Specking of thermite.
Because we are here with N-D in a huge symbolism in so many ways, the word "thermite" here leads me to another one which has the same pronounciation at least in French:
termite, this
eusocial insects.
The word
eusociality means as stated by Wikipedia:
the highest level of organization of
sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative
brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society which are sometimes called
castes.
Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform at least one behavior characteristic of individuals in another caste.
Emphasis is mine.
From
French Wiki:
A primitive behaviour certainly, but with a rich and very coherent overall result. Unlike human social models, individual behaviour focuses exclusively on the interests of the community.
Now, I took a look at the
Dictionary of symbols (
Dictionnaire des symboles) written by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant that I have at home and here is what they say about "termite":
Although the life of termites is, in general, counterpart to that of their cousins the ants, various symbolic elements are particular to them. First, the purpose of their activity is considered in a different way: it is a symbol of slow and clandestine destruction, but also of merciless destruction; what it actually is in reality, at least from the point of view of down-to-earth men mentality.
In India, termite mound soil is supposed to have a protective role, probably because the underground activity of insects puts them in contact with harmful influences from the soil.
Among the mountaineers of South Vietnam, the termite mound is occasionally the residence of the superior Ndu engineer (in the meaning of senior genius), who insures and protects the crops. It is therefore a guarantee of wealth. The relationship of the termite mound to the prima materia is confirmed in India by the relationship known to it with the nâga; and this is perhaps also why rain is obtained in Cambodia by driving a stick into a termite mound.
The termite mound has an extremely complex and important symbolic and esoteric meaning in the cosmogonic thinking of the Dogons and Bambaras. In the myths of the creation of the world, it represents first of all the clitoris of the earth erected against the sky and making imperfect the first Urano-telluric union. This clitoris is the male polarity of the woman, which must, for this reason, be excised. It is also the symbol of the unique (in the meaning of The One), erected and in a way opposed to creation, entirely governed by the principle of duality, or whimpering. This understanding of the termite mound, as a symbol of solitary and mysterious power, means that the few great initiates of Bambara societies, who have reached the highest degree of spiritual perfection accessible to man, are called those behind the termite mound.
Emphasis are from the book.
I do not why this
Ndu god and this
nâga words ring a bell to me, but I'm pretty sure I've read something about it not so long ago.
I also wanted to share this Website named
Patrimoine religieux (Religious heritage) where is listed among others subtitles (on the left):
"Statistiques" is a search box. And reading some of them as list and especially the later one and the 5th one is pretty telling and give an idea of the state of our religious heritage here in France.
About the numbers of the religious edifice in France, Wikipédia says:
100,000 religious buildings (an average of 2.5 per municipality), including 15,000 protected as historical monuments. The Catholic heritage represents 45,000 parish churches, as well as a large number of private chapels, abbeys, and other monuments that are no longer in use today. There are also 3000 Protestant places of worship (including 1200 Reformed or Lutheran temples and churches and 1800 evangelical churches), 2,200 mosques, 500 synagogues and 300 Buddhist temples.
As of 4 January 2019, the
French Bishops' Conference counted 40,307 communally owned churches and chapels and 1,951 diocesan owned churches as of 12 September 2016.
I do not know if cathedrals are part of this last count but I guess there are, and from
Wikipédia, there are 154 cathedrals in France, 87 of which belong to the State.
And over the world, here on French Wikipédia are the
states having the most number of them:
In 2010, the Roman Catholic Church has 2,928 cathedrals or co-cathedrals, mainly in countries with a large Catholic population: Italy (356), Brazil (276), United States (207), India (152), France (154), Mexico (94), Spain (89), Philippines (87), Colombia (80), Canada (74) and Argentina (72).
Then, according to French Wikipédia India had almost the same number of cathedrals than France in 2010. I can't help myself to think about
these horrible attacks against
catholics in Sri Lanka today, the
Resurrection Sunday:
Catholicism is one of the main religions of Sri Lanka: Christianity as a whole is the country's fourth religion, after Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam1.
Note that on the English Wikipédia, numbers are not the same and the count is made on 2018 and not in 2010 as for the French Wikipédia:
As of
December 2018, the
Catholic Church had
3,391 cathedral-
level churches;
Cathedral (3,037),
Co-cathedral (312), and
Pro-cathedral (42) status around the world, predominantly in countries with a significant Roman Catholic population: Italy (
368), Brazil (
287), United States (
215), India (
183), France (
110), Mexico (
100), Spain (
88), Philippines (
88), Colombia (
86), Canada (
79) and Argentina (
72).
Maybe the difference is due to time between 2010 and 2018 (some somewhere have been erected, others have been desacralized. And maybe they (French Wikipédia and English Wikipedia) do not exactly count the same way. Maybe
co-cathedrals is the same than
cathedral-level churches, maybe it's not, I do not know. But in both ways, it is about
Catholic Church... I would have lost my Latin if I ever had one!
The difference between 2010 and 2018 for France would mean we have lost 42 cathedrals and/or co-cathedrals (or cathedrals-
level churches)??? Weird if true, to say the least.
