Monks, Meditation, and Mummies

In honor of Halloween (which is actually also the anniversary of Martin Luther pounding his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517), I have dedicated a post to the mysterious mummified monks of Japan. While we are all familiar with the mummies of Egyptian acclaim, I argue that these mummies of northern Japan are more remarkable. Why? Because they didn't wait to die to be mummified; they did it themselves as the ultimate expression of devotion.

Symbols and Codes.

We discussed in class a little bit yesterday the correlation between a literary system and a numeracy system. As soon as writing developed, written numbers were used to keep track of business transactions and other records. In fact, most artifacts that we have today are records of accounting.

The oldest tablet found in Europe, written in the Mycenaean Linear B System. It records business transactions.

But can letters and numbers have other correlating purposes? Of course, they both can be used to create a code, or a system of secrecy or multiple representation in which certain words, letters, or numbers are assigned different meanings.

The Ancient Greeks, for example, actually used there letters as symbols of numbers. Their alphabet served a dual purpose. It communicated thoughts and ideas, but also stood as representation of a number in many cases. Today, we still use letters of the Greek alphabet to represent numbers which we plug into formulas (or mathematical codes) such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Phi and Pi.

Similarly, the Roman alphabet, or the Latin alphabet, which is the most recognized alphabet in the world today, evolved from a Western variety of the Greek alphabet. This alphabet, along with Arabic numerals, is the basis of what is perhaps the most common code today, Morse Code. This code is unique in that it can be used through almost any kind of medium; sound, written, visual.

Just for fun, I created my own code using numbers as letters. See if you can decipher what this says and you'll discover an interesting fact about me!

23...15.1...6.19.26.15.8.19.18...8.3...21.3.6.18.3.2...16...22.23.2.17.25.26.19.13...

ABRACADABRA

The word abracadabra - in it's earliest
known use - was written in this
 pattern and worn around the neck
 or sewn into clothing in order to cure fever.

In our class on tuesday, we talked about the occult in the history of knowledge.  The discussion really sparked my interest (just as anything I don't know much about piques my curiosity).  Coincidentally, another professor in my religion class a few days ago mentioned something interesting.  He talked about the possible origin of the word abracadabra.  Although there are many different ideas as to where the word came from, many believe that the word originates from the Aramaic for "I will create as I speak" or possibly from the Hebrew words "ab" (Father) "ben" (Son) "ruach hakodesh" (Holy Spirit).  Maybe it as a stretch but we might also interpret the general idea as the Father creating through his Word - "I the Father will create by my Word".  Interesting stuff.  It might change the way you feel about the next children's magic show you see or maybe you will think twice before saying what may have been at one point in time a very sacred phrase.

Questions, With No Real Answers

So what does it mean to "write it down"? To save a piece of information by putting it in a book, on a sticky note, or in a planner? To write/(take) notes instead of just listening? To send a handwritten letter or card, as opposed to a store-bought one, or even an email? How does the significance of writing versus memorization compare in our time? How would it have compared in the time periods we are discussing?

I really didn't do much research for this post, but I am enjoying the thought experiment.  "Critically" thinking about what we have learned about writing so far, and how it has changed our perspective on the world, and how it must have changed the ancients' perspectives.  So I am basically answering the previous questions with my personal, educated opinions, and I want this post to open the blog to yours too.

Calligraphication

So as I posted earlier,  I tried my hand at calligraphy, but without training I did not do a very good job.  We decided as a group to go over to Alicia's house last Friday and she taught us all about inks, papers, nibs, scripts, and everything you could ever want to know about calligraphy.  It turns out she's quite the expert.  We documented the experience with photos so I could post it here.

Everyone can please add to this post or put their 2 cents about the experience in a comment.

A preview behind the mystery of Facsimile 2

                          

I have an unquenchable curiosity. I am intrigued by all things mysterious and unknown. For this reason I chose to discuss the occult. To me the Pearl of Great Price from the LDS canon encapsulates the word occult very well. More specifically those mysterious "drawings" we all loved to look at growing up but never had any clue what they meant illustrate the concept occult very well. So lets debunk some (but not all, it wouldn't fall under "the occult umbrella" if we knew everything about it) of the mystery....