Changelings

[H2O Man]

{1} "We change, whether we like it or not." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Human nature predisposes us to seek "safety." The Acacia tortilis of the savannahs is imprinted in our collective memories.

There is no serious question that our country faces difficult and often dangerous situations today, and that we must change in order to deal with these threats. These include the environmental crises, disease, and war.

Like many other animals, human beings have a group nature. And when the sun goes down, and the danger of the darkness becomes the greatest, people gather with the group.

Individuals in our modern society tend to react to changing circumstances in one of two ways. The first is to wish for a return of "the good old days," and the other is to try to master change. Most of us, of course, respond to various changes in a combination of the two.

{2} "Things do not change; we change." – Henry David Thoreau

The nature of the republican species is to attempt to return to Mayberry RFD. We can recogize this as a collective coping strategy on their part. Clearly, republican strategists understand this, and hence they produce commercials such as "Morning in America" and remind us that Willie Horton is lurking in the shadows.

Democrats can also be prone to wanting to go back to Ixtlan. For some of us, that means the years 1992 to 2000, rather the Eisenhower era. For others it could be the 1960s, when John Lennon noted that belly buttons were only knee-high.

Others are aware that we need to learn from the past, in order to transition to the future. The time to make change, they tell us, is now. They tell us that we are the agents of change.

{3} "Be the change you want to see in the world." – Gandhi

In traditional Irish culture, there is a recognition of a type of person called a Changeling. Sometimes Changelings are involved in politics or social movements. Other times they are simply the people you meet, who your grandmother said has been here before. Sometimes they take things that you already knew, and put them in a different sequence, and help you to see the world differently.

People respond to Changelings in a couple of ways. Those who understand that we need to change to deal with life welcome the challenges that they present. They know that the significance of a Changeling is their ability to spark motivation in others.

Those who fear change tend to resent the Changelings. They look very hard for flaws in the Changelings, to justify their own unwillingness to change.

In the fields of psychiatry and sociology, these tendencies are associated with what is known as the "locus of control." Those with an internal locus of control believe that they are largely able to control things in their environment; they welcome the opportunity to make changes. Those with an external locus of control believe that outside influences dictate; they are convinced that they are victims of circumstance who require others to make the changes needed for them to stay secure in their sameness.

{4} "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Since John Edwards dropped out of the democratic primary, our choices have been between two US Senators: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If we take away all of the nonsense that has polluted the primary atmosphere, we can see that both of these two are solid candidates who could be strong democratic candidates for president. It is, in many ways, a shame that the acrimony from the contest appears to have destroyed any chance of a ticket including both of the two.

If the party nominates Clinton, the ticket loses Obama; if it instead nominates Obama, the ticket will lose Clinton. Those who favor Senator Clinton often point to the stability they associate with her, and suggest that she would help the nation return to the policies of the Clinton-Gore administration. Those who favor Senator Obama recognize that he is an agent of change, and believe that he is more qualified to help lead the nation in the future.

{5} "Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability." – Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is a growing recognition that the democratic nominee is going to be Senator Barack Obama. I recognize that others might believe that Senator Clinton still has a chance to win the nomination. I have no interest in debating that with them – they are surely as entitled to that belief as I am to my own.

However, as we approach the summer, we have to make another decision, and that is will we be so invested in the current conflict between the Clinton and Obama campaigns, that we remain mired in it, like sticks in the mud? Or do we change the approach that we take? No matter if Clinton or Obama wins the nomination, for the democratic party to win in November, it will require us all to change. For if we stay the same, it can only mean more of the same, which is what John McCain represents.

"Leadership," the Rev. Jesse Jackson tells us, "has a harder job to do than just chose sides. It must bring sides together." We can provide our own leadership on that, now.

[panader0]

1. Good post. Obama will be the agent of change we want.

I feel it in my heart and brain. I still have hope that the style of politics, both in our own country and worldwide, can improve. I used to think this way back in the 60's, when I thought change was right around the corner. Well, it's been a long time coming.

[H2O Man]

2. I agree.

I am supporting him because I believe that he has the ability to recapture our Constitutional democracy.

[mopinko]

8. eeegggggggxactly.

i sure am getting tired of waiting, tho.

[H2O Man]

13. Right.

Although I enjoy the process of the elections, I am aware that quite a bit more damage will be done each week that Bush and Cheney are in office. More, there are influences inside the administration, and on the margins, that want to expand the violence in the Middle East. This is a strange time.

[mopinko]

37. yes. there is so much at stake. i think that when this is settled

it will, maybe, maybe put a brake on things. if they think that one of their own will take it, they know they are safe. if they see change coming, perhaps they will back off. prolly not, but maybe.

still got the stevie earworm, btw. one nice thing about the digital age, no more worn out records. they would be popping and cracking by now. shoo-be-doo-be-doo-da-day-send your voters straight our way.

[biggerfishsmallpond]

23. I just finished reading David Korten's The Great Turning

and I honestly believe that the Obama Presidency is the best opportunity to step up as a nation and a people. The problems are rooted in farm more than the just Bush/Clinton years. I am not saying that Obama is the Messiah. I am saying that we all need to make major changes to the way we live, think and value if this country and planet are to survive. The President is only a part of the solution, but having someone at the top who recognized and admits that something is wrong is critical.

I am also fairly certain that a Clinton or McCain presidency is the road to Unraveling, not necessarily because they will do anything deliberately wrong, but because they can't see or recognize the state of things.

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

:thumbsup:

[H2O Man]

14. Thanks! n/t

[corkhead]

4. The Doors:

I'm a Changeling
See me change
I'm a Changeling
See me change

I'm the air you breathe
Food you eat
Friends your greet
In the sullen street

See me change
See me change, YOU


Thanks for another great OP, H2O Man, you are one of DU's oases in the GD-P desert.

[H2O Man]

16. That is

a heck of a song.

Thank you.

[AspenRose]

5. What saddens me are the folks who say they will not support one if the other

wins the nomination.

That really saddens me.

It didn't have to be like this.

[H2O Man]

20. You are right:

it didn't have to be like this. More, it doesn't have to continue to be this way. Even on a forum like DU, we do not have to continue to engage in some of the fights that have defined GD-P. It doesn't mean that we can go back to where we are all friends. But there can be a truce, where there are not enemy camps.

[Me.]

6. 'You Can Never Go Home Again'

What was, no longer is, and that moment in time, when the dynamics and people were so different, is gone forever. If there's any going back that needs to be done, it's back to the future. My hope for him is not so much the change he brings but the change we will be able to affect in him.

[H2O Man]

21. Be Here Now

by George Harrison

Remember, Now, Be Here Now
As it's not like it was before.
The past, was, Be Here Now
As it's not like it was before ... it was

[KoKo]

27. I'm a fan of Thomas Wolfe........I think it's deeper...in nuance. n/t

[ms liberty]

7. K&R. A most interesting essay, H20Man...

You know how people always say the only things that stay the same are death and taxes? I've always said the only things that stay the same are death, taxes, and change, whether you like it or not. We might as well embrace change - because it's going to happen with us or without us, and we can either go with it, or get out of the way and be left in it's dust.

[H2O Man]

22. Yep.

"We must change to master change." -- President Lyndon Johnson; 1-12-66

[hfojvt]

9. is that really the meaning of 'changeling'?

You are using it as though the changeling is a bringer of change. My understanding is that a changeling is somebody like Jesus or Neo or King David or King Arthur. They are living a sort of ordinary life as a carpenter, a computer programmer, a shepherd, or stable boy - when suddenly they find out (or reveal) that they are really a king.

[H2O Man]

11. In the essay,

I mentioned the traditional Irish context of Changeling. I think that it fits Jesus quite well. The thing that he and others change is the way people think about themselves. When people change the way they think about themselves, they change the way they act. And when people change the way they act, everything around them must change. It is much like a mobile that hangs over a baby's crib -- pull one piece, and everything else must move, too.

When enough people begin to change the way they think and act, then society itself changes. This is the type of transformation that Al Gore defines as necessary in his wonderful book, "The Assault on Reason."

[stillcool]

10. "It is not necessary to change.

... Survival is not mandatory."
- W. Edwards Deming

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
- Heraclitus of Ephesus

Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

Life may change, but it may fly not;
Hope may vanish, but can die not;
Truth be veiled, but still it burneth;
Love repulsed,--but it returneth.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

[H2O Man]

25. Very good!

Thank you.

[mythyc]

12. you had me at Emerson and Thoreau. K&R

I'm writing a dissertation on these two currently. great work H20. always love your posts and perspective

[H2O Man]

26. That sounds interesting

-- the dissertation that you are writing. (I looked at your profile, and am curious if you are familiar with "The World's Famous Orations," edited by William Jennings Bryan?)

[FrenchieCat]

15. Good one! Thank you.

[grantcart]

17. what background can you give us about the picture?

[H2O Man]

19. That is Leon Shenandoah,

then the Tadodaho of the Iroquois Confederacy. (He has passed away.) That was on a day when the NYS University/Museum returned a dozen "wampum" belts to their righful owners, at Onondaga's Longhouse.

My cousin, who sometimes contributes to DU (Mr. Baggins9) but who more often just reads and smiles, took this picture of Uncle Leon with a special belt. It isn't a treaty belt involving the Europeans. It shows five different "groups," which join together for this reason: they recognize that when they are separate, an enemy can "break" them like a single finger -- but when they join together, they form a powerful fist that can protect them all. And that idea is as true today for all of us, as it was yesterday for Five Nations.

The Confederacy is actually based on dispute resolution without violence. The "fist" is the power of the Good Mind.

For more on Leon, people can read National Geographic (9-87); or "The Wisdom Keepers" by Harvey Arden and Steve Wall; or "To Become a Human Being: The Message of Tadodaho Chief Leon Shenandoah," by Steve Wall.

[grantcart]

35. knew there was a great story involved. Thanks

[KoKo]

18. Well..there are definitely many "Changelings" here on DU these days...but NOT

in the benign and passive way on an intellectual level you position them....

Yes...there are DEFINITELY ....CHANGELINGS....I will go to a MUCH DARKER VIEW....of "that."

just saying.....

peace to you... We view the glass "darkly"...some of us....we have reason to do this...and it's not irrational...it's based on as much reason...as those others who feel they are reasoned. Sometimes it comes down to a "reasons of difference" which any inquiring mind might find ways to position themselves.

[H2O Man]

28. That's interesting .....

I think of myself as taking a rather active approach -- though what is "active" for me these days is no doubt rather laid-back compared to when I was young. (grin) But I am looking forward to doing another presentation for young adults, who are going to be voting in their first presidential election in November, in a classroom setting next week. My goal isn't to tell them what to think, or who to vote for ..... but rather, to say that each one of us is responsible for what we do (or fail to do), and that we have the ability to create positive change. That always includes difficulties, and these test us all. But I am positive that we can and will make improvements, and even re-instate our Constitutional form of government.

[windoe]

24. Being open to change

to me involves receptivity as well as activity. My observation of the last 8 years was mostly activity by the leadership without the necessary balance of listening to other points of view. Activity without receptivity is closed minded, being stuck in a time warp of ideals, dogma or projection, it resists and denies the future, the unfamiliar and dissent, this predatory behavior induces fear. This culture of fear divided this country up, we have seen the absolute shadow behaviors of violence, racism, twisting of truth, everyone closed up in their own bubbles of fear and misguided anger. Add to this our fear of our very government, increased police brutality and surveillance has broken our trust, so we close ourselves to hope and change.
Perhaps our country is willing to face this fear we were collectively driven into in 2001, and now we are willing to be more proactive. Perhaps now we know it is up to all of us to act on our own to change our lives, since we cannot continue this course. Admitting that many of us are angry and bitter is a necessary step in change, it can be our fuel.
Thank you H2O Man for your usual insightful posts, a pleasure.

[H2O Man]

30. Your post reminded

me of a quote from James Hirsch's book "Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter" :

"Sometimes readiness and change come only because of all the heartache and pain and deep frustration that has gone on before. That is to say, every sin, every disease, every disappointment, every failure, every bit of difficulty that has ever touched our lives have all been a very necessary part of our entire experience without which we would not have been made ready or prepared .... And yet whatever the degree of difficulty each one of us has had, then it was perhaps that degree of difficulty that each one of us needed!" (page 174)

[KoKo]

29. WIKI...has an interesting Explantion of "Changeling Across Cultures," HERE:

Changeling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses see Changeling (disambiguation)
Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913.
Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913.

In West European folklore and folk belief, a changeling is the offspring of a fairy, troll, elf or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in the place of a human child. The apparent changeling could also be a stock, a glamorized piece of wood that would soon appear to grow sick and die. The motivation for this conduct stems from the desire to have a human servant, the love of a human child, or malice.<1> Most often it was thought that faeries exchanged the children. Simple charms, such as an inverted coat, were thought to ward them off.
Contents

* 1 Identifying a changeling
* 2 Purpose of a changeling
* 3 Changelings in medieval folklore
o 3.1 Scandinavia
o 3.2 Wales
o 3.3 Ireland
o 3.4 Scottish
o 3.5 Spain
* 4 "Changelings" in the historical record
* 5 Changelings in other countries
* 6 Changelings in the modern world
o 6.1 Neurological differences
o 6.2 Failure to thrive
o 6.3 Changelings in popular culture
o 6.4 Literary uses
* 7 Notes
* 8 References
* 9 See also
* 10 External links

Identifying a changeling

Changelings would be identified by voracious appetite, malicious temper, difficulty in movement, and other unpleasant traits.<2> Medieval chronicles record instances of this, which is one of the oldest known pieces of folklore about fairies.<3>

According to some legends, it is possible to detect changelings, as they are much wiser than human children. When changelings are detected in time, their parents have to take them back. In one tale of the Brothers Grimm, there's an account of how a woman, who suspected that her child had been exchanged, started to brew beer in the hull of an acorn. The changeling uttered: "now I am as old as an oak in the woods but I have never seen beer being brewed in an acorn", then disappeared.<1>

Purpose of a changeling

Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children.

Beauty in human children and young women, particularly blond hair, attracted the fairies.<4>

In Scottish folklore, the children might be replacements for fairy children in the tithe to Hell;<5> this is best known from the ballad of Tam Lin.<6>

Some folklorists believe that fairies were memories of inhabitants of various regions in Europe who had been driven into hiding by invaders. They held that changelings had actually occurred; the hiding people would exchange their own sickly children for the healthy children of the invaders.<7>

Changelings in medieval folklore
http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:U7CSqd5wiSQJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling+What+is+a+%22Changeling%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Scandinavia

Since most beings from Scandinavian folklore are said to be afraid of steel, Scandinavian parents often placed a steel item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an unbaptized infant's cradle. It was believed that if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven.<8>
Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raised
Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raised

In one Swedish changeling tale<9>, the troll child grows up at a farm while the human child grows up among the trolls. Everyone advises the human mother to brutalize the changeling so that the trolls would change children once more. However, the woman refuses to treat the innocent but maladapted troll child cruelly and persists in treating it as if it were her own. Eventually, the husband decides to leave his wife, as he can no longer support living with the troll child. His distraught wife allows him to leave her, because she can not abandon an innocent child, although it is a troll. When the husband has walked a distance into the forest, he meets his own son who tells him that he is free from the trolls. Every time someone tried to be cruel to the troll, his troll mother was about to treat the human child in the same manner, but when his mother sacrificed what was dearest to her, her husband, the trolls realized that they had no power over her and had to release the human child.

In another Swedish fairy tale<10> (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents and both become beautiful young females, but they find it hard to adapt. The human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll prince, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. By coincidence, they both go astray in the forest, upset with the conditions of their lives, and happen to pass each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.

Wales

In Wales the changeling child (plentyn newid) initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.

The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is supposedly necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove. <11>

Ireland

In Ireland, looking at a baby with envy -- "over looking the baby" -- was dangerous, as it endangered the baby, who was then in the fairies' power.<12> So too was admiring or envying a woman or man dangerous, unless the person added a blessing; the able-bodied and beautiful were in particular danger. Women were especially in danger in liminal states: being a new bride, or a new mother.<13>

Putting a changeling in a fire would cause it to jump up the chimney and return the human child, but at least one tale recounts a mother with a changeling finding that a fairy woman came to her home with the human child, saying the other fairies had done the exchange, and she wanted her own baby.<12> The tale of surprising a changeling into speech -- by brewing eggshells -- is also told in Ireland, as in Wales.<14>

In parts of Ireland, left handed people are sometimes thought to be changeling fae.

MORE OF THIS BACK AT LINK...at TOP!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling

[PurityOfEssence]

31. I hope so, cuz they're both asking us to bet on the come...

Both Clinton and Obama are expecting us to take their word for it that they'll finally give up their habits of caution and positioning to actually take a stand. With the health care fight of '93, at least there's some evidence Clinton will, but there's little else in her career to show this and essentially none in his.

They're both asking us to bet heavily on an inside straight.

[KoKo]

32. "Betting Heavily..." I understand...n/t

[tekisui]

33. It is time to move forward, move ahead

and take back the White House with President Barack Obama.

[KoKo]

34. We did that with Clinton I and II and Carter...and LBJ....what's new?

that we haven't heard before?

[Me.]

36. Morning

:kick:

[progressoid]

38. Oh. So this thread isn't about the Doors or Simple Minds then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tk4G-OrmpM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYjUOofPDWI