Anubis

Here are some more LEGO renditions of Anubis:

Pascal built this temple.


Sir Nadroj built these statues.


David Alexander Smith made Anubis and Ra.


This version was in the "LEGO: Secrets of the Pharoahs display at Science World Vancouver.

Anubis

One of the roles of Anubis in ancient Egyptian belief was the weighing of the heart. After death, Anubis would compare the deceased's heart to an ostrich feather representing truth. If the heart was heavier (therefore impure), the demon Ammit would devour the soul. Otherwise the soul would go on to immortality with Osiris. Inquisitor88 depicts Anubis and his scales.

Anubis

Anubis (here by the Deathly Halliwell), was an important god of the dead in ancient Egypt. He was associated with the whole mummification practice and burial and the passage of the dead into the afterlife. He is most often shown as having the body of a man and the head of a jackal.

He is risen!

Christ the Redeemer Garden by AlanBoar. Happy Easter.

Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
MOC by Sir Valiant.

Good Friday

Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[b] being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:5-11



MOC by customBRICKS

Maundy Thursday

Yesterday was Maundy Thursday, the day Christians remember the Last Supper and the night Jesus was arrested. At the last supper, Christ said "This is my body" and "This is my blood", pointing to how he was about to give his body up for sacrifice and have his blood spilled for his followers. Ever since Christians have celebrated holy communion in remembrance of that night, but there has been debate among branches of Christianity about what is actually going on in that ritual. Some believe that the bread and wine are mere symbols, pointing us to remember Christ's sacrifice. Others believe in a more literal reading of Christ's words, feeling that in some mystical way the bread and wine actually take on the substance of Christ's body and blood, either at the point of blessing (transubstantiation) or in some way at all times (consubstatiation). This communion scene was on Pinterest; it was attributed to ValGlaser on Etsy, but that person seems to have deleted their Etsy account, so I don't have a link to the original.

Why is this night, no, a couple of nights ago, different from all other nights?

Sorry, I've been a bad blogger and didn't blog for the past couple of days. Two nights ago was the first night of Passover, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites had become slaves in Egypt, and God heard them crying out. He sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, and caused ten plagues to come upon the Egyptians. Many of these events are illustrated here in LEGO by Athos. The Passover itself remembers the tenth and most horrible plague - God sent the angel of death through Egypt to kill every first born son. The only ones spared were the Israelites, who had sacrificed lambs and painted the lambs' blood above their doorposts, as seen below. Pharoah was so devastated by this plague that he relented and let the Israelites go (though he then changed his mind, leading to the confrontation at the Red Sea). Today Jews remember this night and the events around the Exodus with the Passover Seder, a ritual meal with lots of symbolism. See this post from last year for Joanna Brichetto's LEGO seder.

Palm Sunday

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. As Fithboy illustrates here, a week before his crucifixion, Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. "The Coming of Zion's King – See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" Zechariah 9:9. The people sang his praises and laid palm branches and their cloaks on the ground before him.

Satanic LEGO?

Lego is a tool of Satan, warns Polish priest This is one of those crazy stories that hits the intertubes and then runs around different media. The fact that it first came out on April 1 should be suggestive, but some news stories are reporting additional remarks to an AP reporter on April 4, so maybe this guy is serious. As the story goes, the priest is supposedly complaining about the Monster Fighters sets that include vampires, werewolves, etc., and also cites a story from last year about the increasing number of "angry" faces for LEGO figures. I'm 99% sure that this is all an April Fools joke that got picked up by a news organization, and then other news organizations picked it up from there, etc, but I've seen people complain about Harry Potter, etc, so who knows?



BTW, I'm personally most offended that the picture above, which I grabbed from the Telegraph article on this, actually has Megablox, not LEGO, as the backdrop for the vampire figure. There has to be some midrash expansion on Deuteronomy 22:11 saying that it is wrong to mix LEGO and Megablox.

Beth Sholom Synagogue

Tim S built the Beth Sholom Synagogue, a synagogue outside of Philadelphia designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.