Vultures

March 12

Today we took a tour to Trinidad, a colonial city on the Caribbean. Throughout the drive Turkey Vultures circled in cluster after cluster. The bird for me, is a metaphor for where Cuba is going and points to the poverty of Castro's revolution. Everywhere we went things were broken. Discarded tractors rusting in fields, fallen masonry left of street corners, broken windows left unboarded. Debris is scattered everywhere.

Cuba left the modern world fifty years ago. Regardless of causes and perpetrators, the island is in an advanced state of decay. Overlooking Trinidad from the tower of the museum, the roofs of the houses look like smashed toys. Cornices have crumbled on many buildings, a great number of roof tiles were missing which created a crazy patchwork of white and red, brick railings had broken away and have never been fixed. Throughout the country cars have been left by the sides of the roads. People ride bicycles of course. But the number of horse drawn carriages were astounding, perhaps accounting for fifty percent of the transportation in the countryside. Manure covers the roads. And those discarded tractors and threshers, means that we saw farmer after farmer using a hoe.

The impact has been enormous. Cubans are shrinking. The most recent generation is shorter by as much as 3 inches from the previous generation. They are suffering debilitating diseases and conditions. Realizing this the Cuban government has instituted a national food program for youth with the objective to reverse the trend. I admire the spirit of the Cubans, but just a year and half after our last visit they suddenly seem tired and broken. Truly sad to see.

Two last images on the ride back to the hotel. Rounding a corner and caught in the dying light of the sun a boy, perhaps 12 years old, on a roof, playing a saxaphone. The brass of the instrument flashed. That is hope. And later as we approached Matanzas, the sun had become a huge fireball on the horizon. A single vulture crossed the sun, wafting, hesitating, then diving. And then the sun was gone. That is despair.

The Lady and the Unicorn

One of the greatest works of art from the Middle Ages is a series of six tapestries, which is now called the Lady and the Unicorn. It can be found at the Musee de Moyen, also known at the Cluny, in Paris. The first five tapestries represent the five senses; the meaning of the sixth tapestry has become obscure over time and understanding the meaning of its title, "A mon seul desir" has now become speculation.

Each of the tapestries has a noble woman in the centre, flanked on the right by a unicorn and on her right by a lion. To many visitors the tapestries are bewildering. Today we communicate instantly and much of our understanding has become fact based. But prior to the rise of modern science, man's perception of the world was in symbols, and story lines in allegory. This way of thinking still exits in today's world, notably in religious ceremonies, but its history is perhaps 100,000 years old.

If we accept therefore, that allegory is present, the Lady becomes the Virgin, the Unicorn represents Christ, and the Lion the Oak King. From the rise of agriculture, understanding centred on the seasons. The Oak King or Lion represent the waxing year, or the return of the world to fecundity. Spring in essence. Behind all the images of the lion is an Oak tree. The Unicorn as Christ, and perhaps melded in the artists mind with the ancient Holly King, is a symbol of the waning year. The inclusion of both icons in the tapestries is perhaps a representation of the cosmic battle, or seasonal cycle, of death and resurrection.

For taste, the lady is eating sweets, for hearing the lady is playing an organ. For sight the lady is holding up a mirror and the unicorn is viewing its reflection, perhaps a subtle comment on the re-telling of its own story. For smell the lady is making a wreath of flowers; a monkey that appears in some of the tapestries, has taken a flower and is smelling it. From the Egyptians onwards the monkey or baboon has represented the devil. For touch, the lady is holding the unicorns horn.

The Lady and the Unicorn is actually a story line, supported by symbols that have their own story lines. Its richness is absorbing.

The tapestries were probably created in the late 15th century, about the same time as the Unicorn Tapestries, which hang in the Cloisters in New York City. They were deteriorating when found, but were cleaned in 1975 and their original colour has been restored to an original brilliance. Here are some more images.