FALSE BORDERS (Our own frontiers)

Tags

Catholics, Chango, Culture, El Fangito, Luisa Aldea, Mesta, Moors, Music, Nigerian, Puerto Rico, San German, Santiago Apostol, St. Peter, Vigigantes, Yorubans

Originally Posted six years ago on one of my other blogs.

 

(Multiculturalism, good, bad or indifferent?)

Man invents frontiers and borders for himself. If he would just stop there it would be one thing; but he doesn’t. He attempts to imprint his frontiers and borders on others.

Maybe these cultural differences that we talk about are actually good for us. Men, women, beings; they all must have Something (capital S intended) to believe in. Maybe it isn’t the “Something”, maybe it is the strength of the belief that really matters. The “Something” could just as well be “something.” It does not have to be a deity. Possibly it is a belief that the human race, collectively, will keep adding to instead of subtracting from this earth. When the atheist believes strongly that there is no god, then the strength of his belief is as valid as one who does believe. How many gods can exist? Maybe One. Possibly more. Or none?

My words above intend to raise the following question. Is the strength of a belief as good as the belief itself? If two people have two different belief systems can they live with each other, next to each other, and get along? Or must they imprint their beliefs on the other until they “win?” Is it better for each to hang on tightly to their own beliefs and yet be able to utilize the good they find in the other’s beliefs to enhance their own?

The circular argument that I offer has to do with the small village of Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico. Prior to defining Loiza Aldea I am required to take you back to Iberia and Africa in previous times.

In Spain the miraculous appearance of St. James the Apostle (Santiago Apostol) is a legend. The embattled Catholic Militias had fought for centuries to displace the Islamic Moors who had captured Andalusia; the southern section of the Iberian Peninsula (el Andalus). This miraculous appearance of Santiago Apostol gave the Christian militias the will to fight. After five hundred years the Moors were driven out.

Subsequently, but definitely not in a just manner, these militias became controllers of the Catholic sheep raising cartel. Their common name was the Mesta. The farmers in el Andalus were severely misused by the cartel. The Mesta was allowed to herd and drive its sheep wherever it wished. Farm crops were overrun and destroyed by the sheep.

Compensation was not required to be paid for the damage. The famished and desperate people migrated from Spain by the thousands; many of them establishing their new homes in Puerto Rico.

In Africa, shortly thereafter, Nigerian Yoruba Tribes were decimated by Islamic slave traders. Some of these slaves were brought to Puerto Rico to work the farms.

Eventually the class gap between rich and poor Spanish immigrants grew wider. Many poor Spanish families squatted on the swampy lagoons of Carolinas east of Old San Juan. This squat village became known as El Fangito (the swamp). Over the years some of these families were joined by Yoruban families. The people of El Fangito were eventually forced to move. Their own government destroyed their homes that rested on stilts above the muddy lagoons. About the same time escaped slaves and freemen had previously migrated to Loiza Aldea where a Native Indian (Taino) compound existed.

The native Taino had, as their queen, “Yuiza.” The Yoruban population had, as their warrior god, “Chango”, who had fought the Islamic slave traders. The Spanish had, as their patron, “Santiago Apostol.”

Each July in Loiza Aldea a ten day festival is held to commemorate the victory of Santiago Apostol. But the borders and frontiers are in voluntary disarray. The local people voluntarily take on the persona of the “Vijigantes”; the Islamic slave traders. These locals dress in colorful and blousy costumes with frightful masks made of coconut shells. Multiple images of Santiago Apostle, Queen Yuiza and warrior Chango share the streets with each other.

St. Peter, patron of the local church, also holds a prominent place. The flag of Loiza Aldea is flown with its multi-cultural simulacrums of the yellow Yoiza River. Meanwhile the bells of the church of St. Peter also appear on the flag.

God and metaphysical thought remain ignorant of borders or cultural frontiers in Loiza Aldea. They remain unaffected by the time or space that the ancestors of the local people occupied. Yet their God (a trinity of Spanish, African and Caribbean cultures) is now one, or if you prefer, One.

Across the small island of Puerto Rico other cultures developed. People believed strongly, no matter whether they belonged in an agricultural area, a devout Catholic area or the new metropolitans that were emerging.

On the opposite corner of the island from Luisa Aldea was a city that had been transplanted in the 1600’s; San German. Originally it was located on the southern coast of Puerto Rico; near the Phosphorescent Bay. After being pillaged several times by pirates the village made a decision. They packed their belongings and several religious artifacts that had been salvaged. With a strong belief in God they hauled their treasures fifteen miles through mountainous jungles to their new San German. The town remains a devout Catholic center.

All of these cultures of Puerto Rico remained strong in their individual beliefs. None of these cultures imposed on each other. Rather, they set an example of what was good in each culture. Those who wished to adopt another culture, partially or whole, did so. Those that did not; did not. Today these cultures live in harmony with each other.

Governmental politics are another matter.

But I must leave politics behind in order to visit a more beautiful place.

 

I will not bore you with more of my own words. I now allow you to see the history of one of the most beautiful and cross-cultural peoples of the world: PUERTO RICO!

The History of Loiza Aldea

http://elyunque.com/loiza.htm

The Festival of Santiago Apostol; 1949

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPCnx-GXs4M

The Festival as it was in 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GprotRjo8Z8

The Culture and Music of the Farmers in Puerto Rico; 1930

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwnRkCNm1tI

Today and Yesterday on the opposite corner of the island; San German

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGicz7iGJ8E

AN IGNORANT GOD

Tags

Al Andalus, aristotle, Averroes, Borges, Catholic Militia, Chango, Christian, Islamic, Luisa Aldea, Mahgreb, Mesta, Old San Juan, Santiago Apostal, Short Stories, Slave Traders, Vijigantes

Another essay moved from an older blog

Of course he is ignorant; ignorant of our inventions.

Time and space are the demarcations of our cultural borders and individual frontiers. From the archaeological to the historical records we have documented borders, frontiers and other dimensions of our mind (as if it were really possible to document the metaphysical).

Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina 1899 – 1986) refuted the concept of time, both past and future. He is not alone in these refutations. In his “Doctrine of Cycles” he reminds us that “the Pythagorians and Stoics argued that God’s knowledge is unable to comprehend infinite things and the eternal rotation of the worldly process serves to familiarize God with it.”

Singular events that occur in the past are joined together by our imaginations (logical and illogical); and the documentation is ubiquitous. These imaginings occur in a matter of split seconds, yet can result in conjunctions of events spread over millennia.

I apologize for using time as my first basis to abnegate time.

There are two documents which stand alone and are separated by almost three millennia. They are not joined by time; yet we have joined them together in our minds. The first document is Plato’s “Republic.” The second one is “Democracy in America” by Tocqueville. We can, without much difficulty and with sufficient perseverance, join them together by placing them in the category of political philosophy. They are stitched together with the writings of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. This series of writings (The Apology, The Crito, Politics, The Prince, Leviathan, Constitutional Government, Democracy and Participation) make up an intricate needlework.

Each author was a separate man, with separate thoughts modified by separate times. Only the human ability to think has linked them together  .    .   .  and then  .   .   .  linked them together with this thing we call time. As you can clearly see, time is not real, it is an imaginary thing that we have used to tie our thoughts into neat little packages. Space is likewise a tool that we use to identify where one object stands in relationship to another (or the cultural distance between nations and people). Space becomes even more nebulous when we consider the cosmogonies; experts say that our universe is expanding while subsets of it are collapsing.

Our language, “a system of grunts and squeals” (professes Chesterton), serves to assist us in linking unthinkable thoughts together. I have failed to mention one other writer who has played a major part in the crocheting (with the thread of the writings mentioned above) political philosophy. That man is Averroes, the physician and thinker of Cordoba, Islamic Spain (Andalusia), eleventh century A.D..

Averroes, through his mental dexterity and perseverance, translated Aristotle. This we know. What we do not know is the name of the adventurous fellow who spirited Averroes’ translations across the Pyrenees. We also know that these translations gave the Renaissance a head start on its way to pre-science.

Andalusia (al Andalus) brings me back to my original thought of a God who is ignorant of borders, frontiers, and their supersets; time and space. When considering al Andalus, or Southern Iberia if you prefer that nomenclature, I am forced to observe the originations of borders that have been long forgotten. I offer the following list of events that depict cultural borders.

• The purported vanishing of borders between Neanderthal and invading Homo Sapien through hybridization (Duarte, et al)
• The expansion of the Iberian Megalithic Culture northward to Stonehenge and Scandinavia
• The invasion of the Celts
• The control of the coastlands by the Phoenicians
• Cultural borders between the Lusitani, the Celitici, the Turditani and the Turdoli
• The invasion of the Romans (stymied for eight years by an Iberian herdsman named Variatus)
• The Visigothic crush of the Romans and establishment of Kingdoms
• Islamic Arabic and Berber force’s invasion of Iberia via the Straights of Gibraltar
• The establishment of an independent Islamic Emirate
• Averroes’ translations during the muddling of borders by the always changing Islamic Party Kingdoms (Tiafas)
• Christian Militias pushing back on Islamic borders until they no longer existed.

The confusion created by this blending, re-blending and folding back of borders and cultures may be shown with a more up-to-date example. Aristotelian logic was translated from Greek to Arabic and absorbed by the Renaissance; then translated to French and modified by European thought. This new Marxist Aristotle was finally translated back to Arabic and forced on the colonized Maghreb. Things that once appeared in a unique fragment of time were now blended to the point where only God knows what actually occurred.

This now offers me my intended opportunity to relate how God is ignorant of time and space; likewise the frontiers and borders that man invents. It also brings me to the point where I admit that time and borders blend into God; a truly spiritual yet unexpected outcome. This circular theme centers in the small village of Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico. Prior to defining Loiza Aldea I am required to reference Iberia and Africa in pre-Loiza Aldea periods.

In Spain the defeat of the Islamic Moors was celebrated as the result of one main event; the miraculous appearance of St. James the Apostle (Santiago Apostel) to the embattled Catholic Militias. This appearance gave the militias the will to fight. Subsequently these militias became controllers of the Catholic sheep raising cartel (the Mesta). Spanish farmers were severely misused by the cartel. The Mesta was allowed to herd and drove its sheep wherever it wished. Farm crops were overrun and destroyed by the sheep. Compensation was not required to be paid for the damage. The famished and desperate people migrated from Spain by the thousands; many of them establishing their new homes in Puerto Rico.

In Africa, at the same time, Nigerian Yoruba Tribes were decimated by Islamic slave traders. Some of these slaves were brought to Puerto Rico to work the farms. Eventually the class gap between rich and poor grew wider. Many poor Spanish families squatted on the edges of the swampy lagoons of Carolinas east of Old San Juan. This squat village soon became known as El Fangito (the swamp). Over the years some of these families were joined by Yoruban families. The people of El Fangito were eventually forced to move (by their own government who destroyed their homes). Escaped slaves and freemen had previously migrated to Loiza Aldea where a Native Indian (Taino) compound existed.

The native Tiano had, as their queen, “Yuiza.” The Yorubans had, as their warrior god, “Chango.” The Spanish had, as their patron, “Santiago Apostel.”

Each July in Loiza Aldea a ten day festival is held to commemorate the victory of Santiago Apostel. But the borders and frontiers are in voluntary disarray. The Islamic Iberian Moors and slave traders have taken on the persona of “Vijigantes”; played by locals who are dressed in colorful and blousy costumes and frightful masks made of coconut shells. Multiple images of Santiago Apostle, Queen Yuiza and warrior Chango share the streets with each other. St. Peter, patron of the local church, also holds a prominent place. The flag of Loiza Aldea is flown with its multi-cultural simulacrums of the yellow Yoiza River, images of the bells of the local church, and shared colors of all inhabitants.

God remains ignorant of borders or cultural frontiers in Loiza Aldea. He remains unaffected by the time or space that their ancestors occupied. Yet their God (a trinity of Spanish, African and Caribbean cultures) is now One.

 

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky