Consciousness of Griffins

The gold the griffin guards is its own integrity, or soul, which it keeps intact through every test of life, not for self-love but for love of a part greater than itself. 
The gold the griffin guards is all the money we've paid in taxes and will never get back.

That's the wonderful thing about griffins: for 5000 years, people have made up anything they like about griffins, or gryphons, or griffons, to protect their personal sacred treasure. Even its name can be spelt whichever way you prefer. Whatever you value or are scared of, the ancient griffin will be your friend in need. 

 An avenging Griffin of Dürer's imagination, resembling Nemesis, full of Weltschmerz and reforming zeal while it guards humanity from moral self-destruction. Detail of Triumphal Arch, woodcut commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I, 1515.

The griffin, half-lion, half-eagle, guardian of mountain gold and royal thrones, defender of justice and truth, a king among beasts and companion to pharoahs, protector from evil, supporter of marriage and good reputations, is one of the most ancient of all mythical creatures, known to the great early eastern and mediterranean civilizations since the Bronze Age, in Egypt, Minoan Crete, Greece, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, India and China, and recorded in their histories by Herodotus and Pliny. In appearance it resembled the cherubim of the Hittites; it was later adopted as an emblem of Jesus by early Christians, and its statues erected outside Buddhist and Hindu temples; it was borrowed as an heraldic device by ambitious medieval dynasties, and as a popular mascot for religious, civic, educational, financial and business institutions across the globe, and even now the griffin is flying its majestic course through fantasy stories and films. CONTINUED

The standing stones of Brodgar

Stonehenge by Constable. Image source: Web Gallery of Art

....a sylvan pagan pyre,

or her body covered in flowers on a boat rowed to Avalon, or buried at water's edge under Brodgar's stones - none of these allowed today....CONTINUED

Acting the King: Power and Illusion of the Baroque

Louis XIV as Apollo, Grotto at Versailles. Photo source: Web Gallery of Art

Louis XIV turned the ceremonial rituals of kingship into ballet, every gesture studied to be as graceful and as pregnant with meaning as possible; even his bodily functions had to be treated as if they were an entertaining performance, but nobody laughed. Individuals like Louis XIV and Elizabeth were skilled performance artists able to bring off the parts of pseudo-deities they created and costumed and choreographed to hedge themselves with divinity, which worked its charm only for as long as the supporting cast was persuaded it had a vested interest in suspending disbelief.  

Full story: Power and Illusion in the Age of Baroque

Revised Pompous Post 2 - Milking History on TV

HISTORY AS SHE WAS BEFORE TV HISTORIANS:
the Muse, Clio, by Boucher

Clio has made herself more important than her story. Now she shows off by treading the boards and singing broadside ballads. The line between showing off and fun-filled, full-bloodied identification with the past has been crossed. 
Everyone nowadays thinks they're a natural performer. The culprits used to be male historians who obviously had been coached to keep their hands busy, and over-compensated by constantly cupping invisible breasts, but now....