From ME'AM LO'EZ, Sephardic Jewish commentary on Genesis, published Istanbul 1730.
Disembodying Women: Perspectives on Pregnancy and the Unborn. Barbara Duden, Trans. Lee Hoinacki. Harvard UP, 1993.
"How is the little creature (kryatura) in the belly of its mother? Let your mind imagine that the kryatura, being inside the belly of its mother, can be likened to a twig doubled in half. And some say like a walnut which lies inside a watery skin, with its two hands resting on its breasts, the elbows of its arms lying on its two knees, its two heels drawn up under its backside, its head also on its knees, the mouth closed, the umbilical cord open, since through this it eats what its mother eats and drinks what its mother drinks. And there is no discharge from its body, for otherwise it would kill its mother. And when it is born, what was closed is opened, what was open is closed, for if it were not thus it could not remain living for even an hour. And it has a burning candle near its head, and it sees from one corner of the world to the other, all the while being in the belly of its mother. And in all the life of that person, it never enjoys better days than those."
From Confucian Classics, Chao Song 1991: 318.
"If parents prefer a boy, the mother should use a bow and arrow and ride mares. . . . If the child is to be beautiful, the mother should handle objects made of white jade and observe peacocks. If the child is to be virtuous and capable, the mother should be reading poems and books."
1 comment:
This is also quite amusing, but gives you pause for thought. I really like the idea of observing peacocks to get a girl! Come on girl.....come on girl!!!!
And the Sephardic text is remarkably accurate, save for the candle at the child's head (although I suppose you could read that metaphorically).
I have a book for you sitting on my monitor (yes, I still have a monitor that can hold objects, I am a Luddite, dammit! or I am just too cheap to replace what doesn't need replacing with a flatscreen until it REALLY conks out).
Anyway, it is a book Tony and Heidi found when I was pregnant and it is called Culpeper's Book of Birth: A Seventeenth Century Guide to Having Lusty Children. It contains the advice to pregnant women (much like Stephen Colbert): "Let her Drink moderately of clear wine, not exercise too much, nor dance, nor ride in a coach that shakes her; let her not lift any great weights in the first and last months. In the ninth month, let her move a little more, to dilate the parts and stir up natural heat" (67). It made me laugh because it also reminded me of my advice to you that I guessed that since you were pregnant, no more death sports for you!
There is more in there that is quite interesting....can't wait to give it to you.
Hugs,
Catherine
PS, I think I have stuff in various little places all over the house right now....it's kind of funny, but I also need to get more organized so I don't forget something.
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