The Learned Man and His Shadow Hans Christian Anderson tells the story of “learned man” who moved from a cold country to a hot one, where he became listless, shrunken from the heat. It seemed his shadow also contracted, becoming smaller than it was in that stark, cold land where they’d come from. In the evening, though, as the sun went down, and the air cooled, and the lanterns were lit, the shadow spread onto the walls, coming to life again. On these evenings, from a home across the courtyard, the learned man could hear music. He never saw anyone there. Flowers grew, radiant and riotous, so he knew someone…
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Sacrifice, Scapegoating, and Love
Restoring Harmony through Human Sacrifice With the start of the harvest, and before the rains began to fall, the ancient Aztecs ended their celebration of Ochpaniztli with a human sacrifice. The name “Ochpanaiztli” means “sweeping the way,” which may have been, as a Wikipedia article suggests, a reference to the winds that swept across the valley as winter drew near. [1] The holiday was celebrated to honor the goddess Tlazolteotl. A complex deity, she demanded sexual purity while, at the same time, inciting people to adultery and prostitution, both considered immoral to the Aztecs. Indeed, they would punish offenders by beating them to death or crushing their skull. To avoid…