posted March 16, 2003 07:54 PM            

In Canto Six, Linda shares with us tales of her transitory Knights in Shining Armor. We learn of the curse, the blessing, and the Senior Scouts and also why success is always such a failure.

We see Linda's first mention of Goober's Peanuts (very important to the story). We also learn of her druid yardstick for boys (rainbows draped behind their ears). None would measure up. Not until Carousel Bill, of course! And we see her first mention of Bill in this Canto:

"after high school was over

there were no more Knights in any kind of armor
shiny or dull--riding horses or donkeys

except for one
years later

except for just one...

who helped me catch
a bunch of baby druids
though three of them flew away" Page 167

We learn of Linda's failure to get a driver's license and the possible reasons why. And, in this Canto, Linda begins to lose her fascination for Judaism and Catholicism. Linda criticises the Jewish Rabbis who denied Christ and who fooled all the other Jews, and the early Catholic Church that removed astrology and reincarnation from the Bible with their sacrilegious surgeries. She touches upon the careless attitude of the Vatican while Jews "were being tossed into fiery furnaces like so many helpless, struggling ants tossed into flaming Matchstick Forts" (Page 172) and the growing disillusionment she was feeling toward all religions. We can see Linda begin to grow into the fiery Ram she would one day become--a Ram against organized religion and its parallel counterpart--the medical theocracy. Linda seeks an escape from dogma:

"I stumbled on a brighter path, far from the Holy Ghost's invisible wrath
and far from a vengeful god's angry retribution of
'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'" Page 173

This leads her to Egyptian Mythology and the Isis-Osiris legend.

"yes, I wondered, at last, on the path of the stars
and there I stayed--and there I remain, through Sun and rain
part-time mystic, and full-time agnostic, guided by Mars

yet..still secret druid
chanting deeper rites
on moonlit nights" Page 173

Canto Seven is a doozy! Linda begins to understand the possibility for physical immortality. I look forward to talking about it. Until then, I'll be waiting at the foot of an old oak tree, trying to make fish swim through the sky, mountains fly, and Life somehow, someway to rhyme...

"now just try to imagine
what it would be like....if I loved you" Carousel Bill to Linda (Page 168)

posted September 03, 2003 12:13 AM              

...and read with interest Linda's recall of her would-be BF's, finding it very touching. Such beautiful Aries innocence! AND strong Aries courage. Because despite her insecurities here and later; despite her not being sure who she is, I see her as very brave and assertive, strong enough to resist *learning how to spell thrill*. She risked (and got) rejection from those insensitive Romeos, where other young ladies with a weaker will may have succumbed to the pressure, and I for one have a lot of admiration for that. She held her ground, clinging to her ideals...it's just too bad she wasn't able to recognize this special strength she had more clearly.

posted July 18, 2004 09:38 AM              

I want to point out something which you may not have noticed.

posted May 29, 2013 05:25 AM            

after awhile..
my flaming worship of Judaism's traditional,
ancient wise
and emphasis on learning--stopped burning
when I began to realize why the Jews of old
failed to recognize
the man from Galiliee..as the one from whom
they awaited deliverance

my former awe considerably cooled, when I saw
how they'd been fooled
by their own High Priests--those self-serving
Rabbis
who feared the Golden Rule would expose their
lies
and their teachings..as brass
and so ridiculed and rejected
the humble carpenter from Nazareth
when he rode into Jerusalem on a lowly ass
not at the head of a powerful Army, on a snow
white steed

after all, a Messiah's business is to lead,
not to plead
and surely not to bleed--on a cross.

this man was a freak, who championed the weak
defended the meek--and turned the other cheek
to Ceasar
it certainly had not been Moses' fashion
to show enemies compassion
Moses parted the Red Sea--and set their
people free
what kind of Messiah spends all his time
forgiving miserable sinners?
Abraham and David and Moses were winners
but Jesus was a loser, whose promises proved
impotent, empty and hollow

no god--only a man

a crucified prophet is a Saviour for fools
and Jesus broke all their messianic rules

then, following my Hebrew disillusion
came the end of my Inner Pilgrimage to the
Vatican
page 172
my fascination for the Catholic ritual's deep
mystery
buried somewhere behind Roman Church Law
ceased to magnetize me, when I clearly saw
that the Church is hiding more than mystery
from the light

such as, the reason for the marble tiles, in
the Pope's bathroom
inscribed with the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, from Aries through Pisces
from the Ram through the Fish

the real reason behind the sacrilegious
surgery of 300 A.D.
the murders of the bloody Inquisition
and the Council of Constantinople, in
430 A.D.--that time
of misguided dedication
when those allegedly infallible ones, in Rome
performed the shameful spiritual castration
of removing from the Bible all previous
reference to reincarnation
carving away their own foundation
leaving dull, sterile dogma..to replace
former faith

not to mention..
the well kept secret of the true symbolism
behind the mystical marriage of the Nuns to
Jesus

yes, Catholicism's ritual hides much mystery
behind Church history
and has also hidden Truth

but disillusioning me

even more than Catholicism's light tossing
away
of the logic of the Cause and Effect of the
doctrine of Karma
contained in the ancient precepts of
reincarnation

was the attitude taken by the Roman Vatican
toward Hitler's Nazi nation
when the Jews--and others--were being tossed
into
fiery furnaces
like so many helpless, struggling ants
tossed into flaming Matchstick Forts
and so..
the growing bubble of religious delusion
of the babbling dogmatic confusion
of Judaism's blindness--Catholic hypocrisy
swelled even larger with my observation
of the Protestant protesting bureaucracy
and the sterility of ritual, lacking mystical
symbolism
in those plain-Jane churches
of methinks thou dost protest too much
then finally burst wide open
POP!
page 173
leaving me with the limp, rubbery pieces
of my former balloon of trust..in all these
faiths
with seemingly, nowhere to turn
yet, still burning to learn--the Truth ..
consequently

after skipping and hopping
and starting and stopping
and tiptoeing and gliding
and walking and floating
and swimming and running
and crawling and falling

in and out of Synagogues, Catholic Masses--
and Protestant classes
in empty theology
I wandered next through Egyptian Mythology
and during that lingering spiritual crisis..
was deeply stirred
by the tragic fate of those Twin Souls
known as Osiris and Isis
an unsolved mystery
of ancient history..that still haunts me
in a strange, inexplicable way
..then one fine day

I stumbled on a brighter path, far from the
Holy Ghost's invisible wrath
and far from a vengeful god's angry
retribution of
"an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth"
a path which still leads me
slowly...toward enlightenment and Truth
through the time-tested teachings
of re-birth and astrology..even containing
a hint

to the final solution of all the confusion
in the Isis-Osiris mythology

yes, I wandered, at last, on the path of
the stars
and there I stayed--and there I remain,
through Sun and rain
part-time mystic, and full-time agnostic,
guided by Mars

yet..still secret druid
chanting deeper rites
of moonlit nights