9 A Latvian Latvia for Latvians? Mimesis or Alterity?

Each actor, when asked to play a role, will play it his or her way. Thus, each Latvian actor, if asked to play The Bear Destroyer (Lachplesis), will do it differently. The same goes for the reenactment of any role, say, in an opera. This role playing is what is called miming, mimesis of an original presented by the creator of a story or the “Creator”.

However, when an actor becomes something entirely different than the character presented by a writer/creator, if the actor becomes a turn-coat vis a vis the character, then this is known as alterity. Thus, Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde or Mr. Hyde becomes Dr. Jekyll. Such a switch also describes a split personality. The story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was originally written (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson. Lewis Carroll, who wrote “Alice in Wonderland”, a story famous for  the invention of many curious characters, one being the Cheshihre Cat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Cat , sees the cat mimicing himself by leaving behind himself a grin even as he himself disappears.

The terms “mimesis” and “alterity”, I take from Professor Michael Taussing’s work by that name. I was especially taken by the chapters in the book on the Cuno (also Guno, Kuno) Indians of Panama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guna_people , who according to Professor Taussig in spite of many and frequent exposures to cultures other than their own managed to stay the same, did not change in their fundamental character, and did not become turn-coats vis a vis their ancestry.

In the Cuno culture, it is the men who mimic their western occupants, soon learning to dress as their occupants, while the women remained the guardians of the ancestral values, especially through their skill at making appliqués, the famous mola blouses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guna_people .  The Cuna men to our day remain protective of their women. However, the key to maintaining the Cuna community is (to quote from Wikipedia) “a Saila (pronounced "sai-lah"). The Saila is traditionally both the political and spiritual leader of the community; he memorizes songs which relate the sacred history of the people, and in turn transmits them to the people.”

Now the Saila for the Slavic and Baltic/Latvian people was traditionally know as Ivan and/or Janis/John. Unfortunately, unlike among the Cunos, where their Saila retained the power of life and death in the community, among Latvians, their John or Johns were savaged, killed and humiliated, by the religion of the oligarchs. Left with no place to run and hide—the forests being largely destroyed by the middle of the 19^th century—the Latvians were left with little choice but to “westernize” or lie themselves into an alternate existence. This “lying into” another make-believe creature is fanatically defended (a characteristic of the convert) as “real” (rather than virtual). This is a widely shared Latvian characteristic. Any subliminal guilt associated with the denial of the culture of their forebears is hastily covered by prejudice, re: once anti-Semitism and now anti-Russianism or anti-Slavism, a feature quickly exploited by the real occupants of Latvia: the romanizers, which includes everything and all characteristics that are described by the word “West”.

If the reader has followed my blogs, he-she can see how the “westernization” affected and manifested itself through this writer’s family and his experience and eyes. The brightest playing cards in this “game of transformation” belong to AB and Emilija.

First, there were my grandfathers, ‘westernized’ men, who came (about 1740) to “westernize” demoralized Latvians through bringing them into their Herrnhuter community. Second, there are the women: a) my paternal grandmother, also famous for her work with yarn and needle, but eventually brought low by their “westernized” counterparts. The road traveled by the “westernized” or romanized counterpart is clearly seen by the process of alterization experienced and performed by my godmother Emilija Simsone Benjamins, who changed from a woman with soft features into a harsh, stern, steely, managerial looking magna-tes.

Much could be written about the metamorphosis of the mimetic faculty into an alternate and alternizing character. The excuse for the submission of tradition to something entirely different is summed up in the statement so common in urban liberal democracy, re: change: http://www.iliketoquote.com/change-is-the-essence-of-life-be-willing-to-surrender-what-you-are-for-what-you-could-become/ .

Having gained his “million”, AB buried himself ever more in work, became extremely “fat” (went on cures to Germany to heal his ‘heart embraced by fat’), and wished that he could divorce Emilija. He did not do the latter on the advice of his lawyers, one of who was my godfather, a “senator” of Latvia’s Supreme Court, because then he would lose his amassed ‘million’ in the hands of his 2^nd wife, Emilija. Whether AB had originally been willing to so “alter” himself, I will never know, but he had no doubt taken the chance that he may die of the effort. The ‘heart embraced by fat’, perhaps a psychological consequence of losing his sovereignty over his person, was a consequence of his succumbing to the “wealth virus”.

A Whirlpool of a Cloud on the Horizon.

December 5, 2111

Map of the Baltic states during the Great Northern War (1700-1721): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Northern_War_Part1.png

The history of Eastern and Central Europe is among the least explored histories. For practical purposes, it is an unknown history. At this time , this “known unknown history” is rather harmful to the people living in the region. The reason for this “known unknown” is attributable to the political interests, which have fought over the possession of the region over a long period of time.

Since the author was born in Riga, Latvia (1933), his interests are concerned with the fate of the Latvian people. His original knowledge of the history of the Baltic region was taught to him in Latvian schools, while he resided as a refugee in Western Germany, the history that he became familiar with is the version that traces Latvia's beginnings to the founding of the City of Riga in 1201 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/503392/Riga by Bishop Albert, who had landed there in 1199 with 23 ships filled with [the Order of the Brothers of the Sword , whom he attached as a branch unit to the Teutonic Knights in 1237). to wage a Crusade against the (?) Eastern pagans or perhaps Christians.



The Whirlpool of a Cloud is Caught by the Rake Formed of Dead Trees.

The interpretation of the early period of Riga (and Latvia) continues to be hazy for reasons of persistent obscurantism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscurantism , its repressive force fed by numerous religious interests to this day. The pervasive repression in the Latvian culture of religion continues to this day (affecting all sectors of society),

http://www.makslasvesture.lv/index.php/Att%C4%93ls:Baumanu_Karlis_Ligo_1874.jpg

View of the Temple Honoring Destroyed Forests from the West.

While Latvia is said to be largely under the aegis of the Lutheran Church, it must not be forgotten, that the foundation of the Lutheran Church is Catholic, and remains Catholic in its outlook to this day (the Lutheran archbishop of Riga, Vanags http://news.frut.lv/lv/ppl/107258 , recently discussed making an alliance with the Catholic Church that had once dominated in Latvia’s eastern part, which was for a long time under Polish control. One of the unanswered myseries of the attack on Jersica is whether the inhabitants of Jersika were, as those of Carcasonne in France  http://www.cathar.info/1202b_chronolgy.htm , Cathar Christians, who—like those in Languedoc—may have had Slavic roots.

The diversion of the Slavic-Baltic language connection probably goes back to this time. Indeed, the linguistic split may not have taken place until the times of the so-called “Great Schism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism ,” in which conflict the agressor, the Roman Catholic Church, appears to taken the upper hand. The Catholic background of Livonia continues to favor (even in academic circles in our day) the prejudice held by the pro-Catholics prejudice, which may explain the Latvian  prejudice that “wills the ways of the West” (facilitated by aggressive behavior) and “offs the East”.

Religious obscurantism continues to influence the way the Eastern-Central part of Europe thinks about its history to the present day. If it is true that the famous sash of Lielvarde http://baltic-crossroads.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=301 is of Cathar origin (they were known to be fabulous veawers), the mystery of who inhabited Jersika is explained.

V iew of Temple Honorings Johns from the East.



In this writer’s opinion deliberate obscuring of history begins not only to camoflage the events surrounding the arrival of the Crusaders in Riga, but their attack in 1209 against the city of Jersika (likely a native colloquialism for Jerusalem), located up-river of the Duna (?Juna). The attack on Jersika coincides with the beginning of the Albigensian Crusade, especially the siege of the Cathar city of Carcasonne in Languedoc, France. While the attacks on Riga and Jersika were led by German knights, the attack against Carcasonne http://www.cathar.info/1202b_chronolgy.htm was led by knights from Northern France. No one is known to have survived the attack on Jersika.

Of some interest is the fact that the Cathars of Languaedoc could escape east to Croatia and Serbia, where the the religious were somewhat protected from the onslaught of the Crusaders because the area was a stronghold of the Slavs, who traced their religious influence to Byzantium or Constantinople (destroyed in the (?) 4th Crusade of 1204).

The focus of political conflict in Latvia these days is the Latvian-Russian languages issue. The issue was discussed in more detail in the previous blog. Even today, the President of Latvia, Andris Berzins, said that he will resign his Presidency http://www.apollo.lv/portal/news/articles/257837 if the Russian language Is to ever get a Constitutional foothold in Latvia, that is. if Russian were to ever become the 2^nd language in Latvia. The Latvian Constitution (Satversme) states that the Latvian language is the only language of Latvia, and does this no less dogmatically than the Pope insists that he remains the ultimate authority of all matters that concern Christianity.

What if we consider the possibility that the Latvian language is not only a matter of ethnic identity for Latvians, but also performs a repressive function against all things Cathar and early Christian, that is to say, insists that it does not  perceive divinity in “dualistic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism_(philosophy_of_mind) ” terms. In the instance of present-day Latvia, the dualistic view likely belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Black John, the Victim in Situ.

It may be argued that the proto-Latvian viewpoint is “dualist”, once expressed by the congregations of the Children of Johns, a priest of who is visible in the Latvian “Līgo” flag. If prejudicial views are denied in favor of equal rights, the image of the priest who presides over the congregation, visible in the far background of the illustration, is the same as one may imagine is likely to be presented by a Russian (?or Greek) Orthodox priest http://www.makslasvesture.lv/index.php/Att%C4%93ls:Baumanu_Karlis_Ligo_1874.jpg residing with the people in the countryside. For those who wish to dispute this tie, the picture also proves that a Christian priest need not hold in his hand a crucifix, but a greening branch will do.

As for dualism, the Latvian language, too, is “dualistic” by its nature—especially when one considers the cultivated autism (the Gordian knot on the Latvian mind) fostered by the “schism” between its official language and endearing words. (See discussion in above blogs). By the way, the Russian language has no shortage of endearing words.