Lefthand names…. well, I know where that comes from: Jewish mysticism. (I can’t spell the word they use for that occult system.) If you’re that curious, go look it up sometime.
Terry: Nah – if it was, Digger would have said something. Since she’s wanting to get *on* with things, she cut them short so they could get moving.
Well, the Hebrew doesn’t entirely map one-for-one to English letters, so the spelling tends to vary, but Kabbalah or Kabbaleh is how I’ve usually seen it spelled. That’s where English “cabal” and “cabalistic”, et al, come from.
I love the way these panels are done. It’s as if we are seeing what Digger sees in the first two, as she is raising her eyes (or rolling them) in a great huge silent sigh of “Can we GO NOW”
Her expression reminds me of myself, as I’m tapping my foot and trying to get my son to move his buns and get ready for school!
I really have to feel for the skins, here. I once took a class where we were given the opportunity to grind up cochineal beetle shells to make a lovely scarlet ink for illuminations. It’s not as easy as it sounds, since you REALLY have to grind them up VERY finely. And then just one errant breeze, or a sneeze…and all your work floats away…
greetings, my name is kisame, i would like to leave my human community and join the skins city/borrow/village/metropolin/hive/territory, where do i sign in?
You can’t write them in brown. It just isn’t done.
The matter-of-fact way the skins talk never ceases to amuse me. They are so straightforward and honest, but you still don’t really know what they’re talking about.
What’s wrong with brown? Maybe since the skins are under the earth it is too abundant of a color down there and therefore not special enough to write down the names of Gods with.
Thanks Tek. Did anyone else notice that the skins wanted to write the lefthand names of God on the “inside’ of the skin? Perhaps it is not fitting to have such a important thing exposed to the air, where any casual observer who did not understand the true meaning of it could view it? On a side note I feel so sorry for the skins having to do such hard work just to show respect.
ObLanguageNitpick: “kind’ve” would expand to “kind have” (cf. “would’ve” and “should’ve”). You really needed to stay with “kind of” here. This is the inverse of the common error in which people spell my other two examples “would of” and “should of”.
It may have been Tek : ) So few rocks look like Bunnies. What are the odds?
As for the left-hand names of god, not only does it invoke Kabbaleh, but phrase “lefthand names of god” is just creepy, so, excuse the pun, I think that Ursula may have chosen those particular words simply because they are quite sinister. Where the purple ink comes in I have no idea, but the old website stated that Ursula just liked purple ink, so that’s probably it.
On an unrelated note, was anyone else expecting to see Ed’s secret picture? I felt sure this comic would show it, and am both slightly miffed and very relieved it hasn’t made an appearance yet: Part of me is desperate to know what it’s a picture off, but another part of me is sure it’s a picture of Grim-Eyes as a baby and is screaming “Don’t show it! Don’t show it!” for that reason. The last thing we need in this situation is someone pulling out the infamous and much-troped-about Fatal Family Photo.
@Quizt: Don’t be too jealous yet…it was a whole track of classes, offered while we were camping at a medieval event, with the track being “From nothing to a book”…the track started, at 8 am, with us helping to scrape down a goat skin for parchment (not a good thing to wake up to, I might add), and ended with helping to bind a finished book. Okay, NOW you can be jealous. (grin).
I love the way the panels go in this one.
Also… lefthand names? First names, perhaps?
Lefthand names…. this is gonna be another one of those “bones of the sea” moments, isn’t it?
It’s just like “Night of the Hunter,” except god has “B I L L” tattooed across one set of knuckles, and “T E D” across the others.
Applied entomology! XDDD
Lefthand names…. well, I know where that comes from: Jewish mysticism. (I can’t spell the word they use for that occult system.) If you’re that curious, go look it up sometime.
Terry: Nah – if it was, Digger would have said something. Since she’s wanting to get *on* with things, she cut them short so they could get moving.
Well, the Hebrew doesn’t entirely map one-for-one to English letters, so the spelling tends to vary, but Kabbalah or Kabbaleh is how I’ve usually seen it spelled. That’s where English “cabal” and “cabalistic”, et al, come from.
I just realized that they don’t specify WHICH god…
Ah, Digger, glad you could join us. Was hoping you’d interupt soon.
I love the economy of writing in this one. “Not much” is a stroke of genius. So much said in so little words, and so funny to boot!
@Ray: Not “Bill” and “Ted” but “Elwo” and “od,” I would guess.
Remember to vote! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
Thanks, Ursula!
I love the way these panels are done. It’s as if we are seeing what Digger sees in the first two, as she is raising her eyes (or rolling them) in a great huge silent sigh of “Can we GO NOW”
Her expression reminds me of myself, as I’m tapping my foot and trying to get my son to move his buns and get ready for school!
*snork!*
But, but… if we move on with the deadline, we will never learn how to make the beautiful, rich purple without chasing tiny bugs all winter!
I really have to feel for the skins, here. I once took a class where we were given the opportunity to grind up cochineal beetle shells to make a lovely scarlet ink for illuminations. It’s not as easy as it sounds, since you REALLY have to grind them up VERY finely. And then just one errant breeze, or a sneeze…and all your work floats away…
Our joyful meeting between possible soul buddies (as opposed to soul mates) is interupted by the urgency to kill a hyena god. So sad.
greetings, my name is kisame, i would like to leave my human community and join the skins city/borrow/village/metropolin/hive/territory, where do i sign in?
You can’t write them in brown. It just isn’t done.
The matter-of-fact way the skins talk never ceases to amuse me. They are so straightforward and honest, but you still don’t really know what they’re talking about.
What’s wrong with brown? Maybe since the skins are under the earth it is too abundant of a color down there and therefore not special enough to write down the names of Gods with.
*archive dive commencing … *
HA! Found it! I knew I had seen the term “lefthand names of God” before! http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=4
I also noticed something else on that page, and have to ask: was that where you got your username, BunnyRock?
😉
Don’t forget to VOTE!
Duck Whisperer: They just REALLY like purple. A lot.
I love how this page is laid out as well 🙂
Also, since it is a new month, Digger’s way back down in the 40’s again. Even if it’s not on an update day, stop by and vote! 😀
Thanks Tek. Did anyone else notice that the skins wanted to write the lefthand names of God on the “inside’ of the skin? Perhaps it is not fitting to have such a important thing exposed to the air, where any casual observer who did not understand the true meaning of it could view it? On a side note I feel so sorry for the skins having to do such hard work just to show respect.
@CoyoteGrey: I think that was just to clarify that they would, in fact, skin Digger, instead of just giving her a tattoo and sending her on her way.
@Glenn (a different one): I’m cheerfully jealous.
The interplay between the skins and their arcana on the one hand and the utter practicality of Digger on the other is quite wonderful, yes, indeed.
ObLanguageNitpick: “kind’ve” would expand to “kind have” (cf. “would’ve” and “should’ve”). You really needed to stay with “kind of” here. This is the inverse of the common error in which people spell my other two examples “would of” and “should of”.
It may have been Tek : ) So few rocks look like Bunnies. What are the odds?
As for the left-hand names of god, not only does it invoke Kabbaleh, but phrase “lefthand names of god” is just creepy, so, excuse the pun, I think that Ursula may have chosen those particular words simply because they are quite sinister. Where the purple ink comes in I have no idea, but the old website stated that Ursula just liked purple ink, so that’s probably it.
On an unrelated note, was anyone else expecting to see Ed’s secret picture? I felt sure this comic would show it, and am both slightly miffed and very relieved it hasn’t made an appearance yet: Part of me is desperate to know what it’s a picture off, but another part of me is sure it’s a picture of Grim-Eyes as a baby and is screaming “Don’t show it! Don’t show it!” for that reason. The last thing we need in this situation is someone pulling out the infamous and much-troped-about Fatal Family Photo.
@Quizt: Don’t be too jealous yet…it was a whole track of classes, offered while we were camping at a medieval event, with the track being “From nothing to a book”…the track started, at 8 am, with us helping to scrape down a goat skin for parchment (not a good thing to wake up to, I might add), and ended with helping to bind a finished book. Okay, NOW you can be jealous. (grin).