“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
It feels good to work digitally after such a long break, I missed it so much!
I’m really tired of asking for help or for someone to explain a thing to me and then to have the person I’m asking speak to me like I’m stupid and make thinly veiled threats about what’s going to happen to me because I didn’t know a thing/am unable to do a thing on the preferred time table.
The impressive remains of Rathgall fort, Co Wicklow (image Bing maps). Defined by three concentric earthen banks and located on a a relatively low hill, this Late Bronze Age site appears to have been a high status settlement (the inner stone wall is medieval). The late Professor Barry Raftery carried out a small excavation near the centre of the monument and this revealed the foundations of a very large circular house that measured c. 15m in diameter. It was defined by curving foundation trench, which would have supported walls that were probably made out of wattle panels, supported by wooden posts. The entrance into the building faced eastwards and internally it contained a large number of stakes and post-holes that probably defined internal divisions as well as supporting the roof. Numerous artefacts were recovered in and around the house, including pottery and bronze objects as well as stone and glass beads. The excavation also uncovered a number of other, smaller buildings on the hill top as well as cremation burials and an extensive workshop area. The later was associated with metalworking and contained many clay mould fragments for making bronze weapons, such as swords and spears.
On the night from November 29th to the 30th (St. Andrew’s Day) it is said that the tangible world and the spirit world cross one another, and give us a chance to peer into the future. It’s a traditional night for divination, particularly for young women trying to get a glimpse of their future husband, profession, or other pressing life questions.
The tradition of this November night that is said to aid in magic pertaining to divination may reach as far back as pagan times, although with the coming of Christianity November 30th has become a celebration of St. Andrew – the patron of Scotland. In Poland the night of November 29th is named ‘Andrzejki’ – a diminutive form of Andrzej (Andrew). It’s a crossing between pagan traditions and Christian devotions.
On that fateful night candle wax is poured through a key hole into a bowl of water. The shape of the wax can determine the first letter of a future partner’s name, their profession (or your own), or can answer other questions posed by those pouring the wax. The divination can also be achieved by holding up the cooled wax and seeing the shape of the shadow it casts on the wall.
Aside from candle wax, other traditions include lining up the shoes of young women heel-to-toe, and the first shoe to cross the threshold of the room signals that its owner will be the first to wed. Another method, practiced in certain regions of Poland, calls for a single woman to fast all day. In the evening she is to eat a salted herring and without drinking anything go to sleep with a pair of men’s trousers underneath her pillow. The man of whom she dreams that night is said to be her future husband.
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