I flere tusen år har Gudbrandsdalslågen fraktet smeltevann fra breene i Jotunheimen og ned til Mjøsa. I Lågendeltaet der elva møter Mjøsa, ligger bygda Fåberg som en port til Gudbrandsdalen. At folk har levd her lenge, vet vi ut fra de 6 000 år gamle helleristningene i elvekanten ved Drotten nord for Fåberg. Ristningene av elg viser at dette viltet har vært viktig for menneskene her i uminnelige tider. Samtidig vet vi at møtet mellom Gudbrandsdalslågen og Mjøsa har gitt de beste forhold til et svært rikt fiske. I Gudbrandsdalslågen gyter Hunder-ørreten, en av de ørretstammene i verden som produserer størst fisk. Om høsten trekker også Lågåsilda opp fra Mjøsa for å gyte. Denne lille fisken har - sammen med ørret, sik og harr - vært viktig føde for menneskene som har levd her.
Hammer gård - like ved dagens kirke - har gitt byen navn. Gårdsnavnet er et usammensatt naturnavn som betyr berghammer. Slike naturnavn er typiske for de tidligste gårdene som ble ryddet. Hammer antas således å være av de første som ble etablert i vårt distrikt. De første skriftlige nedtegnelsene forteller at Lillehammer var en liten handelsplass - en kaupang. Navnet Lillehammer ble brukt for å skille stedet fra den større gården Hammer på Storhamar.
Fåberg
Samtidig som de var bønder, var mange av fåbergingene sterkt involvert i det rike fiskeriet i Gudbrandsdalslågen. Og de utviklet teft for handelsvirksomhet. Årsaken var en strategisk lokalisering i overgangen mellom flatbygdene rundt Mjøsa og Gudbrandsdalen. Fåberg var således et møtested hvor veiene på begge sider av Mjøsa møttes og hvor båttransporten om sommeren og sledetransport over isen om vinteren hadde sitt naturlige start- eller stoppested. Fåberg utvikler seg også til ei bygd med mange dyktige håndverkere.
Valget ble Lillehammer
I 1755 etablerte Kanselliråd Hammond en liten kobberfabrikk på husmannsplassen Hammer´n ved Mesnaelva, akkurat der dagens bryggerikvartal ligger. Ser vi bort fra sagbruk og møller som hadde benyttet Mesnaelva gjennom mange hundre, kan vi si at dette er starten på industrivirksomheten i Lillehammer.
På tidlig 1800-tall er det flere kommisjoner som utreder hvor en fremtidig innlandsby skal ligge. Valget står til slutt mellom Lillehammer og Hamar. Det endelige valget faller på Lillehammer, og i 1827 blir kjøpstaden Lillehammer opprettet. Avgjørende for valget er Mesnaelva og dens muligheter for å utnytte fossekraften til fremtidig industriell virksomhet.
Den første bebyggelsen
Byens første bebyggelse er i området rundt Hammer gård, ved kirken. Etter hvert blir Storgaten fra parken i syd mot Mesnabrua utbygd, og byens handelssentrum blir liggende her. Den nye byen har vanskelige første år. En vesentlig årsak kan være kulturkonflikten som oppstår mellom de lokale bøndene og de første bybeboerne, som i all hovedsak er innflyttere. Kommunikasjonene er heller ikke de beste; i 1830-årene måtte en forvente å bruke opptil et par uker for å frakte varer innover til Kristiania.
Ludvig Wiese
Byens første ordfører er bergenseren Ludvig Wiese, en entreprenør som brenner for den nye tid med dens forbedringer i teknologi og samferdsel. Han tar sterkt til orde for at det må gå moderne båter på Mjøsa, dampskip som kan forbedre vare- og persontransporten. Etter mye motgang greier han i 1839 å få etablert et lokalt dampskipsselskap. Høsten 1840 blir Jernbarden, Norges første jernskip, sjøsatt ved Minnesund. Med dette revolusjoneres transporten over Norges største innsjø, og reisetiden som før kunne strekke seg opptil et par uker ved hjelp av ro- og seilbåter, kan nå gjennomføres i løpet av ett døgn.
Med kommunikasjonsrevolusjonen på Mjøsa skyter utviklingen av bysamfunnet endelig fart. I 1847 står igjen Ludvig Wiese bak byggingen av et nytt dampskip, Dronningen. Hun klinkes sammen på Hagafetten sør for Lillehammer brygge. På tidlig 1850-tall blir så de første dampskipene på Mjøsa solgt til engelske kapitalinteresser, som også er sterkt involvert i byggingen av Norges første jernbane mellom Kristiania og Minnesund. Ludvig Wiese samarbeider tett med engelskmennene, og etter som deres eierskap raskt resulterer i høyere priser på dampskipene, blir de raskt upopulære - og Ludvig Wiese med dem.
Skibladner
Som en reaksjon på dette opprettes i 1853 Opplandske Dampskipselskap. I 1856 blir deres første skip, Færdesmannen, sjøsatt. Skibladner kommer i 1856. Et meget moderne passasjerskip med alle datidens fasiliteter og samtidig Norges hurtigste! Norges hurtigste skip er den også ved ombyggingen i 1888. I dag er "Mjøsas hvite svane" verdens eldste hjuldamper i operativ drift!
Industrivekst
Etter hvert kommer flere fabrikker langs Mesnaelva. I 1847 går en rekke kjøpmenn og gårdbrukere sammen om å etablere Lillehammer Brenneri på husmannsplassen Hammeren, der hvor den lille kobberfabrikken ble etablert på midten av 1700 tallet. Kort tid etter utvides bedriften til også å omfatte bryggerivirksomhet. Byggeleder er Erik Bue, byens egen "Petter Smart" med en rekke avanserte oppfinnelser.
Industrivirksomheten skyter fart utover på 1800 tallet, og etter hvert blir det en mangeartet industriaktivitet langs hele nedre del av elva. En av fabrikkene er Gudbrand Larsens Pipefabrikk. Her fremstilles og utskjæres høykvalitetspiper i merskum. Lillehammer-pipene blir byens første internasjonalt kjente varemerke.
Jernbane, gatelys og bil
Generelt kan en si at vekstperiodene i byen har vært knyttet til forbedringer av kommunikasjonen. Den andre kommunikasjonsrevolusjonen kommer da jernbanen føres fram til byen i 1894. Samme året bygges et av Norges første elektrisitetsverk - i Mesnaelva ved Helvetesfossen ovenfor bryggeriet. Dermed får byens stolte innbyggere elektrisk lys i hovedgaten. Jernbanens ankomst gir ny vekst i Lillehammer-samfunnet. I 1896 blir Norges første bil satt i drift mellom Tretten og Ringebu i Gudbrandsdalen.
Lillehammers første bil anskaffes av farger Skar i Elvegata i 1904. Som seg hør og bør blir byens første bileier også byens første bilsakkyndige! Bilhistorien får du bedre innblikk i ved å besøke Norsk Kjøretøy Historisk Museum.
Anders Sandvig
I 1885 kommer den unge tannlegen Anders Sandvig til byen på en slede over Mjøsisen fra Gjøvik.
Den unge nordmannen har vært i Tyskland og videreutdannet seg i tannlegefaget. Imidlertid har han pådratt seg en alvorlig lungesykdom og fått beskjed om at han høyst sannsynlig ikke har lenge igjen å leve. Samtidig har han også fått sterke anbefalinger om å dra til et sted med sunn luft. Valget falt på Lillehammer-området som har ry på seg for sitt gode klima for "brystsvake". Naturen og klimaet tiltrekker seg også et stadig økende antall turister.
Luften og omgivelsene må ha gjort tannlegen godt, for i løpet av kort tid etablerer han praksis på et meget høyt faglig nivå. På fritiden starter han etableringen av det som under hans ledelse skal utvikle seg til å bli Nord-Europas største friluftsmuseum, blant annet er knyttet til formidling av bondekultur og håndverkstradisjoner fra Gudbrandsdalen.
Maihaugen er i dag en av Norges mest kjente turistattraksjoner der den ligger idyllisk til sør i Lillehammer.
Kunstnerne
På slutten av 1800- og begynnelsen av 1900-tallet kommer etter hvert en rekke
kunstnerpersonligheter til Lillehammer-området. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson bosetter seg på Aulestad i Gausdal. Han er en av Norges store forfattere og kulturpersonligheter med synspunkter og meninger om det meste. I 1903 får han Nobels litteraturpris.
I 1919 bosetter Sigrid Undset seg i Lillehammer. Hun kjøper stedet Bjerkebæk og skriver i de kommende årene romanene om Kristin Lavrandsdatter, som i 1927 skal gi henne Nobelprisen i litteratur.
Kunstmalere tiltrekkes også av Lillehammer, og tidlig på 1900-tallet er her en hel koloni. I ettertid får de tilnavnet Lillehammer-malerne. At området blir et yndet sted, skyldes nok bare naturen og motivene, men også at lokale mesener vet å verdsette kunsten. Kjøpmann Lunde er en av disse. I 1927 skjenker han sin malerisamling til byen, som dermed får en betydelig kunstgave. Siden utvikles denne med senere donasjoner og oppkjøp. I dag er Lillehammer Kunstmuseum en av Norges mest kjente kulturinstitusjoner.
Kilde: Lillehammer Bryggeri
fredag 7. november 2008
Birkebeinerne
I 1205 var det borgerkrig i Norge; birkebeinere kjempet mot baglere. I jula det året ønsket birkebeinerne å frakte det lille kongsemnet Håkon i trygghet til Nidaros. Veien gikk gjennom Mjøsdistriktet. På Hamar turte de ikke å være fordi biskopen der var en sterk tilhenger av baglerne. De reiste derfor videre til Lillehammer.
Etter å ha ligget i skjul hele jula, skal de videre nordover, men velger å ikke ta "kongeveien" gjennom Gudbrandsdalen, fordi de anser dette som for risikabelt. I stedet tar de skiene fatt og går over fjellet til Østerdalen. To av de beste skiløperne - Torstein Skjevla og Skjervald Skrukka - tar Haakon med seg og går i forveien, Mor til Haakon, Inga fra Varteig er også med i følget.
Ifølge sagaen ryker de ut for et forferdelig uvær, men kommer seg helskinnet over.
Som vi vet vokste Haakon opp til å bli en av de mektigste kongene Norge har hatt. Den strabasiøse turen på ski over fjellet med det lille kongebarnet er grunnen til at Lillehammer som verdens eneste by har en skiløper i byvåpenet. Hendelsen blir hvert år markert med Birkebeinerrennet som går mellom Rena og Lillehammer. Dette er Norges mest prestisjefylte turrenn, og alle deltakere må bære en sekk på 3,5 kg til minne om kongebarnet. I de senere år har vi også fått et eget kvinneskirenn, Inga Låmi, hvor fokuset settes på kongemoren Inga.
Kilde: Lillehammer Bryggeri
Etter å ha ligget i skjul hele jula, skal de videre nordover, men velger å ikke ta "kongeveien" gjennom Gudbrandsdalen, fordi de anser dette som for risikabelt. I stedet tar de skiene fatt og går over fjellet til Østerdalen. To av de beste skiløperne - Torstein Skjevla og Skjervald Skrukka - tar Haakon med seg og går i forveien, Mor til Haakon, Inga fra Varteig er også med i følget.
Ifølge sagaen ryker de ut for et forferdelig uvær, men kommer seg helskinnet over.
Som vi vet vokste Haakon opp til å bli en av de mektigste kongene Norge har hatt. Den strabasiøse turen på ski over fjellet med det lille kongebarnet er grunnen til at Lillehammer som verdens eneste by har en skiløper i byvåpenet. Hendelsen blir hvert år markert med Birkebeinerrennet som går mellom Rena og Lillehammer. Dette er Norges mest prestisjefylte turrenn, og alle deltakere må bære en sekk på 3,5 kg til minne om kongebarnet. I de senere år har vi også fått et eget kvinneskirenn, Inga Låmi, hvor fokuset settes på kongemoren Inga.
Kilde: Lillehammer Bryggeri
torsdag 6. november 2008
We are Earth...
It's time to act, and it's time to become one voice. The 'WeAreEarth' collaboration project requests a united front to express LOVE, PEACE, POSITIVITY and THE EARTH, through creativity. Inspired by a need to make a brighter future for our children and our children's children.
POSITIVITY - Please respond with your heart, and inspire many.
onsdag 5. november 2008
Gandhi's Principles
Truth
Gandhi (1869 - 1948) dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".
Nonviolence
Although Mahatama Gandhi was in no way the originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a huge scale. The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted as saying:
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."
In applying these principles, Gandhi did not balk from taking them to their most logical extremes in envisioning a world where even government, police and armies were nonviolent. The quotations below are from the book "For Pacifists".
Gandhism (or Gandhianism) is a collection of inspirations, principles, beliefs and philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi), who was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement.
It is a body of ideas and principles that describes the inspiration, vision and the life work of Gandhi. The term also encompasses what Gandhi's ideas, words and actions mean to people around the world, and how they used them for guidance in building their own future. Gandhism also permeates into the realm of the individual human being, non-political and non-social. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism.
Gandhism is brutal adherence to truth. If it means condemning the practice of untouchability in Hindu society, it means condemning the victimization of Muslim women and coerced conversions to Islam and Christianity in the same breath. Gandhism has no respect for power. No institution or individual is infallible, save God.
Gandhi believed that all humans are susceptible to sinful actions and behavior, and the worst of dictators were essentially the same despite the difference in their lives, beliefs and actions. Despite this, he held firmly that humans had no right to punish each other. He believed punishment to be the responsibility of God.
Kilde: Wikipedia
Gandhi (1869 - 1948) dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".
Nonviolence
Although Mahatama Gandhi was in no way the originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a huge scale. The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted as saying:
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."
In applying these principles, Gandhi did not balk from taking them to their most logical extremes in envisioning a world where even government, police and armies were nonviolent. The quotations below are from the book "For Pacifists".
Gandhism (or Gandhianism) is a collection of inspirations, principles, beliefs and philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi), who was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement.
It is a body of ideas and principles that describes the inspiration, vision and the life work of Gandhi. The term also encompasses what Gandhi's ideas, words and actions mean to people around the world, and how they used them for guidance in building their own future. Gandhism also permeates into the realm of the individual human being, non-political and non-social. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism.
Gandhism is brutal adherence to truth. If it means condemning the practice of untouchability in Hindu society, it means condemning the victimization of Muslim women and coerced conversions to Islam and Christianity in the same breath. Gandhism has no respect for power. No institution or individual is infallible, save God.
Gandhi believed that all humans are susceptible to sinful actions and behavior, and the worst of dictators were essentially the same despite the difference in their lives, beliefs and actions. Despite this, he held firmly that humans had no right to punish each other. He believed punishment to be the responsibility of God.
Kilde: Wikipedia
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - 1849
"The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. Even the Chinese philosopher was wise enough to regard the individual as the basis of the empire. Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with imagining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen."
"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi
"Civil Disobedience" is like a venerated architectural landmark: It is preserved and admired, and sometimes visited, but for most of us there are not many occasions when it can actually be used. Still, although seldom mentioned without references to Gandhi and King, "Civil Disobedience" has more history than many suspect. In the 1940's it was read by the Danish resistance, in the 1950's it was cherished by those who opposed McCarthyism, in the 1960's it was influential in the struggle against South African apartheid, and in the 1970's it was discovered by a new generation of anti-war activists. The lesson learned from all this experience is that Thoreau's ideas really do work, just as he imagined they would.
www.thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html
"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi
"Civil Disobedience" is like a venerated architectural landmark: It is preserved and admired, and sometimes visited, but for most of us there are not many occasions when it can actually be used. Still, although seldom mentioned without references to Gandhi and King, "Civil Disobedience" has more history than many suspect. In the 1940's it was read by the Danish resistance, in the 1950's it was cherished by those who opposed McCarthyism, in the 1960's it was influential in the struggle against South African apartheid, and in the 1970's it was discovered by a new generation of anti-war activists. The lesson learned from all this experience is that Thoreau's ideas really do work, just as he imagined they would.
www.thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html
tirsdag 4. november 2008
Folkelivsgranskeren Eilert Sundt 1817 - 1875
Registreringssentral for historiske data har gjort Eilert Sundts verker mer tilgjengelig for bruk i forskning og undervisning. I stedet for trykte utgaver, har siktemålet vært å gjøre Norges første - og største - samfunnsforsker tilgjengelig via Internett. Se www.rhd.uit.no/sundt/sundt.html
Utgangspunktet for de optisk leste tekstene er serien med verker i utvalg (11 bind) som Gyldendal Norsk Forlag ga ut på 1970-tallet. Redaktørenes forord er imidlertid ikke tilgjengelig, da disse er beskyttet av opphavsrett. Opphavsretten gjelder ikke for Sundts skrifter siden mer enn 80 år er gått etter hans død.
Kort om Eilert Sundt
Sundt, Eilert, 1817—75, samfunnsforsker og prest. Hadde statsstipendium 1848—69 for å studere landstrykere, etter hvert utvidet til å omfatte hele den sosiale tilstand i Norge. Sogneprest i Eidsvoll 1870; red. for Folkevennen 1857—66; stiftet Oslo Arbeidersamfund 1864. "Eilert Sundts lov" om variasjon i fødselskullene har hatt stor betydning. Omfattende sosiol. forfatterskap, bl.a. Beretning om Fante- el. Landstrygerfolket i Norge (1850), Om Sædeligheds Tilstanden i Norge (1857), Om Rensligheds-Stellet i Norge (1869).
Kilde: Caplex
Eilert Sundts verker:
1852 Fante- eller Landstrygerfolket i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om de laveste Samfundsforholde
1855 Om dødeligheden i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om Folkets Kaar
1855 Om giftermål i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om Folkets Kaar og Sæder
On Marriage in Norway - Translated and introduced by Michael Drake
1857 Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge
1864 Fortsatte Bidrag angaaende Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge
1866 Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge. Tredie Beretning
1858 Om Røros og Omegn - Reise-Beretning
1858 Om Piperviken og Rusløkbakken - Undersøgelser om Arbeidsklasens Kaar og Sæder i Christiania.
1859 Om Ædrueligheds-tilstanden i Norge
1859 Harham - Et Exempel fra Fiskeri-Distrikterne
1861-1864 På havet
1862 Om Bygnings-skikken paa Landet i Norge
1867-1868 Om Husfliden i Norge - Til Arbeidets Ære og Arbeidsomhedens Pris
1869 Om Renligheds-stellet i Norge - Til Oplysning om Flid og Fremskridt i Landet
1870 Om Fattigforholdene i Christiania
1873 Om Huslivet i Norge - Fortsættelse af Bogen fra 1869 "Om Renlighedstellet i Norge". Og med særligt hensyn til de tre vestlandske Amter Romsdal samt Nordre og Søndre Bergenhus.
Sekundærlitteratur om Eilert Sundt:
Bodil Stenseth: Eilert Sundt og det Norge han fant. Gyldendal 2000
Ottar Brox: Barn av sin tid. Dagbladet 28.06.00
Referanse til bøker, artikler, hovedoppgaver etc. om Eilert Sundt. Norsk samkatalog for bøker, Nasjonalbiblioteket
Gunnar Thorvaldsen: Eilert Sundt og det Norge han fant av Bodil Stenseth. Bokmelding i HIFO -nytt, 5/2000
Kilde: Registreringssentralen for historiske data www.rhd.uit.no
Utgangspunktet for de optisk leste tekstene er serien med verker i utvalg (11 bind) som Gyldendal Norsk Forlag ga ut på 1970-tallet. Redaktørenes forord er imidlertid ikke tilgjengelig, da disse er beskyttet av opphavsrett. Opphavsretten gjelder ikke for Sundts skrifter siden mer enn 80 år er gått etter hans død.
Kort om Eilert Sundt
Sundt, Eilert, 1817—75, samfunnsforsker og prest. Hadde statsstipendium 1848—69 for å studere landstrykere, etter hvert utvidet til å omfatte hele den sosiale tilstand i Norge. Sogneprest i Eidsvoll 1870; red. for Folkevennen 1857—66; stiftet Oslo Arbeidersamfund 1864. "Eilert Sundts lov" om variasjon i fødselskullene har hatt stor betydning. Omfattende sosiol. forfatterskap, bl.a. Beretning om Fante- el. Landstrygerfolket i Norge (1850), Om Sædeligheds Tilstanden i Norge (1857), Om Rensligheds-Stellet i Norge (1869).
Kilde: Caplex
Eilert Sundts verker:
1852 Fante- eller Landstrygerfolket i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om de laveste Samfundsforholde
1855 Om dødeligheden i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om Folkets Kaar
1855 Om giftermål i Norge - Bidrag til Kundskab om Folkets Kaar og Sæder
On Marriage in Norway - Translated and introduced by Michael Drake
1857 Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge
1864 Fortsatte Bidrag angaaende Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge
1866 Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge. Tredie Beretning
1858 Om Røros og Omegn - Reise-Beretning
1858 Om Piperviken og Rusløkbakken - Undersøgelser om Arbeidsklasens Kaar og Sæder i Christiania.
1859 Om Ædrueligheds-tilstanden i Norge
1859 Harham - Et Exempel fra Fiskeri-Distrikterne
1861-1864 På havet
1862 Om Bygnings-skikken paa Landet i Norge
1867-1868 Om Husfliden i Norge - Til Arbeidets Ære og Arbeidsomhedens Pris
1869 Om Renligheds-stellet i Norge - Til Oplysning om Flid og Fremskridt i Landet
1870 Om Fattigforholdene i Christiania
1873 Om Huslivet i Norge - Fortsættelse af Bogen fra 1869 "Om Renlighedstellet i Norge". Og med særligt hensyn til de tre vestlandske Amter Romsdal samt Nordre og Søndre Bergenhus.
Sekundærlitteratur om Eilert Sundt:
Bodil Stenseth: Eilert Sundt og det Norge han fant. Gyldendal 2000
Ottar Brox: Barn av sin tid. Dagbladet 28.06.00
Referanse til bøker, artikler, hovedoppgaver etc. om Eilert Sundt. Norsk samkatalog for bøker, Nasjonalbiblioteket
Gunnar Thorvaldsen: Eilert Sundt og det Norge han fant av Bodil Stenseth. Bokmelding i HIFO -nytt, 5/2000
Kilde: Registreringssentralen for historiske data www.rhd.uit.no
RHD - Registreringssentral for historiske data
Registreringssentral for historiske data (RHD) www.rhd.uit.no er en nasjonal institusjon ved Universitetet i Tromsø. Hovedformålet er å dataregistrere historiske kilder og gjøre disse lettere tilgjengelig for forskning. Flere av de registrerte kildene finnes søkbare på disse sidene.
Søkbare kilder:
- Folketellingene for 1865 og 1900 er landsdekkende. 1875 tellinga er registrert for enkelte kommuner i sin helhet, mens resten er registrert med et 2% utvalg. For å søke i folketellingene kan man enten bruk en enkel versjon eller en mer avansert versjon av søkesystemet.
- Kirkebøkene er registrert for noen utvalgte prestegjeld.
- Gårdsmatrikkelen fra 1886 er landsdekkende.
Følgende kilder er registrert for noen få områder:
Folketellingen for 1885 - Folketellingen for 1891 - Matrikkelen for 1838
Nedlastbare data:
- En kodet utgave av folketellinga 1865, 1875 og 1900 for statistisk bruk er tilgjengelig som nedlastbare filer.
- Internasjonale kodede folketellinger. Den kodede utgaven av folketellingen 1900 for Norge samt kodede folketellinger fra andre land kan hentes ned fra hjemmesiden til The North Atlantic Population Project
- Register over skifteprotokoller for et begrenset område.
- Gårdsmatrikkelen fra 1886. Nedlastbar som Excel-filer
Tekster:
Dokumentasjon. RHDs nettsider inneholder en omfattende dokumentasjon om kilder og databehandling så som:
- Eilert Sundts skrifter
- "Birte-saken" fra Tingbøkene
- Litteratur, om databehandling i historiefaget
- Søk i tidsskrifter. Søk i registrene til Historisk tidsskrift, HIFO-nytt og Heimen
XVth conference of AHC 2003. Program, sammendrag og bilder fra XVth conference of AHC 2003 i Tromsø
- Forskerseminar om spedbarnsdødelighet ble arrangert i samarbeid med Kvinnforsk i oktober 2005.
Kilde: Registreringssentralen for historiske data
Søkbare kilder:
- Folketellingene for 1865 og 1900 er landsdekkende. 1875 tellinga er registrert for enkelte kommuner i sin helhet, mens resten er registrert med et 2% utvalg. For å søke i folketellingene kan man enten bruk en enkel versjon eller en mer avansert versjon av søkesystemet.
- Kirkebøkene er registrert for noen utvalgte prestegjeld.
- Gårdsmatrikkelen fra 1886 er landsdekkende.
Følgende kilder er registrert for noen få områder:
Folketellingen for 1885 - Folketellingen for 1891 - Matrikkelen for 1838
Nedlastbare data:
- En kodet utgave av folketellinga 1865, 1875 og 1900 for statistisk bruk er tilgjengelig som nedlastbare filer.
- Internasjonale kodede folketellinger. Den kodede utgaven av folketellingen 1900 for Norge samt kodede folketellinger fra andre land kan hentes ned fra hjemmesiden til The North Atlantic Population Project
- Register over skifteprotokoller for et begrenset område.
- Gårdsmatrikkelen fra 1886. Nedlastbar som Excel-filer
Tekster:
Dokumentasjon. RHDs nettsider inneholder en omfattende dokumentasjon om kilder og databehandling så som:
- Eilert Sundts skrifter
- "Birte-saken" fra Tingbøkene
- Litteratur, om databehandling i historiefaget
- Søk i tidsskrifter. Søk i registrene til Historisk tidsskrift, HIFO-nytt og Heimen
XVth conference of AHC 2003. Program, sammendrag og bilder fra XVth conference of AHC 2003 i Tromsø
- Forskerseminar om spedbarnsdødelighet ble arrangert i samarbeid med Kvinnforsk i oktober 2005.
Kilde: Registreringssentralen for historiske data
Dagny Juel, pianist og bohem fra Kongsvinger
Dagny Juel er kjent som en av kvinnene i kretsen av unge skandinaviske kunstnere i Berlin i 1890-årene. Hun var utdannet pianistinne, og skrev både dikt og skuespill.
Dagny ble født i Kongsvinger 8. juni i 1867, og var en av fire døtre til distriktslege Hans Lemmich Juell og Minda Blehr. 1875 flyttet familien til Rolighet.
Dagny studerte musikk i Kristiania og i Berlin. Søstrene Juell er godt kjent fra sine opphold i Kristiania. Forfatteren Barbara Ring skrev slik om kvinnefirkløveret fra Kongsvinger:
"Forholdene var ikke større end, at vi straks blev oppmerksom, naar en fremmed pen dame viste sig paa Karl Johan i middagstiden, Juellerne fra Kongsvinger var vel kjendt, de var like vakre alle".
Dagny var opprøreren i Juell-familien. I Berlin var hun med i kunstnerkretsen som holdt til på vertshuset "Zum Schwarzen Ferkel", hvor også Strindberg, Munch og andre av datidens store kunstnere vanket. Der traff hun den polske forfatteren Stanislaw Przybyszewski. De giftet seg i Berlin 1893 og fikk etter hvert to barn, Zenon og Iwa. De bosatte seg i Berlin, men tilbragte mye tid på Rolighed. Senere flyttet de til Polen.
Dagny var hele tiden aktiv som pianistinne, hun ga konserter og pianotimer. Hun skrev også poesi og prosa. Hun skrev 14 dikt, fire skuespill, en novelle og fire prosa-lyriske tekster. De prosa-lyriske tekstene og to av skuespillene ble utgitt mens hun levde. Resten av tekstene er utgitt senere.
Dagny og hennes mann levde svært turbulent, og ekteskapet endte tragisk. En ekstrem beundrer av Dagny og Stanislaw fra kunstnerkretsen i Polen, Wladyslaw Emeryk, inviterte familien til seg i Tbilisi. Hennes mann nektet å bli med, og Dagny og sønnen Zenon reiste med Emeryk. Den 5. juni ble Dagny funnet død i et hotellrom i Tbilisi. Emeryk hadde skutt henne mens hun satt i en lenestol, og han skjøt etterpå seg selv. Det er aldri blitt klart hvorfor han drepte henne, om det var av sjalusi, eller om mannen rett og slett var sinnsforvirret. Dagny Juel ble gravlagt i Tbilisi, og graven hennes finnes fortsatt på kirkegården der.
Dagny Juel fikk av samtiden et slags skjøge-stempel, og hennes kvaliteter som kunstner fikk ikke den oppmerksomheten de fortjente. Først langt inn i vårt århundre ble interessen for Dagny Juels kunstneriske arbeider vakt, både i Norge og i Polen. Fra 60-tallet og frem til i dag har en rekke artikler og tre biografier blitt skrevet om Kongsvinger-kvinnen, og en polsk-norsk film om Dagny ble laget i 1978. Dette året ble hennes dramaer også utgitt.
Kongsvinger Museum arrangerte en Dagny Juel-uke i 1987, og i 1996 var Kvinnemuseets hovedutstilling "I Dagny Juels fotspor". Til hundreårsminne for hennes død er det åpnet en ny utstilling "Damen i Berlin".
Kvinnemuseet selger Dagny Juels samlede tekster som ble utgitt i 1996.
Kvinnemuseet selger Roar Lishaugens biografi fra 2002: ”Dagny Juel. Tro, håp og undergang”.
Kilde: www.kvinnemuseet.no
Kvinnemuseet - inspirasjon til en bedre samfunnsutvikling
Kvinnemuseet www.kvinnemuseet.no befinner seg i Dagny Juels barndomshjem på Rolighed, (Løkkegt. 35), en stor og vakker sveitserstilsvilla fra 1857, et steinkast fra 1600-tallsfestningen i den vernede trehusbebyggelsen i Øvrebyen. Kvinnemuseet ble innviet av H.M. Dronningen i 1995 og har hatt nasjonal status siden 1997. Med museumsreformen er Kvinnemuseet nå hovedansvarlig museum i et nasjonalt nettverk for kvinnehistorie.
Museumsreformen innebærer også at Odalstunet, Eidskog Museum og Kongsvinger Museum inngår i én og samme stiftelse: Kvinnemuseet - Museene i Glåmdal.
Kvinnemuseet dokumenterer kvinners liv og virke i norsk kulturhistorie frem til i dag. Museets visjon er å gi inspirasjon til en bedre samfunnsutvikling.
Museet produserer nye, aktuelle temautstillinger til hver sommersesong, og kan ellers by på fire permanente utstillinger: ”Camillas latter” viser kvinnesakens historie gjennom 150 år, en utstilling om Dagny Juel (1867-1901) og
hennes rolle som pianist og litterat i samspill med Europas fremste samtidige kunstnere og en egen utstilling om huset Roligheds historie. ”Fortiet. Aborthistorien” forteller om en viktig og alvorlig del av kvinnehistorien.
Café Dagny i husets særpregede dagligstue og blåmalte gammelkjøkken byr på enkle lunsjretter og på den legendariske bohemkaken.
Vi har også øl- og vinrett.
Faste utstillinger:
Damen i Berlin. Dagny Juel
Camillas latter. Kvinnesaken gjennom 150 år
Fortiet. Aborthistorien (Finnes også som nettutstilling, se "Nettutstillinger")
Historien om Rolighed
Andre avdelinger:
Eidskog Museum
Odalstunet
Kongsvinger Museum
Årets temautstilling:
"En annen dans - En kjærlighetshistorie om homofili", og er Kvinnemuseets bidrag til Mangfoldsåret 2008.
Åpningstider 2008:
25. mai - 31. august: tirsdag - søndag kl. 11.00-16.00
Mandag lukket
2. september - 27. november: tirsdag - torsdag kl. 12.00-15.00
Museumsreformen innebærer også at Odalstunet, Eidskog Museum og Kongsvinger Museum inngår i én og samme stiftelse: Kvinnemuseet - Museene i Glåmdal.
Kvinnemuseet dokumenterer kvinners liv og virke i norsk kulturhistorie frem til i dag. Museets visjon er å gi inspirasjon til en bedre samfunnsutvikling.
Museet produserer nye, aktuelle temautstillinger til hver sommersesong, og kan ellers by på fire permanente utstillinger: ”Camillas latter” viser kvinnesakens historie gjennom 150 år, en utstilling om Dagny Juel (1867-1901) og
hennes rolle som pianist og litterat i samspill med Europas fremste samtidige kunstnere og en egen utstilling om huset Roligheds historie. ”Fortiet. Aborthistorien” forteller om en viktig og alvorlig del av kvinnehistorien.
Café Dagny i husets særpregede dagligstue og blåmalte gammelkjøkken byr på enkle lunsjretter og på den legendariske bohemkaken.
Vi har også øl- og vinrett.
Faste utstillinger:
Damen i Berlin. Dagny Juel
Camillas latter. Kvinnesaken gjennom 150 år
Fortiet. Aborthistorien (Finnes også som nettutstilling, se "Nettutstillinger")
Historien om Rolighed
Andre avdelinger:
Eidskog Museum
Odalstunet
Kongsvinger Museum
Årets temautstilling:
"En annen dans - En kjærlighetshistorie om homofili", og er Kvinnemuseets bidrag til Mangfoldsåret 2008.
Åpningstider 2008:
25. mai - 31. august: tirsdag - søndag kl. 11.00-16.00
Mandag lukket
2. september - 27. november: tirsdag - torsdag kl. 12.00-15.00
Tulipangalskap var verdens første finansboble 1637. Så sprakk boblen...
Tulipangalskap var verdens første finansboble. I 1637 kostet én eneste løk mer enn et hus. Så sprakk boblen. Krakket kom brått. Tusener av sindige nederlendere hadde gått av skaftet. De handlet ikke med aksjer eller eiendom – men med tulipanløk. De kjøpte og solgte med håp om stor fortjeneste og raske penger som drivkraft. Plutselig sto de igjen på bar bakke, i verste fall med en svimlende gjeld. De ble tapere i et økonomisk spill, kjent som verdenshistoriens første boble. Ikke rart aktørene kunne framstå som apekatter.
Helsvart tirsdag
Det første tegnet åpenbarer seg i den nederlandske byen Haarlem den første tirsdagen i februar 1637. En gruppe blomsterhandlere møtes som vanlig til auksjon på et vertshus nær Grote Markt (Stortorget). En handler åpner dagen med å tilby et pund tulipanløk av type Switser og Witte Croonen. Han ber om 1250 gylden, ikke en urimelig pris, sett på bakgrunn av hva tulipanløk er solgt for det foregående året.
Men ingen byr. Handleren senker prisen til 1100 gylden, men fremdeles er det tyst i eimen fra halvtømte seidler. Tilbudsprisen senkes til 1000, men ennå er det ingen som byr. Antakelig har flere av handlerne betalt minst slike summer for tilsvarende varer de siste ukene, men denne dagen er det ingen som tar risikoen på å by. Det er her tulipankrakket starter. Noen dager senere er bunnen falt ut av hele markedet i De forente provinser, det som i dag er Nederland.
Galskapens priser
I dag er vi vant til finansbobler, som ender i uunngåelige krakk. Men allerede for 370 år siden brast den aller første boblen. Da som nå sto spekulantenes håp om raske penger i sentrum – og midt i sentrum tulipanen, en blomst som ganske nylig var kommet på det europeiske markedet. Fenomenet har av ettertiden fått navnet tulipomania, ”tulipanmani”. I løpet av noen år hadde prisene på tulipanløk og stiklinger nådd galskapens høyder, og løkene var for det meste ikke engang håndfaste varer: De var like gjerne frø eller stiklinger plantet i jorden, uten garanti om de ville holde den bebudede kvaliteten når de var ferdig utvokst. En stor del av handelen gikk ut på at man kjøpte og solgte objekter som ingen ennå hadde sett eller holdt i hendene. Likevel oppnåddes det priser hinsides enhver fornuft.
I sin bok Tulipomania skriver den britiske forfatteren Mike Dash for eksempel om kjøpmannen François Koster som noen få dager før sammenbruddet i 1637betalte 6650 gylden for noen få dusin tulipanløk – dette i en tid hvor en vanlig familie kunne leve anstendig på om lag 300 gylden i året. Man skal kanskje ikke dra sammenlikningene for langt, men overført til vår tid ville prisen Koster var villig til å betale, være mange millioner kroner.
Farlig med oppgangstider?
Hvorfor i all verden gikk det ellers så pietistiske Nederland så avsindig av hengslene? En årsak er at det var lysere tider. De forente provinser var på vei ut av en lengre depresjon som hadde vart gjennom det meste av 1620-tallet. Dessuten hadde provinsene mer eller mindre kastet av seg det spanske åket. Spania hadde styrt nederlenderne siden 1400-tallet. Men selv om den formelle uavhengigheten ble fastslått først i 1648, hadde unionen av provinser alt fra slutten av 1500-tallet opptrådt som selvstendige, og en generell økonomisk boom satte inn mellom 1631 og 1632. Inntekter fra nyåpnede sølvgruver i Amerika og fra den nye handelen på Østen gjorde at det var mer penger i omløp i Europa enn noen gang tidligere. Og de rike trengte interessante objekter å investere i. Tiden var moden for tulipanen. Den høyeste prisen man kjenner til, ble betalt tidligere i 1637: For én enkelt løk ble det lagt 5200 gylden på bordet. Det var mer enn et anstendig hus kostet. Fem år senere skulle maleren Rembrandt bli betalt 1600 gylden for sitt mesterverk ”Nattevakten”. En snekker tjente ca. 250 gylden, mens en velhavende kjøpmann ville være mer enn fornøyd med et årsresultat på 3000. En gylden var 20 stuiver, og en øl på vertshuset kostet en halv stuiver.
Turbanen ble til en tulipan
Ekspertene er ikke helt enige om hvordan tulipanen kom til Europa. Antakelig kom den på 1550-tallet fra Tyrkia, der den hadde vært kjent lenge, i både vill og kultivert form. Tyrkerne kalte blomsten lale, men det var det persiske ordet dulband – turban –som festet seg. I europeiske språk ble det til tulipan, tulp, tulip, tulpe eller tulipe. I Istanbul hadde blomsten lenge vært en naturlig pryd i de mektiges vakkert anlagte hager sammen med hyasinter, narsisser og liljer. Hvem som så tulipanen her, og når de fraktet den hjem til Europa er uklart, men den sveitsiske naturforskeren Konrad Gesner var den første som skrev om tulipanen i Europa. Han hadde sett den i hagen til rådmann Johann Heinrich Herwart i den tyske byen Augsburg: ”I måneden april 1559 så jeg denne planten som skal ha sprunget ut fra frø fra Bysants, eller som andre sier, Kappadokia. Den var i blomstring med én vakker rød blomst, stor, som en rød lilje.” Gesners tegning i en hagebok fra 1561 er den første kjente avbildningen av tulipanen i Europa. Og den spredde seg fort. Etter det man vet, ble den første gang dyrket i Norge i 1597. Bare fire år tidligere skal den for første gang ha blitt plantet i Nederland og studert for all mulig bruk, for eksempel som middel mot gikt og andre sykdommer, eller om løken kunne brukes til mat.
Den nederlandske botanikeren Carolus Clusius beskrev og katalogiserte de mange sortene som dukket opp. Uten hans ”fasit” ville tulipangalskapen neppe ha oppstått, for hvordan skulle man kjøpe og selge tulipaner om man ikke visste hva som var sjeldne sorter eller hvilke som var opprinnelige, verdifulle osv.? I 1612 publiserte han katalogen Florilegium, og to år senere utga kunstneren Chrispijn van de Passe en liknende bok: Hortus Floridus. Deres verk ble grunnlaget for enklere trykksaker som i sin tur ble rene håndbøker for blomsterspekulantene.
Som en gnistrende Ferrari
”Semper Augustus” var den vakreste og sjeldneste av de nederlandske tulipanene. Mindre enn et dusin eksemplarer av den var kjent. Tulipanen ble et samlerobjekt, et statussymbol den rike og vellykkede kunne vise sine besøkende under en spasertur i hagen. Aristokratiet elsket og dyrket den nye blomsten, og snart spredte vanen seg til den velstående handelsstanden, nyrik på import og salg av kostelige varer fra koloniene. En av årsakene til at tulipanen kom i sentrum for samlernes interesse, var at den var mye sjeldnere enn i dag – enkelte sorter var sjeldne som van Gogh-malerier i dagens auksjonshus. De ble ikke som nå dyrket på store jorder, men i små, avsondrede hager. Og de sortene man higet etter, var svært ulike dagens masseproduserte blomster. Den mest ettertraktede av alle sorter var Semper Augustus. Kun et fåtall eksemplarer var kjent, og det finnes ingen dokumentasjon på at den ble omsatt under den store galskapen. Andre berømte, og nå forsvunne, sorter var Admirael van der Eijck, Root en Gheel van Leyde og Violetten Viceroy. Å kunne imponere sine gjester med en av disse i hagen, var omtrent som å parkere en skinnende rød Ferrari i oppkjørselen i dag. Derfor kunne en Violetten-løk på det meste bli solgt for fantastiske 4500 gylden.
I begynnelsen var det flere som tjente gode slumper på kjøp og salg, men det var de smarte som skjønte hva som var i ferd med å skje. Informerte spekulanter så at prisene steg unaturlig, og de så også at det stadig ble dyrket fram nye mengder løk for markedet, med den negative effekten det ville ha på kvalitet og pris. De solgte beholdningen og avviklet kontraktene sine. Som alltid trakk vinnerne seg ut mens det ennå var noe å hente, før bunnen falt ut av markedet. De fleste som deltok i runddansen, skjønte det for sent.
Gambling med fremtiden
Store deler av befolkningen ble revet med. Folk pantsatte det de eide av land og buskap og brukte sparepenger til å kjøpe tulipanløk. Mens det sto på som verst gikk prisen opp 20 ganger på én måned, så forventningen om store og raske gevinster ble en mektig drivkraft. Når det ikke var flere løk igjen å legge hendene på, kjøpte man opsjoner – eller futures. Det var oppfunnet av kjøpmenn som handlet med tømmer, hamp og krydder på Amsterdambørsen. Kort sagt går det ut på at en deltaker gambler på den fremtidige prisen på en vare ved å inngå en kontrakt om å betale en viss pris den dagen han får levert varene. Hvis prisene steg før varene ankom Amsterdam, ville han innkassere en pen fortjeneste når han solgte igjen til den nye, høyere prisen. Han ville da tjene mer enn nok til å gjøre opp sitt mellomværende med selger og samtidig stå igjen med en god profitt. Problemet var selvfølgelig at han ville ha for lite penger til å betale selgeren hvis prisene sank i den perioden han ventet på varene.
Slik handel spredte seg utenfor de profesjonelle børsene. De nye, ikke spesielt profesjonelle tulipanspekulantene begynte også å handle i futures. Å kjøpe en slik opsjon var billigere enn å kjøpe ferdig utviklede løk, så med full klaff kunne en spekulant i en slik handel hundredoble verdien på en måned. Noen kasserte inn, men de fleste tok skrekkelig feil.
Blomstergudinnen prostituerte seg
I begynnelsen foregikk omsetningen stille og rolig, men utover 1630-tallet skrudde markedet seg stadig oppover. De forhåpningsfulle hadde sett at enkelte hadde gjort store fortjenester, så hvorfor skulle ikke de også forsøke seg? Flere og flere meldte seg på i handelen, og som en naturlig følge skrudde prisene seg enda mer oppover mot sammenbruddet i 1637. Visst var det risikoer, men det var en utbredt holdning i De forente provinser at tulipanmarkedet var immunt mot et krasj og at prisene alltid ville stige. Rimelig nok reiste det seg også kritiske røster. På den ene siden var det den religiøse, pietistiske kritikken som forbannet spekulasjon i tulipaner som et brudd på de kristne idealer om moderasjon og veldedighet. På den andre siden hadde man den satiriske kritikken, ofte i form av vers eller artikler i trykte hefter som harselerte med blomsterhandlerne. I slike satirer var den romerske gudinnen Flora gjerne sentral. Hun var blomstenes gudinne, men også de prostituertes beskytter. Ifølge mytologien var hun en kurtisane som solgte seg til den som bød høyest. Selv om hver nye elsker var stadig rikere og mer sjenerøs, steg hennes krav til slutt til slike høyder at ingen hadde råd til henne. Satirikerne betraktet dette som et passende bilde på samtidens maniske blomsterhandlere.
Ofrene på slagmarken
Legen Claes Pieterszoon (1593–1674) var en betydelig mann, fire ganger borgermester i Amsterdam og venn av maleren Rembrandt. Da tulipanen kom på moten, ble han så begeistret for blomsten at han i 1621 skiftet navn til Nicolaes Tulp (= Tulipan). Han prydet huset sitt i Amsterdam med et våpenskjold formet som en rød tulipan, og som rådmann stemplet han hundrevis av offisielle dokumenter med sitt tulipanformede stempel. Men Tulp tok sterk avstand fra galskapen rundt blomsten han delte navn med, og ville ikke lenger være kjent som Doktor Tulipan. Etter krakket i 1637 hogg han våpenskjoldet av husfasaden og stemplet aldri mer et dokument med sitt kjente tulipanmotiv.
Omsetningen hadde foregått i lokale markeder, ikke på de offisielle og regulerte børsene i Amsterdam, Rotterdam eller andre byer. Handelen foregikk der det måtte passe seg, for eksempel i kirker, men oftest i vertshus. Og her skrudde finansspiralen seg stadig oppover, helt til denne tirsdagen i februar 1637. Man kan bare forestille seg hvordan folk på vertshuset reagerte da ingen lenger ville kjøpe. Antakelig løp de for å varsle andre, og nyheten spredte seg så fort som den kunne i et samfunn uten telefon eller telegraf. Handelen fortsatte en tid i andre byer, men på mindre enn seks uker falt prisene med mer enn 90 prosent. Igjen på slagmarken sto hundrevis av selgere med tusenvis av kontrakter. De arme future-kjøperne hadde ingen mulighet til å innfri kontraktene til avtalte priser. I praksis sto mange igjen med så godt som hele avtalebeløpet som gjeld til selger. Noe måtte gjøres for å sanere kontraktjungelen. Det sentrale parlamentet i Haag toet sine hender og oppfordret provinsene til å finne et kompromiss, basert på et forslag fra dyrkerne om at kjøpere kunne annullere kontrakter ved å betale ti prosent av avtalt sum. Selv dette var for mye for de fleste spekulantene. Provinsene sendte saken videre til høyesterett, som igjen fastslo at dette fikk den enkelte provinsen ordne opp i. Men retten beordret også at alle kontrakter skulle annulleres inntil myndighetene i provinsene hadde skaffet seg full oversikt over hva som hadde foregått. Dette arbeidet ble knapt nok påbegynt, og saken ble håndtert ulikt fra sted til sted. I Haarlem besluttet man at en lokal tvistenemnd skulle håndtere saken, og i mai 1638 endte man opp med at kjøper skulle innfri 3,5 prosent av kjøpesummen mot at selger kunne beholde varene sine. Det ble samtidig forbudt å trekke tulipankontrakter inn for rettssystemet. I Amsterdam var det en viss åpning for å forfølge saker, men selv der var det få saker som ble brakt inn for retten. Stort sett var det ikke penger å hente, så selgerne godtok motvillig kompromisser.
Jakt på syndebukker
Hvem hadde skylden for krakket? Som alltid begynte jakten på syndebukker. En populær teori var at hele tulipangalskapen var en konspirasjon, igangsatt av en gruppe på 20–30 av de rikeste dyrkerne og forhandlerne som hadde manipulert prisene til sin egen fordel. Hvordan disse menneskene skulle ha klart å koordinere sine handlinger i et uoversiktlig og kaotisk marked, ble det derimot ikke gitt noe klart svar på. Den lille jødiske befolkningen i Nederlandene ble også pekt på som syndebukker, uten at det fulgte med noen form for bevisførsel. Det enkle faktum at galskapen var fôret på den enkeltes tørst etter kvikke profitter, var vel ikke det man først tenkte på når vanskelighetene tårnet seg opp. Det tok tid før det hele var over. Den siste kjente rettssaken ble løst i Haarlem 24. januar 1639, da en Jan Kroven betalte drøye 73 gylden for å annullere et krav på 2100 gylden fra en blomsterdyrker. Kompromissene rådet, men formuer var tapt og velstående mennesker ble fattiglemmer. Folk som hadde satt gård og grunn i pant, sto ikke igjen med annet enn noen få tulipanløk eller verdiløse opsjoner.
Kilde: Tom Berby
Helsvart tirsdag
Det første tegnet åpenbarer seg i den nederlandske byen Haarlem den første tirsdagen i februar 1637. En gruppe blomsterhandlere møtes som vanlig til auksjon på et vertshus nær Grote Markt (Stortorget). En handler åpner dagen med å tilby et pund tulipanløk av type Switser og Witte Croonen. Han ber om 1250 gylden, ikke en urimelig pris, sett på bakgrunn av hva tulipanløk er solgt for det foregående året.
Men ingen byr. Handleren senker prisen til 1100 gylden, men fremdeles er det tyst i eimen fra halvtømte seidler. Tilbudsprisen senkes til 1000, men ennå er det ingen som byr. Antakelig har flere av handlerne betalt minst slike summer for tilsvarende varer de siste ukene, men denne dagen er det ingen som tar risikoen på å by. Det er her tulipankrakket starter. Noen dager senere er bunnen falt ut av hele markedet i De forente provinser, det som i dag er Nederland.
Galskapens priser
I dag er vi vant til finansbobler, som ender i uunngåelige krakk. Men allerede for 370 år siden brast den aller første boblen. Da som nå sto spekulantenes håp om raske penger i sentrum – og midt i sentrum tulipanen, en blomst som ganske nylig var kommet på det europeiske markedet. Fenomenet har av ettertiden fått navnet tulipomania, ”tulipanmani”. I løpet av noen år hadde prisene på tulipanløk og stiklinger nådd galskapens høyder, og løkene var for det meste ikke engang håndfaste varer: De var like gjerne frø eller stiklinger plantet i jorden, uten garanti om de ville holde den bebudede kvaliteten når de var ferdig utvokst. En stor del av handelen gikk ut på at man kjøpte og solgte objekter som ingen ennå hadde sett eller holdt i hendene. Likevel oppnåddes det priser hinsides enhver fornuft.
I sin bok Tulipomania skriver den britiske forfatteren Mike Dash for eksempel om kjøpmannen François Koster som noen få dager før sammenbruddet i 1637betalte 6650 gylden for noen få dusin tulipanløk – dette i en tid hvor en vanlig familie kunne leve anstendig på om lag 300 gylden i året. Man skal kanskje ikke dra sammenlikningene for langt, men overført til vår tid ville prisen Koster var villig til å betale, være mange millioner kroner.
Farlig med oppgangstider?
Hvorfor i all verden gikk det ellers så pietistiske Nederland så avsindig av hengslene? En årsak er at det var lysere tider. De forente provinser var på vei ut av en lengre depresjon som hadde vart gjennom det meste av 1620-tallet. Dessuten hadde provinsene mer eller mindre kastet av seg det spanske åket. Spania hadde styrt nederlenderne siden 1400-tallet. Men selv om den formelle uavhengigheten ble fastslått først i 1648, hadde unionen av provinser alt fra slutten av 1500-tallet opptrådt som selvstendige, og en generell økonomisk boom satte inn mellom 1631 og 1632. Inntekter fra nyåpnede sølvgruver i Amerika og fra den nye handelen på Østen gjorde at det var mer penger i omløp i Europa enn noen gang tidligere. Og de rike trengte interessante objekter å investere i. Tiden var moden for tulipanen. Den høyeste prisen man kjenner til, ble betalt tidligere i 1637: For én enkelt løk ble det lagt 5200 gylden på bordet. Det var mer enn et anstendig hus kostet. Fem år senere skulle maleren Rembrandt bli betalt 1600 gylden for sitt mesterverk ”Nattevakten”. En snekker tjente ca. 250 gylden, mens en velhavende kjøpmann ville være mer enn fornøyd med et årsresultat på 3000. En gylden var 20 stuiver, og en øl på vertshuset kostet en halv stuiver.
Turbanen ble til en tulipan
Ekspertene er ikke helt enige om hvordan tulipanen kom til Europa. Antakelig kom den på 1550-tallet fra Tyrkia, der den hadde vært kjent lenge, i både vill og kultivert form. Tyrkerne kalte blomsten lale, men det var det persiske ordet dulband – turban –som festet seg. I europeiske språk ble det til tulipan, tulp, tulip, tulpe eller tulipe. I Istanbul hadde blomsten lenge vært en naturlig pryd i de mektiges vakkert anlagte hager sammen med hyasinter, narsisser og liljer. Hvem som så tulipanen her, og når de fraktet den hjem til Europa er uklart, men den sveitsiske naturforskeren Konrad Gesner var den første som skrev om tulipanen i Europa. Han hadde sett den i hagen til rådmann Johann Heinrich Herwart i den tyske byen Augsburg: ”I måneden april 1559 så jeg denne planten som skal ha sprunget ut fra frø fra Bysants, eller som andre sier, Kappadokia. Den var i blomstring med én vakker rød blomst, stor, som en rød lilje.” Gesners tegning i en hagebok fra 1561 er den første kjente avbildningen av tulipanen i Europa. Og den spredde seg fort. Etter det man vet, ble den første gang dyrket i Norge i 1597. Bare fire år tidligere skal den for første gang ha blitt plantet i Nederland og studert for all mulig bruk, for eksempel som middel mot gikt og andre sykdommer, eller om løken kunne brukes til mat.
Den nederlandske botanikeren Carolus Clusius beskrev og katalogiserte de mange sortene som dukket opp. Uten hans ”fasit” ville tulipangalskapen neppe ha oppstått, for hvordan skulle man kjøpe og selge tulipaner om man ikke visste hva som var sjeldne sorter eller hvilke som var opprinnelige, verdifulle osv.? I 1612 publiserte han katalogen Florilegium, og to år senere utga kunstneren Chrispijn van de Passe en liknende bok: Hortus Floridus. Deres verk ble grunnlaget for enklere trykksaker som i sin tur ble rene håndbøker for blomsterspekulantene.
Som en gnistrende Ferrari
”Semper Augustus” var den vakreste og sjeldneste av de nederlandske tulipanene. Mindre enn et dusin eksemplarer av den var kjent. Tulipanen ble et samlerobjekt, et statussymbol den rike og vellykkede kunne vise sine besøkende under en spasertur i hagen. Aristokratiet elsket og dyrket den nye blomsten, og snart spredte vanen seg til den velstående handelsstanden, nyrik på import og salg av kostelige varer fra koloniene. En av årsakene til at tulipanen kom i sentrum for samlernes interesse, var at den var mye sjeldnere enn i dag – enkelte sorter var sjeldne som van Gogh-malerier i dagens auksjonshus. De ble ikke som nå dyrket på store jorder, men i små, avsondrede hager. Og de sortene man higet etter, var svært ulike dagens masseproduserte blomster. Den mest ettertraktede av alle sorter var Semper Augustus. Kun et fåtall eksemplarer var kjent, og det finnes ingen dokumentasjon på at den ble omsatt under den store galskapen. Andre berømte, og nå forsvunne, sorter var Admirael van der Eijck, Root en Gheel van Leyde og Violetten Viceroy. Å kunne imponere sine gjester med en av disse i hagen, var omtrent som å parkere en skinnende rød Ferrari i oppkjørselen i dag. Derfor kunne en Violetten-løk på det meste bli solgt for fantastiske 4500 gylden.
I begynnelsen var det flere som tjente gode slumper på kjøp og salg, men det var de smarte som skjønte hva som var i ferd med å skje. Informerte spekulanter så at prisene steg unaturlig, og de så også at det stadig ble dyrket fram nye mengder løk for markedet, med den negative effekten det ville ha på kvalitet og pris. De solgte beholdningen og avviklet kontraktene sine. Som alltid trakk vinnerne seg ut mens det ennå var noe å hente, før bunnen falt ut av markedet. De fleste som deltok i runddansen, skjønte det for sent.
Gambling med fremtiden
Store deler av befolkningen ble revet med. Folk pantsatte det de eide av land og buskap og brukte sparepenger til å kjøpe tulipanløk. Mens det sto på som verst gikk prisen opp 20 ganger på én måned, så forventningen om store og raske gevinster ble en mektig drivkraft. Når det ikke var flere løk igjen å legge hendene på, kjøpte man opsjoner – eller futures. Det var oppfunnet av kjøpmenn som handlet med tømmer, hamp og krydder på Amsterdambørsen. Kort sagt går det ut på at en deltaker gambler på den fremtidige prisen på en vare ved å inngå en kontrakt om å betale en viss pris den dagen han får levert varene. Hvis prisene steg før varene ankom Amsterdam, ville han innkassere en pen fortjeneste når han solgte igjen til den nye, høyere prisen. Han ville da tjene mer enn nok til å gjøre opp sitt mellomværende med selger og samtidig stå igjen med en god profitt. Problemet var selvfølgelig at han ville ha for lite penger til å betale selgeren hvis prisene sank i den perioden han ventet på varene.
Slik handel spredte seg utenfor de profesjonelle børsene. De nye, ikke spesielt profesjonelle tulipanspekulantene begynte også å handle i futures. Å kjøpe en slik opsjon var billigere enn å kjøpe ferdig utviklede løk, så med full klaff kunne en spekulant i en slik handel hundredoble verdien på en måned. Noen kasserte inn, men de fleste tok skrekkelig feil.
Blomstergudinnen prostituerte seg
I begynnelsen foregikk omsetningen stille og rolig, men utover 1630-tallet skrudde markedet seg stadig oppover. De forhåpningsfulle hadde sett at enkelte hadde gjort store fortjenester, så hvorfor skulle ikke de også forsøke seg? Flere og flere meldte seg på i handelen, og som en naturlig følge skrudde prisene seg enda mer oppover mot sammenbruddet i 1637. Visst var det risikoer, men det var en utbredt holdning i De forente provinser at tulipanmarkedet var immunt mot et krasj og at prisene alltid ville stige. Rimelig nok reiste det seg også kritiske røster. På den ene siden var det den religiøse, pietistiske kritikken som forbannet spekulasjon i tulipaner som et brudd på de kristne idealer om moderasjon og veldedighet. På den andre siden hadde man den satiriske kritikken, ofte i form av vers eller artikler i trykte hefter som harselerte med blomsterhandlerne. I slike satirer var den romerske gudinnen Flora gjerne sentral. Hun var blomstenes gudinne, men også de prostituertes beskytter. Ifølge mytologien var hun en kurtisane som solgte seg til den som bød høyest. Selv om hver nye elsker var stadig rikere og mer sjenerøs, steg hennes krav til slutt til slike høyder at ingen hadde råd til henne. Satirikerne betraktet dette som et passende bilde på samtidens maniske blomsterhandlere.
Ofrene på slagmarken
Legen Claes Pieterszoon (1593–1674) var en betydelig mann, fire ganger borgermester i Amsterdam og venn av maleren Rembrandt. Da tulipanen kom på moten, ble han så begeistret for blomsten at han i 1621 skiftet navn til Nicolaes Tulp (= Tulipan). Han prydet huset sitt i Amsterdam med et våpenskjold formet som en rød tulipan, og som rådmann stemplet han hundrevis av offisielle dokumenter med sitt tulipanformede stempel. Men Tulp tok sterk avstand fra galskapen rundt blomsten han delte navn med, og ville ikke lenger være kjent som Doktor Tulipan. Etter krakket i 1637 hogg han våpenskjoldet av husfasaden og stemplet aldri mer et dokument med sitt kjente tulipanmotiv.
Omsetningen hadde foregått i lokale markeder, ikke på de offisielle og regulerte børsene i Amsterdam, Rotterdam eller andre byer. Handelen foregikk der det måtte passe seg, for eksempel i kirker, men oftest i vertshus. Og her skrudde finansspiralen seg stadig oppover, helt til denne tirsdagen i februar 1637. Man kan bare forestille seg hvordan folk på vertshuset reagerte da ingen lenger ville kjøpe. Antakelig løp de for å varsle andre, og nyheten spredte seg så fort som den kunne i et samfunn uten telefon eller telegraf. Handelen fortsatte en tid i andre byer, men på mindre enn seks uker falt prisene med mer enn 90 prosent. Igjen på slagmarken sto hundrevis av selgere med tusenvis av kontrakter. De arme future-kjøperne hadde ingen mulighet til å innfri kontraktene til avtalte priser. I praksis sto mange igjen med så godt som hele avtalebeløpet som gjeld til selger. Noe måtte gjøres for å sanere kontraktjungelen. Det sentrale parlamentet i Haag toet sine hender og oppfordret provinsene til å finne et kompromiss, basert på et forslag fra dyrkerne om at kjøpere kunne annullere kontrakter ved å betale ti prosent av avtalt sum. Selv dette var for mye for de fleste spekulantene. Provinsene sendte saken videre til høyesterett, som igjen fastslo at dette fikk den enkelte provinsen ordne opp i. Men retten beordret også at alle kontrakter skulle annulleres inntil myndighetene i provinsene hadde skaffet seg full oversikt over hva som hadde foregått. Dette arbeidet ble knapt nok påbegynt, og saken ble håndtert ulikt fra sted til sted. I Haarlem besluttet man at en lokal tvistenemnd skulle håndtere saken, og i mai 1638 endte man opp med at kjøper skulle innfri 3,5 prosent av kjøpesummen mot at selger kunne beholde varene sine. Det ble samtidig forbudt å trekke tulipankontrakter inn for rettssystemet. I Amsterdam var det en viss åpning for å forfølge saker, men selv der var det få saker som ble brakt inn for retten. Stort sett var det ikke penger å hente, så selgerne godtok motvillig kompromisser.
Jakt på syndebukker
Hvem hadde skylden for krakket? Som alltid begynte jakten på syndebukker. En populær teori var at hele tulipangalskapen var en konspirasjon, igangsatt av en gruppe på 20–30 av de rikeste dyrkerne og forhandlerne som hadde manipulert prisene til sin egen fordel. Hvordan disse menneskene skulle ha klart å koordinere sine handlinger i et uoversiktlig og kaotisk marked, ble det derimot ikke gitt noe klart svar på. Den lille jødiske befolkningen i Nederlandene ble også pekt på som syndebukker, uten at det fulgte med noen form for bevisførsel. Det enkle faktum at galskapen var fôret på den enkeltes tørst etter kvikke profitter, var vel ikke det man først tenkte på når vanskelighetene tårnet seg opp. Det tok tid før det hele var over. Den siste kjente rettssaken ble løst i Haarlem 24. januar 1639, da en Jan Kroven betalte drøye 73 gylden for å annullere et krav på 2100 gylden fra en blomsterdyrker. Kompromissene rådet, men formuer var tapt og velstående mennesker ble fattiglemmer. Folk som hadde satt gård og grunn i pant, sto ikke igjen med annet enn noen få tulipanløk eller verdiløse opsjoner.
Kilde: Tom Berby
mandag 3. november 2008
The wisdom of life...
"Be The Change You Wish To See In The World"
Your thoughts become your beliefs, but more astounding is that quantum physics says that your thoughts are energy and that they entangle the thoughts of others around you. So your beliefs change the reality not only within you, but around you. By being one in Abundance, Beauty, Creativity, Love and Kindness, then being Receptive to the Expanding entanglement, you create what you seek within. ~Unknown
To enter into the initiation of sound, of vibration and mindfulness, is to take a giant step toward consciously knowing the soul. There are hundreds of accurate models for this great journey inward. Each requires belief and discipline as well as the will to allow the inner and outer worlds to relate. Listening, learning, study, and practice are important tools. But we need the courage to enter into ourselves with the great respect and mystery that combines the faith of a child, the abandon of a mystic, and the true wisdom of an old shaman...
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - Buddha
Trees and animals, humans and insects, flowers and birds: these are active images of the subtle energies that flow from the stars throughout the universe. Meeting and combining with each other and the elements of the Earth, they give rise to all living things. The superior person understands this, and understands that his or her own energies play a part in it. Understanding these things, one respects the Earth as his or her mother, the heavens as his or her father, and all living things as his or her brothers and sisters. Those who want to know the truth of the universe should practice reverence for all life; this manifests as unconditional love and respect for oneself and all other beings. -LAO TZU
"If you want to nourish a bird, you should let it live any way it chooses. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the sages never require the same ability from all creatures. Concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable for each. The true sage leaves wisdom to the ants, takes a cue from the fishes, and leaves willfulness to the sheep." -CHANG TZU
You forget your feet when your shoes are comfortable... Understanding forgets right and wrong when the mind is comfortable. There is no change in what is inside, no following what is outside, when the response to the moment is comfortable. You begin with what is comfortable and never experience what is uncomfortable when you know the comfort of forgetting what is comfortable.
Make your will one! Don't listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, thinking stops with the mind, but spirit is empty and waits on all things. The way gathers emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.
How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten his way back? How do I know that the dead did not wonder why they ever longed for life?
Your thoughts become your beliefs, but more astounding is that quantum physics says that your thoughts are energy and that they entangle the thoughts of others around you. So your beliefs change the reality not only within you, but around you. By being one in Abundance, Beauty, Creativity, Love and Kindness, then being Receptive to the Expanding entanglement, you create what you seek within. ~Unknown
To enter into the initiation of sound, of vibration and mindfulness, is to take a giant step toward consciously knowing the soul. There are hundreds of accurate models for this great journey inward. Each requires belief and discipline as well as the will to allow the inner and outer worlds to relate. Listening, learning, study, and practice are important tools. But we need the courage to enter into ourselves with the great respect and mystery that combines the faith of a child, the abandon of a mystic, and the true wisdom of an old shaman...
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - Buddha
Trees and animals, humans and insects, flowers and birds: these are active images of the subtle energies that flow from the stars throughout the universe. Meeting and combining with each other and the elements of the Earth, they give rise to all living things. The superior person understands this, and understands that his or her own energies play a part in it. Understanding these things, one respects the Earth as his or her mother, the heavens as his or her father, and all living things as his or her brothers and sisters. Those who want to know the truth of the universe should practice reverence for all life; this manifests as unconditional love and respect for oneself and all other beings. -LAO TZU
"If you want to nourish a bird, you should let it live any way it chooses. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the sages never require the same ability from all creatures. Concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable for each. The true sage leaves wisdom to the ants, takes a cue from the fishes, and leaves willfulness to the sheep." -CHANG TZU
You forget your feet when your shoes are comfortable... Understanding forgets right and wrong when the mind is comfortable. There is no change in what is inside, no following what is outside, when the response to the moment is comfortable. You begin with what is comfortable and never experience what is uncomfortable when you know the comfort of forgetting what is comfortable.
Make your will one! Don't listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, thinking stops with the mind, but spirit is empty and waits on all things. The way gathers emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.
How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten his way back? How do I know that the dead did not wonder why they ever longed for life?
søndag 2. november 2008
Layne Redmond one of today's most exciting performers on the frame drum
Layne Redmond has followed an extremely unusual path specializing in the small hand-held frame drum played primarily by women in the ancient Mediterranean world. From 1981 through 1990 she performed and recorded the first contemporary frame drum compositions with percussionist, Glen Velez for European and American labels. During this period she intensively researched the playing styles and history of the frame drum in religious and cultural rituals culminating in her book, When The Drummers Were Women. This book details a lost history of a time when women were the primary percussionists in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, Greece and Rome and also explains why they are not today. When The Drummers Were Women was released by Random House in June 1997 in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe.
Redmond is recognized as one of today's most exciting performers on the frame drum and has been featured in many music festivals including the Touch Festival in Berlin, Seattle Bumbershoot Festival, the Institute for Contemporary Art in London, Tambores do Mundo (drum festival in San Luis, Brazil) and as a soloist at the 1995 World Wide Percussion Festival in Brazil. On March 2, 2002 Redmond and Tommy Brunjes performed and gave clinics at the Vienna International Percussion Festival 2002.
Redmond is a master clinician and has taught and lectured numerous times at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention, the National Association of Music Therapy and in 1998 she gave the keynote lecture and performance at the eighth annual Healing Sound Colloquium. Some of the venues she's taught or performed at are Penn State, Vassar College, William's College, Bucknell College, Hartford Seminary, Andover Newton Theological Institute, Sam Ash Music Institute, Berklee School of Music, Calif. Institute of the Arts, Roulette, The Knitting Factory, and Esalen Institute.
Her recordings include:
Since the Beginning, Trance Union (with Tommy Be) and Sundaryalahari: The Wave of Bliss.
Her best selling meditation cds include:
Chanting the Chakras, Chakra Breathing Meditation and Heart Chakra Meditations.
Sounds True released her book/cd Chakra Meditation on the classic teachings of yoga and the chakras in 2004.
With Rosangela Silvestre she produced:
Flowers of Fire: Sacred Chants and Rhythms of Candomble. Her music videos from this project, Xango and Iemanja, have gained a world wide following.
She created two instructional videos for Interworld Music:
Rhythmic Wisdom and A Sense of Time. She was the first woman to have a Signature Series of world percussion instruments with Remo, Inc., one of the world's largest manufacturers of percussion instruments and drum heads.
Redmond is recognized as one of today's most exciting performers on the frame drum and has been featured in many music festivals including the Touch Festival in Berlin, Seattle Bumbershoot Festival, the Institute for Contemporary Art in London, Tambores do Mundo (drum festival in San Luis, Brazil) and as a soloist at the 1995 World Wide Percussion Festival in Brazil. On March 2, 2002 Redmond and Tommy Brunjes performed and gave clinics at the Vienna International Percussion Festival 2002.
Redmond is a master clinician and has taught and lectured numerous times at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention, the National Association of Music Therapy and in 1998 she gave the keynote lecture and performance at the eighth annual Healing Sound Colloquium. Some of the venues she's taught or performed at are Penn State, Vassar College, William's College, Bucknell College, Hartford Seminary, Andover Newton Theological Institute, Sam Ash Music Institute, Berklee School of Music, Calif. Institute of the Arts, Roulette, The Knitting Factory, and Esalen Institute.
Her recordings include:
Since the Beginning, Trance Union (with Tommy Be) and Sundaryalahari: The Wave of Bliss.
Her best selling meditation cds include:
Chanting the Chakras, Chakra Breathing Meditation and Heart Chakra Meditations.
Sounds True released her book/cd Chakra Meditation on the classic teachings of yoga and the chakras in 2004.
With Rosangela Silvestre she produced:
Flowers of Fire: Sacred Chants and Rhythms of Candomble. Her music videos from this project, Xango and Iemanja, have gained a world wide following.
She created two instructional videos for Interworld Music:
Rhythmic Wisdom and A Sense of Time. She was the first woman to have a Signature Series of world percussion instruments with Remo, Inc., one of the world's largest manufacturers of percussion instruments and drum heads.
Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece by Joan Breton Connelly
In the summer of 423 B.C., Chrysis, the priestess of Hera at Argos, fell asleep inside the goddess's great temple, and a torch she had left ablaze set fire to the sacred garlands there, burning the building to the ground. This spectacular case of custodial negligence drew the attention of the historian Thucydides, a man with scant interest in religion or women. But he had mentioned Chrysis once before: the official lists of Hera's priestesses at Argos provided a way of dating historical events in the Greek world, and Thucydides formally marked the beginning of the Peloponnesian War with Chrysis' name and year of tenure, together with the names of consequential male officeholders from Athens and Sparta.
During the same upheaval, in 411, Thucydides' fellow Athenian Aristophanes staged his comedy "Lysistrata," with a heroine who tries to bring the war to an end by leading a sex strike. There is reason to believe that Lysistrata herself is drawn in part from a contemporary historical figure, Lysimache, the priestess of Athena Polias on the Acropolis. If so, she joins such pre-eminent Athenians as Pericles, Euripides and Socrates as an object of Aristophanes' lampoons. On a much bigger stage in 480 B.C., before the battle of Salamis, one of Lysimache's predecessors helped persuade the Athenians to take to their ships and evacuate the city ahead of the Persian invaders — a policy that very likely saved Greece — announcing that Athena's sacred snake had failed to eat its honey cake, a sign that the goddess had already departed.
These are just some of the influential women visible through the cracks of conventional history in Joan Breton Connelly's eye-opening "Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece." Her portrait is not in fact that of an individual priestess, but of a formidable class of women scattered over the Greek world and across a thousand years of history, down to the day in A.D. 393 when the Christian emperor Theodosius banned the polytheistic cults. It is remarkable, in this age of gender studies, that this is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, especially since, as Connelly persuasively argues, religious office was, exceptionally, an "arena in which Greek women assumed roles equal ... to those of men." Roman society could make no such boast, nor can ours.
Despite powerful but ambiguous depictions in Greek tragedy, no single ancient source extensively documents priestesses, and Connelly, a professor at New York University, builds her canvas from material gleaned from scattered literary references, ancient artifacts and inscriptions, and representations in sculpture and vase painting. Her book shows generations of women enjoying all the influence, prestige, honor and respect that ancient priesthoods entailed. Few were as exalted as the Pythia, who sat entranced on a tripod at Delphi and revealed the oracular will of Apollo, in hexameter verse, to individuals and to states. But Connelly finds priestesses who were paid for cult services, awarded public portrait statues, given elaborate state funerals, consulted on political matters and acknowledged as sources of cultural wisdom and authority by open-minded men like the historian Herodotus. With separation of church and state an inconceivable notion in the world's first democracy, all priesthoods, including those held by women, were essentially political offices, Connelly maintains. Nor did sacred service mean self-abnegation. "Virgin" priestesses like Rome's Vestals were alien to the Greek conception. Few cults called for permanent sexual abstinence, and those that did tended to appoint women already beyond childbearing age; some of the most powerful priesthoods were held by married women with children, leading "normal" lives.
The Greeks don't deserve their reputation as rationalists. Religion and ritual permeated the world of the city-states, where, Connelly notes, "there was no area of life that lacked a religious aspect." She cites one estimate that 2,000 cults operated during the classical period in the territory of Athens alone; the city's roughly 170 festival days would have brought women out in public in great numbers and in conspicuous roles. "Ritual fueled the visibility of Greek women within this system," Connelly writes, sending them across their cities to sanctuaries, shrines and cemeteries, so that the picture that emerges "is one of far-ranging mobility for women across the polis landscape."
These aspects of Connelly's well-documented, meticulously assembled portrait may not seem that remarkable on the surface, but they largely contradict what has long been the most broadly accepted vision of the women of ancient Greece, particularly Athens, as dependent, cloistered, invisible and mute, relegated almost exclusively to housekeeping and child rearing — a view that at its most extreme maintains that the names of respectable Athenian women were not spoken aloud in public or that women were essentially housebound.
Connelly traces the tenacity of this idea to several sources, including the paradoxically convergent ideologies of Victorian gentlemen scholars and 20th-century feminists and a modern tendency to discount the real-world force of religion, a notion now under powerful empirical adjustment. But another cause is a professional divide between classicists and archaeologists. In their consideration of a woman's place, classicists emphasize certain well-known texts, the most notorious being Thucydides' rendition of Pericles' great oration over the first Athenian dead of the Peloponnesian War, which had this terse advice for their widows: "If I must say anything on the subject of female excellence, ... greatest will be her glory who is least talked of among men, whether in praise or in criticism." Connelly, though, is an archaeologist, and she insists that her evidence be allowed to speak for itself, something it does with forceful eloquence. Far from the names of respectable women being suppressed, it seems clear that great effort was made to ensure that the names of many of these women would never be forgotten: Connelly can cite more than 150 historical Greek priestesses by name. Archaeology also speaks through beauty: "Portrait of a Priestess" is an excellent thematic case study in vase painting and sculpture, with striking images of spirited women, at altars or leading men in procession, many marked as priestesses by the great metal temple key they carry, signifying not admission to heaven but the pragmatic responsibility that Chrysis so notoriously betrayed in Argos.
Greek religion is a vast and complex subject, and "Portrait of a Priestess," by concentrating on one of its most concretely human aspects, offers an engrossing point of entry. It's not clear how far this lavishly produced book was intended for general audiences; a map, a glossary and expanded captions would surely have been welcome. But Connelly's style is clear, often elegant and occasionally stirring. And while she shows a fertile disregard for received wisdom — her astonishingly radical reinterpretation of the Parthenon's sculptural frieze, conceived in the early 1990s while she was researching this book, helped her win a MacArthur fellowship — she is no polemicist, a fact that has the effect of strengthening her more provocative points. Polytheism's presumed spiritual failures may eventually have led to the Christian ascendancy, but Connelly shows that the system long sustained and nourished Greek women and their communities. In turn, women habituated to religious privilege and influence in the pre-Christian era eagerly lent their expertise and energy to the early church. But with one male god in sole reign in heaven, women's direct connection with deity became suspect, and they were methodically edged out of formal religious power.
"There may be no finer tribute to the potency of the Greek priestess than the discomfort that her position caused the church fathers," Connelly writes in her understated way. Her priestesses may be ancient history, but the consequences of the discomfort they caused endure to this day.
During the same upheaval, in 411, Thucydides' fellow Athenian Aristophanes staged his comedy "Lysistrata," with a heroine who tries to bring the war to an end by leading a sex strike. There is reason to believe that Lysistrata herself is drawn in part from a contemporary historical figure, Lysimache, the priestess of Athena Polias on the Acropolis. If so, she joins such pre-eminent Athenians as Pericles, Euripides and Socrates as an object of Aristophanes' lampoons. On a much bigger stage in 480 B.C., before the battle of Salamis, one of Lysimache's predecessors helped persuade the Athenians to take to their ships and evacuate the city ahead of the Persian invaders — a policy that very likely saved Greece — announcing that Athena's sacred snake had failed to eat its honey cake, a sign that the goddess had already departed.
These are just some of the influential women visible through the cracks of conventional history in Joan Breton Connelly's eye-opening "Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece." Her portrait is not in fact that of an individual priestess, but of a formidable class of women scattered over the Greek world and across a thousand years of history, down to the day in A.D. 393 when the Christian emperor Theodosius banned the polytheistic cults. It is remarkable, in this age of gender studies, that this is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, especially since, as Connelly persuasively argues, religious office was, exceptionally, an "arena in which Greek women assumed roles equal ... to those of men." Roman society could make no such boast, nor can ours.
Despite powerful but ambiguous depictions in Greek tragedy, no single ancient source extensively documents priestesses, and Connelly, a professor at New York University, builds her canvas from material gleaned from scattered literary references, ancient artifacts and inscriptions, and representations in sculpture and vase painting. Her book shows generations of women enjoying all the influence, prestige, honor and respect that ancient priesthoods entailed. Few were as exalted as the Pythia, who sat entranced on a tripod at Delphi and revealed the oracular will of Apollo, in hexameter verse, to individuals and to states. But Connelly finds priestesses who were paid for cult services, awarded public portrait statues, given elaborate state funerals, consulted on political matters and acknowledged as sources of cultural wisdom and authority by open-minded men like the historian Herodotus. With separation of church and state an inconceivable notion in the world's first democracy, all priesthoods, including those held by women, were essentially political offices, Connelly maintains. Nor did sacred service mean self-abnegation. "Virgin" priestesses like Rome's Vestals were alien to the Greek conception. Few cults called for permanent sexual abstinence, and those that did tended to appoint women already beyond childbearing age; some of the most powerful priesthoods were held by married women with children, leading "normal" lives.
The Greeks don't deserve their reputation as rationalists. Religion and ritual permeated the world of the city-states, where, Connelly notes, "there was no area of life that lacked a religious aspect." She cites one estimate that 2,000 cults operated during the classical period in the territory of Athens alone; the city's roughly 170 festival days would have brought women out in public in great numbers and in conspicuous roles. "Ritual fueled the visibility of Greek women within this system," Connelly writes, sending them across their cities to sanctuaries, shrines and cemeteries, so that the picture that emerges "is one of far-ranging mobility for women across the polis landscape."
These aspects of Connelly's well-documented, meticulously assembled portrait may not seem that remarkable on the surface, but they largely contradict what has long been the most broadly accepted vision of the women of ancient Greece, particularly Athens, as dependent, cloistered, invisible and mute, relegated almost exclusively to housekeeping and child rearing — a view that at its most extreme maintains that the names of respectable Athenian women were not spoken aloud in public or that women were essentially housebound.
Connelly traces the tenacity of this idea to several sources, including the paradoxically convergent ideologies of Victorian gentlemen scholars and 20th-century feminists and a modern tendency to discount the real-world force of religion, a notion now under powerful empirical adjustment. But another cause is a professional divide between classicists and archaeologists. In their consideration of a woman's place, classicists emphasize certain well-known texts, the most notorious being Thucydides' rendition of Pericles' great oration over the first Athenian dead of the Peloponnesian War, which had this terse advice for their widows: "If I must say anything on the subject of female excellence, ... greatest will be her glory who is least talked of among men, whether in praise or in criticism." Connelly, though, is an archaeologist, and she insists that her evidence be allowed to speak for itself, something it does with forceful eloquence. Far from the names of respectable women being suppressed, it seems clear that great effort was made to ensure that the names of many of these women would never be forgotten: Connelly can cite more than 150 historical Greek priestesses by name. Archaeology also speaks through beauty: "Portrait of a Priestess" is an excellent thematic case study in vase painting and sculpture, with striking images of spirited women, at altars or leading men in procession, many marked as priestesses by the great metal temple key they carry, signifying not admission to heaven but the pragmatic responsibility that Chrysis so notoriously betrayed in Argos.
Greek religion is a vast and complex subject, and "Portrait of a Priestess," by concentrating on one of its most concretely human aspects, offers an engrossing point of entry. It's not clear how far this lavishly produced book was intended for general audiences; a map, a glossary and expanded captions would surely have been welcome. But Connelly's style is clear, often elegant and occasionally stirring. And while she shows a fertile disregard for received wisdom — her astonishingly radical reinterpretation of the Parthenon's sculptural frieze, conceived in the early 1990s while she was researching this book, helped her win a MacArthur fellowship — she is no polemicist, a fact that has the effect of strengthening her more provocative points. Polytheism's presumed spiritual failures may eventually have led to the Christian ascendancy, but Connelly shows that the system long sustained and nourished Greek women and their communities. In turn, women habituated to religious privilege and influence in the pre-Christian era eagerly lent their expertise and energy to the early church. But with one male god in sole reign in heaven, women's direct connection with deity became suspect, and they were methodically edged out of formal religious power.
"There may be no finer tribute to the potency of the Greek priestess than the discomfort that her position caused the church fathers," Connelly writes in her understated way. Her priestesses may be ancient history, but the consequences of the discomfort they caused endure to this day.
Layne Redmond Interview
The leader of female frame drummers, Layne Redmond interview at Los Angeles by Japan Frame Drum Association.
Your Brain on Drums
Layne Redmond talks about the shamanistic and meditative affect of drumming on the brain.
The Primordial First Sound Heard in the Womb
All existence arises out of vibration, and rhythm is the primary structuring force of life on this planet. Sound is power and the first sound we hear is the pulse of our mother's blood. No sound has a more powerful effect on our consciousness. We vibrate to this primordial pulse even before we have ears to hear. Before we were conceived, we existed in part as an egg in our mother's ovary. All the eggs a woman will ever have form in her ovaries when she is a four-month-old fetus. This means that the sacred egg that developed into the person you are now, formed in your mother's ovary when she was growing in the womb of her mother. Each of us spent five months in the womb of our grandmother, rocking to the pulse of our grandmother's blood. And our mother spent five months rocking to the pulse of her grandmother's blood, and her mother pulsed to the beat of her grandmother's blood. Back through the pulse of all the mothers and all the grandmothers, through the beat of the blood that we all share, this sound can return us to the preconscious state, to the inner structure of the mind, to the power and the source of who and what we actually are: the pulsing field of all consciousness existing everywhere, within everything, beyond past, present or future.
This is the reason I believe that women in the ancient world were so identified with the frame drum. This is the reason symbols, like the lotus, that represent creation, birth, or the womb, were often painted on the frame drum or the reason why the drums were painted red -- the color of blood, the color of life. The frame drum, held in the hands of the goddess or her priestess, represented her power to create the universe with one stoke on her drum -- with one beat of her primordial heart -- every thing vibrates into existence.
Deep listening to this sound is a powerful and effective means of returning to the unconditioned, primordial state of our original consciousness. This sound has been used therapeutically as a background for massage, sleep, hypnotic inductions, counseling sessions or while practicing yoga. I believe this is the reason that the frame drum was at the core of all the religious rites of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Kilde: Layne Redmond
A drum group with Doumbek, Riq, Tar and Large Tar from an Egyptian Drum Concert.
Let the sounds of drums and chants magically transport you to the African plains.
Instructional Video released in 1990 by Interworld Music. Glen Velez with Layne Redmond.
This is the reason I believe that women in the ancient world were so identified with the frame drum. This is the reason symbols, like the lotus, that represent creation, birth, or the womb, were often painted on the frame drum or the reason why the drums were painted red -- the color of blood, the color of life. The frame drum, held in the hands of the goddess or her priestess, represented her power to create the universe with one stoke on her drum -- with one beat of her primordial heart -- every thing vibrates into existence.
Deep listening to this sound is a powerful and effective means of returning to the unconditioned, primordial state of our original consciousness. This sound has been used therapeutically as a background for massage, sleep, hypnotic inductions, counseling sessions or while practicing yoga. I believe this is the reason that the frame drum was at the core of all the religious rites of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Kilde: Layne Redmond
A drum group with Doumbek, Riq, Tar and Large Tar from an Egyptian Drum Concert.
Let the sounds of drums and chants magically transport you to the African plains.
Instructional Video released in 1990 by Interworld Music. Glen Velez with Layne Redmond.
Ancient Cypriot and Greek Priestesses
"O muse, Precious one, sing to me Thy Inspiration a prelude for my own song. Send a breeze from your groves. Vibrate my heart and mind with inspiration. O Wise kalliopeia, Leader of the golden Muses. And you too, wise initiator into the mysteries, Apollo, Son of Leto, Be at hand, blessing me".
fredag 24. oktober 2008
Trysilforfatteren Tormod Haugen (1945 - 2008) er død - 63 år gammel
Trysilforfatteren Tormod Haugen døde lørdag 18. oktober 2008 etter lang tids sjukeleie, 63 år gammel.
Tormod Haugen har bak seg et omfattende forfatterskap og er oversatt til 24 språk. Han beskrives som en forfatter som nådde alles hjerter.
Priset forfatter
Haugen mottok en lang rekke priser, både norske og utenlandske. Blant annet den prestisjetunge H.C. Andersen-prisen, som deles ut annethvert år til de fremste forfattere i verden. Deutsche Jugendpreis mottok han i 1979 for "Nattfuglene". I 1987fikk han Den europeiske barnebokprisen "Pier Paolo Vergerio" for "Romanen om Merkel Hansen".
Kulturdepartementets pris ble han tildelt hele tre ganger, i 1975, 1976 og 1989.
For "Dagen som forsvant" ble Haugen nominert til Nordisk Råds litteraturpris i 1984.
Haugens siste bok "Doris Day og tordenvær" kom i 2005.
Film og opera
Boka "Zeppelin" ble til film i 1981, og i 1989 satte Stockholmoperaen opp operaversjonen av "Slottet det Hvite".
Tormod Haugen hevdet at han ikke skrev for noen bestemt aldersgruppe, og sjøl om bøkene handlet om barn og barns ensomhet, hadde han et stort voksent publikum. Haugen er født i Nybergsund i Trysil, men har bodd hele sitt voksne liv i Oslo. Han studerte tysk språk og litteratur, kunsthistorie og litteraturvitenskap. Han debuterte som forfatter i 1973 med romanen "Ikke som i fjor".
Kilde: østlendingen.no
Tormod Haugen har bak seg et omfattende forfatterskap og er oversatt til 24 språk. Han beskrives som en forfatter som nådde alles hjerter.
Priset forfatter
Haugen mottok en lang rekke priser, både norske og utenlandske. Blant annet den prestisjetunge H.C. Andersen-prisen, som deles ut annethvert år til de fremste forfattere i verden. Deutsche Jugendpreis mottok han i 1979 for "Nattfuglene". I 1987fikk han Den europeiske barnebokprisen "Pier Paolo Vergerio" for "Romanen om Merkel Hansen".
Kulturdepartementets pris ble han tildelt hele tre ganger, i 1975, 1976 og 1989.
For "Dagen som forsvant" ble Haugen nominert til Nordisk Råds litteraturpris i 1984.
Haugens siste bok "Doris Day og tordenvær" kom i 2005.
Film og opera
Boka "Zeppelin" ble til film i 1981, og i 1989 satte Stockholmoperaen opp operaversjonen av "Slottet det Hvite".
Tormod Haugen hevdet at han ikke skrev for noen bestemt aldersgruppe, og sjøl om bøkene handlet om barn og barns ensomhet, hadde han et stort voksent publikum. Haugen er født i Nybergsund i Trysil, men har bodd hele sitt voksne liv i Oslo. Han studerte tysk språk og litteratur, kunsthistorie og litteraturvitenskap. Han debuterte som forfatter i 1973 med romanen "Ikke som i fjor".
Kilde: østlendingen.no
tirsdag 21. oktober 2008
Poems by Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Beauty XXV
And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.
Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."
And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.
Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
The tired and the weary say, "beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.
Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."
But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains,
And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."
At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."
And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."
And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
All these things have you said of beauty.
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.
It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,
But rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Khalil Gibran
Freedom XIV
And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom."
And he answered:
At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.
You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.
And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.
And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?
If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.
You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.
Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.
Khalil Gibran
Friendship IXX
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Khalil Gibran
Joy and Sorrow chapter VIII
Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
Khalil Gibran
Peace XVIII
The tempest calmed after bending the branches of the trees and leaning heavily upon the grain in the field. The stars appeared as broken remnants of lightning, but now silence prevailed over all, as if Nature's war had never been fought.
At that hour a young woman entered her chamber and knelt by her bed sobbing bitterly. Her heart flamed with agony but she could finally open her lips and say, "Oh Lord, bring him home safely to me. I have exhausted my tears and can offer no more, oh Lord, full of love and mercy. My patience is drained and calamity is seeking possession of my heart. Save him, oh Lord, from the iron paws of War; deliver him from such unmerciful Death, for he is weak, governed by the strong. Oh Lord, save my beloved, who is Thine own son, from the foe, who is Thy foe. Keep him from the forced pathway to Death's door; let him see me, or come and take me to him."
Quietly a young man entered. His head was wrapped in bandage soaked with escaping life.
He approached he with a greeting of tears and laughter, then took her hand and placed against it his flaming lips. And with a voice with bespoke past sorrow, and joy of union, and uncertainty of her reaction, he said, "Fear me not, for I am the object of your plea. Be glad, for Peace has carried me back safely to you, and humanity has restored what greed essayed to take from us. Be not sad, but smile, my beloved. Do not express bewilderment, for Love has power that dispels Death; charm that conquers the enemy. I am your one. Think me not a specter emerging from the House of Death to visit your Home of Beauty.
"Do not be frightened, for I am now Truth, spared from swords and fire to reveal to the people the triumph of Love over War. I am Word uttering introduction to the play of happiness and peace."
Then the young man became speechless and his tears spoke the language of the heart; and the angels of Joy hovered about that dwelling, and the two hearts restored the singleness which had been taken from them.
At dawn the two stood in the middle of the field contemplating the beauty of Nature injured by the tempest. After a deep and comforting silence, the soldier said to his sweetheart, "Look at the Darkness, giving birth to the Sun."
Khalil Gibran
Pleasure XXIV
Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."
And he answered, saying:
Pleasure is a freedom song,
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires,
But it is not their fruit.
It is a depth calling unto a height,
But it is not the deep nor the high.
It is the caged taking wing,
But it is not space encompassed.
Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.
And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.
Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked.
I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.
For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone:
Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.
Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?
And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness.
But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.
They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer.
Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.
And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;
And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.
But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.
And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.
But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?
Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?
And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?
Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?
Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.
And your body is the harp of your soul,
And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.
And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"
Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
Khalil Gibran
And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.
Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."
And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.
Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
The tired and the weary say, "beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.
Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."
But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains,
And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."
At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."
And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."
And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
All these things have you said of beauty.
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.
It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,
But rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Khalil Gibran
Freedom XIV
And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom."
And he answered:
At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.
You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.
And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.
And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?
If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.
You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.
Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.
Khalil Gibran
Friendship IXX
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Khalil Gibran
Joy and Sorrow chapter VIII
Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
Khalil Gibran
Peace XVIII
The tempest calmed after bending the branches of the trees and leaning heavily upon the grain in the field. The stars appeared as broken remnants of lightning, but now silence prevailed over all, as if Nature's war had never been fought.
At that hour a young woman entered her chamber and knelt by her bed sobbing bitterly. Her heart flamed with agony but she could finally open her lips and say, "Oh Lord, bring him home safely to me. I have exhausted my tears and can offer no more, oh Lord, full of love and mercy. My patience is drained and calamity is seeking possession of my heart. Save him, oh Lord, from the iron paws of War; deliver him from such unmerciful Death, for he is weak, governed by the strong. Oh Lord, save my beloved, who is Thine own son, from the foe, who is Thy foe. Keep him from the forced pathway to Death's door; let him see me, or come and take me to him."
Quietly a young man entered. His head was wrapped in bandage soaked with escaping life.
He approached he with a greeting of tears and laughter, then took her hand and placed against it his flaming lips. And with a voice with bespoke past sorrow, and joy of union, and uncertainty of her reaction, he said, "Fear me not, for I am the object of your plea. Be glad, for Peace has carried me back safely to you, and humanity has restored what greed essayed to take from us. Be not sad, but smile, my beloved. Do not express bewilderment, for Love has power that dispels Death; charm that conquers the enemy. I am your one. Think me not a specter emerging from the House of Death to visit your Home of Beauty.
"Do not be frightened, for I am now Truth, spared from swords and fire to reveal to the people the triumph of Love over War. I am Word uttering introduction to the play of happiness and peace."
Then the young man became speechless and his tears spoke the language of the heart; and the angels of Joy hovered about that dwelling, and the two hearts restored the singleness which had been taken from them.
At dawn the two stood in the middle of the field contemplating the beauty of Nature injured by the tempest. After a deep and comforting silence, the soldier said to his sweetheart, "Look at the Darkness, giving birth to the Sun."
Khalil Gibran
Pleasure XXIV
Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."
And he answered, saying:
Pleasure is a freedom song,
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires,
But it is not their fruit.
It is a depth calling unto a height,
But it is not the deep nor the high.
It is the caged taking wing,
But it is not space encompassed.
Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.
And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.
Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked.
I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.
For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone:
Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.
Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?
And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness.
But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.
They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer.
Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.
And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;
And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.
But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.
And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.
But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?
Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?
And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?
Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?
Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.
And your body is the harp of your soul,
And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.
And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"
Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
Khalil Gibran
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Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931) a beloved poet from Lebanon
Biography of Khalil Gibran
Gibran Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883, to the Maronite family of Gibran in Bsharri, a mountainous area in Northern Lebanon.
Lebanon was a Turkish province part of Greater Syria (Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) and subjugated to Ottoman dominion, which granted the Mount Lebanon area autonomous rule. The people of Mount Lebanon had struggled for several years to gain independence from the Ottoman rule, a cause Gibran was later to adopt and become an active member in. The Mount Lebanon area was a troubled region, due to the various outside and foreign interferences that fostered religious hatred between the Christian, especially the Maronite sect, and Moslem populations. Later in his life, Gibran was to seek and unite the various religious sects, in a bid to abolish the religious snobbery, persecution and atrocities witnessed at his time. The Maronite sect, formed during the schism in the Byzantine church in the 5th century A.D., was made up of a group of Syrian Christians, who joined the monk St. Marun to lead their own sectarian thought.
His mother Kamila Rahmeh was thirty when she begot Gibran from her third husband Khalil Gibran, who proved to be an irresponsible husband leading the family to poverty. Gibran had a half-brother six years older than him called Peter and two younger sisters, Mariana and Sultana, whom he was deeply attached to throughout his life, along with his mother. Kamila’s family came from a prestigious religious background, which imbued the uneducated mother with a strong will and later on helped her raise up the family on her own in the U.S.
Growing up in the lush region of Bsharri, Gibran proved to be a solitary and pensive child who relished the natural surroundings of the cascading falls, the rugged cliffs and the neighboring green cedars, the beauty of which emerged as a dramatic and symbolic influence to his drawings and writings. Being laden with poverty, he did not receive any formal education or learning, which was limited to regular visits to a village priest who doctrined him with the essentials of religion and the Bible, alongside Syriac and Arabic languages. Recognizing Gibran’s inquisitive and alert nature, the priest began teaching him the rudiments of alphabet and language, opening up to Gibran the world of history, science, and language. At the age of ten, Gibran fell off a cliff, wounding his left shoulder, which remained weak for the rest of his life ever since this incident. To relocate the shoulder, his family strapped it to a cross and wrapped it up for forty days, a symbolic incident reminiscent of Christ’s wanderings in the wilderness and which remained etched in Gibran’s memory.
At the age of eight, Khalil Gibran, Gibran's father, was accused of tax evasion and was sent to prison as the Ottomon authorities confiscated the Gibrans’ property and left them homeless. The family went to live with relatives for a while; however, the strong-willed mother decided that the family should immigrate to the U.S., seeking a better life and following in suit to Gibran’s uncle who immigrated earlier. The father was released in 1894, but being an irresponsible head of the family he was undecided about immigration and remained behind in Lebanon.
On June 25, 1895, the Gibrans embarked on a voyage to the American shores of New York.
The Gibrans settled in Boston’s South End, which at the time hosted the second largest Syrian community in the U.S. following New York. The culturally diverse area felt familiar to Kamila, who was comforted by the familiar spoken Arabic, and the widespread Arab customs. Kamila, now the bread-earner of the family, began to work as a peddler on the impoverished streets of South End Boston. At the time, peddling was the major source of income for most Syrian immigrants, who were negatively portrayed due to their unconventional Arab ways and their supposed idleness.
Growing up into another impoverished period, Gibran was to recall the pain of the first few years, which left an indelible mark on his life and prompted him to reinvent his childhood memories, dispelling the filth, the poverty and the slurs. However, the work of charity institutions in the poor immigrant areas allowed the children of immigrants to attend public schools and keep them off the street, and Gibran was the only member of his family to pursue scholastic education. His sisters were not allowed to enter school, thwarted by Middle Eastern traditions as well as financial difficulties. Later on in his life, Gibran was to champion the cause of women’s emancipation and education and surround himself with strong-willed, intellectual and independent women.
In the school, a registration mistake altered his name forever by shortening it to Kahlil Gibran, which remained unchanged till the rest of his life despite repeated attempts at restoring his full name. Gibran entered school on September 30, 1895, merely two months after his arrival in the U.S. Having no formal education, he was placed in an ungraded class reserved for immigrant children, who had to learn English from scratch. Gibran caught the eye of his teachers with his sketches and drawings, a hobby he had started during his childhood in Lebanon.
With Kamila’s hard work, the family’s financial standing improved as her savings allowed Peter to set up a goods store, in which both of Gibran's sisters worked. The financial strains of the family and the distance from home brought the family together, with Kamila providing both financial and emotional support to her children, especially to her introverted son Gibran. During this difficult period, Gibran's remoteness from social life and his pensive nature were deepened, and Kamila was there to help him overcome his reservedness. The mother’s independence allowed him to mingle with Boston’s social life and explore its thriving world of art and literature.
Gibran's curiosity led him to the cultural side of Boston, which exposed him to the rich world of the theatre, Opera and artistic Galleries. Prodded by the cultural scenes around him and through his artistic drawings, Gibran caught the attention of his teachers at the public school, who saw an artistic future for the Syrian boy. They contacted Fred Holland Day, an artist and a supporter of artists who opened up Gibran’s cultural world and set him on the road to artistic fame.
Gibran met Fred Holland Day in 1896, and from then his road to recognition was reached through Day’s artistic unconventionality and his contacts in Boston’s artistic circles. Day introduced Gibran to Greek mythology, world literature, contemporary writings and photography, ever prodding the inquisitive Syrian to seek self-expression. Day’s liberal education and unconventional artistic exploration influenced Gibran, who was to follow Day’s unfettered adoption of the unusual for the sake of originality and self-actualization. Other than working on Gibran’s education, Day was instrumental in lifting his self-esteem, which had suffered under the immigrant treatment and poverty of the times. Not surprisingly, Gibran emerged as a fast learner, devouring everything handed over by Day, despite weak Arabic and English. Under Day’s tutelage, Gibran uttered his first religious beliefs, when he declared "I am no longer a Catholic: I am a pagan," after reading one book given by Day.
During one of Fred Holland Day’s art exhibitions, Gibran drew a sketch of a certain Miss Josephine Peabody, an unknown poet and writer who was to later become one of his failed love experiences; later on, Gibran was to propose marriage and be met with refusal, the first blow in a series of heartaches dealt to Gibran by the women he loved.
Continually encouraging Gibran to improve his drawings and sketches, Day was instrumental in getting Gibran’s images printed as cover designs for books in 1898. At the time, Gibran began to develop his own technique and style, encouraged by Day’s enthusiasm and support. Gradually, Gibran entered the Bostonian circles and his artistic talents brought him fame at an early age. However, his family decided that early success could cause him future problems, and with Gibran’s approval, the young artist went back to Lebanon to finish his education and learn Arabic.
In 1898, Gibran arrived in Beirut speaking poor English and even little Arabic; he could speak Arabic fluently, but not read nor write it. To improve his Arabic, Gibran chose to enroll in the school Madrasat-al-Hikmah, a Maronite-founded school which offered a nationalistic curriculum partial to church writings, history and liturgy. Gibran’s strong-willed nature refused to abide by the parochial curriculum, demanding an individual curriculum catering to his educational needs and aimed at a college level, a gesture indicative of Gibran’s rebellious and individualistic nature; his arrogance bordered on heresy. Nonetheless, the school acquiesced to his request, editing course material to Gibran's liking. He chose to immerse himself in the Arabic-language bible, intrigued by its style and writing, features of which echo in his various works. As a student, Gibran left a great impression on his teachers and fellow students, who were impressed with his outlandish and individualistic behavior, self-confidence, and his unconventional long hair. His Arabic teacher saw in him "a loving but controlled heart, an impetuous soul, a rebellious mind, an eye mocking everything it sees". However, the school’s strict and disciplined atmosphere was not to Gibran’s liking, who flagrantly flouted religious duties, skipped classes and drew sketches on books. At the school, Gibran met Joseph Hawaiik, with whom he started a magazine called al-Manarah (the Beacon), both editing while Gibran illustrated.
Meanwhile, Josephine Peabody, the twenty-four year old Bostonian beauty who caught Gibran’s attention during one of Day’s exhibitions, was intrigued by the young Syrian artist who dedicated a sketch to her, and began corresponding with Gibran throughout his stay in Lebanon. Soon, he became romantically involved with Josephine, and they kept exchanging letters until the relationship fell apart, following the rebuffal of Gibran’s marriage proposal and Josephine’s eventual marriage in 1906.
Gibran finished college in 1902, learning Arabic and French and excelling in his studies, especially poetry. Meanwhile, his relationship with his father became strained over Gibran’s advanced erudition, driving him to move in with his cousin and to live an impoverished life he detested and was ashamed of until the rest of his life. The poverty in Lebanon was compounded with news of illness striking his family, with his half-brother's consumption, his sister Sultana’s intestinal trouble and his mother’s developing cancer. Upon receiving news of Sultana’s dire illness, Gibran left Lebanon in March of 1902.
To his misfortune, Gibran arrived too late; Sultana died at the age of fourteen on April 4th 1902, the first in a series of three family deaths which will fall upon him in the coming months. Gibran was very fond of his sisters and of his family as a whole. At the time of mourning, both Day and Josephine provided distractions for him, in form of artistic shows and meetings at Boston’s artistic circles. Gibran’s artistic talents and unique behavior had captured earlier the interest of the Bostonian society, which welcomed this foreign talent into their artistic circles.
Josephine, who slowly captured Gibran’s heart, became an inflectional person in his life, the Bostonian poet constantly referring to Gibran as ‘her young prophet’. Greatly intrigued by his oriental background, Josephine was charmed by Gibran’s vividly illustrated correspondences and conversations. Josephine’s care and attention were the inspiration behind his book The Prophet, the title of which is based on an eleven-stanza poem Joesphine wrote in December of 1902 describing Gibran’s life in Bsharri as she envisaged it. Later on, when Gibran was to publish The Prophet, he dedicated it to Josephine, whose care and tenderness helped him advance his career.
Illness struck again when his mother underwent an operation in February to remove a cancerous tumor. To compound his misery, Gibran was forced to take on the family business and run the goods store, which was abandoned by his half-brother Peter to pursue his fortune in Cuba. This new burden weighed on Gibran’s spirit, depriving him from dedicating his time to artistic pursuits. During this time, Gibran tried to shy away from the house, to escape the atmosphere of death, poverty and illness. In the following month, Peter returned to Boston from Cuba fatally sick only to die days later on March 12 of consumption. His mother’s cancer continued to spread and she died later that year on June 28, a scene which left Gibran fainting and foaming blood from the mouth.
Following the three family deaths, Gibran sold out the family business and began immersing himself in improving both his Arabic and English writings, a twin task which he was to pursue for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Day and Josephine were helping him launch his debut art exhibition, which was to feature his allegorical and symbolic charcoal drawings that so fascinated Boston’s society. The exhibition opened on May 3, 1904, and proved a success with the critics. However, the exhibition’s significance lay elsewhere. Josephine, through her future husband, invited a schoolmistress called Mary Haskell to examine Gibran’s drawings. This introduction to the schoolmistress was to mark the beginning of a lifetime relationship, which would greatly influence Gibran’s writing career. Gibran had sought Josephine’s opinion about his Arabic writings, translating them into English. With the language barrier, Josephine could only provide criticism over ideas and thoughts, leaving Gibran alone to tackle his linguistic problems. Josephine’s role was to be taken over by Mary Haskell.
Mary Haskell, who was thirty at the time and ten years older than Gibran, will go on to finance Gibran’s artistic development and encourage him to become the artist that he aspired to be. As a school head mistress, Haskell was an educated, strong-willed and independent woman and an active champion of women’s liberation, who was set apart to Josephine Peabody’s romantic nature. Mary was the reason behind Gibran’s decision to explore writing in English, as she persuaded Gibran to refrain from translating his Arabic works to English and concentrate instead on writing in English directly. Mary’s collaboration and editing of his various English works polished Gibran’s work, most of which first underwent Mary’s editing before going to the publishers. She would spend hours with Gibran, going over his wording, correcting his mistakes and suggesting new ideas to his writings. She even attempted learning Arabic to gain a better grasp of Gibran’s language and his thoughts.
The significance of Mary’s relationship with Gibran is revealed through her diaries, in which she recorded Gibran’s artistic development, their personal and intellectual conversations and his innermost thoughts for nearly seventeen years and a half. These recordings have provided critics with valuable insight into Gibran’s personal thoughts and ideas, which he kept away from the public eye.
In 1904, Gibran started to contribute articles to the Arabic-speaking émigré newspaper called Al-Mouhajer (The Emigrant), marking his first published written work. His first publication was called ‘Vision’, a romantic essay that portrayed a caged bird amid an abundance of symbolism. Despite spending four years in Lebanon learning Arabic, Gibran’s written Arabic left something to be desired. To master Arabic, Gibran relied on his ear for capturing traditional vocabulary, depending heavily on the Arabic stories narrated in his hometown of Bsharri. Hence his Arabic writing had a colloquial feel to it, which was comfortable to his audiences. According to Gibran, rules of language were meant to be broken and he went on to advocate Arab émigré writers to break out of tradition and seek an individual style. Throughout his life, Gibran’s Arabic writings did not receive the critical acclaim his English books had, leading him later on to concentrate on his English writings and abandon the cause of improving his Arabic style.
Gibran’s first Arabic written work came out in 1905 with the publication of Nubthah fi Fan Al-Musiqa (Music), a book inspired by his brother’s 'oud playing and Day’s several invitations to the Opera. During that year, Gibran started a column in Al-Mohajer called ‘Tears and Laughter’’, which was to form the basis of his book A Tear and a Smile. While writing in Al-Mohajer, a certain Arabic émigré writer called Ameen Rihani, wrote to the magazine lauding Gibran’s article which attacked contemporary Arab writers for imitating traditional writers and using poetry for financial gain. Rihani was to become an important Arabic writer and a friend of Gibran’s, whom he later left for the life-long friendship of Mikhail Naimy. At the time, Gibran published several Arabic poems and wrote in newspapers, about various subjects relating to love, truth, beauty, death, good and evil. Most of his writings had a romantic edge to them, with bitter and ironic tones.
In 1906, Gibran published his second Arabic book called Arayis Al- Muruj (The Nymphs of the Valley), a collection of three allegories which take place in Northern Lebanon. The allegories- ‘Martha’, ‘Yuhanna the Mad’, and ‘Dust of Ages and the Eternal Fire’- dealt with issues relating to prostitution, religious persecution, reincarnation and pre-ordained love. The allegories were heavily influenced by the stories he heard back in Bsharri and his own fascination with the Bible, the mystical, and the nature of love. Gibran was to return to the subject of madness in his English book ‘The Madman,’ whose beginnings can be traced to Gibran’s early Arabic writings. What characterized Gibran’s early Arabic publications was the use of the ironic, the realism of the stories, the portrayal of second-class citizens and the anti-religious tone, all of which contrasted with the formalistic and traditional Arabic writings.
Gibran published his third Arabic book Al-Arwah Al-Mutamarridah (Spirits Rebellious) in March of 1908, a collection of four narrative writings based on his writing in Al-Mouhajer. The book dealt with social issues in Lebanon, portraying a married woman’s emancipation from her husband, a heretic’s call for freedom, a bride’s escape from an unwanted marriage through death and the brutal injustices of 19th century Lebanese feudal lords. These writings received strong criticism from the clergy for their bold ideas, their negative portrayal of clergymen and their encouragement of women’s liberation. Gibran was to later recall to Mary the dark period in which Spirits Rebellious was written, during a time when he was haunted by death, illness and loss of love. The anti-clerical content of the book threatened Gibran with excommunication from the church, with the book being censored by the Syrian government.
During one of Gibran's art exhibitions in 1914, an American architect, Albert Pinkam Ryder, paid an unexpected visit to the exhibition, leaving an impression on Gibran who decided to write an English poem in his honor. The poem, which was first edited by Mary, became Gibran’s first English publication, when it went out into print in January 1915.
Meanwhile, Gibran became more actively involved in the politics of the day, especially with the onset of World War I. To Gibran, the war suggested hope of liberating Ottoman-ruled Syria, through a united Arab military front, aided by a general Allied attack. He called on both Muslim and Christian sides to unite their forces against the oppressive Ottoman hegemony. In fact, Gibran fantasized about becoming a fighter and a romantic political hero, who is able to lead his country to liberation. When he actually suggested to Mary going over to Lebanon to fill a post of fighter, she adamantly refused.
In 1915, the pain he had suffered in his shoulder when he was young began to come back, and he underwent electrical treatment on his left shoulder, which had remained weak and in quasi-paralyzed state following the childhood accident. During the war years, Gibran went into a depression that distracted his thoughts and debilitated his health. Despite his active and widespread writings about the Arab uprising against the Ottomans, Giban felt helpless, contributing whatever money he spared to his starving Syria. To distract himself from war thoughts, Gibran tried to seek further recognition in New York, boosting his social life and joining in 1916 the literary magazine The Seven Arts. Gibran prided himself in being the first immigrant to join the board of this magazine, which reflected Gibran’s literary style. At the time, Gibran’s presence began to be demanded in literary circles, who craved to hear recitations from his books and writings.
By 1918, Gibran began to tell Mary of an Arabic work he had been working on which he called ‘my island man,’ the seeds of his most famous book The Prophet. Based on a Promethean man’s exile to an island, The Prophet evoked the journey of the banished man called Al Mustafa, or the Chosen One. In her diary, Mary recounted Gibran’s musings about the book, which he later called ‘the first book in my career –my first real book, my ripened fruit." Soon Gibran added to the work the title of the Commonwealth, a separate work he had attached to the story of Al Mustafa. Gibran was to later link the seeds of The Prophet to an Arabic work he did when he was sixteen years old, where a man at an inn discusses with the rest of the attendants various subjects. However, Gibran still worried about his English writing and he sought Mary’s advice constantly. Gibran had always been fascinated by the language of the Syriac Bible, which reflected Gibran’s views on the creation of ‘an absolute language’, a task he tried to achieve through his various English writings, through the creation of a unified universal style.
Mary was crucial to the development of The Prophet, for she advised Gibran to adopt the English language for this book. Gibran was further encouraged to pursue writing in English following the attention given to his soon-to-be-published book The Madman. The conversation Gibran had with Mary over the issues of marriage, life, death, love…infiltrated his chapters in The Prophet and various other works. However, Mary was against the title of The Prophet, which Gibran came up with in 1919, preferring the title ‘The Counsels,’ the name which she continued to use after the publication of the book. By the fall of 1918, Gibran was preparing to publish his first English book, and another Arabic poem called ‘Al-Mawakib’ (The Processions), his first serious attempt at writing a traditional Arabic poem with rhyme and meter.
Gibran's first English book The Madman came out in 1918 and received good reviews from the local press, who compared him to the Indian writer Tagore, famous for bridging the gap between East and West, and the English poet William Blake. The Madman, a collection of parables which was illustrated by Gibran, revealed the influence of Nietzsche, Jung and Tagore. Following the success of The Madman, Gibran’s popularity began to soar and gradually Gibran started losing touch with his old acquaintances, Day, Josephine, and now he dissolved his relationship with Rihani. Gibran relished the aura of mystery which he evoked among people, given his undisclosed accounts of his oriental background and his personal reserve.
In 1919, Gibran published his Arabic poem ‘Al-Mawakib’, which received little success from the Arab press. During the same year, Gibran joined the board of yet another local magazine Fatat Boston, to which he contributed several Arabic articles. Throughout his life, Gibran joined societies and magazines such as Al-Mouhajer, Al-Funnon, The Golden Links Society and Fatat-Boston, in order to create a mouthpiece for avant-garde Arabic writing and unite Arabic literature abroad. However, Gibran’s success as an Arabic writer remained limited. Ironically, his Arabic language was still not up to standards and received little success in the Arabic press.
In Fatat-Boston, Gibran developed a close relationship with an Arab immigrant writer Mikhail Naimy, whom he had met earlier in 1914. Naimy, a critical thinker at the time, was among the first Arab writers to acknowledge Gibran’s efforts at advancing the Arab language, and correctly making use of Arab customs and background. He treated Gibran’s The Broken Wings as an example of the universal language of literature, pointing out that Selma Karameh could have easily come from a Russian, English or Italian background. However, following Gibran’s death, Naimy immortalized Gibran, replacing the man with a godly image.
With Naimy, Gibran formed in April of 1911 a ten-member Arab émigré organization called Arrabitah Al-Qalamyiah, which promoted the publication of Arab writings and the transmission of world literature. Throughout its life, Arrabitah was led by Gibran’s call for greater artistic freedom, ever encouraging writers to break the rules and seek individual styles. During the time, Gibran’s involvement in his Arabic writings distracted him from completing The Prophet for a while. Moreover, Gibran vacillated between resuming work on The Prophet or embarking on a lecture tour, as his spreading popularity demanded more artistic presence from him. However, he continued to view himself as a spokesman of both the Arab and English worlds, a role whose difficulty he admitted.
Meanwhile, Gibran's political ideas were incensing local politicians in Syria, who reacted against his article which stated ‘You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon.’ Gibran disapproved of the way the Syrian territories were being managed, and he wrote extensively on the identity of the emerging Arab countries, as the Greater Syria region began to be divided into Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. On the makeup of emerging countries, Gibran called on politicians to adopt the positive aspects of the Western culture and refrain from importing the surface values of guns and clothes. His political thought sooner gave way to a general view on the cultural makeup of countries and the way citizens ought to lead their lives.
By 1920, nearly three-quarters of The Prophet was done while Gibran’s Arab writings continued to occupy his time. In a poignant letter written to Mary, Gibran confessed that he has resolved the identity problem and has balanced the East and West influences, admitting that "I know now that I am a part of the whole -- a fragment of a jar.… Now I've found out where I fit, and in a way I am the jar -- and the jar is I."
In 1922, Gibran started to complain about heart trouble, which was later attributed to his nervous psychological state, and he personally admitted: "But my greatest pain is not physical. There’s something big in me…. I've always known it and I can’t get it out. It’s a silent greater self, sitting watching a smaller somebody in me do all sorts of things.’’ With the near compellation of work on The Prophet, Mary and Gibran acknowledged Nietzsche’s great influence on the book, which is reminiscent of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Mary had advised Gibran about the style of The Prophet, covering issues such as the use of capitalization, the use of punctuation marks and the form of paragraphs. Gibran had insisted that he wanted his paragraphs to remain short, almost becoming one lines. Mary had always pointed out that Gibran was a man of few words, who limited his letters to a minimum of words.
A few months before the publication of The Prophet, Gibran summarizeed the book to Mary: "The whole Prophet is saying one thing: ‘you are far far greater than you know -- and all is well.'
By 1923, Gibran had a well-established reputation in the Arab world through his Arabic articles, which he contributed to the various local and émigré Arabic newspapers. During this time, Gibran was gradually depending less on Mary as a financier and editor. He had agreed earlier with Mary to pay off his loans by sending her several of his paintings, an agreement which settled down their quarrels over money. And as Gibran's confidence in his English writings grew, his reliance on Mary's opinion dwindled. However, Mary’s face remained an inspiration in his illustrations, for soon Gibran will decide to restrict his paintings to book illustrations. The Prophet finally came into print in October of 1923, with a modest success in the U.S.
By 1923, Gibran had developed a close correspondence with an Arab writer, May Ziadeh. Their acceptance began in 1912, when she wrote to Gibran recalling to him how moved she was with the story of Selma Karameh in The Broken Wings.
May, an intellectual writer and an active proponent of women’s emancipation, was born in Palestine where she received classical education in a convent school. In 1908she had moved to Cairo where her father started a newspaper. Similar to Gibran, May was fluent in English, Arabic and French, and in 1911 she published her poems under the pseudonym Isis Copia. May found The Broken Wings too liberal for her own tastes, but the subject of women’s rights occupied her until the rest of her life and was a common passion between her and Gibran. Later on, May became a champion of Gibran’s writings and came to replace Mary’s role as an editor and conversant over the coming years. By 1921, Gibran had received her picture and they were to continue corresponding until the end of his life.
During the twenties, Gibran continued to be active in the political arena, writing extensively on the issue of culture and society and the need of the emerging Arab countries to transport the positive sides of Western culture. Gibran’s writings had remained controversial in his home country, especially with his liberal views on the Church and clergy. As a writer, Gibran relished controversy, and his writings reflected this spirit. His limited success in the Arab world drove Gibran to abandon the cause of gaining acceptance as an Arabic writer and he concentrated his efforts instead on writing in English. Slowly, Gibran was getting to grips with his writing, creating a style of language, as he revealed to Mary that he wished to write small unified books, which could be read in one sitting and carried in one’s pocket.
Mary's role in Gibran's writing career was gradually dwindling, but she came to his rescue when he made some bad investments. Mary had always handled Gibran’s financial affairs, ever present to extricate him from his bad financial keeping. However, Mary was about to make her life decision in 1923 by deciding to move into the house of a Southern landowner, to become his future wife in May of 1926. Gibran helped her reach this decision, which slightly clouded their relationship. However, Gibran continued to confide in Mary, and he told her about the second and third parts of The Prophet which he intended to write. The second part was to be called The Garden of the Prophet and it would recount the time the prophet spent in the garden on the island talking to his followers. The third part would be called The Death of the Prophet and it would describe the prophet’s return from the island and how he is imprisoned and freed only to be stoned to death in the market place. Gibran’s project was never to be completed, due to the deterioration of his health and his preoccupation with writing his longest English book, Jesus, The Son of Man.
As Mary slipped slowly out of his life, Gibran hired a new assistant Henrietta Breckenridge, who later played an important role following his death. She organized his works, helped him edit his writings and managed his studio for him. By 1926, Gibran had become a well-known international figure, a stance which was to his liking. Seeking a greater cosmopolitan exposure, Gibran began in 1926 to contribute articles to the quarterly journal The New Orient, which had an international approach encouraging the East and West to meet. At the time, he had started working on a new English work, Lazarus and His Beloved, which was based on an earlier Arabic work. This book was a dramatic collection of four poems recounting the Bible story of Lazarus, his quest for his soul and his eventual meeting of his soul mate.
In May of 1926, Mary married the Southern Landowner Florance Minis. At the time, Mary’s journals reveal Gibran’s perception with the writing of Jesus, The Son of Man. Writing the story of Jesus had been a lifetime ambition, especially the attempt at portraying Jesus as no one else has done before. Gibran had traced Jesus’ life from Syria to Palestine, never sparing a book that recounted his life journey. To Gibran, Jesus appeared as human acting in natural surroundings and he often had dreams about meeting his ideal character in the natural scenery of Bsharri. Gibran’s imagination was further fueled by the native stories he had heard in Lebanon about Jesus’ life and acts. Soon, by January of 1927 Mary was editing the book, for Gibran still relied on Mary’s editing before sending his works to print.
By 1928, Gibran’s health began to deteriorate, and the pain in his body due to his nervous state was on the increase, driving Gibran to seek relief in alcohol. Soon Gibran’s excess drinking turned him into an alcoholic at the height of the prohibition period in the U.S. That same year, Gibran was already thinking of the post-life and he began inquiring about purchasing a monastery in Bsharri, which was owned by Christian Carmelites. In November of 1928, Jesus, Son of Man was published and received good reviews from the local press, who delighted in Gibran’s treatment of Jesus, the Son of Man. By that time, the artistic circles thought it was high time Gibran was honored; by 1929 every possible society sought to give him a tribute. In honor of his literary success, a special anthology of Gibran’s early works was issued by Arrabitah under the title As-Sanabil.
Gibran’s mental health, however, and his alcohol addiction drove him in one evening to burst out crying, lamenting the weakness of his mature works. ‘I have lost my original creative power,’ he lamented to an audience during a reading of one of his mature works. By 1929, doctors were able to trace Gibran’s physical ailment to the enlargement of his livers. To avoid the issue of illness, Gibran ignored all medical care, relying instead on heavy drinking. To distract himself, Gibran turned to an old work about three Earth gods written in 1911. This new book recounts the story of three earth gods who watch the drama of a couple falling in love. Mary edited the book which went into print in mid-March of 1930.
By 1930, Gibran’s excessive drinking to escape the pain in his liver aggravated his disease, and hopes of finishing the second part of The Prophet, The Garden of the Prophet, dwindled. Gibran revealed to Mary his plans of building a library in Bsharri and soon he drew the last copy of his will. To his pen-pal May Ziadeh, Gibran revealed the fear of death as he admitted, ‘I am, May, a small volcano whose opening has been closed.'
On April 10th 1931, Gibran died at the age of forty-eight in a New York hospital, as the spreading cancer in his liver left him unconscious. The New York streets staged a two-day vigil for Gibran’s honor, whose death was mourned in the U.S. and Lebanon. His will left large amounts of money to his country, since he wanted his Syrian citizens to remain in their country and develop it rather than immigrate. Mary, Mariana and Henrietta all attended to Gibran’s studio, organizing his works, sorting out books, illustrations and drawings. To fulfill Gibran’s dream, Marianna and Mary travelled in July of 1931 to Lebanon to bury Gibran in his hometown of Bsharri. The citizens of Lebanon received his coffin with celebration rather than mourning, rejoicing his homecoming, for in death Gibran’s popularity increased. Upon Gibran’s return, The Lebanese Minister of Arts opened the coffins and honored his body with a decoration of Fine Arts. Meanwhile, Marianna and Mary started negotiating the purchase of the Carmelite monastery Gibran wished to obtain. By January of 1932, the Mar Sarkis monastery was bought and Gibran moved to his final resting-place. Upon Mary’s suggestion, his belongings, the books he read, and some of his works and illustrations were later shipped to provide a local collection in the monastery, which turned into a Gibran museum. ..
Kilde (which I hearty recommend ): www.PoemHunter.com
Gibran Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883, to the Maronite family of Gibran in Bsharri, a mountainous area in Northern Lebanon.
Lebanon was a Turkish province part of Greater Syria (Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) and subjugated to Ottoman dominion, which granted the Mount Lebanon area autonomous rule. The people of Mount Lebanon had struggled for several years to gain independence from the Ottoman rule, a cause Gibran was later to adopt and become an active member in. The Mount Lebanon area was a troubled region, due to the various outside and foreign interferences that fostered religious hatred between the Christian, especially the Maronite sect, and Moslem populations. Later in his life, Gibran was to seek and unite the various religious sects, in a bid to abolish the religious snobbery, persecution and atrocities witnessed at his time. The Maronite sect, formed during the schism in the Byzantine church in the 5th century A.D., was made up of a group of Syrian Christians, who joined the monk St. Marun to lead their own sectarian thought.
His mother Kamila Rahmeh was thirty when she begot Gibran from her third husband Khalil Gibran, who proved to be an irresponsible husband leading the family to poverty. Gibran had a half-brother six years older than him called Peter and two younger sisters, Mariana and Sultana, whom he was deeply attached to throughout his life, along with his mother. Kamila’s family came from a prestigious religious background, which imbued the uneducated mother with a strong will and later on helped her raise up the family on her own in the U.S.
Growing up in the lush region of Bsharri, Gibran proved to be a solitary and pensive child who relished the natural surroundings of the cascading falls, the rugged cliffs and the neighboring green cedars, the beauty of which emerged as a dramatic and symbolic influence to his drawings and writings. Being laden with poverty, he did not receive any formal education or learning, which was limited to regular visits to a village priest who doctrined him with the essentials of religion and the Bible, alongside Syriac and Arabic languages. Recognizing Gibran’s inquisitive and alert nature, the priest began teaching him the rudiments of alphabet and language, opening up to Gibran the world of history, science, and language. At the age of ten, Gibran fell off a cliff, wounding his left shoulder, which remained weak for the rest of his life ever since this incident. To relocate the shoulder, his family strapped it to a cross and wrapped it up for forty days, a symbolic incident reminiscent of Christ’s wanderings in the wilderness and which remained etched in Gibran’s memory.
At the age of eight, Khalil Gibran, Gibran's father, was accused of tax evasion and was sent to prison as the Ottomon authorities confiscated the Gibrans’ property and left them homeless. The family went to live with relatives for a while; however, the strong-willed mother decided that the family should immigrate to the U.S., seeking a better life and following in suit to Gibran’s uncle who immigrated earlier. The father was released in 1894, but being an irresponsible head of the family he was undecided about immigration and remained behind in Lebanon.
On June 25, 1895, the Gibrans embarked on a voyage to the American shores of New York.
The Gibrans settled in Boston’s South End, which at the time hosted the second largest Syrian community in the U.S. following New York. The culturally diverse area felt familiar to Kamila, who was comforted by the familiar spoken Arabic, and the widespread Arab customs. Kamila, now the bread-earner of the family, began to work as a peddler on the impoverished streets of South End Boston. At the time, peddling was the major source of income for most Syrian immigrants, who were negatively portrayed due to their unconventional Arab ways and their supposed idleness.
Growing up into another impoverished period, Gibran was to recall the pain of the first few years, which left an indelible mark on his life and prompted him to reinvent his childhood memories, dispelling the filth, the poverty and the slurs. However, the work of charity institutions in the poor immigrant areas allowed the children of immigrants to attend public schools and keep them off the street, and Gibran was the only member of his family to pursue scholastic education. His sisters were not allowed to enter school, thwarted by Middle Eastern traditions as well as financial difficulties. Later on in his life, Gibran was to champion the cause of women’s emancipation and education and surround himself with strong-willed, intellectual and independent women.
In the school, a registration mistake altered his name forever by shortening it to Kahlil Gibran, which remained unchanged till the rest of his life despite repeated attempts at restoring his full name. Gibran entered school on September 30, 1895, merely two months after his arrival in the U.S. Having no formal education, he was placed in an ungraded class reserved for immigrant children, who had to learn English from scratch. Gibran caught the eye of his teachers with his sketches and drawings, a hobby he had started during his childhood in Lebanon.
With Kamila’s hard work, the family’s financial standing improved as her savings allowed Peter to set up a goods store, in which both of Gibran's sisters worked. The financial strains of the family and the distance from home brought the family together, with Kamila providing both financial and emotional support to her children, especially to her introverted son Gibran. During this difficult period, Gibran's remoteness from social life and his pensive nature were deepened, and Kamila was there to help him overcome his reservedness. The mother’s independence allowed him to mingle with Boston’s social life and explore its thriving world of art and literature.
Gibran's curiosity led him to the cultural side of Boston, which exposed him to the rich world of the theatre, Opera and artistic Galleries. Prodded by the cultural scenes around him and through his artistic drawings, Gibran caught the attention of his teachers at the public school, who saw an artistic future for the Syrian boy. They contacted Fred Holland Day, an artist and a supporter of artists who opened up Gibran’s cultural world and set him on the road to artistic fame.
Gibran met Fred Holland Day in 1896, and from then his road to recognition was reached through Day’s artistic unconventionality and his contacts in Boston’s artistic circles. Day introduced Gibran to Greek mythology, world literature, contemporary writings and photography, ever prodding the inquisitive Syrian to seek self-expression. Day’s liberal education and unconventional artistic exploration influenced Gibran, who was to follow Day’s unfettered adoption of the unusual for the sake of originality and self-actualization. Other than working on Gibran’s education, Day was instrumental in lifting his self-esteem, which had suffered under the immigrant treatment and poverty of the times. Not surprisingly, Gibran emerged as a fast learner, devouring everything handed over by Day, despite weak Arabic and English. Under Day’s tutelage, Gibran uttered his first religious beliefs, when he declared "I am no longer a Catholic: I am a pagan," after reading one book given by Day.
During one of Fred Holland Day’s art exhibitions, Gibran drew a sketch of a certain Miss Josephine Peabody, an unknown poet and writer who was to later become one of his failed love experiences; later on, Gibran was to propose marriage and be met with refusal, the first blow in a series of heartaches dealt to Gibran by the women he loved.
Continually encouraging Gibran to improve his drawings and sketches, Day was instrumental in getting Gibran’s images printed as cover designs for books in 1898. At the time, Gibran began to develop his own technique and style, encouraged by Day’s enthusiasm and support. Gradually, Gibran entered the Bostonian circles and his artistic talents brought him fame at an early age. However, his family decided that early success could cause him future problems, and with Gibran’s approval, the young artist went back to Lebanon to finish his education and learn Arabic.
In 1898, Gibran arrived in Beirut speaking poor English and even little Arabic; he could speak Arabic fluently, but not read nor write it. To improve his Arabic, Gibran chose to enroll in the school Madrasat-al-Hikmah, a Maronite-founded school which offered a nationalistic curriculum partial to church writings, history and liturgy. Gibran’s strong-willed nature refused to abide by the parochial curriculum, demanding an individual curriculum catering to his educational needs and aimed at a college level, a gesture indicative of Gibran’s rebellious and individualistic nature; his arrogance bordered on heresy. Nonetheless, the school acquiesced to his request, editing course material to Gibran's liking. He chose to immerse himself in the Arabic-language bible, intrigued by its style and writing, features of which echo in his various works. As a student, Gibran left a great impression on his teachers and fellow students, who were impressed with his outlandish and individualistic behavior, self-confidence, and his unconventional long hair. His Arabic teacher saw in him "a loving but controlled heart, an impetuous soul, a rebellious mind, an eye mocking everything it sees". However, the school’s strict and disciplined atmosphere was not to Gibran’s liking, who flagrantly flouted religious duties, skipped classes and drew sketches on books. At the school, Gibran met Joseph Hawaiik, with whom he started a magazine called al-Manarah (the Beacon), both editing while Gibran illustrated.
Meanwhile, Josephine Peabody, the twenty-four year old Bostonian beauty who caught Gibran’s attention during one of Day’s exhibitions, was intrigued by the young Syrian artist who dedicated a sketch to her, and began corresponding with Gibran throughout his stay in Lebanon. Soon, he became romantically involved with Josephine, and they kept exchanging letters until the relationship fell apart, following the rebuffal of Gibran’s marriage proposal and Josephine’s eventual marriage in 1906.
Gibran finished college in 1902, learning Arabic and French and excelling in his studies, especially poetry. Meanwhile, his relationship with his father became strained over Gibran’s advanced erudition, driving him to move in with his cousin and to live an impoverished life he detested and was ashamed of until the rest of his life. The poverty in Lebanon was compounded with news of illness striking his family, with his half-brother's consumption, his sister Sultana’s intestinal trouble and his mother’s developing cancer. Upon receiving news of Sultana’s dire illness, Gibran left Lebanon in March of 1902.
To his misfortune, Gibran arrived too late; Sultana died at the age of fourteen on April 4th 1902, the first in a series of three family deaths which will fall upon him in the coming months. Gibran was very fond of his sisters and of his family as a whole. At the time of mourning, both Day and Josephine provided distractions for him, in form of artistic shows and meetings at Boston’s artistic circles. Gibran’s artistic talents and unique behavior had captured earlier the interest of the Bostonian society, which welcomed this foreign talent into their artistic circles.
Josephine, who slowly captured Gibran’s heart, became an inflectional person in his life, the Bostonian poet constantly referring to Gibran as ‘her young prophet’. Greatly intrigued by his oriental background, Josephine was charmed by Gibran’s vividly illustrated correspondences and conversations. Josephine’s care and attention were the inspiration behind his book The Prophet, the title of which is based on an eleven-stanza poem Joesphine wrote in December of 1902 describing Gibran’s life in Bsharri as she envisaged it. Later on, when Gibran was to publish The Prophet, he dedicated it to Josephine, whose care and tenderness helped him advance his career.
Illness struck again when his mother underwent an operation in February to remove a cancerous tumor. To compound his misery, Gibran was forced to take on the family business and run the goods store, which was abandoned by his half-brother Peter to pursue his fortune in Cuba. This new burden weighed on Gibran’s spirit, depriving him from dedicating his time to artistic pursuits. During this time, Gibran tried to shy away from the house, to escape the atmosphere of death, poverty and illness. In the following month, Peter returned to Boston from Cuba fatally sick only to die days later on March 12 of consumption. His mother’s cancer continued to spread and she died later that year on June 28, a scene which left Gibran fainting and foaming blood from the mouth.
Following the three family deaths, Gibran sold out the family business and began immersing himself in improving both his Arabic and English writings, a twin task which he was to pursue for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Day and Josephine were helping him launch his debut art exhibition, which was to feature his allegorical and symbolic charcoal drawings that so fascinated Boston’s society. The exhibition opened on May 3, 1904, and proved a success with the critics. However, the exhibition’s significance lay elsewhere. Josephine, through her future husband, invited a schoolmistress called Mary Haskell to examine Gibran’s drawings. This introduction to the schoolmistress was to mark the beginning of a lifetime relationship, which would greatly influence Gibran’s writing career. Gibran had sought Josephine’s opinion about his Arabic writings, translating them into English. With the language barrier, Josephine could only provide criticism over ideas and thoughts, leaving Gibran alone to tackle his linguistic problems. Josephine’s role was to be taken over by Mary Haskell.
Mary Haskell, who was thirty at the time and ten years older than Gibran, will go on to finance Gibran’s artistic development and encourage him to become the artist that he aspired to be. As a school head mistress, Haskell was an educated, strong-willed and independent woman and an active champion of women’s liberation, who was set apart to Josephine Peabody’s romantic nature. Mary was the reason behind Gibran’s decision to explore writing in English, as she persuaded Gibran to refrain from translating his Arabic works to English and concentrate instead on writing in English directly. Mary’s collaboration and editing of his various English works polished Gibran’s work, most of which first underwent Mary’s editing before going to the publishers. She would spend hours with Gibran, going over his wording, correcting his mistakes and suggesting new ideas to his writings. She even attempted learning Arabic to gain a better grasp of Gibran’s language and his thoughts.
The significance of Mary’s relationship with Gibran is revealed through her diaries, in which she recorded Gibran’s artistic development, their personal and intellectual conversations and his innermost thoughts for nearly seventeen years and a half. These recordings have provided critics with valuable insight into Gibran’s personal thoughts and ideas, which he kept away from the public eye.
In 1904, Gibran started to contribute articles to the Arabic-speaking émigré newspaper called Al-Mouhajer (The Emigrant), marking his first published written work. His first publication was called ‘Vision’, a romantic essay that portrayed a caged bird amid an abundance of symbolism. Despite spending four years in Lebanon learning Arabic, Gibran’s written Arabic left something to be desired. To master Arabic, Gibran relied on his ear for capturing traditional vocabulary, depending heavily on the Arabic stories narrated in his hometown of Bsharri. Hence his Arabic writing had a colloquial feel to it, which was comfortable to his audiences. According to Gibran, rules of language were meant to be broken and he went on to advocate Arab émigré writers to break out of tradition and seek an individual style. Throughout his life, Gibran’s Arabic writings did not receive the critical acclaim his English books had, leading him later on to concentrate on his English writings and abandon the cause of improving his Arabic style.
Gibran’s first Arabic written work came out in 1905 with the publication of Nubthah fi Fan Al-Musiqa (Music), a book inspired by his brother’s 'oud playing and Day’s several invitations to the Opera. During that year, Gibran started a column in Al-Mohajer called ‘Tears and Laughter’’, which was to form the basis of his book A Tear and a Smile. While writing in Al-Mohajer, a certain Arabic émigré writer called Ameen Rihani, wrote to the magazine lauding Gibran’s article which attacked contemporary Arab writers for imitating traditional writers and using poetry for financial gain. Rihani was to become an important Arabic writer and a friend of Gibran’s, whom he later left for the life-long friendship of Mikhail Naimy. At the time, Gibran published several Arabic poems and wrote in newspapers, about various subjects relating to love, truth, beauty, death, good and evil. Most of his writings had a romantic edge to them, with bitter and ironic tones.
In 1906, Gibran published his second Arabic book called Arayis Al- Muruj (The Nymphs of the Valley), a collection of three allegories which take place in Northern Lebanon. The allegories- ‘Martha’, ‘Yuhanna the Mad’, and ‘Dust of Ages and the Eternal Fire’- dealt with issues relating to prostitution, religious persecution, reincarnation and pre-ordained love. The allegories were heavily influenced by the stories he heard back in Bsharri and his own fascination with the Bible, the mystical, and the nature of love. Gibran was to return to the subject of madness in his English book ‘The Madman,’ whose beginnings can be traced to Gibran’s early Arabic writings. What characterized Gibran’s early Arabic publications was the use of the ironic, the realism of the stories, the portrayal of second-class citizens and the anti-religious tone, all of which contrasted with the formalistic and traditional Arabic writings.
Gibran published his third Arabic book Al-Arwah Al-Mutamarridah (Spirits Rebellious) in March of 1908, a collection of four narrative writings based on his writing in Al-Mouhajer. The book dealt with social issues in Lebanon, portraying a married woman’s emancipation from her husband, a heretic’s call for freedom, a bride’s escape from an unwanted marriage through death and the brutal injustices of 19th century Lebanese feudal lords. These writings received strong criticism from the clergy for their bold ideas, their negative portrayal of clergymen and their encouragement of women’s liberation. Gibran was to later recall to Mary the dark period in which Spirits Rebellious was written, during a time when he was haunted by death, illness and loss of love. The anti-clerical content of the book threatened Gibran with excommunication from the church, with the book being censored by the Syrian government.
During one of Gibran's art exhibitions in 1914, an American architect, Albert Pinkam Ryder, paid an unexpected visit to the exhibition, leaving an impression on Gibran who decided to write an English poem in his honor. The poem, which was first edited by Mary, became Gibran’s first English publication, when it went out into print in January 1915.
Meanwhile, Gibran became more actively involved in the politics of the day, especially with the onset of World War I. To Gibran, the war suggested hope of liberating Ottoman-ruled Syria, through a united Arab military front, aided by a general Allied attack. He called on both Muslim and Christian sides to unite their forces against the oppressive Ottoman hegemony. In fact, Gibran fantasized about becoming a fighter and a romantic political hero, who is able to lead his country to liberation. When he actually suggested to Mary going over to Lebanon to fill a post of fighter, she adamantly refused.
In 1915, the pain he had suffered in his shoulder when he was young began to come back, and he underwent electrical treatment on his left shoulder, which had remained weak and in quasi-paralyzed state following the childhood accident. During the war years, Gibran went into a depression that distracted his thoughts and debilitated his health. Despite his active and widespread writings about the Arab uprising against the Ottomans, Giban felt helpless, contributing whatever money he spared to his starving Syria. To distract himself from war thoughts, Gibran tried to seek further recognition in New York, boosting his social life and joining in 1916 the literary magazine The Seven Arts. Gibran prided himself in being the first immigrant to join the board of this magazine, which reflected Gibran’s literary style. At the time, Gibran’s presence began to be demanded in literary circles, who craved to hear recitations from his books and writings.
By 1918, Gibran began to tell Mary of an Arabic work he had been working on which he called ‘my island man,’ the seeds of his most famous book The Prophet. Based on a Promethean man’s exile to an island, The Prophet evoked the journey of the banished man called Al Mustafa, or the Chosen One. In her diary, Mary recounted Gibran’s musings about the book, which he later called ‘the first book in my career –my first real book, my ripened fruit." Soon Gibran added to the work the title of the Commonwealth, a separate work he had attached to the story of Al Mustafa. Gibran was to later link the seeds of The Prophet to an Arabic work he did when he was sixteen years old, where a man at an inn discusses with the rest of the attendants various subjects. However, Gibran still worried about his English writing and he sought Mary’s advice constantly. Gibran had always been fascinated by the language of the Syriac Bible, which reflected Gibran’s views on the creation of ‘an absolute language’, a task he tried to achieve through his various English writings, through the creation of a unified universal style.
Mary was crucial to the development of The Prophet, for she advised Gibran to adopt the English language for this book. Gibran was further encouraged to pursue writing in English following the attention given to his soon-to-be-published book The Madman. The conversation Gibran had with Mary over the issues of marriage, life, death, love…infiltrated his chapters in The Prophet and various other works. However, Mary was against the title of The Prophet, which Gibran came up with in 1919, preferring the title ‘The Counsels,’ the name which she continued to use after the publication of the book. By the fall of 1918, Gibran was preparing to publish his first English book, and another Arabic poem called ‘Al-Mawakib’ (The Processions), his first serious attempt at writing a traditional Arabic poem with rhyme and meter.
Gibran's first English book The Madman came out in 1918 and received good reviews from the local press, who compared him to the Indian writer Tagore, famous for bridging the gap between East and West, and the English poet William Blake. The Madman, a collection of parables which was illustrated by Gibran, revealed the influence of Nietzsche, Jung and Tagore. Following the success of The Madman, Gibran’s popularity began to soar and gradually Gibran started losing touch with his old acquaintances, Day, Josephine, and now he dissolved his relationship with Rihani. Gibran relished the aura of mystery which he evoked among people, given his undisclosed accounts of his oriental background and his personal reserve.
In 1919, Gibran published his Arabic poem ‘Al-Mawakib’, which received little success from the Arab press. During the same year, Gibran joined the board of yet another local magazine Fatat Boston, to which he contributed several Arabic articles. Throughout his life, Gibran joined societies and magazines such as Al-Mouhajer, Al-Funnon, The Golden Links Society and Fatat-Boston, in order to create a mouthpiece for avant-garde Arabic writing and unite Arabic literature abroad. However, Gibran’s success as an Arabic writer remained limited. Ironically, his Arabic language was still not up to standards and received little success in the Arabic press.
In Fatat-Boston, Gibran developed a close relationship with an Arab immigrant writer Mikhail Naimy, whom he had met earlier in 1914. Naimy, a critical thinker at the time, was among the first Arab writers to acknowledge Gibran’s efforts at advancing the Arab language, and correctly making use of Arab customs and background. He treated Gibran’s The Broken Wings as an example of the universal language of literature, pointing out that Selma Karameh could have easily come from a Russian, English or Italian background. However, following Gibran’s death, Naimy immortalized Gibran, replacing the man with a godly image.
With Naimy, Gibran formed in April of 1911 a ten-member Arab émigré organization called Arrabitah Al-Qalamyiah, which promoted the publication of Arab writings and the transmission of world literature. Throughout its life, Arrabitah was led by Gibran’s call for greater artistic freedom, ever encouraging writers to break the rules and seek individual styles. During the time, Gibran’s involvement in his Arabic writings distracted him from completing The Prophet for a while. Moreover, Gibran vacillated between resuming work on The Prophet or embarking on a lecture tour, as his spreading popularity demanded more artistic presence from him. However, he continued to view himself as a spokesman of both the Arab and English worlds, a role whose difficulty he admitted.
Meanwhile, Gibran's political ideas were incensing local politicians in Syria, who reacted against his article which stated ‘You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon.’ Gibran disapproved of the way the Syrian territories were being managed, and he wrote extensively on the identity of the emerging Arab countries, as the Greater Syria region began to be divided into Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. On the makeup of emerging countries, Gibran called on politicians to adopt the positive aspects of the Western culture and refrain from importing the surface values of guns and clothes. His political thought sooner gave way to a general view on the cultural makeup of countries and the way citizens ought to lead their lives.
By 1920, nearly three-quarters of The Prophet was done while Gibran’s Arab writings continued to occupy his time. In a poignant letter written to Mary, Gibran confessed that he has resolved the identity problem and has balanced the East and West influences, admitting that "I know now that I am a part of the whole -- a fragment of a jar.… Now I've found out where I fit, and in a way I am the jar -- and the jar is I."
In 1922, Gibran started to complain about heart trouble, which was later attributed to his nervous psychological state, and he personally admitted: "But my greatest pain is not physical. There’s something big in me…. I've always known it and I can’t get it out. It’s a silent greater self, sitting watching a smaller somebody in me do all sorts of things.’’ With the near compellation of work on The Prophet, Mary and Gibran acknowledged Nietzsche’s great influence on the book, which is reminiscent of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Mary had advised Gibran about the style of The Prophet, covering issues such as the use of capitalization, the use of punctuation marks and the form of paragraphs. Gibran had insisted that he wanted his paragraphs to remain short, almost becoming one lines. Mary had always pointed out that Gibran was a man of few words, who limited his letters to a minimum of words.
A few months before the publication of The Prophet, Gibran summarizeed the book to Mary: "The whole Prophet is saying one thing: ‘you are far far greater than you know -- and all is well.'
By 1923, Gibran had a well-established reputation in the Arab world through his Arabic articles, which he contributed to the various local and émigré Arabic newspapers. During this time, Gibran was gradually depending less on Mary as a financier and editor. He had agreed earlier with Mary to pay off his loans by sending her several of his paintings, an agreement which settled down their quarrels over money. And as Gibran's confidence in his English writings grew, his reliance on Mary's opinion dwindled. However, Mary’s face remained an inspiration in his illustrations, for soon Gibran will decide to restrict his paintings to book illustrations. The Prophet finally came into print in October of 1923, with a modest success in the U.S.
By 1923, Gibran had developed a close correspondence with an Arab writer, May Ziadeh. Their acceptance began in 1912, when she wrote to Gibran recalling to him how moved she was with the story of Selma Karameh in The Broken Wings.
May, an intellectual writer and an active proponent of women’s emancipation, was born in Palestine where she received classical education in a convent school. In 1908she had moved to Cairo where her father started a newspaper. Similar to Gibran, May was fluent in English, Arabic and French, and in 1911 she published her poems under the pseudonym Isis Copia. May found The Broken Wings too liberal for her own tastes, but the subject of women’s rights occupied her until the rest of her life and was a common passion between her and Gibran. Later on, May became a champion of Gibran’s writings and came to replace Mary’s role as an editor and conversant over the coming years. By 1921, Gibran had received her picture and they were to continue corresponding until the end of his life.
During the twenties, Gibran continued to be active in the political arena, writing extensively on the issue of culture and society and the need of the emerging Arab countries to transport the positive sides of Western culture. Gibran’s writings had remained controversial in his home country, especially with his liberal views on the Church and clergy. As a writer, Gibran relished controversy, and his writings reflected this spirit. His limited success in the Arab world drove Gibran to abandon the cause of gaining acceptance as an Arabic writer and he concentrated his efforts instead on writing in English. Slowly, Gibran was getting to grips with his writing, creating a style of language, as he revealed to Mary that he wished to write small unified books, which could be read in one sitting and carried in one’s pocket.
Mary's role in Gibran's writing career was gradually dwindling, but she came to his rescue when he made some bad investments. Mary had always handled Gibran’s financial affairs, ever present to extricate him from his bad financial keeping. However, Mary was about to make her life decision in 1923 by deciding to move into the house of a Southern landowner, to become his future wife in May of 1926. Gibran helped her reach this decision, which slightly clouded their relationship. However, Gibran continued to confide in Mary, and he told her about the second and third parts of The Prophet which he intended to write. The second part was to be called The Garden of the Prophet and it would recount the time the prophet spent in the garden on the island talking to his followers. The third part would be called The Death of the Prophet and it would describe the prophet’s return from the island and how he is imprisoned and freed only to be stoned to death in the market place. Gibran’s project was never to be completed, due to the deterioration of his health and his preoccupation with writing his longest English book, Jesus, The Son of Man.
As Mary slipped slowly out of his life, Gibran hired a new assistant Henrietta Breckenridge, who later played an important role following his death. She organized his works, helped him edit his writings and managed his studio for him. By 1926, Gibran had become a well-known international figure, a stance which was to his liking. Seeking a greater cosmopolitan exposure, Gibran began in 1926 to contribute articles to the quarterly journal The New Orient, which had an international approach encouraging the East and West to meet. At the time, he had started working on a new English work, Lazarus and His Beloved, which was based on an earlier Arabic work. This book was a dramatic collection of four poems recounting the Bible story of Lazarus, his quest for his soul and his eventual meeting of his soul mate.
In May of 1926, Mary married the Southern Landowner Florance Minis. At the time, Mary’s journals reveal Gibran’s perception with the writing of Jesus, The Son of Man. Writing the story of Jesus had been a lifetime ambition, especially the attempt at portraying Jesus as no one else has done before. Gibran had traced Jesus’ life from Syria to Palestine, never sparing a book that recounted his life journey. To Gibran, Jesus appeared as human acting in natural surroundings and he often had dreams about meeting his ideal character in the natural scenery of Bsharri. Gibran’s imagination was further fueled by the native stories he had heard in Lebanon about Jesus’ life and acts. Soon, by January of 1927 Mary was editing the book, for Gibran still relied on Mary’s editing before sending his works to print.
By 1928, Gibran’s health began to deteriorate, and the pain in his body due to his nervous state was on the increase, driving Gibran to seek relief in alcohol. Soon Gibran’s excess drinking turned him into an alcoholic at the height of the prohibition period in the U.S. That same year, Gibran was already thinking of the post-life and he began inquiring about purchasing a monastery in Bsharri, which was owned by Christian Carmelites. In November of 1928, Jesus, Son of Man was published and received good reviews from the local press, who delighted in Gibran’s treatment of Jesus, the Son of Man. By that time, the artistic circles thought it was high time Gibran was honored; by 1929 every possible society sought to give him a tribute. In honor of his literary success, a special anthology of Gibran’s early works was issued by Arrabitah under the title As-Sanabil.
Gibran’s mental health, however, and his alcohol addiction drove him in one evening to burst out crying, lamenting the weakness of his mature works. ‘I have lost my original creative power,’ he lamented to an audience during a reading of one of his mature works. By 1929, doctors were able to trace Gibran’s physical ailment to the enlargement of his livers. To avoid the issue of illness, Gibran ignored all medical care, relying instead on heavy drinking. To distract himself, Gibran turned to an old work about three Earth gods written in 1911. This new book recounts the story of three earth gods who watch the drama of a couple falling in love. Mary edited the book which went into print in mid-March of 1930.
By 1930, Gibran’s excessive drinking to escape the pain in his liver aggravated his disease, and hopes of finishing the second part of The Prophet, The Garden of the Prophet, dwindled. Gibran revealed to Mary his plans of building a library in Bsharri and soon he drew the last copy of his will. To his pen-pal May Ziadeh, Gibran revealed the fear of death as he admitted, ‘I am, May, a small volcano whose opening has been closed.'
On April 10th 1931, Gibran died at the age of forty-eight in a New York hospital, as the spreading cancer in his liver left him unconscious. The New York streets staged a two-day vigil for Gibran’s honor, whose death was mourned in the U.S. and Lebanon. His will left large amounts of money to his country, since he wanted his Syrian citizens to remain in their country and develop it rather than immigrate. Mary, Mariana and Henrietta all attended to Gibran’s studio, organizing his works, sorting out books, illustrations and drawings. To fulfill Gibran’s dream, Marianna and Mary travelled in July of 1931 to Lebanon to bury Gibran in his hometown of Bsharri. The citizens of Lebanon received his coffin with celebration rather than mourning, rejoicing his homecoming, for in death Gibran’s popularity increased. Upon Gibran’s return, The Lebanese Minister of Arts opened the coffins and honored his body with a decoration of Fine Arts. Meanwhile, Marianna and Mary started negotiating the purchase of the Carmelite monastery Gibran wished to obtain. By January of 1932, the Mar Sarkis monastery was bought and Gibran moved to his final resting-place. Upon Mary’s suggestion, his belongings, the books he read, and some of his works and illustrations were later shipped to provide a local collection in the monastery, which turned into a Gibran museum. ..
Kilde (which I hearty recommend ): www.PoemHunter.com
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