Harlow Berny Archives - Page 2 of 2

Palm Valley School’s Junior State of America 2018-2019 Cabinet

May 21, 2018 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Harlow Berny

Hello, fellow Palm Valley Students! On May 7, the PVS JSA chapter voted on the cabinet members for next school year. The voting took place in the student lounge during lunch, and any member of JSA who had previously attended at least one meeting was allowed to run and/or vote. The winners of the election were Hannah Hall as President, Elizabeth Shay as Vice President, Caroline Scheil as Secretary, Jake Soderman as Treasurer, and Marianne Capetz as Sergeant at Arms. They will be replacing this year’s cabinet of Chloe Sweeney as President, Jordan Dinnerman as Vice President, Brennan Nick as Secretary, Oliver Kaufmann as Treasurer, and Peter Kadel as Sergeant at Arms.

Editor: Brennan Nick

Death’s Messengers–A Fairy Tale Re-Telling

May 10, 2018 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Graphic by Harlow Berny

Retold by Harlow Berny

Centuries ago, in a long forgotten kingdom, a giant was walking through a mountain pass, when suddenly a female figure cloaked in white jumped out before him and shouted, “Stop! Walk no further!”

“What?” bellowed the giant, “Does this fragile pebble try to block my path? What does it think it is?”

“I am Death,” answered the figure, “and your time has come, as it comes for all.” But, upon hearing this, the giant grew infuriated and raised his fist to the sky. Before Death could retaliate, the giant had crushed her with a devastating blow. Seeing Death on the ground, the giant laughed and continued on.

What will happen, thought Death, if I just stay here on the ground? No one will die, and the world will become so full that people will not have enough room to merely stand side by side. They will not be able to grow food to eat, not be able to sleep, and not be able to avoid disease. Despite this, they will not die, and thus will be condemned to eternal pain and suffering in a new hell.

As Death lay on the ground, lost in thought, a young and healthy man came along the road, singing as he gazed at the forest below. As he did so, he glanced upon Death, and rushed to her aid, leaning her against a nearby rock and giving her water from his canteen.

Once she had finished drinking, she softly spoke. “Would you happen to know who I am, kind man?”

“No,” he answered, glad that she had recovered.

“I am Death, the one who visits all at the moment of their passing. I can spare no one, and can make no exception–but I am grateful for the kindness you have shown me today. I promise that I shall send you messages before I come to take you from this world.”

“Well,” said the man, “there is something gained from knowing when you will come. If anything, I shall certainly have many years before you visit me again!” He and Death went their separate ways, both grateful for the encounter. The man, however, did not remain healthy for long, as he soon fell bedridden with a violent fever which took away his sleep. Despite the grim prospect that this sickness presented, the man stayed confident that he would live through it, as Death had yet to send her messengers. As he had predicted, he recovered quickly and went on in life merrily. That is, until a week after he had become healthy again, someone tapped his shoulder and whispered his name.

“….H–l-w -e-ny….” The man spun around and was shocked to find Death herself standing behind him. “The time has come for you to leave this world and move to the other.”

“What?” shouted the man. “Did you not tell me that you would send your messengers to warn me of your coming? I have seen none, yet here you stand.”

“Silly man,” Death said, “has fever not come to remind you of me? Has not the cracking of your bones in the morning, the aching tooth in your mouth, and the darkness of the night reminded you of your skeleton decomposing? Furthermore, has not my brother Sleep reminded you of me every night, as you lay in bed as you will lie in your coffin?”

Hearing all of this, the man saw how Death had made a fool of him. But, it was not anger that he felt, nor was it sadness. He smiled and walked side by side with Death, content that his life had not ended with blood, but with joke.

Editor: Bella Bier

A Re-Telling of Grimm’s

Performing a Tarot Reading With Common Cards

April 26, 2018 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

Graphic by Harlow Berny

By Harlow Berny

Hello, fellow Palm Valley Students! In my last post, I briefly mentioned divination, which is the art of gaining knowledge of the future or the unknown through supernatural means. A common form of divination is tarot reading, which is done by using cards with a predetermined meaning to answer questions posed by the “reader” who is performing the “reading.” While it’s mainly tarot cards that are used for a “reading,” common playing cards can be used instead.

In a tarot reading, you have to interpret the cards for what they mean and represent. Usually there would be pictures on the tarot cards to help you with this, but since you’re using regular playing cards, you’ll need to understand what each individual card means. Luckily, Exemplore has made a simple list with the meaning of each individual card.*

For example, the Two of Spades means “failure to communicate”; the Jack of Clubs means “unreliable, hot-headed, risk-taker, athletic”; the Queen of Hearts means “emotional, dependent, and empathic.”

When it comes to the actual “reading,” things get pretty simple. You’ll need to shuffle your deck with three questions in mind (the most common three regarding the past, present, and future). If you’re not good at shuffling, you can split the deck into three stacks, rearrange them, then merge them again. Once done shuffling, you’ll need to put three cards from the top into a horizontal row without flipping them over. When you’re ready, flip the cards over from left to right. After you interpret the meaning of the cards, take some deep breaths and reshuffle the cards as you clear your mind. Congrats, you’ve finished the tarot reading! If you want a more in-depth explanation, then you can consult the Golden Thread Tarot**.

Editor: Leo Milmet

*https://exemplore.com/fortune-divination/How-to-Read-Tarot-with-Playing-Cards

**http://goldenthreadtarot.com/how-to-read-tarot-cards.html

Mythological Misunderstandings

April 18, 2018 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Graphic by Harlow Berny

By Harlow Berny

I. Love. Fairy tales. If it has magic(k), mythical creatures, or an interesting and emotionally deep plot, then chances are that I’ll like it. But the thing that sets me off the most is when there’s a misunderstanding of something important about the magic(k) or mythical creature involved in the story. Here are some of the mistakes that upset me the most.

Types of Magic(k). There are two main types: magic (simple things like pulling a rabbit out of a hat and someone using cards for a reading) and magick (occult magick such as divination and summoning a demon). The two main types of magic are not black magic and white magic. The terms black magic and white magic can be construed as racist terms made to separate the “evil, impure, and barbaric” African magic from the “good, pure, and refined” European magic. These insensitive terms are often used by people who are new to the community and mean well or people who are just using magic(k) for show/money.

Occult vs. Cult. These words do look very similar, but they certainly do not mean the same thing. Occult simply refers to anything that can’t be explained by science, while cult refers to a group that worships a particular being or object. It can be confusing to people who haven’t been told the difference, and thus has caused misrepresentation of both subjects. One example would be the game Yandere Simulator (Warning: This game would likely be rated M for Mature by the ESRB–Entertainment Software Raters Board–if it wasn’t still in development) which has an Occult Club that the player can join. When you join the club, however, you participate in cult activities such as demon summoning and sacrifice.

Satyr vs. Faun. What does a satyr have to do with a female deer? Nothing. What you’re thinking of is a fawn. A faun is a creature from Roman mythology that can be male or female and has goat legs, horns, ears, and tail with a human torso, head, arms, and hands. They typically play pan flutes, drink wine, and have an affinity for romance. Sounds familiar? That’s because many people use the word “satyr” for creatures like that, when a satyr is really a different creature from Greek mythology. A satyr is a middle-aged (or older) man with a long beard, pointed ears, a donkey tail, and a goat or enlarged human phallus that is permanently erect. They are almost always ugly and drunk, have extreme lust for women, and play a pipe flute. These creatures are from different cultures and are quite certainly different species.

Chimera vs. Manticore. For the last misunderstanding, we have two mythical creatures that I don’t see very often. A manticore comes from Persian mythology and has a lion body, human head or face, and a scorpion tail. Sometimes a manticore has poisonous spikes on a lion tail, and some modern depictions give it large bat wings. A chimera is from Greek mythology and is a female creature with a lion head, goat body, and serpent tail. Some modern depictions call any monster that is a combination of multiple animals a chimera.

Editor: Makena Behnke