And I Call This Love

      Expansion - artist Paige Bradley 

I want to like you.

Let me love you.

I only like you because I don't know you.

When I see your nakedness I cringe. I don't really like any body. I want to see the mask and the costume. It makes me feel comfortable. 

I don't love you without the mask and without the costume.

You are hideous.

Your truth is like drooping breasts and sagging flesh with snaky silvery fissures running up and down from carrying and holding, expanding and shrinking over and over, bringing other naked beings into the world. 

What is beautiful about you and your brokenness?

Let me pretend that you are beautiful and that I like you.

Clothes are not for comfort and utility, they are there so that I can pretend to love you.

And when you are perfect, and young, and beautiful, I will feed on you and use you until you become ugly. 

I will hide you away for myself.

I cannot stand your power.

I will push you down and be your lord and master,

and when you change

you will wear a mask and you will wear a costume to please me, so that I may love you.

If I can't have you, you will hide so that that I cannot see you and I will not be tempted by you.

You will wear a mask and you will wear a costume so that I won't love you.

And I call this love.

– by Julie  O./ Ember Elektra

August 23, 2014

Humbug!

Most likely one of the first things that comes to mind with the mention of the word 'humbug' nowadays is the character of Scrooge in Charles Dickens Classic tale, A Christmas Carol first published December 19, 1843. 

     A (fixed) game at blindman's buff, illustration by Sol Eytinge, Jr.(1833-1905), A Christmas Carol

"A Merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

"Bah!" said Scrooge. "Humbug!"He Had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all aglow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.

 "Christmas a humbug, uncle? said Scrooge's nephew. "You don't mean that, I am sure!" 

"I do," said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You are poor enough."

"Come, then," returned the nephew gaily. "What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough."Scrodge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "Bah!" again: and followed it up with "Humbug!" - Stave I ~paragraph 13

The word humbug carries a few different meanings. It seems that the primary classical meaning attested from the mid 18th century is "trick, jest, hoax, deception". 

 A humbug is a person or object that behaves in a deceptive or dishonest way, usually as a hoax or in jest.-Wikipedia

It is used both as a noun and a verb. According to Dictionary.com:
noun
1.  something intended to delude or deceive.
2.  the quality of falseness or deception.
3.  a person who is not what he or she claims to be; impostor.
4.  something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense: a humbug of technical jargon.
5.  British .  a hard mint candy  

verb (used with object), humbugged, humbugging 
6.  to impose upon by humbug or false pretense; delude; deceive
verb (used without object), humbugged, humbugging 
7. to practice humbug.

interjection
8.  nonsense!

Scrooge often uses the word as an interjection in the story. Christmas? Humbug! Merriment? Humbug! Seeing and hearing strange phantoms, creaking, and moaning in his house when he is alone in the dark? Humbug! However, it is also possible that the interjection is sometimes intended to carry the meaning that Scrooge views Christmas as a trick or scam.

"And yet," said Scrooge, you don't think me ill -used, when I pay a day's wages for no work."

The clerk observed that it was only once a year.

"A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December! said Scrooge… - Stave I

In Middle English bugge/bogge is "something frightening, frightening specter, scarecrow,"(late 14th century) now obsolete except in words like bogeyman, from German bogge, boggelman "goblin," bugbear, and bugaboo.

connected by Chappman["Dictionary of American Slang"] with Bugibu, a demon in the Old French poem "Aliscans" from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin(compare Cornish bucca-boo, from bucca "bogle, goblin). -Online Etymology Dictionary

Scottish bogill is "goblin, bugbear" and old Welsh bwg is"ghost, goblin," and bwgwl  "threat", with an earlier meaning of "fear." It is true that most people would think the appearance of such boogymen as nonsense or humbug. Ghosts and goblins are not real, right?

    A Bugge- Scarecrow, by OdessaSawyer, deviantart

There is the speculation with these 'bugge' words that they may have come from a root word meaning goat, as in the word buck. Before c.1300 buck had the meaning of "male goat" rather than "male dear", from Proto-Germanic *bukkon(Old Saxon buck, Middle Dutch boc, Dutch bok, Old High German boc, German Bock, Old Norse bokkr) which is said to be perhaps from PIE root *bhugo(Avestan buza "buck, goat", Armenian buc "lamb").

It seems likely that these goblin/boogyman words have this 'goat' connection because of the fear of, and demonization of pagan figures such as the goat god Pan, and other mythological/religious figures who were portrayed with various animal features, and who were possessing of earthy natures.

    Arthur Rackham, illustration of Pan from Wind and the Willows- chapter 7; The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, photo British Library

In Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow, is a mischievous sprite. We might say he is a master of humbug; a trickster. Pouk/pouke, from Old English pucce/pucel "goblin" was a common medieval name for the devil, who was sometimes pictured as goblin-like, hairy, grotesque, frightening, or goatish, like the Greek god Pan. Often P's and B's are interchanged in languages. Depending on who is speaking the word and what written system(if any) is used, puck and buck are very similar in sound, and, I would think, most likely related.

    Illustration from the title page of Robin Goodfellow; His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests (1629)

The word poke might be related to 'buck' as well, I would think. The meaning "to push, prod, thrust" is from c.1300, also puken "to poke, nudge", of uncertain etymology, they say, perhaps related to Middle Dutch poken "to poke"(Dutch beuken), or Middle Low German poken "to stick with a knife especially with something pointed. However, it seems very plausible to me that because goats(bucks) have a pushy nature and they often buck and nudge, that poke has to do with goat behavior. Goats are quite unruly and mischievous compared with sheep. 

  Tree Climbing Goats, horse nation.com

Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the slang words used for the sexual act came from 'buck' as well. One being 'poke', the other rhymes with 'buck'. Especially since Pan and the satyrs were seen as being very lustful.

In biblical Hebrew sair is "buck, male goat", also "demon, satyr", and "hairy, shaggy" or "hairy goat "

So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs[sa'iyr "devils, goat demons, hairy ones"] after whom they play the harlot. Leviticus 17:7 

And in Hebrew the word sa'ar(from sear "hair, hairs, hairy") means "afraid, horribly afraid, fear, tempestuous". Maybe this is from the notion of hair standing on end and bristling when one is afraid. Or perhaps from the appearance of the object of fear as being hairy in some way[maybe even bristly, or with 'wings', or 'horns' as *ker is related to sar "chief, prince, ruler official" in Hebrew as discussed in a different post Be Fruitful and Multiply]. Or a hairy, i.e., difficult; hazardous situation. This is a similar to bwg(goblin) and bwggwl(fear), and words in English that are named from the god Pan and the supposed feeling a person would have at his approach, i.e., panic, and the result, pandemonium.

Jacob who was chalaq "smooth"(in Hebrew)Genesis 27:11, and therefore, arom "naked" of hair, made a deal to take the marked, nacod "speckled" and striped goats for himself and leave the white(might we say "bald", as in bald eagle) goats for Laban his father-in-law Genesis 30-31. The nacod(speckled) and striped ones were perhaps the ones stripped of dignity, and therefore 'naked', as were Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall. Naked is exposed, maybe 'exposed' as being 'not perfect'; not white and pure. When Jacob and Laban finally make peace, Jacob leaves and goes to his brother, Esau, the sair "hairy" son of Issac, whom Jacob had also dealt slyly with, like the snake in the garden of Eden who was more arum "crafty, shrewd, sensible" than all the other creatures. Esau lived in the land of Seir(from the same as sear). That is fitting. 

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom Genesis 32:3

Seir was in the country of Edom which was another name for Esau. Esau sold his birthright for the adom adom "red potage, red stuff(literally red red)" and was therefore called Edom Genesis 25:30. This is because Edom is from adom meaning "red, ruddy". Also adom is how Esau is described when he is born Genesis 25:25.

Esau was the rudy hairy(goatish) lustful(for food) one. Esau was the one who looked like a goat, and was unrefined, but Jacob was really the humbug, i.e., the deceptive one, of the two. Labon also dealt deceptively with Jacob, tricking him into marrying Leah and changing his wages ten times, but Jacob tricked him back with goat breeding, and ended up sneaking off. His wife, Rachel, also decieved her father, Laban, when she stole his teraphim "household gods" and deceptively hid them, so she would not be caught with them Genesis 31:19.

    Rachel and Jocob, by James Tissot(1836-1902)

In Latin pilare is "to strip of hair", and pilus "a hair". This is interesting in that pillars are smooth, and pillar-like structures make up containments for animals like goats.

We write with pillars, i.e., styles. A sty is a pen for pigs. In Old English sti, stig is "hall, pen", stiga in Old High German "a pen for small animals", Sweedish stia "pen for swine, sheep, goats, etc." And stalu is "wooden part" in Old English. 

In Latin penna, pinna is "a feather, plume;" in plural "wing;" also "fin, scoop of a water wheel;" and "a pinacle; battlement;" from PIE root *pet "to rush; to fly".

So both pillars and pens have similarities with hairs and quills. Hair is from Old English hær, from Proto-Germanic *khaeran, perhaps from PIE *ghers "to stand out, to bisttle, rise to a point"(cognate: Lithuanian serys "bristle"), but, of course, here again this is similar to the root for horn, PIE *ker- (1) "horn, head, uppermost part of the body". Pinnacles and pens made of stakes are pointed things like the bristly hair of animals and horns. And in Latin horror is "dread, veneration, religious awe", from horrere "to bristle with fear, shutter", from PIE root *ghers- "to bristle".

Waiting in a pen for slaughter would be very horrifying, provided that one was aware of the situation. A sty may be a pen that is an enclosure to provide safety and/or a pen for rounding up for the slaughter. Baa! Humbug! 

   Sheep waiting for the slaughter. Are the pens keeping them safe or keeping them in?

Parchment and drumheads, such as the bodheran in Ireland, and the bedug in Indonesia, are made from non tanned goat skins. 

    A goat, i.e., buckskin on a buck(frame). Central European(Northern) type of finished parchment made of goatskin- wikipedia

The word book comes from Old English boc "book, writing, written document", traditionally from Proto-Germanic, *bok(o)- , from *bokiz "beech"(German Buch "book" Buche "beech" from same source), however books were commonly made from goatskin parchment before paper books were the norm. 

The word beech is from Proto-Germanic *bokjon-, from PIE root *bhago- "beech tree", cognate with Greek phegos "type of oak(acorn food  source)" and Latin fagus "beech", connected with the Greek root phagein "to eat", and sometimes "gluttony", Greek phagos "eater of", Latin phagus, "eating", literally "to have a share of food", from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion, distribute; to get a share; allot

*bokiz- = beech ---> *bok(o)- ---> boc = book ---> English book
                                                  Buche = book

*bhago = beech tree --->*bokjon- = beech ---> boece ---> bece = OE beech
                                        phegos  = oak(type of) ~ phagein = to eat 
                                        fagus    = beech

*bhag- = to share out, apportion ---> phagos = eater of   
                                                             phagus = eat    

   Fagus grandifolia, American Beech- Order Fagales, Family Fagaceae, Genus Fagus, illinoiswildflowers.info

According to the etymological dictionary beech mast was an ancient food source for agricultural animals across a wide stretch of Europe, and thus there is the connection with the Greek -phagos "to eat". Beechnuts also have a high fat content and can be pressed for edible oil. However it seems that there could be another plausible connection to buck, as well. The word buckwheat from 1540's, comes from Middle Dutch boecweite "beech wheat", due to the resemblance of its grains to beech seeds. So there is a connection between the words for goat(buck, bucca Old English), beech(boec), apportion(bhag), and eating(phagos).

In the Genesis story, the goats were apportioned, alloted, or assigned by their appearance, and they made Jocob wealthy. They were his wages. And Jacob would have eaten well because of his goats. Even the goats themselves are a fatty food source, i.e., shamen in Hebrew "fat, rich, robust". A wage is a Wadja "pledge" in Frankish(related to Ancient Egyptian wadjet "papyrus", i.e., paper?). The pledge or allotment(bhag) of Jacob were the goats(bucks)$$$. And parchment made from goatskin is similar in color and appearance to beech bark and beech paper(upon which a pledge might be formally written). So the beech, i.e., fagus, was used as food source for animals and physically resembles parchment. 

Parchment is written upon with styles or quills.

    A pen or fortress of styles

Borough is from Old English burg, burh "a dwelling or dwellings within a fortified enclosure", from Proto-Germanic *burgs "hill fort, fortress". But what are forts made from? Sometimes timber, at lest part of the fortification, as well as the use of natural features, stone, wood and water features such as moats. And the word fort itself comes from Latin fortis "strong, mighty, firm, steadfast", from Old Latin forctus, possibly from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high, elevated"(Sanskrit brmhati "strengthens, elevates", Old High German berg "hill". Having a fortified town or burg would certainly bug someone who wanted to invade.

It is appropriate also, then, that we eat(phagos) burgers. Maybe the word hamburger doesn't just have to do with the city of Hamberg. Perhaps there is a connection or connotation of hamburgers being a tasty, yummy fatty food[drool], or being made from meat of animals that are kept in burgs or fortified enclosures, which might also be made from beech wood steaks.  

   In-N-Out Double Double Animal Style. Fortify yourself against hunger and eat a hamburger.

Burgers are not the most delicate or refined of foods. But they sure taste good! And they get the job done just as well, by certain standards. Hamburgers are not generally considered to be fine dining.

If Esau was a food he would most likely be a hamburger, and Jacob . . . well he is an experience, you'll have to come in for that. Jacob is the  smooth arum, snakey one, and Esau is the lusty hairy sair, goatish one. Two sides of the same coin those twins.

In Hebrew "chosen portion" is cheleq, and Jacob(Yaaqob) was born chelaq "smooth, flattering". He was the crafty(na kal), heel(aqob), supplanter(aqob) of his brother. Esau was first born and should have taken the corresponding bhag(share), however he was a buck, or hairy one. Even Issac, the father of Esau and Jacob loved the hairy one, the first born, the obvious one more . . . but God always has his own plans.

Sometimes the high(bhergh) born are conceited or they can become soft. The burgomaster, being master of the town, will probably be someone who has plenty, and who eats well. Sometimes having power and being well off can lead to gluttony, and sexual immorality.

    King Herod, presumably a phagein, Jesus Christ Superstar, 1973


Therefore, because those who are gluttonous(phagein) often seek out new pleasures in the form of exotic, different, and/or excessive food, drink and sex, we get the notion of "faggots" as individuals who engage in homosexual sexual relations. However there is a difference between excessive perverse sexual indulgence(as in Sodom and Gomorrah), and the homosexual sexual orientation(which simply indicates a sexual attraction to a person of the same gender). Also the goat god, Pan, was portrayed as being very lusty. And Dionysus, another chthonic god, was often portrayed indulging in food and wine. Dionysus was often quite lit, i.e., drunk. What fags!

Humbugs are traditional British hard boiled candy often with stripped pattern. The earliest record of humbugs is from the 1820's.

   UK Taverners Mint Humbug, Pacific Candy Wholesale

  Traditional Black Striped Mint Humbugs

   Humbug Damselfish, Dascyllus aruanus

Why do these candies take the name 'humbug', given what has been said? Curious. Perhaps they are the 'trick' in Trick or Treat? The custom of dressing up and begging for treats at Hallomas can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Given the fact that humbugs were not, at first, traditionally a Christmas candy, and are often made with black stripes, this seems plausible. Also, it is the case that sugar candy became very popular in Europe during the Middle Ages, as well. The humbug itself may be considered to be a bit of a prank too, in that they give a surprise to the senses when the mint flavoring is tasted. Or there is the fact that candies were often used as digestives, and therefore, maybe somewhat deceptively, administered a person medicine under the guise of being candy?

Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down in a most delightful way. - Mary Poppins, 1964

Humbug! 

They certainly aren't hairy…hum…demonic? Some people say sweet things are tempting, and tempting comes from the devil, right? Maybe they are just a small piece…so you just have one…and then just another little mint… and another? Or maybe the trick is that its not a whole candy stick, like a candy cane, but just a little piece? What a jip, humbug!

There was a tragic Mr. Gower-like incidence with humbugs in Branford, England in 1858 which would most likely have affected the name at the time in some manner, especially since the maker of the humbugs was known as 'Humbug Billy'. He accidentally had a batch of his candy made with arsenic(instead of 'daft' which was a variable plaster powered substance often used as a cheap sugar filler at the time[which itself is humbug!]) in it and and around 200 people got sick and 20 died. Ooops! That is a daft mistake to be sure!

Mr. Gower nearly avoids poisoning his client because of the thoughtful intervention of George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life, 1946

It doesn't seem likely, however, that candy makers would name their candy after the fact that they were making their own candy in a deceptive manner, but who knows? That would certainly be demonic to put it right out there like that, knowing that people would take it to mean something less insidious, such as, just a playful name, maybe like hobgoblin, bugaboo candy, or something like that, made to be consumed on All Hallows Eve.

In Greek khthonios means "of the earth", from khthon / chthon "the earth", from PIE root *dhghem- "earth", cognate with Greek khamai "on the ground", and Latin humus "earth, soil", humilis "low"; Sanskirt ksam- "earth". So if Pan was a rustic chthonic god, then he was also a 'hum'-god, or 'hum'-goat, and therefore a humbuck. This would be similar to the Egyptian, Set, and Norse, Loki, in that they are often portrayed with what we consider to be demonic features. Also, Set and Loki were, in fact, trickster gods, and therefore humbugs of sorts.

Witches Sabbath or The Great He-Goat(Spanish: Aquelarre or El gran carbon), Francisco Goya, 1821-1823, Museo Del Prado, Madrid

One of the suggestions for the origin of the 'hum' in humbug is stated in Wikipedia as being from Charles Godfrey Leland(1824-1903). 

Leland mentions the idea that the word could be derived from the Norse word hum, meaning 'night' or 'shadow', and the word bugges(used in the Bible), a variant of bogey, meaning 'apparitions'. The Norse word hum mentioned, or hume, actually means 'dark air' in Old Norwegian. From the other languages based on Old Norse, there is hum in Icelandic which means 'twilight', homi in Faeroese which means 'unclear', and humi in Old Swedish which means 'dark suspicion', documented back to 1541. From this word is also derived the Swedish verb hymla, still in use, which means 'to conceal, hide, not commit to the truth'. -wikipedia 

This seems to be in keeping with the origin of the word being something like humus, since earthy things are seen as being soiled and dark compared to heavenly things, and also, things are concealed and hidden within the earth in chasms and caves. The location of the underworld and hell is somewhere down there.

...As to the question which was posed to me and the actual purpose of this post: 

    Series Published 1969-2004, Historical fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1815

The question was, "In the Aubry-Maturin series Captain Aubry was particularly miffed when a midshipman announced 'Humbug' was the name of the ship. Why did the captain take such offense?"

Considering everything that has been brought to light regarding the word 'humbug'...I don't think any of it is actually relevant to the question, in the end, other than the fact that it seems to indicate that 'humbug' does not appear to be an obscenity. The answer might be simply in this, it's meaning as, "something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense". I was not able to acquire and read the entire passage in question myself, however, if my theory is correct, it could be that the captain thought the midshipman was being cheeky or insubordinate in shouting down, "Humbug", or at best, that the midshipman was not able to determine the name of the ship, and informally shouted down, "Humbug", when the captain asked for the name of the ship. When, in fact, the true name of the ship was indeed Humbug. Just an odd unusual name. So it wouldn't be that the word 'humbug' was itself thought of as being obscene. But it would be obscene to yell, "Humbug", at the captain when you are supposed to be telling him the name of the vessel.

What do you think? Is this all a humbug?

The Forbidden Serpent to Its Creator

Your love is like the warm sand under my skin

Your face is the afternoon sun

I close my eyes 

It leaves me content

like dark wine

Time is only the motion of the breeze and the peaceful waves

Soon it will be night

– by Julie  O./ Ember Elektra

 April 27, 2010, photos by Julie O. /chthonickore

Be Fruitful and Multiply

    Bighorn ram fight, sculpture, Marton Jancso, Hungarian, 2013, morfae.com

Horns are symbols of strength and majesty. Is this simply because horns are hard, sharp or peaked, and can be used for things like fighting and digging? Horns grow on the heads of powerful beasts of burden. These animals provide services and materials that are important for peoples livelihood. They pull plows, provide meat, milk, wool, leather, etc. Not only do horns call to mind the physical strength of these animals, but also they may symbolize all that they provide for us, which is then a cause of our own strength. Horn is from, Proto-Germanic*hurnaz, from PIE *ker- (1) and "horn, head, uppermost part of the body"(Gaulish karnon "horn",  Latin cornu "horn", Persian sar "head", Avestan sarah- "head", Greek koryphe "head", Latin cervus "deer", Welsh carw "deer"), then by extension PIE*ker-n- "horn, tip, peak". In Greek horn is keras/keratos, this is where we get the word triceratops, from trikeratos "three-horned"+ ops "face". Thus, there are many words connected to the root *ker- that have very different sounds in English. They may start with a k, hard c, soft c, s, or h.

Cornucopia is from Latin cornu copiae "horn of plenty/abundance." In mythology Almathea, the foster-mother of Zeus, was either a goat nurse, or nurse with a goat, who nursed Zeus as an infant. One of the horns of the goat was accidentally broken off. It then had supernatural power to provide unending nourishment. Teats/tits, like this horn, provide abundant nourishment for kids/babies. They are "horns" or "heads"(têtes in French) of plenty. Or perhaps trees "tits" of life(tittu is "tree" in Assyrian), or trees of tiit("that which is life" in Sumerian). 

   Abundance, Peter Paul Reubens, c. 1630

Copious is from com "with" + ops/opis "power, wealth, resources" from pie root op- "to work, produce in abundance." The horn of plenty is the giver of good things.

Coral reefs are areas of copious life and abundance for the sea. Coral is from, Latin corallium, from Greek korallium. It says in the Online Etymological Dictionary[OE] that the word is possibly from Herbew goral "small pebble," Arabic garal "small stone." However, it is easy to associate coral with horns too, as *ker-(horn, head)-al. And in fact coral comes from living organisms as do horns. Different types of corals have horn shapes and branching jagged peaked structures. Coral reefs also form a sort of corral(from Spanish corral, from corro "ring") or barrier off shore. 

    Coral Cornucopia, Vintage Hawaiian Shell Art, ebay

In Greek korone "anything curved, kind of crown", Latin corona "crown, garland". So probably probably corro as ring goes back to being "head" shaped, i.e. curved.

Horns can be thought of as a type of crown on the crown of a head. 

In biblical Hebrew qeren/karan is "horn", but it can also have the meaning of "peak or summit of a hill; rays, strength, might, tusks". It seems to come from the sam notion as the PIE root *ker-. Horns are definitely associated with strength, might, and majesty in the bible.

    Moses, Ignazio Jacometti, Colonna dell'Immaculata, dedicated December 8, 1857

When Moses came down the mountain from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand as he came down the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin[ore/or] of his face[panim "face, countenance"] shone [qaran, literally "had little rays/'horns'] because he had been talking with God. Exodus 34:29

So Moses had skin that shone after talking to God, or maybe we could say the appearance of his aura(ore) was peaked/rayed. The Israelites were kind of terrified of Moses with his shining face, so Moses wore a veil when he was in their presence. The people were merely afraid to look upon the face of Moses, however, the rays/horns of YHWHs countenance were so much more awesome that no one could even look upon his face, lest they DIE!

"But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live." And YHWH said,  "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen." Exodus 33:20-23

Sometimes the mere presence of a certain person in your proximity can give you tingles. You don't even have to be looking at them. It can be starling, alarming, like loud blast behind your back.

    Hyde and Hare, Looney Tunes, 1955- Mr. Hyde with hideous countenance 

Horns cause a similar sensation when they are blown.

Imagine the scene of Moses and God in stereo. What kind of sound would an unveiling of the LORD make trumpets of the apocalypse? Possibly like the sound of a horn, cornet qaren-et/karen-et, hornet, trumpeter, right? Horns are piercing and sharp, or deep and powerful, reverberating. They can make your skin crawl. They can instill fear, or be used for festivity, but they cannot be ignored.

    Blowing the Shofar one of the traditions on Yom Teruah(Day of the 'Shofar' Blast), the beginning of the ten day period, "Days of Awe", leading up to Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement"- teruah "shout or blast of war, alarm, or joy" 

Shofar/Shophar is "horn, trumpet, rams horn(for blowing)" in Hebrew, it is from shaphar "goodly; fair, beautiful," shephar "good, fair, seemly," shepher "beauty, goodliness."  Shaphrur/shaphrir is "royal canopy" and shepharpar "very early morning, dawn." This is a glorious beauty like a dazzling sapphire.

and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire(sappir "sapphire") stone, like the very heaven for clearness. Exodus 24:10

And it is the beauty befitting the dwelling place, "tabernacle", of God. It is a majestic, or regal beauty of a thing grown to maturity perhaps, like grown horns are on mature animals, like the dawn is the day come full circle to maturity, and the enlightened person shines("horns") like the rays of dawn.

    Saffron, a beautiful flower with prized horn-like stamens.

Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet stuff; with cherubim skillfully worked shall you make them. Exodus 26:1

Shephattayim is "sheepfold" in biblical Hebrew, so maybe this is "goodly/beautiful"+ "fold", place of protection, where the good shepherd leads his sheep. The sheep are the "good ones" of the flocks, i.e., the (tsone)"sheep" that follow their roi "shepherd." The sons(tsone) of God follow the good shepherd who is their [royal]king of righteousness. Having a safe home to rest your bones is a thing of beauty.

Horns are cone shaped. Horns amplify sound because of their conical shape. In Latin amplificare is "to enlarge," from amplus "large, spacious; abundant; magnificent, splendid" + facere "to make, do".  amplificus "splendid" (which is "grand" and also "shinning, bright, glittering") This augmentation(waxing, Old English weaxan, from PIE *weg-, extended form of *aug- "to increase"), is a cause of abundance. What is small becomes great just by passing through a certain shape.

Unicorn horns are usually depicted as conical or cone shaped.

    Healer Fairy with Unicorn 'Sapphire Night', Playmobile 2013 

Crescent is from Anglo-Frensh cressant "crescent of the moon," from Latin crescere(nominative crescens)  which has the meaning "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell, increase in numbers," from PIE *ker- (2) "to grow"(cognat with Latin Ceres, related to creare "to bring forth, create, produce," Greek kuros "boy," kore "girl, maiden"), which was used to refer to the waxing moon and thus evolved to mean the shape of the moon. Its original meaning is preserved in the words crescendo, de crescendo. The symbols for these concepts in music are cone or horn shaped.

crescendo "growing louder" or "lord-er", waxing, decrescendo "grow softer", waning

Perhaps crescent is really ceres-ent, like the Roman goddess Ceres[whoes daughter was Kore/Core, aka, Persephone] the goddess of agriculture, grain, fertility, and motherhood. These are things that cause growth.

Corn is from Old English corn "grain", from Proto-Germanic *kurnam- "small seed"(Old Saxon korn "grain", Middle Dutch koren, German Korn, Old Norse korn, Gothic kaurn), from PIE *gre-no- "grain"(Latin granum "seed"). Seeds, of course, grow and increase, but many of them look like little teeth or horns as well and when they start to grow, they sprout little "horns".

 

The seed is the fruit of the plant at the peak of ripeness. A single grain multiplies and amplifies into many grains. Maybe we could say when it grows, it "horns".

  The Wheatfield with Crows, Vincent Van Gogh, July 1890, possibly his last painting. 

The corn is as high as an elephants eye. And it looks like it's reaching clear up to the sky. -Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oklahoma

The figurative sense of horn in Latin, cornu, is also "chief argument, salient point; wing, flank; strength, courage, power". So the crux of the matter is the horn. And the horn is the "head" *ker- (1) "horn, head". The chief/horn/peak/tip top of the body is the head. In Egyptian tp is "head", also "chief". The tip of ripe grains are called heads. Seeds are in the heads of grain. Ideas are in our heads and we call them seeds.

    Pomegranate, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore, (pome-grains have little crowns on their horns[, or horns on their crowns)

Persephone, called Kore, daughter of Demeter/Ceres in the story of her abduction by Hades, is forced to return to the underworld for a certain number of months each year because she eats some pomegranate(Mideaval Latin pommum granatum) seeds. 

Were these seeds, i.e., grains "ideas" of Hades, Awides, Aides "unseen, hidden one" that she planted in her cranium(crain-o, *gre-no-) and grew in her brain(cerebrum). 

Grain grows and bears fruit like ideas grow in the mind and bear fruit. Often the ideas of the cranium are brought into being through the hands(which have horns/rays/pointers, i.e., digits), by writing, playing and instrument to make music, using tools, etc.


    Horned Hand Tree, by Ailis O'Reilly (c. 2012),  photo by chthonickore

We also are fruitful by way of our mouths, by talking, singing, and all our talents. We are meant to use what we are given to grow our talents and be fruitful in this life.

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 25:29

It doesn't really sound fair does it? However, it's not about fairness but, rather, cause and effect. You have to possess the seed in order to grow the plant. When the plant grows there is abundant seed, but if you do not have a seed there will never be any plant. So the question of fairness, instead, would be, "where do we get the seed?" The granary, correct?

Much of the way we look, and our natural abilities are determined by our DNA. DNA is the chief of growth and formation in the body, the head hancho.

    DNA Tube, Digital Art Wallpaper - like a horn of plenty 

What is the head, is usually at the top, or peaked. Teeth are little pointed peaks in the mouth. In Hebrew shen is "crag, ivory, sharp, teeth, tooth". Teeth help us to chew our food and are serrated. Serrate is from Latin serratus "sawlike, notched like a saw", from serra "saw", of unknown origin, it says. But saws have sharp peaks like horns/cones that are called "teeth". And there is the famous Matterhorn in the Alps, horn meaning "peak" in German. And the Sierras Navadas, from serra "a saw". In Avestan(the language of the Zoroastrian scriptures) sarah means "head". So maybe it is "head" as in, peak, horn, top, chief. Mountains are jagged, sharp, majestic, beautiful, challenging, they provide abundant fresh(living) water when the snow melts and they are the homes of Gods, like Mt. Olympus.

    El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, High Sierra Mountains, California

This is a picture of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Captain is from Latin caput/capitis "head". Sarah is "lady; princess" in Hebrew, from the same as sar "chief, prince, ruler, official", and there is sarrum "king" in Akadian(so maybe like Sir, or Czar). That would be the "head". Mountains are serra, sarah, sar, and also cera/keratos "horned". 

The one who is "horned" is shinning, magnificent, like Moses when he came down the mountain(horn), or like one who has ben anointed with oil from the horn, i.e., malak(anoint) "to become king(melek) or queen(malka,malkah)", and become like the angels(malak) who are God's "princes" sar.

When Joshua stood by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, a man[is] stood before him with his drawn sword in his hand; and Josuhua said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No; but as commander[sar] of the army of the LORD(YHWH) I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the dust, and worshiped, and said to him, "What does my lord(adonai) bid his servant?" Joshua 5:13-14

This is/ish "male" man who was sar "commander" of the army/host of YHWH was an angel(malak), perhaps? There was something about the appearance of this sar(sergeant) that commanded respect. He was a contender, sarah "contend, exert oneself, preserve" in Hebrew. The patriarch, Jacob was also a contender. 

Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven(sarah) with God(Elohim) and with men(is, masculine side) and have prevailed." Genesis 32:28

Maybe these sar/sarah are commanders and contenders because they are "sharp" smart/enlightened, and this sharpness also makes them shine(qeren) like shen(ivory).

In ancient Egypt the consort of Sah(associated with Osiris/Ausir) "father[chief] of the gods" was Sopdet/Sepdet, meaning "(she who is) sharp" or "skilled". Sopdet was the ancient Egyptian goddess representing the star Sirius(the Latin name of the star), called the "dog"(Kyon) or "dog star" by the Greeks, and Sothis, the Greek rendering of the Egyptian Sopdet. Sothis was associated with Isis(Greek rendering of the Egyptian), possibly pronounced as Ast/Aset/Iset/Auset in Egyptian, from st "seat, throne, place".  Aster "star" in ancient Greek mostly referred to Sothis, and the plural astron "the stars; star". So Sothis, a.k.a. Ast(Isis) the dog star, was The Star of stars, Sirius, maybe sarah-aus, sara/sar "head,chief, horn"+ *aus- "shine". The hieroglyph for Sopdet contains the pointed(like a cone) "thorn" spd hieroglyph.

    Sopdet, Spdt in Hieroglyphics -spd(readiness, sharp, acute), t(bread loaf), spdt(star determinative). A star is "horned","shining".

The heliacal rising of Sopdet as an event(July-August) marked the "opening of the year" for the ancient Egyptians(not necessarily according to calendar date due to the Sothic cycle) and signaled the time of the annual flooding of the Nile. Sopdet was associated with prosperity(abundance) because of the silt left by the flooding waters. Sopdet was said to be the mother of Sopdu/Septu(Horus). Perhaps this is the origin of the meaning of Old English sped "success", as in god spede, Middle English God spede. And the bountiful month of the year September, the day of "seven", the "sabbath" day of rest. Perhaps the days of fat? In Latin sebum is "tallow, suet, grease". By September everything was flooded. After the appearance of Sopdet, came the sopping wet, seeping, soup of silt which was the cause of the fertility of the Nile delta. This is why the appearance of Sopdet and the New Year was also the time of Hapi, the god of the inundation of the Nile. The appearance of Sopdet then brought soft "gentle, easeful, comfortable, calm, undisturbed; luxurious" time of year. Like the summer (*som- "fitting, agreeable") at the peak of power. But summer was less agreeable in the minds of the Greeks who associated the appearance of the dog star, Sirius, with searing heat, fever, and pestilence(think "sepsis, septic" from Greek septikos). Clearly there are good, agreeable, pleasant summers and there are miserable hot dog day summers. 

    Summer sun. In Greek opora is "late summer, ripe fruits, autumn fruits", PIE *op- "work, produce in abundance". September may symbolize the completion of the magnum opus, i.e., the sabbath, the day the LORD has made.

The flooding of the Nile could be tricky business. If the waters were not high enough the land would not get fertilized, and if they were too high the villages could get flooded. Either of those scenarios could make a miserable hot summer. But when the flooding was just right, ahh happy, sitting on soft cushions in the shade, summer/late summer(ahh time, autmn), and a promise of good crops and abundance for the coming year. Sopdet was clearly a double edged sword, a thorn in the side, or necessary fault. When things went well it was Hapi, but if they went poorly it was that bitch, Canis/Kyon(a.k.a. Sirius/Sopdet/Sothis).

Sopdet was the head sba "star"(in Egypian) of New Year. Maybe we could say she was the Queen of stars, or Queen of Seba/Sheba("seven" in Hebrew). With a serious connection to Ceres, the grain goddess, and constellation Virgo.

Sophos is "wise" in Greek, and also "skilled in handicraft, cunning in one's craft; shrewd; learned; cleaver". One who is wise is bright and sharp like a sage, from sagitta "arrow", therefore like Sopdet/Sothis/Sirius. Perhaps a connection then to Sophia(Wisdom), Athena Greek goddess of wisdom and the Egyptian Sekhmet(powerful) "Lady of Flame", lady in red, warrior goddess and goddess of healing.

For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she privates and penetrates all things. For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. Wisdom of Solomon 7:25

Or perhaps Soap-ia?  Soap is from Old English sape "soap, salve"(originally a red hair dye), from Proto-Germanic *saipon "dripping thing, resin" (Dutch zeep, Old high German seiffa "soap", German seife Old high German seifar "foam", Old English sipian "to drip", root *seib- "to pour out, drip, trickle", Latin sapo "pomade for coloring hair".

Satet/Satis/Satit/ from sat "shoot, eject, pour out, throw, stimulate, launch", was the goddess of the flooding of the Nile. She had connection with war, hunting and fertility as well as the Eye of Ra. In later periods her husband was Khnum, the divine potter. She was often portrayed with antelope or gazelle horns with the white crown of upper Egypt. Also called "she who runs like an arrow". After the appearance of the star Sopdet, the satisfaction of her appearance is Satis, the flooding of the iteru(river) H'pi, we call the Nile(maybe having to do will "nail,needle", sharp/swift like an arrow).

 
     Elephantine triad, Anunket, Satis, Khnum- present day Aswan, southern border of Egypt, on the first cataract of the Nile, near the tropic of Cancer.

Assyrian satu is "drink", Hebrew satah "drink" satit "have drunk". Satit, to have the fill of the "tit"? It is also the root of sad, from Old English saed "sated, full, having had one's fill, weary of", from PIE *seto- (Latin satis "enough, sufficient"), from root *sa- "to satisfy". When something is let loose or launched it is powerful, but there is a transference of energy. This is why satiation can make one sad. Middle English saden is "become satiated; satiate", from Old English sadian "to satiate, fill; be sated, get wearied"(Lithuanian sotus "sated"). Like getting hit with an arrow, or when you eat a lot and then need to use the energy or you get fat. When a fruit is ripe it is seeded "full of seeds", but then is it sad because it will get eaten? Being filled or fruitful(a full fruit) is not necessarily comfortable. Ask any woman who is(seeded) and nine months pregnant. She is ready for her water to break. Bring on the flood! Break the dam! God undam the dam/dame, dammit! Full to the point of bursting, miserable!

Sati is the Hindu goddess and consort of Shiva. Sati was a "lady of flame", in that, in her human incarnation as Gowri She was consumed in flame(self-immolation) in order to be reborn. She was reborn as Parvati, from parvata "mountain", so maybe she peaked. Sati is a form of Shakti(power), and was Shivaradni "Queen of Shiva". Their child was Ganesha, the light "ivory" elephant "head" child with "tusks"(qeren), or perhaps keras(with horns), the shining keras-t(Christ) child, Ganesha called Lord of Success(sped), Sopdu-Horus.

   Parvati, Shiva, and Ganesha/Ganesh

The Babylonian God Marduk was called Bel "the Lord, Master", patron deity of Babili(Babel/Babylon). In this way he was similar to the Egyptian god of creation, Ptah(the rock) and the Divine Potter(Pater) Khnum. The wife of Marduk was Belit "Lady" Sarpanit translated as "shining one"(perhaps "head/chief" of face/countenance" or beautiful/glorious/bright countenance"?) She probably looked pretty sharp. She was associated with the fertility, and pregnancy. Perhaps bel "lord" meant something like "horn", which means both a loud inflated sound, and a kind of expanding shape or growth. PIE*bhel (4) is "to sound, roar", and *bhel (2) "to blow, swell". Some would say that Marduk was an inflated Bel who assumed many of the attributes of other Lords.

The cuts of conic sections, which are horns expanding to infinity make circular(like coronas) and curved shapes (like horns). Hyperbola is Latin, from Greek hyperbole "extravagance, exaggeration", literally hyper "beyond"+ bole "throw, casting, bolt, beam, ray". 

    Conic Sections

So this Bel should be the cause of abundance(in the bowls) of his people, or be a bull(with horns) of strength and be a horn of plenty. He was also the cause of the pregnant belly of his Belit. 

And the mighty Bel, as*bhel (4) is "to sound, roar", would be akin to crack (v.), from Old English cracian "make a sharp noise", (Middle Dutch craken, Dutch Kraken, German krachen). Like a god who thunders and blows.


Bel, Marduk and his dragon, Musshushu "reddish snake" or "fierce snake"(also[from an early mistransliteration], sirrusu, sirrush -interesting in that "sirrush" was the companion of Bel, as Sirius, the dog, was companion of Sah) Babylonian cylendar seal. c. 18th century BCE

Marduk was associated with the planet Jupiter and called "Shepherd of the Gods", "Shepherd of the Stars". Shepherds often carry staves or crooks. Ancient Egyptian heqa-scepter was a curved staff like a shepherd's crook. It had the meaning of "to rule, chief, ruler". Hoquet is "shepherd's staff, crook", in Old French, the diminutive of hoc "hook". Hook is from Old English hoc "hook, angle". So the hook is the symbol of one who has power. But power for what? The shepherd is someone who leads and provides for the sheep, the power is not for simply Lording over the sheep or harming them in any way. 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul…your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Paslm 23:1,4-5

A crook is a "hook shaped instrument or weapon"(Old Norse krokr). A crotch is a "pitchfork", from Old North French croche "shepherds crook", from Old French, croc "hook", from the same origin as crook, namely Old Norse krokr "hook, corner". Forks are similar to crooks in that they have a hook or bent shape, but curved more like bull horns than a ram's horn. A crochet hook is a crook. But the activity is not called crooking. We might say the crochet hook is a little crotch for pitching the yarn back and forth. People who crochet are shameless hookers.

   Crochet Newborn Baby Boy Pants[crocheted with crook, crotch pants], by CreativeDragon etsy.com 

The crotch area of a person is a fruitful place of horning, inflation, seeding life, growing/knitting together life, and crowning baby heads. Crotches are powerful instruments which should only be used for good, never evil.    

But in reality, those who have the power don't always use it for good. Those with crooks can sometimes be crooks.

Kraken is from krake "an unhealthy animal", something twisted as in "crook" and "crank".

    Crotchety Kraken with crook shaped limbs cranking on a cruiser

Crocodile is said to be ultimately from Greek krokodilos, some say, kroke "stone, pebble"+ drilos "worm". There is the sense in which crocodiles are "worms", i.e., Old English wurm, wyrm "serpents, snake, dragon, reptile". But this really has to do with their toothy(serras), rocky/bumpy(peaked) appearance, I think. What we call earthworms do "drill" or bore holes into the earth, but they don't look sharp in any way(at least not superficially). The sand worms in the Frank Herbert Dune universe are more monstrous and serrated like the kraken. In any case, in order to drill and bore, sharp teeth or horns are usually present. However, it's not clear to me how kroke means "pebble" or how drilos means "worm" in Greek. I don't doubt it, I just couldn't find the evidence for it. To me it seems plausible that kroko would have the same origin as the Germanic kr- words meaning "bent, hooked". Old Norse krokr is "hook, corner". So the crocodile is an animal that hangs out in the crooks and corners. Doing what? Waiting to kill or croak unsuspecting creatures, even croakers(frogs) perhaps. And as far as I can tell there is the Greek doloo which is "hold out a worm" as in "lure", but it is not the word for worm. Doloo is from dolos "bait; fugitively "deceaver, guile, treachery"(hmm, like dollar?) So maybe a croaker+dollo, is a death doler, or dealer of death by deception, a crooked deceiver one who causes dolus "grief"(Late Latin, from dolere suffer, grieve"). Now that sounds like a crocodile! Pebble worm? Not so much!

    Crocodile - cone shaped, sharp peaked teeth, knobby serrated ridges along the body

When crocodiles catch their prey they clamp on, twist and crank away in a death roll. The crocodile is also a crook with his crocodile tears. So is the devil, the horned prince of darkness, who was the most beautiful(shaphar) angel(with rays/horns of light?), Lucifer. The crooks(sheeperding / staves) of crooks lead to death.

This is the fate of those who have foolish confidence, the end of those who are pleased with their portion. Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend… Psalms 49:13-14

In ancient Egypt the crocodile god Sobek/Sebek and Suchos/Sukhos(Greek) was quite horny as a god of fertility, and god of the Nile. But he was not necessarily seen as being evil or crooked. He was a symbol of the pharaoh's sovereign power(like the crook) and symbolized raw strength, he was called "the Rager". Sobek was a god you wanted to be on your side. He was a contender.

    Sobek with royal swty "two feathers" crown embellished with horns, sun disk and two uraei, holding ankh and was scepter[not shown], Temple of Kom Ombo, Upper Egypt, 18th dynasty 1479-1425 BC Sobeck was said to have created the Nile from his sweat(not his tears) and he wore a sweet swty crown, nice!

Heqet/Heket was the ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth(especially the last stages), fertility, creation of life, and grain germination. She was said to be the wife of Khnum. The hieroglyph for her name included a frog(determinative), hqt, which is like the the hq, heqa "ruler" shepherd crook scepter with a feminine t ending, Heqet[the name of the Frog Goddess and the crook scepter of rulership were similar words]. The frog hieroglyph also represented the qrr/krr sound(phonogram). This really makes me wonder if the word croak, which is said to be imitative, comes from the Egyptian qrr. Perhaps it was imitative, like qrrqrr, or krrkrr, therefore croaker, and crocc maybe? They say kroke has the meaning of "pebble", but perhaps a pebble is just a little stone that looks like a frog, a qrr, a "croaker" rock.

    Frog Amulet, Egyptian, Late Period, 664-380 BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Frogs were plenteous along the Nile in the flood season. They represented fruitfulness and abundance. When a baby is born it passes through the crotch/crook as it crowns(qrr-ns?), like the frogs which emerge from the muddy flood waters. This would be similar to the appearance of seed/grain germinating and "horning"(qeren-ing, qrr-ning), "corning", from the watered earth of the flood plain. It is also interesting that doctors use an instrument that looks like a crochet hook to break the bag of water to induce labor. Heqet was a goddess who was prayed to in order to hasten birth.  

    Khnum on his throne[poti seat], fashioning the divine child Ihy-Harsomptus on his potter's wheel, with Hequet assisting, from the House of Birth of the Temple of Hathor and Iunet(Dendera)

And the hieroglyph for her husband, Khnum, was a large jar/crock("pot, vessel", from Old English crocc, crocca, or a carafe[which is also sometimes similar in shape to a horn], and the Old English word for "potter" was crocwyrhta "crock-write"). Khhnum was the powerful Lord or PIE*poti- "powerful, lord". He was Poti of the Nile and the waters who was a father/foundational/rock Pater potter. The inundation of the Nile could probably be connected with childbirth, in that, when the water breaks birth is imminent, just as when the floods come the new life flourishes. Perhaps this Poti god called forth the croakers with the cracking("opening") of his crock as the waters were released. Maybe that would make him a croak pot. It may also be the reason why we call potty seats "thrones", I suppose. Did I mention, he was depicted with a really big crock?

Where is the "crook/hook" in the sky? It is the tail of Scorpio near Galactic center, the so called Gate(mouth/door) of God or Golden Gate in Astrology. Galactic center is located at the junction of the plane of the Milky Way, the Nile in the sky, and the ecliptic between the constellations of Scorpio(crooked) and Sagittarius(arrow / sharp). 

    Scorpio is a crook that hooks toward the Gate of God, Babel.

An anchor is a type of hook. In Latin ancora is "anchor", Greek ankyra "anchor, hook". It looks like an *ang-/*ank- "bend"(as in ankle) ankh with horns or hooks. A crooked/hooked/horned tau(T "strength")+ rho("head"), or resh("head") in Hebrew, and ra("mouth, opening, door") Egyptian. 

Ankh-like Anchor

The other crossing of the Milky Way and ecliptic is between Taurus and Gemini, the Gate of Man. The Horns of Taurus can be seen as a fork(crotch) in the sky.

    The horns of the bull, Taurus, fork toward the Gate of Man/Silver Gate, galactic anitcenter

What seed(souls of men) might issue from these horns of light and that shining crook?
Grain issues from the cornucopia, babies issue from the crotch, the flood waters issue from the crock, and the anointing oils were kept in a ram's horn. Abundance comes from horns.

In Hebrew shemen/samen is "fat, oil; choice, fertile, ointment; fatness, fertility, plenteous". Semen is called seed. When seed enters the opening, such as the earth grave, Rostau, or ideas are really taken in, i.e., eaten, consumed, or a union is consummated, then new life is created and sprouts forth.

Shama means "truly hear, sound, proclaim, listen, obey, comprehend, understand, witness" in Hebrew. This is like a shaman who is an intermediary or messenger between the spirit world and the human world. Shamans are often shown wearing horns.

    Cernunnos/Carnonos/Carnautus "Horned" God/Man, Gundestrup Cauldron, Early Roman Iron Age, c. 200 BC- 300 AD, silver with gold gilding, National Museum of Denmark

Moses was a shama, he listened to God. He went up on the mountain with the LORD for forty days and forty night without eating or drinking Exodus 34:28 When he came back to down he qaran(shone with rays) which frightened the people. What was the cause of this qaran-ing?

Jesus also spent forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. He didn't come back with any change in appearance apparently, but perhaps had been a  shemama "desolation, waste", and become shamem "desolate, devastated, astounded, causes horror, ruined" because he knew what he had to do. He didn't come back with "horns", but he was to be the horn or giver of life and sustenance.

 and has raised up for us a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant... Luke 1:69

Is being chosen by God a good thing? Is the anointing a caress from God, or the kiss of keres ("death spirits") and cares? Is it a shame or an honor(crowning)? Is it shameful to be chosen and anointed or seeded by God? Does it cause ruin(in-shamen-ation), or does it make one fruitful(seeded)? Does it make one a Christ(anointed), or a desolation? They are really one and the same, its just a matter of perspective.

If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, the fore the world hates you. John 15:18-19

Mary was ruined after her seeding/impregnation by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was going to put her away quietly. The whole thing had to sting a bit. Getting it on is serious business. The appearance of Sopdet/Serious(the sharp one) is a time of potency. The sharpness is not good or bad, it is neither and both. With the right attitude it can hurt so good. It is what makes life worth living. Love it!

Life and growth involves the experience of both pleasure and pain. The tree of knowledge is the same as the tree of life, it is just a matter of perspective. Without movement there is no pain and there is no life. I suppose the trick is to just embrace the wood(TWSS) like a fool on a fools journey, and see what happens. It is meant to be a thing of beauty.

    Triumphant Tree of Plenty, or The Giving Tree as it should be, by Ailis O'Reilly (c. 2012)  photo by chthonickore

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:2 ESV

We are meant to be fruitful and "horn", amplify, invest our talents, to be like the cornucopia, the horn of plenty, living waters and grow to grow full stature, to be beautiful and a fitting tabernacle of God. It is the day that the Lord has made. But don't expect the experience to be only pleasant. It is fine to not be great, who wants pain, but then don't deceive yourself that you have reach maturity and are an adult. You are not magnificent, you are just tooting your own horn.