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In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony,
which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelt Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning
submerged land. The importance Ptah was given in history can readily be understood since the name Egypt derives from a
Greek spelling of the phrase Ḥ.wt-k3-Ptḥ, (sometimes transcribed Hat-ka-Ptah), meaning temple of the Ka of Ptah, the
name of a temple at Memphis.
It was said (in the Shabaka Stone) that it was Ptah who called the world into being, having dreamt creation in his
heart, and speaking it, his name meaning opener, in the sense of opener of the mouth. Indeed the opening of the mouth
ceremony, performed by priests at funerals to release souls from their corpses, was said to have been created by Ptah.
Atum was said to have been created by Ptah to rule over the creation, sitting upon the primordial mound.
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In Greek mythology, the Dactyls (Greek for "fingers") were the archaic race of small phallic male beings associated
with the Great Mother, whether as Cybele or Rhea, spirit-men like the Curetes, Cabiri and Korybantes. The Dactyls were
ancient smiths and healing magicians. In some myths, they are in Hephaestus' employ, and they taught metalworking,
mathematics, and the alphabet to humans.
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A hogan is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter,
the underground home, and the sweat house.
For those who practice the Navajo religion the hogan is considered sacred. The religious song "The Blessingway"
describes the first hogan as being built by Coyote with help from beavers to be a house for First Man, First Woman, and
Talking God. The Beaver People gave Coyote logs and instructions on how to build the first hogan, now known as a "forked
stick" or "male" (ách í ádeez áhí) hogan. This hogan resembles a pyramid with five triangular faces, which are named
morning (east), afternoon, sunset (west), darkness (north), argonite (or jet), and heat wave. Earth may fill the spaces
between the framework logs, hiding the five faceted shape and creating thick, winter-protective walls. The "forked
stick" or "male" Hogan contains a vestibule in the front and was used only for sacred or private ceremonies.
The "circular" or "female" Hogan (tsé beehooganí), the family home for the Diné people, is much larger and does not
contain a vestibule. In it, the children play, the women cook, weave, talk, and entertain and men tell jokes and
stories. Navajos made their hogans in this fashion until the 1900s, when they started to make them in hexagonal and
octagonal shapes. The change in shape may have been due to the arrival of the railroad. A supply of wooden cross-ties,
which could be laid horizontally to form walls of a larger, taller home, allowed the retention of the "female" hogan
shape but with more interior room.
Many cultural taboos are associated with the hogan and its use. Should a death occur in the structure, the body is
either buried in the hogan with the entry sealed to warn others away, or the deceased is extracted through a hole
knocked in the north side of the structure and it is abandoned and often burned. A hogan may also become taboo for
further use if lightning strikes near the structure or a bear rubs against it. Wood from such structures is never reused
for any other purpose by a Navajo.
Today, while some older hogans are still used as dwellings and others are maintained for ceremonial purposes, new hogans
are rarely intended as family dwellings.
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Pterodactyl (derived from the Greek words πτερυζ (wing) and δακτυλος (finger) meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or
"finger-wing") is a common term for some types of pterosauria or ("flying lizards"), especially the later (mainly late
Jurassic or Cretaceous) shorter-tailed examples. They belong to the sub-order Pterodactyloidea. The wing was a leathery
skin covering, over the forelimb. Many specimens preserve a coat of fur.
Prehistoric flying reptiles are sometimes referred to as dinosaurs but this is strictly incorrect. The dinosaur term is
more correctly restricted to the upright-stance terrestrial reptiles, therefore including neither the flying reptiles
nor the aquatic reptiles, such as Ichthyosaurs, Plesiosaurs and Mosasaurs. (Pelycosaurs such as Dimetrodon are also
commonly confused with dinosaurs but are strictly-speaking a separate category.)
Important examples of pterodactyls are: Pterodactylus, Dsungaripterus,
Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus.
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Max Klinger (1857-1920) was a German symbolist painter, sculptor and printmaker.
His best known work was a series of etchings entitled Paraphrases about the finding of a glove. These pictures were
based on images which came to Klinger in dreams after finding a glove at an ice-skating rink. In the leitmotic device of
a glove - belonging to a woman whose face we never see - Klinger anticipated the research of Freud and Kraft-Ebbing on
fetish objects. In this case, the glove becomes a symbol for the artist's romantic yearnings, finding itself, in each
plate, in different dramatic situations, and performing the role that we might expect the figure of the beloved herself
to fulfil. Semioticians have also seen in the symbol of the glove an example of a sliding signifier, or signifier
without signified - in this case, the identity of the woman which Klinger is careful to conceal. The plates therefore
seem to function on a more symbolic or surrealist level, suggesting various psychological states or existential crises
faced by the artist protagonist (who bears a striking resemblance to the young Klinger).
Klinger is cited by many artists (notably Giorgio de Chirico) as being a major link between the symbolist movement of
the 19th century and the start of the metaphysical and surrealist movements of the 20th century.
Come back here, you you,
PTAH-errah-dactyl!
HOGAAANN!
