[matilda] The Gathering Storm AND Re: [sheffield-anti-war-coalition] I. Conceptualisation of the Other ( continued )

[.]

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