Thor Taming the Thunder
Lightning storm (mitchdobrowner.com)A solid-looking wall of steely clouds rolled in ruthlessly from the west like a column of invading tanks, then came to a standstill right above our house. Suddenly the world was dark and — for a little while — very still.
Standing in the kitchen with my three-year-old son, overlooking the garden through the large terrace windows, I remembered the news warning about remnants of the Caribbean Hurricane Gonzalo coming to pay a visit to our latitudes. If a trifle tired, having crossed over from the other side of the Atlantic, the disheveled storm was said to be still bordering on irate.
The natural spectacle opened up with style by way of a battery of lightning bolts. I think that my little boy initially (that is, the first few seconds) enjoyed the fireworks, but the inevitable clap of thunder that followed positively scared him out of his wits. He screamed and ran to me, trying — unsuccessfully needless to say — to curl up and completely hide under my right armpit.
The world outside alternated between pitch black and stroboscopic silver, and I could not help but revel in the raw beauty of the unbound natural forces managing momentarily to corral the arrogant human species.
Not so much my little boy. He kept shouting something from behind me and, as I registered with surprise, he was now overcome with anger rather than with fear. He was apparently furious at the rampant noise outside. Only after a while did I decipher his words...
Clutching at my shoulder as a battle shield he shouted at the racket outside: "No, mister must stop, he must not make noise!"
With awe, I realized that my little son not only instinctively personified the natural phenomenon and attributed to it a male essence, but even demanded that it change its attitude and stop doing whatever unpleasant it did.
It was touching as well as a bit amusing, not least because my son's first name is Thor. Somehow it was all right that he tried to tame the thunderstorm!
Later on, having calmed the child and with the deep rumbling of thunder fading in the distance, I could not help thinking about how our ancestors, only a few hundred generations ago, experienced similar emotions, and — in a number of cultures — elaborated the idea of powerful gods reigning up above, in heaven. Deities such as the Norse Thor, the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, the Celtic Taranis, the Slavic Perun, and the Hindu Indra, among many, were the Indo-European commanders of thunder and lightning.
That day, thanks to my son, the origins of the gods no longer felt distant and incomprehensible.
ENGLISH DUTCHARTICLEOCTOBER 20, 2018 AT 01:46:40 UTC