OVERSEAS PILGRIM CONNECTIONS

Shortly after setting up this blog I made a disturbing discovery. A Pilgrim Power Station already excisted on the other side of the Atlantic near Plymouth Rock, USA !

This blog is written in Delfshaven in the Netherlands. Delfshaven literally means 'port of Delft'.
Delft was a very important VOC city in the 16th and 17th century. Delfware pottery and the painter Johannes Vermeer are probably best remembered from that area, but it is also the place where Willem van Oranje, the founder of the Dutch Republic was murdered in 1584.
Delft being situated 15 kilometres inland, a port and a canal were built in the 14th/15th century. Delfshaven was constructed close to Rotterdam and now within it's city limits.

Delfshaven has a legacy of it's own. First of all Piet Hein, one of the most heralded Dutch seafaring heroes, was born here in 1577, next to the Anthonis Capel. This large chappel, now called the Pilgrims Church, is Delfshaven's next claim to fame. From here in 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers left mainland Europe on the vessel the Speedwell, to stop over in Southhampton, England, and embark the Mayflower for the New World: America.

The Pilgrim Fathers were Separatists of the Church of England. They had fled England around 1600 to escape prosecution for the more tolerant religious climate of the Netherlands. Afraid of being influenced by Dutch society if not for economical reasons they decided to leave Europe and start a community in the new colonies of North America. Although they were heading for Virginia they had drifted off and landed in New England on Cape Cod, near nowadays Provincetown. They decided to stay there.

During their voyage they had signed an agreement, the Mayflower Compact, that lay down the foundation of their community. In 1621 this agreement was superseded in the Peirce Patent which gave them official right to settle in New England. These documents are the earliest examples of self reigning democracy in North America and therefore the root of the constitution of the United States of America. By this time they had crossed the bay at Cape Cod and settled in Plymouth, setting foot ashore on 'Plymouth Rock', now a monument.

So much for the Pilgrim Connection between Delfshaven and New England. By the way, Pilgrim Power Station in Plymouth Rock is a Nucleaur Power Plant. Therefore, to celebrate this coincidental discovery I have collected some songs on 'atomic power':

1 - Atomic Cocktail by Slim Gaillard (1945)

2 - Atomic Baby by Linda Hayes (1953)

3 - Uranium Rock by Warren Smith (1958)

4 - Electricity by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (1967)

download songs as RAR-file: link

password: pilgrimindisguise

NASIK PILGRIM POWER

Some typical Pilgrim Power. Pilgrims in Nasik in the midst of a religious song. The singer accompanies herself on a portable synthesizer instead of the traditional harmonium, while her vocals are powerfully amplified, like the synthesizer, just beyond the limits of distortion.

The video is shot in 2002. The city of Nasik (or Nashik) was being prepared for the upcoming Kumbh Mela, the biggest religious event in the world, and in some chaos. Mainly repairs were being made to the bathing steps and banks of the holy Godavari River (hear the power drills!).

Besides the the Kumbh Mela every twelve years Nasik is a popular pilgrim destination all year through as events of the Ramayana took place here:
Legend dictates that the name "Nasik" is derived from the Hindu epic Ramayana. During the exile of Rama, Shoorpanakha the sister of the demon king Ravana tried to seduce Rama. Angered, Rama ordered Lakshmana to cut off Shoorpanakha's nose (nasika/nak). (Wikipedia)

The side were the nose of Shoorpanakha is supposed to reside can be visited in the cave under a temple ... quiet an exercise, only for those with bendy limbs.

BLESSINGS

Let's kick off with a decent blessing as a true pilgrim should !

Ganesha is the elephant headed Hindu god subtitled "The Remover Of Obstacles" and therefore it is a good idea to have his blessings in this first post.

There is this thing about Ganesha and elephants I always wondered about.
The myth exists that elephants are terribly afraid of mice. I don't know if this is actually true. But if it is a myth the source might be found in images of our Hindu elephant god:

Hindu gods are often accompanied by animals as 'vehicles'. Ganesha is accompanied by a mouse or rat representing 'Desire to be controlled', for which reason Ganesha most of the time is sitting on or riding the rodent.
Also, Ganesha often appears dancing, Nritya-Ganapathi, creating the rhythm of the Universe.
These images combined might have suggested to an unknowing viewer from overseas in bygone times that we are looking at an elephant hysterically afraid of the small animal at his feet. And I am sure the archetype of the fat lady on the chair with a mouse in the kitchen is at least as old as that ... (see "Tom & Jerry" as recent reference).

Finally the BLESSINGS :

WELCOME

Welcome to the PILGRIM POWER STATION blog !

Will be sharing here some of my interests. These will be mostly in the fields of art I guess, but in a broad sense. Fine arts; new, old and very old. Music, probably a lot of music; new, old and very old. Literature; History; ... etc. etc. Let's see what happens.

Drop in now and then and do not hesitate to leave a comment.

See ya.