Our entry today is in no way related to April Fools’.
Or, well — maybe it is. Bear with us as we sort out our muddled, post Day-of-Folly brains.
Today we’re feeling mystical and considering the Symmetry of Destinies — a term coined by metaphysical author Ray Grasse to describe fated, interlocking lives and how those lives become connected, sometimes through random, often astounding events.
This being Nightcharm, our Symmetry of Destiny example involves a military guy’s testicles.
Yes, a balls-out miracle we felt compelled to share.
Our amazing story is taken from the 1896 book Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, and involves a soldier wounded during a Civil War battle between Grant’s army and a Confederate detachment.
The fighting was fierce, hope was slim and a split second after our soldier was shot
…a piercing cry was heard in [a] house near [the battleground]. Examination of the wounded soldier showed that a bullet had passed through the scrotum and carried away the left testicle. The same bullet had apparently penetrated the left side of the abdomen of…[a] young lady midway between the umbilicus and the anterior … of the ileum, and become lost in the abdomen.
This daughter suffered an attack of peritonitis, but recovered … Two hundred and seventy-eight days after te reception of the minie’ bal, she was delivered of a fine boy, weighing eight pounds, to the surprise of herself and the mortification of her parents and friends. The doctor concluded that the same ball that had carried away the testicle of his young friend … had penetrated the young lady, and, with some spermatozoa upon it, had impregnated her. With this conviction he approached the young man and told him the circumstances.
The soldier appeared skeptical at first, but consented to visit the young mother; a friendship ensued which soon ripened into a happy marriage.
In his book The Waking Dream: Unlockng the Symbolic Language of Our Lives, Grasse explains how events like this Civil War conception confirm the symbolist’s perspective that all of our long-term or intimate relationships arise out of a shared interdependence of life purpose, in which “the actions and situations of each life complement the lives around it.”
Wow!
This should give us pause next time we’re considering the throw-away quality of a seemingly insignificant online hook-up or chance encounter at an airport restroom. One never knows! Never underestimate the catalytic nature of flying jizz — a couple of drops could lead to a new friendship or long term partnering.
It’s not just for making babies you know.
Oh jesus, do I have to be the one to leave this link? This is absolutely not true. But you knew that already?
Yeah. Didn’t Mythbusters bust this too?
Damn! We so wanted to believe…I guess it was really April Fools’! (a day late) on us.
Hmmm, now that’s a Mythbusters I’d really like to see.
Which one of their staff agreed to the loss of a testicle to test this one?
I don’t care if it’s not true…I’m wanting to see a movie made of this folk tale — preferably staring Rene Zellweger as the impregnated farm girl and Ryan Phillipe as the one ball-less soldier/boy-hunk (I’d kill to have his baby!) Don’t spoil it for me. April Fools OR NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Urban Legend strikes again! Or maybe Carl Urban should be in the movie…music by Keith Urban, with Nicole Kidman as the young lady. Almost writes itself! Coming soon to a Googleplex near YOU!
Gerry Ferry, it was Mythbusters episode #30 Son of a Gun. ^_~
Now Thorn, did they test this for real, or just simulate a test? I really like watching Mythbusters, but haven’t found that channel where I moved to. Grant and Tory are so cute! Especially when they wear their jeans so tight.
I just don’t see them testing this one for real, a real guy, a real woman, a real gun, and a real bullet taking a real testicle from the guy into the woman. I’ve also observed some of their other simulated tests prove their point, some don’t. I don’t always agree with their conclusions. This is one that I’m not fully convinced it could not happen.
It sound a load of balls, but I wouldn’t mind it happening to me, as I’ve got three, and that is just too many.
My late partner had a third as well. It freaked me out at first, as I’d never heard of more than two per person (and of course I had no sans-clothes warning–how do you tell someone “oh, by the way, I have three testicles”?), but it didn’t seem to bother him.