Category Archives: Z
Zombie
zombies on the orange line by James Calder
Zombie
The living dead, sometimes called the ‘undead.’
The idea apparently originates from Haitian voodoo legends.
While zombies are found in B-movies, rock videos, the horror genre, folklore and urban legend, their definition seems to closely relate to belief.
Turrell Wylie notes, for instance, that some believe “a zombie is a corpse which has been brought into a state of animation through supernatural power by a necromancer” (Turrell Wylie, “Ro-Langs: The Tibetan Zombie” in History of Religions, Vol. 4, No. 1, (Summer, 1964: 69-80), The University of Chicago Press, p. 69).
Another understanding is that a person’s soul is magically stolen by a master of the dark arts, making the victim seem dead. The buried body is later exhumed by the soul-thief, becoming a spiritual slave to the evil master.
According to folklorist Alison Jones, the fact that Haitian law prohibits burying and exhuming live persons has lead some to believe that evil voodoo priests use poison to induce a coma in their victims (Alison Jones Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore, New York: Larousse, 1996, p. 468). Thus a variant of the previous magical belief combines the occult and the pharmacological, suggesting that, after exhuming a poisoned comatose victim, a wicked voodoo priest further subdues his victim with psychedelic drugs, who is then used for slavery.
An even more grisly variant of the zombie legend alleges that a victim’s flesh is sold by a sorcerer for human consumption, this being easily discernible because human flesh decomposes faster than animal meat. In such cases the victim’s soul may wander the lands in the hope of witnessing or bringing about retribution.
Stuart Gordon says the term zombie originates from the African Congo word zumbi, which means ‘enslaved spirit.’ Gordon adds that souls bound by a wicked master cannot discern good from evil (Stuart Gordon, The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends, London: Headline, 1993, pp. 760-761).
Philosophers are interested in the idea of zombies from a purely hypothetical standpoint. E. J. Lowe asks what a being would be like who looks and acts like a human while lacking “the light of consciousness” and, moreover, whether such a being could exist at all (Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 2nd Edition, ed. Ted Honderich, Oxford: 2005, p. 970).
As Lowe puts it:
It may be difficult to determine whether zombies really are possible, but the issue undoubtedly has far-reaching implications for the metaphysics of mind (ibid.).
On the Web:
- Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video epitomizes the zombie myth as expressed in popular culture » http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8
» Borg, Jackson (Michael)
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Zarathustra
Zarathustra (c.1200 BCE ?) was an ancient Persian prophet who fled his homeland because his teachings were controversial. He ended up in eastern Iran under the protection of King Vishtaspa who embraced his teachings.
Zarathustra’s dialogue with the Lord, Ahura Mazda, is recorded in the Holy Book The Avesta, a set of scriptures based on an oral tradition of roughly 1000 years.
The surviving scripture we have today is somewhat fragmentary, seemingly contradictory in places and only a part of the original.
Greek writers called Zarathusra Zoroaster.
Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, used in the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, was influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosphical work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which itself was influenced by the prophet. » 2001: A Space Odyssey, Avesta, Ahriman, Zoroastrianism
Image Credit:
- “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by kian Elyassi Bakhtiari at http://flickr.com/photos/kian1/1390286041/ , Creative Commons License
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Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism Ancient Persian religion founded around 1200 BCE by Zarathustra.
Its sacred scripture, the Avesta, has some affinities with the Hindu Rig Veda and portrays an eternal struggle between good and evil, personified by Ahura Mazda (Good) and Angra Mainyu (Evil).
Fire is regarded as holy and a perpetual flame is maintained by temple priests who wear masks to prevent polluting the fire with their breath.
This notion of spiritual pollution is important to Zoroastrianism.
Jamsheed K. Choksy suggests a complex interplay among biological, psychosocial and spiritual factors when outlining the Zoroastrian belief that ritual space is “pure” as opposed to “impure” or “polluted.”
Access to ritual spaces had never been equally available to all the faithful, irrespective of gender and class, especially because of considerations relating to purity and pollution. In Zoroastrian society, a wide range of items categorized as pollutants–from bad thoughts, false words, and harmful deeds to bodily fluids when released–are ascribed power to vitiate the efficacy of rituals paces, rites performed herein, and participants. So direct access to performances within pure space was and is generally restricted to duly initiated, purified members of the hereditary male clergy during propitiatory rituals, and to purifiers and candidates for cleansing during purificatory rituals. In the absence of priests, male and female members of the laity–especially religiously learned individuals–may perform basic rites.
Jamsheed K. Choksy, “To Cut off, Purify, and Make Whole: Historiographical and Ecclesiastical Conceptions of Ritual Space” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 123, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar., 2003: 21-41), p. 30.
The Muslim conquest of Iran in the 7th century threatened the extinction of Zoroastrianism but the religion has survived in limited numbers with the Gabars of Iran and Parsees of India. » Ahriman
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Zodiac
Zodiac (Greek: zoidion, an image of an animal)
The Zodiac is derived from the visible part of the night sky, divided into 12 equal portions.
It contains the 12 major constellations associated with the 12 major signs of astrology, as well as the 12 major stages of transubstantiation as outlined in medieval alchemical lore.
While the validity of astrology has been variously championed, questioned and lampooned, in India commercially obtained horoscopes are frequently used to determine suitable marriages, a practice stemming back for decades.
As Calcutta grew in size and the social composition of the city became more mobile and diverse, matrimonial advertisements and marriage bureaus that served the function of matchmaking as well as various other types of marriage-related services such as matching horoscopes seemed better suited to the needs of the urban householder. In fact, many matrimonial bureaus combined the task of brokering marriages with astrological functions. Advertisements such as the following littered contemporary newspapers and journals: “Undertake marriage negotiations of respectable families-Jyotirbid Pundit K. Samajpati B. A. (Medical Astrologer)-Residence, 4 Guruprasad Chaudhury Lane, Calcutta” (Amrita Bazar Patrika, November 14, 1929, n.p.). Others were even more precise, stating, “if you send your date, year, and place of birth to the address below, you will be provided with your horoscope at the lowest possible price-Sri Motiranjan Kabyatirtha, P.O. Sarutiya, Jessore” (Bijali, February 18[1922]:6).
Rochona Majumdar, “Looking for Brides and Grooms: Ghataks, Matrimonials, and the Marriage Market in Colonial Calcutta, circa 1875-1940,” The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 63, No. 4, (Nov., 2004: 911-935), p. 920.
» Alchemy, Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, Virgo
Image Credit:
- Ecliptic path.jpg by Tauʻolunga, Creative Commons License.
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Zeus
Zeus The son of the Titan Cronus and Titaness Rhea, Zeus is the chief of the second generation Greek gods, usually arrayed with thunderbolts and an eagle.
By the time of Homer he came to be the most powerful deity in the Greek pantheon, his main role role being the overseer of cosmic justice. As such, he protects property, receives prayers and sacrifices, and punishes transgressors.
Because he was so big, he ironically had a relative few polis festivals (i.e. city festivals) in his honor. Polis festivals were generally reserved for lesser deities presiding over a particular city, such as Athena or Apollo.
Zeus had numerous offspring with several different goddesses, the most famous being Aphrodite.
He apparently had amorous relations with his young male cup-bearer, Ganymedes.
The mythologer Robert Graves says
The Zeus-Ganymedes myth gained immense popularity in Greece and Rome because it afforded religious justification for grown man’s passionate love for a boy.
The Greek Myths, Combined edition, London: Penguin, 1992, p. 117.
According to NeoPlatonist thought, Zeus isn’t at the top of the all-time divinity charts. Instead, the NeoPlatonists lowered his status from his previous rank of King.
Zeus’ Roman equivalent is Jupiter.
» Aesculapius, Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs), Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Castor and Pollux, Demeter, Dionysus, Dyaus, Fates, God, Hera, Hercules, Hermes, Hesiod, Jupiter, Muses, Odin, Olympians, Orphic Mysteries, Persephone, Poseidon, Romeo and Juliet, Shapeshifter, Titans, Tyche
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Zeno
Zeno (c. 495 BCE) Zeno was a Stoic philosopher best known for his four ‘paradoxes.’
The two most popular paradoxes are:
1) Zeno asks how many grains of millet must fall before a sound is heard. One fallen grain makes no sound on impact, therefore it accounts for ‘nothing.’ A second grain (a second ‘nothing’) added to the first might also make no sound. But suppose a third grain (a third ‘nothing’) is added to the two grains and this does make a sound. This would result in a ‘something’ (audible sound) being made out of three ‘nothings.’
2) The great runner Achilles can never catch a slower tortoise in a race if the tortoise begins ahead of Achilles. By the time Achilles reaches the tortoise’s starting point, the tortoise has moved to a new position. And by the time Achilles reaches the tortoise’s new position, the tortoise has vacated it and moved on to another position. The distances between the two may become increasingly small but the tortoise always remains a fraction ahead of Achilles.
Philosophers still debate the import of the Achilles paradox but its solution might be simple. The problem seem to arise from Zeno’s use of logic divorced from observation.
The student of vectors will observe that a higher-velocity object gaining on and moving in the same direction as a lower-velocity object will at some point overtake the slower moving object.
Not so complicated.
But Zeno imaginatively ‘stops motion’ to observe the competitors in a series of equally imaginative points to say that Achilles will never reach the tortoise’s position. And this sheer act of imagination doesn’t correspond to what actually happens in observable reality.
Among other things, Zeno’s paradoxes illustrate how thinking about problems and their apparent solutions can be influenced, constrained and distorted by our use of a symbol system, such as language, logic or mathematics–especially when divorced from empiricism. » Achilles, Heap of Sand Paradox, Semiotics, Signifier, Signified, Stoicism
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Zen
Zen This is a Japanese form of Buddhism, introduced to Japan by the monk Eisai (1141-1215 CE).
Dissatisfied with formalistic Buddhism, Esai traveled to China and returned to Japan bringing this new form of the old religion.
The word Zen is derived from the Chinese Ch’an (Ch’an Buddhism).
Ch’an was apparently introduced to China by the Indian Buddhist missionary Bodhidharma (c. 500 CE).
Both of the terms Ch’an and Zen stem from the Sanskrit word dhyana (meditation or contemplation).
Zen emphasizes “being here now” in a tranquil state of mind, untouched by the desires and concerns of worldly life.
The Zen peak experience is called satori, an apparently sudden ego-less flash of illumination.
Zen masters use various techniques to try to instill this frame of mind in disciples or, perhaps better put, to dispense with ‘frames of mind.’
The most fundamental method is zazen (Japanese = sitting + absorption). This involves sitting upright in a quiet room, regulating one’s breathing and watching desires and distractions come and go.
Another Zen method is the koan. A koan is a seemingly illogical, nonsense verse said to facilitate satori. The koan allegedly takes a disciple’s awareness beyond the dualistic world of subject and object.
Archery and elaborate tea ceremonies are also used as vehicles leading to the ultimate achievement of that which is called ‘no-mind.’ » Chan Buddhism, Eightfold Path, Heart Sutra, Mantra, Satori
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Zakat
Zakat » Islam
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