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The Greek Folk Dances: A Reprise

July 17, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 1 Comment
A Greek folk-dance group performs the horo in front of the Olympic Velodrome at the Olympic Complex in Athens during the Games of 2005. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)

A Greek folk-dance group performs the horo in front of the Olympic Velodrome at the Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece, during the Games of 2005. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)

Hugh Nibley once made this audacious claim: “All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth – they all go back to the temple” ((Nibley, Hugh, and Gary P. Gillum. Of all Things!: Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley. 2nd, rev. and expand ed. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; FARMS, 1993, 45)).  The more I learn, the more I am convinced of that statement.

My mind returns again to posts I’ve written in the past about subjects that do not cease to fascinate me.  Today I was reminded of a post in 2009, The Traditional Greek Folk Dances and their Ancient Roots.  The Greek dances are some of the most ancient dances in the world, and have been passed down by tradition to the present day where they maintain many of their archaic forms.   [Read more…]

Posted in: Practices Tagged: apron, art, BYU, cap, clothing, coat, crown, dance, greece, greek, hands, harold b. lee, hugh nibley, literature, music, origin, photos, poem, protection, rite, robe, robes, round dance, science, tree of life, white

Solomon Dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem by James Tissot

July 11, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

I saw this painting online today, and thought it was a striking representation of the dedication of Solomon’s Temple.  It is by French painter James Jacques Joseph Tissot, c. 1896-1902, gouache on board, stored at the Jewish Museum, New York.

Solomon Dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (c. 1896-1902)

Solomon Dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (c. 1896-1902)

Posted in: Artifacts Tagged: altar, apron, art, cap, dedication, font, image, jerusalem, Jewish, oxen, painting, robe, solomon, uplifted hands

Seeing Through a Glass Darkly, and the Urim & Thummim

July 8, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments
Lapis specularis, or specularibus lapidibus, is a variety of gypsum (selenite) that forms crystal sheets and they were used as window panes in the first and second centuries AD.

Lapis specularis, or specularibus lapidibus, is a variety of gypsum (selenite) that forms crystal sheets and they were used as window panes in the first and second centuries AD.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

This scripture from the New Testament has often been used to describe our current estate in life, our vision and perception being a bit muddled as we go about our daily lives.  We don’t understand everything, we can’t see everything, we don’t know why some things are the way they are.  We don’t live by perfect light and knowledge.  Indeed, it is a good scripture on the topic of faith, and how we must live by imperfect understanding, having a feeling for things but unable to grasp them fully.  It also well describes what our LDS doctrine calls the veil (also spelled vail), this semi-impervious cloak and covering over God and his dominion.  In a future day, the curtain will be drawn, and we will see with perfect clarity, and our understanding will become as clear as day.

Why must we live by this faith, why the separation from God by the veil?  Why doesn’t God reveal himself?  This is often the cry of the atheists, who seek evidence of God’s existence.  I appreciated Dan Peterson’s explanation of this in his talk on “Humble Apologetics.”  He said:   [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts Tagged: apron, corinthians, faith, garments, interpreters, joseph smith, moses, new name, priest, prophet, revelation, revelations, seer, seer stone, translation, translations, urim & thummim, veil, video

The Traditional Greek Folk Dances and their Ancient Roots

September 8, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 11 Comments
San Joaquin Delta College Hellenic Dancers doing the Greek Syrtos dance at the school's new campus dedication in 1977.  They wear the traditional Greek folk dance costume.  A musician is playing a Thracian gaida in the center of the circle.  Used by permission.

San Joaquin Delta College Hellenic Dancers doing the Greek Syrtos dance at the school's new campus dedication in 1977. They wear the traditional Greek folk dance costume. A musician is playing a Thracian gaida in the center of the circle, leading the dance. Used with permission.

When I originally wrote my paper on “The Genesis of the Round Dance,” I included a short section on the ancient Greek dance forms:

The ancient choruses, dances, and songs of the dithyramb of Greece displayed the familiar pattern of a dignified, circular dance around the altar of Dionysus in the theater’s orchestra. In fact, the term orchestra originally meant the circular dancing place of the theater. In addition, the terms carole and chorus, also originally Greek, meant a sacred ring dance, men and women holding each others hands [other related English words are chorale, choir, and choreography]. LDS scholar, Dr. Hugh Nibley, reminds us that the creation was often acted out in these Greek dance dramas:

The Greek play has a chorus. Well what does chorus mean? It’s a ring dance; it’s a circle. Same as our word curve; Latin: curvus; going around. The chorus sings, and the chorus of the muses sings the poiema, the creation song . . . When they sing together, it’s the poiema, the song of the creation. It’s a glorious thing. It’s a round dance like the Egyptian maypole.

Nibley takes it one step further to explain that all the arts originated from the ancient temple dramas. “So poetry, music, and dance,” he tells us, “go out to the world from the temple-called by the Greeks the Mouseion, the shrine of the Muses.” Again he states that, “All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth-they all go back to the temple.” Kraus supports this claim of a ritualistic connection between the arts when he informs us that Native American ceremonies and sacred dances are “part of an elaborate drama which embraces all the arts.” ((http://www.templestudy.com/2008/02/01/the-genesis-of-the-round-dance-part-3/))

The more one learns about the arts, the more one is convinced of Nibley’s stunning summation.

I want to expand a bit more on the traditional Greek dance forms, and share some more interesting details I’ve learned about these ancient practices that still are continued today.  [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Practices Tagged: altar, ancients, apron, art, circle, clothing, coat, dance, garments, greece, greek, hands, marriage, muses, photographs, robe, round dance, song, traditions, tree of life

Hezekiah Reopens the Temple by T. C. Ducdale

July 16, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 1 Comment
Hezekiah Reopens the Temple, by T. C. Ducdale.  From the Ensign, March 1982, 81 (inside back cover)

Hezekiah Reopens the Temple, by T. C. Ducdale. From the Ensign, March 1982, 81 (inside back cover)

A friend of mine passed along this intriguing painting found in the Ensign of March 1982 (pg. 81, inside back cover).  It is entitled “Hezediah Reopens the Temple” by T. C. Ducdale.

It depicts the scene from 2 Chronicles 29 when King Hezekiah gathered together the Levites, told them to sanctify themselves, and commissioned them to cleanse the temple and restore it, and remove all idolatry from it.  When this was done, a celebration occurred in which burnt offerings were made on the altar, and different instruments were given to the Levites to make song and praise to the Lord.  All rejoiced.  The Levites are wearing the sacred garments prescribed to them for service in the temple (Ex. 28:39-40).  The High Priest also wore these same garments on the Day of Atonement, when he made an offering in the Holy of Holies (Lev. 16:4).

Posted in: Artifacts Tagged: apron, atonement, ensign, garments, king, offerings, priest, restoration, service, song
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