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Now there's a catch-phrase to titillate the senses ... eh wot folks?
Late 17th century ... Western Europe. Was man obsessed with his mortality? Did he need constant reminders that the end was a'comin' around the next metaphorical corner? And if so ... what reminder would do the trick? What could he possibly use that would act as a mnemonic memory device ... never letting his consciousness lapse into such a state of numbness as to allow him a moment's respite from the knowledge that any second now the candle would be extinguished ... never to light again? Enter the jeweler.
Memento Mori jewelry had now long been prevalent among the hoi-polloi as well as the upper-class. Emblems of death abounded. Skulls and skeletons and coffins prevailed in order to ensure virtuosity among the living. And if the jewelry didn't work ... well there was always castration and the cauldron and other sweet little proddings to ensure man lived a life according to the rules. Excuse me sir, said the meek little man who walked into the local jewelry establishment in order to purchase a wee doodad that would act as a reminder that if he didn't live the clean life he'd be in deep doo-doo. Do you have any symbols of death? A pendant a ring a bracelet? Anything. I have these sinful thoughts, you see ... and I need to have them quelled.
Ahh ... how the jeweler rubbed his palms in anticipation. He had a live one. A sinner who could not live with his sinful thoughts. Do you want something mundane, said the jeweler? Or would you prefer something a bit more ornate which -- due to it's very ornateness and ornatability -- will ensure absolute chaste thinking? Something with rubies perhaps ... to remind you of the blood-letting you will have to endure in the after-life if you do not adhere to the pristine life in the here and now? And with diamonds too ... to remind you of the hardness of judgement day should you stray from the noble path?
Do these things truly work, said meek-man? Now now now, said the friendly jeweler who knew all about human frailty and fear. Hey ... the guy had to make a living too. He had a wife and kiddies. And then there was college and graduate school. I have a ring that's guaranteed. Absolutely guaranteed. Every time you have even the beginnings of a sinful thought ... the ring will remind you of the error of your ways and the thoughts will disappear as if by magic. Magic, said meek-man? Does it truly contain magic? Does a pig have a pink ass, said the jeweler? And so the deal was done.
Now I ask you dear souls ... what good is all this wondrous information about death-jewelry if I had nothing to show you? And so show you I will. A ring ... with rubies and a nice white skull to ensure chasteness in its wearer.
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And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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