Carpe Diem #859 The Silk Road

Dear Haijin, traders and travellers

It was a world of real travellers, who journeyed with serious purpose, in what was a golden age of trade. The silk road enabled the Greeks to spread the newly-encountered ideas of Buddhism to China and other Asian countries, and introduced the western world to silk. Cities like Dubrovnik, Venice and Genoa thrived through the silk road, but in reality, this trade route brought prosperity to every town, village and caravanserai it touched on. For hundreds of years before, and after the birth of Christ, the silk road thrived. And what do we know of Christ himself, before he reached his thirties? Did he too, take to the silk road? Was he too exposed to the philosophies of Greco-Buddhism? Did he come back to Palestine with ideas fermenting in his mind, for the Silk Road was also a trade of ideas.

Variants of the Silk Road and some products traded

This Silk Road, to me, illustrates the real reason for travel, not as leisure, but as purpose, with an objective to seek, find, meet, trade and link societies, culture, ideas and objects useful and valuable to different civilisations. Because of the Silk Road we discovered new tastes and sensations, and were able to advance as a civilisation, spiritually and in the pursuit of development and improvements of life.

The poduction of silk from China, was kept a closely guarded secret for centuries. It was easy to carry, and keep, so represented an ideal material to trade, as well as a quality one. The Chinese received horses, and initially, grapes and an important crop used for feed, seeds of lucerne. Carpets, curtains, blankets and rugs came to China from East Mediterranean and Central Asia, as well as  camels, cotton, exotic fruits, and leopards and tigers.

From China, caravans brought Chinese porcelein chinaware, umbrellas, varnish, medicines and perfumes, as well as a large variety of spices, tea, rice, corals and amber, and high-quality Chinese paper, mirrors, weapons, ivory and turtle shells.

Indonesia, known as the Spice Islands, specialised in spices, precious jewelry, metalwork, wood and saffron, among other products.

India exported fabrics, further spices and semi-precious stones, dyes and ivory. Iran exported silver products, and Rome, Venice, Dubrovnik and Constantinople exported honey, fur, bark, cattle, and unfortunately slaves; people mostly from northern Europe.

As mentioned, as well as wealth everywhere it touched, the routes of the Silk Road disseminated philosophy and religion, too, notably Buddhism, as far as Bamyan in Afghanistan. Christianity and Islam also travelled the trading routes, as well as Hinduism to Bali, and Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, as travelling merchants absorbed the cultures encountered and brought them back home with them.

Your haiku today should reflect this important and largely peaceful historical trading route: use an object, or two traded on the Silk Road, or something you imagine was traded, in your haiku. If you use two objects, or ideas you could see how they juxtapose together to bring that haiku moment, using methods Chevrefeuille has explored in haiku writing techniques.

I hope you have found something among the items traded on the Silk Road, or two things or more, to focus your haiku on.

Here are a couple of efforts by myself.

homeward bound— 
with precious dreams in my bag
I kiss her copper wrist

her cinnamon taste— 
and the silk she wraps herself in
for both I travel miles!

This episode is open at 7.0 pm, CET. Link your haiku below, and have fun exploring this ancient exotic trading route!

Carpe Diem Extra #41 respect

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you all will have heard ... Paris has been attacked. Out of respect for the casualties , the dead and the wounded I have decided to change our CDHK background 24 hours to the French Flag.
Let us remember with each other that this can not be the way how people have to interact with each other.

Praying for Peace,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.

Carpe Diem #858 Throat Songs of the Steppes

Dear Haijin, singers and travellers

Tuvan throat singing in the Altai mountains is a variant of overtone singing practiced in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Republic of Tuva and Siberia  (in Mongolian, ‘throat harmony’). It is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.

In Mongolian throat singing, the performer produces a fundamental pitch and — simultaneously — one or more pitches over that. The people of Tuva have a wide range of throat singing vocalisations, and were the pioneers of six pitch harmonics. The open landscape of Mongolia allows for the sounds to carry a great distance, and this form of singing is an integral part in the ancient pastoral animism still practiced today. In Tuva the mountains create a multifold of echoed sounds. Often, singers travel far into the countryside looking for the right river, or go up to the right level of the mountainside to create the proper environment for throat-singing. 

The animistic world view of this region identifies the spirituality of objects in nature, not just in their shape or location, but in their sound as well. Thus, mimicry of nature’s sounds is seen as the root of throat singing. 

There are several identifyable techniques in this shadowing of the sounds of nature. I have included a few:

• Borbangnadyr (Борбаңнадыр) is a trill reminiscent of birds and traveling brooks, made by a light rapid quivering of the lips.
• Ezenggileer (Эзеңгилээр) is a pulsating style, attempting to mimic the rhythms of horseback riding. It is named after the Tuvan word for stirrup, ezengi.
• Chylandyk (Чыландык) is an unusual sound of low undertones mixed with the high Sygyt whistle. It has also been described as the “chirping of crickets.” 
• Dumchuktaar (Думчуктаар) could be best described as “throat humming. ” The singer creates a sound similar to sygyt using only the nasal passage. The word means to sing through the nose (dumchuk).

Tyva kyzy, a female throat-singing group from Tuva, in the Altai.

A Tuvan throat singer who has reached international fame is Sainkho Namtchylak (born 1957), from a village in the Altai mountains of Tuva. An experimental singer, she has made CDs of avant-jazz and folk music as well Tuvan throat songs - sometimes within the same melody. Personally, I am entranced. Namtchylak says that music and spirituality are related by the desire or tension that calls people to reawaken. A book of her poetry, Karmakand has also been publihed.

For the purposes of today's prompt, imagine how your haiku would sound if read, or chanted aloud. A haiku read slowly so that it is savoured. Accordingly, how about writing a haiku that needs to be read aloud, through the rhythm or sounds of the words. Then link it up below on Carpe Diem. Use the meadows and chants heard in throat-singing to inspire you, elements, perhaps, of shaman haiku techniques to put yourself in the 'mood' to write your haiku, as explained in the previous shaman haiku post. Following is my effort.

voice to the winds
next to where the river flows
her bare back smooth

And one more short one by Sainkho Namtchylak - you'll understand why. When you click on the video click on the YOUTUBE logo on the bottom right and the video will play at source.

This episode is open for submissions at 7.00 pm CET. 

Carpe Diem Extra #40 Shaman Haiku

Dear Hajin, shaman-haikuists and travellers 

Your Gunner is here again, wth a Carpe Diem Special on a topic I am exploring - and linked to the previous Carpe Diem Kobyz post. Today we are looking at the possible connections and overlaps in shamanism and haiku writing. Shamans are simply messengers, and not prophets, and nor are haiku poets, who are also merely messengers, interpretors, or translators of nature. The word shaman was originally derived from the Tungus language of the Siberian Evenk people, often defined as the one who knows. Shamanism comes from and primarily exists in Siberia, and the republics surrounding Siberia, though the largest official number of shamans per capita are said to be found in Korea. Shamans are to be found as far west as Lappland, among the Sami people, who are also reindeer herders, as many of the peoples of Siberia.

There is looser definition of shamanism in Estonia, a largely paganistic Baltic republic next to Finland, which ascribes focal points in nature as holy, and meditation in these locations, and other chosen spots in nature, as almost of a shamanistic quality. This is most relevant to haiku poets while composing.

The trance state shamans enter is described by the scientific community as the Theta State. If a person is exposed to certain rhythms, especial when also involved in movement, they will normally enter this Theta State. This is why shamans use drums, and the beating of the drum is the usual way a shaman enters a trance, standing and dancing. 

 Here's a song that illustrates this by the stunning Eivør from the Faroe Islands - in a stunning location, too. This can help to help you get into a relaxed state to write your shaman haiku after reading - do watch; it is quite something. Feel your spirit start to soar with the sound and imagery.

Sami shaman drum skin symbols explained.

Sami shaman with drum, circa 1950s

In addition to the shaman’s drum, a wooden stringed instrument similar to a zither has been used, called a kantele, which also dates from the Bronze age, to achieve shamanic trance states. 

Kantele being played, by I.K. Inha,1894, Finland

If shamans and haiku poets share the same mystical culture, of being a messenger for nature (I deliberately discount senryu here). Then how do the two fuse in a haiku?

Many of the haiku techniques, the leap, juxtaposition, season words, are all recognisable to the shaman, in the interpretation of nature. A shaman haiku needs that extra ingredient though. A shaman haiku identifies a force in nature, often mystical, and often represented by an element or part of nature. The first step to writing a consciously haiku is to be out in nature. Without taking that step, the haiku risks feeling faked. Native First Nation Indians of some tribes in the United States have an added advantage, with teepees or structures set up as ‘sweats,’ where one meditates as one sweats in closed teepees with hot stones, inducing thought .

Sioux and Aztec sweat lodge, using volcanic stones to heat the air.Credits

Countries with a sauna culture, such as Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia also use time in the day to meditate among wood, in the heat. Ideas pour out with the sweat, and ideas can be channelled, like through a prism, onto paper.

A shaman haiku may also feature a person feeling semi-trance states or feelings in the haiku, such as the three below, then the fourth, a cascading haiku. Notice how the first tgree are about shamans but the fourth is in the first voice.

shaman drop to ground
like the spring cherry blossoms
when faced with stunlock

© Vapid

I have problems with this haiku. Firstly, in the determination to stick to a formulaistic 5-7-5 structure, the writer may have lost some clarity. It seems so to me. Secondly, the terminology used is oblique and jargonised, which again limits understanding.

One from Bjorn now, our colleague at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, that says more at second glance - do we gain status of healer because we help, or do we help because of our role? Bjorn says the former.

strength is given
only to the helpful hands
-a shaman's song

© Bjorn Rudberg

One just recently spotted on the Meadows prompt by Carol Campbell. Alright, admittedly she mentions a shaman, which lends more sway, but this really is a shaman haiku. I included this haiku for its vision and originality, and it does fulfill the shaman haiku form. A vista or field of remedies ensures he sees the meadows in a different way to us. 

shaman's wonderland
cornucopia of remedies
pleasing the eyes

© Carol Campbell

And how would a Carpe Diem post look without Chèvrefeuille? Not very good. Here is a cascading haiku from the Masutā.

lying down on my back
watching the deep blue night sky -
feeling my spirit

feeling my spirit
wishing to be free forever
like an eagle

like an eagle
free and high in the blue sky
my Inner Path

© Chèvrefeuille

What did Chèvrefeuille do here, with his cascading haiku? He matched his inner path with the freedom high in the blue sky - a Tengriic term, incidently. In fact the progression of his inner path matching the deep blue reaches its Zenith in his third haiku, after first merely 'watching' the blue sky. This progresson is what makes the journey through the cascading haiku so appealing (Check Chèvrefeuille's shaman haiku on yesterday's Kobyz prompt too).

The theme and concept of the deep blue sky, is one mirrored in a famous French film, Le Grand Bleu, a story about a desire to plunge ever deeper into the deep blue sea, physically, instead of through meditation.

So what are we looking for, in a shaman haiku? We can take certain aspects from the concept of shamanism, the drum beat of various native peoples, certainly a contact with nature, that may be ethereal, and may point towards possible mystical sub-meanings. There should be a deliberate attempt to write outside of your comfort zone. If you enjoy writing haiku about flowers, move perspective. 

But we can also read haiku in this manner as well, finding a certain spirituality. Let's take at random, Basho's famous Old Pond. We are told through Jane Reichhold that it took a while to compete this haiku, with the first version including yellow roses. When Basho gave the haiku to the world, he did not do so with an exact, specific message in mind, rather he left each reader, including us, attach our own personal relevant interpretation. Let's now look at this haiku as a shaman might, interpreting. 

old pond

frog jumps in

sound of water

Is this the moment the shaman connects with nature (as well as a haiku moment)? What does this splash of water mean, that it is time to act, and get wet, but reach the goal, or some other reasoning, of which I can think of a few? It strikes me that one of the best ways a shaman can heal and help is by getting her or his 'patient' to write or choose a haiku. I am convinced that subconsciously we will choose, or perhaps write a haiku that illustrates an issue we have on our minds. It is left to the shaman to interpret the haiku, and reason for the choice.

Here is a haiku of mine, which previously appeared some time back. I would suggest that anyone who wants to interpret a personal meaning behind it as a shaman might can do so in comments, and could do perhaps for other haiku they read linked below. 

scent of falling leaves

-sense of fading dreams

suddenly, a ladybug!

What would you advise, the beat of the soft drum behind us, reminiscent of the First Nation American Indian soothing drum, or African drum, or Irish bochran, or Sami shaman drum? Seize the moment, I would say to myself, interpreting my own haiku. It will come. Notice it. And here's another. 

the liquid sunset

touches the sea

I touch the sea, too

Ah, here my reflection on my own haiku is simple: reach out! I would say. Don't hold back. Do not seek isolation in thought.

So here, you can see the two basic elements of shaman haiku, the first in content, using nature, infused with a touch of mystique or spirituality, and the second, in interpretation. This is only one suggested variant of haiku, labelled shaman haiku, and does not, nor cannot apply to all haiku.

Over to you now! Write your shaman haiku for us to interpret. I strongly suggest listening to the beautiful Eivør's video above for inspiration. This episode is NOW OPEN, and 'Carpe Diem Throat Singing of the Steppes' should be published later today.

Carpe Diem #857 The Kobyz or Kyl-kobyz

Dear Haijin, shamans, and travellers

Your M. Gunn here today covering for our Masutā, Kristjaan. Our prompt today is the Kobyz (Kazakh: қобыз) or kyl-kobyz, and is the first episode with some connections to the concept I like to label shaman haiku, though here in this post not necessarily in style, but more in content.

The Kobyz or Kyl-Kobyz is an ancient Kazakh string instrument with two strings, made of horsehair. The resonating cavity is usually covered with goat leather. Traditionally kobyzes were sacred instruments, owned by shamans and bakses (traditional spiritual medics). According to legends, the kobyz and its music could banish evil spirits.

It is believed that these instruments spread to China, India, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East, where they developed into instruments such as the erhu in China, the rebab in the Middle East, the lyra in the Byzantine Empire and the esraj in India. The violin emerged in early 16th-Century Northern Italy, where the port towns of Venice and Genoa maintained extensive ties to Central Asia through the trade routes. The kobyz, from the heart of the Altai region and via the silk road, is therefore the direct precursor of the classical violin and viola, and by extension the cello, which gives it quite a pedigree.

A stamp from Kazakhstan featuring the Kobyz

Nature is full of music. We have enhanced these melodic sounds, challenged them, disputed the concept of tunes and melody at times, but the chirps of birds in the trees can never be replaced. The Kobyz merely echoes what nature says.

A 1 Som bank note from Kyrgystan, the Kobyz figuring as a major part of the design.

Today, make your haiku carry some of the sounds you imagine exist swirling around the Altai mountains, be it through musical instruments like the kobyz, or the famous throat singing (post soon), or the wind.

It may be the rush of breeze through the trees, or the waterfalls tumbling down the mountainsides, or it may be the hooves of the horses galloping across the steppes. It might be the cry of a solitary eagle or hawk, or the owner of the hawk calling it back from the mountains, or the sounds of the horsemen spurring on their horses as they ride by, though secretly I must tell you that a lot of that is done in silence. But still, the horses ‘hear’ their masters, for the language is there.

Accordingly, let us ‘hear’ your haiku. The best way to write is while listening to the Kobyz itself. Remember it is the sacred instrument of the shaman, and the precursor of the violin, that arguably single-handedly brought classical culture to Europe from the shaman of Central Asia, for what form of higher culture existed before that?

So bring classical culture to Carpe Diem on a haiku transported by the shaman sounds of the Kobyz. Following is my effort.

sound of a waterfall 

— the merge of galloping hooves
in this lonely meadow

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions, and will remain open until November 16th at 12 noon (CET). A new post will look at another aspect of Central Asia culture tomorrow, and I hope to get a short essay about shaman haiku to you in later. So show us what you have for us to read - and/or interpret, here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #99 raindrops on bamboo

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

After a while without this CD-feature I finally can bring it back here ... our Tan Renga Challenge. Let me first tell what the goal was of this TR-Challenge.
I will give you a haiku and you have to write a second stanza towards it. That second stanza has two lines with approximately 7-7 syllables. Through association on images in the haiku you can create a second stanza which will make the Tan Renga complete.
A Tan Renga looks similar with the tanka, but there is a difference. A tanka is written by one poet and a Tan Renga is written by two poets, it's a short chained renga of two stanzas.

I have a nice haiku (a former haiga) composed by myself for this 'resurrection' of the Tan Renga Challenge:

raindrops on bamboo
shimmer in the sunlight
little diamonds

© Chèvrefeuille

And now it is up to you to conclude this Tan Renga Challenge by composing the second stanza towards it.

This episode is open for your submissions right now and it will stay open until next Friday November 20th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem Extra #39 weekend off

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you have read, my PC is gone dead, but I have the opportunity to borrow a laptop. So today I can publish, but maybe that's for just a day or two and that makes me sad, but you don't have to miss CDHK those days, because Hamish Managua Gunn, also known as Pirate, will be your host the upcoming days. This weekend I have taken off and Managua loves to make the posts this weekend. And I think his posts will be awesome ...

According to my PC problems ... I hope to have my PC running again this weekend or at least next Tuesday. Our oldest son, a technician, will hopefully have time to take a look at my PC ...

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.