Monday, May 11, 2009

Jacob's-Ladder

JACOB'S-LADDER, n. A ladder which Jacob saw in a dream reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. Seeing that angels have wings, the purpose of this ladder is so imperfectly apparent that many learned commentators have contended that it was not a real ladder, but only a ray of glory. One cannot help thinking it rather hard on Jacob that he should be required to dream with logical realism.

2009 Update: In ancient scripture, a symbol of mystery. In old movies, a sign of science fiction.

17 comments:

the amoeba said...

JACOB'S-LADDER, n. Prehistory's conception of an elevator to the stars.

Houston, we have an amoeba problem.

Mo'a said...

Most Danish churches have a ladder design instead of a spiral with a cross.
A ladder to heaven.

pia said...

Literally: Led Zepillin's stairway to heaven.

TLP said...

Jacob's ladder: A string trick we did when I was a kid.

Tom & Icy said...

That leash without a dog on it.

sauerkraut said...

Didn't Jacob use that ladder to get out of the hole his brothers put him in?

Jamie Dawn said...

Beam me up, Jacob!

:-)

Nessa said...

I wrote about Angels in my journal this morning.

I thought you were doing PR for Dan Brown.

tsduff said...

Yay TLP. That's my definition too.
Do you still remember how to do it?

Ariel the Thief said...

Another gift from the generous uncle?

TLP said...

No Terry, I couldn't do it today. But look at this site:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Jacob's-Ladder-out-of-String

Cooper said...

I had so hoped there would be nothing to climb today.

Stuck on the middle rung I'll always be.

I believe Jacob had been drinking something quite strong that evening.

quilly said...

Whatever Jacob's ladder is, it's probably right where he left it for someone else to put away. Dreamers are like that.

Jim said...

.
.
We are climbing Jacob's ladder (X3)
We're brothers and sisters, all

Every rung goes higher and higher
We are brothers and sisters, all

Every new rung just makes us stronger (X3)
We're brothers and sisters, all

Yeah, we are climbing Jacob's ladder(X2)
We are climbing Jacobs ladder (X3)
We're brothers and sisters, all


Yeah we are climbing higher and higher
We are climbing higher and higher
Yeah we are climbing higher and higher
We are climbing Jacobs ladder
We're brothers and sisters, all

Lyrics by Pete Seeger
Sung by Bruce Springsteen

Wait a minute, I remember singing that song way back when I was in Sunday school as a child!
What's going on Pete??
..

Doug The Una said...

Amoeba, we need time to recover from our Arthur C. Clark problem, first.

Mo'a, I bet it goes to the attic.

Pia, with a word you can get what you came for.

I don't know that one, TLP. A cat's cradle sort of thing?

Tom, I keep two of the opposite, most times.

Actonbell, it's actually a great chapter in Genesis. Give it a read. For literature's sake if you like.

Sauerkraut, you mean Joseph?

"She can't take much more o' this, Cap'n, Leah's plain as a pickle!"

Nessa, it's kind of hard to avoid anymore. I had to laugh at the "Angels and Demons" ad on TV. "Better than the DaVinci Code!" But is it good?

You too, Terry? I guess it's one of those things boy's miss. One of them.

Ariel, the uncle himself, actually.

Cooper, I don't know if this is an adage but it should be: No-one wrassles angels sober.

Dreamers and couch potatoes, Quilly.

Did Pete Seeger really write that, Jim? I thought it was an old hymn, but Pete Seeger could have written old hymns, I expect.

Anonymous said...

Jakob's Ladder: what he uses when he plays volcano and we climb down into the volcano to study the lava then have to scramble up when it's going to erupt.

weirsdo said...

An early sign that the Hebrew people were God's chosen. But as Tevye says in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, "Why must you always choose us?"