The Byzantine story

I had been hearing a lot about the Byzantine culture, era and religion, ever since arriving in Greece. 

Monasteries on top of the highest mountains in the holy city of Meteora.

In fact, after we left Athens and arrived in Thessaloniki, we were informed by the audio guide on a hop on hop off bus, that  this is the place in Greece where the Byzantine culture is still strong.

Although I tried to research it on line to try to find out the significance of that culture, I just could not get real clarity until going to the Byzantine Museum there. 

Only then did   the fog clear.😊

No wonder Museums are some of my favorite places!

As I now understand it, the Byzantine Era and culture developed under the influence of the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church from the 4 th-12th centuries.

 The Empire was partially destroyed and the culture watered down between the 13-14 centuries, when the Ottoman empire spread its Muslim influence throughout Greece.

As the Muslims invaders advanced into the country, Orthodox monks and nuns retreated higher into the mountains of Meteora to build monasteries where they could find peace and solitude to practice their religion. 

That is why that area is now dubbed a holy city and recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site.

For more on Meteora, see;

https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-holy-meteora.html?m=1

The museum now showcases the development of both the religion and culture up to the 14th century, when the Empire disintegrated.

Fixtures at an early Orthodox church.

Look at the marble mosaic on the floor.

Early altars, called Ambo

It gets progressively more modern.

I have always seen pots of all sizes and shapes displayed in many museums and had labored under the impression that they were all used for some kind of storage, but I learned at this museum, that babies and small children were often buried in clay pots.

Further, according to the Byzantine, they were the ones that started the practice of having graveyards built within church property, as before these were located outside city walls.

It is also now clear that the Byzantine era  influenced a great deal of what you read in the New Testament.

Artifacts found in church ruins.

Actual tombs excavated from early Church ruins.

My greatest fascination was however with pre and post Byzantine art, for every piece in the museum showed holy apostles, saints and religious people as having dark skin and thick hair during their rule.

A garment worn by an early Church official.

Such early religious people only started to be depicted with the light skin and European features, when the Roman Christian Church became dominant.

That's an early part of history that has been hidden, so even in black countries, Jesus and his followers were suddenly depicted as being white with blue eyes.

That is totally out of character for the region in which they were born and lived and the Byzantine tradition.

That partly explained for me why the Greeks are considered the least racist Europeans!

Yup, remember, it's always the victors who write history!

Easter in the Greek Orthodox tradition starts May 5th and lasts a week. 

From we were there in late April, lights started to be installed in Thessaloniki to prepare for the holiday.

For me personally, this trek to Greece has been such an eye opener in so many ways!

Obeah and all that

Despite the strides we have made in education and enlightenment over the decades, the belief in the powers of  obeah men/women (madda) to protect one from evil doers or the long arm of the law, to make one rich and even help obtain illusive visas, remains unshakable.

And it crosses class, eligious and political lines.

Many criminals, ordinary people and even parsons apparently, have always depended on these practitioners to help keep them safe. 

I am always amused when I hear how religious some brutal murderers really are. One even tried to convince me once that he structured his life after David in the bible, so he slays his enemies!

How can I ever forget the notorious much-feared Natty Morgan too? He roamed the streets of Kingston for months on end, terrifying all and sundry some years ago.  When he was killed, one newspaper highlighted how his bible was found safely tucked in his back pocket.

But back to obeah, guard rings and protection.

The guard ring recently came up in the trial of 33 alleged members of the feared Clansman Gang, now taking place in the Supreme Court in Kingston.

Among those alleged gangsters on trial, is a woman who is described as a pastor of a church!

For the benefit of the uninformed, this dreaded gang has been known to be the overlords of the extortion racket in the St. Catherine area for decades. Their success has been maintained through fear, as they have never been hesitant to murder of burn out anyone who resists their efforts to collect from them. Further, they have been politically aligned to the Peoples National Party, (PNP) which has been in power in Jamaica for decades.

While for years I thought Clansman concentrated their illicit activities at the bus park , market district and business places in Spanish Town, I was disabused when I had a run-in with a few of them in Caymanas Bay one Sunday.

Caymanas Bay has a nice river running through it, where my friends and I from our cycling club liked to ride to on a Sunday, swim, eat and have a wonderful time. 

A lot of churches also go there to conduct baptism.

This property is owned by the Government of Jamaica.

As we arrived there that day, we saw that a gate had been put up and there was a man there collecting “entrance fees”. I insisted that I was not paying as it was government property and pushed  past him.  (I heard later that our organizer gave him some money.)

I learnt afterwards too that the ‘gateman’ was a Clansman!

The next day, I called the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the government agency which controls that property and reported the matter, but clearly nothing was done as shortly after I read in one newspaper that several persons in the gang had killed each other as they fought for control of that lucrative gate.

(I seriously wondered at the time what would happen if my friends and  I tried to capture a government property, say the UDC operated Dunn’s River Falls, and operated it as our own! But as dem ‘say ‘puss an dawg nuh hab di same luck.)

I have never returned to Caymanas Bay, but who knows, maybe the churches still patronize that lovely spot.

A baptism at Caymanas River

Anyway, through their poltical connections, the Clansmen remained untouchable for decades.

(The Jamaica Labour Party which now forms the government, has its politically-aligned extortion gang in St. Catherine too. That is the One Order Gang. Only time will tell if they will remain untouchable, now that their party is in power!)

Using the recently minted Anti-gang legislation, the police have finally gotten around to charging some of the alleged members and their so-called leader. Former members of the gang have been the star witnesses who have been testifying so far. I will therefore not comment on the ongoing trial, only to say it was the evidence being given by the first star witness, which reminded me of the dependence on obeah.

For in his evidence, the witness claimed to have been offered a guard ring (gyard) by the female parson who is also on trial.

I have not seen a gyard ring recently, but the testimony reminded me vividly of when I was introduced to it and the 'powers' it contains.

This was many decades ago when I had a close friend who made gold jewelry. He showed me a thick gold ring with a flat top one day and asked me if I knew what it was. Naturally, I replied that it was a ring.

That’s when he explained that it was not just any ring. He turned it over and pointed to a small hole in the back. This is the hole in which the obeah man/woman stuffs powerful, mysterious powder (could be salt or flour for all I know😆), which will provide the wearer with protection, he explained. Then the purchaser returns with the ring to have the hole sealed.

I must admit that at the time I was totally ignorant about obeah, for I hadn't left school too long before and in the neck of the woods in the country that I grew up in, I never heard much about the practice or even seen a red flag hoisted at anyone’s gate!

When I was educated about the ring and learnt of its utility, I took enough interest in obeah to actually borrow from my informant, the banned book called “The Master Key” written by one De Lawrence.

This I was told, was the bible of obeah men/women.

While it explained in detail how to cast a few obeah spells, when to beat graves, what powders to use to paralyze, poison people etc., I personally found it quite boring.

As they say, belief kills and belief cures, so if you do not believe in these workings and the various powders they use to carry on their trade, obeah is a waste of time and money.

Regardless, it remains ever so popular, not only in Jamaica but worldwide, especially in places where Voodoo and Santeria and other beliefs in the occult are popular.

I have been curious though, how so many supposedly sensible people can believe in the power of obeah to help them get rich, for many of the obeah men/women I have met or learnt about, appear to be only moderately wealthy at best.

The great exception would be the late “Dr.” Kevin Smith, who from all the reports coming out since his human sacrifice, dabbled in the trade. But he seemed to be involved in lots of other rackets, including convincing the gullible in his congregation to change their wills and make him the beneficiary of their insurance, pensions etc. so I would not classify him as a true obeah man.

Maybe the answer lies in the conversation I had with a Haitian taxi driver some years ago. As I boarded his taxi at the airport to go to Port of Prince, he asked if I wanted to make a stop at a voodoo ceremony. When I asked him why I would want to go there, he replied that “he can make you rich”. When I asked him why he was not rich, he replied confidently that “my time has not yet come.”

So dear readers, it’s all a matter of timing.

I guess he did not recognize from my accent that I was Jamaican, for I had often heard that Haitians respected us greatly in that particular art, as they say we eat susumba (gully beans) which their voodoo priests use as a powerful potent in their trade, and not for human consumption unless you plan to kill someone.

Oh yes, the world of the occult is really fascinating and I guess, rewarding, to them that truly believe.

Obeah - YouTube

Protecting the unborn while neglecting the already born

The reason why I keep coming back to religion so  regularly, is because it has been used for so long as a cover to oppress people.

In the olden days, it was the principal tool to keep the enslaved and oppressed in line, the well-known ruse being, if they accepted the oppression their rewards would come in the afterlife.

As slavery was outlawed and most people became less naïve, the religious scammers evolved a bit and Bishop Tutu summed up the next step beautifully; “When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.” Of course, you are aware that in South Africa, everything the apartheid government did was with the blessing of the Dutch Reformed church.

It was no different in other countries such as the USA and the Caribbean where slavery and later, white oppression, was the order of the day, for always, the slave masters had the full endorsement of the church.

Fast forward to my generation.

As far as I can see, the Christian religion is still mainly used as a tool to oppress the weak. Probably though, their favorite prey these days are women and children, because of their unequal physical strength!

So, while I have always been wary of Christians, the thing that drew me back to this topic today, is the most horrific story coming out of France about the sexual abuse of children by catholic priests. It stated in part; Clergy members in the Roman Catholic Church in France sexually abused more than 200,000 minors over the past seven decades, according to an estimate published on Tuesday by an independent commission that concluded the problem was far more pervasive than previously known.”

I find these reports about the catholic church especially painful, for while I don’t know much about their religious teachings and care even less, based on their operation in Jamaica, I have always been a big supporter of that denomination where through the efforts of representatives such as Father Holung, Sister Benedict and the Alpha institution,  it has only been surpassed by the Salvation Army, in assisting, uplifting and training the poor in my country.    

However, catholics internationally, are well known for their promulgation of the inferiority of woman and definitely, what we can do with our bodies, under the guise of protecting the unborn while abusing the already born.

What is happening in Texas too is a poignant example of how those who describe themselves as upright Christians, use their superior powers to oppress women, under the guise of protecting the unborn.

In this latest move, these Texan legislators too, have decided that women don’t control our own bodies, so government through them, can determine what pregnant ladies do with their’s!

I don’t know if it’s the nonsense about woman being created from Adam's rib which has driven this overreach in the Christian world, but whatever it is, it is nothing but another grab for power over us women in the name of religion.

For how is that these upright people in Texas, care so much about the recently conceived,(some are claiming that a human exists from the moment of conceptions!) when they display so little concern about the pligtht of pregnanat women and children  after they are born, especially minorities.

For according to the statistics, Black infants in Texas are twice as likely as white infants to die before their first birthday and maternal mortality is higher than the national average.

Protecting the unborn indeed while leaving those already here to suffer and die from their racist policies and neglect.

These religious zealots would be on firmer ground if they encouraged men to have vasectomies instead of  continually trying to take control of women's bodies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJu_qutzS3Y

REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION

 I HATE RELIGION. 

Every time I say that, I get lots of glares then someone accuses me of being an atheist!

Atheist? Good God, in my book it takes a great deal of arrogance to be an atheist, for just looking around at this planet not to mention the universe of which we know so little, tells me that there has to be a much greater creative force than humans will ever be able to understand.

So yes, I believe in a much greater creative force than humans, and being human, I too have a natural instinct to worship it. 

Nothing wrong with that I suspect.

My dislike for religion therefore has nothing to do with a belief in God by whatever name. It has  to do with the distorted messages religions send  and the chaos and bloodshed they leave behind as they try to confuse people and yes, TO MAKE MONEY.

For with religion comes people who claim that they and they alone know the truth about everything.

I grew up in a Christian home, where Jesus, the bible etc. were everything and could never be doubted. The ritual was, church as many times as possible during the week and up to three times on Sundays. Added to that, there were nightly prayers and it was drummed into our heads that we should pray to God for everything. 

Well I have a friend who grew up in those identical circumstances and some years ago he told me he was an atheist. When I asked why, he told me that when he was a teenager and taking his Senior Cambridge exams (yes, he is close to 80, for that exam was many decades ago!) he prayed to God every night to let him pass. 

WELL HE FAILED,. 😅

So the next year he repeated the exam, did not beg God for anything and studied fiercely.

HE PASSED.

So, he tells me, from then he decided that he had to rely only on himself to succeed and he and his family  have indeed succeeded immensely.

Well I am not going that far, but I too definitely stopped praying to beg for anything for decades now. WHAT I DO EVERYDAY THOUGH, IS TO THANK HER FOR EVERYTHING.  

No begging only gratitude and I really feel good about it!

But back to religion. 

Of all the established religions, I dislike Christianly the most. 

Maybe it's because that is the religion I know the most about or maybe its because just about everyone I know, claims to be a Christian, and I find most Christians to be such despicable people. 

As to white evangelists, they seem to be really terrible people. I say seem, as I am not aware of ever having met any, but when I hear what their leaders say and read what adherents write, I really cringe. 

However, having grown up in the Christian church, I still enjoy Christian music and play it often.

In fact, its listening to this one that motivated me to write this article!

I liked it so much that I even posted it on Facebook, dedicating it to my Christian friends, during holy week.

However, while I love the music, the boring thought of flying around during the after-life, while drinking milk and honey all day, is enough to send me flying! That's almost as unattractive a thought as being one of the 70 virgins waiting around for some devout Muslim man to come and claim me as a prize.😟

The bible too drives me crazy and most times when I hear quotations, my response rangers from laughter to downright anger. A really laughable one is Solomon having 700 wives and an example of the ones that set me off are the misogynistic sections starting from the insult that I was created from a man's rib. 

Over the years, because of my interest in, especially, the after life, I have looked at many religions but the only one I think I could ever get involved with when I reincarnate, is Buddhism.

My attraction to the Buddhists comes from the fact that they are the most peaceful religion, for they certainly don't believe in or practice killing people to convert them!

My only problem, is that they are so peaceful and against shedding blood, that they are vegans.

Having spent so many decades reveling in the delicious meats, I could never at this point, stomach the thought of living without meat in this life.

So every time I see a live animal, I feel so badly that I promise it that I will become a vegan in my next life, for in this one, I am just so far gone that I can't even find the will to change!

Lets see how that pans out!

(169) Joan Williams, author - YouTube

Revisiting Big Dunn

According to my bible, if you can drive don't ride and if you can ride don't walk. So when Charles aka Ayatollah called at 5am to say he was sending a support vehicle for me on Sunday 9th September, to follow me up to Stony Hill and I saw bicycles packed up inside when it arrived, I packed mine in too.

But Charles was not as weak willed for after we picked up Chuck and we all were driving up to Stony Hill we saw him and Theresa struggling up Long Lane. But Theresa being smart, jumped into Charles 1st vehicle as it arrived (ours was already packed up with sensible people!) but stubborn Charles refused to be bribed and struggled all the way up the steep hill in the early morning all by himself.

All power to him.

Of course, all this excitement was in preparation for a return ride with the Fun and Thrills group to the wonderful, refreshing waterfall known as Big Dunn aka Fish Dunn, just outside of Buff Bay, Portland.

The ride to Castleton Gardens was easy as it was downhill all the way and there, we had delicious, boiled corn and janga soup. It was there that the main group of riders which had left the headquarters later, joined us.

Super athlete Andrew and daughter Paris

The greatest athlete on this trip was 8-year-old Paris Smellie, Andrew's daughter. Andrew had driven
to Agualta Vale then unloaded her bicycle which she rode from there past Annotto Bay while her super athlete dad jogged protectively behind her. 

They kept that up to the border of St. Mary and Portland (Dover district in St. Mary and Windsor district in Portland) where it started to rain. I personally welcomed the rain for what always defeats me on those long rides is the blaring sun.

As soon as the rain stopped, Paris was back on her bicycle and Andrew back to his jogging all the way to Buff Bay.

Along the way I had seen members of the Portland Cycling Club heading west, but just outside of Buff Bay some passed me on a hill while one or two others of the team followed, doing Orrel's regular job, that of helping weak female riders by riding behind them and pushing them up the hill with one hand.

Members of Porland Cycling Club- a Patricia Marie Summons photo

In Buff Bay they told me they are the top riding club in Jamaica, having recently won the championship and that one of their members, Oneal Samuel's rides with BMW in Atlanta, Georgia while two of their members are now in training for the Caribbean championship meet next month.

When one showed me his wheels which cost US$5000 each, I finally realized what a little leaguer I was! I can see why they would be a top riding club however as their regular training routine involves riding east from Portland to Kingston and back home via Junction taking an average of seven hours to do that rotation.

Wow.

They rode with us and had breakfast with us at a cricket field just beyond Crystal Springs. About two minutes before that, I had kept to my resolve to stop riding as soon as we started the steep ascent to the intersection. However, after breakfast, I realized that what I remembered to be a steep climb was a mere slope as the really steep section starts after the intersection going towards Bybrook.

It was a marvelous day. Someone had tied three knotted ropes on trees at the top of the falls and allowed them to fall over the gigantic rocks for adventurers to climb up on and jump into the deep, clear, refreshing water below.

Several of our macho men tried but gave up in frustration until Johan accomplished what had seemed to be the impossible. Seeing that it was doable, Andrew and Howie persevered until they succeeded too.

Fun and Thrills riders frolic at Big Dunn aka Fish Dunn, Portland

While on our first visit there, Chuck had been the only one to "chuck" off the gigantic rocks into the deep water below, this time numerous fellows did and was joined by Sasheena who represented the women.

It was a great day as the weather was excellent for riding, the water refreshing and not too cold, the breakfast delicious and the camaraderie wonderful. The only regret is that we had mistimed our return visit as the apples which were ripe and in abundance on the first trip, were absent this time.


What the heck, you can't always have it all!