3:18 p.m. - 2006-05-13
mother's day and the rose
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Some people believe there is a connection between The Chalice, The Holy Grail and the Rose.
There is discussion that the rose is connected with the 5 pointed pentacle of Venus and the Compass Rose.
Origins of the Compass Rose
by Bill Thoen
The compass rose has appeared on charts and maps since the 1300's when
the portolan charts first made their appearance. The term "rose" comes from
the figure's compass points resembling the petals of the well-known flower.
Originally, this device was used to indicate the directions of the winds (and it was then known as a wind rose), but the 32 points of the compass rose come from the directions of the eight major winds, the eight half-winds and the sixteen quarter-winds.
In the Middle Ages, the names of the winds were commonly known throughout
the Mediterranean countries as tramontana (N), greco (NE), levante (E), siroco (SE), ostro (S), libeccio (SW), ponente (W) and maestro (NW). On
portolan charts you can see the initials of these winds labeled around the edge as T, G, L, S, O, L, P, and M.
The 32 points are therefore simple bisections of the directions of the four winds (but the Chinese divided the compass into 12 major directions
based on the signs of the Zodiac). For western apprentice seamen, one of the first things they had to know were the names of the points.
Naming them all off perfectly was known as "boxing the compass".
There is no absolute standard for drafting a compass rose, and each
school of cartographers seems to have developed their own. In the earliest charts, north is indicated by a spearhead above the letter T
(for tramontana). This symbol evolved into a fleur-de-lys around the time
of Columbus, and was first seen on Portuguese maps. Also in the 14th
century, the L (for levante) on the east side of the rose was replaced with
a cross, indicating the direction to Paradise (long thought to be in the east), or at least to where Christ was born (in the Levant).
The colors on the figure are supposedly the result of the need for graphic clarity rather than a mere cartographical whim. On a rolling ship at night by the light of a flickering lamp, these figures had to be clearly visible.
Therefore the eight principle points of the compass are usually shown
on the compass rose in black which stands out easily. Against this
background, the points representing the half-winds are typically colored
in blue or green and since the quarter-wind points are the smallest,
they are usually colored red.
And there is even more discussion of whether or not the rose represents
the feminine sexuality and 5 stages of life...birth, menstruation, motherhood, menopause and death.
Some even believe the flower can be compared to feminine genitalia as
painted by artists such as Georgia O'Keefe. Whether you agree with the reference to women or not, I am sure you can agree that Georgia O'Keefe's paintings are breathtakingly beautiful. and I wouldn't mind being thought of as a flower....
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Short Mothers Jokes
My friend Myron tells me, "Last year on Mother's Day the whole family got together for a big dinner and afterward, when Mom started to clean up, I said to her, "Don't bother with those dishes, Mom. Today is Mother's Day, you can always do them tomorrow."
Joey Adams
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There's not a lot of warmth between me and my mother. I asked her about it. I said "Mrs. Stoller..."
Fred Stoller
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If it's five o'clock and the children are still alive, I've done my job.
Roseanne
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I think I'd be a good mother. Maybe a little overprotective. Like I would never let the kid out - of my body.
Wendy Liebman
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An angry mother took her son to the doctor and asked, "Is a nine-year-old boy able to perform appendectomy?"
"Of course not," the doctor said impatiently.
The mother turned to her son and said, "What did I tell you? Now put it back."
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The child had his mother's eyes, his mother's nose, and his mother's mouth. Which leaves his mother with a pretty blank expression.
Robert Benchley
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A woman came to ask the doctor if a woman should have children after thirty-five. I said, "Thirty-five children is enough for any woman."
Gracie Allen
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When my mom got really mad, she would say, "Your butt is my meat." Not a particularly attractive phrase. And I always wondered, Now, what wine goes with that?
Paula Poundstone
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My mom was a little weird. When I was little she would make chocolate frosting. And she'd let me lick the beaters. And then she'd turn them off.
Marty Cohen
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The boy's mother had bought him two new ties. He hurried into his bedroom, immediately put on one of them, and hurried back.
"Look, Mama! Isn't it gorgeous?"
His mother said, "What's the matter? You don't like the other one?"
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KISSED BY A ROSE FROM THE GREY BY SEAL.
There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea.
You became the light on the dark side of me.
Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and,
The light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh,
The more I get of you
Stranger it feels, yeah.
And now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain,
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
Baby, to me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh, the more I get of you
stranger it feels, yeah.
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the grey,
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey,
I've been kissed by a rose
...And if I should fall, at all
I've been kissed by a rose
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and,
the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh, the more I get of you
Stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey.
Yes I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Ooh, the more I get of you
stranger it feels, yeah.
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the grey,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.
