Los encanto del páramo / Venezuelan Mountain Sprites (short film in Spanish)

Duendes en / Elves at Wroclaw, Poland (Polonia)

ORIGEN HISTÓRICO DE ESTA TRADICIÓN

"La Alternativa Naranja surgió en el país como un movimiento contestatario (famoso en los años 80) que protestaba de forma un tanto tímida pero imaginativa, contra la declaración de la ley marcial en Polonia y el absolutismo comunista. Cientos de ciudadanos se manifestaban paseando su muda reclamación de democracia, vestidos con ropa de color naranja y teniendo como símbolo un duende.

El periodo de ley marcial en Polonia (1981-1983) tuvo lugar cuando el gobierno de la República Democrática restringió drásticamente la vida normal. La frase en polaco es “Stan Wojenny” (“estado de guerra”). Aunque el país permaneció en paz durante este periodo, los movimientos democráticos fueron prohibidos y sus líderes, encarcelados. La ley marcial fue la causa de un gran número de muertes. Sus responsables hablaron de una docena de víctimas mortales aproximadamente, pero una comisión parlamentaria entre 1989 y 1991 arrojó unas estadísticas de unas 90 muertes. La ley marcial tuvo también consecuencias económicas negativas. Fue establecida una “reforma económica” que se sumó a un gran aumento de precios, como resultado de que los ingresos de la población cayesen considerablemente. Tras la caída del comunismo en Polonia en 1989, se determinó que la ley marcial había sido declarada en una clara violación de la constitución polaca. Por todo ello, no sorprende en absoluto que esta dinámica capital haya hecho de los duendes su ejemplo y estandarte.

Wroclaw, en recuerdo y homenaje a aquel movimiento anticomunista, ha salpicado su geografía con estos minúsculos monumentos."

Fuente del texto: http://murciarec.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/la-ciudad-de-%E2%80%98la-ruta-de-los-duendes%E2%80%99-borrador/

ENGLISH:

"In 2001, to commemorate the Orange Alternative movement, a figurine of a dwarf (the movement’s symbol) was officially placed on Świdnicka Street, where the group’s happenings used to take place. It is probably one of the few cases in the world where such a subversive group has been honoured by the city authorities, who commissioned the placing of a statue of a dwarf in the city centre.

In 2003, the Mayor of Wrocław, in an attempt to continue the new tradition, unveiled a small plaque on the door of The Dwarfs’ Museum. It can be found at the height of human knees on the wall of a historic tenement called: Jaś, which is situated between the Market Square and St. Elizabeth’s Church. 

The figures of the dwarfs, which are smaller than the Orange Alternative monument on Świdnicka Street, were placed in different parts of the city. The first five: designed by Tomasz Moczek, a graduate of The Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, were placed in August 2005. These were the Fencer near the University of Wrocław, the Butcher in Stare Jatki arcade, two Sisyphuses on Świdnicka Street and the Odra-Washer-Dwarf, near Piaskowy Bridge. The name of the last dwarf is related to Pracze Odrzańskie: an estate on the outskirts of the city. Since that time, the number of figures has continued growing, predominantly in the Old Town.

A ceremony unveiling two other dwarfs took place on the day of June 18, 2008. They were situated on Świdnicka Street, next to W-skers: a dwarf in a wheel chair. The figures represent two disabled dwarfs: the Deaf-mute and the Blind. They are part of the Wrocław Without Barriers campaign, which aims at drawing attention to handicapped people living in Wroclaw. Five days later, at the Hematology and Pediatric Oncology Clinic in Wrocław, another dwarf was erected. It was to be the third female dwarf: Marzenka, whose design was based on the logo of the Mam marzenie charity."

Source of text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw%27s_dwarfs

Fuente de las imágenes / Pictures' source:
http://elblogderitualsound.blogspot.com.es/2012/08/los-duendes-de-wroclaw-polonia.html

Terafines / Teraphim

TERAFINES:

 Los terafines generalmente eran pequeñas figurillas humanas y con frecuencia se hacían de madera (1 Sam. 19: 13-16). 

Las excavaciones efectuadas en el Cercano Oriente han permitido descubrir un gran número, hechas de madera, arcilla y metales preciosos. Algunas representan dioses masculinos, pero la mayoría son figurillas de deidades femeninas de 5 a 7,5 cm de largo.

Se usaban como dioses familiares o se colgaban del cuerpo de la persona como amuletos protectores. Puesto que la mayoría representan diosas desnudas cuyos rasgos sexuales están acentuados, probablemente se pensaba que promovían la fertilidad. Esta quizá sea la razón principal por la cual Raquel las deseaba (Gén. 31).

Textos cuneiformes de Nuzi, Mesopotamia, revelan que, en ocasión de la muerte del padre, los ídolos familiares eran heredados por los hijos adoptivos solamente cuando no estaban presentes los verdaderos.

Si un hombre tenía hijos, sus dioses no podían ser propiedad de sus hijas (Raquel no tenía derecho a los ídolos familiares de su padre, como lo admitió francamente Jacob - Gén. 31: 32).

Otros documentos hallados también en Nuzi indican que en la era patriarcal la posesión de los ídolos de la familia, tales como los que tenía Labán, le garantizaban a quien los tenía el título de las propiedades de su padre (ANET 219, 220). Probablemente ésta era la razón principal por la cual Labán estaba tan ansioso de recuperarlos (Gén. 31: 30, 33-35).

Fuente del texto: http://eltextobiblicoat.blogspot.com.es/2009/10/teraphim.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kircher_oedipus_aegyptiacus_26_teraphim.png

ENGLISH

TERAPHIM:

Plural word of unknown derivation used in the Old Testament to denote the primitive Semitic house-gods whose cult had been handed down to historical times from the earlier period of nomadic wanderings. The translation of the term "teraphim" by the Greek versions, as well as its use in the Scriptures, gives an excellent idea of the nature of these symbols. Thus Aquila renders the word by "figures"; the Septuagint in Genesis by "images," in Ezekiel by "carved images," in Zechariah by "oracles," and in Hosea by "manifest objects" (δῆλοι). The Authorized Version often simply transcribes the word, as in Judges xvii. 5, xviii. 14 et seq., and Hos. iii. 4, but frequently translates it "images," as in Gen. xxxi. 19 et passim. The rendering "images" occurs in I Sam. xix. 13 also, "idols" in Zech. x. 2, and "idolatry" in I Sam. xv. 23.

The form of the word in Hebrew must be regarded as a plural of excellence. Just as "Elohim" denotes "gods" and "God," the form "teraphim" is applicable to each single object as well as to the entire class (comp. I Sam. xix. 13 and Gen. xxxi. 19). —Biblical Data: That teraphim were really images of human shape and of considerable size is plainly seen from I Sam. xix. 13, where Michal, the daughter of Saul, places one in David's bed in order to conceal his escape from her enraged father. It is furthermore evident that they were not too large to be easily portable, inasmuch as Gen. xxxi. 19 mentions that Rachel, without her husband's knowledge, stole the teraphim which belonged to her father, Laban, and, when she wished to conceal them, placed them among the camel's furniture and sat upon them (Gen. xxxi. 34)...

Function.

 It will appear from the above quotations that the most important function of the teraphim, at any rate after the spread of the Yhwh cult over Israel, was that of divination. Evidently the images were used chiefly for oracular purposes, although nothing is known of the method of their consultation; it is probable, however, that they were used in connection with casting the sacred lot (comp. Zech. x. 2; Ezek. xxi. 26 [A. V. 21]). The mention of an ephod in connection with teraphim (Judges xvii. 5, xviii. 20) is a peculiar use of that word, which in these passages represents merely "a portable object employed or manipulated by the priest in consultation with the oracle" (comp. Moore, "Judges," p. 379, and see Judges viii. 27, which clearly describes an ephod as an object employed in divination). This use of the word seems to be quite distinct from that in the so-called P document (Ex. xxviii. 6 et seq.), where a high-priestly garment of the same name is referred to (see Ephod). 

Such oracles were probably consulted down to a quite late date (comp. Hos. iii. 4, Hebr.: "for the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice [], and without a pillar [], and without an ephod, and without teraphim"). The passage II Kings xxiii. 24, cited above, makes it evident that teraphim had survived in later Judah. The mention of teraphim in Zech. x. 2 may have been due to an archaizing tendency of the author of this section (see Zechariah), and would not in itself be sufficient evidence to prove that the teraphim cult had continued into the Greek period; if, however, this passage is taken in conjunction with the statement of Josephus ("Ant." xviii. 9, § 5) that the customof carrying house-gods on journeys into strange countries prevailed in his time in the Mesopotamian regions, it appears highly likely that the use of teraphim continued into the first Christian century and possibly even later.

Text source: http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14331-teraphim