Where is xenophobia normally directed?
Xenophobia, built on two Greek roots that trace back over 2,000 years, is yet a very young word dating back just 100 years or so. We all know that phobia is fear. All manner of things are deemed to be the objects of phobia (fear) today. I guess if you have logo-phobia you won’t be reading these logo-phile posts.
The key to the meaning of xenophobia is the ‘xeno’ prefix. This Greek root means foreigner or stranger. So xenophobia identifies an unreasonable fear of foreigners, strangers or people who are different.
Xenophobia is likely to be higher in communities where cultural homogeneity is strong. In multi-cultural societies, filled with diverse people, you would expect unreasonable fear of strangers to be reduced.
Another contributor to xenophobia is the loss of the notion of ‘one blood’. Biblical creation teaches that all people came from the same original family stock. We are all ‘one blood’. We are all related, even if as distant relatives. So we can be confident that people share much in common and don’t need to be feared and distrusted unreasonably.
Logophile – Maelstrom
Where will you most easily find a maelstrom?
The word maelstrom is likely to be used today to describe a bustling office, downtown traffic or hurricane winds. Turbulence, chaos, bustle and similar notions are linked to a maelstrom.
Originally, however, way back in the mid 1500’s, it had a specific meaning which put it on the map, so to speak. The Dutch cartographer (map maker) Mercator, who has given us today’s commonly used map, the Mercator Projection, located a specific maelstrom off the northwest coast of Norway.
So, where will you most easily find a maelstrom? On an ancient Dutch map. Well, you might be lucky to ever find one anywhere else, since they are hardly common.
A maelstrom is a huge whirlpool. It comes from the linking of grinding/swirling and stream or waters. Grinding, swirling waters make a maelstrom.
Movie-goers will most easily find a maelstrom in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Computer animation creates a vast maelstrom, even called such by the sailor who first spots it. So if you’d like to get the sense for a maelstrom in action get to your nearest video shop.
Because of the upheaval and destruction caused by a maelstrom it becomes an appropriate metaphor for intense activity and swirling destruction.
May your life be spared the maelstroms of nature, society and personal upheaval.
Logophile – Canorous
Which sense identifies what is canorous?
We have five senses: taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight. Something that is canorous might possibly touch two of those. Principally, however, it is the sense of hearing that will appreciate that which is canorous.
Canorous comes from a base which speaks of song and melody. Anything that is pleasant to the ear could be said to be canorous. Birds singing, a melodious speaking voice, choir singing and even the hum of a motor.
Now some sounds are not only resonant, but cause things to vibrate, such as with rumbling thunder. So a canorous sound could be sensed by our touch.
When I was in my first year at school, in the small country town of Lake Cargelligo, central New South Wales, there was a deaf boy in my class. When we did class singing the teacher would lead him by the hand and sit him at her feet, putting his hands onto the wooden panels as she played the piano. He could not hear the music but he could feel the vibrations from the sound-board. This would always bring the most delighted look to his face.
May the sounds that surround you be sweetly canorous and may your home be filled with the music of the heart and soul.
Logophile – Halcyon
To what does halcyon best refer?
You may have heard the expression ‘halcyon days’ or enjoyed some halcyon weather. The notion of happiness or enjoyment is linked to this term, but many do not know its mythical origins. Halcyon originally referred (back around 1350AD) to a mythical bird said to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest which floated on the sea, and to have the power of calming the winds and waves.
A variety of kingfisher is called halcyon. But the word is mostly applied in reference to the sense of calm, for which the halcyon bird was responsible.
So halcyon days and halcyon weather are those experiences which are calm, peaceful and enjoyable. We all wish for such times. Sadly, there is no such bird with those mythical powers. However, there is one who has calmed the storm. 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ commanded a storm to stop, and it did. On another occasion Jesus walked on the water and when he came to His disciples, struggling in the boat, the storm was stilled.
So if you are in need of some ‘halcyon’ changes in your life, don’t go hunting kingfishers, but turn in prayer to the one who can still nature and human nature, bringing peace that passes understanding.
Logophile – Verdant Vesture
What colour is a verdant vesture?
It’s the same colour as a verdant pasture and a verdant forest. Verdant ultimately derives from the Latin word viridis, which means “green”.
So a ‘verdant vesture’ is a garment of green colour.
Because vegetation is green the word verdant has taken on the meaning of vegetation. Verdant fields may mean they are green or that they are lush with vegetation. Hence we sometimes see people talk about the verdant greenery, or the verdant, green jungle undergrowth. In such cases the sense of lush vegetation has displaced the notion of ‘green’ and so the word ‘green’ is also inserted.
The Irish, at least those who aren’t Orange, spend at least one day of the year clad in verdant array. The Irish wear green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.