Dancing and a Story

Long ago there was a dragon named Koto who devoured the land in an orgy of flame and gore. All who fought against this terror died as soon as they made their stand. To defeat the horror the lord of this land put out a calling to all the great warriors of the world. Despite grave forebodings many came to give aid and for the chance of glory. Beauty was to be had as well for it was well known this lord had the most beautiful daughter in all the known countries. Her heart had grown tired and sad though with the destruction of the land she cared for so much.

Every night new warriors arrived to give battle to the beast and every night the lord threw a great feast and afterwards there was always dancing. One night, after a particularly grand feast Tara, the lord's daughter, danced a slow waltz to the sounds of the harp. A kitchen boy, seeing this, forgot his tray of dishes and stood transfixed by the image before him. How sad she is, he thought, if only someone could make her smile again.

The boy had known Tara all her life for they had grown up at the same time, but Tara knew nothing of the fond kitchen boy. Philip! Philip! the cook yelled, now where has that darn boy gone off to this time? Philip awoke from his hypnosis and returned to his task at hand, not forgetting the image of Tara in his mind...

And afterwards Tara is taken by the dragon and a great journey takes place to rescue her. The kitchen boy Philip follows and is challenged by one of the pride filled men sent to save her. There is a fight and Philip wins, but not without forgiveness for his assailant. Before the party reaches the dragon they encounter a strange and mysterious witch who ensnares them with her dark arts. Some of the companions fall astray, but Philip breaks free and rescues those remaining for his heart stays true to Tara.

Philip eventually finds Tara and they run for their lives. However, the dragon gives chase and relentlessly hounds them, finding them out at every turn. Over their time together Tara and Philip grow close to one another and discover they share feelings for each other. Deciding they cannot run forever, and vowing to at least attempt to save their land, Tara and Philip agree to make a stand against the dragon despite knowing it is their doom.

They climb to the top of a great hill and hold hands and wait for Koto to appear. He comes soon and almost immediately he sends out his fire to consume the two friends. However, something strange happens. this time there is no ash, no fiery immolation, a white light surround the two and even as Koto blows harder and harder the white light grows larger and larger surrounding everything in sight.

It is the light of love and the dragon does not understand it, for he is a thing of evil and darkness, born to bring suffering and pain to the world, all feeling is anathema to him. The dragon goes numb and in a flash of brilliance the white light explodes outward wiping away Koto and breathing new life into the destroyed land. Grass grows, flowers bloom and where the two once stood now sprout two trees, their branches intertwined as two people holding hands. The End.

Amazing Grace

2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade. As Britain was the primary naval power at the time this effectively began the process of making the trading of human lives illegal around the world. The United States followed suit with their own ban in 1808 (it is important to note that this was planned into law 20 years earlier in the legal documents creating the American government). After the war of 1812 was over the mutual desire between the British and Americans to halt slave ships resulted in a partnership that would eventually blossom into the Munroe Doctrine, defining American foreign policy for some time to come.

Such consequences aside though the human story of the ending of the slave trade is a dramatic and emotional one, well-crafted in film form in the movie "Amazing Grace" that debuted in theatres last Friday. Chronicling the decades long efforts of the English politician William Wilberforce to abolish the slave trade, the film is a powerful reminder of the good that can be accomplished when people refuse to surrender to the worldliness around them. It doesn't hurt that the film also relates the story of one of the most powerful religious hymns in history, "Amazing Grace" (probably my favorite spiritual song).

Two other things that were incredibly striking about the film were its testimony to the fact that our world has been global much longer than many would have you believe and the similarities in popular political movements today to those of Wilberforce and his circle of friends in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. For example, you cannot help but find relevance in the "no slave sugar" signs in British tea and coffee shops in the movie to the fair trade signs you find in coffee and marketplaces today. It is a comfort to know that there have always been those crusading for the greater good and it is a crucial lesson that the past holds much helpful information if we only care to look for it.

So, do yourselves a favor and check out "Amazing Grace" this week or weekend, you'll learn a great deal and who knows, you may just find yourself inspired to fight for a cause that is important to you.

P.S. I am not actually reading the book linked to here, but it is the companion book to the movie and for anyone desiring a greater understanding of Wilberforce than what is available in the movie or at Wikipedia it seems to be a great place to start.

Memory

I just read an article in The Washington Post detailing a research team's theory that repressed memory is a cultural invention dating from 1800. This conclusion was based on a massive examination of literature from around the world for examples of an individual experiencing a traumatic event, forgetting it, then remembering it at a later point in time. I am still working to see if I can find an example to contradict them, but before I do I wanted to make two points.

First, this evidence is only relevant if we can also prove that in every documented case of repressed memory the patient had some form of access to literature or commentary regarding what a repressed memory was (therefore giving them the subconcious idea to invent one). And secondly, and perhaps most importantly, that there may be a very obvious explanation of their findings.

That is, that though the notion of a completely repressed memory may have come out of the romantic musings of the nineteenth century it does not mean that the brain does not alter memory as the concious would like to perceive it. For example, have you ever noticed that when you recall an particularly unpleasant experience years later (especially one in which you were partly to blame) that when discussing it with others who bore witness that they will correct you on certain aspects regarding your part in the said events? The point being that if we choose to remember only that which is desirable to us or that which paints us in a good light then it would make sense that at times we would alter a memory to the point that it is virtually "forgotten", but later, after a period of deep reflection perhaps, we "remember" that which we had chosen (perhaps only subconsciously) to "forget". Through this definition one can find many examples throughout history and literature as we have only to look at the classic deluded figure who thinks that their view of the world is only too real and forgets that will power can only push the parameters of reality too far before it pushes you back onto your ass (e.g. Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Nero, Richard III, etc.) It would also not be such a stretch of the mind to think that someone particularly upset about a certain event would find a way to mostly forget it, granting the nineteenth century writers who introduced it the artistic license to include such a notion in their works. What I propose then is an amendment of the definition of "repressed memories" so as to include all such memory modification rather than to completely chalk the concept up to cultural imagination.

http://biopsychlab.com/challenge.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/25/AR2007022501048.html