Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 01:35:06 -0400
From: [g--l--n] at [falcon.bgsu.edu] (Metroplex)
Subject: FTP 499

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FIT TO PRINT
by cathrine yronwode
for the week of August 29, 1994.


THIS IS FIT TO PRINT NUMBER 499:   Calling all CBG readers conversant with
17th century art, Goethe, 20th century literature, Freemasonry, and Japanese
anime:

The 17th century French artist Nicolas Poussin painted "Et in Arcadia Ego,"
depicting two farmers gazing upon an unearthed human skull. The title is a
verbless Latin sen-tence fragment that means "and in Arcadia Ix" Arcadia is a
region in Greece, but allegorically it refers to any pastoral setting. (Fans
of Longfellow's "Evangeline" or of zydeco music know that the descendants of
French settlers forced to leave Canada and relocate in Louisiana are Cajuns,
a corruption of "Arcadians.")

Poussin subsequently produced other canvases dealing with the twinned themes
of Arcadia and death. The most famous, "The Shepherds of Arcadia," depicts a
group of neo-classical shepherds clustered around a stone sarcophagus in a
wild, hilly area. One of the shepherds points to an inscription on the
sarcophagus. It reads, "Et in Arcadia Ego."

In the 17th and 18th centuries, "blue lodge" Freemasonry became popular among
men of influence. In addition to the usual square and compass, early Masonic
tombs and lodges were decorated with skulls and crossed thigh bones. Some
tombs of the era bore the inscription "Et in Arcadia Ego."

The skull-and-cross-bones was also a symbol used on flags flown by 17th and
18th century pirates. In that context it is generally known as "The Jolly
Roger."

What is a "Jolly Roger"? Well, i found a slang definition for "Roger" dating
to the 18th century: "The name Roger being commonly given to bulls, Roger
became a verb meaning to have sexual intercourse." So a Jolly Roger is a
"cheerful intercourser" but why apply that name to the skull and crossed
thigh bones depicted on pirate flags or on Masonic tombs and lodges? And why
did Poussin link a skull to the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego?"

Among their other highly questionable and controversial theories, the three
authors of a 1982 book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail attempted to link
Poussin's Arcadia and 17th century Freemasonry with Scottish survivals of the
Knights Templar, a Catholic religious order active during the Crusades (circa
1100-1300) that was disbanded after being charged by the Inquisition with
denying the divinity of Jesus and worshipping heads or skulls.

These authors cited a 13th century text about a Templar who had intercourse
with the corpse of his deceased lover. Nine months having elapsed, this Jolly
Roger opened her tomb and pulled from between her thighs an infant's skull of
great magical power. Exhuming a woman who died in childbirth might give rise
to such a tale, but it seems more Celtic than Medieval, pointing to a
shamanistic past when "the cult of the head" was in flower and people
revered such magical relics.

Whether or not the Templars survived in secret for 250 years before being
assimilated into Freemasonry, certain Masonic rituals do derive their
symbolism from the Templars and the skull-and-cross-bones may be such a
symbol. But what do pirates have to do with it? And how does "Et in Arcadia
Ego" fit in?

Lilo Erlanger says that "Goethe wrote a poem in which the line 'and in
Arcadia I was born' appears." This supplies a verb, but it doesn't give us
the poem's title or the rest of the verse. Goethe, by the way, was a Mason.
Caryl Traugott tells me that Book One of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead
Revisited is titled "Et in Arcadia Ego" and that on page 43 of the paperback
edition, the character Sebastian has a rose-bedecked skull with the
mystery-motto written on its forehead.

Scott Hampton says that in the TV version of Brideshead, the character
Charles owns a skull and he admits it cost him quite a lot.

Arian Hormozi points out that another entity born in Arcadia (as opposed to
dying there) is the famed Japanese anime character Captain Harlock, who
dresses in a skull-and-cross-bones uniform, and who first appeared in the
classic film Arcadia of My Youth.

And what about that ride at Disneyland, the one which traverses a Cajun
(Arcadian) Blue Bayou (blue lodge), descends into caves (tombs), and emerges
among the Jolly Rogers?

Was Evelyn Waugh a Mason? Is Captain Harlock a descendent of Goethe? Did
Nicolas Poussin design the "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

RSVP if you have any answers!!!

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Fit to Print appears in print each week in Comics Buyers Guide and is
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Copyright 1994 Cathrine Yronwode.  All rights reserved.