What Have We Got To Lose?

It just occurred to me, after my post about the death of Ike Turner, that some might be curious as to why, even though I call myself a pagan blogger, I post as often as I do about seemingly non-pagan topics such as this. Well, there is a very easy answer to that. Culture is a kind of magic in its own right. When you stop to think about it, the first play, the first musical composition, the first dance, the first drawing, sculpture, etc., is almost inarguably traceable back to those prehistoric times when the earliest magical shamans gathered their tribes around and performed some ritual geared toward appeasement or entreaty of what was perhaps more often than not some malignant deity.

Tribal elders would look on as the villagers and tribesman took part in dances to the rhythmic beat of ancient percussion instruments, and would sing and recite poetry, all in the hopes of insuring fertility, protection of the tribe, blessings on marriages, funerals, rites of passage, and ascensions of new chiefs and tribal elders.

To some extent, these traditions remained more or less intact, and are with us to this day. In other cases, they became more and more extravagant. In many of these cases, they went on to lose their original spiritual significance, at least outwardly.

Nevertheless, regardless of whether we view them as ceremonial, religious, high culture, or mass “pop culture” entertainment, still they speak to us on some inner level. To some extent, they enrich us all. Even mind-numbing nonsense serves a purpose. No, it is not a lofty purpose in all cases, but it nevertheless has its place, and its importance. We are better for its presence in our lives, generally speaking of course.

Not long before Ike Turner died, he had committed to producing and playing on an album by a new rock group called The Black Keys, which is a power-duo along the lines of the White Stripes. For whatever reason-perhaps Turner’s growing illness, or perhaps another reason-the project fell through. Now, of course, it is too late, as I do not believe any tracks were ever recorded.

That is really too bad. Who knows what we lost? Take that question to another level. What would it be like if we could have a recording, a modern state of the art CD, containing the actual recorded work of Mozart or Lizst? How about an actual violin concerto by Vivaldi? What if we could actually have a recorded film of an original Shakespeare play, performed live at the Globe Theatre, with the Bard himself in the cast? For that matter, can you picture an original, first time performance of The Oresteia, or The Frogs? For that matter, an old Roman farce? You can almost imagine the cameras panning over the crowd, and see Augustus laughing heartily at some off-color pun.

Even something as simple as an old Wild West barroom singer during the Gold Rush, while prospectors and ranch hands gather around for an afternoon of much-needed leisure daydreaming about the girls they left behind to “strike it rich”.

How much richer would we be? Just a thought. Cultural expressions, even the presumably basest sort, are a part of human nature, and provide both an outlet, and inspiration. It was almost inevitable that some day mankind would develop a means to record and preserve both the best and the worst, and everything in between. You might even consider it a gift of the gods, in a manner of speaking, one to compliment yet another, as a way of saying “bravo”.