Poem: "Nevertheless, It Moves"
Apr. 11th, 2022 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the April 5, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from janetmiles and See_Also_Friend. It also fills the "news stories / spin" square in my 4-4-22 "Aspects" card for the Genderplay Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Not Quite Kansas.
"Nevertheless, It Moves"
[Monday, December 3, 2018]
"Did you know that Galileo
went to the Moon?" said Gideon.
"What?" said Raymond. "Wait, what?"
"In this world," said Gideon. "Galileo
had a theory that the Earth was round.
In our world, nobody believed him --
but here, he found a way to prove it."
"How?" Raymond said, intrigued
by the idea in spite of himself.
"In 1633, Galileo used ritual magic
to summon an angel and convince
it to transport him to the Moon,"
said Gideon. "When the Church
challenged him, he did it again and
took the priests along for the ride."
"And that worked?" said Raymond.
"Yeah, from the description it looks
like the overview effect works here
too," said Gideon. "They didn't like him,
but they left him alone. Now traveling
to the Moon is the mark of a great sage."
They both looked at Barb. The demon
stopped licking his fur long enough
to say, "Don't look at me. I'm
nowhere near that powerful."
"All right," Raymond said.
His previous experience
with traveling through
demonic space, even briefly,
was enough to dissuade him.
Barb gave them a wary look,
but when nobody pushed him,
went back to his grooming.
"So what brought this on?"
Raymond asked Gideon.
"What are you studying?"
"Divergence points,"
said Gideon. "It is
really interesting to see
how this world differs
from our own world."
"Your world must be
very different," said Barb.
"Oh yeah," Gideon said
with a rueful chuckle. "It is."
"What other divergences have
you found?" said Raymond.
"Get this, the Titanic never sank,"
said Gideon. "When the ship started
having serious problems, the passengers
saved it with something called a concertina,
which I have no idea what that even is."
"Musical instrument or razor wire, neither
of which make sense," said Raymond.
"A concertina is a type of collective prayer,
which joins the efforts of individual supplicants
to increase the total power," Barb explained.
"They're difficult to achieve, so most examples
are either from monasteries or emergencies.
The Titanic is among the most famous because
it was the first after humans developed a lot
of far-flung communication equipment."
"Huh," said Raymond. "That's interesting.
"It sounds almost like trying to construct
an emergency radio during a storm."
Barb laughed. "Something like that, yes,"
he said, stroking his tail through his hands.
"Here's another example, Rasputin,"
said Gideon. "In our world, he was
considered a quack. Here, he cured
Tsarevich Alexei in 1907. Then by 1913,
Rasputin had enough political influence that
when he told Tsar Nicholas II war would be
disastrous for Russia, and to make peace
with the Germans, the tsar actually listened.
So Russia lost a lot less people that way."
"Rasputin," said Raymond. "Wasn't that
the creepy guy who couldn't really die?"
"He's immortal," said Barb. "He made
a Deal so excellent that it's legendary.
He's a skilled healer and a good seer.
I don't know why humans consider
him 'creepy' though. He's powerful."
"Some people find that kind of power
creepy by itself," Raymond said.
"Yeah, I'm finding all kinds of
weird stuff in my research,"
Gideon said, riffling the book.
"It's hard to wrap my mind
around all the differences."
"I know what you mean,"
said Raymond. "Sometimes
I think I'll never get used to
this place. No matter hard
how I try to push it along,
my adjustment is moving as
slow as molasses in January."
"Nevertheless, it moves,"
Gideon said softly.
* * *
Notes:
"E pur se muove."
Nevertheless, it moves.
-- Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei presented Copernican heliocentrism. It was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615 and again by the Catholic Church in 1633.
The overview effect describes a shift in awareness experienced by many people viewing the Earth from space.
A point of divergence marks an event that turned out differently in two or more dimensions. Chrononauts calls these "linchpins" and their affected subsequent events "ripple points." Alternate history features many different linchpins.
The Titanic was a famous passenger ship that, in our dimension, sank on April 15, 1912. Alternate history explores many different possibilities regarding the sinking and breakup of the ship. People have debated the possible causes and who to blame for the event.
The term "concertina" can refer to a musical instrument or a type of sharp wire. It can also mean a kind of vocal performance. The use of this term for a magically effective prayer implies layers folding together and working cooperatively.
concertina (n.)
"portable, accordion-like musical instrument," 1835, from concert + fem. ending -ina. Invented 1829 by English inventor Professor Charles Wheatstone (who also invented the stereoscope and the Wheatstone bridge). Concertina wire attested by 1917, so called from similarity to the musical instrument.
Entries linking to concertina
concert (n.)
1660s, "agreement of two or more in design or plan; accord, harmony," from French concert (16c.), from Italian concerto "concert, harmony," from concertare "bring into agreement," apparently from Latin concertare "to contend with zealously, contest, dispute, debate" from assimilated form of com "with" (see con-) + certare "to contend, strive," frequentative of certus, variant past participle of cernere "separate, distinguish, decide" (from PIE root *krei- "to sieve," thus "discriminate, distinguish").
The proposed sense evolution between Latin ("to contend with") and medieval Italian ("bring into agreement") seems extreme and is difficult to explain. Perhaps the shift is from "to strive against" to "to strive alongside" (compare English fight with), or perhaps it is via the notion of "confer, arrange by conference, debate for the sake of agreement." Some have suggested the sense shifted through confusion of Latin concertus with consertus, past participle of concerere "to join, fit, unite."
Sense of "public musical performance," usually of a series of separate pieces, is from 1680s, from Italian (Klein suggests Latin concentare "to sing together," from con- + cantare "to sing," as the source of the Italian word in the musical sense). The general sense of "any harmonious agreement or orderly union" is from 1796. Concert-master "first violinist of an orchestra" is from 1815, translating German Konzertmeister.
-ina
fem. word- and name-forming element, from Latin -ina (see -ine (1)), or its identical descendants in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian. The French form is -ine. As a suffix in royal titles (czarina, etc.) it represents an extension from Latin regina.
Some people believe that collective prayer is more effective than individual prayer.
The key to not-quite-Earth's concertina prayer is that it connects the energy of the participants in a way that makes the effect more powerful, rather like linking radio dishes to mimic a much larger virtual dish. This isn't simply a bunch of people individually praying for the same thing at the same time.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian figure involved with the family of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. Rasputin advised Nicholas II to make peace with Germany because a world war would prove catastrophic for Russia. His murder relates to popular tales of him being immortal.
janetmiles and See_Also_Friend. It also fills the "news stories / spin" square in my 4-4-22 "Aspects" card for the Genderplay Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Not Quite Kansas."Nevertheless, It Moves"
[Monday, December 3, 2018]
"Did you know that Galileo
went to the Moon?" said Gideon.
"What?" said Raymond. "Wait, what?"
"In this world," said Gideon. "Galileo
had a theory that the Earth was round.
In our world, nobody believed him --
but here, he found a way to prove it."
"How?" Raymond said, intrigued
by the idea in spite of himself.
"In 1633, Galileo used ritual magic
to summon an angel and convince
it to transport him to the Moon,"
said Gideon. "When the Church
challenged him, he did it again and
took the priests along for the ride."
"And that worked?" said Raymond.
"Yeah, from the description it looks
like the overview effect works here
too," said Gideon. "They didn't like him,
but they left him alone. Now traveling
to the Moon is the mark of a great sage."
They both looked at Barb. The demon
stopped licking his fur long enough
to say, "Don't look at me. I'm
nowhere near that powerful."
"All right," Raymond said.
His previous experience
with traveling through
demonic space, even briefly,
was enough to dissuade him.
Barb gave them a wary look,
but when nobody pushed him,
went back to his grooming.
"So what brought this on?"
Raymond asked Gideon.
"What are you studying?"
"Divergence points,"
said Gideon. "It is
really interesting to see
how this world differs
from our own world."
"Your world must be
very different," said Barb.
"Oh yeah," Gideon said
with a rueful chuckle. "It is."
"What other divergences have
you found?" said Raymond.
"Get this, the Titanic never sank,"
said Gideon. "When the ship started
having serious problems, the passengers
saved it with something called a concertina,
which I have no idea what that even is."
"Musical instrument or razor wire, neither
of which make sense," said Raymond.
"A concertina is a type of collective prayer,
which joins the efforts of individual supplicants
to increase the total power," Barb explained.
"They're difficult to achieve, so most examples
are either from monasteries or emergencies.
The Titanic is among the most famous because
it was the first after humans developed a lot
of far-flung communication equipment."
"Huh," said Raymond. "That's interesting.
"It sounds almost like trying to construct
an emergency radio during a storm."
Barb laughed. "Something like that, yes,"
he said, stroking his tail through his hands.
"Here's another example, Rasputin,"
said Gideon. "In our world, he was
considered a quack. Here, he cured
Tsarevich Alexei in 1907. Then by 1913,
Rasputin had enough political influence that
when he told Tsar Nicholas II war would be
disastrous for Russia, and to make peace
with the Germans, the tsar actually listened.
So Russia lost a lot less people that way."
"Rasputin," said Raymond. "Wasn't that
the creepy guy who couldn't really die?"
"He's immortal," said Barb. "He made
a Deal so excellent that it's legendary.
He's a skilled healer and a good seer.
I don't know why humans consider
him 'creepy' though. He's powerful."
"Some people find that kind of power
creepy by itself," Raymond said.
"Yeah, I'm finding all kinds of
weird stuff in my research,"
Gideon said, riffling the book.
"It's hard to wrap my mind
around all the differences."
"I know what you mean,"
said Raymond. "Sometimes
I think I'll never get used to
this place. No matter hard
how I try to push it along,
my adjustment is moving as
slow as molasses in January."
"Nevertheless, it moves,"
Gideon said softly.
* * *
Notes:
"E pur se muove."
Nevertheless, it moves.
-- Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei presented Copernican heliocentrism. It was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615 and again by the Catholic Church in 1633.
The overview effect describes a shift in awareness experienced by many people viewing the Earth from space.
A point of divergence marks an event that turned out differently in two or more dimensions. Chrononauts calls these "linchpins" and their affected subsequent events "ripple points." Alternate history features many different linchpins.
The Titanic was a famous passenger ship that, in our dimension, sank on April 15, 1912. Alternate history explores many different possibilities regarding the sinking and breakup of the ship. People have debated the possible causes and who to blame for the event.
The term "concertina" can refer to a musical instrument or a type of sharp wire. It can also mean a kind of vocal performance. The use of this term for a magically effective prayer implies layers folding together and working cooperatively.
concertina (n.)
"portable, accordion-like musical instrument," 1835, from concert + fem. ending -ina. Invented 1829 by English inventor Professor Charles Wheatstone (who also invented the stereoscope and the Wheatstone bridge). Concertina wire attested by 1917, so called from similarity to the musical instrument.
Entries linking to concertina
concert (n.)
1660s, "agreement of two or more in design or plan; accord, harmony," from French concert (16c.), from Italian concerto "concert, harmony," from concertare "bring into agreement," apparently from Latin concertare "to contend with zealously, contest, dispute, debate" from assimilated form of com "with" (see con-) + certare "to contend, strive," frequentative of certus, variant past participle of cernere "separate, distinguish, decide" (from PIE root *krei- "to sieve," thus "discriminate, distinguish").
The proposed sense evolution between Latin ("to contend with") and medieval Italian ("bring into agreement") seems extreme and is difficult to explain. Perhaps the shift is from "to strive against" to "to strive alongside" (compare English fight with), or perhaps it is via the notion of "confer, arrange by conference, debate for the sake of agreement." Some have suggested the sense shifted through confusion of Latin concertus with consertus, past participle of concerere "to join, fit, unite."
Sense of "public musical performance," usually of a series of separate pieces, is from 1680s, from Italian (Klein suggests Latin concentare "to sing together," from con- + cantare "to sing," as the source of the Italian word in the musical sense). The general sense of "any harmonious agreement or orderly union" is from 1796. Concert-master "first violinist of an orchestra" is from 1815, translating German Konzertmeister.
-ina
fem. word- and name-forming element, from Latin -ina (see -ine (1)), or its identical descendants in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian. The French form is -ine. As a suffix in royal titles (czarina, etc.) it represents an extension from Latin regina.
Some people believe that collective prayer is more effective than individual prayer.
The key to not-quite-Earth's concertina prayer is that it connects the energy of the participants in a way that makes the effect more powerful, rather like linking radio dishes to mimic a much larger virtual dish. This isn't simply a bunch of people individually praying for the same thing at the same time.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian figure involved with the family of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. Rasputin advised Nicholas II to make peace with Germany because a world war would prove catastrophic for Russia. His murder relates to popular tales of him being immortal.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-04-12 06:43 am (UTC)but when nobody pushed him,
went back to his grooming.<<
Demons groom like bats? Do they have other similar ingroup social patterns?
>>The Titanic was a famous passenger ship that, in our dimension, sank on April 15, 1912. Alternate history explores many different possibilities regarding the sinking and breakup of the ship.<<
I wonder what effect it had on the maritime safety laws, compared to our 'verse?
>>The use of this term for a magically effective prayer implies layers folding together and working cooperatively.<<
I'm sure there are religious rituals and rites that have similar effects...
I think some holy sites, rituals and relics can amplify prayer, and some traditions have group prayer as a standard form of worship.
Thoughts
Date: 2022-04-12 07:20 am (UTC)This one has some catlike traits.
>> I wonder what effect it had on the maritime safety laws, compared to our 'verse? <<
When a ship full of extremely important people has to cast a concertina to survive, you may sure that the safety laws will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb.
>> I'm sure there are religious rituals and rites that have similar effects... <<
There are.
>> I think some holy sites, rituals and relics can amplify prayer, and some traditions have group prayer as a standard form of worship. <<
Many are designed that way. I found the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette especially impressive.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-04-12 01:40 pm (UTC)If he has too many, it might be difficult to get along with some people.
Then again, the expectation that a demon will act nonhuman might buffer expectations. (Plus the fact that some nonhumans seem very pwerful.)
>>When a ship full of extremely important people has to cast a concertina to survive, you may sure that the safety laws will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb.<<
I guess part of it was the whole idea of not relying soley on miracles.
-
Also, good.
Something that people often forget about with alt-reality and alt history is that you can get strange, unexpected effects from changing something, even when trying to help.
No Titanic? [Often] no brush up for maritime safety laws, which might not happen until after WWI if at all. (The next candidate would be Lufthansa, I think, except that was spun into war propaganda.) How many more people die in the meantime?
No WWI? No pads/tampons, which over half the population wouldn't think of. (Still, by itself would be a fair tradeoff, I think.) However, we'd also not have synthetic fabric, no ban on glass mines/bullets/chemical warfare...and how many more warmongers would there have been in the 40's if we hadn't lost whole generations to the European poppy fields? Oh, and the influenza epidemic might have been less severe and the practice of mourning dress might have stuck around a bit longer - as would the system of aristocracy.
No American Civil War? The country is a an alliance, and more likely to crumple under stress - which might have kept us out of later wars/world affairs far more often or completely. (Then again, different laws and stronger individual states might make a civil-rights Run For The Border nigratio more practical as a way to improve your lot in life.)
(no subject)
Date: 2022-04-12 01:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-04-12 10:45 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2022-04-13 12:23 am (UTC)