Francis Berger
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Where the Sword Drops

4/29/2022

7 Comments

 
In Hungarian culture, the Turul is a sword-carrying mythological bird of prey symbolizing the founding of nation. Legend has it that the original Magyars followed the Turul to the area of present-day Hungary and decided to settle in the region after they witnessed the Turul drop its sword near the bank of the Danube where the city of Budapest would eventually be established.

Several Turul monuments exist in Hungary today. Among the most prominent is the Turul statue perched upon the summit of the Gerecse Mountains in the former mining city of Tatabánya, 55 kilometers west of the Budapest. The statue is visible from the main highway leading into Budapest, and I have seen it from a distance the dozen or so times I have traveled east toward the capital. 

Last weekend, the little hiking club that has formed in my village traveled to Tatabánya to hike in the Gerecse Mountains, which gave me the opportunity to finally see the monument up close. The hike itself was splendid. The trees here are sprouting, but the new leaves have yet to cast the forest floor in shade, which allows the young shoots, plants, and flowers to emerge and cover the forest floor in a fresh and comforting velvety green.  
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It took a little over two hours to reach the crest upon which the Turul monument sits. During the hike, my mind sank into a peaceful and contemplative mode of unthinking-thinking. Rather than consciously forcing myself to think certain thoughts, I granted my thinking room to wander -- or more correctly, room to settle -- on the sights and sounds of the forest as I passed through it. 

The Turul monument itself is rather impressive, but given the current state of the world, it left no deep impression on me as a national or historical symbol of Hungary. 
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Nevertheless, on the train ride home I found myself thinking a great deal about the Turul bird dropping its sword as an indication of having arrived at the homeland or, more generally, at the place to be.

I was born in the United States, spent a great deal of my life in Canada, later lived and worked in the US again, and moved to the northeast of England for a short time. I have lived in Hungary, which is the country of my heritage, since 2015. Like the ancient Magyars, I have spent most of my life wandering in search of a homeland. Though I had not actively followed a massive bird of prey carrying a sword, I realized that I had always been waiting for a sword to drop somewhere in this world to indicate the place for me to "be". 

Well, it appears the sword has indeed dropped. My current personal circumstances and the place in which I find myself have become home. I will wander no more. But the dropped sword has little to do with grand historical notions of nation or culture and everything to do with small personal notions of place and relationships. Whatever I have left to learn in this life will be learned in the place I am now.

When my life in this world ends, I will wait for Christ to pick up the sword. The place in which He chooses to drop it will indicate my eternal homeland -- the place I truly yearn to "be".  
7 Comments
Sasha Melnik link
4/29/2022 13:05:12

I've come to the same conclusion as to where I live, it's the place I actually want to be. I'm with the people I want to be with. It's a very freeing sensation to know that.

Delayed Sync on the Turul though, a month ago I was told in a dream that it's very lucky to live near such a thing, by some sort of Djinn character. Until your post today, I didn't actually know what it was!

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Francis Berger
4/29/2022 19:12:33

@ Sasha - Thanks for the comment. That's an interesting sync. Glad the post helped you to better understand your dream.

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bruce charlton
4/29/2022 19:06:15

@Frank - I too am having difficulty spontaneously and positively responding to 'symbols' (including institutions - perhaps ancient ones) that once meant something very significant to me. The reason is obvious enough, when they have been hollowed-out and replaced with evil-alignments.

Of course, the problem can then become experienced as a loss of meaning in the world; unless other - previously undetected or neglected - meanings emerge; which they will only do if deliberately chosen.

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Francis Berger
4/29/2022 19:21:50

@ Bruce - Yes, I am becoming increasingly aware of this myself. Symbols are supposed to point to reality -- help to represent or comprehend it. I get the sense that most symbols and institutions (even ancient ones) have ceased to do this. They point not at reality but its opposite.

On the one hand, this could lead to a devastating loss of meaning in the world. On the other hand, it could also lead to deeper awareness. Instead of finding solace in symbols, we are "forced" to seek out reality itself.

Maybe this connects to primary thinking in some way? Being unable to rely on symbols to guide us to reality might open the way to a more direct, personal route?

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ben
4/29/2022 19:47:13

Maybe there's just less meaning in the air... Maybe the meaning is drained from this world as it hellifies. With this understanding, the eagle statue would have been truly meaningful in the past - the eagle would have really had a magic to it that is now lost; it wouldn't just be meaning (or a sense of meaning) located in the mind of the observer.

lea
4/30/2022 04:53:40

Finding a home is comforting and inspiring. If it is underpinned by history and linguistics that suggest 'Godly roots' that is even better. I think most of our graced earth still provides these things if one is to actually look, but when no one has the eyes to see we get the degradation of everything that is still a bit dominant. Dutch history has become tarred with its expressions of dominance, violence and others transgressions, and people are compelled to forget about its independence, inventiveness, resilience, creativity, effectiveness and intellectual capacity throughout recent history. There is a reason we had FOUR unwarranted wars waged against us in the late 17th century in short succession, along with royalty committing treason and starting up the first real central bank in England. Dutch is the supreme outflow of anglosaxon languages, if i am to buy into the historical narrative regarding that spread and such. Eastern Europe, spearheaded by Estonia of all places, seems to be deeply influenced by sanskrit, and there are leads towards a connection between that and Hungary, more so then the rest of the region. The quality of your local sayings expresses it all; whatever phrase acts like a work of art rather then a sentence, is something to treasure.

English has been worked on by sorcerers of the destructive kind for too long, it can only be used under strict scrutiny and control, such as i try to employ, and Francis almost always does.

Give me Beowulf again, this sucks.

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bruce charlton
4/30/2022 08:04:08

ben said: "Maybe there's just less meaning in the air... Maybe the meaning is drained from this world as it hellifies."

Well said! That is indeed what we should expect.

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