The Three Aristasian Refuges Tuesday, Apr 29 2008

Miss Sakura tells her thoughts:

In the Aethyr I was thinking of the Three Great Refuges of Buddhism: the Acts by which one becomes a Buddhist. These are:

I take Refuge in the Buddha

I take Refuge in the Dharma

I take Refuge in the Sangha

Now we must understand that “Buddha” means the supreme Spirit; the Atma.

The Dharma is the “Wonderful Law”.

The Sangha is the Buddhist community or congregation.

What I felt I was told was that the process of becoming an Aristasian is a precise parallel to this. We too take the Three Great Refuges:

I take Refuge in Dea

I take Refuge in the Thamë

I take Refuge in the Motherland

We must understand that:

Dea is the supreme Spirit, the Atma, and the Mother of every soul.

The Thamë is the Golden Order, the Wonderful Law which governs the stars, the Empire and our own hearts.

The Motherland is the true Home of every Aristasian. By the care and direction of our Puran mistresses we live, as part of the great Familia of the Celestial Empire, which is seen as a saving community. By extension we also take refuge in the sisterhood of Aristasians in Telluria, who are the legitimate and adopted continuation of the Familia in this world.

What I felt that I was being told was that the taking of these three Refuges was the way a Tellurian becomes an Aristasian.

I humbly pass this forward to my Elders for their wise consideration.

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Princess Peach Thursday, Apr 24 2008

Princess Peach is the Nintendo heroine who, though frequently kidnapped in her early life, has survived to become an active, adventurous and sporting princess. She is most Aristasians’ preference when playing light games. But is she a blonde or a brunette?

Miss Lindie reports:
Princess Peach is assuredly a blonde and always has been. Her hair seems to vary from light red to pale lemon – whether from nature or choice we cannot say. But it is true there are some enigmas in her history. In Nippon, she was always called Peach, however in the West there were various changes. In the original Donkey Kong the girl was Pauline – not royal and probably only a distant relation to Peach. Once the Princess arrived in the West, she was at first called Princess Toadstool. The name Peach only became fully current in the 3D era. Also there were some games in which the Princess was Daisy, an auburn brunette.

This is not really as confusing as it sounds. We now know that Princess Peach’s full name is Princess Peach Toadstool, while in Mario Tennis, the Princesses Peach and Daisy are shown to be two separate characters who can play doubles together or compete with one another. This should not be confusing to an Aristasian. Princess Daisy is Princess Peach’s brunette cousin who has at times in true Aristasian Life Theatre tradition enacted the role of her royal relative. She is in fact the ruler of another realm.

Both girls, though entitled Princess, are in fact rulers in their own right. Another curious fact is that while Princess Peach is human in form, her subjects are all Mushroom People, like Kinopio. This raises the question of marriage. It would clearly be impossible for Princess Peach to marry one of her subjects. The anarchic Tellurian argument that royal personages “are just like other people and could marry anybody” would hardly cut much ice in the Mushroom Realm. The Princess must clearly marry another royal personage of her own – um – shape. Since royal marriages are often in the family, her brunette cousin Daisy might even be a possibility, uniting two illustrious realms in time-honoured fashion.

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Formality and Fun Monday, Apr 21 2008

This exchange came immediately after the conversation recorded in Timeless Motherhood:

Miss Suzanna wrote:
Thank you very much for your replies to my questions. It is wonderful to ask a question and get such replies. They present an enticing vision of a grave and beautiful way of life. By grave, I don’t mean lacking in fun, in fact I don’t quite know what I mean, but the word seems to fit!

It is heartbreaking to think how, from childhood, there is so much misery and suffering in the Pit, due to spiritual starvation… You said [earlier] that we have control over our own hestia – our homes and hearts, and can do something about them. If we try to lead our lives in a way which is pleasing to Dea, will that have an effect on the suffering of others, even if it is not directly helping them? Or is there some other way we can do this, in the way that nuns in a convent believe that their prayers will have a potent effect on the atmosphere somehow.

Miss Sushuri Novaryana replied:
I believe that by living lives that are pleasing to Dea and are racinated, we do have an effect on that part of the anima mundi to which we are connected.

I also believe that ideas are much underrated. By making available ideas and ways of looking at things that are nourishing (though largely forgotten by the current world) I think we provide new possibilities for people. So much of life, after all, is in the mind, and all cultural developments, good and bad, begin there.

I understand your word “grave”. It probably applies to Estrenne thinking rather than Westrenne in Aristasia. But in the end the Estrenne way of thought underlies all our thinking.

The quality you are describing, I think could also be called “measured” (remember that the term “a measure” used to be used for a dance-step as well as mensuration) or “in tune with the universal harmony”. It is the quality of thamë. Such terms as “stately”, “formal” and “ritualised” are also associated with it. To the modern Western mind these things seem very serious and lacking the joy of spontaneity; but we should remember that to our ancestors, these things were supremely joyful, which is why the quality of Jupiter ( Thamë ) is called jovial. Nowadays joy tends to be trivialised, so “jovial” has lost all its ritual and formal associations; but for those who first used the world, formality and fun went hand-in-hand to the point where they could be expressed by the same word.

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The Glory of Satin Saturday, Apr 19 2008

Anita here again, pettes, with a little disquisition on satin, which no one has ever said is a completely innocent fabric! Chiffon and lace connote fragility, daintiness, vulnerability, but satin … well satin is what is known as a sensuous fabric, both to wear and to behold, and nowhere is satin more sensuously used than in Trent.

Now, satin is a special type of weave, one that has more warps than fillings on its surface, which is what causes its sheen. It can be woven from silk, rayon or even cotton. Silk satin is the finest and most expensive, although rayon satin is almost as good. Because of its reflective properties, satin makes a girl look larger than she is, so it is worn to greatest advantage by very slim pettes.

Satin did not really come into its own as the fabric for elegant evening wear until Mlle. Madelaine Vionnet of Western Vintesse invented the bias cut. Bias cut fabrics are cut across the grain, you see, which allows a garment to fall in a smooth, flowing vertical drape, and to be rather easily manipulated into clingy, slinky gowns of transcendent grace and elegance. Bias cutting is relatively wasteful of fabric, however, as a pattern must be laid diagonally across the bolt, but it produces garments that are so deliciously fluid that pettes are willing to pay a bit extra.

Take the stunning black ciré satin gown above, as worn by Ursula Jeans in Noelle Coward’s latest film, Cavalcade, which has just been released and is showing right now in local theaters all over Trent. The low, revealing bodice clings enticingly, as does the skirt down to the knees, where it is released into glistening folds which drape to the feet and spread over the floor. Daringly black and ultra-slinky, modesty is maintained by a delicate bow of tiny diamonds applied to the decolletage, echoed by the jewels on the bracelets and on the scarlet red feathered fan.

To the right is Mary Lou Dix in a rather plain gown of pale lavender bias-cut satin. Its lines are almost severely simple and classic, yet its impact is in no way lessened thereby. On the contrary, the gown’s utter simplicity displays Miss Dix’s perfect figure without interposing the least distraction.

But bias-cut satin drapes so beautifully that even when the design is complex and unusual, a woman’s figure cannot be easily concealed.

Look at Miss Carole Lombard in this close-fitting evening gown of black satin. The skirt appears twisted in a large, draped bow just above the knees, trailing off into a narrow train, echoed by a twisted halter held in place about neck and shoulders by a large diamond clip. At the risk of trying your patience, dearest pettes, let me finally show you Miss Lombard in the same dress, now covered with an unusual three-quarter-length cape of black satin, broadly banded in black monkey fur which falls outward in sprays.

Once again, girls, the quiet, self-possessed air of these women is not at all unusual in Trent. You will easily find see it in studio stills from the province such as these. You won’t find any blank stares, nor any hint of hostile or indifferent alienation either, as I understand is quite common among models in the place called the Pit: Trentish women are always connected to everything around them not despite, but because of their self-possession.

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An Oasis Tuesday, Apr 15 2008

Miss Carola wrote:
I got a vision of a beautiful place in Elektraspace, with gorgeous and sentimental pictures of Dea. A place where Devotional practices like chanting are explained and also a basic and easy to understand philosophy. It is so beautiful and created with so much love, that the hearts of the visitors rejoice. Can we make this possible? I believe many travellers in this dry and hostile desert of the pit, will be glad to rest and refresh in such an oasis.

Miss Annalinde replied:
Interestingly, we have been thinking about just such a place. I think there should be a “library” there for the more serious philosophy as we have been discussing it. But for most people it is not necessary to go into such depth. As you say, the philosophy should be expressed as simply as possible, with the facility for any one who wishes to go more deeply into it.

Devotion should be the main theme of the site, and as you say, it should be an oasis for the thirsty soul, with beautiful pictures of Dea and simply-explained devotional practices, as well, perhaps, as some important texts.

I hope our discussions here are preparing us and leading up to the creation of such a place.

This discussion occurred about three years ago at the Aristasian Spirtuality Group, and may have contributed to the eventual creation of the Chapel of Our Mother God last year.

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Timeless Motherhood Monday, Apr 14 2008

Miss Suzanna wondered about Motherhood:
To me, motherliness and motherhood are prime qualities of femininity. [In our discussions it seems to be] a glamorous, powerful, exciting sort of femininity which is in view, and throughout the Aristasia website, I see this also portrayed. So I wonder about mothers, who, in their selfless service to their children, may not always have time to appear well-turned out, but to my mind become beautiful in other ways. What do you think, dear Ladies?

Miss Sushuri Novaryana replied:
You are absolutely right, Miss Suzanna. Motherhood is one of the most important aspects of femininity, and one of the most fundamental Archetypes. God Herself is the first of all Mothers.

Up to and including the 1950s, mothers made time to be well-turned-out (not necessarily fashion plates, but neat and smart); certainly whenever they left the house. They did this because they saw it as a fundamental aspect of motherhood.

A mother represents the most precious and fundamental Archetype we have, and embodying that Archetype properly is as vital to a child’s psychic health as feeding her is to her physical health. For a child to grow up (to take an extreme example) applying the sacred word “Mother” to someone in torn jeans with tattoos and a ring through her lip does untold damage. It is the spiritual equivalent of malnutrition – if not of food-poisoning.

In a recently published test, children who were shown pictures of various bongo couples with a few 1950s-style couples included, and asked to pick out “mummy and daddy” almost invariably picked the 1950s-style couples regardless of what their own parents looked like.

This tells us two things:

1. That the archetypes of real parents are alive in the hearts of small children, however starved they may be. They know what parents ought to look like, even if they have never seen an example in their own poor little lives.

2: That however untraditional the 1950s may have been they are still on the right side of that radical break known as the Eclipse. In 1950s parents (and those who are still traditional enough to look much like them) one can still recognise the fundamental and timeless reality.

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Novaria Friday, Apr 11 2008

Novaria is a very beautiful southern nation. Her southern coastline is on the Bay of Doves and in the north the mighty river Thamëaut runs through her on its way to Trent. There are many beautiful lakes such as the great Ushasti.

Two languages are spoken in Novaria: Westrenne (which is very like our English) and Raihiralan Cairenne. Most Westrenne-speaking Novarians speak with a Raihiralan accent even if they do not speak Raihiralan. The nation has very strong ancestral ties with the East, and in many ways is the most traditional of the Western nations. It is also, however, by far the most technically advanced. One will find there many things from family skyjets to personal force-fields (‘auries’) with temperature control, allowing blondes to walk abroad even in the harsh mountain winters in light and fashionable clothes from the south.

Novarian towns include Novarayapurh or Nevrayapurh (New Rayapurh), the capital, and Westeringsea, across the river from Goldhaven, on the Trent border. Ladyton, the capital of the Celestial Empire, is situated at the intersection of Trent, Vintesse and Novaria.

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Traditional Measures and Rationalism Wednesday, Apr 9 2008

Miss Violet Viola considers numbers:
Measurements as “cold numbers with an abstract unit” are indeed a Rationalistic behaviour. Measurements before this period were less “numerical” and had a lot to do with the essence of things. Length measurements for the Romans and ancient populations were “arms” and “steps”. Liquid measurements were “amphors”. These measurement units were somehow “tangible”, not “abstract”. The metre was established in 1791, in the period of the Rationalistic revolution, and its meaning or reason is something abstract, while the yard is more linked to the tangible physical reality.

Aristasia is a world where things have a deeper link between themselves. The so-called (for and by Tellurians) “invisible world” is not so invisible in Aristasia. There is a relationship between things, between everything.

Lady Aquila expands on these ideas:

The French Revolution, with its aggressive and regicidal this-worldly rationalism, forced the metric system first on France and then on most of Europe. It was a system deliberately conceived to eradicate the “superstitious” (read spiritual and traditional) nature of real measurements.

Traditional Geometry was passed to patriarchal Europe, from much more ancient sources, by Pythagoras and Plato, both of whom were fully aware of its higher significance: a significance still expounded (though rarely understood) by the teachers of the surviving symbolic system of Freemasonry – one of the last West-Tellurian examples of a true traditional generation-to-generation transmission of doctrine.

Your picture of Geometria is very significant. Geo-metria means earth-measurement. And while the earth is strongly represented with its mountains, trees and rivers, Geometria does not touch it. Indeed her lower parts – the legs and feet which would connect her to the physical earth – are missing. She floats in a cloud, signifying spiritual or angelic quality, and yet she inscribes the fundamental shapes on which all earthly things are based.

Contemplating her image, we learn something of the apparent contradiction between true and false measurement.

True, traditional measurement seems on the surface much more concrete. Its terms relate to feet, paces and thumbs – and yet it is based in the higher principles of being.

False, rationalistic, measurement seems purely abstract. Its names mean nothing but “measure” plus fractional numbers. And yet is is bound wholly to the visible world and is entirely ignorant of every trace of higher significance.

Also see The Image of the Cosmos and Aristasian Standards

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Vehicles of Transformation Monday, Apr 7 2008

Miss Barbara asserts:
I do believe that a bongo could be transformed into an Aristasian just by sitting in a real car, if she were intelligent enough to know what real means. A Trentish automobile, black or maroon, is a little universe, a microcosm of the culture that produces it. It is luxurious, glamorous, sophisticated, elegant, comfortable, and dignified because Trent is all of those things.

But a recovering Pit-maiden needn’t wait until she can find a real automobile to experience her epiphany. She can have a similar experience with almost anything from the real world, for everything is a little universe and a microcosm of the larger world from which it comes. If she were to watch one real movie with the knowledge that it was real (and with the conviction that everything in the Pit is truly obsolete), or wear one pair of silky, seamed, sheer stockings, or listen to one wireless program, she would wake from a slumber and begin to allow the fire of Realness and Truth to catch in her heart; she would stop collaborating with the Pit, not because somebody has told her to stop but because she sees it all for what it is: obsolete and shoddy, trivial and banal.

She would begin to walk with dignity and take pride in the right things and never feel self-satisfied with shabby behavior or dress. She would rise above the mire below and happily join her sisters up above the Pit, who are like an angelic chorus flying above the mindless world below. I know she would do and think all of these things, for, you see, I have just described myself to you in this little story.

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Kadorian hair styles Sunday, Apr 6 2008

Miss Norma, our Kadorian fashion expert, declares:
Today we must take up a fashion matter I have flagrantly neglected: hair styles! (I do tend to get carried away with millinery matters, but then, I can’t help myself, hats are so grand!) Hair style has become more important now than ever, because for the first time in almost a decade there is a sea-change in the offing. The flowing shoulder-length styles of Eastern Kadoria, with their smooth, neatly contained masses of hair, sometimes further defined by a hairnet, are now giving way to light, fresh, shorter, almost fluffy styles from Western Kadoria – a brand-new look! If you want to be turned into the prettiest girl at Miss Barbara’s party, you might consider booking an appointment this afternoon at your local coiffeuse to try out one of these new hair-do’s.

As shown in this photo, the future for short hair is a gentle winging away from the face. Hair is cut two-and-a-half to three inches all over the head and scalloped upwards into soft feminine waves at the sides. This is an easy and versatile style, which takes almost no time to care for, so it is ideal for a pette-on-the-go. Bracelet of pearls, pink Italian coral and gold, with buttons and earrings to match.

But you long-haired pettes needn’t despair, Western Kadoria has something for you, too, which might make you the prettiest one at the party! The new fashion for longer hair lies in silken-smooth, close-to-the-head arrangements highlighted (and held in place) by veiling, combs, jewels or flowers. This pette wears smooth bangs with low waves brushing back to a cluster of curls held in place with ribbon and combs. (Glistening locks, courtesy of regular shampooing, of course!) Note the lovely little bouquet of bachlorette’s buttons at the shoulder!

Last is a more traditional Western Kadorie style for hair of middle length. Again, sides are scalloped upwards in soft, close-to-the-head waves. Here a yard of 15-inch mauve veiling goes over the head and ties in back. Hold in place with pretty hatpins. Nice on dancing dates, but I would not wear this style to a party where there is any hope, er, I mean danger of rough brunettes – one might be a target! Stay on the qui vive,, pettes, brunettes can be powerfully moved by hairstyles, and I have heard quite a bit about Miss Barbara’s cocktail parties!!

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