What popped into my mind when I first saw this picture -- and does so again every time I see it again -- was "The world was fair in Durin's day," which is a line from a poem in Tolkien, about the ancestor of the Dwarves. Gimli sings it in Moria in The Lord of the Rings.
Why that? The poem does mention "Elder Days before the fall," and I suppose the picture does look rather Edenic -- but why think of Durin, and his song about jewels and metal and halls of stone, rather than the much more relevant garden imagery of Eden itself? It took me a minute to figure it out, but this is the reason:
This is the center of interest in the picture: this improbably enormous red passerine bird. The pheasant and the muntjacs and the boar all seem to be staring at it in disbelief. And nearby is an even more monstrous passerine, whose brownish coloration suggests a thrush.
"Durin's day" in the poem sung by Gimli refers to an era in ancient history -- Durin's time, the days of Durin -- but in The Hobbit, Durin's Day is an actual day on the calendar, and an unusually large thrush knocking on Durin's Day plays a key role in the plot.
So that's what happened: My subconscious mind put together giant thrushes and a prelapsarian paradise and arrived at Durin's Day.
Another striking feature of the picture is that all the animals, from the songbird to the monkey to the bear, are pretty much the same size. Later it occurred to me that this could be another meaning of the world being "fair" -- as in equitable -- in Durin's day.
Tonight I was in my study, saw the calendar again, and again thought, "The world was fair in Durin's day." Tonight, though, it also occurred to me to wonder precisely what day was Durin's Day. Had Tolkien or any of his readers ever calculated what date on our calendar would correspond to the date the thrush knocked? To ask the question is to answer it. Obviously that's exactly the sort of thing Tolkien and Tolkienians would do. Minutes after midnight -- the first hour of October 15 here in Taiwan, but still the 14th in England and most of the rest of the world -- I looked it up and found -- well, with that lead-up, you already know the answer, don't you?
13 comments:
William,
2 parts
Part 1
DD (Durin's day )numerically totals 44
As you know, D is the Hebrew Dalet, the doorway, a doorway symbolic of a transition from one place to another as I believe (and have predicted about) that we (humanity)
are on the precipice of a Shifting of Ages.
Your title: "The world was fair in Durin's day" I personally disagree with.
IMO, the world (this duality dimension Earth)
has never been 'fair' although I do believe that everything is connected.
As you know the annular eclipse (Oct 14) is today.
Do recall my recent previous comment (with links) connecting the 'Ring of Fire":
(this Oct 14, 2023, eclipse) with the embers and this second eclipse's
connection to the Aleph i.e., the 3 eclipses being :
The Aug 2017 eclipse ( do note that 2017 was the year President Trump
announced Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel... Oct 14 2023 annular eclipse (today)...
and the April 8 2024 eclipse which forms an X ( with the 2017 total eclipse) over Cairo, Ill.
Cairo Ill is also known as Little Egypt.
Again please refer to my recent previous comment on your blog about what I believe
to be the significance of all of this.
Also, recall I shared on your blog last year, my Moon River dream of July 2014.
To recap the dream a bit (as what I'm saying here won't make sense
unless I recap the dream a bit)
I was shopping in Yellow Springs. (Yellow Springs is a hippie enclave in Ohio).
In real life, Dave Chappelle lives in Yellow Springs, as did Rod Serling (Twilight Zone)
In the dream it was a beautiful day, people were out and about. At one point I was on a bus and while looking out the window, all of a sudden I saw large plumes of fire and smoke
Everywhere. People were running about as was I after I got off of the bus.
I took refuge in a cafe type place. The bus driver (who was Black) came up to me
and asked if I was ok, which I replied that I was. He said that he asked because he had seen that another man (who was also Black) had a 50, which I felt that
a 50 was some type of gun.
I then went outside and there was chaos everywhere. I approached several people asking them if they were going North. I was so scared and kept repeating that I had to go North to get home ( Wilmington Ohio ) . What's interesting is (in real life) Wilmington is south of Wilmington, not north.
In the dream, all of a sudden everything became quiet, and we all looked up and saw the moon
had 'returned'. I felt that the moon had disappeared which is what caused the chaos.
I was excited to see the moon. All of a sudden, I saw the moon start to slowing fall
towards the earth. I once again became scared. I saw it falling closer and although I didn't see it, I knew the moon had crashed into a large body of water.
William
Part 2
( Do note that in real life there is NOT a large body of water near Yellow Springs)
Also interesting the number 50 in the dream, and its connection to the Jubilee.
Also when I had the dream in July 2014 it had been 20 years or so since I'd been to Yellow Springs.
I think the symbolic setting of Yellow Springs was important to the 'message'. Yellow
being a clue and again please recall several of my previous comments about Yellow and Red and the International Maritime Law Signal Flags and O for Oscar.
Interesting your recent post and the color Yellow :
Syncs: Drowning boy, unmask, gold medal, The King in Yellow
Also, recall my recent comment about the 3 eclipses, and what I believe is their connection with the Aleph, the date Oct 19 and the movie with Nick Cage titled Knowing.
Your reference to Oct 19 and Tolkien is very interesting indeed.
Here is video recapping the Knowing movie ( spoiler alert )
Do recall my previous recent comment connecting much of the symbolism in Knowing
which includes : Black Rock, Burning Man, Eight point star of Ishtar, EE, aliens,
the embers, rabbits ( 2023 the Chinese astrological year of the hare).
We do live in interesting times, no?
Little Girl Predicts All Major Catastrophes In The Future | Movie Story Recapped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMwSVPgXaFI
Debbie, note that on Durin’s Day “the Sun and the Moon may be seen in the sky together.” They couldn’t be much more “together” than during an annular eclipse!
William,
Exactly!!!
IMO, another interesting message regarding my Moon River dream is
being on a bus.
When I have a very odd dream( which there have been a gazillion odd dreams!!, I deep dive into research trying to figure out the symbolism presented in the dream.
I'm an investigator.. I personally need to solve a puzzle presented to me.
I believe esoteric experiences, dreams and syns are puzzle pieces.
I personally believe that All esoteric experiences including dreams and synchronicity
are messages 'spoken' in the Universal Language of symbolism, numerology/gematria and archetypes( mythology).
Messages from our Soul through our Third Eye (our pineal gland).
Those messages help us transverse on our journey through this duality dimension(Earth).
Sometimes I don't understand
the message of a dream until 5 hours or 5 days or 5 months or 5 years or even 50 years later.
A bus of course is a vehicle which transports many people all at once.
We are NOT at the helm when we are on a bus.
Somebody else is driving the bus taking all of us (who are on the bus (collectively)
to a place that we may or may NOT want to go.
In the Moon River dream, we all were subjected to an event that was out of our control.
I believe we (humanity) are on the precipice of (or at the doorway) of a Shifting of Ages.
An old Nintendo game, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, was on my mind for a while recently, so the "unmask" sync brought it back up. A large part of the game involves collecting and using masks that grant or enhance abilities. Four of them even give the player character (Link) alternate physical forms -- and come to think of it, the first one exists because Link is forcibly transformed at the start of the game. A healing song lifts the curse, sealing its transformation into a mask for wilful reuse. How's that for rescuing/saving face?
It took a little longer to realise the "drowning boy" figures into this too. Majora is rather dark and disturbing, to the point it spawned a popular creepypasta-thing, Ben Drowned. I knew little about it before reading Wiki; figures it started on /x/.
I mention all this here and not on the relevant blog post as Majora also links to Debbie's moon dream. The game's antagonist wears and is influenced by the titular mask, and uses its power to force the moon into falling towards the earth. In the quest to stop that, Link must use time travel -- looping over the three in-game days before impact.
Something else related to Debbie's comments. One scene of a memorable dream I had last year involved a bus ride.
I don't know what public buses are like elsewhere, but the ones in my city all have a single passenger seat directly behind the front doors, giving the sitter a good view of the driver as well as the windscreen. In-dream, I was in that seat, freaking out at every turn, because the driver was reading a large book placed over the steering wheel -- and yet his driving was still perfectly fine.
Wandering Gondola,
2 parts
part 1
Thank you for sharing your dream about the bus ride.
Another reason why I personally believe the message and the meaning
of being on a bus in a dream, is this:
In real life, my mother passed into spirit in Aug of 2002. She had just turned
67 and while she was not terminally ill or bed ridden or anything like that,
however she did have medical issues and a rare blood disorder ( Polycythemia Vera ).
Because she was young, her passing was not at all expected from me nor my siblings.
Her actual cause of death was a rupture of her ulcer, so her passing was sudden.
In June 2002 2 months before she passed, my mother and I were returning from one of her doctor visits and I told her about a strange dream that I had the night before.
In the dream my younger brother, me and my mother were on a city transit bus.
(In Dayton Ohio (where my siblings and I grew up) we took the bus for many years)
In all of the Dayton city buses at that time, right behind the driver there was a clear plastic partition.
Behind the partition, there were 2 bench seats opposite of each other.
The remaining seats were several rows of 2 seats (side by side ) facing the front of the bus. There was a door for exiting and then a few more rows of 2 seats and a bench seat in the very back of the bus.
In the dream, my brother, mother and I sat right behind the bus driver on the bench seat.
The rest of the bus was empty.
At one point I looked towards the very back of the bus and I saw my father.
In real life, my father abandoned our family in 1962 for another woman.
They moved to another state.
My father didn't write us or call.
There were no birthday or holiday cards.
My mother was devastated for many many years as was I, my brother and older sister.
My father passed over of lung cancer in 1974.
Looking back I don't recall having dreams about my father
, so it was VERY ODD that I would dream about him in June of 2002.
In the dream when I saw him on the bus, I couldn't believe it!!
. I recall saying to myself: " Why does
he have that ***crazy smile*** on his face!
He had such a joyful smile on his face from ear to ear. However at the time
of the dream, I didn't think of his smile as joyful, but I do now.
After I said that about his crazy smile, suddenly I looked over to the other bench seat
(which was previously empty) and Lo and behold, my father was sitting there!
I said to him : What are you doing here? I then looked at my mother
and I became so excited and happy and said to my father :
" Oh I know!! You two (him and my mother) are getting back together!!!!
As soon as I said that I immediately remembered, and said to my father;
Oh no~! Wait hold it! You're dead!!
As soon as I said that I immediately knew and turned and hugged my mother putting my arms around her neck, and cried: Please Ma, please don't leave me. Don't leave me.
She whispered : but I'm sick Debbie. I'm sick.
I woke up
In real life while driving back from the doctors in June of 2002,
I told my mother about the dream, and she responded and said that she
had wanted to die which I responded :" Oh no Ma, You're going to get better. You'll see.
My mother quietly said : I hope so..
She passed over on Aug 4, 2002. Two months after the dream.
Wandering Gondola,
Part 2
Of course it wasn't until the last several years after my mother passed
did I figure out the symbolism and meaning of a bus in dream which is this:
Something is going to happen (in the dreamer's life) that will be
beyond the dreamer's or anyone else's control.
What I also learned in the last several years, is the meaning of a 'crazy smile'.
A crazy smile is symbolic of the Tricker/Clown/Joker archetype.
Below I linked the full episode of the Twilight Zone show titled : Twenty Two
Don't know if you've ever seen that particular Twilight Zone episode or not,
but if not do check it out.
In the video, note that the protagonist ( Miss Powell) is holding
a Trickster/ Clown/Joker doll in her lap.
Also note (starting at maker/frame 10:45) listen to Miss Powell make reference
to the morgue nurse that she (Miss Powell) sees in her recurring dreams.
Miss Powell describes the morgue nurse as having a ***crazy smile***.
Here's the link :
The Twilight Zone 1959 053 Twenty Two
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x800e9g
And last but not least, today ( 10/16 )_while searching for the Twenty Two
episode so as to provide a link, yet another lo and behold which is this :
in the blog about Twilight Zone episodes and in particularly Twenty Two, the
author of the article makes reference to a book titled :
**** The Bus-Conductor"*** by E.F. Benson.
I just found this article today (10/16) and how odd
in this post ( link below ) there is a Bus connection!!!
Do NOTE: this article has spoiler alerts
http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2014/04/twenty-two.html
Wandering Gondola,
Today (10-16) I just browsed the link: Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Thank you for sharing that intriguing information!
I've near heard of Legend of Zelda as I am NOT a gamer.
However, I thought how very odd the connection to the moon in Majora's Mask and
the moon having an emotion of SORROW/despair, which is exactly the feeling
in my Moon River dream.
Of course the moon falling to earth in both the Majora's Mask
game and my dream was intriguing.
Water being a conduit to the other side.
In Major's Mask, the water in the form
of tears and emotions, and in my dream, the moon crashes in a large body of water.
Also interestingly in that blog post about Majora's Mask, the reference to Clocktower.
If you saw the video I linked of the Twilight Zone's episode : Twenty Two,
you'll note that in the protagonist Miss Powell's recurring dreams, the clock is very significant to the chronological order of her dream.
Chrono being Saturn?
Perhaps the Moon controls Time in this duality dimension
which would make sense because (and I absolutely believe)
that our Soul can transcend the illusion of Linear time and does so in our REM
Sleep.
Also the scene in Twenty Two starting at marker/frame 5:30, Miss Powell is talking to her business manager and she mentions a BUS terminal.
My older sister and I LOVED Twilight Zone back in the day and it was only because Twilight Zone aired late (10;30 pm ) on Friday nights that we were allowed to try to watch it.
Friday of course being the end of the week and we didn't have to go to school the next day so we were allowed to stay up late.
I say 'try' to watch because most times the broadcast rarely 'came in' because it was
being broadcasted from Cincinnati and we lived in Dayton.
My sister and I would wiggle the 'rabbit ears'
(antenna) of the TV as best we could but most times the broadcasts were just 'snow'
(static).
Most of the earlier Twilight Zone episodes that aired (Twenty-Two being one of them aired in 1959) I don't recall seeing, as I was born in 1955.
A couple of days ago I somehow ended up on the Wikipedia page for "Punic people." The first illustration is of a "Sardo-Punic mask showing a Sardonic grin" -- connecting the mask theme with the "crazy smile" from Debbie's dream. I clicked through to the article on "Sardonicism," which quotes Vladimir Propp thus: "Among the very ancient people of Sardinia, who were called Sardi or Sardoni, it was customary to kill old people. While killing their old people, the Sardi laughed loudly. This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter. . . . laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life."
Debbie, I don't think the Wiki page mentioned this: the Majora moon sheds a "tear", too. Here's a video, watch from 7:38 to 8:56 to see what I mean.
Oh, hey, the Punics are another phoenix... well, Phoenician.
Wandering Gondola,
Thank you for the video link. WOW!!!!
I couldn't help but notice all of the Octagon images in this clip,
of course, the octagon being the 8-point Star of Ishtar which is the
***Steering Wheel**** of a ship.
In your bus dream you wrote: "I was in that seat, freaking out at every turn, because the driver was reading a large book placed over the **** steering wheel*** -- and yet his driving was still perfectly fine".
Hmmmm... Perhaps the message in your dream is: ' Knowledge steers the way???
William,
You wrote : "This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter. . . . laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life."
My response ;
I clicked on the wiki page link about the Punic People and saw the mask.
OMG, that's the crazy smile.!!!
I recognized it immediately.
Thank you for the link.
I absolutely agree with the symbolism of the sardonic laughter information, especially about death transforming into a new life which is exactly what the Trickster does.
I believe that the Trickster transforms us ( us, collectively) so that we can see through the illusion. He pulls the rug out from under us so hard that when our arse hits the ground, we're looking at everything from a different perspective which is the Trickster's
modus operandi, no?
When we are in the illusion, we only 'see' and believe what we're told.
I now believe that in the bus dream my father came to escort my mother (her Soul)
back home, which for the Soul is a joyous occasion indeed.
The Trickster 'knows' that we evolve when we transcend the illusion, which is why
the trickster dons that 'crazy smile'. To evolve is a gift we're rewarded
for lessons learned and taught.
My father in the bus dream, wasn't the only time the trickster has 'visited me'.
It was the first time, but it wasn't the only time as I also met the trickster in another dream a few months after my mother passed in Aug of 2002, although I had no ideal whatsoever
(either time ) who or why the visits.
Because of my gazillion hours of research, I know now, but I didn't know then.
That second dream the trickster and I were at a carnival, which of course the circus, carnivals, fairs etc. are the trickster's domain.
Thanks again for the link!
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