syntactic ambiguity

Popularly known as crash blossoms (though named after an incongruously tragic air disaster from an equally amphibolic test headline), such constructions in a telegraphic economy of copy that often omits copulas (to be, feels, gets, seems and words that serve similar functions in languages that are less reliant on agglutination) can result in (usually) unintended vagaries that can lead to humorous or dark interpretations. Some classic—albeit possibly apocryphal or used as homage—examples include “Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge” or “Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim” with plenty of more examples at the link above. The paraprosdokian, anticlimactic comedy of Groucho Marx also elicits a similar response. “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

your daily demon: orobas

Presenting as a horse and infernal patron of all things equine (see also), this spirit with the rank of prince rules the first segment of Capricorn, from today until 26 December and according to the Ars Goetia and other sources can be reliably invoked to suppress gossip and libellous speech and foretell the future. With an etymology possibly from a Latin word, orobias, for a sort of cedarwood incense, the demon makes an appearance in pop-culture properties including several video games and is paired with battle angel called Mehaiah under the archangel Haniel.

acrostic

Inspired by a game that his grandfather taught him they called magic squares, contributing correspondent to the New York World Arthur Wynne (Liverpudlian by birth, *1871 – †1945) published his first “word-cross” puzzle in the special Christmas Sunday supplemental of the paper on this day in 1913. With the letters F-U-N (the name of the jokes and tricks section of the paper) prefilled, the puzzle was a symmetrically arranged diamond and due to a subsequent typesetting switch a few weeks later, Wynne’s creation became known as the crossword ever since.

vèvè

Either derived from a common cosmogram or schema representing the constellations or from the Nsibidi syllabary used by some peoples of West and Central Africa taken to the Americas by enslaved diaspora (or a bit of both), the religious symbols used in voodoo ceremonies and rituals is comparable to our extensive vernacular of signs and sigils employed in demonology and serve a similar purpose—which makes the later magicking seem like fanboy appropriation. Described as a beacon, vèvès represent astral forces and compel the loa, lwa—that is the intermediary or medium—to do the bidding of the summoner, provided adequate sacrifice is offered. As with creating a mandala, the symbol is drawn on the flood with a mixture of sand and ash.

clan of the cave bear

Recent research into a cave complex at Atapuerca in northern Spain that sheltered ancient humans and their ancestors suggests that four hundred thousand years ago, when winters were quite harsh in the region and there was not access to fish stocks like the modern Sámi, Inuit and other peoples who live in unforgiving environments have to tide them over hibernated to get through the season. In depth study of human and Neanderthal fossil remains show that like our ursine cousins, there are signs of annual disruption to bone growth, indicative of a metabolic state of dormancy, in survival mode. This sounds like a good strategy to me.

honourable mentions

Via friend of the blog Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see there as well), we are reminded of some of the other outstanding events that transpired in this most superlative year that we have quite summarily forgotten about if we even had the bandwidth remaining to register them in the first place that are well worth reviewing. We had certainly written-off the phoenix-like reincarnation of Mister Peanut and couldn’t mince technicalities with the Pentagon over Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon versus UFOs. What others are news bulletins for you? We were personally surprised to see that black-light platypodes and the genetic experiments on monkey brains straight out of Planet of the Apes failed to make the cut but there’s still a few days left in 2020.

gastrodia agnicellus

Via ibidem, researchers at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew have released their top ten plant and fungal species new to science (see previously) of the some one-hundred fifty discovered this year, including what’s been dubbed the world’s ugliest orchid—found in the forests of Madagascar. Reliant on a symbiotic relationship with a particular fungus for energy—having no leaves or roots—emerges from a woolly stem only to flower and produce seed-bearing fruit.  An addition to the family commonly called ‘potato orchids’ and despite its unflattering, vaguely xenomorph chestburster appearance, its scent is reportedly a rather pleasant citrus one.

the lutheress

Having arrived at the conclusion, despite some objections from his colleagues and followers on the subject of matrimony for the priestly class, that his “marriage would please his father, rile the pope, cause angels to laugh and devils to weep” Martin Luther wed former nun Katharina von Bora, whom was thereafter referred to as “die Lutherin” and regarded an important figure in the Reformation for her role among of things defining what a Protestant family should look like, in a ceremony witnessed by Barbara and Lucas Cranach the Elder (also famous for painting both the Luthers) on 13 June 1525. They deserved one another, she formally referring to him as “Sir Doctor” throughout their life together and Luther publically confessing that “If I can ensure conflict with the devil, sin and a bad conscience, then I can sustain the irritations of Katy von Bora.” von Bora appears on the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church, commemorated on this day, the anniversary of her death in 1552 (*1499), surviving her husband by six years, reportedly saying on her deathbed, “I shall stick with Christ like a burr on cloth.”