The Virgin Mary's magic dehydrating private parts
On the heels of my discovery of the "Geoffrey Chaucer hath a blog" blog, here's another blog that, though covering medieval topics, is thankfully not written in Myddle Englisc. I found this particular post interesting because, in addition to South Park references, the blogger discusses what appears to be a controversial bit of medieval theological wrangling - whether the Holy Virgin menstruated or not.
As it turns out, the Virgin Mary's menstrual cycle was an issue of great concern to medieval theologians. It's a subject that deserves a longer treatment than I could give in a blog entry, but the main conclusion was that yes, she did indeed need to go to a cave once a month. In order for Christ to be born a human, the Virgin had to menstruate, else there would have been no matter for the body to be created out of, and no milk for the baby Jesus to drink once he was embodied.*** While no menstrual blood was collected for worship, phials of the Virgin's milk we venerated at Walsingham and Oviedo among other places in the middle ages.I guess I found this interesting because this sounds very much the type of discussion one might find in the Gemara. Check out more about Jesus' prepuce and the dehydrating powers of the Virgin's ***** here.
posted by e-kvetcher at 7:18 PM
3 Comments:
Sometimes it's hard to read about our mediaeval ancestors' odd behaviour without grinning.
We forget that they are further from us in habitus and worldview than we are from the modern bushman (in that a fully constructed worldview, with all the trimmings that that turkey accompanies, presents a greater range of difference than a more "primitive" worldview, in a society that has less variation, in an environment that does not require a greater range of mental possibilities).
And I really wish that there had been vials of dam-zivah from the alma.
That would really give me a reason to visit some of those Gothic cathedrals.
With a handkerchief.
To stifle any giggles I might be subject to.
You'd think, by the way, that in their drang to imitate the life of J, mediaeval European man would have "mortified the flesh" by self-circumcision. In order to be as much like him as possible.
And that might explain the vast number (comparativley speaking) of petzel-tips cluttering the mediaeval pilgrim-circuit.
Rereading this at 9:51 PM on April 25, 2014, I am struck by how relevant it still is.
I'll have to revisit Geoffrey Chaucer hath a blogge.
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