Catalonia, a large administrative area of Spain, has banned bull fighting. The rest of Spain continues the activity, and so does a large segment of South America.
Bull fighting is an ancient activity in which a very large animal is outwitted by humans and finally rendered into food. The bull-riders depicted at Knossos in Crete are seen celebrating a similar activity that was a regular feature of life about 3000 years ago. It was an important ritual then because it showed that the largest and most powerful creature around at the time could be subdued using human cooperation and skill. It therefore was an inspiring ritual event for those human beings who were present in the unstable and frightening place that was our world at that time.
Even so, it was largely obsolete even 3000 years ago, since herding meant cattle could be slaughtered far more easily. We could, therefore, take the continuation of this odd ritual as a way of reminding the watchers of the savagery of nature (a wild bull is not a trivial creature) and how the wildness and the rage can be brought under total control.
The point is that this is a ritual that seems to have outlived its usefulness by a very large margin.
And yet….. How easily we forget the wild and dark forces of Nature! We all have to wrestle at some point with our private monsters of darkness, and here is a ritual that expresses that, writ large. When Spaniards cry ‘Ole!’ they are actually yelling a corrupted version of Arabic; they’re yelling ‘Allah!’. It expresses the holiness of the bull fighter’s courage and skill, which is seen as a connection to God.
If only we could have the ritual without the cruelty and death.
We need to remember every day that we must access our courage and skill, and our awareness that the world can be a savage place.
PHOTO (cc): Flickr / jessicaalpern
What a awesome 6 hour, thankyou to Dave and all the crew at Roudtuit Caravan park for all the work that went to running this event, well worth marking in the dairy for next yearZayıflama Lida Fx15 ve Biber Hapı zlfvbh burmeh yaza lida fx15 biber hapı ile formda girin burmeh yaza lida fx15 biber hapı ile formda girin Trakya Üniversitesi tabiii en önemliside bize baya bi para getirecek. his family and particularly the children he had artificially created will be happier and far better off without him, not to mention wealthier. Remember and play his music if you want..it was pretty good but don't for get what an absolute failure as man he was. He dies a whiny drug addicted loser.. Save your sorrow for someone worthy