PARAPEGMA
These days you might be buying calendars and diaries for the new year, and if you glanced at a calendar you would have seen the date and perhaps something associated with it, e.g. Boxing Day or New Year's Day. In ancient history the parapegma (pl. parapegmata) were objects or inscriptions that tracked significant astronomical, meteorological and calendrical events. On the object or next to the inscription was a hole and you would move a peg from hole to hole and thereby track significant movements throughout the month or year. It provided a brilliant visual context for that which was deemed important in life.
A well-known example of the parapegma is in the front-face of the Antikythera Mechanism which tracked the sun’s path through the signs of the Zodiac as well as the moon’s phases (among other things). I wonder what our modern equivalents are of tracking significant movements in our lives. Life is so fast-paced and many of us are utterly lost without our calendars, but what about the calendars of our inner selves? Do we have our own parapegmata along which we move the pegs in our lives? Calendars of key moments, joys, hurts, memories? Do we keep track of those? A biblical passage comes to mind: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Ps. 90:12). Are we counting our days? Are we aware of what is important in our life, of our inner movements and how we move through them?
Journaling has long been recognised as one method of moving the pegs in our lives in a way that has proven to make us less stressed, less anxious, stronger, happier and healthier. It is a way of stopping to acknowledge where we are, how we got there, and where we would like to move on from there. You may find that traditional journaling is not for you, but there are many creative ways in which you could make your own parapegma tablet and count your days, your markers, turning points, failures, triumphs, celebrations – all that makes your life what it is and what makes you you. You can write one line a day, write based on images (or just collect images that reflect something in your life at that moment), set a timer and write regularly for that amount of time, create new personal or family traditions, etc. According to the biblical author this tracking and counting of days makes our hearts wise. In a world that is often chaotic and overwhelming, preoccupied with knowledge and information, a little wisdom might take us a long way.
(c) Belinda É. Samari
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Lehoux, D. 2012. Parapegma. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History.
Mercer, Amanda et al. 2010. Visual journaling: An intervention to influence stress, anxiety and affect levels in medical students. The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 37 (2), 143-148.
Gortner, Eva-Maria et al. 2006. Benefits of Expressive Writing in Lowering Rumination and Depressive Symptoms. Behaviour Psychotherapy, Vol. 37 (3), 292-303.
Esterling, Brian A. et al. 1999. Empirical foundations for writing in prevention and psychotherapy: mental and physical health outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 19 (1), 79-96.
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