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What’s Going On with the Ears in Hyrule?

(Or: A Needlessly Comprehensive Deep-Dive into the Myst-EAR-ious Duality of Round-Eared Humans and Long-Eared Hylians, a Very S-EAR-ious Write-Up)

As some of you may remember from a few months back, I made an off-hand comment about my ideas surrounding the disparities between the different types of ears we see in Hyrule’s human citizens, and my desire to further expand on that at a later date.  No, that was not a joke, and yes, I am finally Doing the Dang Thing.  So!  Let’s get started.

Long-time fans of the series will know that Hylians are a race of humans in the world of The Legend of Zelda with long, elf-like ears.  Hylians most always dominate the land of Hyrule in nearly every installment in the series, with round-eared humans only making their first appearance in Link’s Awakening, a game that - spoiler alert - was all a dream in the first place.  And though plain old humans again appear in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna in the follow-up Oracle games, it is very in keeping with the theme of this blog that their most notable appearance happens to be in Twilight Princess.

Though it is never remarked upon in-game, Link is the only Hylian in a village filled with humans, such as Ilia and Rusl, leading the player to assume that he was not Ordon-born.  Other notable examples include Ashei, who hails from the mountains, and even the inhabitants of (New) Kakariko (though only three in number) are all mere humans.  The Hylians of this game seem to be centralized around Castle Town, with notable members including Telma, Shad, and Auru of the Resistance, and naturally, Zelda herself.  Yet as I’ve already stated, the fact that there are two different sets of ears among the humans is never even a topic of conversation; it makes you wonder why the developers bothered to make the distinction at all, and indeed, plenty of fans have never even noticed that such a disparity exists. I certainly didn’t notice when I was ten years old, playing through Twilight Princess for the very first time - but we’ve come a long way since then, and I am delighted to finally be able to tell everyone why I think this disparity exists, and how it has bled into other aspects of the series.  Let’s back away from Twilight Princess for a moment; all good theories have a beginning, and this one is no different.  To understand where this all began, we must look thousands of years into the past, to Skyward Sword.  More specifically, this all started...

...with this guy.

Yes, Beedle.  That Beedle.  But before we can even jump into how he relates to any of this, we must travel further back still, to the very opening cutscene of Skyward Sword.  

In this cutscene, we hear a very dumbed-down tale of how Demise invaded the surface world that was ruled over by the Goddess Hylia; to protect the sacred relic placed into her care by the Golden Goddesses, Hylia rends a piece of land from the earth and sends it skyward, leaving the Goddess Sword and the Triforce with it.  Together with the remaining peoples of the Surface, she seals Demise away, and millennia later the events of Skyward Sword transpire.  The entirety of this cutscene is not in and of itself very important, but I would like to draw everyone’s attention to one particular line uttered by the narrator during this sequence:

“To prevent this great power from falling into the hands of the evil swarming the lands… The goddess gathered the surviving humans on an outcropping of earth.”

It is worth noting here that - though the word “Hylian” itself only appears in reference to the shield which bears its name - Skyloft is comprised entirely of people with long ears.  Keeping these things in mind, let’s go back to Beedle.

Beedle is, by all intents and purposes, a fairly unremarkable character in Skyward Sword.  That is to say, outside of providing Link with goods throughout his adventure, he bears no significance on the plot in any capacity, having only a single sidequest that involves retrieving a pet beetle (snickers) of his, for which the player’s reward is a small sum of Gratitude Crystals.  But there is one, throwaway line of completely optional dialogue you can trigger towards the beginning of this sidequest, and it is upon this line that the entire basis for this theory has been built.  When meeting Beedle on his home island apart from Skyloft for the very first time, the player is given the option...

...to comment on his accent.

[after selecting “Your accent!”] “Hmmm? The mellifluous timbre of my voice sounds different to you?

...Perhaps a touch, I suppose... But pray, what does it matter, hmm?”

What’s important to understand about accents is how they come about to begin with: namely, slight differences in pronunciation and rhythm of speech evolve over time as the language (in this case, some form of ancient Hylian) spreads to different locations.  And of course, everyone who uses spoken language has an accent, but Link’s remarking upon Beedle’s is an indication that his pattern of speech is different from his own.  In most other games, this would be unextraordinary - but in the context of Skyward Sword, where humanity has been isolated to a (relatively speaking) small outcropping of earth in the sky, it becomes extremely noteworthy.  No one in Skyloft should have “an accent,” because theirs is a society and culture so small in scale that they should all have the same accent.  Beedle having an accent makes sense if, and only if...

...he’s not from Skyloft.

And if he’s not from Skyloft, the logical conclusion would be that he must be from the Surface.  In almost any other circumstance, this assertion would be smashed to smithereens by the sheer fact that getting to Skyloft without a Loftwing - companions blessed only to those who live in the sky - should be an unattainable feat. And yet, of all the people in Skyloft, Beedle is the only one who could have achieved such a thing... 

...because his shop - which conveniently doubles as his house - is an electricity-powered flying machine.  Within the context of the game, such a contraption seems almost nonsensical; if he were from Skyloft, why would he not just set up shop in a permanent location?  Even if he wanted to live on a smaller island by himself, the people of Skyloft could simply use their Loftwings to reach him (which they still need to do, anyway!).  Indeed, the existence of Beedle’s Shop makes far more sense...if it already existed by the time he arrived there.

Which brings us back to that introductory cutscene.  The narrator states that Hylia gathered up all of the surviving humans (notice the use of the word humans here) onto an outcropping of earth and sent them skyward, and on a surface level, this seems straight-forward enough - but with the revelation that Beedle is very likely from the Surface himself, it’s very obvious that this is nothing more than a bold-faced lie.  Some humans were left behind - they couldn’t all possibly have fit on such a small piece of land - and those humans were the ancestors of Beedle, in some way, shape, or form.  What became of those humans is another matter altogether (one I will address briefly), as the Surface we explore in Skyward Sword is perfectly devoid of human life, barring Impa.

Now, let’s bring it back home: remember how I said that all Skyloftians have long ears?  That was a bit of a white lie, though only if you count Beedle among that number.  In truth, Beedle’s ears are obscured by the bowl cut of his hair - but this is true for every game he appears in, and the general consensus is that they’re round.  This would make Beedle the only round-eared human in the entire game...and he, coincidentally, happens to be from the Surface.

Before I go any further, I’d like to establish a very base reasoning for the existence of long-eared qualities in the human races of Hyrule.  Hylians are far from the only ones to bear long ears, what with the trait also presenting themselves in the likes of the Sheikah and, by the era of Breath of the Wild, even the Gerudo - though it is exceptionally notable that in Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo have round ears, and Ganondorf is no exception...at least, at first.

Y’see, what’s especially notable about Ganondorf is that he is the same exact character is each title he appears in, and in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, his ears are long.  This was actually something I only noticed quite recently, upon which I then fervently began scouring for information about his appearance in Ocarina of Time to try and make sense of it all, and the results are...very intriguing, to say the least.  Below is a comparison of Ganondorf pre-timeskip vs. post-timeskip from the original Nintendo 64 version of the game:

As you can see, his model has changed in a number of ways, but... Well, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

Amazingly, his ears got longer, which is...an interesting choice from a design perspective.  Of course, it leads one to wonder why - and far and above the most significant thing to happen to him in the seven years between these two appearances is his procuring of the Triforce of Power from the Sacred Realm, a relic of the old gods.  Evil or no, Ganondorf had forged a bond with a god unlike any had before him, and for some reason, this elongated his ears - so much so that by the time of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, they are indistinguishable from your typical Hylian’s.  It is notable, too, that the Sheikah (who have always had long ears) also bear a special connection to the gods, living to serve Hylia and, later, her reincarnation as the princess in the Royal Family of Hyrule.  

“They say we Hylians have big ears in order to hear the voices of the gods.”

So now, keeping everything I’ve talked about here in mind, I think it appropriate to go over the series of events that likely transpired, beginning from Demise’s invasion of the surface world:

In a bid to keep the Triforce out of evil’s grasp, Hylia formulates a plan to send both it and the Goddess Sword out of harm’s way.  She selects - perhaps by chance, perhaps by choice - a not insignificant number of humans to live on this skyward isle, but naturally not all of them can make the cut.  These chosen humans would go on to found Skyloft, a land whose culture revolves heavily around the reverence of the very goddess who saved them and enabled them to live in prosperity (the existence of the Wing Ceremony, the Statue of the Goddess, etc.), while the humans who remained on the surface, left in a world scarred by war and ravaged by monsters, sought new lands, becoming the ancestors of people who would found Holodrum and Labrynna, to name a couple.  In their reverence of Hylia, the people of Skyloft would develop long ears, as even the Sheikah had - but the humans left on the surface world...would not.

That is to say, the Hylians we see in almost every major installment of the series are the direct descendants of the people of Skyloft, and round-eared humans are the descendants of the people Hylia left behind.

Of course, not all humans fled from their homeland - though we see none in-game, it’s important to remember that we also see no Sheikah aside from Impa, though we know they are great in number.  Beedle was, undoubtedly, one of these very few stragglers, and with stories of a land beyond the clouds on his mind - legends that have been passed down over countless generations - he sought to find this paradise by any means, through sheer blood, sweat, and tears (but mostly sweat, if that cycling is any indication) if necessary. In the end, he was successful, and he lives among the people of Skyloft fairly unassumingly - yet he also lives apart from them, on his own island because, at his core, he is not one of them, and never will be.  He doesn’t get all of this Hylia stuff, and frankly, he doesn’t care - so long as he can chill on his own little crop of land with a full belly, a full wallet, and his pet beetle, that’s really all that matters.

And speaking of Hylia - the reason they are called Hylians is because they are the descendants of those chosen by Hylia, even if the knowledge of Hylia’s existence has largely been lost to history by the events of Ocarina of Time and beyond.  (In a very similar vein, it is my belief that Lake Hylia also gets its name from her because the crater that would later become that very lake was formed...when she lifted a gargantuan outcropping of earth into the sky.)   Hylians largely dominate Hyrule for so much of its history because the people of Skyloft were the ones who founded it - yet by the era of Twilight Princess, we see that a great many of the humans who had moved onto different lands have slowly but surely made their way back towards the place they once called home.  

But I would be remiss to neglect to go back to Breath of the Wild; this game is a much more peculiar case, taking place in an era many millennia after any game that came before it, where reverence for Hylia is once again commonplace - so much so that statues bearing her resemblance have been erected in every town, village, and city across the country.  Humans are once again practically nowhere to be seen (except, again, perhaps for Beedle), and even the Gerudo, who have now long intermingled with Hylians for the sake of having children, have inherited the trait (perhaps in part due to the fact that some of their own may worship Hylia, if the statue in Gerudo Town is any indication).  In every single instance, no matter where you turn, these long ears seem to be a direct correlation to the people’s connection to the gods of Hyrule - but rather than their ears being a predetermined factor in how strong this connection may be, it seems that their faith is what influences this trait to rise to the surface, over how ever many generations or centuries that just might take.  (Ganondorf Dragmire, who lives in a castle and inherited a relic of pure godly power, is an outlier and should not be counted.)  As Shad so eloquently states in Twilight Princess:

“Hyrule was made by the Hylians, who, as we all know, are the closest race to the gods.”

And as long as we’re talking about Shad, I’d love to begin wrapping up this post by bringing things round to Twilight Princess once more - specifically the context in which Shad says the above quote, which is far and away one of the most peculiar instances of casual lore-dumping in the entire series.  The quote in its entirety from the North American version of the game reads thusly:

“At the moment I'm absolutely entranced by the sky beings known as the Oocca. Yes, according to legend, Hyrule was made by the Hylians [...] But also according to legend, long ago there was a race even closer to the gods, and some say these creatures made the Hylians. When they created the people of Hylia, they simultaneously created a new capital, a city that floated in the heavens.”

What Shad is saying here is extremely farfetched, particularly for those of us who are familiar with the Oocca.  But in truth, this was a minor mistranslation on Nintendo of America’s part; the original text from the Japanese version of the game clears actually reads much more like this, when translated correctly:

“The common opinion is that Hyrule was created by the Hylia people, the race closest to the gods, but...truth be told, there's also a theory saying that in ancient times, there was a race even closer to the gods than the Hylia people, and THEY created it [Hyrule]. And they, simultaneously with the birth of the Hylia people, created a new capital, a capital that floated in the heavens.”

So the Oocca - the bizarre, Cucco-like creatures who inhabit the City in the Sky - did not create the Hylians, but rather established the kingdom of Hyrule itself in the world that the goddesses created.  But even with this mistranslation squared away, that still sounds incredibly odd, especially taking the events of Skyward Sword into account; we know that the people of Skyloft are the ones who inevitably found Hyrule, because we see the beginnings of this happening at the end of the game.  Funnily enough, it seems that the very line that was mistranslated in the North American version of the game...was the result of mistranslation itself.

In-universe mistranslation, that is.  Millennia of history being told, written, lost, and found, translated again and again and again, until it barely resembles its original state.  What likely happened was that the Oocca, who live in the sky, were wrongly credited with the creation of Hyrule because the Hylian people who would go on the found Hyrule also came from the sky, as they were the people of Skyloft.  Shad’s claim that the Oocca were “a race even closer to the gods" than the Hylians may not be entirely unfounded, however, as it is incredibly likely like the City in the Sky we see in Twilight Princess is what remained of Skyloft after its human inhabitants abandoned it; the Loftwings that the people of Skyloft had for so long relied on would go on to evolve into more sentient beings, suspending the city above the clouds long after Hylia’s magic had worn off - and Loftwings were, as the people of Skyloft believed, beings bestowed upon them as a symbol of the goddess’s divine blessing.  In this sense, it is somewhat true that the City in the Sky and the Hylians were created at the same time; when the Skyloftians abandoned their home to live in a new land where they were not long after christened the Hylians, the skyward isle that they had left behind found a new purpose, and a new “city” was born.

Of course, maybe Shad was off his marbles (even if the Oocca are evolved Loftwings, there is still much about them and their connection to the Sheikah that remains shrouded in mystery), but the crux of this entire narrative is that the people of Hylia, the Hylians - at least, up until Breath of the Wild is concerned - were the descendants of the people of Skyloft, and Beedle’s eccentricities in the context of Skyward Sword are rather convincing pieces of evidence that this did not comprise all people of the formerly-known-as “Land of Hylia.”  It is therefore only natural that a conclusion could be drawn about where the distinction between the two peoples comes from.

But in the end, even if this can answer the question of why there are round-eared humans alongside long-eared ones, it does not answer the ultimate question of what this distinction means.  Why does a connection with and a faith in the gods elongate the ears of the people it touches?  The Zelda Encyclopedia states that “in the past, Hylians were able to wield magic of considerable might,” a trait that could possibly distinguish them from your typical human being - but the canon nature of the Encyclopedia is...shaky*, at best, and downright disrespectful at worst.  Link and Zelda are two Hylians we see wielding abnormal abilities, but their power can be explained with their respective pieces of the Triforce, not to mention the countless magic users in Hyrule and beyond who aren’t Hylian.  Even if there was a time when the Hylians had special abilities, those abilities have long since faded. They are no no taller, no smaller, live no longer than their round-eared counterparts; they are, in every aspect aside from the length of their ears, in every way identical.  To finish the quote by the unnamed Hylian man who speaks to a young Link in the Castle Town Market in Ocarina of Time:

“They say we Hylians have big ears in order to hear the voices of the gods...but I've never heard them!”

So...there you have it.  I must admit that it is entirely possible that the people of Skyloft had developed long ears before their ancestors had been sent to the heavens - after all, the Sealed Temple was, in millennia past, a temple erected in her honor.  Yet this would also make the story of Hylia gathering the “surviving humans” in order to save them all the more grim; could the gods be so callous as to save only those who respect their divine might? One cannot help but think of the Great Sea in The Wind Waker - for in a world populated by the descendants of those who were chosen by the gods to survive the coming floods, it is difficult not to notice that ears of the round variety are once again nowhere to be found.

And yet, when you get right down to it - though some Hylians seem to rely on their lineage as “the closest race to the gods” to maintain an image of self-importance - the difference between a long-eared Hylian and a round-eared human appears to be, ultimately...only that.  And unless we see our round-eared friends return in a potentially future title, and the difference remarked upon, that will likely be how things remain.

Until that time, I will continue to do my best to fill the gaps with which we have been left - even if, at the end of the day, I’ve written nothing more than a meaningless, nine-page word jumble...about ears.

EDIT (5/9/2020): It has been brought to my attention (courtesy of @heartenvy​​) that there is a mild inconsistency with the narrative that Beedle could be from the Surface: namely, the “unbreachable” Cloud Barrier, something Hylia herself created to divide Skyloft from the Surface and keep its inhabitants and the Triforce safe.  However, I would argue that the Cloud Barrier is not a physical barrier so much as it is a mystical one, meant to both keep its location secret (the barrier itself is completely invisible from the Surface) and to ensure the people of Skyloft remain complacent in their isolation (believing Skyloft is all there is, they remain there, and in so doing their long-forgotten secrets are kept safe). Zelda is pulled through it long before any proper portals are actually opened, and I would argue that the portals (that is, the pillars of light that appear when we place the corresponding tablets) are largely a gameplay mechanic meant to keep the story linear, as in a real setting Link would have simply ridden his Loftwing to and from the Surface and would have been able to fly anywhere he chose.  It’s possible the barrier acts to keep out evildoers, specifically (which would explain why Ghirahim had to summon a vortex to pull Zelda through it, where he could reach her), or, not unlike the Isla de Muerta in Pirates of the Caribbean, Skyloft could very well be “an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is” - which, to me, makes the narrative of Beedle finding his way there all the more entertaining (the dude must have been, like, super determined).  In any case, I stand by what I’ve stated before: that Beedle is from the Surface, as his accent and the peculiarities of his shop make too strong a case to ignore.

*              *              *              *              *

*The Zelda Encyclopedia states that Termina is a Dream World, despite Link’s Awakening having already done this and in a much more satisfying way.  I can’t take anything it says seriously.

(Special thanks to @ghiirahiims​​ for the high-res screenshot of Beedle, and shoutout to @gaybellatrix​​ for in no small part convincing me to finally sit down and write this all up.)

Balay Karunongan

For all your Fire Emblem Three Houses/RWBY/Harry Potter/Naruto/Persona needs. This is written with Gubat Banwa in mind, does not have strict game mechanics.

In the 199th Year of the Skysea War, in the hinterlands of the Lakanate’s land borders, where it touches the hunting grounds of Bayi, five siyak came together to establish a mistake.

They called it Balay Karunongan, the House of Wisdom. With the help of Datu Padakar, a Datu under the Kaponoan of Bayi, they managed to create a grand Balay that opened its doors to the children of Datu across the entirety of Kitatak.

It was a house that taught how to kill.

Over time, it grew in size. The original five-floored dakbalay gained annexes that went all the way down the mountain it was built upon. Behind it arose a bamboo pagoda, attached to the giant nunuk that anointed the area as a sacred place.

Princes and Princesses of Datu, even if they be binukot, usually from 16 harvests and beyond are put in here for a total of 5 years. They are taught in the ways of war, combat, battle, tactics, strategy, and, if they have the talent for it, offensive magic and sorcery.

The students are assigned a particularly colored saob-saob, an open gown, to denote their year. They can wear almost anything underneath. Jewelry is encouraged. Fashionable takes on the saob-saob and clothing is encouraged due to the cutthroat student culture of the House of Wisdom, wherein social standing among nobles is fought over.

White/Undyed Saob-saob are given to first years.

Brown saob-saob are given to second years.

Black saob-saob are given to third years.

Indigo saob-saob are given to fourth years.

Crimson saob-saob are given to fifth years, and is a sign of graduation.

The colder climate in the mountains has allowed for more elaborate and layered outfits from the nobles, much to their delight, which has allowed them to create elaborate fashion.

A Concordance

In the 212th Year of the Skysea War, the Balay was assaulted by the Lakanate. The five Grand Siyak managed to repel the invasion attempt with the help of their friends from Bayi, as well as the well-taught and disciplined students of the balay, which has begun to incorporate foreign martial techniques into their studies as well.

Impressed, Huwan Rekno promised to stop assault attempts if the Siyak will accept nobles from the Lakanate. Seeing this as a compromise to keep the balay alive, they agreed. Thus, the Balay has become a household for Datu and nobles from the Lakanate to bring their children there to make them even more skilled and powerful, to secure their lineages and royalty.

The Balay Karunongan, while officially not following any particular polity, is now under being afforded gifts and hosted feasts by all across the archipelago, in hopes of gaining the balay’s allegiance. Both Bayi and the Lakanate know however that the Balay will not give its allegiance to anyone not them, since they are in a particularly difficult position to not choose from either of them.

Cut Throats

The students are taught in all forms of warfare, not only in its physical aspect, but also in its social and mental aspects. Manipulating the enemy, forcing a raid, attacking during the morning, retreating when you’ve gotten what you need. This has caused an internal political mandala within the Balay, exacerbated only by the Five Clan allegiances established by the Siyak themselves.

Mimicking their parents, each class has a Datu, who has his own gang of right-hand men that is the Sandig. It is, however, a simplified version of the political composition of the outside world. Each Datu has an Attendant, their closest secretary and ally, as well as their steward. Along with the Attendant, their Sandig is made up of a Sword, that is a sort of sheriff. A Warhorn, that is the one that gives news to the rest of the class. Finally a Staff that gives counsel and wisdom to the Datu.

Those in the class are thus treated as freedmen would be treated in the outside world, despite being noble born themselves.

Each class, across all the five years, regularly war against each other. Each Year has an overlord that reins in and keeps order among the Datu in their Year. Similarly to the outside world’s society, these are called Kaponoan. The Datu follow after the Kaponoan as a freedman would follow after a Datu.

Every end of the year, the Kaponoan for the next year is determined by an Interclass Tournament known as the Paligsahan ng Hari (Competition of Kings). There five of the best fighters from each of the five classes within a year compete to be the next Kaponoan. This is usually the Datu of each class, but doesn’t always have to be.

This is almost always held in front of the Gubat Nunuk, the war pagoda tree, that is sacred to the entire house. The Paligsahan is constantly considered to not only be a tournament, but also a worship ritual as well as a divination ritual. Whoever comes out on top is almost always uncontested, even if they used underhanded means to mean.

The ancestors always know.

Outcasts

There are times when an actual timawa or even an oripun might make it into the school. Usually, due to their inability to wear rich finery and jewelry, they will be cast out. One way or another, their non-nobleness is found out. These students are known as patapon, or trash. The patapon usually must work harder to become Datu, but becoming a Datu is usually something decided among the freedmen within a class, so the only real chance in power that a patapon has is through the Paligsahan.

Limang-Talulot, The Five Clans

Limang Talulot, translated to Five Petals, are the five clans within the house established by the Five Grand Siyak. These were established by the siyak to encourage competition as well as help students find like-minded friends. The Five Clans are organized according to their specialty in war. Each of the five clans are modeled after a specific Balaanghayop, or Holy Beast.

Additionally, the Clan that you end up in will influence the classes you take beginning from the second year up to the fifth, as these are more or less considered as specializations in war.

During the first year, there are things called Clan Jams, wherein the five clans try their best to entice new students to join them. This usually ends up with a couple of deaths, much to the teacher’s chagrin. The Aso are prone to showcasing duels to the death. The Uwak is prone to summoning untold powers from realms unknown. The Salindayaw lets themselves be possessed by diwata in a blasphemous paganitu. The Banoy hosts drunken revelries where everyone is treated as royalty. The Musang is prone to kidnapping students and bringing them to their booths, where they are given nice gifts actually.

Aso ni Dakim

The clan that follows the martial tenets of Siyak Dakim, with an emblem that is the head of a hunting dog. The Aso, with their motto of “Rip and tear until the sky is broken!” are often called “Fucking dogs” derogatorily, especially by those of the Kuwago ni Pitukil. Those that end up in the Aso ni Dakim are usually those that prize martial ability above all else, and seek to overpower all the other clans by sheer skill in violence and fighting.

Siyak Dakim is the Eskrimador sa Daghang Armas, “The Eskrimador of Myriad Weapons”, so called due to his skill in turning anything he touches into weapons.

Those in the Aso ni Dakim are mandated to always carry an implement to kill.

Uwak ni Itomsiga

The clan that follows the occult and sorcerous tenets of Siyak Itomsiga, with an emblem that is a crow picking on its own feathers. The Uwak, with their motto of “Know what should not be known.” are often derogatorily referred to as “magna”. Which is a shortened version of “magnanakaw”, which means thief or stealer. Most Uwak are not actual thieves, but they are known to always get what they want, even it be from other people. hose that end up in Uwak ni Itomsuga are those enraptured by the thought of impossibility, and have an unholy thirst for knowledge, even if it be forbidden.

Siyak Itomsiga is known as the Mambabarang sa Lawom nga Sulad, “Sorcerer of Deep Hell”, so called due to her skill in knowing seemingly forbidden spells and using it upon those that invoke her ire.

Those in the Uwak ni Itomsiga are mandated to always carry a trinket with a bamboo bark. Upon it is a mentala, which they can utter to instantly cast a protective spell. Once used, it burns up, and they must create another before the next morning.

Salindayaw ni Hilomng Kabai Balaang Alaag

The clan that follows the spiritual and pious tenets of Siyak Hilomng Kaba Balaang Alaag, usually just referred to Alaag. Their emblem is that of a deer with horns that rotate to form undulating mandalas. The Salindayaw, with their motto of “Until all are one under the same sky,” are often derogatorily referred to as “Boang sungay”, which means crazy horns. Believed due to the initial impression of them being peaceful flower-smellers who think harmony can be achieved simply with words. Of course, they themselves know this is not true. Those that end up in the Salindayaw are usually those that hold nature to a high esteem, or see fighting simply as a mean to peace, instead of being something to strive for itself. They value harmony, and almost always side with the decision that would cause the least amount of disharmony with nature.

Siyak Hilomng Kabai Balaang Alaag is known as the Mapasipalahong Manluluwas, “Blasphemous Savior” due to their ability to heal even those that seem to have been killed or have died, and once doomed an entire island to Di Hiyang due to the act of resurrecting an entire haop of more than a thousand households.

Those in the Salindayaw ni Alaag always bring with them a wreath of mulawin flowers, santan, gumamela, waling-waling, and sampaguita, to remind them of their responsibility and duty to nature.

Banoy ni Sri Bayisaalak

The clan that follows the royalty of Sri Bayisaalak, otherwise known as The Bayi or the Wine Maiden. Their emblem is that of a crowned Philippine eagle. The Banoy, with their motto “To ascend past heaven!” are often derogatorily referred to as “Datu-Datuhan”, which means “playing Datu”. At first glance, those of the Banoy are prone to power tripping and issuing orders. Those that end up in the Banoy are usuall those that take upon themselves the hard responsibility of leading or guiding, and are taught a great number of philosophies.

Siyak Sri Bayisaalak is known as the Hubog nga Emperadora, “Drunk Empress”. It is not a secret that Sri Bayisaalak is actually a diwata, one of Ang Daghan. Specifically, she is one of the many minor Langitnon. She is the Langitnon of Royalty, who cloaked upon herself mortality so that she may teach royalty, leadership, and civilization for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, she also has a penchant for alcohol. She is the lesser known wife of the God of Civilization Munsad Buralakaw.

Those in the Banoy are required to bring around a porcelain jarlet filled with wine and taselled with a banoy’s feather.

Musang ni Aninong Kislap

The clan that follows the subterfuge and informational tenets of Siyak Aninong Kislap. Their emblem is a shadowed musang. The Musang, with their motto, “The sun casts shadows,” they are derogatorily termed “Ay giatay--” due to their predecessor’s penchant to appear and disappear unexpectedly. Those that end up in the Musang are usually those that do the hard jobs of subterfuge, surveillance, and infiltration, which is a well sought after skill in Kitatak’s valuing of raids and ambushes when it comes to war.

Siyak Aninong Kislap is well known as, well, Aninong Kislap, “The Shadowy Spark”. None know his true name. He is often wrapped in robes and saob-saob. None see his true face, his true hands. Many say that he is also one of Ang Daghan: a Suladnon of Many Faces. None can confirm this.

Those in the Musang are given shawls that can be worn around the head as a hood, the neck as a scarf, or the waist as a sarong.

If people are interested I’d follow this up with another post that details a few more school activities, a school calendar, and a table for staff and students.

A former Israeli diplomat answers 5 questions about Jerusalem

http://bit.ly/2BkZ70t

Editor’s note: Professor Dan Arbell of American University, who spent 25 years in the Israeli Foreign Service, answers five questions about Jerusalem, which President Donald Trump recently recognized as the capital of Israel.

1. What is Jerusalem like today?

Jerusalem has a growing high-tech sector, a diverse, multicultural and multiethnic population, and bustling business centers and marketplaces that attract millions of tourists annually. Jerusalem is situated in a mountainous region, at 2,650 feet above sea level, overlooking the Judean Desert on one side and the Mediterranean coast on the other side. Jerusalem’s view and landscape are majestic.

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What strikes first-time visitors to the city is the rare contrast between ancient and modern elements. In the east, the Old City of Jerusalem is surrounded by a fortified stone wall, built during the rule of the Ottoman Empire between the 16th to 20th centuries. The Old City contains narrow, stone cobbled alleys, colorful small shops of mostly Palestinian merchants, selling anything from jewelry, to backgammon sets, to fruit and coffee with wonderful aroma. In the west is a modern city, with high-rise stone buildings, a bustling business center, beautiful green parks and the newly opened Light Rail system, which serves all parts of the city.

In the east, Palestinians wear traditional clothing, mixed with youngsters in modern American and European style clothing. In the west, it’s mostly Jews of all denominations: from the ultra-Orthodox dressed in traditional gear influenced by biblical commandments and modesty requirements, to secular Jews who dress like many others in the Western world.

Security in Jerusalem is paramount, as every small incident in the city may turn into an international crisis. Therefore, Israeli security agencies, mostly Israeli police, maintain a strong presence in the city, especially during sensitive periods.

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2. Why is Jerusalem so important?

Jerusalem is holy to the world’s three monotheistic religions and therefore important to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

For Christians it is the place where Jesus lived, preached and presumably died.

For Muslims it is the site of Haram al-Sharif, or Al-Aqsa Mosque, from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the sky.

For Jews it has been the main center of worship for centuries. It is the place where King Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C., rebuilt and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The temple housed the “Holy of Holies,” the inner sanctuary where, according to Jewish belief, God dwelt. What remains is the Temple’s Western Wall, Judaism’s most sacred place today.

3. How long has Jerusalem been a disputed territory?

The birth of Zionism in Europe in the late 19th century led to a concentrated effort by Jews to return to their ancient homeland after a 2,000-year exile. This effort was accompanied by a broad advocacy campaign across Europe to convince leaders to support the Zionist quest of establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine. These efforts paid off in November 1917, when the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, supporting the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

In the years that followed, under British rule, the idea of establishing a full fledged independent Jewish state evolved. While not being the primary reason, World War II and the horrific and atrocious years of the Holocaust galvanized international support for a Jewish homeland.

In 1947, the U.N. called for the establishment of two states, Arab and Jewish, in the territory of Mandatory Palestine. It referred to Jerusalem as a “separate entity,” to be governed by a special international regime. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Arabs rejected it. Israelis declared their statehood in May 1948 – only to see the newly established state invaded by five Arab armies. As Israel emerged victorious from the 1948 war, it established its capital in West Jerusalem, which was in Israeli territory. East Jerusalem was in Jordanian territory.

Both Israelis and Palestinians declared their right to establish their capital in Jerusalem. For Jews, Jerusalem is a symbol of the return to Zion, their ancient homeland. It is not only a religious symbol, but also a symbol of Jewish sovereignty. For Palestinians, Jerusalem is equally important, as both a religious and political symbol.

In the 1967 war, Israel gained control of East Jerusalem, and declared the city in its entirety, as the “undivided, eternal” capital of Israel and the Jewish people. The Arab world and Palestinians categorically rejected Israel’s declaration and remain strongly opposed to it. Since 1967, the Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem are administered by the Israeli government, a sensitive issue in the Middle East in particular.

Indeed, the international community hasn’t recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and still views the city as disputed territory. It has long been considered an issue that must be settled between Israelis and Palestinians in the context of peace negotiations. As a result, all foreign embassies operate from the city of Tel Aviv in Israel.

Nevertheless, in 1980, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, enacted the Jerusalem Basic Law, which stipulates that Jerusalem, “complete and united” is the capital of Israel.

There are no physical barriers between East and West Jerusalem. Israel’s executive, legislative and judicial branches are in Jerusalem and so are the president’s house and the prime minister’s office. According to the latest census, held in 2015, Jerusalem is home to a total of 865,000 residents, comprised of 62.6 percent Jews, 37.4 percent Arabs.

4. Why did Trump choose this timing to make his decision?

Trump’s announcement on Dec. 6, 2017, seemed to be based on mostly domestic political considerations.

First, he was delivering on a pledge he made during the presidential campaign, breaking from past presidents who as candidates promised to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but never followed through.

Second, he was playing to core constituencies which support him, mainly evangelical Christians, who were pressing for this move.

Third, it was a sign of support to the Jewish state, as he and others close to him have spoken about his personal appreciation and friendship towards Israel.

Fourth, Trump argued that not recognizing Jerusalem for decades has not led to peace, so perhaps an official recognition would stir things up and revive an effort to reach peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

5. How will the peace process proceed now?

Trump’s decision drew harsh reactions from world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Muslim leaders, such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Arab capitals, Palestinian leadership and people on the street. The European Union has urged for renewed efforts to advance a peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, and in light of Trump’s announcement has attempted to adopt as policy a recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state, but to no avail. The Palestinians are now taking their case to the United Nations General Assembly.

It is difficult to see how, in the short term, Palestinians will be willing to cooperate with the Trump administration in its efforts to advance peace. Trump and his senior advisers dealing with the Middle East have hinted in recent weeks that a new peace plan will be introduced in the near future to the parties to the conflict. In the aftermath of the Jerusalem announcement, it is likely that the American effort will be placed on the “back burner” for some time to allow Arabs and Palestinians a cooling off period.

While Trump’s move can be viewed as very pro-Israel, the president left the door open for the possibility of future negotiations. He stated his support for the two-state solution “if agreed by the parties”, and emphasized that by officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, the U.S is not taking a position on final status issues, including the “specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem,” as these issues will be determined in the context of future negotiations.

The emerging close ties between Israel and Sunni Arab regimes, mainly in the Gulf, strongly supported by the Trump administration, are also being put to the test. It is an open question whether Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan will play along and pressure the Palestinians to return to negotiations with Israel, despite the announcement.

Dan Arbell is affiliated, as a non resident Senior Fellow, with the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution

The great art of crystal gazing

Theoretical - Assumptions of a causal instrument, impact, and credulity are inspected with respect to the prophetic introduce. The Hermetic saying, which is broadly acknowledged in soothsaying, proposes that symmetrical procedures numerically relate microcosmic and macrocosmic highlights and overshadow causal systems. The mysterious writing recommends that impacts ought to be translated as connections inside these cosmological symmetries between people as opposed to amongst planets and people. The writing further recommends that impacts ought to be assessed by slant or "distinction," which implies that relationships ought to be positioned or appraised by size to impartially isolate impacts from ancient rarities. This strategy has turned out to be effective in visionary research and ought to be all around receiver. In this light, classroom Forer-sort tests, which are attempted to help subjective approval contentions against crystal gazing, are examined Best Astrology in India. It is addressed how these tests, which are regularly made out of specifically gathered non-celestial ancient rarities found in horoscope segments, or so far as that is concerned, any of the main experimental examinations that have guaranteed to renounce crystal gazing can judiciously resist more target considers that have tried for distinction impacts. For quite a bit of its long history, crystal gazing has created as an innovation, through exact perception, reception of helpful methods, and the talk of thoughts. Like different advances, it is a teaching intended to address particular issues. Rehearsing stargazers today are more worried about offering quality administrations to the general population they help than they are with the scan for all-inclusive certainties, which has been the pushed of present-day science. Albeit numerous stargazers trust that there is unfamiliar science in what they do, most are fulfilled to build up the innovation without logical clarification (Nanninga, 1996). For them, crystal gazing functions admirably inside the points of confinement of its applications. For whatever length of time that the mysterious talk proceeds with, they trust crystal gazing Best famous services in Delhi NCR keeps on making strides. Notwithstanding, numerous researchers today are unwilling to acknowledge crystal gazing as an innovation. Probably the most vocal pundits have requested unambiguous shows that would clarify soothsaying as an all-inclusive science. Else, they demand that crystal gazing, paying little mind to its viable capacities, should basically not be right. Typically, specialists would attempt to figure out a new innovation to basic fundamentals so as to find how it should function and how it can be tried. However, there has been no deliberate push to do this with astrology.1 There are challenges in measuring the long haul cycles and complex issues that soothsaying handles. For instance, a Saturn cycle keeps going 29 years and a Neptune cycle is 165 years. Occasions that are measured in such long-haul cycles appear to be particularly inconsistent with logical estimations, which are ordinarily in cycles every second. However, in spite of these long haul cycles, crystal gazing relies upon exact planning and has an inclination for surprising occasions, both of which have made it difficult to test. These outrageous prerequisites carry with them the subject of hypothesis, Best Astrology in India which is whether logical techniques have the ability to incorporate prophetic statutes without going into regions of vulnerability where built up logical convictions would be addressed. As can be seen, by the weird irregularities in quantum mechanics, for instance, the reevaluation of existing logical convictions can be profoundly astounding. However, this is the very stuff of request whereupon science itself depends. In the event that we will be not kidding about a logical investigation into crystal gazing, at that point we ought to learn best on the off chance that we didn't attempt to see soothsaying just from the viewpoint of current logical traditions. We ought to rather simply unwind and enable ourselves to go wherever the mysterious preface takes us. In the event that this adventure takes an illogical turn, it doesn't refute our ability for sanity and our capacity to locate the best apparatuses of assessment. While on this adventure, we should suspend our doubt sufficiently long to equitably assess impacts from ancient rarities. We should then will to free ourselves of false suspicions that had introduced impediments to our already unexamined convictions. In any case, let us fundamentally analyze three suspicions with respect to the visionary commence. These are the presumptions of causal components, heavenly impacts, and credulity impacts. Causal systems A regularly rehashed contention is that science should dismiss crystal gazing in light of the fact that it doesn't present an unmistakable system, ideally as far as established gravity or electromagnetism, which would give circumstances and end results connection between the heavenly condition and the person. The issue with this contention is that causal models are not important to experimentally assess Beat famous services in Delhi NCR predictable examples of conduct. Soothsaying uses a model yet it isn't causal. It depends on sorts of common symmetries. Right off the bat, there are the symmetries of the solstices, equinoxes, skyline, meridian, and the stage positions between the planets. These are common symmetries that characterize unending scientific planes, which separate space. These planes shape the well-known visionary casings of reference that are utilized as a part of Western soothsaying known as the signs, houses, and planetary viewpoints. Notwithstanding these symmetries, there is another sort of symmetry that is likewise considered in crystal gazing to be natural.2 In standard material science today, the universe is respected to have no inside on the grounds that the theoretical Big Bang, which happened when there was no space or time, needed to have begun wherever at the same time, and space itself is extending. Along these lines, there is no understanding of asymmetry in light of a widespread focus. This is the present tradition, yet it isn't the main conceivable approach to respect the universe. One outcome of this tradition is that it adds to a constrained perspective of nature whereby impacts are comprehended to be just the consequence of causal components. In crystal gazing, there is an alternate tradition in which the individual is thought to be a point at the focal point of the universe. An individual might be a man or creature, a physical thing, for example, a building or deliver, or even a non-physical thing, for example, an occasion, though, or condition. There is the same number of universes as there are people. Best services in Delhi NCR relativistic view is the reason for making a natal diagram. It might appear to be nonsensical, however, it isn't informal and it has its own particular results. Mysterious impacts are comprehended to be symmetrical procedures fixated on these individual vast universes. To comprehend these symmetrical procedures, we have to consider the antiquated Hermetic proverb, which is acknowledged as a principle fundamental of crystal gazing. This saying states: "As above, so beneath; as underneath, so above." essentially, the internal universe of the life of an individual is symmetrically identified with the external universe of the heavenly condition. The two universes that are characterized by this symmetry, the internal and the external, are brought together by their mutual connections to the visionary edges of reference. These reference outlines, in addition Best famous Astrology in Delhi to this inward external symmetry, include a spacetime perspective that takes into account the assessment of exact perceptions and the proposition of falsifiable speculations, the same with respect to causal systems. These numerical structures are what give consistency to mysterious perceptions and they make examine conceivably. The idea of an inward external symmetry ought not to be excessively odd, making it impossible to the present deduction since it isn't one of a kind to soothsaying. A recognizable case of this symmetry can be found in a holographic picture that has been broken into little parts. The periphery design that shows up on every little part contains a picture of the total entirety. Concentrates in cerebrum versatility demonstrate that the mind is organized in a comparative form. Another case is simply the purported "comparability" found in fractal geometries, in which similar shapes, for example, Mandelbrot or Julia sets, are rehashed at various scales inside the fractal condition. Likewise, in quantum mechanics, the problem of nonlocal, apparently non-causal conduct of quantum trap could be translated Best services Astrology in Delhi as a kind of internal-external symmetry. The naturally visible eyewitness impact in the external world partners with synchronous impacts inside the minute internal universe of quantum conduct. In each of these cases, highlights saw in one place are symmetrical with highlights in different places, however, are not their causes. A class of practices that could bring together these recognizable cases has not developed into the worldview of ordinary science, despite the fact that in light of the Hermetic adage they thoughtfully recommend a sort of symmetry that may some way or another emerge from the common extension of the room. Given the dependence upon measurable reality and the disintegration of regular circumstances and end results inside the quantum perspective, these abnormal practices appear to propose a fundamental classification of related Best services Astrology in India normal procedures that may be portrayed as cosmological symmetry. Just expressed, the practices of microcosms go with the practices of their worlds and the other way around, but in various albeit reciprocal ways.