THE GOD OF WAR.

Myths and tales of Indonesia are very diverse, because the people comes from hundreds of ethnic groups, each with their own way of beliefs.
Some groups that were isolated from the rest of the World until recent centuries have their own myths still free from foreign influences.
This myth is an animistic belief related to Borneo's abundant bird species. Birds have the faculty of flight, envied by man, that they only need to flap their wings and fly away from danger, yet that simple action warns man from the dangers these birds perceived.
In Iban floklore, SING'ALANG BURUNG's thoughts were recorded as follows: "I am the ruler of the SPIRIT WORLD and have the power to make men successful. In all work you undertake YOU MUST PAY HEED TO THE VOICES of sacred birds."
SING'ALANG BURUNG was the bravest god of war and in his earthly form, disguised as a bird, the Brahminy kite, he conveyed messages to the Ibans.
Ancient Iban Woodcarvings and Wooden War Shields depict this bird as a Sign of Invisibility. It is the state bird of Sarawak.
Today in Kenya and Iban this bird has been usurped by the supreme Avian god in both cultures: the RHINOCEROS HORNBILL. These magnificent birds fly in a flock at dusk across the Kinabatangan River in Eastern Sabah. They are distinguishable by the rapid succession of their roaring calls and the whooshing sound of their wings and white tip of their tails, when they are in route to their nests in the trees bordering the River.
The RHINOCEROS HORNBILL are in size between 91 and 122 centimeters long and are named after their reddish yellow horns protruding upwards beyond their whitish beaks. This horn, made of keratin, is hollow inside and slightly larger in the male species.
To the Dayak community, it represents a sign of virility and male dominance, derived from its habit of imprisoning its mate in a dark hollow and emergent primary forest tree at breeding time. Usually the nest is placed in such holes near the top of the forest canopy and the entrance is sealed by their own droppings. The nest is almost glued together with just one hole, through which the incubating female bird can receive the male's regurgitating food deliveries and for her excretion purposes. Beyond this nest, the bird builds an outer nest of mud which soon is baked hard. The female bird and her eggs are thus well protected from raiders such as monkeys and snakes.

THE LONGEVITY SOUP.

This is a Borneo myth in which a simple bird's nest from the Island became a peculiar delicacy:
"Long ago in China, there was an Emperor who loved to taste different gourmet dishes made by the royal cook."
"Each dish was exotic and different every day."
"One day the cook ran out of ideas and desperately needed to find a new dish to prepare for him. The Emperor had decreed that if the cook could not prepare a new different dish daily, that he would not only lose his position as the royal cook but also his head."
"The royal cook decided to take a walk to the harbor to see if he could find something new and exotic to cook. He came across a merchant who had showed him a bird's nest from Borneo. 'How do I cook this?' says the cook, looking at the bird's nest. "You are the cook, they eat this in borneo, I just buy it, I don't prepare it. It has some potent longevity properties, that is what I was told,' said the merchant."
"Knowing the Emperor's passion for Feng Shui and longevity, the royal cook cunningly presented the soup with a dragon in one side and a phoenix on the left, with the soup in the middle. 'What have you brought me today?' asked the Emperor. 'Longevity soup Your Highness,' replied the royal cook."
The Emperor's eyes lit up, and he eagerly tasted the soup. It smelt sweet and aromatic just how he liked it, however when he tasted the food it was plain. The royal cook held his breath. 'This tastes like ordinary soup, I can get this anywhere in my kingdom,' said the Emperor.' 'Taste it again please Your Majesty,' urged the cook. The Emperor took another spoon full and said, 'It still tastes ordinary.' 'Please take another sip Your Majesty,' the cook urged again, fearful for his life. 'All right but if I do not taste anything different, I will have your head,' threatened the Emperor."
"The cook had to think fast, 'In Borneo ...' he started. The Emperor's eyes lit up because he knew that it was an exotic place. The pillars of the Forbidden City, were made from timbers that came from Borneo.
'In Borneo, the people there, eat this soup for longevity. It keeps the people young and healthy, it lengthen their years and they live long and prosperous because of this soup.' The cook went on about the benefits of the soup, emphasizing on the longevity properties of the dish. 'Such an exotic dish, why didn't you say so? This dish is fit for an Emperor,' he decreed."
"The royal cook sighed with relief, as the Emperor continued to relish his dish. Once the Emperor had finished his meal, he announced that the longevity soup had to be served to him on a regular basis, and the royal cook was duly rewarded."
"To keep the Emperor from finding out that the longevity soup's raw ingredient was bird's nest, the royal cook ensured that all those who brought back the birds nest from Borneo were killed. New crew were sent to retrieve the bird's nest each time."
"True enough the Emperor lived a long and prosperous life."
"The longevity soup was only served to the royal family and wealthy merchants, it was not allowed to be served to the general population."
"The longevity soup became renowned as a royal dish, and its potent properties claimed by the merchant were proven to be true."
"The Emperor's successors were the ones who had benefited from the soup, as it was served to them at an early age."

ETERNAL LOVE.

"I know I am not easy to love. I am a chronic over-thinker. I overreact more than I should. Every once in a while I might be a little insecure. But if I am in love with you, I can promise you wholeheartedly that you will be loved with so much passion and intensity that you will forget what life felt like before I came along."       Chelsea Carroll.
"You made me believe in love again, you made me open up to it, and eased me into it. You were gentle because you knew I was fragile and you made me believe, made me know, that it was possible for me to love again. In you I found a love I no longer believed it existed. Yes you opened my eyes to a love I never knew existed. You broke through every defense wall or obstacle of those deepest and darkest parts of me that I wanted to deflect every attempt to open up. You are the reason I learned to love again, and I feel your presence in everyday things. God, you make me feel special."
"No one else has been able to make me feel so strong and at the same time so vulnerable, while just a safe and equally as humble. Who else could reassure me that although I may fail a thousand times more, someone might still be crazy enough to love me just the same? It is in no one else, but you, whom I willingly surrender myself to. So take this as a subtle plea, in fact, I beg you, never to let go of me."
"I did not 'fall' in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we would choose anyway. And I would choose you, in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I would find you and I would choose you."
"I met my soul mate before I was conceived. We were nothing but constellations composing of dying stars. Before the supernovas consumed us, he told me: 'Don't ever feel alone in the years to come. You may have your doubts, but we will collide again.' They say the Universe is Infinite, so is Love."
"Wait for the person who pursues you, the one who will make an ordinary moment seem extraordinary. The kind of person who brings out the best in you and makes you want to be a better person. Wait for the person who will be your best friend, the only person who will drop everything to be with you at any time no matter what the circumstances."
"I love your feet only because they walked upon the earth and upon the waters, until they found me."
"I wait for you like a lonely house, until you will see me again and live in me. Until then my windows ache." "If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life." "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride. I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that when your hand rest upon my chest I feel like my hand and when I fall asleep your eyes close."
"Love is not about property, diamonds and gifts. It is about sharing your very self with the world around you." "Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness." "To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our fire." "Let us forget with generosity those who cannot love us."             Pablo Neruda.
"Love must be sincere"(Romans 12:9). "Love your neighbor as yourself"(Mark 12:31). "Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast, it is not proud. Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres and never fails. (2 Cor. 13:4-8).
"Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins"(1Peter4:8). "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love"(1 John 4:18-19). "Over all virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."(Colossians 3:14). "Hate stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs"(Proverb 10:12).
"Love can always conquer whatever discord brings and love can also cover a multitude of things. Do not underestimate what love can ever do, for love is God eternal and His Love can renew."
"What is cold and lifeless and lost all hope and died, love can breathe new meaning and give it back new life. Please do not give up on love when it seems that all is lost, for there is always hope if we are prepared to pay the cost."

REVENGE AND JUSTICE IN ANCIENT GREECE. Part 2

In memory of Oenomaus, the Olympic Games were created because Oenomaus' chariot race was one legendary origin of them.
Pelops and Hippodamia had many sons; 2 of them were Atreus and Thyestes. They murdered Chrysippus, who was their half brother, a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus. He was the bastard son of Pelops king of Pisa and the nymph Axioche. He was kidnapped by the Theban Laius, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games, where the boy planned to complete. Instead, Laius ran away with him to Thebes and raped him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods. His death is seen as springing from the curse that Myrtilus placed on Pelops for his betrayal. Because of the murder, Hippodamia, Atreus, and Thyestes were banished to Mycenae, where Hippodamia is said to have hanged herself.
Atreus vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife, Aerope, to hide from Artemis, the goddess. Aerope gave the golden lamb to Thyestes, her lover, Atreus' brother, who then convinced Atreus to agree that whoever had the lamb should be king. Thyestes produced the lamb and claimed the throne. Atreus retook the throne using the advice he received from Hermes. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that Zeus accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes. Atreus then learned of Thyestes' and Aerope's adultery and plotted revenge. He killed Thyestes' sons and cooked them, save their hands and feet. He tricked Thyestes into eating the flesh of his own sons and then taunted him with their hands and feet. Thyestes was forced into exile for eating the flesh of a human. Thyestes responded by asking an oracle what to do, who advised him to have a son by his daughter, Pelopia, who would then kill Atreus. However, when Aegisthus was first born, he was abandoned by his mother who was ashamed of the incestuous act. A shepherd found the infant Aegisthus and gave him to to Atreus, who raised him as his own. Only as he entered adulthood did Thyestes reveal the truth to Aegisthus, that he was both father and grandfather to the boy. Aegisthus then killed Atreus, although not before Atreus and Aerope had had 2 sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, and a daughter Anaxibia.
Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, and Menelaus married Helen, her sister (known later as helen of Troy). Helen was taken away from Menelaus by Paris of Troy during a visit. Menelaus then called on the chieftains to help him take back Helen.
Prior to sailing off to war against Troy, Agamemnon had angered the goddess Artemis because he had killed a sacred deer in a sacred grove, and had then boasted that he was a better hunter than she was. When the time came, Artemis stilled the winds so that Agamemnon's fleet could not sail. A prophet named Calchas told him that in order to appease Artemis, Agamemnon would have to sacrifice the most precious thing that had come to his possession in the year he killed the sacred deer. This was his first-born daughter, Iphigenia. He sent word home for her to come, on the pretense that she was to be married to Achilles. Iphigenia accepted her father's choice and was honored to be part of the war. Clytemnestra tried to stop Iphigenia but was sent away. After doing the deed, Agamemnon's fleet was able to get under way. Artemis, however, has instantly switched Iphigenia, as she lay upon the altar, with a deer without anyone noticing, and had taken her todistant Colchis, there to be her priestess.
While he was fighting the Trojans, his wife Clytemnestra, enraged by the murder of her daughter, began an affair with Aegisthus. When Agamemnon returned home he brought with him a new concubine, the doomed prophetess, Cassandra. Upon his arrival that evening, before the great banquet she had prepared, Clytemnestra drew a bath for him and when he came out of the bath, she put the royal purple robe on him which had no opening for his head. He was confused and tangled up and Clytemnestra then stabbed him to death.
Agamemnon's only son, Orestes, was quite young when his mother killed his father. He was sent into exile. He was the legitimate heir and as such a potential danger to his usurper uncle. Goaded by his sister Electra, Orestes swore revenge. He knew it was his duty to avenge his father's death, but saw also that in doing so he would have to kill his mother. He was torn between avenging his father and sparing his mother. "It was a son's duty to kill his father's murderers, a duty that came before all others. But a son who killed his mother was abhorrent to gods and to men."
When he prayed to Apollo, the god advised him to kill his mother. Orestes realized that he must work out the curse on his house, exact vengeance and pay with his own ruin. After Orestes murdered Clytemnestra, he wandered the land with guilt in his heart. After many years, with Apollo by his side, he pleaded to Athena. No descendant of Atreus had ever done so noble an act and "neither he or any descendant of his would ever again be driven into evil by the irresistible power of the past."
Thus Orestes ended the curse of the House of Atreus.
This story as the major plot line of Aeschylus' s Trilogy "The Oresteia" shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes.
The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organize litigation.

REVENGE AND JUSTICE IN ANCIENT GREECE. PART 1

The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning Agamemnon's murder by Clytaemnestra, the murder of Clytaemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, and end of the curse on the House of Atreus.
The House of Atreus begins with Tantalus of Lydia. Tantalus was the son of Zeus who enjoyed cordial relations with gods until he decided to slay his son Pelops and feed him to the gods as a test of their omniscience.
Most of the gods, as they were served, were appalled and did not partake. But Demeter, who was distracted due to the abduction by Hades of her daughter Persephone, obliviously ate Pelops' shoulder.
The gods threw Tantalus into the Underworld, where he spends eternity standing in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reaches for the fruit, the branches raise his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bends down to get a drink, the water recedes before he can drink. Thus is derived the word "tantalising." The gods brought Pelops back to life, replacing the bone in his shoulder with a bit of ivory, thus marking the family forever afterwards.
Pelops and Hippodamia.- Pelops married HYippodamia after winning a chariot race against her father, King Oenomaus, by arranging for the sabotage of his future father-in-law's chariot and resulting in his death. Oenomaus was the son of Ares, the Greek god of War, one of the 12 Olympians, son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, Ares often represent the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war, in contrast to his sister the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of Intelligence include military strategy and generalship. Are, although embodied the physical valor necessary for success in War, he was a dangerous force, "overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering. His sons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror) and his lover, or sister, Enyo (Discord) accompanied him on his war chariot. In the Illiad, his father Zeus tells him that he is the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality.
King Oenomaus of Pisa, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed 18 suitors of his daughter Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race. He affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace.
Pelops, worried about losing, went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love (Aphrodite's sweet gifts), Pelops asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear. Pelops, still unsure of himself, convinced Oenomaus's charioteer, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, to help him win. Myrtilus was convinced by Pelops promising him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the 1st night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting Oenomaus' chariot together, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones of beeswax. The race began, and went on for a long time. But as just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Myrtilus survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses.
When Myrtilus tried to claim his reward and have sex with Hippodamia, Pelops killed Myrtilus by throwing him off a cliff into the sea. As Matylus died, he curse Pelops. This was the source of the curse that haunted Hippodamia and Pelops' children Atreus and Thyestes as well as their descendants Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Menelaus, and Orestes.

SEARCH JUSTICE.

Love Justice, you rulers of the World. Set your minds sincerely on GOD, and look for HIM with all honesty.  (Wisdom 1:1)  GOD said, 'This is the COVENANT that I will make with them in the Days to come. I will put MY LAWS IN THEIR HEARTS and WRITE THEM on their MINDS."(Heb.10:15)
"So let us come near GOD with a sincere heart and a sure FAITH, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water (REPENTANCE). Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can TRUST GOD to KEEP HIS PROMISE. Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and do good. (22-24)

GOD will bring into Judgment both the Righteous and the Wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a Time to Judge every deed. (Ecclesiastes 3:17) Everything that happens in this World happens at the Time GOD chooses. (3:1) In this World you find wickedness where Justice and Right ought to be. (3:16) GOD is testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals. After all, the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. (3:18) I looked again at all the injustice that goes on to this World. The oppressed were crying and no one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side. I envy those who are dead and gone; they are better off than those who are still alive. But better off than either are those who have never been born, who have never seen the injustice that goes on in this World. (4: 1-3) I saw all of this when I thought about the things that are done in this World, a World where some people have power and others have to suffer under them. Yes, I have seen the wicked buried and in their graves, and on the way back from the cemetery people praise them in the very city where they did their evil. (8:9-10) There is something else I saw, a good example if how Wisdom is regarded in this World: 'There was a little town with without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him.' I have always said that Wisdom is Better than Strength, but no one thinks of the poor as a wise or pays any attention to what they say. It is better to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. (9:13-18)

GOD says, "The people of Israel have surrounded ME with lies and deceit, and the people of Judah are still rebelling against ME, the FAITHFUL and HOLY GOD. Everything that the people of Israel do from morning to night is useless and destructive. Treachery and acts of violence increase among them. They make treaties with the sky elemental spirits and do business with the earth elemental spirits."
"The LORD has an accusation to bring against the people of Judah; HE is also going to punish Israel for the way her people act. HE will pay them back for what they have done. (Hosea 11-12)

Old people have Wisdom, but GOD has WISDOM and POWER.
Old people have Insight; GOD has INSIGHT and POWER TO ACT.
When GOD tears down, who can rebuild, and who can be free those GOD imprisons? (Job 12:12)
GOD IS STRONG and ALWAYS VICTORIOUS; both deceived and deceiver are in HIS POWER.
HE takes away the wisdom of rulers and make leaders act like fools. HE dethrones kings and makes them prisoners; HE humbles priests and men of power. HE silences those who are trusted, and takes the wisdom of old people away. HE disgraces those in power and puts an end to the strength of the rulers. HE sends light to places dark as death. HE makes nations strong and great, but then HE defeats and destroy them. HE makes their leaders foolish and lets them wander confused and lost; they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards. (16-25)

"When Justice is done, good people are happy, but evil people are brought to despair. Death is waiting for anyone who wanders away from good sense. (Proverbs 21:15-16)  The wicked bring on themselves the suffering they try to cause to good people. (22:18) Human wisdom, brilliance, insight -they are of no help if the LORD is against you." (22:30)

TASTE By Pablo Neruda Translated by Nueva Vida Bookstore

TASTE
From  false astrology beliefs, somewhat in nature, gloomy and inconclusive customs borne in on us, and always close at hand,  I have cherished an impulse, a taste of my own loneliness.

From flimsy table-talks absorbed like used woods, with humble chairs, and a language, that, like slaves,  only serve secondary wills, like a milky consistency of deadly weeks, like smog on a city from stagnating air. Who can boast a more tangible patience?

Prudence and good judgment engulf me like being dressed with a compact skin with a color that gathers itself to itself like a
.
All my creatures are born in a massive rejection; one drink of alcohol - alas! - and I wave off the day that I chose for myself, like all of the days of my earthly world.

I live in the fullness of matter; this substance is mute as a matriarch, I bear my fixed patient like a church and its shadow, or the quietness of bones
.
I go full of those waters that are in deep disposition, prepared and expectant, asleep in a tearful vigil.

The inner guitar, the image of my soul, keeps the catch of a ballad, spare a sonorous, abiding, immobile, like a punctual nourishment, like smoke in the air : an element of force in repose, the volatile power in the oil : an incorruptible bird that keeps vigilant watch on my head: an unvarying routine of an angel inhabits my sword.