In the sea without lees
Standeth the bird of Hermes
Eating his wings variable
And maketh himself yet full stable
When all his feathers be from him gone
He standeth still here as a stone
Here is now both white and red
And all so the stone to quicken the dead
All and some without fable
Both hard and soft and malleable
Understand now well and right
And thank you God of this sight
The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame.
The above is a section from something called the Ripley Scroll. I'm not exactly sure what the scroll is or what its suppose to mean, but this is one section that I find particularly interesting. OK so before I go on I found out about the verse while watching an anime with my roommates, but still it works for what I'm going to right, because in a sense it fits how I'm feeling at the moment.
So through the little bit that I've read while looking for the verse no one seems to really be sure as to what the verse is talking about, for instance one of the comments I started to read stated that they believed it was about raising the dead, I openly admit that I lost interest in the comments after the 8th spelling error (shallow I know but its been along shift and I didn't want to try and figure out what they were trying to spell.) I have my own idea's about this though, very different from the raising the dead idea. I personally believe that the verse, mainly the last sentence "The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame." Referes to our pride.I believe that when they say that he's eating his wing they are talking about him swallowing his pride. Every human being on the face of the planet, is prideful. Its one of the seven deadly sins if I'm not mistaken, we all have something that we take great pride in, for some of us its out families, or our athletic ability, our brains, are good looks, something that we're proud to have or possess. There is nothing wrong with having pride in something, especially if we worked hard to obtain that thing, but often we become prideful. No one is innocent of this, not completely we become so prideful that we push people away without realizing it, the get so tired of hearing us boast and brag about our accomplishments that those that were once our friends become the people that avoid us at all costs. Another way to word this is egotistical. If you don't keep your ego/pride in check, you become an annoyance to others and lose those who you care about, this is what I believe is meant by "eating my wings to make me tame".
Lets look at it this way. Assuming that the bird had extremely beautiful wings and was very proud of them, that he went about strutting and bragging about himself and constantly drawing attention to himself and his wings. Eventually people would begin to avoid him because his pride/ego became to much for anyone to handle because they were tired of constantly talking about his wings. After awhile maybe the bird discovered the error of his ways and instead of continuing in his prideful/egotistical ways, decided to change, "eating my wings," could, in my opinion, also be worded swallowing your pride, or checking your ego. By eating the thing that he was so proud of the bird had nothing to be prideful about and therefore had nothing to brag about, thus making it possible for the bird to fix the issues that his friends had.
I'm not going to say that having pride or a small ego is a bad thing, its always a good thing to be proud of something it gives us a sense of well pride, something to be happy about. The important thing is to remember to keep that ego in check, swallow your pride and think of the others who have to put up with you. Have a blessed day.
"Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed. "
1 Samuel 2:3
I thought about this verse too. but in my case im thinking more on the lines of freedom vs politics.
ReplyDeletefreedom is your wings, but yet we all discard our freedom and conform to rules and regulations, be forced to pay tax and make ourselves slaves to a economy and thus slaves to our government.
we have no freedom, we discarded it (ate our wings) to make humanity controllable/stable (made us tame)
while if we kept our freedom, didn't make ourselves economic slaves, and screwed any person that tried to unite us under rules and taxes and made us live how they want us to live then we would have kept our wings,
in a way, we didn't have a choice though, we didn't eat our wings in that respect, they got forcefully chopped off us without our say so or imput.
the bird of hermes is my name eating my wings so I don't get arrested and or executed by my government!
Its about birds, who look like they are "eating" their wings, when they are just plucking out over grown feathers. They do this, because or else, their flight ability is damaged. Hermes is the feather tipped messenger god. The "bird" being referred to here are the feathers that give him flight, the feathers on his armor. So what is being said, is that whoever is narrating this poem is:
ReplyDelete~Carefully keeping themselves in check.
~Not being prideful.
~Not losing control, because that could be harmful.
~They are showing restraint, and a preference to efficiency, over flash and image.
~They could have something else, that they could gain with the image and the influence it would have on others...perhaps that something else means a lot to them...but they are sacrificing it, keeping themselves humble, in check, disciplined...because something else matters more to them...and they need to be humble to get this. Respect.
THE BIRD OF HERMES IS MY NAME. EATING MY OWN WINGS.
TO MAKE...MYSELF TAME...
Disagreeing with all of you, I begin by reminding you of the word "tame". Here are some of the dictionary definitions of the above said word:
ReplyDelete"changed from the wild or savage state; domesticated"
"without the savageness or fear of humans normal in wild animals; gentle, fearless, or without shyness, as if domesticated"
"tractable, docile, or submissive, as a person or the disposition."
See something common? they are all terms deriving meaning from a relationship. In this context a relationship with other beings or society. (to solidify the foundation of this theory- remember "are you a dog or are you..?") So, will you let your identity or "I" unleash itself or will you let others dictate it's cage? will you roam wild and true to yourself/ nature or will you be "tamed"?
so the wings in this case are one's potential. In the anime, it's Alucard's true potential, which like every human's is truly unlimited.
So, not only is it not about keeping one's pride in check, but its also listening to yourself and not doubting it by calling it "pride".
I believe it is more connected to Alchemy than mere religion. The spiritual substance, The Bird of Hermes, is the mighty Thoth who is known for Transmutation of the spiritual alchemy. The phoenix, the highest symbol of transformation falls to ashes and is reborn anew. Much like the Ouroboros which is the snake devouring itself showing the rebirth. The spiritual act of transmutation is terrifying and painful.. Eating oneself to become tame, to become less in the darkness and more to light. For only when we are stripped bare can we finally know our power, place, position and truly transcend.
ReplyDelete"The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my own wings to make myself tame." To me, the phrase is a self-prayer. Hermes was a deity who was a messenger of the Gods. His sandals had wings which help him travel. This could be a prayer from Hermes sandal. “To eat my own wings to make myself tame,” could be an act to break itself from Hermes and to not be used. Thus I believe this is about freedom or settling.
ReplyDelete