The Fifth Commandment, if you're Catholic
Yesterday, while posting Lord Buckley's weekly service ("Murder") from the Church of the Living Swing, I was proud that I knew that the sermon was about the fifth commandment. I looked it up in my Bible, and there it was. I'm soooooo smart.
If you're Catholic.
Jews and Protestants will disagree with me. It's THEIR sixth commandment, lower on their totem pole. Well, they really aren't supposed to have totem poles. In the Protestant first commandment, they can have NO other gods before HIM. The Jews have an additional commandment explaining in detail that HE'S the one, and don't start with your images or likenesses or bla bla bla with any other gods.
Catholics, we just can't have STRANGE gods before HIM. Perfectly reasonable.
Keeps the Star Wars crazies out of church, with their costumes and weird language and confessions that bore the priests to distraction. All their sins are in their imaginations, you see, and Father wants the real deal, if he's going to sit for hours and forgive sins.
Anyhow, neither Jews nor Protestants rank murder as high on the commandment list as Catholics, so if you ARE going to be stabbed by a jealous lover, it's less likely to be one of us.
In the spirit of full disclosure, and with my assurance that I won't murder you if you don't agree with me, I provide for you the NOT strange gods I have before HIM.
Baron Samedi - Also known as Banguele, Ghede, Gede, Papa Ghede, Eleggue, Baron Samedi is a major ancestral inter-ethnic god of the Gorovodoun linked to historical/mythical persons. He is the death aspect of Ghede, guardian of the grave, protector of children, god of sexuality, eroticism and libido: the eternal figure in black who controls the crossroad through which everyone must cross. He controls access to the dead: he is to the afterlife what Legba is to life.
Baron Samedi is history. He has intimate contact with the dead. He is dearly loved; his presence brings laughter, joy, singing and dancing. Neither good nor evil, he reminds us that understanding of death and life is beyond our comprehension. His obscenity in sexual matters is thought to be an affirmation of life in the midst of death.
He is generally portrayed as tall, slim and pale in formal attire - black hat, undertaker’s coat and cane. He wears a pair of dark glasses with right lens knocked out to watch those present, lest they steal his food.
Thanks to Bill for the great image of Baron Samedi. He's never looked better.
Erzulie - Erzulie is Dahomean in nature, from the family of sea spirits. The Creole incantation of Ezilie, she is the goddess of love, earth mother, and the female energy of Papa Legba. Represented by the moon, Erzulie is a powerful spiritual deity who is feared as much as she is loved. Erzulie is married to Ogun (Deity of Iron), Agwe (Deity of the Sea) and Damballah (Serpent Deity).
Goddess of the word, help, goodwill, health, beauty, and fortune, as well as jealousy, vengeance and discord in some of her aspects, Erzulie is the differentiating force between humans and other creation. She is not elemental, but the ideal - she conceptualizes, hopes, dreams, has creative artistry and ideality.
Erzulie is the most beautiful and sensuous woman in Vodou pantheon, respected, fabulously rich, jealous, mistrustful of women, worldly, graceful, fond of sweet drinks, eats/drinks with great delicacy and loves to dance.
Ultimately, Erzulie is a tragic presence. Sometimes she weeps uncontrollably because it is she who suffers the sorrows of the world. It is this suffering that allows woman to love her despite her haughty ways.
In the sense that her love transcends the earth, Erzulie is a virgin, the complete antithesis of the crude sexuality of Baron Samedi.
See? This is why Catholics can be Vodouissants, too. When they get bored with the Bible, they can spend time with some very interesting cats and kitties, and it's no sin because they're not strange. Strange is a man with three wives.
Not strange is a woman with three husbands.
Go in peace.
If you're Catholic.
Jews and Protestants will disagree with me. It's THEIR sixth commandment, lower on their totem pole. Well, they really aren't supposed to have totem poles. In the Protestant first commandment, they can have NO other gods before HIM. The Jews have an additional commandment explaining in detail that HE'S the one, and don't start with your images or likenesses or bla bla bla with any other gods.
Catholics, we just can't have STRANGE gods before HIM. Perfectly reasonable.
Keeps the Star Wars crazies out of church, with their costumes and weird language and confessions that bore the priests to distraction. All their sins are in their imaginations, you see, and Father wants the real deal, if he's going to sit for hours and forgive sins.
Anyhow, neither Jews nor Protestants rank murder as high on the commandment list as Catholics, so if you ARE going to be stabbed by a jealous lover, it's less likely to be one of us.
In the spirit of full disclosure, and with my assurance that I won't murder you if you don't agree with me, I provide for you the NOT strange gods I have before HIM.
Baron Samedi - Also known as Banguele, Ghede, Gede, Papa Ghede, Eleggue, Baron Samedi is a major ancestral inter-ethnic god of the Gorovodoun linked to historical/mythical persons. He is the death aspect of Ghede, guardian of the grave, protector of children, god of sexuality, eroticism and libido: the eternal figure in black who controls the crossroad through which everyone must cross. He controls access to the dead: he is to the afterlife what Legba is to life.
Baron Samedi is history. He has intimate contact with the dead. He is dearly loved; his presence brings laughter, joy, singing and dancing. Neither good nor evil, he reminds us that understanding of death and life is beyond our comprehension. His obscenity in sexual matters is thought to be an affirmation of life in the midst of death.
He is generally portrayed as tall, slim and pale in formal attire - black hat, undertaker’s coat and cane. He wears a pair of dark glasses with right lens knocked out to watch those present, lest they steal his food.
Thanks to Bill for the great image of Baron Samedi. He's never looked better.
Erzulie - Erzulie is Dahomean in nature, from the family of sea spirits. The Creole incantation of Ezilie, she is the goddess of love, earth mother, and the female energy of Papa Legba. Represented by the moon, Erzulie is a powerful spiritual deity who is feared as much as she is loved. Erzulie is married to Ogun (Deity of Iron), Agwe (Deity of the Sea) and Damballah (Serpent Deity).
Goddess of the word, help, goodwill, health, beauty, and fortune, as well as jealousy, vengeance and discord in some of her aspects, Erzulie is the differentiating force between humans and other creation. She is not elemental, but the ideal - she conceptualizes, hopes, dreams, has creative artistry and ideality.
Erzulie is the most beautiful and sensuous woman in Vodou pantheon, respected, fabulously rich, jealous, mistrustful of women, worldly, graceful, fond of sweet drinks, eats/drinks with great delicacy and loves to dance.
Ultimately, Erzulie is a tragic presence. Sometimes she weeps uncontrollably because it is she who suffers the sorrows of the world. It is this suffering that allows woman to love her despite her haughty ways.
In the sense that her love transcends the earth, Erzulie is a virgin, the complete antithesis of the crude sexuality of Baron Samedi.
See? This is why Catholics can be Vodouissants, too. When they get bored with the Bible, they can spend time with some very interesting cats and kitties, and it's no sin because they're not strange. Strange is a man with three wives.
Not strange is a woman with three husbands.
Go in peace.
posted by Kitty O'Keefe at 7:54 AM
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