The Real Robinson Crusoe

"One may see that solitude and retirement from the world is not such an insufferable state of life as most men imagine, especially when people are fairly called or thrown into it unavoidably, as this man was." Captain Rogers commenting on Alexander Selkirk's fate when he rescued him.

The Real Robinson Crusoe

Narrative culture

“Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we grow up hearing only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding"

Lot and his daughters

Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)
Lot and His Daughters
Oil on canvas, 1833
Public collection

The story of Lot is told in the Book of Genesis. Lot is mentioned in chapters 11-14 and 19.

Lot was the son of Abraham's brother Haran. Lot and his family went with Abraham and his family from Ur of the Chaldees to Egypt. When Abraham traveled to the Land of Canaan at the command of God, Lot accompanied him. (Gen 12:1-5). Abraham had always a great affection for him, and when they could not continue longer together in Canaan because they both had large flocks and their shepherds sometimes quarrelled (Gen 13:6,7) he gave Lot the choice of his abode. Lot went southeast to plains near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the land there was well watered. (Gen. 13:10-12).

About eight years after this separation, Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked the kings of Sodom and the neighbouring cities, pillaged Sodom, and took many captives, including Lot. Abraham armed his servants, pursued the confederate kings, and overtook them near the springs of Jordan. He recovered the spoils they had taken and brought back Lot with the other captives. Abraham was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, but refused even a shoelace.

In Gen. 19, when God plans to overturn and destroy the five cities of the plain, he sends angels to the city of Sodom they meet Lot at the city gates. Lot seems greatly concerned that the angels should spend the night in his house but the angels insist they wish to spend the night in the city street. Lot puts a great deal of pressure on them and eventually convinces them. However all the people of Sodom surround Lot's house with intent to meet (in some translations, rape) the angels (19:5). Lot offers the men his daughters instead, whom he says are virgins (19:8), but the men were not interested.

The angels decide to forewarn Lot of the dreadful catastrophe about to happen. Lot, his wife, sons-in-law, and daughters are warned to leave. The sons-in-law, do not take the warning seriously, also, Lot lingers. The angels took Lot, his wife, and his daughters by hand and drew them forcibly out of their house, saying, "Save yourselves with all haste. Look not behind you. Get as fast as you are able to the mountain, unless you be involved in the calamity of the city." Lot entreated the angels, who consented that he might retire to Zoar, which was one of the five doomed cities. His wife, looking back on Sodom, was turned into a pillar of salt.

Lot left Zoar and retired with his two daughters to a cave in an adjacent mountain. In Gen. 19:30-38, Lot's daughters incorrectly believed they were the only people to have survived the devastation. They assumed it was their responsibility to bear children and enable the continuation of the human race [see Gen 19:33–36]. The family had just left Zoar, and the daughters surely would have seen men there [see Hertz, J.H.,"The Pentateuch and Haftorahs" 2 ed. Soncino Press, London, 1972,page 69.] On two subsequent nights, according to the plan of the older daughter, they got their father drunk enough to have sexual intercourse with them. By him each became pregnant. The first son was named Moab (Hebrew, lit., "from the father" ). He was the patriarch of the nation known as Moab. The second son was named Ammon or Ben-Ammi (Hebrew, lit., "Son of my people"). He became the patriarch of the nation of Ammon.

Lord of the Earth

"Oh my son, arise from thy bed, from thy slumber, work what is wise,
Fashion servants for the Gods, may they produce their bread.
Oh my mother, the creature whose name thou has uttered, it exists,
Bind upon it the will of the Gods;
Mix the heart of clay that is over the Abyss,
The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay
Thou, do thou bring the limbs into existence;
Ninmah will work above thee
Nintu will stand by thy fashioning;
Oh my mother, decree thou its fate."

Lord of the Earth

Kon-Tiki

Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl 's book and the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times, although most anthropologists now believe they did not. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. (Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.)

The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. (read more)

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The Story so Far

So as far as I can gather what’s been going on is two thousand years ago someone came up with a plan, they would steal the magic from the people, they would do it gradually so people wouldn’t notice at first, the fairies, gentle folk, would offer a gift only to be turned away with harshness. Slowly, slowly they began to fade.

Each generation succumbed to the mundane slightly more, people were happy and living their own lives, so who would think that cruel men had thought of an idea to enslave the world. Bartering and sharing was to stop. There needed to be a measure on things.

Country folks laughed at first, they enjoyed the trade and they knew what an item was worth, an egg was an egg and a cow still a cow. ‘Twas the people in the towns that found it easiest to exchange a coin for a gift. Then it spread gradually till at last everyone born thought that everything had a price and the measure was coin.

The people who first thought of the plan had decided that they would keep all the money in their families, not share it at all with anybody. As time went on they accumulated more and more money, they thought having all the money and enslaving the world would give them power and make them happy.

The Gods were not to be allowed their powers, each legend and fairy tale was to be discredited, there was to be only one god, messengers from the gods were to be destroyed. The first messenger they murdered was Jesus then they hi jacked his teachings to confuse and control people.

It was hard for them at first, people stuck to the old ways, traditions, the things they knew to be true. Then the Church they’d established began to be jealous of the wise ones, the elders, it was natural for people who wanted comfort, advice or just a good old chin wag to turn to the elders. This was when the church began to persecute Witches and other community elders. The Bible was even re written so witches could be murdered.

Witches who held trust with the gods helped to enable magic to flow around the world and fairies could always be sure of a warm welcome at their hearths. It became harder and harder for people from other realms to pass into the mundane, and to be honest they didn’t mind much because the mundane was always a strange place with curious ideas and ways. So the fairies began to stay in other realms.

As time went on the descendants of the people who had decided they wanted to steal the earth and enslave people grew more desperate, they looked at the people and saw that they were happy, they fell in love, had children and enjoyed life. Sometimes life was hard but good people would always share and life would go on. The descendants grew jealous again.

They knew they had all the money and could make all the laws but they weren’t happy. They tortured and killed more innocent people to try and find the truth. They were told more lies because folk are cunning and know how to keep secrets. They were told they could never be happy until they found the truth. “Where was truth?” “Truth is in beauty.”

This is when the descendants came up with the plan to steal truth back from the people they plotted and connived and watched. In London the girls were sweet and kind, if they had no money they earned some however they could. The descendents watched, they saw the sparkle as ladies from the realms of the Fey visited their sisters. The monster of jealousy grew within their hearts and they decided to make their move.

A man watched at a broken window, he watched a girl sleeping, waited until the fairy sparkles came and blessed the sister they missed so much, they could see that the girl was tired and hungry, her clothes weren’t new and her bed clothes were old and tattered. So they blessed her and in her dreams the girl danced with her fairy sisters again.



The man crept away and made his report to the descendants they decided that here was truth, aha if they had truth they would be happy! When the man returned to the girl’s window he had his bag with him. He crept into the room and took out his knife determined to find truth. He cut the girls windpipe first so she could not scream then working quickly, before she died he cut into her body.

When he found nothing he was sent out again and again, he was sworn to find truth and determined to complete his mission. The fairies knew straight away what was happening and feared to come to their sisters in case they brought them into more danger. The Fey were shocked at what could happen to people in the mundane world and as many of the witches were gone it was difficult to develop lines of communication.

The descendants of the people who first decided to steal the world from people came up with another plan, instead of working on the land and in cottage industries they would force people to work five days a week, they would pay them just enough to live and then they would have less time to be happy. They began to build factories and offices. If people wanted to have enough money to live they would have to work long hours.

Generations were born and began to believe that people must work to live. Government took over educating children, true tales began to be lost, nursery rhymes that had kept children safe were rewritten and their meanings lost. Teachers began to confuse children, family ties were cut and more and more the children of the universe began to be lost and frightened and unhappy.

In other realms the gods and goddesses heard the children call, the fey still kept faith with people in the mundane and took messages back and forth across the ether. The descendants tried to destroy all the messengers they could but the Fey are brave and strong and persisted still. Mother Nature herself was worried but the descendants had caused so much damage to the world she was very busy trying to repair the damage.

People who could not be happy any more in the mundane began to escape to the ether, there were always others waiting to help them, guide them through the forest. Until finally everyone learned how to escape to the ether and the gods knew and blessed everybody, although people were charmed by the mundane and didn’t always remember their dreams, the gods and people from other realms all began to look at the mundane. They thought their messages had been getting through, that people were happy and kind still to each other.

Two thousand years is not long in eternity but they felt ashamed that they had stayed away for so long. They want to help not least because the way the earth was being controlled was hurting Mother Nature. The descendants of people who had stolen it were trapped in the mundane and knew they could never have any real happiness or true power. They had again grown jealous and had decided to destroy the planet so no one could be happy.

The people from other realms could not let this happen, where would everyone live if our one world was gone? Mother Nature always a kind and loving mother began to be angry, she shook and rumbles but no one was listening and as only innocents were hurt by her protests she began to be very unhappy. No one wanted to see Mother Nature so very sad so everyone tried to decide what should be done.............