CastleLyons

Finding Christ in "The Hunt of the Unicorn"

2011-11-17T12:30:00.000-06:00

Among the most beautiful of all medieval tapestries are those that belong to the "Hunt of the Unicorn" series. Created around the 15th century in France, today they hang in the Cloisters Museum, part of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The seven tapestries depict typical medieval hunting scenes, patterned after the popular stag hunt. Yet these scenes go much deeper than a mere sporting activity. Hidden within the plant, animal, and human images are spiritual undertones. To the educated eye, one might more properly call them over-tones. In this blog, I’d like to take a very brief look at each of the tapestries and show how the story of Christ is revealed. Due to space concerns, I’ll only touch on a few of the more significant symbolisms in each.

Tapestry 1: The Start of the Hunt

The tale begins with the lord of the hunt and his companions as they set forth on their quest for the unicorn. A scout in a tree (upper right) motions to the hunters. He has sighted the quarry and calls for his companions to follow.

The main spiritual message in this scene is that of man’s state of sin and need for salvation. Immediately underneath the central hunter is a white campion flower, also known as snake flower or death flower. This flower and its position depict the sinful state of man, which has brought death into the world. The hunters gathering to quest for the unicorn show mankind’s search for someone to rescue them from their sinful state.

Also central to this scene is the theme of birth, specifically the birth of a divine, eternal king. In the upper right corner we find several significant trees. Two of the trees signify birth—the cherry tree, since it is the first to bear fruit in the spring, and the birch tree, since it is the first to bring forth new leaves. The walnut tree represents Christ due to the threefold nature of its fruit. Both the ash tree and the oak tree signify the birth of a divine king.

Tapestry 2: The Unicorn at the Fountain

In this scene, the hunters gather around the unicorn and watch in awe as it dips its horn into the water. Hunters would not try to capture or kill their quarry while it is at rest. They will wait until it is "unharbored," or begins to flee. Then the chase is on!

Spiritual icons in this scene are abundant. Here we can see the entire drama of the fall of man, the restorative power of Christ, the existence of good and evil, and Christ’s battle against Satan.

The twelve hunters, symbolic of the twelve disciples, gather around a fountain from which flows a river. The fountain is surmounted by a pomegranate, a symbol of abundant life due to its abundance of seeds. Thus the fountain and the river signify the river of life.

We see the presence of evil and of sin in several forms. Once again the white campion flower is present, behind the foot of the hunter who is pointing at the unicorn. We also see a hyena (a symbol of the devil) under the orange tree in the lower right corner. The presence of the stag and the genet (weasel-like animal to the left of the hyena) tell that a serpent had been to the water, since both these animals are known to kill serpents. Thus we can deduce that the water had been poisoned by a serpent, or that the sins of mankind have polluted the waters of life and brought death into the world.

Yet the waters are being restored by the unicorn, who comes with healing in his horn. This is a beautiful image of how the sacrifice of Christ brings cleansing to mankind and restoration to the entire world.

Tapestry 3: The Unicorn Crosses the Stream

Now the hunt begins in earnest, as the hunters attempt to capture the unicorn. The unicorn has taken refuge in a stream in the same way that a hart (a type of deer) would attempt to escape its pursuers. In this scene, the hunters with spears represent the enemies of Christ who seek to kill Him.

Central to this scene is the image of baptism. In the foreground, on the near side of the stream, are many images of the Underworld, such as partridges (who steal other birds’ eggs), the hazel tree (from which divining rods were made), and the yellow iris (a symbol of the journey from one world to another). The bridge crossing the stream is a symbol of baptism since it shows the passing from one world to the next, in this case, from the world of sin to the realm of Christ.

Tapestry 4: The Unicorn Defends Himself

The unicorn was known to be a fierce and powerful beast that could never be captured by force. The fierceness of the unicorn alludes to the fact that no powers, principalities, or thrones can defeat Christ.

If you look closely, you will see that the unicorn in this scene has no ears. Figures without ears came to represent imminent betrayal. There are two reasons for this: First, they bring to mind the silence in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Christ was betrayed (referring to the sleeping disciples). Second, we are reminded of Peter’s cutting off the ear of a soldier at the time Christ was betrayed.

The pierced dog is a foretelling of the wound Christ will suffer. Upon closer examination you will see that underneath the dog, its blood is turning a violet into a rose. This tells of the power of the blood of Christ to make all things new and beautiful. Violets were symbols of humility, roses of Christ.

One other interesting detail in this scene is a felled beech tree (next to the hunter holding an axe, in the upper left corner). This signifies the impending death of a king.

Tapestry 5: The Unicorn is Captured

Only two small fragments of this tapestry remain, since they had been badly damaged during the time of the French revolution and the years afterward. (In fact, when the tapestries were found many years later, they were in a barn being used to cover vegetable bins.) If you will look closely under the unicorn's head, you will see an arm embracing it. This belongs to the maiden who should be the central figure.

It was said that a unicorn could never be captured by force, but if you put a virgin maid in an enclosed garden, he would leap into her lap. This is a beautiful rendering of the virgin birth, for Christ was not forced to come to earth, but He came willingly into Mary’s womb.

An enclosed garden was a symbol of purity. "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (Song of Songs 4:12). The roses that grow along the fence are also symbols of the virgin Mary—white for her virginity, red for her charity. A hunter blowing a horn is often used as an image of the angel Gabriel making his annunciation to Mary, that she would bear the Son of God.

The maiden sits in the shadow of an apple tree, which represents the Holy Spirit and also the lover in Song of Songs (2:3): "As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."

The entire scene brings to mind the words spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1:35).

Tapestry 6: The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle

In this scene the unicorn is pictured twice: once as he is killed (upper left), and again as he is brought to the lord and lady of the castle.

As the unicorn is killed, he is pierced in the side, bringing to mind the piercing of Christ, when blood and water flowed from His side. The unicorn’s blood is caught in a hunter’s horn, referring to the medieval belief that the blood of Christ was captured in the chalice from the Last Supper.

As the dead unicorn is being carried across the river, his horn has been removed and is tied to his neck by a garland of oak and prickly holly, symbolizing his godhood and manhood, respectively, and also symbolizing the crown of thorns.

Underneath the unicorn’s head grows a triad of flowers that represent crucifixion, eternal life, and the hope of heaven. These are the carnation (whose seeds resemble nails), the Chinese lantern (whose bright color doesn’t fade in winter), and the yellow cowslip (known as St. Peter’s Keys).

The horse that is carrying the dead unicorn is crossing a stream, which represents the River Styx, the river that flows into Hades. This is attested to by the many plant and animal icons of the Underworld found on the near side. Among the Underworld icons are a squirrel, a hazel tree, a blackberry bramble, a white campion, thistles, a yellow iris, and three dogs leashed together (representing the three-headed dog Ceres who guards the gates of hell). Additionally, the presence of a pair of swans on the moat in the far distance tells of the afterlife, for it was believed that swans accompanied the souls of the dead to the next world.

All of this is a telling of the death of Christ and His descent into hell.

Tapestry 7: The Unicorn in Captivity

Once again we see the unicorn, but now he is alive and chained to a tree within an enclosed garden. Resurrection icons in this scene are abundant. The chain that holds the unicorn to the tree is known as a love chain. Here it is shown quite loose, indicating that the unicorn can leave if he wants, but he stays willingly. This represents the love of Christ for mankind that kept Him on the cross.

The tree is a combination of pomegranate and palm, symbols of abundant life and eternal life, respectively. The pomegranate fruit is so ripe, in fact, that some have burst open and are spilling onto the unicorn’s side. (The red on the unicorn here is not blood.)

As with tapestry 5, the enclosed garden represents purity. In this case, it is a symbol of heaven, where there will be no sin or sickness. All of the plant icons in this tapestry point to healing from illness, to repelling snakes and evil, and to purity. A cluster of bluebells is silhouetted in front of the unicorn—this flower was thought to repel all forms of evil. Additionally, there are three tiny animals in this scene: a butterfly, a dragonfly, and a frog. Each of these is a symbol of new life that comes after death.

Best of all, the gate to the enclosed garden is a cross, the only way to enter heaven. In front of the cross is a blue flag iris, said to repel serpents, thus neither the devil nor any kind of evil can enter here.

Conclusion

While the seven tapestries of "The Hunt of the Unicorn" depict thrilling hunt scenes, their main purpose is to tell the Christ story, and they do so quite beautifully.

There are way too many images in all of these tapestries to do a full analysis here. If anyone has questions about any images that I have not mentioned, or if you would like to know even deeper meanings behind anything I have mentioned here, I would love to hear from you. You can respond in the form of a comment to this blog.

Christ the Unicorn

2011-11-16T20:47:00.000-06:00

Many people know the unicorn as a symbol of the New Age and New Age philosophies. To say that the unicorn is Christ seems almost sacrilegious. Yet in ages past it was not this way.

Medieval people loved symbolism. They were taught to look for symbolism in everything around them. It was only natural for them to equate spiritual truths with the things they saw in nature—plants and animals alike. Granted, the chances that any ever saw an actual unicorn are pretty small, but they did believe that unicorns existed. "Proof" of their existence came in the form of narwhal horns, which would wash up on beaches. Thus a unicorn's horn was most often pictured as spiral, emulating the narwhal horn.

We find the symbolism of the unicorn as Christ in many medieval writings, and even in writings from long before the medieval age. As early as the fourth century A.D., saints had been known to refer to Christ as a unicorn. Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan (c. 340-397) said, "Who then is this unicorn but the only-begotten Son of God?" (Patrologia Latina). Saint Basil (c. 330-379) said, "[Christ] will be called the Son of unicorns, for as we have learned in Job, the unicorn is irresistible in might and unsubjected to man.... Christ is the power of God, therefore he is called the unicorn on the ground that He has one horn, that is, one common power with the Father." (Exegetic Homilies).

Here are but a few of the scriptural references these men allude to:

Numbers 23:22__God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn.

Job 39:9-11__Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? Or wilt though leave thy labour to him?

Psalm 92:10__But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn.

This word "unicorn" in the KJV was an animal called a re'em in Hebrew. The writers of the Septuagint did not know what a re'em was, so they translated the word to be "monocerous," meaning "one-horned." Thus the KJV called it a unicorn.

Many examples in medieval art represent Christ as this unicorn of strength, this unicorn with a "horn of salvation" (2 Samuel 22:2,3; Luke 1:69). One of the best examples is a Swiss tapestry (shown above) that shows a spotted unicorn coming to the Virgin Mary, who is holding its horn. In front of the unicorn is Adam, who is piercing the unicorn with a spear and saying, "He was wounded for our transgressions." Underneath the unicorn is Eve, who is catching the unicorn's blood in a chalice and saying, "And by His wounds we are healed." (All quotes are in Latin on the tapestry.)

In my next posting, I will talk about the most beautiful and spiritually significant of all the unicorn tapestries: "The Hunt of the Unicorn." These seven tapestries tell the entirety of the Christ story, from His birth to his death and resurrection.

Greensleeves

2010-10-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

Here's me playing Greensleeves on the hammered dulcimer. I actually do a longer version of this, with three verses, each one different. But since I can only film one minute at a time, this is just one of the versions. The final few notes didn't quite make it in the video.

Jesu, Joy

2010-10-07T15:36:00.002-05:00

Here's me playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring on the hammered dulcimer. My digital camera will take only a one-minute movie, so I did a shortened version and left out the fancy middle part.

Fresh Ginger!

2010-08-26T19:34:00.000-05:00

My ginger experiment is coming along very nicely. I had wanted to find young ginger, but the kind in the stores is usually pretty mature (read: strong). Young ginger has a milder flavor. What to do? I decided to try growing ginger myself. It seems to like this big pot on my back deck. The stems have gotten so tall they're bending over. The leaves have a nice gingery fragrance when you brush against them.

Turns out growing ginger is very easy. Just take a fresh root, lay it on some dirt, and that's it! Doesn't even need a lot of sun, especially in the early stages. Just warmth and moisture. Since ginger comes from tropical regions, it's loving this 100-degree weather we've been having.

It's not ready to harvest yet. It takes well over 200 days to be ready. Here you can see the new growth coming out of the planted "root." (The edible part isn't really the root, even though people call it "ginger root." It's actually the rhizome.)

The bulbous part between the stem and the original "root" is the rhizome (I think). We'll see how it looks after 200 days. I can't remember the date I first did the planting, so don't ask how long it's been.

Know what else likes the heat and humidity? All those little bitty mushrooms growing around the ginger. You can see their creamy brownish caps all over the pot. They'll grow a bit then die...they don't hurt anything. The grandkids like pulling them out.

I'm Just Sayin'...

2010-08-16T08:51:00.000-05:00

I said from the start that my new grandbaby looks a lot like her father when he was a baby. Maybe all babies look alike. But I'm just sayin'....

Photos on the left are baby Blueberry. Photos on the right are Blueberry's dad at his birth.

New Baby in the House!

2010-08-11T10:40:00.002-05:00

My son's wife just gave birth to their first child! (Known hereafter as Blueberry.) Her birthday is 8-9-10, 11:12 pm. That's almost spooky!

She's a doll! Don't take my word for it...see for yourself.

Here she is with her parents:

Here's Blueberry with her great-grandparents, my husband's parents:

And here we all are:

Can't leave out my daughter (Blueberry's aunt) and her two children. Too bad my daughter's husband was at work. He missed out on the photo-op.

Innocent Blood

2010-06-01T11:14:00.004-05:00

If you look up the name Nicodemus, you'll find the most common meaning is "people's victory." But there is another meaning to the name in some cultures: "innocent blood."

Some people have reacted with disgust when I tell them this meaning to my maiden name. I don't understand that reaction. To me, it speaks of the ultimate innocent blood, shed for my sins.

Only the blood of an innocent could redeem mankind. If Jesus was just an ordinary man who died on the cross, His death would be meaningless. Thousands of men died on crosses during the Roman occupation.

But Jesus was different. He was innocent. Not only was He innocent of any crimes against the Roman Empire, He was innocent of all sin. He did not deserve to die, much less to die in such a gruesome way.

His innocent blood, shed for me. That truly was a "people's victory." It humbles me to bear the name.

The Nicodemus Family in History

2010-05-30T09:06:00.000-05:00

Hats off to my father, Donald E. Nicodemus, who spent long hours putting together a detailed family geneology, gathering info from many other dedicated Nicodemuses. Here are just a few interesting tidbits.

Origin of the Name

According to one Nicodemus researcher, "Circumstantial factors lead to the belief that Nicodemus genealogy originated in ancient Greece." The Greek meaning of the name is "leader of the people" (nico = leader or victor; demo = people [root for words such as democracy and demographic]).

The name was prevalent in ancient Greece and used for cities such as Nicomedia (known today as Izmit), which was ruled by a man named Nicomedes from 278 to 250 B.C. Nicomedia later became the seat of the Roman Empire under Diocletian (early 4th century).

People of differing ethnic origins often adopted names of eminent Greek families. The Hebrew Pharisee who questioned Jesus in the Book of John very likely adopted the name in this manner.

The move of Greco-Roman culture into Europe brought the Nicodemus line northward, particularly into Germany and Britain. The name underwent some spelling variations, depending on the region where the family lived. Nichodemus was used in Britain and persisted well into the 19th century. At least two variations appeared in Germany—Nickodemus and Nikodemus—purportedly because there were so many Nicodemus families that the postal service had difficulty sorting the mail. The short form of "Demus" has also been found to be an offshoot of "Nicodemus."

Origin of the Line of Nicodemus in America

One dedicated man, Fritz Otto Nicodemus (1905-1980), discovered records of two lines of Nicodemuses in the neighboring towns of Herborn and Medenbach, Germany. The first Nicodemus to emigrate to America was Johann Henrich Nicodemus of Medenbach, in 1751. He was followed by his father (Johann Adam), and three brothers (Johann Frederick, Johann Conrad, Johann Adam). It is quite possible that most, if not all, persons in North America with the name Nicodemus descend from this family.

Frederick Nicodemus is listed in the Archives of Maryland as a lieutenant during the Revolutionary War. He served in Captain Daniel Clapsaddle's Maryland Militia Company. I come from his line, as follows:

Frederick's first child was Conrad (Johannes Conrath), who was the first Nicodemus born in America (1755) and the first to begin migrating westward (in 1788).

The ninth child born to Conrad was George Nicodemus (1799).

The twelfth child born to George was Samuel S. Nicodemus (1840).

The first child of Samuel S. was John Stoner Nicodemus (1882).

The second child of John Stoner was John Chalmer Nicodemus (1906).

The sixth child of John Chalmer was Donald Eugene Nicodemus (1934).

The second child of Donald Eugene was Lisa Joy Nicodemus (1957). That's me!

Interesting Stories

Runaway Rescue

In 1829, John H. Nicodemus (an older brother of my ancestor George) along with his wife Mary (nee Hay) learned of a seven-year-old runaway slave named Emily Smith. Always interested in the welfare of others, John brought Emily to his home. Many attempts were made by others to recapture Emily, but after some years the attempts were abandoned and she could go about safely. For seventy years she was a faithful servant in a good home.

Mary Hay Nicodemus had stated in her will that Emily was to continue to live in the Nicodemus Farm Homestead with all of the belongings of the Nicodemus household until her demise. Emily lingered only a few years after the passing of Mary, whom she called "Grandmother Nicodemus."

Indian Lawman

Thomas Frank Nicodemus (a nephew of my ancestor Frederick), was an Indian lawman in Tennessee in the mid-1800s. After his death, his wife Sarah (Taylor) married an Indian and moved to Oklahoma. "Frank," as he was known, is buried where he resided, in Tahlequah, Indian Territory.

West Point, Custer, Lee, and Lincoln

In 1852, William Joseph Leonard Nicodemus (nephew of my ancestor George) applied for an appointment to West Point. The appointment came in the form of a letter written by a Maryland representative to then U.S. Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis (later president of the Confederate States of America).

The superintendant of West Point at that time was Robert E. Lee. One of William's classmates was George Armstrong Custer.

William received several demerits during his first two months at West Point for minor infractions such as: losing step at drill, inattention at parade, late at inspection, and laughing in ranks.

Despite the minor infractions, William did graduate from West Point in 1858. He received a promotion "for gallant and meritorious service" at the Battle of Valverde, New Mexico, in 1862. Also serving at that battle was Colonel "Kit" Carson.

Later that same year, William was promoted to colonel—a big step but not uncommon during the Civil War. However, shortly after his promotion he resigned his position and reverted to his rank of captain. It's possible that this decision was made due to the dismissal of General George McClellan by President Abraham Lincoln. Other officers in the regiment resigned at the same time.

The following year, William was appointed as commander of the Signal Corps. Due to his criticism of certain West Point authorities, he was removed from that position, but on March 31, 1865, he was reappointed to the position by order of President Lincoln, just 15 days before Lincoln was assassinated.

Unrelated Trivia (pun intended)

A historical town in Kansas that goes by the name Nicodemus was founded by a white man, W.R. Hill, who wanted to set up an all-black community. In June 1877, the first settler arrived—Rev. Simon Roundtree.

Roundtree sent out a circular inviting all black people to come live in the "Great Solomon Valley of western Kansas" (see image at right). The colony was named after a legendary slave who was believed to be a prophet.

Today the town is the only all African-American community in the state of Kansas.

The Worst I've Seen

2010-04-14T13:59:00.005-05:00

The following image is obviously Photoshopped, but people in high places in the Christian realm have been forwarding it all over the world, saying, "The clouds don't lie; God parts the sky."

The clouds don't lie, huh? Well, someone did.

The most recent fake story is that this cloud formation was seen above Haiti just before the earthquake in January 2010. That's interesting, since I had seen it long before that. In fact, it was circulating at least since 2004, when people claimed to have seen it above Florida just before Hurricane Charley.

The really sad part about the retouched image, though, is that it comes from a very shady source. It's supposed to represent something lewd that I will not repeat here. Even the name of the website where it came from is offensive, so I won't post that here either.

But you can find it at Snopes.

When I said "people in high places in the Christian realm," I meant people in HIGH places. If our Church leaders are among the gullible ones who accept these rumors as fact, what do you think the world will think of us? No wonder the world dismisses Christians as fools.

Well, at least we have these words to lean on:

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise..." (1 Corinthians 1:26,27)

Truth or Fiction?

2010-04-14T13:37:00.004-05:00

There are few things in this world that bother me more than the propagation of untruths. The ability to email has done more to promote blatant lies than any other phenomenon.

Unfortunately, conservative Christians are the worst at passing on statements that purportedly support their cause. Most of these forwarded emails have long ago been proven false. By passing them on as though they are true, you make the rest of us look gullible (at best) and idiotic (at worst).

Please, people...before you forward those emails you get, check them out at any of these reliable sources:

truthorfiction.com
urbanlegends.about.com
hoaxbusters.org
breakthechain.org
hoax-slayer.com
snopes.com (No, it's not owned by flaming liberals...another untruth. Snopes info is well documented, with sources cited.)

Who Do You Believe?

I have often heard the following said by people who love to forward chain emails, after I tell them that the email is untrue:

"How do you know you can trust Snopes to be true?"

For real? That's your response?

You'd rather believe all those chain emails than a research site that cites actual sources? (I say Snopes, but it could be any of the sites listed above.)

Think for just a minute. You get an email from a friend, who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend, and so on. No one knows where it originated. Yet that's where you prefer to place your trust?

Don't carry your ignorance on your sleeve. Even if you don't completely trust Snopes, what is your logic for completely trusting anonymous sources?

Here's my philosophy toward chain emails:

1. Almost all of them are false. There are a few good gems out there, but very few.

2. If the content interests me in the least, I check for accuracy. I'm usually disappointed.

3. If it ends with any form of "You better pass this on or else!" I immediately delete it. Take that, you foul demon!

Getting off high horse now. But in future postings, I plan to expose some of the worst offenses to hit my inbox.

Rich Mullins I'm Not

2010-01-04T13:00:00.004-06:00

However, I did just buy a hammered dulcimer and am learning how to play it. I'm catching on pretty quickly. I bought the dulcimer the Saturday before Christmas, and by Christmas Eve I had memorized and could play 8 Christmas songs! It was fun playing for the family...they were all pleasantly surprised.

In the photo below, I'm explaining the string arrangement to my grandson, who is barely in the photo, on the right.

Now I'm working on some Rich Mullins songs. You can find instructional videos on You Tube--yippee! I appreciate the guys who went to the trouble of making those videos.

I also joined EverythingDulcimer.com so I can get acquainted with the dulcimer-playing community. I'm sure I can learn a lot from them.

This has been a lot of fun, as well as quite a challenge, especially for someone over 50! And it gives me something to do while Tim is playing Call of Duty. :-)

Pumpkin Stew

2009-11-22T16:28:00.009-06:00

Had fun with the grandkids this weekend making pumpkin stew. Make a beef stew, then put it in a pumpkin and bake it! Yum-yum!

Here's granddaughter cleaning out the inside of her pumpkin.

Grandson washing the pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin seeds ready for roasting.

Our favorite is to mix them with Worchestershire sauce and garlic powder.
(Pumpkin seeds are not part of the stew recipe, lol.)

Grandson dredging the beef in flour.

Granddaughter dropping the beef into the hot oil.

Brushing the pumpkin shells with vegetable oil.

Looks like the beef stew is done.

I used a very yummy recipe from Giada at the Food Network.

Rosemary, thyme, and garlic make a really flavorful broth.

You do need to simmer the stew in a pot for 1 hour or so,

whatever your recipe calls for, before putting it in the pumpkins.

Spooning the stew into the pumpkins.

Ready for the oven!

Bake 1-2 hours, till pumpkin meat is soft but skins are still firm.

P.S. Use the smaller, sweeter, pie pumpkins, not jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

The kids declared this a winner!

They enjoyed eating out of the pumpkins and scraping

the sides to make sure to get some pumpkin meat in each spoonful.

Awww.....

2009-10-04T18:01:00.018-05:00

Ever since Spike II died, we've been holding out for a baby Foxface to arrive at the fish store. Today they had three babies! We selected the smallest of the bunch...he's barely over an inch long. What a cutie! (He's the yellow one in the photo. To the left you can see our orange Aussie Dendrophilia. The colors are much brighter...the camera flash doesn't do it justice.)

Spike III didn't take long to acclimate, and he seems happy, although Dory (the blue hippo tang) is picking on him a bit. For some reason he doesn't seem to mind. He's managed to find a hiding place if he needs to get away. One of the clowns also tried picking on him, but Spike III showed his spikes! Such a baby and yet he knows how to defend himself.
　
Oh, guess I didn't mention...we put Dory in the main tank a week ago. At the same time, we took the bully Flame Angel out and quarantined him. That was so Dory would have a chance to feel comfortable in the main tank without being picked on.
　
We're a little glad that Dory feels assertive enough to pick on someone. Perhaps she's ready for Flame to return to the main tank. We'll put Flame in a little later today. His presence might give Dory something else to think about besides picking on little Spike.

Another look at Spike III, along with Rebo and Zootie, the two clowns.

Here he is, schooling with the chromies (aka The Three Stooges) and showing his spikes.
OK, the right term is "shoaling." Here he is, shoaling with Larry, Mo, and Curly.

New Guy

2009-09-20T15:07:00.004-05:00

Just picked up this pseudochromis porphyreus (the purple one in the photo). He's listed as "semi-aggressive," which is good for being such a little guy. Already he's held his own against the bully Flame Angel, so now Flame is leaving him alone.

Oh, and we named him Inigo. ("Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.") We chose that name cuz it sounds like indigo, which is kind of the color he is.

New Stuff!

2009-09-13T13:16:00.008-05:00

The newest addition to our tank is this Aussie dendrophyllia. This was a gift from our daughter and son-in-law. Very pretty! These photos are from the Internet. Our new arrivals have just been acclimated, so they've closed up for now. These photos show how they'll look when they feel comfortable and open up. Here's a close-up shot.

We also picked up a star polyp, shown below. Ours isn't quite as big as this one in the photo, but it'll grow. I'll add photos of ours at a later date.

What the Heck?

2009-09-13T12:57:00.005-05:00

More misery in the fish tank. Spike II died. For no apparent reason. Yesterday he was fine, behaving normally, showing good color, and eating well. This morning he was dead. We just had our water tested at the fish store, and it showed we had excellent quality. The only change was the addition of this powerhead to create more current.

Fish are supposed to love this. Our clowns and chromies have been riding the wave from the beginning. They seem to enjoy it. Maybe Spike didn't.

Oh well, now we can hold out for a cute little baby Foxface, when the store gets one in.

Meanwhile, the rest of the fish are doing well, as you can see from these photos. We had to remove Dory from the main tank due to a bout with ich, but she recovered very nicely in the QT and seems to be enjoying herself. When we think she's ready to go back to the main tank, we're going to remove the Flame Angel for a time. He's the reason she got ich...he picked on her terribly.

Dory's Loving It!

2009-08-15T14:02:00.008-05:00

Dory has been removed from quarantine and placed in the main tank. She's lovin' it! She didn't even lie down and play dead under a rock like blue hippos are known to do. She was shy at first, but in just a few minutes she was out and about, getting to know her new surroundings and her new neighbors. And she started to eat right away, which is a great sign!

Here she is behind the mushroom forest.

The whole gang:

This tree-ish looking thing is a Cauliflower Colt (coral) that we picked up. It's only about 4 inches tall right now, but it's supposed to grow big and eventually take over that entire rock that's behind it.

Couldn't Resist

2009-08-13T11:31:00.004-05:00

Well, we did it. We bought a blue hippo tang. After promising we wouldn't get any more tangs. Here she is. And yes, we named her Dory. She's just a little bitty baby.

The last time we bought a couple tangs, they brought ich with them and killed off our entire population. This time is different though. This hippo had been in the store for three weeks undergoing copper treatment. At this store, that's standard procedure for any wild-caught fish. The difference between this time and last time is that last time we bought the tangs just a day or two after they arrived at the store. They didn't have time to undergo the copper treatment and thus kill any ich that was on them.

Just goes to show you that you can't trust everything people tell you. One clerk said it would be good to buy them just as they arrive because then they won't have to undergo two or more acclimation procedures. So that's what we did with our previous tangs. Now we know it's better to wait and let the fish get treated first.

We have a quarantine tank set up now, and Dory is spending some time there. We'll have her under observation for several weeks to make sure no ich is present. She's been there almost two weeks and is doing very well. We'll probably wait two more weeks before introducing her to the main tank.

She loves this empty clam shell. It's where she goes to hide when she's spooked, and she also likes to sleep there at night. When we introduce her to the main tank, we'll put the shell in there too, so she can feel at home.

Flashy!

2009-07-20T18:13:00.007-05:00

Several days after we bought Spike, we picked up this Flame Angel. Gorgeous! Since a tank can house only one Angelfish, we made sure to get the kind we really wanted. He's lots of fun to watch as he travels around the whole tank, picking algae off the rocks and glass. He'll sometimes hang upside-down to get the good bits from under the rock.

Here are some close-up shots. Sorry they're blurry...can't get the thing to hold still for his debut photos. Take note of the neon blue tips of his fins.

Spike's Back!

2009-07-20T18:05:00.005-05:00

Well, a new Spike, anyway. Here he is, our new Foxface. Unlike Spike I, this one doesn't have the black spot on his posterior. He's also taking longer to acclimate. He doesn't often show his brightest yellow.

As you can see, he didn't like the change. We've been seeing this side of him pretty often. Hopefully he'll feel more at home soon. At least he's eating plenty.

We also picked up three blue-green Chromis. There's only three in the tank...the others that you see are just the reflection. These are very hardy fish and very inexpensive. And they like to school, which is why we bought three. They're in the quarantine tank for now, more for Spike's sake than for theirs. The camera flash made them appear more green than the blue-green that they truly are.

Fish Again!

2009-07-12T15:26:00.003-05:00

We finally got a couple fish in the tank! It's been a long time since our ich disaster. We waited the full 10 weeks for the parasite to die off, but when our wait was over, the fish store didn't have the kind of fish we wanted. So we wound up waiting another couple weeks. The owners were in Fiji for several weeks, so a new order for fish didn't go in for some time. We stopped in today and learned they had gotten new fish in last Friday, but all the new fish were gone that same night. Seems everyone's been waiting long and were anxious to buy.

So we picked up these two darling Black & White Clownfish that they've had for some time, and that we've had our eye on. The price had come down, so that clinched it for us. We're naming them Rebo and Zootie, in memory of our last two Clownfish. Rebo is the one with the third white stripe at the base of the tail. Zootie has only two stripes.

Aren't they cute? I love their little orange faces. I think they'll lose the orange when they mature, though.

Marine Mayhem

2009-06-08T15:21:00.006-05:00

It's been a sad several weeks at our house. We lost all our fish to ich. Apparently a few people in the reefing community had the same thing happen at the same time. Don't know why.

Ich is a parasite that lives on wild-caught fish. Usually the fish have a slime coat that protects them. But if they get stressed, they shed their slime coat, then the ich burrows in. When one fish gets it, the parasite will breed, the eggs will drop off, then the larvae will swim about and look for a host. Eventually all the fish will get it.

When we realized what was happening with the two tangs we had gotten (tangs are notorious for developing ich), we followed the advice given by the experts at the store, but nothing worked. One by one, the fish died off. Spike was the last to go, being the hardiest of the fish that we had. He hung on, suffering, for several days before he succumbed. He died on April 12.

Spike, Rebo, Zootie...farewell. You were our favorites.

The tank has had nothing but invertebrates since then. Just starfish, shrimp, snails, and feather dusters. The shrimp have been entertaining at times, which is nice. With no fish to clean, they eagerly jump on our hands.

We decided to wait the full 10 weeks of the ich life cycle before reintroducing fish to the tank. Some people wait as little as 4 weeks, but since we're not very experienced, we're going the full 10 weeks. Meanwhile, the wait is allowing us to build up a good population of pods for the Mandarin Dragonet that we'll be getting to replace the one we lost (below).

Good-bye, Gollum.

The good news is, we're getting close to the date when we can put fish back in the tank...Father's Day! We've been stopping in at the store regularly and being introduced to some new varieties that are good, hardy species for beginners. We've decided to stay away from tangs from now on!

So now we're excited about starting up again. And we've taken the best precaution against ich...we've set up a quarantine tank (QT). It's just a little 10-gallon used to house newly purchased fish for observation before putting them in the main tank. It will also be used to house fish that develop any illness in the main tank. Not only will that keep the illness from spreading, it will allow us to treat only the sick fish and not the whole tank. Some treatments are lethal for invertebrates, so quarantine is necessary.

We'll definitely be getting another Foxface and naming him Spike II. We'll also be getting clownfish, but we've seen many different varieties at the store and aren't sure which to get. We like them all!

Most importantly, we'll be sticking with species known to be hardy and ich-resistant. No more tangs! (Except...well...the store just got in all these really little blue hippo tangs [Dory from "Finding Nemo"] and they are SO CUTE! Picture the below only 2 inches long.)

No! Stop it! No tangs!

Red Starfish

2009-05-14T09:37:00.004-05:00

Check out this strange phenomenon. Don't know what's happening to my red starfish. I'll have to ask my friends at The Seas forum.

ADDENDUM: Turns out no one at The Seas knew what was going on. One person thought the starfish was puking his guts out. That didn't seem to be it. It's been a week now and the little guy is doing just fine.

Easy Freezer Meals

2009-04-07T13:01:00.010-05:00

I like to have a nice lunch at work, but I don’t like paying the price of café meals. Some store-bought freezer meals are inexpensive, but they’re usually devoid of nutrition and taste. I love those Tai Pei frozen meals that come in a take-out type of box, but at $2.50 a box, that’s more than I want to spend each day for lunch.

So I decided to make my own healthy Asian frozen lunches. It was a fairly simple procedure with a minimum of cooking. Essentially all I cooked was rice and chicken, and also some instant noodles. In one setting I made a total of about 30 lunches.

I buy the rice, chicken breast, shrimp, and frozen vegies from Sam’s Club for further savings.

Here’s how I did it. Maybe the next time I do this, I’ll take photos and put them up here.

Items Needed:
Quart-sized zip-top freezer bags
10 cups dry white rice (or a combination of white and brown for added healthy benefits)
1 bag (10 lb) boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed
1 bag (2 lb) frozen cooked shrimp (Keep frozen. Buy the ready-to-eat kind: already peeled, cleaned, and deveined)
4 packets (4.7 oz) Asian Sides® Teriyaki Noodles
2 large carrots
1 bag frozen peas (keep frozen)
1 bag frozen corn (keep frozen)
1 bag (4 lb) frozen Asian stir-fry vegies (with sauce packets)
Sesame seed oil
Olive oil (or other cooking oil)*
Any Asian sauce as desired (soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, stir-fry sauce, oyster sauce, etc.)
Other options: green onions (diced), Asian cabbage (chopped), celery (diced)

*Since sesame oil is expensive, I like to augment it with another healthy oil, such as olive.

Preparation:

Cook rice according to package directions. I do this in a large Dutch oven.

While rice is cooking, cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Begin stir-frying with sesame oil and olive oil. (I do this in a large electric skillet at 350-400 degrees.) Cook just until done. Add Asian sauce as desired.

While rice and chicken are cooking, cook 4 packets Instant Asian Teriyaki noodles according to package directions. I do this in a second Dutch oven.

While those are cooking, peel and shred two large carrots.

If adding green onions, celery, and/or Asian cabbage, you can lightly stir-fry them if desired. Cook only until tender-crisp.

When each item is done (rice, chicken, noodles), set aside to cool. This works best in large flat pans, such as cake pans.

If desired, stir-fry some of the cooked rice with sesame oil and olive oil. (I did half of the rice.) Add Asian sauce as desired. (I used a mixture of oyster sauce and Kikkoman's stir-fry sauce.)

Packaging:

When everything is cool, put the following in quart-size zip-top bags. (Amounts can vary. For my husband, I’ll pack in as much rice, chicken, and vegies as the bag will hold. For my own lunches, I like to keep it around 8-10 ounces.)

3 oz fried rice or Asian noodles
3 oz cooked chicken pieces / OR / 6 pieces frozen shrimp
4 oz vegies

OR

1 cup steamed rice
3-4 oz chicken pieces
Frozen Asian stir-fry vegies
Portion out the sauce that came with the vegies.
Add any other sauce as desired. Just pour a couple tablespoons into the bag.

Squeeze all the air out of the bags and zip shut. Lay flat on freezer shelves, preferably in a single layer. When frozen, rearrange the bags as desired.

To serve:
Partially open bag (to allow steam to escape) and lay on a plate or in a bowl.
Heat in microwave 4-5 min or until heated through. (Allow more cooking time for larger meals.)

Our New Aquarium: Post #13

2009-03-25T18:11:00.004-05:00

Here's a great shot of the mandarin goby. She's crazy with color! Green swirled with red, and blue on her fins. We haven't come up with a good name for her yet. NO, we will NOT name her Mandy. We're considering getting a male to keep her company. I've heard they'll mate in captivity. At the very least, they'll display toward one another. That could be fun.
I moved the coco worm and it's much happier now. Came right out and posed for this shot. It actually looks like it has two heads...see the two red blooms?

Our New Aquarium: Post #12

2009-03-24T18:34:00.010-05:00

Lots of new fish to talk about, and all thanks to having added that eco-system (see my previous post). Here is a power brown tang, named Tango. He's picking on our new coco worm. The coco worm is red, but he's in his tube cuz he doesn't like being picked on.
The tang family of fish is identified by a sharp razor-like bit at the base of the tail. You can see it clearly on Tango, although not so well in this photo. It's surrounded by the yellow splotch just in front of his tail. Tangs will flick this at you if they feel threatened, and those razors can cut you!

Next is a sailfin tang. Due to the color of his "striped pajamas," we named him PJ. In this photo you can get an idea of his size. Tango is about the same size as well. It's nice to have several larger fish now.

We couldn't resist this cute little honey damsel. We named him Pinky cuz he's so tiny. Here's a closeup, then another photo for perspective.

The last of the new fish is a mandarin goby. She's actually quite beautiful, with red, green, and blue all swirled about. It's hard to see since she found this nice hiding place. Yes, I know for sure that she's a female. Mandarin gobies eat only "pods," or copepods, miniscule arachnids that live in the live rock. Just to make sure we had enough of a population of pods, we bought a jar full and dumped them in the eco-system below the tank, where they can live in the cheato and be fruitful and multiply.

In addition to the coco worm, we got these three feather dusters. We got three because they were all stuck together. I like that they're different shades of brown. See Angel and a fire shrimp in the background?

I think we're just about done with new additions. There's just one more fish that we have our eye on--a blue hippo tang. (Remember Dory from "Finding Nemo"?) We'll probably be picking one up at the end of the week.

Our New Aquarium: Post #11

2009-03-24T18:19:00.008-05:00

We finally got our eco-system up and running. This is the high-falutin' filtration system, used by serious owners of saltwater tanks. The water flows out of the tank via this black overflow box, then is siphoned to the clear box on the back, and from there flows down a tube.
The tube takes it down to a tank under the aquarium. First it enters the section with the blue bio-balls. Those catch a lot of particles and need to be removed and cleaned on occasion. That might get to be old, so eventually we might replace them with live rock rubble.

The water then moves into the main chamber. This houses "miracle mud," live rock rubble, and an algae called cheato (CHAY-toe). Cheato looks and feels just like Easter grass.

Another cool thing about this system is that we can keep the heater down there, which you can see in the closeup below. It was so unsightly in the main tank.

The water continues into a third chamber, which you can't see--it's behind the center support beam. This section holds plain-old polyester fiberfill (quilt batting) and more bio-balls.
Lastly, the water goes into the fourth chamber, out to a pump, up a tube, and back into the aquarium. In the photo below, in the blurry darkness on the right, you can see a white pipe that comes up and around and connects to that bumpy black piece. Everything looks so calm and peaceful, you'd never know that the water is really rushing out of there.

The really amazing thing about this system is that the water travels at a rate of about 500 gallons PER HOUR! And it's only a 55-gallon tank!

Our New Aquarium: Post #10

2009-03-22T19:06:00.005-05:00

We got a couple new critters today. We've had our eye on these fire shrimp, and this weekend Planet Coral had them marked way down. Must have gotten a big shipment of them. So we got two. They're a nice bright red with a few white dots. They're not as gregarious as the cleaner shrimp. They prefer to hide under rocks but will come out during feeding time. This one found a great rock to hide under, and we can still see him!

The aquarium inhabitants are checking out the newcomer.

We also got a red starfish. I guess today was "red" day. This guy will add some nice color to the place.

He didn't waste any time but started climbing around on the rock right off. That's especially good after that long acclimation time he had. The guy at the store warned us that this guy needs a long time to acclimate. He showed us how to set up a drip line and said to let it take a couple hours. So it was good to see him move around so much as soon as he got in the tank.

Intermission

2009-03-07T14:44:00.005-06:00

After all the attention I've given to the saltwater fish, I thought I shouldn't leave Mr. Snerdley out. He's my betta fish. He's the last of five that were from my daughter's wedding. She had them inside vases for the centerpieces at the reception tables. Mr. Snerdley has lived almost two years since the wedding day. It's hard to believe that he was mostly white when we first got him.

And, of course, let's not leave out my bestest pets, Shama and Rhema. Here Shama's singing her greeting song. She's always so happy to see me, even if I've only been a few steps away. She lifts her nose and gives a happy little sing-song howl. Rhema will sing too, but not as often. She has a nice alto voice, so the two make good harmony.

Our New Aquarium: Post #9

2009-03-07T14:29:00.011-06:00

The mushrooms have really blossomed since we got the new lights. Is it right to use the word blossomed when you're talking about animals? I have to admit, I find it hard to think of these things as animals.

Check this out... a mushroom is growing inside this shell (to the right of the feather-duster worm).

The starfish really gets around. Here he is coming off a rock and heading toward a worm.

Then he crawled right over the worm. The worm didn't care for that too much...he shot up inside his tube.

More worms...

Our New Aquarium: Post #8

2009-03-07T14:03:00.013-06:00

Some rare shots of Scooby...although not so rare anymore. He's been coming out of his hole more often. If you look closely, you'll see some crabs in this first photo.

Scooby even ventures higher up and swims around the rocks and ship now and then.

Now here's a face only a mother could love...

Snuggled in his hideaway...

Our New Aquarium: Post #7

2009-02-24T18:10:00.016-06:00

More aquarium photos...

Here's Spike having a snack. Also see the feather-duster worms on the sand. The one immediately under Rebo is open, the one farther left is closed. Between them you'll see a white mound. That's a dead brain coral that we found on a beach in the Caribbean. The camera flash took away the shadows, so it's hard to see the ridges on it.

Peekaboo!
Angel's going through what my grandson calls "The Shrimp Wash":

This shrimp is busy on a mushroom:

This baby snail must have stowed away on one of the rocks we bought!

Another hitchhiker. This little guy on the glass is only 1/4-inch in diameter. He's some kind of starfish, and this is all the bigger he gets. We found several of these on some of the Fiji rock. In fact, those two light blobs behind him (one above, one below) on the rock are his cousins, I think.

Our New Aquarium: Post #6

2009-02-24T17:33:00.010-06:00

Miscellaneous aquarium photos...

Angel and Zootie:
Spike, Zootie, and Rebo:

Wow, got nearly everyone in this shot! Including a shrimp. (Scooby is missing, as usual.)

We used three pieces of Fiji rock to create lots of nooks and crannies for the fish. It accidentally turned into a nice apartment complex, with upper and lower units. Spike and Angel get along famously and make good neighbors.

Looks like a shrimp has come to visit in the apartment. Also see the clownfish in the background.

We picked up two of these feather-duster worms and just love them! They zip back into their tube when something comes near, then come out when they feel safe.

Starfish and feather-duster:

Our New Aquarium: Post #5

2009-02-24T17:19:00.004-06:00

Well, here's the big picture. We have a backdrop now, and we've installed new lights...a special kind that are best for fish and coral. (By "special" I mean "expensive.") We hooked the lights to a timer so the fish get a regular cycle of light and dark.

The light-colored rock on the left is from Tonga; the darker rock on the right is from Fiji. You can see the mushrooms on the Fiji rock.

We've upgraded our filtration system as well. Here's the basic setup, but we're not quite done yet.

The dirty water will come down into the left-most segment of the "eco-system," where we'll have put live rock rubble, then it flows into the large center segment. In that segment will be "Miracle Mud" and an algae called Cheato (CHAY-toe). The live rock begins the filtration, then the mud and algae really clean things up. From there the water flows into the right-hand segment and is pumped back up into the tank. Once we get everything in place, I'll put up another picture.

Many, MANY thanks to our son-in-law Chad, who worked several hours putting everything together for us! That includes shopping for all the plumbing hardware, measuring and cutting...we could never have done it without him.

Our New Aquarium: Post #4

2009-02-20T14:32:00.000-06:00

February 20th was my husband's birthday, so guess what he got? Another fish! (Oh, you guessed it.) Our daughter Monica and her husband Chad took us to Planet Coral so he could pick one out. In the end, the guy at the store gave us the fish for free and said, "Happy Birthday." Way cool! So Monica's going to have to take Tim shopping again so she can actually buy him a fish.

The new guy is a Coral Beauty Angelfish. We haven't decided on a name for him yet, so we're calling him Angel for now. Isn't he pretty?I gave Tim a piece of live rock with plants growing from it. This is a really neat, bubbly kind of plant. It's actually a type of algae called caulerpa.
Turns out Spike likes to eat the caulerpa, and he's a pig, so I don't know how long the plant will last. But it looks pretty in the aquarium.

Somewhere along the way we had also picked up some coral. Here's a picture of one.

Our New Aquarium: Post #3

2009-02-10T14:12:00.000-06:00

It was hard to wait a full two weeks after adding those last three fish, so we added another after only ten days. It's a diamond gobe, who's into sand sifting. He scoops up sand, cleans the algae from it, then it comes out through his gills. We appropriately named him Scooby.

Scooby immediately got to work building himself a home. He likes the ship, apparently, and scooped out a section under the bow. Here he is digging out rocks (crushed coral) from under the ship...

...and spitting it back out into a neat pile.

By the time he was done, he didn't have just a pile...he built an entire fort! On the next photo, I've marked the perimeter and the entryway so you can see it better.
After that, we didn't see him for a whole day or more. We hardly ever see him...he's even more skittish than Spike.

Speaking of Spike, he rarely gets moody anymore. He even eats from our hand! I'll get a picture of that later.

And speaking of the ship...nuts to all you reefers who don't like fake objects in an aquarium. All our fish love it! The shrimp have made it their home, and the fish swim through for a cleaning now and then. The fish will also hide there when spooked.

Our New Aquarium: Post #2

2009-02-10T13:55:00.000-06:00

The tank is clean! That means it's time for fish. Here again, you're supposed to start slow and add fish only gradually. We started with a couple hardy varieties: two small clownfish and a foxface.
We named the foxface Spike because when he's upset, he'll spike out his fins. Don't touch...they're venomous!Foxface are moody critters...they get upset easily. Not only do they spike their fins, they change color and find a place to hide and pout. Here's Spike during one of his moody times.

The original names we had given the clownfish were too multi-syllabic, so we decided to change them. Now we call them Rebo and Zootie. (Only B5 fans will understand the reference. Zoot! Zoot!)
We also added more live rock. At this point in the game, we have to make sure to buy rock that's already been cycled. Otherwise it'll put too much ammonia in the system while it's cycling...and that's bad.

The new live rock has mushrooms on it. Mushrooms are sort of like anemones...actually somewhere between anemones and coral. Here you can see the starfish making his way around the mushroom rock.

Our New Aquarium: Post #1

2009-02-01T13:30:00.000-06:00

We finally did it! For years we've been talking about starting a saltwater aquarium, and now we've taken the plunge! Although keeping a marine aquarium is a lot easier nowadays than in the past, we're finding it's still rather difficult, with a lot of work and expense. But the rewards are great. We're very much enjoying the view. Sometimes we even pull the couch up and just sit and watch it.
As you can see, we started out rather bleak...didn't even have a backdrop until recently. Just a large piece of live rock and a sunken ship. Oh, and some live sand on the bottom. Live rock is actually dead coral that contains bacteria natural to the oceans. The bacteria in the live rock and sand are natural filters for the aquarium. It's the live rock that make saltwater aquariums easier than in the past. This particular piece is from Tonga.

We purchase the saltwater already mixed. Our favorite store here in Springfield is Planet Coral. The people there have been very helpful to us newbies.

Anyway, we put in the live rock and live sand and waited for the water to balance. One thing they tell you about saltwater aquariums...you have to be patient. It took over two weeks before the water was properly balanced. You can tell because it starts to grow algae. See the brown slime on the top of the rock? That's the stuff we were waiting for.Once the tank has cycled, you can add the clean-up crew: snails, crabs, and cleaner shrimp. We also got a sand-sifting starfish.
The cleaner shrimp are loads of fun! They keep very busy all the time, and they'll even clean your hand. Here my granddaughter is having her hand cleaned. Their feet tickle, and their pincers feel like pin-pricks.

Now we have to wait until the critters have the place all cleaned up before we can add fish.

Finding God in The Lord of the Rings

2008-11-26T08:00:00.005-06:00

Any fan of Tolkien who has read The Silmarillion knows without a doubt that the story is a mythical retelling of the biblical Creation and Fall. Less apparent is the existence of Christian theology within The Lord of the Rings. Most people today are more familiar with the movies than with the books. While the movies did a fair job of bringing Tolkien’s work to the big screen, fans of the movies are often hard-pressed to recognize the Christian truths hidden there. This article is meant to identify some of those truths and hopefully help you understand a little more about the God behind the myth.

Myth, as Tolkien understood it, was more about reality than is journalism. Both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis believed that a regular reading of The London Times would make a person lose sight of reality. They believed that if one would truly understand reality, he should first understand myth.

Christ

One of the biggest arguments against the idea that Christian truths are inherent in The Lord of the Rings is the fact that there is no central Christ figure, nor a central God figure. Yet Tolkien himself said, "Of course God is present in the stories. He the one who is always present and never named."

Tolkien did include many symbolisms of the Persons of the Trinity. The best picture of Christ can be found in three central characters: Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn. Each of these characters embodies one part of the threefold nature of Christ: prophet, priest, and king.

As prophet, Gandalf helps the others understand the path they must walk. He guides people, he sees things that others do not, and he acts as a servant to the people. His greatest virtue is pity; his greatest act is self-sacrifice.

"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from
among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account." (Deuteronomy 18:18-19)

As priest, Frodo is the image of the suffering servant. Out of his love for the Shire (representing Christ’s love for the world), he carries a burden to the heart of hell. As Jesus carried our sins to the cross, so Frodo carries the Ring—the embodiment of sin—to its destruction.

Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Hebrews 5:1)

Only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, wich he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
(Hebrews 9:7)

As king, Aragorn is a strong Christ motif. He had the kingly pedigree, as did Christ. He embarks on a quest to win Arwen’s hand, as Christ’s goal was to win the Church as His bride. He is a healer—only in the coming of Aragorn does any hope exist for the healing of Faramir, Eöwyn, and the entire city after the final battle. His greatest virtue is humility, which is most apparent when he is about to be crowned. He gives his crown back to Faramir to give to Frodo to give to Gandalf to place on his head, thus giving glory to those who helped him.

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:38)

Sin

The Ring is the embodiment of evil. Elrond says as much at the council in Rivendell: "We cannot use the Ring … it is altogether evil."

Tolkien took the concept that sin is destructive and displayed this in the effects that the Ring has on the one who carries it. Over time, the Ring had totally corrupted Smeagol (Gollum). Its power gradually overcomes Frodo, who nearly succumbs to destruction at the very end.

In Tolkien’s mind, there is no way to use a tool of the enemy without ultimately becoming like the enemy. That is why characters like Aragorn and Galadriel would not dare to take the Ring from Frodo. They knew the Ring’s power would corrupt them. As Tolkien once said, "Any use of the devices of the enemy, even for good ends, is the idea of the Ring."

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:11)

The True Hero

To me, Sam is the true hero of the story. His role is like that of the beloved disciple, and yet he can also be seen as another Christ figure. When Frodo can go no further, Sam takes Frodo upon his own shoulders and carries him the last steps of their quest. The weaker Frodo becomes, the stronger Sam becomes.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ¨. NIV¨. COPYRIGHT © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society¨. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Creative Beings

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Mankind is unique among the creatures of the earth. We are creative beings: we build, we draw, we paint, we write. And why wouldn’t we? We are made in the image of the ultimate Creative Being.

God thought up wondrous things and spoke them into being. On this planet we see a great variety of flowers, birds, fish, mammals, and more. The variety of life forms on earth were limited only by God’s imagination.

So we too, as creative beings, are limited only by our imagination. Nowhere is this more evident than in the writings of fantasy authors. Within the pages of fantasy we find elves and oliphants, dwarves and dragons, boggarts and balrogs, fauns and fairies, and even more fantastical but less-known creatures, all spawned by the imagination of the author.

This brings me to a question. If we write about creatures that exist only in our imaginations, does that make our writings any less valuable than true-to-life novels? If your answer is "Yes," I am interested in hearing your reasons.

I would also like to pose a scenario. Think about the sea creatures and birds that God created on the fifth day. Come the morning of the sixth day, they woke up to find some new creatures walking around on land. This was unheard of the day before! I can just imagine the birds saying, "The only creatures on earth are those that swim in the sea or fly in the air. What are these things walking around on four legs on the land? These are fantastical creatures indeed!"

And yet, God’s imagination had only begun expressing itself. His crowning creation—man—was yet to rise from the dust. "What now is this?" the birds ask. "What is this thing walking around on two legs, with no feathers and no fur? What? He is to rule over us? How can this be? He wasn’t created on the fifth day. He isn’t one of us."

I hope you agree that this sounds quite ridiculous. God did not intend to stop creating when evening fell on the fifth day. I wonder how many different, "fantastical" beings He might have created if He did not stop after day six.

The fact is that He did choose to stop there. But He has placed His creative spirit within each of us, and we carry on the business of creating in innumerable ways.

Writers of fantasy step outside the borders of what is considered normal. They dream up beings and worlds and physical forces that do not exist in this world at this time. But who is to say that such beings, worlds, and forces will not exist at some time in the future? Perhaps on the "sixth day" of our future, we will see things we did not expect.

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 7

2008-10-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

This segment will conclude my postings on How to Create a Coat of Arms.

Step 7: The Blazon of Arms

The blazon of arms is the written description of the image, described in such a manner that an accurate drawing may be made. This must follow a particular order. The blazon had to be precise because it would be given to an artist to create the coat of arms. The blazon would help the artist understand exactly what was required.

For the instructions that follow, I will use the Lyons family coat of arms as an example. For more detailed instructions on creating your own blazon of arms, here are a couple good websites to visit:
The Basics of Blazonry
Master Bruce's Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Blazon

First, the color of the shield is given. Thus a blazon would begin with one word to describe the color, such as Sable (black).

Next would come the divisions of the shield, if there are any, and what color they are.
Sable, a chevron ermine.

Following the divisions would be the primary charges and their colors. The specific position of the charges follows the color.
Sable, a chevron ermine between three lions argent langued gules, sejant guardant.
(Langued gules = tongue and claws in red.)

Then secondary charges are listed, along with their colors and position.
Over the chevron, a label gules.

If the coat of arms includes a crest, that would follow.
For the crest, a demi lion ermine rampant maintaining a cross-crosslet fitchee.
(Demi = partial. Ermine = fur: black ermine spot on white. Maintaining = holding in a non-threatening manner. Cross-crosslet fitchee = the specific type of cross used.)

Thus my husband's blazon of arms would read:
Sable, a chevron ermine between three lions argent langued gules, sejant guardant. Over the chevron, a label gules. For the crest, a demi lion ermine rampant maintaining a cross-crosslet fitchee. For the motto: Vertute et fidelitate.

I hope you've had some fun creating your own coat of arms. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like some assistance.

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 6

2008-10-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

Step 6: Motto

In antiquity, a family might have had a motto. Not all families had mottoes, and they are certainly not required. A motto is a short phrase that represents you, your beliefs, or your goals. Many ancient mottoes were war cries, but some expressed hope, courage, or another sentiment. Mottoes are not held to any rules, so feel free to create your own. These can be written in any language. Latin was common but not required.

A few examples are provided here—some inspirational, some whimsical.

Listen, and walk on.
Never behind.
Beauty is a flower, fame a breath.
Christ's death is to me the death of death.
Either death or honourable life.
Fear shame.
Strong both in faith and war.
The brave always show mercy.
Without God, castles are nothing.
Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.
Act your office.
Arms cause laws to be respected.
I am willing but unable.
Good and handsome enough.
Dare to be wise, begin at once.
It does not shame me to have played, but that I have not left off playing.
Mediocrity is safe.
Neither swiftly nor slowly.
This hand is hostile to tyrants.
Trust, but in whom take care.
Sink him in the sea, he comes out fairer.
Faithful to my unhappy country.

A motto should be placed on a scroll either above or below the shield. The placement of the motto, the type of scroll it’s on, and the typestyle are left to your discretion.

Scrolls

There are many different scrolls, or banners, to choose from, or you can create your own. A scroll would be used not only for a motto but also for the family name. You can put the name above the coat of arms and the motto below, or vice versa. The scrolls used for the name and the motto should complement one another.

Here are a few examples of scrolls:

I've repeated two complete coats of arms here so that you can see examples of scrolls and mottoes:

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 5

2008-10-25T08:00:00.002-05:00

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Once you have chosen your charges (symbols or emblems) and placed them on the appropriate color shield, your shield is done and you’re ready to place the finishing touches. These finishing touches could take as much time and effort as the components of the shield.

The finishing touches include the helmet, mantle, crest, motto, and blazon. In this posting, we’ll talk about the helmet, mantle, and crest.

For the helmet and mantle, a great deal of flexibility is granted. What this means is that if you have a historical coat of arms for your family name, you are not bound to keep the same helmet or mantle design. So feel free to adopt or design a helmet and/or mantle that best suits you. Or you can leave them off. A helmet and mantle are not a necessary part of the coat of arms.

Helmet

Many helmet types exist, or you could create your own. A few examples are shown below. The only real rule here is that the helmet should face toward the dexter side.

In some marshalled arms (combination of husband and wife), there are two helmets, which face each other, like this one that I created for my daughter and her husband (left).

Also note the red label (mark of cadence for the firstborn) on the Gallinger quarters, and the red cresent (mark of cadence for the second-born) on the Lyons quarters. (Marks of cadence can be any of the traditional colors. My daughter chose red [gules].)

You'll also see that the husband's name comes first on the banner (my daughter being a Lyons). This is because the husband's coat appears on the dexter side of the shield (quarter 1), having the dominant position. So I placed his crest and name above quarter 1.

Mantle

The mantle is a representation of the owner’s cloak. In antiquity, the family arms were depicted on the cloak, or coat, thus the term “coat of arms.” In early designs, the mantle appeared as a cloak draped around the shield. Later on, intricate leafy patterns were used. Whatever style you choose, you’ll want to use colors that are complementary to your shield. In the Gallinger-Lyons coat shown here, note the red and white leafy arrangement around the shield.

Crest

The term “crest” properly applies to the charge (symbol or emblem) that is placed above the helmet. Often you’ll hear the term “crest” being applied to the entire coat of arms. This is actually a misnomer that has come into popular usage.

Many families do not have a crest on their coats of arms. You may choose to use one or not, as you desire.

The crest can come out of the helmet, in which case you may want to place a “torse” on the top of the helmet. This is like a braided headband. Again, choose colors for the torse that will complement the shield. Typically, only one or two colors are used on a torse.

For examples of crests with torses, see the Gallinger-Lyons coat of arms above. The stag actually belongs to my son-in-law's mother's coat of arms. Here I took a bit of liberty, seeing as the mother's coat of arms placed the stag on the shield, not as a crest. I had left this up to my daughter's discretion, and this is what she chose.

2008-10-23T14:17:00.003-05:00

Here's the coat of arms I just created for someone who responded to this blog. I've made it into a bookplate.

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 4

2008-10-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Step 4: Segments of a Shield

Shields can be divided into parts. Often this is done to accomodate emblems (charges) that are added due to marriage or other reasons. (See Marshalling Your Arms, below.) Additionally, if a charge is placed anywhere but center, it's important to know exactly where the charge is located. This especially comes into play when creating a written description of your coat of arms. (More in a future posting called The Blazon of Arms.)

The segments of a shield are as follows:
The top is called the "chief."
The bottom is called the "base."
The right side is the "dexter" side.
The left side is the "sinister" side.

SIDE NOTE (pun intended): When you are looking at a picture of a shield, the side that appears on the left is actually the “right” side of the shield. This is determined by the way that a shield is held on the arm. Imagine holding a shield on your left arm. The side closest to your right arm is the “right” or dexter side of the shield. Now imagine turning the shield around so you can look at it. The proper “right” or dexter side is now on your left, but it’s still called the dexter side.

Balance

When you place your charges on the shield, be sure to create a proper balance. You wouldn't want to place too many images on any one side, or too many on the top. Below are some examples of coats of arms with a number of charges properly balanced. These are exceptionally "busy" coats of arms, but they are all historical and keep the charges well balanced.

Below are some moderately busy examples that show proper balance.

And here are some simple coats of arms with good balance.

Marshalling Your Arms

Marshalling arms is the term used when you combine the arms for a husband and a wife. In antiquity, this was only done when the wife was of a noble family. Some organizations, like the SCA, do not allow the marshalling of arms, for they consider all their members to be of “gentile” birth. However, we’re just doing this for fun, so unless you intend to join the SCA, you can take some liberties.

The most common way to marshall arms was to divide the field in half, in which case the husband’s arms go on the dexter side. You could also divide the shield into quarters. The husband would generally receive the dominant quarters, which are 1 and 4. Other options may be utilized, such as this one I created for my sister-in-law and her husband (at left). The husband's coat of arms is a black plaid pattern on a green field. (The plaid pattern is called fretty.) To that I added the chevron and one lion charge of the Lyons name. This made quite a striking combination, I thought.

On the next post, we'll begin some finishing touches.

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 3

2008-10-19T19:58:00.029-05:00

Step 3: Animal Positions / Beasts of Prey

If you have selected an animal for your charge, there are rules to follow regarding the position of the animal. I'm going to try to break this down into the most common rules for the most common animals.

First, let's cover beasts of prey. The most commonly used is the lion, so I'll use lion pictures to show examples of proper positions. Take note that animals will almost always face to the dexter, or right. However, it looks like the animal is facing to the left. That's because the left and right sides are determined by the manner in which the shield is held, not the manner in which you view it straight on. More on this in another blog.

Most often you will see the beast in the rampant position. This position is defined as standing on hind feet, specifically on the left hind foot with right foot raised. The head is facing forward.

If the head is facing toward the viewer, it is called "guardant." The position is then referred to as "rampant guardant."

If the head is facing toward the rear, it is called "reguardant." The position shown in the example at right is called "rampant reguardant."

If the beast is sitting, it is called "sejant." In the case of the Lyons coat of arms, you will see that the three lions are "sejant guardant," or sitting and facing the viewer (shown at left).

If the beast is standing, it is called "statant." The image shown at right is "statant guardant."

If it is walking (right foreleg raised), it is called "passant." The image shown at right is "passant reguardant," or walking and facing toward the rear.

Peaceful Beasts

This category contains both wild and domestic beasts that do not hunt and eat other animals.The most common of these are probably the stag and the horse, so I'll use images of those two beasts to show the positions. Take note that not all peaceful beasts use the same positions or position titles; this is just a generalization to help you get started.You'll see that horse positions are often different from stag positions.

A stag standing and facing the viewer is "at gaze."

A stag lying down with head up is "lodged."

A stag beginning a leap is "springing."

A stag running is "courant."

A stag or horse standing on left hind leg with right leg raised is "rampant."

A horse rearing (both hind feet on the ground) is "forcene."

A horse walking (right leg raised) is "trippant."

Combinations

Two rampant beasts of prey facing each other are "combatant."

Two rampant peaceful beasts facing each other are "respectant."

Any two beasts facing away from each other are "addorsed."

These are just a few of the more common poses of a few of the most common animals. If you have questions about poses I have not mentioned, feel free to contact me via a comment to this post.

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 2

2008-10-08T09:00:00.003-05:00

Step 2: Choose Your Color

Once you have chosen your emblems (aka “charges”), you can choose your colors. You’ll need a color for the shield (aka “field”) as well as for the emblems (charges). Here’s where some rules come into play.

Let’s start with the field. There are five official colors to choose from, two metals, and several furs. I’ve shown these below.
NOTE: Purpure was not a common tincture since the pigment was difficult to create.

There are more furs available, but these are the most common.

Many different patterns exist as well. Patterns can include any number of stripes (bars) going vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. These bars can appear patterned themselves, such as with scalloped edges. Patterns can also include checkered, gyron (a pinwheel pattern), waves, different styles of crosses, etc. I won’t put examples here since the variations are numerous, but you can find some examples on the links listed in Part 1.

IMPORTANT! When selecting your field color, you should NEVER put one color on top of another. You can only put a color on a metal, or a metal on a color. Note the Nicodemus coat of arms in Part 1. The vert color is placed on the Or metal, and vice versa. This is acceptable. (Note: The word Or is often capitalized just to keep from confusion.) On the escutcheon in the center, the argent metal is placed on the azure color.

You can place colors on furs, but you must contrast the color of your emblem with the primary color on the fur. In the Lyons coat of arms in Part 1, the gules label is placed on the ermine fur, whose primary color is argent. This is within the rules.

The reason behind the color rules is that the image must be easily recognizable from a distance. The purpose of a coat of arms was, after all, to identify the bearer. A color on a color is difficult to discern from a distance. Same with metal on metal.

Emblems placed on furs or patterns should not be overly complicated or detailed, for the same reason. In the examples at left, you see: (1) an azure lion on an ermine field with a primary color of argent; (2) an argent lion on a patterned field with a primary color of sable; (3) an azure cross on a checkered field with a primary color of argent; and 4) three sable leopards on an ermine field with a primary color of argent. All of these are within the rules.

So go ahead and choose the colors of your charges and the colors or patterns of your field, and then we'll move on to the next step!

How to Create a Coat of Arms: Part 1

2008-10-07T20:25:00.031-05:00

Creating coats of arms for my friends is a hobby of mine. Did you know that you can create your own even if you don't know anything about your family history? In fact, in the early medieval period, a coat of arms was unique to an individual. The symbols did not become associated with family lines until the late Renaissance.

Even after a coat of arms had become hereditary, it was common to have a son add something to his coat of arms so that it would not be identical to his father's. Often a son would add a "mark of cadence," which is a particular emblem to note his birth order. But he could also add any marks of office he may have achieved, or special awards he might have been granted. It was not unheard of to completely change your coat of arms. For example, King Richard I changed his from two lions combatant to three gold leopards.

Creating a coat of arms can become a complicated thing depending on how detailed and how deep you want to go. There are some rules to follow, but there's also a lot of freedom. I plan to break the process down into several steps. Hopefully that will help make everything more understandable, and it will also give you time to work on each step as I present it.

Step 1: Choose Your Symbols

In choosing symbols ("charges") for your own coat of arms, you can take several factors into consideration. You might play off your family name, especially if you know the meaning of it. In my case this was easy, with a married name of Lyons. I could have chosen any number of lion poses or colors, but I chose to go with a historical version of the coat of arms for the Irish Lyons name (shown at right). The red emblem in the center is called a label, and it's the mark of cadence for a firstborn. I added this myself, since my husband is the firstborn of his family.

I had also been given a copy of the coat of arms for my maiden name, Nicodemus (shown at left). I could have gone with the meaning of the name, which is "leader of the people." I could have chosen some symbol to represent that. However, I decided to utilize the historical version, together with the historical Lyons version, for a combined image (shown at top). The lion sitting above the helmet (in the image at top) is the "crest" part of a coat of arms. I chose this because it's an actual part of the historic Irish Lyons coat of arms. One change I made to this crest was to put a cross in the lion's paw instead of a fleur-de-lis.

There are several websites that will show you the symbols in the coat of arms connected with your family name. Not all family names are available, but it's worth looking into. Here are a couple of the best sites that I have found:

Heraldry

House of Names

Other options you can use, besides your family name, are to choose a symbol that tells something about your profession or something about your character. Here your choices are nearly limitless. A good website with an extensive list of symbols and their meanings can be found here:

Fleur-de-lis Designs

There are limitations and rules as to what colors you can use. I will present those rules in my next post.

I welcome any questions you might have, and I would be happy to assist you in finding the historical coat of arms for your family name (at no charge). I have a fairly extensive database that might have more options than what you'll find at any of the sites above. Simply contact me by way of a comment to this blog entry. Along with your last name, give me its nationality, and I'll see what I can do.

Poignant Fantasy

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To me, fantasy stories can pack so much more of a punch than ordinary novels. For example, one of my favorite scenes in the first LOTR movie (The Fellowship of the Ring), is when Gandalf stands "in the gap" between his fleeing friends and the balrog. He declares that he is the keeper of the secret flame, which Tolkien said was the Holy Spirit. What a powerful picture of what believers are capable of...warding off incredibly powerful demons through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Another of my favorite fantasy scenes is toward the end of the first Narnia movie (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). At the very end of the battle, Peter looks up to see Aslan having just killed the White Witch. All else around him is a blur...all he sees is Aslan. He stands in awe at the realization that the Great Lion has risen from the dead and defeated the Evil One. I get misty every time I see it.

I don't think any other medium but fantasy can so touch our hearts, leaving us so marvelously in awe at what has been done for us. Jesus has risen from the dead. He has defeated the Evil One. All else fades from importance at this one realization.

Glory!

Marcher Lord Press Goes Live Today!

2008-10-01T11:00:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Jeff Gerke and all those unnamed souls who helped him.

"The Lord gave the word, and great was the company of those that published it." (Psalm 68:11)

Visit the site: Marcher Lord Press.

Blog Tag

2008-09-29T12:30:00.008-05:00

I've just been tagged, so I'm "it," thanks to Robi Ley for tagging me.

Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random thoughts about yourself.
4. Tag six or so people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know he or she has been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Hmm, six random thoughts.
1. Nicodemus: it's not my middle name, it's my maiden name! It comes from my Greek heritage.
2. Married, with two children (both grown and married).
3. In my heyday, I was a lifeguard and swimming/boating instructor.
4. I play guitar and piano and used to direct children's choir.
5. My house is decorated in medieval weapons and tapestries.
6. I have two Sheltie-mix dogs named Shama and Rhema. Shama is Hebrew and means "to be obedient to." Rhema is Greek and means "the living Word." OK, you twisted my arm. I'll put pictures of them below.

Now I'm supposed to tag six blogs. I've decided to stick with Anomaly folks, hopefully to give them a little extra traffic.
Cathi's Chatter
Divides the Waters
Mirathon
Newbury Dave
Remade Gold
His Art

Have fun visiting the sites, everyone!

Here are the two lovelies. The black one is Rhema and the brown one is Shama. They are very well behaved, friendly, and just plain fun to have around.

Considering that they came from the same litter, it's interesting to watch how different they are. Just like children! But they both love to chase squirrels. See that pesky guy on the birdbath? I can hear the dogs now: "Let us out! He's stealing our water!"

Sanctifying Myth

2008-08-05T15:47:00.005-05:00

For any lover of Christian fantasy, the book Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth (by Bradley Birzer, pub. ISI Books) ought to be required reading. Even more so, those who fail to see the value of Christian fantasy ought to be compelled to read it.

Just as in the 60s and 70s, when Tolkien’s novels reached a peak of popularity among hippies and anti-conformists, non-Christians today will claim there is no Christian story within The Lord of the Rings. To our shame, many Christians say the same.

Yet Tolkien himself, in various writings, has shed light on the Christian themes and symbolisms in his work, and these are brought out in Sanctifying Myth. According to Birzer, Tolkien believed that “to enter faerie is to open oneself to the gradual discovery of beauty, truth, and excellence.” And “the truths that can be found within faerie are greater than those that can be obtained through mere human understanding; and one finds within faerie that even the greatest works of man are as nothing compared with the majesty of creation.” (Birzer, p. xix)

Our beloved C.S. Lewis agreed, saying, “The story of Christ is simply a true myth. Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there.” (The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves)

What is the value, then, of Christian fantasy to non-Christians? Like in the true story Peace Child, a culture’s own myths are but glimpses of heavenly truths placed by the Creator into the minds of the people, to help them recognize the True Myth when it is presented to them.

What is the value, then, of Christian fantasy to Christians? I believe it is to touch us at a level deeper than intellectual understanding. Others have described it more gracefully than I could:

“Fairy stories give us a new sense of wonder about things we have taken for granted or which have become commonplace. Fairy stories and fantasy allow one to see ‘things as we are meant to see them.’” (Birzer, p. 38)

“The romancer, who invents a whole world, is worshipping God more effectively than the mere realist.” (C.S. Lewis, quoted by Birzer, p. 39)

In fantasy, one gains a “fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world.” (Tolkien, On Fairy Stories)

“The ultimate fairy story, or true myth, then, is the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ.” (Birzer, p. 39)

“The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history.” (C.S. Lewis, “Myth Became Fact,” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics)

Remember, we battle not against flesh and blood, but we battle nonetheless. “For the monsters do not depart, whether the gods go or come. A Christian is still, like his forefathers, a mortal hemmed in a hostile world.” (Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics)

Just as in high fantasy, we Christians shall remain at battle throughout time until our True Myth returns and slays our enemies. Our battle may not be against dragons and orcs, but it is against the “powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Battle on, all ye warriors of the Word.

The Best Cruise Ever

2008-04-08T19:41:00.050-05:00

It's easy to call it the best cruise ever when it's the only cruise you've ever been on. Yep, I didn't take my first cruise until I was 50 years old. It was worth it, though. What a great way to celebrate a 30th wedding anniversary!

Here's us flying over the Bahamas. Nope, that wasn't our destination. We took a southern Carribbean cruise, 10 nights, 7 shore excursions. What a great way to learn about the West Indies!

We flew out of Orlando and landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico (right).

We boarded the Celebrity ship Galaxy, a small vessel compared to many newer cruiseships. Its smaller size causes you to feel the movement of the ship more than most. We actually enjoyed that. Felt like being rocked to sleep every night. I never slept better!

First stop: Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We sailed on a catamaran to another island where we snorkled near a cave (right, above). I don't remember the last time I had this much fun! Coolest thing we saw...a barracuda!

We were accompanied by our daughter and her husband, who were celebrating their first anniversary. Here they are all dressed up for dinner.

Second stop: San Maarten (part of the Dutch Antilles). We sailed a traditional rigged vessel to a spot where we snorkeled a shipwreck. Very cool! The ship's captain (a native of the island) and his assistants (two girls from Holland) served us a great BBQ lunch. Ribs and chicken, yum!

Stop #3: St. Lucia (pronounced LOO-sha), one of the prettiest ports on our trip. Here we went dolphin and whale watching, but it wasn't a good day for it. Saw only the dorsal fin of a pilot whale. But the boat's pilot took us on a nice tour.

Stop #4: Barbados. Once again we went snorkeling, this time with sea turtles. Saw several, from small to really big. That's my daughter and her husband in the masks. She's pretty good at taking photos of the two of them on her own, just by holding the camera in front of herself.

Stop #5: Grenada, my favorite of all the islands. Went dolphin watching, and this time, great luck! Lots of common dolphins surfed in our boat's wake.

Great shopping in Grenada. Quick fact: Grenada is known for its spices, especially nutmeg. This tiny island supplies one-third of the world's nutmeg. On the left is Dot from Dot's Place, where we bought lots of fresh spices.

Stop #6: After a full day at sea, we arrived at Curacao (pronounced cure-a-SOW), where the liqueur of the same name is made from orange peel. On this stop, we sat below the water's surface in a semi-sub, where we could observe the sealife. Saw cuttlefish,
sargent fish, sea turtles, parrot fish, trumpet fish, puffer fish, flounders, and lots more. On the right, a diver feeds the fish so they will come closer to the windows.

Last stop: Aruba, then another full day at sea. Did you know that Aruba is only 20 miles from the Venezuelan border? We snorkeled another shipwreck, this time a WWII German boat that was scuttled rather than be captured.

Back in San Juan. While waiting to disembark we taught our kids how to play cribbage. Now it's a regular family habit!

Below is a map of our trip. (From Puerto Rico, follow the white lines clockwise.)

The Value of Christian Fantasy

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Typically, when one hears the word "fantasy," images of dragons, wizards, and magic are conjured. But fantasy doesn't have to include these elements. A fantasy story can merely take place in an imagined world, even if that world holds to the same physical laws as our own. Take, for example, the excellent children's stories in the Bracken Trilogy by Jeri Massi ("The Bridge," "Crown and Jewel," and "The Two Collars"). When my children were little, they (OK, we) loved these stories that take place in an imaginary world. There were no dragons, no wizards, no magic—just an imaginary setting where we could learn some dynamic Christian truths.

Even some Biblical stories, while true, have a feel of fantasy to them. These include the stories of Esther, of Jonah, of Noah, and many others. For example, the world that Noah lived in was far different from the world I live in, yet by reading his story I can learn about faith, steadfastness, righteousness, and the supernatural intervention of God. When I read the story of Esther, I can learn how to stand strong against opposition despite inner feelings of inadequacy and fear. In the same way, when I read Jeri Massi's books to my children, I used the stories to teach them about forgiveness, courage, and steadfastness.

What's the value of placing Christian truths in a fantasy setting? I believe fantasy can be used in much the same way that Jesus used parables. Jesus asked the question, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?" (Mark 4:30). The passage goes on to say: "With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable" (Mark 4:33,34). The Son of God himself reached into our imaginations to help us understand something outside the realm of human experience.

By placing a Christian truth in a story, people will gather around to listen (or to read). They will learn the connection between the physical world and the kingdom of heaven (which will be a truly fantastical place indeed). They will learn that they can bind demons and loose the power of angels. And ultimately, they will learn that God loves them and sent His Son to die for them that they might be forgiven.

I am currently working on a series of novels called "The Alliance." Like the Bracken Trilogy, this series takes place in an imaginary world that holds to the same laws and lifestyles of our own world. The stories will teach about faith, forgiveness, and righteousness in a world filled with doubt, selfishness, and evil. Fantasy? I suppose that's the category these stories fall in. But is it fantasy to learn to forgive your greatest enemy? I should hope not!

Watch this blog for news on the release of "The Alliance."

Phoenix: The Rebirth of Christian Fantasy

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Are you a lover of Christian fantasy? Having difficulty in finding good Christian fantasy in the bookstores? Do you find yourself standing before the secular fantasy section after failing to locate any Christian fantasy books? You're not alone!

In the past, Christian fantasy has been the black sheep of the Christian fiction world. Despite the well-laid foundation for Christian fantasy—its cornerstone set by authors such as Lewis, Tolkien, and MacDonald and built upon by authors like Peretti and Lawhead—this creative venue has experienced a shunning within the Christian publishing community.

Yet there are scores of authors delving into this field, and many thousands of fans both within the Christian community and without. Due to the hard work and dedication of Christian fantasy lovers, I believe we will soon be seeing a rebirth of the genre. A debt of gratitude is owed especially to Jeff Gerke, who has developed what I think is the best Christian fantasy website in existence. You will find his site at the place Where the Map Ends.

I believe that in time, fantasy will prove to be the phoenix of the Christian fiction world.

Welcome!

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Welcome to all you brave souls who have entered this site. I say "brave" because you have no idea what you'll find here, and yet you have entered. I feel the same as you! I'm so new to this blogging thing that I have no idea what I'll find here in my own spot.

There's not much here yet, as I'm just learning the ropes, but I hope you'll come back now and then for a quick visit. I trust it will be worth your while.