#conflation

[tenth-sentence]

More recently, the tendency to conflate science and fictional agendas has been more actively resisted by researchers.

"Frankenstein's Footsteps: Science, Genetics and Popular Culture" - Jon Turney

[fairykukla]

Last night I finally got to debut my sea witch costume.

Shown here with my tentacle shrug/wrap.

Here's a close up of my makeup and hair:

And mask, of course.

I sang Poor Unfortunate Souls at karaoke.

[gettothedancing]

People will not forgive weakness. That's not a partisan point, it's human nature.

[nehetisingsforhekate]

Epithets: Eileithyia

Nurse of Childbirth, Midwife.

A Goddess in Her Own Right, sometimes a class of Goddesses. Also an epithet for Hera, Artemis and Hekate, among others.

Her name means ‘She who comes to Aid’ and comes from the word eleluthyia, ‘relieve.’ The Eileithyiae often come up in the stories of Zeus’ various lovers giving birth, often because Hera sends Them to stall the birth or to cause troubles in the labor. A few of these stories involve figures associated with Hekate, such as Galinthias.

Eileithyia is the daughter of Hera, or the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She is a torchbearing goddess, and sometimes she is the mother of Sosipolis and Eros.

She can ease the pangs of birth, or prolong them according to her wishes. In cases where there are more than one, the Eileithyiae divided that power between them with one being the Goddess of an easy birth and the other being the Goddess responsible for prolonging birth.

Homer tells us that there is a cave in Crete where Eileithyia was born that was named after Her. Hesiod describes Eileithyia as the sister of Hebe and Ares.

The most famous story of Eileithyia concerns the birth of Apollo. Leto’s labor was prolonged by Hera’s plotting against Leto. Because of Hera preventing the Midwife from hearing Leto’s cries, the labor lasted nine days and nights. Finally Iris was sent to summon Eileithyia, and when the Midwife’s foot touched upon the island of Delos, where Leto was hiding from Hera, the birth became easy, and Apollo was born. In other versions, because Leto’s birth was so hard, Artemis was born first, and immediately leapt into action as an Eileithyia, helping Her brother come into the world.

Similar stories are told of the birth of Herakles. She also attended the fateful birth of Dionysos.

Eileithyia is described as a servant to the Moirae, the Fates. Diodorus Siculus says that the Goddess of Childbirth was attended by Artemis.

When known by the name of Genetyllis (or in a collective as the Genetyllides), She is in the company of Aphrodite and associated with sex, and more importantly, the moment of conception. And among the Romans, there is a similar Goddess named Lucina (Light).

Burkert says that Eileithyia’s origin is Mycenaean, which is supported by her Cave at Amnisos outside of Knossos. He also says that she has no independent character, existing only in the context of Hera and Artemis. Her cave merits a mention in the Odyssey. Therein archaeologists have noted signs of use from the Neolithic period into the Roman Era, with a peak of use by the Minoans. There, Eileithyia was embodied by a stalagmite. Documents associated with her Cultus mention offerings of honey. There was a Sanctuary in Her Name at Sparta near the race track, alongside Apollo Karneia and Artemis Hegemone.

Another sanctuary to Eileithyia stood in Elis, where an elderly priestess who was veiled and expected to keep chaste tended to the naos, according to Pausanias. The scholar also tells us that the Priestess of Eileithyia at Olympia was elected annually. We also know that the priestess of Eileithyia at Chios received gifts of grain and barley every time the city performed a sacrifice. This injunction was later expanded to also include the head of the animal sacrificed, and if she were to insist on more, she would be made to pay a fine.

It seems that her priesthood was composed of older women, who offered a wide range of offerings including animals. One assumes that they were often midwives or that the midwives of a town focused on this Goddess. Eileithyia was one of the most important goddesses for the day to day life of a polis, though as a woman’s deity, not often in the sights of men. Because of the predominance of the male voice in the surviving literature, we know little enough of the Gods like Eileithyia.

I believe that Hekate’s association with Eileithyia is one of function. As Hekate can ease the labors of birth, She is naturally to be called Eileithyia. As opposed to actually indicating that Hekate equals Eileithyia, the epithet suggests an affinity rather than an equivalency.

Personally, I have had no cause to call upon Eileithyia, as my husband and I are unable to have children. Even so, as a dedicated student of Hekate’s mysteries, learning about Eileithyia has been a worthy project. As I have meditated upon Hekate Eileithyia and upon Eileithyia Herself, I have sensed a gentle disposition with a core of iron strength which is steady and sure. A worthy patron for midwives and nurses even today.

Khaire Eileithyia! May the pangs ease And the breaths come steady And the birth be swift! May the mother be blessed With strength, With kindness, With health! Eileithyia, by whatever Name you prefer, Let the child thrive strong and true, far beyond this threshold of life, Let the mother smile upon her oikos for many years, Let them both thrive, whole and true, Khaire Eileithyia! May the pangs ease And the breaths come steady And the birth be swift.

  Sources:

Theoi.com

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion, Blackwell, 2008. Connolly, Jean Breton. Portrait of a Priestess, Princeton, 2007. Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks, Thames & Hudson, 1951.

Images:

Marble plaque showing parturition scene, Ostia, Italy, 400 BCE, via Wellcome Images, hosted on Wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marble_plaque_showing_parturition_scene,_Ostia,_Italy,_400_B_Wellcome_L0065025.jpg

[politically-not-correct]

Capitalism

If you think capitalism is bad you have no understanding of economics. Socialism could not exist without capitalism. Also, capitalism is good, corporatism is bad. The two are often conflated with one another. They aren’t one in the same, but they are mutually beneficial in regards to one another.

[fairykukla]

Here is my current project for a local convention's virtual programming. I've secured a hotel room at our usual hotel, and offered to host a socially-distanced Tea Party.

20,000 Leagues Under The Tea

8pm, Friday at the Hotel

Having lost the Jolly Roger to Peter Pan, Captain Hook is hosting a tea party from the submarine Nautilus. Mermaids will be dispatched to deliver a picnic tea to all the other submarines in the area! Tune in from the comfort of your own sub for a good time, good conversation, and above all good form from the Dark and Sinister Captain Hook.

Please sign up using the link below, being sure to add your room number once you know it. Our cook, "Long" John Silver informs us that there won't be a menu to select from, but he is more than willing to accommodate dietary restrictions.

Your picnic tea will be delivered contactlessly shortly before the virtual program begins. It will include tea bags and cups to brew in your room. The bill of fare will be an eclectic collection of sweet and savory nibbles. Please inform us on the sign-up if you are unable to consume certain foods, so that we may tailor your delivery. 

Prortotype costume. I won't be wearing the crappy mustache, I'll be wearing a more different...crappy mustache. And the black wig, etc. I'm going for a more "Dustin Hoffman" Hook.

It's possible that I will once again be the only one at the hotel, and if so that's kind of hilarious to me. I'm planning on serving Mermaid looks as well.

[realsocialskills]

Lacking social skills vs using social skills to hurt people

When someone is a jerk, they’re often pejoratively referred to as “lacking social skills”.

But being a jerk and having bad social skills are different problems. Learning stronger social skills won’t necessarily make someone a better person.

Jerks often have exceptionally strong social skills. Jerks use their social skills to hurt people effectively (and to get away with it.) Sometimes this involves performing stereotypes of social awkwardness — and being very careful to pick targets they can get away with hurting. If someone is hurting people on purpose because they want to, teaching them social skills won’t usually help. They have to change their values and decide to stop hurting people.

People who are jerks and want to stop being jerks may also need to learn new skills for interacting with people. But if someone is intentionally mean, lacking skills isn’t the primary problem.

At the same time, sometimes when people are hurting others, the problem *is* weak social skills. Some social mistakes can be really harmful. (Eg: Standing too close, not understanding privacy, not understanding the difference between different types of physical contact, not understanding which kinds of questions are considered sexual, saying slurs without realizing they’re slurs, etc.) When people are hurting others by accident, learning social skills can be really helpful.

Being a jerk is a different problem than having weak social skills, and it’s important to take the difference seriously. When someone is making social mistakes out of ignorance, the solution is often education and support. When someone is a jerk and wants to learn to be better, the solution often involves education and support. (A caveat here — the people who they’re hurting should *not* be expected to be the ones providing this support.)

When someone is hurting others on purpose because they want to, often the only solution is to deprive them of opportunities to hurt others. (Eg: by banning them from events or suspending their professional license or voting them out of office.). Teaching an intentionally cruel person social skills will not help, and can actually make the problem worse.

Tl;dr It’s obnoxious to use “bad social skills” as a way to insult jerks. Being a jerk is a different problem from having weak social skills. People with good intentions and weak social skills need nonjudgemental help. (From the community or a service provider; generally not from the people they’re inadvertently hurting.) When someone is intentionally mean, teaching them social skills isn’t likely to help — and being nonjudgemental is likely to make matters worse.

[tenth-sentence]

The conflation of the 'traditional' with the 'biblical' obscures the thousands of years of change and liberation that preceded the point at which Sydney Anglicans said in regard to marriage This far and no further.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz