by

L. A. Marzulli

While the White House Sleeps – UFO news hovers – Exopolitics Institute News Service | Exopolitics Institute News Service

It was almost as if a surgically rendered tactical lobotomy was performed by each witness on the former Congressional members. Under the watchful eye of CHD organizer and Chief Surgeon Stephen G. Bassett – with no anesthesia needed, the evidence perplexed, astounded and ultimately convinced each Congressperson that - there is truly something very strange going on in our skies and deep and dark factions within the US government know all about it.

The above link will take you to a report about last weeks meeting of the UFO minds at the Washington Press Corps.  It appears that some people are waking up.  While all this was going on I was speaking in Hyndman Pa, at the Tristate Ministry Center, with Pastor Stevie Leydig at the Helm.  First off, I applaud him and the church for inviting me there to speak.  Second, many people came up and told me there encounters with UFOs.  Thanks!

The phenomenon is real, and in my mind there is no doubt about it.  The X-opolotic crowd, along with those calling for Disclosure of the UFO phenomena by the US government, have dominated the conversation, while for the most part, the church like much of our Congress, sleeps.

Disclosure is coming and when it does it is the ultimate game changer.  I have spent the last 6 years as a full-time Watchman, warning of The Coming Great Deception — a phrase I coined in the Nephilim Trilogy.

The groundwork for this deception is completed and it is only a matter of time before “they” fully reveal themselves.  What is holding this back?  I believe it is linked to the restrainer we hear about in Thessalonians.  However, another dynamic must be considered and it is this.  The Fallen One has crafted his plan for millennia.  He is patient and is waiting for his moment to strike.  He has the “grid” back in place, which I believe was here the first time before the flood of Noah — more about this in Watchers 6 as well as my new book, On the Trail of the Nephilim.

I believe he is waiting for something cataclysmic to happen and I would posit that this is a nuclear exchange in the Middle East.  This may serve as the trigger point, as it would create the greatest fear mankind has collectively experienced since the creation of the world.  Now that the new grid is in place mankind will experience this together as we watch, via the satellite network and the world-wide-web, the events unfold in real-time.  This will serve as the spring-board to the Revealing of the so-called extraterrestrial presence.

We need to come to grips with the reality check that happened last week at the Washington Press core event.  UFOs are real, burgeoning and NOT going away!

In closing todays post.  While the church dithers, the UFO community — think History Channels Ancient Aliens, as well the Disclosure Movement and other ancient astronaut proponents — continues to dominate the conversation.  However there is another point of view and that is these are not extraterrestrials but inter-dimensional entities who are masters of deception.

Jacque Vallee, whom I consider one the earliest and erudite UFO researchers stated in his book, Messengers of Deception, sums it up this way!

“Many erstwhile ufologists don’t want the deceptive reports exposed, just as the Catholic Church long denied instances of abuse in its ranks.”

“People linked to the intelligence community of the major countries have been closely involved in studying UFO cases since World War Two. That interest is legitimate, whether it is purely personal (as most of them claim) or related to their official duties. The same is true in parapsychology.”

“[T]he phenomenon comes in an environment of manifestations that include heightened awareness of synchronicities, paranormal sounds and lights and occasionally absurd coincidences similar to those described in the poltergeist literature.“

“By denying the reality of the reports, brushing aside the witnesses…and treating them like fools or crooks, the academic skeptics are actually teaching the public that science is impotent at studying the phenomenon.”

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L.A. Marzulli is ready to shock the world. He returned from a secret trip to Peru with solid evidence that the Giants of Genesis 6 existed. He brought back stunning pictures of elongated Nephilim skulls with enormous eye sockets! Not to mention pictures of massive Nephilim architecture everywhere! Words can’t do this book justice—but 120+ color pictures can!

Go to www.lamarzulli.net

 Hi LA,

Dr. X (Name withheld for privacy)

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In Other News: Tracking the Birth Pains!

CIDRAP >> H7N9 toll grows to 130 cases, 31 deaths

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Cicadas set to re-emerge by the billions; Will it be a record year? | Science Recorder

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China unveils peace plan based on 1967 lines | The Times of Israel

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Fight expected in House on online sales tax | Reuters

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Israel says ‘no winds of war’ despite Syria air strikes | Reuters

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PressTV – Syrian rockets hit Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

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When Was the Ice Age in Biblical History? – Answers in Genesis

The Scripture above is a prophecy about the final kingdom that will be on the earth in the latter days. This is the kingdom that is forming now. BUT I want you to note something in this verse, notice the words ”they” and “seed of men.” If humans are considered the seed of men. Then who is the ‘they’ that will mingle with them? Obviously, it has to be something other than human, otherwise the Bible wouldn’t have made the distinction of seed of man and they. God is telling us here that this isn’t your everyday event. I believe the they is the seed of Satan. This is the only other seed that is mentioned in the Bible.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

Now does that mean that Satan makes his own offspring race and creates things like God does? NO! He can’t create humans, only God can do that. However, he does have a slew of Fallen Watcher Angels following him. It is from this group that the seeds come. These Fallen Watcher Angels have mingled with the human race. Therefore creating their own evil Nephilim offspring race. This would be the seed of Satan and we see examples of this in the Bible.

“When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God [Fallen Watcher Angels] saw that the daughters of man [humans] were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.” Genesis 6:1

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God [Fallen Angels] came in to the daughters of man [humans] and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” Genesis 6:4

Therefore, the they, who are mingling with the seed of man (humans), are fallen angels and their dirty offspring, the Nephilim.

It is my opinion that in the latter days we will see a resurgence of Nephilim on the face of the earth. For God already told us that “just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man [end times].” (Luke 17:26). And how was it in the days of Noah? We’ll Satan’s Seed, the Nephilim were on the earth (Genesis 6). So shall it be in the latter days.

With that said, here is a video showing proof that Nephilim Hybrids exist (which, again, are the offspring of fallen angels and humans)…

Want further information on the Nephilim Agenda? I highly recommend watching the video in our prior post: Randy DeMain- The Nephilim Agenda.  IT’S A MUST SEE!

For additional study read:  Nephilim Resurgence and Nephilim Agenda by Randy DeMain.

before i start the proper reviews… HOW GORGEOUS ARE THESE COVERS.

Series Rating 4.5 Stars

Unearthly ~ Cynthia Hand

Rating 4 Stars

Blurb

Clara has known she was part-angel ever since she turned fourteen two years ago, but only now is her Purpose – the crucial rite of passage for every part-angel – becoming clear to her. Clara′s Purpose leads her family to Wyoming, where, amidst terrifying scenes of a bush inferno, she finds the boy of her visions, Christian. He is everything she could wish for – so why does she also have feelings for her enigmatic classmate Tucker?

Clara discovers that her Purpose is only a small part of a titanic struggle between angels and their destructive counterparts, the Black Wings. And when the fire of her visions erupts and both Christian and Tucker are in danger, who will she choose to save?

Review

I have had this book sitting on my shelf unread for 2 years… and that is one thing i really regret. when i bought it i am pretty sure it was in a 3 for the price of 1 sale and there were 2 other books that i really wanted so i chose the book with a pretty cover and then never looked at it again. fast forward 2 years and the 3rd book has just come out and i keep getting recommendations for it so i dutifully pull it off my shelf and start reading… and then don’t stop until i realize i am out of pages. having not even read the blurb before reading this i had no idea what i was getting myself into but i managed to stumble across a brilliant piece of Angel law unlike anything i have read before. not only is it a nice original story with a killer love triangle but unlike most Angel books it does not come off as overly preachy. the characters are not overly deep or anything but they were sweet and believable. The book ended in such a way that while i am can’t wait to read Hallowed. there was not a huge ugly evil cliff hanger, although i really want to know about poor Jeffery. this is one book i am defiantly glad that i judged on its cover.

Quotes

“So often we only do what we think is expected of us, when we are capable of so much more.”

“I feel like Cinderella sitting in the middle of the road with a pumpkin and a couple of mice, while Prince Charming charges off to rescue some other chick.”

“And what he was really saying then, what would have come through loud and clear if I hadn’t been so blind was, why don’t you see me?”

“So I’m in love. That crazy, forget to eat, float around in a daze, talk on the phone all night and bounce out of bed every morning hoping to see him kind of love.”

Hallowed ~ Cynthia Hand

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb

Clara Gardner knew that as a part angel she would one day have to fulfill her purpose, rescuing Christian from a forest fire…what she never considered was what might happen if she were to fail.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend Tucker, Clara must deal with the repercussions of what happened the day of the fire as the two boys vie for her heart. And, as she is drawn further into the world of angels and part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain after a shocking revelation, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning…

Review

I don’t know how she does it. just like in the first book the ending is given away in the beginning of the book and yet for the most part the book is not spoiled. i must admit i gathered most of the twists in this book before they were told to us directly unlike in the first book still that being said that was probably because the book was so well written that nothing just comes out of nowhere… i just picked up on the clues this time. this book had a real sence of finality to it and yet there is still another book in this series so maybe things are not as final as they seem. there are still some loose ends such as the identity of Angela’s secret Italian boyfriend, where exactly Jeffery is and what happens when the quarter angels have babies (1/16th angel?).

Quotes

“There’s nothing more inspiring than the complexity and beauty of the human heart.”

“Before I moved here, I never got the whole love-triangle thing. You know, in movies or romance novels or whatnot, where there’s one chick that all the guys are drooling over, even though you can’t see anything particularly special about her. But oh, no, they both must have her. And she’s like, oh dear, however will I choose? William is so sensitive, he understands me, he swept me off my feet, oh misery, blubber, blubber, but how can I go on living without Rafe and his devil-may-care ways and his dark and only-a-little-abusive love? Upchuck.”

“I sneaked out to his house a couple times in the middle of the night to watch over him while he slept, just in case, I don’t know, his comic book collection decided to spontaneously combust. This was dumb and admittedly creepy in an Edward Cullen kind of way”

“Our purpose on this earth is not one single event, an accomplishment we can check off a list. There is no test. No passing or failing. There’s only us, each moment shaping who we are, into what we will become.”

“I’m having an argument with myself. And I’m losing. So not good.”

Radiant ~ Cynthia Hand

Rating 2 Stars

Blurb

Clara is desperate to get away—from the memories that haunt her in Wyoming and the visions of a future she isn’t ready to face—and spending the summer in Italy with her best friend, Angela, should be the perfect escape. . . .

For as long as she can remember, Angela has been told that love is dangerous, that she must always guard her heart. But when she met a mysterious guy in Italy two years ago she was determined to be with him, no matter the costs. Now she must decide whether she can trust Clara with her secret, or if telling her the truth will risk everything she cares about.

Alternating between Angela and Clara’s perspectives, Radiant chronicles the unforgettable summer that will test the bounds of their friendship and change their lives forever.

Review

ehh this book was ok but after really enjoying the last two books in the series i was really hoping for more. maybe part of the problem was that it was only a (very) short novella and she writes the longer stories better. maybe it is simply that i never enjoy these novellas quite as much as the proper books. or maybe like happens with all authors this was merely a dud. that being said it did answer some questions and the last sentence geared me right up to read Boundless.

(After reading Boundless I must say i Highly Suggest reading this book first despite only being a novella what happens in this book is referenced so much it is almost more important to the story than the first two books)

Quotes

“Humans fear death so much, but there is no death,” he whispers. “There is only the illusion of it. We can never cease to be. We must stay like this. Forever.”

“My mother always says that love is like a snakebite, a venom slowly spreading through your veins”

“If this is foolish, I don’t want to be wise.”

Boundless ~ Cynthia Hand

Rating 5 Stars

Blurb

The past few years held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner ever could have anticipated. Yet through the dizzying high of first love to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she could no longer deny was that she was never meant to have a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seemed like the best option, so she’s headed back to California—and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must choose her fate once and for all.

Review

OW what an ending. I think this would have to be my favourite book of the set despite the odd pacing at the start. While there was not as much Tucker in this book as I would have liked Christian started to grow on me a little as he was given a little bit more depth, him and Clara however are defiantly missing that spark that I hope for in a romantic interest. So much happens in this book that you may not suspect having read the first two but it is all perfectly foreshadowed and although at first it failed to capture my attention by the end I could not put it down. This book was better balanced than the first two books with a wonderful mix of romance, action, angel lore and everyday drama. While there were some flaws in logic (mainly in wing colour) it managed to wrap this series off in a neat little bow, although leaving room for a spinoff and just enough loose strings to make it feel as if the characters live on after the last page.
Only recommendation left to give is to keep a box of tissues handy.

Quotes

“I can’t stop thinking about how much better she’d be for him than I am. But I also kind of want to tear her hair out.”

“I’m ready to stop saying good-bye to things. I’m going to start saying hello.”

“If we can send one man to the moon, why can’t we send them all there?”

“I love you,” he murmurs. “Can you feel that? You. Not some destiny I think I’m called to. You. I’m with you. My strength. My soul. My heart. Feel it.”

“Love is a many-splendored thing,” she says. “But it is also a pain in the ass.”

Here (above) is Mithra wrestling a bull look at his size compared to the bull and the dog type creature, also note the serpent.

These (above) are a collection of gods, notice their resemblence to garden gnomes of today.

Round about the
curves of my neck and waist
she tightly wrapped
all four of her arms and legs
showered my face

With hot and
wet kisses of passion ignited
her sighs and
moans filled both of my ears
echoed off the

Walls of her
bedroom as my rock hard cock
slid in and out
of her wetness made her scream
like her mama

The taking of
my sensuous aunt came about
one afternoon
when she let my fingers feel up
her milk jugs

Tease the circles
of her mammillae with my thumbs
dip my lance in
side the forbidden oval of her love
orifice of pleasure

Into her womb
she provided a home for my
virile seed an egg
upon which to feed fertilized
between the sheets

With her own
modesty compromised she had
no other choice
but to give to me her daughters
budding sexuality

Between the sheets
my cousin loves to play ever since
she turned eighteen
came of age to impale herself upon
my randy bean pole

Within my arms
she loves to lay with her nipples
smashed against
my chest the shaft of my pecker
buried deep inside

Within the nexus
lying between her silky thighs
for my ears alone
she sighs and moans cries out
in utter ecstasy

Many years from
now while embraced by another
she’ll still think of
me dream of our nights together
between the sheets

Hop between the
silken curves of her clean shaven thighs
on a warm summer
afternoon when she was at home alone
and quite horny

When my cock
gave her an erotic story to share
with my auntie
on their next get together over
donuts and coffee

The stolen moments
we shared with our bodies entwined
only made her more
inclined to recommend my services
to her younger sister

Who gave me
quite a ride on the custom bed
built into the
back of my recently customized
love machine

The color of
midnight on a moonless night
in which many
a sexual conquest would be won
hid outa sight

An extraordinary poetry emanates from the films of Wong Kar-Wai: the intangible is made tangible. A dull ache of loss and longing seems to pervade the very air his characters breathe, lurking in the shadows of the streets they walk, in the cracks and crevices of their dingy apartments; regret for a past that might never have been, chances missed, possibilities never realized, irrecoverable time. There is a dislocation in time and space, people forever in the right place, but at the wrong time, or with the wrong people, forever missing the moment. Communication is almost impossible, rendered through music and voiceover rather than through dialogue, isolating the characters in their own disjunctive, isolated little worlds. And yet from somewhere deep within this well of melancholy and sadness, overwhelming beauty rises up. From the most ordinary, the smallest of things, gestures, a glance, the peeling paint on a wall, there emerges a kind of hope, a belief in the world which renders the sadness of his films all the more poignant for this faith in the power of a new beginning.

Wong Kar-wai is one of the most innovative directors to come out of Hong Kong. Part of the second New Wave of Hong Kong filmmakers, alongside Stanley Kwan, Clara Law, Mabel Cheung, Eddie Fong, Jacob Cheung, and Ching Siu-tung, Wong shares much with his contemporaries: their bent for experimentation, the move away from the traditional, worn-out action movies, devoid of content, which are constantly churned out by the commercial Hong Kong industry, in favour of narratives of more substance, exploring themes relevant to the political and social situation of a Hong Kong in transition.

Wong’s aesthetic shares much with that of the French New Wave, particularly to Jean-Luc Godard, to whom Wong has often been compared. Like these filmmakers, he takes apart the conventions of storytelling specific to filmmaking – the language of the linear narrative, the smooth camera style, the role of the hero. He uses improvisations in camera techniques, editing, dialogue, plot, and performance. He shoots on location, using the characteristics of the spaces he shoots in to enrich his films with life and authenticity; celebrating the energy and colour, at once garish and enchanting, of neon-saturated urban cities, the vibrancy and bustle of Hong Kong’s street markets, the claustrophobia of its cramped apartments.

His narratives are fragmented, elliptical, (sometimes confusingly so, as in Ashes of Time, and often episodic, refusing to be pinned down by a conventional chronology: this is ensured by the use of a fast-paced editing style, frequent cross-cutting, freeze-frames and jump cuts. His scripts are almost invariably improvised, actors receiving their lines only on the day of shooting, freshly written that morning or the night before.

Like Godard, Wong plays with the conventions of genre and narrative. Each of his films explores and experiments with a different genre. Heavily influenced by Scorsese’s urban gangster films ( Mean Streets in particular), Wong’s first film As Tears Go By (1988), challenges popular audience expectations of the traditional triad genre, “showing more interest in the existential motivations and feelings of the films two protagonists than in the workings of the triads and their victims.”¹

Days of Being Wild (1990) is a nostalgia film set in Hong Kong in the 1960′s, in which Wong combines the character types of the delinquent rebel from Cantonese youth films of the 1960′s with that of American youth movies of the sixties. Yuddi, the protagonist, is introduced as the typical Ah-Fei character type ( a greasy-haired, macho, wayward youth) of Cantonese movies such as Teddy Girls (Lung Kong, 1969), but is imbued with a “vulnerable, sensitive dimension…a tortured soul which evokes James Dean’s Rebel Without A Cause…turning him into an abstract everyman, the undefined soul of Hong Kong who seeks to find himself an identity he can respect.”

Ashes of Time (1994) is an explosion of the martial art sword-fighting genre (wuxia pian), which unconventionally shows little of the actual fighting. There are also strong elements of the western in the setting (a remote desert in southern China), and particularly in the music, which Wong wanted developed along the lines of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western scores.

Chungking Express (1994) and Fallen Angels (1995) defy categorisation in terms of genre; the narratives of both films are episodic, and were originally planned as parts of the same film. They deal with different aspects of frenzied modern life in Hong Kong, and are, in part, urban crime stories.

Happy Together (1997) has been dubbed Wong’s “gay road movie”, however, though the film’s two lovers may start out on a road trip to theIguazu Falls, they get lost on their way there and return to Buenos Aires, where they have recently emigrated, but which looks and feels much like the Hong Kong of Wong’s other films, the characters typically occupying the same spaces as they would at home (cramped one room apartments, the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, city strips of neon and billboards, street corners): thus, in any respect, the road movie is stunted almost before the film even begins.

In The Mood For Love (2000), a period film, again set in Hong Kong in the 1960’s, draws on influences very different to his earlier Days of Being Wild. Here, Stephen Teo suggests that Wong draws on elements of the Chinese melodrama (wenyi pian) (though more associatively than narratively)³. I would also suggest that it draws on the “Mandarin Duck and Butterfly” literature of the 1920’s, such as Jade Pear spirit, in which “woman characters are seen willingly to resist personal desires or to give up their own lives in the name of chastity and morality.”⁴ In combining elements of these individual different literary and dramatic sources, and creatively deforming them with his highly individual aesthetic and technical style, Wong defies generic conventions and categorisations, continually challenging audience expectations. His latest project, 2046, is reported to be a science-fictionmovie set 50 years after the handover of Hong Kong to China, proving that Wong Kar-Wai is not afraid to tackle any genre and re-create it with his own inimitable stamp.

If the mark of a true auteur is the creation of distinctive, personal themes and an individual style that can be seen running throughout a filmmaker’s body of work, then Wong Kar-Wai is the auteur par-excellence. Wong Kar-Wai has one of the most distinctive styles of any modern film-making; so much so, in fact, that in an interview for Sight and Sound, Wong himself commented to Tony Rayns that “too many other directors are ‘doing’ a Wong Kar-Wai these days, so I have to do something different.”⁵. In collaboration with his long-time cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Wong’s film’s have developed a number of trademark visual characteristics: the use of distorting wide-angle lenses, strongly coloured lights (sickly, fluorescent greens, cold blues, warm yellows and oranges); seemingly unmotivated switches between colour and black and white stock; the use of highly kinetic, flashy, hand-held camera, unusual shooting angles and camera movements.

One of the most trademark of Wong and Chris’ visual style is their manipulation of film-speed, often shooting in slow or fast-motion for different effects, having the actor move really slowly during shooting, while filming at a slower frame-rate, so that when projected, it seems as if the character is moving at normal speed, while the rest of the world rushes by. They have also developed a unique technique which they have used in all their films together to date: particular scenes are shot at a slower frame-rate so that the action is speeded up; the frames are then step-printed at a lower speed onto the finished film to restore the action to its real-time duration.⁶ The resultant images are ethereal and disorientating; scenes play and actions take place as if in normal speed, but yet there is a distortion; images seem to bleed into one another, lurching slightly so that one may think the action is taking place in slow-motion before realizing it is not. The effect is strangely dream-like, blurring colours and lights, seeming to simultaneously freeze action while it continues to move in front of our eyes.

Several key themes have been developing in Wong Kar-wai’s work, from his first, and most conventional film As Tears Go By, right through to In The Mood For Love. A nostalgic regret for things past that can never be recovered anchors his characters in a deep sense of loss and regret: memories haunt the characters like a spectre they cannot free themselves from. Many of his characters are unwilling or unable to commit to relationships, and whether by choice, or by fate, loneliness and longing overtake his characters when they least expect it.

Identity is constantly questioned and confused. Geographical dislocation appears in the form of characters who constantly drift; many of his characters living in Hong Kong are from other regions of the colony, or other Asian countries (Macao, Kowloon, Taiwan, Shanghai, Japan), and many leave Hong Kong to travel elsewhere (Argentina, California, Taiwan, Japan). Similarly, characters are dislocated in space, destined to forever miss crucial moments at which their lives could have taken another path. His characters constantly rush about, yet most of his films are spent in a state of waiting for something. These themes of loss and longing, regret, memory and nostalgia, dislocation and suspension share a common thread: this all-encompassing theme is Time, in all its incarnations and associations.

Time as an overriding concern in Wong Kar-wai’s films is evidenced not just in his themes, the concerns of his characters and their metaphysicaldebates on memory and temporality, but in the often confused and elliptical temporalities of his narrative and editing styles, in the visual slowing down and speeding up of action, having action taking place on different temporal plains within the same frame, and the lurching, temporarily disorientating camera techniques unique to and so characteristic of a Wong Kar-Wai film.

Within his films, Wong refers to the importance of time in the preponderance of clocks, watches, calendars, dates, deadlines and expiry dates which count out the passage of his narratives (the Book of Days with which Ouyang Feng measures the passing of time in Ashes of Time, the proliferation of clocks and watches in Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express is a virtual hourglass, its various clocks, expiry dates, deadlines all counting down, slipping away, running out, the noting of various dates punctuates Fallen Angels, the imposing Seimens clock in Mrs. Chan’s office inIn The Mood For Love). In dialogue his characters place great weight on the measuring of time in dates and minutes, particularly in Days of Being Wild, Fallen Angels and Chungking Express.

Why this near obsession with all things temporal? Culturally and socially, time has become a prevalent concern for Hong Kong society. Since 1994, the prospect of the 1997 handover of the British colony of Hong Kong back to Chinese sovereignty has been a cause for concern to all Hong-Kongers. This has heightened the social and cultural perception of time as the colony waited (and still waits, to an extent) to see how their lives would be affected both in the lead-up to the handover, and after its occurrence. The themes of geographical and temporal dislocation, linked to the search for identity in Wong’s films, are also deeply embedded into the social and cultural history of Hong Kong, a colony which “has always been a place to which Mainland Chinese migrated, with people crossing the border when circumstances were bad in China, always expecting to return when they improved.”

Postmodern and Marxist theories can resonate with Wong’s treatment of modern life and characters, and his treatment of time reflects his experience of the frenetic lifestyle of one of the most commercially driven, consumer-based cities in the world, where people constantly rush around, not even sitting down to eat, but standing to grab convenience food at stalls and takeaways on their way from one place to another.

Wong’s recurring insistence on the examination of time in his films is not just a reflection of the social, political and cultural issues of modern society, however. In an interview with Jimmy Ngai, Wong Kar-wai reflects on his personal philosophy of time. He says:

Time, to me, forever brings a loss of innocence. As you go through time, you are bound to look back with hindsight; you begin to reminisce about things that you dreamed about doing but didn’t get to do, you begin to wonder what would have happened on that particular day if you had taken a different turn on the road. You have no answer for sure, but you are distressed by the possible outcome of things you didn’t do. You cannot help but regret.⁹

Wong’s treatment and philosophy of time is, I feel, the overriding influence on his cinematic aesthetic and narrative. In further nodes, I’d like to examine the treatment of time in Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and look at how his personal philosophy of time has deepened and matured over the course of his career.

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Dice Wong Kar-Wai que su cine es un viaje en tren que, como todo viaje, consta de origen, paradas intermedias y destino. La mutación natural de ese esquema, de esa ortodoxa relación causa-efecto, es el kilómetro 0 a partir del cual brotan en cascada sus películas. Siguiendo con la metáfora del tren, las películas de Wong nunca llegan a destino, rara vez se avienen a seguir la hoja de ruta y, muy de vez en cuando, respetan el orden natural de paradas intermedias preestablecido. Su cine es un cine enteramente orgánico, un ente con vida propia y, aparentemente, con capacidad de decisión al margen de la voluntad de su autor. Hay un sustrato poético detrás de toda esa mitología de la imagen autosuficiente, pero romanticismos aparte, no es menos cierto que el anárquico esquema de trabajo del director hongkonés exige una capacidad de adaptación al medio fuera de serie. El tren de Wong propone quiebros mil en el camino y, por regla general, la estación de destino no es, ni remotamente, aquélla inicialmente prevista, y es que trabajar con presupuestos exiguos y en rodajes que a veces se prolongan ad infinitum exige instinto natural para la improvisación, para la reconversión y, si exagerar, para filmar, si es preciso, una película que absolutamente nada tiene que ver con la que emerge del tratamiento escrito.

El cine de Wong Kar-Wai es quintaesencia de work-in-progress, flexible, maleable, dúctil y con una extraordinaria suficiencia para la regeneración. Lo habitual es que las películas se rebelen e impongan su propia ley y decidan, sin consultar con nadie, cómo y dónde quieren llegar; Wong es un artista antes que un surtidor de películas, su dilema es el del pintor delante del lienzo en blanco, incapaz de codificar las formas que emergen agresivas desde el pincel. Su cine es cine de andamios y su significado último, aún y siempre inédito mientras siga en activo, es una equis gigantesca, inasible desde la observación individualizada de las partes, hostil desde la consideración independiente de las piezas. Desglosar su obra, deconstruirla en fragmentos para volver a construirla en pos de un análisis global coherente, depende enteramente de la capacidad del crítico para leer la obra en perspectiva y entender cada pieza como eslabón de una cadena infinita, como las notas (autosuficientes, bien es cierto) de una suite indescifrable fuera del contexto esclarecedor de la sinfonía. La filmografía de Wong Kar-Wai es una sola película desmenuzada en capítulos, policromías de un gran mosaico en construcción que, y ése es el gran activo del cine de Wong, no se ruborizan de sus socavones, de su andamiaje y de sus paisajes sentimentales en obras.

Lleva el director de Deseando Amar haciendo la misma película desde 1988. As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Happy Together, 2046… escenifican el lugar ocupado por Wong en el curso del tiempo en términos de relación artista-imagen, su posicionamiento con respecto al paso de los años en la medida en que éstos afectan a la morfología de tales imágenes. En una entrevista con el director hongkonés, concedida a colación del estreno en España de 2046, renegaba éste de la sistematización de su obra en bloques atendiendo, fundamentalmente, a la mala costumbre de agrupar Days of Being Wild, Deseando Amar y 2046 como una trilogía. Las afinidades, cristalinas, entre las tres películas responden única y exclusivamente a la progresiva maduración de su sensibilidad como artista y a la depuración formal y conceptual de sus ficciones en pos de la utopía del alquimista, del ideal de la película perfecta. Days of Being Wild y 2046 son la misma cinta filmada con un intervalo de 13 años: la huella tangible del hombre que Wong era en 1991 y el que fue en 2004 que es otro, bien diferente, al que era en 2007, cuando dio a luz a My Blueberry Nights. El artista en el océano del tiempo, en la encrucijada de la traumática aproximación al cenit, en la eterna regeneración del abismo del lienzo en blanco, en busca, consciente del imposible de la empresa, de la película soñada. En ese sentido todas y cada una de las películas de Wong Kar-Wai son bocetos, bosquejos sublimes de una película total que ni existe ni existirá, pero es la abstracta persecución inconsciente de ese ideal la misma razón de ser, la clave de la especificidad de una filmografía referencial en el contexto de la posmodernidad universal.

DE PROFESIÓN: GUIONISTA

Wong Kar-Wai no gusta de trabajar con guiones cerrados, sus películas emergen del contratiempo y, desde luego, la formulación literaria de la trama (palabra incómoda en el contexto de una filmografía esculpida alrededor de anhelos audiovisuales), es un trámite ejecutado para no intimidar a los actores, necesitados de red a la hora de saltar al vacío. Tarde o temprano en los rodajes de las películas de Wong el guión, o la sombra del mismo, acaba reciclado como posavasos de café o improvisado pai-pai para jornadas calurosas. Un aparente contrasentido habida cuenta de los primeros pasos del icónico cineasta en la industria hongkonesa. Nacido en la megalópolis portuaria de Shanghai en 1958, Wang Jiawei (su verdadero nombre mandarín), emprendió el exilio junto a su madre en 1963 con destino Hong Kong, en los albores de la Revolución Cultural, dejando atrás a sus hermanos con los que sólo se reencontraría varios años después. Fueron tiempos difíciles de soledad amortiguada en cines de barrio devorando películas en un mundo hostil, lejos de su gente y sus raíces, confrontado a una lengua (el cantonés) extraña y que le costó muchos desvelos dominar. Dos años infructuosos estudiando diseño gráfico le abren los ojos y le imponen un objetivo. Para ejecutarlo se matricula en la Hong Kong Television Broadcast LTD. donde cursa estudios de producción y logra, poco a poco, clavar pica en el mundo del cine. Primero como ayudante de producción y posteriormente como guionista, Wong va conquistando espacio en la pequeña pantalla hasta que en 1982 debuta en el cine como integrante del departamento de guionistas de la recién fundada Cinema City & Films Co. A raíz de un proyecto frustrado con Ringo Lam y harto de las rígidas directrices del estudio, Wong decide buscarse la vida por cuenta propia trabajando a destajo como free lance (a veces acreditado y a veces no) al servicio de incontables producciones de escasa enjundia en los tiempos de la eclosión de la (enésima) nueva ola de cineastas hongkoneses capitaneada por nombres como Stanley Kwan, Clara Law o Jeff Lau. Ése es el sustrato cultural en el que emerge la figura del Wong cineasta, una vez finiquitada su militancia en el bando de los guionistas a sueldo, cuando decide dar el salto al otro lado de la cámara para poner en imágenes un guión propio, un thriller gangsteril atípico y en las antípodas de las convenciones genéricas dictadas por la industria pesada. Era As Tears Go By, película que, además, marcó el inicio de su interminable y fecundo idilio profesional con la divina Maggie Cheung. De ese período de pluma mercenaria Wong Kar-Wai aprenderá una lección: no permitir en el futuro que guión alguno o corsé narrativo de tres al cuarto echara a perder la posibilidad de filmar una gran película.

FLIRTEANDO CON LOS GÉNEROS

Forjado como guionista en el cine de género, entre comedias, cine de acción y disciplinas aún menos “nobles”, Wong mantiene a lo largo de su filmografía una relación extremadamente distante con los paradigmas estructurales del cine hongkonés. Discípulo de Antonioni y de Godard, no se aviene a la formulación de los esquemas tradicionales del cine de sujeto-verbo-predicado, pero si bien no tardará en enterrar de una vez para siempre los influjos (temáticos cuando menos) del cine industrial de la ex-colonia, su primera etapa se desarrolla al abrigo circunstancial del cine temático como perpetuación rebelde de las rémoras resultantes, y aún coleantes, de sus años de empleado al servicio de la maquinaria industrial. En ese contexto surge su primera película, As Tears Go By, un producto que, a diferencia del resto de propuestas posteriores, accede a modularse, dentro de un orden, a la ortodoxia de una narración más o menos estándar con alicientes populares que, a pesar de su presunto magma comercial, se salda con un estrepitoso fracaso en la taquilla local. Ya entonces, no obstante, y a pesar de que es ésta la versión más dócil posible de un Wong Kar-Wai reacio a las etiquetas, se intuye el mal acomodo del cineasta hongkonés en el cine de género acorde a los cánones. La revolución consiste en imponer el atrezo tradicional de esta suerte de espectáculos mafiosos, a saber, el elemento romántico, el componente emocional, como sujeto real del drama ubicando así (si bien con mayor sutileza de lo que después devendrá costumbre) la propia miga funcional del thriller en un plano de apoyo mientras emerge ya en germen la querencia de Wong por la desazón inaprensible, por la melancolía etérea del deseo contenido. Enfatizada ésta por el estribillo musical occidentalizante de turno en una versión hongkonesa del Take my Breath Away, que ocupa en la economía evocativa del relato idéntica posición a la que ocuparán sucesivamente las piezas de Xavier Cugat en Days of Being Wild, el California Dreaming de The Mamas and the Papas en Chungking Express o los boleros de Nat King Cole en Deseando Amar. Wong empieza a definir, además de su debilidad por la plasmación atmosférica de la alienación urbanita,  la posición cardinal que la música jugará, como pretexto evasivo y rincón de abstracción romántica de los rigores hostiles de la realidad, en su cine confiriéndole un valor no de aditivo sonoro y, por consiguiente, elemento decorativo, sino como llave fundamental a una dimensión etérea del relato que remite a la proyección misma y orquestada de los estados de ánimo de sus criaturas.
Constatado el fracaso financiero de la cinta Wong entendió que puestos a darse el batacazo mejor hacerlo, sin paracaídas, con materiales de alto riesgo y, si bien se distancia del cine de género en su siguiente proyecto, Days of Being Wild, vuelve a desafiar, más frontalmente aún si cabe, los estándares del cine clásico hongkonés en Ashes of Time, un wuxia ciertamente heterodoxo que desconcertó hasta la irritación al público local que, en mitad de una nueva edad de oro del género (impulsada por el éxito de Tsui Hark con Érase una Vez en China) y con un reparto multiestelar sin parangón (Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung y Carina Lau), esperaba un catálogo de piruetas y coreografías de combate fuera borda. No encontraron  nada parecido en la propuesta de Wong, un filme sofisticado y contemplativo, cronológicamente poliédrico, no lineal, que, nuevamente, volvía a desplazar los estándares genéricos a un segundo plano, en beneficio de un tratamiento intimista y sentimental, en miniatura y sin hipérboles de la existencialista dramaturgia. Con Ashes of Time, nuevo fracaso en taquilla, Wong (cuya productora Jet Tone Productions velaba sin éxito sus primeras armas) da por finiquitada definitivamente su relación frontal con el cine de género que, en adelante, sólo se filtrará colateralmente en su obra como el eco de tambores lejanos.

DESEANDO DÍAS SALVAJES

El tiempo ha redefinido Days of Being Wild como una suerte de ensayo general de lo que serían, años después, Deseando Amar y 2046. Hablamos de una sola película en tres tiempos (epilogada en lo formal por La Mano, el episodio de Wong Kar-Wai en la cinta colectiva Eros), y, en tanto que discutible conjunto, acaso la más característica de la filmografía del cineasta hongkonés. Que los tres filmes conforman una trilogía, más estilística que conceptual viene determinado, al menos, por el denominador común: Maggie Cheung cuyo personaje en los tres filmes (testimonial en el caso de 2046) responde al mismo nombre: Su Lizhen y Tony Leung, el señor Chow en los dos últimos retablos del presunto tríptico. También la presencia en el atrezo de Carina Lau es testigo concreto de continuidad repitiendo personaje en Days of Being Wild y 2046. Ahora bien, más allá de las afinidades argumentales y la hipotética presencia de un (huidizo) hilo conductor más o menos común, la continuidad dramática se antoja una cuestión irrelevante si atendemos a la voluntad de Wong de proponer tres relatos cuya interdependencia sólo es visible para iniciados en su filmografía. Conforman las tres películas, sin embargo, el mejor testimonio de esa idea continuista y, en cierto modo, episódica que atañe a su homogénea filmografía. Todas sus películas, sentencia Wong Kar-Wai, no son sino un hijo suyo a diferentes edades, por eso más que de continuidad procedería hablar de superposición, de inevitables reencuentros y de confluencias redibujadas eternamente.
La criatura crece, madura y se transforma, pero no muta. Considerando el hecho nada irrelevante de que Wong no se ha dejado atrapar aún por las redes de la industria y de que es un cineasta autosuficiente en tanto que produce sus propias películas con un equipo de colaboradores fijos, desde el director artístico William Chang, pasando por el mediático director de fotografía Christopher Doyle, cuyo idilio artístico con Wong, que se remonta al rodaje de Days of Being Wild, se rompe precisamente en 2046 en beneficio del iraní Darius Khondji (que presta sus servicios en My Blueberry Nights y en la inminente Lady from Shanghai), se interpreta la rocosa uniformidad de su obra como una inevitable línea de llegada. Wong trabaja con amigos, con una tropa fija de leales que comparten sin fisuras su ideario formal de la representación y que, habituados a un modus operandi tan anárquico como íntimo y personal, consienten en los sacrificios derivados de auxiliar a un artista, con lo que ello implica en términos de adaptación a rodajes interminables, eternamente cambiantes, funambulescos y de planificación liviana o invisible. Esa unidad ética y estética adquiere su punto culminante en el diálogo espacio-tiempo que establecen entre sí las tres citadas películas. Afloran además con singular vehemencia las constantes más intensamente identitarias del cine de Wong. Ese diálogo a tres de alguna manera acabará definiendo la imagen, el icono Wong Kar-Wai, el tipo distante y misterioso del cigarro y las gafas de sol, primo hermano del señor Chow, cuya imagen ha calado en occidente más por la iconografía enunciada en Deseando Amar y 2046 que por el ingente legado de toda su producción precedente: la ilusoria representación del tiempo, como un rincón, a fin de cuentas subjetivo, de autoreclusión, cuya materialización física o psíquica destruye sistemáticamente la estabilidad del presente; la imposibilidad casi patológica de habitar en el presente; la esclavitud de vivir a caballo entre el pasado y un futuro incierto donde, no obstante, se proyectan todas las utopías que se revelan inalcanzables en el hoy; la ritualística formalización de una cita imposible con la felicidad en un futuro, concreto o no que, en el fondo, promete la misma aridez que dispensa el presente…
El tríptico romántico-manierista del viejo Hong Kong escenifica con furibunda nitidez el qué y el cómo para, sobre todo, un público occidental no avezado en los itinerarios precedentes dibujados por el cine de Wong. Es en Days of Being Wild, Desaeando Amar y 2046 donde se institucionaliza la fórmula, la de un cine de sintagmas, en el que la imagen adquiere en sí un significado autónomo aislada del contexto de la película para excitar, más que reacciones sentimentales, estados de ánimo. Un cine en el que la digresión y el interludio adquieren esencial relevancia en una búsqueda frenética por representar lo irrepresentable, por aprehender lo inaprensible, por psicologizar la imagen (matizada por el lenguaje musical) y dotarla de una capacidad de comunicación que trasciende, al menos en potencia, todas las fronteras estándar del lenguaje cinematográfico, sobre las brasas, eso sí, del cine de Antonioni.

JUNTOS PERO NO… FELICES

Frecuentemente Wong Kar-Wai se enamora de películas que no existen. Su cine crece alrededor de una o más imágenes que operan como sintagmas independientes. Desde ahí, cual torbellino, surgen sus películas según hace camino. Si A es el personaje protagonista, B un rol de apoyo y C un extra con diálogo, es perfectamente factible que al final del proceso C sea protagonista, B el extra con diálogo y A el rol de apoyo. Una vez estrenadas, sus películas trascienden como obras inacabadas por definición. El Festival de Cannes de 2004 contaba en su programación con una película sorpresa, a medida que se avecinaba la fecha de su exhibición en la sección oficial cundió el pánico. El filme en cuestión era 2046 pero Wong no había tenido tiempo de terminarla y, consecuentemente, de presentar una copia definitiva de la cinta. Así, lo que se exhibió en el certamen fue una película en proceso de crecimiento, a medio hacer y con flecos mil que recortar. La realidad es que aquel filme no se terminó nunca, la realidad es que aún hoy permanece, como todas las películas de Wong, inacabada. A Wong le encantan los festivales por una única razón: la fecha de entrega. Si su última película tiene que concurrir en Berlín, Venecia o Cannes, el director hongkonés sabe que hay un ultimátum de por medio y que, llegado ese día, tendrá que soltar la película tal cual esté y, más importante aún, considerarla terminada de una vez por todas. De lo contrario, de no contar con una fecha definida de entrega del material, seguiría eternamente retocando, rodando secuencias complementarias y, quizá incluso, cambiando drásticamente el foco y el punto de vista del relato.
Quintaesencia de cine inconcluso son Chungking Express, radiografía de la alienación metropolitana del hombre contemporáneo y la película que dio una dimensión internacional a la carrera de Wong, y Happy Together, un fascinante tratado sobre la colisión de dos cuerpos que buscan infructuosamente esa cosa llamada felicidad hasta descubrir que el resultado del choque no es sino soledad, desdicha y anómala armonía. La primera, en la que Wong contó por vez primera con una de sus actrices fetiche, la artista pop Faye Wong(ajustándose al patrón tradicional de la industria hongkonesa de incorporar a sus producciones rostros mediáticos del mundo de la música popular), iba a ser un mosaico de tres historias cruzadas. Para más inri fue concebida y filmada en una de las múltiples interrupciones del infernal rodaje de Ashes of Time. Las tres historias acabaron por ser dos. La tercera, que quedó flotando en el aire, acabó convertida en película un año después bajo el título de Fallen Angels, que funciona como eco de Chungking Express y descubre, en ese diálogo a dos bandas, sus debilidades, definiéndose entre reiteraciones y solapamientos con la película matriz, y significándose, quizá, por ser la película menos inspirada del hongkonés hasta la fecha. Chungking Express es, por tanto, una película disociada, atomizada e inacabada al punto de colear en un apéndice concebido como instrumento para cerrar un círculo que permanecía abierto.

Ya entonces Wong se mostraba inseguro, indeciso y, sobre todo, incapaz de poner puntos finales a sus películas. Más paradigmático aún es el caso de Happy Together, merecedora del premio al mejor director en el Festival de Cannes 1997, la película con la que pudo al fin rendir homenaje a uno de sus escritores de cabecera, el bonaerense Manuel Puig. Filmada a caballo entre Taipei y Buenos Aires, constituye, sin lugar a dudas, el reto logístico más importante al que hasta hoy se haya enfrentado el genial cineasta de Shanghai. Si bien el paisaje de la exótica megalópolis argentina ejerce, como ejerce el paisaje en todas sus películas, de mero artilugio complementario en un cine modelado en torno a la dispersión y a la inmensidad de la imprecisión espacio-temporal, Argentina otorga el pretexto de un paraíso geográfico -las cataratas de Iguazú- como encarnación corpórea del destino final de un viaje interior que, frecuentemente, en el cine de Wong se torna físico y tangible (Filipinas en Days of Being Wild, California en Chungking Express, Angkor Wat en Deseando Amar…), en el que la ironía del título parece sugerir que, en ningún modo, el autor está dispuesto a dejar espacio alguno, siquiera angosto, a idilios balsámicos o romances sanos y constructivos (parafraseando a Jean-Marc Lallanne, Tony Leung y Leslie Cheung están más bien unhappy alone).

A pesar de nutrir el baúl de las mejores películas universales de los 90, más interesante aún que el visionado de Happy Together es el del documental-radiografía-making of de Kwan Pung-Leung. Buenos Aires Zero Degrees el mejor testimonio posible de ese horizonte de transformación continua del cine de Wong, de su romántica condición de arte perpetuamente inacabado y multifocal, que vive mucho más allá del límite estructural y cronológico de una película al uso. Kwan desentraña la película que no fue, una filmada contemporáneamente a la versión “definitiva” de la cinta propiamente dicha en la que el personaje femenino de Shirley Kwan cobraba una importancia cardinal dentro de un filme que crecía imparable en círculos concéntricos y en la que las ramas del tronco se multiplicaban prefigurando la autonomía vital de un cine en mutación continua. Wong rodaba varias películas al mismo tiempo y personajes que ayer eran secundarios hoy, de pronto, desplazaban por pura inercia  a los principales erigiéndose, sin pedir permiso, en epicentro mismo de la historia. Buenos Aires Zero Degrees arroja en sus sesenta minutos de duración tanta o más luz acerca de la personalidad creativa de Wong, uno de los más dotados genios de la posmodernidad cinematográfica, que un repaso a su obra completa, de punta a cabo, desde As Tears Go By a My Blueberry Nights. Es el backstage de un genio moviéndose en los límites de la libertad total, esculpiendo imágenes con el cincel de un visionario y, de paso, reescribiendo la historia del cine hongkonés contemporáneo. Wong Kar-Wai es ya, diez películas después, un mito del Séptimo Arte. El tiempo, ese lugar ignoto que encarcela la lánguida infelicidad de sus personajes, determinará de qué tamaño.

Dark Angel’s Ward by Nia Shay

Book Synopsis:

Two years ago, Jandra Maxwell walked away from the secret Fairlight Society and started a new life in a quiet Texas town. When her former Ward, the dark angel Zeph, seeks her out and begs for her help, Jandra faces an impossible choice. She knows he can only offer her heartache, but she can’t turn her back on the only man she’s ever loved.
Zeph teeters on the brink of madness, pummeled by emotions his angelic blood once rendered him incapable of feeling. Driven to protect Jandra from a threat he can only glimpse in nightmares, he refuses to leave her side. As they explore the mystery of his recurring dreams, they discover the Fairlight Society has been keeping a terrible secret – one they’ll kill to protect.
Fighting for her life isn’t so easy when Jandra’s also fighting her heart. Her her inexorable attraction to Zeph may save them…or may damn them both

Shona’s rating: 5 of 5 stars (from October 2012)

I’m actually struggling with what to say here.
Its taken me a few days to finish reading this, but that has more to do with my family life rather than the readability of the book.

Nia Shay is a new to me author, this is the first time i have read anything she has written and now that i have i can honestly say i will be reading more of her work. In fact the next book i read will be her Ugly Like Me.

From the moment I started reading I was hooked. Jade and Zeph’s relationship was awesome, I loved that she beat the crap out of him when he first showed up even though it was painfully clear that she still loved him, and their back story was revealed gradually rather than being dumped on you all in one hit which would have been too much to deal with.
I really liked Brax and I really hope he shows up in later books, even if I’m not sure whether he his a ‘good guy’ or ‘bad guy’.

As paranormal romances featuring Dark Angels/Fallen Angels go this is rather superb and is a definite must read.

Ugly Like Me

Book Synopsis:

Another great read from Nia Shay.

This short story takes place shortly after the events of the first book and ties up the loose ends with Bellyryphan from the first book.

Again told from Jandra’s POV and we get a glimpse of how she is dealing with her recent discoveries, as well as the effects of her recent interaction with Ryphan.

I’m definitely hooked on this series and I desperately need the next instalment ASAP. Please and Thank you.

Shona’s review: 5 of 5 stars (from October 2012)

Another great read from Nia Shay.

This short story takes place shortly after the events of the first book and ties up the loose ends with Bellyryphan from the first book.

Again told from Jandra’s POV and we get a glimpse of how she is dealing with her recent discoveries, as well as the effects of her recent interaction with Ryphan.

I’m definitely hooked on this series and I desperately need the next instalment ASAP. Please and Thank you.

About this author

In between dealing with mild OCD and an epic caffeine addiction, she finds time to mold the voices in her head into cohesive sarcastic remarks, and sometimes even a story or two. She has been penning such tales, almost all of them with a decidedly paranormal flavor, since the second grade.

Now that paranormal fiction is the “in thing,” Nia has decided to overcome her extreme distaste for trends and jump on the ol’ bandwagon. Join her on her harrowing journey through the twisted corridors of her own mind. That is… if you dare.

Follower links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.nia.shay?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nia_shay

Website: http://cheznia.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5622041.Nia_Shay

(Cover picture courtesy of Lauren Kate’s website.)

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

I’ve had my eye on Fallen for about three years because of the enigmatic cover, but never really got around to picking it up.  That all changed a couple of weeks ago when I decided I’d finally give it a try, forbidden love story and all.  I sort of got the impression that Daniel and Luce were star-crossed reincarnated lovers, but I guess the title makes more sense when you know it’s about fallen angels.

Okay, fallen angels aren’t exactly new.  They were dealt with (poorly) in A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford, but I got the whole angels cast out of heaven thing.  Angels are similarly dealt with in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series.  Honestly, there wasn’t a whole lot that was new to me in Fallen, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the background Lauren Kate gave or the small differences she added.  Some new secret societies, a twist in the forbidden love angle and there’s actually a pretty good story here.  Fallen was well-researched and the angelology included was explained very well for both newcomers and those who know a little more about the mythology surrounding them.

The characters were interesting, to say the least.  At first I thought Daniel was your typical broody jerk of a love interest, but there’s actually good reasons for his jerk-ness that lie in his backstory.  You may hate him at first, but you’ll end up feeling pretty sorry for him by the end of the book.  As for Luce, she’s interesting but I wouldn’t call her exceptional.  She tends to be a bit of a damsel in distress, but that’s not the main part of her characterization.  She’s more of an average girl than most ‘average girl’ narrators who are secretly beautiful and incredibly talented at everything.  It’s a good thing I can sympathize with her otherwise I would have wanted to reach in and slap her over the love triangle.  Yes, of course there’s a love triangle.  I wouldn’t call it incredibly unique, but it was believable.

I think there’s a lot of potential here in the Fallen quartet, so I’d definitely recommend reading it to those of you out there like me who have glanced at it but never tried it.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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We start, of course, with the myth of St. George and the Dragon itself, as is fitting for the time around his feast.  Not a lot is known historically, but the legend grew with the telling as is often the case.

The legends of St. George are often contradictory, or at the least impossible to verify.  All that is truly know for certain is that his cultus dates back to the time he was said to live, around the time of Constantine.  The summary we can get from the oldest sources and consistent points, that are more than likely historically true is that St. George suffered and was martyred near Lydda (aka Diospolis) in Palestine.  Beyond that, little is known.

The early versions of the Acts of St. George from the fifth century do not include the famous story that first comes to mind, the slaying of the dragon.  These versions do include a king, King Dadianus, who has the epithet “dragon”, translated as “asp-serpent” in the Syriac versions.  It wasn’t until the twelfth century that the symbolism became literal in the myths.

From the early versions of the Acts, and from a few other sources, the myth, whether based in reality and accurate or not, paint a story for us.  They describe George as being born the son of Count Anastasuis and Countess Theobaste in Cappadocia, on June 11, 228.  His father died when he was ten and he and his mother moved to Palestine, where she was originally from and still owned land.  George joined the Roman Legion a few years latter, sometime between 245 and 313, where he became quite a successful soldier and leader, gaining the rank of Tribune, with about a thousand men under his command.  When he was about twenty, George returned to Palestine to request his father’s lands and title be given to him.  The king of Palestine was King Dadianus, mentioned above, and it was he that George had come to make his request to.  On arrival, however, George found Dadianus worshipping idols (the Acts are written from a fifth century perspective; the time it would have taken place, few leaders would have been Christian, but by the time it was written most would have been), had forsaken God, and where persecuting Christians.  George was outraged, and decided he would now serve as a soldier of Christ.  He dismissed all his servants, and gave his considerable wealth to the poor, and went before the king naked with nothing.  He cried out to the King and the other governers (there were 69 with him, so 70 in all), “Cease your frenzy, O governors, and proclaim not to be gods the things which are not gods; let the gods who have not made heaven and earth perish! As for me, I will worship one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.”  It is here that Dadianus is first called the dragon (later he is called the dragon of the abyss).  The king responds, to summarize, we worship the gods of Roman, though in many more words.  George proclaims this as wrong, and Dadianus has him tortured for seven years.  During this time, George is killed three times, once by being chopped into little bits, once by being buried in the earth, and once by being burnt and consumed by the fire.  Each time he is resurrected by God.  During these seven years, he healing the blind, sick, and lame, showed people where to dig for buried money, and brought people back from the dead, as well as converting 28,000 people including Queen Alexandra, Dadianus’ wife.  On April 23, 255, his feast day, at seven PM, he is killed a fourth time.  He was brought before the governors, called down fire from heaven that consumed all of them and five thousand of their soldiers, say a vision of Christ saying he would take him heaven, asked the executioners to perform what had been commanded of them, and was beheaded.  Water and milk came from the wound instead of blood.  Christ took him to heaven, and there were earthquakes and thunder and lightning.  (For details, read the Acts of St. George; here’s E.A.W. Budge’s translation of one version, from 1888: http://www.stgregorioschurchdc.org/cgi/xpage.cgi?doc=stgeorge.doc)

There are a lot of elements in this story that could be addressed, but I will limit to a few.  First, the salvation of Queen Alexandra and the killing of Dadianus, the “dragon”, and, second, the beheading.  Of note beyond these, which I’m not going to go into but would like to mention, are the parallels between George and Elijah, the parallels between him and Christ, the number of governors, his three deaths by blade, earth, and fire, and the effects and details of his death including the milk and water, the earthquakes, and the thunder and lightning.

I will focus first on the salvation of Alexandra and the killing of Dadianus, as this is of later the story of note.  But first, we will look at a later legend.  There are many versions of this later legend as well, some quite long and detailed, others straight to the point.  I will give you the version from J.E. Hanauer’s Folk-Lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian, and Jewish, published in 1907:

There was once a great city that depended for its water supply upon a fountain without the walls. A great dragon, possessed and moved by Satan himself, took possession of the fountain and refused to allow water to be taken unless, whenever people came to the spring, a youth or maiden was given to him to devour. The people tried again and again to destroy the monster; but though the flower of the city cheerfully went forth against it, its breath was so pestilential that they used to drop down dead before they came within bow-shot.

The terrorized inhabitants were thus obliged to sacrifice their offspring, or die of thirst; till at last all the youth of the place had perished except the king’s daughter. So great was the distress of their subjects for want of water that her heart-broken parents could no longer withhold her, and amid the tears of the populace she went out towards the spring, where the dragon lay awaiting her. But just as the noisome monster was going to leap on her, Mar Jiryis appeared, in golden panoply, upon a fine white steed, and spear in hand. Riding full tilt at the dragon, he struck it fair between the eyes and laid it dead. The king, out of gratitude for this unlooked-for succor, gave Mar Jiryis his daughter and half of his kingdom.

This is of course the legend of St. George and the Dragon, or one version of it.  Mar Jiryis is the Anglicized version of the Arabic name for St. George.  On the surface, this looks like a very different tale with only the name in common, though I’m sure the context I gave it in provides some pointers to see the parallels, or see how the tale developed.  The epithet in the older version very obviously developed into this dragon, so the dragon is Dadianus.  It’s not surprising that his worship of Roman Gods became his possession by Satan himself, as this is a fairly common motif.  His devouring of the youth or maiden clearly comes from his persecuting of Christians (the “pure”) in the older tale.  The fountain is likely Palestine, which in the original Dadianus ruled, now a fountain held hostage.  His pestilential breath is likely the “poisonous” words he spoke in the older tale.  Here’s where it gets a bit less obvious.  In this tale, George kills the dragon, saving the princess, and is given her hand and half the kingdom in gratitude.  In the original he dies, and there is no princess, no marriage, no kingdom given.  But if we look deeper, we see it.  Queen Alexandra becomes the princess.  In the original, she is converted to Christianity, saving her from Dadianus’ idolatry, but dies a martyr for it.  Here, instead, she is saved from the dragon to live, the dragon being Dadianus, as before.  St. George in the original dies, but is given a place in Heaven.  The original wording describes Christ inviting him up to heaven where a dwelling was prepared for him in the kingdom of Christ’s father.  George’s forwarding the cause of Christianity and going to a dwelling in the heavenly kingdom became him saving the kingdom and being given half of it to rule.

I’ll come back to the beheading, but first I’d like to look at a couple related legends.

First, let’s look at the tale of Sigurd and the dragon.  To set the mood, here is the passage relating the slaying of the dragon from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Völsungkviða En Nýja:

In Busiltarn ran blue the waters, green grew the grass for grazing horse.
A man them minded mantled darkly, hoary-bearded, huge and ancient.

They drove the horses into deep currents; to the bank the backed from the bitter water.
But grey Grani gladly swam there: Sigurd chose him, swift and flawless.

‘In the stud of Sleipnir, steed of Ódin, was sired this horse, swiftest, strongest.
Ride now! ride now! rocks and mountains, horse and here, hope of Odin!’

Gand rode Regin and Gani Sigurd; the waste lay withered, wide and empty.
Fathoms thirty fell the fearful cliff whence the dragon bowed him drinking thirsty.

In deep hollow on the dark hillside long there lurked he; the land trembled.
Forth came Fáfnir, fire his breathing; down the mountain rushed mists of poison.

The fire and fume over fearless head rushed by roaring; rocks were groaning.
The black belly, bent and coiled, over hidden hollow hung and glided.

Gram was brandished; grimly ringing to the hoary stone heart it sundered.
In Fáfnir’s throe were threshed as flails his writhing limbs and reeking head.

Black flowed the blood, belching drenching him; in the hollow hiding hard grew Sigurd.
Swift now sprang he sword withdrawing: there each saw other with eyes of hate.

~Völsungkviða En Nýja V:22-29, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún, J.R.R. Tolkien

The tale, whether Tolkien’s version or the original, basically tells (leaving a lot out) how Völsung had twin children, Sigmund, his oldest son and Signy, his only daughter, and nine other sons.  He built his hall around an oak tree, Barnstokkr.  He attempted to marry his daughter off to Siggeir, King of the Geats.  His sons approved, but his daughter didn’t.  At the marriage feast, a stranger appears.  He is a tall old man with a hoary beard, and a large brimmed hat shadowing one eye.  He pulled out his sword, and the everyone got ready to attack him, but instead of attacking anyone, he drove it into the oak tree.  He told them only he who was worthy of the sword could pull it out, and that it would serve whoever did well.  Everyone at the feast tried to pull it out, but could not.  Sigmund, though, tried and succeeded with no effort.  Siggeir wanted the sword and tried to buy it from Sigmund, but Sigmund refused.  Siggeir, angry, swore vengeance on the whole family, and left for home, inviting the family to join him to finish the feast at his house when the winter was over.

They went to his land three months later.  Signy warned them it was an ambush, but they went in anyway, and were defeat, Völsung killed and the ten sons captured.  Signy convinced Siggeir to spare them, so he binds them out for the wolves to eat instead.  Or, more specifically, his mother who can shapeshift into a wolf.  For nine nights, she consumes a brother, which Signy tried to free them and Sigmund waited bound.  Signy smears honey on Sigmund’s face, and the wolfmother licks it off, then sticks her tongue into Sigmund’s mouth to get the honey there.  He bites of her tongue, kills her, and escapes, hiding in the forest, Signy bringing him supplies in secret.  She tests her children by sending them to him.  When they failed the test, she urged Sigmund to kill them.  Finally, he’d have no more of it, so she disguised herself as a volva and goes to him and conceives a son with her brother, Sinfjotli.  He passes the test and together Sigmund and his son grow wealthy as outlaws.

Leaving out some parts, they come back and avenge Sigmund’s father and brothers’ death, killing Siggeir.  Later, he fights an old man, who turns out to be Odin (the man/god who drove the sword into the tree, and Sigmund’s great-great-grandfather), and his sword breaks and he dies, giving the shattered to his wife Hjordis for his unborn son, Sigurd, to fix and use.

This is the context of the story of Sigurd.  Before I proceed to the tale itself, I’d like to reference back to my last post, A Graal, a Sword, and a Lance: second star to the right, and straight on till morning (http://muninnskiss.grimr.org/2013/04/a-graal-sword-and-lance-second-star-to.html).  In the discussion of the Sword, I referred to the above story, to the sword Gram Odin put in the tree, which Sigmund pulled out.  It is clear in this tale that pulling the sword from the tree showed worthiness to wield it.  Likewise, in the tale to come, the fixing of the sword also shows worth, for Sigmund said only Sigurd would be able to fix it.  It’s easy to see how this joined with the Graal myth, for in do Troyes’ tale, the giving of the sword to Perceval indicated worthiness, and in the first continuation and forward, the fixing of the sword indicated the same.  This of course grew with the telling, losing the fixing aspect, and becoming a sword driven into a stone instead of a tree, Arthur’s father Uther driving it instead of Sigurd’s great, great, grandfather.  However, there is a possibility, though I haven’t seen it stated anywhere, that this might not have been a merging of tales but a remerging.  Consider that de Troyes lived in the 1100s, in France.  Also consider that France was in reality the area controlled by the Normans, starting with Rollo gaining Normandy in 911 by swearing fealty to the Franks.  By the 1100s, they were well established.  The Normans, the descendants of Rollo and his kith and kin, were essentially Norsemen and Danes.  The Old English poem Beowolf, dating from sometime in the eighth to 11th century, and contains elements clearly parallel to this tale of Sigmund and Sigurd, so the story existed as early as that if not earlier.  The version we have in the Eddas was recorded in the 13th century, but there is a carving from around 1000 AD depicting the story.  It is very likely the Normans knew this story, and this might have been the source for de Troyes.

Anyway, back to Sigurd.

Hjordis goes to live in the hall of Alf, King of Denmark, and gives birth to a son, as Sigmund had said she would, naming him Sigurd.  He is raised by Reginn.

Reginn had two brothers, Fafnir and Otr.  Reginn is a smith, Fafnir is very strong, and Otr was a shapeshifter.  One day, Otr was playing by a river in the form of an otter when Odin, Loki, and Hoenir happened by.  Loki on a whim (as far as we know) kills the otter with stone, not knowing (as far as we know) that it was really Otr.  The Three skin the otter and take the skin to the house of Hreidmar, the father of Reginn, Fafnir, and Otr, showing it off.  Hreidmar, upset at the death of his son, captured Odin and Hoenir, telling Loki to fill the skin with gold and cover it with red gold, and he would release them.  Being cunning, Loki made a net and captured Andvari, who was swimming as a pike, forcing him to give him his gold and his ring, Andvaranaut.  Andvari cursed them, that they would destroy whoever had them, which suited Loki perfectly.  He gave the gold to Hreidmar, and the Three left.  Fafnir killed Hreidmar for the gold, and it corrupted him, turning him into a dragon (or serpent).

Reginn begins a series of tests for Sigurd.  First, he tells Sigurd to ask King Alf for a horse.  Sigurd comes upon an old man with a hoary beard in the forest.  Sigurd asks the old man to come with him to help him choose.  They go to where King Alf’s horse are grazing, and the old man tells him to drive the horses down to the river.  The two of them do so, and all but one of the horses swims back to land.  The one that did not was a gray horse, and the old man told him it was Sleipnir’s kin, descended from Odin’s own horse.  The horse had never been ridden, but Sigurd names it Grani and mounts it without an issue.  The old man is, of course, once more Odin.

Reginn begins making swords for Sigurd.  Each one, Sigurd struck an anvil with and it broke.  Sigurd then goes and gets the broken pieces of Gram and brings them to Reginn.  Reginn, the smith, reforges the sword, and this time, the sword cut the anvil in two.  Sigurd then placed a piece of wool in a stream and the current pushing the wool against the sword cut the wool in two.

Reginn then sends Sigurd to kill his brother Fafnir, the dragon.  He told him about the gold and told him that because Fafnir is now a dragon, the gold rightly belongs to him.  They went out into the Wasteland to the area Fafnir was.  Reginn directed Sigurd to build a pit and cover himself up and wait on the path Fafnir took to a stream to drink.  He did so, but Reginn ran off, afraid.  While Sigurd is digging, the old man with a hoary beard shows up and directs Fafnir to dig trenches for the blood of Fafnir to run into.  Sigurd waits in hiding, and when Fafnir comes, he jumped out and stabbed Fafnir in the shoulder, mortally wounding him.  The two talk, and Fafnir tells Sigurd Reginn would kill him for the gold, and that all who have it will die.  Sigurd replies that all men die one day, so we would take the gold with no fear.

Reginn returns and Sigurd cooks Fafnir’s heart to eat, getting blood in his mouth in the process.  From the blood, he could understand the speech of birds, and heard Odin’t ravens talking about how Reginn planned to kill him for the gold.  From the heart, he gains wisdom adn prophecy.  He beheads Reginn and takes the gold.

On the journey back,  he finds a fire blazing.  Undaunted, we rides into the fire and finds at its heart a woman sleeping, dressed in armour.  He awakes her and finds out she is a skieldmaiden sworn to Odin (a Valkyrie in some tales), but was there as punishment from Odin because she chose to fight for Agnar, when he and Hjalmgunnar were fighting, knowing Odin favoured Hjalmgunnar.  Her name was Brynhildr.  Sigurd and her pledged themselves to each other, though she prophesied he would marry another and find doom.  He gave her a ring from the treasure hoard, possibly Andvaranaut, and left.

He eventually came to the house of Gjuki, whose wife Grimhild made an ale of forgetfulness to make him forget Brynhildr, and he married their daughter Gudrun instead.  Gudrun’s brother Gunnar sought Brynhildr’s hand, and Sigurd assisted him by taking on his form and riding through the flames, so that she married Gunnar.

In the end, Brynhildr’s wrath and Gjuki’s sons’ greed ended with Sigurd’s death.  Gunnar leaves the gold in a cave, and Andvari recovers it, but never finds Andvaranaut.

The simple parallels between St. George and the Dragon and Sigurd and the Dragon are of course obvious.  Both ride out, both kill the dragon.  George does so on horseback with a lance, Sigurd on foot with a sword.  But same motif.  The motivation, though, is different.  St. George does to save the city, and to free the water supply.  Sigurd does because Reginn wants his brother’s gold.  It is interesting that Sigurd kills the dragon on its way to the stream to drink, a water supply, but this isn’t a direct parallel, as the dragon wasn’t keeping anyone from that water.  Also, the different weapon is of note, a sword and a lance, though this is more a matter of context.  Lances were later in Central Europe, in the North, they weren’t as useful, and didn’t exist at the time the tale of Sigurd would have come from, but were common for knights, which St. George is seen as, by the time of the St. George and the Dragon tale.  Likewise, you don’t fight with a lance on foot, and a sword is more useful against a single opponent on foot.  For those that are paying attention, both a sword and a lance hold importance in de Troyes’ Perceval tale.

But there’s some interesting points if you pull in the older Acts of St. George.  The king in the original becomes a dragon in the later version, just as Fafnir becomes a dragon in the tale of Sigurd.  Dadianus and his governors are killed in the original for their idolatry, Fafnir (and Hreidmar, Reginn, Sigurd, and several other characters) are killed for their greed.  So the St. George tale and the Sigurd tale therefore both show something seen as a bad trait or action, and horrible consequences for it, a warning.  Also, it is interesting that the fire in the original St. George story only consumes the governors and their troops, St. George and the innocents are spared.  Likewise, only Sigurd on his horse could pass through the flames of Brynhildr’s bower unscathed.  And there is a twist of wealth.  St. George wins great riches for his prowess as a soldier, but gives it all to the poor before confronting the “dragon”.  Sigurd gains great wealth as a result of killing the dragon, but it leads to his own death.  We also have another twist, St. George is beheaded, and Sigurd beheads Reginn, St. George at his own request and the command of the governors, Reginn for his planned betrayal.  Same motif, but different circumstances and reasons.  We’ll come back to the beheading.

I’d like to pull one more legend into the mix of Sigurd and St. George.  This is one I’ve discussed before (see http://muninnskiss.grimr.org/2012/09/michaelmas-time-of-binding.html), Michael and Lucifer.  The traditional day for this is of course Michaelmas, originally October 11, now September 29, the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel.  Of note in this is Jude 1:9 in the Christian New Testament:

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. ~Jude 1:9, KJV

This of course gives no details.  And there are no other early sources describing the struggle between them.  It is traditionally assumed when Jesus said “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” (Luke 10:18 KJV) that it must have been in a struggle, and Michael must have kicked him out.  The parallel with Hephaestus being kicked out of Olympus and falling to the ground, giving him his limp, should be noted, though it isn’t relevant here.

The iconography, though, depicts Michael standing over Satan, his foot on his neck,  a sword or spear, depending on the time period, raised and aimed at Satan’s head.  There’s some variation, but Michael is always above, always pointing the weapon, posed to strike.  This is significant, as the iconography for St. George and the Dragon portrays St. George above the dragon, with a lance, sword, or spear downward, either posed to strike, or already stabbed through.  This similarities between the images are striking.  Interestingly, images of Sigurd and the dragon almost always show them at the same level, or the dragon above.  Some newer images show it the other way, likely influenced by St. George and Michael.

It’s important when making the parallel between Michael and George that the similarities in iconography is likely not by accident.  We find a story of Michael and a dragon in Revelations, an obvious reference to Jesus’ statement in Luke:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ~Revelations 12:1-9, KJV

The third of the stars are traditionally seen as a third of the angels, following Satan, the great red dragon, and cast out with him.  The woman is of course Mary, the child Jesus, or, symbolically, the woman is Israel, who, after giving birth to Christ, was scattered in exile, the Wasteland.  And then we see Michael, with an army of angels, fighting the dragon, with the dragon, with an army of angels, fighting back, Michael prevailing and casting the dragon out, so he fell to earth.  This is of course the most clear image.

It’s important to note, though not relevant here, that 2260 days is approximately the length of an Age in the Great Procession, so if the child was born at the beginning of the Age of Pisces, the woman is fed until the end of that Age.  ”And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ ~Matthew 28:18-20, NASB

So, we have Michael fighting a dragon.  Notice that the angels with the dragon receive the same fate, just as the governors with St. George’s “dragon” in the original.  Notice also the parallel of the governor’s idolatry and Satan deceiving the whole world.

In later art and lore, from the 10th century on, Michael is usually depicted with a sword, often flaming.  This imagery is a reflection of Genesis 3:

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. ~Genesis 3:22-24

In Kabbalah and in much of Christian thought, this flaming sword is judgement (Geburah in Kabbalah).  It’s important to note the parallel between the driving out of the man from the garden, the way blocked with a flaming sword, and the driving of Satan out of heaven by Michael, later depicted with a flaming sword.  Consider for a moment, that though later St. George is depicted with a sword, spear, or lance, that in the original he was unarmed, but called down fire in judgement.  And of course, only Sigurd could cross the flames around Brynhildr’s bower.  Also consider the name of the sword that was Odin’s, forged by Wayland the Smith, drawn forth but later broken in the hands of Sigmund against Odin, reforged by Reginn, and used to slay the dragon by Sigund.  The sword is named Gram, which translates to Wrath, meaning anger, but typically anger in response to a wrong done to you, in other words, judgement.  It’s the same sword.

It’s interesting to note that Sigurd, Sigurðr, comes from sigr meaning “victory”, and varðr meaning “guardian”.  Also, urðr is Wyrd, Fate, one of the Norns.  So his name can be seen as the Victory of Fate, Guardian of Victory, Victory of the Guardian, or the Fate that comes from Victory.  All these imply judgement, of Fate overcoming you, just as it did Sigurd, but also just as Sigurd was that judgement on Fafnir and Reginn.  His father, Sigmund, is sigr and mundr, mundr meaning protector, very much the same as guardian.

So, we have three tales, well, several versions of three tales, St. George, Sigurd, and Michael, all fighting a dragon.

But, what about the head?  What about St. George being beheaded, and Sigurd beheading Reginn?  Let’s look at the head a bit.

One story of note is John the Baptist.  John proceeded Jesus, baptized (initiated) him, then was imprisoned by Herod.  Herod married Herodias (Aradia) his sister, and John spoke against this.  Herodias’ daughter then dances before Herod and he grants her a boon.  At her mother’s prompting, she asks for John’s head on a platter, so it was delivered to her.  John’s feast day is June 25th, originally the date of the Summer Solstice, opposite Christ’s, on December 25th, originally the Winter Solstice.  (It’s interesting to note the Feast of St. Michael near the Autumn Equinox and the Feast of St. George, near the Spring Equinox.)

Next, we have Mimir, in the North.  Mimir is an interesting character for many reasons.  He guarded a well at the root of the World Tree, called Mimir’s Well.  He was the only one that drank from it, the waters of wisdom.  At this well, the Aesir would meet for council.  When Odin sought wisdom, he went to Mimir and exchanged his eye for a drink of the well.  Mimir’s name means “the rememberer”, or “the wise one”.  Mimir comes from minni meaning memory, the same word Muninn comes from.  Similarly, Hoenir comes from hugr, the same word Huginn comes from.  This is interesting, for at the end of the Aesir/Vanir war, the Vanir Njord, Freyr, Freyja, and Kvasir (who was born of the salva of the Aesir and Vanir, and later killed by Fjalar and Galar, who made the Mead of Poetry from his blood mixed with honey) were exchanged for the Aesir Hoenir and Mimir.  The Vanir beheaded Mimir, and sent his head to Odin, who used it as an oracle.  It’s of note that the Vanir were in pairs, brother and sister as husband and wife, Njordr and Njorun, Freyr and Freyja, and so on.  This is very similar to Herod and Herodias.  And the Vanir beheaded Mimir like Herod beheaded John.

And then we have Bran the Blessed, the son of Llyr.  Bran means Raven.  King Matholwch of Ireland requested permission to marry Bran’s sister, Branwen, Bran consented, and they were married.  But at the wedding, Bran’s half brother Efnisien killed Math’s horses, because he was mad he wasn’t invited.    Bran gave Math his cauldron that could restore the dead to life to appease him.  When Branwen was mistreated, her brothers went to rescue her, some things happen, fighting ensues, and the Irish use the cauldron to revive their dead as the fight.  In the end, Efnisien hides with the corpses and is placed in the cauldron, breaking it.  By the end, seven men survived, plus Bran with a mortal wound in his leg (much like the Fisher King in de Troyes’ Perceval tale).  He instructs them to cut off his head, and they live for 80 years without aging, with his head, still able to speak like Mimir’s, talking to them and teaching them.  It’s buried on White Hill (note this is now Tower Hill, where the Tower of London is, with it’s ravens that as long as they remain, the monarchy won’t fall), with the statement that as long as his head remained, the island would never fall to invaders.  Later, King Arthur is said to have removed the head because he felt he alone was the protector of Britain. It’s said that same year the island fell to invasion.

In these three myths, the beheading places an important role.  Though there might not be a direct parallel, the beheading of St. George and the beheading of Reginn both hold importance in their own context and being about the consideration of the significance of this common motif.

So.

We have a man, or angel, overcoming a dragon.

We have a sword that brings judgement, wielded by the man or angel.

We have a dragon, which we overcomes with the sword.

And we have a severed head.

Sounds like the making of a myth to me.

FFF,

~Muninn’s Kiss

Who is the “covering cherub” of Ezek. 28?
What is the purpose of angels?
How did “life” begin at creation week?
You may be surprised….
Part 4 will be released tomorrow.
All links will be in the description box on the concluding part of this series.

Can’t wait to tell you about Water’s Blood!

Check out the synopsis. Read Chapter One!

Then read my review. You’ll be hooked.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Water’s Blood
The Elemental Clan Series

Book One

Elaine Calloway

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy

Publisher: The Writers Canvas, LLC

Date of Publication: February 1, 2013

ISBN: 9781301515226

ASIN: B00B7NQLIE

Number of pages: 511

Word Count: 95572

Cover Artist: Taryn Knight, Leafbreeze Creations

Amazon  BarnesNoble  Smashwords

Book Description:

Nature’s Elementals—Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water—have lived for countless millennia. Disguised as humans, they are charged with one mission: protect the innocent from fallen angel clans, who reap human souls and force them to do their bidding.

Brooke, a Water Elemental stationed in New Orleans, broke the rules once—she mated with a human. For her indiscretion, she is forbidden to share a life with her loved ones: NOPD officer Alex and their half-breed daughter, Ella.

Now Ella is about to turn sixteen, and the local clan of fallen angels is determined to snare her soul by Halloween.

Brooke broke the rules once by allowing love to interfere with her mission. Now she and Alex must put consequences aside to break the rules again—if they wish to save their daughter’s soul.

Short Excerpt

“Hell is empty; all the devils are here.”

― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

CHAPTER ONE

Brooke gripped the bar’s wooden edge until her knuckles turned white. Nausea and trepidation washed through her human form. Not now. Please. Not when her New   Orleans pub, Armand’s, was filled with Friday night locals. She couldn’t keep walking away from her cover job. And she definitely couldn’t tell her customers the truth.

Her mission was critical: protect innocent humans from the Minare, a local clan of Fallen Angels. Who knew dealing with a teenager would be the more difficult job?

The nausea grew stronger, churning in the depths of her stomach. For one hopeful moment, she wondered if the Shrimp Creole she’d eaten for lunch could be the culprit. A sense of uneasiness snaked through her veins. No such luck. All signs pointed to the distress call.

Images in her line of vision began to spin. Gold, purple, and green Fleur de Lis emblems on the bar walls blurred into a kaleidoscope haze. Oh, yes. She recognized this feeling—the ole Tilt-O-Whirl-from-Hell. She shut her eyes, wanting her equilibrium to stabilize, but the famed Mardi Gras colors danced behind her eyelids.

Breathe. She inhaled deep. Beer, tobacco smoke, and lemon polish overpowered her nostrils.

The impending doom intensified. Your daughter is in danger. You have to go.

Panic churned inside her like a tornado. She’d been afraid this would happen.

What was she supposed to do? Family and her mission were mutually exclusive in her world. She couldn’t kick her customers out. Her only option was to leave someone in charge. Someone trustworthy.

Quinn, one of her favorite regulars and a self-professed hippie, approached and plunked his shot glass down. “Refill when you get a chance. Life treating you okay?”

Perfect. Quinn and his wife had helped her rebuild the pub after Hurricane Katrina. They were good folks, the kind of humans Brooke could trust her customers with.

She tilted the amber whiskey bottle and poured. “I’ll make you a deal. Watch the place for thirty minutes, and you can have all the refills you want.”

“Works for me. What happened to John?”

Brooke grabbed her keys and jacket. She didn’t have time to get into the particulars. “Quit on me yesterday, said he’s moving back home to care for his parents. I haven’t had the chance to place a want-ad for someone new.”

“I’ll hold down the fort. Go do what you need to do.” Quinn strolled behind the bar, his body moving in tune to the Zydeco music coming from the speakers. On any other day, she liked the New Orleans locals and their leisurely way of life. Just not now. She needed to go.

She sprinted for the back exit. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”

“Is everything okay?” he called after her.

Not really. She didn’t turn around, only said, “I won’t be gone long, thanks,” and ducked out the back door to avoid further questions.

Brooke ran down the crooked sidewalk. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss lined the narrow street filled with shotgun houses. Fortunately, Alex only lived two blocks away. The short walk made it easy to keep watch over him and Ella.

Darkness covered the sage-colored home with black shutters, but the full moon’s beams slanted through a rear side window. Brooke crept alongside the long narrow house, which extended back for almost a city block. These old Mid-City homes had more rooms than she could keep up with. Over the years, she’d learned which ones she could easily peer through.

Peeking inside, Brooke saw Ella tiptoeing across the study, headed straight for the cabinet.

Brooke’s neck went tight. Holy hell, this was no false alarm. Ella was a mere twenty steps away from the cabinet. Or rather, from disaster.

My Review

Brooke is a Water Elemental. As such, her job is to protect humans from the Mirare.

The Minare are a nasty bunch of Fallen Angels.

Since breaking the rules and falling in love with a human, and compounding that by having a child with him, Brooke has had to toe the line and prove herself to her boss, Universe.

For breaking the rules, she is denied contact with Alex, her lover, and their half elemental-half human daughter, Ella.

When Soren, leader of the Minare, uses his top soldier, Cristos and a dashing looking charmer, Dominick, to lure Ella into their clutches, Brooke and Alex will be forced to break the rules in order to get Ella back.

Brooke feels the same as Alex, “First things first, we find Ella. Then we send all of those Fallen Angels back to hell. Where they belong.”

It’s hard for them to search for their daughter. If Brooke is caught anywhere near them, Universe will banish her. Then she won’t be able to protect them.

“Whatever happened, we can work through this together.”

Alex shook his head, his lips pursed.

“Don’t you get it? We aren’t allowed to be together. That’s the problem.”

Soren is gearing up to do something terrible, Cristos is entering her safety zone. Ella is taken and everything is rushing towards Halloween, when everything will come to a head.

You’ll meet all kinds of Elementals. I like how their names reflect their powers. Brooke is a Water Elemental. There’s Phoenix, Tempest, and Terran, just to name a few.

I liked how these characters may not be human, but they suffer from the same worries and struggles, making them easy to care about. You forget they are supernatural.

This story takes place in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. References to the destruction of this city and the brave people who are rebuilding their homes makes for a feeling of connection, of realism.

With so much going on, I worried about the characters. Will Brooke and Alex be able to be together again? Will they save Ella from the evil Minare and what choice will she make? Stay human or become an Elemental? Will Universe banish Brooke? What is going to happen on Halloween?

All of my questions get answered in an exciting, climactic ending.

While this book is fairly long, you’ll become lost in it and never even notice the time. It reads very fast.

The bonus is, this is Book One in the series. I’ll be seeing these characters again.

4 Stars for this exciting beginning.

Giveaway

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About the Author:

Elaine Calloway is originally from New Orleans and can still do a decent Cajun accent upon request. She is currently writing the Elemental Clan Series, a series of paranormal tales set in iconic cities such as New Orleans. Book One, WATER’S BLOOD, is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Book Two, RAGING FIRE, will be released summer 2013.

For more information or to connect with Elaine online, visit her web site at www.elainecalloway.com

Website and blog : www.thewriterscanvas.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writerscanvas

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6915219.Elaine_Calloway