It is such a heart breaking tale. Carlo had no idea what he was asking for when he wanted his singing voice to be preserved. More than likely his adult male voice would have been wonderful as well.
There were the castrati and even before that, the priests of Cybele -- many of whom were forced to join the cult as young boys. Given that the cult of Cybele was so popular in ancient Rome, I wonder if the tradition of castrati dates back to then in some form. Cybele is Neolithic in origin. At one point under Justinian the Apostate, Justinian tried to make Cybele a rival to Christianity and the Catholic church does have this habit of co-opting various pagan traditions.
The stories of the castrati hold a lot of fascination and horror for me.. I was first exposed to that history by Anne Rice's "Cry to Heaven." My intent with this essay was to make a (probably too subtle) connection with the current controversy over the medicalization of kids who may or may not be transgender.
Oh I understood your intent. It is an interesting analogy. There are a number of folk tales which also use the same thing about regret. It is why 'first do no harm' should be engraved on every doctor's heart.
There is also the Skopsty cult from Russia which indulged in mutilation btw. A friend told me about them.
It is such a heart breaking tale. Carlo had no idea what he was asking for when he wanted his singing voice to be preserved. More than likely his adult male voice would have been wonderful as well.
There were the castrati and even before that, the priests of Cybele -- many of whom were forced to join the cult as young boys. Given that the cult of Cybele was so popular in ancient Rome, I wonder if the tradition of castrati dates back to then in some form. Cybele is Neolithic in origin. At one point under Justinian the Apostate, Justinian tried to make Cybele a rival to Christianity and the Catholic church does have this habit of co-opting various pagan traditions.
The stories of the castrati hold a lot of fascination and horror for me.. I was first exposed to that history by Anne Rice's "Cry to Heaven." My intent with this essay was to make a (probably too subtle) connection with the current controversy over the medicalization of kids who may or may not be transgender.
Oh I understood your intent. It is an interesting analogy. There are a number of folk tales which also use the same thing about regret. It is why 'first do no harm' should be engraved on every doctor's heart.
There is also the Skopsty cult from Russia which indulged in mutilation btw. A friend told me about them.
Anyway have you read the latest NHS service specification for the new clinics? There is a huge emphasis on distinguishing between children who are gender variant and indulge in that sort of behaviour and those who are gender incongruent. And there is a recognition that Adolescence gender incongruency is different from childhood. It is interesting to see where England is moving on this. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Interim-service-specification-for-Specialist-Gender-Incongruence-Services-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf