Orion Nebula

This is a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming.

The image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of this region, called the Orion Nebula. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear, some of them never before seen in visible light, in a dramatic dust-and-gas landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys that are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon.

The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars that are shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars.

The bright central region is the home of the four heftiest stars in the nebula. The stars are called the Trapezium because they are arranged in a trapezoid pattern.

Ultraviolet light unleashed by these stars is carving a cavity in the nebula and disrupting the growth of hundreds of smaller stars. Located near the Trapezium stars are stars still young enough to have disks of material encircling them. These disks are called protoplanetary disks or "proplyds" and are too small to see clearly in this image. The disks are the building blocks of solar systems.

A warrior emerges from the dust

The marble head of a warrior woman has emerged from Vesuvius' volcanic rock.

Buried by the eruption that nearly 2,000 years ago covered Pompeii and the nearby towns of Herculaneum and Stabiae with nine to 20 feet of hot ash and pumice, the painted marble bust was found in a collapsed escarpment near Herculaneum's Basilica.

Almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake 17 years before the eruption, the Basilica was rebuilt by proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus. It was unearthed in the 18th century, when the entire town of Herculaneum was discovered by chance during the construction of a well.

The statue has coloured hair and make up, and her pupils and eyelashes look just like they did when Herculaneum was buried by the eruption.

Delenda est Carthago

I remember having to learn this sentence at school, it demonstrated a rule in Latin, a very important rule, one which I have completely forgotten. But let's start with a quick explanation for the ones who weren't force-fed Latin grammar in their childhood.

Delenda Est Carthago, Carthage must be destroyed, or more exactly: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" which translates as "And therefore, I conclude that Carthage must be destroyed", was the motto of arch-conservative Roman Senator Marcus Porcius Cato. He is generally referred to as Cato the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson of the same name, who also rose to prominence in Roman history and is known as the Younger.

Cato was relentless. He used this motto, this tagline, everywhere.

Rome had already fought two wars against Carthage, most of us are vaguely familiar with the second of these during which Hannibal crossed the Alps with his elephants. Cato, veteran of both wars, was appointed an ambassador to Carthage. He was astonished, and appalled, at what he saw there.

He saw the mighty harbour with wharves piled with the wealth of many countries; the marketplace with abundant food from many parts of the world, warehouses filled with spices, rich and rare merchandise, gold, precious oils and ivory. He saw the graceful houses with their sculpted gardens, the towering public buildings, the massive city walls; the wealth of Carthage was great and wonderful. And he was sickened.

Cato understood that two expansionist empires could not co-exist. The world would be ruled by one power or the other, Imperialist Rome with her armies or the commercial empire of the Phoenicians, and he saw but one way to ensure Rome would triumph. Rome must move fast and strike first with all her force, a pre-emptive strike, Carthage must be destroyed.

It was easy to demonise the Phoenician people as brutish, murderous barbarians. The religion was different, the language and lifestyle different, they looked different. In Carthage, people were somehow less human than those in Rome. The Romans viewed Hannibal himself in mythic terms, as a folk monster, a devourer of children, a cruel and cunning invader who was stopped only by epic courage and perseverance from the vastly morally superior people of Rome.

The only defense, Cato said, was to attack. To destroy it.

Eventually, Cato's persistence paid off, and Rome started the third and final Punic War against her trade rival.

Cato's slogan was implemented in typical thorough-going Roman style. The walls of Carthage were torn down, the city put to the torch, the citizens were sold into slavery and the Senate decreed that no one could live where Carthage once stood. Some stories say the fields were sewn with salt.

In any case, Carthage was destroyed.

Consider the Egg

As easter time approaches, it's a chance to consider the egg.

The glorious egg, with its deep links to Creation mythology, is one of the oldest symbols of life and rebirth known to us. Many gods, demons and heroes have sprung from eggs. It's a symbol of new life in cultures as far apart as Polynesian, Chinese, Phoenician, Egyptian and Greek and represents resurrection in Christian belief.

Hindu mythology brings us a vivid picture of how the world-egg became the world we now live in. There was one, a warm, glowing, single egg. It rocked gently, a crack appeared, and the world was born. Half the shell became the earth and the other half became the sky. Mountains were created from the inner membrane and clouds from the outer. The veins formed rivers, the fluid became the ocean and the yolk formed the sun. It makes a kind of sense when you consider the egg.

Portrayals of winged eggs commonly float above Egyptian mummies, carrying the soul to another birth. A great bird, Tien, dropped an egg in China and a man emerged from it. Another egg of note is that of the phoenix, the bird which dies in flames every 14,000 years after setting its own nest alight. From the resulting ashes, a new egg emerges from which hatches a new phoenix, which dies in flames ... and so it goes.

Venus and the Female Body

She was born out of the sea, a child of the sky god and the fertile sea womb, arising fully mature from the primordial waters. She surged from the foam, stepping delicately onto a floating seashell, and the wind of the west blew her softly to Cyprus.

She was originally known for her amorous nature, and associated with the arrival of Spring, as the bringer of joy for gods and mortals alike.

Venus and the Romans : The people of Rome had a special love for Venus. She is the mother of Aeneas, the Trojan hero who carried his father Anchises on his back from the ruins of Troy, and, after many adventures and tribulations, arrived in Italy to found the great city of Rome.

The dictator Sulla made her patron of Rome, and both Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus named her the ancestor of their (Julian) family: the 'gens Julia'. Full of the Roman virtue of gravitas, Caesar introduced the cult of Venus Genetrix, the goddess of motherhood and marriage. She was portrayed no longer as amorous and sensual but matronly and chaste.

Venus as archetype : Society reflects its idealised women by archetypal images of femininity and sexuality. The rise of Christianity celebrated a sweet and vulnerable womanhood, seen particularly clearly in the image by Botticelli of the young gentle maiden. You can't fail to notice, however, that she has breasts.

Earlier cultures recognised the domain of emotion, passion and creativity as one with intense and volatile attributes of fecundity and fruitfulness. They gave us a sensual Venus with a proudly swollen belly, with prominent thighs and buttocks.

My renter, In the Outer, informs us an altercation has arisen " .. about the cover of the recent issue of Leadership which features a statue depicting in clear view some fine "marble bosom". Rather than discuss the import of what the issue was dedicated to, it appears that readers are more concerned with the supposed propriety of depicting a statue with bare breasts on the cover page of a magazine dedicated to ministers and ministry.".

You'll have to read the rest of his post, it will certainly make you wonder about people who have problems with a marble statue depicting the beauty of the female body.

I do indeed hope they are never subjected to a real live one.

Judas

Judas : What was he on about?

The Passover Plot : Special 40th Anniversary Edition : Hugh J Schonfield Theologian Schonfield argued that the crucifixion of Christ was a conscious re-enactment of Biblical prophecy and Judas acted with Jesus' full knowledge and consent in "betraying" his master to the authorities.

The act of Judas has been much discussed in context of free will, I spent hours in my younger days thinking about the whole betrayal business. The mainstream position has been that although Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, Judas was still acting in free will and was culpable for his actions. There's certainly some contradiction here in the idea of "the betrayal of God". The possibilities seem to be these:

* Jesus did not foresee the betrayal by Judas.
* He was unable to prevent it.
* He allowed Judas to betray him.
* Judas was an informed accomplice in Jesus' planned destiny.

My Renter, In the Outer, looks at a new discussion on Was Judas Misunderstood?

Paccariscas of Peru

The Paccarisca was usually saluted with the cry, "Thou art my birthplace, thou art my life-spring. Guard me from evil, O Paccarisca!"

An Oracle Spirit was present near these holy stones so the paccariscas were treated with great reverence and people were loth to stray too far from them.

Worship of stones is common no matter where you are in the world. The rocks are the very bones of the earth and hold the mysteries of creation, of unimaginable time and the space between the stars. Many Native American creation myths place humans as coming forth from the womb of the great terrestrial mother. From earliest times people everywhere have sought refuge in caves, lived in them and raised their children, rejoiced around the fire and learnt the subtlety of the human psyche.

Paccariscas are found at Callca, in the valley of the Yucay, and at Titicaca there is a great mass of red sandstone on the top of a high ridge with almost inaccessible slopes and dark, gloomy recesses where the sun took refuge in the time of the great flood. The rock of Titicaca is the Paccarisca of the great Sun himself.

Love is in the air ... again

It's that time of year again, when chocolates and flowers start doing the rounds and Valentine cards with messages of undying love appear, like mushrooms, overnight.

Have you noticed the mythological allusions in the greeting cards? You can't miss Eros with his tiny arrows, or Cupid as he is more commonly termed to avoid any indelicate reference to biological urges. Tales of legendary lovers abound, Lancelot and Guinevere, Tristan and Isolde, or Hero and Leander. Even Romeo and Juliet get a re-run. But are these loving couples really good role models for a succesful relationship?

Take the young lover theme for example. The original pair were Pyramus and Thisbe, teenagers from opposing families in Ancient Babylon who fell in love, mixed up some messages to each other and ended up dead. Not a very inspiring story to start with, although Shakespeare improved on the material and West Side Story certainly sold a lot of tickets. But overall, it's a most unsatisfactory conclusion.

Then there's the couple kept apart by honour. The story of Tristan and Isolde, like that of Lancelot and Gionevere, is often held up as an example of true and perfect love. All the ingredients for a satisfactory narrative are present; the lightning bolt of desire, the inevitable tragedy, ritual sacrifice, the denial of satisfaction and the purity of renunciation. These days, the path of honourable chastity has lost popularity.

But what else can you expect from the barbed darts of the spiteful Eros? Even Apollo wasn't immune.

While swaggering round one morning the Sun God came across Eros sharpening his darts and, full of his own importance, disparaged the puny weapons. One of these arrows which Eros honed so carefully was to instantly cause infatuation, the other to repel it. The former was of gold and sharp-pointed, the latter blunt and tipped with lead. Full of malice, Eros took up the leaden shaft and struck the nymph Daphne, and with the golden one, he shot the cocky Apollo right through the heart.

Poor Daphne, who wished only to remain unmarried and alone in the deep woods, was immediately pursued by the lustful Apollo. Bent on rape, he chased her relentlessly through the woods. The desperate nympth, finally overcome with exhaustion, turned into a laurel tree. You must admit that while the story may be interesting for mythological reasons, it's not much of a yarn.

Eros even wounded his own mother Venus in the bosom with one of his arrows. Before the wound healed she beheld Adonis, and that was that! Utterly captivated, she left her pleasant garden, and followed the youth through the woods and over the hills and far away. Not the kind of behaviour to be encouraged in mothers at the best of times.

And then there's Zeus. Any love story involving Zeus is essentially a contradiction in itself, the Great Philanderer was at best an overbearing boasting Casanova or at worst, an arch-rapist, that is, until he met Ganymede.

In earlier days, all Greeks were familiar with the tales that told of the many affairs of Zeus, of the ill-fated love of Apollo and Hyacinth, of Achilles and Patroclus, and of many other such passionate friendships between gods or heroes and handsome youths. These stories are not so popular today and many in these modern times have forgotten Ganymede, the most beautiful boy in the world, but in any case, apart from the youth suffering an untimely death, his story isn't universally suitable for a Valentines Day greeting card message.

Perhaps the best Valentine's Day greeting is a simple kiss, a hug, and three little words. It's kept the world going around for a while now.

I've put together a list of Real Love Legends on the main website at All Info About Myths & Legends and don't forget, you can get the Legends and Lore eZine free every fortnight

Brighid, Queen of Heaven

In the Northern Hemisphere Imbolc is still celebrated. Take my renter for example, Fading the Surface Noise, she will be building a bonfire with '.. old Christmas trees, symbolizing the spark of new growth & creative inspiration.' And honouring Brighid

Brighid is the most powerful religious figure in all of Irish history. She has moved through the ages with scarcely a change and travelled effortlessly down the centuries. Over hundreds of generations Brighid moves with grace and power, fulfilling different roles in different times.

The Irish say that Brighid gave us whistling, that she invented this one night when she wanted to call her friends. And that she taught us how to keen the mournful song of the bereaved woman. This keening links Brighid to the great mother goddesses of the eastern Mediterranean, and like them, she was identified with fertility of the soil, and with the earth itself.

More on Brighid, Queen of Heaven

Lupercalia

Lupercalia was a Roman ritual of purification and fertility dating from such an ancient time that even the Romans of the first century Common Era had totally forgotten what it was all about.

On February 14, the Luperci, young men who were naked except for the skins of goats they had just sacrificed, ran from the Lupercal around the bounds of the Palatine, both to purify that ancient site in a ceremony of lustration (lustratio) and, striking the women they met with strips of goat skin, to promote fertility.

These days we prefer flowers and chocolate


The Irish called this month Feabhra or an Gearran, the gelding or horse. The horse was used to draw the plough, but Gearran also means 'to cut' and 'Gearran' can be used to describe the 'cutting' Spring winds. To the Anglo-Saxons, this was Solmonath, "sun month," in honor of the gradual return of the light after the darkness of winter. According to Asatru traditions, this month is Horning, from horn, the turn of the year.

Lucky Tips

The number 8 is a hot favorite at the moment. Just after Chinese New Year, it's a perfect choice. Even numbered days are considered lucky, the 2nd and 8th day of the New Year being the most popular, and don't forget to wear red on these days for extra luck.

Best tip of all, don't take lucky tips seriously

Kuan Yin, Mother of Compassion

Women everywhere have prayed to her. Sometimes it is as the Tibetan Tara, sometimes as the Christian Madonna or the African Yemaya or any other of a dozen names. As Kuan Yin, Mother of Compassion, she is universally beloved.

Kuan Yin is invoked for healing of a sick child, relief from pain and help in all times of trouble. Like Artemis, she is a virgin Goddess who protects women, offers them an alternative to marriage, and grants children to those who desire them.

Bodhisattva: She is said to be a bodhisattva, one qualified to enter Nirvana but who chooses to remain in the earthly realms and not enter the heavenly worlds until all other living things have completed their own enlightenment and liberated from the pain-filled cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. "I am cultivating this method of great compassion and hope to save all living beings," said Kuan Yin. "Any living being who calls my name or sees me will be free from all fear and danger."

read more >>>

Happy New Year!

Eleventh in the cycle, Dog Years follow the Rooster years. The Chinese name is GOU, the sign of fidelity.

.. Happy New Year...

May all your hopes, dreams and desires come to fruition in the Year of the Dog, 2006.

And remember, all dogs go to heaven.
They say people born in the Year of the Dog are the nicest of the lot, Read more >>

Drop in and wish my tenant at Northern Bound a Happy New Year, and if you have any theories as to why we can build skyscrapers but not a simple ancient pyramid, let her know.

A Queen Unearthed

A life-size statue believed to represent Queen Tiy, the grandmother of King Tutankhamun, was just unearthed in Luxor, Egypt, according to a Johns Hopkins University press release.

Tut's grandmother was the cousin of two famous queens of ancient Egypt: Nefertiti and Hatshepsut. The statue, dated to between 1391 and 1352 B.C., reveals the family's renowned beauty.

Tiy was the daughter of Yuaa, a priest of an Egyptian fertility god, Min. He likely was a "foreigner" from Syria. Less is known about her mother, Tuaa, but it is believed that Tuaa was of royal descent, probably from the royal family of Mittani, which was a kingdom in northern Syria.

Tiy married Pharaoh Amenhotep III when she was 12 years old. Her husband, who consulted her regarding state affairs and official policies, acknowledged her intelligence and ambition.

Otzi's Revenge?

Has the Spirit of Otzi the Iceman claimed another victim? Has Frozen Fritz fingered the seventh man who disturbed his grave?

When a naked human body was found trapped in the ice at an altitude of 10,500 feet up the Alps in 1991, he was at first thought to be a lost hiker. But Otzi is from 3300 BCE. He was a dark-complexioned man in his 40s, about 5-feet 2-inches tall, some healing fractured ribs, and arthritis. He also had a stone arrowhead embedded in his left shoulder. In addition, traces of blood from four other people have been found on his clothes and weapons, Otzi didn't die peacefully.

Otzi's Curse: And, like the Curse of the Pharoahs, there are stories of the Curse of the Iceman. Now eight deaths are attributed to the 'curse'.

One - Rainer Henn, forensic pathologist, who picked up Otzi's body, killed on his way to a conference to discuss Otzi

Two - Kurt Fritz, who uncovered the Iceman's face, accident

Three - Journalist Rainer Hoelz, who filmed the recovery of Ötzi from the ice for the ORF network, died of a brain tumor.

Four - Helmut Simon who discovered the Iceman's body, froze to death in the snow

Five - Dieter Warnecke, Simon's assistant, who died of a heart attack hours after Simon's funeral.

Six - Archeologist Konrad Spindler, leading expert on Otzi.

Seven - Molecular biologist Tom Loy who examined Otzi's DNA, died in unclear circumstances in Australia last November

Eight- Professor Friedrich Tiefenbrunner, member of Spindler's team, died during open-heart surgery earlier this month

New tenant

Not laying down in a bog, but laying down in the rent-a-blog to your right is Northern Bound, a talented writer and artist.

I may ask her the price of making me a small incense holder, I think she needs some encouragement to create some more objets d'art, drop in and share some enthusiasm.

The Haraldskaer Woman

The Haraldskaer Woman is one of the few early finds that still survive today. When they were found in the Gunnelsmose ("Gunhild's bog") on the Haraldskaer estate in Denmark in 1835, it was believed that the remains were those of the Norwegian queen Gunhild.

According to the Jomsvikinga saga she was killed and drowned in a bog at the instigation of the Danish king Harald Blatand (Blue Tooth).

King Frederick VI had a beautiful sarcophagus carved for this alleged royal mummy, in which it was laid to rest in the church of St. Nicholas in Vejle. Not everyone was convinced that the remains derived from Queen Gunhild, and a heated controversy arose.

In 1977 those who had opposed this interpretation were, posthumously, shown to be correct. A carbon date proved that the body predated the period in which Queen Gunhilde lived by some 1,500 years.

The Haraldskaer body, however, undoubtedly owes its survival to this case of mistaken identity. It still lies in the church today. (Vejle Museum, Denmark)

Castle Campbell

Castle Campbell: Viewed from a distance, this ancient Keep might seem to the mind of the poet,

"A palace, lifting in eternal summer
Its marble head from out a glossy bower
of leaves."

Yet a nearer acquaintance with its topography will speedily dispel this illusion. The approach to the Castle soon alters from the mild riverside way with which it begins, to the rugged and stern mountain path which terminates at the ruin.

The "bower of leaves" becomes a gloomy forest, and the "marble palace" vanishes into a grim and solitary ruin, frowning defiantly from the summit of a precipice, apparently inaccessible. The road is now narrowed to an extreme limit, and crosses the fearful chasm which partly surrounds the Castle by one of those shaky wooden bridges which terrify the soul of the timourous tourist.

The two streams, which flow around the Castle and fall into the Devon, have been named by some romantic twit in Victorian times, the Water of Care and the Burn of Greif (Gryfe). The ancient title of the ruin itself was said to be "the Castle of Gloom," and the site of the melancholy trio was "the Valley of Dolour."

This poetical combination, however, is just fanciful nonsense. Sad, but true. The name of Castle Gloom is a corruption of the Gaelic Chleum or Loch Leum, the Leap. The Water of Care is an easy transition from Caer, the prefix for a castle and its surroundings. Dollar is originally Balor, the high field.

Tradition says Castle Campbell was a portion of the dowry which Robert the Bruce bestowed upon his sister, Lady Mary Bruce, on her marriage to Neil Campbell of Lochow

The Chocolate Pope

David Wolfe says his love of cacao led him to create a chocolate religion. "I nominated myself the Chocolate Pope," he says. "The only two requirements for joining the chocolate religion are you have to love cacao and you have to help us get a "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" book into every hotel room in the world, because that is the chocolate Bible."

Before you run away shrieking, this a true story.

An eagle-eyed reader, AchadaMaia, spotted it in belief.net. This Wolfe isn't a total nut. He's a raw food expert with degrees in mechanical and environmental engineering and political science. While trying to decide what to do with his life, he earned a law degree from the University of San Diego and became a minister in the Essene Church of Christ, a denomination which says it aims to restore Jesus' teachings on vegetarianism, reincarnation, and the feminine aspect of God. The Essene Church of Christ believes that these teachings were removed from the original New Testament.

But since eating his first fresh cacao bean--the natural form of chocolate-- in Hawaii, Wolfe has left his post at the pulpit and instead devoted his life to preaching the good word--about chocolate.

But let's leave the Chocolate Pope for a moment,

Is Chocolate good for you?

Neolithic Orkney

In the centre of West-Mainland Orkney, covered by a thick layer of turf and grass is Maeshowe Chambered Tomb, one of the major monuments of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as The Heart of Neolithic Orkney.

Inside the tomb is the biggest collection of Viking runes ever found in situ.

Most of the 23 inscriptions simply show a name followed by the "RR" for "reist runa" which tells us who carved the runes. But the inscriptions also tell us that those who carved the runes were well educated, and knew the classical futhork-alphabet with its 24 runes as well as the Anglo-Saxon variation with 33 different letters.

Written in tree or twig-runes is praise for Ingibiorg, the most beautiful woman in the world, accordng to Erlingr one of her admirers.

Thorhall Asgrimsson carved his runes with an axe that his great-great-great grandfather used to kill Gauk Trandilsson, a Viking from Ireland. Thorhall also mentions he was the Skipper of the Norwegian longship that brought Earl Rongvald from Bergen to Orkney on his return from the Holy Crusade.

For the best resource, see Neolithic Orkney maintained by Sigurd Towrie who incidentally is a look-alike clone of my nephew, Craig Murray of Hobart.