Friday, April 9, 2021

Headless and more heads

 


Ghosts can be scary and spooky and can be used to create horror but they are quite a common appearance at Hogwarts School of wizardry in Harry Potter. In fact some of them have very unique names . There is Moaning Myrtle , a woebegone girl ghost , Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost and one of the teachers Professor Binns who teaches them history. 

Nearly Headless Nick is called so because his neck is not completely severed and  a small part of his head still attached at the base. Poor fellow , for this reason he is unable to join the fun activities at the annual Headless Hunt as they only accept ghosts that had lost their heads totally. 

Speaking of heads there is a huge three headed dog Fluffy if I recall the name correctlt that makes its appearance in the first book and falls asleep when music is played.

Having multiple heads or hands is a common depiction of the gods and goddesses in Indian mythology.  It's sometimes symbolic of a more inner philosophical meaning but on a superficial level it's quite interesting.

There are childrens tales in India about a person called Tenali Rama who was the court jester of one King Krishnadeva Raya . These stories are amusing and combine wit and wisdom.

There is an interesting story that I have read about him as a kid. Once when he was asleep in a temple , Goddess Kaali appeared before him and she had a hundred heads.

On seeing the goddess instead of bowing to her or asking for some blessing , he started rolling on the floor  with uncontrollable laughter . The goddess was annoyed but curious about his behaviour. When asked what was wrong he replied " If I catch the nasty flu, I have such a hard time for a whole week. If you catch a cold I wonder what you go through with that one hundred heads of yours! Ha ha ha "

He was given the name vi-ka-ta-ka-vi by the goddess that's a palindrome and means poet of great wit.




15 comments:

  1. Love the story about the Goddess Kaali! In truth, we all have many heads and present different ones depending on the circumstances. My letter H post is also a numerous one about a ghost. Please stop by https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/halloween-hijinks-teen-version-atozchallenge/

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    1. Oh yes we do .... sometimes more than one at the same time

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  2. I never got enthusiastic about Harry Potter, so everything I read on your blog is new to me. Nearly Headless Nick makes me laugh. If you ask non-medical people "how do you detect if someone is dead" they will tell you to check for pulse or breath.
    A real medical doctor says:
    Livor mortis, rigor mortis, and injuries incompatible with life (like if the head's in the downstairs living room and the body's upstairs in the bedroom).
    So Nick still has a chance ;-)

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  3. Like Tamara I've never been tempted by Harry Potter, but I must admit that sounds intriguing! The Tenali Rams tale is amusing!

    Here's my H!

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    1. When the whole world is in a frenzy about something, sometimes we get repelled. Appens to me with all the superhero movies and the Marvel series.I love fantasy and the books but I do know that its not everyones cup of tea

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  4. When my girls each turned eleven we had a Harry Potter birthday (of course), and I still have the Moaning Myrtle vinyl sticker on my bathroom toilet in the basement. I can't bear to take it off. It makes me smile. Weekends In Maine

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  5. I REALLY like the story about Tenali Rama! He is quite right, what would you do if you had multiple heads and got sick? I must look up some of those stories.

    Greek Myths: I Is For Iphigenia

    https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-2021-i-is-for.html





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  6. Headless is supposed to be one of the scariest ghosts. I guess it's the most recognizable body part you cannot do without and still be alive. That makes it extra scary. Nearly Headless Nick was a fun character in the Potter series. Big comic relief in the movies as well.

    Thank you for dropping by my blog this week.

    Visiting from A to Z
    Blogging at Transformed Nonconformist

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    1. I agree ... a disfigured head is a lot better than no head at all.... I agree about the comic relief and I felt the movies had a more sombre effect than the books because of the colour backgrounds they chose .

      Thanks for dropping by.

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  7. The story of the jester & Kaali is excellent :D I always assumed multiple heads were a relatively common aspect of mythology until we moved to West Africa, where I had to learn a whole new and different form of mythology.

    A-Zing from Fiction Can Be Fun
    Normally found at Debs Despatches

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    1. Oh really ? Mythology and fantasy stories fascinate me. Hence should read it some time.

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