#julius as german shepherd

[valhelos]

AU time! Artemis Fowl + GNG crossover! They're now doggos.

And of course, Julius lived AU.

[inthenameofadho]

Pets I think my ocs would have MASTERPOST!!!

*notwithstanding their actual pets in canon, i.e. little juno

Zephyrine:

Jean

SPECIFICALLY a golden retriever because I think it suits him well, they’re loyal and friendly and selfless, and even-tempered so when Jean is out doing what he does, he doesn’t have to worry about unnecessary violence. I also think he’d appreciate having something big and fluffy, like a pillow :)

Juno

A black domestic shorthair, I was gonna give her some sort of high energy dog but decided she would probably want something better suited to her line of work, black cats are (at least to me) smart and laid back, and can blend in easily when Juno is stealthing around. I think she might want an animal that evens her out a little rather than match her energy

Jolene

Jolene would totally have a bunny (bonus: also a dog to help her out in the clinic) mostly because of vibes but also because bunnies are territorial, much like Jolene, and would notice if something of hers was stolen or lost. They’re also sweet and good for morale, and I think Jolene would get stressed out by something big like a dog or mischievous like a cat.

June

A Persian cat, specifically an old one. Persians are refined and regal, and patient and sweet, but also curmudgeonly and are more than capable of fucking shit up. June would appreciate the dignity of a Persian while also relating to one, methinks. She’s probably more of a dog person but.. oh well

Julius

A German shepherd! Specifically an old one! For one, German shepherds are commonly service animals, for two, they’re used in the k9 unit. They’re alert and obedient but also, you know, German shepherds. I think he’d mostly just want a friend, but also protection if he needs it.

Johann

Yet another domestic shorthair, this time a brown tabby. Like, some random cat he picked up off the street. He’s 100% a cat person and probably uses it for mousing, even though he also likes mice. I think he’d get a pet just to prove he’s capable of taking care of a life, and then fail miserably cause he overcompensated, and the cat ends up fat as fuuuuck.

Tanwen

You guys gotta hear me out. She’s literally a peacock. Full of enthusiasm and passion, yet also very refined and graceful. Tanwen loves being the center of attention and she loves all things beautiful, so she’d probably choose a peacock to flaunt around. Said peacock would fight with Juno’s cat.

Lola

A Turkish angora probably named something like Lady Fluffybottom of the Dayled Kingdom of So-and-so. They’re majestic and lavish, and white and beautiful, and i think she’d appreciate one so much. She’d wear it around her shoulders like a boa.

Donisvek

Black lab! Who is besties with Jean’s lab! They’re great guard dogs and i think he’d take it with him on patrol, or just as intimidation, but really he’s a sweetheart and sort of dense. Just like Donisvek.

[honeytabbies]

i just realized it'd be fun to make a sort of masterlist of dog breeds/species/etc for my anthro designs just because i have a ton picked out but im not going to get around to drawing everybody anytime soon most likely. also if im missing anyone lmk these are just all i could really think of teehee

i'm always happy to take requests from here too so if there's any design/character anyone would like to see i'd be happy to put them in front of whatever i'm currently doing :D

black bulls:

asta - husky/coyote mutt

liebe - coyote mutt

noelle - saluki

finral - shetland sheepdog

vanessa - cavalier king charles spaniel

luck - jack russell terrier

magna - dobermann pinscher

gauche - american akita

grey - long haired chihuahua

gordon - dalmatian

charmy - toy poodle/american badger

zora - german shepherd

henry - old english sheepdog

nero - bull terrier

nacht - black norwegian elkhound/fox

yami - wolfdog

golden dawn:

yuno - malamute

mimosa - cardigan welsh corgi

klaus - white shepherd

langris - rough collie

william - australian shepherd

other squads:

julius - golden retriever

marx - mudi

mereoleona, fuegoleon, & leopold - tibetan mastiff

nozel, nebra, & solid - saluki

dorothy - papillon

kirsch - cardigan welsh corgi

charlotte - english cocker spaniel

sol - australian kelpie

rill - samoyed

jack - border collie

sekke - pomeranian

kaiser - schnauzer

diamond kingdom:

mars - hokkaido

fana - beagle

fanzell - chinook

dominante - yorkshire terrier

mariella - croatian sheepdog

ladros - dachshund (i only picked this because it's funny to me)

heart kingdom:

lolopechka - flat-coated retriever

gajah - belgian tervuren

potrof - anatolian shepherd

sarado - pitbull

smurik - irish wolfhound

floga - thai ridgeback

elves:

licht - oriental longhair

patry - oriental shorthair

rhya - domestic shorthair brown tabby

fana - calico american curl

vetto - maine coon

misc:

kiato - newfoundland/whale shark

kahono - newfoundland/orca whale

marie - japanese akita

neige - pyrenees

sally - dutch shepherd

rades - clumber spaniel

valtos - french spaniel

bow - red and white setter

dazu - afghan hound

zogratis sibs - black lab/hyena (vanica), aardwolf (zenon), direwolf (dante)

[negative-speedforce]

If your OCs' PETS were to suddenly develop superpowers of their own, what superpowers would they obtain and how much havoc would they end up wreaking? (yes I'm still thinking about Lockjaw lol, love that big old space dog)

Delilah (Siv's sphynx kitten): Gravity manipulation, just so she could sow chaos around the house and knock over even the heaviest of objects.

Stella (Jay's golden retriever): Healing, so she can make Jay feel better on his bad pain days.

Gucci and Prada (Ember's chihuahuas): Telepathy, so they can beg for treats easier.

Nutella (Cat's ferret): Teleportation, so she can wreak absolute havoc all over Cat's house.

Steve and Bucky (Kyle's koi fish): Temperature manipulation, so they can always have their pond at just the right temperature.

Loki (Khalil's chameleon): Construct creation, so he could create little lures for the crickets that Khalil feeds him (and flip people off if need be)

Tasha (Cory's guinea pig): Superspeed, so she can popcorn across the house at the speed of sound and cause absolute havoc.

Fifi (Pippa's tarantula): Intangibility, so she can escape from her tank and catch all the bugs in Pippa's house (and likely scare the shit out of Onnie if they're over for some reason)

Kimchi (Hyun-Ki's Maine Coon): Wall-walking, so he can finally sit inside the ceiling lamp (and probably break it)

Hera (Liah's extremely stupid orange cat): Laser vision, so she can FINALLY kill that sparkle ball.

Julius (Reyna's 14-foot snake): Flight, for the sole reason of scaring everyone else on the Rebel base bc Julius is a little bastard.

Moshe (Matt's German Shepherd): INFINITE FRISBEE. Enough said about that.

Stevie Nicks (Vanessa's gecko): Fire-breath, so she can scare off anyone who tries to threaten Vanessa (and so she can fry the flies that Vanessa feeds her)

[phoenixthemenace]

Chewbacca, my German Shepherd Poodle cross tending his foster kitten, Julius.

[giorgiatempestafumagalliblog]

🔥 ℌ𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔶 𝔅𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔢 🔥

 For ancient men, spring was the season of ritual mating, of the sacred wedding in which the male and female principles were mixed to propitiate fertility. For the Celts, Spring began in Imbolc, the party that is halfway between the Winter Solstice and the March Equinox, and with the Beltane festival the Summer began! 🌞

🌸 Beltane means "fire of Bel": it is the feast of the god Bel solar and luminous god, divinity revered in Ireland and Gaul. His cult probably dates back to the era of megalithism and is one of the oldest deities, shepherd god, healer and protector of thermal waters. A pan-Celtic deity associated with both fire and water, the god of rebirth. His wife is the goddess Belisama and the parallel runs to Brigid, Brigida the shining, Solar Goddess (the Sun was female among the Celts and the Germans). The End of Winter Festival was dedicated to Brigid, which was celebrated in Celtic Europe at the Calends of February.

A bas-relief of Aquileia (Italy 🇮🇹 ) attributed to Belenos depicts his face with his hair and beard simulating the rays of the sun, but we see two wings appearing from the head and two snakes are knotted under the beard.  ⬇️

🔥  The Beltane festival is called in Ireland the "na Beal tina" or the "day of the fire of Beal", the bonfire is a solar spell that represents and assists the sun, it is the sun that shines in all its strength: the animals they passed between great fires to be purified and blessed, so they protected themselves from disease and protected themselves from the jokes of the Little People. Even the young couples jumped through the fire and hopes were drawn from the glowing embers. It is on the occasion of this feast or perhaps on that of the summer solstice that Julius Caesar  ⚔️ says he saw large wicker figures burn with sacrificial human victims inside (wicker man, the wicker man).

🌊 Water also received more power from the Beltane sun. There were pilgrimages to the sacred springs and with the spring water the fields were sprinkled to encourage rain.

May 1 was  the rule of hospitality and if a neighbor or a stranger (it could have been a fairy) asked for fire, or butter or even a cup of water was looked at with suspicion because he certainly had bad intentions. For this reason the wells were supervised by the peasants throughout the night of Eve. In Ireland the water from the well and the fire from the hearth were never asked for or given on the eve of May, the first water taken from the well by the rightful owner on the day of May brought luck, protection, and healing. If it was stolen, however, it also took away good luck. ☘️ We rolled in the grass to benefit from the May dew, in the belief that it was good for the skin, the girls collected it in a glass jar to use it as a beauty tonic  🌟

💕  A Celtic ritual that was to be typical in Beltane was that of the Hunt for Love, in which the Queen of May or the Goddess Maiden, goddess of Spring crowned by the hawthorn and the King of May, the Green Man, the lord of the Sacred Grove, united to renew the life and fertility of the Earth; in medieval times and for the Anglo-Saxon countries they were represented by Lady Marian and Robin Hood (Greenwood marriage). In the Celtic ballads it is always in May that the girls hear the call of the elf's horn or venture into the woods to pick roses. 🌹

🧿 𝕭𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖋𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖆𝖑𝖘:  🐌 Among the many beliefs and rituals of May 1, this divination is curious: go out before dawn and take the first snail that is found. Put the snail on a plate sprinkled with flour and leave a cabbage leaf: in its ambulation the snail will write the name of the future groom! 

🌿 Herbs harvested before sunrise on May have better healing properties especially for treating warts.

🥛  When the production of butter was a homemade churning process, the first butter produced with milk from 1st May was considered the best for preparing ointments.

🌵 Another custom on the eve was to lash out with nettles and the children could go around running with a bunch of nettles to hit their companions or unfortunate passers-by; their task was to collect the sprouts of nettles to bring home for the pantry of the kitchen.

🌻 𝕳𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖔 𝖈𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕭𝖊𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖊

🍋 make some lemon biscuits 🌼 decorate the candles with cloves and dandelions 💐 make a wreath 🎋 make the May pole 📿  meditate 🍊 take a cleansing bath with roses and orange 👻 leave an offer for spirits

[ask-shakespearehigh]

Do any of the students have pets? And speaking of animals, what’s the school’s mascot?

School Mascot:

Bear

Banquo: No pets, Has been adopted by local crows

Macduff: Golden retriever named Gueniviere

Three “witches”: Black cat named Salem (belongs to one, but they basically timeshare)

Julius: Horse named Roman

Miranda: 55-gallon tank w Golden Beta named Summer, Moss Balls, Cory Catfish (3), Ghost shrimp (2)

Cleopatra: Ball Python named Ptolemy

Iago: Rosy boa, Bella

Tybalt (and by extent juliet): Papas, white/tan poodle mix

Puck: Blue conure, Iris

Paris (and only by like some extent mercutio): Lop eared rabbit named Princess

Othello: German shepherd named Bruno

[jayceparkblog]

What is the history of the Christmas holiday?

Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25—Christmas Day—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

CONTENT

What is the history of the Christmas holiday?

How Did Christmas Start?

Saturnalia

When Christmas Was Cancelled

Washington Irving Reinvents Christmas

A Christmas Carol

How Did Christmas Start?

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many people rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrate Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

Saturnalia

In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, enslaved people were given temporary freedom and treated as equals. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could participate in the holiday's festivities.

Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

Is Christmas Really the Day Jesus Was Born?

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention a date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. 

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

When Christmas Was Cancelled

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

Washington Irving Reinvents Christmas

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s piqued American interest in the holiday?

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended—in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

A Christmas Carol

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

[sciencespies]

A Massive Meteor May Have Destroyed The Biblical City Of Sodom

https://sciencespies.com/news/a-massive-meteor-may-have-destroyed-the-biblical-city-of-sodom/

A Massive Meteor May Have Destroyed The Biblical City Of Sodom

The story of the destruction of Sodom is detailed in both the Bible and the Koran. The destruction was rapid and intense.

“And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” – Genesis 19:28

Is it possible that this story has roots in historical reality? Recent archeological findings published in Nature by researchers of the Comet Research Group indicate that a large meteor may have destroyed the ancient city of Tall el-Hammam, and that this destruction may have gone on to form the basis of the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom.

Clues within Ruins of Destruction

Walking through the excavation of Tall el-Hammam is a fascinating, yet haunting, voyage. Puzzling findings indicate that the city was destroyed rapidly in a scorching fireball which is hard to explain. Pottery and mudbricks were melted. People were ripped limb from limb, and their bones are found smashed and scattered, buried in layers of ash, charcoal, and pulverized mudbricks. As archeologists dig through the ancient rock, they uncover a tell-tale blackened layer, where the rocks themselves tell the story of intense and widespread fires.

Three layers within the archeological dig indicate that something drastic happened here. The bottom layer is made of pulverized bricks, melted roof clay, charcoal, burned seeds, and scraps of burnt clothing. Above this is a windblown layer of small bits of plaster, charcoal, and limestone spherules. Topping it off is a dark, almost black, layer of ash and charcoal.

The destruction of Sodom by fire and brimstone. Lot’s wife is turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis … [+] chapters XVIII and XIX), illustration by Gustave DorŽ (1832 Ð 1883) (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Perhaps most puzzling are the melted objects found in the ruins of Tall el-Hammam. Melted pottery shards, which melt at temperatures above 1500C. Mudbricks, that melt above 1400C. A host of melted elements and minerals, such as platinum, iridium, and quartz.

There are also clues at the microscopic level. Archeologists also found carbon, likely originating from wood or plants, shocked to form structures like microscopic diamonds.

Almost as if it is peaking out of a layer of ancient pulverized mudbricks, the top of a skull emerges from the rock. It’s buried up to the bridge of its nose – the rest is embedded within a matrix of melted mudbricks. Stained with ash, it now has a brick-red tinge. The right eye socket has been crushed. Around it is a constellation of tiny bone fragments, which show the scar of high temperatures. Most of them are smaller than a penny.

There is more. Archeologists found that the massively thick walls of the city were sheared off. Millions of the mudbricks that made the city simply disappeared, potentially pulverized to microscopic pieces. Another piece of the puzzle – debris, whether it be shards of pottery or melted bricks, always seemed to point to the northeast.

In the cosmic airburst of Tunguska in 1908, fallen trees all lay in the same direction. This … [+] directionality was also seen in the debris in Tall el-Hammam. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The spherules, tiny sand-sized balls of melted material, are particularly interesting. Some of these consist of calcium carbonate. “Extreme high temperatures (>1500 C) melted limestone plaster applied to the walls (mainly in the Palace area),” says Dr. Christopher Moore, a scientist at the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and author on the study. He goes on to explain how these spherules were formed. “Vaporized limestone plaster then quickly cooled in the air to form the numerous calcium carbonate spherules.” Other spherules found were formed of iron or silica.

What could have caused this level of destruction?

Root of Destruction

3,600 years ago, the city of Tall el-Hammam was a bustling metropolis. With a population of about 8,000 people, it was the largest city in the region.

But around 1650 B.C.E, that came to an end.

The researchers of the study looked at several things that could account for the destruction. Warfare seemed unlikely, as there was no other archeological evidence of spearpoints or other weapons. Tornadoes are rare in the area, and it would be difficult to imagine how a tornado could cause the extent of damage seen in human bones. Earthquakes could have led to fires, but could not explain the high-temperature melting of minerals. The authors looked at all sorts of natural disasters, from widespread city fires to volcanism to lightning. Of the 17 types of observations they made, there was only one event that fit all the data – a meteor.

A meteor – either an impact or an airburst, fit the data at Tall el-Hammam.

getty

This meteor could have hit the city itself or nearby, or could have exploded in the air, like the Tunguska meteor in 1908 over Siberia. Either one could cause the level of destruction seen.

The authors used the online Impact Calculator to simulate a meteor approaching Tall el-Hammam. This meteor likely would have been between 60 and 75 m across, putting it at potentially larger than the bolide that exploded in the Tunguska event. It is unlikely to be much larger than this though, Dr. Allen West of the Comet Research Group, one of the authors of the study, explains. “Otherwise, the object would have hit the ground and created a large crater like Meteor Crater in Arizona.”

Nearby Ruins

Tall el-Hammam was not the only city to be destroyed that day.

22 km to the west lay the city of Jericho. This city was destroyed on a similar timescale as Tall el-Hammam. The city walls, along with buildings, tumbled, and the city burnt to the ground. Storerooms caught fire, causing pottery to burst. Human bones were found shattered and mixed in with the ruin. The main fortification of the city, in the direction of Tall el-Hammam, collapsed. However, no evidence of extremely high temperatures (>1200C), like melted pottery or mudbricks, was found.

Buried in Salt

The entire ancient city had another strange characteristic. It was covered in salt.

“After the excavators would finish for the day, dew would often condense in the excavated walls overnight,” West told me. “When they returned in the morning, the destruction layer often was marked by a white crust of salt that had leached out overnight.”

Where did this salt come from? It seems that the sheer amount of salt is most likely tied to the meteor impact. “Perhaps the impact landed in shallow water of the Dead Sea, which is greater than about 30% salt, and splashed across the valley.” West explains.

Salt from the Dead Sea was scattered over the surrounding area after the impact, rendering it … [+] infertile for 600 years.

getty

This salt took the once fertile land and potentially made it sterile, making it near impossible to grow wheat and barley, two of the most important crops of the era. In fact, the entire area was then unoccupied for up to 600 years.

Ties to Sodom?

Is it possible that the destruction of Tall el-Hammam was the historical basis that became the story of Sodom?

Surely, the destruction of Tall el-Hammam would have been memorable. For the unlucky people who lived within the city, it is likely that no one survived. Malcolm A. LeCompte, a researcher on the study from the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, points out that it is possible that tribesmen, women, and shepherds in nearby fields may have lived to tell the tale, although they may have been blinded or deafened by the explosion. In addition, there may have been some survivors within Jericho.

What about the timing? For now, the timing of the story of Sodom and the destruction of Tall el-Hammam seem to agree. “We can say with a high degree of confidence that the simultaneous destruction of Tall el-Hammam and every other city, town, and village in the Kikkar occurred ca 1650 BCE +/- 30 years,” says Dr. Phil Silvia, an author on the study from Trinity Southwest University, “which is the time of Abraham and Lot.”

“Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He … [+] looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.” (Genesis, Chapter 19, 27-28). Woodcut after a drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (German painter, 1794 – 1872) from my archive, published in 1877.”

getty

The idea that Tall el-Hammam might have been Sodom goes back to the 18th or 19th centuries. It had fallen out of favor, but is once again slowly gaining steam. Silvia was the one who hypothesized in 2018 that a meteor may have been the culprit.

“The Bible mentions only one eyewitness—Abraham,” Silvia explains to me. “He went up [to the top] and looked down upon Sodom and saw smoke rising from the whole plain like smoke from a furnace…. he probably saw the flash of the airburst the evening before, but it was to dangerous to venture out at night, so he waited until the next morning to investigate.”

#News

[existential-celestial]

LITERATURE, AUTHORS, LITERARY FIGURES, ETC.

mentioned in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

LITERATURE

“The Shepherd Boy sings in the Valley of Humiliation” by John Bunyan

Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

More Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

Selected Letters by Charles Lamb

Who’s Who

Domesday Book

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim

Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Book of Revelation by Apostle John (New Testament, Holy Bible)

“The bright day is done, and we are for the dark.”  from “ Antony and Cleopatra,” in Selections from Shakespeare (William Shakespeare)

“The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea;   Listen! the mighty Being is awake,” from “It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free,” by William Wordsworth

Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935 selected by W. B. Yeats

“ What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?      — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.” from “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” by Wilfred Owen

Letters of Seneca: Translated from Latin in One Volume, with Appendix by Seneca

David Copperfield by Chales Dickens

“Does it ever give thee pause, that men used to have soul—not by hearsay alone, or as a figure of speech; but as truth that they knew, and acted upon! Verily it was another world then…but yet it is a pity we have lost the tidings of our souls…we shall have to go in search of them again, or worse in all ways shall befall us.” from Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

“I have no passion (or have had none since I was in love, and then it was the spurious engendering of poetry and books) for groves and valleys. The rooms where I was born, the furniture which has been before my eyes all my life, a book-case which has followed me about like a faithful dog (only exceeding him in knowledge), wherever I have moved myself, old chairs, old tables, streets, squares, where I have sunned myself, my old school - these are my mistresses. Have I not enough, without your mountains? I do not envy you. I should pity you, did I not know that the mind will make friends of anything.” Charles Lamb in his letter to William Wordsworth

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers by Joseph Addison

AUTHORS

E. V. Lucas

Branwell Brontë

Wilkie Collins

Catullus

Siegfried Sassoon

Ernest Hemingway

John Dos Passos

William Hazlitt

Leigh Hunt

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Oscar Wilde

Rainer Maria Rilke

Mark Twain

Honoré de Balzac

James Boswell

Jonathan Swift

Jane Austen

LITERARY FIGURES

Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)

Cathy (Wuthering Heights)

King Lear (King Lear)

Miss Marple (a character appearing in Agatha Christie’s 12 books and 20 short stories)

OTHERS

Patrick Brontë

Elizabeth Branwell

[ialinite]

Facts About the Origin of Christmas and History of Some Christmas Traditions

In the early long periods of Christianity the fundamental holiday was Easter. In the fourth Century church authorities chose to have the introduction of Jesus celebrated as a holiday and Pope Julius I picked the date of December 25 for Christmas. The holiday, at first called the Feast of the Nativity, spread to England before the finish of the sixth Century and to Scandinavia before the finish of the eighth Century.

Church pioneers initiated Christmas during winter since that season was prominent for the celebrations of numerous agnostic celebrations. The expectation was that Christmas would likewise turn into a holiday that would increase much notoriety. The congregation chiefs accomplished the objective of having Christmas celebrations, become prevalent throughout the winter solstice, yet they were not able control other agnostic like celebrations during Christmas. Devotees would go to chapel on Christmas and after that take an interest later in unruly and plastered celebrations.

The celebration of Christmas in Europe changed in the mid seventeenth Century when Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans picked up power in England in 1645. To expel debauched conduct from the general public, Cromwell dropped Christmas. The Puritans noticed that the Bible doesn't make reference to any birth date for Jesus. Christmas celebrations returned in England around 1649 when Charles II was reestablished to the position of authority.

Christmas was not a holiday in early America on the grounds that the Pilgrims who came to America had significantly stricter convictions than Cromwell and the Puritans. Christmas celebrations were even banished in Boston from 1659 to 1681. Anybody found taking an interest in any occasion or action identified with Christmas needed to pay a fine.

After the American Revolution it ended up disagreeable to participate in English traditions and Christmas again lost notoriety. Thusly, Legislators in Congress worked together on Christmas Day in 1789. It wasn't until June 26, 1870 that Christmas was proclaimed a government holiday.

Christmas in the United States picked up prevalence as a holiday period during the nineteenth Century. It likewise changed around then to turn out to be more family-focused as opposed to being jamboree like.

Numerous exercises identified with observing Christmas as we probably am aware it presently developed from societies in Europe, before Christianity began. They would balance evergreen branches over their entryways and windows since evergreens were accepted to avert witches, apparitions, underhanded spirits and ailment.

Among basic things utilized in Christmas enrichments are the holly and the mistletoe. Both are utilized basically in wreaths and laurels. The Druids began the convention of utilizing the mistletoe as brightening things to commend the winter season. They accepted the mistletoe would bring good karma and avert insidiousness spirits. They additionally accepted that it had a recuperating quality and could be utilized for everything from mending wounds to expanding richness.

In Scandinavia, the mistletoe was viewed as a plant of harmony and agreement and was related with the goddess of adoration. This affiliation is presumably what prompted the custom of kissing under the mistletoe.

In the Victorian time frame, the English additionally would balance mistletoe from roofs and in entryways during holidays. The propensity built up that on the off chance that somebody was remaining under the mistletoe, another person in the room would kiss that individual. Such conduct was not by and large found in Victorian culture.

The utilization of the mistletoe in Christmas celebrations was once restricted by the congregation as a result of its relationship with agnostic conventions, and the utilization of holly was recommended as a substitute.

Poinsettias are another conventional enlivening bloom utilized at Christmas. It is local to Mexico and is named after Joel Poinsett, who was the first U.S envoy to Mexico and who acquired the plants to America 1828. Mexicans accept the plants were an image of the Star of Bethlehem and that is one reason they are related with Christmas.

Sending greeting cards during Christmas and the holidays is as common today as the custom of giving presents. Religious pictures of Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the heavenly attendants, shepherds and Wise Men are generally put on Christmas cards. A few cards today likewise incorporate pictures of Santa Claus, winter landscape, Christmas trees and present bundles.

The possibility of Christmas greeting cards began in Britain in the late 1830s when John Calcott Horsley began to deliver little cards that had bubbly scenes and a holiday greeting composed inside. Comparable cards were likewise being made in the United States at about a similar time by R.H. Pease, in Albany, New York, and Louis Prang, who was a German worker. The custom of sending the greeting cards during Christmas picked up notoriety in the two nations around 10 years after the fact when new postal conveyance administrations began.

[omglovedogsuniverse]

German Shepherd Julius looks like he's in trouble. http://bit.ly/2XBwvXP

[todayclassical]

June 08 in Music History

1671 Birth of composer Tomaso Albinoni. 1740 Birth of composer Gabriele Mario Piozzi.

1724 FP of Keiser's "Das frohlockende Gross Britannien" Hamburg.

1753 Birth of French composer Nicolas Dalayrac.

1783 Birth of composer Joseph Lincke.

1787 FP of Salieri's "Tarare" Paris, recomposed and given as "Axur, re d'Ormus".

1790 Birth of Austrian baritone Anton Forti in Vienna. 

1796 Death of Italian composer, conductor and violinist Felice d´Giardini.

1805 Birth of composer Luigi Ricci.

1810 Birth of German composer Robert Alexander Schumann.

1812 Birth of composer Spyridon Xyndas.

1814 Birth of Moravian violinist and composer Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. 

1815 FP of Coccia's "Clotilde" Venice.

1839 Death of German soprano Aloysia Weber.

1834 Birth of composer George Garrett.

1837 Birth of composer Jan Kleczynski.

1850 FP of Halevy's "La Tempestà" London.

1858 Birth of composer Antonio Nicolau.

1859 FP of Delibes' "L'omelette à la Follembuche" Paris.

1863 Birth of German tenor Ernst Kraus in Erlangen.

1867 Birth of French composer Jean-Baptiste Lemire in Colmar. 

1867 FP of Johannes Brahms' Scherzo in eb, Op. 4, for piano, in Vienna. 

1868 Birth of Spanish-American pianist and composer Alberto Jonas.

1873 Birth of German baritone Otto Goritz in Berlin. 

1881 Birth of composer Prospero Bisquertt.

1884 Death of American composer and music publisher Henry Clay Work.

1888 Birth of composer Poul Julius Ouscher Schierbeck.

1890 Birth of tenor Nikandr Khanayev in Pesochnya. 

1894 Birth of Czech composer Ervin Schulhoff in Praha, Czech Republic.

1895 FP of Cowen's "Harold, or The Norman Conquest" London.

1898 Birth of German bass Robert Easton in Sunderland. 

1898 FP of Rousseau's "La Cloche du Rhin" Paris.

1906 Birth of English clarinetist Reginald Kell in York. 1912 FP of Ravel's ballet Daphnis and Chloe in stage form, by Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe, Pierre Monteux conducting at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. 

1913 Birth of composer Janos Jagamas.

1920 Birth of bass Peter Roth-Ehrang in Trier. 

1923 Birth of Belgian composer Karel Goeyvarets in Antwerp. 

1926 Birth of composer Anatol Vieru.

1927 Birth of Australian baritone Robert Allman in Melbourne. 

1928 Birth of composer Jiri Dvoracek.

1929 FP of Paul Hindemith's Neus vom Tage 'News of the Day' at the Krolloper in Berlin.

1930 Birth of American bass Raymond Michalski in Bayonne, NJ.

1930 Birth of composer Yannis Ioannidis.

1932 Birth of composer Hans Gunter Helms.

1932 Death of Hungarian soprano Clementine Schuch-Proska.

1933 Birth of American baritone Robert Kerns in Highland Park, MI. 

1937 FP of Boero's "Siripo" Buenos Aires.

1937 FP of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at the Opernhaus in Frankfurt. 

1940 Death of American composer Frederick Shepherd Converse.

1941 Birth of American flutist Paula Robison in Tennesee.

1941 FP of Harold Shapero's Nine Minute Overture in NYC. 

1947 Birth of American composer Joan La Barbara in Philadelphia, PA.

1949 Birth of Polish-American pianist Emanuel Ax in Lvov, Poland. 

1950 FP of Paul Hindemith's Horn Concerto. Hindemith conducting with Dennis Brain soloist in Baden-Baden, Germany. 

1957 FP of Fortner's "Bluthochzeit" Cologne. A revision FP in 1963. 1961 Birth of American soprano Kallen Esperian in Waukegan, IL. 

1965 Death of Scottish composer, conductor and pianist Erik Chisholm.

1966 Birth of American composer Harold Meltzer.

1968 FP of Harrison Birtwistle's opera Punch and Judy.

1969 Death of American soprano Lenora Sparks. 

1971 Death of American bass-baritone Julius Huehn.

1974 FP of Henry Brant's An American Requiem in Mt. Lebanon, PA.

1984 Death of English composer Gordon Jacob in Saffron Walden. 

1998 Death of German-American composer Margaret Buechner.

[bitchface-xo]

[joyyywd]

Reposted from @oneillcris Reposted from @urgentpetstx 🏥MEDICAL-Julius needs our HELP right away as he is very uncomforable and doesn't feel like himself. A foster is needed so an approved rescue can get him 🚑 MEDICAL care for his perineal hernia of his bladder surgery and treatment for those pesky Heartworms once he recovers from surgery. Please help us get the word out. Many 💵 PLEDGES are NEEDED💰 so this FRIENDLY boy can be saved. Don't forget to tell us how YOU will help Julius in the comments below.. Here is what we know about Julius: 🔸🚑 MEDICAL care~ Foster & Rescue NEEDED 🔸 German Shepherd 🔸 6 years old 🔸 72 pounds 🔸 male 🔸 Heartworm POSITIVE ~ 💵 PLEDGES NEEDED💰 🔸 Stray found in 77493 🏥Julius #A559424 Harris County Pets 612 Canino Road, Houston, TX Adoptions by appointment only due to quarantine! (281) 999-3191 #rescueismyfavoritebreed #beapartofthesolution #thisishouston #adoptdontshop #dogsofinstagram #rescuedogsofinstagram #houston #rescuedog #shelterdogs #animalsofinstagram #fosteringsaveslives #petsarefamily #fosterdog #rescuedogs #dogrescue #shelterdogsofinstagram #fosterdogs #adopt #adoptme #dogrescues #urgentdogs #shelterdogsrock #dogrescuer #shelteranimals #adoptables #doglovers #thisishouston #pawsitivepawsrescues #germanshepherdsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CED4GxbBrBn/?igshid=15lr5g2ti3mk0

[dalecmainviscom]

10 Codes / Keys / Ciphers

Researching various methods of secret codes, keys and ciphers - I found the below article which explained ten of the most historically famous ones. The direction my project is starting to head in is to explore alternative narrative through the visual language of codes like the below. My project could present a variety of these type codes and would be interactive in the user playing n active role to decipher text. 

1. The Caesar shift

Named after Julius Caesar, who used it to encode his military messages, the Caesar shift is as simple as a cipher gets. All you have to do is substitute each letter in the alphabet by shifting it right or left by a specific number of letters. Today, we can break this code in our sleep, but it took ancient codebreakers 800 years to learn how to crack it - and nearly another 800 years to come up with anything better.

2. Alberti’s disk

In 1467, architect Leon Battista Alberti described a curious device. It was a disk made up of two concentric rings: the outer ring engraved with a standard alphabet, and the inner ring, engraved with the same alphabet but written out of order. By rotating the inner ring and matching letters across the disk, a message could be enciphered, one letter at a time, in a fiendishly complex way.

3. The Vigenère square

This 16th-century cipher uses a keyword to generate a series of different Caesar shifts within the same message. Though simple to use, this method of coding resisted all attempts to break it for over 300 years, earning it the nickname “le chiffre indéchiffrable”: the undecipherable cipher.

4. The Shugborough inscription

On the Shepherds’ Monument in Staffordshire’s Shugborough Hall, an unknown craftsman carved eight mysterious letters - OUOSVAVV - between two other letters, D and M. Thousands of would-be code-breakers, including Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, have searched without success for the meaning behind this inscription. More recently, some have claimed this cipher points to the hidden location of the Holy Grail.

5. The Voynich manuscript

This extraordinary codex from the 15th century is filled with bizarre illustrations and written in a unique alphabet that no one has ever identified. To this day, we’re not sure if the manuscript contains valuable secrets, the ravings of a madman, or is simply a centuries-old hoax.

6. Hieroglyphs

When no one is left who knows how to read a language, it becomes a secret code of its own. That’s exactly what happened with the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. These beautiful, iconic characters baffled linguists for centuries, until Napoleon’s troops discovered the Rosetta Stone, which allowed scholars to match the hieroglyphs with known Greek words, giving us the key to understanding the language and culture of one of the greatest civilizations in history.

7. The Enigma machine

This infamous Nazi coding device may have looked like a typewriter, but hidden inside was the most complex cryptographic system of rotors and gears yet devised. Allied code-breakers - including British genius Alan Turing and his team at Bletchley Park - worked day and night for years, building machines called bombes to crack the Germans’ military messages. Their efforts are estimated to have shortened the war by as much as two years, saving millions of lives.

8. Kryptos

In 1990, the CIA teased its own analysts by installing a sculpture with a complex four-part code on the grounds of its Langley headquarters. To date, only three of the four parts have been solved. If you’re looking for a job as a codebreaker, try cracking the last one - as long as you don’t mind getting a visit from the Men in Black...

9. RSA encryption

For most of our history, ciphers required both coder and decoder to have the same key to unlock it. But in the 1970s, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found a way to encode messages safely without sharing the key beforehand. Called public-key cryptography, this type of security protects most electronic communications today. It’s not known if it can be cracked, but if you figured out a way, you’d own pretty much everything on the internet!

10. The Pioneer plaques

Our final code is one we sent to others - and I really mean others. Attached to the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, these gold-aluminium plaques depict us, our solar system, and our location in the universe, and are encoded with one of the properties of hydrogen as the key to decipher our message. Travelling through the vastness of space, it’s unlikely any alien civilisation will discover these probes. But if they do, we’ll have passed on to them our love of knowledge - and the secrets we use to hide it.

ref: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/sep/10/top-10-codes-keys-and-ciphers