great brand recognition and some of the most loyal fans on earth,' said Laura Tisdel, Harkness’s editor at Viking. 'The books feel like guilty pleasures, but there’s nothing to feel guilty about, because with Deb you’re in the hands of a real honest to god historian.' . . .
Until recently the All Souls brand lacked one critical asset — the splashy television adaptation. But on Jan. 17, Sundance Now and Shudder air the United States premiere of an eight-part series based on “A Discovery of Witches.” (Two more seasons, corresponding to the other books, have been greenlighted.) The show. . . stars Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, the Yale scholar and “reluctant witch” whose discovery of an enchanted manuscript attracts the attention of an assortment of magical beings, including Matthew Clairmont — a smoldering-eyed vampire scientist with designs on Diana — played by the suitably hunky Matthew Goode."
Halderman writes much more, finding Deborah Harkness candid, charming, and open to all questions.
The top photo of Deborah Harkness is by Magdalena Wosinska/ NYTimes. The photo of Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode is from the All Souls Trilogy TV Series.
Here is a link to Roman Polanski's opening scene with the witches in Macbeth.
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55% of YA readers are adults. In fact, the largest (and growing!) segment in the market for YA literature are adults aged between 30 and 44 years (which accounts for 28% of all sales). Source: The Atlantic
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Movies
H is for Happiness
An imaginative, off-beat, family film, H is for Happiness has won audiences and hearts in Australia and will hopefully soon open in the rest of the movie world. Here are excerpts from a review in the Australia Guardian by Luke Buckmaster
"The freckled, cherub-faced Candice (an unforgettably vibrant Daisy Axon), with her Pippi Longstocking-like bright white teeth and pigtailed red hair, is the sort of character who is compulsively watchable on screen but would probably come across as an insufferable do-gooder in real life.
H is for Happiness is a very different experience, its bright syrupy surfaces the most obvious manifestation of a movie that, while more or less based in our world, has its head very much in the clouds, with regular inferences of the fantastical." Here is the trailer: Happiness
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The Call of the Wild
I am posting excerpts of a review of The Call Of The Wild as I have fond memories of the Jack London book as a young reader; I found the trailer very engaging; and I have great respect for the reviews of Peter Bradshaw
"Beethoven meets Gladiator in this old-fashioned doggy adventure from Disney, which basically jumps out of the screen and starts licking your face. It’s digital in its effects but analogue in its heart.
A big, silly, sloppy, adorable pet St Bernard collie called Buck is forced to toughen up and find his inner survivor-warrior after he is effectively sold into slavery by evil dognappers in early-20th-century North America. He is put to work on a sled team in the freezing Klondike, where the gold rush has drawn thousands of desperate souls searching for riches. . . The result is a bit corny, a bit cheesy and you might feel self-conscious going, “Aww …” at creatures that are not real dogs but laptop fabrications. But it’s a robust and old-fashioned entertainment with some real storytelling bite."
Here is a link to the trailer for The Call of the Wild
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Onward from Pixar
Most reviewers have been very positive about Pixar's new effort. Here is an excerpt from David Sims' review in the Atlantic.
"Onward contains all the elements of a classic hero’s journey: a quest for a charmed object, an expedition through dangerous territory, and encounters with brutish enemies and crafty allies. But the most crucial aspect of the role-playing game is community—the fact that it’s played with friends and relies on teamwork. The writer-director Dan Scanlon’s clear grasp of that makes for a warm, gentle film that doesn’t try to merely dazzle the audience with wild fantasy visuals."
Here is the trailer: Onward
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Jo Jo Rabbit Revisited
This film begins with chilling newsreel scenes of Hitler's rise. This is followed by satirical humor as the war in Germany is seen from the vantage point of a naive, and likeable boy. The humor decreases as the Nazi brutality is increased. The boy suffers and learns as events become even darker. An ubpeat element is the salvation of a young Jewish girl. I found JoJo to be an affecting and meaningful crossover movie. And a hard indictment of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Here is a link to the trailer: JoJo
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Classic Internet Children's Books Offer a Window to Childhood in Past Centuries
The internet, through the Library of Congress, has a multitude of free books for kids. These include rare old classics. Perri Klass MD , in the NYTimes, wrote an informative article on this development. Here is an excerpt:
“Well into the 19th century, most of children’s literature in America came from Britain,” Ms. Coleburn (Library of Congress) said. “It wasn’t til the 1830s and 1840s that we really focused on producing American books.” And American children’s books carried different messages, she said. “In British books often the message is, be content where you are,” she said. But with American books, the Horatio Alger story line emerges, she said: “Be a good person and you can improve your station in life and that will make you happy.”
The illustration is by Carl Edelfelt.
May you have warm winds/On a cold evening/A full moon on a dark night/And a smooth road/All the way to your front door.
May you always walk in sunshine/May you never want for more/May Irish Angels rest their wings/Right beside your door.
Illustration of an old Irish stone cottage is from the collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
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New Kid Wins Newberry Award
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Up On The Woof -- Author Ariel Wulff's blog
"It takes nothing from anyone if you are kind to your dog, so why is it so objectionable? Is it because others think that they are rational and you are not? I believe that I, and others like me, will be on the right side of history. Every day, science discovers more and expands our knowledge about the sentience of animals: that they have an emotional life, that they think and communicate, that they form relationships with others, that they are self aware, that they understand us when we speak to them.
Like children, dogs need us to be responsible and take care of them. . . in a way that ensures they are living their best life. And, like children, they are at our mercy."
The photo, by Ariel Wulff, is of her dog, Taco, now departed.
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Political Disinformation for Kids
The NRA published gun-toting versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel.
Now, a conservative and religious lady in South Carolina, Kathrine DeBrecht, is writing/publishing disinformation in children's books to help the cause of Trump world in a series with titles like: Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!; and, Help! Mom! The Ninth Circuit Nabbed the Nativity! and more.
All DeBrecht's books made Anne Paddock's list of Ten Books Not To Buy Your Kids. Here is an excerpt from her blog Paddock Post:
"Most disturbing of all is the recent proliferation of children’s books that seek to demonize people who do not share conservative political views. With no call for tolerance, kindness, or respect, these books are polarizing and mean-spirited (which is surprising because several of the authors pull the Christian card) and will not foster leaders reflecting the diversity of our citizen’s beliefs. . ."
Cover by Jim Hummel. Click to see Al Gore and Hilary Clinton.
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450,000 child refugees with no destination
"The Syrian civil war has entered its endgame and it is as gruesome and fraught as any stretch in the hellish nine-year struggle. As the Syrian troops of Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, move to clear the last rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria, some 900,000 civilian refugees — more than half of them children — have been pushed against the Turkish border in the freezing cold." -- Source NYTimes
Photo of Syrian refugee father and son from NYTimes by Muhammed Said/Andolu Agency/via Getty Images.
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Gun Violence Archive
"The Gun Violence Archive (GVA) is an online archive of gun violence incidents collected from over 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence. GVA is an independent data collection and research group with no affiliation with any advocacy organization. . . "Visit the GVA homepage to see organized information on US gun violence. In 2020, 692 children, ages 0-11, were shot and either killed or wounded.
Photo is of a mourning student after the Douglas High School massacre, in Parkland Florida.
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Ottawa Therapy Dogs
"Ottawa Therapy Dogs provides invaluable care and support through animal-assisted interventions. We serve people of all ages struggling with physical and mental health challenges. Each year, our therapy dog teams serve people in more than 60 facilities, ranging from hospitals to schools and libraries. The wonderful work done by Ottawa Therapy Dogs volunteers and their dogs includes working with teachers and kids in the excellent R.E.A.D. program , where kids with problems become readers.
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The Planet Of The Dogs Series
Lesa Holstine is an award winning reviewer, blogger, librarian, and, for over 30 years, she has been a library manager/administrator. Here is an excerpt from her review on Lesa's Book Critiques of both Planet Of The Dogs and Castle in the Mist:
"There are touches of humor in both books, particularly in the description of the Planet of the Dogs. Children will enjoy the names of their homes, such as Poodletown, Muttville, and Hound Dog Hamlet. The dogs sing, and grow dog food on trees. And, there are messages of love and peace in both books. In addition, the stories teach children what dogs give to people; their power of smell, the ability to work together, their loyalty, and the power of love. Most of all, the Planet of the Dog books are about the power, and importance, of love."
The illustration of Billy from Castle in the Mist is by Stella Mustanoja-McCarty.
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"And the woman said,"His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always . . ." -- Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories (1902)
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