Syskonskap med Judas

 

Vårt syskon Judas

Hmmm...

"Judas är inte längre förrädare och bröder blir syskon"

En dålig stilist?

 

Det här låter i och för sig intressant. Så vi vet egentligen inte vad som faktiskt står i Bibeln? Eller rättare sagt: vad som faktiskt avses.

Fast lite pikant ändå att den nya översättningen implicit ogiltigförklarar hela den protestantiska reformationen. Eller åtminstone centrala delar av dess särpräglade teologi.

Också lite kul att "The New Perspective on Paul" (NPP) visar sig vara att hedningarnas apostel var...en dålig stilist. Det kanske är oundvikligt när ordet blir kött? 

Så bra är den nya översättningen av Bibeln

Trimurtix?

 

From Wikipedia: "The female-centric Shaktidharma denomination assigns the eminent roles of the three forms (Trimurti) of Supreme Divinity not to masculine gods but instead to feminine goddesses: Mahasarasvati (Creatrix), Mahalaxmi (Preservatrix) and Mahakali (Destructrix)."

Ahem, are "Preservatrix" and "Destructrix" real English words or some kind of strange neologisms? Let´s find out, chat. Let´s ask our amigo!

[ChatGPT comments]

Yes. “Preservatrix” and “Destructrix” are understandable English formations, but they are not ordinary, established English words. In the Wikipedia passage you quoted, they are essentially neologistic/feminine formations, apparently created to parallel “Creatrix.”

The linguistic pattern

The three words are:

• Creatrix — an established English word, historically borrowed from Latin crēātrīx, “female creator.” It has genuine dictionary usage, although it is uncommon and somewhat formal/archaic.
• Preservatrix — formed from preserve + the Latinate feminine-agent suffix -trix. It means “female preserver,” but is extremely rare and is not a normal English vocabulary item.
• Destructrix — similarly formed from destruct + -rix/-trix, meaning “female destroyer.” It is also extremely rare and not standard everyday English.

So the Wikipedia terminology is essentially:

Creatrix — Preservatrix — Destructrix
Creator — Preserver — Destroyer

with the last two deliberately feminized to make the Sanskrit theological triad grammatically parallel.

Interestingly, the terminology is not merely an invention of the Wikipedia editor. The exact sequence appears in English translations/discussions of Śākta theology. For example, an English translation of the Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa uses “Creatrix, Preservatrix and Destructrix” in describing Devī's cosmic functions. John Woodroffe likewise uses “Creatrix, Preservatrix, and Destroyer” when discussing Śakti.

But “Preservatrix” is particularly odd

Preservatrix is morphologically transparent, but English normally says:

female preserver

rather than preservatrix.

The suffix -trix comes from Latin feminine agent nouns, as in:

• creator → creatrix
• administrator → administratrix
• executor → executrix
• aviator → aviatrix

But preservatrix and destructrix never became comparably established English nouns.

There is also a slight morphological awkwardness with destructrix. Classical Latin has dēstrūctrix (“female destroyer”), so the form isn't linguistically nonsensical; it is a perfectly plausible Latin-derived formation. But its English use is exceedingly uncommon.

And there is an important Wikipedia issue here

The wording makes it sound as though “Creatrix, Preservatrix and Destructrix” are traditional Sanskrit theological titles. They aren't.

The underlying Sanskrit concepts are much more straightforward:

sṛṣṭi — creation
sthiti — preservation/maintenance
saṃhāra / laya — destruction/dissolution

And in Śākta theology Devī/Śakti herself can perform all three functions. The Devī Bhāgavata, for example, describes the Goddess as sṛṣṭi-sthiti-anta-kāriṇī — essentially “she who performs creation, preservation and dissolution.”

The specific assignment

Mahāsarasvatī = Creatrix
Mahālakṣmī = Preservatrix
Mahākālī = Destructrix

is the English-language presentation of the feminine Tridevī/Trimūrti scheme, rather than a set of Sanskrit technical terms corresponding literally to those English words. The current Wikipedia article itself presents exactly that scheme.

So I would translate the passage more naturally as:

Mahāsarasvatī — the Creator
Mahālakṣmī — the Preserver
Mahākālī — the Destroyer

even though all three are goddesses.

If one wants to emphasize their femininity, “Creatrix, Preservatrix, and Destructrix” is legitimate as a deliberately Latinate stylistic choice—but it sounds much more like theological English coinage than ordinary English.

And there is a particularly interesting point here: “Preservatrix” may actually be a better clue to the source tradition than “Mahalaxmi” itself, because that triplet reflects a specific modern English Śākta presentation of the Tridevī rather than the much more widespread Hindu identification of Lakṣmī simply as Viṣṇu's consort and goddess of śrī/fortune.

Well, who can blame him?

 

An American wakes up from a coma, speaks Swedish?! (Not his native language). 

Jävla IKEA-bög, flytta dina flata möbler

 

Vet inte om nyorden "IKEA-bögar" och "IKEA-flator" är så lyckade, ärligt talat. Fast IKEA kanske inte vågar klaga? Och sedan känns det här utspelet kanske lite desperat. Eftersom det kommer från Liberalerna. Som man väl skulle kunna kalla "SD-bitches" eller något sådant, LOL. 

Debatten bör handla mer om IKEA-bögar

Cosmopolitan

 

Imagine an Indian kshatriya with a Vaishnava name offering an idol of the Buddha to Isis in a Hellenistic temple in Egypt also used by Bhagavata Hindus. It happened when Egypt was Roman and the Empire had an Arab Caesar. Evidence? Well, we have the idol and the dedication. The latter is in both Greek and Sanskrit. 

OK, interesting. I can hear the purists screaming: "Noooo, you´re not allowed to blend different traditions". Try stop me, Karen. 

Insular dwarfism

 

Overheard on the interwebs: the Tolkien Estate actually forbade (or tried to forbid) scientists from calling specimens of Homo floresiensis "Hobbits".

So heeeeere we go, chat!

Hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits..hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...hobbits...

But wait a sec. Åke Ohlmark´s Swedish translation of "Lord of the Rings" was unauthorized, so I suppose Swedish scientists could call Homo floresiensis "hober"? Sue my ass, dude! 

Bloggare som hatar proggare

 

Kan ingen säga åt Aftonbladet att det heter "allt från och med" den franska revolutionen var ett misstag, et cetera. Jag antar nämligen att alt-högern inte stödjer den franska revolutionen...

Någon borde låta AI träna på SAOL och en grammatikbok från fucking 1952. Sedan vankas det uppsägningar i dagarna tre!

Boundless peace

 

Credit: Chi King

So why is a buddha (including Amitabha) shown with a swastika on his chest in Chinese Buddhism?

Gemini: 

In Chinese and broader East Asian Mahayana iconography, seeing a swastika placed directly on the chest of a Buddha statue like Amitabha is incredibly common.

This symbol has absolutely no connection to modern 20th-century political hate movements. Instead, it is an ancient Sanskrit emblem called the Svastika.

When placed on a Buddha’s chest, it carries three profound scriptural and linguistic meanings:

1. The Seal on the Buddha’s Heart

In Indian Buddhist tradition, the swastika is known as "The Seal on the Buddha's Heart". According to Mahayana sutras, a Buddha's body possesses 32 major and 80 minor supernatural physical markings (lakshanas) that visibly prove their complete enlightenment. The swastika is one of these ultimate primary markings. Placed over the heart chakra, it serves as a visual shorthand indicating that the figure possesses the entire mind, absolute realization, and universal compassion of a Buddha.

2. A Symbol of Infinity and Immortality (Wàn)

When Buddhism migrated into China around the 2nd century CE, the swastika was integrated directly into the Chinese writing system.

• In the year 693 CE, the famous Chinese Empress Wu Zetian officially decreed the left-facing swastika (卍) to be a legitimate Chinese character pronounced wàn.

• Wàn is an exact homophone for the Chinese word for "ten thousand" or "myriad," which culturally signifies infinity, eternity, and immortality.

• Therefore, when placed on Amitabha Buddha (whose very name means "Infinite Light and Life"), the symbol acts as a visual seal declaring his boundless, immortal nature.

3. The Rebirth of Auspiciousness

Etymologically, the Sanskrit root words are Su ("Good/Auspicious") and Asti ("It Is"). It literally means "All is well" or "Conducive to well-being". Much like the Dharmachakra (the Wheel of Dharma), it represents the perfectly harmonious, unshakeable movement of cosmic law.

How to Tell the Difference at a Glance

If you ever feel a momentary, conditioned alarm when looking at a statue, look closer at the design metrics:

• The Nazi Hakenkreuz: Is almost always sharp black, turned at a tilted 45-degree angle, and faces right.

• The Buddhist Swastika: Is traditionally painted brilliant gold, yellow, or ruby-red, sits entirely flat (horizontally stable), and most frequently faces left (卍) in East Asian art.

It is a beautiful mark of pure, boundless peace and sanctuary.

ChatGPT: 

Yes. The swastika (Chinese: 卍, wàn; Japanese: manji) is a very common mark on the chest of Buddhas in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese Buddhist art. It is not a sectarian symbol or an emblem of Amitābha in particular; rather, it is understood as one of the auspicious marks of a Buddha.

Its origin is Indian, not Chinese

The swastika was already an ancient auspicious symbol in India long before Buddhism. It signified ideas such as:

• well-being (svasti means "well-being" or "auspiciousness"),
• good fortune,
• cosmic harmony,
• prosperity,
• the orderly movement of the universe.

When Buddhism arose, it adopted this ancient symbol and gave it additional Buddhist meanings.

In some Indian Buddhist traditions, the swastika came to be regarded as one of the auspicious bodily marks (lakṣaṇas) of a Buddha or a great being.

---

The Buddha's "auspicious mark"

According to Buddhist tradition, a fully awakened Buddha possesses extraordinary physical characteristics known as the Thirty-two Major Marks (Mahāpuruṣa-lakṣaṇa) and Eighty Minor Marks.

The exact textual traditions differ on where the swastika fits. In Indian and East Asian traditions it is often treated as an auspicious emblem associated with these marks, especially as a radiant sign displayed on the chest.

Chinese Buddhists therefore came to depict:

• Śākyamuni,
• Amitābha,
• Vairocana,
• Medicine Buddha,
• Maitreya,

and other Buddhas with the same symbol.

It is a mark of Buddhahood, not of one particular Buddha.

---

Why is it on the chest?

The chest is symbolically appropriate because it is associated with:

• the Buddha's awakened heart,
• boundless compassion,
• immeasurable merit,
• the radiance of enlightenment.

Especially in Mahāyāna, the chest is the place from which the Buddha's compassionate light is imagined to shine.

For Amitābha, whose name means "Infinite Light," this symbolism fits particularly well, even though the swastika is not unique to him.

---

Chinese interpretations

In China, the character 卍 came to be read as wàn (萬), meaning:

• ten thousand,
• countless,
• myriads,
• infinity.

Thus the symbol acquired additional associations with:

• infinite virtues,
• immeasurable merit,
• boundless compassion,
• the innumerable qualities of Buddhahood.

This interpretation is especially congenial to Mahāyāna thought.

---

Is the direction important?

In East Asian Buddhism, both left-facing and right-facing forms have historically been used.

There has never been complete uniformity.

Some traditions preferred one orientation; others used the opposite. Ancient Indian Buddhist art also contains both orientations.

In East Asia, the symbol's auspicious meaning has always been far more important than the direction in which the arms appear to turn.

---

Why Amitābha?

For Amitābha specifically, the swastika can be understood as symbolizing:

• his infinite merit accumulated through bodhisattva practice,
• his perfect Buddhahood,
• the boundless light (Amitābha),
• the boundless life (Amitāyus),
• the inexhaustible compassion from which Sukhāvatī arises.

It is therefore not an "Amitābha symbol" as the lotus is, but rather a universal sign that he is a fully awakened Buddha.

---

A comparison with Hinduism and Jainism

Although the same ancient Indian symbol appears in all three traditions, its emphasis differs:

Tradition	Primary meaning
Hinduism	Auspiciousness, cosmic order, blessing, prosperity
Jainism	The four destinies of rebirth and the path to liberation
Buddhism	The auspicious marks of a Buddha, infinite merit, enlightenment, and the boundless qualities of Buddhahood

So when you see a Chinese image of Amitābha with a swastika on his chest, it is best understood as saying:

"This is a fully enlightened Buddha whose wisdom, compassion, merit, and auspicious qualities are immeasurable."

It is a visual shorthand for the perfection of Buddhahood, deeply rooted in Indian Buddhist tradition and given an additional resonance in East Asia through the Chinese interpretation of 卍 as "myriad" or "infinite."

En liten konspirationsteori

 

Jag har länge baxnat över den urusla svenskan i vissa kvällstidningsartiklar. Från personer som har svenska namn. Och verkar ha "svenska" utseenden också.

Hur fan är det möjligt? Hur fan kan man få jobb som skribent på en tidning om man faktiskt är värdelös på att skriva? 

Jag har en teori...

Kulturbarnen flummar runt på en Waldorf-skola i typ tolv år där de inte får lära sig ett skit. Sedan fixar deras föräldrar jobb åt dem via kontakter på lämpligt mediahus. Min hypotes har högt förklaringsvärde.

Prove me wrong. 

Väderbaksmälla

 

...sägs vara på gång. Nyord? Som i årets värsta oväder med åska som bonus. Har inte märkt just någonting alls där jag befinner mig. Men eftermiddagen kanske blir mer färgstark? Ska jag ut och dansa i åskan...eller nej? 

Heteroprax reflections

 

A dark-skinned Buddha preaching
to snake-spirits and tree-spirits!

A little gem from 2024.

Austro-Asiatic Buddha

Xi you later

 

Jag visste att TH skulle ta upp detta, tänkte faktiskt på honom när jag såg rubriken för några dagar sedan...

Gulinghumor

Nyord

 

Tror bestämt att svenska språket just fick två nya ord. Eller nyord. Just det: kvittningskupp och kvittningskris. 

Observera förresten att de två SD-vildarna röstade för övergångsreglerna. Vilket betyder att deras SD-ortodoxa nyparti är en ren bluff, LOL. Så nu vet vi det. Och sakfrågan är förstås redan bortglömd. Dags att debattera Robyns nya album igen, kanske...? 

Valkampanjen har visst tjyvstartat, lagom till Valborg. 

SD-avhopparna försökte stoppa skärpta krav för medborgarskap

A little bit of everything

 

A potpourri of YouTube videos about various different topics: mushrooms control the weather, Chinese "green technology" is fake, virtual particles are real, et cetera. Enjoy!

Hypocoliuses

 

Bala surrounded by parakeets and hypocoliuses. Which is supposedly the plural of hypocolius. The strangest bird-name in the English language? If you know, you know... 

Urban legend

 

Credit: Cfitzart

This is probably true. Enjoy! From Gemini.

Is it really true that the Aboriginal language Andiljangwa has 3,500 grammatical cases? The source is the Guiness Book of World Records!

This is a classic case of a "linguistic urban legend"! While it sounds like an incredible feat of the human mind, the claim that any language—including the Aboriginal language Anindilyakwa (often spelled Andiljaugwa in older texts)—has 3,500 grammatical cases is factually incorrect.

Here is the breakdown of why this number exists in the Guinness World Records and what it actually means.

1. Where did the "3,500" come from?

The source of this confusion is likely a misunderstanding of polysynthesis. Anindilyakwa (spoken on Groote Eylandt) is a incredibly complex language where a single word can function as an entire sentence.

Instead of having thousands of "cases" (which usually apply to nouns, like he/him/his), the language uses a massive system of prefixes and suffixes on its verbs. These markers track:

• Noun Classes: There are five different genders/classes.

• Person & Number: Who is doing what to whom (subject and object).

• Tense & Mood: When and how it is happening.

If you multiply all the possible combinations of these prefixes and suffixes together, you can mathematically generate thousands of unique forms for a single verb. A Guinness researcher likely saw a figure for the number of prefix combinations and labeled them as "cases," which is a very different linguistic concept.

2. The True Record Holder

If we look at actual noun cases (the way a noun changes its ending to show its role), the numbers are much smaller:

• Tsez (Caucasus): Often cited as having 64 cases (though many are combinations of spatial markers).

• Tabasaran (Caucasus): Famously held the Guinness Record for decades with 48 cases.

• Anindilyakwa: Actually has a relatively standard number of cases for an Australian language (roughly 10 to 15, such as locative, ablative, and allative).

3. Why is Anindilyakwa so famous?

Linguists consider Anindilyakwa one of the most difficult languages in the world because of its morphological density.

Example: A single word can mean: "He-will-again-bring-it-back-to-the-two-of-them-tomorrow."

Because the language uses a "base-5" (quinary) counting system and requires every number to "agree" with the noun class of the object (e.g., the word for "one" changes depending on if you are counting turtles or trees), it creates a level of complexity that is genuinely mind-boggling—just not in the form of 3,500 cases!

Summary

• Is it true? No. No language has 3,500 cases.

• Is it complex? Yes, it is one of the most complex languages on Earth.

• The Error: Guinness likely confused "verb prefix combinations" with "noun cases."

It's a great example of how a technical linguistic fact can be "lost in translation" when it hits mainstream trivia books!

Språkvård

 

Och alltså inte samma hund. Eller enbart hundar av samma ras. Kan ingen lära AB korrekt svenska? De menar förstås *flera* hundar (och inte bara en enda)...

Beaver Patrol

 

Credit: The Fourth Way 

The late Winston Churchill is apparently too divisive and controversial, so the Bank of England (sic) will replace his portrait on the five pound note with a beaver. Not sure who would find Churchill controversial in 2026. Neo-Nazis??? 

The trick (of course) won´t work. You can never be Woke enough, and "beaver" is apparently a rather crude sexual/sexist innuendo. Yes, I checked. So the beaver will have to go, too.

Besides, have anyone checked whether the beaver is a "clean" animal, and if so, in which religious communities? Exactly. And aren´t we excluding non-Eurasians by having a *Eurasian* beaver on the five pound bill? Well, at least the next year or so will be entertaining. Until Nigel Farage becomes Prime Minister and puts his Lord & Master Trump on those darn bills. 

Now, *that* might prove a tad bit controversial, methinx!   

Goddess of Doom?

 

OK, this was fascinating. From the description: 

>>>Copyright notice: Sorry, Universal Music — this song was written in 1400 BCE, carved into clay, and dedicated to a moon goddess. If you own this, please provide the clay tablet receipt. Experience the oldest known song in the world reimagined as a Doom Metal song — a slow, crushing and ritualistic transformation that drags a 3,400-year-old hymn from ancient Mesopotamia into a modern wall of distortion, weight and atmosphere.

>>>This track is based on the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, written around 1400 BCE and discovered on a clay tablet in the ancient city of Ugarit (modern-day Syria). It is widely considered the oldest surviving piece of written music that can still be reconstructed today. >>>The hymn was dedicated to Nikkal, a moon goddess associated with fertility, and includes lyrics in the Hurrian language alongside instructions for tuning a lyre — an astonishing glimpse into the earliest known musical system in human history.

>>>This doom metal reinterpretation preserves the solemn, ceremonial nature of the original while translating its ancient melodic gravity into slow tempos, massive riffs and a dark, oppressive atmosphere. What was once played on a lyre is now reborn through distorted guitars and thunderous drums.