Freedom of Writing:
Since this past week was
Independence Day in the USA I thought I would talk about the freedom
that writing can bring. Writing is a great way to face fears, sort
out the chaotic thoughts in your head, learn, connect with others and
make a difference. Why? Because words have power!
Recently I was at a women's retreat
and the speaker my friend Jamie Thursday from Urban Light Boston,
(Look for her on FB!), was talking about how, “back in the day”
meaning a long time ago, during tribal society times, certain words
had different meanings than they do today. When those in power, (the
patriarchy) decided they wanted to switch the roles of power and
force some people to the bottom, (women), they did so by creating
fear and disgust around certain words. For example, the word virgin,
it used to mean, a woman who was unto her own power. It had
absolutely nothing to do with relationships and it showed who in the
tribe were really powerful women. The meaning was changed to try to
control and track who women had relations with. It also made women
feel and look weak. There are many more examples of this, but the
priests/other men in power, simply talking about this change would
not have had any effect if they had not written it down. It could
have easily been interpreted incorrectly or forgotten, but writing
solidifies words. Even Confucius in the fifth century BCE, knew that
people in power were changing the meanings of words and he feared
what this would do to society, “When names are not correct, what is
said will not sound reasonable; when what is said does not sound
reasonable, affairs will not culminate in success.” (From The
Written World, by: Martin Puchner). Jamie's site,
(Jhayhurst722@wixsite.com),(Pic below, awesome Jamie).
Think about the game telephone, one
person at the head of a line says a sentence, the sentence gets
whispered to multiple people down a line, the last person in line
says what they heard and it is usually different than what the
original person had said, then everyone laughs. But what is really
going on there? And what would have happened if the sentence was
written down and passed down the line? What is happening is that
there are different areas of the brain that are being used when
people are interpreting language vs when they are speaking or
writing. The Parietal lobe is used for interpreting language and
words, the Frontal lobe is used for speaking and writing. Is this why
the words change? I can't tell you for sure, I am not a scientist but
I would venture to guess there is a mix-up with the interpreting of
the words.
This makes me think about oral
traditions of story telling. Before writing was used for writing
stories it was used for keeping track of transactions, planning
warfare strategies, and writing steps for divination or other
spiritual practices. Many believe that Homer was the first to write
down a story when he wrote the Iliad but I am reading a fantastic
book right now called The Written World by: Martin Puchner and
according to Puchner the oldest story that has been found was written
on a clay tablet in 2100 B.C.E. Called First Tales of Gilgamesh
it was written in Cuneiform Writing in what is now Iraq. It was found
in 1845 by an Englishman named Austen Henry Layard deep in the Earth.
What happened before this time when people told stories orally? Did
the stories change over time or were people's brains less stimulated
by other things back then and were they able to absorb the words and
repeat them back without change? The Druids never seemed to write
down their practices or stories or beliefs even using symbols.
Perhaps they felt that these stories would change or perhaps they did
not want others to know about their culture. In the old days, many
cultures told their myths and folktales through song. Special singers
called Bards were trained to learn and remember all of these stories
and lore and travel around the lands singing them to the common
people. But when people discovered that writing these tales down
could allow them to be re-read over and over they likely saw the
positive and power in this.
It is not surprising that powerful
words were then used in all kinds of religious texts. It is also not
surprising that when people in power wanted to show that their words
or the words they believed were the ONLY ones that should be believed
that they sought to destroy anything that showed otherwise. There
used to be a great library in Alexandria that was purposefully
burned. The library that had housed the First Tales of Gilgamesh
was burned, (luckily this clay tablet survived). The Nazi's were
famous for burning books written by Jewish authors. The Romans were
known for doing this, even the Vikings destroyed religious texts and
other religious items when they ransacked monasteries. If any of you
have heard of “bloody Mary” queen Mary I of England. She was King
Henry the VIII's daughter. She was a devout Roman Catholic and during
her reign she sought out Protestant's and Pagan's and executed
hundreds of them, she also made a practice of burning their books and
writings having to do with their faiths. These kinds of acts are not
subject to one group of people, they have happened many times in
history by many different groups that fear the power of words.
In modern days there are
occasionally burnings by radical people but more than that there are
still ways that people try to censor writers. Online now if someone
writes something that someone else disagrees with, you will often see
that person being attacked by others stating that the person is wrong
and trying to prove that. These public confrontations are forcing
readers to question the author's credibility. This happens with
reviews as well. And there are still times when books are banned in
certain areas. Harry Potter is banned in some schools and libraries
in the south because of its connection to witches and magic. Why is
it that people fear word's power so much that they feel that they
need to destroy them? I think the answer to this is that words do
have power. They stay solidified for a long time. They can change
people's opinions or beliefs or make them act a certain way. They can
even shape entire societies ways of living. So the authors of words
need to be wary. Words are powerful and if you are going to wield
them, you are free to do so in this society, but need to do so
cautiously. “Words
are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of
magic.” Albus Dumbledore. Until
next time friends, remember, writing = happiness ;).
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