Art Lies, Volume 10, April-June 1996 Page: 2
40 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The oldest book in my library is a Greek dictionary. It
once belonged to my mother, but she stopped using it
after I came along, and I decided to appropriate it a few
years ago. It's now yellowed frail pages, worn by touch
and aged by time, contain seemingly magical, invaluable
secrets and properties which encourage curiosity and
heighten mystery. Our ancient texts, we refer to as cod-
ices, whether 'codes' of law, strings of commercial trans-
actions, lists and genealogies, or long interwoven histo-
ries and mytholgies. The word codex comes from the
Latin 'cudere', to beat or to stamp (to press), but akin to
'coda', as in tail, end, or appendage. Having lost our
true tails, we revere our recreated baggage of books and
digits, of images and representations of information, as
if it all were attached to the backbone.Codex Mesouranima
by Don Calledare
The tail, 'tool', used for grasping and for balance by
monkeys, for steering and propulsion in fish and birds,
vanished through time, and became internalized in our
case, as we evolved. Instead of using our bodies as
tools, we distinguish ourselves from animals by extend-
ing that missing tail into external tools. The greek for
tail is 'oura', very similar to 'aura' as in Kirilian aura,
and similar as well to 'ouric', pertaining to hearing; and
all three can be considered extremities. The celestial
vault, the ultimate extremity, was named Ouranos, and
the furthest planet visible to the naked eye is none other
than Uranos. Other similar words, like water, to rain
or to urinate, and varuna, Vedic God of water, create a
possibly stable etymological picture here. Furthermore,
the process of our turning, 'volvitare', away from those
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Reece, Garry. Art Lies, Volume 10, April-June 1996, periodical, April 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228041/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .