Fiend Without a Face

As a young man, I sought a university degree in English Literature. I was frustrated by my inability to see deeper meanings in the great books our professors insisted we read. But now, having lived long, these insights come to me unbidden.

Here is an excellent example.

In last night’s horrid dream, a terrifying creature pursued me wherever I went. This creature had no clear form and no face. It appeared everywhere, in a dream that seemed to span a lifetime. 

I am familiar with the theories of C. J. Jung and Joseph Campbell. Obviously, the faceless dream creature represents my ever-present anxiety over so many things – lately, job security issues. Like the faceless creature, these worries are vague and malformed. Wherever I go, they pursue me like a pestilence. There is no escape.

This brings to mind the British science fiction film, Fiend Without a Face (1958; link below), and After the Fox (1966), in which Peter Sellers delivers a memorable line - paraphrased: no matter how fast you run, you can never run away from yourself. 

To relieve the pounding headache brought on by this ever-present tension, I paid $108 for a scalp massage at a fancy spa. But that is another story.

Links:

The Fiend Without A Face (1958) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiend_Without_a_Face

Eyes Without a Face (1960, France): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_without_a_face

After The Fox (1966), http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060200/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt

The Cheapside Hoard

There's no telling what you'll find when you renovate an old building. You just might discover buried treasure, such as The Cheapside Hoard.

From the Cheapside Hoard: The Stafford Intaglio 

The hoard was uncovered in London in 1912, when a construction worker tearing up a floor with a pickaxe broke through to a stone-lined sub-basement. There he found a wooden box containing "the world’s largest collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewels," according to the October 12, 2013 issue of The Economist (link below). 

Why were over 400 pieces of jewelry buried in the basement? The accepted explanation is that this was once the cellar of a  jeweller's shop. In the 1600s, the street was known as Goldsmith's Row.

If you believe the Wikipedia article (link below), the hoard was buried sometime in the period 1640 to 1666. England's Civil War was raging during that period. That suggests the jewels were hidden to protect them from anti-monarchists or civil disturbances. Perhaps nobility left them with the jeweler for safekeeping. But why didn't the owners return to reclaim their jewelry when the war was over? 

Ali Baba by Maxfield Parrish (1909)

There's a potent analogy here, for those who care to see it: that of hidden mysteries. Finding an underground chamber filled with buried treasure is symbolic of self-discovery, as noted in this earlier post on Joseph Campbell: Aladdin's Cave.

The Cheapside Hoard is on display at the Museum of London through April 2014.

Links:

• The Economist: Cheapside Hoard: A trove of historic jewellery goes on show a century after it was discovered, October 12, 2013
• Museum of London: The Cheapside Hoard: London's Lost Jewels
• Wikepedia: The Cheapside Hoard