Arty Farty Spyday

As espionage is currently in the news, courtesy of Edward Snowden, I thought I'd take a look to see whether, over the centuries, spying has ever inspired artistic endeavours. It has been said that spying ties for first place with prostitution for the "Oldest Profession" award, so I'd expect some artist somewhere, at sometime, would have been sufficiently inspired to show it to us.

Several pieces of art depicting spying, found via Google Image, related to a Biblical story telling how Moses sent 12 spies, a man from each tribe, to suss out the land of Canaan. Their task: to find out about the land and its people. Did they live in cities or in camps? What the fruit of the land was like, and if they had forests or not. He asked them to bring back some of the fruit found there. Lots of illustrations show the men returning with grapes etc. I chose these rather more "arty" examples instead:


Escape of the Spies from Canaan by James James Lesesne Wells (1932)

The Spies Escape by Frederic Lord Leighton (1881)

Moving away from biblical stories, there's this, from India:

Krishna spies on Radha from the rooftop, Punjab Hills, Nurpur, India circa 1710.

There's also The Spy by Arthur David McCormick (1860-1943)

For a more contemporary take:
As part of the 2009 centenary celebrations of the British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, artist James Hart Dyke was invited to record their work in a series of paintings and sketches. This unique project saw James working closely with SIS for a year, both in the UK and abroad. Given the sensitivity of the work, James had to observe the need for secrecy and his access to SIS was carefully controlled. Whilst the paintings do not identify actual officers, agents, operations, or actual events, James managed to produce a series of images illustrating this unusual and secretive world. (See HERE)


One of the paintings by James Hart Dyke

And, perhaps also relating to that centenary:

The Spy of Her Majesty by Eugene Ivanov (2009)

Finally, a painting closer to home - actually at home in fact. I featured it in one of my first Arty Farty Friday posts, in 2007. It does fit today's category so:

The Powers Trial

An oil painting by Himself - my husband. He painted it sometime in the early 1960s and called it The Powers Trial. (A larger view should be available by clicking on the picture).

When I first noticed this painting it was stored in a closet with a pile of others a young Himself had worked on many years ago. I liked it immediately for the shapes and colours. I later discovered that the main figure represents Francis Gary Powers, the U.2 pilot shot down while flying over Soviet Union airspace on May 1, 1960, sparking one of the greatest international crises of the Cold War. Husband said that for some reason the trial of Powers had affected him deeply, and this painting was more of a doodle than a serious painting about it. He just started drawing shapes on canvas one day and ended up sketching directly with oil colour.

I'm not sure the detail will show clearly on computer screen, but the scales of justice appear in the centre, some heads of observers in the background, representing the eyes of the world upon the proceedings, and a small depiction of Powers' wife in the lower left square. The figure to the left represents an attorney.

Gary Powers was born on 17 August 1929 in Jenkins, Kentucky. On the date Powers was shot down, 1 May 1960, his natal Pluto at 18* Cancer was being opposed by transiting Saturn at 18* Capricorn - such an opposition between two powerful planets might well be significant here. Saturn represents the law, limitation, and possibly imprisonment. Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio, said to represent, among other things, secrets and spying.

When Powers returned to the USA (as part of an East/West spy-swap) he was criticised for not ensuring that the revolutionary plane was destroyed, or killing himself with a suicide pin or pill. Powers was cold-shouldered by his former employers at the CIA. He died in 1977 at the age of 47 when a TV news helicopter he was piloting crashed in Los Angeles. On May 1, 2000, U.S. officials presented Powers' family with his posthumously awarded Prisoner-of-War Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the National Defense Service Medal.
Info. from http://www.answers.com/topic/francis-gary-powers

LONGEVITY

Beatrice Wood attributed hers to chocolate and young men; Julia Child reckoned that red meat and gin did the trick for her. Both ladies lived long and prospered - long as we know it when applied to human life, anyway. They both survived well past their Uranus returns (around 84 years). It has taken many centuries for humans to experience an extension in expected lifetimes. The "three score years and ten" mentioned in the Bible was, for centuries, optimistic for most people, nigh on impossible for some. It became the norm eventually, via some medical advances and technological developments. 70 years has now been overtaken, though tobacco use and certain pollutions bringing with them the scourge of cancer, may be acting as brakes on what might otherwise have been a more spectacular advance. How many more centuries, or perhaps just decades, must pass before the next measurable advance in the length of our expected lifetimes?

An article by George M. Young at Huffington Post last week:
Do You Want to Be Immortal? Really?
begins:

According to Dr. Igor Vishev (b. 1933), a distinguished Russian scientist and philosopher, it is likely that there are people alive today who will never die. Just stop for a moment and think about that. Alive today. Never die.
Vishev is convinced that medical technology is advancing so rapidly that sometime later in this century, Homo sapiens will become Homo immortalis. He believes that our current lifespan of up to 90 or, in extreme instances, slightly over 100 years, is not cast in stone or fixed in nature but an evolutionary stage out of which we are now emerging. Genetic engineering, replacement of natural organs with artificial instruments, nanotechnology, and other developing technologies could now extend our lives well beyond today's assumed limits. He proposes that a 200-year-old person is a present possibility, and a person who could live at least as long as a 2,000-year-old redwood tree is certainly imaginable.

This week George M. Young expanded on his topic with What Will the Immortals Eat?


After reading both pieces, with jaw continuing to drop, I recalled something in my archives about unusually long age-spans, though in rather different context:

The Bible's Old Testament contains some ancient history and much mystery. One ever-intriguing mystery is the alleged longevity of early patriarchs. In an article by Philip Coppens titled "Biblical Rationality",the author investigates.
( Photo: The Prophets, Strasbourg Cathedral.)

Article begins:

"One of the more intriguing aspects of the Bible is the list of prediluvian patriarchs and their age. Methuselah was said to have lived to the impressive age of 969 years, though “the First Man”, Adam, lived for a solid 930 years – respectable for any prototype."

And goes on to list:

"Adam 930 years; begetting a son at the age of 130
Seth 912 years; begetting a son at the age of 105
Enos 905 years; begetting a son at the age of 90
Cainan 910 years; begetting a son at the age of 75
Mahalaleel 895 years; begetting a son at the age of 65
Jared 962 years; begetting a son at the age of 162
Enoch 365 years before walking with god; begetting a son at the age of 65
Methuselah 969 years; begetting a son at the age of 187
Lamech 777 years; begetting a son at the age of 182
Noach 950 years; begetting a son at the age of 500 "

Coppens then presents theories which have been put forward in an attempt to rationalise or explain what seem to us to be impossibly long human lifespans. Zecharia Sitchin's ideas that the patriarchs were alien, genetically engineered beings is mentioned, but a tad outlandish for me, and the average reader, possibly for the author of the piece too. He continues with other possible explanations based upon astronomy.

It's fascinating stuff, as we discover the answer here could very well lie in the stars! The conclusion is one that straddles opposing beliefs: i.e. that this part of the Old Testament is true, but that the patriarchs were not mortal men, but gods –in fact stars. Their so-called "ages" were correct, and were even life-spans, but of stars and their visibility in the night’s sky. The mystery in this section of the Old Testament can be explained in a way acceptable to both believers and skeptics.

Philip Coppens' birth date is 25 January 1971. I don't know his place of birth so can't set up a natal chart. Sun was in Aquarius though, and according to my ephemeris Mercury was in Capricorn, with Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune all in Sagittarius; Jupiter and Neptune conjoined and sextile Sun. Absent his Mercury in Capricorn I'd tend to think Mr Coppens might be a tad over-enthusiastic and prone to illusion. However, drawing on my own Aquarius Sun and (I hope) commonsense Capricorn Mercury, I suspect that his quite plausible ideas are reasonable enough and worth considering as an answer to the age-old Biblical conundrum.

And yet...and yet...in sci-fi mode I could quite reasonably wonder whether those Biblical patriarchs were in fact a remnant of a previous highly evolved human civilisation which had crumbled. They were said to have enjoyed (?) exactly the kind of long age spans envisioned in the article quoted at the top of this post.

GALLIMAUFRY

gallimaufry - A medley or confused jumble, especially a dish made of leftovers. From French galimafrée: ragout, hash, of unknown origin.

A linked video, Sufi - La Danza del Cosmo is an echo of the "astrology of the ancients". Seven planets only are represented, some remained undiscovered. The sheik of the whirling dervishes dressed in black is Saturn. The Sun is not represented, but they are all "circling" around the (invisible)Sun who gives the energy, life and rythm (the music) and is their center. The absence of a visible 7th planet, the Sun can be interpreted as corresponding to Islam's forbidding any representations of Allah.
(Hat-tip to Gian Paul for this).

Sufis, the mystical Muslims, are also known as fakirs and dervishes. In their whirling dances they seek to communicate with their God.

From Contemporary Aesthetics The Dervishes Dance — The Sacred Ritual of Love

In the Islamic world, humans' movement, the way they understand the process of time and space, depends on nature and parallels the cosmic order and the basic underlying forms that are found in nature. They are not only circular, which means they revolve and repeat, but rather spiral. They grow and expand in a way that radiates from the center out

An interesting interview by Garry Phillipson with astrologer Nick Campion at the website of The Astrological Association of Great Britain is a good read for anyone with a serious interest in astrology.
One brief clip:

Natural astrology survives today in astro-physics. We know there is a common mathematical order linking the Earth to the rest of the universe; that’s the laws of physics and nobody disputes it. What arouses disagreement is how far that affects human society. There is very little evidence to suggest that it does, but at the same time it seems perfectly logical to suggest that there should be links. If human rhythms and cycles are linked to annual cycles, they are linked to the Sun and the Moon, and solar and lunar motions are part of the rest of the mathematical order in the solar system, then I see no theoretical reason why one day we shouldn’t be able to substantiate the existence of planetary connections with human affairs to the satisfaction of society as a whole, not just astrologers.

Long ago, and far away, in the days when I attended church, I was asked to read the lesson at a service held on a certain "Youth Sunday". I've never forgotten the Bible text I was asked to read, from The Song of Deborah in chapter 5 of Judges in the Old Testament. When I read the text now I wonder why it was ever thought appropriate for such an occasion.
(Engraving from The Dore Bible illustrating Judges v 1 and 2 Deborah by Gustave Dore 1832-1883 French artist and illustrator.)

The Song of Deborah tells the story of a battle, and of how Israelites overcame Canaanites with help from their judge and prophetess, Deborah.
(See here)

A line from the Bible text often slips into my mind, unbidden:

"The stars in their courses fought against Sisera"

I'm unclear whether those words refer to something astrological, or to the storm which occurred during the battle, and assisted the Israelites. Perhaps both are interwoven. The Song of Deborah is one of the oldest texts in the Bible. I'd like to think that Deborah was an astrologer as well as judge, prophet and lady of some strength, and that, long ago, I was reading about astrology in church!

MULTI-PURPOSE ZODIAC ?

Following hard on the heels of yesterday's "Astro-fascism", next for the mental-shredder is another peculiar publication.

I picked up a used book the other day at our local "Books Galore" store: The Real Meaning of the Zodiac by D. James Kennedy PH.D.(1989). I should really have left it on the shelf after reading the blurb on the back cover:

"Cataclysmic events have shaken our world. Uncertainty is on the rise, and so is interest in the occult and astrology.

Startling discoveries related by eminent theologian Dr. D. James Kennedy prove that god created the Zodiac! God intended the stars to foretell the future of the world. ........"

Really? Really!!!

You know, sometimes I think astrology can be likened to one of those multi-purpose kitchen gadgets one can use to slice, or dice, or seive, or open a can, or play a tune upon, or use as a door-stop - dependent upon on who's handling the thing. Astrology and its zodiac are at the mercy of any writer with a vivid imagination, to be used and bent to their will and purpose. This book is a good example. I can't bear to read most of what is written. Towards the end of the book the author has the cheek to say

"I would like to repeat that the bible very explicitly condemns astrology in all forms and those who look unto astrologers as well. We are to have nothing to do with this pagan corruption........."

So - what is this guy doing using the tools of astrology, developed over countless centuries, to get a book published and.... to make money ? It's just like playing a tune on that kitchen gadget - using it for a purpose never intended.

The last chapter of the book is given to "The Significance of the Twelve Signs from a Christian Perspective". Starting with Virgo (the Virgin) of course, it would, wouldn't it?

Virgo - The seed of the woman

Libra - The required price paid

Scorpio - The mortal conflict

Sagittarius - The final triumph

Capricornus - Life out of death

Aquarius - Blessing out of victory

Pisces - Deliverance out of bondage

Aries - Glory out of humiliation

Taurus - His glorious coming

Gemini - Hus union with his bride

Cancer - His possessions held secure

Leo - His enemies destroyed.

I do not wish to disrespect the beliefs of anyone, in anything they wish to believe, or disbelieve. But using the tools of an ancient system, which is openly and vehemently derided by the author, who obviously has no clear idea of what astrology actually tries to do, and then using those tools to peddle something completely different - and for monetary gain - amounts to absolute hyprocrisy in my book.

Playlist, Zodiac, Angels: Fallen and Otherwise.

Desmond Carrington, a BBC DJ, in his show "The Music Goes Round" on 17 February chose for his theme "The Signs of the Zodiac". He commented, at the top of the show, that the zodiac is mentioned in the New Testament's Book of Revelations. I doubted the accuracy of this, did a little research. The best I could find on the topic was that twelve angels mentioned in the Book of Revelations, or elsewhere in the Bible, have been linked to the signs of the zodiac, and, it seems, used in Cabalistic Magic. A quick check via Google brought up :

Aries: Machidiel
Taurus: Asmodel
Gemini: Ambriel
Cancer: Muriel
Leo: Verchiel
Virgo: Hamaliel
Libra: Uriel
Scorpio: Barbiel
Sagittarius: Adnachie
Capricorn: Hanael
Aquarius: Gabriel
Pisces: Barchiel

The brief spurt of research jogged my memory about something in The Book of Enoch. This is one of a group of ancient religious scripts known as The Apocrypha, excluded from most official versions of The Bible. In The Book of Enoch, as translated (and translations and interpretations vary) a story goes:
(from website HERE)

"Originally the angels, or Sons of God, all surveyed the world and its beings from on high, and among them were those called the Grigori or Watchers. "The Watchers" can be translated with several shades of meaning, and depending on the translator means "observers" or "sentinels, sleepless ones"; whether they are vigilant or simply curious, they watch. Some texts say they were tempted by the beauty of human women ("the Sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair..."), while others grant them a compassionate Promethean urge to guide and teach or a touching desire for family and companionship; there were, we're told, no female Watchers. Whatever their motive, two hundred of the Watchers, led by the great angel Semjaza-Azazel, defied divine direction, descended to Earth and took a personal hand in humankind's education. Crafts and sciences, arts and letters, and the many skills of magic - all of which are described as "secrets...made in heaven", intended only for the Celestials to know - were shared with our distant ancestors. "And Azazel taught men to make swords and daggers and shields and breastplates...bracelets, and ornaments, and the metals of the earth, and the art of making up the eyes and beautifying the eyelids (...angels invent eye shadow...) ...Amezarak taught all those who cast spells and cut roots; Armaros the release of charms, spells, and magical skills; Baraqiel, astrology...Asradel, the path of the moon...Penemue: this one showed the sons of men the bitter and the sweet; he taught men the art of writing with ink and paper, and through this many have gone astray." Even reproductive choice was granted: "Kasdeyae: this one showed the sons of men the blows which attack the embryo in the womb so that it miscarries."

The lore they taught, however, takes a secondary role to the result of their sexual unions with womankind. (And considering the unrecorded difficulty of carrying a half-human fetus to term, Kasdeyae's may have been the wisest and kindest gift of all.) This was of course the birth of the Nephilim, sometimes called Naphalim or Naphidim, the "giants in the earth" of Genesis: "a monstrous race of giants with spiritual powers and earthly appetites". Some were indeed heroes, like the Biblical "mighty hunter before the Lord," Nimrod. Others were less noble. From I Enoch: "And they [the Watchers] took wives to themselves...and they taught them charms and spells...and [their wives] became pregnant and bore large giants... These devoured all the toil of men, until men were unable to sustain them. And the giants turned against them in order to devour men, and they began to sin against birds and against animals...and they devoured one another's flesh and drank the blood from it. Then the earth complained against the lawless ones."

The Aramaic Greek translation complicates matters further: "And they bore to them three kinds: first large giants, and to the giants were born the Naphalim, and the Naphalim begot the Elioud. And they grew according to their greatness, and they taught themselves and their wives charms and spells." Jubilees agrees, adding that "They were all unalike.." Thus we can imagine three successive generations of angel-progeny co-existing on the earth, all skilled in magickal arts and all apparently peaceable - at least for a time. This correlates with traditions quoted by Davidson and Huson that the Nephilim - not the Watchers - can be credited with works as diverse as the forging, in Beowulf, of King Hrothgar's magical sword, and the building of the Tower of Babel; if the Nephilim existed long enough to master some creative arts, perhaps they also had time to reproduce. Sadly, it was not to last: Jubilees goes on to say, "and they devoured each other; the giant killed the Naphil, the Naphil killed the Eljo [Elioud], and the Eljo humankind, and one man another man..."

The loyal archangels Michael, Gabriel, Sariel and Uriel, who had not followed Azazel and were still faithfully observing Earthly affairs, saw all this and protested to God. It's highly interesting to note the tone of their complaint. "See then what Azazel has done," they say ( I Enoch IX), "how he has taught all iniquity on the earth, and revealed the eternal secrets which were made in heaven...and has made known spells, and has brought knowledge to men...and the sons of men practice his practices in order to know the secrets..." This is not simple righteous wrath toward violence and sorcery; these things were private property, and the archangels are jealously angry at their revelation to mankind. I Enoch (LXV:6-7, quoting the even more ancient Book of Noah) is explicit: "...they [humans] have learnt all the secrets of the angels...and all their secret power, and all the power of those who practice magic arts, and the power of enchantments and...of those who cast molten images for all the earth..." (Could this be one reason for the suppression of the Apocrypha? The chance that no condemnation of divination, astrology, spells, etc., as Devil-inspired would stand if these chapters, plainly claiming them as heavenly lore, remained in the Old Testament? The whole history of the Middle Ages might have been different... maybe. More likely, of course, it would have been asserted that the gift of heaven's wisdom was corrupted and diabolized by the givers' rebellion. Interesting notion at least.)"

Sounds like a present-day fantasy author's work doesn't it? Yet it originates from, at least, several centuries before the time of Christ. Whether the author was the Enoch who was great grandfather of Noah remains in doubt.

I find the story a source of fascination, a tale which could be interpreted in more than one way. It could hold grains of truth within its detail. Even in today's cynical world, some like myself, who look upon most Bible stories as nebulous fables, or at best, mangled history, still stop and wonder about this one.

The BBC DJ's programme of songs, representing the signs of the zodiac, led me far off course from my original intention for this post!

The Old Testament conundrum - human age span.

Here's an article to provide food for thought this Sunday:

"Biblical Rationality" by Philip Coppens

The article begins

"One of the more intriguing aspects of the Bible is the list of prediluvian patriarchs and their age. Methuselah was said to have lived to the impressive age of 969 years, though “the First Man”, Adam, lived for a solid 930 years – respectable for any prototype."

and goes on to list

"Adam 930 years; begetting a son at the age of 130
Seth 912 years; begetting a son at the age of 105
Enos 905 years; begetting a son at the age of 90
Cainan 910 years; begetting a son at the age of 75
Mahalaleel 895 years; begetting a son at the age of 65
Jared 962 years; begetting a son at the age of 162
Enoch 365 years before walking with god; begetting a son at the age of 65
Methuselah 969 years; begetting a son at the age of 187
Lamech 777 years; begetting a son at the age of 182
Noach 950 years; begetting a son at the age of 500 "

Philip Coppens then presents some theories. It's fascinating stuff, and, as we so often discover, the answer may lie in the stars!

The Stars in Their Courses

Long ago, and far away (I feel a song coming on) in the days when I attended church, I was asked to read the lesson at a service held on a certain "Youth Sunday". I've never forgotten the Bible text I was asked to read - it was from the Song of Deborah in chapter 5 of Judges in the Old Testament. When I look at the text now I wonder why it was thought appropriate for such an occasion. It's the story of a battle, and how the Israelites overcame the Canaanites with the help of their judge and prophetess Deborah. One line from the text often slides into my mind:

"The stars in their courses fought against Sisera"

I don't know whether those words refer to anything astrological, or whether they relate to the storm which occurred during the battle and assisted the Israelites, or perhaps both are interwoven ? Whatever the relevance, I find it somehow uplifting that the reference has never been "adjusted" by ancient or modern censors. The Song of Deborah is one of the oldest texts in the Bible. I'd like to think that Deborah was an astrologer as well as judge, prophet and lady of some strength, and that all those years ago I was reading astrology in church!

Singing about winning a battle has mercifully gone out of fashion. Songs now are more likely to be a cry for PEACE than celebration of victory in battle.