A KOREAN LEGEND ABOUT FORBIDDEN LOVE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

Gyeongju is the old capital of Korea. This city, a World Heritage Site, thrived under Silla dynasty. It is renowned for the Royal Tombs and the remains of old palaces and temples.

We walked in the woods and came across a legendary pond. A friend of us told us a legend connected to it.

She said, “One day, Silla’s King Soji went out of his palace and met a rat that told him to follow a crow. King Soji followed the bird and was led to this pond. Once here, he met an old man that gave him a letter urging him to get back to the royal palace and shoot a case of geomungo (a traditional Korean musical instrument) with an arrow. The king did so and found that a Buddhist monk and a woman of high rank were hiding inside the case. They both had been shot to death. Obviously, they were making love illegally.”

At the time, the illicit lovers were not numerous. If King Soji lived now, he wouldn’t have enough arrows to hit them all!

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily (English version)

– A Hidden Sicilian History (English version)

– The Vibrations of Words (English version)

– Travels of the Mind (English version)

– Una Storia Siciliana Nascosta (versione in lingua italiana)

– Viaggi della Mente (versione in lingua italiana)

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

WALKING IN A SICILIAN CEMETERY AT NIGHT IN WARTIME

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

“While we were climbing the stairway, an owl with a mouse in its claws fluttered its wings towards a cypress tree. Life was suddenly over for the little rodent. This is life! It is based upon violence. Without killing, carnivores cannot survive. The fish in the sea must eat the small ones not to make the oceans depopulated. The eagles in the sky must bring some small animals to their nests; otherwise, their species would become extinct. There is a fragile balance in nature. The life of one being needs the death of another being. Once a Jehovah’s Witness said to me that it will come a time on Earth when lions will live together with lambs peacefully, there will be no death, diseases, and violence. When will this time come? Surely, not in a world like that in which we are living now. It would be another Earth.

What about humans’ violence? There was a great philosopher, called Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who considered war unavoidable. Was it right?  I can just say that wars have never ceased since the beginning of the world. Man kills like animals. There is not much of a difference between animals’ violence and men’s violence. Both of them kill not only to survive, but also to protect their territories, because of hate, jealousy, and even for the sake of killing.

At the end of the stairway, we turned left and arrived at my tomb. An epitaph was engraved above the altar:

                        I cannot force others to open their hearts.

                        I can just open mine first.

                        Then, I will knock on another heart’s door,

                        With the light of my love.

                        Naturally, the door will open.

                        If I can open one heart,

                        That heart will be able to open another heart.

                        More and more hearts will open

                        As ripples spread out from where a stone has fallen.

                        The landscape of life on Earth will change.

                        No more violence, war, and hatred.

                        Love will shine on our life.”

This is an excerpt from November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

Ettore Grillo author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE LAST POST ABOUT SICILIAN CEMETERIES

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

 

At the end of the stairway, we turned left and arrived at my tomb.

“I built it near my grandmother’s tomb, the woman I loved most in my life. It’s a common tomb, very simple with a room inside and no niches. I made a large red marble heart and put it above the altar. Too late, I realized that I had not only instincts but also a heart inside me. Better late than never! I engraved this poem on the marble heart:

I cannot force others to open their hearts.

I can just open mine first.

Then I will knock on another heart’s door

With the light of my love.

Naturally, the door will open.

If I can open one heart,

that heart will be able to open another heart.

More and more hearts will open

as ripples spread out from where a stone has fallen.

The landscape of life on Earth will change.

No more violence, war, and hatred.

Love will shine on our lives.

“Your poem is very nice, Mario. You must be a good poet and a good writer, I guess.”

“I’m neither. I just get inspiration once in a while. I don’t know exactly where it comes from. I can only say that without inspiration I wouldn’t be able to write anything.”

“In my opinion, inspiration comes from heaven. If a poet is not a mystic, he won’t get inspiration from above. In Ancient Greece, the Muses, Zeus’s daughters, were the source of inspiration for artists. They got ideas from the Muses and the desire to create poems, paintings, sculptures, music, and the like. These days, the names of the Muses, of Zeus, and of the Olympian gods have changed into only the name of God, but deep down, the same god was worshipped in ancient times, even though he was given different names.”

This is an excerpt from November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

Ettore Grillo author of these books:

– November 2 The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

 

 

ANOTHER SICILIAN TOMB

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

I stumbled upon a tomb of a friend of mine. We had been classmates in middle school. Her name, Katia, was quite uncommon in Enna. Her voice sounded like the chirping of a chick. I’ll never forget her. She had short black hair. Her eyes were as black as coal, but her complexion was as white as snow.

Katia and I followed different destinies in our lives. I was always looking for my soulmate, without being able to find it, while Katia married a doctor soon after she earned a degree in modern literature at the University of Catania. Her marriage didn’t last long, for she divorced her husband two years later.

After graduating, Katia got a job as a middle school teacher. She also wrote a book of poems. Unfortunately, at the age of fifty, while driving her car on a foggy road, she ran into a truck and died after slipping into a coma for a month. The tombstone in her tomb had been engraved with a poem of hers:

Love is a wandering knight.

He appears to you only once in your life.

Don’t let him go.

When he goes away, it is too late.

This is an excerpt from November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

Ettore Grillo author of these books:

– November 2 The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

A KILLER IN A SICILIAN TOMB

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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I arrived at the tomb of a man who, when he was sixteen years old, killed a boy of his same age with one punch. The killer’s name was Gerlando Sferrazzanetti. He remained in jail for fifteen years. During this time he learned painting. His oil paintings depicted sacred images and traditions of Enna: the procession in honor of Our Lady on July 2, the Good Friday procession, the Church of Valverde, and the like.

Seeing his photo on the altar in his tomb, I had a feeling that he must have been a good man, the murder aside. His feature were gentle and his eyes sweet.

An epitaph had been engraved on his marble niche:

As a rosebud becomes a rose,

And a seed becomes a tree,

So the soul grows and evolves

Up to the last stage, the light of love

This is an excerpt from November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

Ettore Grillo author of these books:

– November 2 The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

 

November 2 The Day of the Dead in Sicily

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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November 2 is a special day in Sicily. The Day of the Dead is considered an important festival, when children receive gifts from the dead and eat special bone-shaped cakes. Cemeteries are overcrowded with people walking in the avenues, placing flowers at gravesites, and lighting candles in their tombs. Many Sicilian tombs look like small houses: They contain a room, an altar, and marble-walled niches.

Mario Chiaramonte goes to the cemetery on this day. Besides visiting the tombs of his relatives and friends, he strolls throughout the graveyard. On his walk, he stumbles on some special tombs. A few have an epitaph carved on the tombstone or above the altar.

The tombs he visits house the bodies of a Mafia boss, a literary man, a poet, a nobleman, and more. Mario recalls the salient moments of their lives, and at the same time sees himself from a different detached perspective.

Romance, adventure, life, death, the Mafia, good and evil, racism, and impermanence are themes throughout the novel. November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily is thought provoking and captivating from beginning to end.

Ettore Grillo author of these books:

– November 2 The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE MYSTERY OF LOVE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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“The mystery of love is contained in the myth of Eros and Psyche. Psyche was a very beautiful girl. Eros fell in love with her. In the nighttime, he met her in a house in the middle of the forest, without ever revealing his appearance. ‘If you don’t see me,’ said Eros, ‘our love will last; otherwise, it will vanish like snow in the hot sun.’ But, Psyche couldn’t resist the temptation of seeing her lover. So, one night, while Eros was sleeping, she saw the extraordinary beauty of her man in the light of an oil lamp. Yet, a drop of hot oil from the lamp fell on Eros’s shoulder. Suddenly, he woke up and disappeared. Psyche couldn’t see him anymore! The meaning of the myth is clear. You can’t understand love or observe it too closely. If you try to know what love is, it will vanish. You just have to live love without ever asking what it is. Love is a mystery! Just live the mystery!”
“For me,” said Mario, “there must be something rational in love. Someone says that love is an art that can be learned and understood.”
“I don’t think so,” replied Lorenzo. “If love were an art to be learned, lovers would have realized how to make their love last forever. Yet, it is not like that. Almost all loves end up extinguishing sooner or later, like fire that flames at first, but with time burns out.
“Someone thinks that it is possible to use some techniques to make a person fall in love. I don’t think so. Love is attraction and feeling. I think no technique can make a person love somebody. The biggest mistake one can make is to consider love as a safe haven to live happily and serenely for all life. Love is unstable!
“However things are, it is certain that you can’t buy love. Even the rich and the potent can’t buy it with their money and power. So, love is the peak of justice because it doesn’t make any distinction between the rich and the poor, the weak and the potent.”
“Nevertheless, I will keep traveling and looking for my ideal soul mate. I won’t give up, even if I can’t find her until the end of my life. I will always cherish in my mind the hope that somewhere I will find a woman who suits me. Someday, my eternal love will appear to me definitely,” Alberto said sincerely.
“Don’t search for love outside yourself! You won’t find it!” said Judge Cangemi. “Love is a state of your being! If you become love, everything is love. If you are not love, you can’t find love outside. To find the real eternal love is illusion! You’d better try to become love yourself!”
“I agree with Judge Cangemi,” concluded Uncle Salvatore. “Yes, love is important in our life, but I think the most important journey is to search after the immortal soul and the source of our frail but precious life.”
For about fifteen minutes, the lounge of The old Club of the Noblemen fell silent. No one had any intention of standing up. The theme ‘love’ had stirred up their buried emotions. They were all old men. Many years had gone by since the first date with the loved girlfriend, the first kiss to her. But, time couldn’t wither their hearts. Love has no age. It is timeless and boundless. Love is the source of life in the universe.
The keeper of the club came near the small group of members.
“Sorry to disturb you all. It’s time to close,” he said with submissive voice.
“Yes, let’s go home!” said Uncle Salvatore.
Everybody stood up and headed for the exit of the club. The keeper lowered the shutter. The last part of the day was painted with a conversation about love. Tomorrow, another story of life would be continued.

This is an excerpt from Travels of the Mind by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF LOVE, SEX, MARRIAGE IN ANCIENT GREECE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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If it had been possible to rate this book six-star or even seven-star, I would have done it, definitely. Actually, reading Love, Sex, Marriage in Ancient Greece by Nikos A. Vrissimtzis is like being projected into life in archaic, classic, and Hellenistic Greece. It looks like reliving those eras!
Nikos A. Vrissimtzis describes the habits of the ancient Greeks in a simple way, and upholds his narrative with detailed reference to Greek literature and archaeological finds. Superb is his narration about symposiums where hetaeras took part. They were prostitutes of high rank, learned and above all of extraordinary beauty. Even Pericles fell in love with one of them, called Aspasia, and had a child from her.
Some commonplaces are debunked. There is no evidence that the famous poet Saffo was a lesbian. In my opinion she can be considered as the archetype of modern feminism.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

MY REVIEW OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY EMILY BRONTE

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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Emily Bronte was quite young when she wrote her novel, Wuthering Heights. In fact, she died from consumption in the prime of her life. The creative genius has no age! She wrote a vivid story which symbolized life itself.
Love cannot die if it is true. In the novel, the love between Catherine and Heathcliff, a foundling from Liverpool, goes beyond space and time, beyond life itself.
Due to the happenings of life, Catherine got married to Linton and Heathcliff to Isabelle, Linton’s sister. But the heart cannot be bridled. Despite their misfortune, Catherine and Heathcliff kept alive the flame of their love even in the afterlife. Love is eternal!
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE OPEN-HEART MEDITATION

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

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One morning I was watching the ocean when I had the feeling that Jesus was suggesting a new kind of meditation to me. “Open your heart to everybody. That is the best meditation!” he seemed to say.
I tried this new meditation as the days passed, and I can say that it was very powerful. I sat silently on the beach and focused my attention on opening my heart to all living beings, both friends and those unknown to me. After a while, I felt my body and mind purifying. I talked with my wife about this discovery.
“Yes, I agree with you,” she said. “Focusing our attention on opening our heart to everybody makes us realize that God is within every person. It is no coincidence that the Indians use the word Namaste as a greeting, which means ‘the godliness inside me greets the godliness inside you.’”

This is an excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo