If the legal basis I used in Old Blood for governmental seizure of private property seems a bit far-fetched, check out the spotted history of eminent domain, the process by which the government seizes the land of people in its way. Eminent domain, like the Patriotic Property Reapportionment Act in Old Blood, makes use of the provision in the Fifth Amendment that the government can take whatever it wants as long as it provides "just compensation'.
The Wall Street Journal has reported on a number of egregious examples, here is one:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/12/04/eminent-domain-week-continues-on-new-ulm-and-wind-space/
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Page 49: The Blitz
I'm fascinated by fossils.
By fossils, I don't just mean coelacanths in limestone or ancient flies in amber (though they are great).
I also mean cultural fossils. These include rituals that we continue to go through without any memory of their original meaning. For example, have you knocked on wood today? You were saying 'hi' to the tree faeries.
They also include words or phrases that have been left embedded in our language, their original meaning left to rot away over time. The English language, for example, holds a huge number of seafaring fossils. Have you ever said 'there'll be the devil to pay'? Did you think you were referring to giving cash to a little red devil with horns? You weren't. The original phase is 'there'll be the devil to pay and no pitch hot.' The devil is the all-important seam where the deck and sides of a wooden ship come together. To 'pay' is the nautical word for caulking. Caulking, in the time of wooden ships, was done with tar (ever heard a sailor called a 'tar'? There you go). Tar is also known as pitch. So, having the devil to pay and no pitch hot means that you have a leak in your ship and nothing to plug it with. It is probably my favorite 'word fossil'.
A third kind of cultural fossil is a place or building with a meaning lost in time. Stonehenge is an obvious example, but there are a lot of others, from the profound to the mundane. Our grandchildren might wonder what all those little blocky, windowless buildings are that are scattered around. Some old geezer like me will remember that they were once 'telephone exchange' buildings where operators physically hooked up wires in order to complete phone calls. "That's weird," my grandchild will say, unable to imagine a time when phones even had wires. But I digress.
My favorite place, London, is marked by many cultural fossils embedded by the blitz. Do people wonder why a newish (usually ugly) building in London sits next to a gorgeous old one? More often than not, the original building wasn't torn down, but rather blown up. This link, protected by copyright, is a map of part of London that shows how bomb damage happened. Take a look:
http://www.locallocalhistory.co.uk/schools/jubilee/walk1/bombingmap.htm
It's amazing. One group of buildings (the black-colored ones in the circle) completely destroyed while the buildings across the street were untouched. By blind, stupid luck one building survived and another was blown away.
Hanover Square is an example. Here is a picture of what I had in my head as I wrote about an insufferable woman inside an insufferably horrible building.
By fossils, I don't just mean coelacanths in limestone or ancient flies in amber (though they are great).
I also mean cultural fossils. These include rituals that we continue to go through without any memory of their original meaning. For example, have you knocked on wood today? You were saying 'hi' to the tree faeries.
They also include words or phrases that have been left embedded in our language, their original meaning left to rot away over time. The English language, for example, holds a huge number of seafaring fossils. Have you ever said 'there'll be the devil to pay'? Did you think you were referring to giving cash to a little red devil with horns? You weren't. The original phase is 'there'll be the devil to pay and no pitch hot.' The devil is the all-important seam where the deck and sides of a wooden ship come together. To 'pay' is the nautical word for caulking. Caulking, in the time of wooden ships, was done with tar (ever heard a sailor called a 'tar'? There you go). Tar is also known as pitch. So, having the devil to pay and no pitch hot means that you have a leak in your ship and nothing to plug it with. It is probably my favorite 'word fossil'.
A third kind of cultural fossil is a place or building with a meaning lost in time. Stonehenge is an obvious example, but there are a lot of others, from the profound to the mundane. Our grandchildren might wonder what all those little blocky, windowless buildings are that are scattered around. Some old geezer like me will remember that they were once 'telephone exchange' buildings where operators physically hooked up wires in order to complete phone calls. "That's weird," my grandchild will say, unable to imagine a time when phones even had wires. But I digress.
My favorite place, London, is marked by many cultural fossils embedded by the blitz. Do people wonder why a newish (usually ugly) building in London sits next to a gorgeous old one? More often than not, the original building wasn't torn down, but rather blown up. This link, protected by copyright, is a map of part of London that shows how bomb damage happened. Take a look:
http://www.locallocalhistory.co.uk/schools/jubilee/walk1/bombingmap.htm
It's amazing. One group of buildings (the black-colored ones in the circle) completely destroyed while the buildings across the street were untouched. By blind, stupid luck one building survived and another was blown away.
Hanover Square is an example. Here is a picture of what I had in my head as I wrote about an insufferable woman inside an insufferably horrible building.
Do you see that awful white thing rising from the street like a tumor? "Like a blackened tooth in an otherwise perfect smile"? That's a blitz fossil, a mostly forgotten memory of war.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Page 62: Bird Worshipping Cults of Cornwall
Cornwall is situated in the extreme southwestern corner of England and forms a peninsula that separates the English Channel from the Celtic Sea.
The ancient history of England and Wales is marked by the migration of several tribes following the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. The original inhabitants of Cornwall migrated from Bretagne in France and came to be known as Britons. Celts made their way over from Gaul and mixed with the Britons. After the Romans came and went, a wave of immigrant invaders from Europe were invited or forced their way in, including the Germanic Angles and Saxons (of Anglo-Saxon fame).
The cultural and ethnic diversity of England was reflected in a patchwork of kingdoms. These included Northumbria, Mercia, several Anglias, East Saxons (""Essex"), West Saxons ("Wessex"), South Saxons ("Sussex") and the Britons out in Cornwall and Wales. These kingdoms were able to stay largely independent until waves of Danish/Viking invaders started to arrive, forcing consolidation and/or destruction of the independent kingdoms.
The champion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms turned out to be the West Saxons, or Wessex. Alfred the Great won a series of battles just before 900 AD that solidified Wessex as a kingdom and set the stage for English unification under his progeny.
The West Saxons were the closest to Cornwall, and it has long been assumed that the Britons of Cornwall joined up with the Saxons of Wessex to fight off the Vikings and stayed loyal ever since. However, nobody seems to be able to find the documents to show that the two areas officially united. As a result, there is a bit of an independence movement going on in Cornwall.
From a religious standpoint, Cornwall is the oldest part of England and its cultural heritage is from the oldest inhabitants of the island. Not surprisingly, its religious history is an amazing mix of influences. Old Blood talks about the Cornish Saints and the Sacred Wells, but there is a lot more. Pre-Christian Cornwall worshipped multiple gods and deities and was very naturalistic in its outlook. Christianity arrived fitfully via missionaries from Wales and Ireland starting near 500 AD. Cornwall being somewhat off the beaten path, the Catholic Church did not impose its dogma uniformly, and therefore the ancient religions and Christianity mixed to local tastes. Missionaries built churches, churches begat "church towns" and each one was a little center of beliefs, typically organized around a "Cornish Saint". Churches tended to be founded by points of natural resources, so the deities that guarded wells, bridges, and other important places slotted in neatly along with the highly local Christian bureaucracy. In that way, cultural "fossils" are to be found in Cornwall along with true fossils.
Speaking of fossils, the Cornwall bird cults are as described in Old Blood. Local Cornish people would dig a small pit and place in it the remains of a bird along with other artifacts. It is believed that the pits were ritually dug for the purpose of enhancing fertility. The witchcraft and imagery of the pits is clearly pre-Christian, but is attached to the Christian St. Bride. In that way, it is "classic" Cornish religion -- a tidy mix of old and new religious influences designed to keep all the gods happy.
Here is an article on the archaeology:
http://www.archaeologyonline.org/Site%20-%20Area%20Feather%20Pits.html
And here is one that provides more information on the witchcraft element:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/images/witchcraft1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://islesproject.com/2008/03/12/1640s-the-saveock-water-pits-and-an-ecology-of-magic/&usg=__rUPa5oq1Z-PvWw5xgJPywESV7bw=&h=493&w=300&sz=162&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=erMZeym7rVPmIM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=79&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsaveock,%2Bcornwall,%2Bengland%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
The ancient history of England and Wales is marked by the migration of several tribes following the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. The original inhabitants of Cornwall migrated from Bretagne in France and came to be known as Britons. Celts made their way over from Gaul and mixed with the Britons. After the Romans came and went, a wave of immigrant invaders from Europe were invited or forced their way in, including the Germanic Angles and Saxons (of Anglo-Saxon fame).
The cultural and ethnic diversity of England was reflected in a patchwork of kingdoms. These included Northumbria, Mercia, several Anglias, East Saxons (""Essex"), West Saxons ("Wessex"), South Saxons ("Sussex") and the Britons out in Cornwall and Wales. These kingdoms were able to stay largely independent until waves of Danish/Viking invaders started to arrive, forcing consolidation and/or destruction of the independent kingdoms.
The champion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms turned out to be the West Saxons, or Wessex. Alfred the Great won a series of battles just before 900 AD that solidified Wessex as a kingdom and set the stage for English unification under his progeny.
The West Saxons were the closest to Cornwall, and it has long been assumed that the Britons of Cornwall joined up with the Saxons of Wessex to fight off the Vikings and stayed loyal ever since. However, nobody seems to be able to find the documents to show that the two areas officially united. As a result, there is a bit of an independence movement going on in Cornwall.
From a religious standpoint, Cornwall is the oldest part of England and its cultural heritage is from the oldest inhabitants of the island. Not surprisingly, its religious history is an amazing mix of influences. Old Blood talks about the Cornish Saints and the Sacred Wells, but there is a lot more. Pre-Christian Cornwall worshipped multiple gods and deities and was very naturalistic in its outlook. Christianity arrived fitfully via missionaries from Wales and Ireland starting near 500 AD. Cornwall being somewhat off the beaten path, the Catholic Church did not impose its dogma uniformly, and therefore the ancient religions and Christianity mixed to local tastes. Missionaries built churches, churches begat "church towns" and each one was a little center of beliefs, typically organized around a "Cornish Saint". Churches tended to be founded by points of natural resources, so the deities that guarded wells, bridges, and other important places slotted in neatly along with the highly local Christian bureaucracy. In that way, cultural "fossils" are to be found in Cornwall along with true fossils.
Speaking of fossils, the Cornwall bird cults are as described in Old Blood. Local Cornish people would dig a small pit and place in it the remains of a bird along with other artifacts. It is believed that the pits were ritually dug for the purpose of enhancing fertility. The witchcraft and imagery of the pits is clearly pre-Christian, but is attached to the Christian St. Bride. In that way, it is "classic" Cornish religion -- a tidy mix of old and new religious influences designed to keep all the gods happy.
Here is an article on the archaeology:
http://www.archaeologyonline.org/Site%20-%20Area%20Feather%20Pits.html
And here is one that provides more information on the witchcraft element:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/images/witchcraft1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://islesproject.com/2008/03/12/1640s-the-saveock-water-pits-and-an-ecology-of-magic/&usg=__rUPa5oq1Z-PvWw5xgJPywESV7bw=&h=493&w=300&sz=162&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=erMZeym7rVPmIM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=79&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsaveock,%2Bcornwall,%2Bengland%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
Friday, December 4, 2009
Page 223: They attack loyal Persian allies all over the world
This article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal discusses the Iranian regime's efforts to disrupt opposition from the Iranian diaspora. Iranian security forces inside Iran are arresting relatives of exiled dissidents in order to stop them criticizing the regime of Twitter and Facebook. It seems amazing that the secret police would be monitoring Twitter and Facebook in order to find more people to persecute, but it appears to be happening.
Here's the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125978649644673331.html
Sometimes truth is at least as strange as fiction!
The facts in Old Blood regarding Iranian agents attempting to penetrate exile groups directly come from articles such as this one, which documents a Swedish situation:
An annual report recently published by the Swedish security service (Sapo) mentions the expulsion of a spy who had been working as an embassy advisor in Sweden, thus uncovering a part of the Iranian regime intelligence services plots against Iranian dissidents and refugees residing in Sweden. The report refers to gathering of information and identifying regime opponents, impeding opposition activities through threats and bribes, spreading misinformation, propaganda, and conducting a demonizing campaign against the opposition, working to diminish trust toward regime opponents, infiltrating their ranks, and coercing refugees into cooperation with the regime’s intelligence services by making threats about imprisoning and torturing their family members still living inside Iran.
And Sweden is hardly the top concentration if the Iranian diaspora...
The whole article is here:
http://www.globalpolitician.com/25622-europe-iran-spies
Here's the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125978649644673331.html
Sometimes truth is at least as strange as fiction!
The facts in Old Blood regarding Iranian agents attempting to penetrate exile groups directly come from articles such as this one, which documents a Swedish situation:
An annual report recently published by the Swedish security service (Sapo) mentions the expulsion of a spy who had been working as an embassy advisor in Sweden, thus uncovering a part of the Iranian regime intelligence services plots against Iranian dissidents and refugees residing in Sweden. The report refers to gathering of information and identifying regime opponents, impeding opposition activities through threats and bribes, spreading misinformation, propaganda, and conducting a demonizing campaign against the opposition, working to diminish trust toward regime opponents, infiltrating their ranks, and coercing refugees into cooperation with the regime’s intelligence services by making threats about imprisoning and torturing their family members still living inside Iran.
And Sweden is hardly the top concentration if the Iranian diaspora...
The whole article is here:
http://www.globalpolitician.com/25622-europe-iran-spies
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Page 295: Eve [spoiler]
Those who have not read Old Blood and wish to be surprised by the ending should not read this post.
In the course of my research, I was amazed at how much non-Biblical ("non-canonical") material there is concerning the basic stories of Genesis. Creation myths abound in many cultures, of course, but there is a lot more detail available regarding stories in the Judeo-Christian tradition than I would have believed.
And, believe it or not, I'm not making any of the following up.
The non-canonical sources include the Book of Enoch, which has come down to us through Greek and Roman fragments and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Jubilees, and the Book of Jasher. They all predate the Bible and concern the basic story of the angels, the war in heaven, the fall, and the origins of good and evil. There is a good, if difficult to read, little book that summarizes these texts called Fallen Angels, the Watchers, and the Origins of Evil by Joseph B. Lumpkin.
In summary, the story of the "fall" is more complicated than is portrayed in our Bible stories. Before writing Old Blood, the story I knew was that the very first person, Adam, was wandering around the Garden of Eden until God made him Eve out of a rib. Then they wandered together until Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve (nice going, Eve) were then cast out of the Garden of Eden and modern history began. Pretty simple.
The non-canonical sources muddy things up considerably.
For instance, they clearly indicate that a culture of angels was in existence before Adam was created. Nowhere in Genesis does God create the angels before he got around to man -- the canon wiped out that detail.
The non-canonical works also say that God created man and woman together (which would make sense) and that his first woman was named Lilith. Adam and Lilith reportedly had a lot of babies. Despite the babies, Lilith was unhappy in their relationship. She insisted on holding herself equal to Adam -- and Adam didn't like it. So frustrated was Lilith with Adam that "she flew into the air, changing form, and disappeared, soaring out of sight." It sounds like Lilith had angelic powers (see the "Queen of the Night"), much as the ancient sculptors indicated. Anyway, some angels tried to make her behave and return to Adam, but she refused. She was banished and became the first of the "evil" spirits. Her story sheds light on the "Queen of the Night" relief: "Confined to the night, she was destined to roam the earth, seeking newborn babies, stealing their lives, and strangling them in their sleep."
According to non-canonical sources, God created Eve from Adam's rib as a replacement for Lilith. That's a new wrinkle to the story, or, should I say, an ancient wrinkle that was ironed out by the editors of the Bible.
But wait, there's more! Look what is hidden inside that sentence. Lilith went out looking for babies to kill. That means that Adam and Lilith weren't alone! There were other people and babies. So, a careful reading of the ancient, non-canonical texts would suggest that Adam wasn't the first person, but rather was God's special project sequestered in the Garden of Eden. In that light, the fossil record and the mythical record can come much closer to coexisting. Adam wasn't alone, he was just special. Perhaps, dare I say, a mutant, "fixed up" by God.
So, now knowing that angels and people existed pre-Adam, we turn to Eve. Eve was actually held away from Adam, outside the Garden for a Biblical week, which is likely not a week as we know it today and might have been hundreds of years. So, Eve had a life outside the Garden before an angel brought her in. Interesting.
From there the story is familiar. Satan tempts Eve, she eats the forbidden fruit and gets Adam to try it, too. But even this simple part of the story is more complicated than it seems. "Satan" is not a name, but rather a title. "The Satan" just happens to be the leader of the evil spirits. At this point in history, the title appears to have passed between several angels. The angel Gadriel was, at the time of Adam and Eve, "the Satan" and is therefore seen as the likely "seducer of Eve". However, Azazel (also known as Azza) manifested a serpent and was known as the "seducer of mankind". His similarity to the serpent in the Garden is suspicious. Also, the original, Semitic stories about Azazel show him to be a most powerful and ancient demon. The oldest stories have him as a goat-demon running around with, drumroll please, Lilith.
So, at the time of Eve's seduction, who was the Satan? Old Blood splits the difference and portrays Gadriel as Eve's platonic friend and Azazel (Azza) the serpent as her fiery lover. This makes sense to me because Azza was the one who eventually refused to "bow down" to Adam, which he might not want to do if he had feelings for Eve.
Why do I assert that they were lovers? Several ancient sources suggest that Cain was the son of a demon, presumably the serpent seducer. Plus, come on, forbidden fruit. That was no little red apple. Finally, Azza's punishment when he is cast from heaven is to hang forever, suspended between heaven and earth. An apt metaphor, I think, for an angel in love with a human he cannot have.
There's more to the story, but I'll save it for later...
In the course of my research, I was amazed at how much non-Biblical ("non-canonical") material there is concerning the basic stories of Genesis. Creation myths abound in many cultures, of course, but there is a lot more detail available regarding stories in the Judeo-Christian tradition than I would have believed.
And, believe it or not, I'm not making any of the following up.
The non-canonical sources include the Book of Enoch, which has come down to us through Greek and Roman fragments and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Jubilees, and the Book of Jasher. They all predate the Bible and concern the basic story of the angels, the war in heaven, the fall, and the origins of good and evil. There is a good, if difficult to read, little book that summarizes these texts called Fallen Angels, the Watchers, and the Origins of Evil by Joseph B. Lumpkin.
In summary, the story of the "fall" is more complicated than is portrayed in our Bible stories. Before writing Old Blood, the story I knew was that the very first person, Adam, was wandering around the Garden of Eden until God made him Eve out of a rib. Then they wandered together until Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve (nice going, Eve) were then cast out of the Garden of Eden and modern history began. Pretty simple.
The non-canonical sources muddy things up considerably.
For instance, they clearly indicate that a culture of angels was in existence before Adam was created. Nowhere in Genesis does God create the angels before he got around to man -- the canon wiped out that detail.
The non-canonical works also say that God created man and woman together (which would make sense) and that his first woman was named Lilith. Adam and Lilith reportedly had a lot of babies. Despite the babies, Lilith was unhappy in their relationship. She insisted on holding herself equal to Adam -- and Adam didn't like it. So frustrated was Lilith with Adam that "she flew into the air, changing form, and disappeared, soaring out of sight." It sounds like Lilith had angelic powers (see the "Queen of the Night"), much as the ancient sculptors indicated. Anyway, some angels tried to make her behave and return to Adam, but she refused. She was banished and became the first of the "evil" spirits. Her story sheds light on the "Queen of the Night" relief: "Confined to the night, she was destined to roam the earth, seeking newborn babies, stealing their lives, and strangling them in their sleep."
According to non-canonical sources, God created Eve from Adam's rib as a replacement for Lilith. That's a new wrinkle to the story, or, should I say, an ancient wrinkle that was ironed out by the editors of the Bible.
But wait, there's more! Look what is hidden inside that sentence. Lilith went out looking for babies to kill. That means that Adam and Lilith weren't alone! There were other people and babies. So, a careful reading of the ancient, non-canonical texts would suggest that Adam wasn't the first person, but rather was God's special project sequestered in the Garden of Eden. In that light, the fossil record and the mythical record can come much closer to coexisting. Adam wasn't alone, he was just special. Perhaps, dare I say, a mutant, "fixed up" by God.
So, now knowing that angels and people existed pre-Adam, we turn to Eve. Eve was actually held away from Adam, outside the Garden for a Biblical week, which is likely not a week as we know it today and might have been hundreds of years. So, Eve had a life outside the Garden before an angel brought her in. Interesting.
From there the story is familiar. Satan tempts Eve, she eats the forbidden fruit and gets Adam to try it, too. But even this simple part of the story is more complicated than it seems. "Satan" is not a name, but rather a title. "The Satan" just happens to be the leader of the evil spirits. At this point in history, the title appears to have passed between several angels. The angel Gadriel was, at the time of Adam and Eve, "the Satan" and is therefore seen as the likely "seducer of Eve". However, Azazel (also known as Azza) manifested a serpent and was known as the "seducer of mankind". His similarity to the serpent in the Garden is suspicious. Also, the original, Semitic stories about Azazel show him to be a most powerful and ancient demon. The oldest stories have him as a goat-demon running around with, drumroll please, Lilith.
So, at the time of Eve's seduction, who was the Satan? Old Blood splits the difference and portrays Gadriel as Eve's platonic friend and Azazel (Azza) the serpent as her fiery lover. This makes sense to me because Azza was the one who eventually refused to "bow down" to Adam, which he might not want to do if he had feelings for Eve.
Why do I assert that they were lovers? Several ancient sources suggest that Cain was the son of a demon, presumably the serpent seducer. Plus, come on, forbidden fruit. That was no little red apple. Finally, Azza's punishment when he is cast from heaven is to hang forever, suspended between heaven and earth. An apt metaphor, I think, for an angel in love with a human he cannot have.
There's more to the story, but I'll save it for later...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Page 29: Jentillaks
All around the world there are stories of ancient races of very tall, very smart beings that taught humans the secrets of agriculture or animal husbandry or the basics of science.
Among the most intriguing are the Basque Jentillaks, a race of tall, smart warriors who lived in the hills and not only taught the humans about agriculture, but also metallurgy and the secret of the saw. Most amazingly, the Jentillaks set the standing stones.
Now, anyone who has made it to the Author's Note in Old Blood knows that the standing stones -- be they at Stonehenge, the Orkney Islands, Turkey, the Basque region, or elsewhere -- are among the central mysteries of neolithic times. How did human beings who, mostly, ate only what they could find or catch, suddenly, in the 4th millennium BC, develop the engineering and scientific skills to not only heave from the earth gigantic, monolithic stones but also acquire the scientific knowledge required to place them in astronomically significant positions? It boggles the mind.
The modern mind jumps to aliens, but of course there's no real evidence of that. If only we could ask the ancients how they did it. But wait a minute... We can, in a way. The legends they told themselves -- at least in Basque country -- said that the Jentillaks did it for them.
The Jentillaks are associated with Mari, the Great Goddess of Basque mythology. Mari is linked to Astarte, Inanna, Aphrodite, and Ishtar, the great goddesses of other cultures. Astarte and Inanna were angels. We've seen that Ishtar, the queen of the night, is depicted as having wings. The great goddesses are seen to be angels in many cultures. So, could the Jentillaks have been angels, guardian angels, looking after the Basques and occasionally building a stone circle?
Hhhhhmmmmmm.....
The link below is a nice, enigmatic little guidebook entry about the Jentillaks. For more information, also see Mark Kurlansky's wonderful book The Basque History of the World.
http://books.google.com/books?id=10YpDcz8CnQC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=jentillak&source=bl&ots=DqhxncZ5yR&sig=MEGZ3BsLEP5evZzF2U51tf9pGhE&hl=en&ei=qToNS5njC4yWtgfh8_XtAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=jentillak&f=false
Among the most intriguing are the Basque Jentillaks, a race of tall, smart warriors who lived in the hills and not only taught the humans about agriculture, but also metallurgy and the secret of the saw. Most amazingly, the Jentillaks set the standing stones.
Now, anyone who has made it to the Author's Note in Old Blood knows that the standing stones -- be they at Stonehenge, the Orkney Islands, Turkey, the Basque region, or elsewhere -- are among the central mysteries of neolithic times. How did human beings who, mostly, ate only what they could find or catch, suddenly, in the 4th millennium BC, develop the engineering and scientific skills to not only heave from the earth gigantic, monolithic stones but also acquire the scientific knowledge required to place them in astronomically significant positions? It boggles the mind.
The modern mind jumps to aliens, but of course there's no real evidence of that. If only we could ask the ancients how they did it. But wait a minute... We can, in a way. The legends they told themselves -- at least in Basque country -- said that the Jentillaks did it for them.
The Jentillaks are associated with Mari, the Great Goddess of Basque mythology. Mari is linked to Astarte, Inanna, Aphrodite, and Ishtar, the great goddesses of other cultures. Astarte and Inanna were angels. We've seen that Ishtar, the queen of the night, is depicted as having wings. The great goddesses are seen to be angels in many cultures. So, could the Jentillaks have been angels, guardian angels, looking after the Basques and occasionally building a stone circle?
Hhhhhmmmmmm.....
The link below is a nice, enigmatic little guidebook entry about the Jentillaks. For more information, also see Mark Kurlansky's wonderful book The Basque History of the World.
http://books.google.com/books?id=10YpDcz8CnQC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=jentillak&source=bl&ots=DqhxncZ5yR&sig=MEGZ3BsLEP5evZzF2U51tf9pGhE&hl=en&ei=qToNS5njC4yWtgfh8_XtAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=jentillak&f=false
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)