Don't say "There aint no Maat": drawing by Ed Sanders, 17 April 2017
Minnie Pearl
described driving
to a show with Hank Williams
& the car was singing
“I Saw the Light”
till Hank asked them to stop,
“cause there ain’t no light”
& this morning
I read Joanne Kyger’s poem:
“Don’t worry you’ll never be happy thank god,
lulled into that fake state of contentment
when we all know it’s a war
against those believers in evil
Every time I sit out here alone
I start to whine about reality”
July 18, 2003
—from The Distressed Look 2004
4-7-17
Thanks to Tom and Angelica Clark
for reprinting Joanne’s poem in their daily report
Weighing of the heart scene, with Ammit sitting: page from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer: unknown Theban artisan, 19th Dynasty, c. 1300 BCE.: image by Jon Bodsworth, 8 December 2007 (British Museum)
Poet and Egyptologist Ed Sanders has devoted his life to the scribal calling. It is not hard to divine the source of his interest in the goddess Ma'at. Ma'at represents justice. For as long as I have known him, Ed has been singular among the poets in his activity as a justice warrior.
A papyrus from the Book of the Dead in the Egyptian Archive of the British Museum tells the story of the scribe Hunefer in the waiting room of the afterlife: of how his fate hangs in the balance as his heart is weighed against a feather upon the scales of Ma'at, the scales of eternal justice, by the jackal-headed god Anubis.
Hunefer's heart resides, during this transitional period of judgment, inside the small pot on the scale tray to the left, in the illustration above; on the scale tray to the right, we see the feather of Ma'at, or Rectitude. The emotional, intellectual and moral history of Hunefer has been distilled into the contents of the pot. There is no longer any chance of bargaining, negotiating or doing a deal. The finite game of mortal life, with all its little white lies perpetrated in the desperate attempt to keep the game going, is now over for the scribe; the game of infinity, with its very different set of rules, has begun.
Anubis leads Hunefer by the hand into the zone of judgment, and oversees the weighing; the drama is all in the moment for Hunefer, as Ammit the Devourer, also known as the Bone-Eater, not a goddess but more like a terminal custodian of justice, her features a composite of those creatures most feared, the dog, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, crouches beneath the scales, ready to scarf up the heart of Hunefer should the faintest trace of wickedness, a blemish greater than a feather's weight, be found.
As this supreme test takes place, ibis-headed Thoth, clerk of the gods, waits to record the result in the eternal annals.
In the next panel the scribe, should he pass the test, is to be presented by the hawk-god god Horus to the shrine of his father Osiris, the green-skinned god of the dead, and of the latter's divine sisters Isis and Nephthys.
Above the scene, in precise order of rank, sit in judgment the fourteen presiding gods of Egypt; each of the first seven of whom holds an ankh, the loop-headed cross, trilateral hieroglyphic character of eternal life.
The moment is pregnant with meaning. If Hunefer fails the test, his remains will be swallowed up by the chimerical Ammit and he will be denied entry to the afterlife. He will be consigned to nonexistence for eternity.
Winged Ma'at kneeling over lilies of Upper Egypt. Scene from the tomb of Rameses III: André Dutertre, before 1842; image by Sinuhe20, 15 June 2010
Hank Williams performing at a concert, 1951: publicity photo, 1952, image by GDuwen, 21 October 2011
Everybody Wants To Be Famous [Hank Williams 1923-1953, Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville]: photo by Thomas Hawk, 7 March 2010
Hank Williams poster: photo by "MO", 21 January 2017
Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys on WSM [Nashville]: image via bunky's pickle, 29 January 2009
Minnie Pearl [Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, 1912-1996] performs at Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California: photographer unknown, n.d., photo via Knott's Berry Farm Collection, Orange County Archives, 8 February 2011
Minnie Pearl's Hat [with pricetag reading $1.98]: photo by National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 25 September 2013
Minnie Pearl: photo by tomo4president, 4 March 2017
La déesse Maat. Présentation de la déesse Maât sous les traits anthropomorphe d'une femme habillée d'une robe moulante blanche, d'une série de colliers entourant son cou et d'une plume d'autruche maintenue par un bandeau sur sa tête.: image by le livre des morts, 2 March 2013
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
MAAT. Collage3er.: image via Brakis | Altwan, 28 August 2010
Maat. A decoration from a furniture piece. Goddess Maat. Late Period. Louvre Museum.: image via Heidi Kontkanen, 2 February 2013
Maat, diosa de la justicia: image via Mona Mala, 5 March 2009
Weighing of the heart scene, with Ammit sitting: page from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer: unknown Theban artisan, 19th Dynasty, c. 1300 BCE.: image by Jon Bodsworth, 8 December 2007 (British Museum)
A papyrus from the Book of the Dead in the Egyptian Archive of the British Museum tells the story of the scribe Hunefer in the waiting room of the afterlife: of how his fate hangs in the balance as his heart is weighed against a feather upon the scales of Ma'at, the scales of eternal justice, by the jackal-headed god Anubis.
Hunefer's heart resides, during this transitional period of judgment, inside the small pot on the scale tray to the left, in the illustration above; on the scale tray to the right, we see the feather of Ma'at, or Rectitude. The emotional, intellectual and moral history of Hunefer has been distilled into the contents of the pot. There is no longer any chance of bargaining, negotiating or doing a deal. The finite game of mortal life, with all its little white lies perpetrated in the desperate attempt to keep the game going, is now over for the scribe; the game of infinity, with its very different set of rules, has begun.
Anubis leads Hunefer by the hand into the zone of judgment, and oversees the weighing; the drama is all in the moment for Hunefer, as Ammit the Devourer, also known as the Bone-Eater, not a goddess but more like a terminal custodian of justice, her features a composite of those creatures most feared, the dog, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, crouches beneath the scales, ready to scarf up the heart of Hunefer should the faintest trace of wickedness, a blemish greater than a feather's weight, be found.
As this supreme test takes place, ibis-headed Thoth, clerk of the gods, waits to record the result in the eternal annals.
In the next panel the scribe, should he pass the test, is to be presented by the hawk-god god Horus to the shrine of his father Osiris, the green-skinned god of the dead, and of the latter's divine sisters Isis and Nephthys.
Above the scene, in precise order of rank, sit in judgment the fourteen presiding gods of Egypt; each of the first seven of whom holds an ankh, the loop-headed cross, trilateral hieroglyphic character of eternal life.
The moment is pregnant with meaning. If Hunefer fails the test, his remains will be swallowed up by the chimerical Ammit and he will be denied entry to the afterlife. He will be consigned to nonexistence for eternity.
Winged Ma'at kneeling over lilies of Upper Egypt. Scene from the tomb of Rameses III: André Dutertre, before 1842; image by Sinuhe20, 15 June 2010
Hank Williams performing at a concert, 1951: publicity photo, 1952, image by GDuwen, 21 October 2011
Everybody Wants To Be Famous [Hank Williams 1923-1953, Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville]: photo by Thomas Hawk, 7 March 2010
Hank Williams poster: photo by "MO", 21 January 2017
Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys on WSM [Nashville]: image via bunky's pickle, 29 January 2009
Minnie Pearl [Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, 1912-1996] performs at Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California: photographer unknown, n.d., photo via Knott's Berry Farm Collection, Orange County Archives, 8 February 2011
Minnie Pearl's Hat [with pricetag reading $1.98]: photo by National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 25 September 2013
Minnie Pearl:
publicity photo for appearance at Civic Opera House, Chicago, 1965;
photo by Denny-Moeller Talent, Inc.,; image via We, 23 September 2012
Minnie Pearl: photo by tomo4president, 4 March 2017
La déesse Maat. Présentation de la déesse Maât sous les traits anthropomorphe d'une femme habillée d'une robe moulante blanche, d'une série de colliers entourant son cou et d'une plume d'autruche maintenue par un bandeau sur sa tête.: image by le livre des morts, 2 March 2013
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
Maat: image via nicaD., 4 February 2014
MAAT. Collage3er.: image via Brakis | Altwan, 28 August 2010
Maat. A decoration from a furniture piece. Goddess Maat. Late Period. Louvre Museum.: image via Heidi Kontkanen, 2 February 2013
Maat, diosa de la justicia: image via Mona Mala, 5 March 2009
Maat. From the southern chapel at the Temple of Deir al Medina, dedicated to Arun-Sokar-Osiris: image via Heidi Kontkanen, 8 April 2011
Clone Stamp Tool
Ragpickers sort through garbage next to greater adjutant storks and cows at a large dump in Guwahati. Photo @BoroBiju: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
#India An Indian woman's feet are pictured as she collects recyclable items at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Photo @noahseelam: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
An injured demonstrator is helped by primary care response volunteers during a rally against Venezuela's president: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 5 June 2017
Last week's Kabul bomb death toll jumps to more than 150: Ghani: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 5 June 2017
Outside @emergency_ong hosp., Kabul after today's blast that killed 80+ and wounded 350+. Non-life-threatening victims patched up and discharged: image via Andrew Quilty @andrewquilty, 31 May 2017
Toxic froth from industrial pollution floats on Bellundur Lake, #WorldEnvironmentDay in Bangalore, India, June 5, 2017. #APTOPIX: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 5 June 2017
Smoke billows from an Islamic State position moments after an Iraqi helicopter fired a rocket in western Mosul: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 5 June 2017
#India Indian villagers join together to fish with large nets on poles in a flooded area of Dharmanagar. Photo Lovely Ghosh: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
A Russian Soyuz capsule
carrying Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and French astronaut Thomas
Pesquet, who spent a half-year aboard the International Space Station,
descends by parachute to land in a remote area outside the town of
Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Friday, June 2, 2017.: photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Pool
via AP, 2 June 2017
Homs, struck by war. Man's craziness is visible from space. Sadly the struggle for power can lead to innocent people dying #ThursdayThoughts: image via Thomas Pesquet @Thom_astro, 18 May 2017
SYRIA - A displaced boy who fled IS group stronghold of Raqa peers through the window of a truck at a camp in Ain Issa. Photo @Delilsouleman: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
Clone Stamp Tool
Ragpickers sort through garbage next to greater adjutant storks and cows at a large dump in Guwahati. Photo @BoroBiju: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
#India An Indian woman's feet are pictured as she collects recyclable items at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Photo @noahseelam: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
Child servants in Haiti toil in hope of a better life, that for many, never comes. @CheryHaiti @dmcfadd: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 5 June 2017
#Philippines Evacuees from Marawi City camp rest at the Saguiaran
Townhall in Lanao del Sur on the southern island of Mindanao. Photo
@herime23: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
An injured demonstrator is helped by primary care response volunteers during a rally against Venezuela's president: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 5 June 2017
Last week's Kabul bomb death toll jumps to more than 150: Ghani: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 5 June 2017
Outside @emergency_ong hosp., Kabul after today's blast that killed 80+ and wounded 350+. Non-life-threatening victims patched up and discharged: image via Andrew Quilty @andrewquilty, 31 May 2017
Pakistani youth cool off in a stream during a hot day on the outskirts
of Islamabad on June 5, 2017: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 5 June
2017
Michael Nichols' "A Wild Life" investigates interactions between #humans and #nature and the impact on habitat #visapourlimage2017 @NatGeoPhotos: image via Jean-Francois Leroy @jf_leroy, 3 June 2017
Michael Nichols' "A Wild Life" investigates interactions between #humans and #nature and the impact on habitat #visapourlimage2017 @NatGeoPhotos: image via Jean-Francois Leroy @jf_leroy, 3 June 2017
Toxic froth from industrial pollution floats on Bellundur Lake, #WorldEnvironmentDay in Bangalore, India, June 5, 2017. #APTOPIX: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 5 June 2017
Smoke billows from an Islamic State position moments after an Iraqi helicopter fired a rocket in western Mosul: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 5 June 2017
#India Indian villagers join together to fish with large nets on poles in a flooded area of Dharmanagar. Photo Lovely Ghosh: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
#Malaysia Religious students read the Koran before breaking their fast
during the Ramadan at Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur, Photo @rasfan: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
GAZA STRIP - Palestinian labourers work at a cement factory at night to avoid the day time heat in Rafah. Photo @saidkhatib: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
#India Indian labourers work at a brick manufacturing factory situated on the outskirts of Bangalore. Photo @manjunath_kiran: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
A body builder exercises at a gym in Ojudu Berger #Nigeria Photo
@mlongari @AFPphoto: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures 5 June
2017: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
An
elderly man prays seated on a rock during #Ramadan on the outskirts of
#Srinagar Indian controlled #Kashmir Photo @daryasin @AP_Images: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
Homs, struck by war. Man's craziness is visible from space. Sadly the struggle for power can lead to innocent people dying #ThursdayThoughts: image via Thomas Pesquet @Thom_astro, 18 May 2017
SYRIA - A displaced boy who fled IS group stronghold of Raqa peers through the window of a truck at a camp in Ain Issa. Photo @Delilsouleman: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
A woman is reflected in the window of a #flower shop on a sunny day in #Pamplona #Spain
Photo Alvaro Barrientos @AP_Images: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures, 5 June 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
This is what it feels like when you go about your day while Donald Trump is President: image via Matthew A. Cherry @MatthewACherry, 4 June 2017
A boy plays with fireworks as he celebrates the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Ramadan is traditionally a time of reflection and prayer, and during daylight hours Muslims are expected to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex to focus on spirituality, good deeds and charity.: photo by Hatem Moussa/AP, 1 June 2017
Roadside shot outside #Jakarta market notable for the #trafficking echos. #picsoftheweek @epaphotos @CNNphotos #women: image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 3 June 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
Clone Stamp Tool. Muang Thong Thani 2017.: photo by Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, 9 May 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
[Untitled]: photo by Gustavo Gomes, 17 April 2017
This is what it feels like when you go about your day while Donald Trump is President: image via Matthew A. Cherry @MatthewACherry, 4 June 2017
A boy plays with fireworks as he celebrates the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Ramadan is traditionally a time of reflection and prayer, and during daylight hours Muslims are expected to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex to focus on spirituality, good deeds and charity.: photo by Hatem Moussa/AP, 1 June 2017
#France A person walks amid mist sprayed during the "Biodiversi'terre"
exhibition by artist Gad Weil on Avenue Foch in Paris. Photo @JoelSaget: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 5 June 2017
Roadside shot outside #Jakarta market notable for the #trafficking echos. #picsoftheweek @epaphotos @CNNphotos #women: image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 3 June 2017
9 comments:
Hank Williams: I Saw the Light (1948)
Minnie Pearl: About Hank Williams Mo 1
Minnie Pearl: About Hank Williams Mo 2
Minnie Pearl: About Hank Williams Mo 3 "And he said, 'Minnie. I don't see no light... there ain't no light"
Hank Williams: I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (1952)
Great post, Tom. I love the poem within the poem, and why not? It all bears repeating. Had forgotten Minnie Pearl's hat is right here in DC. I will have to visit it & say hello. A footnote: until about 10 years ago, I thought that Hank Williams wrote "Lovesick Blues." But Doug Lang turned me on to Emmit Miller's much earlier version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otNICva63mQ. But my all-time favorite cover is Little Richard's: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lovesick+blues+little+richard.
Tom,
Even the most die-hard Tigers fan must agree Ed Brinkman's beloved moniker too belongs to the justice warrior-in-chief, Steady Eddie Sanders. (He also hits for higher OBP and power#s.)
ra, ra,
k
Kent, you'll remember this one, from your Bakersfield days.
Buck Owens: I've Got a Tiger by the Tail
And thanks Terry, terrific!
Alongside Hank, Ed Sanders, essential American legacy.
Fugs on Swedish TV (Folk Legends), 1966 part 2
Ed Sanders and the Fugs: Crystal Liaison, live NYC 1968 -- "In the great bowling alley of your mind/I'm the pinboy"
Also... while at work on the post, below the neverending traffic-and-ambient development-construction roar, hearing in head this very Maat-ilke song. the impartiality... The Ronstadt cover, esp.
It Doesn't Matter Anymore (Paul Anka): Buddy Holly cover, 1958 / Linda Ronstadt cover, Fox Theater, Atlanta, 1 December 1977
Always loved LR's covers of classic r&r, often, as with It Doesn't Matter Any More, even better than the originals. Also very Maat-like, to me (!), this one.
Linda Ronstadt: It's So Easy (Buddy Holly cover), live 1977
In the winter months early 67 I was living at 14th & B, Ed & Miriam around the corner at 10th & A. Ed & Fugs had a steady gig on Bleecker in the W Village.
Song on the air waves at the time:
Linda Ronstadt / Stone Poneys: Different Drum (live), 1967
It's forgot that she was such a great singer before the Parkinsons.
Tom,
No ear without a fertile mind will forget her beautiful voice. Let's see, just how many American guys like me heard "Different Drum" and wished...k
ps - My Detroiter best friend worked with her & Peter Asher on an ad campaign (and the song he wrote for it) for Mexican travel. He couldn't say enough great things about her personally and professionally.
At her peak she challenged herself by attacking some seemingly unconquerable classics and in many/most cases crushed them in the palm of her hand.
Doris Troy: Just One Look (1963)
Linda Ronstadt: Just One Look (live, 1978)
Linda R. was so extraordinary, that combination of overwhelming talent and beauty is hard to match. I'm still stuck on "It Really Doesn't Matter Any More."
Terry, yes, that is the great one, isn't it. The song seems to be made for her, born with her, as if it had been waiting for her to come along. She turns it into something like the expression of a philosophy of life. And why not.
She said in an interview four years ago, at age 67, that her voice had started going when she was 51:
...as I got older I got Parkinson’s disease, so I couldn’t sing at all. That’s what happened to me. I was singing at my best strength when I developed Parkinson’s. I think I’ve had it for quite a while.
You think you’ve had it longer than when you received the diagnosis?
I’m 67 now, so it may have started as early as 51.
Are you going by your singing or other—
By my singing. They have a new way of diagnosing Parkinson’s; it’s with an algorithm and they record your voice and compare it to an algorithm.
Did you read the A.A.R.P. piece on their Web site, referring to the piece they did on you, saying that there’s some kind of voice therapy?
There’s all kinds of stuff out there . . . but it’s nothing that can give you singing back. Singing is such a complex mechanism. You have to be able to do a whole lot of things at once that require repetitive movements of your vocal cords . . . I couldn’t do any of it [anymore]. I was onstage just yelling really, just shouting. And I can’t even do that now. If I try to put any pressure—I can’t project my voice very far. And my speaking voice is affected. I tried to do the audio version of my book, but I couldn’t do it. My voice didn’t have the strength, and I didn’t have enough range of expression.
(And too, she did her own arrangement of It Doesn't Matter, truly making it her own...)
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