Queen Cnute

And David points out that the King's intentions had been misinterpreted when taught to me. Great. I could rewrite this, but i don't feel like it. - Ed.

The history of the British Isles is rich with historical record and fantastic legends. There most likely was a "King Arthur" but probably not a Camelot; there was certainly a King Cnute, but we'll never know if he actually thought he was powerful enough to command the seas. The latter is one of my favorite legends and I didn't really analyze why, but the more I contemplate, the more I see the significance of the tale. It's referenced in one of my favorite music videos too, I believe: Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence". But, i might be reading too much into the video, as I often do...


Anyway, he wanted to demonstrate his power by controling nature, and it's a universal folly I think humans have. Just because we have reason, we become arrogant enough to think we're the most superior of beings, in a linear heirarchy where reason is a qualifying factor for greatness. And yet, time is there laughing at us, as is space (despite the noble efforts of physics). We're not Q's nor Timelords, and while charlatans will claim to bend metal with their mind, we have limits, and if we learn to live within the limits rather than manipulate them, we can seek happiness. Otherwise, there is always a nagging blemish to nature.

I see myself doing this with time. I don't want some folks in my life to age, but sometimes want Sophia to be a toddler. I'm impatient and regretful just as I am vain and resist aging myself. What I fail to accept in all of this is the power of "now", just as the King fails to recognize the power of being with the ocean, rather than commanding it. Another favorite song of mine is "Riders on the Storm" in the Louis Aragon approach (rather than the hitchiker-killer),

Into this house were born
Into this world were thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out on loan

and another is "The Passenger" as recorded by Siouxsie and the Banshees and interpreted by moi.

And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
cause it just belongs to you and me
So lets take a ride and see whats mine

Both communicate both the solitary state of our existence, but also the companionship and belonging as beings in a show not of our creation. We are participants. There is also a lesson to learn here about attachments, a pillar of learning Buddhist philosophy and also something to conquer when striving for a better life (for me at least). We don't control time and can only control circumstances within our grasp, but detaching frees us to find which is which and what efforts are best spent, what time and energy.

And now, I, Queen Cnute, will go listen to Pink Floyd's "Time" and gaze at Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Time" and remind myself that these aren't new ideas, just new realizations.