Domina Tempora

In the works of the classical Sanskrit writer Kalidasa (c. 4th – 5th century CE) we see descriptions of women being invited to the king’s garden specifically to sing, dance, play and laugh. As women’s laughter was an expression of their sense of security and happiness, hearing women’s laughter may have been considered as a sign that the empire was doing well. On the other hand, to this day women’s tears made people uncomfortable and often willing to do just about anything to stop the tears flowing. Another rather interesting reaction is when a woman’s tears invoke anger to those who hears it, or even outright denial (“you’re too sensitive”, “you misunderstand me”, “that’s not what happened”). No one wants to hear about a woman’s unhappiness, especially if they feel that they can do very little to help.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/25/the-ancient-power-of-womens-tears/

In the works of the classical Sanskrit writer Kalidasa (c. 4th – 5th century CE) we see descriptions of women being invited to the king’s garden specifically to sing, dance, play and laugh. As women’s laughter was an expression of their sense of security and happiness, hearing women’s laughter may have been considered as a sign that the empire was doing well. On the other hand, to this day women’s tears made people uncomfortable and often willing to do just about anything to stop the tears flowing. Another rather interesting reaction is when a woman’s tears invoke anger to those who hears it, or even outright denial (“you’re too sensitive”, “you misunderstand me”, “that’s not what happened”). No one wants to hear about a woman’s unhappiness, especially if they feel that they can do very little to help.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/25/the-ancient-power-of-womens-tears/

On a personal level, I always associate a smile or a laughter with leadership, especially by women. It is a great power to be able to light up our surroundings by a smile.  Laughter just might be the most contagious of all emotional experiences. It is also a full-on collaboration between mind and body as well as one of the most mysterious features we have as human beings, mainly because the little act of laughter has a complicated mechanism behind it and can encompass so many things.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/18/potens-risus-creation-destruction-and-the-power-of-womens-laughter/

On a personal level, I always associate a smile or a laughter with leadership, especially by women. It is a great power to be able to light up our surroundings by a smile.  Laughter just might be the most contagious of all emotional experiences. It is also a full-on collaboration between mind and body as well as one of the most mysterious features we have as human beings, mainly because the little act of laughter has a complicated mechanism behind it and can encompass so many things.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/18/potens-risus-creation-destruction-and-the-power-of-womens-laughter/

We all have heard variations about this woman. She is a female ghost dressed in all white and associated with some local tragedy. Common to many of these legends is the theme of loss or betrayal of a husband or lover. Also common is the story that she is a restless spirit who has lost her children. She may also be a young woman who was murdered and seeks vengeance. Whatever her reason may be, the result remains the same – the Woman in White walks the earth long after her death, searching for her children, her murderer, or anything else she needs before she can move on to the afterlife.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/11/the-woman-in-white-through-history/

We all have heard variations about this woman. She is a female ghost dressed in all white and associated with some local tragedy. Common to many of these legends is the theme of loss or betrayal of a husband or lover. Also common is the story that she is a restless spirit who has lost her children. She may also be a young woman who was murdered and seeks vengeance. Whatever her reason may be, the result remains the same – the Woman in White walks the earth long after her death, searching for her children, her murderer, or anything else she needs before she can move on to the afterlife.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/01/11/the-woman-in-white-through-history/

Plato, clever man though he was, was mistaken. The inventor of beer was not a man, but a woman. Or, to be more precise, a group of women. Beer plays a prominent role in many of the Sumerian myths. Ninkasi, the daughter of the chief Sumerian god Enki, was born from “sparkling fresh water” and said to be created to satisfy desires and sate hearts. The first nearly complete text is a tablet known as The Hymn to Ninkasi (written in 1800 BC but presumed to be much older) contains both a praise to the goddess of beer and a recipe for brewing. The hymn instructs readers and listeners to handle the dough with a shovel; mix with sweet aromatics, honey, and grains; soak the malt in a jar, and filter it in the vat. The end result was said to be a beer comparable to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, bringing life and enlightenment to all those who drank it. The first brewers were female, likely to be priestesses of Ninkasi, and early on women became brewers of beer in their homes. Kaiser Wilhelm, the last king of Prussia said, “Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.” A woman did love beer, she invented it.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/12/14/women-and-the-sacred-invention-of-beer/

Plato, clever man though he was, was mistaken. The inventor of beer was not a man, but a woman. Or, to be more precise, a group of women. Beer plays a prominent role in many of the Sumerian myths. Ninkasi, the daughter of the chief Sumerian god Enki, was born from “sparkling fresh water” and said to be created to satisfy desires and sate hearts. The first nearly complete text is a tablet known as The Hymn to Ninkasi (written in 1800 BC but presumed to be much older) contains both a praise to the goddess of beer and a recipe for brewing. The hymn instructs readers and listeners to handle the dough with a shovel; mix with sweet aromatics, honey, and grains; soak the malt in a jar, and filter it in the vat. The end result was said to be a beer comparable to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, bringing life and enlightenment to all those who drank it. The first brewers were female, likely to be priestesses of Ninkasi, and early on women became brewers of beer in their homes. Kaiser Wilhelm, the last king of Prussia said, “Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.” A woman did love beer, she invented it.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/12/14/women-and-the-sacred-invention-of-beer/

For Shakespeare, although their role doesn’t go beyond that of agents and witnesses, the Three Witches represent evil, darkness, chaos, and conflict. Their mere presence (a group of women who are “different”) communicates treason and impending doom. In Shakespeare’s day, witches were seen as worse than rebels as they were not only political traitors, but spiritual traitors as well as they were not governed by husbands or politicians. In the case of his three witches, much of the confusion that springs from them comes from their ability to straddle the play’s borders between reality and the supernatural. They are so deeply entrenched in both worlds that it is unclear whether they control fate, or whether they are merely its agents. Unlike what women were “supposed” to be a the time, the three women are not being subject to the rules of the real world.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/12/07/in-defense-of-witches-why-are-we-so-afraid-of-them/

For Shakespeare, although their role doesn’t go beyond that of agents and witnesses, the Three Witches represent evil, darkness, chaos, and conflict. Their mere presence (a group of women who are “different”) communicates treason and impending doom. In Shakespeare’s day, witches were seen as worse than rebels as they were not only political traitors, but spiritual traitors as well as they were not governed by husbands or politicians. In the case of his three witches, much of the confusion that springs from them comes from their ability to straddle the play’s borders between reality and the supernatural. They are so deeply entrenched in both worlds that it is unclear whether they control fate, or whether they are merely its agents. Unlike what women were “supposed” to be a the time, the three women are not being subject to the rules of the real world.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/12/07/in-defense-of-witches-why-are-we-so-afraid-of-them/