 Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Ian Bracegirdle  |
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| Article Title :: African Masks |
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| The following is a general over view of African Masks.There are still places in Africa where genuine old masks can be bought, generally through dealers. Also watch out for fakes as they do abound. Remember buy things you like as investment can go up as well as down. If you like that carving or mask then the value is not as important.The African masks of this area are well documented by Ladislas Segy in Masks of Black Africa. Much of the following section on African Masks is influenced by his work.The African masking traditions of this part of the World are extremely fertile and varied. The traditions supporting the masks are generally associated with the spirits of an (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Ian Bracegirdle |
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| Article Title :: Tribal Masks |
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| Original Tribal masks are often seen by unknowing eyes as art objects in themselves. That is not the case, unless of course they are modern copies. A tribal mask has embued power and is alive during the ceremony for which it is used. An African visitor to a London museum stated, "This mask is dead." He was seeing the mask out of context, it had lost its power for the people who created it and the the magic had died.To the collectors eyes the very appearance of the mask and the story behind it leads to the magic. The mysterious art forms drawing on the imagination and a need to interpret. As a piece of art it has the power to involve the observer in fathoming meaning to reach an un (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Ian Bracegirdle |
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| Article Title :: The Masked Fool |
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| The FoolMy first direct experience of the fool in masking was watching Morris Dancing here at home in Yorkshire, England. The Morris dancers were dressed up in their usual dancing shoes with bells and baggy pants. To be absolutely honest I have always found Morris men a bit funny! Perhaps I should explain about Cecil Sharp, no I'll leave that to a footnote.The Boars Head Morris Men were dancing in a pub car park. ( Pub short for Public House a place for drinking beer etc. in the UK.) They were doing the usual dances that are related to fertility, good crops and harvests etc. But of course they really don't quite have the pagan beliefs off pat. Mind you when you see them drin (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Roxanne McDonald |
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| Article Title :: The Contingencies of Despair: How Existentialists Survive |
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| ~ Dread is dizziness unto freedom—freedom that gazes down into
its own possibility. In this dizziness freedom succumbs. ~An individual awakes as he usually does, uses the bathroom and
brushes his teeth as he usually does, and goes to the kitchen for his usual bowl of Slurpy O’s cereal. But his new housekeeper has shopped for him the day before and unable to find Slurpy O’s has brought to his cupboard four different brands of oats and rices, hoping one will satisfy him until she can find his usual. When he reaches to open the cabinet and see the options of ….., he stops, stuck for thought, stuck for making a decision. He absolutely cannot wrap his brain around this ear (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Jim Donnelly |
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| Article Title :: Heraldry in the Crafts--Why Not Specialize? |
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| I have a small website where I try to sell custom-made lapel buttons. In addition to these made-to-order buttons I also offer several specialty lines of off-the-shelf items and at this time of year I'm usually concerned with one of those lines in particular: Irish heraldic buttons. St. Patrick's Day approaches.I'm in no sense an expert on heraldry. Still, although there are many button sites like mine I'm not aware of any other with a line of products like that one and I don't know why that should be true. It struck me the other day that heraldry might offer a wide range of opportunities for specialization--and to craftspersons in almost any field from pottery to needlepoint to wea (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Susanna Duffy |
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| Article Title :: The Trickster of Folklore |
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| Folklore includes a traditional trickster figure, the subject of many stories in a cycle. Trickster tales are in the animal tales genre, with the trickster himself -- he seems always to be male -- identified with a particular animal. These include the fox in Japan, mouse deer in Southeast Asia, the coyote and the spider among the Native Americans, the tortoise and spider in West Africa, and the mantis in Southern Africa.These tales feature a trickster-hero who may be regarded as both creator god and innocent fool, evil destroyer and childlike prankster.Tricksters are usually small in size next to the large, strong animals that appear in the same folktales. Tricksters survive (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Susanna Duffy |
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| Article Title :: Nessie, the Beast of the Loch |
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| They were fierce hill tribes in what is now Scotland, and we called them Picts. The name seems to mean "The Painted People" for they were known to love bright body art and multi-coloured clothing. They were artists, prolific carvers of stone and from the carved standing stones still found in the region around Loch Ness, we can see that the Picts were fascinated by animals, carefully etching their likeness into the surface of the stone. And they left us a mystery.For all the animals depicted on the Pictish stones are lifelike and easily recognisable, except for one. This exception is a strange beast with a long elongated beak or muzzle, a head spout, and with flippers instead of fee (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Susanna Duffy |
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| Article Title :: The Year of the Rooster |
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| The Rooster is traditionally considered to be a favourable sign. His crow signals the break of dawn and the beginning of a fresh start, driving away the ghosts and evil spirits of the night. He is the only creature of the Chinese zodiac with wings and, as such, is regarded as the messenger that connects the two worlds of heaven and earth.He has five virtues: knowledge, military expertise, courage, benevolence and credibility. His crest, `kwan’’, means coronet, and represents the pen, the symbol of knowledge, while his claw symbolises the sword of military skills. When confronted by an enemy, the courageous Rooster fights till the end without retreat. When he finds food he share (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Laurent Grenier |
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| Article Title :: Progress Versus Perfection |
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| From the creative explosion marking the outset of the universe to our advanced human stage in evolution, some fifteen billion years have elapsed. This advanced stage refers to the natural abilities and the cultural realizations of our species. While these natural abilities have virtually not changed in the last hundred thousand years, these cultural realizations have progressed exponentially over the same period. The former depend on a biological memory – the genetic information that is stored in human cells and can be transmitted through reproduction. The latter depend on a social memory – the didactic information that is stored in human libraries and can be transmitted through educa (read full article) |
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| Category :: Humanities Articles |
Author :: Carole Fawcett |
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| Article Title :: Can You Hear My Secret Calling |
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| A true love story“So, was it an eyes-meet-across-the-room-thing and you knew you were destined for each other instantly?” I asked my Mom. “No,” she laughed, “it was a swinging-door-thing and once we met, then we knew it was destiny.”It was 1946 when my parents met in postwar Oldenburg, Germany while working for British Intelligence. Dad (a.k.a. Peter Russell) had survived WW II after being in many challenging battles. He was a “frightfully English chap” who grew up in the south of England. Mom (Blanche Moore - a.k.a. Pat Russell) had experienced the war in a different way. One of the many bombing raids on Belfast, Northern Ireland had demolished her (read full article) |
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