The season of Thanksgiving

New York has a lot of parades with A-List guests. Recently, Macy's had their annual parade starring Santa Claus and his many friends.

Mr. Claus brings up the rear. Before he arrives, floating Smurfs and others are there for your enjoyment.

It's a great day for the whole family, and the beginning of a wonderful time of year.

City Island

I biked to City Island. Don't worry, it's not that hard, there's a bridge.

That's right, just at the edge of the Bronx there is a beautiful, quiet island like this.

You can relax, enjoy fishing, eat seafood, and see tropical parrakeets living in the wild.

I have to remind myself that this is New York City.

When is an orchard not an orchard?

When it's a beach!

Fall is fun. Look where I biked?
To Orchard Beach, the Bronx!

It is so nice to go to a beautiful beach, right in New York City.

But be careful, you have to bring your own fruit.

It is next to City Island, which is more of an island than a city. I will show you that next.

Discovering Fall in New York

La Reina has really been getting around this month. The Fall is a great time for biking, and I'm seeing nature on two wheels!
The other day I went to Spuyten Duyvil, the Bronx. This hidden place overlooks the northern tip of Manhattan.
See? Muy romantico

To get there, you have to go uphill. But that's OK, it's fun going down again afterwards.

What kind of bike do I have? I'll have to show you later. I'm jealous of some of the pimped out two-wheeled vehicles I have seen up here. I think I'm gonna buy a fruit basket for my bike.

Dancing on the boardwalk

Well it’s summer so I love to get some sun. I like to walk around and it’s a good way for the fruit on my hat to ripen. Well, this weekend I was over at Coney Island, thinking of Puerto Rico. Who doesn’t think of Puerto Rico when they’re next to the beach?

And then I heard some wonderful salsa music. Right on the boardwalk is a tent where a band plays and people dance. You should see the people at this free party. Men and women, young and old were getting down to the rhythm of the drums and the waves. Some who did not fit into these categories were also there. That’s right, I took a picture of a guy with a beard and a dress and an African grey parrot.

I'll show you some pictures of me swimming later when I can drag Sherwin out of the office to go with me.

A very creative goddess

My name is Izanami. In the Shinto tradition of Japan, I created the ground that people walk on. And when you're on islands surrounded by water, that means a lot.

First, in the high plain of heaven, several gods were created: Izanagi, and me. Izanagi and I went down a bridge from heaven to the edge of the water and poked at it with a spear, making a little dry spot. We then made a large pillar. We walked around it several times. [Sometimes this story gets sexist because I speak first and this upsets the balance of nature. Just keep reading though, and you will see that women are very important in this tradition.] Then I noticed that his body, while perfectly formed, had an extra piece sticking out. Then he noticed that my body, while perfectly formed, had a little piece missing. As we decided what to do with our discovery, we made love. Because of this act of ours, the sea quaked and islands began to rise up out of the water. Today, that place is called Japan.

After quite some time, we had created an archipelago and also a few more gods. The moon god came out of me, then my thug son Susa-no-O (the storm god). But when I tried to give birth to the fire god, it really hurt. Ouch! I was so burned, I died.

Izanami was upset and went down into the underworld to talk to me. This story is similar to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. He wasn't supposed to look back at me but he did. Demons chased up above ground and he put a big rock in the opening to the underworld.

Goddess of the arts

Do you like pictures and music and poetry?

I do! I'm the goddess of the arts.

In Hinduism I am called Saraswati. I was welcomed by Buddhists who call me Benzaiten.

No matter the religion, you want arts and I got arts!
I am usually shown with four arms, holding stuff. I date back to the era of Vedic literature.

Poetry — the Rigveda contains hymns, representing poetry

Prose — Yajurveda contains prose

Music — Samaveda represents music.

The four hands show this — prose is represented by the book in one hand, poetry by the garland of crystal, music by the veena (stringed instrument). The pot of sacred water represents purity in all of these three, or their power to purify human thought.

I am known to be the consort of Brahma, who is the creator of the universe. I am very creative, too, of course.
Sometimes a swan or peacock is shown next to me. The bird represents arrogance and pride over its beauty, and by having it as my mount, I teach not to be concerned with external appearance and to be wise regarding the eternal truth.

She's a Bad Mama Jama

You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.

I break a lot of things. I'm Kali, Goddess of Death, Change and Eternal Energy. My name means "black".

I look mean but I get things done. Let's face it, for new things to come we have to let go of old things. Without death, how would there be room for new life?

I am the consort of Shiva, known as the Destroyer.

One time, I really enjoyed a battle. I was drunk on the blood of my victims on the battlefield, dancing with destructive frenzy. I didn't see the body of my husband, Shiva, who was among the corpses on the battlefield. I even stepped on him. The cries of Shiva attracted my attention, calming my fury. I stopped killing and stuck out my tongue.

A myth depicts the infant Shiva calming me. In this story, I again defeat my enemies on the battlefield and begin to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm me down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, I cease dancing to take care of the helpless infant. I pick him up, kiss his head, and proceed to breast feed the infant Shiva. This myth depicts me in my benevolent, maternal aspect; something that is revered in Hinduism, but not often recognized in the West.

I carry a garland of severed hands around with me because I am free from the cycle of karma. I also carry a garland of severed heads because each one represents a letter of the alphabet and I am the mother of language and prayer. Hopefully I can help others with what is real and truly important.

Many know me as the eternal mother. To all of you, Happy Mother's Day!

Goddess of Compassion

Did you ever wish there was someone listening to you? That is me, the Goddess of Compassion.

In Sanskrit, my name Avalokiteshvara means "The one who looks down".

The Chinese name Kuan Yin and Japanese Kannon or Kanzeon means "Observing the cries of the world"

I am a Boddhisattva, one who attained a high level of sprirituality but made a vow to help others.I will not go on to Nirvana without helping all others attain enlightenment.

So why in some art am I a man and in some art am I a woman?
I started off as a male.By the time the Jesuits arrived in China, I was widely worshipped there.Do you know what Marketing is? That's when you try to find out what people want so you can sell them something.The Jesuits wanted everyone to like the Virgin Mary. The Chinese responded by making a female version of Kuan Yin.Buddhism is very accepting that way. So now I'm a female.

You can find statues of me with 1,000 arms. Well, sometimes there are only a few hundred symbolic arms.The picture above from Toshodaiji has more than 900 arms. And I am holding the following charms: lotus, sword, wheel of karma, bell, rosary, jewel, mirror, axe, vajra, trident, lasso, bow, arrow, and other things I can use to help people.

In Tibet I am called Chenrezig. Tradition there has evolved. I have severl forms, such as the "horse head" form. I am the protector of animals (and humans reborn as animals). I look mad because I attack ignorance and evil passion.

Goddess of beauty

Do you know why I am so beautiful? Because I'm eclectic.

I keep getting more beautiful as time goes by. Why? Because I'm never out of fashion. In fact, I am fashion.

In the Hindu tradition, I am called Lakshmi. I am beauty, grace, charm and good luck. I am wife of Vishnu. Not bad! Because I am multifaceted and organic, I am also compared to a lotus flower.

In Buddhism, I was renamed Kichijoten and borrowed, along with my full wardrobe. This gave me a chance to try on new clothes. In the painting above from the 700s, I am wearing the same gown as a Chinese Empress. I am one of the 7 gods of fortune.

In Tokyo, Japan there is a neighborhood called Kichijoji. You can go to my temple, and then you can go shopping all day. So much beauty, so little time!

Yemaya, the mother

I am Yemaya, a goddess of West Africa.
I protect children. If you’re pregnant, you should talk to me. I am ready to help all women.
I am the mother of 15 other gods. You might call me “the” mother.
I am the ocean, too. Fishermen love me, and offer me fish. My name means She whose children are like fish. When you pick up a conch shell on the sea shore and put it to your ear, you hear me.
My favorite colors are blue, silver and white. My favorite stone is blue chalcedony. I also like watermelon, and pearls, and shiny pennies.

I am also goddess of the New Year.

Artwork courtesy of Mia Hernandez

Goddess of honey, sexiness, dance, fertility, water, money, and more

I have two sides.
I am water. I am attraction.
My name is Oshun and I am a goddess of West Africa. My presence is also felt by people who came from Africa to Cuba, Brazil, etc.
I am seductive, a lover of many men, a giver of good things. I love myself and want to share life with others. I am all the best parts of being female. I am honey.
I am seen and felt where there is sweet, fresh water.
Women pray to me especially at waterfalls and I help barren women, pregnant women, and those dealing with infertility, miscarriages and difficult pregnancies. I know that inside every woman is a goddess.
Once, when there was a drought, I became a peacock and flew up to the sun. I talked with the powers that be and brought back the rains.
I am the goddess of money. In Cuba I am called Our Lady of the Caridad del Cobre, because of the association with copper money. My color is also yellow.
Don’t make me angry! It’s really hard to do, but I can be fierce.
I love to dance. When you dance, you are honoring me.

Queens and Prime Ministers

Hello La Reina fans, Women's History Month continues! Something that should be mentioned this month of course is the variety of "firsts" that women have achieved lately.

Not everyone can be the Queen anymore...now there are also democracies!

And so, we will take a look at women who have been elected to lead predominately Muslim countries.

First, Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) was twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was the daughter of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was executed for allegedly killing his political opponents. Benazir Bhutto represented her father's party the PPP. She was removed from office twice by men. She returned to Pakistan to run for office for a third time but was killed at a campaign rally.

Second, Megawati Sukarnoputri (born 1947) was the first female President of Indonesia. She is the daughter of President Sukarno. She was made president when her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was removed from office. She was President for three years and lost in Indonesia's first-ever direct election.

Third, Khaleda Zia was Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991-96 and 2001-06. She is the widow of assassinated President Ziaur Rahman. Sheikh Hasina Wahzed was elected Prime Minister and served from 1996-2001 and then from 2008 to the present. She is the daughter of the first President of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman That's two women in power.

Fourth, Tansu Çiller (born 1946) was served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993-96. She was not descended from any male political figures.

Well, it's not easy having these kinds of jobs. And the way men feel certainly seems to be an issue. But things are getting better. Here is a list of majority Islamic countries where women have recently gained the vote:

1999 - Qatar
2002 - Bahrain
2003 - Oman
2005 - Kuwait
2006 - UAE

Women still cannot vote in Saudi Arabia.

-E.M.

The Queen of Ideas

La Reina fans, it's so nice you are reading this blog about Women's History. Guess what else is fun to read? Novels? Guess who invented the novel? A Japanese lady 1,000 years ago.

I know that some make the case for some Roman fragments like The Satiricon and The Golden Ass. But speaking of ass, I'm sure you will love The Tale of Genji, the world's first real novel full of adventure and serial dating. This was the first such tradition until the Muslims got going in Spain and then the Catolicos stole their ideas a few centuries later.

So, the lady known as Murasaki Shikibu was born in 973 in the capital, Kyoto, to a family distantly related to Emperors. She was raised by her father, Fujiwara no Tametoki, who was an official in the Bureau of Ceremony (Shikibu-sho). She was given a traditional male education (Chinese works) and lived among very complicated and fashionably dressed rich people. Don't hate. It is reaqlly quite interesting to read long descriptions of every single layer of the clothes that people at court were wearing.

The Tale of Genji is the long novel for which Lady Muraski is famous. In English translation it runs over 1,000 pages and contains 54 chapters about the different love affairs of the Prince Hikaru Genji over several decades. A few centuries later a parody called "A Man who Spent His Whole Life Making Love" was written, and was also popular. Prince Genji liked women.

Some of the stories seem similar to modern life. At one point, Genji adopts a little girl, raises her, and after his wife is out of the picture he marries her. This is rather Woody Allen, don't you think?

Elsewhere an unhappy lover haunts Genji's wife (who doesn't like him anyway) which scares both spouses. This story has been interpreted as an example of how women can work together sorority-style to get back at men.

Lady Murasaki gave us many images of things that are beautiful because they are impermanent.

So are we.

The novel, however, is here to stay.

-E.M.

The Sexiest Queen

Hello La Reina fans. Can we agree on who was the sexiest queen of all time? Of course not, we can't even agree on whose Oscars gown was the most inappropriate. But face it, everyone's heard of the Queen of Sheba! There probably was only one, but that was enough for her to be very, very famous.

The Queen (whose name is given as Bilquis in the Qur'an and Makeda by the Ethiopians) ruled a large area where nowadays we find Yemen, Eritrea and Ethiopia. She came to Jerusalem at one point, with four and a half tons of gold to spend. Can you name any other independently wealthy women from that time? The Bible's greatest 'player', King Solomon, may have loved the Queen of Sheba. You might catch a reference to her in The Song of Songs, a very old love poem that compares women's breasts to fawns and gazelles. The Qur'an mentions that Solomon, who could talk to birds, sent some back and forth to invite the Queen to his kingdom and offered her many luxuries until she admitted that Islam was a pretty good idea.

But let's say that Solomon and this Queen were romantically involved. In the Ethiopian story that's exactly what happened. According to the book of the Kebra Negast, their son, Menelik, came to Jerusalem for his Bar Mitzvah ceremony. While strolling around the city, he decided it would be fun to steal the sacred Ark of the Covenant. Before anyone could stop him, he and the Ark had levitated through the air over the Red Sea and landed in Axum, Ethiopia. So naturally that is where you can go and see the Ark today. No wonder a whole Ethiopian dynasty claimed descent from Solomon and Sheba. Perhaps this helped them be the only country in Africa not conquered by white people.

Queen Tamar - The Best Queen Ever

Hello La Reina fans! Women's History Month is heating up!

Have you met Queen Tamar? She was the most amazing queen of the country of Georgia.

Georgia is a small country next to Russia, which has been making wine and art for six thousand years. Georgia is the land of the Golden Fleece from Greek mythology. Georgia was one of the first lands to embrace Christianity, and held onto it when sandwiched between the Islamic powers of Turkey and Persia. And who presided over this country's Golden Age from 1160-1213? A wonderful Queen named Tamar.

There is not enough room here to tell you how wonderful Tamar was.

Thanks to her, there is a Georgian Othodox Christian presence in Jerusalem. Thanks to her, even more artisitc influence was absorbed from the Byzantine Empire. Thanks to her, Shota Rustavelli wrote the great epic "The Knight in the Panther Skin". I have actually read this, and although it is rather Persian in outlook and the guys cry figurative rivers of tears like every other page, it is fun.

She did so much it is unfortunate that 20 years after her death the Mongols overran Georgia and broke a lot of things. But that's OK, they took over most of the world.

By the way, Tamar was later made into a Saint.

She was buried in the stylish cathedral you see above, at a time when Western Europe didn't know shit about building things.

A Green Queen

Hello La Reina fans, I hope it was a fun Saint Patrick's Day. Now let's get back to Women's History Month.

Who is this woman on the Irish 1 Pound note? What's that, you say, the Irish Pound is mythical, it has been replaced by the Euro? Well the lady here is mythical also. Her name is Queen Maeve (or Medbh in Gaelic spelling).

Queen Maeve is famous, even if she wasn't a real person, or only a fierce goddess with an insatiable appetite for men (husbands are great, every woman should have three). But if that's the case, then who is buried in this huge mound? Someone important, certainly! You'd be famous too for fighting a war over a stud bull.

I'm sure we all have found ourselves drunk and reading through the classic Irish Ulster Cycle. No, just me?

The story of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) is Maeve at her best. Connacht fought a war with Ulster. Ulster won,but why are we being so negative?

As Queen of Connacht, Maeve quarreled with her husband Ailill about who was the richer. To settle it, they had their accountants compare all their possessions--coin to coin, jewel to jewel, slave to slave, etc. It came down to the cattle. When their vast herds were counted and compared, it was found that that they were of equal quality and quantity, except that Ailill had a great bull which Maeve could not match. Maeve soon learned of an even better bull in Ulster, but her efforts to borrow it failed. Determined to take it by force Maeve, supported (for some reason) by Ailill, gathered a great army and invaded Ulster. The Tain describes the many great battles and glorious deeds of this war. Suffice it to say that the Ulstermen drove the Connacht army out of their lands, but not before Maeve captured the great bull she sought. The Ulster bull was taken to Connacht where it fought Ailill's bull, killed it, then wandered home unimpeded to Ulster.

Now, let's all thank the Irish for saving civilization.

-E.M.

Thanks to Paul Burns on the Sligo County genealogy site for some of this information.

You better believe there was a female Pope!

La Reina del Barrio's blog of Queens continues. We are mid-way through March (Women's History Month). Let's go back to the Middle Ages.

Have you heard the one about the Pope who was a lady? They say that in 858 Pope John Anglicus was in a procession trying to climb onto a horse when suddenly he..went into labor. Experts were forced to conclude that the person who had been Pontiff for the past two years, seven months and four days was in fact a woman.

Wait! I actually hadn't heard that story. Where does it come from?

Like many extraordinary Christian stories, it wasn't written down until a few generations after the events depicted. In this case, the first telling of the story was a light-hearted mention in some 13th Century Dominican texts, most famously in the Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum by Friar Martin of Troppau.

But enough Dominican jokes. Europeans loved this tale. For hundreds of years, everyone accepted that there had been a Pope Joan. Although her real name may have Gilberta. Or Agnes. Or Jutta.

Giovanni Bocaccio wrote about her. The Cathedral of Siena placed her bust between the busts of other Popes on display, for a few hundred years. It's gone now. And supposedly, Popes-to-be had to have their genitals examined prior to taking office.

Then, some began to question the story. Some said that Pope Joan was only a fiction created to explain the John XX problem. That is, somewhere along the way they skipped a number when counting the different Pope Johns, and thus one could deduce the existence of the hidden, forgotten Pope Joan.

Allow me to make a point here:

Hatshepsut the Egyptian Woman-Pharoah ardently tried to win the approval of the establishment and even wore a ceremonial strap-on beard. After her death her enemies scratched her name off the King Lists on selected monuments.

And again, the disbelievers in Pope Joan made their case. In the time of John XIX it was decided that there were actually two Popes counted as John XIV and so they could then go directly to John XXI without stopping at John XX. So how could there have been a Pope Joan?

Allow me to make two points here:

1) The Pope is supposed to be infallible but can't count?

2) "The King....has had a long journey here and miscounted....He is Louis XVII." - Monty Python, The Golden Age of Ballooning

"Pope Joan" by Donna Woolfolk Cross was a recent best-selling novel and was made into a movie. In Germany, anyway.

-E.M.

Queen Of The Desert!

Are you a woman who has dreamed of telling the most powerful men in the world what to do?

Did you know that in the ancient world there was a lady who took territory away from the Roman Empire, and controlled trade routes that brought her lots of money and art? This wonderful woman was Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. Not to be confused with Priscilla, the other queen of the desert.

Palmyra is an oasis in the desert of modern-day Syria. Zenobia was second wife of the ruler Oedenathus when he died in 267. Two years later, she had seized the province of Egypt as well as parts of what is now Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. When the governor of Egypt tried to take back the land, she cut his head off. She lived it up, and had her favorite philosopher Cassius Longinus write poetry about it. Even the ruins she left behind are amazing.

The Romans had been terribly disorganized for the past 15 years. Rebellions and civil wars marked the third century (but not as badly as they marked the fourth or fifth centuries). Until one man decided to do something about it. That man was Emperor Aurelius, who in 272 marched into Palmyra, killed Zenobia's favorite philosopher, and reunited the Roman Empire. Zenobia was brought to Rome as a prisoner and possibly lived happily there.

Aurelius then decided to march against Persia (a country which had a habit of killing Roman Emperors) but only got as far as the province of Thrace before he was killed by his own troops.

Zenobia is much more famous.

-E.M.

painting by Herbert Schmalz

The Queen of Queens

Have you ever wanted to be a Queen? Do you now or have you ever lived in Queens? Then this entry in the La Reina del Barrio blog of Queens is for you!

Some New Yorkers have noticed that one of our boroughs, Queens (Queens County), is next to Brooklyn, which is called Kings County. Who were the King and Queen who left their mark on the city? There is a love story behind all of this.

The lady's name was Infanta Catarina of Braganza. She was born in 1638 in Portugal, which at that time had been taken over by Spain. In 1640, Spain had run into trouble from terrorizing other countries in Europe (and in the New World) and allowed the House of Braganza to become Kings of Portugal again. And what did that make the beautiful Catarina? A tool for uniting royal households.

Look at her lovely portrait. Does this look like a tool to you?

One of the possible husbands for her was Louis XIV of France, the famous Sun King. You know, the one who wore those incredibly fashionable (at the time) wigs. Looking at Catarina's portrait here, I am tempted to say of her curls, HEY AT LEAST THEY'RE REAL!

While Catarina grew up, Spain continued to fight everyone in Europe. But by 1659 they had signed the Treaty of The Pyrenees where, among other settlements, France was no longer an ally of Portugal. Oh dear, they seemed to be running out of princes. But all of a sudden, the great experiment of the Commonwealth of England was crushed and Charles II (whose father's head had been cut off a few years before) was King of England again. Portugal jumped on this, and Charles was engaged to Catarina (Catherine).

Maybe the most remarkable thing about this wedding is, both spouses were Catholic but "in the closet" to preserve the Church of England power structure. In fact, there was a secret Catholic ceremony before the royal British ceremony.

And then they lived happily every after. Even when Catholics were accused of trying to poison the King in 1679, he personally defended Catherine against the angry House of Commons. He died in 1685. Later, when New Amsterdam became New York, Charles and Catherine were immortalized.

An African Queen

Women's History Month continues!

This entry is to honor Nzinga (1582-1663), the Queen of Ndongo (now called Angola).

The important facts about her life are outlined by Professor Glasgow of Bowie, Maryland:

"Her extraordinary story begins about 1582, the year of her birth. She is referred to as Nzingha, or Jinga, but is better known as Ann Nzingha. She was the sister of the then-reigning King of Ndongo, Ngoli Bbondi, whose country was later called Angola. Nzingha was from an ethnic group called the Jagas. The Jagas were an extremely militant group who formed a human shield against the Portuguese slave traders. Nzingha never accepted the Portuguese conquest of Angola, and was always on the military offensive. As part of her strategy against the invaders, she formed an alliance with the Dutch, who she intended to use to defeat the Portuguese slave traders."

The Dutch and the rulers of the kingdom of Kongo helped her defeat the Portuguese in 1648. Later, the Portuguese sent a fleet from Brazil to attack Ndongo. Instead of Queen, she preferred to be called King, and when leading an army, dressed in men's clothing.

When she grew too old to fight, she signed a treaty with Portugal in 1659. Although white expansion continued, they would still not gain control of the interior of the country until the 20th century.

Today, Nzinga is remembered in Angola for her political and diplomatic acumen, great wit and intelligence, as well as her brilliant military tactics. In time, Portugal and most of Europe would come to respect her. A major street in Luanda is named after her, and a statue of her was placed in Kinaxixi on an impressive square. Angolan women are often married near the statue, especially on Thursdays and Fridays.

-E.M.

Woman Warlord

La Reina Del Barrio's blog on Queens of the World continues.

It's a man's world, so they say.

Perhaps the most famous, most rigid man-culture was that of the samurai of Japan.

The Shogun (Generalissimo) was the real leader of the country from 1179 until 1868. The Shogun told the Emperor what to do. The Shogun was always a man.

However, even the Shogun had a mother or a wife, and one woman, Hojo Masako (1156-1225), was the ruler of the rulers of Japan.

Her rise to power was remarkable seeing how powerless women were in the previous century. The Emperors of Japan liked to have a lot of sex. That meant lots and lots of children, not all of whom could have any rights to the throne. These children were disowned by the royal family and instead given different clan names: The Clan of Minamoto and The Clan of Taira. These disowned boys all studied the art of war, then noticed that since there were so many of them they could easily take over the government. The Minamoto fought the Taira for five years and eventually defeated them. They set up a culture based on working out, meditating and creating homo-erotic artwork. Little attention was paid to women.

Hojo Masako was married to the Shogun Minamoto Yoritomo. Her first son, Minamoto Yoriie, became the next Shogun and so Masako became a nun. Her first son then tried to kill her father, so she intrigued to have the son murdered. Next, her ambitious father tried to kill her second son. At this, Masako and her brother forced her father into retirement. One would think that the second son would have remained in power, but he had no children. When her second son was assassinated in 1219, Masako arranged for her brother to become Shogun. When that brother died in 1224, Masako fought off a conspiracy to seize power and made sure that her other brother became regent.

She died the next year at age 69, having kept her family in control. One wonders when this nun found time to pray!

-E.M.

The word Kunt

Welcome to La Reina Del Barrio's blog on "Queens of the World" in honor of Women's History Month.

Do You know where the word Kunt originated from?

Our first historical figure was destined to begin this blog. There are a lot of cultures in this world, some of them very ancient. India, for example. May their legendary women inspire us all.

Have you heard of the great epic poem The Mahabharata? The title means Great India.

And in this great epic, who is the mother of them all?
Queen Kunti, of course. Kunti-Devi gives birth to many of the Pandavas, who are the good guys in the tale. Together with fun-loving Krishna, the Pandavas win the big battle.

There is much religious reverence for Queen Kunti. Just have a peek at this link:
http://vedabase.net/tqk/en

Let's get technical for a moment. The theory of the Indo-European languages states that Germanic languages, Romance languages, ancient Sanskrit and others can be traced back to a common ancestor. We're all related! That is why the word "Queen" in English is related to the Greek word "gyn-" and, similarly, to "Kunt", all of which developed from a word that might be written gʷneH2

If you live in England, you probably use the word cunt to make fun of your friends in a nice way. If you're an American, you may have used the same word to cause great offense to a woman.

Historically, this is a word that should be used as a compliment.

-E.M.