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.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Lord of the Inaugural Dance: Surprising musical subtexts at Barack Obama's inauguration
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
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
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Sarah Palin and the war against the Queen of Heaven
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.
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.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Pagan Delegates at Democratic Convention
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
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
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Witches in Opera
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
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
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Stonehenge vandalized
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
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
Monday, April 21, 2008
Kosher Imaginary Animals
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.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Juhyo: Japanese Monster Trees
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)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Societas Magica
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
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
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
British intelligence agency releases file on WW II astrologer
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Leave No Child Inside
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.
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.
Monday, February 11, 2008
White stag spotted in the Highlands
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.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Brigid Poetry
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
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
"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
~~ Ursula K. LeGuin
Third annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading
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
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
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
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
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Dorset castle ruins revealed to be 'ancient forest' of rare lichens
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
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
Monday, December 17, 2007
Newgrange Winter Solstice Webcast
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
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Central and South American fairy lore being lost?
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
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
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