Fasting Cloths.
It is this time.
Carnival time is
over, fun and games are put aside and now serious business starts
again.
This is particularly so in the area of
Christian religious observation.
Because you had fun, you must now be
punished.
Not only must you deprive yourself of
certain foods, like meat, not only must you not drink spirit water,
but you also will be chastened by being deprived of the view of
important religious icons, in particular the view of the central
Eucharist ( the chalice and the host) and the crucifix.
As early as the first century, the
altar and any surrounding pictures were covered by simple, unadorned
cloths, so that within the hearts of the believers a desire to see
these precious images again should be awakened. The hiding of the
central point of this religious observation was to be a form of
punishment, as the fasting itself. Hence the name: Fasting Cloth. (
or “hunger cloth” ).
It wasn't until about the year 1200 that these
cloths were decorated, in some cases by well known artists, clearly
at the behest of Catholic Clergy.
There is a most interesting observation
to be made:
Please observe the images shown below
and you might note the emphasis on suffering, punishment and
brutality.
Throughout Religion, of whatever kind, punishment, suffering and pain is a steady diet. The pictures on
those fasting cloths always and almost exclusively depict punishment
and pain.
In Christianity pain stands foremost in
the ideology, taking a most prominent place in their texts and
pictography.
Why is it that the central symbol of
this faith is the crucified Jesus, with blood pouring from his open
wounds, a crown of thorn on his head, and not an image of his
Resurrection? Would it not be more to the point that he arose from
death and returned to life and then to eternal life? Isn't this the
very point of this faith?
Being crucified was in those days
nothing singular nor spectacular.
But coming back to life was certainly
almost singular and certainly spectacular.
It is a pity, but it is true, that
eternal life does not engender fear.
But torture, pain, suffering, and
death, that, my friend, causes humans to shake in their boots and
break out in cold sweat and to do anything to avoid it.
A person in abject fear is easy to
control and that is what Religion is all about.
Power and Control.
Study the images below.
Fasting cloths are still popular in Carinthia, The Tirol, Bavaria and certain other places in Europe.
Diex is a lovely little town atop a hill rise, where, they claim,
the sun shines 360 days each year.
The altar in their church is now hidden behind a decorated "fasting cloth".
The center piece being the bloodied, crucified Jesus.
Biblical scenes, whose brutality and blood thirst is shown in all four corners.
the images speak for themselves.
In the Cathedral of Gurk, the largest fasting cloth (90m by 90m)
is displayed from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
One of the most artfully decorated cloths is the one in Millstatt.
It is large, covering all of the altar, and most of the images are of
Christ's suffering
Bertstravels
will try to photograph more of the same.
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