#stone age religion through Europe

[oennpellmell]

Since people are sharing. Why not adding more :)

This is why I read the reddit comments

[irunevenus]

Druidry: The Modern Restoration of an Ancient Celtic Tradition

Druidry is a spiritual and philosophical practice that dates back to the ancient Celtic cultures of Europe, flourishing particularly in the British Isles during the Iron Age. The Druids, central figures in this tradition, were priests, poets, judges, and counselors to kings, with a deep knowledge of the mysteries of nature, law, and spirituality. With the arrival of Christianity, Druidry almost completely disappeared, but in the 18th century it underwent a remarkable revival that continues to influence modern spirituality.

Origin and History of Ancient Druidry Druidry is one of the oldest religious traditions in Europe, with roots dating back to the Celtic period, approximately 1200 BC to the first century AD. The earliest references to Druids come from Greco-Roman sources, which describe these spiritual leaders as wise men, magicians, and holders of vast knowledge.

The Druids served in a variety of roles within Celtic society: they were guardians of sacred rites, educators of the youth, lawgivers, and interpreters of the will of the gods. They were believed to have had a profound understanding of astronomy, medicine, poetry, and philosophy, and their influence was so powerful that even kings and warriors sought their advice.

The Druids' sacred sites included groves, stones, and other natural features, as they believed the Earth was alive and filled with spirits. To the Druids, forests were cathedrals, and trees, especially the oak, had deep spiritual significance.

The Decline and Revival of Druidism With the expansion of the Roman Empire, Druidism suffered a significant decline. The Romans, particularly Emperor Claudius, saw the Druids as a threat to their rule and actively persecuted them, banning their religious practices. However, it was the arrival of Christianity that dealt the final blow to the ancient Druid religion, causing it to disappear for centuries.

The revival of Druidry began in the 18th century during the Romantic period, when a renewed interest in Celtic cultures and traditions emerged in Britain. Groups such as the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) were founded, drawing on the limited historical information available and combining it with modern philosophical ideas and spiritual practices.

The Neo-Druids of the 19th and 20th centuries sought to recreate the rituals and philosophy of ancient Druidry, albeit with considerable creative freedom, as much of the original traditions had been lost. Today, Druidry is recognised as a legitimate form of alternative spirituality, practised by thousands of people around the world.

Principles and Beliefs of Modern Druidry While modern Druidry is diverse and adapts to the needs of its practitioners, it is guided by a few core principles that echo ancient Celtic traditions:

Reverence for Nature: Druids view the Earth as sacred and believe that all life is interconnected. Nature is a reflection of the divine, and seasonal cycles are celebrated as times of transformation and renewal.

The Tree as a Sacred Symbol: Trees, especially the oak, ash, and holly, are revered by Druids. The oak, in particular, is seen as a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Personal and Free Spirituality: Druidry encourages individual spiritual exploration. There is no rigid dogma; Druids are free to seek and interpret the divine in their own personal ways, whether through the ancient gods, nature, or their own inner spirit.

Celebrating Seasonal Cycles: Druids celebrate eight seasonal festivals known as the Wheel of the Year, which include the solstices, equinoxes, and Celtic celebrations such as Beltane, Samhain, and Imbolc. These festivals honor the changes in nature and the cycles of life, death, and rebirth.

Poetry and Oral Tradition: Druidry deeply values ​​poetry, music, and oral tradition. Bards, one class of druids, were responsible for preserving history and myth through song and story.

Druidic Practices and Rituals Modern Druidic rituals are centered on nature and often performed outdoors in places such as woods, mountains, and water sources. These rituals include:

Druid Circles: Groups of druids gather to celebrate seasonal festivals and perform rituals that honor the Earth and the deities. They create a sacred circle, where the elements are invoked and intentions are manifested.

Rites of Passage: Initiation rituals, weddings (handfastings), birth celebrations, and farewell rituals for the dead are common in Druidry, each steeped in symbolism and spiritual significance.

Meditation and Spiritual Connection: Many Druids practice meditation, visualization, and nature walks as ways to connect with the divine and find personal wisdom.

Druidry Today and Its Relevance Druidry continues to grow as a spirituality that resonates with the modern desire to reconnect with nature and pursue a more harmonious and conscious life. In a world increasingly disconnected from the Earth, Druids offer a vision of spirituality that values ​​sustainability, respect for the environment, and the celebration of natural rhythms.

Through its rituals, philosophy, and practices, Druidry establishes itself as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting ancient Celtic mysteries with contemporary spiritual needs. More than a simple revival, modern Druidry is a living, breathing adaptation of an ancient tradition that continues to inspire and guide those seeking a spiritual path rooted in the Earth and the stars.

As interest in alternative spiritual practices continues to grow, Druidry stands as a powerful reminder that ancient wisdom still has much to offer the world today.

[justforbooks]

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari

The author of the bestselling Sapiens offers a penetrating critique of the insidious dangers of machine learning and its capacity to manipulate the truth

What jumps to mind when you think about the impending AI apocalypse? If you’re partial to sci-fi movie cliches, you may envisage killer robots (with or without thick Austrian accents) rising up to terminate their hubristic creators. Or perhaps, a la The Matrix, you’ll go for scary machines sucking energy out of our bodies as they distract us with a simulated reality.

For Yuval Noah Harari, who has spent a lot of time worrying about AI over the past decade, the threat is less fantastical and more insidious. “In order to manipulate humans, there is no need to physically hook brains to computers,” he writes in his engrossing new book Nexus. “For thousands of years prophets, poets and politicians have used language to manipulate and reshape society. Now computers are learning how to do it. And they won’t need to send killer robots to shoot us. They could manipulate human beings to pull the trigger.”

Language – and the human ability to spin it into vast, globe-encircling yarns – is fundamental to how the Israeli historian, now on his fourth popular science book, understands our species and its vulnerabilities. In his 2014 mega-hit Sapiens (originally published in Hebrew in 2011), he argued that humans became dominant because they learned to cooperate in large numbers, thanks to a newfound aptitude for telling stories. That aptitude, which enabled our ancestors to believe in completely imaginary things, lies at the root of our religions, economies and nations, all of which would dissolve if our narrative-spinning faculties were somehow switched off.

Sapiens has sold 25m copies to date – a testament to Harari’s own storytelling prowess – though it’s had its share of detractors. Academics questioned its accuracy and the idea of cramming 70,000 years of human history into 450 pages. Sitcoms poked fun at Harari superfans who wave the book around like a modern-day bible. The appeal of Sapiens lies in its dizzying scope but, as a 2020 New Yorker profile pointed out, Harari’s zoomed-out approach can have the effect of minimising the importance of current affairs.

Nexus could be seen as a rebuke to that criticism. Though it executes its own breakneck dash through the millennia, hopping back and forth in time and between continents, it is very much concerned about what’s happening today.

If stories were fundamental to the schema of Sapiens, here it’s all about information networks, which Harari views as the basic structures undergirding our societies. “Power always stems from cooperation between large numbers of humans,” he writes, and the “glue” that holds these networks of cooperation together is information, which “many philosophers and biologists” see as “the most basic building block of reality”.

But information doesn’t reliably tell the truth about the world. More often, Harari emphasises, it gives rise to fictions, fantasies and mass delusions, which lead to such catastrophic developments as Nazism and Stalinism. Why is Homo sapiens, for all its evolutionary successes, so perennially self-destructive? “The fault,” according to Harari, “isn’t with our nature but with our information networks.”

Casting his eye over how information has led us astray in the past, Harari has no shortage of examples to draw on. One of the more gorily memorable is Malleus Maleficarum, written by the Dominican friar Heinrich Kramer in 1480s Austria. A guide to exposing and murdering witches in deliriously horrible ways, the book wouldn’t have travelled far had the printing press not been invented a few decades earlier, allowing Kramer’s deranged ideas to spread across Europe, stoking a witch-hunting frenzy.

Harari’s basic point is that information revolutions can give rise to periods of human flourishing but always come at a cost. When we invent shiny new technologies that carry words and ideas farther and faster than ever before, much of the information that spews out is dross or actively dangerous. It’s not helped by the fact that, when it comes to maintaining social order, fictions tend to be more reliable binding agents than truths.

What’s scary about the AI revolution isn’t just that we’ll be overwhelmed with misinformation from chatbots, or that the powers that be will use it to crunch data on our private lives. Unlike previous technologies such as books and radios, writes Harari: “AI is the first tool that is capable of making decisions and generating ideas by itself.” We saw an early warning of this in Myanmar in 2016-17, when Facebook algorithms, tasked with maximising user engagement, responded by promoting hateful anti-Rohingya propaganda that fuelled mass murder and ethnic cleansing.

Harari makes a strong case for why we should regard such algorithms as autonomous agents and how, if we’re not careful, humans could become tools for AI to manipulate with ever more terrible force. Unless we take immediate action, this burgeoning “alien intelligence”, as he prefers to call it, could trigger catastrophes we can’t even imagine, up to and including the destruction of human civilisation.

This pessimistic take on AI is nothing new: “doomers” such as Eliezer Yudkowsky have been warning of its apocalyptic potential for years and even the AI industry has started voicing concerns. What Harari seeks to add to the debate is the long view. By applying his lens to previous information revolutions and showing how different forms of government have reacted to them, he believes we can prepare ourselves for the earthquakes to come.

Nexus has some curious blind spots; it’s odd, in a critique of a technology driven largely by profit-seeking corporations, that capitalism is hardly mentioned at all. But whether or not you agree with Harari’s historical framing of AI, it’s hard not to be impressed by the meticulous way he builds it up, speckling what could be a rather dry analysis with vivid examples, such as the story of Cher Ami, a first world war messenger pigeon, used here to tease out information’s fundamental slipperiness. As in previous books, he relies heavily on lists (“the two main challenges”, “the five basic principles”) and binaries (truth versus order, democracy versus dictatorship), but this serves to organise his thinking rather than dull the writing.

The solutions he proposes to restrict AI’s power range from the sensible (ban bots from impersonating humans) to the laughable (encourage artists and bureaucrats to “cooperate” to help the rest of us understand the computer network), but Nexus operates primarily as a diagnosis and a call to action, and on those terms it’s broadly successful. If it sells anywhere near as well as Sapiens did, we’ll be that bit better equipped as a species to deal with the rise of the machines.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Green

Once upon a time, long before Weinberger bombed north Africans, before the Bank of Boston laundered money, or Reagan honored the Nazi war dead, the earth was blanketed by a broad mantle of forests. As late as Caesar's time a person might travel through the woods for two months without gaining an unobstructed view of the sky. The immense forests of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America provided the atmosphere with oxygen and the earth with nutrients. Within the woodland ecology our ancestors did not have to work the graveyard shift, or to deal with flextime, or work from Nine to Five. Indeed, the native Americans whom Captain John Smith encountered in 1606 only worked four hours a week. The origin of May Day is to be found in the Woodland Epoch of History.

In Europe, as in Africa, people honored the woods in many ways. With the leafing of the trees in spring, people celebrated "the fructifying spirit of vegetation," to use the phrase of J.G. Frazer, the anthropologist. They did this in May, a month named after Maia, the mother of all the gods according to the ancient Greeks, giving birth even to Zeus.

The Greeks had their sacred groves, the Druids their oak worship, the Romans their games in honor of Floralia. In Scotland the herdsman formed circles and danced around fires. The Celts lit bonfires in hilltops to honor their god, Beltane. In the Tyrol people let their dogs bark and made music with pots and pans. In Scandinavia fires were lit and the witches came out.

Everywhere people "went a-Maying" by going into the woods and bringing back leaf, bough, and blossom to decorate their persons, homes, and loved ones with green garlands. Outside theater was performed with characters like "Jack-in-the-Green" and the "Queen of the May." Trees were planted. Maypoles were erected. Dances were danced. Music was played. Drinks were drunk, and love was made. Winter was over, spring had sprung.

The history of these customs is complex and affords the student of the past with many interesting insights into the history of religion, gender, reproduction, and village ecology. Take Joan of Arc who was burned in May 1431. Her inquisitors believed she was a witch. Not far from her birthplace, she told the judges, "there is a tree that they call 'The Ladies Tree' - others call it 'The Fairies Tree.' It is a beautiful tree, from which comes the Maypole. I have sometimes been to play with the young girls to make garlands for Our Lady of Domremy. Often I have heard the old folk say that the fairies haunt this tree...." In the general indictment against Joan, one of the particulars against her was dressing like a man. The paganism of Joan's heresy originated in the Old Stone Age when religion was animistic and hamans were women and men.

Monotheism arose with the Mediterranean empires. Even the most powerful Roman Empire had to make deals with its conquered and enslaved peoples (syncretism). As it destroyed some customs, it had to accept or transform others. Thus, we have Christmas Trees. May Day became a day to honor the saints, Philip and James, who were unwilling slaves to Empire. James the Less neither drank nor shaved. He spent so much time praying that he developed huge callouses on his knees, likening them to camel legs. Philip was a lazy guy. When Jesus said "Follow me" Philip tried to get out of it by saying he had to tend to his father's funeral, and it was to this excuse that the Carpenter's son made his famous reply, "Let the dead bury the dead." James was stoned to death, and Philip was crucified head downwards. Their martyrdom introduces the Red side of the story, even still the Green side is preserved because, according to the Floral Directory, the tulip is dedicated to Philip and bachelor buttons to James.

The farmers, workers, and child-bearers (laborers) of the Middle Ages had hundreds of holy days which preserved the May Green, despite the attack on peasants and witches. Despite the complexities, whether May Day was observed by sacred or profane ritual, by pagan or Christian, by magic or not, by straights or gays, by gentle or calloused hands, it was always a celebration of all that is free and life-giving in the world. That is the Green side of the story. Whatever else it was, it was not a time to work.

Therefore, it was attacked by the authorities. The repression had begun with the burning of women and it continued in the 16th century when America was "discovered," the slave trade was begun, and nation-states and capitalism were formed. In 1550 an Act of Parliament demanded that Maypoles be destroyed, and it outlawed games. In 1644 the Puritans in England abolished May Day altogether. To these work-ethicists the festival was obnoxious for paganism and worldliness. Philip Stubs, for example, in Anatomy of Abuses (1585) wrote of the Maypole, "and then fall they to banquet and feast, to leape and daunce about it, as the Heathen people did at the dedication of their Idolles." When a Puritan mentioned "heathen" we know genocide was not far away. According to the excellent slide show at the Quincy Historical Society, 90% of the Massachusetts people, including chief Chicatabat, died from chicken pox or small pox a few years after the Puritans landed in 1619. The Puritans also objected to the unrepressed sexuality of the day. Stubs said, "of fourtie, threescore, or an hundred maides going to the wood, there have scarcely the third part of them returned home again as they went."

The people resisted the repressions. Thenceforth, they called their May sports, the "Robin Hood Games." Capering about with sprigs of hawthorn in their hair and bells jangling from their knees, the ancient charaders of May were transformed into an outlaw community, Maid Marions and Little Johns. The May feast was presided over by the "Lord of Misrule," "the King of Unreason," or the "Abbot of Inobedience." Washington Irving was later to write that the feeling for May "has become chilled by habits of gain and traffic." As the gainers and traffickers sought to impose the regimen of monotonous work, the people responded to preserve their holyday. Thus began in earnest the Red side of the story of May Day. The struggle was brought to Massachusetts in 1626.

[crazydazemilkshake]

A Journey Through Norway

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a nation in northern Europe's western Scandinavian Peninsula. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are included in the 148,449 sq mi (384,483 sq km) total area. Estimated population in 2023: 5,526,000. Norwegian capital. Although there are various ethnic minorities, including between 30,000 and 40,000 Sami (Lapps), the majority of the population is Norwegian. Norwegian and Sami are the official languages. Religion: Christianity (officially, Evangelical Lutheranism is the predominant form). currency: krone of Norway. Norway is one of the biggest nations in Europe. It is a hilly country with substantial plateau areas in the southwest and center. It has a developed economy mostly centered on services, petroleum and natural gas extraction, as well as light and heavy industries. Historically a fishing and logging country, it has considerably grown its mining and industrial operations since World War II. Literacy is almost universal.

Norway is a constitutional monarchy with a single parliamentary chamber; the king serves as the country's head of state, while the prime minister serves as the head of government. In the eleventh century, a number of principalities were combined to become the kingdom of Norway. From 1380 until 1814, when it was given to Sweden, it shared a ruler with Denmark. When the union with Sweden was broken up in 1905, Norway's economy expanded quickly. Despite the fact that its shipping industry was crucial to the war effort, it stayed neutral throughout the fight. Despite having declared itself neutral during World War II, German forces invaded and seized the area. Norway is a member of NATO and maintains a robust welfare system. In 1994, its citizens rejected joining the European Union.

Northern lights, Norway

The stark natural beauty of Norway has drawn tourists from all over the world. Other notable artists from the nation include playwright Henrik Ibsen, composer Edvard Grieg, painter Edvard Munch, writers Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset, and composer Edvard Grieg. Ibsen made the following observation about his own land and its reflective citizens: "The gorgeous, but severe, natural environment surrounding people up there in the north, the lonely, secluded life—the farms are miles apart—forces them to...become introspective and serious. At home every other person is a philosopher!"

Fjord, western Norway

Westward flowing rivers had a powerful erosive force. They carved out gorges and canyons that sliced deeply into the rugged coast, following fracture lines denoting weak spots in the Earth's crust. The terrain slopped more gently to the east, creating wider valleys. The magnificent U-shaped drowned fjords that now adorn the western coast of Norway were created by glaciers tonguing down the V-shaped valleys that were part of the landscape during repeated periods of glaciation in the Great Ice Age of the Quaternary Period (i.e., roughly the last 2.6 million years). Glacial action also transported enormous quantities of soil, gravel, and stone as far south as modern-day Denmark and northern Germany. The bedrock, which is exposed in roughly 40% of the area.

Climate of Norway

Although it occupies almost the same degrees of latitude as Alaska, Norway owes its warmer climate to the Norwegian Current (the northeastern extension of the Gulf Stream), which carries four to five million tons of tropical water per second into the surrounding seas. This current usually keeps the fjords from freezing, even in the Arctic Finnmark region. Even more important are the southerly air currents brought in above these warm waters, especially during the winter.

The mean annual temperature on the west coast is 45 °F (7 °C), or 54 °F (30 °C) above average for the latitude. In the Lofoten Islands, north of the Arctic Circle, the January mean is 43 °F (24 °C) above the world average for this latitude and one of the world’s greatest thermal anomalies.

Western Norway has a marine climate, with comparatively cool summers, mild winters, and nearly 90 inches (2,250 mm) of mean annual precipitation. Eastern Norway, sheltered by the mountains, has an inland climate with warm summers, cold winters, and less than 30 inches (760 mm) of mean annual precipitation.

Cultural institutions

Permanent theatres have been established in several cities, and the state traveling theatre, the Riksteatret, organizes tours throughout the country, giving as many as 1,200 performances annually. The Norwegian Opera, opened in 1959, receives state subsidies (as do most other theatres).

In addition to its National Art Gallery, Oslo opened a special museum in 1963 to honour Edvard Munch, credited as one of the founders of Expressionism and as Norway’s most famous painter. The Sonja Henie–Niels Onstad Art Centre, opened in 1968 near Oslo, contains modern art from throughout the world. Oslo is host to many other museums, including the Ibsen Centre, which honours the famed playwright, and the Resistance Museum, which documents Norway’s struggle against Nazi occupation during World War II. Outside Oslo, the Tromsø Museum’s collection records Sami heritage.

EXPENSES

The expenses for traveling to Norway from the Philippines can vary widely depending on factors like the duration of your stay, type of accommodation, activities, and personal preferences. Here are some estimated costs to consider:

Flights: The cost of round-trip flights can vary depending on the time of booking, airline, and travel dates. On average, you might spend between $800 to $1,500 or more.

Accommodation: Accommodation costs can vary from budget hostels (around $40-$100 per night) to mid-range hotels ($100-$250 per night) and luxury hotels ($250+ per night).

Food: Dining out in Norway can be expensive. Expect to spend around $20-$50 for a meal at a mid-range restaurant. You can save money by eating at more budget-friendly places or preparing your own meals.

Transportation: Local transportation in Norway, such as buses and trams, can be costly. A one-way ticket might cost around $3-$4. If you plan to travel between cities, train or bus tickets will vary in price.

Activities: The cost of activities and attractions can vary, but expect to spend on average $20-$50 per attraction or activity.

Travel insurance: Consider the cost of travel insurance to protect yourself during your trip.

Visa fees: If you need a visa to enter Norway, there may be associated fees.

Miscellaneous: Don't forget to budget for souvenirs, additional personal expenses, and unforeseen costs.

Overall, a moderate daily budget for a comfortable visit to Norway can range from $100 to $200 or more, depending on your spending habits and travel style. Be sure to plan and budget according to your specific travel plans and preferences.

ENJOY YOUR JOURNEY TO NORWAY

Reference:

Charles Jays, Gudmund Sandvik, Jorgen Weibull & The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2023).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Norway

# Travel # Create New Journey # Photography # aesthetic

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Righteous Hate Beats Beneath Our Skin

I have been reading a historical expose of the Black Death and the many plague events recorded in Europe through the millennia. Invariably in almost all of these crises in cities throughout the many Christian kingdoms and principalities, making up what we now know of as Europe, a certain group would be targeted. Yes, the Jewish denizens of these cities would be attacked and most often murdered and burnt at the stake. Jews would be blamed for the advent of plague causing the mass deaths of the inhabitants of these towns and cities. This happened again and again with frightening and ridiculous frequency. Angry Christian mobs would look for someone to vent their violent hate upon in the face of untold deaths occurring via the microbial world. Their divinely inspired religious belief was unable to finger the correct culprit and blamed the Jews instead. Of course, in their largely fictious story about their Messiah the Jews played the role of villain in causing the crucifixion death of Jesus. This was justification enough for many to endlessly punish all Jews forever more. Righteous hate beats beneath our skin, it seems. Plus, in many instances Christians owed Jewish moneylenders a whole bunch of silver and so, killed two birds with the one stone. Individual townsfolk were relieved of their debt and enacted a righteous killing which would hopefully put paid to the plague costing the lives of family and friends. Obviously, the latter did not come to fruition but a whole lot of Jewish men, women and children died horrific deaths at the hands of Christians. Interestingly, a few very good looking young Jewish women were spared this fate by their murderous attackers for reasons you can probably imagine. Funny how religion works on the ground for all practical purposes.

Hate Marches To A Righteous Beat In England

“ “This is not a protest, it is organised, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.” It comes as masked rioters assembled outside Holiday Inn hotels in both Rotherham and Tamworth and clashed with police. Thugs in both places smashed windows as they attempted to gain entry to the hotels before setting fires.” (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/riots-protest-police-uk-today-rotherham-bolton-lancaster-weymouth-liverpool-b2590884.html) In the UK at this time, gangs of angry young men are marching on and attacking refugee centres and accommodations across the nation. This is in response to misinformation on social media apportioning blame to a Muslim refugee for the brutal stabling murders of children in Southport. The stabbing of 9 young girls and the murder of 2 was not done by such a demographically defined person. This disinformation is deliberately being spread on social media by far right individuals and groups to foster civil unrest in the UK. It plays upon the human proclivity to be enraged and seek vengeance in the face of acts of despicable behaviour committed upon the innocent. This is the danger of social media to the fabric of our society when misused in such ways. The ignorance and willingness of folk to believe what is put out on social media without bothering to investigate the veracity of such claims is at the heart of the problem. It speaks of frustrated people quick to act upon their passions no matter the consequences. The social discourse globally at the moment is all about grievance and blaming others. Populists like Trump and Dutton are dog whistling and fanning fires at every opportunity. Young men who via the influence of fashion are working out in the gym want somewhere to put their hardened muscles to good use. Hard physical work is no longer an option for many in Western nations. In an age of screens and keyboards, men have become office bound typists. Their innate testosterone screams out for fighting and a righteous cause.

Quick To Hate & Blame Others The wheels of human injustice keep turning despite the centuries apart of these events. We saw how irrational we all got during the pandemic and its lockdowns. How quick many were to take to the streets in protest over their loss of freedoms. This individualistic libertarian movement fought against the necessary social health policies brought in to save vulnerable members of our communities. Yes, there was overreach but these things happen when trying to deal with big problems for the first time in a century. Social media showed us how quick many were to believe in unproven cures and solutions. Trump was a keen example of this with his many tweets and public statements about bleach and other crazy shit. Covid was a modern day pneumonic plague experience, where millions of people died and were hospitalised. Antisemitism is an age old problem and historically something Christian societies should be deeply ashamed of. The current Gaza conflict is inspiring something else I would call anti-Zionism – the anger is about the treatment of Palestinians in Israel and how millions are suffering for the hateful actions of Hamas. There are no winners in the current scenario just further injustice for a beleaguered people with no statehood. Professor Timothy Snyder talks about the removal of statehood as the crime which made the Holocaust possible throughout Eastern Europe. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.9 (before 1870)

118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome. 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. 491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna. 551 – A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths. 660 – Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol. 869 – The 8.4–9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland. 969 – The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt. 1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague. 1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Duchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach. 1401 – Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad. 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. 1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum. 1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II. 1701 – A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi. 1745 – French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after. 1755 – The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh. 1762 – Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III. 1763 – The Mozart family grand tour of Europe began, lifting the profile of son Wolfgang Amadeus. 1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island. 1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution. 1790 – The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet. 1793 – The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age. 1795 – Financier James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution. 1807 – The second Treaty of Tilsit is signed between France and Prussia, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition. 1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire. 1811 – Explorer David Thompson posts a sign near what is now Sacajawea State Park in Washington state, claiming the Columbia District for the United Kingdom. 1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France. 1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain. 1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore. 1850 – Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia. 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends in a Union victory and, along with the fall of Vicksburg five days earlier, gives the Union complete control of the Mississippi River. 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

[mosasadogs]

i feel like radagon’s “succession” (it is somehow different from when godfrey (who makes me think of nothing but the christianization of europe) takes the throne) is meant to represent the church adapting to the enlightenment, because it must. radagon’s lattice holds together a cracked schismatic faith (like his body is held together by the elden ring) like radagon’s vines hold together leyendell. if i were to ask you what elden ring characters have the most numerous and obvious allusions to historical figures you would say marika, who alludes to jesus christ in her crucifixion pose, spear wound, harrowing of hell (removing the rune of death), origin in a persecuted minority followed by becoming the godhead of the culture that persecuted her’s religion, and in her dual nature. let’s not even mention mary.

slightly more astute item description readers/anyone who made it to roundtable hold will point out godfrey is king arthur (famously seduced and betrayed by wife and son.) the extremely recently christianized crucible knights (who look like horned warriors) make it even more obvious that godfrey is the transition from pagan to barely christian europe. he gets rid of his christian name (literally GODfrey) after you get him aroused.

radagon is of the church but married to astronomy. it isn’t shown to be conflicting but instead radagon’s fundamentalist golden order is defined by rationalizing god’s actions in the age of his deafening silence. the fingers have nothing to interpret. it is only through the rejection of the fingers’ monopoly on interpreting the Greater Will (the will of god) that gold mask comes to a new understanding through contemplation. importantly, he receives no divine revelation. the greater will is silent. it is emblematic of the age the game is set in, radagon’s. his understanding is advanced by observation. let’s look at golden order fundamentalist incantations.

“One of the key fundamentals.

The fundamentalists describe the Golden Order through the powers of regression and causality. Regression is the pull of meaning; that all things yearn eternally to converge.”

the golden order principia is the most recent “prayerbook” that you find in the lands between and it’s described as a dense academic treatise. the age of blind faith (marika, placidusax, the tower) and conversion at the point of a sword (godfrey) is dead. it isn’t surprising that the clergy, who jealously guarded knowledge, would produce so many scientists like mendel, copernicus, obviously the jesuits. in liurnia (the descendent culture of the one that invented geometry (the ancient dynasty is greco-egyptian)) you even find the rose church. here is the real wedding of christian mysticism and mathematics. there’s no distinguishment between ancient wisdom, metallurgy, sacred geometry, astrology, architecture, engineering. radagon’s order desperately seeks out what it needs to replace the gaping hole it can feel in itself. it is an extremely self conscious church that can see its own body crumbling.

radagon’s children will never continue the golden order, but who comes the closest? the ones who form a perfect chymical wedding. we can understand radagon now after the dlc as a complete failure who had no chance of anything but stagnation because he could not create the magnum opus (perfect union of matter and spirit, man and woman, the universal solvent dissolving gold.) i understand now this story was meant to be told in the base game and only finished in the dlc. miquella sees the failure of his father/mother’s version of gold, the flawed “philosopher’s stone” who produces MORE. CURSED. CHILDREN. he tries to become a more perfect ingredient/recipe than radagon. radagon was not a perfect vessel, but miquella incorporates what radagon lacks, what marika removed from the elden ring. this is why he uses the eclipse (berserk. sacrifice. death. the undead) to enter the lands of shadow. this is what radagon’s order lacks. the synthesis of ancient wisdom and reason. miquella cleaves himself until he’s a perfect vessel for the god to be used by radahn (the union of the golden lineage and carian learning.) miquella’s answer to the crumbling (the Erdtree became more an object of faith) of the golden order is to go back to the beginning. the haligtree was not wiping the slate clean enough, the root network is rotted (twice! cursed by two gods!) and even, chillingly, tree worship originates in worshipping the grandmother tree in marika’s village. he is trying to bake the perfect cake. so he casts off most of himself. he abandons his own desires, half of himself (notably a ghostly buddhist monk says he shouldn’t have done this near that miquella cross) and his lineage (eyes). he becomes a perfect hollow vessel. to create the other ingredient he used mohg. mohg represents an overlap between the tower and the erdtree, an omen born to the golden lineage with ambitions become a lord, unlike his servile twin. as radahn he is the ideal other half. the red king. miquella wants to be a perfect radagon, capable of working real miracles (childbirth, healing) by recreating marika’s ascension. the end of his search for unalloyed gold.

radagon is a shattered failure that paved the way for miquella. his and marika’s mysterious history can now be understood to have likely been extremely similar to miquella and saint trina, since miquella’s actions are mirroring theirs.

radagon is a broken little divorced thousand year old femboy doll that marika shattered

we need to sexualize radagon and post about him being a cute broken doll

[millingroundireland]

Freemasonry and RBM I: a short discussion

Reprinted from an article in the Flower, MO paper, World's cresset, on September 16, 1915 titled "How Close is Freemasonry to Religion." This image is courtesy of Chronicling America.

This builds off Goss's biography of RBM I, in 1912, with a discussion of freemasonry. Goss writes that RBM I "made a special study of Freemasonry, whose principles of fellowship early attracted his interest, and is a member of Binghamton Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Binghamton Chapter, R. A. M. ; Malta Commandery, K. T., of Binghamton, New York; and Syrian Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Cincinnati." I also know that my grandfather, on my dad's side, was also a Mason (a short term for Freemason). But what does freemasonry really mean and what did it mean at the time?

There is obviously a lot of conspiracy revolving around online discussions of the Freemasons, some declaring they are a "cult" which can control world events. Going past that ridiculousness, it is better to consider them more seriously in a scholarly manner. Encyclopaedia Brittanica, in their entry on freemasonry, defines them simply as "the teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society." [1] They added that "in most lodges in most countries, Freemasons are divided into three major degrees—entered apprentice, fellow of the craft, and master mason. In many lodges there are numerous degrees—sometimes as many as a thousand—superimposed on the three major divisions; these organizational features are not uniform from country to country." There are other elements about freemasonry: in meetings, politics is not discussed (confirmed by a Masonic website); it is not a religion; the Catholic Church disdains them and atheists are not welcome; many of the country's founders were not Masons, the symbols on the dollar bill are not Masonic, and that "Masonry began as a guild for stone masons who built the castles and cathedrals of Medieval Europe." [2] There were other trends which Masons were part of in the 19th and 20th centuries as noted by one Masonic website, the Masonic Service Association of North America. Specifically, in the late 19th century, "Victorian values influenced Masonic priorities both in Europe and North America by placing emphasis on heightening social awareness and stressing social idealism." During the 20th century, "Freemasonry sustained Victorian idealism and reinforced philanthropic emphasis of fraternity."

This post was originally published on WordPress in September 2018.

RBM I was part of Freemasonry in Ohio, which is strong today and may have been strong back in the early 20th century. Currently, on the website of the  Grand Lodge of Ohio, it states that

Freemasonry is the oldest, largest and most widely recognized fraternal organization in the world...its current worldwide membership totals 3.6 million members, 1.6 million of which are in North America. With 120,000 Masons and 530 local Lodges, Ohio has one of the largest Masonic memberships of any state in the country. As a fraternal organization, Freemasonry unites men of good character who, though of different religious, ethnic, or social backgrounds, share a belief in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of mankind...Freemasonry provides opportunities for sincere, honest, forthright men who believe in God and desire to contribute to the improvement of their communities and themselves. Through our Masonic Fraternalism, we reaffirm our dedication and unity to become involved citizens who have a strong desire to preserve the values that have made and continue to make America great. [3]

Such a pull may have motivated RBM I to become a Mason. He could have, theoretically, joined the Masons as early as age 18, which would have been 1880, since members must be "men, at least 18 years of age and of good moral character." Likely he joined later than that, possibly while he was at the Hotel Bennett in Binghamton, New York. Like all members, as a Mason, this means that he would have hold "a belief in a Supreme Being," part of a faternal (supposedly secular) order which has no national governing body, and having to pay "a one-time initiation fee and annual dues that vary by lodge." He would have been part of something bigger, and perhaps that also drew him to the Masons. [4] During the 19th and early 20th century, Freemasonry dramatically grew at a time that no government social safety net existed, with the "Masonic tradition of founding orphanages, homes for widows, and homes for the aged" providing the "only security many people knew" as the Masons tell it.

To this day, the Binghamton Lodge exists, in the Binghamton area, called Binghamton Lodge #177 F. & A.M. This is undoubtedly the same lodge that RBM I was a member. [5] The Binghamton Chapter, R.A.M. (Royal Arch Masons) does not seem to exit anymore, according to the organization's official website. He was part of some other related groups as well, like the Malta Commandery, K. T. (Knights Templar), of Binghamton, New York, with this organization currently defunct. At the time, however, annual meetings were held in New York City. This isn't a surprise due to the continued Masonic presence in New York. As for the Syrian Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Cincinnati, it is now called the Syrian Shrine. To be a member of the shrine you have to be a Master Mason, and while "all Shriners are Masons... but not all Masons are Shriners" as their website points out.

Until next time!

© 2018-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] "Freemasonry," Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed Jun 14, 2018.

[2] Morgan, David. "9 things you didn't know about Freemasonry," CBS News, Dec 8, 2013; "Part II - Facing the Facts and Accepting the Challenge," Masonic Service Association of North America, accessed Jun 10, 2018, page is not currently available.

[3] "What is Freemasonry?," Grand Lodge of Ohio, accessed Jun 10, 2018; "About Freemasonry," Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, accessed Jun 10, 2018; Cobain, Ian. "Freemasonry explained: a guide to the secretive society," The Guardian, Feb 4, 2018.

[4] "History of Freemasonry," Masonic Service Association of North America, accessed Jun 10, 2018.

[5] "Binghamton Lodge #177 F. & A.M." homepage, accessed Jun 14, 2018; "Grand Chapter of New York, Royal Arch Masons," districts page, accessed Jun 14, 2018; "Commanderies," Grand Commandery Knights Templar New York, accessed Jun 14, 2018; "History of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar State of New York," Grand Commandery Knights Templar New York, accessed Jun 14, 2018; "Binghamton, NY," New York Masons, accessed Jun 14, 2018; "Who are the Shriners?," Syrian Shrine of Cincinnati, Ohio, accessed Jun 14, 2018.

[nijjhar]

Age for the Gospel Truth - SEEKER. The natural man cannot think logicall... Age for the Gospel Truth - SEEKER. The natural man cannot think logically but reads Holy Books. A typical example is Simon nicknamed by Jesus "Peter" - Stone-headed. https://youtu.be/2Ahzd9tWWos Remember that Jesus beat those traders who were making His Heavenly Father Yahweh’s House, the Temple of Yahweh where prayers and fasting were done and Prophet Elijah, John, the Baptist was the Corner Stone but He was ousted by the most powerful sons of Satan Al-Djmar Al-Aksa, the Blasphemer hypocrites that only are exposed through His Word that Christ Jesus delivered in the most hostile Temple occupied by the sons of Satan that eventually killed him as the Lamb of Yahweh presented to Elohim as the blood sacrifice. The Holiest of Holy that had Curtain around it was of Elohim, Allah, Parbrahm, etc. whose Curtain Jesus tore from the Top, Temple High Priest = Pope to the Bottom, the village Rabbis = Neo-Rabbis, the hireling Dog-Collared Priests in the Churches working for money and not God – you cannot love Mammon and God. These hireling Dog-Collared Priests in the Churches are thieves of the order of Juda Iscariot that Jesus threw him out at the Last Supper. The Eucharist is the Baptism of Jesus in the Holy Spirit or no Blasphemers are allowed into the Church of God. Peter killed two of them Ananias and Sapphira. Hi Brethren, I am a retired lecturer in Metallurgy Preaching the Gospel. I am from Punjab where the second coming of Jesus took place in 1469 in the name of Satguru Nanak Dev Ji. I studied the New Testament in 1983 and wrote the expositions of the Parables of Matthew in honour of my late father Chaudhry Udham Nijjhar who died in 1981 in Kumasi, Ghana where I was a Lecturer. He was a B.Sc. with a keen interest in Religion. So far, I have put up over 8500 YouTube videos; on the channel One God One Faith. I have written two Books on One God One Faith; one in Punjabi and the other in English. There are no Copyrights. The spiritually blind people have interfaith as if there are more than One God, Father, of our souls. Today, Matt 13v24-30 is being fulfilled and the Tares, the "Saltless" Jews outwardly, who killed Jesus, are getting bundled up in Israel for the FINAL BURNING through Atomic Bombs expected on 14/05/2023 when Israel is 75 years old. The 12 Labourers of Jesus had nothing to do with the 12 tribes of Jacobs but 7 in the name of John, the Baptist, Morality (The 7 demon rituals of which Mary Magdalene was set FREE by Jesus) and 5 of heart in the name of Christ Jesus, the spirituality of righteousness of heart, the Samaritan Woman at well St. Photina = Kunmbhh Maela or the Breast Plate of the Temple High Priest. The USA and Europe destroyed Iraq and other countries under the Blasphemy that Chaudhry Saddam Hussein Khokhar Jatt had WMD but none were found by the Army. My question is Putin teaching these Blasphemers a good lesson. In Christ Jesus, is it righteous or not? Also, Nanak was the Satguru called Christ and NOT a Brahmin Moral Teacher Guru but the spiritual Preacher to our minds, Munn, Nafs, etc. More details in my Punjabi Book:- Punjabi Book:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/pdbook.pdf English Book:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/bookfin.pdf Both need revision. Is anyone prepared to render technical help? If a Pastor takes money, then he will deliver sugar-coated sermons of Falsehoods sweeter than honey that kill many in sectarian riots. The Gospel Truth, which is the Drinking the Blood of Christ, is very Bitter indeed but it leads you to our Father's Home for Rest. Juda Iscariot used to steal money from the Purse and he being a Thief was rejected from the Baptism of Christ Jesus, the Eucharist also known as Entering into the Bridal Chamber. Make it Viral to promote the Gospel Truth. This is America - Israel in Disguise:- Grim American Jewish Reaper waving sickle to kill more in Venezuela as they did in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, etc. www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/GrimReaper.htm   Beware of these robed people as everyone has to give his account to God. This is the Dark Age of Christ, the Innerman, in people. Satguru = Christ Nanak was the second coming of Jesus and this Holiest of Holy Complex in Amritsar has become the epicentre of the crooks. Harmandir Sahib is of the same size as the one that was in Jerusalem and destroyed forever in 70 A.D. But what does gold have to do with God? Matt.13.v24-30 is getting fulfilled and the Tares, unfaithful to Abraham Jews outwardly, are getting bundled up in Israel for the Final Burning expected to be on 14/11/2023, the seventh month of Elohim after Israel is 75 years old on 14/05/2023. THERE WILL BE NO PEACE IN THE M.EAST OR THE PARTS OF THE WORLD WHERE PEOPLE HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR TRIBAL IDENTITIES IN ADAM. People like President Morsi exploiting people in the name of religion are Sons of Satan Al-Djmar Al-Aksa, the most powerful sons of Satan that would create sectarian riots. https://youtu.be/bzWFWMyKNjE Trinity:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/trinity.pdf

[travelingue]

North Sea Scotland (6): In Pictland

The Picts are Europe's noble savage.

Proud, fierce and independent, they are easy to admire, and chief among the admirers were their enemies.  Tacitus, so-in-law of a Roman general who fought them, commended them for defending the world's "last inch of liberty".

The Picts could never be subdued, only wiped out. Their disappearance from the record around the 10th century adds to their mystique.

They had no writing but did not leave without a trace.  About 200 carved stones remain dotted around the Picts' heartland.

A clutch of them are on display at a great little museum just north of Dundee, the Meigle Sculpture Stone Museum.  They are not just stunning works of art: they bear testimony to a tragic history.

But before turning to those slabs, I'll go through a few things we know about the Picts from other sources. As mentioned in my previous post, they were a Brittonic people.  Britons, by the way, are Celts who lived on the island of Britain during the Iron Age and are distinct from Gaelic Celts from Ireland.

While the Romans conquered most of Britain, Picts and other Brittonic holdouts kept them out of "Caledonia".  The Anglo-Saxons who replaced the Romans also stayed south of the border – initially at least – to focus on fighting each other.

Meanwhile the Picts prospered.  By the fifth century, their kingdom stretched from the top of Scotland to the Firth of Forth, the inlet just north of Edinburgh.

At a time when Anglo-Saxons and Gaelic Scots were fragmented into warring chiefdoms and clans, Pictland remained united (apart from a temporary north-south split following the introduction of Christianity).

So what was the secret of the Picts' success?  I found a convincing explanation in Jamie Jeffers' engagingly erudite British History Podcast: matrilineal succession.

The rule around Europe then - and until the 20th century - was that first-born sons inherited the crown.  The system might not yield the best person for the job but it had the virtue of simplicity: if a) your dad is king and b) you've got a penis but no older sibling who does, then you're next in line. End of.

The Picts had different approach.  Tribal chiefs got together and settled successions through consensus, a process that was better at weeding out obvious inadequates than accident of birth.

And crucially, they chose among candidates who could trace their royal ancestry through the female line.  As Jeffers notes, this prevented disputes:  if the male carries the magic blood, there is always a possibility that his partner could carry another man's child and the throne loses its magic; if it's the woman who carries the magic blood, then you know that her offspring carries it as well.

Princesses, in other words, had quasi-mystical pulling power among Pictish nobles, a unifying feature reinforced by the deliberative selection system.  To Jeffers' analysis, I would add the hypothesis that any increase in the status of women - even limited to royals - contributes to the cohesiveness, stability and sophistication of a society.  Just look at today's Denmark vs the Tabilan's Afghanistan.

This brings me back to the Meigle museum, where the high degree of Pictish civilisation is on display.

The stones tell us about the beliefs of a deeply pious people. 

Among the distinctive symbols and patterns are representations of fabulous creatures, including a lion with a man's head and dancing sea-horses (above).

The Picts were also fond of domestic animals.

The menageries above feature horses, stags, cattle as well as the manticore, a monster of middle-eastern origin with the tail of a scorpion. Clearly the Picts were aware of distant lands.

Several stones combine pagan and Christian symbols, illustrating how the new religion was assimilated into ancient beliefs.  They show crosses superimposed on representations of animals.  Note the seahorses again and the cat on the bottom left!

I couldn't help but see those stones as expressions of unity.  As mentioned, northern Picts were slower than southerners in adopting Christianity.  The carvings seem to say: whatever our beliefs, we are one nation.

The last of the stones date from about 850 AD.  No trace of a Pictish civilisation remains beyond 900. This raises the question: if the Picts were so sophisticated, why did they vanish?  Well, the superior nature of a civilisation does not a guarantee survival.

In the end, the Picts had too many enemies: Gaelic Scots to the west, Brittonic rivals to the south-west and increasingly assertive Anglo-Saxons in the south.  For a while, the Picts dealt with these threats by a combination of force and bridal diplomacy. Pictish princesses married potential foes.

In the ninth century, Viking invasions forced the Picts to get closer to the Scots.  This political shift led to Gaelic symbols appearing on Pictish stones.

In 843, Kenneth MacAlpin absorbed Pictland into his Scottish kingdom.  The fact that his mother was Pictish helped the junior partner accept the takeover.  But it spelled the end for their nation.

The Picts themselves, it appears, understood the limits of bridalism as a foreign-policy tool.

One of the more intriguing stones shows a human figure set upon by animals (below).  Museum curators say she could be Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur.

The Welsh legend was adopted by the Picts. In their version Guinevere was a Pictish princess, known locally as Vanora, whose marriage to Arthur highlighted Brittonic unity against the Anglo-Saxons.

But the alliance did not work out: Vanora, as the carvings show, was fed to ravenous beasts by her jealous husband.

[trendingfashionupdate]

Everything You Need to Know About Zodiac Signs and Gemstones

Zodiac gems, also known as Zodiac Birthstones, are Gemstones that are based on your astrological sign, or Rashi. Each zodiac sign is associated with one or more Gemstones. Astral stones, often referred to as zodiac or Zodiac Birthstones or gems, are derived from astrology and have played a significant role in numerous religions since antiquity. Birthstones have been a tradition since prehistoric times, when people believed that particular stones may bring good fortune, good health, and wealth. Every month has a particular gemstone that is traditionally linked to Birthstones. There are numerous stones that have importance for your birth month or Zodiac Sign. Additionally, each sign and birth months have a number of potentially linked birthstones.

These Gemstone can be worn as sparkling Rings, chunky Necklace, elegant Bracelet and sterling Pendants. Knowing which Astrological Gemstones correspond to your astrological month could be helpful to you on your life's journey and will be uniquely helpful to you. Whether you are looking to study your birthstone chart or simply know which Astrological Gemstones to seek out, we have listed out the Zodiac gems ranging from Amethysts, Citrine, and Peridots. Take a quick glance through our instant guide to pick the Zodiac Birthstones that can work for you.

January Birthstone

Garnet, the Zodiac Birthstone for January, is said to protect its owner when they are travelling. Garnet is for January born Capricorns and Aquarius. Due to the gem's resemblance to the colour and shape of a pomegranate seed, the word "garnet" is derived from a term that meant "seed." A powerful Gemstone that attracts and ignites passion and success is garnet.

According to legend, garnet helps the body achieve emotional and energetic balance. The ancient Egyptian pharaohs were decked with crimson garnet-studded Necklaces. Ancient Roman signet Rings contained garnet intaglios for stamping wax seals on important documents. Red garnet Gemstone were favoured in the Middle Ages by the clergy and nobility. It can aid in the transformation of negative into positive energies.

February Birthstone

Amethyst, the Astrological Gemstone for February, is thought to improve communication and offer the wearer bravery. Amethyst is for Pisces and Aquarius born in February. Only royalty could wear the Handmade Gemstone Jewelry in the past. This Zodiac Birthstone is a form of quartz with a stunning purple colour that ranges from a combination of deep violet and red to a lighter lilac hue.

The name "Amethyst" actually derives from the Greek word amethystos, which means "sober." Ancient Greeks thought that wearing the Gemstone prevented intoxication and helped the wearer maintain a level head. Amethyst can be found in the collections of royal families throughout Europe and Asia. Massive purple Amethysts were put in the Rings worn by Roman pontiffs. Amethyst is the Gemstone traditionally given for the sixth wedding anniversary.

March Birthstone

Ancient mariners believed Aquamarine Gemstone would calm the waves and keep sailors safe at sea and the term Aquamarine is derived from the Latin for seawater. Aries and pisces born in March should wear it. Additionally, this Zodiac Birthstone was believed to sharpen the mind and make the wearer more amicable and impregnable.

A blue to green-blue beryl variation known as Aquamarine is of gem-quality. The chromium-rich green emerald, one of the "precious four" Gemstones, is the most well-known member of the beryl family of gems. Handmade Gemstone Rings of aquamarine have archaic importance. A tranquil, joyful, and trouble-free marital existence is thought to benefit greatly from Aquamarine stone. It is said that the owner of an Aquamarine will always be young. This stone can treat the majority of gland-related illnesses. In addition to being the March Astrological Gemstone, aquamarine is also presented as a gift on the 19th wedding anniversary.

Continue Reading...

[n3ttlehead]

Pietà Analysis Paper (bib. Included)

 *Disclaimer: it's an old assignment that I didn't put the most effort into, just wanted to post it for public viewing!*

The emotion and fluidity of movement of figures set in stone, in contrast with the rigidity of the material, create the illusion of the middle ground between life caught in a candid moment and subjects being frozen in time. Stone, on its own, is lifeless. There is no varnish or amount of polishing that can make it otherwise. It is then that an artist must be employed, commissioned to convince an audience into believing an illusion, and immortalizing the subjects in the stone forever. One such artist was Michelangelo. Between the years 1498 to 1500, Michelangelo was commissioned and worked on his Roman Pietà, not the first of its kind, nor the last of his, as he later struggled over finishing another in Florence towards the end of his life. Serving as his first truly consequential sculpture in the eyes of patrons and the Church, the Pietà depicts the youthful Virgin Mary, cradling her lifeless son after his removal from the cross. Blending the ideal human form of the Classical Greeks with the dominant religion of the region: Catholicism, the Pietà stands as a paragon of the Humanist Italian values  of dignity, intellect and the greatness of Man during the Renaissance. Michelangelo created greatness, not out of experience and training, at least not at first, but with sheer natural born talent.

            Southern Europe’s Renaissance, specifically in Italy, was not led by the idealism of the Classical Age and an education of that past, in an attempt to reconnect with both the country’s Roman ancestry and the history of the next-door Greeks. It then fell upon the Catholic Church and royalty across the Italian peninsula to dictate the way art could be presented and expressed by an artist. According to author Bruce Cole of The Renaissance Artist at Work, “Around these men [Italian princes and the Pope], courts sprang up that attracted artists and writers,” like Dante and Michelangelo, “who worked often worked on projects to glorify the [patron]” (Cole 3). This practice of royal and Papal courts took away the necessity for an artist to glorify a faith, so long as the patron was sufficiently satisfied. Patronage and religious zeal were often intertwined during the Renaissance, with the Church being the largest patron for artists. Michelangelo’s Roman Pietà, in fact, was actually commissioned for the French Cardinal Lagraulas’ tomb chapel, as pietàs were the common funerary decoration in France. Perhaps not completely related to patronage or artistic age, the statue is also heavy in symbolism, though not as apparent to a modern audience who would lack the social and cultural context of such symbols.

            Contemporary audiences are more detached form the time of the Renaissance then they often realize. Onlookers re unaware of symbols and references that would have been immediately obvious to a Renaissance age one. People before the Enlightenment and beyond were less acquainted with what the modern world considers secular rational thought, believing the Devil to be lurking behind every corner and that symbols around them had omens, good or bad. While a modern audience may have its own superstitions, they pale in comparison to how deeply a Renaissance audience was affected by them. “In an age that understood but did not fully trust the written word, a picture of the Madonna, the coat of arms of a noble family, or the emblem of a saint carried with it a cargo of associative meanings” (Cole 10-11), therefore, making it much harder for the modern audience to appreciate the images in a similar way. Cole also continued to say that “we have to constantly remind ourselves that every image made by the Renaissance artist was seen through the powerful lens of its own time” (11). To restate Cole, as a contemporary audience, it is harder to interpret Renaissance art the exact way it was intended, in relation to who and when it was made for. Luckily for the modern audience, religious images, like the Pietà, can retain their symbolic value and meaning due to the implications behind the piece, explained through the given faith.

            While cemented in place, movement of the figures of the Virgin and Christ cannot be considered dynamic, their movement is more akin to a film still. The scene depicted is the moment after Christ is taken down from the cross and allowed to lie in the lap of his mother, although, as art historian and critic Edward Lucie-Smith points out in his book The Face of Jesus, “there is, in fact no reference to this in scripture” (203). Michelangelo cannot be credited with starting this genre though, as pietà images were in existence during the 1300s in Germany (Lucie-Smith 203). Nonetheless, the idea of such a scene was popularized to modern audience’s by the marble Roman Pietà, thanks to Michelangelo. Moving away from the subjects, Paul Barolsky, an author and art history professor, commented on the illusion of Michelangelo’s craft. In his book Michelangelo and the Finger of God, the artist’s persona is explored, as well as how his works are also fictitious representations of their marble. His marble works, like the Pietà and Bacchus are “paradoxically a finished form of the non finito, since they are the illusion of stone that has been faceted by [Michelangelo] to resemble stone that has no be carved at all” (Barolsky 22-23). Truly, it is a much more long-winded explanation than necessary, but concise wording removes Barolsky’s own literary artistry and could risk losing the most important point: the work is an illusion of reality a top the illusion of carved stone that doesn’t look carved. In relation to the stone and its carving, the way the subjects are carved and how they flow with each other is another point to make note of.

The Virgin and Christ rhythmically complement each other in the Pietà, creating a natural fluidity and formal relationship. The figures are depicted in relation to each other, as opposed to being at odds, and this was a planned maneuver artfully performed by Michelangelo. In the art history textbook, A History of Western Art by Laurie Schneider Adams it is stated that Michelangelo “creates an emotional and formal bond between two figures who, though separated by death, will eventually be reunited as King and Queen of Heaven” (287-288), which heavily weighs into the faiths of both artist and patron. Another purposeful move on Michelangelo’s part was the magnitude of Mary’s figure and his lack of mutilation after dying as “most spectators do not notice that the Virgin, cradling a full-grown man of heroic proportions, has become a giantess to support his size and weight,” as Christ is more Herculean than cadaverous, and Mary is made bigger than life, as Christianity is impossible with her existing first(Lucie-Smith 203). This was not an uncommon convention for the Renaissance, but it was unconventional for the specific theme that is a Pietà, whether by Michelangelo or otherwise, as it’s not a typical Italian Renaissance theme. Pietàs are German and Gothic in origin, and were popular in France, and only became popularized after Michelangelo completed his Roman one. Michelangelo simply blended two different ages of art with the faith of his patron, as well as his own psychological state while creating it.

            Suspended in time, and seemingly asleep, Jesus is cradled in his mother’s lap as she gazes at him in contemplation, which contrasts the conventional appearance of pietàs, since they are representations of Mary’s ultimate grief. This, of course, is by no fault of Mary, or anyone, but is the result of an artist not being familiar enough with a theme to deliver what was required of it. Not intimate with the theme of tomb Pietàs in France, Michelangelo used his commission to express his desire for such a mother as Mary, “the most profound and driving emotion in Michelangelo’s life was the early terror of maternal disappearances. This prompted a lifelong quest for the reconciliation of mother and son”, as he had been passed off to a wetnurse as an infant himself(Hilloowala & Oremland 91). This serves as an explanation as to why the Pietà doesn’t have the same mournful intimacy that the traditional French ones; Michelangelo was simply a young artist trying to do his job well enough to prove he was talented, all while not completely matching the credentials of the theme. It is important to restate that that does not discredit the statue as a proper tomb pietà, authors of “The St. Peter’s ‘Pietà’: A Madonna and Child? An Anatomical and Psychological Reevaluation” further cement this assertion by stating that “the theme of the Pietà had been chosen not by him but by the French Cardinal,” and that these types of statues had been a “national tradition in France since the end of the fourteenth century” (Hilloowala & Oremland 90). This tradition started after the original theme had been founded in Germany and spread to France, where it gained much more popularity, but never gained such in Italy. It can be concluded that while the Pietà is true to its name, it does not convey the gravity of somber emotions that it should, and this lack of appropriate emotion can be accredited to the young age of Michelangelo at the time of creating the piece and lack of worldly perspective.

            The first Pietà of Michelangelo, still in Rome today and house in St. Peter’s Cathedral, stands as an anomaly both in theme and time. Previously belonging to the Gothic Age, it was reborn during the Renaissance, alongside the styles of Greek and Roman antiquity. Michelangelo brought to life a scene of death, with his own young mind influenced by the want of such a mother and cemented his own name amongst the greats of the Italian Renaissance. The Pietà is an artistic theme depicting the time after Christ had been removed from the cross, where his mother solemnly holds her firstborn son, the Messiah. This is not an idea or theme present in the scripture, and stems from the words of religious people interpreting the Crucifixion in a more human light. It sheds light on the relationship between mother and son, and though both knew Christ was destined to die, his mother is still grieving, unless she’s carved by Michelangelo, who made her contemplative. Both interpretations of Mary’s reaction to her son’s death could be accurate and true to the theme, as she would be grieving as a human mother, but contemplative as a Christian who knew her son would return and ascend into Heaven, where she would be with him again, forever. Form and emotion create the Pietà, and Michelangelo was the artist who could bring life to the stone that the two most important members of the Holy Family were encased in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Adams, Laurie. A History of Western Art, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 2011, pp. 287–288.

Barolsky, Paul. Michelangelo and the Finger of God. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2003.

COLE, BRUCE. Renaissance Artist at Work: From Pisano to Titian. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1983.

Hilloowala, Rumy, and Jerome Oremland. “The St. Peter's ‘Pieta’: A Madonna and Child? an Anatomical and Psychological Reevaluation.” Leonardo, vol. 20, no. 1, 1987, pp. 87–92., https://doi.org/10.2307/1578217.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. The Face of Jesus. Abrams, 2011.

[scotianostra]

December 21st marks the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.

The date marks the turning point of the season, the shortest day and the longest night. Nowadays at this time of year it is normal that people’s attention turns to celebrating Christmas, however, the ritual and history surrounding the solstice in this country and all over Europe, predate the arrival of Christianity by thousands of years and many festive celebrations have been adapted from much earlier traditions.

The ancient people of northern Europe were hunter gatherers, many of whom worshipped the sun. In Norse mythology the sun is a wheel that changes the seasons and it was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule comes from. At the mid-winter solstice they would light bonfires, tell stories and drink ale, in addition to making sacrifices to the gods to earn blessing on the forthcoming crops.

This winter solstice was immensely important to them because they were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. Food shortages were common during the first months of the winter, so this festival was the last celebration before deep winter began. Most cattle would be slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so a plentiful supply of fresh meat was available. The majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

The only megalith monument in Scotland (that we know about) is at Maeshowe situated on Mainland, Orkney, if faces face the winter solstice sunrise. The people of Orkney usually gather to celebrate the day, but as I  have said so often this year it was cancelled.

Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave on Orkney. It was built at around the same time and its architecture clearly links it to the solstice tradition. It is here at the winter solstice, when the last rays of the setting sun shine through Maeshowe’s entrance passage to pierce the darkness of the chambered cairn. This precise alignment allows the light at the darkest point of the year to illuminate this spectacular house of the dead. It is the source of many theories; does this shaft of sunlight carry away the souls of the dead? Did the entry of the sun represent rebirth, or a fertility rite of some sort? Or was it simply a calendar to remind the islands ancient inhabitants that the darkest time of the year had passed and that the light was once again returning? Thanks to modern technology it is possible to experience a small part of what the original solstice celebrants must have envisioned. 

In Scotland, before the arrival of Christianity, on the solstice, Celtic priests would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.

It was also the Druidic priests who maintained the tradition of the yule log. The ancient Celtic people believed that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit, using the remains of the previous year’s fire. It was believed it would conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year.

Much of our current festive tradition actually originates with pagan solstice customs, such as decorating the Yule tree. Brightly coloured decorations would be hung on a pine tree to symbolise the various stellar objects, which were of tremendous significance to the Celtic people – the sun, moon, and stars – and also to represent the souls of those who had died in the previous year. The modern practice of gift giving evolved from the tradition of hanging gifts on the tree as offerings to various Gods and Goddesses.

The ancient Romans also held a solstice festival at this time, called Saturnalia, to celebrate the rebirth of the year. This was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Grudges and quarrels were forgotten while businesses, courts and schools were closed. Wars were interrupted or postponed and slaves were served by their masters.

It was traditional to offer gifts of imitation fruit (a symbol of fertility), dolls (symbolic of the custom of human sacrifice), and candles (reminiscent of the bonfires traditionally associated with pagan solstice celebrations). A mock king was chosen, usually from a group of slaves or criminals, and although he was permitted to behave in an unrestrained manner for seven days of the festival, he was usually killed at the end. The Saturnalia eventually degenerated into a week-long spree of debauchery and crime which was ultimately unsustainable.

Sol Invictus (“The Unconquered Sun”) was originally a Syrian deity, who was adopted as the chief of the Roman gods. In the later Roman Empire his birthday was celebrated on December 25. As celebrations of saturnalia died away this evolved to become the pre-eminent winter festival, the date was eventually co-opted by Christians as the faith spread.

As a contrast, the Talmud ascribes the origins of this festival to Adam, who saw that the days were getting shorter and thought it was punishment for his sin. He was afraid that the world was returning to the chaos and emptiness that existed before creation, so he fasted. Once he saw that the days were getting longer again he realised that this was the natural cycle of the world, so celebrated.

Whatever the exact origins of the rituals we practice this festive season, it does seem that there has been a growth of interest in traditional religions and practices. People who describe themselves as new-age or spiritual seekers have rediscovered the rituals of the ancients and have attempted to celebrate in a way that connects them to the past. One of the centres for this pre Christian worship this solstice will be at Callanish on the Isle of Lewis. These standing stones date from about 3,000 years BC and, although academics still argue about their precise purpose, there is no questioning the powerful pull they have. 

What is common in most solstice tradition is that this time of year is about coming together and remembering the past. Celebrations have evolved and changed, but the date of the solstice remains fixed. A convenient reminder that, despite the vast changes taking place in our world today, some things will always endure, always link back to the past.

The4 pic is the sun beginning to light up Maeshowe.

[legend-collection]

Changeling

A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore and folk religion throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human stolen by the fairies.

A changeling is typically identifiable via a number of traits; in Irish legend, a fairy child may appear sickly and will not grow in size like a normal child, and may have notable physical characteristics such as a beard or long teeth. They may also display intelligence far beyond their apparent years, as well as possess uncanny insight. A common way that a changeling could identify itself is through displaying unusual behaviour when it thinks it is alone, such as jumping about, dancing or playing an instrument – though this last example is found only within Irish and Scottish legend.

"A human child might be taken due to many factors: to act as a servant, the love of a human child, or malice. Most often it was thought that fairies exchanged the children. In rare cases, the very elderly of the fairy people would be exchanged in the place of a human baby, so that the old fairy could live in comfort, being coddled by its human parents. Simple charms such as an inverted coat or open iron scissors left where the child sleeps, were thought to ward them off; other measures included a constant watch over the child."

Fairies would also take adult humans, especially the newly married and new mothers; young adults were taken to marry fairies instead while new mothers were often taken to nurse fairy babies. Often when an adult was taken instead of a child an object such as a log was left in place of the stolen human, enchanted to look like the person. This object in place of the human would seem to sicken and die, to be buried by the human family, while the living human was among the fairies.

Other folklore says that human milk is necessary for fairy children to survive. In these cases either the newborn human child would be switched with a fairy baby to be suckled by the human mother, or the human mother would be taken back to the fairy world to breastfeed the fairy babies. It is also thought that human midwives were necessary to bring fairy babies into the world.

Some stories tell of changelings who forget they are not human and proceed to live a human life. Changelings who do not forget, however, in some stories return to their fairy family, possibly leaving the human family without warning. The human child that was taken may often stay with the fairy family forever.  Feeling connected to the fate of a changeling, there are families who merely turn their changeling loose to the wilderness.

The Mên-an-Tol stones in Cornwall are said to have a fairy or pixie guardian who can make miraculous cures. In one case, a changeling baby was passed through the stone in order for the mother to have her real child returned to her. Evil pixies had changed her child, and the stones were able to reverse their spell.

In Germany, the changeling is known as Wechselbalg, Wechselkind, Kielkopf or Dickkopf (the last both hinting at the huge necks and heads of changelings).

Several methods are known in Germany to identify a changeling and to return the replaced real child:

confusing the changeling by cooking or brewing in eggshells. This will force the changeling to speak, claiming its real age, revealing its position beyond synchronicity.

attempting to heat the changeling in the oven– perhaps a lie by capacity to endure present.

hitting or whipping the changeling

Sometimes the changeling has to be fed with a woman's milk before replacing the children.

In German folklore, several possible parents are known for changelings. Those are:

the devil, a belief shared by Martin Luther

a female dwarf

a water spirit

a Roggenmuhme/Roggenmutter ("Rye Aunt"/"Rye Mother", a demonic woman living in cornfields and stealing human children)

In Ireland, looking at a baby with envy – "over looking the baby" – was dangerous, as it endangered the baby, who was then in the fairies' power. So too was admiring or envying a woman or man dangerous, unless the person added a blessing; the able-bodied and beautiful were in particular danger. Women were especially in danger in liminal states: being a new bride, or a new mother.

Putting a changeling in a fire would cause it to jump up the chimney and return the human child, but at least one tale recounts a mother with a changeling finding that a fairy woman came to her home with the human child, saying the other fairies had done the exchange, and she wanted her own baby. The tale of surprising a changeling into speech – by brewing eggshells – is also told in Ireland, as in Wales.Various legends describe other ways to foil a would-be fairy kidnapper. One was to shout "Gairim agus coisricim thú " (I bless you) or "God bless you," which would cause the fairy to abandon the child it was trying to steal. Another possible tactic was to insert oneself into an argument over who would keep the child; shouting out "Give it to me" would trick the fairy into releasing the child back to a human.

Changelings, in some instances, were regarded not as substituted fairy children but instead old fairies brought to the human world to die.

Irish legends regarding changelings typically follow the same formula: a tailor is the one who first notices a changeling, the inclusion of a fairy playing bagpipes or some other instrument, and the kidnapping of a human child through a window.

The modern Irish girl's name, Siofra, means an elvish or changeling child, deriving from Síobhra(í) meaning fairy(/fairies). The Aos sí, siabhra (commonly anglicised as "sheevra"), may be prone to evil and mischief. However, the Ulster folk song 'The Gartan Mother's Lullaby' also uses "sheevra" simply to mean "spirit" or "fairy".

The Isle of Man had a wide collection of myths and superstitions concerning fairies, and there are numerous folk tales that have been collected concerning supposed changelings. Sophia Morrison, in her "Manx Fairy Tales" (David Nutt, London, 1911) includes the tale of "The Fairy Child of Close ny Lheiy", a tale of a child supposedly swapped by the fairies for a loud and unruly fairy child.

In the Anglo-Scottish border region it was believed that elves (or fairies) lived in "elf hills" (or "fairy hills"). Along with this belief in supernatural beings was the view that they could spirit away children, and even adults, and take them back to their own world (see Elfhame). Often, it was thought, a baby would be snatched and replaced with a simulation of the baby, usually a male adult elf, to be suckled by the mother. The real baby would be treated well by the elves and would grow up to be one of them, whereas the changeling baby would be discontented and wearisome. Many herbs, salves and seeds could be used for discovering the fairy-folk and ward off their designs. It was also believed that, in order to force a changeling to reveal itself, it must either be surprised into speech or made to laugh.

In one tale a mother suspected that her baby had been taken and replaced with a changeling, a view that was proven to be correct one day when a neighbour ran into the house shouting "Come here and ye'll se a sight! Yonder's the Fairy Hill a' alowe" (i.e. "the Fairy Hill is on fire"). To this, the elf got up, saying "Waes me! What'll come o' me wife and bairns?" and made his way out of the chimney.

Child ballad 40, The Queen of Elfland's Nourice, depicts the abduction of a new mother, drawing on the folklore of the changelings. Although it is fragmentary, it contains the mother's grief and the Queen of Elfland's promise to return her to her own child if she will nurse the queen's child until it can walk.

The Mamuna or Boginki is a Slavic spirit that exchanges babies (making them into odmieńce) in the cradle. The changelings left by the Mamuna were said to have a noticeably different appearance; an abnormally large abdomen, unusually small or large head, a hump, thin arms and legs, a hairy body, and long claws. Mamuna changelings would also get their first set of teeth prematurely compared to a human baby.

In order to protect a child from being kidnapped by the Mamuna, the mother would tie a red ribbon around the baby's wrist, put a red hat on its head, and keep it out of the moonlight. Other preventative methods included not washing diapers after sunset and never turning their head away from the baby as it slept. Still, even if a child was taken by the Mamuna, there was a way to force her to return it. The mother would take the changeling child to a midden, whip it with a birch stick, and pour water from an eggshell over it, all while shouting "Take yours; give mine back." Typically, the Mamuna would feel sorry for its own child and would return the human baby to its mother.

In Nordic traditional belief, it was generally believed that it was trolls or beings from the subterranean realms that changed children. Since most of the supernatural beings of Scandinavian folklore are said to be afraid of iron, Scandinavian parents would often place an iron tool such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of the cradle of an un-baptised infant to prevent its being abducted by the trolls. It was believed that if a human child were still taken, in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven. In Sweden, it was believed that a fire must be kept lit in the room housing a child before it is christened, and furthermore, that the water used to bathe the child should not be thrown out, since both of these precautions will prevent the child from being taken by trolls.

In one Swedish tale, the human mother is advised to brutalize the changeling (bortbyting) so that the trolls will return her son, but she refuses, unable to mistreat an innocent child despite knowing its nature. When her husband demands she abandon the changeling, she refuses, and he leaves her – whereupon he meets their son in the forest, wandering free. The son explains that since his mother had never been cruel to the changeling, so the troll mother had never been cruel to him, and when she sacrificed what was dearest to her, her husband, they had realized they had no power over her and released him.

The tale is notably retold by  Swedish children's story author Helena Nyblom as Bortbytingarna in the 1913 book Bland tomtar och troll. A princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents, but both find it hard to adapt: the human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll prince, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. Upset with the conditions of their lives, they both go astray in the forest, passing each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.

In Asturias (Northern Spain), there is a legend about the Xana, a sort of nymph who used to live near rivers, fountains and lakes, sometimes helping travellers on their journeys. The Xanas were conceived as little female fairies with supernatural beauty. They could deliver babies, "xaninos," that were sometimes swapped with human babies – some legends claim this was in order for them to be baptized, while others claim that it is because the Xana cannot produce milk. The legend says that in order to distinguish a "xanino" from a human baby, some pots and egg shells should be put close to the fireplace; a xanino would say: "I was born one hundred years ago, and since then I have not seen so many egg shells near the fire!".

In Wales the changeling child (plentyn cael (sing.), plant cael (pl.)) initially resembles the human child for which it has been substituted, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but may equally well be identifiable on account of its more-than-childlike wisdom and cunning.

The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is supposedly necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove.

The Igbo people of eastern Nigeria traditionally believed that a woman who lost numerous children, whether stillborn or early in infancy, was being tormented by an ogbanje, a malicious spirit that reincarnated itself over and over again. One of the most commonly prescribed methods for ridding oneself of an ogbanje was to find and destroy its iyi-uwa, a buried object tying it to the mortal world.

Many scholars now believe that ogbanje stories arose as an attempt to explain the loss of children with sickle-cell anemia. Even today, infant death is common among children born with severe sickle-cell anemia, especially in areas of Africa lacking adequate medical resources.

The similarity between the European changeling and the Igbo ogbanje is so marked that Igbos themselves often translate the word into English as "changeling". The abiku was a rough analogue of the ogbanje among the related Yoruba peoples to the west of Igboland.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.9 (before 1900)

118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome. 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. 491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. 551 – A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths. 660 – Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol. 869 – The 8.4–9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland. 969 – The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt. 1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague. 1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Duchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach. 1401 – Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad. 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. 1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II. 1701 – A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi. 1745 – French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after. 1762 – Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III. 1763 – The Mozart family grand tour of Europe began, lifting the profile of prodigal son Wolfgang Amadeus. 1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island. 1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution. 1790 – The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet. 1793 – The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age. 1795 – Financier James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution. 1807 – The second Treaty of Tilsit is signed between France and Prussia, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition. 1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire. 1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France. 1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain. 1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore. 1850 – Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia. 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River. 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law. 1875 – The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans. 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins. 1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia. 1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.