Re: Written Western languages

From: Jeff Richard <richaje_at_XJUcPNXikqqQ5vQ2dNuOMlusbSOKpurxMUHWyiV44PuiLU0ydw2hCOSEBJiOZb_LDi-d>
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:42:33 -0000

> Isn't that what the Muslims do on their temples? They can't depict God
> or their profets, it's a sin, so they decorate the walls with
> religious writings.

Certainly. And given that the Invisible God is impossible to depict (although it is not a sin to depict a saint or lesser being) you end up with the Word of God being the main depiction of God.

Of course, the Muslims are not the first or last people to use writing as a decoration. Here in Germany (as well as in the US), many Evangelisch churches have the Hebrew YHWH as a decoration. And of course Chinese and Japanese writing is also used as art.

But of course, what we were inspired by was Arabic calligraphy and art. The Pergamonmuseum in Berlin has a fantastic Islamic art collection, complete with a full room decorated in verse (the Aleppo room).

> And Arab is in fact multiple languages with a common written form,
> does it ring a bell?

Yep. As Loz, Claudia Loroff and I were touring the museum of Islamic art, Loz and I realized that the reverential approach to the written word of God would be treated similarly by the Malkioni.

However, keep in mind that Western script does not look like Arabic. It is derived from the 30 Core Runes (thus there are either 30 or 25 Western letters), the New Script is easier to write and more stylized.  However, the script makes it very easy to view any Western writing as a sorcerous spell and to have a more mystical interpretation of the writing as well.

Jeff