Tutu

This is the guardian god Tutu.  Tutu is a god from the later period of Ancient Egyptian culture (indeed, the statue above may come from the Greco-Roman era…or even the Byzantine era of Egypt).  Tutu was a son of the mysterious and dangerous goddess Neith (a creator goddess from outer darkness) but he was more familiar and comforting than Neith: Egyptians thought of Tutu as a god who protected mortals from Neith’s other more dangerous children–demons and nightmares from the world of darkness.  Originally Tutu was a protector of tombs, but over the centuries he morphed into a guardian of sleep who protected slumbering commoners from nightmares.  I really like this statue because he seems like a friendly (but maybe slightly silly) dream guardian.  Although he has a cat’s body, his elongated torso makes me think of a dachshund  and his pudgy hangdog face reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield or some such sadsack comedian.  Let’s not even talk about the scorpions on his feet!

But I guess any protection from nightmares is better than none, and Tutu was popular in his day, during the twilight fadeout of Egypt’s ancient gods.

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National Serpent Day

We have lots of unofficial holidays.  Nearly every day of the year has multiple different sobriquets like “National Doughnut Day” or “National Wear Red Day” or whatever.  Sometimes when I am chronically behind in my daily schedule I look at these lesser holidays for inspiration, and thus February 1^st forcefully struck me.  It’s “National Serpent Day” and serpents are a major topic here at Ferrebeekeeper. Yes!  But then I was struck anew at what a strange choice of day this is for National Serpent Day.  Serpents are ectothermic: the frigid first day of February, when winter’s dreadful wrack holds sway everywhere except for the very southern tip of the nation (and for naturally snake-free Hawaii) is a bad choice.  To be blunt, most of the nation’s snakes are sleeping through National Snake Day in biological suspension called “brumation.”  They are unable to appreciate the National Snake Day cakes, the festive snake-theme merchandise which marketing professionals are peddling, or the thoughtful cards we send them.  Perhaps this choice of day, reflects the ambiguous feelings Americans have about snakes.  We love sleek racing lines, amoral snakelike behavior, and poisonous politicians who tempt us with promises we know we should never consider…yet the snake is taboo in Judeo-Christian tradition, and many people are naturally phobic. I wonder if National Serpent Day is on a different day in snake-loving pantheistic societies like India, Ancient Greece, or China.

Anyway, to celebrate the day, I am including some coral snake pictures, since I think there is hardly a more beautiful animal than these colorful snakes with their beautiful scarlet, black, and red coloring. I also like their blunt foreshortened faces and laconic expressions.  Also all the red will start getting us ready for Valentine’s Day.  In the mean time enjoy National Serpent Day, by thinking about your favorite snakes (unless you live in the tropics or the Southern hemisphere, in which case you should go romp with your favorite legless friends).