here's some more stuff that is useful in understanding "The Life of Pi"
read this first
http://www.webonautics.com/mythology/****va.html
then this
http://www.luckymojo.com/hindumedals.html
The medal to the right depicts Durga, an ancient warrior-protector
goddess who in modern times is often equated with the goddess Kali.
Actually, the wor****p of Durga shows traces of her once having been a
grain goddess and patroness of married life. (For example, in many
villages, her effigies are placed on mounds of clay into which five
types of grain have been pressed and embedded.) In any case, Durga is
a multi-armed Dravidian (pre-Aryan) goddess, and there are many
contradictory popular accounts of her origin and exploits. This medal
shows one of her most famed feats, the killing of the man-monster
Mahisha, who took the form of a bull and attacked the gods. Durga,
riding her lion (alternatively, her tiger) -- here reduced to
house-cat size -- and carrying the weapons of all the gods (the
discus, noose, arrows, goad, and so forth) eventually cut the head off
the demon with her kartri and then stabbed him to death with a spear,
sometimes, as here, shown to he identical with the trident or trisula
of the god Siva, her husband and consort. This medal is about 1 1/2
inches high, cast in brass, with a hanging loop at the top.
http://www.mythsearch.com/africa.html
Folklore About Hyenas
European and African folklore about the hyena. Mentions that the
spotted hyena is to Africa what the black cat is in the U.S. -- the
premier witch animal, uncanny and terrifying.
http://mail.google.com/mail/?auth=DQAAAHcAAAA7P2s7MJDaRpqpd6EGkLkSs8iNnzKe8T
CCmk1mskiCfiz5kWr-5zhVVKisJHf31SXkeL5FKtza48bTp-XBbGrqMFhp7QPFluE8eIte6q4EiR
5GptY7o6AxjfYqbaZboYuUQb99Kauhja-BXrtSrvr0DCwLpyjG81u6mrzZDtDwaw
The Old Woman And The Hyena
The men of the village were chasing a hyena that had eaten one of the
villager's lambs.
As the hyena (Linani) was running from these men with rungus, spears,
bows, and arrows, saw an open old woman's house. He ran into the house
and pleaded with her: «Hide me under your bed.» He cried, «There are
men who want to kill me!» When the men from the village reached the
old woman's house they asked her, «Have you seen any hyena coming this
way? She answered, «No». In haste the village men ran on.
Once the men had gone, the hyena came out from under the bed, caught
the old woman, killed and ate her.
This narrative was performed by a Protestant church minister as an
introduction to his sermon on sin. Used at this point, the narrative
set the congregation's mind focused on the topic of the sermon.
This is a good example of a short but precise story. It is action
packed and has the ability to hook one from beginning to end. No
wonder the minister used it at the point that he did. It is very
relevant to the message in the sermon, as it reveals the consequences
that the woman had to face as a result of hiding the hyena who
symbolises sin. The hyena is destructive, as is shown in this story,
in which it consumed the woman who had ****elded it from death. In the
same way sin, the minister explained, consumes all those Christians
who hide it. The minister likened the hunters to the church ministers
who are always pursuing and fighting sin and stressed that the
Christians who do not share their problems, especially with those
ministers, would be consumed just as the woman had
Content: 4, a little brief but has a book to refer t
http://mail.google.com/mail/?auth=DQAAAHcAAAA7P2s7MJDaRpqpd6EGkLkSs8iNnzKe8T
CCmk1mskiCfiz5kWr-5zhVVKisJHf31SXkeL5FKtza48bTp-XBbGrqMFhp7QPFluE8eIte6q4EiR
5GptY7o6AxjfYqbaZboYuUQb99Kauhja-BXrtSrvr0DCwLpyjG81u6mrzZDtDwaw
In some cases the myths speak of a test which God put to the original
people. They failed. So the misfortunes of death and suffering, of
God's separation from men came about. Other myths explain that this
occurred as a result of jealousies and quarrels within human families.
Still in other myths, the cause originated from animals, like the
hyena which, being (always) hungry sought and ate the leather rope
that had united heaven (sky) and earth (8).
the next line says it's all women's fault. the orangutan is a woman,
the primate is certainly the cause of much dispute as being our ancestors
marika wrote in message ...
>More on "The Life of PI"
>
>Very interesting, but what does it mean?
>
>Lets see--if I can condense all of this, to a word equation.
>
>Assume the hyena (have never heard one good things about that
>creature--especially in the story) simply represents evil (the devil).
>
>The Tiger certainly belongs to the Hindu, it seems,
>
>I still think the Orangutan would be Christianity - just fits.
>
>That would make the Zebra (didn't even talk about that)--Muslim. --don't
>see anything there.
>
>So how about:
>
>The Hyena represents evil-- just does.
>
>The Orangutan--motherhood, nurturing themes--woman themes.
>
>The Zebra weakness, compromise (compromised) ((suffering greatly-eaten
by
>EVIL)The Tiger--STRENGTH! (So strong doesn't need or connect to
>anything--controlled the boat--(for a while)it walked away without even a
>thought of good-bye). (Male themes?)
>
>PI-ENDURANCE, INTELLECT,SPIRITUALLY, COURAGE, INFINITY,
INFINITE.PATIENCE.
>GOD TRIUMPH over Strength. Triumph over all. What we should strive to
be.
>
>When it comes down to it--the book is about religion, not a life boat.
>
>
>marika wrote in message <1_udnUF8dc8a0_bbnZ2dnUVZ_jGdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>...
>>i have a concern i want to make about this book club
>>
>>i have a plausible explanation for why more people didn't sign up for
this
>>session regarding "The Family Who Couldn't Sleep" by Mix
>>
>>the librarian has eaten all the former members
>>
>>it did not escape my notice that for a second time, she assigned a
>>book that has an im****tant theme, the topic of cannibalism
>>
>>I am concerned about the real motives of the Queen St Library
>>
>>In the meantime, back to "The Life of PI", the other book that dealt
with
>>cannibalism
>>
>>i don't think there's any one right or wrong to the interpretations,
>>there are probably many more, there's duality in the symbols, and
>>possibility triality if i can make up a word
>>
>>think for instance that the three key animals are not unlike 3 in the
>>trinity as well as magic number 3 in other cultures and societies
>>
>>those 3 animals were not unlike the number of clerics who accosted the
>>boy on the road when he said i just want to pray
>>
>>or PREY???
>>
>>why a zebra for a muslim as opposed to a single color animal
>>
>>i agree that tiger is strength, but more than that also power, which
>>he could have wielded at any time by killing our young man
>>
>>but is dominated by the chief hindu god
>>
>>which here would be pi himself, who here sits as the god
>>
>>i cracked up when the japanese guys started drawing analogies from
>>animals in the story to the humans that may or may not have been on the
>>lifeboat
>>
>>when he said, o, pi was the tiger
>>
>>how dumb was that
>>
>>pi was pi
>>
>>if he was anyone other than pi, he was ****va
>>
>>and piscine to the extent that christ is associated with fish
>>
>>and certainly piscine called by the nickname of a mathematical symbol
>>that thus far is the very representation of infinity -- entirely
>>spiritual in its connection to the eternal and afterlife
>>
>>also where is the reincarnation mythology in this book, reincarnation
>>is infinite, and christ reincarnates himself infinitely at each
>>service in the eucharist
>>
>>and we eat of the body -- good golly we are supposed to cannibalize
>>jesus all the time in the eucharist
>>
>>if i had ever taken a comparative religions course i could probably
>>do more with this stuff but i have never studied religion at all
>>
>>of course, i agree it was about religion, but i was pretty
>>sure this was going to 2006's Jonathan Livingston Seagull anyway, the
>>second the writer referenced all the little iconography on Pi's desk
>>right at the start
>>
>>
>>mk5000
>>
>>"And as for the commercial value of poetry, a favourite strip cartoon of
>>mine shows two guys who have just met -
>>A: What do you do?
>>B: I'm a poet.
>>A: Yes, but what do you do for a living?"--paul hansford
>>
>>marika wrote in message ...
>>>as an aside, Le Refuge has innumerable venison choices, none of which I
>>>tried.
>>>
>>>As noted, I had just recently come from a book club meetiong, where the
>>>author Mix spoke about
>>>his book "The family who couldn't sleep"
>>>
>>>The topic as I said is prion disease, including genetic and acquired,
such
>>>as mad cow also known as bovine spongiform encephelopathic disease
>>>
>>>Towards the end of the book and the lecture, he talke about the new
>version
>>>of this disease attacking deer and elk
>>>called "chronic wasting disease"
>>>
>>>It seems the highest concentration of this is actually in and around
>>>Colorado, Utah etc.
>>>
>>>So if you go to those states, please don't eat venison, please.
>>>
>>>Without doubt, I didn't eat any while I was at La Refuge
>>>
>>>mk5000
>>>
>>> "It's a sign of good su**** if you can't get what you want
>>>sometimes," --"The Zen of Su****" Trevor Corson
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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