Tuesday, April 12, 2016

“THE FALL” & “THE MARGINALIZED” : “THE LIMBO OF PATRIARCHS” (or) REVISITING THE UNDERWORLD OF THE TA KATÔTATA #poetrymonth


















LIVE LIKE A WOMAN FALLING BUT…

“The ultimate state of love is freedom, absolute freedom, and any relationship that destroys freedom is not worthwhile. Love is a sacred art. To be in love is to be in a holy relationship.”  ~osho  
  

when falling, let fall at least twice
letting things fall apart and then
fall between their interstice;

in descensus
harrow the realm of the dead
not the damned and thus

shall you go
raising the bar
ever low

©2016 Undoing Limbo stephaniepope mythopoetry.com
#poetrymonth #amwriting #vss

notes

limbo
lim·bo lim-boh]
NOUN [PLURAL LIM·BOS.]

HISTORY

Limbo came into usuage between 1300-50 a.d.;
 Middle English, from Medieval Latin phrase in limbō on hell's border ( Latin: on the edge), equivalent to in on + limbō, ablative
of limbus edge, border (L), place bordering on hell (ML)


1.
(often initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Theology. a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants (limbo of infants) and of the righteous who died before the coming of Christ (limbo of the fathers or limbo of the patriarchs)
2.
a place or state of oblivion to which persons or things are regarded as being relegated when cast aside, forgotten, past, or out of date: My youthful hopes are in the limbo of lost dreams.
3.
an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place.
4.
a place or state of imprisonment or confinement.  http://www.dictionary.com/browse/limbo

MYTHOLOGY
            For the Christian descensus ad inferos, myth of limbo see
“the harrowing of hell”.


DANCE

           
“The limbo is a dance in which participants have to cross under a stick by bending backward at the waist. The stick is lowered a notch each time every one passes under it, and those who touch the stick are eliminated from the dance. … The version of the limbo performed in nineteenth century Trinidad was meant to symbolize slaves entering the galleys of a slave ship, or a spirit crossing over into the afterworld, or “limbo.” See West Indian Julia Edwards

“Traditionally, the limbo dance began at the lowest possible bar height and the bar was gradually raised, signifying an emergence from death into life.”  WIKI

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1. The Ta Katôtata, the lowest (spirits of the dead) marginalized or cast aside but who nonetheless bring their liveliness to our mythic imagination. The Ta Katôtata are located along a threshold (to the underworld) in an imaginal space designated limbo. Limbo might simply reference a “yod” or “three way crossing.”