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I was looking up the Duke because he appeared in last night's dreams. I dreamt that I was visiting an old friend from college, a very dark-skinned Black man. Since our college days he had had some sort of racial awakening, for which he was somewhat apologetic: "You came all this way to see me, and all I want to talk about is Black people stuff!"
"That's okay," I said. "You can still be friends with a racist, right?"
"Of course. That reminds me, would you be willing to help me out with my research by taking this racism test I designed? It's called the Total Racism Indicator."
"'Total Racism'? I'm sure I'll ace it."
The first question asked whether I preferred white sand or black sand. I told my friend I wasn't sure how to answer.
"Well, you came to this black-sand beach to visit me, didn't you?"
"Yes, but I got here by crawling across a white-sand desert, when I could have just flown."
"Okay, maybe just skip that question."
Another question had a photo of Duke Ellington and said, "This is a photo of Duke Ellington. Could he be Greek? (A) Yes. (B) Maybe part Greek. (C) No, because he's Black. (D) No, because he's American."
I went with the last option. I hesitated at first because I was afraid it wasn't racist enough and would hurt my score, but in the end I decided it was a trick question and all the answers were racist.
In the end I "passed" -- i.e., was indicated to be a Total Racist. I was unreasonably excited about this, shouting, "I passed! I passed!" and high-fiving my friend and other random people of various races who happened to be in the vicinity.
26 comments:
Clinkscale was a "famous" and excellent accordion (and similar) shop in Melrose, Scotland - nowadays online only.
Accordions? I guess it's possible to rebel against onomastic destiny after all!
Given that Passover began last night, and Elijah is a central figure in its observance, my guess is the name of Ellington is relevant here. The name Ellington can come from both Ella's Town and/or Ellis' Town. Ellis is a form of the name Elias/ Elijah. The use or tie in to the name/ person of Ella is also interesting, particularly given this reference to a town or city.
Duke refers to a prince or governor, and Ellington's real given name is Edward Kennedy, with Edward referring to a "rich protector" and Kennedy giving us a reference to a helmet.
Bill, that interpretation adds a possible meaning to the "Could he be Greek?" question, since Joseph Smith made a distinction between Elijah (Hebrew) and Elias (Greek).
I posted about Elijah recently, in case you missed it:
https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2026/03/baptism.html
Since we're playing the name game, I should mention that in the dream I completed the Total Racism Indicator test under a false name, which I believe was something like Marvin Fenlingstone Starsky. (I'm 100% certain about Marvin, less so about the other two names.) I explained to my friend that of course it would be imprudent to use my real name on a racism test.
Nibley comments on the Elijah/Elias distinction in Enoch the Prophet, which I am currently reading:
"Joseph Smith has been charged with gross ignorance in depicting Elijah and Elias as two different persons, yet they very well could have been. . . . Elijah is identified repeatedly in ancient sources with both Enoch and John the Baptist. Who is to say at this distance in time whether or not Elias is a doublet of this illusive [sic] figure?"
My friend in the dream is a real person, whose first name is Arabic for "beautiful" and whose last name is Daniels. This, combined with my pseudonym Marvin, reminds me of this post:
https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2021/10/gene-hackman.html
In the dream recounted, there, Gene Hackman plays a character who has a strikingly beautiful son named Danny who later becomes the sickly Marvin.
There's a follow-up post here:
https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2021/10/danny-marvin-brandon-lets-go.html
Besides the Martian, my main association with the name Marvin is a depressed robot.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Paranoid_Android
Ah, another Heart of Gold link!
There's a story called "Marvin the Soom" in the Scarlet Notebook. I'll check if it's included in Ex Commentario Coccineo, the abridged version I have at home.
William,
From a metaphysical lens:
Paranormal experiences, including dreams and syncs
are symbolic messages from the soul. Their purpose is
to provide knowledge for direction, to enlighten us
or ( occasionally ) to warn.
You have and IMHO, many Nigredo/shadow
syncs and dreams. The Nigredo is the beginning of alchemical
transformation. If a very important message is not learned or
heeded it, it repeats itself and eventually becomes
'stuck' until the dreamer learns that particular lesson.
I think that's why the recurrence of your Nigredo dreams.
The chakra system works in the same way. Each wheel of
the chakra is a lesson needed to be learned. Each wheel
can become stuck on one particular chakra ( much like
your recurring Nigredo dreams ).
The serpent when coiled and on its belly is stuck in first chakra,
the root chakra - Muladhara the chakra of the ego.
The ego protects and pleasures the physical
body only. Racism is an ego pursuit which bounds us to earth
i.e. survival.
The root chakra's color is the color red ( like blood )
and the 'lesson' is survival.
Survival is also the lesson of the Nigredo.
The beginning of any transformation means
work is to be done be it physical or spiritual.
Red and black so happens to be Tiger Woods colors.
When the serpent is released and climbs up the caduceus i.e.
the tree and in humans our backbone, it reaches the Third Eye
where it sprouts wings.
The serpent then becomes the bird. The bird sees past the illusion
which is why the bird holds the KEY to truth, which
truth sets us free.
Maybe William you're 'duke'ing it out with the Black guy again
which is your shadow.
Copy and paste: "duke(v.)
"to hit, strike with the fist," by 1952, slang, from dukes.
Related: Duked; duking. To duke it out
"fight with fisticuffs" is by 1971."
~~~~~~
IMHO, don't let your shadow become your Duke.
Copy and paste:
"duke(n.)
early 12c., "a sovereign prince," from Old French
duc (12c.) and directly from Latin dux (genitive ducis)
"leader, commander," in Late Latin
"governor of a province," from ducere "to lead'.
~~~~~~
Everything is symbolic in the paranormal.
"Non draco sit mihi dux." I recite that almost every day.
Despite my Total Racist credentials, I don't think Black people in my dreams and syncs are necessarily symbolic of anything dark or evil, or of alchemical Nigredo.
I think it's noteworthy that the Blacks in my dreams are almost never "bad" or menacing. In the present instance, they appeared in the form of a personal friend and a universally acclaimed composer.
Nibley's connection between Enoch and Elias/ Elijah (in terms of two Elias'... one as John and the other as Enoch, I gather from the quote), is interesting given my guess on that the future "Elias" Joseph Smith wrote of is Enoch (e.g., the one referenced in D&C 77 who must come and restore all things) . One reason I found the name Ellington so interesting... Elias' Town, or Enoch's Town - the City of Enoch: Zion
Your false name was interesting as well.
The "Total Racist" comment could potentially a word play that in part calls back to that Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Reality Temple image. Replacing every word in the english language with a racial slur for black people would be a literal example of being a total racist, with total meaning "complete in extent or degree; lacking no member or part". Every word being changed would be the definition of something done in total.
Total Racist also brings to mind Total Recall, which is an Arnold film that has gotten some play.
Since a fen is a swamp (as in Ogre-fen-Ogre Fen, the Xanthian alter ego of Okefenokee Swamp), Fenlingstone could be a Marsh/Peter reference.
As for the middle syllable, perhaps it was inserted by someone who just likes "ling."
William,
And speaking of dukes and Nigredos
this song just popped into my mind from 1962.
Although I've heard the song The Duke of Earl
many many times from back in the day, however
and quite honestly I'd forgotten about it.
I've never seen this video before
and I found it interesting that the singer holds his
caduceus/staff and wears a top hat symbolic of
a leader/prince/ a duke.
Both ( the caduceus and leader)
I've referred to in my previous comment.
When the singer enters the stage,
and throughout the performance, note the fire torches.
The fire symbolic of the Phoenix's transformation.
The singer wears a top hat as well. A top hat,
as well as a Phrygian cap are symbolic of
an elongated skull worn by those
who have gained status/knowledge.
The singer also wears a cape which means that which is
occulted, hidden. The white lining exposed
on the left side. The path less taken, which
makes all the difference.
The singer takes off his glasses to see clearly.
At the beginning and ending of the performance
the magician, in this case the magical Nigredo,
also touches his Third Eye. THREE times.
Yet another reference in my previous comment
and I believe supports my perspective regarding the
Law of the Three.
I found this video AFTER I wrote my previous comment
and shared my perspective of your dream
from a metaphysical lens.
As I've shared many times, on your blog, and IMHO
if the sync fairies want us to know something including
if we are on the right path/ley line or track, or not,
lo and behold that something will cross our paths
in some way ,shape or form. At least that's been
my personal experience.
The sync fairies never disappoint, at least not for me.
Gene Chandler - Duke of Earl (1962)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCX7WPuRDFQ&t=3s
The Total Racism link to the Arnold meme is solid, I think.
Total Racism also made me think of Total Fascism, Andrew Anglin's precursor to his Daily Stormer website. Anglin's masterpiece, in my opinion, was his Duke of Earl posts, so there's a link to another Black musical "Duke."
Ha! Just after posting the above comment, I saw the latest comment from Debbie, independently bringing in the Duke of Earl. Gene Chandler syncs with Gene Hackman and Mark Chandler.
Mr. Chandler was also the chap who sold Joseph Smith the Abraham papyri, which I recently read about in Joseph Smith's Seer Stones. Some witnesses report that JS used the stones by putting them in a "stove pipe" hat like Gene Chandler's topper.
William,
You wrote: " Despite my Total Racist credentials,
I don't think Black people in my dreams and syncs are
necessarily symbolic of anything dark or evil,
or of alchemical Nigredo."
~~~~~~~
My response:
I didn't say anything about black being evil. You did.
The Nigredo is NOT evil. All transformations are only
'evil' because we don't understand the power of change
which frees us from the illusion and shows us the truth.
Most people don't want to know the truth, that which
is hidden. Therefore we run from our shadow or ignore
it because the truth can be frightening.
It disrupts everything we think we know or were told.
In our dreams our shadow chases us repeatedly
to get our attention,
until our dreams becomes nightmares or at the very least,
an irritation that continues to plague us until we take notice
and listen and take heed to its message.
Our shadow archetype as well as the fool/trickster/clown,
are our best ally and somewhat one and the same
because they both force us to change, which is what the
soul wants us to do so as to learn the lesson.
That was my point.
Looking up the etymology of Starsky, I discovered that the protagonist of "Starsky and Hutch" (which I never watched and know nothing about) has a brother named Nicholas Marvin Starsky.
William,
I just want to add one more thing regarding 'evil'.
It's our ego that determines if something
is good or evil, not the soul. Our ego pleasures
and protects the physical body only.
Racism is an ego pursuit.
The paranormal via the soul 'speaks'
in the Universal Language
of symbolism, archetypes and numbers/gematria
and only that. If a Black person is in our dream ( even
in a Black person's dream) especially
if we don't know that Black person in our dream personally,
it's symbolic and represents the shadow.
That which is hidden, many times that which is
hidden even from our conscious selves.
Everything in the paranormal is symbolic
and is connected.
Debbie, I've read and assimilated a lot more Freud than Jung and therefore at first misunderstood what you meant by Shadow. I see now that you're using it to mean whatever about the self is hidden or repressed, and not necessarily one's "dark side" in the more usual sense.
You may be correct. Certainly Blackness as such was central.to the dream. Daniels and Ellington didn't just "happen to be Black." It therefore must have some symbolic meaning.
In the dream I was very proud of being self-consciously "racist," to the point of questioning my first response to one of the test questions because I was afraid it was "not racist enough." This all contradicted my actual behavior in the dream: I had gone to some trouble (crawled across a desert) to visit my Black friend on his black beach, hoped we could still be friends even though I was "racist," and happily helped him with his pro-Black research. All of this certainly suggests an ego-based conscious rejection of something my deeper self doesn't actually reject at all -- i.e. the Shadow in Jung's sense.
As to what this repressed element corresponds to in my waking life, I suppose it is definitionally true that I am unaware of what it is. As someone who knows me fairly well, do you have any guesses?
William,
You wrote: As to what this repressed element corresponds to in my waking life, I suppose it is definitionally true that I am unaware of what it is. As someone who knows me fairly well, do you have any guesses?
~~~~~
My response:
Your soul knows all the answers you need.
You have the key.
Just follow the symbolism.
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