Why a Giraffe? (OR You want Lions? We've got Lions!)

I have not lost sight of the fact that I owe a post still on Gentiles (at least why some of them aren't allowed to hear Jesus), and just how did we find out about Jesus here on Earth if he never lived here.  I also said in a comment section that I would put together a Xanadu cheat sheet on names.

But this is a bit like riding a wave, so when waves come, and they seem related to the topic at hand, I am going to jump on them.  And the wave of the day is Giraffes (or, more specifically, Camelopards), Thomas B. Marsh, and Lions.

Actually, I see a path through those topics that will lead us straight back to the that later question around Jesus' ministry, and how we found about it.  So, I might switch the order of those in terms of how I write and think about it.  As a preview to my own thinking, and to give you some good faith that I am not trying to waste your time with side show antics, it could very well be that our knowledge of Jesus on this world can be traced back to none other than Thomas B. Marsh himself (though obviously by a different name and during a different life).

With that, let's proceed.

Giraffes... or I mean the Spotted Camel Lion, of the Camel-Leon!

As part of my last post, I went all in on likening Thomas Marsh with the symbol of the Giraffe.  I had mentioned a music video where two images appeared in the sky - one of a rabbit, and the other of a giraffe - and had used that symbolism to refer to two 'Skywalkers' that seem to have keys to doors, places, and people:  Thomas Marsh and Faramir.

I have covered some of the Rabbit symbolism before, at least in a roundabout way, I suppose, with Faramir (Holes, Magic, a Being to follow, etc.), but the Giraffe symbolism seemed a bit obscure.  William Tychonievich has covered this animal a bit over on his blog, and a connection to either Africa (or a world and people represented by Afric) and/or long, skinny things seemed to jump out a bit from his writing.  Which is all fine, but none of that seems to scream Thomas Marsh, so what is the deal?

I looked up the name Giraffe to see if I could get any inspiration.  Success again!  Thanks Etymonline!  In my search, I learned that there is an earlier, archaic name for the humble giraffe:  Camelopard.  Given that WJT had another post on chameleons (which seem to have some staying power with these syncs) I left a comment on his blog connecting the chameleon with giraffes based on this archaic name.  Below is a summary of how I got there:

Camelopard is formed by two different animals:  the Camel and the Leopard.  The Camel descriptor came, I believe, from the fact that the giraffe has a hump similar to the camel.  Simple.  Leopard, as you might also guess, was from the fact that the giraffe sports some body markings and spots similar to a leopard.  Mash those two descriptors together and you get the very clear and descriptive name of camelopard.  

Anyway, I am glad I started with Etymonline, because I would have twisted myself in knots trying to break up Giraffe into Elvish!

It gets more interesting, though, and that is the next step in showing that the name of Camelopard can be made to sound exactly like Chameleon.

Leopard is also comprised of two different animal names (this was an interesting name game with these nested animals names within names).   You have Leo, which means Lion, and then you have Pard, which is meant to refer to a Panther, specifically a spotted panther.  Thus, Leopard is a straightforward descriptor meaning "Spotted Lion".

So, really a Giraffe is being described, in this archaic name, as being a Camel Lion.  Now, in French, Greek, Spanish, other languages Lion is Leon.  If we insert that instead, the connection to Chameleon is even more obvious and smacks you in the face:  Camel-leon.  Basically the same, it just now sounds like you are saying Chameleon with a really cool accent or something.

This was interesting!  A giraffe's name, at least phonetically, was shown to be identical to that of the chameleon, and so I left that comment on WJT's blog given the chameleon theme he has going on over there.

So the names of both of these animals are lions.  WJT walked through some of the background to Chameleons, I believe, and that name basically means "Ground Lion".  So, a very small lion that is low to the ground.   Then become a pretty funny opposite or juxtaposition to the Camel-Leon, who is quite clearly anything but low to the ground.

In fact, other than the name being identical (after some name games), these animals couldn't be further apart in terms of their physical characteristics!  The chameleon as a small lizard with a reputation (even if not fully accurate) of blending into its surroundings to avoid detection.  Compare this with the gigantic camel-leon, who is enormous and isn't hiding or blending in anywhere. 

What does this have to do with Thomas B. Marsh?

I am not sure, actually, at this point, other than I think it does or will, maybe.  Just logging some things that I think might be relevant in comparing Beings (i.e., we may have good and bad 'cameleons', with the Giraffe as one of the Good Guys).  I have some thoughts relative to Marsh and his being an "Apostle".  These thoughts presently including pegging him as none other than Peter - the same Being also called Simon in the New Testament.  He was a doorkeeper, too, according to the Catholics.  In fact, that papal symbol I have showed before with the two keys is meant to represent the Keys of Heaven, which in tradition were given to Peter, and which the Catholic Church has claimed their authority from.

Peter was a Janitor and a Doorkeeper, and was given some Keys, the same as Thomas Marsh either desired or was given.  And I have noted that whether in regards with Peter or with Thomas,  these Heavenly Keys are literally that - Keys to the Heavens or the sky.

So, there is something there, and this notion of a Camel-Leon might tie into that, but I have to give it some more thought.  In the meantime, I am just filing away that when we see a Giraffe as a symbol, and one that I have, for whatever reason, associated with Thomas Marsh, we are really talking about a Camel-Lion - a type of Lion.

Anyway, since I am not going to go into Peter right now, I wanted to cover a couple other Lion-related themes:  one as a 'sync' from earlier today, and the other as a one follow up from my Indiana Jones homework, which proved interesting.

The Lion's Den

I actually had a few different things I was thinking about writing about, but as I was walking by my stairs, I saw yet another book my wife started reading that she left out on top of the half-wall.  Recall that some time ago when I was thinking about the identity of Mary, my wife had left a book out with the title of Mary Stone on the top, which I thought was interesting.

I had already left that comment on WJT's blog relative to the Camel-Lion this morning when I passed by the stair half-wall and saw this book sitting there:

Two things caught my attention:  first, the Lion's Den title (since Lions were on my mind a bit given the Giraffe train of thought), and second, the author's last name of St. John.

On the first, when I saw "Den" I recognized it as an elvish word, though I couldn't remember its meaning.  So, like a an addict who looks up Elvish words (is there a 12-step program for this?), I dutifully whipped out my phone and consulted Eldamo.  Sure enough, it was both Elvish and relevant to some other topics running around in my mind.

"Den" in Elvish means "Hole, gap, passage".  Given my topics here on this blog, you might easily guess why that was interesting.  We thus had a phrase of "Lion's hole/ gap/ passage".  I had written about a Rabbit's Hole before, but now here we had a phrase about a Lion's Hole.  And also recall, or at least keep in mind, that I had earlier written about the Rabbit (Faramir) and the Camel-Lion (Marsh) as having something to do with doors, passageways, etc. in the sky, and here seemed to be a nod to this Lion-related hole or passage.

It gets a bit more interesting, though.

I did take some time and watch that Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie I said I was moving up to the top of the watch list.   [Spoiler, so be warned!] In that movie, the climax consists of Indiana Jones taking a walk through the air using a Lion's passageway over a large gap or chasm to reach the Holy Grail.  Yeah.

Before I get to that, though, I wanted to quickly touch on the "St. John" in the author's last name.  In both Xanadu and in Indiana Jones, the protagonist has a last name that has to do with John.  In Xanadu, Sonny's last name is "Malone" which means "Disciple of John".  In Indiana Jones, "Jones" means "Son of John".  I thought that was interesting in an of itself, and so when I saw this book about a Lion's Den with the last name including St John, it caught my eye.  

Anyway, on to Indiana Jones...

"Only in the leap from the Lion's head will he prove his worth"

There are some interesting things in The Last Crusade, though I am only going to focus today on the aspect of the film having to do with this Lion's head passageway, which turns out to be a walk through 'air'.

Early on in the film, Indiana Jones meets a man named Walter Donovan.  I will digress quickly here to note how relevant that name is.  I have associated Walter very specifically with the Being of Saruman (see my post "Breaking Bald" and Omuruc).  Donovan, I found out, is a name that means "Dark".  For those that haven't taken the time yet to look up Doug's name meaning (Doug is the pseudonym for this person, remember, and one I took from a dream about them), that also means "Dark".  Anyway, not to be too unsubtle about it or hit you over the head with a 2x4 if you haven't picked up on other things I have been writing about, but I thought it was very interesting indeed to see Saruman and Doug's 'names' together in the person of Walter Donovan, who ultimately turns out to be the bad guy and a traitor.

Anyway, following this meeting, Indiana Jones returns to his father's house (his father had gone missing, so Indy was heading back to verify this).  On the wall of his father's house is this artwork:

We've seen images like this before, with a man walking on air in a similar pose, with Ben Stiller as Walter Mitty an example that has come up a few times.  

The picture of this Knight seeming to either be holding a cup surrounded by a yellow glow (or a sun?), or pursuing it, will later be revealed as the last of the 3 'tests' that a person must pass in order to reach where the grail is.  That test involves having to take a 'leap of faith' across a deep chasm.  This leap starts at what is called the "Lion's Head".  Here is the relevant scene where Indy has to take the plunge:

This path over the chasm that originates at the Lion's head is actually a bridge, that through some illusion of perspective, appears to be invisible.  It has been constructed in such a way that only the believing, apparently, will step onto it.  Although, it doesn't make much sense give the earlier image of Knights falling into the abyss.  I mean, the way it actually worked, you either stepped and landed on the bridge, or didn't and chickened out, but no fall.  So, the image or build up was a bit different than the actual execution.  But, they tried, I guess.

The important thing here, though, is we have a both a gap and a passageway originating at a Lion's head.  I mean, it's strange, don't you think, to have this random lion's head carved into the wall next to the opening?  Like the Giraffe running around a Catholic Church, it kind of sticks out when you think about it, though hard put your finger on why.

In any case, you can see why when I saw that "Lion's Den" can mean both a Lion's hole, gap, or passage it caught my eye.

What this has all to do with Thomas B. Marsh is a bit undetermined at the moment, though in a follow-up post when I try to make a connection between him and Peter, I am going to pull in that scene again from Wonka with the Camel-Lion running through the Catholic Church which I already have a few thoughts on.

Lastly, and speaking of passageways, my youngest son made a strange comment at his hockey game this evening.  We were in the locker room before the game and I was helping him get his equipment on.  The spot on the bench where he was sitting had this round red sticker attached to it that was about 6 inches in diameter.  Basically a red disk  that he was sitting on.

He shifted over, looks down at this red sticker, and says "I feel like there is a secret passage under this sticker".

"What?"  I said.

He elaborated by saying "I feel that if were to peel this sticker off, underneath it would be a secret passage that we could go into." 

Passageways that are associated with round ball-looking objects that in this case might have passed for the color of a sun setting in the west.  Where have I heard that before?