I’m letting you in on my family’s favorite easy brownie recipe, with all my best brownie mix hacks to make box brownies so much better!

Duvar kağıdı🍓

Zien deze zoete broodjes met gele room en kersenvlaai er niet heerlijk uit! Ze zijn heerlijk, makkelijk, super lekker, heerlijk voor bij de koffie en thee.

Matsumoto Shave Ice, Haleiwa: See 2,861 unbiased reviews of Matsumoto Shave Ice, rated 4.5 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #69 of 2,427 restaurants in Haleiwa.

🌮 Chicken Enchilada Soup – All the bold flavors of enchiladas in a creamy, cheesy soup. Serve with tortilla chips for the ultimate Tex-Mex comfort meal! 🧀✨

Creamy, crunchy and flavorful cold Macaroni Salad is an easy and foolproof side dish perfect for BBQ's and get togethers.

Celebrate culture and flavor with these African American recipes. They showcase both traditional and modern favorites, including cookies, stews, and cornbread.

Together with sis, we went Cool-de-sac on Saturday noon. Cool-de-sac, one of the latest indoor children playground at Suntec City. Designed for kids to enjoy creative playing. Also for parents to sit back & relax at the bistro within while waiting for their kids. It was near dinner time when we reach, thus, we decide to get some snacks at the bistro before letting the boys to roam the place Soup of the day - Tomato soup Wait... Did I just mentioned that soup of the day is Tomato Soup? Why is there Oyster huh? First time I'm having Tomato soup with Oyster. Soup not bad lah, but the oyster a little fishy =D Truffle Fries is good, with generous truffle oil & seasoning. Har Cheong (Prawn paste) Calamari, a little salty Hawaiian Pizza which both the boys enjoyed a lot Off to play after snacking!  Video games for the older kids Stage for the idol wannabe Backstage where kids gets to play dressing-up. There's also a staff who sits there and does face painting for the kids Blocks for building you own models Art & craft for the kids who loves art & craft Obstacle course Damien having fun singing Angry hunter/ cowboy?  Ninja Since the boys are not done with playing, we end up having late dinner at the same bistro Kid's pasta for Damien which he polish it off almost immediately! Daryl's Classic Beef Burger I had Steak & Fries Steak is perfectly done as requested, tender & juicy Sis eats the bun & vegetables from the burger While her son eats the beef patty =D The boys continue to play after recharging their energy We stayed there for close to 5 hours and we're one of the last few families who leaves only when they're closing! =D The boys had so much fun and we'll be back soon =) Cool-de-sac 3 Temasek Boulevard Suntec City Mall #02-379/80 Singapore 038983 Operating Hours Weekdays: 10:00 - 22:00 Weekends & Public Holidays: 09:00 - 22:00 Admissions Weekdays  Children under 6 months           FREE Children under 3 years old        $10 Children from 3-12 years old     $20 Weekends and Public Holidays  Children under 6 months           FREE Children under 3 years old        $13 Children from 3-12 years old     $26 Information:  Unlimited play time per admission 2 accompanying adults are allowed in free with every child Subsequent accompanying adult is charged @ $5 Socks are to be worn at all times

th Goals-Healthy People 2020 b. reducing world hunger in the United States and Asia c. improving Medicare reimbursement claims d. providing access to child care services for children ANS: A Healthy People 2020 has a wide influence and is the focus of the nations main objective to promote health and prevent disease. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 3-Feb TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 2. A patient requires a nutrition assessment. The most appropriate professional to perform the assessment is a a. physician. b. nurse. c. public health nutritionist. d. registered dietitian. ANS: D The registered dietitian is the nutrition expert registered with the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR), the certifying agency of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Registered dietitians are the only professionals who have met strict educational and professional prerequisites and passed a national registration examination, which would properly prepare them to conduct a nutrition assessment. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 1 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care 3. The sum of all body processes inside living cells that sustain life and health is a. science. b. digestion. c. metabolism. d. nutrition. ANS: C Metabolism is the sum of all chemical changes that take place in the body. Metabolism provides energy, builds tissue, and regulates metabolic processes in the body. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 4-Mar TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 4. The nutrients that provide the body with its primary source of fuel for energy are a. vitamins. b. minerals. c. fiber. d. carbohydrates. ANS: D Carbohydrates (e.g., starches and sugars) are the bodys primary fuel to carry out necessary processes; fat is the secondary source of energy. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 5. Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the functions of protein? a. Proteins can be a primary fuel source even if there is adequate carbohydrate intake. b. Proteins are a necessary nutrient to provide energy for the body in times of stress. c. Proteins can be used as coenzyme factors during cell metabolism. d. Proteins are essential to tissue building and repair within the body. ANS: D The primary function of proteins is to provide amino acids, which are the building units necessary to build and repair tissues within the body. This is a constant process that ensures adequate growth and maintenance of tissues for a strong body. DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 6. A 65-year-old man requires 2000 kcal/day without any specific fat or carbohydrate requirements. The approximate number of kilocalories per day from fat his diet should provide is kcal/day. a. 400 to 700 b. 100 to 300 c. 500 to 800 d. 900 to 1200 ANS: A Fat should provide no more than 20% to 35% of the total kilocalories per day, so for a 2000-kcal diet 400 to 700 kcal should be provided. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 7. The bodys main storage form of carbohydrate is a. glycogen. b. glycerol. c. glucagon. d. glucose. ANS: A Glycogen is a polysaccharide that is the main storage form of carbohydrate in the human body. It is mainly stored in the liver and to a lesser extent in muscle tissue. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 8. The number of kilocalories provided by one slice of bread that contains 30 g carbohydrate, 3 g protein, and 1 g fat is kcal. a. 34 b. 136 c. 141 d. 306 ANS: C Calculate as follows: Carbohydrate provides 4 kcal/g, protein provides 4 kcal/g, and fat provides 9 kcal/g. Therefore: 30 g carbohydrate 4 kcal/g 120 kcal 3 g protein 4 kcal/g 12 kcal 1 g fat 9 kcal/g 9 kcal 141 total kcal (120 kcal + 12 kcal + 9 kcal) DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 9. The number of kilocalories from fat in a sandwich that contains 22 g fat is kcal. a. 88 b. 132 c. 154 d. 198 ANS: C Fat provides 9 kcal/g. Thus, 22 g fat 9 kcal/g 198 kcal. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 10. The number of kilocalories from protein in a sandwich that contains 15 g protein is kcal. a. 45 b. 60 c. 75 d. 135 ANS: B Protein provides 4 kcal/g. Thus, 15 g protein 4 kcal/g 60 kcal. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 11. The basic building units of protein are called acids. a. fatty b. amino c. nucleic d. carboxyl ANS: B The basic building units of protein are amino acids, which are necessary for building, repairing, and maintaining body tissues. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 12. The main nutrients involved in metabolic regulation and control are a. water and vitamins. b. vitamins and minerals. c. vitamins and fatty acids. d. minerals and carbohydrates. ANS: B Vitamins and minerals are the key nutrients in regulating and controlling the many chemical processes in the body. Vitamins and minerals function as coenzyme factors, which are components of cell enzymes that govern cell chemical reactions in cell metabolism. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 13. The dietary regimen that would provide optimal nutrition for a person who is recovering from an extended illness is a diet a. low in protein, fat, and carbohydrates; high in minerals and vitamins; and very low in fiber. b. providing adequate amounts of carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins along with adequate water and fiber. c. high in protein, fiber, and fluid; low in carbohydrates; and adequate in vitamins and minerals. d. with essential amounts of vitamins and minerals; high in protein; and low in fat, carbohydrates, and fiber. ANS: B Optimal nutrition incorporates a varied diet supplying adequate amounts of all nutrients, including carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and fluid. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 14. A young woman is 5 months pregnant. She currently lives in a condition of poverty and often runs out of money to buy food. She is most at risk for a. liver damage. b. osteopenia. c. undernutrition. d. overnutrition. ANS: C A person with undernutrition, or an intake less than the desired amounts of nutrients a person needs to sustain and maintain health, carries a greater risk for physical illness than a person receiving adequate nutrition. In this case, a young pregnant woman living in poverty who cannot obtain the necessary nutrition for her and her baby is in a state of undernutrition, placing both at nutritional risk. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Diagnosis MSC: NCLEX: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care 15. Which factors place a person at the greatest risk for malnutrition? a. poor appetite, insufficient nutrient intake, poor hygiene, and depleted nutrition reserves b. poor hygiene, insufficient exercise, and excess carbohydrate intake c. depleted carbohydrate intake, poor hygiene, and excess calorie intake d. poor appetite, insufficient nutrient intake, depleted nutrition reserves, and a form of metabolic stress ANS: D Malnutrition appears when nutritional reserves are depleted and nutrient and energy intake is not sufficient to meet day-to-day needs or added metabolic stress. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Diagnosis MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 16. Mr. Katz, who is 48 years old, is admitted to the hospital with a fracture to his left hip. He weighs 248 lb (54 lb above his desired weight). He is considered to be in a state of overnutrition. The statement most true regarding his state of overnutrition is a. desired nutrients are consumed in excess amounts without the risk of malnutrition. b. because excess body fat is evident and excess calories are consumed, there is no risk of nutrient deficiency leading to malnutrition. c. even though excess body fat and excess nutrient intake are evident, there still may be a risk for some type of nutrient deficiency leading to malnutrition. d. excess body weight may or may not be present along with excess consumption of carbohydrates and fat, which results in inadequate vitamin and mineral intake. ANS: C Overnutrition results from excess nutrient and energy intake over time, resulting in excess weight and a state of obesity. Malnutrition can result from excess body weight and the lack of vitamin- and mineral-rich food consumption (e.g., consumption of fatty and carbohydrate-rich foods only). DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Diagnosis MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 17. Which is least likely to be a primary cause of malnutrition? a. conditions of poverty b. prolonged hospitalization c. homelessness d. exercise ANS: D Malnutrition appears when nutritional reserves are depleted and nutrient and energy intake is not sufficient to meet day-to-day needs or the additional requirements necessary during periods of stress. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 6-May TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 18. Overnutrition is characterized by a. overeating at a meal. b. excess nutrient and energy intake over time. c. eating a diet with too much variety. d. using dietary supplements. ANS: B Overnutrition results from excess nutrient and energy intake over time or occurs when excessive amounts of nutrient supplements are consumed, resulting in tissue-damaging effects. DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: 6 TOP: Nursing Process: Diagnosis MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 19. The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) address the nutrient needs of a. all adults. b. most healthy population groups. c. minority ethnic groups. d. pregnant women, infants, and children. ANS: B The DRIs refer to a system of reference values that can be used for assessing and planning diets for healthy population groups and other purposes. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 7-Jun TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 20. The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are developed by the a. U.S. Public Health Service. b. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). c. National Academy of Sciences, Food and Nutrition Board. d. National Institutes of Health (NIH). ANS: C DRIs are developed by the National Academy of Sciences, Food and Nutrition Board. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 7-Jun TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 21. When not enough scientific evidence is available to establish a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the value used to guide intake is called the a. Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). b. tolerable upper intake level (UL). c. estimated average requirement (EAR). d. adequate intake (AI). ANS: D AI is used as a guide when not enough scientific data are available to establish the RDA figure. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 7 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 22. You are asked to help plan meals for a local monthly community dinner meeting for the elderly. The tool that would be most helpful for planning healthy meals is the a. Dietary Reference Intakes. b. Dietary Guidelines for Americans. c. MyPlate food guidance system. d. basic four food groups. ANS: C MyPlate, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides a valuable tool for meal planning, providing serving sizes for each food group and the ability to create a balanced meal from each group listed. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 8-Jul TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 23. You are asked to explain the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to an adult community evening class at the local college. The most appropriate areas to cover in teaching this topic include a. appropriate amounts of sodium, saturated fat, cholesterol, transfatty acids, whole grains, and alcohol. b. adequate calories and protein for weight maintenance, smoking cessation, herbal supplements, and food fads. c. importance of low-carbohydrate diets, smoking cessation, herbal supplements, appropriate food groups, and sodium and potassium. d. food security, weight maintenance, glucose monitoring, and blood pressure monitoring technique. ANS: A The Dietary Guidelines outline key recommendations to balance calories and maintain weight along with foods and food components to reduce including sodium, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, transfatty acids, added fats and sugars, refined grains, along with recommendations for limiting alcohol. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 10 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 24. A patient asks you what he should eat to maintain an optimal diet. An appropriate response would be to a. eat a variety of foods and eat in moderation. b. avoid all fast food and processed foods. c. eat only natural, organic foods. d. use vitamin and mineral supplements to ensure adequate nutrients. ANS: A An optimal diet contains a variety of foods and in appropriate quantities to maintain proper weight and health. All foods can fit into a healthy diet in moderation. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 5 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 25. The goal of the MyPlate food guide is to promote a. variety, proportion moderation, gradual improvements, and physical activity. b. physical activity, portion control, daily blood pressure monitoring, and gradual improvements in health. c. portion control, daily physical activity, daily glucose monitoring, moderation, and variety. d. variety, moderation, weighing food portions, daily blood pressure monitoring, and glucose monitoring. ANS: A The goal of MyPyramid is to promote variety, proportion moderation, gradual improvements, and physical activity. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 7 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance 26. A patient is to receive 2400 kcal/day while recovering from a motor vehicle accident. He is to receive 50% of calories from carbohydrates, 25% of calories from fat, and 25% of calories from protein. Which of the following represents the appropriate calories for each substrate? a. 1500 kcal from carbohydrates, 500 kcal from fat, and 400 kcal from protein b. 1400 kcal from carbohydrates, 600 kcal from fat, and 400 kcal from protein c. 1200 kcal from carbohydrates, 600 kcal from fat, and 600 kcal from protein d. 1600 kcal from carbohydrates, 400 kcal from fat, and 400 kcal from protein ANS: C 2400 kcal 0.50 1200 kcal from carbohydrates; 2400 kcal 0.25 600 kcal from fat; and 2400 kcal 0.25 600 kcal from protein. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: Physiological Integrity, Physiological Adaptation 27. A patient is placed on a 2300-kcal diet. The health care provider is asked to calculate the grams of carbohydrates he is receiving from the diet. The number of grams of carbohydrates is a. 50 g. b. 35 g. c. 250 g. d. impossible to calculate from this data. ANS: D The percentage of carbohydrate in the diet typically ranges from 45% to 65% of total calories depending on individual needs, tastes, habits, living situations, and energy demands. However, the health care provider would need to know the specific foods the patient is eating to calculate carbohydrate intake. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 4 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: Physiological Integrity, Physiological Adaptation 28. A 52-year-old single woman comes to the health professional for advice on maintaining optimal nutritional health. Her food intake records indicate that she likes to eat at fast food restaurants at least twice a week, and relies on processed foods for the majority of her dietary intake. She maintains an active lifestyle and works part time at the local bank. The next step to assist this woman would be to a. assess meal plan options along with the ability to prepare nutritious foods. b. obtain laboratory values to further assess her nutrition status and recommend supplementing her diet with vitamins and minerals. c. find ways to decrease eating at fast food restaurants and incorporate physical exercise into her daily routine. d. recommend that she use the MyPlate food guide to change her eating style and attend cooking classes at the local community center. ANS: A The American food environment has been constantly changing over the past several years, with more people eating out and consuming more processed foods. Educating people to follow the MyPlate food guide and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: 8-Jul TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: Physiological Integrity, Physiological Adaptation 29. The person most at risk for malnutrition would be a(n) a. active young adult who eats 3 to 5 servings of fruits and vegetables along with lean meats and fish and complex carbohydrates and exercises 3 times a week. b. young child who refuses to eat peas, green beans, and broccoli but loves fruits and other vegetables. c. middle-aged man undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia and who is having difficulty eating solid food. d. young weight lifter who has recently undergone surgery for a compound fracture of his left femur. ANS: C Malnutrition appears when nutrition reserves are depleted or nutrient and energy intake is not sufficient to meet the day-to-day needs along with the added metabolic stress. In this case, cancer and chemotherapy place an increased metabolic stress on the body and the patient is unable to consume enough food to meet his nutrient requirements, placing him at risk for malnutrition. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 6-May TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 30. C.G. is a 45-year-old man who has a history of diabetes, and the dietary history reveals that he enjoys a good breakfast with whole grain cereal and fruit. For lunch he usually eats soup or an entre consisting of a salad and meat along with 2% milk and a sugared soda. He usually has an afternoon snack of chips and sugared soda and dinner is eaten at a restaurant most days of the week where he chooses steaks, hamburgers, and fries or onion rings along with a salad and a beer or other high- calorie beverage. One of the most important recommendations for C.G. would be a. not to eat at restaurants on a regular basis unless he chooses salads only along with water. b. to continue with whole grains, lean proteins, and vegetables and replace sugary sodas with sugar-free beverages. c. to drink skim milk and eliminate soups, replacing them with fatty fish five meals a week. d. to enjoy his diet as is but encourage adequate amounts of exercise throughout the week. ANS: B The Choose MyPlate approach encourages making food choices for a healthy lifestyle including balancing calories; enjoying food but in a portion-controlled approach; encouraging whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy; decreasing high fat and sugary foods; and monitoring sodium. In this case where diabetes is a concern as well, a meal plan emphasizing portion control, whole grains, vegetables, and drinks without sugar would be appropriate. Chapter 2. Carbohydrates MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Carbohydrates are nutrients that are composed of the elements carbon, hydrogen, and a. oxygen. b. nitrogen. c. water. d. glucose. ANS: A The chemical nature of carbohydrates is carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 14 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 2. Carbohydrates play a major role in nutrition because they a. provide a long-term energy store. b. are digested in the stomach. c. help regulate body functions. d. provide the bodys major source of energy. ANS: D Rationale: Carbohydrates are the major source of energy for the body, comprising approximately 50% of total caloric intake. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 13 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 3. Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the a. central nervous system and muscles. b. heart and liver. c. small intestine. d. liver and muscles. ANS: D Rationale: Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 17 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 4. An example of a food that contains a fructose sugar is a. milk. b. honey. c. molasses. d. corn. ANS: B Fructose is a monosaccharide and is the sweetest of the simple sugars. It is primarily found in fruits and honey. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 14 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 5. Examples of the simple carbohydrates include a. glucose and galactose. b. sucrose and starch. c. lactose and lignin. d. fructose and glycogen. ANS: A Monosaccharides are the simple sugar units used to build more-complex carbohydrates. The monosaccharides are glucose, galactose, and fructose. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 15-16 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 6. The sugar to which all other sugars are converted and the one that circulates in the blood to provide major fuel for the bodys cells is a. sucrose. b. fructose. c. glucose. d. maltose. ANS: C Glucose is a monosaccharide considered the basic single sugar in the bodys metabolism. Glucose is the form of sugar circulating in the blood and is the primary fuel for the cells. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 14 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 7. Carbohydrates are called quick energy foods because a. they do not take long to prepare and are readily available. b. the human body can rapidly break them down to yield energy. c. they are abundant in fast foods and can be readily absorbed. d. they can yield more energy than other nutrients. ANS: B Carbohydrates are considered quick energy foods because they can readily be metabolized in the body to yield glucose, the main fuel source for the body. DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: 14 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 8. The carbohydrate form in which glucose is stored in the body is a. starch. b. polysaccharide. c. glycogen. d. fructose. ANS: C Glucose is stored in the body as glycogen. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 17 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 9. Of the following, the best food choices for dietary fiber include a. fruit and fruit juice. b. rice and crackers. c. iceberg lettuce and tomato juice. d. lentils and corn. ANS: D Dietary fiber is found in unrefined and whole plant foods. Of the choices listed, lentils and corn provide the highest amount of dietary fiber. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 17 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 10. Types of dietary fiber include a. lactose, galactose, and maltose. b. polysaccharides and polyols. c. starch, ptyalin and glucose d. cellulose, lignin, and noncellulose. ANS: D Dietary fiber is found in plant foods. Plants contain several types of dietary fiber, including cellulose, lignin, and noncellulose polysaccharides. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 17-19 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 11. The recommended daily intake of dietary fiber for an adult woman is g/day. a. 15 b. 21 c. 25 d. 30 ANS: C The recommended intake of fiber for men and women aged 50 years and younger is 38 g/day and 25 g/day, respectively. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 19 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 12. The health professional is determining the caloric intake for a patient. Her caloric intake from fiber would be a. 3.4 kcal/g. b. 0 kcal/g. c. 4 kcal/g. d. 9 kcal/g. ANS: B Human beings lack the necessary enzymes to digest dietary fiber and so, unlike other carbohydrates, dietary fiber does not provide energy. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 17 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 13. Wavelike contractions of the muscle fibers of the stomach and intestinal walls are called a. segmentation. b. peristalsis. c. metabolism. d. digestion. ANS: B The mechanical digestive process in the stomach entailing wavelike contractions of the muscle fibers of the stomach wall that mix food particles with gastric secretions is called peristalsis. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 24-25 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 14. A basket of fruit contains ripe grapes, apples, and oranges as well as pears and peaches that are not quite ripe. The fruits with the highest amount of simple sugar are the a. pears and apples. b. peaches and oranges. c. grapes and apples. d. peaches and pears. ANS: C Fructose is a simple sugar; ripe fruit contains more fructose than less-ripe fruit. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 14 TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 15. An apple contains a type of soluble dietary fiber called a. lignin. b. starch. c. cellulose. d. pectin. ANS: D Pectin is a water-soluble fiber found in many fruits. Cellulose and lignin are insoluble fibers. Starch is another polysaccharide found in grains, legumes, and other vegetables and in small amounts in fruit. Starch does not necessarily contain dietary fiber. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 17-18 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 16. Of the following, the food with the lowest carbohydrate content (as a percentage of weight) would be a. orange juice. b. raisins. c. whole milk. d. dried beans. ANS: C Milk contains the least carbohydrate content (as a percentage of weight); it contains lactose, but the amount is diluted by all the liquid in the milk. Carbohydrates are more concentrated in dried fruits, juices, and starchy vegetables. DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: 15-16 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 17. Digestion of the starch component of a peanut butter sandwich begins in the a. mouth. b. stomach. c. small intestine. d. liver. ANS: A The digestion of carbohydrate-rich foods such as starches and sugars begins in the mouth, where the enzyme ptyalin begins to break the starch down into smaller particles. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 24 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 18. A negative effect of sugar alcohols is that they a. contain more kilocalories than sugar. b. can cause intoxication. c. promote bacterial disease in the colon. d. may cause diarrhea. ANS: D Excessive amounts of sugar alcohols in food products can cause diarrhea because of the slow digestion of the product. DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: 20 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 19. Once monosaccharides are absorbed into the intestinal bloodstream, they are transported to the a. cells. b. liver. c. heart. d. brain. ANS: B The monosaccharides glucose, galactose, and fructose are absorbed directly into the portal blood circulation. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 26-27 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 20. A client has a goal of increasing fiber intake to 30 grams per day. Current intake reveals the following information: Breakfast intake- 3/4 cup sugary corn popped cereal, 1 cup skim milk, 1 slice white toast, and 1/2 cup orange juice. Lunch- 2 ounces sliced turkey, 1 slice wheat bread, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and 1 cup water. Dinner- 4 ounces beef, 1/2 cup green beans, 3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes with butter, 1 biscuit, and 1 cup skim milk. As the nutrition expert counseling this patient, one appropriate recommendation might be: a. Encourage whole grain breads and cereals in place of white breads and cereals. b. Double the amount of proteins such as turkey and beef and eliminate sugar intake. c. Add 2 tablespoons of omega-3 fatty acid enriched margarine to breads and potatoes. d. No changes are required since adequate fiber intake is present. ANS: A Rationale: The recommended daily fiber intake is 38 grams per day for men. This intake requires consistent use of whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits, along with seeds and nuts. Meats and fats such as butter and margarine do not contain fiber. DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: 19|27-28 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation, Health Promotion and Maintenance 21. An example of a food low in carbohydrates is a. low-fat yogurt. b. steak. c. beans. d. potatoes. ANS: B Meats such as beef, poultry, and fish do not contain carbohydrates. Yogurt contains some carbohydrates from the milk and is often sweetened. Starchy vegetables such as beans and potatoes are high in carbohydrates. DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: 22-24 TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation, Health Promotion and Maintenance 22. The major site or organ in the body for metabolic processing of carbohydrates is the a. intestine. b. heart. c. brain. d. liver. ANS: D The liver is the major site for metabolic processing of carbohydrates. DIF: Cognitive Level: Knowledge REF: 22|26-27 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Physiological Adaptation 23. The digestion of milk yields the monosaccharides a. fructose and glucose. b. galactose and glucose. c. galactose and sucrose. d. glucose and maltose. ANS: B The digestion of milk yields the monosaccharides galactose and glucose from the disaccharide

Identifier: scalpel11woma Title: Scalpel : the 1911 yearbook of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Year: 1911 (1910s) Authors: Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Subjects: Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Medical College of Pennsylvania Drexel University. College of Medicine Medicine--History Women in medicine Women medical students Yearbooks Publisher: [Philadelphia, PA : Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania] Contributing Library: Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center, Archives and Special Collections Digitizing Sponsor: LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: z-Marchand. The most practical student.—M. E. Brydon. -r; I . ;• ■ • r- Tv/r ii ( D. M. PrcSSOn. The best clinicians.—C. Moeller, J ^, „ „. I M. Sullivan. The best diagnostician.—A. Ellsworth. The most ivomanly.—A. R. L. Caffrey, M. P. Ryan, C. Bash. The most cultured.—L. Y. Tsao. The most independent.—B. M. Meine, H. M. Stewart. The most capable.—D. Perez-Marchand, C. Moeller, M. R. Lewis. The most charming.—H. F. Love. The wittiest.—M. J. McFall. Johnny on the spot.—E. B. Dunlap. Whose worth is most modestly hidden.—B. M. Meine, D. Perez-Mar-chand. The most diplomatic.—M. R. Lewis. The biggest bluffers.—S. M. Davies, A. Hockaday. [ G. von Poswik.The hardest grinders.— ■S2 Text Appearing After Image: Why some of Our Doctors will have Good Practice. Sadie M. Davies—BecauseA little woman, Though a very little thing,Is far sweeter than sugarOr flowers in the spring. Sarah L. Garrett—Because when she assures the patient Nowshe will be all right, who dares to doubt her? Dr. Sullivan—Because she believes in top-milk for breakfast. Florence R. Weaver—Because with her pretty dimples she would beboth cheerful and competent. Adelaide Ellsivorth—-Because she has the best judgment and themost serious mind. Li-Yuin Tsao—Because she is most able to put theoretical knowledgeinto practice and is gifted with personal charms that win the confidenceof the patient. Hattie F. Love—Because she answers so well in Practice quiz that she seems to know her Therapeutics ( ?) M. J. McFall—Because she will keep the patients spirits with her wit. Caroline Moeller—Because to have a winsome, attractive face anda charming personality around makes the patient well. Sophie Ostrow—Because she ins Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.

Hey guys. Can you believe it's already the end of June? I'm hurrying up to post this to meet my blog quota. I know I said I wanted to get at least two posts up before the month is over. But my page is in eternal loading mode as I am typing this which makes it very hard to see what I'm typing. I learned during my food adventures that lemonade is my best friend. Especially, if you're taking any oral medication that could cause serious bloating. Hard lesson learned. Also, don't eat any trendy food with charcoal in it. Learned that the hard way as well. I can have a cheat diet with caffeine or alcohol as long as I have lemonade by my side. Me to matcha: It's not over. It's still not over. P.S. Really thankful for hot chocolate during the Texas Winter storm. It was one of the good things that kept us sane and warm during that awful time. We finally got to use that pretty kettle we bought at Costco a while back because a lot of the stuff in our house wasn’t working.  So happy summer is here and cherries and strawberries are back in season :D Not excited about the heatwave though. TOP TWENTY EATS: SEPT 2020 TO MAY 2021 Spicy Southwest Salad with creamy salsa dressing Buttered Beets - Best dish of Thanksgiving Earl Grey Milk Tea with sugar  Common Bond Bakery Lavender Latte Chicken Dipper - Sadly discontinued :'( Dickey's Briskets Five Guys Strawberry Milkshake with whipped cream and bacon Charley's Strawberry Lemonade & Loaded Fries Zero Degrees  Oolong Milk Tea with Coconut Lychee Jelly Mama Bear's Homemade Bahn Mi Sandwiches Mashed potatoes with lots of black pepper Yoko's kitchen (Near Premium Outlets) Takoyaki Tiger Sugar Brown Sugar Boba Fentiman's Rose Lemonade Shrimp tempura don Calliope's  ShrimpPo' boys Jack in the Box Lava Cake Ito En Unsweetened Green Tea Quarter Pounder Onion rings NEW STUFF I TRIED:  Mochi donuts - was OK Peeps marshmallows - was interesting Perrier - used to hate carbonated water but now that it helps with my tummy issues, I have more respect for it What were your food adventures? Let's chat in the comment section below because you know I love hearing from you! Take care xx  SUGGESTED READINGS:  ✦ Ana Luisa NY: Kelly Necklace Review | Ambassador Liaison | Discount code included   ✦ Hello there, May   ✦ So long, April | My April   ✦ Sephora VIB Spring Sale 2021 | What I Picked Up   ✦ Daiso Haul: Sakura Stationery  | Pink Spring Haul  LET'S CONNECT! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin’ | Pinterest  | Goodreads | Book Sirens  SUPPORT THE CREATOR Support This Blog: Buy Me Coffee

Maria-faceira (Syrigma sibilatrix), fotografada em Brasília, Brasil. Classe: Aves Ordem: Ciconiformes Família: Ardeidae Nome científico: Syrigma sibilatrix Nome vulgar: Maria-faceira Categoria: Vulnerável Mede 53 cm. Tem face azul-clara, bico róseo. Habita campos secos, arrozais, lugares pouco alagados. Anda a passos largos e bem calculados, como se observasse um perigo ou uma oportunidade. Espécie insentívora. Faz ninhos sobre as árvores, ou arbustos, em ilhas, e põe ovos levemente manchados. Muito diferente das outras espécies de família. Sua voz é um sibilo melodioso repetido sem pressa, que é emitido com o bico largamente aberto e o pescoço esticado. completamente insetívora, vivendo longe da água, nos cerrados abertos e campos limpos formados após a baixa das águas (foto). Os casais permanecem juntos a maior parte do tempo, mantendo contato em vôo com um chamado especial, um sibilo melodioso e longo. O som produzido é semelhante ao de maria-fumaças de brinquedo. No final da tarde, desloca-se para dormir pousada em árvores altas, geralmente em terreno seco. No início da manhã seguinte retorna ao local de alimentação, onde permanece no solo a maior parte do tempo, caçando os insetos em caminhadas lentas. Sua batida de asas é muito característica, por ser de baixa amplitude e alta velocidade, dando a impressão que voa somente com o deslocamento da ponta extrema da asa. O nome comum está ligado às cores espetaculares da cabeça. As cores do juvenil são mais esmaecidas, mas, fora isso, é idêntico aos adultos. Reproduz-se também em casais isolados, sem formar colônias. Mede 53 cm. Face azul - clara, bico róseo. Habita campoa secos, arrozais, lugares pouco alagados. Ocorre do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais à Argentina, Paraguai e Bolívia, também na Venezuela e Colômbia. Andam a passos largos e bem calculados, como se observassem um perigo ou uma oportunidade. Insentívora, caça também insetos no seco. Fazem ninhos sobre as árvores, ou arbustos, em ilhas, ovos levemente manchados. Muito diferente das outras espécies de família. A sua voz é um sibilo melodioso repetido sem pressa "i,i,i"; que é emitido com o bico largamente aberto e o pescoço esticado. A text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistling_Heron The Whistling Heron, Syrigma sibilatrix, is a medium-sized, often terrestrial heron of South America. There are two subspecies, the southern S. s. sibilatrix and the northern S. s. fostersmithi. Description: The Whistling Heron measures 53 to 64 cm in length and weighs 521 to 546 g. The southern subspecies is bigger but has a shorter bill in proportion to the body.[1] The overall impression of standing birds is gray, with flying birds showing conspicuous white rear parts (lower back, belly, and tail). In both subspecies, adults' upperparts except the lower back are blue-gray.[1][2] The feathers of the sides of head, sides of the neck, breast, and scapular area are basically white but are stained gold to buff, perhaps by the powder down typical of herons or by secretions of the preen gland; the color varies from bird to bird. In the nominate subspecies, the crown and crest (separate plumes up to 4 cm long on the nape) are black and the upper wing coverts are cinnamon-colored; the crown and crest are slate-gray and the upper wing coverts are honey-colored (or "chamois"[2]) in fostersmithi.[1] The bill is pink with blue to violet at the base and the distal third black, the legs are greenish and rather short, and there is a fairly big area of bare bluish skin around the eye.[1][2] Juveniles have the same overall pattern but are duller than adults, with the crown lighter, the breast light gray, and the throat and sides unstained white.[1][2] Chicks are undescribed.[1] The bird is named for its most common call, a "loud, flute-like whistled kleeer-er"[2] or "a high, reedy, complaining whistle, often doubled or uttered in a ser[ies], wueeee, wueeee,.…, easily imitated" [3] or "a distinctive, characteristic, far-carrying, melodious whistle" that "can be rendered 'kee, kee, kee.'"[1] It may also give "a slow, drawn-out whistle" when taking off.[1] The alarm call is a harsh quah-h-h.[2] Unlike other herons, in flight it has fast, duck-like wingbeats and usually does not retract its neck fully.[1] Range and habitat The subspecies fostersmithi inhabits the Llanos and the Orinoco basin of Colombia and Venezuela. There are no breeding records "yet" from Colombia.[1][2] The subspecies sibilatrix inhabits eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, western and southern Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and northeastern Argentina. Recent records suggest that it may be expanding its range northward and eastward in Brazil. It makes seasonal movements at least in northeastern Venezuela, where it does not occur from November to January, but remains all year in other areas, such as Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.[1] It occurs at altitudes up to 500 m (with a sight record from 2300 m[3]) in seasonally flooded savanna, often in drier grassy situations than other herons, but also in a wide variety of open waterlogged or shallowly submerged terrain. Because it roosts in trees, it particularly likes regions where open areas are mixed with woodlots. It has no objection to human-altered habitats such as pastures and roadsides, and it often perches on fenceposts.[1] Although patchily distributed, it is common in many areas, with no population considered vulnerable. It benefits from deforestation and some agriculture.[1] As a successful heron of dry tropical country, it has been compared to two species originating in the Old World: the Cattle Egret and the Black-headed Heron.[4] Behavior Feeding This species eats any small dryland and marsh animals it can catch, or even pirate[1] (as from an Aplomado Falcon in one reported incident[4]). It often holds still[1][2][3] but also walks very slowly[4] and may use more active techniques, even running after prey or catching flying insects (notably dragonflies[3]) from a standing position.[1] It may allow humans to approach fairly closely rather than leave a good feeding spot.[1] It typically feeds alone or in pairs, but is sometimes seen in groups up to 100,[2] especially before roosting for the night.[1] Reproduction In a courtship display, the birds fly back and forth and glide in circles. A captive pair displayed by raising their plumes.[1] This species nests alone, unlike most herons, which nest in colonies. It may nest in mature trees such as araucarias or exotic trees.[1]. One nest in Argentina was loosely built of sticks about 4m up in a eucalyptus.[3] The eggs are pale blue and speckled, about 4.7 × 3.6 cm, and the normal clutch is three or four. Incubation lasts about 28 days, and young fledge 42 days after hatching. Egg survival has been measured at 28% and nestling survival at 40%; storms that destroy nests are an important cause of losses. Based on observations of family groups, only two young normally fledge. Unlike most heron species, Whistling Herons care for young after leaving the nest; juveniles beg for food by hissing with their wings drooped.[1] Taxonomy Skeletal resemblances to the night herons have led to a debate about whether the Whistling Heron is related to them, but since the 1980s it has been at least provisionally considered a relative of the genus Egretta, with little doubt that it belongs in a genus of its own.[1][5] Cultural significance Indigenous peoples formerly used its neck plumes as trade items, though not so heavily as to reduce populations.[1] References * BirdLife International (2004). Syrigma sibilatrix. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 02 April 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern 1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Kushlan, James A.; Hancock, James. A (2005). Herons. Oxford University Press, pp. 208–214. ISBN 0-19-854981-4. Retrieved on 2007-04-01. 2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hilty, Steven L.; Brown, William L. (1986). A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, p. 66. ISBN 0-691-08371-1. Retrieved on 2007-04-01. 3. ^ a b c d e Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press, p. 213–214. ISBN 0-691-09250-8. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. 4. ^ a b c Kushlan, James A.; Hancock, James A.; Pinowski, J.; Pinowska, B. (1982). "Behavior of Whistling and Capped Herons in the Seasonal Savannas of Venezuela and Argentina" (pdf). Condor 84: pp. 255–260. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. 5. ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr.; C. D. Cadena; A. Jaramillo; M. Nores; J. F. Pacheco; M. B. Robbins; T. S. Schulenberg; F. G. Stiles; D. F. Stotz; K. J. Zimmer. A classification of the bird species of South America [Version 2007-04-05]. American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved on 2007-04-09. Another text, in english, from www.arthurgrosset.com/sabirds/whistling heron.html Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix), photographed at the City's Park (Parque da Cidade), in Brasília, Brazil. Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix) There are two subspecies of Whistling Heron, S. s. sibilatrix found in Bolivia, SE Brazil and NE Argentina and S. s. fostersmithi found in E Colombia and Venezuela which is smaller and paler. It is quite distinctive with its red bill with black tip, its blue bare skin around the eyes, its golden neck and its blue-grey back. Whistling Heron, Brazil, Sept 2000 - click for larger image It gets its name from the rather melodious whistle that it makes in contrast to the coarse calls of most herons. It feeds during the day on grasshoppers, frogs, eels, etc. and is probably less dependant on water for its food than any other heron. The Brazilians call it "Maria-faceira" or "Mary the coquette".

SAFE 7/18/19 Firefly has been placed with a New Hope partner. TO BE KILLED 7/18/19 **SECOND CHANCE** TO BE KILLED THURSDAY 07/11/2019 Hello, my name...

Greatness is a relative term, but anyone making a study of the career figures of Fred Trueman could be forgiven if they claimed he was the greatest fast bowler of all time. He has more victims in Test cricket than any other bowler. In a career which began in 1949 and ended with his retirement at the end of the 1968 season he took over 2,300 wickets at 18.3 each and apart from obtaining all ten wickets in an innings he claimed almost every honour in the game. He performed the hat-trick on four occasions, claimed five wickets or more in an innings 126 times, and was credited with ten wickets or more in the match 25 times. As a hard hitting batsman he hit three centuries. From the boundary edge he could throw low and accurately into the gloves of the wicket-keeper with either hand. He was a very good fieldsman at short-leg and mainly in that position he took 438 catches. An avid student of the record books and with a tremendous memory for facts and figures, Trueman could no doubt fill in most of the details of his performances and compare them with his contemporaries, but he would not lay claim to greatness. He would be happy to be classed with the other fast bowlers of his time and in particular with Brian Statham, of Lancashire for whom he has a great admiration and with whom he opened the bowling for England so many times. Most batsmen, especially those who played against Trueman during the years between 1959 and 1964, when I believe he had harnessed his great ability to a shrewd, calculating, assessment of the opposing players, say tersely, "He was a great bowler". He showed up mediocrity in an opponent in a manner no other bowler of his time could equal. He had a flair, as any cricketer of top rank must have, for being able to perform above expectations, above himself as it is generally put. In a couple of overs Trueman could transform the whole outlook of a game. Sometimes it was a fluky shot through the slips, sometimes a stroke of copybook perfection that produced the spark that fired him. Sometimes it was for no other reason than that it was time somebody got somewhere. A pitch, at one moment docile and easy paced, would suddenly become possessed of every kind of devil. Deliveries which had been reaching the wicket-keeper at ankle height would begin to crash into the gloves at chest height. Batsmen would play and miss in a manner which suggested movement from the seam and if Trueman had the good fortune to get a wicket no one could ride the crest of the wave better. He had the great asset, which the Australian fast bowler Ted Macdonald called giving the new batsman hell. It was rare for him not to leave a mark on any game with a vital wicket, a wonder catch, or a useful score of 20 or 30 runs. The crowds loved Trueman. Not only had he an ability which they could enjoy; the newspaper men, television commentators and publicity men projected an image they liked. Freddie was a tremendous talker. In this department he was the greatest. He was never silent -- except during his actual run up to bowl and in the delivery action; it would have been a pity if anything had marred this beautiful, sometimes awe-inspiring, sight. He ran the length of another cricket pitch to bowl. Some critics said he ran much too far, but Trueman himself said he felt better that way. This was the perfect answer and it meant much more than the opinion of Ranjitsinhji who thought all fast bowlers should take a long run because the longer periods of concentration required from the batsmen had a telling effect. There was a tendency for the concentration to wander. With a sweet gathering of momentum Freddie, black hair waving, came hurtling to the bowling crease. With no change of rhythm there came the change from forward to sideways motion, the powerful gathering of muscles for the delivery itself, and then the explosive release. A perfect cartwheel action, with every spoke of arms and legs pointing where the ball was to go -- the batsman seeing nothing but left shoulder prior to the moment of delivery --gave the ball its 90 m.p.h. propulsion. There was the full-bodied follow through to the action, a run through while he braked, which worried umpires if he got too near the line of the stumps and then, a hundred to one, more talk. Sometimes it was to tell the batsman how lucky he had been. Sometimes it was to indicate to all and sundry how unlucky he, Trueman, had been; to congratulate a fieldsman on a good stop; to tell the skipper where he wanted the fieldsman to go; or to mutter darkly to himself under his breath. But he talked. He talked in the field to anybody who would listen. He talked in the dressing-room to such an extent that his Yorkshire team-mates seldom answered back because this was encouragement, and as a result half an hour before the start of play in any match Trueman could invariably be found still talking in the dressing-room of the opposing team where the audience was more polite. He had a rich fund of stories, some of which could have been told in Sunday school. He had a knack of giving weight even to a triviality and no reporter ever went to him in vain for a story. There was a blunt directness about him and the interviewers successfully got this image over to the public. At times he revealed a sword-like wit but the punch line was often just as cutting. Fred's unhappiest moments on the cricket field were when his skipper, Brian Close, sent him down to the fine-leg boundary, twenty yards in from the spectators, where he could find no one to talk to. One can only guess the innermost thoughts of opposing batsmen when Trueman, after holding court in their dressing-room, got to his feet about fifteen minutes before the start of play. "So you're batting, eh? George" (looking at the number one batsman), "I shall get you wi't new ball. Charlie, I've no need to worry about you." Then looking round the whole room he would add, "I've got a few candidates today" and his parting shot would be, "I only want a bit of luck with you, skipper, and I've got another six or seven wickets." This was the Trueman known by the other players and most of them could add a little personal reminiscence. Ken Palmer, who began his career with Somerset in 1955, describes going in to bat against Yorkshire to join his captain, Harold Stephenson. "Stevie hit Trueman for four, not a very good shot, and Trueman glared his disapproval. When he was walking back to his bowling mark, Stevie called up the pitch to me, 'Ken, just tell Trueman to move that bit of paper that's blowing about at the back of him.'" "I was a bit hesitant about doing it, but I'd been instructed and I was a new boy. I went up to him. I didn't know whether to call him Mr. Trueman, Freddie, or what, and finally I said simply, 'Skipper wants you to move that bit of paper before you bowl the next one.'" "Freddie looked at me, then the skipper, and then at the bit of paper and said, 'Well, just go and ask your skipper who the 'ell he thinks I am. Tell him I'm not the corporation dustman.'" In 1961 the Derbyshire wicket-keeper, Bob Taylor, played his first match against Yorkshire and pushing forward to Trueman scored a couple of runs straight back up the pitch. Trueman, trying to recover from his follow through and field the ball, slipped and fell. He stayed on the ground until the batsmen had finished running and then glared at Taylor and asked, "Can you hook'em an' all?" "I expected the next ball to be a bouncer," said Bob, "but instead he bowled me with one of the best yorkers I've ever had." And the story which many England players who were on the ship to Australia in 1961, love to tell is when Gordon Pirie was pressed into action to take the boys in P.T. and general fitness training. Said Gordon to Trueman one day, "Freddie, it's your leg muscles that want strengthening..." Before he could go any further Freddie exploded, "What? Well, let me tell you they've held me for 1,000 overs and more this year already." He looked pointedly at Gordon and with the cutting edge in full evidence continued, "And they've never let me down when I've been performing for England." It's more than a lot of sportsmen can say. The conversation was at an end. There's no arguing with this kind of logic. Nevertheless, I think Freddie had my sympathy. If ever a fast bowler had a strong pair of legs that man was Trueman. Indeed, apart from a little stitch in his early years as a fast bowler Freddie kept amazingly clear of injuries. He made me green with envy when, after bowling eight overs flat out, he could field at short-leg crouching down on his haunches, sometimes sitting miner fashion on his heels, for a rest! Most fast bowlers doing that after eight overs would want a winch and not a helping hand to get them up again. These three stories almost tell the career of Frederick Sewards Trueman, 5 ft. 10½ ins., who was born at Stainton (near Doncaster) on February 6, 1931 and was one of a family of eight to a miner. His father, Allan Thomas, was a well-known local club cricketer, left-arm bowler and batsman, and fostered a liking for cricket throughout the family. As a young fast bowler with his school team Trueman was hit in the groin by the ball and for a couple of years was an invalid and in danger of losing his leg. Fortunately the doctors won. Freddie returned to his school team as a fast bowler, earned selection for the Federation team, joined the junior section at Sheffield United's ground in Bramall Lane, and from there was invited to attend the Yorkshire nets for special coaching. The coaches liked what they saw. Just after he was eighteen, without playing for the second team in any sort of game, F. S. Trueman was chosen to play for Yorkshire against Cambridge University. They knew that with such a glorious action to work on Trueman must come good and although he had not the full strength of manhood and was without the necessary control to be an immediate star he was ripe for grooming. Yorkshire played Trueman in nine games, including one with the New Zealanders at Sheffield at the end of July, and altogether he took 31 wickets at a cost of 23 runs each. He was carefully nursed by his captain, Norman Yardley, who like every other player in the side could see the promise in this self-confident, almost arrogant young man who wore a yellow tie with a red dragon and thought he was the bee's whiskers playing for Yorkshire. To Norman Yardley fell the job of encouraging, letting him get an easy wicket here and there against the tail-enders and fanning an enthusiasm and willingness to bowl that more often than not needed dampening. It was with a chuckle rather than an intentional compliment that Yardley would say, "I think it's time for Fiery Fred to have a bowl now." But Fred was not as good as he thought himself to be. Yorkshire turned to a schoolteacher, Bill Foord, to fill the bowling position because they thought the latter was a better prospect and, during the August holidays, was readily available. Trueman, who strained a back muscle in the game against the New Zealanders, was not called upon again that season and the next he heard from Yorkshire was when he received his invitation to attend the nets during the winter once again for special coaching. Unintentionally, Yorkshire had given Trueman's pride a tremendous blow. Yorkshire did not give a damn about him. Well from now on he would not give a damn about them. He kept up this attitude to authority almost throughout his career, but with that greater characteristic that stamped all his cricket there came the determination To bloody well show them. Yorkshire did not think he was good? He started talking in order to convince himself he was good and few people who knew Fiery Fred in later life realised his continual chatter stemmed from an inferiority complex. To try and convince opposing batsmen he was good he overdid his use of the bouncer which meant presenting runs on placid surfaces -- and was the real purpose behind Somerset's skipper Stephenson, asking for the bit of paper to be removed. Throughout his career Trueman tended to overdo his use of the bouncer but, as he got stronger, it was something to be feared and watched for, even on the most placid surface. The visiting India side in 1952 first felt the impact of Trueman grown into the strength of manhood. He took 24 wickets in three Tests and in the match at Leeds, in front of his own spectators, I recall the excitement when India lost their first four wickets without a run scored, and Trueman taking eight wickets for 31 runs, put India out in eighty minutes for 58 runs. Riding on the crest Trueman seldom bowled faster and he admitted "I'd nothing else to do but bowl straight." The Cricket Writers' Club elected him The best young cricketer of the year. The success gave Freddie's talk more authority and as he found in later years there was a great deal of success from bowling straight -- and very fast. At this time the former miner and now England cricketer, Freddie Trueman, was serving his first year of National Service in the R.A.F. He could seldom be given leave to play for Yorkshire but in the national interest he could play for England. He claimed only 61 wickets in first-class cricket that season and in 1953 when the England selectors wanted him for only one Test against the Australians he had only 44 victims. It could be said that Trueman began his career as a cricketer during that winter of 1953-54 when, with his National Service completed, he was chosen to tour West Indies. And it was at this time his troubles began. The pressmen found plenty of sensational copy in his willingness to talk. His antagonism got him into trouble with umpires and at times the crowd, too. He had to be reminded that the England captain, Len Hutton, was now no longer a Yorkshire colleague but The Boss. If any cricketer did or said anything mean on this controversial tour Freddie got the blame. He was, to many people, a bother-causer. The England captain and selectors somewhat understandably turned to Typhoon Tyson as their fast bowling partner for Statham. Despite 134 wickets in 1954 Trueman missed the tour to Australia and did not play in another Test match until Tyson blistered his heel and had to withdraw from the Lord's Test of 1955 against South Africa. In 1956 Trueman was chosen for two Tests against Australia but this season was for him the worst experience of unfitness, sciatic nerve trouble, blisters and then a strained side -- plus a very wet summer. His final return was only 59 wickets and he was omitted from the England team to tour South Africa. Newsmen, hoping for another sensational Trueman story, were assured by the chairman of selectors and the M.C.C. secretary that there had been no victimisation and Freddie himself found consolation in these assurances. Once again came that determination to show'em -- and of course, there was now considerable experience behind his efforts. This was the start of the period mentioned earlier when Trueman, by general opinion, was a great bowler. And he was helped considerably by the Yorkshire captain, Ronnie Burnet, who took over the side in 1958. By consideration and encouragement, leading and never driving, he drew the best out of Trueman. Freddie now had the ability to suggest to a batsman that he was going to bowl a bouncer and send down a yorker and as he grew in confidence he began to feel he could answer back. Occasionally he guessed badly. He found the Yorkshire committee supported the captain Vic Wilson when Trueman arrived late for a game at Taunton. Fred later refused to subscribe to a retirement present for Wilson saying, "What, show my appreciation for chap who sent me home?" Again there was no refuting the logic but Mr. Burnet wangled a compromise with Freddie's wife Enid. All these things made Trueman a character the game and the public enjoyed, and yet, while giving this impression that he knew it all, there was that extreme and opposite side to him which responded to confidence, and was ready to listen to a helping voice. Then he could charm more than dominate. Towards the end of his career when seniority earned him the right to lead Yorkshire whenever D. B. Close was absent, he proved himself a capable and knowledgeable captain and had the high distinction of leading Yorkshire to victory over the touring Australian team. The honour put another yard of pace into his bowling. He wanted to prove he was still good. He enjoyed being told he was good, too, and on these lines I cherish the story of Richard Hutton after Freddie had returned yet another of his many five-wicket performances. "Well bowled, Fred," he said. "Outswingers, inswingers, bouncers, yorkers, you bowled the lot. Tell me, did you ever bowl a plain straight one?" Quick as a flash came the reply, "Aye, one. But it was so fast it went through him like a dose a salts and knocked all three down." Fiery Fred held the stage for twenty seasons. In major or minor parts he commanded attention. He received a benefit of £9,331 in 1962 and bow(l)ed out in September 1968.

Browsing through issues of historical Pennsylvania newspapers, available online through the Philadelphia Free Library, a major piece of the Thomas Quick, Sr. puzzle fell into place with this contemporary account.  I've been gathering proof of his residency and death for some time but hadn't quite reached the stage of refuting some of the lore & speculation surrounding the elder Quick and his notorious namesake, son Tom Quick, Jr. On January 29, 1756, The Pennsylvania Gazette published extracts of a letter from John Van Etten which adds significant detail (and long overdue corrections) to later accounts of the time, place, and death of Thomas Quick, Sr. during the French and Indian War: (c) NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Transcription: By a Letter from Mr. John Van Etten*, of Upper Smithfield, in Northampton County, there is Advice, that on the 17th Instant**, one Thomas Quick, a Man above 70 Years of Age, was killed, scalped, stripped naked, and most cruelly cut in many Places, by the Indians :  That two other Men were killed and scalped at the same Time, belonging to Capt. Weeiner[sic] of the Province of New York, who had come over with said Quick to guard him while he should grind a Quantity of Wheat for some of the Neighbours :  That a Saw-Mill, Grist Mill, and very good Dwelling-house, belonging to Quick, were all burnt :  That a large Barn, Barracks, and a great Quantity of Wheat, the Property of one Cornelius D[e]witt, together with his Dwelling house, and all his Household Goods, which for some Time had been moved into the Jerseys, and brought back again but the Day before, were all destroyed :  That one Solomon Decker, as he was going to said Quick's Mill with a slea [sleigh?] load of Wheat, was fired at by some Indians, but not hurt; however he was obliged to leave his slea, and the Indians coming up to it, took the Bags, threw the Wheat that was in them all over the Ground, but carried the Two Horses, Gears [harness] and Bags with them : And that Mr. Van Etten's own Barn, Barracks, and all his Wheat, are likewise burnt, and three of his best Horses, with Gears, carried off by the Enemy; which gives him Reason to think, by then carrying off Horses and Gears, that they are building a Fort in the Swamp, betwixt where he lives and Susquehanna.  He adds, that he is well informed there are a Number of Frenchmen among the Indians. * The author, Capt. John Van Etten of Fort Hyndshaw, is clearly distinguished from his brother Johannis [Johannes], in this letter addressed by him to Gov. Robert Hunter Morris of Pennsylvania on July 24th, 1756. John Van Etten also served as  a Northampton County Provincial Officer:  Justice of the Peace (1752-1754) and Coroner (1759, 1760). ** The word, Instant (often abbreviated inst.) refers to a recent occurrence in the present or current month. This places the incident clearly within the context of a raid which killed not only Quick but his escort of two NY militia men, a raid which ranged over many miles from the Van Etten farm to the Quick Mills in present Milford Borough to the DeWitt farm in the span of one day.  The names of the escort remain unknown.  Much as been written about the circumstances of this family, including Vernon Leslie's failed efforts to find a deed or deeds for the elder Quick which would establish him as a property owner in the Province of Pennsylvania, as outlined in Chapter 2, Where Was Quick's Mill?, in his frequently cited work The Tom Quick Legends, 1977. The earliest record of Thomas Quick in the region is dated 27th of December, 1734: "Thomas Quick requests one hundred Acres of Land near Matchepeconck on the Delaware River, on which he designs to build a Corn Mill there being none there about." ~ Minutes of the Board of Property and other References to Lands in Pennsylvania. Ed. by William Henry Egle, Harrisburg, C.M. Busch, State Printed, 1894, Minute Book K, page 55.  Nicholas Scull's map of The Improved  Part of the Province of Pennsylvania, surveyed before but published three years after Thomas Quick's death, is the first to note the location of the tract in then Upper Smithfield township. Site of Quick's Mill on the 1759 Nicholas Scull Map     The 1766 survey as recorded in the Pennsylvania Land Records confirms the 1750 tract name as Quick's Mill located on the Milford Township Warrantee Map, a portion falling within the present day boundary of Milford Borough and along the present day Vandermark Creek. Quick's Mill tract on the Vandermark Creek, Milford Township Warrantee Map Terrain view of the Vandermark Creek at Milford PA:  View Minisink Valley Genealogy in a larger map Two 1750 Warrants for land granted to Thomas Quick are found on the Ancestry.com (subscription)  Pennsylvania, Land Warrants and Applications, 1733-1952.  The first ...adjoining or near Cornelius DeWitt above the Minisinks and and the second ...on Sawcreek about two miles from other Land granted him this same day. (Note Northampton County was set off from Bucks County 14 October 1751 shortly after the Warrants were issued.) In 1761, William Ennes, Quick's son-in-law, husband of his daughter Elizabeth and appointed Administrator of the estate, was ordered to sell at auction the plantation of 200 acres to settle Quick's debts:  Northampton Co PA, Orphans' Court Records, Vol B* index, page 41   Researching the records of Pike County, formed in 1814, led me to the ledger, Entry of Deeds Acknowledged, Vol A, which records the auction of Unseated Lands sold for back taxes under the Commonwealth's Act of Mar. 13, 1815, P.L. 177. As required under that Law, each lot of unseated land lists the Warrantee's name and requires the County Treasurer, as Grantor, to issue a new Deed.  The opening page of this ledger states: At an adjourned Court of Common Pleas held at Milford in and for the County of Pike on the eleventh day of June A.D. Eighteen hundred and Sixteen Present John Coolbaugh, Esq. and Daniel W Dingman, Esq. Judges of Said County the following Deeds were duly acknowledged in open court by Francis A L Smith, Treasurer of the said County according to Law. Entry of Deeds Acknowledged, Vol A, pages 2 & 3 The following pages 16 and 17 from this ledger are but a brief example of the dozens and dozens of entries over multiple pages listing Thomas Quick as the Warrantee for the properties (most sold as town lots) and Treasurer Francis A L Smith as Grantor (Seller.) Entry of Deeds Acknowledged, Vol A, Page 16 Among the Grantees (Buyers) purchasing land in 1816 as originally waranteed to Thomas Quick in 1750 are: p13, Daniel Dimmick, Mason Dimmick, Daniel W Dingman, Joseph Holbert, Joseph Jackson, James Barton, Jabez Rockwell; p15, Daniel Dimmick, Henry Van Camp, Jabez Rockwell, Thomas P Gustin, Joseph Mufsi, William Holbert, Daniel W Dingman, John Lattimore, Mason Dimmick, George Bowhannan; p17 George Bowhannan, Joseph Mufsi; p19, Joseph Mufsi; p21 Samuel ?, James Barton, Jabez Rockwell, John Brodhead, Henry Van Camp, David Wheeler; p23, David W Ridgway. Entry of Deeds Acknowledged, Vol A, page 17 It is a fascinating glimpse of the 18th & early 19th century settlers into the Pennsylvania Minisinks, who are named across page after page of this ledger housed at the Pike Co Administration Building in Milford PA. With biting wit, Stephen Crane's 1892 essay, Not Much of A Hero.  Examining the Record of "Tom" Quick, Indian Slayer.  A Notorious Character of Pioneer Times in Pennsylvania - His Monument Discreetly Silent as to His Virtues,  evaluates one small community's effort to lend glory to a gory tradition. The record of treachery and brutalities committed by both sides during the French and Indian War is without question. Jay C. Richards' volume, Flames Along the Delaware: The French & Indian War in the New Jersey Frontier and Northampton County, Pa. summarizes these events and compiles excerpts of newspaper articles and extracts of inhabitants' letters from 1755-1758.  Richards did not include the Van Etten letter. *"Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch, Northampton > Orphans' Court records 1752-1795 vol A-E > image 43 of 511.

"Watching "Avatar," I felt sort of the same as when I saw "Star Wars" in 1977. That was another movie I walked into with uncertain expectations. James Cameron's film has been the subject of relentlessly dubious advance buzz, just as his "Titanic" was. Once again, he has silenced the doubters by simply delivering an extraordinary film." (Roger Ebert, "Avatar," December 11, 2009.) "The last third of the movie, a battle between the Na'vi and their human destroyers, is a groundbreaking blend of digital and live-action. OK, it's unnerving that a movie preaching peace hits its visual peak with scenes of mass destruction. But Avatar is no Hollywood wankfest. It extends the possibilities of what movies can do. Cameron's talent may just be as big as his dreams." (Peter Travers Rolling Stone:, "Avatar." December 9, 2009.) "But Avatar is also a distinctly political work of art, with a strong anti-American and anti-Western message. It can be read on several levels – a critique of the Iraq War, an assault on the US-led War on Terror, a slick morality tale about the ‘evils’ of Western imperialism, a futuristic take on the conquest of America and the treatment of native Americans – the list goes on..." (Nile Gardiner: "Avatar: the most expensive piece of anti-American propaganda ever made." The Telegraph, December 2009.) "It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace. It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration." (David Brooks: "The Messiah Complex." The New York Times, January 7, 2010.) This week for the Cameron Curriculum, our film selection is Avatar (2009), James Cameron's sprawling, science fiction trailblazer. As you will no doubt recall, the movie proved itself a veritable box office Goliath, and also earned positive reviews, at least in the majority. By and large, audiences loved Avatar as well. The film stands on the IMDB's list of best rated films (currently perched at 183 in the top 250). Yet, Avatar's success does not mean that the film is non-controversial, as the above critical quotations make abundantly plain. Some critics and audiences view this James Cameron film as an anti-American political diatribe and despise it specifically on those terms. Others simply can't bring themselves to approve of a film that proved so hugely popular. This is the so-called "Woody Allen" critique. These fans can't be part of any club that would have them as a member. Many geeks apparently believe they can differentiate themselves from "the mob" by rejecting Avatar out-of-hand....some of them without even seeing the movie in the first place! What those naysayers missed, however, is a film -- much in the spirit of Aliens (1986) or The Abyss (1989) -- that consists of both enormous heart and vision.  Here, Cameron obsesses on the yin and yang of the human equation.  He recognizes our natural desire to explore the new and strange, and in the process overcome hurdles.  And -- on the other side of the coin -- he clearly "sees" our uncomfortable tradition of destroying or polluting that which we discover on our brave explorations.   Exciting, emotional and visually pioneering, Avatar is a modern-day genre masterpiece, even if the sci-fi community has not yet entirely embraced it as such.  In time -- when there is some audience distance from some of the politics raised by the film -- the film's reputation will evolve.  And it will be for the better. Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream. On the forest moon Pandora, the indigenous people -- the blue-skinned Na'vi -- unwittingly stand in the way of big business and "progress." Namely, Earth men have come to Pandora to mine the ground for a valuable rock known as "Unobtanium."   Business and military interests align to re-locate the Na'vi from their Home Tree in order to mine a rich deposit of the critical mineral. The handicapped Corporal Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) fulfills his dead brother's contract and heads to Pandora to work as a "driver" for a genetically-engineered Na'vi avatar.  Collaborating with Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), Jake is assigned to learn more about the Na'vi so he can facilitate their orderly departure from Home Tree.  His military superior, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), however wants Jake to gather tactical information about the Na'vi and their environs, should diplomacy fail.  For a time, Jake works both sides of the street. Inside the body of his avatar, Jake also learns the many ways of the Na'vi.  His teacher is Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the Chief's beautiful daughter.  She reveals to him the true Na'vi soul, and the duo soon falls in love.  Meanwhile, Grace learns that all the creatures of the planet, including the Na'vi share a link with Pandora itself, a planet-wide symbiosis forged by "signal transduction."  The Na'vi see this bridge to the planet as a link to their God, Eywa. Before long, the military and business interests grow tired with Jake's lack of progress, and  under Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) launch a devastating assault on Home Tree, scattering the Na'vi so their giant machines can commence mining.  Neytiri's father and many other Na'vi are murdered in the strike. Finally realizing where his true loyalties rest, Jake decides to make a stand against the Earth men, and he gathers the disparate Na'vi tribes to fight back against them.  But to gain the trust of the Na'vi, Jake must first tame a giant flying beast of legend: Toruk Macto. "You are not in Kansas Anymore" - Avatar as visual experience As Roger Ebert's quote above indicates, Star Wars is likely a fine point at which to commence an analysis of Avatar. Like Star Wars did in 1977, Avatar stands at the vanguard of a new technological age, and a new threshold in terms of special effects achievement.  Only this time, those achievements are in the realm of CGI and 3-D rather than motion control, alien make-ups, etc. Because of this accomplishment, Avatar truly belongs in a select group of great science fiction films such as Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Wars (1977), Blade Runner (1982), Tron (1982) and The Matrix (1982).  Like those genre landmarks, Avatar absolutely immerses the viewer in a new world of unfettered imagination, complexity, color and depth. The film's protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) notes that his arrival on the moon of Pandora represents indeed a "fresh new start," and that synonym for a "brave new world" might very well be our metaphor for the 3-D and CGI presentation of Cameron's Avatar.  For once, CGI effects actually seem to comprehend the subtleties of flesh: the nuances of movement, expression, and even the "weight" of gravity.   No doubt the visual wonders of Avatar will one day be eclipsed, but for now (and for the foreseeable future, given the state of films this summer..), they are certainly state-of-the-art.  In this arena, Avatar is never less than entirely convincing.  You never feel like you're watching special effects or limited, animated digital figures. Instead, you see characters, creatures and strange lands. What I find particularly noteworthy about the use of the CGI and 3-D is that Cameron uses the special effects techniques to make Avatar perhaps the very first movie in human history not scaled to us; not scaled to human proportions. Although Lord of the Rings (2001) inventively blended pint-sized hobbits with human-sized elves and other humanoid beings, the general effect was still one of putting other life forms (Hobbits) into a world we recognize as ours.  Avatar takes a different and far more impressive stance.  It lands us in a world not made for us; and one in which human concerns are secondary.  And that's very much an example of form following content.  Thematically the film is also about petty human concerns dwarfed by alien but ultimately more important ones.  The universe isn't always about us, and we see that idea (that slap in the face?) reflected in the very colorful, very dangerous, very oddly-scaled world of Pandora. Accordingly then, Pandora exists against a backdrop that we can hardly conceive, and which is consequently awe-inspiring. Unlike many directors attempting to deploy 3-D, Cameron doesn't merely toss things at the audience in a blatant "coming-at-ya" style. On the contrary, he marshals the process to develop visceral emotions in the audience: to generate vertigo, for instance, and to dramatize for us extremes of height, and altitude and speed.  Cameron also utilizes 3-D to reveal the depth and breadth of the Pandoran wilderness, escorting us into the greatest silver screen jungle since Kong's lush Skull Island in 1933.  Again, the level of detail and complexity in this landscape is simply staggering.  I'm not exaggerating.  We get the feeling here not of a small geographic region in sight of a limited camera -- a region encumbered by the exigencies of movie budget -- but of a whole world stretching as far as the eye can see. The point of the height, altitude, speed and depth, of course, is total emotional immersion.  And because of Cameron's integrated (rather than carnival...) approach to 3-D, in Avatar, audiences come to believe most profoundly in this fantasy world.  Avatar is magnificently unbound from the sound stage (and human proportions), but not at all in the static fashion of the Star Wars prequels, where characters seem to be forever standing in front of green-screen compositions. Now, I don't share many fans' hatred of those three Lucas films (I rather enjoy 'em, actually...), but they certainly appear shallow in conception and execution next to Cameron's rich, layered vision for Avatar.  Here, every plant, every creature, every insect that swings, stampedes or skitters into view, captivates the attention and the imagination.  Cameron doesn't just record another world for us, he creates an otherworldly ecosphere from top-to-bottom. Certainly, there's much you can debate regarding Avatar, but as a resounding technological and imaginative triumph it is virtually unimpeachable  No film director in history has utilized 3-D and CGI as inventively and in as integrative a fashion as Cameron has here, and on those grounds alone, Avatar is a watershed event. "I see you" - Avatar and its themes Avatar very much concerns the yin-and-yang of the human spirit.   As a species we are always looking to explore what's over the horizon. And yet when we reach our destination, we yearn to make that new land ours; to harness the dirt and the water and make it serve our needs.  This is a fact of life. We don't always use our resources wisely, yet the hunt for resources will one day, I'm certain, carry us to the far reaches of this solar system and beyond.  We are driven to explore. And apparently just as driven to use up that which we find along our journey. In Avatar, we are introduced to a character, Jake Sully, who exemplifies the best aspects of this human equation.   Despite suffering a physical impairment, he broaches not just a new world, but the "most hostile environment known to man."  And when he takes part in the Avatar program, Jake throws himself into his work.  He learns the Na'vi language. He learns to hunt, ride, fly and live as another life form all together.  Again, Cameron reveals to us mankind at his most noble: questing and searching for meaning over the next hill.  A wise person once noted that disability is just a matter of perspective, and in some way, Jake's journey reflects that truth.  He first countenances, then embraces, a new way of living while also maintaining the finer qualities of our species (to love; to balance morality, and more).  This is what evolution  truly is: integrating new ideas and new concepts into the self as one's horizons expand. The opposite side of that human equation, of course, is colonialism and imperialism, and Avatar's central conflict revolves around those very controversial issues.  Although we boast a history of imperialism in this country, we are not alone in that characteristic.  Not by a long shot.  Ancient Rome, England, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, France, China and other nation-states have also gone to war (again and again...) over a desire to "take" strange lands and harness them for explicit purposes of Empire-building. Specifically, Avatar crafts a futuristic metaphor for the settlement of the American continent.  It's easy to read the lines of the comparison.  The Earth men are the Europeans, come across the ocean of space to take and develop the land.  And the Na'vi are the Native Americans who see their existence and way of life threatened. In film history, we've seen this very dynamic played out in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990),  Walt Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and Malick's The New World (2005), among others.  It's not a new idea by any means, but that's acceptable because the presentation is new...and cutting-edge.  Star Wars wasn't new in terms of narrative, either, especially if you have any familiarity with the oeuvre of Akira Kurosawa.  And Star Trek, of course, looks very much like a variation on Forbidden Planet (1956)  Avatar harnesses the familiar metaphor of the Native American/European conflict to tell its tale, but does so in ways that boast resonance both as science fiction, and as a reflection on contemporary times. In the case of Avatar, I would argue that the film succeeds rather admirably in making its case about the moral evils of colonization or occupation.  It does so -- as is Cameron's tradition -- in entirely emotional, manipulative, and even grandiose fashion.   That's the very nature of the medium of film and Cameron exploits that nature.  Ruthlessly.  As an artist, he is not merely interested in making audiences think about an issue; he wants us to feel it, intensely.  Some people may object to this approach, but in doing so, they object to Cameron's singular gift as a filmmaker.  Using breakthroughs in movie technology, he brings the experiential, emotional aspect of visual storytelling closer to the audience than ever before. He constructs these intense dramas (like Titanic) based on intimate human relationships and ideas (like the interconnectedness of all life) because he apparently believes in a unique axiom: the more advanced the film in terms of technical prowess and achievement, the more it can impact your heart. Not that the emotional approach doesn't have downsides. For instance, the villains in the film are not truly fully developed people, but rather true evil-doers.  Giovani Ribisi plays a despicable character named "Parker Selfridge."  Selfridge?  Sounds like selfish.  Or maybe his name is about what we hope to find over that next horizon or ridge: something for the self.  And the nasty Colonel Quaritch refers to the Na'vi as "blue monkeys" or as "cockroaches," and basically attempts to bomb the Na'vi back to the stone age.  He's a racist and a destroyer, and entirely easy to hate.  Yet, to give Avatar some credit, it's pretty clear why Quaritch thinks as he does.  It's not because Cameron is anti-military as some insist, but because Quaritch has had a very negative personal experience with the Na'vi.  On his first day on the planet, he was badly injured (and scarred) by them.  Fear and hatred have thus colored his perception of the planet and its people.  Quaritch can't put aside his negative experience with the Na'vi in the face of new thoughts, new ideas.  He can't evolve.  He stays as he is...never outgrowing his fear. He is thus an effective counterpoint to Jake in the story, if not a fully dimensional character in his own right.  This echoes the character of Coffey in The Abyss as we discussed last week.  Both characters effectively move the plot forward and effectively reflect a larger, symbolic issue (intransigence or stagnation in the face of facts, the self-destructive nature of nuclear war, etc.), but on some human level they aren't adequately developed. Avatar: Does it hate America? Many people have asked: Is Avatar anti-American?   Unfortunately, that's the wrong question to ask.  Certainly, Avatar knowingly mirrors much of America's journey in the last decade (2000 - 2010).  Colonel Quaritch notes near the end of the film that "Our only security lies with pre-emptive attack.  We will fight terror with terror," invoking the Bush Doctrine.   Furthermore, his mission to drop a bomb on a Na'vi holy site is also equated with a "shock and awe" campaign, conjuring memories of our siege of  Baghdad in the second Iraq War.   Also, we have seen people like Tom Tancredo suggest bombing the holy sites of our political enemies.  He mentioned bombing Mecca, specifically. Following this line of thought, many critics have also looked at the Home Tree assault -- with twin plumes of smoke stretching high into Pandora's sky -- as a thinly-veiled reference to Al Qaeda's attack on the United States that Tuesday morning in September.  Even the Earth men's hunt for natural resources on Pandora -- with war backing up that hunt -- can be seen as a coded reflection of the belief by many Americans that the war in Iraq was launched so our nation would have direct access to Middle East oil. These points are certainly unmistakable; but they don't make Avatar anti-American.   That's where there's a crucial fallacy. On the contrary, all of these issues simple reflect what many Americans truly feel about the direction of our country in the last ten years.  This commentary by Cameron is only anti-American if you assume that America never makes mistakes, that America is always right in the international actions it pursues, and that President Bush's decisions represent the full spectrum of American beliefs about this country. I mean, is what Tom Tancredo suggested doing to Mecca the American way?  Is pre-emptive war the American way?  Is that the America that people defend when they claim that Avatar is anti-American? And frankly, I'm baffled by people who want to view Avatar only as some kind of America-hating film anyway.  Avatar is the same story, essentially, as Battle: LA (2011), a film which has clearly not been debated in such terms.  To wit: in both films a race of extra-terrestrials attack and occupy another planet to gather its resources (alternatively Unobtanium and water). And the natives in both situations strike back against the invaders, mounting a violent resistance to the plunderer.  The invaders in Battle:LA are non-human.  The invaders in Avatar are human.  That's the only difference, in broad strokes, in terms of narrative.  So why is Battle: LA not anti-American, but Avatar is?  Both films argue the immorality of occupation/colonialism and the imperative to fight back against invaders. The plain truth of the matter is that Cameron aims for a higher morality here. His statement is simply that it is not right to go to someone else's land and take their resources.  Simple as that.  It seems to me that ought to be something everybody can agree on in principle. It's true whether you're American, Chinese, Russian, Klingon, Jedi or Sith.  In the situation depicted by Avatar, the human beings are seeing only what they can take, not that they have no right to take it.  Now, you can argue the Machiavellian politics of the whole thing; that if mankind is dying out, he must take the Unobtanium and is justified in doing so.  Self-preservation and all. But by the same Machiavellian mind-set, then, you must accept that the Na'vi -- in trying to protect their own existence -- are also justified in fighting back against the Earthers.  It doesn't only work one way. It always bothers me when people are unable to see both sides of an issue.  We would hate it if aliens landed on our soil and began mining our land.  We'd fight back, and rightfully so. Just as the Na'vi fight back in Avatar.  But since humans are placed in the role of bad guy (as they are in many sci-fi films, from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, to District 9, to Blade Runner, even...) then Avatar is suddenly anti-American. Here's my long-winded point: being leftist is different than being anti-American, and to conflate the two is the facile trick of the propagandist. Go back and watch Planet of the Apes (1968) -- made at the height of the Cold War and the Vietnam War -- and honestly tell me that it is not a leftist film too; about man's self-destructive, warring nature.   It ends with a symbol of America, Lady Liberty, destroyed.  So is it anti-American too?  If Avatar is, then Planet of the Apes is. It's only because we live in such hyper-partisan times that Avatar is constantly saddled with the moniker Anti-American, when what the film actually concerns is a human truth: that our drive to explore and increase our knowledge is a double-edged sword; It keeps us alive, but also, often, puts us in conflict with each other, and with nature itself. Again, it's much easier to brush off Avatar with a simple label ("anti-American") than it is to examine Cameron's story and take it for what it is really about - human nature.  Does the film have a leftist bent?  Absolutely. Just as some science fiction films have a rightward leaning (Zardoz [1974] for one.).  The right has not been alone in attacking Avatar for perceived "philosophical" flaws.  The left (plus David Brooks) have really gone after the film as being an example of "The White Man's Burden."  In other words, this is a film in which a white man saves a native culture and ascends to leadership of it.  Apparently, that's insulting to ethnic minorities or something. Again, this is a more simplistic view of the film than is merited. For one thing, when was the last time that a handicapped character took a leadership role in a major, over-200 million-dollar action film?  Jake Sully is a white man, it is true, but he's also one who has been largely discarded by his culture because of his physical impairment.  He's not physically powerful alpha male Kevin Costner, for instance. Jake is not the typical "messiah" in that regard.  Instead, he is a perfect man to lead the fight because he is also, like many of the characters in the film, separated and isolated from his true nature.  His physical handicap has prevented him from being what he knows he can be; from doing what he knows he can do.  The avatar program grants him the capacity to tap that potential and to become whole again.  The film is as much about the Na'vi (and the Na'vi experience) saving Jake as it is about Jake saving the Na'vi.  He learns much through their interconnectedness, after all. David Brooks' comments bear closer scrutiny.  He writes that the film depicts colonists as "rationalist" and "technocratic" while colonial victims are "spiritual and athletic".  He should take a gander again at Quaritch, a man who is also quite athletic; so damned athletic in fact, he can pick off human targets some distance away while holding his breath for minutes at a time (in Pandora's poisonous atmosphere).  Qauritch is no armchair general. And why does Brooks assume that the film says "illiteracy is the path to grace."   Nowhere in the film is illiteracy even broached.  The path to grace in the film is through inter-connection; through the link and harmony between man/woman and the land.  Because we cannot see this psychic connection, the Na'vi might very well call mankind "psychically illiterate."   Again, this attack on Avatar is too simplistic.  Would it have been nice if the Na'vi could save themselves without Jake as the leader?  Well again, look very closely at the actual specifics of the text in question.  Which character destroys the villain?  Hint: it's not the white man Jake.  No, he is rendered paralyzed, in the final battle featured in the film.  No, Neytiri finally takes out Quaritch.  She is no mere "supporting player" (as Brooks puts it). And who turns the tide towards the Na'vi in the battle?  Again, it's not Jake or any other "white man."  It's Eywa, who through her powers of inter-connection, summon the forest animals to attack the occupiers.  So again, it's not entirely accurate to say that Avatar suffers from this movie "Messiah Complex."    On the contrary, Jake is present in the film to serve as surrogate for the audience.  He is our (human) entrance point into the world of the Na'vi, an example of -- again -- how mankind can go beyond what he knows and explore a new and alien situation.  Even the film's ending is about this idea of crossing the next hill; evolving to the next point.  Jake is able to cast aside his human body and become fully Na'vi.  This is because he has embraced the better part of our human nature.  He has overcome his limitations (physical and mental) and become what he had only once "dreamed."   If you're James Cameron, you can't make this argument about human nature without featuring a human protagonist in the film. In terms of the Cameron Curriculum, there's many points of commonalities between Avatar and Cameron's other films.  For instance, the Na'vi saying that goes "I see you," (meaning "I see your true self") is carried forth from Titanic. In that film, Jack and Rose share an exchange that seems familiar. "You see people," says Rose.  "I see you," says Jack.  Also, like Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator and even Titanic to an extent, Avatar features as a hero someone who is "blue collar," in this case a so-called "grunt."  This also makes three Cameron films (Aliens, The Terminator and Avatar) in which a military man is amongst the protagonists, making it more difficult and less plausible for critics to argue that Cameron is somehow against the military. And, of course, like out-of-time Ripley, an emotionless Terminator in T2 or Mrs. Tasker in True Lies, Jake is an outsider or fish-out-of-water in Avatar.  In a way, he is both outside of the human race because of his handicap, and outside the Na'vi because of his nature as a "Sky Person."  In many Cameron films, only those who are "outside" the dominant coalitions can bring a sense of balanced perspective to crises. Earlier in the review, I brought up George Lucas and the Star Wars films.  Avatar treads on some territory familiar to that franchise, namely a primitive people waging a war against a technological foe.  In Return of the Jedi the Ewoks battled the Empire, and in The Phantom Menace, the Gungans battled the Trade Federation.  Lucas essentially played both of those battles for laughs.  By contrast, the final battle in Avatar is anything but funny: it's a harrowing, tense descent into all-out war.  In Avatar, the primitive species carries the day only because of a gift from Pandora: the ability of all  native creatures to communicate and connect with one another.  That's something the humans can't do, at least on a planetary scale. Interestingly, Eywa does not normally "take sides."  She protects "only the balance of life."  But in this case, man is so egregious, so awful in his attacks, even God herself must become involved.   This is the environmental message of Avatar, another point that has enraged some people, apparently. It's another critiique I don't really get.  What could be more conservative, more traditional, than taking good care of the planet you happen to live on? Avatar is a great film because of the advances it makes in terms of technology, because of the commentary it offers about the double-edged sword of human nature, and because, perhaps, people just can't stop arguing about it. So many people "see" Avatar.  Or at least they think they do. My recommendation to them is to watch the movie again, this time keeping in mind Neytiri's admonition for those whose mind is already sealed tightly shut. "It's hard to fill a cup which is already full." Next Week:  Are you ready to go back to Titanic?

Maurice Tillet and "The French Angel" TABS at the TOP of THIS page: 1. BIOGRAPHY(This Page) - BIO for Maurice Tillet, The French Angel 2. SHREK - WAS Maurice Tillet, The French Angel, inspiration of SHREK? 3. DEATH MASKS - THE Death Masks of Maurice Tillet, The French Angel 4. PICTURES - Maurice Tillet Pictures 5. ARTICLES - French Angel NEWSPAPER and MAGAZINE articles 6. GHOST STORY - MAURICE - BACK from THE AFTERLIFE? 7. AN ANGEL'S FUTURE - FUTURE MOVIE for MAURICE TILLET? 8. AN ANGEL'S BEST FRIEND - KARL POJELLO 9. FEATURED ARTICLE - FEATURED ARTICLE 10. MAURICE TILLET VIDEO - MAURICE TILLET in VIDEO You may have a picture of Maurice, or a family story. Nothing is more important to this project than to collect and share these. Please contact me and I will share it with all. Contact TOM at [email protected]. After years of study, here's a couple of pictures that captures the character of the man. Much of what was known about Maurice could be summed up to character marketing. The truth about Maurice is far more interesting, and inspiring, than his wrestling persona. Maurice Tillet and his mentor, manager, and the man with the vision to bring Maurice to wrestling, Karl Pojello. Maurice Tillet The Man, the Busts, and Shrek Maurice said he was born in the Ural Mountains however in official documents it lists St. Petersburg Russia on October 23, 1903, had brown eyes, and was the only child of French parents. Maurice's father was from Vendée, and his mother, Louise Margot-Tillet was born about 1880 in Bordeaux. Maurice's father was an engineer involved in the building of the Trans-Siberian railroad. Maurice father died when he was somewhere between 4 and 8 years old. After his fathers death, Maurice's mother moved to Moscow Russia where she taught languages at Saint Philip Niri Catholic School. Maurice said that he attended his mother’s classes there. The church around which the St. Philip Neri was erected is called 'Saint Louis-des-Français' in Moscow Russia. http://assumption.us/about-us/cassadaga-seminary/47-virtual-library/552-the-catholic-chaplaincy-in-moscow: "The parish became an impressive complex, which eventually included not only a rectory for the priest, but also two schools for approximately 600 students: Saint Philip Neri School for boys, two-thirds of whom were residents, and Saint Catherine School for girls." Saint Louis-des-Français Church, and to the right and left, Saint Philip Neri School for boys, and Saint Catherine School for girls in Moscow Russia. Maurice age 13. The uniform he is wearing, in the above picture, is likely from his time at St. Philip Neri. With the Russian Revolution underway in 1917, and with foreigners being pushed out of the country, his mother decided to move back to her native France. She found employment teaching languages at a local girl’s school in Rheims, France. Probably due to his mother’s influence, Maurice learned to speak many languages. By mid 1942 Maurice spoke at least 5 languages including French, Russian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian and English. After completion of Maurice's primary education at Rheims he went to college, and graduagedfrom St. Stanislaus in Paris, France. St. Stanislaus: By age 17 Maurice’s head, chest, hands, and feet started to expand. By age 19, he was diagnosed with Acromegaly. Maurice near the end of his childhood was kicked in head by a mule. Throughout his life Maurice believed this injury to have been the catalyst for the onset of Acromegaly. At that time, Acromegaly was not well understood and it may have been believed by doctors, or Maurice himself, an injury could cause a tumor to form. Research since that time has dis-proven this theory. This, 'kicked in the face story', was reported to me by the first cousin of Maurice's godchild. The almost identical story is told by wrestler George Macricosta here: SPORTS PARADE: LOWDOWN ON FRENCH ANGEL - from a Boston area paper, printed in early 1956 - By Hugh Brown - found here: http://www.wrestlingclassics.com/wawli/Nos.031-040.html. ") Acromegaly, in about 90+% of cases, is caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland. This condition causes excess growth hormone production. In all other cases a tumor is found on the hypothalamus or other glandular location. Acromegaly, if contracted young, it turns the victim into a giant. In Maurice's case, the long bones in his body had completed growing. Because of this, the tumor caused his bones to thicken, and his internal organs to swell. Maurice did not grow taller, he grew thicker. Acromegaly changed his appearance, and his life, forever. After completing his education at St. Stanislaus college, Maurice's mother paid for him to go to school at Toulouse University of Law. Toulouse University - Toulouse, France. Image of Toulouse Capital Square below. Maurice, always an athlete, was named to an all-France rugby team in 1926. After one game in London, he received the distinction of shaking the hand of King George V of England, a distinction he spoke about often. Maurice was working on his law degree at Talouse, when he found Acromegaly attacking his vocal cords, and his voice deepening. At this time Maurice realized his intent to practice law would not be possible. Lowell Sun Newspaper, Lowell Mass. U.S.A, April 8th 1943: “Maybe with this face I could be a lawyer”, he remarked at the time, “but with this mule voice no one would listen to me. So I gave up law and joined the French Navy.” Other sources said that he attended for 2.5 years out of the required 4, before leaving law school. Look Magazine, April 25th 1950: “The children of my boyhood called me, ‘Le Singe’ which means ‘the monkey’. I am sad too much, so I go to the seaport, and try to make my life over on the water where other men don't care what you are.” Maurice detailed that he joined the French Navy where he worked as an engineer aboard ships and subs, eventually achieving the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He reported that his start in wrestling began while in the Navy where shipmates would often wrestle to pass the time. Maurice served 5, or maybe 6 years in the French Navy. When in the course of WWII he heard the French Navy intentionally sank his ship, he wept. Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 105, 5 May 1945, Page 8 STORY BEHIND UGLIEST FACE IN WRESTLING RING " Six Years In Navy After six years in the French Navy, during which he rose to the highest non-commissioned rating attainable by an enlisted man, Tillet returned to his birthplace near Rheims (Authors note - almost certainly incorrect as he is born in Russia), rested for a year, and went with his mother to Moscow, where she was to teach the romance languages in the University of Moscow. He hit the sawdust trails as a circus strong man." Maurice Tillet - Actor: Lutte et Boxe Magazine Jan. 1952: "On returning to civilian life, I tried a little of all professions without much success. One day, meeting a friend who was the cinema, I decided to do it also. With no ordinary head I felt I could no doubt succeed. I made a lot of movies but with the exception of two or three, always in a small role. To succeed in the movies, it takes a lot of luck, capital and talent. I was certainly short of a bit of everything. Between attempts, I played rugby, which is very popular in France. It gave me great satisfaction, and at the same time developed me physically." The following detail came to me from man who was 11 years old at the time of Maurice's death and who was close with Maurice. "Hunchback de Notre Dame - (the Angel's) acting debut, French Version, in this flick ,is saintly. Gorgeous George viewed it over 100 times... I find it spooky! Mau(r)ice played a torturor, but sympathetic dungeon guard, for the captive monster. What an irony! Tears are visible in Maurice's eyes...". This movie has not yet been identified. Maurice had a bit part in the movie - 'Princesse Tam Tam' with Josephine Baker: Maurice Tillet Identified in the film about 2/3 the way through when Josephine is entering a naval or nautical bar. Clearfield Progress, Evening February 20th, 1940 ". . . Paul Bowser's latest foreign wrestling importation, Maurice Tillet (better known as The Angel) has a part in the French film, "The Harvest," now showing on Broadway." This film was released in France in 1937 under the name "Regain", and the United States in 1940 under the name "Harvest." By the time the film was conserved it had considerably deteriorated. The 1937 version of the film was 150 minutes. In 1969 was cut down to 128 minutes. An original copy of the film is not likely ever to be found and unfortunately Maurice is not seen in its edited version. Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 105, 5 May 1945, Page 8: Part in "Volga Boatman" Tillet was making good money in the French films, but had had only one big part up to that time, in the "Volga Boatman." There is a French Volga Boatman movie done in 1936 is called "Los Bateleros Del Volga" directed by Vladimir Strizhevsky. Here he is in stock photo's from the film. Some of which were from the French release press kit here - http://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/press/titles/bateliersdelavolga.php. Others were found in a book on this film. Although NOT confirmed, I am pretty sure that I see here Maurice in the background of this picture from the Press packet for the French Film, released in 1936, called "BACH Detective". In a RING program from Belgium featuring Legs Langevin, there is a bio on Maurice. In that bio Maurice is mentioned in the following two films, "Soir De Rafle", 1931 French Film, with Albert Prejean and Annabella, and "Kermesse heroique" 1935 released in the U.S. under the name "Carnival in Flanders". In both cases he is listed as having only a bit part. In Un Soir De Rafle as introduced as"The Cannon Man" 1931 is quite early in Maurice's acting career. He was only 27 to 28 years old at the time of filming. This scene encompasses sporting matches at the local circus, and speaks to their being worked or fixed. Maurice is introduced onscreen in Un Soir De Rafle with the following: "And now ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to introduce you, 'The Cannon Man'. The strongest athlete in the world! Charles Rigoulot himself has never accepted a challenge from him. A challenge that had been reiterated several times." Maurice isolated in the film, La Kermesse Heroique, also called Carnival at Flanders, in a press photo online 11/25/2016 here: http://www.telerama.fr/cinema/films/la-kermesse-heroique,9708.php The following French Cinema lobby card is from "Rive Gauche" or Left Bank. It was made by Paramount in a Paris studio in 1931. Maurice is prominently displayed. We have no idea as to his role due to the scarcity of details on this film. He is face to face with the star of the show, Meg Lemonnier. Maurice was only 28 years old in this pic. Maurice's godchild said: "Maurice had short speaking roles in, quite early, Superman shoots & in Flash Gordon too. Us Dewey (Dewey Elementary - Chicago) kids would view them at the Garfield Boulevard haunted mansion." (Where Maurice died). There are different stories that tell of how Maurice came to wrestling. The following takes pieces of each story as to most closely represent reality. One day in 1937, Maurice was walking the Boulevard des Italiens on his way to Paris studio doorman job. 1936 image of the Boulevard Des Italiens - http://www.vintag.es/2013/09/boulevard-des-italiens-paris-1936.html Maurice acted as Frankenstein dressing in rags, one shoe, and no socks. His appearance assisting in scaring away children when they collected in too large of numbers. Karl Pojello, and likely George Macricostas, passed Maurice on the street and were taken with Maurices appearance. They approached to question him about what he did for a living but Maurice told them to scram. Karl asked him what kind of money he was making and Maurice said 60 francs. Karl asked Maurice, What if I could get you 1000? Boxing and Wrestling Magazine, Vol 6, N6, Feb. 1956. P71. (At the time Karl met Maurice) "He was engaged by Porte Maillot Studios. His job was to keep kids away from the movie studio and frighten them away. That wasn't difficult because when they saw him coming they ran and kept on running. And that is where Karl Pojello who was in one of his world tours and wrestling in Paris, first saw Maurice Tillet" Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 105, 5 May 1945, Page 8 STORY BEHIND UGLIEST FACE IN WRESTLING RING Tillet was working with a French movie company…. when Pojello first met him. Pojello was on a world tour, meeting all comers. He had seen all the freaks in wrestling, but never had he seen anything like the human specimen that ambled along.... Pojello's guttural French didn't register on Tillet, who speaks the university variety. So he tried German, Italian, Spanish, English, all of are familiar to Tillet, but it wasn't until he opened up in Russian that the two men reached a common conductor. "Karl asked me if I ever did any physical culture, or play sports," said the Angel, "and I said 'Yes.' When I told him that I used to wrestle! and won several amateur tournaments, he was excited, and talked too fast. I was busy for the next three days, so we made a date for the fourth day, on a Monday, for a gymnasium." "We stripped down in the gym and wrestled for 25 minutes," Maurice continued. "Karl, he beat me easily in two minutes. Then I knew nothing! about catch-as-catch-can wrestling. In Graeco-Roman you do not touch the legs. That's all I knew about wrestling, Graeco - Roman." After the gym workout …, Pojello painted a glowing future for the French horror-man in Europe and America. The agreement was that Tillet would quit his movie job and travel with Pojello. For ten months Pojello trained Tillet every day in catch-as-catch-can. Finally they arrived in Paris. Karl told him, "Now, you are ready and I will call in the "promoters." Convincing promoters in Europe is a tougher proposition apparently than in America. A promoter from Antwerp arrived with four wrestlers. If Pojello’s man could make a good showing against them, he would book him through Belgium and Holland. "We go into a gym, and I beat these four men, catch-as-catch-can, in 15 minutes," said Tillet. "That was the happiest day of my life. That night Karl and I celebrated. I broke training for the first time in ten months.'' Karl cabled for his business partner, Sir Atholl Oakeley, to meet him and Maurice at a little restaurant in the back of the Cafe de la Paix. Cafe de la Paix - Atholl in 1948 reported that Maurice, "When he found that his Mother remembered Pojello as the chemist in St Petersberg at whose shop she used to buy the family medicine, Maurice became firm friends." According to details reported on Karl, he once worked in a pharmacy in St. Petersburg owned by his brothers, Antanas and Motiejus. At the Cafe they discussed Maurice's history.. They knew that with his wrestling background, great strength, natural athleticism, abnormal look, and acting experience, he would be ideal for professional wrestling. (This is a NEW vision of how Maurice came to wrestling, and as such I need to provide to you the proof of what I detail here. Pull to the bottom of this page to see all the stories I have found of how Maurice came to wrestling as to show the above being closest to the truth.) At the same time, I found a VERY specific article talking about his discovery in Singapore, however in thie version Maurice was there for acting work. It's worth noting, this version COULD be true. Between 1937 - 1939 saw Maurice wrestle in England as, “The Angel”, a nickname given to him by his mother. From"The Wrestler" magazine September 1972 - "The Angel was a sensation when he first visited Britain in the 1930's... A blaze of advances publicity concerning his first appearance in this country brought over 20,000 mat fans scrambling to get into the Nottingham venue.... Such was his crowd-pulling capacity there was once a near riot once when 30,000 attempted to force there way in to the Manchester venue to see him wrestle." On page 14 of “The Knockout” magazine, year and issue unknown: “They(Maurice Tillet & Karl Pojello) arrived in London, May 11th, 1937 and the next day from the Marble Arch of Hyde Park, London watched the passing of the Coronation Parade.” This detail is corroborated in that Karl competed and won the Kings coronation amateur wrestling tournament held in London in the weeks following the parade. Maurice also went by “Ugliest Man in the World”. The bear hug became his signature move. These are of Maurice in England 1939 from Life Magazine, just before coming to the U.S. The woman outside the ring is seen a couple of times with Maurice and she is described as Miss Elaine Hutchinson a former Ballet dancer, only 20 years old and now managing wrestlers. Another of Maurice and Elaine: By late 1939, Maurice had a proven track record and was ready to invade the United States. Paul Bowser was Maurice's promoter, and Karl Pojello, his manager. Reported by Karl Pojello from, 'The Cavalier Daily , University of Virginia, Monday February 26th 1940 by J. McC. T.' - ”.....we toured Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. When the war broke out, we were in Italy. Although we had an excellent offer from South America we decided to come to America as the best competition in the world was here.” Timeline details in order to help understand events - September 1st 1939 Hitler invades Poland. Britain and France declares war on Germany September 3rd, 1939. In September 1939, Britain imposed a selective blockade of Italy. Lutte et Boxe Magazine from Jan. 1952. “I went with him to England, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and I won all my matches in front of sold-out rooms. I was starting to make money, and made a name for myself in the fight. In short, I was happy. Alas, the war came. The French Navy was mobilized on the third day of the conflict. I joined up in Cherbourg, my home port, where I remained a few months before being demobilized by military authorities. I went home and went to go find my manager in Italy. This was January 1940.” Maurice and Karl must have gotten through that selective blockade as they left Italy January 2nd 1940, arriving in the United States January 12th 1940 aboard the Trans-Atlantic Ocean liner S.S. Rex. http://vmf-cruiseshipsandliners.blogspot.com/2011/08/ss-rex-one-of-most-famous-italian.html According to Wrestling Magazine magazine July 1951, the boat docked on the Hudson River, Pier 90. Maurice was held for a three days while immigration decided what to do with him. Official documents show that he was held for three days due to a lack of a C.I.V.. Maurice was given three meals per day, before being released on Jan 16th 1940. Maurice made his American debut on January 24, 1940 at Boston Garden against Luigi Bacigaiupi. Maurice walked down the aisle, entered the ring, leaned over the ropes, and roared at the crowd. At his American debut were Harvard scientists anticipating the sight of Maurice. They asked him if he would submit to be measured for science and Maurice agreed. Picture of Maurice with his manager Karl Pojello, promoter Paul Bowser and Anthropologist Earnest Albert Hooton. - Other scientists that studied Maurice at Harvard were Carlton Stevens Coon, Hallam Movius, Carl Seltzer, and William Sheldon. Maurice was 5 foot 8.5 inches in height, 276 pounds, a 47 inch chest, head almost twice the size of normal, arms down to his knees, and hands that could shuffle three decks of cards. At least this is how they liked to sell him. Bismarck Tribune May 28, 1941 - "an anatomical freak, a fellow who looks like the most powerful man who ever lived." .... The X-rays show that the seilatureia, the medical name for the cavity in which the pituitary gland is located, in the skull is 2.5 centimeters… Other figures are: 1—M Tillet's skull thickness varied from .59 to .67 on an inch, the thickest point being .79. The average wrestler's is .12 to .16. 2—Tillet's occipital protuberance, that bump on the back of your head, is 2 to 3 times the size of the average man, being like an. English walnut compared with a small pea. 3—The Angel's frontal sinus is approximately an Inch long, or twice as deep as the average man's. 4—M. fillets brain, normal In all respects, is larger than the average college professor's. 5—The head of the humerus, largest bone in arm, is 1.5 times that of the average man's, but the shaft of the bone is twice as big in the same comparison. And this is true of most of Tillet's 206 bones, which are heavier in proportion because of great deposits of calcium. 6—The spine is twice and in some places four times the size of an average 6-foot man. 7—Tillet's ribs, measured on the X-ray photo, are 1.5 centimeters wide, thrice the size of the ribs of a fellow wrestlers... Most interesting, of course, to the doctors was M. Tillet's head, the largest they had ever seen. So large in fact that they couldn't get all of the chin on the X-ray plate. The length of the face, from the root of Tillet's nose to the bottom of the chin is 7.05 inches, compared with a normally large masculine face at 5.31 inches. The width of his face, from ear to ear, is 7.13 inches, compared to a large man's 4.33 inches. Pictures of Maurice, at Harvard, being Measured - Time Magazine March 4th 1940. He was declared to be the closest living specimen to that of Neanderthal man known to exist. The crowds flocked to see this monster of a man who was a throwback to prehistoric times. Chicago's Field Museum for Natural History - Maurice poses with the Neanderthal Exhibit: Maurice proved incredibly strong and staged events where he would pull a bus, train, or street car. He wrestled and won against all the greatest wrestlers of his day. His persona was fierce, and although he was sold as a heel, he was kind, gentle, educated, and well-mannered. Maurice's popularity immediately soared and he provided the following details to the newspapers and magazines about his preferences. Maurice eats slowly, sometimes taking two hours for a meal. He likes French food, orange and celery juice, and a little wine. His favorite fruit is banana, and next pears. He favorite desert is fruit salad. At one particular afternoon party, he refused sherry and cigarettes, took tea and cookies. According to wrestling historian Don Luce, "Maurice did some early training in East Pembroke, NY at Heverans bar, run by a man who ran a place for wrestlers/Boxers to train. I think it was Tom Heveran." Maurice was a devout Catholic and once in 1947 he was given an audience with the Pope. Lutte et Boxe Magazine Jan. 1952. "During my trips, I'd had the occasion to be introduced to great people of this World, but I'll never forgot the day I was given an audience and knelt down at the feet of Pope Pious XII. I was received in Castel Gondolfo September the 22th 1948, the day of my saint, saint-Maurice. As à devout Catholic, I keep this memory as the most precious of my life." Maurice Tillet with Baron Von Heczey after their private meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. Hard Boiled Haggerty, aka Don Sparrow got his wrestling start through Karl Pojello. HBH once, in a discussion with Scott Teal said the following about Maurice, "... One of his proudest possessions was a picture of him and the Pope that he carried in his wrestling bag. When we’d travel around, Maurice would drive the car. If he wasn’t wearing his hat, we’d stop at a light, and people would do double takes. I thought, ‘What a gimmick!’ " Maurice always focused on health and strength. Karl, his manager, said, “Angel always gets 10 hours sleep a day and has to ‘because wrestling is so hard and he must stay in condition.'" Acromegaly comes with allot of serious pain and medical complications. John Pantozzi said that his uncle, Dr. John Bonica, father of all modern pain management, cared for Maurice when he was in the U.S.. Chopin is Maurice's favorite composer. His favorite book authors were Paul Bourget, Marcel Prouit, and Alexandra Dumas. His favorite flower is Lilly of the Valley. Maurice prefers and Oxford Grey Suit and a beret so that the wind cannot not blow it off. His shoe size is unattainable, however he wears a size 14 stocking. He wears a pin on his lapel for the British Wrestling Board of Control. Other than the pin he had no interest in jewelry. San Antonio Light Pg10&13 Aug 1 1940 - "He likes dancing, music, and American girls – with reservations. He thinks American lassies are richer, wear more expensive clothes, but just can't compare to the French mademosille when it comes to sex appeal." Oakland Tribune August 12, 1943 - Maurice has a keen sense of humor, intellect, and an attractive girlfriend who escaped France to London and may someday become Mrs. Tillet. He took a picture from his pocket of his girlfriend and said, “Nice eh?” Oakland Tribune August 12, 1943 - ……. He was asked if his facial or body distortions gave him a complex. He said, “Since I was a little boy old enough to know what it was about I have been the object of curiosity. Long ago I accepted my appearance for what it was. “No I do not have an inferiority complex. I have not let my looks – how you say it? – down.” He shrugged his shoulders expressively and grinned. Oakland Tribune pg1 June 29 1940 - Here, too. is a human who looks on life with tranquil eyes, who neither is abashed nor annoyed by the curious stares off the public, who lives in a mental world all his own and into which domain no outsider might trespass. ….enjoys a calm, detached amusement when he realizes the shocked awe in which he is held by his fellow men and women......Perhaps The Angel, Nature's prank though he may be, has attained that state of complete tranquility which so many humans seek to attain, but never grasp. 1953 article written in Singapore, reference to article history lost: “Stamp collectors will be interested to meet M’sier Tillet, as he is a ardent philatelist and the large and varied issues of Malaya are sure to interest”. Maurice as a stamp collector was further substantiated byMaurice’s godchild mentioned to me that “stamps” were one of Maurice’s belongings that had come to him and his father, after Maurice’s passing. On May 13, 1940 Maurice defeated Steve Casey by disqualification for the AWA World Title in Boston, and beat him clean again two weeks later. Maurice reinvigorated professional wrestling as crowds dramatically increased to witness his body and his ability. He remained unbeaten for nineteen months but on May 13, 1942, Maurice lost the AWA title back to Steve Casey. Although no longer billed as unbeatable, “The Angel” remained a very popular draw. Maurice held the AWA World Title (Boston) from May 13, 1940 to May 13, 1942 and the Montreal World Title March 30, 1942 to June 25, 1942. He was also the AWA champion from August 1, 1944 until August 15, 1944. 1942 saw Maurice join the Boston Chapter of France Forever, a group intended to give raise support in the U.S. to France during the course of WWII. Maurice reported to the U.S. Army in 1942 to serve in the war effort. He was told that he would not be able to understand complex orders and be a curiosity and distraction and therefore was denied service. Picture of his U.S. physical: In February of 1947, Maurice took his oath of citizenship to the United States. Promoter Jack Pfeffer recognized the genius in the name “Angel” and started importing other “Angels” with physical abnormalities. This influx forced Maurice to become “The French Angel.” With the “theft” of his very personal nickname being applied to other wrestlers likely explains the story of Tillet’s first face-to-face meeting with Pfeffer. Maurice knocked him cold. There was a consequence to this action. Jack Pfeffer sued Maurice for 30,000$ and was instead awarded 250$ by the courts. The wrestling commission fined Maurice 50$ for the action. In short, the courts, and the wrestling commission had to send a message that although technically inappropriate to have slapped Jack, they secretly agreed by imposing smallest punitive action they could impose. It was reported that if they really disagreed with Maurice's action they would have suspended him for a match or two for a true loss of money to the wrestler and his promoter. The papers of the day did not seem to be in love with Jack. By 1946 Maurice was detailed as the highest paid sports figure. Sandusky Register Star News April 20, 1946 Wrestling comes into its own in the income department. Maurice "The Angel" Tillet, according to a Chicago sportswriter who should know, is. top man on the nation's sports payroll. Maurice was especially close to one friend, Antanas Tamašiūnas aka Tony Thomasun, and his son, who became Maurice's godchild. http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org/databases/il/ChicagoLith/pdf/620314.pdf From the above location: "Tamašiūnas (Thomasun), Anthony, was born 01/11/1894 Jakūnų t., Kovarskas, Vilnius County. He attended Elementary School in Kovarska. He came to America in 1910, to Pittsburgh, PA. Later moving to Oshkosh, Wis., where he lived for 20 years. There he was a drainage and sewer contractor and amateur wrestler. In 1912 he wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko in De Kalb, Ill. In 1926 he met Karl Pojello in Chicago. Soon afterward, Anthony organized Karl to wrestle Carl Van Würden, Canadian and former Wisconsin state semi-heavy weight champion, in the 175lb weight class, in OSHKOSH, Wis. Pojello beat his opponent in just under 3 minutes. The match setup Pojello to wrestle all over America. In 1949 Anthony moved to Chicago. There he owned a few taverns and a Trailer Park, where he lived for a time." What I would like to point out here is that Anthony setup Karl for success, and in turn, Karl discovered and trained Maurice, which set-up Maurice for success. The following came from Tony's son, Maurice's godchild: "I knew 'The Angel' always. He walked me to my 1st day of 'Kindergarden'. We lived at..... Detroit then. I recall, because the kids + teacher got scared, some screamed! Maurice stayed in our basement apartment... HE owned a new Caddy Convertible then..." Later they all moved to Chicago. Karl Pojello, his wife Olga, and Maurice went in on a Mansion together at 726 West Garfield Avenue in Chicago. "Do you have oatmeal each morning? As a kid I did together with Maurice & Karl. It was their favorite muscle food." "The Angel came to my school several times to partake, jointly, in school plays. HE loved kids and (acting). George Dewey Elementary (Chicago) ha(d)... a 5ft X 5ft painting of Maurice + Karl in a dual bear hug."... "My dad, karl, Maurice + the Mayor dinned often. Other wrestles mingled together too. at Milda(Theater) on Garfield Boulevard (where the pals died). Dozens of kids from Dewey , and Visitation Elementary Catholic School often visited Maurice + Karl, after school..."..."For a couple of years, before the Angel's death, every Saturday(He) would take kids to Eliotts diner for hamburgers and the famous fried donut holes. Eliotts, owned by a French Jew, is located on 55th Street and next to the RR viaduct. School buses were chartered..." At the mansion on Garfield "...We would have fun in the rear barn'garage, with the several old cars, and the cats... He cherished dozens of the felines..." He also reported that Maurice owned a huge H.O. gauge train set. After Maurice's death it was packaged up and moved to the Chicago Museum for Science and Industry. Maurice had several vehicles including a 1950 Lincoln, 1950 Stretch Packard, and a 1948 Studebaker truck. Below is a 1950 Packard, Lincoln Cosmo Sedan, and a1948 Studebaker Truck Again from Maurice's godchild: "Maurice became friends with Marilyn Monroe, the actress early in her career." I let him know that was looking for some connection between them. He suggested: "Baseball might be it. Both Maurice & Karl and Jean(M.M.) cherished baseball." FROM: DEL TROCADERO AL PASAPOGA: Historias de Mujeres Buenas by Oscar Yanes. In April, or early May, of 1952 Maurice came to Caracas Venezuela, to wrestle. Promoter Oscar Ibarra, was there to meet Maurice, and told him of a recent tragedy. In the Church of Santa Teresa, in Caracas, a lady’s article of clothing momentarily caught fire, and someone yelled fire, fire. The crowds trying to get in, and the crowds trying to get out, essentially created a panicked stampede. In the end 22 children, 22 women, and one man were trampled to death. Maurice then went to speak to Father Carrillo, at the church, to see how he could help. Maurice told the priest he wanted to the mothers who had lost their children in the tragedy anonymously. Explaining to the priest he loves children, and mentioning that he maintains a foundation for underprivileged children in Versailles France. While he spoke to the father Carrillo a girl in the Catholic Action, Carolina Ramirez was listening. “Carolina was moved, hearing how this man, with his head down, as if confessing a sin, wanted to help others and how he even showed embarrassment in wanting to help…..” Carolina ended up escorting Maurice to an underprivileged school, and then to the trauma center to see some of the injured. In the end, Carolina ended up becoming close with Maurice, and he became smitten with her. He went to Venezuela for a two week contract, and stayed for 1.5 months. The author of the book, Oscar Yanes, leads us to believe that Maurice either very close to asking Carolina to marry him, or had already asked her mother if he might. Carolina could not bring herself to accept. Mr. Yanes details the event, but allows the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what she was refusing and why. Likely Carolina was turning Maurice down for two reasons, he was much older, and due to his abnormal physiology. She originally had expressed that she found Maurice very unappealing, to say the least, due to his look. Seems Maurice handled this situation the best he could. He left her house letting her know it was better they make a clean break, and go their separate ways. Side Note: The book mentioned that Maurice once met famed philosopher, Jean Paul Sarte, but says his heart is in opposition with existentialism. Maurice’s appearance drew significant attention when he was in public and is likely why chose to live a more private life and was particular about friends. Maurice’s personal friends included, Tony Thomasun, mentioned above, businessman Patrick Leonard, sculptor Louis Linck, and professional wrestler Bobby Managoff. "Mysteries at the Museum" Travel Channel TV in the United states reported that in 1951, Louis made a series of busts. For the record, I know of two that are full size, or the actual size of Maurice's head. One is now at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago. The other in personal hands outside of the United States. (Detail withheld for privacy sake). In addition Louis created a series of little, 12 inch high, gold colored statue heads. I have seen one, know two persons that have them, and at one time a person reported he had a dozen that were given out. Louis Link bust of Maurice Tillet: Bobby Managoff took a mold of Maurice’s head prior to his death in 1954. From that mold, a number of busts of Maurice were created. There is now known, four finished Tillet busts, referred to as “Death Masks”. One went to wrestler/strongman Henry “Milo” Steinborn. Two went to Patrick Leonard. The last was last seen in the office of Houston TX promoter Paul Boesch. Steinborn donated his to The York Barbell and Weightlifting Hall of Fame in Pennsylvania. In 2006 Patrick donated one of his to the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard and the other to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. Paul Boesch's is still at large. The one below is from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Maurice wrestled until 1954 and remained extremely close to his manager Karl Pojello. Note that Karl was 46 yrs old here in this picture and Maurice was 36. Karl was still a world-class wrestler. The picture on the right is later when they were in the U.S. By 1954, Karl had lung cancer and Maurice had recently recovered from pneumonia was suffering from a heart condition. Maurice, at that time, was living with Karl and his wife Olga at 726 W. Garfield Blvd in Chicago, shown above. Maurice and Karl's bio, http://deathmaskofmauricetillet-theangel.blogspot.com/p/karl-pojella.html, end exactly the same. In the early 1950's Karl, Olga, and Maurice Tillet had turned the mansion on Garfield Blvd. in Chicago, into a boarding house. Karl and Maurice had adjoining rooms on the first floor. In a strange twist of fate both men became very sick at about the same time. Maurice had an enlarged heart, and Karl had lung cancer. According to Karl's grand nephew, Valentine L. Krumplis, Olga was taking care of both Karl and Maurice. He remembered going to the house and Olga having been very tired and and having no patience for the kids. Karl's room had previously been the Music room on the 1st floor of the Mansion. Karl died on September 4th 1954 at 9:43am. Upon Karl's passing his wife, Olga, went to Maurice to inform him of Karl's passing. Maurice told her that then there was no further reason for him to stay, and shortly afterward was taken to the hospital. 13 hours after Karl died, Maurice died, September 4th 1954, at 11:00pm. At their funeral, Karl was noted for being tolerant of all persons, races, etc. The French Consul General, M. Strauss, spoke on behalf of Maurice at the Funeral. Karl’s wrestling pupils carried his coffin. About 300 Automobiles blocked up Halstad Street for the funeral and crowds of thousands attended the funeral. Funeral details: Last Wed. in Bridgeport there was an interruption on Halstad Street because these two sportsman procession blocked traffic. Many could not get into the Funeral Parlor before the bodies were taken to the cemetery. Farewell words were spoken by the Editor, Kaustas Augustas, of the Local Lithuanian Paper “Naujienos”(Lithuanian for "The News"), was Karl’s personal friend. In emotional words he remembered his friend’s gentleman behavior, and balanced life. Karl never forgot to mention he was Lithuanian and very much helped raise up the Lithuanian people. About 300 cars were in the procession and there were crowds of thousands that went to the cemetery to say goodbye. Speaking for Maurice was the Consul General of France, M. Strauss. In the French Language he spoke about Maurice drew attention to the French People. Karl’s coffin was carried by some of his students/pupils. Karl was noted for being tolerant of all nationalities. At the cemetery they flew U.S., French, and Lithuanian flags. Author Greg Oliver - Found here: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/12/14/pf-19123831.html "The official cause was heart disease, but "Tough" Tony Borne, who knew both starting out in Chicago, said he died of a broken heart. "He was a money-maker for Carl. Carl was basically interested in the dollar. The French Angel told me that 50 cents of every dollar he made went to Carl," said Borne. "He wasn't bitter about it at all. In fact, Carl's wife told me, 'Carl doesn't love me, he loves the French Angel.' Dollar signs." Karl and Maurice were buried side by side in the Pojello family plot in the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice, Illinois. Suburbanite Economist September 8, 1954 - "The Angel, who won out in his bout against pneumonia last month, succumbed to a heart ailment a few hours after he learned Karl Pojello, a life-long friend, and manager, was the victim of lung cancer. The pair had shared adjoining rooms at 726 W. Garfield Blvd. When informed, the Angel became ill and was taken to County Hospital where he passed away. They will be buried at the same time today at 1:30 p.m., from the chapel at 3354 S. Halsted St. Interment will be Lithuanian National Cemetery." Maurice is the widely accepted inspiration for the cartoon character “Shrek”. DreamWorks has never confirmed precisely from where Shrek’s inspiration arose. There is an obvious physical and personality-based parallels between Maurice and Shrek throughout the movie. The film was originally written and animated to fit actor Chris Farley. When Farley died, a whole new film was written. In a rush to create a new film, it is presumed they found in Maurice the perfect representation of an older, wiser ogre. A man, now an Ogre, with a desire for a private personal life, yet possessing a noble character required of a reluctant hero. The physical characteristics, as well personality traits of Maurice Tillet, and his wrestling persona “The French Angel”, appear to be evident throughout the film. ##################################################### Maurice's continued relevance - IMAGINE: Every new person you saw reacted to you with stunned fixation, fear, or at very best, curiosity. Occasionally people ran or moved away quickly, fainted, and sometimes children cried. Imagine What kind of person would you become, if you smiled, and so many did not smile back. What would it do to you? Who would you become? It is not enough to say he overcame his life's special conditions. Maurice understood it was normal for people to react as they did. Rather than allowing it to move him to a life of dissatisfaction, and isolation, he was able use how different he was, in order to get out there and live. To make of his life, something special and impressive. Maurice did, near the very end of his life become more reclusive. Please not judge this in context to his whole life. Pain, and end of life, will be a challenge for all of us. If being with a select few friends made him comfortable, when pain was aggressive, we should not judge. There can be no argument that Maurice's physical and emotional challenges were fierce. What makes him impressive was his ability to stay a grounded, compassionate, motivated human being. Suburbanite Economist January 29, 1941: WRESTLERS MEET IN BENEFIT SHOW - "The Angel" and English Champ Will Battle Tonight... Proceeds from tonight's show will be turned over to the Cook County chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis,Inc. Oakland Tribune July 11, 1940: CHARITY TO RECEIVE PORTION OF THE ANGEL'S MAT PURSE - French Wrestler to Meet Rasputin Here Tomorrow Night; Villmer to Mix With Paxek - "The Angel," will attempt to materialize this gruesome, yet admirable character when he wll turn over a large share of his earnings received from his wrestling match with Ivan Rasputin tomorrow night at the Auditorum to the French Red Cross. Sheboygan Press November 4, 1952 - French Angel Wrestles At Playdium Tonight He supports 19 or 20 French war orphans and has the reputation of being an intelligent man for all his appearance. ********************************************** Below is something I never thought I would see, a picture of Maurice before Acromegaly set in. We see a young man of 13yrs. old whose mother called him, "Angel". Feel free to friend my Facebook page for him - Maurice on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maurice.tillet.10?fref=ts Maurice on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/interestingange/maurice-tillet-the-french-angel-wrestler-death-mas/ Maurice suffered from Acromegaly. It is what shaped his look, and added to the challenge that his life presented. ACROMEGALY On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acromegaly?ref=ts&fref=ts ACROMEGALY On the WEB: http://www.acromegalyinfo.com/index.jsp The passion for all things related to Maurice began when I discovered I have a completely unknown death mask of Maurice Tillet. The artist took a mold of Maurice in 1954, just before his death. From that mold, it was detailed he had created a few busts. If you are interested in the history, and research of all the death masks click the link here - "FRENCH ANGEL DEATH MASK" ********************************************* The reason why Maurice is interesting, upon first examination, due to his abnormal proportions. It is undeniable that his look opened the door for Maurice to opportunities. What made him incredible is how he lived life and dealt with the illness that created that look. Acromegally / Giantism comes with allot of physical and psychological challenges. Maurice managed to stay positive, embrace his differences, and actively fought to be healthy and strong. The challenges he met and overcame in becoming the man he was to be, made him amazing. ******************************************** Pictures taken of Maurice Tillet by Irving Penn in 1945. SPORTS PARADE: LOWDOWN ON FRENCH ANGEL - (source likely a Boston paper, printed in early 1956) - By Hugh Brown - found here: http://www.wrestlingclassics.com/wawli/Nos.031-040.html. Someone, I cannot determine from the article said, "The Angel's manager, Karl Pojello, said he had found him in a dive in Singapore, where he (The Angel) had arrived from the jungle after strangling two tigers. "Macricostas replied, ""Tigers! Stromberry! Rossberry!".. ..Mr. Macricostas sputtered. "I will tell you how the Angel really happened. Pojello and I are walking along a Paris street in 1937 and this strange creature passed us. I saw him and I cried to Pojello: "'Karl, I have just seen the ugliest man in the world. Why don't you make him a rassler? He could make you a fortune.' Then I ran up to this Maurice Tillet and spoke to him in French. He replied in French: 'Scram, bum.' But, then Pojello arrived and began talking money. The Frenchman softened and said he had a job as a Frankenstein in the movies. He said he made 60 francs a week. Pojello said, 'I'll give you a thousand. Pojello trained him for five months, then took him to Manchester, England, where he sold out. He did the same in London and Rome. When they came to America they had formed the weirdest partnership I have ever known. Pojello was fascinated by The Angel's ugliness and The Angel was fascinated by Pojello. They would fight like cats and dogs, then make up."....""I saw a picture of him when he was 15," George said, "and he was a normal French kid wearing a sailor suit. A year later, a horse kicked him in the face. His glands were damaged and his face began broadening and thickening.".... "You remember," the Maestro said, "that Jack Pfeffer, (a rival rassling promoter) dug up another gargoyle and called him the French Angel, too. (Likely Macricostas forgot history here. Pfeffer brought in the Swedish Angel. There was not another French Angel and likely his memory just failed him here.) Well, one night in Chicago I was talking to Pfeffer when the real French Angel walked up and asked me, 'Ees thees M'sieu Feefair?' I said, 'Yes, this is Mr. Pfeffer.' A second later, the Angel had knocked him cold. THINGS I NEED FROM YOU: 1. Pictures and details of the man from childhood, his parents, his relationships? 2. Where is his supposed Poetry? 3. What supposed French Horror Films did he played in? 4. According to Maurice he served aboard a ship, Toulon. It was sunk at the port, by the same name, Toulon. HOW MAURICE CAME TO WRESTLING - I have provided above a cohesive story about how Maurice came to wrestling. As I studied him, I found multiple stories told of this event. The truth of each one of these descriptions is suspect as Maurice was as much 'a sold character' as he was a real person. I have taken details from descriptions that blend, removing hyperbole, in order to more closely represent the truth. 1. Maurice Tillet and Karl Pojello, his manager, pretty consistently say to the media that Maurice was in the Navy for 5 years, and when his tour was over, he got off the boat in Singapore. Karl was there to hunt and Maurice ran into him at a bar. This particular version, although told by the man himself, never sat well with me. No other source during Maurice's life confirms this story. It is nothing more than character marketing to avoid the basic fact that Maurice was an actor. Not a terribly successful one actually. According to later interviews with him he had a couple of good parts, and a few small ones. He said that the business took luck and money, and he was in short supply of both. 2. In allot of 1940's newspapers they say that at the time that Maurice came to wrestling he was a doorman at the Paris France studio's. His job being to scare away children when they collected in too large of numbers. Maurice himself in some newspapers says that his job before wrestling was for the Paris Studios as a doorman. 3. Atholl Oakeley, in his 1971 book, Blue Blood on the Mat, details that he was there when Maurice was discovered. In this version, Atholl states that Karl was a very good man, that no one ever asked for help and did not receive help from Karl. One day Karl and Atholl were strolling down the Boulevard des Italiens, and passing them was a poor man, dressed in rags, one boot missing, no socks. Karl tried talking to him in many languages before hitting Russian. To which Atholl say's, "Instantly this terrible creature, weeping like a babe, was in his arms. Karl said to Atholl, "Atol, quick, you help me please. Zis zick man. Very zick man. Quick. Quick!!" Atholls description of Maurice is very filled with hyperbole and this never completely sat well with me, Atholl said that Karl Pojello, Jack Sherry, and Karloff Manoogian(Likely Manoognan) were generous, not so much church going men, as they were dedicated to a charitable christian life. I mention this, as Karl and Maurice always remained close. Maurice himself was a devout Catholic and it appears he stayed close to others with like mindset. 4. Sir Atholl Oakeley - PEN PORTRAIT of an ANGEL 1948. In this version, Atholl tells a different story. "One day, meeting Pojello (the famous former World Light-heavyweight Champion) in Paris, he discovered a kindred spirit who spoke Russian. When he found that his Mother remembered Pojello as the chemist in St Petersberg at whose shop she used to buy the family medicine, Maurice became firm friends. Pojello cabled me to go over and see him, and we all talked in a little restaurant at the back of the Café de la Paix. It was then decided that Maurice should take up wrestling, at which his great strength would be an asset. Pojello made a contract and undertook to teach Maurice." In this version, Atholl was not with Karl when Maurice was found. He was "cabled" and he also talks about how strong Maurice was. In his 1971 story, Maurice was sick and weak. 5. The following is a interview with wrestler George Macricostas. SPORTS PARADE: LOWDOWN ON FRENCH ANGEL - (source likely a Boston paper, printed in early 1956) - By Hugh Brown - found here: http://www.wrestlingclassics.com/wawli/Nos.031-040.html. "The Angel's manager, Karl Pojello, said he had found him in a dive in Singapore, where he (The Angel) had arrived from the jungle after strangling two tigers." Macricostas replied, ""Tigers! Stromberry! Rossberry!" Mr. Macricostas sputtered. "I will tell you how the Angel really happened. Pojello and I are walking along a Paris street in 1937 and this strange creature passed us. I saw him and I cried to Pojello: "'Karl, I have just seen the ugliest man in the world. Why don't you make him a rassler? He could make you a fortune.' Then I ran up to this Maurice Tillet and spoke to him in French. He replied in French: 'Scram, bum.' But, then Pojello arrived and began talking money. The Frenchman softened and said he had a job as a Frankenstein in the movies. He said he made 60 francs a week. Pojello said, 'I'll give you a thousand.' I looked into where the Paris Studios were in 1936. The Wikipedia page for French Cinema talks about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_France. Pre WWII in Paris it seems like allot centered around Gaumont-Palace. According to Atholl Oakeley, Maurice, Karl and he sat down in a little Cafe at the back of Cafe De La Paix. The location of Cafe de la Paix - 12 Boulevard des Capucines, 75009 Paris to Gaumont Palace 3 Rue Caulaincourt, 75018 Paris is1.9km or 23min. walking time. Here is a picture of the Palace from that time-period. Image taken from - http://www.millerwalks.com/content/gaumont-palace. It is by no means a certainty that Maurice's doorman job was here, simply that it is a possibility until which time I find a specific name. If you have anything to add, or have a question, please contact me at: [email protected] ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, Parts I, II, & III by Ed (The Phantom of the Ring) Garea.

Prostitution Like the devadasis of Hindu temples, prostitute-priestesses dispensed the grace of the Goddess in ancient Middle-Eastern temples. They were often known as Charites or Graces, since they dealt in the unique combination of beauty and kindness called charis (Latin caritas) that was later translated "charity." Actually it was like Hindu karuna, a combination of mother-love, tenderness, comfort, mystical enlightenment, and sex. Hesiod said the sensual magic of the sacred whores or Horae "mellowed the behavior of men."1 Ishtar, the Great Whore of Babylon, announced, "A prostitute compassionate am I." 2 Mary Magdalene said of her sisters in the profession, "Not only are we compassionate of ourselves, but we are compassionate of all the race of mankind." 3 Ancient harlots often commanded high social status and were revered for their learning. 6 As embodiments of the Queen of Heaven, in Palestine called Qadeshet, the Great Whore, the harlots were honored like queens at centers of learning in Greece and Asia Minor.7 Some even became queens. The empress Theodora, wife of Justinian, began her career as a temple harlot.8 St. Helena, mother of Constantine, was a harlot before she became an empress-saint.9 In an Egyptian story, a priestess of Bubastis demanded all of a man's worldly goods for one night of her love. She said, "I am a hierodule; I am no mean person." 10 Until recently Egypt still had a class of women called ghazye, "sacred whores," who were greatly honored in the time of the Mamelukes and prized as brides when their period of service was ended. Temple prostitutes were revered as healers of the sick. Their very secretions were supposed to have medical virtue. A Sufi proverb still suggests this opinion: "There is healing in a woman's vagina." 12 Even their spittle could perform cures. Jesus's cure of blindness by spittle (Mark 8:23) was copied from a matriarchal tradition. A clay tablet from Nineveh says eye diseases can be cured by a harlot's spittle. 13 Harlots were also sorceresses, prophets, and seers. The Hebrew word zonah means both a prostitute and a prophetess. 14 Holy Mothers designated the promiscuous priestess-shamanesses of Japan, also known as spirit-women. Becoming Brides of God, they entered the shrine to lie with a priest possessed by the god's spirit. 15 Similar customs distinguished the Indian devadasis, human copies of the lascivious Heavenly Nymphs. The profession was popular. Temples of Aphrodite at Eryx, Corinth, Cyprus, and other sites were served by a thousand sacred harlots a piece.16 When Hellenic Greeks reduced wives to the status of servants, the hetaerae or courtesans remained legally and politically equal to men. Roman matrons of the highest aristocracy prostituted themselves in the temple of Juno Sospita when a revelation was needed. 17 Every Babylonian woman prostituted herself in the temple before marriage.18 By Amorite sacred law, "she who was about to marry should sit in fornication seven days by the gate (of the temple)."19 Such laws were supposed to appease the Goddess, who disapproved of monogamy in the era when there was no formal marriage and children didn't know their fathers.20 In Greek myth, the Great Mother forbade the Heavenly Father Zeus to make a monogamous marriage, holding that only her own ancient system of group marriage was honorable.21 The Tantric word for a sacred harlot was Veshya, probable origin of the Goddess's oldest names in Greece and Rome, Hestia or Vesta, the Hearth-mother, served by the Vestal Virgins who were originally harlot-priestesses.22 "Hearth" and "Earth" both arose from the altar of the Saxon Goddess Ertha, or Heartha, the northern Hestia-Vesta. In the matriarchal age, every woman's hearth-fire was her altar.23 The hearth was also the omphalos, feminine hub of the universe, navel-stone of the temple, around which the sacred harlots performed their Dances of Time. Dancing harlots came to be called Hours: Persian houri, Greek horae. Egyptian temple-women also were Ladies of the Hour. Each ruled a certain hour of the night, and protected the solar boat of Ra in the underworld during his passage through her hour. 24 The Dance of the Hours began as a pagan ceremony of the Horae (divine "Whores") who kept the hours of the night by dances, as Christian monks later kept the hours of the day by prayers. The oldest authentic Hebrew folk dance is still called hora after the circle dances of the sacred harlots. The Horae also guarded the gates of heaven, ministered to the souls of the blessed, and turned the heavenly spheres.25 (See Houri.) The Hebrew word hor means a hole, cave, or pit, common synonyms for both a sacred prostitute and the Goddess she served, whose yoni was represented by a hole, cave, pit, or pool of water in the heart of the temple.26 A similar Latin term was puteus, a well or pit, source of the Spanish puta, "whore." Common folk the Romans buried in puticuli, "pits," which like all graves used to stand for the womb of rebirth.27 The common root was Vedic puta, "pure" or "holy," and the Avestan putika, a mystical lake of the waters of birth. 28 "Lady of the Lake" was a title of the Great Goddess throughout Eurasia. In Aramaic, her shrines were Athra qaddisa, "the holy place," literally a "heavenly harlot-place," or genital pit or lake. 29 "To dive into water means to delve into the mystery of Maya, to quest after the ultimate secret of life .... [T]he cosmic waters are at once the immaculate source of all things and dreadful grave." 30 All Asia called water a female element, the source of creation, the arche of Stoic philosophy. To dive into such water was a symbol of sexual intercourse. Communing in this way with a holy whore, man could realize the spiritual enlightenment called horasis. This word appears in the New Testament (Acts 2:17), misleadingly translated "visions." 31 A Semitic clan, the Horites of Genesis 36, traced their descent from the Great Goddess as "Hora." 32 The Jews had cult prostitutes in the time of King Josiah, when they lived next to the temple and wove hangings for the sacred grove (2 Kings 23:7). Modern translations of the Bible call them "sodomites," but the original wording meant holy harlots. 33 Such holy harlots were often "brides of God," set apart to give birth to Sons of God, i.e., prophets and sometimes sacrificial victims. 34 Holy whores were called "virgins" because they remained unmarried (see Virgin Birth). Like medieval nuns, they took veils as a badge of their office. Ishtar-Asherah-Mari-Anath was not only the Great Whore but also the Great Virgin (kadesha, holy one). Her Greek name was Athene, also described as a "virgin" (Parthenia); but Athene's temple, the Parthenon, was served by promiscuous hierodules like all other shrines of the Goddess. Later myths rationalized the perpetual "virginity" of lascivious fertility-goddesses by periodic hymen-renewing ceremonies such as sea baptism, annual bathing in sacred springs, etc. The virginity of Great Mother Hera was annually restored by a dip in the spring of Canathos at Nauplia. Pausanias said the myth was based on a rite of bathing the Goddess's image.35 Because whores occupied a significant position in paganism, Christians vilified their profession. Churchmen didn't want to stamp out prostitution altogether, only amputate its spiritual meanings. St. John Chrysostom earned high praise from the Patriarch of Constantinople for robbing temple prostitutes of "the honors paid to them." 36 The triad of heavenly Horae were mythically virginized as three maiden saints martyred together, Agape, Chionia, and Irene (Love-feast, She of Chios, and Peace). 37 Real horae were relegated to hora-houses, no longer temples. The traditional red light of the whorehouse descended from the houses of Roman venerii who displayed the sign of an erect phallus, painted blood red. 38 Medieval Germanic law forbade a man to build a horgr, or to call his house a horgr, on pain of forfeiting every penny he owned; because horgr meant a pagan shrine, a house of "holy whores" where priestesses carried on the old religion. Such place names as Horgsholt in Iceland still identify ancient shrines. 39 In the year l 000 A.D. the Icelanders agreed to become Christian in name at least, and to be baptized; but all who wished were still legally permitted to celebrate the rites of their ancestors in private houses called horgr, for a while, until the church rescinded its promises of tolerance. 40 In earlier centuries, the horgr seems to have been a mons veneris or omphalos in a sacred grove. 41 Sometimes the alternate word hus (house) carried the same sense of "a place of worship," because every matriarch once worshipped the Goddess of her own hearth, which she could share with more than one hus-band. Hence the word hussy, Lady of the House, by Christian definition a promiscuous woman.42 Promiscuity was appreciated, rather than deplored, by medieval minnesingers who worshipped the Goddess under her new name of Minne, "Love." They objected to commercialized prostitution as a degradation of their deity: "Love, the queen of all hearts, the freeborn, the one and only, is put up for public sale! What a shameful tribute is this that our mastery has required of her! We cultivate Love with embittered minds, with lies, and with deceit, and then expect from her joy of body and heart; but instead, she bears only pain, corruption, evil fruit, and blight-as her soil was sown." 43 Theologians however accepted commercial prostitution as "a lawful immorality," in St. Thomas Aquinas's self-contradictory phrase. Aquinas said prostitution was necessary to prevent men from sodomizing each other: ''Take away prostitutes from the world," he said, "and you will fill it with sodomy."44 Prostitution enabled man to look upon promiscuous women as depraved, though their equally promiscuous clients were seen as helpless victims of compulsion. There was no recognition of the truth, that most prostitutes acted under a more telling compulsion than any man's sexuality: the need to earn wherewithal to keep alive. It was not an easy living. At best the prostitute was forced to make herself a stranger's abject servant. At worst, she could become his tormented victim.45 Certain anticlerical writers maintained that prostitutes should be respected for their willingness to be kind. Lorenzo Valla's 15th-century De Voluptate called for a return to ancient customs, echoing Horace's Omnia voluptas bona est. Valla wrote: "Whores and prostitutes deserve more from the human race than do nuns with their chastity and virginity!" 46 Of course, such sentiments did not prevail. Two centuries later, English apprentices celebrated each Shrove Tuesday by breaking into whorehouses and beating the inmates. It also became customary in England for men to "punish" the whores they patronized by hamstringing: cutting the sinews of the legs to make the woman a permanent cripple.47 One might be reminded of the Chinese custom of crippling courtesans by footbinding. God punished the whores in hell even more severely than men punished them on earth, according to God's spokesmen, whose asceticism engendered sexual fantasies of astonishing violence.48 Monkish deprivations and repressions led to secret envy and fierce hatred of the carnal folk who might be suspected of enjoying sexual activity.49  The hatred poured out in a thousand nasty fantasies of hell. Abbe François Arnoux, canon of Riez in 1622, provides an example: And the light women, these shall have in their arms a dragon most cruel, flaming with fire ... who shall bind and enchain their feet and their legs with his serpent tail and shall clasp their whole body with his cruel talons, who shall put his beslabbered and reeking mouth upon theirs, breathing therein flames of fire and sulphur and poison and venom, who with his nose, glandered and hideous, shall breathe into theirs a breath most stinking and venomous ... this dragon shall make them suffer a thousand agonies, a thousand colics and bitter twistings of the belly, and all the damned shall howl, and the devils with them, "See the wanton! see the strumpet! Let her be tortured indeed! To it, to it, ye devils! To it, ye demons! To it, ye hellish furies! See the harlot! See the trull! Hurl ye upon this whore and wreak upon her all the torments ye can!" 50 On the wall of the women's section of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Kastoria, a painting showed God's punishment of a whore. Bound in hell, the woman had her legs stretched apart by two demons, while a third demon plunged red-hot irons into her vagina. Next to the woman punished for being sexually available, another woman labeled the Vain Coquette was similarly punished for not being sexually available. 51 Women attending this church might well be excused for thinking they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. Churchmen did not distinguish between a professional prostitute and a woman in love with a lover. Both were "whores." The whole point of patriarchal morality was that women must not have the right to pick and choose men. For a woman to fall passionately in love was a tragedy under the medieval church: to pay for a few stolen hours of love, both she and her lover were doomed to an eternity of suffering. 52 The point was illustrated by Grunewald's painting The Damnation of Lovers, showing a sinful pair as emaciated corpses living in hell, with worms burrowing through their flesh, the woman crowned with a coiled serpent, her genitals gnawed by a toad. According to a 15th-century illustration for St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei, lovers would be bound together on spits in hell and roasted over coals fanned by devils. 53 With western religion envisioning such grisly punishments for sexual enjoyment, it is hardly surprising to find western civilization as a whole seized by a sick compulsion to destroy all forms of pleasure. 54 Even in the Christian heaven however, whores had their special protectors, modeled on pagan Roman harlot-goddesses like Venus and Meretrix. Official Catholic patrons of whores were St. Aphra, St. Aphrodite, and St. Maudline (Magdalen), simple canonizations of former titles of the Goddess. 55 Chief protectress of whores was the virgin Mary. In Antwerp up to the present century, prostitutes spent certain annual feast days marching in procession to the churches, to dedicate candles to the Holy Virgin whom they called their own special deity. 56 An oft-told tale of the Middle Ages said when a nun decided to run away from her convent, to live as a prostitute for a few days, Mary assumed the errant nun's appearance and took her place in the convent, so she wouldn't be missed and pursued. 57 A German variant of the story said the nun, Beatrix, left the convent to live with her heathen lover for 15 years. When she returned, she found that Mary had served as her stand-in all the while. 58 Medieval brothels were not always clearly distinguished from convents. A trace of the pagan collegia of priestesses still clung to both institutions. Early "double convents," with men and women united in one community, sometimes housed consecrated prostitutes. Several popes maintained "holy brothels" in Rome; Queen Joanna of Naples founded a religious house of prostitutes called The Abbey in the papal city of Avignon. In Victorian times, it was still a common custom to call the madam of a whorehouse "the abbess," though the historical precedent was forgotten. 59 See Mary Magdalene. Outside the Judea-Christian tradition, prostitution often became a fully legitimate lifestyle. Black Africans never fully accepted missionaries' views on the matter. White men's laws deprived African women of their property and their monopoly of farming, trading, and crafts by which they supported their children. African women suffered a devastating loss of self-respect, for in their society a woman without her own income was regarded with contempt. On finding that white men would pay for their sexual favors, many African women took up prostitution as their last remaining chance to make an honest living. Africans still regard a successful prostitute as a usefully employed businesswoman rather than a criminaJ.60 By contrast, Christian society seldom offered women any formal opportunity to take up prostitution as a career, but half-deliberately looked the other way as many hundreds of young girls "fell" into it. Eighteenth-century London swarmed with female children struggling to keep themselves alive by prostitution, according to a contemporary pamphlet denouncing "little Creatures piled in Heaps upon one another, sleeping in the public streets, in the most rigorous seasons, and some of them whose Heads will hardly reach above the Waistband of a Man's Breeches, found to be quick with Child, and become burdensome to the Parish." Far from extending sympathy to these little girls, the pamphleteer called them wicked whores, "a most enormous Sin to lay Snares for the Unwary, and to be the Means of ruining both Souls and Bodies of so many innocent young Gentlemen." 61 According to the terminology of the time, a "wench" was a child of either sex. Dryden's description of a gentleman as one who "eats, drinks, and wenches abundantly" apparently meant a man who picked up homeless male or female children in the streets to service his sexual idiosyncrasies. Later, "wench" came to mean only a lower-class female, a servant or peasant available for a gentleman's sexual use.62 By the 19th century, thousands of girls under the age of 14 were listed on English police registers as "common prostitutes." London in 1860 had at least 500 registered prostitutes under the age of 13, and 1500 more under the age of 16. Victorian gentlemen had a taste for raping child virgins, who commanded the highest prices in whorehouses. Experienced child whores were taught to imitate the cries and struggles of a newly deflowered victim, and to insert leeches or broken glass into their vaginas to produce a convincing flow of blood.63 Josephine Butler's investigations of the English system of prostitution led to legislation to raise the "age of consent" to 14; still, large numbers of younger girls were captured and immured in brothels. "The law was lax on the matter of abduction, and the punishment for trafficking in girls was derisory." Male authorities took an interest in prostitution only after they clearly understood its connection with rampant venereal disease. Legal regulation of brothels was instituted then; but this didn't mean closing them. It meant subjecting them to medical inspections, so they would be safe for male patrons.64 Whores were not considered full-fledged human beings. The 18th-century term for a whore was "a fleshy convenience." 65 The word "convenience" also meant an outhouse. One might say that from the revered sacred harlot of antiquity to this was a long road backward. Marginal note: As Mother of Harlots, Ishtar was called the Great Goddess HAR. Her high priestess the Harine was spiritual ruler of "the city of Ishtar." 4 HAR was a cognate of the Persian houri and the Greek Hora, also the origin of "harem," which used to mean a Temple of Women, or a sanctuary.5 A similar meaning was once attached to seraglio, from Semitic serai, a shrine of queens. Alma Mater "Soul-Mother," a Roman teaching priestess, especially one empowered to give instruction in the sexual Mysteries. (See Cowrie). The name was based on Al-Mah, a Middle-Eastern name of the Moongoddess, also a title of her temple women, almah- the same word that described the virgin Mary in the Hebrew versions of the Gospels.1 The priestess called alma mater bore a relationship to the male initiate similar to that of the Tantric Shakti. Angels The earliest angels were heavenly nymphs, like Hindu apsaras, who dispensed sensual bliss to the blessed ones. Vikings called them Valkyries. Greeks called them Horae. Persians called them Houris, or Peris (fairies). A guardian angel was a personal Shakti who watched over a man and took him into her ecstatic embrace at the moment of death. Hindu angels were created primarily for lovemaking. They had no menstruation, pregnancy, birth, or nursing, though they were mothers. Each child appeared miraculously on its mother's knee at the age of five years. Apsaras could copulate endlessly with gods without any emission of fluids or loss of energy. Such a being was "the perfect dispenser of sensual delight and amorous bliss on a divine scale."1 Like the queen of the Holy Grail palace in bardic romance, the angel was a "Dispenser of Joy." (See Grail, Holy.) There were earthy angels too, the dakinis, "Skywalkers." Tantric writings said they lived in the Palace of Lotus Light. They were sometimes called prostitutes' daughters, or yoginis, i.e., yogapriestesses. 2 Although such angels seemed to be every man's wish fulfillment, patriarchal religions denied the sexuality of angels. Moslems rejected the Houris (heavenly "whores"), and insisted the angels are without carnal desires. 3 Yet this contradicted the teaching of the Koran, that after death every hero would receive beautiful girls as heavenly companions.4 European Christianity consigned the formerly divine Horae to Fairyland, the earthly paradise distinguished from the celestial one. The place was called locus voluptatis terrestis, the Terrestrial Place of Pleasure, or pratum felicitatus, the Paradise of Joy.5 Angels were often confused with seraphs and cherubs. The former were six-winged fiery flying serpents, the lightning-spirits of Chaldean myth. The latter were Semitic kerubh, from Shehan mu-karrib, "priests of the moon"; sometimes they could take the form of birds. Angels accompanying the Hindu Great Goddess were able to fly on the wings of garuda birds.6 Biblical angels were "sons of God" who came to earth to beget children on mortal women (Genesis 6:4). Later these were called demons, or incubi, or "fallen" angels. The Book of Enoch blamed women for the angels' fall. Women had "led astray the angels of heaven." 7 In the Magic Papryi, the words angel, spirit, god, and demon were interchangeable.8 When St. Paul said women's heads must be covered in church "because of the angels" (1 Corinthians 11:10), he meant the daemones (demons) supposed to be attracted to women's hair. The Greeks thought each person had an individual guardian angel or daemon which could appear in animal form, and under Christianity evolved into the "familiar spirit." There were no really well-defined distinctions between angels, demons, familiars, fairies, elves, saints, genii, ancestral ghosts, or pagan gods.9 Among supernatural beings one might always find many hazy areas of overlapping identities, even "good" or "evil" qualities being blurred. A Gallup poll showed in 1978 that over half of all Americans still believe in angels. 10   Lupa Sacred She-Wolf of Roman legend, nurse of the foundling twins Romulus and Remus. Lupa' s temple harlots were lupae, sometimes called Queens (or high priestesses) in outlying towns of the empire. Lupa' s greatest festival was the annual Lupercalia, celebrated in the Grotto of the She-Wolf, with orgiastic rites to insure the year's fertility. After participating in the ceremony, naked youths traveled throughout Palatine towns to "purify" them.1 Perhaps this was why, after Lupa' s festival was adopted by the Christian church, it was renamed the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin.2 See Dog; Werewolf. Bitch This became a naughty word in Christian Europe because it was one of the most sacred titles of the Goddess, Artemis-Diana, leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs." The Bitch-goddess of antiquity was known in all Indo-European cultures, beginning with the Great Bitch Sarama who led the Vedic dogs of death. The Old English word for a hunting dog, bawd, also became a naughty word because it applied to the divine Huntress's promiscuous priestesses as well as her dogs. 1 Harlots and "bitches" were identified in the ancient Roman cult of the Goddess Lupa, the Wolf Bitch, whose priestesses the lupae gave their name to prostitutes in general.2 Earthly representatives of the Wolf Bitch ruled the Roman town of Ira Flavia in Spain, as a queen or series of queens named Lupa.3 In Christian terms, "son of a bitch" was considered insulting not because it meant a dog, but because it meant a devil-that is, a spiritual son of the pagan Goddess. Sarama Vedic bitch-goddess, mother of the brindled Dogs of Yama, who were westernized first as the Celtic Hounds of Annwn and then as the Christian Hounds of Hell. 1 Sarama was the eastern form of the Huntress, known in classical mythology as Artemis, Diana, or Hecate. (See Dog.) Like other Huntress-figures she symbolized the deathdealing function of the Goddess who implacably hunted down all whose time of dissolution had come, according to the cycles of karma. Artemis Amazonian Moon-goddess, worshipped at Ephesus under the Latin name of Diana or "Goddess-Anna." Like the Hindu Goddess Saranyu who gave birth to all animals, she was called Mother of Creatures. Her image at Ephesus had a whole torso covered with breasts, to show that she nurtured all living things. Yet she was also the Huntress, killer of the very creatures she brought forth.1 In Sparta her name was given as Artamis, "Cutter," or "Butcher." 2 Artemis's myths extend back to Neolithic sacrificial customs. At Taurus her holy women, under their high priestess lphigeneia, sacrificed all men who landed on their shores, nailing the head of each victim to a cross.3 At Hierapolis, the Goddess's victims were hung on artificial trees in her temple. In Attica, Artemis was ritually propitiated with drops of blood drawn from a man's neck by a sword, a symbolic remnant of former beheadings. Human victims were later replaced by bulls, hence the Goddess's title Tauropolos, "bull-slayer." 4 Her Huntress aspect was another form of the destroying Crone or waning moon. Like Hecate, she led the nocturnal hunt; her priestesses wore the masks of hunting dogs. Alani, "hunting dogs," was the Greek name for Scythians who revered Artemis. The mythological hunting dogs who tore the Horned God Actaeon to pieces were really Artemis's sacred bitches. Classic mythographers pretended that Actaeon committed the sin of seeing the chaste virgin Goddess in her bath, and she condemned him out of offended modesty. Actually, the bath, the nakedness, and the tearing to pieces of the sacred king were all part of the drama. In barbarian Germany, the Goddess's ritual bath could be witnessed only by "men doomed to die." 5 Actaeon's deerskin and antlers marked him as the pre-Hellenic stag king, reigning over the sacred hunt for half a Great Year before he was torn to pieces and replaced by his tanist (co-king). In the first century A.D., Artemis's priestesses still pursued and killed a man dressed as a stag on the Goddess's mountain.6 Her groves became the "deer-gardens" (German Tiergarten, Swedish Djurgarden), once the scene of venison feasts. One of Artemis's most popular animal incarnations was the Great She-Bear, Ursa Major, ruler of the stars and protectress of the axis mundi, Pole of the World, marked in heaven by the Pole Star at the center of the small circle described by the constellation Ursa Major. Helvetian tribes in the neighborhood of Berne worshipped her as the She-Bear, which is still the heraldic symbol of Berne. The city's very name means "She-Bear." 7 Sometimes the Helvetians called her Artio, shortened to Art by Celtic peoples who coupled her with the bear-king Arthur. As Artio's Lord of the Hunt, the medieval god of witches came to be known as "Robin son of Art." According to the Irish, Art meant "God," but its earlier connotation was "Goddess" -specifically the Bear-Goddess.8 She was also canonized as a Christian saint, Ursula, derived from her Saxon name of Ursel, the She-Bear. There was a rather sophisticated astronomical reason for worshipping the heavenly She-Bear who followed her track around the Pole Star, year by year. It was probably discovered first in the far east. "The months and seasons are determined by the revolution of Ursa Major. The tail of the constellation pointing to the east at nightfall announces the arrival of spring, pointing to the south the arrival of summer, pointing to the west the arrival of autumn, and pointing to the north the arrival of winter. ... The Great Bear occupies a prominent position in the Taoist heavens as the aerial throne of the supreme deity." This deity in Taoist tradition is the Queen of Heaven, Holy Mother Ma Tsu P'o, with characteristics similar to those of Artemis. She protects seafarers and governs the weather; she is called a virgin, and Matron of the Measure; she is a Mother of Mercy who has been compared to the virgin Mary and to the Buddhist Goddess Maritchi.9 The axis mundi was often associated with male gods, as either a Great Serpent or a World Tree more or less recognized as a phallic symbol. Similarly the Little Bear within the circle of the Great Bear was pictured by the Greeks as Areas, her son (see Callisto). Yet among the oldest traditions may be found hints that this world-supporting tree or pole was female. Even as Yggdrasil, the World Tree of the Vikings, it showed many parallels with birth-giving, fruit- or milkproducing mother trees of the Near East, under its older name of Mjotvidr or Mutvidr, "Mother-Tree." Sometimes it was Mead-Tree, like "the milk-giving tree of the Finno-Ugric peoples, a symbol which must go back ultimately to Mesopotamia, and be of great antiquity." It was said that "the tree is the source of unborn souls," which would give birth to the new primal woman, Life (Lif) in the new universe after the present cycle came to an end. Its fruit could be given to women in childbirth "that what is within may pass out." The spring at the tree's root was a fountain of wisdom or of the life-giving fluid aurr, which may be likened to the "wise blood" of the Mother-that much mythologized feminine lifesource likened to the Kula nectar in the uterine spring of Kundalini, as if the maternal tree upholding the universe were the Mother's spine with its many chakras.10 See Menstrual Blood. "Many-breasted" Artemis was always a patroness of nurture, fertility, and birth. Male gods turned against these attributes in opposing the cult of the Goddess. Her own twin brother and sometime consort Apollo made birth illegal on his sacred isle of Delos; pregnant women had to be removed from the island lest they offend the god by giving birth there.11 Christians continued to vilify Artemis. Tatian said, "Artemis is a poisoner; Apollo performs cures." 12 The Gospels demanded destruction of Artemis's Ephesian temple (Acts 19:27). St. John Chrysostom preached against this temple in 406 A.D. Soon afterward, it was looted and burned. The patriarch of Constantinople praised Chrysostom's zeal: "In Ephesus he stripped the treasury of Artemis; in Phrygia, he left without sons her whom they called the Mother of the Gods." 13 See Diana. Marginal note:  Ursa Major "Great Bear," colloquially called the Big Dipper, a circumpolar constellation with seven bright stars including the "north pole pointers." Callisto "Fairest One," a title of Artemis as totemic She-Bear and mother of Areas, the Little Bear. Calliste was an old name for Artemis's sacred island Thera (She-Beast). Hellenic writers said the Attic rites of Artemis involved young girls dressed as the She-bear, which gave rise to the myth of Callisto, a nymph who lost her virginity to Zeus and gave birth to the bear-child. They were placed in heaven as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.1 Of course the nymph was the virgin aspect of the Goddess herself. Alani "Hunting dogs," Greek name for the Scythian tribes who worshipped Artemis as their Divine Huntress. The name Alan still carried the original Greek meaning of a hunting dog when it became popular among the Scots during the Middle Ages. Artemis was often called the Great Bitch, and her hunting priestesses were the "sacred bitches" who chased, killed, and consumed boar-gods and stag-gods like Phorcis or Actaeon. Thus, to Christians, "son of a bitch" meant a devil worshipper-that is, a pagan devotee of the Goddess. See Dog. Maera Black bitch-totem of Hecate, a form assumed by her Trojan incarnation, Queen Hecuba, when she was captured by Odysseus. The cause of his long wandering exile apparently was the curse Hecuba-Maera laid on him. Some said she was killed and buried in "The Bitch's Tomb." Others said she scared away her enemies with her spells and curses and ran free. She was an animal version of the fatal Crone-goddess Moera, symbolized by the Lesser Dog Star whose rising announced human sacrifices in Attica. One of her victims was a king whose daughter Odysseus married, "and whose fate he will therefore have shared in the original myth." 1 Similar sacrifices were still offered to the Death - goddess and Wolf-mother Maerin in her temple at Trondheim as late as the 11th century A.D. 2    Diana "Queen of Heaven," Roman name for the Triple Goddess as (1) Lunar Virgin, (2) Mother of Creatures, and (3) the Huntress (Destroyer). Her Greek name was Artemis. Her major pilgrimage centers were Ephesus and Nemi, the Sacred Grove. She was Dione, Diana Nemorensis, or Nemetona, Goddess of the Moon-grove. In her sanctuaries, sacred kings periodically engaged in combat, the loser dying as the god Hippolytus, the winner invested as the Goddess's new favorite, Virbius. See Hippolytus, Saint. As Diana Egeria, patroness of childbirth, nursing, and healing, the Goddess made Nemi' s holy spring the Lourdes of pagan Rome.1 The legendary King Numa was said to have derived all his wisdom from a sacred marriage with her. Diana's cult was so widespread in the pagan world that early Christians viewed her as their major rival, which is why she later became "Queen of Witches." The Gospels commanded total destruction of all temples of Diana, the Great Goddess worshipped by "Asia and all the world" (Acts 19:27). Roman towns all over Europe habitually called the local mother goddess Diana, as later Christian towns were to call her Madonna. Fortunatus said Diana was the Goddess worshipped at Vernemeton, "which in the Gaulish language means the Great Shrine." In the 5th century A.D., the Gauls regarded her as their supreme deity. Christians spoke slightingly of their pagan custom of adoring the spirit of Diana in a cut branch or a log of wood.2 Gozbert, a 7th-century Frankish chieftain, doubted the claims of a Christian missionary on the ground that the Christian God was "no better than our own Diana.''3 At Ephesus, the Goddess was called Mother of Animals, Lady of Wild Creatures, and Many-Breasted Artemis, shown with her entire torso covered with breasts to nourish the world's creatures.4 In the 4th century A.D., the church took over this shrine and re-dedicated it to the virgin Mary. 5 One of the earliest churches devoted to "Our Lady" existed at Ephesus in 431; but most of the people believed the Lady was Diana, not Mary. In 432 the Council of Ephesus tried to eliminate worship of the pagan Goddess, but the bishops were besieged by crowds demanding, "Give us our Diana of the Ephesians!"6 An excuse for converting Diana's temples into Mary's churches was provided by a made-to-order legend that Mary lived at Ephesus in her old age. Her tomb was located there, and some Christians even pointed out the house in which she had lived. 7 But sometimes she was identified with the sinister Widow of Ephesus, a Crone aspect of the Goddess showing some primitive features. Petronius's version of the myth said the Widow hung her husband's dead body on one of the three crosses in front of Diana's temple, replacing the body of a previously crucified thief. Then she lay with her new lover at the foot of the cross. 8 The parallel between this image and that of the triple Mary at the foot of Jesus's cross was too  close for comfort, especially since Diana herself was assimilated to the Christian myth as Mary's mother, or elder self, the "Grandmother of God" under the name of either Anna (Hannah) or Di-anna (Dinah).9 Gnostic Christians called their Wisdom-goddess Sophia the same Grandmother of God, and frequently identified her with Diana of Ephesus. When Diana's temple was finally pulled down, as the Gospels ordered, its magnificent porphyry pillars were carried to Constantinople and built into the church of Holy Sophia. 10 The magic of Ephesus was remembered through the Middle Ages. A writer said in 1725: "It is recorded in divers authors that in the image of Diana, which was worshipped at Ephesus, there were certain obscure words or sentences ... written upon the feet, girdle and crown of the said Diana: the which, if a man did use, having written them out, and carrying them about him, he should have good luck in all his businesses." 11 Some Christians even remembered that Diana was once the triple deity who ruled the world. A 14th-century poem attributed to the Bishop of Meaux said Diana was an old name for the Trinity. 12 Officers of the Inquisition however regarded Diana as the "Goddess of the heathen" with whom witches made their aerial night journeys-or thought they did. 13 The worship of Diana was denounced wherever it was found, even when the worshippers were members of the clergy. In the 14th century, a bishop found the monks of Frithelstock Priory worshipping a statue of "the unchaste Diana" at an altar in the woods, and made them destroy it. 14 The notorious inquisitor Torquemada declared bluntly that Diana is the devil. 15 Devil or not, Diana ruled the wild forests of Europe through the medieval period. As patron of the forest of Ardennes she was Dea Arduenna; as patron of the Black Forest she was Dea Abnoba. 16 Serbians, Czechs, and Poles knew her as the woodland Moongoddess Diiwica, Devana, or Dziewona.17 She remained the Goddess of wild woodlands and hunting, all the way up to the 18th century in England. Dianic rites were celebrated even in church, despite objections from the clergy. A minister wrote against the traditional parade of a stag's head into St. Paul's Cathedral in London: "bringing in procession into the church the head of a deer, fixed on the top of a long spear or pole, with the whole company blowing Hunters Horns in a sort of hideous manner; and with this rude pomp they go up to the High Altar, and offer it there. You would think them all the mad Votaries of Diana." 18 Horsel Teutonic Moon-goddess, Venus of the Horselberg; also called Ursel or Ercel. Her many lovers included Tännhauser in Germany and Thomas Rhymer (Thomas of Ercel's Down) in England. According to the Thuringian Chronicle, she appeared as a fiery trinity in 1398, as "three great fires in the air" descending to rest in the Horselberg.1 Eventually the Goddess Horsel was canonized as the apocryphal St. Ursula, with her "eleven thousand virgins" -transformations of the Moon-mother and her daughter stars. Ursula, Saint Christianized form of the Saxon Goddess Ursel, or Horsel, the "Ercel" of Thomas Rhymer's Erceldoune, and the Venus of the Horselberg-Venusberg. Ursel means "She-Bear," the title of Artemis Calliste, the same as the Helvetian Goddess Artio, in the guise of Ursa Major, the Great Bear (Big Dipper), whose constellation circles the pole star without disappearing into the sea. The ancients said Artemis the She-Bear ruled all the stars until Zeus usurped her place.1 The mythical St. Ursula was accompanied by eleven thousand virgins, a common pagan image of the Moon-goddess accompanied by her children, the stars. One of the Goddess's foremost shrines was Cologne, where "Ursel'' was converted into a Christian heroine to account for the reverence paid to her by the local people. The tale on which Ursula's canonization was based was first invented about the 9th century A.D.; then, "During the 12th century this pious romance was preposterously elaborated through the mistakes of imaginative visionaries; a public burial-ground uncovered at Cologne was taken to be the grave of the martyrs, false relics came into circulation and forged epitaphs of non-existent persons were produced."2 The churchmen claimed that St. Ursula was a Breton princess betrothed to Conon, prince of England, in the 5th century A.D. Prior to her marriage, she took her eleven thousand virgins on a pilgrimage. While passing through Cologne, they were attacked and slaughtered by the Huns, at the instigation of two Roman generals who feared the Christian ladies' exemplary piety would convert all the northern barbarians to Christ.3 This fable was intended to Christianize the lunar bear-goddess worshipped at Cologne, the same who was Artio, the Helvetian "Mother of Animals," with another cult center at Berne ("She-Bear"), where her portrait still appears on the Bernese coat of arms.4 Ursel and Artio were alternate names of the triple Artemis who took the "bear-king" Arthur to paradise. The Greeks said Artemis Calliste, " Fairest One," was associated with both the moon and the constellation of the Great Bear. In Britain, Ursa Major was often called "Mistress Ursula," at fust a title of ~he Goddess, later transferred to the saint. 5 Artemis the She-Bear was so widely recognized as the Mother of Animals that the island once sacred to her, Callista, is still called Thera, "She-Beast."6 Arcadians traced their descent from her son Areas, the Little Bear (Ursa Minor), a bear-god like the Celtic Arthur. Hellenic mythographers pretended that Areas's mother was a mere nymph, Calliste, who was punished for losing her virginity by receiving the form of a bear, along with her child; but Artemis took pity on them and placed them in the stars as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. This version of the myth was invented "to account for the traditional connection between Artemis and the Great Bear." 7 The Christian version was invented for different reasons, but with the same ultimate aim: to mortalize the Goddess. Some memory of Ursula the Moon-goddess seems to haunt the foundation of the Ursuline order of nuns, by St. Angela Merici in 1506. Catholic authorities now claim the Ursulines were the oldest order of teaching nuns. But most convents were centers oflearning for women until the church forbade women's education in the 13th century.8 The Ursulines were perhaps the only order of teaching nuns who remained obedient to the papacy, and so were permitted to continue. Yet the Ursulines began under a cloud of suspicion. Angela Merici was a native of Brescia, which Pope Calixtus III described as a hotbed of witches.9 Angela's first group of sisters numbered exactly 28, the lunar number. They made their first devotion in a church dedicated to another mythical saint who was only another transformation of the Goddess, St. Afra or Aphra (Aphrodite). 10 Angela was not allowed to establish her holy society of teachers until forty years had pass~d since her original vision, which she received not in a church but in an open field under the moon. She and her women had no religious habit, no vows, no communal life. They went to their pupils' homes to teach, like itinerant governesses. The church was not interested in Angela until she underwent "popular" canonization in her home territory. Two centuries later, the church decided to take advantage of the popularity of her cult by declaring her Blessed. Finally in 1807 she was canonized by Pope Pius VII. 11 But she is still almost as vague and dim as the Ursuline lunar She-Bear that the people of Brescia once worshipped. A 20thcentury Catholic scholar mentioned her with one of those curious slips of the pen so common among patriarchal writers; he said the Ursuline order was founded by "Bishop Angela of Brescia." 12 Karuna Tantric term for the basic quality of mother-love, directly experienced in infancy and ramified in adulthood to embrace all forms of love: touching, tenderness, compassion, sensual enjoyment, and eroticism. Many centuries before Freudian psychology recognized "infantile sexuality," Tantric sages called karuna the essence of religion: a gut feeling of loving-kindness, as opposed to the often cruel or useless verbalizing of theological principles.1 It was understood that karuna must be learned through physical and sexual contact comfort, by adults and children alike. Thus the identity of infantile, sexual, warmly loving, and religious behavior patterns was perceived long ago and is just now being rediscovered by western civilization. The ancients well knew the experience of being in love recapitulates the mother-child relationship in its intimate physical attachment, trust, and dependence. Recognition of one particular other as a love object surely evolved from the instinctive mechanism that binds together individual mothers and offspring. It has been shown even in the animal realm that adequate sexual functioning in adulthood depends on satisfactory relations with the mother in infancy.2 In ancient times the Goddess's sacred whores were special teachers of karuna, which may have been the root of modern Italian carogna, "whore." Pagan Rome gave the Great Goddess the title of Mater Cara, "Mother Beloved." 3 She combined all the qualities of sexuality, motherhood, marital bliss, friendship, generosity and mercy, or caritas, which the Christian church later purged of its sensual implications and transformed into "charity," the giving of money to earn points in the after-life. The Greek version of karuna was embodied in the Charites or Graces, the naked Triple Goddess, whose quality of "grace" was also altered in the Christian context. In Babylon, the Great Mother under the name of Ishtar was also the Great Whore and the lover of all men, expressing karuna in her self-description, "A prostitute compassionate am I." 4 The Christian derivative of Mari-Ishtar was Mary Magdalene, the sacred harlot who said harlots are "compassionate of all the race of mankind." 5 Gnostic Gospels mentioned Mary Magdalene as the original female pope, embodying the true Christian spirit kept secret from male apostles, while it passed directly from Jesus through his surpassing love for Mary.6 Significantly, Christian iconographers often confused Mary the harlot and Mary the mother. See Prostitution Motherhood, sensual satisfactions, and kindly feelings were associated with the spirit of the Goddess under all her names, and especially with women as her earthly representatives. The integrated idea of karuna with all its ramifications has virtually disappeared from modern western society, where it is even difficult to explain its older meanings. Yet "those modes of perceiving the world and organizing behavior which are more distinctly 'female' can't be thought of as having sprung into being in the context of the world we now inhabit. ... We must think in terms of patterns of behaving that developed over untold centuries, and which were keyed to survival of the human group in the primitive environment. Such a way of being would have been predicated upon powerful social bonds, 'bonds of love,' which would serve to keep otherwise more vulnerable individuals in close proximity to protectors." Every individual was to some extent in need of protectors: "It may be that we feel loneliness to be so potentially annihilating because, to the lone human-and above all, the lone human infant or child-being alone was death." 7 Western culture began to lose sight of the close relationship between sensuality and loving-kindness when its theology followed St. Augustine to his conclusion that every child is born tainted with sin because of its necessarily sexual conception. 8 Nearly all manifestations of love fell under theological suspicion because nearly all involved the feminine principle in some way. (See Romance.) "Men's sexual drive was unacceptable to them and so it was projected onto women. It was women whose lust was said to be insatiable .... [V]iewing woman as seductress and temptress is still evident, as can be seen by the fact that prostitutes, but seldom their customers, are arraigned, and the fact that the rape victim is often seen as having 'asked for' her attack by dressing or behaving seductively."9 In a society that lacks any coherent articulation of the concept of karuna, women as mothers, lovers, and caretakers "learn early that they should be ashamed of the very set of qualities which are particularly theirs. Ironically, at the same time, they are constantly threatened by the prospect that if they are not affectionate enough and as close and loving to others as they ought to be, they will have failed in their own and others' eyes." The result is "a noxious social climate which fosters too little feeling in men and too much in women." 10 Loss of this all-important concept may create social evils of the most pervasive sort. "Male public culture gets caught up with machines and puts emphasis on things that are not alive. The decisionmaking of males in power tends to happen in a vacuum with little reference to the needs of life. Paradoxically, the public leaders who are supposed to help us deny death become increasingly oblivious to life and show increasing contempt for it. We have a civilization in which males in high places imitate a male god in heaven-both think themselves above the petty concerns of simple nurture and delight in generative life." 11 Kauri  Pre-Vedic name of the Goddess as dispenser of karuna. Kauri was sometimes translated "Brilliant One," a name for the Goddess's virgin aspect: she who gave their "Power" (Shakti) to the gods.1 Kauri was also a name for the vulva (yoni), descriptive of the cowrie shell accepted  all over the world as a symbol of the female genital and its curative and generative properties. Kwai-Yin / Kuan-Yin Eponymous Great Mother of China, known as the Lady Who Brings Children; embodiment of the yin principle, as Kali embodied the yoni principle in India. Kwai-Yin perpetually contemplated the Golden Vial of her own womb, which produced the entire world while her consort Shang-te (Father Heaven) lived within her in a Chinese version of the Jewel in the Lotus. Kwai-Yin and her Japanese counterpart Kwannon represented the principle of karuna, Boundless Compassion.1 Grace In a famous New Testament passage, the quality said to be greater than faith or hope is caritas (1 Corinthians 13), translated sometimes "charity," sometimes "love." Both translations are inexact. The word meant "grace," specifically the grace of the Triple Goddess, embodied in the boon-bestowing Three Graces who dispensed caritas (Latin) or charis (Greek) and were called the Charites. Julian said their grace was a gift from heaven: "The threefold gift of the Charites comes to us from heaven, from the circles of the stars." 1 Romans sometimes called grace venia, the divine correlative of Venus, bringing visible tokens of the goddess's favor. 2 Grace meant the same as Sanskrit karuna, dispensed by the heavenly nymphs and their earthly copies, the sacred harlots of Hindu temples (devadasis) . Their "grace" was a combination of beauty, kindness, mother-love, tenderness, sensual delight, compassion, and care. Graces were emanations of the Goddess. They danced in her shrines. They tended to her adornment. They acted as midwives to the gods. They were patrons of music, dance, poetry, and art.3 They were shown over and over in the same classic pose as three naked women dancing, in attitudes strongly resembling those of the Heavenly Nymphs on the Temple of Love at Khajuraho in lndia.4 Greek writers called the Graces Aglaia (Brilliant), Thalia (FlowerBringer), and Euphrosyne (Heart's Joy); but they had older names inherited from a dim prehistory. Homer knew only one Grace, named Cale or Kale, perhaps a cognate of Kali.5 The Gnostic author Marcus also used the word Grace or Charis as a title of the Goddess: "May She who is before all things, the incomprehensible and indescribable Grace, fill you within, and increase in you her own knowledge." 6 Christians took the pagan concept of charis and struggled to divest it of sexual meanings for application to an ascetic creed. "Charity" became a basic tenet of primitive Christianity, as of Buddhism before it, on the theory that a sure place in heaven could be won by giving away one's worldly goods to the poor. Jesus listed the blessings prepared for those who voluntarily made themselves meek, humble, and poor on earth (Luke 6:20-30). The church's word for these "Beatitudes" was macarisma, a word of ancient origin, invoking the Triple Goddess as Ma (birth), Charis (grace), and Ma (death).7 The cognate word charisma meant Mother-given grace. Charis merged with "charity" via ancient precedents equating love and affection with hospitality and gift-giving, the "maternal virtues." Homeric literature used the word philein, "lovingness," to mean openhanded hospitality.8 As re-interpreted by Christian theology, the "graciousness" that used to mean both liberality and warm physical affection came to suggest liberality alone, practiced to secure one's own immortality. Charites "Graces," heavenly dispensers of charis (Latin caritas), the grace of Mother Aphrodite, which the Bible translates either "love" or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13). The Charites were ancient manifestations of the Triple Goddess. Pausanias said they were worshipped at Orchomenos as three standing stones.1 The classic myth of their nymph-hood hardly described them; nor did their Christian form, the mythical St. Charity. See Grace; Sophia, Saint. Hetaera "Companion," Greek title of a courtesan, the only kind of woman to retain full equality with men in the male-dominated Hellenic period. Like Christian nuns of the early medieval period, Greek hetaerae remained unmarried to protect their property rights from the depredations of patriarchal marriage laws. Unlike wives, they were free to attend schools, establish salons, and take a vital part in social and intellectual life of the time. Their title may have been related to Egyptian heter, "friendship," whose hieroglyphic sign was two women grasping each other's hands.1 Har Ishtar as the patroness of temple prostitutes or harines was known as the Great Goddess Har. Like Greek horae, Persian houris, and other sacred harlots, her priestesses occupied the part of the temple that came to be called Harem, the Sanctuary. 1 Kings had to prove their virility, hence their right to rule, by impregnating the harines, until it became a custom to let certain priests take over this duty. (See Prostitution.) From the root har came Hara, Hebrew for both a holy mountain and a pregnant belly; Hariti or Haraiti, the "Lofty Mountain" of paradise in both pre-Vedic Dravidian and Old Iranian cosmology; and Harmonia, a "daughter of Aphrodite," a bringer of peace, one of the functions of the holy harlot. Harmonia was mythologized as an ancient queen of Boeotia, married to Cadmus, whose name in Phoenician was kedem, "the Oriental." 2 When Cadmus and Harmonia died and went to paradise, they were both transformed into serpents.3 Probably they were assimilated to the male-and-female, perpetually entwined serpents of the Hermetic caduceus, whose meaning was "Life." (See Serpent.)  Ishtar Babylonian "Star," the Great Goddess who appears in the Bible as Ashtoreth, Anath, Asherah, or Esther, the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44: 19). She was also the Great Whore, described in Revelation 17:5 as Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots. Another of her titles was the Goddess Har, who called herself the compassionate prostitute. Men communed with her through the sexual rites of her harlotpriestesses. 1 See Prostitution. Babylonian scriptures called Ishtar the Light of the World, Leader of Hosts, Opener of the Womb, Righteous Judge, Lawgiver, Goddess of Goddesses, Bestower of Strength, Framer of All Decrees, Lady of Victory, Forgiver of Sins, etc.2 Much of the liturgical flattery addressed to God in the Old Testament was plagiarized from Babylonian prayers to Ishtar. One example: Who dost make the green herb to spring up, mistress of mankind! Who hast created everything, who dost guide aright all creatures! Mother Ishtar, whose power no god can approach! A prayer will I utter; may she do unto me what seems good unto her . ... 0 my mistress, make me to know my deed, establish for me a place of rest! Absolve my sins, lift up my face! 3 A Babylonian prayer that obviously prefigured the prayers and psalms of biblical writers, even the biblical theology, said to the Goddess: "0 Thou art adorable, who givest salvation, life, and justice, vivify my name." 4 Like the Old Testament God, Ishtar was the Mighty One, winner of battles and overthrower of mountains.5 She said: In the brilliant heavens, to give omens in abundance, I appear, I appear in perfection. With exultation in my supremacy, with exultation do I, a Goddess, walk supreme; Ishtar, the Goddess of evening, am I; Ishtar, the Goddess of morning, am I; Ishtar, who opens the portals of heaven, in my supremacy. The heavens I destroy, the earth I devastate, in my supremacy. Who rises resplendent on the firmament of heaven, invoked above and below, in my supremacy. The mountain I sweep away altogether, in my supremacy. The great wall of the mountain am I, their great foundation am I, in my supremacy. 6 A long Babylonian prayer presents numerous metaphors and liturgical phrases later copied by Jewish priests on behalf of their god: I beseech thee, Lady of ladies, Goddess of goddesses, Ishtar, queen of all cities, leader of all men. Thou art the light of the world, thou art the light of heaven .. . . Supreme is thy might, O Lady, exalted art thou above all gods. Thou renderest judgment and thy decision is righteous; unto thee are subject the laws of the earth and the laws of heaven, the laws of the temple and of the shrine, and the laws of the private apartment and of the secret chamber. Where is the place where thy name is not, and where is the spot where thy commandments are not known? At thy name the earth and the heavens shake, and the gods they tremble; the spirits of heaven tremble at thy name and the men hold it in awe. Thou art great, thou art exalted; all the men of Sumer, and all creatures, and all mankind glorify thy name. With righteousness dost thou judge the deeds of men, even thou; thou lookest upon the oppressed and to the downtrodden thou bringest justice every day. How long, Queen of Heaven and Earth, how long, how long, Shepherdess of pale-faced men, wilt thou tarry? How long, O Queen whose feet are not weary and whose knees make haste? How long, Lady of Hosts, Lady of Battles? Glorious one whom all the spirits of heaven fear, who subduest all angry gods; mighty above all rulers, who hold est the reins of kings. Opener of the womb of all women, great is thy light. Shining light of heaven, light of the world, enlightener of all the places where men dwell, who gatherest together the hosts of the nations. Goddess of men, divinity of women, thy counsel passeth understanding. Where thou glancest the dead come to life, and the sick rise and walk; and the mind that is distressed is healed when it looks upon thy face. How long, 0 Lady, shall mine enemy triumph over me? Command, and at thy command the angry god will turn back. Ishtar is great! Ishtar is Queen! My Lady is exalted, my Lady is Queen. 7   the Ishtar Gate Akkadian sources show that Ishtar was the same Great Goddess revered all over the Near East under such names as Dea Syria, Astarte, Cybele, Aphrodite, Kore, Mari, etc.: Praise Ishtar, the most awesome of the Goddesses, revere the queen of women, the greatest of the deities. She is clothed with pleasure and love. She is laden with vitality, charm, and voluptuousness. In lips she is sweet; life is in her mouth. At her appearance rejoicing becomes full. She is glorious . ... The fate of everything she holds in her hand. . .. Ishtar-to her greatness who can be equal? Strong, exalted, splendid are her decrees .... Ishtar among the gods, extraordinary is her station. Respected is her word; it is supreme over them. She is their queen; they continually cause her commands to be executed. All of them bow down before her. 8 The powers of the underworld bowed down before her when she went underground to rescue her son-lover Tammuz, as her Sumerian forerunner Inanna rescued the same son-lover, Dumuzi. She said to the seven gatekeepers: "If thou openest not the gate so that I cannot enter, I will smash the door, I will shatter the bolt, I will smash the doorpost, I will move the doors, I will raise up the dead, eating the living, so that the dead will outnumber the living."9 This threat was typical of Ishtar's dark underworld twin, Eresh-kigal, the Death-goddess who had power to deprive the heavenly gods of their sacrificial food. 10 Ishtar's temporary departure caused sterility and suspension of sexual activities over the whole earth: "After the Lady Ishtar has descended, the bull no longer mounts the cow, the ass no longer bends over the she-ass, and the man no longer bends over the woman in the street: the man slept in his place, the woman slept alone." 11 This Descent into Hell was a perilous but necessary part of the sacred drama, lasting three days and culminating in the Day of Joy, when the god was restored to life. 12 This inaugurated a new year after penitential atonement and sacrifice. "It is on New Year's Day that Ishtar lies with Tammuz, and the king reproduces this mythical hierogamy by consummating the ritual union with the Goddess [i.e., with the hierodule who represents her on earth] in a secret chamber of the temple, where the nuptial bed of the Goddess stands." 13 Gilgamesh said the Goddess was cruel to her lovers, since each in turn personified the dying god who refreshed the earth's fertility with his blood. 14 When the god was incarnate in bulls, the animals were emasculated and their severed genitals thrown to the Goddess's image, a rite "probably derived from the rite of self-emasculation which had been practiced in honor of lshtar." 15 Ishtar's priestesses apparently performed some version of the rite each year in the temple of Jerusalem, where the virgin form of the Goddess was called Mari, Mari-Anna, or Miriam, and her holy women annually wailed for the sacrificial death of Tammuz (Ezekiel8:14). See Salome; Mary Magdalene. Uchati "Weepers," title of sacred harlots of Ishtar, whose duty it was to make formal lamentations for the dead. 1 They also wailed for the dead savior Tammuz in the temple of Jerusalem, where Ishtar was worshipped as Mari, Queen of Heaven (Ezekiel 8:14 ). Their title was related to Egyptian Utchatti or Udjatti, Divine Eyes, sacred to the Goddess Maat as the All-Seeing Eye, whose hieroglyphic eye emblem later became associated with the cult of Horus.2 Asherah Semitic name of the Great Goddess, possibly from Old Iranian asha, "Universal Law," a law of the matriarch, like Roman ius naturale.1 Asherah was "in wisdom the Mistress of the Gods." 2 Sumerians called her Ashnan, "strength of all things," and "a kindly and bountiful maiden." 3 Her sacred city Mar-ash appears in the Bible as Mareshah (Joshua 15:44). The Old Testament "Asherah" is translated "grove," without any explanation that the sacred grove represented the Goddess's genital center, birthplace of all things. In the matriarchal period, Hebrews worshipped the Goddess in groves (I Kings 14:23), later cut down by patriarchal reformers who burned the bones of Asherah's priests on their own altars (2 Chronicles 24:4-5). The Goddess's grove-yoni was Athra qaddisa, "the holy place" (literally, "divine harlot"). Sometimes she was called simply "Holiness," a word later applied to Yahweh. Canaanites called her Qaniyatu elima, She Who Gives Birth to the Gods, or Rabbatu athiratu yammi, Lady Who Traverses the Sea (i.e., the Moon).4 Rabbatu was an early female form of rabbi. Athirat, Athra, Aethra, Athyr, and Egypt's Hathor were all variations of the same name for the Goddess.5 In Egypt she was also a Law-giving Mother, Ashesh, an archaic form of lsis; the name meant both "pouring out" and "supporting," the functions of her breasts. Her yonic shrine in Thebes was Asher, Ashrel, or Ashrelt. Some called her "Great Lady of Ashert, the lady of heaven, the queen of the gods." 6 For a while, Asherah accepted the Semitic god El as her consort. She was the Heavenly Cow, he the Bull.7 After their sacred marriage, she bore the Heavenly Twins, Shaher and Shalem, the stars of morning and evening (see Lucifer). The marriage rite seems to have involved the cooking of a kid in its mother's milk, a procedure later forbidden by Jewish priests (Exodus 23:19).8 Rabbatu "Holy One," female form of rabbi, applied to the semitic Goddess or her priestesses. 1 See Asherah. Qadeshet Arabic qadisha, Hebrew kadesha meant a sacred harlot or Holy Virgin; qadeshet was also the title of Astarte and her temple women. The word meant "priestess." In the Koran it was used as a name for Mohammed's rich wife Khadija, whose money supported the prophet's endeavors.1 Astarte-the-Qadeshet was the Syrian counterpart of Ishtar, Babylon's Great Whore, who declared herself the Mother of Compassion.2 See Prostitution. Astarte Lady of Byblos, one of the oldest forms of the Great Goddess in the Middle East, identified with Egypt's Hathor, Mycenae's Demeter, Cyprus's Aphrodite. Her shrine at Byblos dated back to the Neolithic and flourished throughout the Bronze Age.1 She was the same creating-preserving and- destroying Goddess worshipped by all Indo-European cultures, and still typified by Kali as the symbol of Nature. Astarte was the "true sovereign of the world," tirelessly creating and destroying, eliminating the old and generating the new. 2 Sidonian kings could not rule without her permission. Each king styled himself first and foremost "Priest of Astarte." Sumerian cylinder seals from Lagash, ca. 2300 B.C., showed the Goddess in a pose identical with Kali' s love-and-death sacramental posture, squatting on top of her consort's body. 3 Astarte ruled all the spirits of the dead who lived in heaven wearing bodies of light, visible from earth as stars. Hence, she was known as Astroarche, "Queen of the Stars." 6 She was the mother of all souls in heaven, the Moon surrounded by her star-children, to whom she gave their "astral" (starry) bodies. Occultists still speak of the astral body as an invisible double, having forgotten the word's original connotation of starlight.7 Astarte-Ashtoreth was transformed into a devil by Christian writers, who automatically assumed that any deity mentioned in the Bible other than Yahweh was one of the denizens of hell. She was also masculinized. One finds in books of the 15th and 16th centuries a demon Ashtoreth or Astaroth, a "duke" or "prince" of hell. 8 Milton knew better; he spoke of "Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns." 9 Scholars who really understood the mystery of Astarte recognized in her one of the ancient prototypes of the virgin Mary. In Syria and Egypt her sacred dramas celebrated the rebirth of the solar god from the celestial Virgin each 25th of December. A newborn child was exhibited, while the cry went up that the Virgin had brought forth. Frazer says, "No doubt the Virgin who thus conceived and bore a son on the twenty-fifth of December was the great Oriental goddess whom the Semites called the Heavenly Virgin or simply the Heavenly Goddess; in Semitic lands she was a form of Astarte." 10  Marginal notes: The Bible calls her Asherah or Ashtoreth, the Goddess worshipped by Solomon ( l Kings 11:5). To the Arabs the Goddess was Athtar, "Venus in the Morning." In Aramaic she was Attar-Samayin, "Morning Star of Heaven," uniting two sexes in herself, like Lucifer the Morning Star and Diana Lucifera. Her Hurrian name was Attart, or sometimes Ishara, another form of lshtar, "the Star. " 4 To Canaanites, she was Celestial Ruler, Mistress of Kingship, mother of all baalim (gods).5 Mari Basic name of the Goddess known to the Chaldeans as Marratu, to the Jews as Marah, to the Persians as Mariham, to the Christians as Mary: as well as Marian, Miriam, Mariamne, Myrrhine, Myrtea, Myrrha, Maria, and Marina. Her blue robe and pearl necklace were classic symbols of the sea, edged with pearly foam. 1 The Goddess's Amorite' city of Mari was one of the wonders of the ancient world. Its six-acre temple-palace astonished archeologists who uncovered it in the 1930s. Mari dominated the area now known as the Holy Land until it fell to the armies of Hammurabi in 1700 B.C.4 Semites worshipped an androgynous combination of Goddess and God called Mari-El (Mary-God), corresponding to the Egyptian Meri-Ra which combined the feminine principle of water with the masculine principle of the sun.5 The Syrian version of Mari or Meri was worshipped in combination with her serpent-consort Yamm, derived from Yama, the Hindu Lord of Death. Yamm alternated with Baal, "the Lord," as the Goddess's favorite and a sovereign over heaven and the abyss. Indian Yama was one of the consorts of Kel-Mari, as Kali was called in the south.8 Tantric Buddhists still speak of the "Slayer of the Death King," Yama-Mari, who was identified with the Dalai Lama.9 Jews and early Christians used the same combination of names, Mari-Yamm or Mariam, for the mother of Jesus.10 The spirit of the archaic Mari entered into Babylonian diviners known as mare baruti, sea-mothers, who operated in the bit mummu or womb-chamber, where statues of the gods were said to be "born" (made animate). 11 In similar womb-chambers the Hindu goddess was worshipped as Kau-Mari or Kel-Mari. 12 She is still invoked as Marici-Tara, the Diamond Sow on the Lotus Throne, "Glorious One, the sun of happiness." She is the Goddess "whose mayik vesture is the sun," forerunner of the Gospels' "woman clothed with the sun" (Revelation 12: I), who was identified with the virgin Mary.l3 She was also the Great Fish who gave birth to the gods, later the Mermaid, Mare-mynd, mareminde, marraminde, maraeman, or mereminne. 20 In short, she was always Mother Sea. Her Latin name was Maria, "the Seas." St. Peter Chrysologus called her Christian incarnation, the virgin Mary, "the gathering together of the waters." 21 But she was also the earth and heavens, since her earliest form was a trinity. She was worshipped in pre-Roman Latium as Marica, mother of the first king Latinus, who was also her priapic goat-footed consort Faunus. She was probably the same Goddess worshipped by the Slavs under the name of Marzanna (Mari-Anna), who "fostered the growth of fruits." 22 Mari and her pagan consort were incongruously canonized as a pair of Christian saints, Addai and Mari (Adonis and AphroditeMari). Their legends called them "bishops" dispatched to Aphrodite's cult center at Edessa, probably because their portraits appeared there, and it was easier to Christianize them than to destroy them. Their cult began with Nestorian Christians who called them "Holy Apostles Addai and Mari." 23 Another Christianization was St. Maura, from the Goddess's Fate-name Moera, "older than Time." 24 As the Fate-spinner who held men's destinies in her hand, she generated a taboo: on St. Maura'a day, women were forbidden to spin or sew.25 Medieval Spain knew the Goddess Mari as a "Lady" or "Mistress" who lived in a magic cave and rode through the night sky as a ball of fire.26 This may have meant the red harvest moon, or possibly the moon in eclipse-always a dire omen. The Goddess Mari was said to give gifts of fairy gold and precious stones, which might turn into worthless lumps of coal by the light of day.27 In later centuries, the same worthless gifts were given to "bad" children by St. Nicholas at Christmas. The island of lnis Maree had a ruined temple, sacred to a certain "St. Mourie" -none other than the Goddess Mari for whom the island was named. In 1678 the Presbytery of Dingwall "disciplined" some people who sacrified bulls to the divinity of Loch Maree on the 25th of August, a day dedicated to Aphrodite-Mari for more than 1500 years. 28 Marginal notes: Many place names evolved from Marian shrines. Among them were Amari or Ay-Mari, the Cyprian home of Aphrodite Marina; Marib, City of the Moon, seat of the queens of Sheba; Marea in western Egypt; Maronea near Lake Ismaris; Maru, mother-city of the Medes; Sa-Maria, a country whose name meant literally "holy blood of Mary." 2 One of the entrances to her underworld womb, a sacred cave accessible only by sea, was Mar-Mari, "Mother Sea." 3 Sometimes the deity was named simply Mer, an Egyptian word for both "waters" and "mother-love." 6 Mer was also a component of the names of Egyptian queens in the first dynasty. One of Egypt's oldest names was Ta-Mera, Land of the Waters, which could also be interpreted as a Land of the Great Mothers.7 Northern Europe knew the same Goddess as Maerin, wedded to Thor at her shrine in Trondheim.14 To the Saxons she was Wudu-Maer: literally, a Wood-Mary, or Goddess of the Grove. To the Celts she was Maid Marian, beloved by Robin, the witches' Horned God. Their greenwood cult caused church authorities considerable trouble in the 14th century. 15 Mari was the same Merian or Merjan worshipped in Persia as Queen of the Peris (Fairies).16 Iran had its mother goddess Mariana from very ancient times.I7 She might be traced to the land of Akkad, created by a Goddess called the Lady Marri, Mother of the World.18 A king of Mari in 2500 B.C., united with the Goddess, took the royal name of Lamki-Mari. 19 Houri Persian-Arabian heavenly nymph, sexual angel, or temple prostitute: cognate with the Greek hora, Babylonian harine, Semitic harlot or "whore." Houris were dancing "Ladies of the Hour" who kept time in heaven and tended the star-souls. See Angel; Prostitution. Horae Aphrodite's celestial nymphs, who performed the Dances of the Hours, acted as midwives to the gods, and inspired earthly horae (harlotpriestesses) to train men in the sexual Mysteries. The dance still called hora was based on the priestesses' imitation of the zodiacal circling of "hours." Time-keeping is horology because of the systems devised by these ancient priestesses of the Goddess. See Prostitution. The Horae were called "fair ones, begetters of all things, who in appointed order bring on day and night, summer and winter, so as to make months and years grow full." Marginal note: In Egypt they were "Ladies of the Hour," in Persia houris, in Babylon harines; among Semites they were the "whores" called hor (a hole), ancestresses of the Horites. Agape, Saint "Love Feast," first of Aphrodite's holy whores (Horae), was canonized as a Christian saint when icons of the Horae were re-labeled "virgin martyrs": Sts. Agape, Chione, and lrene.1 Agape originally personified the rite of sexual communion, as practiced in Aphrodite's temples and adopted by some early Christian sects as a Tantric type of "spiritual marriage." By the 7th century A.D. the agape ceremony was declared heretical, but it continued secretly throughout the Middle Ages.2 See Menstrual Blood.  Chionia "Snow Queen," a Greek title of one of the Horae; an untouchable virgin Goddess of the high mountains, prototype of the medieval fairy, Virginal the Ice Queen. She was also canonized as a Christian "virgin martyr." Irene, Saint "Peace," the third of Aphrodite's three Horae; the Dove who announced the coming of death. She also associated with the "peace" to be won by ritual castration, even as late as the 14th century A.D. when a nun or priestess bearing her name was linked to the heretical sect of Mount Athos monks who emasculated themselves.' (See Castration.) The pagan temple of Irene on the acropolis of Constantinople was taken over by Christians and renamed the Church of Holy Irene. 2 Thus the Byzantine Goddess was canonized, along with her two sisters in the same Trinity.3    Aphrodite Often dismissed as a "Greek goddess of love," Aphrodite was really much more than that. Like Kali, she was a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity. She was once indistinguishable from the Fates (Moirai); her old name was Moira, and she was said to be older than Time. She governed the world by ius naturale, the natural law of the maternal clan.1 She was not only Greek. She was the Dea Syria, also known as Asherah or Astarte, Goddess of the oldest continuously-occupied temple in the world.2 She was the ancestral mother of the Romans, for she gave birth to their founding father, Aeneas.3 Under the name of Venus, she was the mother of the Venetii, whose capital city became Venice, called "Queen of the Sea" after the Goddess herself. One of Aphrodite's major centers of worship was the city of Paphos on Cyprus, the island named for its copper mines. Thus, she was called "the Cyprian" or "the Paphian," and her sacred metal was copper. She was also called Mari, the Sea. Egyptians referred to her island as Ay-Mari.4 During the Christian era, Aphrodite's temple on Cyprus was converted into a sanctuary of the virgin Mary, another name of the same Goddess, but in this sanctuary the virgin Mary is hailed to this day as Panaghia Aphroditessa, "All-holy Aphrodite." 5 Continued worship of the goddess on Cyprus probably contributed to the Christian belief that the whole population of Cyprus descended from demons.6 In reality, Cyprian Aphrodite was like all other manifestations of the Great Goddess: ruling birth, life, love, death, time, and fate, reconciling man to all of them through sensual and sexual mysticism. The Cyprian sage Zenon taught Aphrodite's philosophy: "mankind and the universe were bound tqgether in the system of fate .... Diogenes Laertios tells us that Zenon was the first to define the end of human existence as 'life in accordance with nature.' " 7 Aphrodite had almost as many "emanations" as Thousand-Named Kali. She was not only Mari and Moira and Marina and Pelagia and Stella Maris, all titles related to her control of the sea; she was also Ilithyia, Goddess of childbirth; Hymen, Goddess of marriage; Venus, Goddess of sexuality and the hunt; Urania, Queen of Heaven; Androphonos, the Destroyer of Men; and many others. She was often identified with Isis. Anchises, her lover who begot Aeneas and then was castrated, had a name meaning "he who mates with lsis." 8 Under several of her names, Aphrodite mated with Semitic gods. Her cult occupied the main temple in Jerusalem after 70 A.D. In the 4th century it was said that Constantine's mother found the true cross of Christ buried in Aphrodite's Jerusalem temple. (See Cross.) One of Aphrodite's greatest shrines in Asia Minor was the city of Aphrodisias, once dedicated to Ishtar. Up to the 12th century A.D., when the city was taken by Seljuk Turks, the Goddess was worshipped there as the patron of arts and letters, crafts, and culture.9 Recent excavations have uncovered exquisite artifacts and statuary, bespeaking a cultivated and sophisticated lifestyle under the Goddess's rule. 10 The calendar still keeps the name of Aphrodite on the month dedicated to her, April (Aphrilis). The ancient Kalendar of Romulus said this was the month of Venus. 11 Aphrodite, Pan & Eros Dove    Aphrodite's totem, the bird of sexual passion, symbolically equivalent to the yoni.1 In India, too, the dove was paravata, the symbol of lust.2 Joined to her consort the phallic serpent, the Dove-goddess stood for sexual union and "Life." The phrase attributed to Jesus, "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16), was no random metaphor but a traditional invocation of the Syrian God and Goddess.3 The Oriental meaning was remembered by the gypsies, whose folk tales said the souls of ancestors lived inside magic hollow mountains, the men having been changed into serpents and the women into doves.4 Christians adopted the feminine dove as a symbol of the Holy Ghost, originally the Goddess Sophia, representing God's "Wisdom" as the Goddess Metis represented the "Wisdom" of Zeus. Gnostic Christians said Sophia was incarnate in the dove that impregnated the virgin Mary, the same dove that descended on Jesus at his baptism to impregnate his mind (Matthew 3:16). Pious admirers of Pope Gregory the Great made him even more saintly than Jesus by reporting that the Holy Ghost in dove shape descended on him not once but many times.5 All this was copied from Roman iconography which showed the human soul as a dove that descended from the Dove-goddess's oversoul to animate the body.6 Aphrodite as a bringer of death, or "peace," sometimes bore the name of Irene, Dove of Peace. Another of her death-goddess names was Epitymbria, "She of the Tombs." 7 Romans called her Venus Columba, Venus-the-Dove. Her catacombs, mausoleums, and necropoli were known as columbaria, "dovecotes." 8 Thus the soul returning to the Goddess after death was again envisioned as a dove. From this image, Christians copied their belief that the souls of saints became white doves that flew out of their mouths at the moment of death. In the Catholic ceremony of canonization, white doves are released from cages at the crucial moment of the ritual.9 Christian iconography showed seven rays emanating from the dove of the Holy Ghost: an image that went back to some of the most primitive manifestations of the Goddess.10 In the Orient, the mystic seven were the Pleiades or "Seven Sisters," whose Greek name meant "a flock of doves." They were daughters or "rays" of Aphrodite under her title of Pleione, Queen of the Sea.11 Hemdotus said seven holy women known as Doves founded the oracles of Dodona, Epirus, and Theban Amon.12 They were worshipped in the Middle East as Seven Sages or Seven Pillars of Wisdom: the seven woman-shaped pillars that had been upholding temples of the Goddess since the third millenium B.C. 13 See Caryatid. Arabs still revere the Seven Sages, and some remember that they were women, or "doves." 14 The Semitic word for "dove," ione, was a cognate of "yoni" and related to the Goddess Uni, who later became Iune, or Juno. The cult of the Doves used to incorporate primitive rites of castration and its modification, circumcision. India called the seven Sisters "razors" or "cutters" who judged and "critically" wounded men, the Krittikas, "Seven Mothers of the World," root of the Greek kritikos, "judge." They killed and gave rebirth to gods who were castrated to make them fertile, like women. The name of Queen Semiramis, legendary founder of Babylon, also meant "Dove" in the Syrian tongue. She was said to have castrated all her consorts. 15 When circumcision replaced castration, the doves were involved in that too. Even Christian symbolism made the connection. The official symbol of the Festival of the Circumcision of Christ was a dove, holding in its beak a ring representing the Holy Prepuce. "Christ's fructifying blood" was linked with the similar emblem of Pentecost, which showed the descending dove on a background of blood red, officially described as a representation of the church fertilized by the blood of Christ and the martyrs.16 A certain "maiden martyr" called St. Columba (Holy Dove) was widely revered, especially in France, although she never existed as a human being.17 Another curious survival of pagan dove-lore was the surname given to St. Peter: Bar-Iona, "Son of the Dove." 18 Some survivals may have been invented to explain the doves appearing on ancient coins as symbols of Aphrodite and Astarte.19 Columba, Saint "Holy Dove," a spurious canonization of Aphrodite as a "maiden martyr" Columba of Sens.1 Celtic myth called her Colombe, the yoni maiden mated to Lancelot as a lightning bolt, the Phallus of Heaven.2 See Lightning. Mermaid  Literally "Virgin of the Sea," the mermaid was an image of fish-tailed Aphrodite, the medieval Minne, Maerin, Mari, Marina, mereminne, mare-mynd, mareminde, marraminde, or maraeman.1 Her Death- goddess aspect, sometimes named Ran, received the souls of those put to sea in funeral boats; or, she might trap living men in her fish net. Teutons said drowned men went to dwell in the house of Ran.2 An English law, still on the books in the 19th century, officially claimed for the Crown "all mermaids found in British waters." 3 Thalassa The Goddess at Rhodes and Miletus, mother of the Telchines ("enchanters"). As patroness of sex and marriage, she was an archaic form of Aphrodite Marina. She was invoked at Roman weddings by the cry Talassio, the meaning of which had been forgotten, but everyone knew "it was the correct thing to shout at weddings." 1 Nymph Greek nymphe, Latin nympha, a bride or a nubile young woman. The same word was applied to female-genital symbols like the lotus flower, water lilies, and certain shells. "Nymphs" served as priestesses in ancient temples of the Goddess, especially in sexual ceremonies, where they represented the divine principle of flowering fertility and were sometimes known as Brides of God. See Virgin birth. In medieval times the word nymph was applied to either a witch or a fairy, since both descended from the pre-Christian priestess. As spirits of nature, the "nymphs" were believed to embed their souls forever in certain parts of the natural world that the Goddess had ruled in antiquity: there were water nymphs, tree nymphs, mountain nymphs, and nymphs who dwelt in the earth, the sea, or Fairyland. Their ancient connection with sexuality was more or less consistently maintained. Even now, "nymphomania" connotes sexual obsession, like the moon-madness supposed to motivate the ancient nymphs in their seasons of mating. Echo Greek "nymph" at whose reflecting pool Narcissus met his death. According to the classical myth, Echo grieved so sorely for her beloved flower-god that she pined away until there was nothing left of her but her voice. Originally, she was Acco, the pre-Hellenic birth-goddess, in an oracular mood as "the last echo of the Voice," meaning the Voice of Creation, the same as the Goddess Vac in ancient India (see Logos). In Hebrew she was Bath Kol, Daughter of the Voice. 1 Apparently the Word she spoke to the springtime god NarcissusAntheus- Adonis-Hyacinthus was the death curse heralding the final phase of the sacred king's fatal drama; for Narcissus was the same god as Dionysus with all his flower-titles.2 Peri Persian fairy or genie, usually female, like western fairies but sometimes considered one of the fallen angels (djinn). A peri could also be a familiar spirit, a mischievous elf, a heavenly nymph, a Shakti. Sufis called a peri a pir, lady-love. Saliva  Both Mohammed and Jesus claimed to restore sight to the blind by applying saliva to their eyes (Mark 8:23). This was an imitation of cures previously attributed to priestesses of the Goddess. A clay tablet from Nineveh says eye diseases could be cured by the mixed saliva and milk of a temple harlot. Romans thought blindness could be cured by the saliva of a mother of sons. As late as the 19th century, Italian folk healers were still trying to cure blindness with the saliva and milk of the mother of a premature child.1 Notions of the wonderful curative power of female saliva may be traced back to Tantrism and its Chinese offshoot, Tao, whose scriptures called women's saliva "a great medicine," one of the three wonderful yin juices, the others being breast milk and menstrual blood.2 European pagan heroes also cured blindness with saliva-so many of them that medieval churchmen had to say this was one of the recognition signs for Antichrist. 3 Toga Garment of clan-ruling matronae in pre-patriarchal Rome. Men adopted the toga as they gained political power, until in classical times the only women still wearing it were promiscuous priestesses of the Goddess. Thus it became a custom to distinguish a prostitute by the name of "toga-wearer." 1 Vestal Virgins Priestesses of Rome's oldest Goddess-matriarch, Vesta, who was the same as the Greeks' Hestia. Descendants of an ancient order of holy women who guarded the public hearth and altar, the Vestals were entrusted with keeping alight the perpetual fire that was the mystic heart of the empire. Vestals were virgines, i.e., women who vowed never to marry because they were brides of the spirit of Rome, in the same sense that Christian nuns were brides of Christ. Vestals underwent the same ceremony that was later applied to nuns, to limit their magic female powers: they had their hair shaved off.1 In an earlier era, however, they were not so restricted. Like all other ancient priestesses who ruled by virtue of magic and motherhood, the Vestals used to be the governing sisterhood of Latium. Rhea Silvia or "Rhea of the Woodland" was called the First Vestal; she was actually the Goddess Rhea transplanted to the Latin colonies. According to Roman legend; she gave birth to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Their midwife, Acca Larentia, another Vestal described as a "courtesan," gave birth to all the ancestral spirits the Romans called lares. (See Akka.) The Vestals were never altogether virginal in the physical sense. Their marriage to the phallic deity of the Palladium was physically consummated in Vesta's temple, under conditions of great secrecy. The ceremony was performed by a priest called the Pontifex Maximus, "great maker of the pons/' which meant a bridge, a path, or a way. The Pontifex Maximus had what Dumezil calls "an obscure, now unknown duty" toward the Vestal Virgins. 2 One might suppose that his "way" was something like the Way of eastern sex-sacraments; that is, he built the "bridge" between Father Heaven and Mother Earth (Vesta). The office of Pontifex was adopted by Christians, and became a "pontiff," synonymous with "pope." The Vestals however were emphatically not adopted by Christians, although several of the details of their habit and lifestyle passed on to Christian convents. Pagans revered the Vestals and were horrified by the way they were treated by Christian regimes in the 4th and 5th centuries. In 382 A.D., the endowments of all the pagan temples were withdrawn, including that of Vesta's 600-year-old Mother-hearth. "Worst of all in the opinion of some traditionalists, the fire on Vesta's hearth was to be permitted to go out: the Vestal Virgins were to lose their endowments and immunity from taxation, and all their privileges were to be taken away. The tiny order of six Vestals was particularly hated by the Christians .... Their Christian enemies feared them as mysterious and magical: they did not understand them and did not want to do so; they wanted only to see them destroyed." 3 Amata "Beloved," the title of a Vestal Virgin as a Bride of God-that is, bride of the spirit of Rome manifested in the phallic Palladium.1 The title was copied by Christian nuns who called themselves Brides of Christ. Hestia Greek "Hearth," one of the oldest matriarchal Goddesses, in Latin, Vesta. She represented the home place, every man's "center of the world." When the matriarchs ruled, "The hearth was in the midst of the dwelling; that hearth was to each member of the household, as it were, an umbilicum orbis, or navel of the earth ... [h]earth being only another form of earth, as in the German erde and herde." Pythagoras said the fire of Hestia was the center of the earth.1 Romans had the same idea about the altar of Vesta, with its perpetual fire tended by the mystic Vestal Virgins. Cicero said the power of Vesta extends over all altars and hearths, therefore all prayers and offerings begin and end with her, "because she is the guardian of the innermost things." 2 Hestia never had a consort, for no god could share her strictly matriarchal province, the Prytaneum or public hearth of every town. It was said of her that "seated in the midst of the celestial dwelling-place she receives the richest part of sacrifices, and among men she is of all the deities the most venerated." 3 Focus Latin for "hearth," the first altar, and center of early tribal life. 1 Goddess of the focus was Vesta (Greek Hestia), whose priestesses · tended a perpetual fire that was bound up with the soul of Rome. It was believed the altar of Vesta was the center of the universe. The cult arose from Neolithic views of matrilocal power radiating from the home center of the clan, with the matriarch as high priestess and religious ceremonies centering on her hearth. 2 Venus Roman name for the Great Goddess in her sexual aspect, derived from the eponymous mother of Venetian tribes of the Adriatic, after whom the city of Venice was also named. "Veneration" and "venery" were further derivatives. Venery used to mean hunting; for, like her eastern counterpart Artemis, Venus was once a Lady of Animals, and her Horned God-Adonis, both the hunter and the sacrificial stag-became venison, which meant "Venus's son." 1 Early Christian fathers denounced the temples "dedicated to the foul devil who goes by the name of Venus-a school of wickedness for all the votaries of unchasteness." 2 What this meant was that they were schools of instruction in sexual techniques, under the tutelage of the venerii or harlot-priestesses. 3 They taught an approach to spiritual grace, called venia, through sexual exercises like those of Tantrism.4 Like Tantric yogis, educated Romans envisioned the moment of death as a culminating sexual union, a final act of the sacred marriage promised by the religion of Venus. Ovid, an initiate, said he wished to die while making love: "Let me go in the act of coming to Venus; in more senses than one let my last dying be done." 5 Centuries later, in Shakespeare's time, "to die" was still a common metaphor for sexual orgasm.6 An English treatise on interpretation of dreams said if a sick man dreamed of marrying a lovely maiden, it meant death.7 When Christians said to die was to be gathered to the bosom of Christ or Abraham, they unwittingly based the concept on the ancient female one. Modern interpretations of classical mythology tend to picture Venus as a sex goddess only. Her birth-giving and death-giving aspects have been suppressed; but they were equally important in her cult. As Queen of the Shades she was identified with Proserpine, but went by the name of Libitina. Plutarch said Libitina was only another name for Venus, "the goddess of generation." 8 During the early Middle Ages, Venus became the ruling Fairy Queen of the magic mountains called Venusbergs. She also became a Christian saint, St. Venerina, who never existed in human form but only as a cult figure continuing the worship of the Goddess in Calabria.9 In the Balkans she was called St. Venere, and is still invoked as a patron of marriage by young girls making a wish that they might find good husbands. 10 The magic rhyme addressed to the planet Venus as Evening Star still echoes down the centuries: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." Venus the Evening Star was also Stella Maris, Star of the Sea. In her sacred city of Venice, on Ascension Day each year, the Duke of Venice ceremonially married her by throwing a gold wedding ring into the sea.11 This practice continued through Renaissance times, even when the title of Stella Maris was assimilated to Mary.    Virgin Birth "Holy Virgin" was the title of harlot-priestesses of lshtar, Asherah, or Aphrodite. The title didn't mean physical virginity; it meant simply "unmarried." The function of such "holy virgins" was to dispense the Mother's grace through sexual worship; to heal; to prophesy; to perform sacred dances; to wail for the dead; and to become Brides of God. Children born of such temple women were called by the Semites bathur, by the Greeks parthenioi, "virgin-born." 1 According to the Protoevangelium, the Virgin Mary was a kadesha and perhaps married to one of that class of priests known as "fathers of the god." 2 See Firstborn. Mary's impregnation was similar to Persephone's. In her Virgin guise, Persephone sat in a holy cave and began to weave the great tapestry of the universe, when Zeus appeared as a phallic serpent, to beget the savior Dionysus on her. 3 Mary sat in the temple and began to spin a blood-red thread, representing Life in the tapestry of fate, when the angel Gabriel "came in unto her" (Luke 1:28), the biblical phrase for sexual intercourse. Gabriel's name means literally "divine husband." 1 Hebrew Gospels designated Mary by the word almah, mistakenly translated "virgin," but really meaning "young woman." 5 It was derived from Persian Al-Mah, the unmated Moon-goddess.6 Another cognate was Latin alma, "living soul of the world," virtually identical to Greek psyche, Sanskrit shakti. The Holy Virgins or temple-harlots were "soul-teachers" or "soul-mothers" -the alma mater. Christian translators insisted on rendering Mary's title as "virgin," which saddled their religion with an embarrassing article of faith. Even today, theologians like Karl Barth declare that "It is essential to the true Christian faith to accept the doctrine of the virgin birth" -thus drastically reducing the number of people who can be called true Christians.7 Early Christians demanded a virgin birth for their Savior out of simple imitativeness. All the other Saviors had one, for they were born of the Goddess incarnate in a chosen "virgin of the temple," whose business it was to bear Saviors. The notion that mortal women were impregnated by gods or spirits was a matter of everyday acceptance throughout the ancient world. Even the Old Testament says the archaic "giants" (ancestral heroes) were born of mortal women impregnated by spirits that came from God (Genesis 6:4). Zoroaster, Sargon, Perseus, Jason, Miletus, Minos, Asclepius, and dozens of others were God-begotten and virgin-born. Even Zeus, the Heavenly Father who begot many other "virgin-born" heroes, was himself called Zeus Mamas, "Virgin-born Zeus." 8 Plutarch noted among the Egyptians the common belief that the spirit of God was capable of sexual intercourse with mortal women.9 Heracles was born of another almah, the Virgin Alcmene, whose name means Power of the Moon.10 Her husband also, like the biblical Joseph, kept away from her bed during her pregnancy. The same tale was told of Plato, whose nephew affirmed that he was begotten  by the god Apollo, his earthly parents having no sexual relations until after his birth. 11 Christians believed this, and solemnly attested that Plato was a virgin-born son of the sun god. 12 After Christianity was established as the official religion of the Roman empire, however, church fathers tried to discredit all other virgin births by claiming that the devil had devised them, and maliciously placed them in a past time, so they would pre-date the real Savior. Justin Martyr wrote, "When I am told that Perseus was born of a virgin, I realize that here again is a case in which the serpent and deceiver has imitated our religion." 13 Despite the efforts of church fathers, the virgin birth of Jesus was neither the first nor the last such miracle given credence by Christians. Priapic idols of antiquity, credited with the power to father children, actually fathered other priapic idols who became saints like Foutin, Gurtlichon, Gilles, Regnaud, and Guignole; these were credited with the same power of fertilization and were much adored by women who desired offspring. 14 Women of Tuscany and Portugal thought they could become pregnant by eating apples specially consecrated by a priest. Spaniards remembered the virgin birth of Mars, and thought any woman could conceive like Mars's mother Juno, by eating a lily. It was believed that souls could enter a woman's body in the form of flies, worms, or serpents, to cause impregnation. Cases were solemnly documented, like that of a Scot named Gillie Downak Chravolick, conceived when his mother raised her skirts on an old battlefield and received into her "private member" some ashes from the burned bones of dead warriors. 15 As impregnation by a god used to be the "acceptable explanation for pregnancy in most pagan countries where the sexual act was part of the fertility rites," so Christians thought impregnation by spirits was still credible, whether the alleged father was a dead hero, a devil, an incubus, or even-in some sects the Holy Ghost again.l6 Such an untenable belief survived because it was important to men. The impossible virgin mother was everyman's longed-for resolution of Oedipal conflicts: pure maternity, never distracted from her devotion by sexual desires. Churchmen unwittingly showed their anxiety by denying even the evidence of their own Gospels that Jesus had brothers and sisters. St. Ambrose insisted that Mary never conceived again, since God couldn't have chosen for his mother-bride "a woman who would defile the heavenly chamber with the seed of a man." 17 Theologians in effect severed the two halves of the pagan Goddess, whose realistic femininity combined abundant sexuality and maternity. One half was labeled harlot and temptress, the other a female ascetic even in motherhood. The Goddess's old title, Sancta Matrona- Holy Mother-was added to the canon of saints as a phony St. Matrona, whose pseudo-biography made her a "hermitess." 18 The primitive naivete of the virgin-birth concept was dressed in pretentious verbiage, purporting to explain it, while actually hiding it from prying eyes. "A shadow is formed by light falling upon a body. The Virgin, as a human being, could not hold the fulness of divinity; but the power of the most High overshadowed her, while the incorporeal light of the godhead took a human body within her, and so she was able to bear God." 19 Churchmen often presented the doctrine of the virgin birth as "ennobling" to women, since they viewed women's natural sexuality as degrading. Seldom were female sexuality and motherhood perceived as component parts of the same whole. Some women were astute enough to see that the doctrine effectively degraded real womanhood by exalting a never-attainable ideal. At the end of the 19th century one woman wrote: I think that the doctrine of the Virgin birth as something higher, sweeter, nobler than ordinary motherhood, is a slur on all the natural motherhood of the world. ... Out of this doctrine, and that which is akin to it, have sprung all the monasteries and nuns of the world, which have disgraced and distorted and demoralized manhood and womanhood for a thousand years. I place beside this false, monkish, unnatural claim ... my mother, who was as holy in her motherhood as was Mary herself. 20 Marginal note: The temple hierodules were called virgines or venerii in Rome, horae in Greece, kadishtu, qadesh, or kadesha in Babylon, Canaan, and Palestine. Kadi Babylonian Goddess of Der, a serpent with a woman's head and breasts. Her name was the root of kadishtu, Hebrew kadesha, a temple harlot known as a Holy One, or Virgin Bride of God (see Prostitution; Virgin Birth). She may have descended from the Vedic Goddess Kadru, mother of all Nagas or sacred serpents, who attained immortality through the magic blood she gave them to drink. 1 Athene Mother-goddess of Athens, worshipped as Holy Virgin, Athene Parthenia, in the Parthenon, her "Virgin-temple." Though classic writers insisted on her chastity, older traditions gave her several consorts, such as Hephaestus and Pan.1 She was united with the phallic Pallas, whose "Palladium" was a lingam, later Rome's greatest fetish. 2 Athene came from North Africa. She was the Libyan Triple Goddess Neith, Metis, Medusa, Anath, or Ath-enna. An inscription at Larnax-Lapithou named her Athene in Greek, Anat in Phoenician.3 Pre-Hellenic myths said she came from the uterus of Lake Tritonis (Three Queens) in Libya.4 Egyptians sometimes called Isis Athene, which meant "I have come from myself." 5 Greeks claimed Athene was born from Zeus's head, after he swallowed her mother Metis-i.e., Medusa, "Female Wisdom," formerly symbolized by the Gorgoneum, Athene' s snake-haired mask, invested with power to turn men to stone. 6 Gorgo, or Gorgon, was Athene's Destroyer aspect.7 Funerary statues or phallic pillars were her "men turned to stone," perhaps even identified with the pillars of the Parthenon which was seized by Christians at an unknown date in the 5th or 6th century A.D. and rededicated as a temple of the virgin Mary.8 Salome The Bible presents the Dance of the Seven Veils as a mere vulgar striptease performed by Salome to "please Herod" (Matthew 14:6-8). Actually, the Dance of the Seven Veils was an integral part of the sacred drama, depicting the death of the surrogate-king, his descent into the underworld, and his retrieval by the Goddess, who removed one of her seven garments at each of the seven underworld gates. The priestess called Salome or "Peace" (Shalom) impersonated the descending Goddess, passing through seven gates in the temple of Jeru-salem which meant House of Peace. "Josephus records that the first name of the city was Solyma. Salma, or Salim, was evidently the Semite god of the rising or renewed sun; Salmaone was the Aegean goddess from whom he took his titles, as did Salmoneus the Aeolian." 1 Salome represented Ishtar as the third of her three high priestesses or "Marys." Her name was a translation of the Greek Irene, "Peace," the third of the sacred harlots called Horae.2 She may have been identical with the sacred harlot Mary Magdalene, or Mary of the Temple, whose so-called "seven devils" were the same underworld gatekeepers to whom the temple dancer gave her veils. These veils, like the rainbow veils of Maya, signified the layers of earthly appearances or illusions falling away from those who approach the central Mystery of the deeps. Isis too had seven stoles with the same mystical significance. 3 The dancing priestess was more than a trivial entertainer. Salome's husband Joseph was killed after he lay with the queen, Mariamne or Miriam (Mary).4 Salome was present with the virgin Mary-the same Mary?-at the birth of Jesus; some said she was the midwife who delivered the holy child.5 Salome was present with all three Marys at the death of Jesus (Mark 15:40). Obviously she was also involved in the death of John the Baptist, which seems to have been not a murder but a ritual sacrifice. Some early Christian sects (the Mandaeans) ignored Jesus, and worshipped John the Baptist as the true sacrificed Christ.6 An early Greek epiphany hymn said it was the blood of John the Baptist that "bedewed" -i.e., fructified-the mothers and children of Jerusalem. 7 As an initiated Essenic prophet, John would have been sacerand "chosen" to die as a surrogate for the king, whose blood was required for fertility of the land. John was beheaded, a common form of sacrificial death throughout the early Aegean and Levantine cultures, still practiced to this day in some of the eastern temples of the Goddess, though the victims are now animals instead of men. 8 Though only a fragment in its present form, the story of Salome presents evidence for the survival of the Tammuz-lshtar cult in Jerusalem, where someone periodically died in the role of the god, and the women raised the ancient lament for the victim in the temple (Ezekiel 8:14).    Mary Fathers of the Christian church strongly opposed the worship of Mary because they were well aware that she was only a composite of Mariamne, the Semitic God-Mother and Queen of Heaven; Aphrodite- Mari, the Syrian version of lshtar; Juno the Blessed Virgin; Isis as Stella Maris, Star of the Sea; Maya the Oriental Virgin Mother of the Redeemer; the Moerae or trinity of Fates; and many other versions of the Great Goddess. 1 Even Diana Lucifera the Morning-Star Goddess was assimilated to the Christian myth as Mary's "mother," Anna or Dinah. Churchmen knew the same titles were applied to Mary as to her pagan forerunners: "queen of heaven, empress of hell, lady of all the world." 2 The Speculum beatae Mariae said Mary was like the Juno-Artemis- Hecate trinity: "queen of heaven where she is enthroned in the midst of the angels, queen of earth where she constantly manifests her power, and queen of hell where she has authority over the demons." According to the Office of the Virgin, she was the primordial being, "created from the beginning and before the centuries." 3 Christian patriarchs therefore sought to humanize and belittle Mary, to prove her unworthy of adoration. Epiphanius ordered: "Let the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be worshipped, but let no one worship Mary." 4 Anastasius said, "Let no one call Mary the Mother of God, for Mary was but a woman, and it is impossible that God should be born of a woman." 5 Ambrose called Mary the "temple" of God, and "only he is to be adored who worked within the temple." 6 Up to the 5th century the church persecuted as heretics a sect calling themselves Marianites, who claimed that Mary possessed the true quality of divinity.7 Mariolatry has plagued Christian patriarchy throughout its history, as the popular need to worship the Mother-figure always arose unbidden. Some early church fathers sought a way out of the dilemma by attacking Mary's motherhood, to prove her neither divine nor really maternal. Some claimed Jesus wasn't born in the ordinary way but suddenly materialized before Mary.8 Marcionites said Jesus could never touch vulgar female flesh, therefore he was never born at all. He descended from heaven as a fully formed adult.9 Some church fathers rejected Mary's motherhood on the ground that she was not only a mere mortal, but even a sinful woman.10 There was ecclesiastical opposition to Mary throughout the Christian era. Pope Nicholas III ordered Jean d'Olive, a friar "distinguished for learning and piety," to burn with his own hands a tract he had written in praise of Mary because it expressed excessive devotion to her. 11 When it was permitted, Marian devotion did appear to take on an Oriental extravagance. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople in 717, called Mary "Lady all-holy" and "Lady most venerable," maintaining that no one could be saved or receive the gift of grace except through her, since God obeys her "through and in all things, as his true mother." Henri Boudon, archdeacon of Evreux, said his people thought Mary "as much as, or more than, God himself." Isidore Glabas said Mary ruled in heaven before her earthly birth; like a creatress she brought all things into being, and all the angels obeyed her. Bernardine of Siena said Mary's birth of the Savior through her own mystic powers was more  miraculous than God's generation of him. "Even if she had not been the Mother of God, she would nevertheless have been the mistress of the world." Louis-Marie de Montfort declared that Mary had absolute power over God.12 People of the Middle Ages often viewed God as their persecutor, Mary as their defender. Early 16th-century woodcuts showed God shooting arrows of pestilence, war, and inflation at the world, while the inscription pleaded with Mary to restrain him.13 It was said that "Mary stands for Mercy, and it is only because of her influence at court, not because of love or goodwill on God's part, that heaven is within reach." 14 A 14th-century Franciscan wrote: When we have offended Christ, we should go first to the Queen of Heaven and offer her . .. prayers, fasting, vigils, and alms; then she, like a mother, will come between thee and Christ, the father who wishes to beat us, and she will throw the cloak of mercy between the rod of punishment and us, and soften the king's anger against us. 15 Ashe says, "Christian scripture and doctrine totally preclude placing Mary above Christ. Yet the vitality of Christ's own Church has often seemed to depend on her rather than him . ... [W]ithout her he would probably have lost his kingdom." 16 During its first five centuries, Christ's church discovered that no amount of force would make people renounce their Mother Goddess. She had to be preserved in some form : The church seemed doomed to failure, destined to go down to bloody death amidst the bleeding corpses of its victims, when the people discovered Mary. And only when Mary, against the stem decrees of the church, was dug out of the oblivion to which Constantine had assigned her and became identified with the Great Goddess was Christianity finally tolerated by the people . ... The only reality in Christianity is Mary, the Female Principle, the ancient goddess reborn. 17 In the eastern empire it was said the mark of true Christian faith was to "confess the holy Ever-Virgin Mary, truly and properly the Mother of God, to be higher than every creature whether visible or invisible." Ephraem of Syria called Mary the bride or spouse of Jesus as well as his mother, after the fashion of the pagan Goddess and her son-consort; she was also Gate of Heaven, Ark, and Garden of Paradise. Mary personally sprinkled the face of Adam with life-giving rain, which placed her in the creation myth as "co-redemptress." Ephraem's opinions were called heretical by some, but after a lapse of 1600 years-in the year 1920-he was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church by papal decree.18 The Christian figure of Mary was gradually created during the first four centuries of the Christian era, out of bits and pieces of the Great Goddess who conceived "sons of God" and Saviors in all the temples of the ancient world. The Protoevangelium said Mary served as a temple hierodule, and received God's seed as she was beginning to spin a blood-red thread in the temple-the work of the Fate-virgin, first of the Moerae or "Marys," who spun the thread of destiny. 19 At this mystically crucial moment the angel Gabriel "came in unto her" (Luke l :28), the biblical phrase for sexual intercourse. Other sources also identified Mary with the Fate-spinner, whom the Greeks called Clotho, youngest of the trinity of Moerae. The Coptic Discourse on Mary, attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem, represented Mary as the same triple Goddess of Fate, incarnate in the three Marys who stood at the foot of Jesus's cross. 20 In like manner, the three Fates of Nordic myth stood at the foot of Odin's tree of sacrifice; their virgin aspect was sometimes Freya, "the Lady." The Swedes called the constellation of Orion the distaff of the virgin Mary, because it was formerly the distaff used by Freya to spin the destinies of men.21 Greek myth presented an image of the Virgin Persephone almost identical to that of fate-spinning Mary. Persephone sat in a sacred cave or temple, starting to spin a web with a great picture of the universe-the magic picture which the Mother made into reality. At that moment the Heavenly Father appeared in the form of a phallic serpent and begot the savior Dionysus on her.22 In an effort to make Mary's impregnation as sexless as possible, some Christian ascetics invented very peculiar mechanisms for it. Sacred art showed semen emanating from God's mouth and passing through a long tube that led under Mary's skirts. Some theologians claimed God's seed was carried to Mary in the beak of the Holy Dove. Others said it came from Gabriel's mouth, to be filtered through the sacred lily before entering Mary's body by way of her ear. 23 Though the Christian God took over the Triple Goddess's ancient trinitarian character at the Council of Nicaea, there is some evidence that early Christians perceived Mary as a trinity. Like the Buddhists' Mara, she was sometimes a spirit of death.24 The Gospel of Mary identified all three of the Marys at Jesus's crucifixion with one another, as if they were the same Triple Goddess who attended the death of the pagan Savior. 25 For some centuries, eastern churches worshipped a Father-Mother-Son trinity modeled on such pagan triads as Osiris-Isis-Horus, Zeus-Rhea-Zagreus, Apollo-Artemis-Heracles, etc. This idea was so commonplace that even writers of the Koran felt compelled to deny the divine trinity of God, Mary, and Jesus.26 Moslem sources also preserved another manifestation of the Virgin Goddess as Mar Mariam or Sancta Maria, mother of the Persian savior Mani.27 As "the Sea" (Maria), the Triple Goddess swallowed up the god she gave birth to. In solemn imitation, the women of Alexandria threw images of Osiris into the sea after his Passion Play. 28 Hebraic copies of this rite probably account for Plutarch's report that the chief city of Palestine-Jerusalem- was built in honor of a child whom Isis killed and threw into the sea. 29 Mary was also closely associated with the Great Goddess of Ephesus, whose temples she took over. In the 5th century an Ephesian priest named Proclus delivered a sermon on the multiform nature of Mary, calling her "the living bush, which was not burnt by the fire of the divine birth ... virgin and heaven, the only bridge between God and men, the awesome loom ... on which the garment of union was woven." 30 Much was made of the. reversal of Mary's Latin Ave and the name of Eve (Eva). Mystics said Mary was Eve's purified reincarnation, as Jesus was the similar reincarnation of Adam.31 Somehow, theologians failed to recognize that the new incarnations apparently reversed the parent-child relationship. Then again, as Adam and Eve were spouses, so the relationship of Mary and Jesus sometimes verged on the sexual or conjugal. In a legend ascribed to St. John, Jesus welcomed Mary into heaven with the words, "Come, my chosen, and I shall set thee in my seat, for I have coveted the beauty of thee." 32 The church's doctrine of the assumption of Mary was explained in a number of ways. Early churchmen declared that Jesus visited Mary's tomb-variously located in Ephesus, Bethlehem, Gethsemane, or Josaphat-and raised up her corpse, which he made to live again; then he personally escorted her into heaven as a live woman.33 She was not a soul or a spirit but an immortal person in her own original body. This became the official modern view when the doctrine of the assumption was declared an article of faith in 1950, when Pope Pius XII pronounced that "the immaculate mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was run, was assumed in body and in soul to heavenly glory." 34 But the point had already been argued for more than a thousand years. The church's problem was to take advantage of popular reverence for Mary but at the same time prevent her literal deification. Some theologians of the 13th century claimed Mary's mortality should bring more women to obey the church, because the king of heaven "is no mere man but a mere woman is its queen. It is not a mere man who is set above the angels and all the rest of the heavenly court, but a mere woman is; nor is anyone who is merely man as powerful there as a mere woman." 35 Always the theologians feared to impute too much power and glory to Mary. Pope John XXIII, presuming to know Mary's inner thoughts, announced: "The Madonna is not pleased when she is put above her Son," though in fact it was the church who was not pleased. Catholic doctrines themselves attributed to her two of the three basic characteristics of divinity: she was immortal by reason of the assumption, and sinless by reason of the Immaculate Conception. The third requirement of divinity, omniscience, was conceded to her by popular belief. A 13th-century Mariale said she had perfect knowledge of divine mysteries, understood all scriptures, foresaw the future, and knew everything about mathematics, geography, astronomy, alche- my, and canon law-even in her earthly life, when there was no canon and therefore no canon law. 36 A French manuscript illustration showed Mary enthroned beside God on Judgment Day, weighing souls in her balances like her prototype the Goddess Maat 3000 years earlier.37 (See Alchemy.) The Welsh confused Mary with the triadic White Goddess, and seldom asked the blessing of God without also imploring the favor of "the white Mary." 38 Saints' tales implied that Mary's was the true touch of canonization. St. Bernard was ennobled by three drops of milk that the Virgin pressed from her own breast for him. 39 St. Catherine of Siena also claimed to have been nourished by Mary's milk.40 Many legends depicted Mary as the only true source of the milk of human kindness. At Mainz Cathedral she gave away one of her image's gold shoes to a starving beggar, who had pleased her by playing his fiddle for her. He was caught with the shoe, arrested, and sentenced to death. On the way to the scaffold he paused to pray to the Virgin, and she exonerated him by publicly giving him her other shoe. The beggar was released, but the priests took away the gold shoes and locked them in the treasury, "lest the Virgin should again be tempted to bestow them upon some penniless beggar who prayed for her aid." 41 Mary's mercy often proved superior to that of God or Jesus. She was occasionally represented leaning on the balance that weighed a sinner's few good deeds, to make them heavier than his evil deeds and save him from damnation. Her mercy extended even to the Jews, despite her priests' detestation of them. On Easter Day in Bourges, a Jewish child took Holy Communion along with his Christian friends. For this offense, the boy's father threw him into a furnace; but he lay unharmed by the fire, saying the Lady who stood on the Christians' altar was protecting him. "Then the Christians, understanding that he meant the statue of the Blessed Mary, took the aged Jew and threw him into the furnace, and he was burnt and consumed." 42 Ethiopian Christians' Lefafa Sedek, "Bandlet of Righteousness," said God gave the secrets of salvation to humanity only because Mary requested it, when she began to grieve for her relatives writhing in hell's River of Fire. Egyptian paganism was the real source of this "Christian" scripture, copied from the Book of the Dead with the name of God substituted for Ra, of Christ for that of Thoth, and of Mary for that of All-Merciful Isis.43 Some theologians said even the worst of sinners could win a sure salvation by doing some special service for Mary. Two scribes pleased her by making copies of the Book of the Miracles of the Virgin Mary. Afterward they committed many sins, and when they died, devils came for their souls. But the Virgin pulled them away from the devils, saving them on account of their devotion to her.44 At times it seemed that Mary, not God, was the real opponent of evil forces. Spengler said this was "one of the maxima of the Gothic, one of its unfathomable creations-one that the present day forgets and deliberately forgets .... It is not possible to exaggerate either the grandeur of this forceful, insistent picture or the depth of sincerity with which it was believed in. The Mary-myths and the Devil-myths formed themselves side by side, neither possible without the other. Disbelief in either of them was deadly sin. There was a Mary-cult of prayer, and a Devil-cult of spells and exorcisms." 45 Historian Henry Adams noted: "Without Mary, man had no hope except in atheism, and for atheism the world was not ready .... The thirteenth century could not afford to admit a doubt. Society had staked its existence, in this world and the next, on the reality and power of the Virgin." 46 Caesarius of Heisterbach told a story showing that Mary was more revered than God. A knight of Liege needed money and so made a pact with Satan. When asked to curse and renounce God, he did so willingly. However, when the demon required him to renounce the Virgin, he refused, horrified. Therefore the Virgin later intervened to save him from damnation. 47 Mary dispensed compassion (Hindu karuna) more effectively than Christ, for this very quality had been associated with the feminine image from the beginning. Compassion was the charis of sacred harlots, which contributed much to Mary's consistent patronage of prostitutes. The "whore" Mary Magdalene was one of the original Marian trinity.48 Augstein says Mariolatry evolved because "the people needed a queen of heaven, as the Israelites needed one in Jeremiah's time, one for whom they could bake cakes, a great mother, a fertility-prostitute; but she was half shown to them, half withheld, and Freud only gives us half the truth when he says that the Christian religion recreated the mother-god." 49 Actually, the people recreated the mother-god out of their own pagan heritage. Churchmen claimed that all women lay under a threefold curse. They were accursed if they were barren. They were accursed also if they conceived, since conception was of the nature of original sin. They were accursed by the pains of childbirth, in fulfillment of God's curse on Eve. But Mary escaped all three curses. "Mary alone of all women is blessed, because she is virgin and fruitful, she conceives in holiness, and gives birth without pain." 50 Of course this view of Mary did little to improve the lot of ordinary women, presenting them with a wholly impossible ideal, yet implying that they fell short of the ideal only because of their sinfulness. 51 The ancients saw no incongruity in a Goddess who was both virgin and mother (as well as lover and crone), because she represented all women in all phases of life. Christians however insisted on taking the "miracle" literally, having lost sight of its subtle allegory. A hidden reason for the church's adoption of Mary was the successful amputation of her pre-Christian sexuality. Of all the attributes she inherited from the ancient Goddess, Mary's virginity was most emphasized. She was called "the Virgin," not "the Mother." Church fathers insisted that she never engaged in sexual intercourse in her life, even though the Bible plainly spoke of Jesus's brothers and sisters. 52 St. Ambrose demanded, "Would the Lord Jesus have chosen for his mother a woman who would defile the heavenly chamber with the seed of a man, that is to say one incapable of preserving her virginal chastity intact?" 53 Marian legends insisted that, although Mary was amazingly beautiful, no man could ever look on her with desire. 54 Yet some monasteries institutionalized desire for Mary, who "married" the monks as Christ "married" nuns. If a knight placed his ring on the finger of Mary's image, she would grip it firmly so it couldn't be removed. At this, the knight considered himself a Bridegroom of the Virgin and entered a monastery. The same tales were told of pagan statues of Venus, who "married" any man who placed a ring on her marble finger. 55 In 1470 a Breton Black Friar, Alain de Ia Roche, claimed the Virgin married him in the presence of many saints and angels, placing on his finger a ring woven of her hair. 56 Cistercians styled themselves "Knights of Our Lady," associating their Lady with the pagan May Queen. Aegidus's 13th-century history of the order said it was the custom in the time of Bishop Albero for the clergy of Liege to choose "from among their concubines" a Paschal and Pentecostal Queen, who was robed in purple, crowned, throned, and worshipped with drums and music, "revered almost with idolatry as if she were an idol." 57 She also manifested herself as the Fairy Queen who watched over a monastery near Laach as the monks' divine Bride. She announced each man's death three days in advance by placing a lily in his stall at midnight. 58 Gothic cathedrals were dedicated not to God or Jesus but to Notre Dame; they were collectively called "Our Ladies" or "Palaces of the Queen of Heaven." 59 Many of them were built over pagan shrines of the Great Goddess. Rome's cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore was built over the sacred cave of the Magna Mater. Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline Hill was formerly a temple of Tanit. Mary's churches throughout Italy were founded on shrines of Juno, Isis, Minerva, Diana, Hecate. One church was even naively named Santa Maria sopra Minerva: Holy Mary over (the shrine of) Minerva.60 In the 6th century, the great temple of Isis at Philae was rededicated to Mary.61 Aphrodite's sanctuaries on Cyprus became churches of Mary, whom the Cypriots continued to address by Aphrodite's name.62 At Chartres, the heathen idol of the virgo paritura (Virgin Giving Birth) was preserved in the so-called Druid Grotto underneath the cathedral. It was said to be a black statue of Mary.63 Ecclesia, "the Church," was one of Mary's titles. She was identi- fied with both the buildings and the organization of Holy Mother Church as bride and mother of God. Yet this pseudo-female church remained the exclusive property of men. As late as February 1977 Pope Paul VI again forbade ordination of women, saying the church "does not consider herself [sic] authorized to admit women to priestly ordination." The pope maintained that priests must have a "natural resemblance" to Christ, and if they were women "it would be difficult to see in the minister the image of Christ." 64 There was no mention that a priestess might present a resemblance to Mary, who symbolized the church itself. The modern church prefers to forget that early churches of Mary were staffed by priestesses, not priests. 65 Above all, Christian authorities feared Mary might be the channel through which Goddess-worship could reestablish itself, for she inspired utterances similar to those the ancient Mother inspired, like Goethe's: "Supreme and sovereign Mistress of the World! ... Oh Virgin, in the highest sense most pure, oh Mother, worthy of all our worship, our chosen Queen, equal with the gods." 66 The secret, ineradicable heresies of Marian worship received graphic form in the famous Vierge Ouvrante-Mary as a statue that opened up to show God, Jesus, angels, and saints contained inside her. In the generating and nourishing, protective and transformative, feminine power of the unconscious, a wisdom is at work that is infinitely superior to the wisdom of man's waking consciousness, and that, as source of vision and symbol, of ritual and law, poetry and vision, intervenes, summoned or unsummoned, to save man and give direction to his life. This feminine-maternal wisdom is no abstract, disinterested knowledge, but a wisdom of loving participation . ... In the patriarchal development of the Judea-Christian West, with its masculine, monotheistic trend toward abstraction, the goddess, as a feminine figure of wisdom, was disenthroned and repressed. She survived only secretly, for the most part in heretical and revolutionary bypaths . ... Seen from the outside, the "Vierge Ouvrante" is the familiar and unassuming mother with child. But when opened she reveals the heretical secret within her. God the Father and God the Son, usually represented as heavenly lords who in an act of pure grace raise up the humble, earth-bound mother to abide with them, prove to be contained in her; prove to be the "contents" of her all-sheltering body. 67 Mary represented the second of the two expedients men used to overcome their fear of women, according to Horney: disparagement and idealization.68 But she was so ideal that she had to be apotheosized just as unmistakably as Jesus himself. So she rose bodily from the earth and ascended to glory. Unfortunately, those who formulated this idea were quite ignorant of the vastness of the universe, and their simplistic "rising to the sky" no longer serves an age in which such information is readily available. Even assuming that Mary's body could travel at the speed oflight-an impossible idea to begin with-it would be only two thousand light-years away at the present time, about one-fiftieth of the distance across our own galaxy, let alone plunged into the unthinkable immensity of intergalactic space. And yet in an era when the absurdity of the idea is perfectly plain to the educated, to be exact on June 30, 1968, the Credo of Pope Paul VI reconfirmed the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary-though God apparently didn't take the trouble to inform him about the method of its accomplishment. 69 But not all minds in the modern age are modern minds. Many remain ignorant of what has been discovered about the physical universe. Many are ignorant of the theories and doctrines professed by their own religion. They worship Mary only because their inner being demands a mother-archetype, and she is the only one presented to them. They don't know how many "Marys" there were before Christianity. But educated churchmen know. Canon John de Satge wrote: "The evangelical has a strong suspicion that the deepest roots of the Marian cultus are not to be found in the Christian tradition at all. The religious history of mankind shows a recurring tendency to worship a mother-goddess . ... May it not be the case, the evangelical wonders, that what we have here is in reality an older religion, a paganism which has been too lightly baptized into Christ and whose ancient features persist under a thin Christian veil?" 70 However, Mary wasn't "lightly" adopted by Christianity. She was opposed, attacked, and finally accepted only with many theological misgivings and restrictions. Early Gospels that dwelt on the divinity of Mary were labeled "poisonous" by the orthodox church.71 Christian mystics who coveted the female role and spoke of "becoming Mary and bearing God from within," did so in defiance of the church's earlier edict that Mary couldn't claim the title of Theotokos (God-bearer), because God couldn't be born of a mortal woman.72 The edict was abandoned after several centuries only because Christians wished to emulate the pagan Mystery-cults whose Savior-gods were invariably born of mortal virgins. (See Virgin Birth.) Christian art of the first five centuries showed Mary in a position lower than Jesus, even lower than the Magi, who wore haloes while she wore none. In the 6th century she acquired a halo and rose to the central position in a group of non-haloed apostles. By the 9th century she reigned as Queen of Heaven in the middle of the apse in two cathedrals. 73 By the 14th century, Wyclif was writing: "It seems to me impossible that we should obtain the reward without the help of Mary. There is no sex or age, no rank or position, of anyone in the whole human race, which has no need to call for the help of the Holy Virgin." The Te Deum Laudamus declared, "All the earth doth worship thee, Spouse of the Eternal Father." 74 When Mary appeared in a subordinate position, it was in the role of Daughter-like the Virgin Kore-on the lap of the Elder Goddess represented by "God's grandmother," the ancient Anna (St. Anne, called Mary's mother). In some painted or sculpted groupings, the two Goddesses and the male infant seem to form a trinity quite exclusive of God. 75 An observer might be reminded of the Egyptian god-king on the laps of his Two Mothers, they who would nurse him forever and thus give him eternal life. The mythical history of St. Anne reveals that she, even more directly than Mary, descended from the image of that fertile Creatress, Mother Earth. 76 Legends and images of Mary exerted an uncanny appeal even in the "scientific" modern age with its professed skepticism about the supernatural. In 1945, a young boy named Joseph Vitolo was greatly impressed by the film Song of Bernadette, and subsequently conjured up a vision of the Virgin for himself. He conversed with her for sixteen consecutive nights at a certain rock in the Bronx. She told him to have a chapel built on the spot, and promised the appearance of a healing spring within a short time. Though the site received the popular name of the Bronx Lourdes, and credulous folk hurried there in astonishing numbers to pray for miraculous cures, the spring never appeared. Eventually, young Joseph became embarrassed by the fuss he had caused. He then said the Virgin told him she wouldn't come any more to that place. Despite this disappointment, for many years the faithful continued to gather and dig in the mud, seeking the holy spring.77 But it was not only the simple-minded who sought help from Mary. Historian Henry Adams thought Christianity's divine mother, however attenuated, offered the only hope of spiritual comfort in an alienated technological society. He saw that "the males of his society, who had transferred so many of their once autonomous activities to machines and automatons, did not have sufficient life-sense to save the race. In their blind pride over their scientific facilities, they would cling to the insensate mechanisms they had created, making them go faster and faster, though incapable of applying the brakes .... Henry Adams, at the end of his own career, turned to another countervailing form of energy, the energy of life, the energy of erotic love, reproduction, and creation; he sought a counterpoise to chaos by invoking woman's faith in her own creativity, in all the ramifying, formative processes of life, above all those of sex, love, and motherhood." In a poetic address to the Virgin he said: "I feel the energy of faith, not in the future science but in you."78 Once more it seemed that God (or man) depended on his Mother (or woman) to straighten up the mess he had made, even if it meant ceding supreme power to her. An 18th-century theologian wrote, "At the command of Mary all obey, even God." Today it is widely recognized even by laymen that "two rivers of common source, Mary and Maya, the Virgin and Shakti, once again run into one: and the Goddess is once more, as she ever was, the creatrix of the universe, the self-revealing energy of the unknowable God." 79 Myrrh Appearing at two crucial points in Christian mythology, at Jesus's birth (Matthew 2: ll) and again at his death (Mark 15:23), myrrh represented the mystic virgin mother who was also Mother Death, called Mary, or Miriam, or Mari, or Myrrha, or-as the Christians called the virgin Mary-"Myrrh of the Sea." 1 The pagans' version of Mary was the temple-maiden Myrrha, who gave birth to Adonis, "the Lord," in the same cave at Bethlehem that Christians claimed as Jesus's birthplace.2 Myrrh was used as aphrodisiac incense in Adonis's rites, and its thorny twigs probably formed the mock crown of the sacred king, still called the Crown of Thorns. Myrrh was an emblem of Mara, a common Oriental name for the spirit of death.3 Some scholars have offered a theory that myrrh was given Jesus on the cross to deaden his pain, because of a Jewish tradition that "the kindly women of Jerusalem" used to give myrrh to "those who were led out to execution." 4 The theory cannot be supported, since myrrh has no analgesic properties. The women of Jerusalem apparently had another, less kindly reason for giving myrrh to those executed; even early Christians remembered that myrrh meant the death and rebirth of a god and was identified with his holy mother. In the lore of magic, myrrh was credited with power to cause menstruation: perhaps a relic of ancient legends of the castrated god's shedding of the "blood of life." 5 Theotokos "God-bearer," title of the virgin Mary. Church fathers originally opposed the title because "It is impossible that God should be born of a woman." 1 Later church authorities changed their minds and pronounced it possible. Ecclesia "The Church," a title of the virgin Mary, who was supposed to represent the physical body of which Christ was the spiritual head. Holy Mother Church was both bride and mother of God, according to Christian mystics, postulating even an incestuous Sacred Marriage in the old pagan style. The erotic poetry of Solomon's Song was glossed as an expression of the love between Christ and "Ecclesia." lrenaeus said Mary-Ecclesia was "the pure womb which regenerates man unto God." As in the manner of pagan temples, even the church building was likened to Mary's body. Immaculate Conception Often erroneously thought to refer to the conception of Christ, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception actually was invented to absolve the virgin Mary of original sin from the moment of her own conception. Early fathers of the church said Mary couldn't be Theotokos (God-bearer) if she was human, therefore tainted with the sin of Eve; it was heresy to worship her as divine.1 Nevertheless, people insisted on worshipping her.2 By the 12th century, Mariolatry even overshadowed the worship of God and Christ; so the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was invented to make her uniquely holy. Many churchmen opposed the doctrine, which was heatedly argued for the next 700 years. Finally it was adopted as an article of faith by Pope Pius IX in 1854.3 Every Catholic was commanded to believe henceforth that Mary "at the first instant of her conception, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, by the singular grace and privilege granted to her by Almighty God." 4 A certain unnamed medieval holy man had been informed by a divine source that Mary's birthday was September 8, precisely nine months after the December festival which originally represented the conception of the Virgin Goddess Kore.5 Apparently the date was chosen to celebrate Epiphany and the Immaculate Conception at the same time. These events being equally devoid of documentation, their invention and promulgation sometimes aroused scorn among non-Catholics. Hazlitt scoffed: "We hear of her immaculate conception as an afterthought, on the part of the Romanists.... [T]he whole narrative touching her [Mary] is evidently fabulous, and ... the immaculate conception by her mother, her own purification ... are absurdities." 6 How Mary's conception took place was a problem that aroused some ingenious theological nonsense. Mary's father was not God or a spirit but a living man, and if he had sexual intercourse with Mary's mother it would mean using the medium of transmission of original sin, by the church's own teaching. Some theologians would have it that his seed was carried magically, as if he were an incubus. Gabriel The angel who brought God's seed to the virgin Mary. The Bible says Gabriel "came in unto her," which meant he had sexual intercourse with her, in King James terminology (Luke 1:28). Gabriel's name means "divine husband." 1 There seems to have been a hidden reference to the ancient custom, whereby temple virgins were impregnated by certain priests.designated "fathers of the god," as in Egypt.2 See Mary; Virgin Birth.    Mary Magdalene The Gospels say Jesus cast seven devils out of the sacred harlot Mary Magdalene, and appeared first to her after his resurrection (Mark 16:9). Books later eliminated from the canon by Christian censors gave further curious details about the relationship: Jesus loved Mary Magdalene more than all other apostles, called her Apostle to the Apostles and "the Woman Who Knew the All," and often kissed her.1 He said she would excel every other disciple in the coming Kingdom of Light, where she would rule. 2 Before Gnostic Gospels were cut out of the canon, they were accepted as the Word of God, as much as the synoptic Gospels and other New Testament writings. Therefore medieval traditions concerning Mary Magdalene hark back to her early mystical supremacy. She was called Mary Lucifer, "Mary the Light-giver." It was said Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead solely for love of her. "There was no grace that He refused her, nor any mark of affection that He withheld from her."3 The Pistis Sophia made Mary Magdalene the questioner of Jesus, in the Oriental manner of the catechism applied to the god by his Shakti or Devi (Goddess). The female questioner then was addressed as "Dearly Beloved."4 Jesus used the same form of address, though later editors eliminated all traces of the identity of his questioner; but it was apparent that his "dearly beloved" was Mary Magdalene.5 Origen showed a mystic devotion to Mary Magdalene, confusing her with the Goddess by calling her "the mother of all of us," and sometimes Jerusalem, and sometimes The Church (Ecclesia, another title of the Virgin). Origen claimed Mary Magdalene was immortal, having lived from the beginning of time.6 Thus it seems Mary the Whore was only another form of Mary the Virgin, otherwise the Triple Goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar, the Great Whore of Babylon who was worshipped along with her savior-son in the Jerusalem temple.7 The Gospel of Mary said all three Marys of the canonical books were one and the same.8 Indeed, the Virgin and Whore were still confused with one another in the 7th century A.D. when, on the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Pope Sergius instituted an annual procession to the old temple of the prostitute-goddess Libera, changing the temple's name to Santa Maria Maggiore: Most-Great Holy Mary.9 It was not made clear which Holy Mary was meant. A Gnostic poem merged the two of them as a primal feminine power: "I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore, and the holy one." 10 Magdalene means "she of the temple-tower." The Jerusalem temple had a triple tower representing the triple deity, one tower bearing the name of the queen, Mariamne, an earthly incarnation of the Goddess Mari. 11 This was the same Mariamne, Miriam, or Mary who took Joseph for her lover. 12 Priestesses of this temple apparently subsidized Jesus and his companions, according to Luke 8:1-3, which says Jesus and "the twelve" were financially supported by Mary Magdalene and a group of women. Latin texts say the women provided for "him" (Jesus), but Greek texts make it "them." 13 The seven "devils" exorcised from Mary Magdalene seem to have been the seven Maskim, or Anunnaki, Sumero-Akkadian spirits of the seven nether spheres, born of the Goddess Mari. Their multiple birth was represented in her sacred dramas, which may account for their alleged emergence from Mary Magdalene. An Akkadian tablet said ofthem: "They are seven! In the depths of the ocean, they are seven! In the brilliancy of the heavens, they are seven! They proceed from the ocean depths [Maria], from the hidden retreat." 14 The Gospels say no men attended Jesus's tomb, but only Mary Magdalene and her women. Only women announced Jesus's resurrection. This was because men were barred from the central mysteries of the Goddess. Priestesses announced the successful conclusion of the rites, and the Savior's resurrection. The Bible says the male apostles knew nothing ofJesus's resurrection, and had to take the women's word for it (Luke 2 4: 10-11 ). The apostles were ignorant of the sacred tradition and didn't even realize a resurrection was expected: "They knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9). Mari-Ishtar the Great Whore anointed-or christ-ened-her doomed god when he went into the underworld, whence he would rise again at her bidding. That is, she made him a Christ. Her priestess raised the lament for him when he died in the flesh, as a sacrificial victim. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, victims were told: "The harlot who anointed you with fragrant oil laments for you now." 15 Templewomen of Jerusalem raised the same lament for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8: 14), with whom Jesus was identified. Jesus himself said Mary Magdalene anointed him for his burial, pouring a precious unguent on his head in the time-honored manner of the sacred king' s crowning (Matthew 26:7-12). The christening-vase of holy oil was the ubiquitous symbol of Mary Magdalene in Christian art-though the virgin Mary also bore the harlot's title of Holy Vase. 16 See Jesus Ben Pandera. Virgin and Whore constantly exchanged attributes through the Middle Ages; the virgin Mary was consistently a special patron of prostitutes.'7 A Christian magic ring, now in the London museum, bears the legend, "Holy Mary Magdalene pray for me." 18 Pope Julius II by a papal bull established a "sacred" brothel in Rome, which flourished under his successors Leo X and Clement VII. The earnings of this brothel supported the Holy Sisters of the Order of St. Mary Magdalene, indicating that the Holy Sisters and the magdalenes (whores) were one and the same. Pope Innocent III also favored Rome's collegia of prostitutes, called virgines, "unmarried women." He publicly announced that ariy man who married one of them would be specially praised in heaven. 19 Much Christian myth-making went into the later history of Mary Magdalene. She was said to have lived for a while with the virgin Mary at Ephesus. This story probably was invented to account for the name Maria associated with the Ephesian Goddess. Afterward, Mary Magdalene went to Marseilles, another town named after the ancient sea-mother Mari. Her cult centered there. Bones were found at Vezelay and declared to be hers. Her dwelling was a cave formerly sacred to the pagans, at St. Baume (Holy Tree).2° For thirty years she lived there without eating or drinking, her only nourishment the sweet songs of the angels, a "delightful repast" she daily took in through her ears.21 A church was built over her grotto. Local winegrowers still offer votive candles to her for a good vintage, as if the ancient fertilitymother still occupied the site. 22 St. Martha accompanied Mary to Provence and worked a number of miracles there. Meeting a dragon named Tarasque (i.e., the Celtic deity Taranis), Martha destroyed him by tying him up with her girdle and pouring holy water on his head. 23 Old images of the Twofold Goddess with her Great Serpent seem to have been renamed Mary and Martha. More often, Mary appeared as the typical feminine trinity ruling birth, love, and death. As Holy Mary at the Cradle, she was the midwife (or birth-goddess) who delivered Jesus.24 As harlot and funerary priestess she was linked with sex and death. Finally there was the Gnostic suggestion that she was the original "pope," foundress of Christ's church, according to the Oriental idea that spiritual authority must pass from male to female and vice versa (see Peter, Saint). Some said she married St. John the Evangelist.25 In 12th-century Milan they were worshipped together in a dual cathedral built and administered by the monks of St. John jointly with the virgines of St. Maria Maggiore, also entitled Sancta Dei Genetrix (Holy Mother of God). The androgynous cathedral was excavated in 1943-44, but its discovery was kept secret. 26 During the 13th century a Dianic temple was rededicated to Mary Magdalene. At Easter, the story of her conversion of the rulers of Marseilles was chanted at the altar. Later the sacred song was suppressed. Later still, Mary's devotees were forbidden to hold mass. In 1781, the Magdalene temple was demolished. 27 Magdala "High Place," or "Temple"; in Herod's triple-towered palace in Jerusalem, the sanctuary of Queen Mariamne. Thus "Miriam of Magdala" (Mary Magdalene) was either the queen herself or a high priestess impersonating the Goddess Mari. See Mary. Freya/Frea/Frigga/Frigg Great Goddess of northern Europe, leader of the "primal matriarchs" called Afliae, "powerful ones," or Disir, "divine grandmothers": the same as the Hindu matrikadevis or mother goddesses. Freya was the Vanadis, the ruling ancestress (dis) of the Vanir or elder gods, who ruled before the arrival of Odin and the patriarchal Aesir ("Asians") from the east. Myths said Odin learned everything he knew about magic and divine power from Freya. 1 The pagans said nothing could be lucky without Freya's presence. Even the gods languished and began to decline toward death, like mortals, when Freya was taken from them.2 Like all forms of the Goddess, Freya represented sexual love, which is why her alternate name Frigg became a colloquialism for sexual intercourse. Her consort Frey sometimes took the form of a phallus. In Uppsala his name was Fricco, "Lover," cognate with the phallic god Priapus, from the Indo-European root prij, to make love-which also gave rise to the modern "prick." 3 Though he was sometimes called Freya's twin brother, like the Artemis-Apollo, Isis-Osiris pairs, Frey made a lingam-yoni combination with Freya. Their names meant "the Lord" and "the Lady." 4 Some writers identified them with Attis and Cybele, tracing Frigga to "Frigia" or Phrygia, the Magna Mater's home.5 Frey was the god of Yule, the pagan solstitial festival assimilated to Christmas. At the turning of the solar year he was born of his virgin-mother- sister-bride.6 Like other seasonal gods he had a perpetual rival, Njord, the other half of the year. They were collectively blotgodar (blood-gods), who fought and sacrificed each other over and over. Njord was called the first god of the Swedes, having ruled before Odin brought alien gods from Asia. Frey was another aspect of him, worshipped in the sacred grove at Uppsala long before it was taken over by Odin's priests.7 The grove itself stood for the body of the Goddess. Many of Freya's names were only kennings (metaphors) from the hymns composed in her honor by her skalds. Focusing on the theme of love, and known as mansongr, "woman songs," these compositions were specifically forbidden by the medieval church. 11 Despite the opposition of the clergy, Germans persisted in believing that Freya's sacred day, Friday, was the luckiest day for weddings. 12 Freya or one of her equivalents married each of the early Swedish kings: "They were regarded in heathen times as the husbands of the fertility goddess .... [T]hey suffered a real or symbolic death in that capacity when their time of supremacy came to an end." Scandinavian Aryans followed the typical pattern of sacred marriage between Goddess and king, the latter becoming identified with the male fertility deity whose function it was "to die for the land and for his people, while the goddess never dies. Her function is to weep over him, perhaps to help bring about his return, or to give birth to the divine child who is to take his place." 13 (See Kingship.) After their abrupt sacrificial deaths, Freya kept the spirits of slain kings and heroes in her Fensalir or Marsh-halls, also called Folkvangr, the Field of Warriors. 14 They could be reborn after spending a cycle of time in the wet, fertile earth-womb. Freya's Marsh-halls recall the "bog" where Baal-Hadad lay for seven years before he was resurrected to godhood by priestesses of Asherah. 15 Like the early Semitic worshippers of the Great Mother, Aryans were "men of clay"-the meaning of their name-because their bodies came forth from Modir. This meant the root of both "mud" and "mother"; she was the same primal creatress whom the Russians called Moist Mother Earth. 16 Modir too was another manifestation of Freya. She was especially linked with the strange archaic god Heimdall, whose name meant "a ram," undoubtedly one of the ubiquitous animal substitutes for a human sacrifice. The ram's horn was Heimdall's ringing Gjallarhorn, on which he blew the Last Trump to announce the coming of doomsday and the world's destruction. In the Bible, magic ram's horns were supposed to bring about the destruction of Jericho in the same manner 17 The link between Heimdall and Freya suggested her Kali-like function as a Destroying Goddess, which she would assume when men and gods displeased her by forgetting her principles of right living, justice, honor, and peace. She knew more magic than the gods. Her knowledge was collectively seidr, cognate of Sanskrit siddhi, the miraculous powers developed by the practice of yoga. Freya had so many incarnations and aspects that the scholars who tried to characterize her by only one of them soon ran into a mass of contradictions. She was called the Goddess of fertility, love, the moon, the sea, the earth, the underworld, death, birth; virgin, mother, ancestress, queen of heaven, ruler of fate, of the stars, of magic; the Great Sow wedded to the sacrificial boar; the Mistress of Cats; the leader of Valkyries; the Saga or "sayer" who inspired all sacred poetry. In sum, she was as many-sided as any other version of the Goddess. Marginal note: Freya had many alternate names. She was Gerd the Earth Mother, or Eartha; Godiva, "the Goddess"; Syr, "the Sow"; Gefn, "the Giver"; Horn, the holy harlot; the Vanadis; or Mardoll, the Moon Shining Over the Sea.8 Sometimes she was simply Lofn, "Love." 9 She was also identified with Mana, the Moon; or Hel, the underworld; or Nerthus, the primal Goddess of the Plow, in charge of the fertility of the earth; she separated the island of Zealand from Sweden by plowing a furrow around it. 10 Friday Day of the Goddess Freya, called unlucky by Christian monks, because everything associated with female divinity was so called. Friday the 13th was said to be especially unlucky because it combined the Goddess's sacred day with her sacred number, drawn from the 13 months of the pagan lunar year. (See Menstrual Calendar.) Romans named the day dies Veneris after Venus, their own version of the same Goddess. In modern French, Friday is still vendredi, 1 and in Italian, venerdi. Friday used to be the seventh day of the week. It was the Sabbath of the Jewish lunar calendar and is still the Sabbath of Islam. Scandinavian pagans, Hindus, and rural Scots insisted that Friday was the most propitious day for a marriage because it was the day that favored fertility. Fish were eaten on Friday as fertility charms, in honor of Venus (or Freya) whose totems they were. Fish are still considered "aphrodisiac" food because they were sacred to Aphrodite. Thus the Catholic habit of eating fish on Friday was wholly pagan in origin. But the church never acknowledged the debt. In the Middle Ages, when pagan votaries of Freya continued to celebrate her rites on Friday, churchmen designated her day as the day of "devil worship." 2 Vanir Scandinavian elder deities: peace-loving, matriarchal, agricultural nature spirits led by Mother Earth and by Freya, "the Lady," called Vanadfs or Matriarch of the Vanir. The warlike Aesir led by Father Odin moved into the territory of the Vanir and made war against them, beginning with an act of cruelty: the Aesir seized and tortured their holy sorceress, Gullveig.1 In the end the Vanir were conquered, but many generations remained in awe of their miraculous powers. They were said to have accomplished everything by magic, and invented all the knowledge that the new gods learned. 2 Whether the Vanir were described as elder gods, giants, elves, matriarchs, or "primal ancestresses," they seem to have represented pre-patriarchal farming cultures who were forced to give way to nomadic Aryan invaders. Kelle/Kelly Irish-druidic priest-name, derived from pre-Christian holy harlots of the Goddess Kelle, Kale, or Kali. Irish writings described the divine harlot Mary Magdalene as a kelle. 1 The medieval term Kele-De was considered somewhat mysterious, translated "Bride of God" if a woman, "Servant of God" if a man.2 These translations were inaccurate. Kele-De meant literally the spirit of the Goddess Kele, evidently identical with the Goddess Kali of the original Indo-European Celts. Votaries of the Goddess Kele stressed the search for inward perfection through meditation, yogic style.3 Her gods assumed the lotus position like eastern yogis. Her primitive Grail hero, Peredur, experienced her as the "most beautiful woman in the world," represented by the three colors of the Divine Prakriti, still known as the Gunas, standing for her powers of creation, preservation, and destruction. 4 The mythical "St. Kilda" seems to have been another version of the Goddess Kele, dwelling on a remote rocky islet once identified with the western paradise of the dead. St. Kilda's Isle still exists, but the origin of its name has been forgotten. The ubiquitous Irish word kill, a cell or cave, once meant a shrine of Kele, whose holy men called themselves Culdees, Colidees, Cele-De, Keledio, etc. Some were described in Christian histories as monks, though they were obviously married.5 Kildare was a major shrine of the Goddess Kilda-Kele, or Brigit, identified with the virgin Mary after Christian monks appropriated the site. But the guardianship of the sacred fire at Kildare had long been a prerogative of priestesses; the shrine was forbidden to men.6 Confusion of Kilda-Kele-Brigit with Mary was not too far-fetched, as they had been aspects of the same Goddess for thousands of years in India as Kali-Mari or Kel-Mari, the Pot Goddess who made human forms out of clay.7 (See Kali Ma.) Xochiquetzal Mexican Aphrodite: a many-faceted Love Goddess, Moon-virgin, fairy queen, and Madonna; a patroness of marriage and sacred harlots, dance, songs, spinning, weaving, changes and transformations, magic, and art. Like Syrian Adonis, her son-lover was a young vegetation god. 1 Her worshippers said Xochiquetzal was the mother of all races of humanity after the primordial flood. Her many children were as dumb as animals until her holy spirit in the form of a dove descended on them from the Tree of Heaven and gave them speech. In this way all the world's languages were created. 2 In addition to the dove, another symbol Xochiquetzal shared with the ancient Indo-European Goddesses was her sacred flower, the marigold-perhaps a New World version of the golden Thousand Petaled Lotus representing the Great Mother in India. Xochiquetzal's paradise was located "above the nine heavens in a very pleasant and delectable place, accompanied and guarded by many people and waited on by other women of the rank of goddesses, where are many delights of fountains, brooks, flower-gardens." 3 This fairyland was available after death to those who faithfully served the Goddess and lived according to her laws. Thais, Saint The famous harlot Thais, mistress of Alexander the Great, was transferred to the 4th century A.D. in her Christianized legend, which ignored chronology so Thais could repent her gaudy life and be converted to Christianity by one of the Coptic cenobites, usually St. Anthony. To fulfill what seemed to be one of the ascetics' favorite fantasies, Thais at the height of her beauty and fame was said to have renounced her sins, mortified her flesh, burned her fine clothes and ornaments, given away all her wealth to the church, and walled herself up in a desert cell to live in the midst of her own filth. The only trouble with the hagiographer's tale was that, at the time it was supposed to have happened, Thais had already been dead for more than 600 years. From Barbara Walker's Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets