A Whiter Shade of Pale

 

And so it was that later
As the Miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
Procol Harum [1]

Recently I have written a German text on Borobodur [2] and I thought: how strange that you've never have written on this trip to Java before.

I had arranged this trip myself. Most of the tour evolved while doing it. I had a flight from Frankfurt, which meant staying a few hours in Dubai and then flew on to Jakarta. I stayed a day in this busy megalopolis and bought a railway ticket from Gambir Station to Yogyakarta; which I had to do beforehand and it had been very cheap like 25 €.

Then jet-lag hit me. First I didn't sleep well and then I slept like a stone not waking when the alarm went off. When I woke up later, I realized that there were only 26 minutes left before my train would leave. I decided to try my luck.

I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, used the toilet, packed my toiletries bag, and checked that I didn't forget anything. I had taken hardly anything out of my suitcase, so I could repack it quickly. I rushed down the stairs from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor, paid and checked out.

In less than a minute I could grab a taxi; no not a tuk tuk taxi – I only added this picture for illustration purposes. Gambir Station was only 2-3 km away and though the rush hour was slowing the traffic, I could get there in time. I rushed up a flight of nearly unending stairs and should have been on time, but on the platform there had been no train. Had I missed the train? No, the train was late. And I was exhausted, panting that my „face, at first just ghostly turned a whiter shade of pale“. Usually I am tanned though I'm not working on my tan, but I must have looked so awfully pale that a policeman asked me if I needed help. No, I thanked him. But I only recovered on the train after my second coffee. The journey to Yogyakarta, about 7 to 8 hours, had been very agreeable, nice views. From Yogyakarta I took busses to travel around, which was very efficient, only once I had to wait for longer than half an hour.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/procol-harum/a-whiter-shade-of-pale-33d720a5.html
[2] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-grand-tour-borobudur.html

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Surprised by Offerings in Indonesia and the Eifel

 

Lately I had been surprised by offerings in the Eifel. The Eifel is a low mountain range in Eastern Belgium and Western Germany. Sometimes it reminds me of the Shire in Lord of the Rings. I had visited the matron shrines near Nettersheim and had been surprised by offerings [1]. An then I remembered having the same feeling in the remote highlands of Central Java as well as near the volcano Mt. Bromo.

If you offer to me with love and devotion 

a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it. 

~~ Bhagavdad Gita

I wouldn't have been as surprised as I had been near Bali and not at all on Bali, where Hinduism is still practiced. But Central Java is islamic. In the villages you hear the muezzin. But even there you still see active elements of the religion of the old Javanese kingdom.

In the Eifel I've seen offerings at the old temple areas near Nettersheim and even in catholic churches.

There is a tradition here in the Kloster Steinfeld concerning the mystic St. Hermann Joseph (the basilica is 2.5 km from my home) putting apples on the marble tomb inside the basilica.

The matrones were deities of the celtic and germanic tribes in the northwestern part of the Roman Empire. Here in the region lived the Ubier. The matrons always come in three. And offerings included apples and pears. In Roman times these shrines were in stone and also the figures were made of stone; before tree santuaries were used for worship. You might find old field names like Eulenberg (Eule means owl nowadays), which comes from alah – holy grove. And I am still surprised seeing offerings on these remnants of the past. Maybe these ancient deities are experiencing a renaissance.

Links and References:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/08/die-matronenheiligtumer-um-nettersheim.html and https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/08/der-matronenstein-von-st-cyriakus-und.html

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