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Trade in Estonia in the Past and Present

Сергей Голубев

Introduction

In this report, the commerce in Estonia is going to be described in different periods of time.

Trade in the past

The most important Estonian trading centers during Middle Ages were still Tallinn and Narva, the first as a provincial centre and a transit harbor between Western Europe and Russia. The Narva River served as a trading route to Pskov, Novgorod and Moscow.

The Baltic trade was taken over by foreign merchants, mostly from North Germany, the Netherlands and later England.

The most important export item was grain; flax from Russia and Estonia was the next important. Russian shipbuilding materials, furs, wax and timber products were sent to Western Europe via Tallinn. It was by sea that the main Estonian imports such as salt (which was then taken to Russia and Finland), spices, wine, fruit, salt, textiles etc. were imported from the West, mainly from Spain and Flanders. Iron was shipped to Estonia from Sweden and tin from England.

The trading items remained almost the same during the Middle Ages, and partly also later.

Trade in our time

Nowadays trade in the country has reached a significant level. Port of Tallinn is the leading cargo port in Estonia, as well as an important transit center in general. It handles most of the cargo flows between Russia and Western Europe.

Today Estonia exports various products: electronic devices and components of all kinds, and motor vehicle safety equipment, wood products, textiles, food products, metals and chemical products also.

Machinery and equipment, chemical products, foodstuffs, metal products, textiles are being imported from Finland, Russia, Sweden, Germany and Japan.

Conclusion

Estonia is situated on a busy trading route between East and West and has always had excellent ports. It is clear that foreign trade and transit are therefore ever more and more important to the Estonian economy.

I would like to tell you about the weekend I spend with my friend Mike. I had a really good time. Usually when I have a day off I try to keep myself busy so I can get the most of my free time.

My friend came over to my place around noon. We decided to go outside for a while; the weather was nice and dry. We went to the schoolyard to play football. There were a lot of guys playing and we joined one of the teams.  My team was winning from the beginning.  There was a lot of people standing and watching the game: parents with little kids, older people. Everybody seemed to enjoy the day. After the game we were really hungry and I invited Mike to my house to have lunch. My mom is a really good cook and she is always trying new things. We had a new dish; I think it was pelmeni with chicken. No matter what it was, it was delicious.

After we ate, my friend and I decided to check out the new “hit-parade” of music on the Europa Plus web site. We were surprised to see “Roxette” almost at the top of the list. I know they have been around for a while and they are still very well known. We also checked out the latest music news. One of my favorite singers is touring around the world and his next stop will be in Moscow. I would really like to go.

Almost around 6 o’clock we sat down to watch a movie. It was  “Perfect Murder” with Michael Douglas and Gwenith Paltrow. There was a lot of suspense in that movie. It’s about people being dishonest with each other and what makes them do terrible things to achieve their goals. I don’t think I would want to watch that movie on the big screen but for a home movie it was good.

My sister came home later. She brought a photo album with pictures where we all were at Marina’s birthday party last month. The pictures were funny, we laughed a lot.

It was time for Mike to go home. I walked him to the bus stop and came back home.

My friend and I always have great time together. I like spending my days off with him; he is a lot of fun.

I like weekends and days off a lot. I get to see my family and friends, read, watch TV and just enjoy myself. I like to have my days off planned with different kinds of activities that my fiends and I like.

My family.

There are four of us in the family: my father, my mother, my little sister and I. My name is XX and I am a student at XX.

My mother and father are both engineers, they met each other when they were students at the university of XX in Saint Petersburg.

My father is a smart and hardworking man. She is a Chief of his department; everybody respects and loves him at work. Despite of his late hours he always has time for my sister and me. He checks out our homework quite often, helps with math and physics, and gives us a good advice when we need it.

My mother is very loving and caring. She takes a very good care of everybody. We try to help her about the house as much as we can. My sister and I go food shopping very often; we also try to keep our rooms neat so she does not have to so much work.  My mom is also very active in my school activities. Last year she organized a great New Year’s party for my class. She also helps a lot with field trips to museums and entertainment centers.

My sister is fourteen. She takes music classes. She plays beautifully. My mom says she is going to be a very famous musician. But I think my sister is more into science. She gets good grades at school and she reads a lot. She likes chemistry and biology, she often tells me interesting things she reads in her textbooks.

And finally me. I am XX years old. My hobbies are reading and computers. I do well in school and I am also on my soccer team in school. Practice takes a lot of time and will power, but I think it’s good for me because I know that it helps me to get ready for my future.

I love my family dearly. They are very nice people; we do a lot of things together. My mom is so energetic that she brings that energy to us. In summer we often drive to the lake for the picnic or go to the movies. Our favorite time of the day is dinnertime. We sit around the big table and talk about our day at work and school. It’s really nice to know that your family are your best friends.

PLAN :

1. NEW YEAR’S DAY
2. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BIRTHDAY
3. ST VALENTINE’S DAY
4. PRESIDENT’S DAY
5. ST PATRICK’S DAY
6. APRIL FOOL’S DAY
7. EARTH DAY
8. TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY
9. EASTER
10. MAY DAY
11. MOTHER’S DAY
12. MEMORIAL DAY
13. FLAG DAY
14. INDEPENDENCE DAY
15. FATHER’S DAY
16. LABOR DAY
17. COLUMBUS DAY
18. HALLOWEEN
19. ELECTION DAY
20. VETERANS DAY
21. THANKSGIVING DAY
22. CHRISTMAS

The population of the USA is made up of people of different nationalities. Centuries ago they brought with them their native celebrations. Some holidays which are marked in the US originated in America. There is no provision for national holidays in the
USA. The number of holiday is different in different states – from
8 in the District of Columbia to 20 in Oklahoma.

NEW YEAR’S DAY

Love and joi come to you,

And to you your wassail, too !

And God bless you and send you

A happy new year !

Although in the United States the official holiday is January the 1st, the celebration really begins on December 31st. New
Year’s Day is celebrated with parties which last beyond midnight so that everyone can see in the New Year and watch the Old
Year out. Theatres, night clubs, restaurants are crowded. At 12:00 midnight when the ringing of bells popping of champagne bottles and fire crackers, and blowing of sirens and whistles announce the start of New Year. People throw streamers and confetti, shake hands, exchange kisses and embraces, and wish each other a
“Happy New Year !” Some people gather in the street of big cities, they ring bells, shoot of guns and firecrackers. January
1st is celebrated with parades in some cities. One of the noisiest and most crowded of New Year’s Eve celebration take place in New York City at Time Square. Thousands of New Yorkers gather there, and millions of Americans across the country join them by TV.

Following a long, chaotic New Year’s Eve, Americans spend a quiet New Year Day. In most households everyone sleeps late, often enjoys meals and TV with the family and friends. Two famous New Year’s Day festivals are showed for national viewing: the Tournament of Roses and Mummer’s Parade. Both of these events have been American traditions for more than half a century.

The Mummer’s Parade, which take place in Philadelphia is a ten – hour spectacle. It was introduced in the US by Swedish immigrants. There are clowns, musicians, dancers – all led by King
Momus dressed in bright satin.

The Tournament of Roses take place in Pasadena, California.
Prizes are awarded to the cities with the most unusual and attractive floral displays. After the parade, the Rose Bowl football game, a struggle between two top — ranking college football teams, is played. Those events attract thousands of tourists and millions of TV viewers.

Besides champagne, streamers and noisemakers, other symbols of the New Year celebration include a clock or hour glass, an old man symbolizing the Old year, and a new baby symbolizing the New year. This may be an allusion to the ancient Roman god Janus, for whom the month of January is named. Legend has it that
Janus had two faces, one looking into the past, and the other looking into the future. This certainly personifies the sentiments of many people who, on New Year’s Day think both about the past year with its achievements and shortcomings as well as looking forward with hope to a new and better year to come. Sincere and practical, many Americans even write down their “New year resolutions” to do specific things like giving up smoking, going on a diet, getting up earlier, spending less money on clothes, etc. Even though such resolutions are rarely kept, at least they make for a good laugh when the next New Year comes.

MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BIRTHDAY

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…”

Martin Luther King

On January 15th, people in the United States celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a great civil rights leader who fought against racial discrimination. He said that people should be judged by their characters, and not the color of their skin. He believed in integration. He received national attention when he protested the injustice of segregated buses in
Alabama.

Martin Luther King is remembered in church memorial services, marches, and public ceremonies. People also listen to his speeches, watch TV documentaries, and sing spirituals and the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” In schools, students read about this leader, study his writings and celebrate his memory with special programs. Politicians and performers also participate in celebrations to honor Martin Luther King.

The third Monday in January is a legal holiday to honor
Martin Luther King.

ST VALENTINE’S DAY

It’s Valentine’s Day.
And in the street

There’s freezing rain, and slush, and sleet.

The wind is fierce.
The skies are gray.

I don’t think I’ll go out today.

But here inside the weather’s warm.

There is no trace of wind or storm.

And you just made the morning shine.

You said you’d be my
Valentine.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th. It isn’t a national holiday. Banks and offices are open this day, but it is a happy little festival in honor of St Valentine, patron sweethearts and lovers. In this day school children typically make valentines for their teachers and classmates and put them in a large decorated mailbox. It is customary on the day to send a
“Valentine”, a card with affectionate message to someone you love, or to your best friends or a little present. The greeting cards are often colored red trimmings and pictures of heart.

Whatever the reasons, Americans of all ages love to send and receive valentines and to hear and sing the thousands of new and traditional love songs which flood television and radio programs on that day.

Among all the red hearts, birds, love letters, candies, chocolates and kisses which comprise symbolism and realia, Cupid or Eros is the unquestioned favorite in personifying the spirit of the day. According to Greek ( later Roman ) tradition. Cupid was the eternally child – like son of Venus, the goddess of love.
Although he remained a baby, he could fly and was equipped with a tiny bow and countless golden arrows special power, and that is why if Cupid shot you with his arrow, you would fall in love with the first person you met.

So St Valentine’s Day is the day of love for many people.

PRESIDENT’S DAY

Until 1986 this holiday was in fast two holidays: Abraham
Lincoln’s Birthday, celebrated on February 12, and George
Washington’s Birthday, celebrated on February 22. Their birthdays are celebrated on the 3rd Monday in February.

Abraham Lincoln was President during the Civil War ( 1861 – 1865
). He led the fight to keep the nation together and free the slaves. His life ended tragically. He was killed at the theatre during the performance soon after the victory of the North. In honor of this great man a beautiful memorial has been built in
Washington, D. C.

George Washington led the American Army to victory in the War for Independence. Later he was elected President of the United
States and was in office for 8 years (1789 –1797). The national capital of the United States, a state and several towns are named after George Washington. In addition to commemorating the birth of the US’s first President, it’s a great day for shoppers. The department stores of Washington, D. C., started a national tradition of sales marked by unusual bargains. The US
Congress observes the birthday of G. Washington with speeches and reading from his works.

ST PATRIC’S DAY

It’s a great day for the Shamrock,

For the flags in full array,

We’re feeling so inspirish,

Sure because for all the Irish

It’s a great, great day!

On March 17th, Americans celebrate an Irish religious holiday,
St Patrick’s Day. It is a day to remember the Irish people in the United States and Ireland. Ireland is a country with a lot of green grass and shamrocks. Shamrock are small plants with three leaves. There is a lot of green in Ireland, so green is
Ireland’s national color.

People often wear green clothes on St Patrick’s Day. There are parades in many cities with large Irish population, but the largest parade is in New York. Many people go to parties. They sing, dance, and eat Irish food. Some drink green beer.

St Patrick was a priest in Ireland many years ago. He taught the Irish people about God. St Patrick died on March 17th in the year 461.

Beginning in 1845, many Irish people moved to the United
States. They came because there wasn’t enough food to eat in
Ireland. St Patrick’s Day celebrations helped the Irish remember their country, their music and their families. Many Americans say,
“Everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day.”

APRIL FOOL’S DAY

The first of
April, some do say,

It set apart for All Fool’s Day.

But why the people call it so,

Nor I, nor they themselves do know.

But on this day are people sent

On purpose for pure merriment.

April Fool’s Day is celebrated on April 1st. It is the day for harmless tricks and good laughs. The origin of April Fool’s
Day or All Fool’s Day goes back to the dilemma faced by many
Europeans in 1562 when Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar, one which shifted the start of new year from its traditionally warm nesting place of April 1st to the cold and dreary date of
January 1st.

Today in the United States both children and adults play small tricks on each others. If the trickster is still around he or she may take credit for his deed by shouting “April Fool !” but probably not before you’ve spoiled your cup of morning coffee or tea. If you are innocent victim of such mischief, your first reaction may be to “wring the scoundrel’s neck.”

American author and satirist Mark Twain summed up the nature of the holiday thus: “The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.”

EARTH DAY

The earth is a garden.

It’s a beautiful place.

For all living creatures,

For all the human race

April 22 is a special day around the world. On that day inhabitants of Earth celebrate Earth Day. Earth Day is a time when many people show that they care for our fragile planet.
They show concern about the threats the planet faces – destruction of the rain forest, holes in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, too much garbage, and all forms of air and water pollution. It is a day for people to learn what they can do to preserve the planet Earth.

The first Earth Day was held in the U.S. twenty two years ago, in April 1970. At that time, Americans were just beginning to learn about the problems facing the planet.

TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY

This holiday is celebrated on April 28th. Schools are closed this day and girls go to work to their mothers. It is very important holiday, because girls know that can become anything they want when they grow up. If the mothers don’t work the girls stayed at home and mothers teach them to cook, to work at home and to hold the house.

EASTER

Easter is a Christian religious holiday. Ibis memory of
Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon between March, 22, and April, 25. The 40 days before Easter are called Lent. Just before Easter, schools and colleges usually close. The students have a week or ten days of spring holidays.

Easter is a church holiday, and many churches have an outdoor sunrise service. On the night before Easter, an imaginary creature known as the Easter Bunny comes to visit children and leaves a basket filled with candy in the shape of eggs, bunnies and baby chicks. Another tradition is painting hard – boiled eggs different colors and designs on them. It is common to hide these eggs, as well as candy eggs, for children to look for an
Easter Sunday as part of an Easter egg hunt.

MAY DAY

It’s May! It’s May!
The lusty month of May,

That lovely month when everyone goes

Blissfully astray !

The roots of the May Day celebration go back to very ancient time and are evident in many civilizations, where basically the idea was to express gratitude to the gods for the renewal of spring. May Day was not widely celebrated in the United States during its early years, because the Puritans disapproved of frivolous festivities.

Some American parents and teachers use this holiday as a chance to encourage their children and students to bring some surprise and joy into the life of the lonely or aged. They make
May baskets filled with flowers and candy and hang them on doorknobs throughout their neighborhoods, sometimes ringing the bell, hiding, and watching smiles replace frowns and unexpected joy light up the wrinkled faces of their neighbors.

MOTHER’S DAY

“M” is for the million things she gave me.

“O” means only that she’s growing old.

“T” is for the tears she shed to save me.

“H” is for her heart of purest gold.

“E” is for her eyes, with lovelights shining.

“R” means right she’ll always

Put them all together; they spell “mother”,

A word that means the world to me.

In the United States Americans honor their mothers and grandmothers, on the second Sunday in May. This day is set aside to show love and respect for mother. On Mother’s Day children give thanks for the support, love, care, and guidance. Giving cards and gifts is also tradition. Children often make Mother’s
Day gifts in school. Pin cushions, sachets, tie clasps, decorated boxes and picture frames, recipe holders, and plaster – cast hand prints are all popular favorites. Another common gift for mothers is the “mother ring,” a ring set with the birthstones of each of the members of the family.

Mother’s Day was first proclaimed a national holiday by
President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. The idea of honoring mothers on a special day started with Ann Jarvis, from Grafton, West
Virginia, who chose the second Sunday in May and began the custom of wearing a red carnation if one’s mother was still living and a white carnation if one’s mother was deceased. If the latter is the case, many people visit their mother’s grave side and dedicate the day to their mother’s memory.

MEMORIAL DAY

The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. This is a national holiday to remember the dead. The first Memorial Day was many years ago after the Civil War (1861 –1865). After the war, people wanted to remember the dead. So around 1866, people began to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers. People called this day
Decoration Day or Poppy Day (Poppies are small red flowers).

On the Memorial Day, Americans honour the servicemen who gave their lives in past wars. Schools, clubs and churches decorate the cemeteries. They put up the flags on the graves of the army, navy and airmen. They hold memorial services in churches, halls, parks and cemeteries.

In addition to solemn services Memorial Day is often marked by other, more joyful ceremonies: colorful parades, sports competitions.

FLAG DAY

Then hurrah for the flag, our country’s flag,

Its stripes and white stars, too.

There is no flag in any land

Like our own Red,
White and Blue.

On June 14th, 1777, the United States adopted its first flag.
Today Americans honor the US flag each year on June 14th. Flag
Day is a national commemorative day. It is not a holiday from work. Many people fly the flag outside their homes and businesses on this day.

The American flag has different names. One name is “The Red,
White, and Blue.” This name is for the colors of the flag.
Another name is “The Stars and Stripes.” This name is for the
50 stars and 13 stripes.

The flag did not always have 50 stars and 13 stripes. In
1777, the original flag had 13stars and 13stripes for the 13 colonies. The 13 colonies became the first 13 states. Then more states joined the United States. In 1794, the flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. Then more states joined. This created a problem for the flag makers. The flag was getting too big! So in 1818,
Congress decided to have only 13 stripes on the flag. They decided to add one star for each new state. So now there are
50 stars and 13stripes on the flag.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

America,
America,

Land of hope and liberty,

Freedom rings from every mountain,

From sea to sea.

July 4th is Independence Day. Another name for Independence
Day is the Fourth of July. On this day in 1776 the final of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted.

Independence Day is a national holiday. Government offices, banks, and schools close. Most people don’t go to work. Families and friends get together outside for picnics and cookouts.

Traditionally the Fourth of July is celebrate with firing of guns and fireworks, parades open – air meetings and speeches praising “Americanism, democracy, free enterprise.”

Independence Day isn’t only day for cookouts, noise, and fireworks. It is also a day to think about freedom. The
Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of
Independence more than 200 years old, but its ideas are important today.

FATHER’S DAY

Everything to both of us is so new.

As you learn about the world

I learn about you,

There’s no need to fear.

Daddy will be here,

And I’ll love and care for you

Through the years.

People in the United States honor their fathers with special day: Father’s Day. This holiday is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

Father’s Day dates back to 1909, when one daughter, a certain
Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, wanted to honor her own father who had raised four sons and a daughter after her mother’s death. Although the first Father’s Day was observed in
Spokane in 1910 and it has been likewise observed in many other states for many decades, Father’s Day did not become a national holiday until Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish it as such in 1972.

Giving cards and gifts is the tradition of this holiday.
Children make them in schools. Many people make their own presents. Greeting cards, stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies and other stores do a lot of business during this day.

LABOR DAY

Labor Day is a legal holiday. It is celebrated each year on the first Monday in September. It was planned as a day to honor workers in America and to give them a long weekend holiday from work.

Labor Day was started in 1882 by a union called the Knights of Labor. The first celebration was a long parade followed by a picnic in New York City. In 1894 Congress made it a legal holiday.

Labor Day is traditionally celebrated with parades, speeches, and recognition of the labor unions. Labor Day sales are a popular event held on this holiday. Barbecues and picnics are popular on Labor Day. They mark the end of the summer season.
Schools usually open after this holiday.

COLUMBUS DAY

The American continent was discoved in 1492 by the Spanish seaman Christopher Columbus. Columbus is said to be the first
Euaropen man, stepping on the American land, and that day, when it was happend, the 12th of October, became the holiday, which is called Columbus Day. This holiday is celebrated in 34 States of the USA and Puerto Rico. There are parades and parties in
San Francisco and New York. One of the squares of New York is called Columbus Circle with the monument of Columbus in the middle of it.

HALLOWEEN

It’s Halloween! It’s
Halloween!

The moon is full and bright

And we shall see what we can’t be seen

On any other night.

Halloween is the day or evening before All Saints Day. The name is a shortened version of “All Hallows Eve” the night before All Saints Day which is celebrated on November 1st by the
Catolic Church. Halloween customs date back to a time when people believed in devils, witches and ghost. They thought that these evil spirits could do all kinds of damage to property.
Some people tried to ward off witches by paintings signs on their barns. Others tried to scare them away by nailing a piece of iron, such as horseshoe, over the door.

Now most of people do not believe in evil spirits. On this day they just have a nice holiday. Children dress up as ghosts and witches and go out into the street to beg. They from house to house and say: “Trick or treat!”, meaning “Give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you”. People give them candy, cookies and apples. This custom comes from the Celts in ancient Britain who feared the coming of winter and dressed in frightening costumes so the demons of winter would think they were one of them and do them no harm. Hence, the origin of costumes for today’s celebration: It represents a devil coming to your home whom you can placate with a treat.

A favorite custom is making a jack – o – lantern. Children scrape out a pumpkin and cut the outlines of eyes, nose and mouth in its side. They light a candle inside the pumpkin to scare their friends. This custom refers to a man named Jack who still wanders around the earth lighting his way with a pumpkin lantern.

ELECTION DAY

The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is
Election Day. It is a legal holiday. Since 1845, by Act of
Congress, this date has been set aside for elections.

On this day American citizen elect their public officials, president, congressmen, governors, mayors and judges. All states require that voters be citizens of the United States.

“Election Day” sales in stories are very popular on this day.
The night of the election, people watch the election results on
TV. They listen to the speeches made by the winners.

VETERANS DAY

November 11th is a national holiday. Veterans Day is a day to remember and honor all those Americans who served in the armed forces and particularly those who fought during the Spanish
– Americans War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the
Vietnam War. People also remember those soldiers missing in action. This day reminds people of the courage and patriotism of all men and women who serve their country.

President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice
Day so Americans would not forget the tragedies of war. In 1954
Congress changed the name to Veterans Day to honor all United
States veterans. It is also a day dedicated to world peace.

On this day, the radio and television broadcast services held at the National Cemetery in Arlington. High officials come from
Washington to attend these services. They place a wreath of flowers at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. All stand in silence for a few minutes at eleven o’clock to honor the memory of the serviceman killed in the two World Wars.

THANKSGIVING DAY

When Pilgrims sailed to this new land,

They met a friendly Indian band.

The Indians taught them to plant, hunt, and fish,

Then they all had a feast with many a tasty dish.

Thanksgiving Day is marked on the fourth Thursday of November in memory of the first Thanksgiving Day held by the early
Pilgrim settles in Massachusetts in 1621, in gratitude for the successful harvest. They experienced difficulty in those early times and survived only with the help of American Indians who taught them how to grow and harvest indigenous foods such as squash and corn. The first Thanksgiving day lasted three days and was celebrated with their Indian friends.

Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national day of observance by
Congress in 1941 .

Thanksgiving Day is a four – day holiday for most Americans.
This is a family holiday. Families come together from near and far. In some places special religious services are held in the morning. Then comes the traditional feast. Turkey with stuffing is the main dish. It is served with sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Apple cider is the drink of the day.

Football is the most popular game on this day. Usually there are several football games to watch on TV. There is Thanksgiving
Day Parade in New York City.

Stores, classrooms, and homes are decorated with turkeys, pilgrims, Indians, wreaths of dried flowers, and vegetables. Horns of plenty are also very popular.

CHRISTMAS

It’s time for hanging stockings,

It’s time for riding sleighs,

It’s time for jolly greeting,

Snow and holly overeating,

It’s
Christmas! Merry Christmas!

It’s the best of holidays.

Christmas is a Christian holiday commemorating the birth of
Jesus Christ. Americans celebrate Christmas on December the 25th .
It is usually a one – day official holiday, but it is proceeded and followed by festive parties. By this day people decorate fir
— trees with toys and candies. Children wait for Santa Claus who comes to every house and brings them presents. Before going to bed, children leave their shoes to find in them what they want most of all the next morning.

Decorating the house with holly, ivy and mistletoe is a custom, which comes from England. Ivy means immortality. Holly is a bush with shiny red berries and glossy leaves with a characteristic shape and sharp pointy edges. Because it remains green throughout the year it was believed to hold a promise that the sun would return. Holly’’ berries symbolize Christ’s blood.
Mistletoe is an interesting green parasitic plant which grows in globe – like formations high up in the branches of oak trees.
Springs of it are tied together with ribbons and hung up in doorways. By custom anyone standing under the mistletoe gets to be kissed.

Christmas is a family holiday. Schools and colleges close between Christmas and New Year’s Day. People stay at home and spend the time with their families. Everybody tries to come home for Christmas. People send cards or Christmas greetings to family and friends away from home. All the members of the family exchange gifts. It is a merry holiday.

Some holidays in America have their own symbols. Here they are:

1. Presidents Day 6.

Independence Day
2. Columbus Day 7. New

Year’s Day
3. St. Patrick’s Day 8. Martin

Luther King’s day
4. Easter 9.

Christmas
5. Valentine’s Day 10. Halloween
And there are festival post cards for every holiday, which
American people give the friends and relatives when they congratulate each other. Here are some postcards for some parties:

Such are the US holidays. A holiday has simply become, for most
Americans, a day off from work. No matter what the holiday’s origin is, they all seem to be the same thing, though some (for example,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween) retain some individuality.

The list of literature:

1. “Holidays Go Round and Round”; Authors: Kathleen Carroll, Marina

Novikova. St Petersburg, 1996, Triada Publishing.

2. “Английский для поступающих в ВУЗы”; Authors: Цветкова И. В.,

Клепальченко И. А., Мыльцева Н. А. Москва, ГЛОССА, 1995.

3. “95 устных тем по английскому языку”; Author: Занина Е. А.

Москва, Айрис Рольф, 1997.

4. “Spotlight on the USA”; Author: Natalia Timanovskaya. Тула,

Автограф, 1996.

5. “Living in the United States”. Intercultural exchange series.

Copy right 1994.

6. “Happy English 2”; Authors: Татьяна Клементьева, Джилл Шэннон.

Обнинск, Титул, 1996.

7. “English”. Еженедельное приложение к газете “ Первое сентября”,

N 7, 9, 11, 17, 18, 20, 29, 32, 36, 42, 1994.

Leonardo da Vinci

The first object of the painter is to make a flat plane appear as a body in relief and projecting from that plane.

— Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo DA VINCI (b. 1452, Vinci, Republic of Florence [now in Italy]—d. May 2, 1519, Cloux, Fr.), Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (1503-06) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of his time.

From Sketches to Paintings

By a happy chance, a common theme links the lives of four of the famous masters of the High Renaissance — Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Each began his artistic career with an apprenticeship to a painter who was already of good standing, and each took the same path of first accepting, then transcending, the influence of his first master. The first of these, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), was the elder of the two Florentine masters. He was taught by Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-88), an engaging painter whose great achievement was his sculpture. Verrochio also had considerable influence on the early work of Michelangelo. Verrocchio’s best-known painting is the famous Baptism of Christ, famous because the youthful Leonardo is said to have painted the dreamy and romantic angel on the far left, who compares more than favorably with the stubby lack of distinction in the master’s owm angel immediately beside him.

Leonardo: Renaissance polymath

There has never been an artist who was more fittingly, and without qualification, described as a genius. Like Shakespeare, Leonardo came from an insignificant background and rose to universal acclaim. Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a local lawyer in the small town of Vinci in the Tuscan region. His father acknowledged him and paid for his training, but we may wonder whether the strangely self-sufficient tone of Leonardo’s mind was not perhaps affected by his early ambiguity of status. The definitive polymath, he had almost too many gifts, including superlative male beauty, a splendid singing voice, magnificent physique, mathematical excellence, scientific daring… the list is endless. This overabundance of talents caused him to treat his artistry lightly, seldom finishing a picture, and sometimes making rash technical experiments. The Last Supper, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, for example, has almost vanished, so inadequate were his innovations in fresco preparation.

Da vinci made numerous experiments using different colours and when painting this particular church he failed.

Yet the works what we have salvaged remain the most dazzingly poetic pictures ever created. The Mona Lisa has the innocent disavantage of being too famous. It can only be seen behind thick glass in a heaving crowd of awe-stuck sightseers. It has been reproduced in every conceivable medium: it remains intact in its magic, for ever defying the human insistence on comprehending. It is a work that we can only gaze at in silence.

Leonardo’s three great portraits of women all have a secret wistfulness. This quality is at its most appealing in Cecilia Gallarani, at its most enigmatic in the Mona Lisa, and at is most confrontational in Ginevra de’ Benci. It is hard to gaze at the Mona Lisa, because we have so many expectations of it. Perhaps we can look more truly at a less famous portrait, Ginevra de’ Benci. It has that haunting, almost unearthly beauty peculiar to Leonardo.

A withheld identity

The subject of Ginevra de’ Benci has nothing of the Mona Lisa’s inward amusement, and also nothing of Cecilia’s gentle submissiveness. The young woman looks past us with a wonderful luminous sulkiness. Her mouth is set in an unforgiving line of sensitive disgruntlement, her proud and perfect head is taut above the unyielding column of her neck, and her eyes seem to narrow as she endures the painter and his art. Her ringlets, infinitely subtle, cascade down from the breadth of her gleaming forehead (the forehead, incidentally, of one of the most gifted intellectuals of her time). These delicate ripples are repeated in the spikes of the juniper bush.

The desolate waters, the mists, the dark treess, the reflected gleams of still waves, all these surround and illuminate the sitter. She is totally fleshly and totally impermeable to the artist. He observes, rapt by her perfection of form, and shows us the thin veil of her upper bodice and the delicate flushing of her throat. What she is truly like she conceals; what Leonardo reveals to us is precisely this concealment, a self-absorption that spares no outward glance.

Interior depth

We can always tell a Leonardo work by his treatment of hair, angelic in its fineness, and by the lack of any rigidity of contour. One form glides imperceptibly into another (the Italian term is sfumato), a wonder of glazes creating the most subtle of transitions between tones and shapes. The angel’s face in the painting known as the Virgin of the Rocks in the National Gallery, London, or the Virgin’s face in the Paris version of the same picture, have an interior wisdom, an artistic wisdom that has no pictorial rival.

This unrivalled quality meant that few artists actually show Leonardo’s influence: it is as if he seemed to be in a world apart from them. Indeed he did move apart, accepting the French King Franзois I’s summons to live in France. Those who did imitate him, like Bernardini Luini of Milan (c.1485-1532) caught only the outer manner, the half-smile, the mistiness.

The shadow of a great genius is a peculiar thing. Under Rembrandt’s shadow, painters flourished to the extent that we can no longer distinguish their work from his own. But Leonardo’s was a chilling shadow, too deep, too dark, too overpowering.

Список литературы

Для подготовки данной работы были использованы материалы с сайта http://www.ibiblio.org/louvre/paint/

The Doctrine of the «Mysterious Female» in Taoism

The principal purpose of this paper is to suggest the approach of transpersonal psychology for analysis of some important aspects of the Taoist doctrine, that is, the concept of the Tao as a female universal principle and the Taoist attitude «to be like an infant» or even as an «embryo.»

To understand these Taoist principles, we must begin from the very beginning-from the central concept of Taoism, that is, Tao (the Way, the True Way). This concept designates the prime ground of the World, the source of all life and the limit of every existence, as well as the rule and measure of beings.

The female, maternal image of Tao is the crucial point to understanding the psychotechnique (or psychopractical) approach of Taoism. It is possible to demonstrate its importance by citing some passages from the Tao Te ching (The Canon of the Way and its Power) or the»Lao-tzu,» a famous Taoist classic:

1. §6:

The valley spirit never dies-it is called the mysterious female»;

The gate of the mysterious female is called «the root of heaven and earth.»

Gossamer it is,

seemingly insubstantial, yet never consumed through use.

2. §25:

There was something featureless yet complete, born before heaven and earth;

Silent-amorphous-it stood alone and unchanging.

We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth.

Not knowing its name,

I style it the «Way.»

3. §28:

Know masculinity,

Maintain femininity,

and be a ravine for all under heaven.

4. §61:

A large state is like a low-lying estuary, the female of all under heaven.

In the congress of all under heaven,

the female always conquers the male through her stillness.

Because she is still,

it is fining for her to lie low.

E. M. Chen (1974), in her article dedicated to the role of the female principle in Chinese philosophy, notes that some aspects of Lao-tzu’s concept of Tao makes it possible to propose that the formation of the teaching about Tao as a philosophical idea was preceded by the cult of some Mother-Goddess which was connected with the genesis of Taoism (Chen, 1974, p.53; Kravtsova, 1994, pp.208-213). She notes that in the description of Tao in the Tao Te ching there are all the meanings which are essential for the Mother-Goddess cult: Tao is like an empty vessel (§4); voidness (§5); mysterious darkness (§1); it is nonborn, but, nevertheless, it is the predecessor of the Heavenly Lord (§4); it is the Mysterious Female which is the gate of Heaven and Earth (§6); mother (§1, 20, 25, 52); female (or hen-§10, 28); female (§61); and Mother of all under heaven (§25, 34). In addition, Tao is often described as water (§8, 78) and as valley (§6, 28, 32, 39, 41). Clearly this valley is the principle of generation which bears all beings in its depth.

The Tao Te ching speaks much about the pre-existential, nonmanifested aspect of Tao which is the philosophical opposition to the manifested phenomenal existence as some potential being (wu). In this regard, § I is rather interesting. It describes this nonmanifested or mysterious (occult) aspect of Tao as the womb of the universal embryo, the womb which generates Heaven and Earth, which is the source of life. Briefly speaking, it is nothing but the Mysterious Mother of the world:

The nameless is the origin of the myriad creatures;

The named is the mother of the myriad creatures. Therefore,

Always be without desire

in order to observe its wondrous subtleties; Always have desire

so that you may observe its manifestations…

Mystery of mysteries,

The gate of all wonders!

This passage develops the leading idea of §1 about two aspects or «hypostases» of Tao: about Tao as «mysterious womb» and Tao as mother-nurse of all beings. Here we can recall the words of the famous commentator and thinker, Wang Pi (3 A.D.), that «Mysterious» (or «Unnamed») Tao nourishes and bears all creatures, and phenomenal named Tao feeds them; the analogous description Wang Pi gives to the character of the interrelations between Tao and Te.

What about the last sentence of the passage? It can be said that the character miao (mystery) of the sentence consists of two elements: «woman» and «little.» We can suppose that its use here is not arbitrary. It is not too difficult to «ascribe» its etymology (probably it is not a scientific one) as this:

«something, that is little inside a woman,» that is, embryo hidden in the womb, like the prototypes of things (see §21) are hidden in the «womb» of Tao. This opinion may be supported by the fact that the images of the womb and embryo are often used by Taoists to describe the «Tao-world» relation. So Tao can be metaphorically defined as the mother of the world, the source of life and being, and the universal female archetype. It is quite essential to understand the Taoist doctrine of immortality as well, because this doctrine considers Tao to be the life-giving principle which gives eternal life to the adept who has obtained unity with it. The Tao Te chitig also says (§52):

Having realized the mother,

you thereby know her children. Knowing her children,

go back to abide with the mother. To the end of your life,

you will not be imperiled.

Let’s look at the child of the «Mysterious female of all under the heaven.»

§55 of the Tao Te ching says:

He who embodies the flillness of integrity is like a ruddy infant.

Wasps, spiders, scorpions, and snakes will not sting or bite him;

Rapacious birds and fierce beasts will not seize him.

His bones are weak and his sinews soft, yet his grip is tight.

He knows not the joining of male and female, yet his penis is aroused.

His essence has reached a peak.

He screams the whole day without becoming hoarse; His harmony has reached perfection.

Harmony implies constancy;

Constancy requires insight.

Striving to increase one’s life is ominous;

To control the vital breath with one’s mind entails force.

Something that grows old while still in its prime is said to be not in accord with the Way;

Not being in accord with the Way leads to an early demise.

Here, an infant (a baby; the text uses Ch ‘ih tzu, «red,» or «ruddy» infant, i.e., a just newborn child) represents the image of the perfect sage hill of the vital force. An infant in the Tao Te ching is something like an androgyrie who does not know the parting of male and female, and who, because of this, is overflowing with vitality. His energetic essence (ching) does not flow below; it does not change into semen yet, and so it is perfect. Thus, an infant is like the great Tao itself Tao is a source of life, and like an infant also can not be tired, because exhaustion is a result of energetic deficiency. An infant enjoys absolute security; nature is not dangerous to it because he or she is at the center of its forces and powers. We should note the following words: Striving to increase one’s life is ominous; To control vital breath with one’s mind entails force. Here we can find a direct reference to the relation existing between ideas of obtaining immortality and religious psychopractice. Taoism proclaims that a human being is nothing more than an inseparable psychosomatic unity. So people can obtain inimortality only when their body-microcosm becomes a self-sufficient whole—a self-containing reservoir of the vital energy from one side, and when it realizes its potential, isomorphism with the world-body of the cosmos from another side. One of the most important means on the way to this exalted state is the so-called «regulation of the vital breath» (or «regulation of the pneumata» — hsing ch ‘i), that is, a complex of gymnastical and breathing exercises, the aim of which is to obtain mind control over the flowing of the energy streams in the human body. The most important principle of such techniques is often repeated in medieval Taoist writings: «Pneuma (breath, ch’i) is led by will-consciousness (yi).» This means the presence of some volitional enforcement which leads the streams of the vital energy along the channels of the body (analogous to the meridians of acupuncture) in the desirable direction. The Tao Te ching is just one text which clearly formulates this idea in ancient times. Instead of the «volitional impulse» (yi), the Tao Te ching speaks about «mind» or «heart-consciousness» (Hsin), but it is the same idea.

It was thought for a long time that the concept relating the Taoist ideas of immortality and different practices was described only in medieval tests, but recent archeological discoveries in Ch’angsha Mawangtui (Hunan province) demonstrate the profound antiquity of both. Thus, the Mawangtui texts describe numerous respiratory exercises for the «regulation of the Pneumata» (hsing ch ‘i) and postures of the Taoist gymnastics (tao yin). Special pictures painted on silk, which were known under the general title, Tao yin t ‘u (Schemes of Gymnastics), were even dedicated to such practices. So it may be concluded that these practices were well-known in China in the days when the Tao Te ching is now regarded to have been composed (4-3 B.C., rather than the traditionally accepted period of 6-5 B.C.).

The Tao Te ching everywhere prefers the softness and weakness of the infant to the strong hardness of adults. Strictly speaking, a newborn child is the concentration or manifestation of the vital energy. This is quite clearly demonstrated in §76:

Human beings are

soft and supple when alive,

stiff and straight when dead…

Therefore, it is said:

The rigid person is a disciple of death;

The soft, supple, and delicate are lovers of life.

But the theme «infant-sage» cannot be reduced only to the metaphor of the newborn child. Much deeper and more interesting is the image of the nonborn child, which also plays an important role in the teachings of the Tao Te ching. Let us cite a part of §20 of the text:

All the people are glad and joyfull

as if they are celebrating upon the great sacrifice of oxen, as if they are mounting a tower in spring.

O! I am the only who is quiet and silent, like a baby who is not yet a child.

O! 1 am fastened and tied

and I have no place to return.

All people behave themselves as if they have more than enough

and I alone am bereft.

O! I have the mind of a fool!

O! Muddled and mixed!

All people are luminously clear

and I am the only one who is dark and conhised.

All people are exact and definite

and I am the only who is obscured and vague. O! I am wavering like an ocean.

O! I am flying in space and I have no place to stop in.

All people behave themselves

as if they have a purpose

and I alone am uncouth and simple.

I am quite different from others by honoring the mother-nurse.

This passage is worthy of careful analysis. It appears to me to offer a key to the understanding of the most essential features of Taoism. And the sentence: «O! I am the only who is quiet and silent, like a baby who is not a child yef’ (in Chinese: wo tu p’o hsi ch ‘i wei chaoju ying erh chih wei ‘wi) is a key to this passage. So, it is best to begin an analysis of the passage with this phrase.

What is the meaning of the words «a baby who is not a child yet» or «a baby who did not become an infant yet»? I think that the text is speaking about the foetus in the maternal womb. In fact, even those commentators and translators who think that the hai (infant, child) here must be changed into its phonetical and practically graphical omonym (the difference between two characters is only one classificator «mouth» written before the original grapheme) agree with this interpretation. The second character hai means baby’s cry or baby’s smile. But a not-yet-crying baby is a not-yet-born baby.

Therefore, Lao-tzu here compares himself with the nonborn baby. What does he inform us about this baby? This baby-sage is «fastened and tied» by his embryonic «clothes» and umbilical cord, which unites him with the maternal body. This holy foetus has «the mind [or heart-the thinking and conscious organ according to Chinese tradition] of a fool,» while at the same time it possesses the highest wisdom. This wisdom seems like nothing but stupidity to ordinary people proud of their common sense. This nonborn baby wavers in the ocean of the womb and «flies» in these maternal waves. The connection with the motherly body and nourishing and feeding the foetus is depicted quite clearly also at the end of the passage where «mother-nurse» (shi mu) is mentioned.

If the baby of §20 is a sage, Lao-tzu himself; who then is the mother? The information above makes it possible to conclude that this mother is the great Tao itself; it is the eternal and unspeakable Way and mysterious ground of every existence; the hidden depth of this Tao is the womb wherein the baby-sage dwells. This image directly correlates with Taoist cosmology and cosmogony. It considers Tao to be something like a cosmic womb which embraces the whole universe. The universe enjoys absolute unity (chaotic unity — hun yi) with the maternal body of the Way until its birth, differentiation and divorce from the Way in the course of cosmogenesis. Nevertheless, even in the «born world» some unity with Tao is preserved: it is fed by the power of Tao, which is called Te or Power-Virtue. For example: «The Way gives birth to them and integrity [i.e., Te] nurtures them» (§51). Thus, the connection between birth in the course of the cosmic evolution world and Tao looks quite like the connection between a mother nourishing her child, and the baby itself But in the case of humans, there appears a self concept, an independent, self-containing «I,» as an unchanging subject of actions. This kind of egoistic self-consciousness harms the original unity, and humans begin to counteract Tao. The predominant attitude of human actions is no longer the law and measure of the cosmic rhythm of Tao, but egocentric preferences, which change spontaneous natural life into purposeful activities based only on bare subjectivity. Taoism sees egocentricity as the cause of all human sufferings, pains, frustrations-from mortality to social collisions.

The only means, not only to become liberated from sufferings but to obtain the highest happiness, is to restore original unity with Tao, to broaden consciousness and to put an end to the egocentric attitude, that is, to return to the state of the nonborn child who does not know a distinct difference between his or her own body and the maternal body, who breathes the maternal breath and eats maternal food. This coming back to the womb of the Mother-Tao is connected with the broadening of the personality to the cosmic scale, when «eternal integrity never deserts you, You will return to the state of infancy» (§28) and «a man is sparing of his body in caring for all under heaven» (§13). This state of the nonborn child is the state of immortality, peace, and unity with all beings and with one’s own nature: The return to the root is called «stillness,» stillness is called returning to the «fate-vitality,» the return to the fate-vitality is called «constancy.» One who knows constancy is called «enlightened»

(§16).’

Tao explicates itself on all levels of micro- and macrocosm, and because of this, the Taoist texts distinctively describe an isomorphism between cosmogonic process, development of the foetus and birth, and in the reverse sequence, the steps of the Taoist cultivation. So, for the Taoist, the returning to the womb of the Mother-Tao is not simply a metaphor, but a kind of expression of some profound essence of the isomorphous structure of the universe. It is also the reason why practicing Taoists try to imitate the prenatal states in their self-cultivation. One example is the famous technique of «embryonic breathing» (t’ai hsi), first depicted in Ko Hung’s Paop ‘u-tzu (4 A.D.). It is very still and quiet breathing, minimizing inhalation and exhalation. This kind of breathing control gives the impression that the practitioner does not breathe at all, like a foetus in the maternal womb, obtaining vital energy (ch ‘i) from the blood of the mother.

Prenatal symbolism permeates the whole text of the Tao Te ching. The comparison of Tao with water and the important role played by the symbolism of water in this text in general is well known: For example: «The highest good is like water; Water is good at benefiting the myriad creatures but also struggles to occupy the place loathed by the masses. Therefore, it is near to the Way» (§8). The reason for the importance of the water symbolism lies not only in that, archetypically, water has female nature; it can be proposed, following Lao-tzu, that water is of the same nature as the nature of the waters of that embryonic ocean in which the baby-sage washes and wavers (§20 of The Canon of the Way and its Power).

In this regard, it is rather important to evaluate the name-pseudonym of the sage, who according to a tradition more than two thousand years old, is considered to be the author of the Tao Te ching, that is, Lao-tzu, Old Sage, and also Old Infant. Let us once again reflect upon this infant with the grey beard.

Up to the first centuries A.D., the teaching was formed about the divinized Lao~tzu (Lord Lao or Lao-jun). But the tendencies to divinization were very old. Thus, in the 21st chapter of the Chuang-tzu, Lao-tzu says that he was wandering in the origin of things. The divinized Lao-tzu was associated with Tao and with original chaos-undifferentiated energetic pneuma (ch ‘i), that is, with the source of the universe itself. (Detailed research into the process of the divinization of Lao-tzu may be found in Seidel, 1969.) The texts of the Han dynasty period (3 B.C.-3 A.D.) describe Lao-tzu as the Body of Tao. All of the texts use synonyms to express the idea of the body in this context: hsing (form, pattern), shen (body, person, personification), and ti (body, substance, incarnation) (Schipper, 1978, pp. 358-361). But further still, identified with the chaos in its mythological personification of P’an Ku (cosmic pananthropos, typologically akin to Purusha of the Rig-Veda and Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalah), Lao-tzu became the creator of the world: «Lao-tzu has changed his body. His left eye became the sun, his right eye became the moon, his head changed into the K’unlun mountain, his beard changed into the stars and heavenly space, his bones became dragons, his flesh-beasts, his viscera-snakes» (Maspero, 1950, p. 108; Schipper, 1978, p. 361). In his evolution from the undifferentiated chaos to his cosmic «birth,» Lao tzu goes through nine stages, reflected in the myth of his «historical» birth. As K. M. Schipper points out (1978, p.361), this corresponds to the concept of §21 in the Tao Te ching which describes the transformations of the universe from the unqualified «blurred and nebulous» to the Name-Mother of all creatures. The famous commentary of Hoshangkung (2 B.C.) says:

In relation to myriad beings, Tao is such: it is wandering hither and thither and it has no definite place to be grounded there. Tao dwells in the formless of the «blurred and nebulous,» but it is the only principle pattern of all beings. Though ‘Lao is nothing but «blurred and nebulous,» the One exists in it; the One contains in itself all metamorphoses. Due to the presence of the pneuma-ch’i, it becomes materialized. Though Tao is only formless darkness of mystery, it has spermatic energy [ching] and though in its essence its divine numinous mind [shen ming] is very subtle, it lies in the basis of the yin-yang interaction. If one can say anything about the nature of the spermatic pneuma [ching ch ‘ij, it must be declared that its mystery is absolutely real; it does not need any decorations, Tao hides glory in itself; Tao contains name in itself-here is sincerity and truth [hsin] in the midst of it. (Hoshang-kung, in Tao Te ching, 1989, p.55)

It is timely to recall here the myth about the historical and cosmic birth of Lao-tar. There are very interesting details in the canonical text San t ‘ian nei ‘chieh ching (Canon of the Esoterical Erplanation of Three Heavens) written during the Han period. First of all, the text describes the cosmic birth of Lord Lao as a kind of theophany:

Then in the midst of darkness, Cave of Emptiness was born [K’ung tung]. In this Cave of Emptiness, Great Absence was born. Great Absence changed itself into three pneumata: Mysterious, Original and Principal. Being in chaotic mixture, these pneumata gave birth to Jade Maid of the profound Mystery [Hsuan miao yu nь]. After her birth joining pneumata twisted in her body and by their transformations they bore Lao-tar… When he was born he had grey hair. So he was called Old infant [i.e., Lao-tar]. This Lao-tzu is Lord Lao. By his transformation he created from his pneumata Heaven and Earth, people and things. Thus he has created everything by his transformations.

This passage clearly tells us that Lao-tar was his own mother. Another passage tells us about the «historical» birth of Lao-tar:

In the time of King Wu Ting of Yin dynasty, Lao-tar once again entered the womb of Mother Li . .. When he was born, his hair was grey again. Therefore he was again called Old Infant… What about his coming back to the embryonic state in the Mother Li’s womb?; it must be understood that he himself has changed his subtle various body into the body of Mother Li, entering thus his own womb. In reality there was no Mother Li. Unwise people now say that Lao-tar entered Mother Li’s womb from inside. In reality, it is not so. (Tao tsang, Vol.876; see also Schipper, 1978, p.365)

K. M. Schipper notes that none of the most ancient myths about Lao-tar’s birth tell about the father of Lao-tar. Even his family name (Li) Lao-tar received from his mother («Li» literally means «plum»). According to some versions, Lao-tar was born because his mother ate the kernel of a plum (Schipper, 1978, p.365).

Thus, in Taoist texts, Tao is conceived of as a female maternal principle personified in the image of the male-female androgyne Lao-tar (Berthier, 1979; Seidel, 1969, p.64). Moreover, texts stress only his female aspect, because Tao bears the universe by itself; its «male» aspect does not participate in this process at all.

In the myths mentioned above, the founder of Taoism is conceived of as universal panantropos, the All-Man, who enjoys everlasting bliss in the maternal womb of Tao with which he is connected so perfectly-like a foetus and its mother constituting one and the same body. It is quite obvious that myths of this kind (myths of a rather early date, as we have seen), underline the importance of the theme of perfection as a prenatal state for Taoism. They also explain in great part why the authorship of such a basic (though not uniquely basic) text of Taoism was ascribed to the person called Old Infant. (I refer here to the traditional view of Lao-tar as the author of the Tao Te ching.) It is also interesting that the Taoists prefer to interpret the name of Lao-tzu as Old Infant or Old Baby but not as Old Sage. It seems to me that understanding the role and meaning of the prenatal symbolism in Taoism would serve as a general key to the right insight into the whole system of Taoist thought.

Here it is also possible to suggest a hypothesis about the relationship existing between prenatal and perinatal themes and their archetypic images from one side, and different kinds of myths about miraculous conception, which are known to practically every civilization, from another side. It can be suggested that the mythologem of miraculous conception is a manifestation of a subconscious wish to enjoy the synergetic unity with the mother which was attainable during the period of prenatal development. This wish is, in addition, accompanied by the elimination of every (and first of all, fatherly) mediation of this unity. In any case, Taoist materials undoubtedly connect the state of immortality and perfection with returning to the state of the sage-infant (compare the biblical phrase «If you do not change and become like little children you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven» [Matt. 18:3], and the idea of the combination of the wisdom of a snake and the simplicity of a pigeon, the topic developed and explained by St. Paul). This sage-infant of Taoism eternally dwells in the universal womb of the Mysterious Female, Tao as Great Mother of the world, and this womb is isomorphic, but certainly not identical to, the maternal womb in which the embryo enjoys happiness before its birth.

Li Erh, Lao-tzu, Eternal Infant of Taoism, the founder of this teaching and the teacher of the kings, age after age appearing on the earth in the name of highest wisdom and highest simplicity (nonpolished wooden block- p’u, and raw silk-su, are quite common designations of original simplicity as one of the most important values of Taoism. he/she is that paradigmatic figure to which Taoism appeals and calls for identification with.

Taoism proclaims that the human body is a microcosm, an «image and likeness» of the macrocosm, the universe. «A man is but small heaven and earth,» is an often mentioned Taoist saying. This teaching, extremely important for the Taoist tradition, is also well-known in other religious and philosophical doctrines, in the East as well as in the West, including Christianity, especially in its Gnostic variety (the Russian theologist Father Pavel Florensky considers it to be absolutely orthodox).

The Taoists also evaluate body as the image of the state; the state according to Chinese philosophical concepts is a part of natural, universal integrity. This doctrine of the similarity of the body and the universe is the true foundation of the Taoist practice of «inner alchemy,» the aim of which is to produce the so-called elixir of immortality inside the body of an adept from its energies or pneumata which are a microcosmic analogue of the metals and minerals of the outer world. It is obvious that the processes of the body were thought of as analogous to the processes and changes of the outer laboratory, alchemy, the cauldrons of which represented a specific acting model of the macrocosm as well.

Strictly speaking, treatises on the inner alchemy (nei tan) tell us about the creation of a new immortal body of the Taoist which must be created inside the old «corrupted» body. If the process is successitilly finished, a new immortal body replaces the old one. being «born» of the mortal body. For our thesis, it is important that the process of the creation of the new sacred body from the pneumata of the profane one is described in the texts in terms of pregnancy, embryonic development, and birth.

The image of the creation of the new perfect body is rather widespread in the religious beliefs of quite different peoples of the world. In Shamanism, for example, it is used in the imitation of death, which is accompanied by contemplation of flesh decay, which is followed by rebirth after the creation from the skeleton (substantial ground of the body) of the new «Shamanic» body. This form of practice is rather common for shamanistic initiations (e.g., Eliade, 1972, pp. 63-64). Such rituals are also known in some Indian yogic sadhanas, especially those of Tantric origin: in the course of this practice, the yogi creates a new indestructible yogic body (yoga deha), corresponding with the old one as mature and green fruit, or (in terms of»rasayana,» «vehicle of alchemy») as vulgar profane metal and mature alchemical gold (Fliade, 1958, pp. 274-278). The contemplation of a skeleton is also a common practice in classical Buddhism. But the semantics of this contemplation in Shamanism or Taoism are quite different than in Buddhism. In the first case, the skeleton is a symbol of some basic or original substance, which coming back to gives new powers to the person and brings him or her to a new level of existence. The adept returns to it in his or her experience of mystical death and rebirth, and then obtains new powers and creates from this substance a new sacred body. The Taoist image of coming back to the maternal womb as an unborn child in the Tao Te ching and its ontological connotation, that is, returning to the womb of the emptiness of Tao and obtaining a new everlasting life, are also of the same kind. From the depth of darkness of the «chaotic and obscure» womb of the Mother-Tao (huang hu), the Taoist sage creates the light of enlightenment (ming) and new life by passing through the experience of mystical death (reduction to embryonic state in Tao) and rebirth-resurrection. But this rebirth does not lead to the separation from Tao: this Mysterious Female forever remains the mother-nurse of the Taoist baby-sage. In the case of Buddhism, however, such contemplation is directed at recognizing that existence is inherently subject to impermanence, destructibility and mortality, that is, the purpose of this kind of meditation is an interiorization of the understanding of the ubiquity of samsara (world of deaths and rebirths) as suffering and frustration.

For an understanding of the Taoist inner alchemy, two pairs of interrelated concepts are of predominant importance: natural essence (hsing) and vitality (ming); precelestial or prenatal (hsian t’ian) and postcelestial or postnatal (hou t’ian). The Taoist texts explain these concepts thus: The teaching about alchemical melting is the teaching of the method of melting of the natural essence and vitality to make them perfect. The law of the natural essence and vitality has two sides: the natural essence given by Heaven, which must be nurtured, and the natural essence of the pneumatic quality, which must be overcome. The vitality which is confirmed in separation must be pacified; bodily vitality must be fed. These are the principal two sides of the teaching of the Way (Tung Te-ning, a Taoist of the 18th century, commentary on the «Chapters of the Insight into the Truth» of Chang Potuan, 11 A.D.). A famous representative of inner alchemy, Wu Ch’ung-hsti (born in 1574), also tells us that precelestial nature is the pneuma received by the foetus at the time of conception, and the postcelestial one is the pneuma or energy received by a foetus due to the breathing of its mother or (after its birth) through its own inhalations. The first pneuma is concentrated in the navel, the second one in the nostrils. The inner alchemy is directed towards the harmonization of the «natural essence» and «vitality,» the elimination of any collision between them. When this purpose is realized, an «elixir of immortality» appears inside the body of an adept which, in turn, changes itself into the so-called «immortal embryo» (hsian t’ai) growing into the state of the new immortal body of the alchemist. Therefore, the body of the Taoist is a female body, maternal body, and the adept himself or herself appears to be his or her own mother, like Lao-tar of the cosmological myth, who also was, as we have seen, the mother of himself/herself. Certainly, «immortal embryo» is a fruit of the conjugality or hierogamy of two principles, yin and yang, like everything in the world, but this sacred marriage has its place in the body of a Taoist who, like all beings, obtains his/her life in the maternal womb of the Mysterious Female, the great Way (Tao) of the universe. The body of the Taoist is a female body, too; in this body the conjunction of the principles takes its place and the fruit of this union is nothing other than the miraculously transfigured Taoist himself/herself. Thus the body of the Taoist is an analogy to the mystical body of Tao which is of paradigmatic value for the Taoist (Schipper, 1978, p.371).

We can continue to compare «embryological» and «psychotechnical» aspects of Taoism. The Taoists pay much attention to the teachings about the states of development of the foetus. Why? It seems to me that the reason lies in the deep isomorphism between the steps of embryonical growth, the stages of the process of cosmogony, and the phases of the formation of the «immortal embryo» in inner alchemy»: «The foetus obtains his definitive bodily form for ten lunar months and afterwards the baby is born. Like this, the numinous foetus also needs ten lunar months to be born. The spirit obtains its fullness and then goes out» (Wu Ch’ung-hsti, 1965, p.45). In the teaching of the «inner alchemy,» therefore, two sides of the Taoist concept of the female take their place: the identity of the body of the adept with the female body, and the correspondence of the latter with Tao as an ontological pattern from one side and the teaching about transubstantiality of the mother-adept and ‘her» child from the other side.

Nevertheless, Taoists understood ambivalence of the perinatal patterns. So the maternal womb was seen by them, not only as a source of life and energy, but as the grave as well-the resulting summary of life, built on the expenses of the vital force. It resembles the idea in transpersonal psychology of the ambiguity of the perinatal experience (Grof; 1993): BPM I (Basic Perinatal Matrix) provides an experience of the maternal womb as a blissful and secure place, and BPM 2 and BPM 3 places of suffering and disease. One of the most famous Taoists of the T’ang period, Lu Tung-pin, according to tradition, declared the following: «The gates, through which I came to life are also the gates of death» (Schipper, 1969, p.38). This sentence was repeated in the famous didactic and erotic novel of 16 A.D., Chin, Ping Mei (The Plum Flowers in the Golden Vase) to warn readers against frivolous spending of the life energy, but here, in a sexual context. In any case, the ambivalence of the female principle has never been forgotten in China.

What kind of transpersonal experience is typical for Taoism? To answer this question we can use the classification of Grof (1993). Grof mentions a specific kind of ecstasy he calls «oceanic’ or «Apollonic» ecstasy.

According to Grof (1993, p.336), oceanic ecstasy (recall the sea waves in which the unborn baby-sage of the Tao Te Ching swims) may be characterized by bliss, freedom from any stress, loss of any limitations of «ego,» and the experience of absolute unity with nature, universal order, and God. This state is concerned with a deep, direct understanding of reality and cognitive acts of universal meaning. It must be noted that the ideal of Taoism is a spontaneous and absolutely natural following of one’s own primordial nature (which is rooted in the empty Tao itself) and the nature of all other things, the nature of the universal whole (shun wu, «following things»). This «following the Way» suggests the absence of mentally constructed, reflective, purposive activity-a state devoid of any real ontological status ego-subject of activity (non-doing, wu we:). We must also note that Taoist texts demonstrate for us a profound and direct vision of reality. Phrases like «returning to the root, coming back to the source» are very typical of Taoist texts. These texts also proclaim the epistemological ideal of Taoism:

«One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know».

According to Grof; the conditions of oceanic ecstasy correspond to the experience of symbiotic unity of a baby and its mother during the period of foetal development and of breast feeding. He writes (cited in reverse translation from Russian): «As we could expect, in the state of oceanic ecstasy there is presented the element of water as the cradle of life . . . The experience of the foetal existence, the identification with different aquatic forms of life or the consciousness of the ocean, visions of the starry sky and the feeling of the cosmic mind are exclusively widespread in this context» (Grof; 1993, p.336).

All these characteristics correspond to the description of the Taoist experience. It is also interesting to note how late Chinese sects with a Taoist background use the theme of the unborn. Here, Female Tao takes the image of Wu sheng lao mu (Unborn Old Mother). Unfortunately, sinologists have not noticed the paradoxical nature of the worldview of the sectarians, looking upon themselves as the children of the unborn mother! The paradox of a mother who is herself unborn is as astonishing as a Zen Buddhist koan. Even the very word «unborn» is paradoxical, and we know about the cases of enlightenment of some Zen monks meditating upon the sense of this word. Indeed, the unborn mother of the unborn child is but Great Tao itself.

In Grof’s Beyond the Brain (1993, p.380 of Russian edition), in fact, there is a picture presenting the image of archetypical Lao-tar-the baby-sage, an infant with grey hair. The picture was made by a participant in a psychedelic session and is concerned with the experience of BPM I. In the picture we can see a baby sitting with crossed legs on a lotus flower. The baby has long grey hair and has an umbilical cord conjoined with the unseen body of its mother. Grof says: «Identification with the foetus in the period of the peaceful prenatal development has, as a rule, divine qualities. The picture demonstrates obtaining, during a high dose LSD-session, an intuitive insight into the connection between the enibryonic bliss and the nature of the Buddha» (Grof, 1993, p.380; reverse translation

from Russian). Here we once again meet with the exceptionally important question of the correlation between perinatal and transpersonal or «mystical» experience. The question is: Is it possible to reduce the mystical experience of transcendence to prenatal or perinatal experience and to recollections about it? At the present time, we cannot resolve this question conclusively. Therefore, below I shall suggest some hypotheses which remain to be verified in the course of future transpersonal research.

First of all, like Grof I do not equate transpersonal (mystical, psychopractical) experience with recollections of a perinatal character; I think it is quite incorrect to reduce experience of the first kind to experience of the second kind. Secondly, it is well known that perinatal recollections of the adult are principally different from the amorphous and rather simple experience of the foetus. The first kind of experience is much richer, broader, and varied. This type of experience is connected, as one can suppose, with much deeper levels of the unconscious representing the archetypical dimension of the mind. Probably these archetypical patterns and gestalts are something like a priori forms of the repetitive experience of the perinatal state~as in Kant’s philosophy, time and space are a priori forms of sensual intuition which determine our form of vision of the transcendent to these forms-reality as it is. Briefly speaking, our profound archetypical levels of the unconscious may be the source of patterns forming the experience of the perinatal states by adults. And those archetypical patterns, in turn, are akin to some kinds of mystical vision.

Nevertheless, we can observe a kind of parallelism between the perinatal and mystical experience. In this parallelism, perinatal gestalt correlates with the corresponding transpersonal (mystical) state.

Moreover, in some cases, we can speak of the superimposition or interplay between perinatal and mystical experience. In such cases, perinatal experience may be a sort of key opening to the mind gates to mystical experience.

We can only explain this phenomenon hypothetically by a kind of likeness or analogy existing between some perinatal and mystical states. For example, there is some analogy between the feeling of peace and security of the foetal existence of BPM I and the transpersonal experience of the unjo mystica, or the experience of universal unity. Therefore, the attainment of the perinatal state serves to eliminate the barriers of the unconscious, opening its deepest levels which correspond to this unity, thereby enabling the mind (or self-consciousness) to penetrate there. In other words, a person who achieved the experience of symbiotic union with the mother of BPM I can more simply and easily attain a parallel but higher experience of the universal unity: the first kind of experience gives way to the openness of analogical but highest (or deepest) strata and levels. Probably, the personal or individualistic limitations dividing the psychical worlds of different individuals are already absent on such profound levels of subconscious existence. (I do not use the word «subconscious» here in the psychoanalytical sense; perhaps it would be better to call it «superconscious.»)

Therefore, we may cautiously suppose the existence of some kind of isomorphism of basic states of consciousness of different levels, rooted in the holistic and polistructural («holonomic» in Grof’s terminology) nature of reality as such, including its psychical dimension. But the problems of the ontology of consciousness are too subtle to discuss briefly. For now, we can only note the distinctive interplay of perinatal and transpersonal levels of experience in the Taoist tradition.

Taoist tradition, undoubtedly, is a precious part of the spfritual heritage of humankind. Many of the basic ideas and images of Taoism have a profound humanistic sense, deeply rooted in the very structure of our psychical experience. Do we not see the image of the Mysterious Female-Mother of all under heaven in Sophia or Eunoia of the Gnostics, in Shekhina of the Kabbalah, or in Sophia, the soul of the world, the image of the coming all-unity of the Russian philosopher and mystic Vladimir Solovyev?

I have seen everything and everything was only one:

The only image of the female beauty.

Unlimitless entered its measure,

In front of me, inside of me, there is only you.

-Vladimir Solovyev, «Three Meetings»

NOTE

1.1 have used the English translation of the Tao Te ching by Victor H. Mair (1 990). In cases of disagreement with his interpretation of the text, I provide my own translation, which is indicated with the superscript «I.» The concluding translation by Solovyev is also my own.

REFERENCES

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Chen, E. M. (1974). Tao as the Great Mother and the influence of motherly love in the shaping of Chinese philosophy. History of Religions, 14 (1), 51-73.

Chuang-tar. (1986). Erh shi erh tzu [Twenty two philosophers. Shanghai: Kuchi ch’upan she.

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Eliade, M. (1972). Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Bollingen Series No.76)

Grof, S. (1993). Za predelami mozga. Rozhdenie, smert i transcendentsija v psihoterapii [Beyond the brain: Birth, death and transcendence in psychotherapy]. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Transpersonalnogo Instituta.

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Mair, V. (Trans.). (1 990). Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way by Lao Tzu. An entirely new translation based on the recently discovered Ma- Wang- Tui manuscripts. New York: Bantam Books.

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Schipper, K. M. (1969). Science, magic and mystique of the body: Notes on Taoism and sexuality. In Beurdeley et al. (Eds.), The clouds and the rain: The art of love in China (pp.3-36). Fribourg and London. (Russian translation: Kitaisky eros [Chinese eros]. 1993. Moscow: Kvadrat, pp.102-123)

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Список литературы

Evgueni A. Tortchinov . The Doctrine of the «Mysterious Female» in Taoism.

Для подготовки данной работы были использованы материалы с сайта http://woman.upelsinka.com/