Stone Circles

The Stonehenge Landscape in 3D | Wessex Archaeology

2009-11-25T02:24:00.004-05:00

The Stonehenge Landscape in 3D | Wessex Archaeology

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We have recently finished creating a short animation for the exhibition “Making History: Antiquaries In Britain, 1707–2007” at the Royal Academy in London. The three minute video demonstrates “Stonehenge revealed through digital technologies”.

It incorporates a fly-through of the Stonehenge landscape in 3D, based upon Environment Agency LIDAR (airborne 3D scanning) data, high resolution panoramas, and a new animation of the prehistoric dagger and axe carvings on Stone 53 at Stonehenge itself, from data collected by Archaeoptics Ltd.

A stunning aerial view, putting the sacred landscape in context. I'd prefer it to be a bit less stylized and geometric, and the yellowish tint is somewhat off-putting, but those are minor quibbles about what presumably are limitations of the technique they are using.

Lord of the Inaugural Dance: Surprising musical subtexts at Barack Obama's inauguration

2009-01-20T17:24:00.006-05:00

Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration was truly disturbing to many of us. His policies regarding gays, his willingness to say publicly that Jews will go to Hell -- no doubt Pagans are even more fervently consigned to everlasting horror -- these made him unacceptable. Recently it has come out that his stealth plan for pushing his worldwide Christian agenda is coupled with a public admiration of the effectiveness of Hitlerjugen (Hitler Youth). Warren's links with the dominionist Joel's Army likewise make his official presence even more appalling. Don't bow your head and close your eyes around this man. Keep your head up, your eyes open, and your mind open and questioning.

Warren's leading of the 23rd Psalm was something I didn't have problems with. Some of us also have a Lord whose rod and staff is comforting, though that Lord may have antlers.

Yet all thought of that dissolved with the premiere performance of "Air and Simple Gifts", composed by John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Gabriela Montero and Itzhak Perlmen. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun discusses piece's roots in the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" and the Aaron Copland version that many are familiar with. Smith takes it deeper in its political significance:

The "air" at the start of the roughly four-minute piece strikes a sober note, as if to recall the many challenges facing the country. The soft, slow, rather bittersweet theme, begun by the violin and soon picked up cello and piano, gives way to another, very familiar melody from the clarinet -- the gently uplifting Shaker hymn, "Simple Gifts," which was used so indelibly by Aaron Copland in his 1944 ballet score Appalachian Spring. Williams quotes that passage almost verbatim, and goes on to put the hymn tune through a very Coplandesque treatment before bringing the mood back down to earth with the opening material.

Although Williams chose to use the Copland material because President Obama counts that composer among his classical favorites, there's another significant point here. In 1953, a pre-inaugural concert by the National Symphony Orchestra at Constitution Hall, a concert attended by then president-elect Eisenhower, was to have included a performance of one of Copland's most popular works, A Lincoln Portrait. But a Republican congressman (from Illinois, by the way) objected, suggesting that Copland was too liberal and maybe even Communist-friendly, so the piece was pulled from the concert. Inserting the touch of Copland into the Obama inauguration, Williams told Variety last week, offers "a completed circle of events that is nice to think about."

The music went further up and further in for Pagans, who know the traditional tune as that of the Pagan "filk" song (authors often uncredited) based on Sydney Carter's song "The Lord of the Dance." The Pagan version is often sung in a minor key, which I think enhances its power.

Lord of the Dance (Pagan)

When She danced on the water and the wind was Her horn
The Lady danced and a universe was born
And when She lit the sun and the light gave Him birth
The Lord of the Dance first appeared on the Earth

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me
And I'll lead you all in the dance, said He

I dance in the circle and the flames leap on high
I dance in the fire and I never, never die
I dance on the waves of the bright summer sea
For I am the Lord of the waves' mystery

I sleep in the kernel and I laugh at the rain
I dance in the wind and through the waving grain
When you cut me down, I care nothing for the pain
In the spring, I'm the Lord of the Dance once again

I dance at the Sabbat when you dance at the spell
I dance and sing that everyone be well
When the dancing's over, do not think that I am gone
To live is to dance so I dance on and on

The Lord and the Lady cast a song across the plain
The birds took the notes and sang them back again
'Til the sound of Her music was the song of the sky
And to that song, there is one reply

They danced in the darkness and They danced in the night
They danced on the Earth and everything was light
They danced in the darkness and They danced in the dawn
And the day of the dancing still goes on

I gaze on the Heavens and I gaze on the Earth
And I feel the pain of dying and rebirth
And I lift my head in gladness and in praise of the day
For the Dance of the Lord and the Lady gay

I see the maidens laughing as they dance in the sun
And we count the fruits of the harvest one by one
We know the storm is coming, but the grain is all stored
So we sing to the praise of the Lady and the Lord

We dance even slower as the leaves fall and spin
And the sound of Her horn is the wailing of the wind
The call of the Hunter as He rides across the plain
While the Lady sleeps 'til the spring comes again

The Sun is in the southlands and the winds they will chill
And the sound of Her horn is fading on the hill
The herd stands in the stillness as we move in a trance
But we hold on fast to our faith in the Dance

The Sun's in the southlands and the days lengthen fast
And soon we will sing of the winter that is past
But now light the candles and rejoice as they burn
We dance the Dance of the Sun's return

The snow is slowly melting and the clouds bring the rain
The Lady wakes, for the spring has come again
We dance in the meadows and we dance in the groves
And rejoice in the Lord's and the Lady's love

Ironically, Sydney Carter described the song as "a carol -- a dancing kind of song, the life of which is in the dance as much as in the verbal statement." Perhaps Carter was unaware that the earliest senses of the word "carol" refer to a ring dance, and before that to the ring of stones at Stonehenge. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the early usage from the 14th and 15th century:
II. A ring, and related senses. (perh. ought to be I.)
† 4. A ring or circle, e.g. of standing stones.
[All these instances refer to Stonehenge, also called the Giants’ Dance; cf. quot. 1865 in sense 1; but Du Cange has instances of a very different kind, e.g. ‘Unum annulum cum saphyro magno, et karola in circuitu 7 lapidum et 8 perlarum’.]
1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace in Hearne Pref. R.B. 194 þis Bretons renged about Þe feld, þe karole of the stones be~held, Many tyme _ede Þam about.Ibid. 195 Whan he had gon alle aboute Within Þe karole & withoute.c1470 Harding Chron. lxx. x, Within [the] Giauntes Carole, that so ther hight, The [Stone hengles] that nowe so named been.

Background on Lord of the Dance versions:

Gary McGath
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/mcgath/lotd.html

Lord of the Dance FAQ
http://www.stainer.co.uk/lotd.html

The inauguration ended with a surprising musical reference, in the benediction by the Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder with Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. His quotation from the solemn and moving "Lift Every Voice And Sing," (sometimes known as the Negro National Anthem") might have been expected.

But his "help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right" that was an unexpected gift. As far as I recall, these lines were a sixties variation on the earlier song "Black, Brown and White" by blues artist Big Bill Broonzy. The 1945 song was a scathing indictment of the Jim Crow laws. Steve Horowitz notes,

"Broonzy grew up in the Deep South and headed to Chicago to avoid Jim Crow’s deepest stings. Big Bill introduces his composition “Black, Brown and White” with a monologue about his family. His kids won’t travel South because of racial prejudice. Broonzy blames discrimination on poverty, “It’s just po’ people,” but notes that racism occurs in the North just as well. This tune itself serves as interesting example of bigotry as he wrote it in 1945, but his record company wouldn’t let him record it for over five years because of its explicit views on the situation of race attitudes in America."

This little song that i'm singin' about,
People you know it's true
If you're black and gotta work for a living,
This is what they will say to you,
They says, "if you was white, should be all right,
If you was brown, stick around,
But as you's black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I was in a place one night
They was all having fun
They was all buyin' beer and wine,
But they would not sell me none
They said, "if you was white, should be all right,
If you was brown, stick around,
But if you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
Me and a man was workin' side by side
This is what it meant
They was paying him a dollar an hour,
And they was paying me fifty cent
They said, "if you was white, 't should be all right,
If you was brown, could stick around,
But as you black, hmm boy, get back, get back, get back
I went to an employment office,
Got a number 'n' i got in line
They called everybody's number,
But they never did call mine
They said, "if you was white, should be all right,
If you was brown, could stick around,
But as you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I hope when sweet victory,
With my plough and hoe
Now i want you to tell me brother,
What you gonna do about the old jim crow?
Now if you was white, should be all right,
If you was brown, could stick around,
But if you black, whoa brother, get back, get back, get back"

Maybe Gil Scott-Heron was wrong. Maybe the revolution will be -- was -- televised after all.

May there be blessings and protection for Barack Obama. May he provide the leadership our country, and our world, so desperately needs in this difficult time.

Carol Maltby

Sarah Palin and the war against the Queen of Heaven

2008-11-04T07:50:00.004-05:00

Thomas Muthee, Mary Glazier, and the other prayer warriors of the New Apostolic Reformation who support Sarah Palin, state that they
intend to infiltrate and transform our society and government, and
want us and our Goddess eradicated. They want us and all we consider holy to be converted, and if not converted, destroyed.

Talk to Action's series of documentary videos and supporting articles in "Palin's Churches and the Third Wave" Series

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/114652/6239

Whether or not Sarah Palin wins this election, this movement that supports her will gain strength if we let it continue on this path.

Pagan Delegates at Democratic Convention

2008-08-25T20:32:00.002-04:00

The two known Pagan delegates to the Democratic Convention wil be representing Maine.

From their convention blog, Blue Pagans at the DNC:

Rita Moran is Chairperson of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, and is attending the Democratic National Convention as an official delegate for the state of Maine. Rita, who runs a bookstore in Maine, was outed and stalked last year by a local conservative Christian organization. Since then she has dedicated herself to being an open and positive Pagan presence within the Democratic Party.

Ed Lachowicz is Vice Chair of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, and a Maine Democratic State Committeeman. In addition, he is a regular blogger with Turn Maine Blue, a progressive state-focused blog that has been granted press credentials at the Democratic National Convention.

While I've not met Ed, I've known Rita for many years. She's smart and savvy and passionate, and I have enormous respect for her. Blessings on Rita and Ed for their commitment to democracy.

Blue Pagans at the DNC

Witches in Opera

2008-07-10T21:32:00.002-04:00

Operacadabra!

From Purcell to Wagner to Sondheim, opera-makers have never been able to resist a witch. Philip Hensher looks at the eternal appeal of the black-hatted hag

July 11, 2008 The Guardian

Article

Stonehenge vandalized

2008-05-22T15:41:00.002-04:00

Suspected souvenir hunters broke into Stonehenge and vandalised the ancient monument, English Heritage has said.

A hammer and screwdriver were used to take a small chip the size of a 10p piece from the side of the Heel Stone.

English Heritage said further damage was prevented by security guards who spotted the two men at the 5,000-year-old site in Wiltshire.

Police believe the vandals could be the same two people caught on CCTV acting suspiciously a few days earlier.

BBC article

At one time, chisels would be handed to people visiting Stonehenge, so they could chip away at the ancient monument to get their own souvenirs.

But the practice has been outlawed since 1900, when landowner Sir Edmund Antrobus decided the site needed protecting and introduced charges

Further BBC commentary

Kosher Imaginary Animals

2008-04-21T16:22:00.002-04:00

Evil Monkey’s Guide to Kosher Imaginary Animals

Baku (dream-devouring tapir) - A: “That’s considered a swine. It doesn’t chew its cud.” EM: “What if it was a dream-devouring cow? Would the dream-devouring disqualify it?” A: “No. As long as you don’t consider that scavenging.”

Cornish Owl-Man, Headless Mule (fire-spewing, headless, spectral mule), Mongolian Death Worm, Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, etc.

Full article

Thanks to Making Light.

Juhyo: Japanese Monster Trees

2008-03-30T12:58:00.004-04:00

David Weber on the Japundit blog:

They’re out there lurking in the dark, in the desolate wilderness of winter — the beautiful and eerie offspring of Yuki Onna, the Japanese snow woman spirit. They are the Juhyo, or monster trees. Every winter the trees of Mount Zao in the Yamagata Prefecture undergo a shocking transformation. From mild-mannered conifers, these trees become hulking monstrosities of snow and ice.

Full article (many pictures)

Societas Magica

2008-03-16T11:49:00.002-04:00

The Societas Magica is an organization dedicated to furthering communication and exchange among scholars interested in the study of magic, both in the positive contexts of its expression as an area of necessary knowledge or religious practice (as in early modern occultism and contemporary paganism), and in its negative contexts as the substance of an accusation or condemnation (as in sorcery trials, and many philosophical and theological accounts, both early and late). The interests of our membership include, but are not limited to, the history and sociology of magic; theological, and intellectual apprehensions of magic; practices and theories of magic; and objects, artifacts and texts either qualified as magical by their creators, or forming the substance of an accusation of magic by others.

The Society will be holding its first full conference on MAGIC: FRONTIERS AND BOUNDARIES June 11-15 at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Keynote Speakers will be Marvin Meyer, Richard Kieckhefer, and T.M. Luhrman.

Online PDFs of the Societas Magica newsletter dating back to 1996 are linked on their website.

Link

British intelligence agency releases file on WW II astrologer

2008-03-04T12:46:00.003-05:00

The British intelligence agency MI5 has released a file from the National Archives on astrologer Louis de Wohl, who was hired during World War II in an effort to second-guess what astrological information Hitler might have been getting and possibly acting upon.

Articles in The Guardian, The Times and in The Independent. A quick glance shows that the Independent article takes De Wohl's being the son of a Hungarian nobleman as fact, though the Guardian quotes an MI5 officer as saying that De Wohl didn't speak a word of Hungarian. The Times' article is the most acerbic of the three.

Leave No Child Inside

2008-02-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Leave No Child Inside: The growing movement to reconnect children and nature, and to battle "nature deficit disorder"
By Richard Louv

As a boy, I pulled out dozens —perhaps hundreds— of survey stakes in a vain effort to slow the bulldozers that were taking out my woods to make way for a new subdivision. Had I known then what Ive since learned from a developer, that I should have simply moved the stakes around to be more effective, I would surely have done that too. So you might imagine my dubiousness when, a few weeks after the publication of my 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods, I received an e-mail from Derek Thomas, who introduced himself as vice chairman and chief investment officer of Newland Communities, one of the nation’s largest privately owned residential development companies. “I have been reading your new book,” he wrote, “and am profoundly disturbed by some of the information you present.”

Thomas said he wanted to do something positive. He invited me to an envisioning session in Phoenix to “explore how Newland can improve or redefine our approach to open space preservation and the interaction between our homebuyers and nature.” A few weeks later, in a conference room filled with about eighty developers, builders, and real estate marketers, I offered my sermonette. The folks in the crowd were partially responsible for the problem, I suggested, because they destroy natural habitat, design communities in ways that discourage any real contact with nature, and include covenants that virtually criminalize outdoor play—outlawing tree-climbing, fort-building, even chalk-drawing on sidewalks.

I was ready to make a fast exit when Thomas, a bearded man with an avuncular demeanor, stood up and said, “I want you all to go into small groups and solve the problem: how are we going to build communities in the future that actually connect kids with nature?” The room filled with noise and excitement. By the time the groups reassembled to report the ideas they had generated, I had glimpsed the primal power of connecting children and nature: it can inspire unexpected advocates and lure unlikely allies to enter an entirely new place. Call it the doorway effect. Once through the door, they can revisualize seemingly intractable problems and produce solutions they might otherwise never have imagined.

A half hour after Thomas’s challenge, the groups reported their ideas. Among them: leave some land and native habitat in place (that’s a good start); employ green design principles; incorporate nature trails and natural waterways; throw out the conventional covenants and restrictions that discourage or prohibit natural play and rewrite the rules to encourage it; allow kids to build forts and tree houses or plant gardens; and create small, on-site nature centers.

“Kids could become guides, using cell phones, along nature trails that lead to schools at the edge of the development,” someone suggested. Were the men and women in this room just blowing smoke? Maybe. Developers exploiting our hunger for nature, I thought, just as they market their subdivisions by naming their streets after the trees and streams that they destroy. But the fact that developers, builders, and real estate marketers would approach Derek Thomas’s question with such apparently heartfelt enthusiasm was revealing. The quality of their ideas mattered less than the fact that they had them. While they may not get there themselves, the people in this room were visualizing a very different future. They were undergoing a process of discovery that has proliferated around the country in the past two years, and not only among developers.

Full article

Check out the 18 pages of comments on the Orion magazine article, there are a lot of useful suggestions and links.

White stag spotted in the Highlands

2008-02-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

A rare white stag has been observed on the west coast of the Highlands.

The animal has been seen with other red deer by a member of the John Muir Trust, which has kept its location a secret to protect it from poachers.

Full article, with link to short video footage Thanks to The Daily Grail

Where the White Stag Runs: Boundary and Transformation in Deer Myths,Legends, and Songs
by Ari Berk

The White Stag by Mary Jones From Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the four Pevensie children, who have been kings and queens in Narnia for many years, hear from Tumnus the faun that the White Stag has been sighted, the one who will grant your wishes of you catch him. While out hunting for the stag, the Pevensies find themselves returning to their old lives in England.

Brigid Poetry

2008-02-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

AVE MATERS
after The Hail Mary

Hail all mothers
graceful or not
God or goddess is with you, believe it or not

Blessed are all women
blessed are the fruits of our wombs
whatever names, ridiculous or not, we choose for them
and even when they're acting rotten.

O mothers
holy human mothers
all our children are divine

Long after they leave us
they will curse us and pray to us
now and in the hour
of our death
now and in the hour of their need.

Elizabeth Cunningham

Grass

Grass is an ancient ancestor.
If you would bless a child, say:
"May this child have the strength
Of grass."
"May this child be as powerful
As grass."
"May this child persist as does
The grass."
Slender greens, golds and browns,
Fox grass, bunch grass, crab grass
Oat grass, wheat grass, rye grass.
Grasses of the great plains.
Grasses of woodland meadows.
Grasses of the mountainside.
Grasses of the marshes.
Grasses crumbling cement in cities.

Grass
Feeding
The world and turning
Every fallen thing
Into waves in the wind.

Penny J. Novack

Maeve

There is silence now by the grey cairn where
the queen is buried:
No one weeps there remembering her beauty.
Only a faint sweet complaining
Of wind and wind-stirred grasses and far-off
murmurous sea-waves
Is making a sleep-heavy sound, a song to deepen
her slumber.
Does quiet weigh on her heart, here on the
desolate mountain?
Or is she content to sleep, the spear-whirr and
sword-clang forgotten?

Nay! She awakes, she comes forth. The gold of
her tresses
Flames through the night -- red flame by a storm-
wind dishevelled:
She has no need to call for her chiefs, or her
bronze-bitted horses,
She rides with the host of the Sidhe, with gods
dream-hearted and secret:
The night is her own, and the wide un-trammelled
ways of the wind.
She is fierce and splendid and pale, Maeve the
battle-awakener,
Maeve of the honey-sweey mouth, Maeve of the
death-bitter kisses.

Ella Young

Quote of the Day

2008-02-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

"Those who refuse to listen to dragons are probably doomed to spend their lives acting out the nightmares of politicians. We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark; and fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night."

~~ Ursula K. LeGuin

Third annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

2008-02-01T14:50:00.000-05:00

You are invited to the third annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2008

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.

Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.

Deborah Oak

Link

Up-Helly-Aa Fire Festival in Shetland Islands

2008-02-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

During Up-Helly-Aa, hundreds of residents of the Shetland Islands off northern Scotland dressed up as Norsemen -- complete with helmets, chain mail and axes -- or in other fancy dress for a day and night of raucous partying.

The high point of the festivities was an evening parade through Lerwick featuring 900 people brandishing fiery torches which sent a blanket of smoke and sparks over the port town, Shetland's biggest.

At the centre of the procession was a specially crafted Viking longship, which was set on fire at the end of the procession when all the marchers threw their torches into it, creating a giant, intense pyre.

Celebrations were continuing through the night as teams of "guizers" -- the roughly 1,000 locals taking part in the procession -- toured parties performing songs and sketches.

As well as blazing an unforgettable spectacle across the night sky, observers say Up-Helly-Aa, which is largely funded by locals themselves, also highlights Shetland's strong and enduring sense of cohesion.

Full article

Images from the ShetlandTourism.com pages on the festival

Vikings in Postage Stamps

2008-02-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

On the Track of the Vikings: Raiders and Traders of the North Described Through Postage Stamps

Ann Mette Heindorff's excellent collection of Viking-themed postage stamps. I'll be featuring some of her other theme stamp collections that would be interest to Stone Circles throughout the year.

Link

Dorset castle ruins revealed to be 'ancient forest' of rare lichens

2007-12-27T17:55:00.000-05:00

By Rosie Walker
Published: 27 December 2007 The Independent

Corfe Castle in Dorset has been revealed as one of the country's most important sites for lichen, housing 102 varieties among its ruins, including four species described as "rare" and 11 described as "scarce".

Experts have compared it to an ancient forest, and say the castle's location, on a hill on the sunny south coast, away from pollution, has allowed such an unusual collection to grow.

Full article

Newgrange Winter Solstice Webcast

2007-12-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

For the first time ever, the 2007 Winter Solstice illumination of the passage and chamber at Newgrange will be streamed live on the internet.

The webcast and an exhibition at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the re-discovery of the Winter Solstice Phenomenon at Newgrange by Professor O’Kelly in 1967.

The Winter Solstice event from inside the chamber at Newgrange will be broadcast on the mornings of Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd December 2007. If conditions are good the rising sun will illuminate the passage and chamber between 8:58am and 9:15am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

To view the webcast click on the Heritage Ireland website.

In addition to the webcast the Office of Public Works will be providing a live free to air broadcast of the event for anyone with a satellite dish. The event will be broadcast from 08.30am to 10.00am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on December 21st and December 22nd.

That will be 3:30 AM Eastern time for those in the US.

Further information

Central and South American fairy lore being lost?

2007-12-16T14:19:00.000-05:00

From the Ask a Mexican column:

We were talking about the concept of fairies the other day — or rather, I was, because my Mexican/Dominican/Guatemalan/Ecuadorian students had never heard about the concept before. In Northern European folklore, there are small magical folk who might help good people (children, specifically) with their chores, and might make it very difficult for bad people to get their work done. Is there anything similar in Mexican folklore? I thought maybe with the Mayan/Aztec influence, there might be something like fairies.

The Mexican responds:

Mexican folklore is vast, varies by region, and dependent a bit too much on the Devil and wailing women, but fairies and other non-midget phantasmagorical little people do enchant the Mexican mind. In the 1932 classic The Magic and Mysteries of Mexico: Arcane Secrets and Occult Lore of the Ancient Mexicans and Maya, famed folklorist Lewis Spence noted in hilariously antiquated fashion, "The fairy and her kind were as familiar to the Red man as to the White, for the excellent reason that throughout all his geographical ventures and peregrinations man has always been accompanied by these invisible playmates as well as by his gods and other more exalted tribal patrons." He identifies two types: the Tepictoton (whom helped farmers with their crops when causing desmadre) and the Cihuateteo, dead women whom cast diseases on children. "Like the fairies of Europe," Spence writes, "they were associated with the moon, and an examination of their pranks throws a strong comparative light upon European fairyhood."

Link

Thanks to Professor Hex

Holy Prepuce nicked

2007-12-16T13:55:00.000-05:00

Fore Shame
Did the Vatican steal Jesus' foreskin so people would shut up about the savior's penis?
By David Farley

Just what the holy foreskin was doing in the priest's house—in a shoebox at the back of his wardrobe, no less—and why and how it disappeared has been debated ever since the relic vanished. Some suspect the village priest sold it for a heavenly sum; others say it was stolen by thieves and ended up on the relics black market; some even suggest Satanists or neo-Nazis are responsible. But the most likely culprit is an unlikely one: the Vatican.

In 1983, as the residents of Calcata, a small town 30 miles north of Rome, prepared for their annual procession honoring a holy relic, a shocking announcement from the parish priest put a damper on festivities. "This year, the holy relic will not be exposed to the devotion of the faithful. It has vanished. Sacrilegious thieves have taken it from my home." Not since the Middle Ages, when lopped-off body parts of divine do-gooders were bought, sold, and traded, has relic theft been big news. But the mysterious disappearance of Calcata's beloved curio is different.

This wasn't just the residuum of any holy human—nor was it just any body part. It was the foreskin of Jesus Christ, the snipped-off tip of the savior's penis, the only piece of his body he supposedly left on earth...

Full Slate article

Thanks to Cannonfire blog

Djinn would be tonic for energy industry?

2007-11-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

DJINN ENERGY

A leading Pakistani nuclear scientist who was questioned by the Pakistani government last week concerning his ties to the Taliban is known as a proponent of "Islamic science," a weird hybrid of scientific terminology and Islamic lore.

Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood is a pioneer in the development of nuclear technology in Pakistan. But in 1980, as a senior director of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, he "recommended that djinns [or genies], being fiery creatures, ought to be tapped as a free source of energy. By this means, a final solution to Pakistan's energy problems would be found."

This episode was recounted by Pakistani physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy in his enlightening book "Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality" (Zed Books, 1991).

In a Wall Street Journal article on Islamic science (13 September 1988), Dr. Mehmood noted that King Solomon had harnessed energy from djinns. "I think that if we develop our souls we can develop communications with them," he said.

While the notion of "djinn energy" is ridiculous -- even in Pakistan there are no djinn engines -- ridicule is beside the point. A more important point is that influential figures in the Islamic world are devoted to a view of reality that cannot be readily reconciled with conventional Western thought. This is a "translation" problem that cannot be solved with dictionaries.

The detention of Bashiruddin Mehmood, which is expected to be temporary, was reported in the Pakistan Observer in Islamabad on October 25. See "Nuclear Scientists Picked [Up] By Agencies":

http://pakobservercom.readyhosting.com/old/october/25/main.htm

Thanks Covert History blog

Can this chestnut be saved? Foundation says yes

2007-10-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

The American Chestnut Foundation brings its annual meeting to Burlington on Friday amid high hopes that its 20-year breeding program has produced a tree resistant to the fatal chestnut blight.

Full story

"Gitcher peanuts, popcorn, Heimskringla..."

2007-08-31T05:10:00.000-04:00

If a scholar of Norse mythology had been in the stands of Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, he or she probably would have advised Yankees fans to not make too much out of the 5-3 victory against the Red Sox.

The result, after all, still left the Yankees trailing Boston by an imposing seven games in the American League East. But more significant, perhaps, was the pesky and distracting squirrel that scampered up and down the right-field foul pole during the game and that, according to Norse mythology, just might have foretold that the Yankees will not prevail over the Red Sox this season.

Believe it or not, the squirrel’s actions closely resembled those of Ratatosk, or “gnawing tooth,” a squirrel in Norse mythology that climbed up and down a tree that represented the world. Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic scholar and poet, recorded the story in his 13th-century work “Prose Edda.”

As the story goes, Ratatosk carried insults as it traveled to opposite ends of the tree, fueling a rivalry between the evil dragon residing at the bottom of the tree and the eagle perched at the top.

“Oh, that’s perfect,” said Roberta Frank, a professor of Old Norse and Old English at Yale University, when told of the squirrel’s antics at the stadium.

Frank was born in the Bronx and is a Yankees fan. She said in a telephone interview yesterday that in the Bronx version of this myth, the Yankees would probably represent the eagle and the rival Red Sox would represent the dragon. The Yankees, after all, are the home team this week, more or less making them the good guys. And if there were a sports team identified with an eagle, it has to be the Yankees, who have begun any number of postseason games with a visit from Challenger, the bald eagle who swoops in from center field.

By Teddy Kider The New York Times

FULL ARTICLE

Thanks to Cryptomundo

Wikipedia has a selection of modern manifestations of Ratatosk. Image of horned squirrel above is from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript. Will we see Xeni Jardin using it as a "unicorn chaser" on Boing Boing one of these days?

A new mode of nature writing?

2007-08-25T17:44:00.000-04:00

Madeleine Bunting writes in The Guardian on what she sees as a new way of writing about nature. She sees this as a visionary movement, where learning to pay attention to particulars has a redemptive quality that benefits both humans and the natural world (though I'm not sure that was a quality absent from previous modes of nature writing).

Bunting argues that books such as Mark Cocker's Crow Country, Kathleen Jamie's Findings, and Roger Deakin's Wildwood are "a new genre of writing. It doesn't quite fit to call it "nature writing", because what makes these books so compelling - and important - is that they put centre stage the interconnections between nature and human beings."

"The floods in Yorkshire last month were a sharp reminder of what happens when we don't understand the land on which we live. The sight of thousands of flooded homes made us realise what many previous generations would never have forgotten about the way in which water has to move through land. Renewing our relationship with the natural world, on which our wellbeing depends, is at the heart of this genre of writing - but it presses its case not with statistics and fear of apocalyptic scenarios of global warming, but with seduction, urging on readers an aesthetic case for the spectacular beauty that lies beyond their windscreen if they can be bothered to stop the car and get out.

It's the British equivalent in the 21st century to John Muir, the legendary writer who founded the US Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, and who in 1901 wrote that "thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilised people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home". We may have hills rather than mountains, but that's what summer holidays should be about - going home."

Sounds like a good group of books to add to your reading pile. Bunting mentions that all of the writers she discussses have pebbles to hand, or lined up on their desks. What pebbles do you have lined up on your desk? I'm tending currently toward smooth, water-rounded stones nearest my desk; the fossils are six feet further away.

Pseudo-Elizabethan Placename Generator

2007-08-25T17:23:00.000-04:00

Blearybarrow Snitterel Snapemore Babbingporte Ashead
Lindfield Locktonleigh Newdery Umbermount Wodeney
Huttonhope Cuddonshaw Woltonston Marshbrygg Foggford
Cravenlocke Throckstin Swainsreagh Marhearst Wolfdenwocky
Fishstocke Cheddarswich Follygrass Listerfork Cassyden
Wintergill Asplinchase Barmfens Beldansridge Colbyham
Crowsteeple Pinchcourse Brokesheaf Complincliff Augurland
Waldewake Bacuplark Deeringwedge Faldoveldt Winklebury

Et cetera.

Forget that you can hear the nearby bulldozers knocking down the homes of little woodland creatures, to be replaced by developments like "Quail Run" named after little woodland creatures they've replaced. Flee to the imagined past of The Olde Country. When my children were small, on the way to our occasional vacations in Bath, I'd sing to them when we passed the sign for Nimlet,

We go to the hamlet of Nimlet
Go to the hamlet of Nimlet
Go to the hamlet
Eat egglets and spamlets
Go to the hamlet of Nimlet

(It's folk music, dammit, it doesn't have to be brilliant, and I'm not Brightshadow) :)

Quote of the Day

2007-08-25T17:16:00.000-04:00

“We all know exactly what it is like to be an Atheist. You are an atheist about Zeus, Ra, Thor, Allah, Brahma. I just go one god further.” -- Richard Dawkins to members of non-Pagan faith traditions

Viking ship reconstruction reaches Dublin

2007-08-25T16:59:00.000-04:00

The Sea Stallion, a reconstruction of a Viking ship carrying a crew of 65, has reached Dublin after a seven week, 1000 mile sail from Denmark.

Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?

2007-08-25T16:50:00.000-04:00

From the delightful xkcd: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

Concentration Camp Tarot Cards

2007-08-25T14:43:00.000-04:00

Political prisoner Boris Kobe created tarot cards with images reflecting life in the concentration camp of Allach, a sub-camp of Dachau. The cards, done around 1945, are meticulous observations of individuals and groups.

The website of theCenter for Holocaust & Genocide Studies; at the University of Minnesota is hosting the images, the originals remain in Slovenia.

Thanks to Boing Boing

Bad Green Man, No Biscuit

2007-08-15T01:33:00.000-04:00

James Coldwell, 49, disguised himself as a tree when he robbed a bank in Manchester, New Hampshire on Saturday. He had tree branches attached to his clothing and head with duct tape.

Quote of the day

2007-08-08T14:49:00.000-04:00

"Thanks for coming, Mary, we loved your talk. Although I'm still perplexed as to how one would attach a phallus to a chariot." -- Anna

Merry Meet 2007

2007-08-05T23:45:00.000-04:00

Hello to those of you who came here from the Merry Meet flyer. While I'm running behind on getting the Cafepress graphics up and running, I will have some photos of the stones at the U Mass Sun Wheel soon. Please bookmark and stop back!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows of sustainable paper

2007-07-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

By David Biello

I promise not to give anything away, just wanted to highlight a few facts about the impending mega-release: its first printing will consume 16,700 tons of paper (which, depending on whose estimates of tree per piece of paper you believe, equals roughly 400,800 trees), according to Scholastic.

Ah, but the printers have performed a little wizardry of their own, using wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. 260,520 of those trees were "sustainably harvested," which means the companies that harvested it took into account environmental and social factors (though it doesn't mean they didn't come from a plantation, just that this tree farm set aside some acreage for "natural forest cover." Oh, and the plantation species don't have to be native if "their performance is greater than that of the native species," according to the FSC website.)

Because the printing industry in the U.S. alone consumes at least 24 million trees a year, according to the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies at Georgia Tech, any steps in this direction are to be lauded. After all, preventing the loss of forests could go a long way towards avoiding catastrophic greenhouse gas levels.

But any book that has sold millions of copies before it even hits the shelves (and despite leaks) is probably better suited to recycled paper--and a "deluxe" edition printed on recycled paper will be available. But why only 100,000? Granted, China is eating up the supply of waste paper at a galloping pace--preventing 65 million metric tons of the stuff from hitting landfills, according to a recent report--but surely there are a few sheaves left somewhere. And it shouldn't take wizardry to find them, nor cost an arm and a leg (though I hear wizarding might.) Zhang Yin, the "Queen of Trash" seems to be making a good living at it, muggle or not.

Useful links on the original article site, the Scientific American blog.

Floods threaten Silbury Hill and Rotherwas Ribbon

2007-07-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

By Maeve Kennedy The Guardian

Rain was falling remorselessly on Silbury Hill yesterday, pooling on the sodden fields at its foot, and dangerously seeping down into the core of the most enigmatic prehistoric monument in Europe. The entire hill near Avebury in Wiltshire is artificial, built around 4,500 years ago by stupendous human effort with an estimated 35m baskets of chalk. Yesterday, archaeologists and engineers were engaged in urgent discussions on how to save Silbury, after the torrential rain caused further damage to a structure already weakened by earlier floods. [snip]

In floods five years ago, a chasm opened at the top of the hill, where a poorly filled 200-year-old shaft collapsed, and water poured down into the structure, seeping into voids left by generations of later diggers, including the tunnels from a major excavation in the 1960s. The plan, now left in chaos by the weather, was to empty those tunnels completely of their previous loose fill, and then pack them solidly again with chalk. Instead rain is still seeping into the mound, from the summit where the earlier domed repair has already partly washed away, causing damage which can't even be fully assessed until the rain stops.

Silbury is not alone. As well as the human tragedies, the floods have been washing away thousands of years of history, across a swath of central and southern England. Silbury has been unmissable for millennia, but in Hereford, rain has been scouring away parts of a mysterious structure uncovered only a few weeks ago: the Rotherwas Ribbon, a serpentine path surfaced with deliberately burned stones, winding up a shallow hill - slap in the path of an unpopular new road plan.

FULL ARTICLE

I posted about the Rotherwas Ribbon several weeks ago.

Part 2: Military Helicopters Over East Field Wheat Formation

2007-07-26T12:57:00.000-04:00

Linda Moulton Howe's continuation of the crop circle article I posted July 20th.

Part 2: Military Helicopters Over East Field Wheat Formation

By Linda Moulton Howe

"There was a terrible smell from the helicopter.
I can describe it as being a sulfurous smell – very powerful!
It made my eyes burn. I noticed half a dozen other people as well –
they were quite severely affected. I saw one man throwing up
into the crop.... and my dosimeter shot up very high between 300 and 500 ...
which means get out of the place. It’s dangerous!"
- Andrew J. Buckley, U. K. Graphic Designer

FULL ARTICLE

Aggressive swarming by unmarked black helicopters, possible infra-sound, significant yet transitory radiation levels. Very disturbing.

Crop Circle Connector -- the primary British crop circle resource. They provide a valuable service, and membership wil give you access to their archives. Please show your support for them.
http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/interface2005.htm

Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths

2007-07-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

By Ray Allen

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. [snip]

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

FULL ARTICLE

The quote by the animal behaviorist Dodman calling the cat a "furry grim reaper" was a bit much. Though I guess it's better than "silken-furred psychopomp" would have been.

God, a woman growing older

2007-07-23T18:02:00.000-04:00

By Rabbi Margaret Wenig

God is a woman and she is growing older. She moves more slowly now. She cannot stand erect. Her face is lined. Her voice is scratchy. Sometimes she has to strain to hear. God is a woman and she is growing older, yet she remembers everything.

On Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the day on which she gave us birth, God sits down at her kitchen table, opens the Book of Memories, begins turning the pages, and God remembers.

"There, there is the world when it was new and my children when they were young." As she turns each page she smiles, seeing before her, like so many dolls in a department store window, all the beautiful colors of our skin, the varied shapes and sizes of our bodies. She marvels at our accomplishments: the music we have written, the gardens we have planted, the stories we have told, the ideas we have spun.

"They now can fly faster than the winds I send," she says to herself, "and they sail across the waters which I gathered into seas. They even visit the moon which I set in the sky. But they rarely visit me. . ."

COMPLETE PIECE

Thanks to The Back Room

Harry Potter: the economics

2007-07-23T07:54:00.000-04:00

By Megan McArdle

But there have to be generally accepted rules. Characters can't get out of the predicament the author is sick of by having the car suddenly start running on sand. Similarly, if your characters will be using magic, they must do so by some generally believable system.

Yet in the Potter books, the costs and limits are too often arbitrary. A patronus charm, for example, is awfully difficult - until Rowling wants a stirring scene in which Harry pulls together an intrepid band of students to Fight the Power, whereupon it becomes simple enough to be taught by an inexperienced fifteen year old. Rowling can only do this because it's thoroughly unclear how magic power is acquired. It seems hard to credit academic labour, when spells are one or two words; and anyway, if that were the determinant, Hermione Granger would be a better wizard than Harry. But if it's something akin to athletic skill, why is it taught at rows of desks? And why aren't students worn out after practicing spells?

The low opportunity cost attached to magic spills over into the thoroughly unbelievable wizard economy. Why are the Weasleys poor? Why would any wizard be? Anything they need, except scarce magical objects, can be obtained by ordering a house elf to do it, or casting a spell, or, in a pinch, making objects like dinner, or a house, assemble themselves. Yet the Weasleys are poor not just by wizard standards, but by ours: they lack things like new clothes and textbooks that should be easily obtainable with a few magic words. Why?

COMPLETE ARTICLE

Thanks to Chas Clifton

2007-07-20T15:47:00.000-04:00

Crop Circle: Alton Priors

1,033-Foot-Long East Field Wheat Formation "Happened Within 90 Minutes." Investigators presented video and eyewitness evidence

Linda Moulton Howe has a presentation on a recent crop circle formation at Alton Priors, Wilts. July 7. This is part 1 of 2, second is not up yet. Aside from the witnesses, and the tantalizing bits of documentation, what I find particularly interesting is this:

The East Field is not a totally flat pancake field. It actually curves up and down. When you look at the formation from up above from an aerial photo, you see that the circles are absolutely 100% correct circles. To make circles look 100% from the air in a field that has up and down hills, you cannot create 100% perfect circles on the ground. You have to create ovals. And that’s the case here. All the circles that are lying on a hill more than flat surface, they are ovals. To construct 100% correct oval in total darkness – everything you do is extremely difficult because you can’t see anything.

So, to construct not just one, but several ovals and large ones – the largest one is like 50 meters, or 160 feet. Under those dark conditions, I would consider that impossible and everyone I have spoken to among the researchers down here and also civil engineers who are used to land surveys – they say that to do that under those conditions and also within that limited time frame (90 minutes), they regard it as absolutely impossible for humans to do.

Photo is by Lucy Pringle (more on site). I felt this one shows the slope of the land fairly well.

Viking treasure hoard uncovered

2007-07-19T14:43:00.000-04:00

Viking treasure hoard uncovered

The most important Viking treasure find in Britain for 150 years has been unearthed by a father and son while metal detecting in Yorkshire. David and Andrew Whelan uncovered the hoard, which dates back to the 10th Century, in Harrogate in January [snip]

The ancient objects come from as far afield as Afghanistan in the East and Ireland in the West, as well as Russia, Scandinavia and continental Europe.

The hoard contains 617 silver coins and 65 other objects, including a gold arm-ring and a gilt silver vessel.

Dr Jonathan Williams, keeper of prehistory in Europe at the British Museum, said: "[The cup] is beautifully decorated and was made in France or Germany at around AD900.

"It is fantastically rare - there are only a handful of others known around the world. It will be stunning when it is fully conserved."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

Series of pictures of the cup and its contents

Thanks to BoingBoing

2007-07-19T06:36:00.000-04:00

Strange Creatures Seen In San Luis Argentina

Translated by Scott Corales for UFO Updates

Residents of Merlo claim having seen imps near a hundred year
old eucalyptus tree. A strange story from Valle de Conlara.

The Municipality trimmed the tree because its large branches were jeopardizing motorists traveling along Avenida del Inca. After work, some residents reportedly saw "little men coming out [of the tree] in single file from that location." [snip] Most witnesses did not offer details, but one woman described their clothing as having a brownish hue," said Cecillia de Gabrele, an employee at the library. The article continues

2007-07-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

Cerne Abbas Giant and Long Man of Wilmington

Twenty-first century crassness collides with the ancient monuments, as Cerne Abbas gets hooked up with Homer Simpson and the Long Man gets an obnoxiously goofy gender change. I'm afraid it won't be the last time we see such witless hijinks, as more people decide they need to make their own pranks on this theme more daring and edgy.

The Modern Antiquarian has put together a round-up of the coverage:

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/60668/news/long_man_of_wilmington.html

Thanks to The Wild Hunt.

2007-07-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

Manhattanhenge: A New York Sunset

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) shows the sun setting straight down the middle of 34th Street, as it does twice a year.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070713.html

2007-07-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

Moby Click by David Rothenberg

[Terra Nova] • Last month I told the tale of one scientist who thought my idea of learning the music of whales by playing along with them was the worst kind of egotistical folly. But recently I met a scientist with quite a different approach.

Michel Andre is one of the world's great experts on the acoustics of the sperm whale. He had long been vexed by the problem of how to tell one whale from another when recording a cacophony of clicking noises made by groups of these Moby Dick-type whales foraging under water.

Andre heard layers of overlapping rhythms that made no sense to him. He remembered that European musicologists, when first visiting Africa, could not understand how the large groups of drummers in countries like Senegal could keep their own part going in the midst of so many other contradictory beats. In fact these drummers have maintained their own signature rhythms in the din of the crowd since childhood. From these years of practice, each drummer knows how his pattern sings out in the spaces between all the other patterns. You must be an expert in the discernment of rhythms to successfully play this music.

With this in mind, Andre invited a Senegalese drummer, Arona N'Diaye Rose, to listen to his recording of a four-member unit of vocalizing sperm whales. The sabar master was immediately able to distinguish the beat of each of the four clicking whales from the others. He also believed that what the scientists heard as cacophony was actually an organized rhythm, based on a dominant beat coming from one of the whales, which Rose felt was analogous to the signature rhythms marking the social structure of an African tribe.

"I couldn't believe it," said Andre to me at a café in Barcelona last week, close to his laboratory. "We knew there were four whales because we took notes during the recording, but all we heard was a confusion of clicks. I asked Arona how he could tell there were four different animals. He said 'I don't know how – but I know.'"

Since that listening session ten years ago, Andre has been seeking funding to continue his research. But his story is the same as I've heard from many scientists: it is invariably difficult to get support for descriptive work. Applied science, especially work towards managing whale "stocks" or populations, is always easier to fund. An approach that combines biology with music – for all its intercultural promise – is the hardest to support. Should the funders be research agencies or cultural exchange groups? Neither wants to touch anything so firmly on the charged border between one approach and the next.

Andre has been developing more mathematically rigorous, or "objective," ways of categorizing whale clicks. Building this system is a prelude to being able to study the relationship between clicks that come from different whales with greater accuracy. It would also be a method that takes account of the precise rhythm that goes on between the clicks, how they fit into a larger patterned context. This complexity is what Rose heard in the recordings, and Andre feels we should not ignore it.

"We need to study the whales' perception, not our own perception," he said. "Scientists are more used to counting, so we count. We have to learn from the insights of polyrhythmic drumming to perceive the value of rhythm at work in the clicks themselves." So at the same time as trying out wild ideas, like collaborating with drummers, Andre is also applying more sophisticated mathematics, for more rigorous results.

Andre believes it is the relationship between the clicks that is most important. He also thinks that "reading" the clicks as music might help figure out what's really happening. But it's going to take musicians, scientists, and whales spending a whole lot of time together to get meaningful results.

"Sure, it's subjective if a drummer just listens once," said Andre. "But if I ever get to work with Rose for several months at a time, learning his perception and his approach toward analyzing the combinations, then I hope to learn something of his rhythmic intelligence that has been passed down through many generations. Yet we still don't have the funding to bring a drum master onto our team. Rose was certainly on to something. He immediately sensed an organization to these whale sounds that none of us in my lab could hear."

Perhaps one day the powers that grant funds to make science possible might see fit to support musicians and scientists working together more deeply. But at the moment, only about ten people in the world have even the slightest understanding of the code-like tappings produced by these legendary, mammoth beasts. How will we figure them out? The problem with whale science is the same as the problem Brian Eno pointed years ago regarding digital communication: "It's got to have more Africa in it."

Michel Andre's websites:

http://www.lab.upc.es/
http://www.sonsdemar.eu/

Source: Reality Sandwich

Thanks to The Daily Grail

2007-07-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

The Weasley Family's Arthurian Names

There is a running theme of Arthurian legend in some of the Weasley family names. The father is named Arthur; the daughter is named Ginevra, which is the Italian form of Guinevere; a son is named Percy, which is a shortened form of Percival, and the youngest son is named Ron, the name of Arthur's spear in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, and in the "Brut" poems of Wace and Layamon[3][4] (it was originally "Rhongomynyad" in Welsh legend).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasley_family

2007-07-11T20:18:00.001-04:00

Elements of the Arthurian Tradition in Harry Potter
by Phyllis D. Morris

Elements of the Arthurian tradition are woven throughout Rowling's Harry Potter series. Both Arthur and Harry are heroes; both were taken from their parents and hidden for their own safety; both have wise, aged mentors; both are on a quest to fulfill their destiny and both have the potential to become immortal. This paper explores the parallels between the themes and characters in Arthurian legend and those in the Harry Potter series. Article

Last night (this morning?)I took my daughters to see the midnight opening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the local mall. While they've been deeply involved with the books for years (we'll go to the midnight sale of the 7th book as well), I just haven't been terribly interested in reading any of them. I appreciate that JK Rowling manages to tell a good story, and I think it is fantastic to see how many kids have been turned on to reading because of the series. But I'm afraid the books are just too English boarding school fiction for me.

2007-07-11T19:55:00.000-04:00

2007-07-11T19:41:00.000-04:00

As we walked through fields of prayer

Just west of Aberdeen, a forgotten megalithic landscape could contain written evidence of an ancient Mediterranean connection. But it definitely contains memories of a once sacred landscape, which became the Pictish heartland. ARTICLE

Philip Coppens explores the Scottish megalithic features which hang onto their integrity precariously, as civilization spreads over the ancient lands of the River Don.

Thanks to The Daily Grail

2007-07-09T18:29:00.000-04:00

Unique Bronze Age site discovered in England

Raphael G. Satter Associated Press Jul. 8, 2007

The stones were likely heated in a fire and quickly doused in cold water, cracking before being placed along the serpentine earthen mound. The result: a curving paved structure possibly used in a ritual by Britain's Bronze Age inhabitants.The archaeologist who announced the discovery of the 65-yard-long "Rotherwas Ribbon" in western England said so-called "burnt stones" that cover the 4,000-year-old mound could shed more light on early civilization.

Mounds of burnt stones litter northern Europe and some experts believe they were once used in cooking.

But their presence on the snakelike mound also suggests the stones were used in rituals, Herefordshire County archaeologist Keith Ray said Wednesday.

"It's the only structure we have from prehistory from Britain or in Europe, as far as we can tell, that is actually a deliberate construction that uses burnt stones," Ray said. "This is ... going to make us rethink whole chunks of what we thought we understood about the period."

AP article continues

BBC News article with aerial photograph

Bob Widdowson, Chair of Herefordshire Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), said: "I am bemused by the plan to 'preserve' the site beneath the road. How comforting to know that this extraordinary find is there but no one can see it until a more enlightened generation tears up the road! A site of 4000 years and apparently of major international importance is to be preserved (buried) so that a road that most sensible people agree is in the wrong place and not needed can be finished 'on time'." link

Thanks to Pagan Nation

Keywords: megalithic, archeology, England, UK, Herefordshire, road, ritual, stone, fire, Rotherwas, Rotherwas Ribbon

2007-07-04T15:47:00.000-04:00

'Living goddess' has deity status stripped after US trip

By Michael Savage

A 10-year-old Nepalese girl who is one of the country's most important living goddesses is to have her deity status removed after she defied tradition and left her homeland to promote a documentary.

Sajani Shakya angered local religious leaders when she travelled to the United States last month to publicise a British-made film about Nepal's living goddesses. Sajani, who was based at the city of Bhaktapur's Taleju Temple in the Kathmandu valley, was worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists. As one of the kingdom's three highest Kumaris, or living goddesses, she was forbidden from leaving Nepal.

Jai Prasad Regmi, the head of a trust that manages the affairs of the Kumari tradition in Bhaktapur, said that the girl's deity status would be revoked on her return from the US this week. "It is wrong and against the tradition for her to go on a foreign tour without any permission," he said. "This is impure in our tradition. We will search for a new Kumari and install her as the living goddess."

More at The Independent

2007-07-03T02:54:00.000-04:00

Military Spooks employing street witches?

Former Green Beret John Alexander was involved in the US government Remote Viewing program. He tells Sharon Weisberger of Wired News about how the program at one point brought in witches who were street psychics.

Danger Room: So, tell me about the witches [who were brought into the Remote Viewing program].
John Alexander: It was a group of women. They were not doing remote viewing. They were doing palmistry, crystal ball kinds of stuff. This was very different from the guys who were the remote viewers, who were following very strict protocols.
DR: Then who were the witches?
JA: They were more like storefront psychics.
DR: Like you have all over in Washington, D.C.?
JA: Yeah.
DR: What year are we talking about?
JA: Must have been the 1990s. I’m not sure exactly what year, by 1995, [the remote viewing program] was dead.
DR: Were the witches successful?
JA: Not terribly. They lacked discipline and protocols.

Thanks to The Daily Grail for today's links

2007-07-03T02:37:00.000-04:00

Midnight Sun Witchcraft Conference 2007

The three day Heksekonferansen was held last week in Varda, Norway.
Ronald Hutton was one of the keynote speakers, lecturing on "The Status of Witchcraft in the Modern Age." Some of the other lectures were on
"The Northern Encounter of Shamanhood and Christianity," "Rituals and Male Witches in Icelandic Witchcraft," " The Changing Understanding of the Witch in Russia at the time of Peter the Great," and " Witch-trials in Finnmark and Scotland – Torture and confession."

http://www.heksekonferansen.no/prog.htm

2007-07-03T01:49:00.000-04:00

New Stone Circle Revealed in Shetland Islands

A team of archeologists from Bath University has uncovered an early Bronze Age or late Neolithic stone circle on the island of Foula, one of the Shetland Islands. The circle is oriented to the midwinter sunrise. Foula (population 30) has the world's largest colony of Great Skuas, known locally as "bonxies."

Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society (BACAS)
http://www.bacas.homecall.co.uk/

Foula (Visit Shetland site)
http://www.visitshetland.com/area-guides/foula/

2007-06-15T06:13:00.000-04:00

Fridgehenge Put on Ice

Fridgehenge, the Santa Fe, New Mexico version of Stonehenge which is made out of 100 refrigerators, is being taken down due to safety concerns. The steel circle was created a decade ago by Adam Horowitz.

The Fortean Times blog links to a Flickr page with some lovely, evocative images of Fridgehenge in better days.

I found myself wishing that Horowitz left a fridge powered up. When you opened the door on the solstice you'd find a trilithon hanging down inside it that would neatly frame the fridge light, as a sort of fractal Stonehenge. Maybe have a pound of Land O' Lakes butter on the door?

http://www.forteantimes.com/blogs/editorial-blogs/news/915325/fridgehenge-dismantled.thtml

Thanks to The Daily Grail

2007-03-18T02:04:00.000-04:00

Air-Kraken

March 17th is also the celebration of the Air-Kraken. It's the peak of their mating season, and their tentacles have a certain ophidian je ne sais quoi that fits in nicely with the holiday.

Link

2007-03-18T00:03:00.000-04:00

Snakes on an Island

Can you tell the difference between Samuel L. "Snakes on a Plane" Jackson and Saint Patrick? Take this quiz.

2007-03-17T23:49:00.000-04:00

All Snakes Day

There are a number of us who feel we relate better to the snakes than to Saint Patrick on March 17.

Cat Chapin-Bishop explains, "I'm not anti-anything.I'm just pro-snake." Scroll down to March 15 entry, All Snakes Day

2007-02-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

Terence McKenna's Library Destroyed

Terence McKenna's book collection, housed in office storage space owned by the Esalen Institute, has been destroyed by fire in Monterey, California. Erik Davis gives the details. The late "visionary psychedelic bard" seems to have assembled an extraordinary library. McKenna's brother Dennis has an index of the collection, and I hope that will be published in some form one of these days.

Thanks to Kent Steadman of Cyberspace Orbit

Keywords: Terence McKenna, Erik Davis, books, library, collection, Dennis McKenna, Esalen, fire

2007-02-05T01:54:00.000-05:00

The Last Unicorn: animated version to be released on DVD

The animated version of Peter S. Beagle's book The Last Unicorn is being released on DVD on February 6, to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Peter Beagle has been beset by a number of legal problems in recent years, and has been struggling to obtain money long owed to him because of underpayment for work he did on the animated version of The Last Unicorn. It's a longstanding problem that's gone on for decades. Because of the continuing legal problems, he is not getting any share of the sales except from those sold by Conlan Press. You may buy copies from Conlan Press online, who say if you buy it from them, half the proceeds for each DVD will go directly to Peter.

http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html

When I was in high school, Peter Beagle and Theodore Sturgeon were the first writers I ever was aware of who spoke to me. It was not just for their narratives, but for the way they wrote. There was a certain clarity and meticulous care in the choices they made. I did not know anything about the craft of writing then, but I knew they were good.

Keywords: Peter Beagle, Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn, DVD, Conlan Press, Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings

2007-02-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

Greeting

Over the wave-patterned sea-floor,
Over the long sun-burnt ridge of the world,
I bid the winds seek you
I bid them cry to you
Night and morning
A name you loved once;
I bid them bring to you
Reed songs, and songs of the small birds --
and sleep.

Ella Young

From Marzilian and Other Poems, Harbison and Harbison, Oceano, 1938

Brigid Chant

Early on Brigid's morn
The serpent shall rise from the hole
I'll not harm the serpent, nor will the serpent harm me.

Adapted from Carmina Gadelica as a circle chant by Elizabeth Cunningham http://www.passionofmarymagdalen.com/

2007-02-02T07:59:00.000-05:00

Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2007

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

http://branchesup.blogspot.com/2007/01/second-annual-brigid-in-cyberspace_25.html

Brigid is the Celtic goddess associated with fire, blacksmithing, poetry, sacred wells, and healing.

Keywords: Brighid, Brigid, Brid, Bride, Brigit, poetry, Imbolc, Candlemas, Oimelc, Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil

Welcome to the Stone Circles Blog

2007-01-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

I'll be covering a wide range of subjects, from the megalithic sites for which this blog is named to earth-centered spirituality, archeology, Earth Mysteries, folk and fairy lore, King Arthur, and fact and fiction of the eras up through the 16th century.

In addition to news, links and commentary, I will be offering custom t-shirts, gifts and housewares featuring rare images in the above subject areas through CafePress.com, using images from my extensive personal collection of rare books and prints.

Carol Maltby