Magna Mater, the great Sybil, is dead. It’s for the good of the Republic.

            Epiphanies and realizations are not as instantaneous for me as they may be for others. In truth, the only instantaneous thing about my brand of epiphany is the awareness that a change needs to happen, not necessarily how to do it. That for me happened a few weeks ago at a Latin Club meeting before Thanksgiving break. In a futile attempt, I used that meeting as a practice for one of our novice Certamen teams for a tournament that following Saturday. The other Latin members were meant to act as the other teams with which they would be competing. After repeated requests and pleas for them to be quiet and take this practice seriously, even after a rant from one of my officers, they continued to talk and be rowdy and socialize. I resigned myself to a desk next to the buzzer machine and waited for the long hand of my clock to hit the 2.

            There have been other instances where it seems like my students have been drinking from the Lethe River after each new lesson:

            “How do we know what endings to use?”

            “I don’t know what order to put the words in?”

            “I don’t understand the endings.”

What they have yet to realize is, that these older grammar concepts have not once been shelved to make way for the newer ones, but rather continually build on top each other.

            The apex of my frustration came last night at the Holiday Bazaar. Keeping true to what now seems a stale pattern for Latin Club, we sold baked goods and hot chocolate. Apart from the loyal contributors, who often also remember to bring things on Mondays, I had to purchase the remainder of the items so that we would have things enough to sell. Even then though, with the other clubs, who also were selling baked goods, it is very possible that we made less than what would make at a Monday sale. Getting my kids to help clean up was just as laborious. Then after some random comments about some of the other teachers, the epiphany finally came full circle: it’s me that needs to change.

            I need to stop playing mother to my children; stop treating them as if they were mine with the unconditional love only mothers seems to be able to create. I am not a mom and don’t plan to be for a very long time. These children are not my babies therefore should no longer be treated as such and I need to stop be treated with the same level of indifference that some of my kids treat their own mothers.

            In my eyes, Latin is no longer a family, but a nation. A nation of Roman citizens who are to be governed by a single entity: me, the Ferox Imperatrix. We will learn as a people, fight as a people, and be glorious as a people. Justice, wisdom and passion will ignite the apathetic spirits and minds that had once reigned. Complacency is no longer an option.

Magna Mater est mortua.

Ferox Imperatrix est nata.

           

            

Ad forem vadam

in caverna pulsata tympana audiemus
caeci in cordibus nostris movebimus
parvi augebimus

luces nostri rectores erant
saltantes contra mures
illuminantes fabulae
numquam comprehendamus


in meis trementibus cruribus
Ego ad forem ambulabo
non solum videbo
sed etiam intellegam
quo steti.

Hearts and Pomegranates

Definitions: 

The Heart - a hollow, pump-like organ for blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle. 

The Pomegranate - a chambered, many-seeded, globular fruit, having a tough red rind skin. 

In my uselessness post summer, class, move to new house, I've started listening to Spiritus Me Moveat, whom I like to think is my own personal Muse. Images of hearts and pomegranates seem to continually appear in my mind. I love the realism of organs and anatomy, which is why I need to take more figure drawing classes. I also love the vibrancy of pomegranates and their rich color. 

They seem to go together in so many other ways as well. The stories of Hades and Persephone and then Apollo and Daphne and just Cupid in general seem to be the ones at the forefront of my mind. 

Let's see where this goes. 

Aurea mediocritas

A good mother will always say "everything in moderation,"
        a bona mater instead prays aurea mediocritas. 

Another will utter "life's not fair,"
       the mater familias mutters vita est dura. 

Brave fathers have no problem standing with courage,
        while the pater familias commanding cum fortitudine.

Sisters share the greatest laughs and darkest tales,
         mea soror spares no fabella.

My soul tells me right from wrong,
          mea anima compels me protinus.

My mind and heart are my inspiration,
        meae mens pectusque sunt mea musa. 

Survivalism is overrated...

Tomorrow is payday. Long awaited payday that comes at the tail end of a 31day month after the month of endless driving to and from Athens. My goal for August was to ride my bike everyday as penitence for my carbon footprint I placed on Mother Earth in the month of July. Turns out I was also seeking some sort of karmic absolution for the sin of Greed, because even if I had wanted to drive, I had no gas money.
I've eaten my spoonfuls of peanut butter and prayed my morning oatmeal would hold out in my empty stomach for the 8 hour school day, but I often have gone home this month hungry with a headache. I even stashed apples, now a crazy inside joke with two of my students, so that I could save money.
I pray that September, my birthday month, will be less miserable than August and July. Finding out that my extended day pay that I didn't get from February through May may not be making its debut in my bank account until the September's pay check, only inspires pessimism. The ember that I hold for decent meals and an easy commute to work, still has some warmth. Let's pray it turns into a wild fire.

Roman Horror!

At the NJCL Convention, one of the workshops that was held was about the influence of Roman tropes that inspired modern horror films that we very familiar with today.
He cited various different themes amongst Greco-Roman literature, including but not limited to, cannibalism, vampires, the undead, demons and so forth.
One story was entitled Thyestes by Seneca. In it, the brother of Thyestes has chopped up his children and serves them to Thyestes, as well as their blood in the wine that Thyestes has been drinking. Atreus, the brother, is delighted to tell Thyestes that his children will "always be with him" while bringing forth their heads on a platter to show his brother.
There were other stories, that one is the most disturbing to me so it seemed the most appropriate to share.
Personally, I am not the biggest fan of horror movies because they inspire paranoid thoughts and make me have weird dreams. My sister, however, loves it, especially anything about zombies.
I still clearly have Gaul on the brain because I was thinking yesterday about how one would go about writing a horror movie set in Gaul involving the Romans. The Gallic religion is ripe with superstition and human sacrifice, so it could end up being a really cool mesh.
I've started jotting down some ideas, but I need still need to research some other Greco-Roman horror stories.
This topic is really starting to fascinate me, so there will definitely be more to come.

Wake Forest Inspirational Convention

My class is over for the summer at UGA. My group did our project and I even turned in my paper early (I didn't know I'd have access to wifi here). I had a short respit yesterday. My mom even stayed over Tuesday to get my cats since I wasn't able to take them to their house myself.

This trip to National Convention started for my 3 Latin babies and me at 7am. The drive, though filled with the infectious and colorful personalities, was a tedious 5 hours. I'm so sick of driving I could throw up.

After we got our room keys and other vital information to get settled in before General Assembly. Wake Forest is small enough with clear signs of where specific buildings, that it didn't take too terribly long to the dorm. My co-pilot found the map after we parked the car.

......

We've been here for almost a whole day now. My girls are at colloquia, aka a workshop, and I am taking a break before we have to meet for our 2nd general assembly.

Being here as an adult, a teacher, leaves only my imagination to wonder what it must be like to be here as a student. These kids are busy almost the entire time. Not only do they have academic tests and a quiz to test your Classical knowledge, but they have athletic and artistic competitions as well. It is truly astonishing! I must add that one of my most favorite parts is that most of the kids are self-motivated and don't require their sponsors to constantly hound them to participate.

I, unfortunately, did not have the luck to have attended a high school with a Latin program. We had Spanish. Not that Spanish isn't worth learning, it just doesn't seem to light a fire in your soul the way Classics does for these Latin students. I feel a disadvantage when I'm speaking with other sponsors or chaperones, who have their own experiences as delegates at these conventions where most of them also probably gained the passion for teaching the language in high school.

I wish there was some way that Georgia could offer Latin in every high school in the state. I'm sure some people still believe that Latin has no relevance in modern world since it's a "dead" language. Obviously, these people barely paid attention in their Spanish or French classes to realize, that Latin is the mother of all things. These people also haven't witnessed the amount of academic rigor and enthusiasm at both State and National convention to realize that these students have brought this "dead" language back to life and it is thriving!

Those of you who have children that are not in high school yet, remember that if you want your child to really be challenged academically and grow a network of friends nationwide who are just as intelligent as your child could be, sign them up for Latin.

http://www.camws.org/cpl/educators/TCAsurvey2.pdf