Socyberty » shells

The Gory History of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:49:38 +0000

If you were a nursery rhyme fanatic when you were a lot younger, you would certainly remember Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and that happy tune you’d sing by yourself. When you hear the gory history behind it, all of those happy memories might come crashing down in an instant.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary is set in the reign of Mary also known as ‘Bloody Mary’, the daughter of King Henry the VIII from his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. After her father separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church as a result of when he wanted to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Catholic Mary found herself get demoted from being a princess. Ultimately, when she did become queen, she wanted to rid England of any Protestants because her step sister or Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth was a Protestant and thus, her chances of getting to the throne would be ruined. She wanted an heir to the throne so she married a Spanish prince Phillip who was 11 years her junior. However, she couldn’t give birth after two false pregnancies; she died of what was believed to be ovarian cancer.

There are 3 interpretations of the nursery rhyme that goes:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

One religious interpretation of the nursery rhyme describes the ‘silver bells’ as Catholic cathedral bells and the ‘cockle shells’ as being a sign of pilgrimage to Spain’s Catholic Shrine of St. James. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were the Catholic nuns.

The second interpretation was a series of rude references to Mary’s personal life. ‘How does your garden grow?’ was a direct reference to Mary’s womb and her inability to have children. The ‘cockle shells’ referred to her relationship with her husband Philip who became Philip II where he only married her for political reasons. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were interpreted to be the series of miscarriages and failed pregnancies that Mary went through, resulting in the unavailability of an heir to the throne. Pretty scathing, isn’t it?

The final interpretation is probably the goriest where the name ‘Bloody Mary’ really lives up to it. The ‘silver bells’ signify torture instruments like thumbscrews and ‘cockle shells’ were other torture instruments attached to the genitals! Not so sure now, are we? The ‘pretty maids’ refer to the earliest type of guillotine called the ‘maids’ or ‘Maiden’ which was used to behead victims who were the Protestants at the time.

So now you know the gory tale behind this lovable children’s nursery rhyme, you probably aren’t so sure now. These theories, like many others, have tried to be proven wrong but this rhyme is a good reminder of some of the darkest times in history and a very different approach to censoring the brutal details. Quite contrary indeed!

Killed for a Dollar

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:36:22 +0000

Sand Dollars are disc shaped creatures that live on sandy ocean bottoms, unfortunately for them this is usually next to a populated sandy beach. Even worse is the fact that some people like to take home dried Sand Dollars as souvenirs, or worse, they play Frisbee with the, tossing them into the surf.

When they are alive, they are dark grey-green, as they die they fade to white. What you see is then their skeleton, which is referred to as their “test”. It have an arrangement of five openings and a star pattern and this is considered one of the attractive features of this animal. They bury themselves just below the surface of the sand and in clear waters you can easily find them by digging where you see a circular shape on the sand beneath the water.

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I remember seeing a television program about a man in Eastern Canada, collecting hundreds of Sand Dollars, laying them on the beach to dry, and giving them away to tourists. He was quite popular, and the show was focused on what a neat, friendly, gesture the man was doing. The show seemed quite oblivious to the fact that the man was killing animals for no reason but to give them away to somebody who probably broke it in their suitcase anyhow. I did write the producers of the show, but never heard back. Killed for a Dollar. More to the point, he was killing Sand Dollars, for nothing at all.

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Other sea animals are killed this way, starfish being one of them, even sea horses. Anything that leaves a skeleton or shell worth keeping. Tiny ones are sold in mixed bags of shells to children or used to decorate a “beach theme” table or picture frame. Very few of these died of natural causes. Many were netted while a live and set in the sun to dry/die for our viewing pleasure.

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Below we have a Seashell vendor in Tanzania. Creatures are caught from the ocean and are killed so the shells can be sold to tourists. Not all of the creatures who lived within the shells are edible, as such they were only killed for one purpose, their shell. Killed for a dollar from a tourist who wants a cool souvenir.

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So the next time you are at the beach and see your children digging up Sand Dollars or asking you if they can dry out the starfish they found, remind them that those are living animals, no different than their cat or dog at home. Just because it doesn’t struggle, does not mean it doesn’t suffer.

The Goddess of Love: Aphrodite

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:33:05 +0000

The heavens roared as the power of fertilization was released upon the world; Zeus, the prodigal son, had severed father, Cronus’s vital organ. It fell through the heavens and splashed into the sea.

Aphrodite, the last progeny of Cronus (Saturn), arose from its foam mounted upon a chariot fashioned from shell and drawn by a team of dolphins. She rides across the cresting waves of bliss and blesses lovers with fulfilling sensuality.

Aphrodite is one of the most celebrated of the twelve Olympians. Her beauty is incomparable and she is the “mother of love, queen of laughter, mistress of the graces,” patroness of courtesans and the joy of the pleasures. (J.E. Zimmerman)

Shells are a symbol of Aphrodite and with their crescent opening and evocative shape, they resemble the female sexual flower, the Yoni. The Romans called the Cowry shell, Matriculus, little matrix or womb. It was also known as porcella meaning “vulva” and hence our word porcelain arises. The Greek word kteis also meant vulva, shell and comb. (Woman’s Dictionary, Walker)

A waning dogma of religious belief has regarded sex as animalistic, as something dirty—another chore in the production of offspring, hence its inherent virtues and pleasures were oft ignored and forbidden. The late Alain Danielou defined two forms of sexuality; the first of which leads to birth and strengthens our bond to the material world, both in the manner of the family responsibilities that a new birth necessitates and the genetic remainder that must again participate in the wheel of Karma. The second form of sexuality draws us away from worldly concerns and closer to liberation. Its basis is the timeless and god-like experience of ecstasy.

One form does indeed compliment and balance the other. However, the moral straight jackets, stitched with the cultural yarn of indignant persecution, confines and badgers our collective psyche. It is ultimately guilt and fear that leads to self immolation, stress and finally death. Let us be tolerant and not bury what has become uncomfortable beneath the pretense of ignorance and again claim the beauty and true compassion that is present in all the postures of existence.

Aphrodite inspires blissful sexuality. She helps us confront our own short-comings and transmute them into sovereign blessings. All that she touches is infused with fertile creativity. Her heritage stretches deep into the dark depths of the sea of time; the famous Venus De-milo and the Bablio-Sumerian Ishatar are but a few of her ancient antecedents. Ishatar was the courtesan of the gods and sacred prostitution was practiced in her temples.

She appears in the Gilgamesh epic where she is shunned and cursed. Her bitter rebuttal was to eventually culminate in the hero’s death. Although Ishatar preempted the down fall of many a man, her favors could also elevate one to great places. Sargon, King of Akkad (about 2370-2284 B.C.), related the following account.

“My mother was a priestess, I did not know my father. The priestess, my mother, conceived me and gave birth to me in hiding. She placed me in a basket made of reeds and closed the lid with pitch. She put the basket in the river which was not too high. The river carried me away and brought me to Akki who was a man responsible for libations. Akki looked upon me with kindness and drew me from the river. He adopted me as his child and brought me up. He made me his gardener. It was while I was his gardener that the Goddess Ishatar loved me. Then I became King” (Dhome’s Translation, Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Pg.60

The parallels between Sargon and Moses are indeed extensive. Too much so, to be gone into in this short essay. The Pearl, the treasure of Aphrodite and the moon, not only carries the luster of love and the beauty of purity, but also represents the perfection of wisdom.

System of Coinage

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:04:13 +0000

The invention of coinage is generally attributed to the Lydians during the early 7th century BC. They were wealthy and powerful people. Their coins were stamped and had a guaranteed weight. They were made from electrum, which was a mix of gold and silver. They were the size and shape of a bean and were known as “staters” or “standards”. The first to issue gold and silver coins was Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century.

The idea of using coins soon spread to the Greeks who began to use them from the 6th century B.C. the Bulgarians also began to use coins around the same time. By the 5th century, all the Mediterranean countries were making use of coins. Gold coins were the most valuable, followed by silver and finally copper.

Greek coinage lasted for about 500 years. The Romans picked up the idea of coinage from the. Slowly the system of coinage declined after 500 years. The coins slowly looked thin and unattractive. The Celtic and German tribes, who had close contact with the Greeks and Romans, also began the coinage system by the 2nd century BC. At first they copied the Greek coins but later changed them to abstract shapes from heads, horses and chariots.

The Chinese at first used cowrie shells as coins. Later they shaped bronze coins in the same of the cowrie shells, knives and hoes. The proper coins were issued in 212 BC by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.

By the 15th century the art of coinage was revived as metal became more plentiful. Skilled artists engraved the coins. The first British coins were struck before the arrival of the Romans to Britain.

Coins are made by punching a piece of metal with the design of a coin on it. The Chinese cast their coins in moulds. The coins are made in a “mint”. Coins usually have pictures and some writing on them. They also have a milled edge. This was originally used on gold and silver coins to avoid fraudulent “clipping” of the edges of the precious-metal coins. The tradition is still continued to this day.

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