African masks

This is an African mask, made by the Baluba (Luba) people, in Central Africa. It was made out of beads, wood and hammered bronze. Its diameter is 29.21 cm, and it costs approximately 131.62 euros.  It is handmade, thus making it unique and more expensive.

I actually didn’t think much when choosing this mask. I went on Google, goggled ‘African masks’ and looked through the bunch. I chose this one, because it reminded me of two things: The whole thing itself to a squinting chubby person, and the eyes to this one over here:

yeah, I am actually not sure if he’s squinting or not… how are you supposed to see through that?

These types of masks were usually used for ceremonies and regular festivities, funerals, initiations (where the young are accepted into the adult community) and religious spiritual festivities. The masks in general are just plain creepy. They were made that way, (some of them) to keep away evil spirits. They have also inspired many artists, including Picasso.

 The masks, kifwebe in name, as said before were made by the Luba people. Their origins come from three spirits emerged from a ditch near a lake. The female spirit went to live amongst the humans, whom she found interesting. The two male spirits stayed behind, but visited the human village frequently, and eventually, dazzled begged for initiation. The masks that represent this tale come in many shapes and sizes, but tend to have linear patterns all over the face. When used in a religious dance, with the raffia costume, representing the spirits emerged from the ditch, they are said to connect this world and the spirit one. They are also said to have healing abilities.

The masks show in African art style and their connections to their spirits, beliefs, and costumes.

Below is a video showing how a tribe makes a mask from the start

"A man's a fool whose sheep flee's twice"

Thanks to help from family members, and my own knowledge on shepherds, sheep, cows, electric fences, and Spanish, I have reached a conclusion on this proverb. It means that you shouldn’t do the same mistake twice. To learn from your mistakes.

When I was given the proverb, I had no idea what it meant. I mean, what would it matter to me if the dude let the sheep left him? Was he really that lonely?  And so, I went to go ask for help. I was told a whole bunch of stuff, which I don’t remember, because I had no idea what it meant. It just sounded like Xhosa to me. (Xhosa is a very complicated language spoken somewhere in Africa. I couldn’t think of any other language to which I knew absolutely nothing to, not even a random word) At my baffled expression, my mom tried to explain with a different technique, or better, I do not know which, as I have no idea which way she explained it first. She asked me to translate the moral to Spanish.  And with this I reached a conclusion. The man is an idiot. And then she told me something around this: “ If a Shepard is at his job, and falls asleep, or leaves the gate open,  letting his sheep escape, the next day he will know not to fall asleep or leave the fence door open”  Thus, looking at me with an expecting face. Me just looking back at her blankly, she sent me to my dad. He had heard our conversation and decided to use a different example. Cows and fences. “If you put a cow inside a fenced area, at the beginning, it will run at the fence, and get an electric shock, but it will try again and again, and eventually give up, because it will have figured out that fences = electric shock” To this my mom said a witty comment (I’m guessing) to which they started laughing, but I found no humor in. I’m not sure why, but then it all clicked, how could I have been so dumb. The ‘man’ is a Sheppard (easy take). His job is to keep the sheep’s from running away. The ‘sheep fleeing’ refers to his mistake. And the ‘twice’ is well, it means two times. The Shepard failed his job twice. He’s a ‘fool’ or idiot for letting the sheep run away two times; He is an idiot for making the same mistake twice. He should learn from his mistakes. Tada!

Mosaics;

-A mosaic is an image formed by small colored pieces (most commonly of tile and glass) positioned close together.

I really like this one, not only because it was made by as student, but because I like the design, and how he or she used different colored beans instead of tile. I also think the size of the beads suits the design, as it is not very complex, so lots of little beads would make it messy. And one of the qualities this one has is its neatness.

I hope my mosaic comes out as original, and organized as this one.  (Even though I do plan on using tiles for it)

Can a woman be as strong a leader as a man in tymes of peace and war?

Well, yes, a woman can be as good a leader, or better than a man in tymes of war and peace. To rule a country you are not required to be a man, that is so for a reason, a couple actually.

Gender doesn't matter, look at Empress Theodora, her husband was about to flee his Empire in tymes of dispair, but she was brave, and stayed. Which made her husband, Emperor Julius decide to stay and fight the troubles too, which ended up in victory. And so, Julius should not be the only one being praised for the victory, in the major part, it should be Theodora, who had the guts to stay, and try to help her country, eaven if it could have ended in her death, she would die in the pride of her Empire.  There is  a saying for most royals at court " Behind every powerful man, lays an equally powerfull woman" It has a point, and if historians have decided this was an adequate saying, then it must be, and it is. Becouse what makes a good leader, is courage, inteligance, kindness and unselfishness, not gender.

As in tymes of peace, a woman has very important cualities, that can help prolonge this tyme of wellnes, as she can help create laws for children, such involving health care, education...  Women also tend to be fair and patient, very usefull cualities, in tyme of peace,(and war) for thou, in peace, they help her gain the respect of her people, the Empire needs to run on, becouse without respect, culd come rebellion, and rebellion is not a tyme of peace.  An exaple for that, would be Anna Comnea's grandmother, also named Anna, for when outsiders came to the Emperor, and protested that if there was a son, he should reign, not the eldest daughter. She told them their beliefs, and spoke up, with courage.(Eaven though all of this was lost in translation) She would protect the Empire from threats, with diplomacy.

At war, diplomacy can be essential,(and women have a lot of it considering they have to use it every day with unresonable children) as it can be used to avoid the war, and the victoms, and the tragedy, the pain, and the grief. Also the fairnes of a woman, makes her respected and admired by her citicens, and if the citicen's don't agree with the cause, or for who thir giving their lives to, they won't fight. And to win a war, once diplomacy fails, you need to fight. And if you won't believe it, there are various examples in history, one of them being Joan of Arc, yes, she wasn't a Queen, but she was a woman, and she  lead her people to victory. (Eaven though she was later on burned for it)

So, yes, women can do everytrhing men can do, eaven reign a Empire. I'm not saying guys are useless, jus that there just as useless a women are.