A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Fairy's Tale, Mythology/ History

Erasing History

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This is a scheduled entry, dear readers. Yours truly is still boiling over the fact that her line is still not yet fixed, causing her to be impeded from mingling in the world wide web.

I’ve now heard that now the person who was said to be involved in Altantunya Shariibu’s murder’s name is a taboo. The man was released last year, and his name was supposed to be cleared, though there are law practitioners who would cut a hand or leg just to see the court claim mistrial against him. The man’s name is now a taboo in all mainstream press as well as alternative press. And so, I shall not mention his name here, in case I get caught and be dumped into ISA. I enjoy freedom too much to risk it. But you guys can look it up, and you’ll know whose name it is that’s now forbidden to be spoken among the commoners.

The people ‘up above’ has made his name a taboo. Making an important character’s name a taboo is almost the same as erasing history and memories of the person. It is either to give the person a new life, or to make the public forget about the person and his sins. In some cases, the person’s contribution in human history. Usually the motives of erasing someone from history is pretty common. It is to cover up a dangerous conspiracy or to protect someone’s reputation. Such things does not only happen in the modern world. It happens in many era, dating as early as the times of Ancient Egypt Civilization.

The story of a man whose name is prohibited to be spoken among the public reminds me of a very powerful Egyptian Queen. She suffered almost the same fate as the man whose name cannot be spoken. She was effectively erased from history. And people only found the truth and traces about her centuries after her death. She was a great queen with many contributions during her reign. Her name was Hatshepsut.

Hatshepsut was born in the 18th Dynasty. This Dynasty is also referred too as the New Kingdom. Hatshepsut entered this world as the daughter of royal parents. Her father was Tuthmosis I and ruled Egypt for approximately 12 to 14 years. Her mother was Ahmes. Ahmes was the sister of Amenophris I (Pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 21 years). In addition to Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis I and Ahmes had a son. They named him Anenemes. By birthright, Anenemes should have inherited the throne as the son of Tuthmosis I and Ahmes; however, he never became king. Hatshepsut, on the other hand, went on to rule Egypt in later years for approximately 21 years. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt between 1479-1458/57. She ruled in a time when women were allowed to own property and to hold official positions. They were given rights to inherit from deceased family members and were allowed to present their cases in court. Women of Ancient Egypt had more freedom then other ancient cultures such as Greece where women were expected to stay home.

After the death of Hatshepsut’s father (Tuthmose I), her half brother (Tuthmose II) succeeded the throne. As it was customary in royal families, the oldest daughter of the pharaoh would marry a brother to keep the royal blood lines intact. Therefore, Hatshepsut married her half brother. Tuthmose II was the son of one of her father’s lesser wives (Mutnofret); however, his reign would be short and his life short-lived. It may have been that Tuthmose II died of an illness and thus held the throne only for 14 years.

During their marriage, Hatshepsut and Tuthmose II were not able to produce a male heir but rather had a daughter whom they named Neferure. In later years, it appears that Neferure may have been married to her half brother (Tuthmose III); much like her mother had married a half brother in previous years. Tuthmose III was the son of Tuthmose II (Hatshepsut’s husband) and one of his royal concubines named Isis. This blood line made Tuthmose III a stepson to Hatshepsut. Because Tuthmose III was very young when his father died, Hatshepsut became a co-regent and ruled right along side the young stepson. It appears that within the second or third year of this co-regency reign, Hatshepsut proclaimed herself king with complete titles. She would be known as Maatkare (Matt is the ka of Ra) and also Khnemet-Amun-Hatshepsut (She who embraces Amun, the foremost of women). After this proclamation, Tuthmosis III would no longer reign as co-regent with Hatshepsut. In order to make Hatshepsut’s proclamation to king more official and more accepting to the Egyptian citizens, she invented a co-regency with her father Tuthmosis I. She even went as far as incorporating this fabricated co-regency into texts and representations. These were found decorating her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. In addition, and also to make things still more official, Hatshepsut dedicated a chapel to her father in her mortuary temple. She hoped to acquire more acceptance as the new ruler of Egypt by changing the beliefs of her people.

Hatshepsut was a very unique and intelligent individual. She used various strategies to legitimize her position as pharaoh. Not only did she proclaim herself as pharaoh and fabricate a co-regency with her father (Tuthmose I), but she also tried to make herself more god-like by the invention of stories with the attachment to gods. She did this by making it appear as if the gods had spoken to her and her mother while in she was still in her mother’s womb. Hatshepsut misled her subjects and the uneducated public by indicating that Amon-Ra had visited her pregnant mother at the temple in Deir el-Bahri in the Valley of the Kings.

Hatshepsut was unique because she took on several male adornments while she ruled Egypt. Unlike most women of that time, she attached a false beard, wore male clothing, and was depicted in statutes as a pharaoh. She might have done this to make her transition to kingship and the acceptance of the priesthood more convincing. It may be that if she had ruled strictly with a more feminine-looking disposition she may not have been so readily accepted by the masses. Her strategy seemed to work and the priests supported her reign as pharaoh.

There were many prominent figures during her reign but there appears to be one person in particular who was probably foremost in her circle. This prominent person was Senenmut who was born of a humble family in Armant. He came to be known as Hatshepsut’s spokesman and steward of the royal family. In addition, he was known as superintendent of the buildings of the God Amun. During the later years, Hatshepsut had obelisks installed in the Temple of Amon-Re at Karnak. Senenmut supervised the transport and erection of these obelisks as well as the mortuary temple that was built for Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri.

It appears that he must have been very well favored by the Queen as he had a separate tomb constructed close to Hatshepsut’s tomb for himself. He had this second tomb dug out in front of Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb in spite of owning another tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. During Hatshepsut’s reign, gossip followed the pair as it was suggested that his good fortune was due as a result of his intimate relations with the Queen. To add to this deduction, it was further fueled by the fact that he played a heavy role in the education of Hatshepsut’s only daughter Neferure. His brother, Senimen, also acted as nurse and steward to Neferure and this caused more gossip to run rampant. Several statues were found associating Senenmut with the Princess Neferure. History shows that Senenmut was a prominent figure during three-fourths of Hatshepsut’s reign and possibly after the death of Neferure (it appears that she died around the 11th year of Hatshepsut’s reign), that he fell out of graces with the queen for unknown reasons. Speculation has it that he may have had some kind of alliance with Tuthmosis III (Hatshepsut’s stepson) and this could have led to the demise of their relationship.

History also shows that the construction of the famous temple of Deir el-Bahri was most probably started by Tuthmose II and later finished by Queen Hatshepsut. The walls of the temple depict major achievements such as the expedition to Punt near the Red Sea. This trading expedition brought back many riches for the country.

To this day, the death of Hatshepsut remains a mystery. It appears that she reigned for fifteen years and her stepson took the throne after her disappearance. It’s also believed that the hatred for his stepmother pushed him to erase the memory, existence, and any depictions of Queen Hatshepsut by destroying any monuments erected during her reign. Although her temple still stands, neither her tomb nor her mummy has ever been found. She has now come to be known as having been the only female pharaoh to erect the most monuments during her reign.
Cleffairy: History taught us many things. Erasing history is included. Once a man’s name and his stories became a taboo, he will cease from existence.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Mythology/ History

Eerie Nursery Rhyme- Mary Mary Quite Contrary

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My father was a very strict man. He started to educate me in the field of literature quite early, and I was encouraged to read classic novels such as Black Beauty, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Fins, Sherlock Holmes and many more when I was a little girl.

When I was a little girl,there’s this one novel that my father did not need to pester me to read. It was known as Secret Garden. I loved to read the novel Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The secret garden in the story intrigue me as a young child. The nursery rhyme in it intrigue me even more, and it was one of the nursery rhyme that my father do not need to force me to memorize, as I thought, I’m like Mary herself when I was a child- everything seems to disagree with me and I have a mind of my own, even as a child.

This is the nursery rhyme that I was referring to:

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

As a young child, I never knew what the nursery rhyme meant. I always thought that the nursery rhyme was referring to the protagonist in the novel, Mary Lennox and her contrary and disagreeable ways, that is why I like the rhyme so much. But little did I know, the true meaning and the origins of the nursery rhyme is quite horrifying.

This particular nursery rhyme goes deep into history. It tells us the story of Mary Tudor, Queen of England.

Who is Mary?

The Mary alluded to in this traditional English nursery rhyme is reputed to be Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden referred to is an allusion to graveyards which were increasing in size with those who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestant faith – Protestant martyrs.

Instruments of Torture.


The silver bells and cockle shells referred to in the Nursery Rhyme were colloquialisms for instruments of torture. The ‘silver bells’ were thumbscrews which crushed the thumb between two hard surfaces by the tightening of a screw. The ‘cockleshells’ were believed to be instruments of torture which were attached to the genitals!

The ” Maids” or Maiden was the original guillotine.

The ‘maids’ were a device to behead people called the Maiden. Beheading a victim was fraught with problems. It could take up to 11 blows to actually sever the head, the victim often resisted and had to be chased around the scaffold. Margaret Pole (1473 – 1541), Countess of Salisbury did not go willingly to her death and had to be chased and hacked at by the Executioner. These problems led to the invention of a mechanical instrument (now known as the guillotine) called the Maiden – shortened to Maids in the Mary Mary Nursery Rhyme. The Maiden had long been in use in England before Lord Morton, regent of Scotland during the minority of James VI, had a copy constructed from the Maiden which had been used in Halifax in Yorkshire. Ironically, Lord Morton fell from favour and was the first to experience the Maiden in Scotland!

Executions.
Another form of execution during Mary’s reign was being burnt at the stake – a terrible punishment much used during the Spanish Inquisition. The English hated the Spanish and dreaded the idea of an English Inquisition. The executions during the reign of Bloody Mary were therefore viewed with a greater fear of the Spanish than the executions themselves – it is interesting to note that executions during her reign totalled less than 300 an insignificant amount compared to the executions ordered by her father King Henry VIII which are believed to have numbered tens of thousands.

Now, isn’t that eerie? I cannot believe that all all this while, when I was reading and teaching ‘Mistress Mary’ nursery rhyme to my students, I was actually telling them those horrible bloody things that Mary Tudor did during her reigns! When I found out about this, I actually shuddered in horror. I’m horrified by the fact that I’m ignorant and not well informed as a teacher. God knows all these while that I taught horrible history facts that was innuendoed by poems, rhymes, etc.

I wonder, how many more nursery rhymes and poems are disguised like this one? And what story it held behind it’s beautiful words?

Cleffairy: I’m Mistress Mary quite contrary at times. Perhaps I should write a coded novel to describe my thoughts on Malaysian politics? On second thought, perhaps not…it wouldn’t be as beautiful as Secret Garden.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Mythology/ History

Twelve Days of Christmas

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I think most of us are familiar with “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song. To most it’s just a delightful nonsense rhyme set to music. But “Twelve Days of Christmas” had a secret code in it, though it’s no longer a secret now. The song is a good deal more than just a repetitious melody with pretty phrases and a list of strange gifts.

Let’s go back in time, shall we, dear readers? Catholic was banned in England during the period 1558 to 1829. Queen Elizabeth I of Protestant faith saw fit to have it ban as the Church impose a threat to the monarchical system, where the Bishop have more power over the country than Kings and Queens. So when the Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, they were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law – private or public. So, to make the long story short, it’s simply a crime to even be a Catholic in England at that time.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in England as one of the “catechism songs” to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith. The song is some sort of a memory aid. It is important to note that when someone was caught with anything in writing indicating adherence to the Catholic faith, they could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged, drawn, quartered and many other peculiar and ghastly punishment.

Hanging, drawing and quartering involved hanging a person by the neck until they had almost, but not quite, suffocated to death, then the victim was taken down from the gallows, and disembowelled while still alive and while the entrails were still lying on the street, where the executioners stomped all over them, the victim was tied to four large farm horses, and literally torn into five parts – one to each limb and the remaining torso.

All right, enough of the extremely gory details. Let’s go back to the song, Twelve Days of Christmas.

The songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of the faith. The ‘True love’ mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, it refers to God Himself.

The ‘me’ who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. The ‘partridge in a pear tree’ is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so…”

The other symbols mean the following:

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the ‘Pentateuch’, which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

Below is a video of the song in question:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Jbi-BBp3c]

And this is the modern one inspired by Twelve Days of Christmas

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VraaEaOzYQ]

Cleffairy: There’s so many secret and mysteries about Christmas, and it amuse me to see that kids these days are not intrigue by it.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Mythology/ History

Winter Solstice, Yuletide-The truth about Christ Mass

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While many of you believed that Christmas is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, however, the real Christmas is actually celebrated long before the birth of Jesus. Yes, people, ‘Christmas’ actually exist before the birth of Christ. But then, it was not known as Christmas then. The original ‘Christmas’ was a pagan holiday known as the Winter Solstice, celebrated by people who are not even Christians. The history of Christmas can be traced over 4000 years, centuries before Jesus was born. Many of the Christmas traditions were practiced and celebrated centuries before Jesus was born.

The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnival, parades, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians history.

Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in
many gods, and among them are their chief god – Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. It’s known as Zagmuk, the New Year’s festival that lasted for 12 days.

The Mesopotamian king would return to the temple of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the god. The traditions called for the king to die at the end of the year and to return with Marduk to battle at his side.

To spare their king, the Mesopotamians used the idea of a “mock or fake” king. A criminal was chosen and dressed in royal clothes. He was given all the respect and privileges of a real king, but at the end of the celebration the “mock” king was stripped of the royal clothes and slain without mercy, sparing the life of the real king from the sacrificial ritual.

The Persians and the Babylonians also celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey.

Early Europeans believed in evil spirits, witches, ghosts and trolls. As the Winter Solstice approached, with its long cold nights and short days, many people feared the sun would not return. Special rituals and celebrations were held to welcome back the sun. A great festival would be held, called the Yuletide, and a special feast would be served around a fire burning with the Yule log. Great bonfires would also be lit to celebrate the return of the sun. In some areas people would tie apples to branches of trees to remind themselves that spring and summer would return. That, my dear readers, is the origin of the tradition where you decorate a Christmas tree.

The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.

The Roman’s celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of “Jo Saturnalia!” the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).

The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.

“Jo Saturnalia!” was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians though it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.

However, as Christianity spread, the Christians priests were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts.

At first the Church forbid this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail. Eventually it was decided that the celebration should be tamed and made into a celebration fit for the Christian’s Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect example of ‘if you can’t beat them, then by all means, join them’.

Some legends claim that the Christian “Christmas” celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity’s main rivals at that time.

The Christian created Christmas then, where Christ refers to Jesus and Mass refers to the gathering of Christians. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas. The exact day of Jesus’s birth has never been pinpointed in the bible. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.

Cleffairy: So, tell me, people, did you celebrate Christ Mass, where you gather and spend time with your brothers and sisters in Christ in remembrance of Jesus or did you celebrate the pagan holiday, Winter Solstice by partying and indulging in alcoholic drinks and sex parties?

ps: Don’t call me a party pooper when you creeps are history illiterate. Grrrr!

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Mythology/ History

Eid Al Adha

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This is a bit early, but here’s wishing all Over A Cuppa Tea Muslim readers a blessed Eid Al Adha and happy holidays to the rest of you in Malaysia. Here’s my take on Eid Al Adha. I’m not the brightest crayon in the box, so please feel free to correct me on facts on Eid Al Adha if there’s any flaws in my writings.

Eid Al Adha takes place roughly seventy days after the end of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month and coincides with the day that pilgrims performing the Hajj. The Edi Al Adha day starts very early. Muslims all around the world would dress in their best clothes, and go to a communal morning prayer.

As Ibrahim did, all financially able Muslims must make a sacrifice (Qurban). Families who are not financially able may get together to pool their money and buy an animal. The animal sacrificed must be of a certain age and quality. As Muslims make the sacrifice they will recite a prayer.  One third of Qurban meat  will be given to the poor and needy, one third to the extended family while one third will be for his own household.

Like Eid Fitri in Malaysia, the holiday is also a time for visiting and greeting friends and family, for eating (hmm, Malaysians can be such glutton at times) and for giving pocket money to young children and the elders. Open house during Eid Al Adha is also common practice in Malaysia.

Yours truly never fully understood the real meaning of Eid Al Adha. However, I’ve been told that it’s a Festival of Sacrifice. And it’s actually religious festival observation celebrated by Muslims and  Druze worldwide in commemoration of the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. The devil tempted Ibrahim by saying he should disobey God and spare his son. As Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, God intervened and instead provided a lamb as the sacrifice. Here’s an excerp of the sacrificial story that you guys might want to have a look at:

Ismail (Isaac) looks up lovingly at his father, Ibrahim (Abraham). there’s no fear written on his  expression despite the knife in his father’s hand – a knife which, he believes, will soon be slithered on his throat and take his life. A grimace of pain is hidden behind the father’s beard. The father ignores the ethereal whispers that surround him, coming from the very devil himself, urging him not to do it, to disobey God’s order. But Ibrahim (Abraham) persist.He knows what must be done.

The father looks at the boy one last time, then, slowly, reluctantly, raises his knife to strike the boy down.

The strike is never made. Instead, God, who, in order to test Ibrahim’s(Abraham’s) faith, had ordered Ibrahim (Abraham) to kill his son, intervenes, sending a lamb to be sacrificed in his place. From this day forth, no human sacrifice would ever be made by the people of the book.

This is why today all over the world Muslims who have the means to, sacrifice an animal (usually a goat, sheep, cows or camels), as a reminder of Ibrahim’s obedience to God. The meat is then shared out with family, friends (Muslims or non-Muslims), as well as the poor members of the community. (Do note that the child of the sacrifice was known as Ismail whereas the Judeo-Christian name was Isaac).

Distributing meat among the needy or poor is considered an essential part of the festival during this period. The main point for sharing the meat with the poor is symbolic of sharing wealth with others and to remind the devotees that everyone is equal in the eyes of God, and the only things that differentiate one devotee and another is not wealth, but the good deeds.

Cleffairy :Make the sacrifice for God’s sake, not political gains. Eid Mubarak and happy holiday to all.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Movies/ Entertainment, Mythology/ History

May I have this dance? Waltz with me?

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I was pissed off earlier with the news where a bloody police head discourage people from singing national anthem in his statement. It’s depressing for me to think that there are people who think that national anthem should not be respected and be sang freely by Malaysian citizens, but I am feeling rather romantic at the moment though I have no idea what’s so romantic about not being able to sleep and still awake at 5am. November is a bit of hell for me with the Nano thingie going on. So, bitching aside, and romantic stuff comes to mind.

I was thinking about a particular dance as I wrote for one of my NaNoWriMo chapter scene, which is waltz. So, I’m letting my mood rule for a while as I take a short break from writing dangerously.

For those who’s wishing to romance their partner or spouse, here’s how to waltz. A courtesy of a friend of mine, whom I know from an online game. Tango would be spicier and more sexy, however, Tango is more complicated, I could not Tango even if my life is at stake. Attempting any other dances would make me feel like I have two left feet. Waltz is fine, though. I used to dance with my husband, but these days we simply could not find time to do so. *growl*

WALTZ

123 Left Closed Change
123 456 Natural Turn
123 Right Closed Change
123 456 Reverse Turn
123 Whisk
12&3 Chasse from Promenade Position
123 Natural Turn
456 Natural Spin Turn
456 Reverse Turn

Waltz : Box Basic

Practice making a anti-clockwise box by doing A and B alternately :-

A1 Step forward on left foot.
Rest weight on left foot.
A2 Bring right foot under the right hip and push out to the right side and
stand at shoulder apart. The foot makes a curve L-movement.
Rest weight on right foot.
A3 Draw left foot closer to the right foot.
Rest weight on left foot.

B1 Step backwards on right foot.
Rest weight on right foot.
B2 Bring left foot under the left hip and push out the the left side and
stand at shoulder apart. The foot makes a curve L-movement.
Rest weight on left foot.
B3 Draw right foot closer to the left foot.
Rest weight on right foot.

Practice making a clockwise box by doing C and D alternately :-

C1 Step forward on right foot.
Rest weight on right foot.
C2 Bring left foot under the left hip and push out the the left side and
stand at shoulder apart. The foot makes a curve L-movement.
Rest weight on left foot.
C3 Draw right foot closer to the left foot.
Rest weight on right foot.

D1 Step backwards with left foot.
Rest weight on left foot.
D2 Bring right foot under the right hip and push out to the right side and
stand at shoulder apart. The foot makes a curve L-movement.
Rest weight on right foot.
D3 Draw left foot closer to the right foot.
Rest weight on left foot.

Practice making a anti-clockwise box by doing A and B alternately.
Practice making a clockwise box by doing C and D alternately.

Practice moving continuously forward by doing A and C alternately.
Practice moving continuously backward by doing B and D alternately.

To get a clear picture of what I’m talking about, see the video below

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFAGFyRYyHY]

Ladies and gentlemen, Waltz originates from Austria.In Austria, peasant dances to every now and then in their free times. The pheasants called the dance as ‘landlers’, and it existed as far back as the Middle Ages. They were popular at weddings, christenings, and folk festivals. The landler is still popular as a folk dance in many sections of Austria and neighboring countries.

Enter the French Revolution, the elaborate dance styles of the French court had dominated all of Europe. At the end of the French Revolution,Austria became one of the focal point of European musical and literary culture as interest in ther native dances, music and culture increased, and the landler moved from the rural areas the drawing rooms of the elite, where it underwent considerable refinement and polishing. The name was changed to walzer, which means or signify gliding.

Not much later, the name is changed into waltz.The waltz was the first dance to use the intimate position for an extended period of time during the dance, and because of this it was subjected to severe criticism and condemnation by the church authorities back then. In many areas, the waltz was banned from public ballrooms for many years.

As time passed by, the popularity of waltz overcame the protest and it’s now accepted in many countries as a formal ballroom dance. And so, my precious readers, that’s just about it about waltz. If you know anymore history about waltz, do drop a line for me.I really would love to know.

😀

Cleffairy:Here’s a poem for you, ladies and gentlemen:

Stars shine brilliantly in the night,

So take her hand and dance with delight,

Stay true to to your heart,

So that you won’t be torn apart.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Mythology/ History

Hollow Eve- Holloween Tales

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October was not a productive month for me. There’s so many ups and downs with many problems on hand for me to handle, and shamefully, I have only produced 15 articles last month. Worst personal record ever. Today I’m going to blog about Holloween. I know it’s a day late, but then again, better late than never, right? I have a resolution this month, which is completing a novel with at least 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, but that does not mean I will neglect my blog as I go crazy writing a novel. That would mean I will blog insanely too, and hopefully will put my October’s record to shame. Yes, people, I was not joking when I said last month that I would like to participate.

Anyway, enough of my rants, let’s get to Holloween tales.

Firstly, on how Holloween originates. This is my version though, as told by my kindergarten teacher when I was around 5 years old. I did not study in Malaysia, so I was fed with all sort of Holloween tales. But trick or treating has always left me sick to the stomach, as I had too much candies to eat. Frankly speaking, Holloween is not really my favourite holiday.

I did not pay much attention back then, but I think I recalled some of the facts right. Holloween is not just about the commercialized trick or treating that the modern people would have it, but it has long extensive history and legends. A Celtic history at that, no less.

Halloween is originally celebrated on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday where the Irish celebrated to honor the dead souls that wander the street on that very day. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago. Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead souls that are believed to wander on the streets.

Samhain signifies end of summer or beginning of autumn, which is November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were based on superstition.

The pagans believed that on this very day, which is the last day of summer and the beginning of autumn, is the very day that the evil soul goes around wandering aimlessly on the streets. The poor souls, when was alive, did many awful things that is beyond redemption, and they are nothing but poor evil who are out to after the innocent people who are still alive. And of course, these souls or ghosts are not always very friendly.

The people thought of a way to appease the dead, which is offering of treats of goods and gifts in the form of crops that they harvested, hoping that by doing so, their next harvest would be bountiful. This custom then evolve into what you see those kids doing today, which is ‘Trick or Treating’.

And then there’s a story that have Christianity element in it. As it’s commonly known, Holloween is also known as All Saints Day or All Hollow Eve. It’s the evening before All Saints Day. A day created by the Christians to converts the pagan to Christianity and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic honored saints on this designated day.

The story that contains the Christianity element in it is the story of Jack O Lantern. Despite of the famous lantern that’s carved out of pumpkin that sometimes gives the chill to people, the real Jack is not a pumpkin or a lantern. The Jack O’Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History.

He is a dirty old man who was always drunk and have no conscience. As a Celtic tale would have it, the drunkard would play tricks on everyone that he comes across. His family, friends, and the Devil himself is not even spared from Jack’s trickery.

One day, the day that is supposed to be the day that Jack died, the Devil came to him to claim his life and brings him to hell, because people like Jack would never be accepted to heaven as some of the things he did in life, like tricking his poor old mother is beyond redemption.

However, taking Jack’s life is a gruesome task, as he kept playing tricks on the Devil and made the devil to promise him not to bring him to hell once he died. After a few years, Jack finally died. He went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was had led a miserable and worthless life on earth and therefore, he is not worthy of heaven. And since he’s not allowed to step his foot in heaven, Jack then went down to Hell and spoke to the Devil himself.

The Devil was still seething with anger when he saw Jack, who was begging for a place to stay in hell, since he have no other place to go. Unexpectedly, the Devil kept his promise to Jack when he was still alive and refused to accept Jack in hell. Now, since Jack could not go to heaven and hell would not accept him, he is damned to spend his afterlife to wander in the darkness between heaven and hell forever.

Jack, who was scared asked the Devil how he could leave if there’s no lights to guide his way. The Devil took a slight pity in Jack, and tossed a tiny ember from hell to Jack to guide his way in his wanderings. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out Turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Jack’s soul roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his “Jack O’Lantern”.

On all Hallow’s eve, the Irish would hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and sometimes beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Jack’s spirit away. These were the original Jack O’Lanterns.

Somewhere in the 1800’s a couple of Irish immigrants went to America and the Irish immigrants quickly discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O’Lanterns. So, ladies and gentlemen, that is why people originally carved out pumpkins and made lantern out of it during the Holloween, which is to keep Jack guided in his wandering and away from their homes.

People these days only know that Holloween is for trick or treating and asking for candies from door to door by dressing up as dead souls or whatever character of their choice and party around on Hollow’s Eve. That’s pretty much commercialized.

The original Holloween is supposed to be rather uneventful, as people would prefer to stay indoors to avoid wandering souls,not wander around like lost souls themselves. To me, though the modern way of celebrating Holloween is quite fun, I feel that it’s actually pathetic if people do not actually know what actually they are celebrating or where and how a certain festival originates.

Cleffairy: Boo! Trick or treat, don’t eat too much candies and get sick, people.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Mythology/ History

Deepavali- Triumph of good over evil

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Here’s wishing all Hindu readers of Over A Cuppa Tea a very happy and blessed Deepavali. I haven’t been writing for the past few days. While some of you would believe that I’m down with diarrhea again for over eating, unfortunately, I’m not. I was down with high fever instead, so all moods for writing flew out of the window and the mood for sleeping overcomes the will to write.

I’m sure a lot of you know that Deepavali, or Indian New Year is associated with lights, or celebration of lights where people lights up lamps to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. But not many of you know the myth/story behind the festival itself. So, please permit me to retell the story that gives people a reason to celebrate Deepavali. The story of Rama and Sita, or commonly known as Ramayana( The Story of Rama).

Once upon a time, there live a prince, known as Rama and his wife. The couple were banished from their own kingdom by Rama’s evil stepmother. She was scared that her own son would not succeed the throne, so she sent the bright and wise Rama and his wife, Sita to live in exile. Rama’s brother, Lakshmana was very devoted to his brother, so he decided to leave his young wife at the palace and accompany the couple to live in exile to ensure their safety.

Sita, Rama’s wife is said to be a very beautiful woman, and could charm any man she want with her grace and good looks. Despite of her gifts of good looks, she stays devoted to her husband, even though they’re living in exile, and this irks King Rawana of Ceylon, who have been lusting after the beautiful Sita.

So one day, when Rama and Lakshmana went out hunting and left Sita alone. When Sita is alone, Rawana appears before her as an ailing old man, who begs Sita for help. Sita took pity on the sickly old man, and when she is aiding the old man, the old man changes into Rawana and abducts Sita, telling her that Rama is dead. He rises in the air with her and flies her to his Kingdom.

Jatayu, King of the Birds, also commonly known as Garuda (Phoenix), witnessed Rawana carrying off Sita and they battle in the air. Rawana delivers a fatal wound to Jatayu’s wings who fell to the ground, where he is later discovered by Rama and Laksmana. Jatayu was near death and managed to tell Rama that Sita was abducted by the evil king.

Rama and Laksmana travelled far and wide and enlist the aid of the army of Wanaras, a race of giant monkeys. Sugriwa, King of the Wanaras, agrees to help Rama rescue Sita in return for Rama’s support of Sugriwa’s attempt to regain his rightful throne in the land of Guakiskenda.

When Sugriwa meets his arch-nemesis, Subali, Rama saves Sugriwa’s life with a magic arrow which kills Subali. After Sugriwa is crowned King of Guakiskenda, the white monkey general, Hanuman, is sent to Alengka (Ceylon) to scout the defenses and to deliver Rama’s ring to Sita, so that she would know that Rama was alive and soon will rescue her.

After a narrow escape from the stomach of Wikateksi, the enormous sea monster which guarded the approaches to Alengka, Hanuman kills Wikateksi and flies to the capital of Alengka, the kingdom of the giants. Fortunately, there are many monkeys living among the giants, which provide cover for Hanuman, who reduces his size. He looks everywhere in the city for the abducted Sita. Eventually Hanuman finds Rawana’s palace and the women’s quarters. Hanuman meets Sita in the garden and gives her Rama’s ring, which she recognizes at once, and tells her that Rama is on his way to rescue her.

Hanuman, in order to test the strength of the city, resumes his normal size, climbs to the top of a tall building and hurls a challenge to the awestruck crowd below. He begins to destroy the buildings around him by using an uprooted palm tree as a club. He is felled by an arrow shot by the crown prince of Alengka, Hindrajit. Hanuman is shackled in chains and sentenced to die by slow fire.

Hanuman appeals to Agni, the god of fire, to save him. A wall of flame springs up between Hanuman and the watching crowd. With a burst of strength, Hanuman breaks his bonds, and swinging a glowing torch picked up from the fire, goes on a rampage which ends in the burning of a large part of the city. Assuring himself that Sita’s pavilion is safe, Hanuman leaps into the air and flies back to Guakiskenda.

After hearing of Hanuman’s exploits, Rama adopts him as his own son. The army then heads for Alengka, which they find surrounded by a boiling sea. By hurling huge boulders into the sea, the monkey soldiers build a causeway to the island. Rawana learns of the invasion and assembles his generals. Some of the generals resent Rawana’s evil rule, but heretofore have lacked the courage to oppose him. Wibisana, Rawana’s brother, as spokesman, points out that it was because Rawana abducted Sita that Alengka is now in danger.

He suggests that Rawana release Sita and avoid bloodshed and loss of life and property. Angered, Rawana strikes Wibisana, who then deserts to Rama’s army. Rawana is tempted to murder Sita, but is thwarted by Trijata, Wibisana’s beautiful daughter, who has grown to love Sita as a sister. Rawana turns to another brother, the giant Kumbakarna, who although disapproving of Rawana’s crimes and baseness, decides to help because they are of the same blood.

After many guerilla attacks by the monkey soldiers, the two armies finally face each other. Two opposing generals, Kumbakarna and Laksmana challenge each other. Kumbakarna is killed by Laksmana’s magic arrow. Other duels take place on the battlefield. Rama spots Rawana and pursues him, shooting showers of arrows, which seem to have no effect on Rawana other than to make him back off. Rawana backs in between two unusually formed rocks which snap together and hold him in an inescapable grip. These rocks are inhabited by the souls of two of his daughters, who Rawana had murdered, and who are at last able to avenge themselves on their father.

Rawana’s army surrenders and Rama gives the throne of Alengka to Wibisana. Rama and Sita are joyfully united. The fourteen years of exile being over, Rama, Sita and Laksmana return to Kosala, where they are welcomed by all. However, rumors circulate about Sita’s virtue. She offers to test her virtue by fire. She enters the ring of fire and emerges unharmed, her faithfulness was confirmed. When the rumors persist, she leaves the palace for the spiritual life.

The Ramayana story is especially important to Hindus because it is possible for ordinary people to identify with the characters and situations. The heroes and heroines are emulated for their positive qualities of honesty, devotion, perseverance, fidelity, and bravery. Strongly evident in this story is the portrayal of pure evil and those who have the courage to resist and overcome that evil.

And so, that is why people started to celebrate Deepavali. The Hindus lights up oil lamp to celebrate and commemorate the triumph of good over evil.

Cleffairy: A special thanks to a good friend of mine who shared Rama’s story with me and assist me in the whole process of the retelling of Rama’s story. I couldn’t have done it without her. Happy Deepavali and happy holiday, everyone. I enjoyed the story very much, but I have to say, Sita does reminds me of Helen of Troy. I guess, in any culture, there will always be a story that resembles Helen of Troy. Sometimes, beauty has always been the reason of war between countries and men. Are women evil beings that provokes war and fightings? Or women are just mere excuse for men to show their aggressive nature? A penny for your thoughts.

😀

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Event coverage, Mythology/ History

The Malayan Emergency- Emergency Festival

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Having found out about this Emergency Festival from u-jean, I decided to check it out, since I have time to spare. Emergency festival is actually a 16 days exhibition of history of the first Malayan emergency from 1948 to 1960. It’s held at Annexe Gallery, Central market, KL from 16th to 26th October 2008, 11am-5pm. The Emergency Festival Exhibition is free for the public to see.

For those who are Malaysian history illiterate, or has been sleeping and drooling their heads off during history classes in school, I suggest you make a trip to this particular event to learn more about our history. One forewarning though, the exhibition and presentations during the emergency festival has nothing to do with textbook. This event gives great insight on history in a rather alternative way. Bottom line, it’s quite thoughts provoking if you really spend time to think and reflect on what’s presented and exhibited during the Emergency Festival.

After attending this Emergency Festival, I would never view our history in a straight line ever again, as I’ve learn from this festival that the victor takes the spoil of war and dictates history while the loser will be buried and fade away with time. There’s actually an underlined message in the whole Emergency Festival. However, for security reason, I would not write the real underlying message that has been send across in various exhibition material. Most artist who have in depth knowledge on Malayan history, would know what it means and relate it to the current political environment, though. You can try and guess if you want.

Emergency Festival exhibition hall has been split into a few rooms, where each room exhibit different material. Below are the pictures taken last Saturday during the exhibition.

The picture above is the first exhibition room during the Emergency Festival. It’s called the ‘Propaganda Room’.The entire room was littered with thousands of papers. This is not just a normal mess. The artist is actually trying to imitate the situation during the Malayan Emergency where throughout the 12 years of emergency, Malayans were constantly bombarded with propaganda materials, by both British and communist alike. Propaganda were spread through both print and broadcast media. The ‘mess’ on the floor is actually propaganda leaflets.

British have more advantage in spreading their propaganda in Malaya, as they are the ones who colonized Malaya and have access to more facilities than the communist. Between the 1948 to 1960 time period, the British air-dropped over 500 million propaganda leaflets in over 2,500 locations in Malaya.

For the British, psychological means were taken into consideration to keep the people in check. Psychological ways such as constantly bombarding the public with propaganda leaflets that instill fear and terror in the minds of the citizens were executed. Different levels of sophistication in the propaganda were employed and targeted at specific Malayan communities.

Posters that offers handsome rewards are plastered all over in Malaya back then. Whoever provide the information that leads to the capture or death on certain people who are considered as the ‘enemy’ by the British would definitely be laughing their heads off all the way to the bank. $150,000 is a large sum of money back then. I guess no matter in which time or era we’re living in, money would always be offered in exchange of loyalty and devotion.

Kill all the ‘rumours’, and you will kill the enemy. One question though. Is all rumours our enemies? How do we differentiate between rumours and truth? Sometimes, ‘rumours’ are ugly truth that some people would love to bury.There’s an important message that should be noted here, which is in order to control people’s mind, we should not have any bad words spreading around against us or else, it would undermine our leadership as our credibility would be questioned. British had successfully ‘killed’ the rumours through their propaganda with the help of the citizens who were more than pleased to provide information about the communist in exchange for the rewards offered.

In the midsts of hunting the communists, the people’s lives are affected. During the course of Malayan Emergency, more than 500,000 people were forced to leave their homes and land and were relocated into 450 guarded camps/village. The British claimed that it’s for the citizen’s security reason. But the real reason behind that is to restrict the citizen’s contact with outsiders as well as keeping them under strict control.

That brings us to the next exhibition room that is built to replicate the camps/village. It’s called The New Village Room.

The ‘New Villages’ were introduced under the Briggs Plan back in 1950. The purpose is actually to defeat the communist by cutting off their sources of support amongst the people. Most of the New Village communities were relocated several times before settling on a permanent location. Note that the perimeters of the New Village’s replica is full of barbed wires, symbolizing tight and extreme security by the British.

Extreme securities means that the New Village was observed by the British soldiers 24/7. The replica of the security tower that was built by the exhibitor is trying to tell us that no one was able to escape the British observation during that time.

The exhibitor encourage people who came to the exhibition to participate in the Emergency Festival by moving and rearrange the house around in the New Village room. Symbolic of the relocation and impermanence during the New Village plan that was implemented by the British to achieve their goals.

The British not only relocate the citizens in New Villages during the Malayan Emergency, but they also introduced a form of identification to differentiate the civilians and the communist. They introduced IC to the Malayans. That brings us to proceed to the next room, which is the ID Room.

Above is the exhibition material that was exhibited in the Identification Room. Various replicas of IC were imprinted on large piece of glass and was hung on the wall for viewer’s viewing pleasure. One of them were the first IC issued by the British, which belonged to Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. I did not manage to get the picture of it though, as the room was too dark and was unfriendly to my camera.

IC ( Identity Cards) were first introduced during the Emergency to seperate the communists and the general populace. The content of IC were used to discriminate its holder during the frequent checks and searches conducted by the British.

In 1952, the Jus Soli, granting of citizenship gave the IC as secondary purposes and its holder an official nationality. Dear precious readers, IC may have evolved and gone through several changes and upgrades, however, something remains the same since the Malayan Emergency, which is its holder still have no say or control over what’s written in their own identity cards.

In the times of uncertainties where British was desperate to chase away the communist from the land that they colonize, innocents were killed. And that, dear readers, brings us to the next exhibition room which is the Batang Kali Room.

The 24 pair of clothes that’s exhibited here is used to described the Batang Kali massacre that took place on 12th December 1948 where 14 members of the Scots Guards captured and shot dead 24 unarmed civilians in a line up and set fire to the village.

At that time, the Batang Kali massacre was claimed the most successful anti-bandit operation during the Emergency. As I see what’s exhibited, some questions came into my mind, which is who were those civilians? And what did they do to deserve death by shooting? Since they were unarmed, were they ‘enemies’ that spread the ‘rumours’? Their homes were burn, why did the British do that? Were they trying to destroy some evidence or they are merely trying to instill terror in the civilians minds?

Unfortunately, no one can answer my question as the truth was all but buried.

Fake tombstone was built by the exhibitor, symbolizing the death of the 24 innocent civilians. Honestly, I felt that the Batang Kali Room was haunted, as I felt that I was watched by unknown forces even though I was alone. The room really gives me the creep and goosebumps on my skin. The booklet in front of the tombstone described the Batang Kali Massacre, but did not explain why it happened.

After the Emergency was declared, there were campaigns, operations, movements and plans made all over Malaya to provide security to counter offense or to seek freedom. So that brings us to the next room, which is the Planning Room.

While the plans made and executed were claimed to be made in the interest of the people, the ones who were affected are the civilians, no matter how small the decision that was made by the leader.. Note the colours used for the exhibition material in the Planning Room. White is representing the British and a certain Malay party that soon will claim independence from British while the red is representing the communists.

Never look only at the surface when it’s regarding to history. While the leaders were planning and negotiating, things happened underneath as depicts in the picture below.

Beneath the surface, violence were ongoing and countless lives were sacrificed while the leaders were planning and talking. People were suffering.

I have to admit that history was not my strong point, and I’ve slept in my history class more often than staying awake as the way the teachers taught history was very boring. They were merely feeding us facts and dates and never provoke us to think in a different perspective. History, in most classes were always a straight line, where one side is bad and another is the hero. But after going to this exhibition, I do not feel the same, and learn that despite 51 years of independence from British colonization, there are things that still haven’t change. Some things are still implemented the same way as it was before.

Despite of being sponsored by various local agencies, including Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan, this Emergency Festival does not attract much locals. Instead, there are more foreigners who are interested in our history. Young man and woman from England flooded this exhibition and seems to be fascinated with the whole thing. Sad to see that Malaysian youth these days are not concern about out history, instead, they prefer to loiter around doing God knows what during weekends.

Cleffairy: To control a country, one would have to control the mind of the people. To cripple the enemies, one would have to work together with people that we dislike in order to achieve our goals. In any era, any country, the victors will claim the spoils of war while the defeated fades away and buried. The one’s who were buried were silenced forever.

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Mythology/ History

Mid-autumn Festival Tale- Hou Yi and Chang Er

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Mid-autumn festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. It’s also known as Mooncake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds and duck eggs is served as a traditional Mid-autumn festival delicacy.

Nobody actually knows when the custom of eating moon cake to celebrate the mid-autumn festival began, but there are traces of it back in 14th century. At that time, China was in revolt against the Mongols. Chu Yuen-chang, and his senior deputy, Liu Po-wen, discussed battle plan and develops a secret mooncake strategy to take a certain walled city held by the Mongol enemy. Liu dressed up as a Taoist priest and entered the besieged city bearing mooncake.

He distributed these to the city’s populace. When the time for the year’s mid-autumn festival arrived, people opened their cakes and found hidden messages advising them to coordinate their uprising with the troops outside. Thus, the emperor-to-be ingeniously took the city and his throne.

Mooncake of course, became even more famous. And so, every year people eat moon cake and enjoy the harvest moon with their family to celebrate the victory over the Mongols. This is one of the story on mid-autumn festival that I’m familiar with but my favourite tale on how Mid-Autumn festival originates have to be the tale between Hou Yi and Chang Er.

This tale on Hou Yi and Chang Er may differ from the ones you have heard, as they are so many versions told from one generation to another.

The one I’m more familiar with is this one. Once upon a time, there live two immortals in the Heaven, they are Hou Yi and Chang Er. Hou yi and Chang Er were lovers who goes through great obstacle before their love is approved by the Heaven.

The Heaven was ruled by the Jade Emperor and his Empress. One day, ten sons of Jade emperor accidentally transformed into the sun, and revolves around the earth playfully, causing great drought and suffering to the mortals below.

Worried and concern for the mortals, the Jade emperor summons the imperial archer, Hou Yi to help him solve the problem. Hou Yi then went to Earth and shot down nine of the Jade Emperor’s sons. The emperor had thought that Hou Yi would not harm any of his sons. Now that his sons are dead, the emperor was very furious. In anger, the emperor took away Hou Yi and his wife’s immortality and condemn them to live on Earth forever.

Chang Er was grief stricken with her loss of immortality. Hou Yi could not bear to see his saddened wife, and so, he decided to steal the immortality pill from the heavenly medicine manufacturer so that both of their immortality could be restored. He manage to steal the pill from heaven, and brought it to Chang Er. He told her that they only need to take half of the pills to regain immortality.

In the meantime, the Jade Emperor found out about the stolen immortality pill, and command an imperial guard to retrieve the pills and catch both Hou Yi and Chang Er so that he could punish them for their misdeed.

And so, the imperial guard went down to earth in pursuit of the couple and the pill of immortality. But the guard himself was tempted by the idea of immortality. So he waited until Hou Yi is not at home, and attacked Chang Er who is defenseless at home. He demanded for the pill but Chang Er refused to hand it to him. Hou Yi, who seems to forget his arrows went back home to get it and discovered that his wife is in danger. He fought the imperial guard courageously.

Unfortunately, Hou Yi is an archer, not a fighter. He was stabbed right in his heart in front of Chang Er. Chang Er was grief stricken, and wishes to die with her husband too. However, Hou Yi’s dying wish was for Chang Er to regain her immortality and live happily for all eternity.

So, Chang Er took out the pill from her sleeves and swallowed the whole pill so that the guard would not be able to get it and obtain immortality. Right after swallowing the pill, Chang Er started to float towards the sky, and after flying for some time, she landed on the moon. She cried and grieve for her husband’s death.

Her cries was heard by a group of Jade Bunnies that lives on the moon. They went to her and listened to her story. These Jade Bunnies were captivated by Chang Er’s beauty and kindness towards them, so they built a palace for her to stay, knowing that she could never return to Heaven or Earth. They hailed her as their goddess and pledge allegiance to her. These bunnies can be seen pounding on the face of the moon on some cooking utensil.

It is believed that these Jade Bunnies are trying to make resurrection pills so that they could revive their Goddess’s love. It’s said that the resurrection pills is shaped like a mooncake. But it’s not dictate anywhere on whether Hou Yi was revived or not, but in many folklore, it’s told that Chang Er would bestow blessing of love and happiness to lovers who pray hard and sincere enough to the moon during mid-autumn.

According to my husband, however, there’s only one Jade Bunny on the moon, and it’s actually the reincarnation of Chang Er’s husband. He told me that the Jade Empress took pity on the couple, and so reincarnate Hou Yi as a Jade Bunny so that Chang Er will not be lonely on the moon. That explains why Chang Er can always be seen with a bunny everywhere she goes on the moon.

On his explanation to me on why the Jade Bunny is depicted as a creature that’s always pounding on the face of the moon, he said that the bunny is actually chopping a tree which is supposed to be indestructible. Only when he manage to chop down the tree, he will turn back into his original form, and only then, he and Chang Er would be forgiven by the heavenly beings and would be allowed to return to Heaven. (OK, OK, fine…my husband’s version is more romantic…geez…I think i finally lost the romantic charm in me! Malaysian politics to be blame!)

The story of Chang Er and Hou Yi touched many hearts, and with time, people started to celebrate mid-autumn festival by gathering their family and enjoy the sight of the harvest moon together over tea and mooncakes along with other delicacies.

People usually bake mooncake and eat it in hope that Chang Er would bless their mooncake and they would lead a happy life with their loved ones. The mid-autumn festival celebration is also a symbol of appreciation and gratefulness on what they have in life.

However in the modern days, mid-autumn festival is pretty much commercialized. Children these days do not really know what is the meaning of mid-autumn festival besides eating mooncake and playing with fancy lanterns. Maybe you guys should tell your children what mid-autumn festivals really supposed to mean, instead of just allowing them to have fun with their lanterns.

I only know two folklore on mid-autumn festival, feel free to share yours with me. This is quite late, but I’d like to wish you guys anyway. Happy mid-autumn festival.

😀

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBvqan9-Nak&feature=related]

I dedicate this song(poem) to all of you lovers out there. And to my loved ones too. It’s 但愿人长久 (Wishing us to last forever)

😀

Cleffairy: Immortality is not a gift, but a curse when you are damned to live it all alone, without the ones that you love.

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