Well, I must confess that I was "today" old when the concept of the scythe as just a harvesting equipment and not a weapon sunk in. We have been taught to fear "the grim reaper" by society for so long that the concept goes unquestioned.
I wonder what else goes unquestioned, that is wrong.
I had a really similar reaction, and I think that's why the passage jumped off the page at me. I'd never considered the scythe as a tool of the harvest, like a modern combine. I'd always viewed the image as the weapon of death personified.
Seeing it as that tool of the harvest really adds important context. I'd love to claim the insight as my own, but alas, Bro. Shifrin gets all the credit!
It's always been a harvesting tool to me. In korea when I lived there, you would see farmers and their families out with hand scythes. Even on base, they employed locals as landscapers, and they would be out there cutting the grass with their small hand held scythes. They couldn't afford modern machinery back then. Of course, martial arts had incorporated them as weapons. Japanese in feudal times weren't allowed to carry swords, you had to be samurai, but the farmers had to protect themselves so they adopted to the tools they had on hand.
Interesting. I'd just never thought of it in that way. But, I suppose as you allude, that's just because I never saw one in actual use. Hanging in the barn, we knew what they were for of course, but never actually considered them.
Very timely. I participated in an MM degree last night, and gave a portion of the lecture including the emblems. This morning I am tired and this discussion adds a new dimension to my thinking as I continue to age. While I don’t look for the “ultimate” next chapter anytime soon (although no one is guaranteed tomorrow), I will be thinking about the value I may be able to bring to the “harvest”. Thank you all.
I suppose that when our ritual was written, many things were looked at differently. The scythes being just one thing. Since they were hanging in the barn on our farm, they must have been used in the harvest, at least to some extent when my family started the farm in 1890 and of course Freemasonry was a thriving thing in that community in that year.
But, myself looking at them, just 100 years later, I saw them as something much different from how my ancestors would have seen them.
Now I wonder, what other of our symbols have undergone a similar transformation in meaning.
Well, I must confess that I was "today" old when the concept of the scythe as just a harvesting equipment and not a weapon sunk in. We have been taught to fear "the grim reaper" by society for so long that the concept goes unquestioned.
I wonder what else goes unquestioned, that is wrong.
I had a really similar reaction, and I think that's why the passage jumped off the page at me. I'd never considered the scythe as a tool of the harvest, like a modern combine. I'd always viewed the image as the weapon of death personified.
I never thought about the symbolism of the scythe either, and how as a harvesting tool it’s relation to the Grim Reaper. Thank you Cameron M. Bailey 💀
Seeing it as that tool of the harvest really adds important context. I'd love to claim the insight as my own, but alas, Bro. Shifrin gets all the credit!
It's always been a harvesting tool to me. In korea when I lived there, you would see farmers and their families out with hand scythes. Even on base, they employed locals as landscapers, and they would be out there cutting the grass with their small hand held scythes. They couldn't afford modern machinery back then. Of course, martial arts had incorporated them as weapons. Japanese in feudal times weren't allowed to carry swords, you had to be samurai, but the farmers had to protect themselves so they adopted to the tools they had on hand.
Interesting. I'd just never thought of it in that way. But, I suppose as you allude, that's just because I never saw one in actual use. Hanging in the barn, we knew what they were for of course, but never actually considered them.
Very timely. I participated in an MM degree last night, and gave a portion of the lecture including the emblems. This morning I am tired and this discussion adds a new dimension to my thinking as I continue to age. While I don’t look for the “ultimate” next chapter anytime soon (although no one is guaranteed tomorrow), I will be thinking about the value I may be able to bring to the “harvest”. Thank you all.
I suppose that when our ritual was written, many things were looked at differently. The scythes being just one thing. Since they were hanging in the barn on our farm, they must have been used in the harvest, at least to some extent when my family started the farm in 1890 and of course Freemasonry was a thriving thing in that community in that year.
But, myself looking at them, just 100 years later, I saw them as something much different from how my ancestors would have seen them.
Now I wonder, what other of our symbols have undergone a similar transformation in meaning.