[Upd-discuss] The Gathering Storm AND Re: [sheffield-anti-war-coalition]
I. Conceptualisation of the Other ( continued )
teresahackett@eircom.net
teresahackett@eircom.net
Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:34:25 +0100
What's this got to do with UPD?
Teresa
. wrote:
> Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:54:09 +0100 (BST) NORTHLLAW wrote:
> ^^^
> Summer's almost gone
>
>> so we can take it you will be in Manchester with the '' Viking
>> invaders'' from Sheffield Yorkshire, sizing up as to whether a ''new
>> war of the roses'' is needed. the demise of old labour in 1997
>> according to Zen. third time lucky, spell casting.
>> the oldest parliament in Europe was
>> Viking, its offspring the second edition was in Elmet.
>>
>> war of the roses, Viking parliament, were acts of ''' creation'' in
>> that they brought change, will their descendants ''rise'' to the needs
>> of the people ????
>
>
> Mon, 1 May 2006 14:09:41 +0100 (BST) armchair hippy wrote:
>
>> There has been a lot of conflict over this space. Its ownership is
>> being contested and
>> the politics of profit and redevelopment have made the building's
>> future uncertain. We don't own this space, we are merely passing
>> through and leaving our mark the only
>> way we know how. Eventually the marks will be swallowed by the walls
>> and we will become
>> just another part of their history."
>
>
> [ https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/matilda/2006-May/002301.html ]
>
>
> there was a fight outside where i live on saturday night
>
> just students
> one beating another to death on the top my car
>
> i opened my front door
> and shouted 'woh' at the protagonists
>
> a 3rd party
> who was standing on the side lines
> said 'go back inside ...
> every thing's ok'
>
> 'ok ?' said i
> 'you've got some funny ideas'
>
> the beating carried on
>
> 'woh, woh' i shouted again
> 'i live here
> and that's my fucking car'
>
> 'sorry mate' said the lad doing the beating
>
> he pushed the lad he was beating
> off my car, and on to the road
> and began to kick his head in
>
> 'no, i mean stop' i said to the on-top pugilist
> i put myself in between him, and the lad on the ground
> and said 'what's he done,
> what's he said to you ?'
>
> boy was he mad,
> not with me in particular,
> just,
> he'd gone off on one
> he couldn't keep his head still
> and he was spitting
> as he tried to explain
> what the other lad had said and done --
> the adrenalin i guess
>
> the third party began to translate --
> he was the mate of the lad lying on the street
> unmoving
>
> it concerned a dustbin
> but i couldn't get the full story
> at that point,
> because as the 3rd party bloke spoke
> it inflamed the stronger pugilist
> and he kept going back
> for another toe-poke
>
> 'no i mean stop' i said again
>
> 'talk to me,
> you're killing him now
> stop it and talk to me
> why ?'
>
> again scatter-gun
> snippets of the incidences
> leading up to the fight --
> the dustbin cropped up several times
>
> a car pulled up
> and a bloke asked if we needed help
>
> he had to ask a few times --
> i was still busy with the stronger pugilist
> who was now crying
> and trying to get back to his victim
> to pick up some coins,
> about 2 squid fifty
> on the floor
> and asking the kid on the ground
> if he was ok
> and could he help ?
> it was all getting very confused
>
> i went over to the bloke in the car
> and looked skywards
>
> 'i live here' i said
> pointing back at the house
> 'i found these lot fighting'
>
> 'that lad needs a doctor quickly'
> he said,
> i nodded and took my phone out
> and dialed emergency services
>
> the bloke drove off
>
> the next few minutes,
> i spent knelt next to the kid on the ground
> mostly, talking to the kid
> and the lady on the other end of the phone
> both together sometimes
>
> the stronger of the pugilist
> did a runner
> when he kopped that the law was eminent
>
> the bloke in the car
> came back and got out
> with his mrs,
> who i didn't recall seeing earlier --
> it turned out he was a dr
> and they took over that aspect
>
> the ambulance arrived
> in less than 5, with police backup in 7
>
> i got the full story then,
> in a nut shell
>
> the lad on the ground
> had kicked the other lad's dustbin on passing
> and wouldn't say sorry
>
> the police asked me for a description
> of the lad who ran off
> which i gave them
> and asked me if i thought
> he was drugged up
>
> 'sure' i replied
> 'he was topped-up with something
> whether legal, lawful,
> or prescribed
> i can't tell'
>
> the moral of the tale --
> same as the moral of the fight,
> there wasn't one
> save
> we don't own this space
> but we are this space
> we don't own this land
> but we are this land
> and the land is sovereign
>
> ...
>
> i'd not heard the myth of elmet before --
> though
> it kinda makes sense that a yorkshire viking
> would have worn an 'elmet
> before trading it in
> for a flat cap
>
> this land
> has many myths marked upon it,
> as these many myths, believes,
> have left there mark upon us,
>
> for instance,
> we have the myth of constitutional law [1]
> based upon a constitutional monarchy [2]
> and we have the notion of
> sovereignty in the land [3]
>
>>> a) Introduction
>>> ---------------
>>> How to word this ?
>>> An example: Consider me, atom i The myths of ancient
>>> Greeks can be divided into three groups;
>>>
>>> firstly, myths of the Olympian gods -- that is Zeus the
>>> father-god and of the more important of his fellow-deities;
>>>
>>> secondly, myths which explain the natural phenomena; and
>>> thirdly, the hero-myths which relate the
>>> deeds and ventures of mortal heroes who were often of semi-divine
>>> parentage or ancestry."
>
>
> --
>
> [1] Constitutional and Administrative Law
> E.C.S. Wade and A.W. Bradley
>
> The starting point for studying constitutional law
> should ideally be the same starting-point
> as for studying political philosophy,
> or the role of law
> and government in a society.
>
> How is individual freedom
> to be reconciled with the claims
> of social justice ?
>
> Is society founded upon
> a reciprocal network
> of rights and duties,
> or is the individual
> merely a pawn
> in the hands of state power ?
>
> These fundamental questions
> are often not pursued explicitly
> in the study of constitutional law.
>
> In fact
> constitutional law
> concerns the relationship
> between the individual
> and the state,
> seen from a particular viewpoint,
> namely the notion of law.
>
> As a historian,
> [ Thompson in *Whigs and Hunters* ]
> has stated,
>
> "It is inherent
> in the especial character of law,
> as a body of rules
> and procedures,
> that it shall apply
> logical criteria
> with reference to standards
> of universality and equality"
>
> Law is not merely a matter
> of the rules which govern relations
> between private individuals
> ( for example between
> husband and wife,
> or between
> landlord and tenant).
>
> Law also concerns
> the structure
> and power of the state.
>
> The constitutional lawyer
> is always likely to insist
> that
> the relations between
> the individual and the state
> should be
> founded upon and
> governed by law.
>
> But law does not exist
> in a social and political vacuum.
>
> Within a given society,
> the legal rules
> that
> concern relations between
> husband and wife
> will reflect
> that society's attitude
> towards marriage.
>
> So too
> the rules of constitutional law,
> that govern political relations,
> will within a given society
> reflect a particular distribution
> of political power.
>
> In a stable society.
> constitutional law expresses
> what may be a very high degree
> of consensus
> about the organs and procedures
> by which political decisions
> are taken.
>
> But when a community insists
> on taking political decisions
> by recourse to armed force
> or gang warfare,
> or by the might of industrial muscle,
> the rules of constitutional law
> are either non-existent,
> or at best
> are no more
> than a transparent cover
> for a power-struggle
> that
> is not conducted in accordance
> with anything deserving
> the name of law.
>
> Within a stable democracy,
> constitutional law
> reflects the value
> that
> people attach
> to ordinary human relations,
> to individual freedom
> under the law,
> and to institutions
> such as parliament,
> political parties,
> free elections,
> and a free press.
>
> Now the reality
> is often different
> from the rhetoric.
>
> Laws are the product of
> human decisions,
> not the gift
> of an immaculate deity.
>
> As Lord Acton said,
>
> "Power tends to corrupt
> and absolute power
> tends to corrupt absolutely".
>
> But the weakness
> and imperfections
> of human nature
> are not a reason
> for discarding law
> as a means
> of regulating political conduct.
>
> The laws of football
> are often broken.
>
> But if we shoot
> the referee and
> tear up the rules,
> football as an organised activity
> ceases to exist.
>
> Total disbelief
> in the value of the individual
> or in the possibility
> of public good
> is therefore a bad starting-point
> for studying
> constitutional law.
>
> But there is no need
> to go to the other extreme
> and hold the belief,
> fiercely savaged
> by Jeremy Bentham,
> [ in *Handbook of Political Fallacies* ]
> that
> in Great Britain
> we have a
> 'matchless constitution'.
>
> We ought no to be dominated
> by the lessons
> which our ancestors
> learned about
> constitutional government;
> nor should we reject
> those lessons out of hand,
> or from sheer ignorance.
>
> A modest claim
> founded upon the past
> may be made --
> that
> constitutional law
> is one branch
> of human learning
> and experience
> that
> helps to make life
> in today's world
> more tolerable
> and less brutish
> than it might
> otherwise be.
>
>
> [2] The Gathering Storm
> W.S. Churchill
>
> After the end of the World War of 1914
> there was deep conviction
> and almost universal hope
> that
> peace would reign in the world
>
> This heart's desire
> of all the peoples
> could easily have been gained
> by the steadfastness
> in righteous convictions,
> and by reasonable
> common sense
> and prudence
>
> The phrase
>
> "the war to end war"
>
> was on every lip,
> and measures
> had been taken
> to turn it into reality
>
> ...
>
> The economic clauses
> of the Treaty [ of Versailles ]
> were malignant and silly
> to the extent
> that
> made them obviously futile
>
> Germany was condemned
> to pay reparations
> on a fabulous scale
>
> These dictates
> gave the expression
> to anger of the victors,
> and to the failure
> of the peoples to understand
> that no defeated nation
> or community
> can ever pay tribute
> on a scale
> which would meet the cost
> of a modern war
>
> The multitudes
> remained plunged in ignorance
> of the simplest economic facts,
> and their leaders,
> seeking their votes,
> did not dare
> to undeceive them
>
> The newspapers,
> after their fashion,
> reflected and emphasised
> the prevailing opinions
>
> Few voices were raised
> to explain
> that payment of reparations
> can only be made by services
> or by the physical transportation
> of goods in waggons
> across land frontiers
> or in ships
> across salt water;
> or that when the goods
> arrive in the demanding countries
> they dislocate the local industry
> except in very primitive
> or rigorously-controlled societies
>
> In practice,
> as even the Russians
> have now learned,
> the only way of pillaging
> a defeated nation
> is to cart away any movables
> which are wanted,
> and to drive off
> a portion of its manhood
> as permanent or
> temporary slaves
>
> But the profit gained
> from such processes
> bear no relation
> to the cost of war
>
> No one of great authority
> had the wit,
> ascendancy,
> or detachment from public folly
> to declare these fundamental,
> brutal facts to the electorates;
> nor would anyone
> have been believed if he had
>
> The triumphant Allies
> continued to assert
> that
> they would squeeze Germany
> 'till the pips squeaked'
>
> All this had
> a potent bearing
> on the prosperity of the world
> and the mood
> of the German race
>
> ...
>
> The victors
> imposed upon the Germans
> all the long-sought ideals
> of the liberal nations of the West.
>
> The enormous American loans
> were presently pressed upon them,
> though they had no credit
>
> A democratic constitution,
> in accordance with all the latest improvements,
> was established at Weimar
>
> Emperors having been driven out,
> nonentities were elected
>
> Beneath this flimsy fabric
> raged the passions of the mighty,
> defeated,
> but substantially uninjured German nation
>
> The prejudice of the Americans
> against monarchy,
> which Mr. Lloyd George
> made no attempt to counteract,
> had made it clear
> to the beaten Empire
> that it would have better treatment
> from the Allies
> as a republic
> than as a monarchy
>
> Wise policy
> would have crowned
> and fortified the Weimar Republic
> with a constitutional sovereign
> in the person of an infant
> grandson of the Kaiser,
> under a Council of Regency
>
> Instead,
> a gaping void was opened
> in the national life
> of the German people
>
> All the strong elements,
> military,
> and feudal,
> which might have rallied
> to a constitutional monarchy,
> and for its sake respected
> and sustained the new democratic
> and Parliamentary processes,
> were for the time being
> unhinged
>
> The Weimar Republic,
> with all its liberal trappings
> and blessings,
> was regarded as an
> imposition of the enemy
>
> It could not hold
> the loyalties
> or the imagination
> of the German people
>
> For a spell
> they sought to cling
> as in desperation
> to the aged
> Marshal Hindenburg
>
> Thereafter
> mighty forces were adrift,
> the void was open,
> and into that void
> after a pause
> there strode a maniac
> of ferocious genius
>
> [3] b iii) Further Divisions : Many-Fold-Parton States
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Further character development
> within the partons
> within the Other
>
>
> The Mythic Company
> ==================
>
> "I will Create secret places,
> And the masculine names of the places, Merlin and Arthur.
> A triple Female Tabernacle for Moral Law I weave ..."
>
> -- William Blake
>
> Certain characters
> within the *Mabinogion*
> betray traces of ancient
> mythic archetypes
> which have
> been almost forgotten.
>
> The gentle erosion
> of powerful gods
> into the status
> of heroes,
> queens
> and mighty adversaries
> was greatly aided by
> the Arthurian legends,
> which have acted
> as a kind of clearing-house
> for this transformation.
>
> Usually,
> the later the text,
> the less we can perceive
> the resemblance
> of a character
> to a mythic archetype,
> but nevertheless
> there are some surprises
> and exciting conformations
> of older patterns to be found.
>
> It would be simplistic merely
> to associate each character
> with a mainstream god-form,
> after the fashion
> of certain classical mythographers;
> such a process
> would be totally inappropriate
> for archetypes of a
> proto-Celtic provenance.
>
> The problem
> of the pigeon-holing
> of Celtic gods
> is perhaps associated with
> the dearth of native statuary
> depicting them.
>
> The custom
> of depicting deities
> representationally
> was not a British
> or Irish obsession,
> though
> it was a Roman habit
> which spilled over
> in to local custom.
>
> Celtic tradition reveals
> that deities and spirits,
> as well as mythic heroes,
> were associated with places.
>
> Land features,
> natural outcrops of rock,
> springs,
> wells and trees
> are the loci of these deities,
> not temples
> built by men.
>
> The Irish *dindschencas*
> ( place name stories )
> relate the topography
> of Ireland by association
> with deities and mythic peoples
> whose great deeds
> are remembered
> at particular spots
> and who gave their names
> to those loci.
>
> The British chroniclers,
> such as Nennius,
> reveals a very similar tradition.
>
> History is the land
> beneath our feet.
>
> The earth is sacred
> because it is deeply infused
> with mythic activity,
> invisible to mortal sight
> but perceptible to seers
> and story-tellers, who,
> in Celtic tradition,
> are the priests of the gods.
>
> Imperceptibly
> the mantles of gods
> fall on the shoulders
> of earthly men and women who,
> due to the Celtic story-teller's
> total disregard for proper definitions,
> merge with the mythic archetype,
> becoming their exemplars.
>
> This process is very clearly visible in,
> for instance,
> Hindu tradition,
> where men and women are seen
> to embody the characteristics
> of the gods,
> becoming their avatars,
> through whom the gods
> are active in human affairs.
>
> The Otherworld tradition
> of the Celtic countries
> is at once similar
> and very different from this,
> for it replaces
> a formal religious tradition.
>
> Although there are constants
> among the characters
> who appear
> and the locations
> that are described
> as existing in the Otherworld,
> the variations of detail
> within the Otherworld boundaries
> are immense.
>
> The borders between the worlds
> are but a thought away
> within the Celtic imagination.
>
> The sacred points
> of the Celtic year
> mark the overlapping
> of the earth and the Otherworld.
>
> Temples existed after Roman occupation
> and before that
> *nemetons* (sacred groves)
> and springs
> were visited
> by those seeking communication
> with the Otherworldly entities
> whom we call gods.
>
> When gods of the wild places
> were subsumed into Christian saints,
> a further interesting variation
> crept into the mythic consciousness
> of Britain.
>
> But if we look
> for permanent shrines
> for the ancient god-forms,
> we need look no further
> than the *Mabinogion*,
> whose stories enshrine
> these old archetypes,
> mixing history,
> myth and tribal belief
> in one rich draught.
>
>
> Mythic Archetype in the Mabinogion
> ----------------------------------
> [ Square brackets indicate characters from parallel Celtic tradition. ]
>
>
> Flower Bride
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : Sovereignty-bestowing maiden
>
> Typified by :
>
> Blodeuwedd, Goleuddyd, Olwen, Creiddylad, Enid, Gwenhwyfar, Blanchflor,
> [Fflur]
>
> Sovereignty
> ~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : the Goddess of the Land
>
> Typified by :
>
> Rhiannon, Gwenhwyfar, Elen, Countess of Foutain, Orchard Women, Woman of
> the Mound, Empress, [ Morgan, Brigantia ]
>
> Dark Women of Knowledge
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ( Lady of the Wheel )
>
> Function : initiator and guide; Lady of Death / Rebirth
>
> Typified by :
>
> Ceridwen, Arianrhod, Nine Witches, Black Maiden, Custennin's wife,
> Luned, Countess of the Fountain, Modron as Raven Queen, Miller's Wife, [
> Morrighan ]
>
> Daughter of Branwen
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : heiress of Britain's sovereignty
>
> Typified by :
>
> Branwen, Goewin, Custennin's wife, Luned, Peredur's mother, [ Eigr /
> Igraine, Morgause, Elaine ]
>
> Black Maiden
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : messenger of Sovereignty; admonisher and guide of the Voice
> of the Land
>
> Typified by :
>
> Luned, Black Maiden, Peredur's sister, [ Scathach, Morrighan, Elene ]
>
> Mabon
> ~~~~~
>
> Function : Sovereignty's son; restorer of the innocence
>
> Typified by :
>
> Pryderi, Gwern, Llew, Goreu, Peredur, Gwion, [ Sedga ]
>
> Pendragon
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : Sovereign lord of the land
>
> Typified by :
>
> Pwyll, Manawyddan, Pryderi, Math, Mascen, Lludd, Arthur
>
> Pen Annwn
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : sacrificial king; guardian of the land
>
> Typified by :
>
> Bran, Math, Arthur, Yspaddaden, Lame King, [ Vortimer ]
>
> Thief of Sovereignty
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : dispossesser and despoiler of land
>
> Typified by :
>
> Gwawl, Caswallawn, Llwyd, Gwydion, Black Oppressor, Edern, Knight of the
> Apples, Gwyddno, Earl who dispossesses Blanchflor, [ Medrawt ]
>
> Guardian of the Totems
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ( Lord of the Wheel )
>
> Function : Lord of Wild Things; instructor and guide; Lord of Death /
> Rebirth
>
> Typified by :
>
> Custennin, Wild Herdsman, Noble Huntsman (Peredur), Black Oppressor
> (Peredur), Miller, [ Green Knight, Curoi, Mog Ruith ]
>
> Provoker of Strife
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : guardians of Sovereignty
>
> Typified by :
>
> Iddawg, Efnissien, Cai, [ Bricrui, Medrawt ]
>
> Seer-poet
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
> Function : inspired prophet of Sovereignty
>
> Typified by :
>
> Llefelys, Taliesin, [ Merlin, Segda ]
>
>
> -- King and Goddess in the Mabinogion : Caitlin Matthews
>
>
>
>
>
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