Thursday, August 15, 2013

Through the Keyhole


The modest little tortellini pasta has a piquant mythic origin.


According to Wikipedia, the origin of its shape has two versions, both essentially the same in concept. 

A strong local tradition has it that it shape was born in Castelfranco Emilia. One night during a trip, Lucrezia Borgia checked into an inn in the town and during the night the host became so captivated by Lucrezia's beauty that he could not resist the urge to peek into her room through the keyhole of her bed chamber. The room was candle lit, so all he could see was her navel. This vision was enough to send him into an ecstasy that inspired him to create the tortellini that night.

The other version tells how Venus and Jupiter, the Greek Gods of Love and of Sky and Thunder, arrived at a tavern on the outskirts of Bologna one night, weary from their involvement in a battle between Modena and Bologna. After much food and drink, they shared a room. The innkeeper, captivated by the two, followed them and peeked through the keyhole. All he could see was Venus's navel. Spellbound, he rushed to the kitchen and created tortellini in its image.

Both these versions have in common the theme of vicarious sexual innuendo, almost an idealization of the symbolic, hypnotic significance of the navel (or belly button). The belly-button signifies our attachment to the mother, and thence to the descent of the human species, our connection to ancient springs. It has almost a sacred aspect. 

______________________________________________________




There are many kinds of beauty. The part of her body he liked best was her navel, which was shaped perfectly like the yin-yang symbol. He liked to swirl his tongue around inside it, clockwise, to follow the direction of its twin nodes. He did this so often, and so effectively, that eventually she was able to achieve climax through this stimulation alone. It was their little secret. But once revealed, was no longer secret.    

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

funny...
last night I was thinking about the umbilical cord

that at one end it is attached to the belly....
so: where is it attached at the other end ?

the other thing that I was thinking...
what is the fluid that the fetus (for nine months)
is floating in ? it s own urine/waste ?