Wow what a whirlwind. As I mentioned earlier this week, I created a yahoo group to go with my author group’s new group blog. My little project now has 103 members and it’s still growing. Frankly, I’m humbled by the response. Prior to doing this, I studied the idea long and hard, and time and again came up with two facts – there is strength in numbers. And being gregarious creatures, people respond to community. Especially authors, for we are a breed apart and are often alone in our heads.

Anyone following my blog and general musings knows I’m a hoarder. I hoard words. If words weren’t flat symbols on paper, my house would be stacked with boxes of them…wait a minute. Right beside me at my feet are two boxes of my paperbacks. Uh oh. I’m in trouble. 😛

Anyway, back to strength in numbers. There is a word that epitomizes that. Fasces. The first time I came across the word fasces was in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick:

“With a frigate’s anchors for my bridle-bitts and fasces of harpoons for spurs, would I could mount that whale and leap the topmost skies….”

Good lord what a horrible story, even worse for a young teen who didn’t know what the heck they were talking about but had to write a book report on it nonetheless. Needless to say, young wordie I was, I looked up the word and then made an astounding visual connection. You see, a fasces is a symbol of strength through unity; where a single rod is easily broken, a bundle is very difficult to break.

The word actually has quite a following. We see it in words like fascinate and fascism and actually, this makes sense — someone holds your attention through a power of some sort. But it goes deeper in its meaning.

Words often have bizarre hidden meanings. Personally, I love that. Fasces generally comes up in relation to Ancient Rome because it was the national symbol of the Roman Empire. They literally absorbed every culture they conquered and added one more stick to their bundle. But there’s a not so subtle reference to male power here…the unbreakable rod with staying power…(you get the picture) That puts a whole new spin on a man finding you fascinating. But the kid I was had no understanding of that whatsoever. I did make this connection though…E Pluribus Unum.  Out of many, one.  Our little author’s group is going to be great.

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