(For January 2012)
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RACHAEL & MELVYN
On Zoroaster
R. You said that the Three Kings in the Bible were Zoroastrian.
M. Did I?
R. Yes you did! Who was Zoroaster, anyway? And what were they doing at the stable where Jesus was born?
M. They were at the stable because they were following the star that paused right above the stable. They came from Babylon and were expert Magicians and Astrologers. This new star paused at its Zenith, between star-rise and star-set. The stable was right underneath it.
R. But what’s it got to do with Zoroaster?
M. Zoroaster appears to have been a real prophet, born in Persia about a thousand years before Jesus. Christians don’t have much to do with him, but he is revered by Muslims, and the Bahai consider him as one of the messengers of God along with Abraham & Co.
R. But what was his angle?
M. He taught that everything was a struggle between Good (Ahura Mazda) and Evil (Ahraman) and that we have Freewill to choose which way to go.
R. But we believe that too, don’t we?
M. I hope so.
R. So he was a kind of Pre-Christian Christian?
M. Oh dear! I think at this point we had better have a marmalade toastie and a mug of tea. Put the kettle on would you?
Colin Smith
Friday, 23 December 2011
Friday, 7 October 2011
Marmalade Psychoanalysis
RACHAEL AND MELVYN
On Marmalade Psychoanalysis
R. Uncle Melvyn! My ID got out the other day and I behaved really badly!
M. Why didn’t your SUPER-EGO stop you?
R. Because my EGO wouldn’t let it!
M. Let me guess. You’ve been doing Sigmund Freud at school?
R. Yes, and it means that nothing is our fault any more. Isn’t that great?
M. Sin is abolished at a stroke. Free Will is no more. Marvellous - you can do no wrong. No need for forgiveness or any of that old tommy rot.
R. OK, I do have an Oedipus complex; (or is it an Electra complex?). Anyway I want to kill my mother and make love to my father. Oh yes, and I have a Death Wish too, I think…
M. I must say it all sounds very relaxed and jolly. Do you think it has the ring of truth?
R. Well, it all seems to fit together and make sense.
M. I prefer Carl Gustav Jung myself. He writes better stories.
R. Stories? So they are all made up?
M. Just because they are made up doesn’t mean they aren’t true.
R. Give me a marmalade toastie, someone. I’m confused.
On Marmalade Psychoanalysis
R. Uncle Melvyn! My ID got out the other day and I behaved really badly!
M. Why didn’t your SUPER-EGO stop you?
R. Because my EGO wouldn’t let it!
M. Let me guess. You’ve been doing Sigmund Freud at school?
R. Yes, and it means that nothing is our fault any more. Isn’t that great?
M. Sin is abolished at a stroke. Free Will is no more. Marvellous - you can do no wrong. No need for forgiveness or any of that old tommy rot.
R. OK, I do have an Oedipus complex; (or is it an Electra complex?). Anyway I want to kill my mother and make love to my father. Oh yes, and I have a Death Wish too, I think…
M. I must say it all sounds very relaxed and jolly. Do you think it has the ring of truth?
R. Well, it all seems to fit together and make sense.
M. I prefer Carl Gustav Jung myself. He writes better stories.
R. Stories? So they are all made up?
M. Just because they are made up doesn’t mean they aren’t true.
R. Give me a marmalade toastie, someone. I’m confused.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Osama Bin Laden
RACHAEL AND MELVYN
Osama Bin Laden
R. Uncle Melvyn, was Osama Bin Laden really Evil through and through like everybody said, so that he deserved to be shot dead without trial?
M. .Not everyone believes in Evil these days. Though he seems to have been the instigator of some terrible events, leading to lots of deaths.
R. But he thought he was doing the right thing in fighting against the West, so though we might call him evil, his followers might think him righteous.
M. True. They probably do.
R. So Evil is in the eye of the beholder, like Beauty?
M. I suppose so, yes. But he did oversee and support the killing of lots of innocent people.
R. So do Drones and Cruise missiles, but when we do it it’s called ‘collateral damage.’
M. Think of the parents of those who jumped to their deaths out of the Twin Towers.
R. Now revenge I can understand. But why bring Evil into it?
M. It’s what you see when someone kills a loved one in cold blood.
R. There are so many things I don’t understand.
M. Lets have some tea and marmalade toasties. They seem to help.
Osama Bin Laden
R. Uncle Melvyn, was Osama Bin Laden really Evil through and through like everybody said, so that he deserved to be shot dead without trial?
M. .Not everyone believes in Evil these days. Though he seems to have been the instigator of some terrible events, leading to lots of deaths.
R. But he thought he was doing the right thing in fighting against the West, so though we might call him evil, his followers might think him righteous.
M. True. They probably do.
R. So Evil is in the eye of the beholder, like Beauty?
M. I suppose so, yes. But he did oversee and support the killing of lots of innocent people.
R. So do Drones and Cruise missiles, but when we do it it’s called ‘collateral damage.’
M. Think of the parents of those who jumped to their deaths out of the Twin Towers.
R. Now revenge I can understand. But why bring Evil into it?
M. It’s what you see when someone kills a loved one in cold blood.
R. There are so many things I don’t understand.
M. Lets have some tea and marmalade toasties. They seem to help.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Adan and Eve
MELVYN AND RACHAEL
Adam and Eve
M. Adam and Eve and Pinch-me went down to the river to bathe. Adam and Eve were drowned, so who do you think was saved?
R. That old joke! You are not going to pinch me!
M. What do you think of Eve then?
R. She was weak and silly. The Serpent beguiled her, she broke God’s specific commandment, she tempted Adam to eat the apple too. Thus sin entered the world and Jesus had to die to put things right. It was all her fault.
M. Hang on a bit! You could say that it was her brave act in challenging God, that enabled mankind to grow up instead of wombling along in a soppy paradise in incompetent, infantile ignorance, as God’s poodles.
R. You what? Surely that’s blasphemy or heresy or something! It’s the wrong way round…
M. Seems to me that Eve was strong and Adam was feeble in the extreme.
R. Adam certainly seems to have got away with it and Eve got all the blame.
M. She has had a terrible press over the centuries. She needed a decent agent.
R. Mm. God didn’t come out of the story with much credit either.
M. This calls for some serious marmalade toastie munching.
R. Deep thought, and mugs of tea!
Adam and Eve
M. Adam and Eve and Pinch-me went down to the river to bathe. Adam and Eve were drowned, so who do you think was saved?
R. That old joke! You are not going to pinch me!
M. What do you think of Eve then?
R. She was weak and silly. The Serpent beguiled her, she broke God’s specific commandment, she tempted Adam to eat the apple too. Thus sin entered the world and Jesus had to die to put things right. It was all her fault.
M. Hang on a bit! You could say that it was her brave act in challenging God, that enabled mankind to grow up instead of wombling along in a soppy paradise in incompetent, infantile ignorance, as God’s poodles.
R. You what? Surely that’s blasphemy or heresy or something! It’s the wrong way round…
M. Seems to me that Eve was strong and Adam was feeble in the extreme.
R. Adam certainly seems to have got away with it and Eve got all the blame.
M. She has had a terrible press over the centuries. She needed a decent agent.
R. Mm. God didn’t come out of the story with much credit either.
M. This calls for some serious marmalade toastie munching.
R. Deep thought, and mugs of tea!
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Three Wise Men
R. Uncle Melvyn?
M. Mm?
R. How did the star stand still over Bethlehem when Jesus was born?
Surely, if it did, the world would have stopped going round and everyone would fall over?
M. Some people think the three wise men travelling from the East to worship the baby Jesus is just a pretty tale, but I think it is essentially true.
R. Cool!
M. Every star pauses between rising and falling in the sky as it crosses the North/South meridian. One such star would have been directly overhead if you were in Bethlehem.
R. But how would you know which one?
M. Kepler said it could have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the house of Pisces. The two planets together would have looked like a very bright star.
R. Wow! So what about the three wise men?
M. They seem to have been Zoroastrian priests from Babylon, expert astronomers and mathematicians, who came to lay their wisdom before the new-born Lord.
R. To think about all that, I need a marmalade toastie, and I need it quick!
M. Mm?
R. How did the star stand still over Bethlehem when Jesus was born?
Surely, if it did, the world would have stopped going round and everyone would fall over?
M. Some people think the three wise men travelling from the East to worship the baby Jesus is just a pretty tale, but I think it is essentially true.
R. Cool!
M. Every star pauses between rising and falling in the sky as it crosses the North/South meridian. One such star would have been directly overhead if you were in Bethlehem.
R. But how would you know which one?
M. Kepler said it could have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the house of Pisces. The two planets together would have looked like a very bright star.
R. Wow! So what about the three wise men?
M. They seem to have been Zoroastrian priests from Babylon, expert astronomers and mathematicians, who came to lay their wisdom before the new-born Lord.
R. To think about all that, I need a marmalade toastie, and I need it quick!
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