Women's Rights Quote #2

The injustice of man towards woman under the laws of both Church and State engrafted upon society, have resulted in many evils unsuspected by the world, which if known would strike it with amazement and terror.--Matilda Joslyn Gage

How legends develop

I've got an hypothesis about how the legend of La Befana developed. No, I haven't bothered to research it much (if you call reading 3 non-scholarly books not researching) because, well, I don't feel like it.

Even if I'm wrong...think about it...this is probably how legends have developed in human history.

La Befana is a witch riding on a broom. From what I can tell there is no exact representation of her so her appearance differs with the storyteller, except she is always an old warty woman with a crooked nose, riding her broom. I am going to assume I don't need to post a pic here since you've all seen Halloween witches. OK.

So basically one of the stories says the 3 wise men visited her in Italy while she was cleaning her house. They were on their way to see Baby Jesus (and to pray to him like they did in Talledaga Nights). They invited her to accompany them but she thought it was a waste of time so she said no.

Later she realized what a glorious opportunity she missed so she searched in vain to catch up to the group. She is still traveling the world but now she delivers gifts to kids instead of searching for the 3 wise men. No word on how she is still alive after all these years while all the other characters in the story are dead, even the Savior. OK.

I don't think I'm taking liberties when I say this is supposed to be symbolic. Prior to Christianity hitting Italy, healers were apparently older, wiser women. That was their religion. If you are familiar with the corno (Italian horn) or evil eye, those are remnants of the old religion.

When Christianity came the accusation was the old practitioners were evil magic doers. To make it seem less appealing, they were said to have warts, crooked noses and backs, wrinkled skin, wear drab colors, and to be really ugly. I suppose the apron is a reference to her being dirty while cleaning house.

Being a "witch" was dangerous for a time in Italy. Not only was it, well, not Christian, it was also a female-centered religion--not acceptable to the Christians whose beliefs and teachings were and are male-centered. The religion went underground. Women who were well-regarded healers were replaced by saints and madonnas with similar attributes to co-opt the locals into Christianity.

So the story of Befana is a story of conversion. She realized the error of her ways and chased after Jesus, but it was too late. Now she is doomed to wander Earth for eternity, searching but not finding Jesus.

There are few writings on the subject. Raven Grimassi seems to be the most well-known, albeit somewhat controversial among actual practitioners of "witchcraft", author of books about Italian folk religion. Here's a link to a few--an interesting glimpse into how legends are created to meet the needs of human beings.

Wikipedia has an interesting article about La Befana, almost as poorly substantiated as mine. ;)

The Befana comes by night
With her shoes all tattered and torn
She comes dressed in the Roman way
Long life to the Befana!

More crazy nativity sets

Nativity Set 3 Kings three wise men Christmas by TheHouseOfMouse Because it's not sacrilegious to picture the 3 wise men as rodents. Furthermore, picturing the Holy Family as small dogs is perfectly fine too.

Dachshund Complete Nativity

Christmas Nativity Meerkats
Or meerkats with phallic belts.


Christmas light bulb ornament Complete Nativity set Next year: LED, eco-friendly nativity scene.

Zombie Nativity Set, Six Clay Figurines for the Holiday Jesus wants to eat your braaaains.

And today's finale...drum roll...

Haitian Earthquake Rubble Nativity
Because no home is complete without a creche made from earthquake rubble, glued onto rocks to form bizarre faces.

Another whacked out bible verse!

Judges 11 (Old Testament)--Jephthah is a really awesome guy!

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour...Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering...And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him...And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back...And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains...And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months...And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed...

Hebrews 11 (New Testament)--Yep! A really awesome guy!

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of...Jephtha...Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens...Of whom the world was not worthy..And these all, having obtained a good report through faith...

Inflatable Religious Decorations

You know it's coming--Inflatable Yard Decor Season. Yes, right now it consists of ghosts and pumpkins, but pretty sure it will be Santa and reindeer.

I was wondering if they come in a Jesus model, so I did a Google Image Search for "inflatable Jesus". What I found was good for several full-on belly laughs. I give you Inflatable Jesus:

Here, Jesus has lost both his legs in a terrible skiing accident and they've been replaced with a double row of ginormous teeth.  With shrunken legless children situated in their cavities.  Holding hands, of course.

If Joseph was a clown, this is exactly how Jesus would have looked.  He's got killer abs, swollen toes, and a strange Flintsone-esque shorts.

I am pretty sure these are the same ladies I saw on 9/11/02 posing with Ground Zero in the background, smiling.  They really don't pay attention to what they're posing near.  They just want pics for their MySpace page.

At first I said to myself, "Of course this is a joke."  But then I realized there are actually people who make nativity scenes out of marshmallows and haunted houses with a Revelation Hell theme, without intending a joke, so it could be for real.  Which would make it even more hilarious.

The makeup is a nice touch.

This is presumably from a nativity scene.  Or Charlie Brown's newborn brother napping on a yellow mattress while people....what are they doing, exactly?

Oh.my.gawd.  I SO want this one!  It has wormy looking hay, a very evil looking Santa, and an odd red tree, all in one creche scene.  Is there anything it does NOT have?

I have to stop now.  My sides hurt.

25 Blasphemous Quotations

By Atheist Ireland | Published: January 2, 2010

Published by Atheist Ireland on 1 January 2010

http://www.atheist.ie/