Halloween As The Spirits Roam

Couple of photos I took at a local pond a few years back.  

 

Halloween is one example of a European custom which no longer exists in its place of origin but has been kept alive in the New World. Another one is La Quema del Diablo( The burning of the Devil) still practised widely in Central America and Mexico ( every 7 th December)but forgotten in Spain.

frinik... Halloween is one example of a European custom which no longer exists in its place of origin but has been kept alive in the New World

You must be speaking of Samhain or later on known as All Saints Day. Brought over here to the states by the Irish and Scottish immigrants coming to the New World.

No not Samhain which is on the 1st of November (All Saints Day)and is still very much alive in the Catholic countries in Europe and Latin America. I am talking about All Hallow Even or Ewen which is now called Halloween and died out in Europe in the 17th Century....

BTW Samhain is not unique to Celtic tribes but was also celebrated by Germanic tribes under different names. Likewise All Saints Day was a Roman pagan festival originally.

Looks as if we are conducting a brief history lesson. LoL

frinik... Samhain is not unique to Celtic tribes but was also celebrated by Germanic tribes under different names



As you can see by the map, Celtic tribes were also in Germany. Also the Celtic tribes are mentioned in the Greek book "The Odyssey".

So I guess that the old saying is true... there is a little bit of Ireland in all of us!

Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
In cathedrals of the forest
In the words of the tongues now lost

Find the answers, ask the questions
Find the roots of an ancient tree
Take me dancing, take me singing
I'll ride on till the moon meets the sea

Ride on Through the night Ride on
Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on
Ride on Through the night Ride on




And back, he spurred like a madman
Shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him
And his rapier brandished high

Blood-red were the spurs in the gold moon
Wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down on the highway
Down like a dog on the highway

And he lay in his blood on the highway
With the bunch of lace at his throat

Still of a winter's night, they say
When the wind is in the trees
When the moon is a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon the cloudy seas

When the road is a ribbon of moonlight
Over the purple moor
A highwayman comes riding
Riding, riding

A highwayman comes riding
Up to the old inn-door

Actually a study by a German university released in 2014 indicated that DNA test results show that barely 32% of the current Germans DNA( the survey excludes guest workers and obvious non white residents of Germany) comes from Germanic strains. The major other sources of the modern Germans DNA are in that order Celtic, Slavic, Baltic and Latin. So much for Hitler's pure Germanic -Aryan race! This is not surprising given that Germany is dead in the middle of Europe and has been subjected to invasions from East, West and South. It was also - as you indicated - settled first by Celtic tribes which were germanised and Slavic tribes moved to the East and South Eats of Germans lands not to mention that some German lands ( such as East Prussia, Silesia) were in fact settled by Baltic or Slavic tribes. In Lockie's beloved country there's a part of the Western Ukraine called Galicia ( Galizien in German) which was originally settled by a Celtic tribe which also moved to what is now Turkey (Galatia) in the 2nd century BC.

Now as for the Celts( not the Irish the Celts) one would argue that they had a profound influence on French, British, Irish, Belgian, Dutch, Swiss and German-Austrian , Northern Italian cultures. I suspect the love of beer amongst these nations comes from them. Even in Galicia( North-Western Spain ) - in fact the name Galicia suggests strongly Gallic presence -and Northern Portugal Celtic influence is still strong as they use the pipes, their music and dances are very close to those in Ireland, Wales and Brittany and there's a large number of fair haired and very fair skinned people.

Celts numbered 15 to 20 million in Europe at the time the Romans invaded Gaul in 52 BC. I am sure given how prolific they were they did not disappear but simply merged with other ethnic groups.

Plus European culture was probably originally forged when all Indo-European tribes lived together in Central Russia and Central Asia. Many practices may have been lost by some groups and retained by others when they migrated to Europe.

As for the history lesson well we are playing a game based on historical facts so why not debate it in depth as well. It's fun and we learn lots of new stuff. Then we can proudly tell our detractors that video games are educative.

Seriously guys today I am heart broken. I could have got 4 VIPs passes free to the annual IGN ( International Games Network)convention in Abu Dhabi next week and I had to pass because we are going on vacation somewhere else. MY sons are grumbling about it....

frinik... Then we can proudly tell our detractors that video games are educative.

Will agree that overall we learn something new everyday of our lives and with the PC games such as Steel Fury, IL-2, Silent Hunter and the many more similar games, we do pickup some new facts or other aspects of world events that we have not seen or just over looked before.

frinik... I could have got 4 VIPs passes free to the annual IGN ( International Games Network)convention in Abu Dhabi next week and I had to pass because we are going on vacation somewhere else. MY sons are grumbling about it....

Guess, you will have to find a way of making the vacation even more of a special event for your family and being a teacher, you should not have too many problems dealing with that issue.

But then again, are your sons teenager's. If so, then I would have to say...  good luck! LoL

frinik... very close to those in Ireland, Wales and Brittany and there's a large number of fair haired and very fair skinned people.

Now you must really expand your reading material. For any of those who have read any reliable Celtic mythology, since they did not have a written language except for some rare Gaulish writings and Ogham script, would know that the Celtic's were of Raven Black hair, blue eyes and pale while skin color.

Those of red hair, blues eyes and fair skin such as myself, are traits from our Scandinavian descendants when they were visiting the English Isles on holiday/marauding/pillaging or when they found the whiskey/ales well stocked and finally settled in the English Isles.

So you really must go back and recheck your sources.

I beg to differ my dear Woofie, Pline the Old the Roman historian and various Greeks-Macedonians generals and writers who had the opportunity to observe Celtic tribes( they were used as mercenaries) commented that a large number of Celts had red hair and fair skin.

I also partly descend from Scandinavians and I have blue eyes and originally strawberry blond hair now almost entirely white.

I'm just a poor wayfarin' stranger,
While travelin' through this world below.
Yet there's no sickness, no toil, nor danger,
In that bright land to which I go.
I'm goin' there to see my Father.
And all my loved ones who've gone on.
I'm just goin' over Jordan.
I'm just goin' over home.

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me,
I know my way is hard and steep.
But beauteous fields arise before me,
Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep.
I'm goin' there to see my Mother.
She said she'd meet me when I come.
So, I'm just goin' over Jordan.

I'm just goin' over home.
I'm just goin' over Jordan.
I'm just goin' over home.



frinik... I beg to differ my dear Woofie, Pline the Old the Roman historian and various Greeks-Macedonians generals and writers who had the opportunity to observe Celtic tribes( they were used as mercenaries) commented that a large number of Celts had red hair and fair skin.

I also partly descend from Scandinavians and I have blue eyes and originally strawberry blond hair now almost entirely white.

To a small degree I will go along with what you are implying, that the Celtic's were of light/blonde/red colored hair, but you must also add that they were mixing/incorporating with other groups/tribes/people of the time period that populated the European landscape.

Although I don't have to time today to look it up and post it here, but I have some good books on the subject and in one of the surviving Celt's poems, the writer describes his girl friend/lover and he states that she has Celtic Raven black hair, blue eyes and pale white skin.  

But here is also a quick look at the old DNA study of Britons.  

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31905764

The study seems to confirm the view that Celts retained their identity in western and northern areas of England where the regions were incorporated into Anglo Saxon territory by conquest.

But what could account for the variation in the DNA of those of Celtic ancestry in Cornwall, Wales and Scotland? Time would be one possibility, according to Prof Donnelly.

"If groups have been separated for a period of time, they will diverge genetically so some of the differences we see genetically are the result of those kinds of effects," he said.

The study also notes that there are two genetic groupings in Northern Ireland: one of which also contains individuals across the sea in western Scotland and the Highlands; the other contains individuals in southern Scotland and southern England.

The former appears to reflect the kingdom of Dalriada 1,500 years ago; the other probably represents the settlers of the Ulster Plantations.

And in Orkney, the study finds clear evidence of Norwegian DNA, as might be expected from the Viking settlement of the Islands.

Interestingly, it persists at fairly low levels, suggesting that the Vikings and the existing populations coexisted and intermingled more than people had expected - in the way that occurred with the Anglo Saxons.

The Viking armies that laid waste to parts of England, and for a while ruled what became known as the Danelaw, left little if any genetic trace, confirming that their success was due to their military prowess rather than large-scale population movement.

Likewise, the Norman conquest of England did not leave any genetic evidence.

Likewise, the Norman conquest of England did not leave any genetic evidence.

Not surprised, as the Norman troops would have been made up largely of Romanised Gaul peasants( Celts) with Scandinavian officers both of whom would have simply blended into the genetic pool of England which was massively Celtic and Germanic-Scandinavian. The Angles and Saxons and the Jutes were originally Scandinavian tribes.

Drag Racing The Devil  

I was sitting at a red light
I was waiting for a green light
Up pulls this El Dorado with plates
that said "diablo"
With a guy, looked like an undertaker
Smile on his face, leaned out the window
and said:
"Hey Hayseed, you wanna race?"
Will I had nothing better to do since my baby
gave me that big F.U.
So I said "All right buddy, right back in your face.

I'll race you to the end of the world just tell
me - what are the stakes?"
He rolled his back window down, I saw
something big and brown
It was a big ol' Rottweiler stuck his head
out to look around
And I knew who I was racing, the light turned
green I punched that hammer down





One item from Celt's history, was the fact they were using the chariot in warfare. Sort of the mobile Panzer units of their time.  

And can not leave out this important fact...

The historical sources tell us of main roads connecting the territories of various Gaulish civitates, main and secondary roads in southern Britain, large enough to carry several thousand chariots at a time

Uses of the Celtic Chariot.

Civilian transport: travelling, moving persons from one point to another.
Driving to battle: military transport.
Representation: public exhibition of high social status.
Sports and recreation: friendly physical competition, entertainment or peaceful conflict resolution.
Mortuary ritual: a platform to present, transport and lay the dead to rest.

Reconstruction of an Iron Age Chariot.

https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol5/5_1/karl_5_1.html

The ancient writers described the Celtic chariots use as a mixture of cavalry and infantry tactics.

The chariot would drive into the battle where the warrior jumps out of the vehicle and fights as an infantry warrior. Once the warrior tired he would jump back on the chariot. The chariots would also drive up and down the battle lines throwing javelins and intimidating opponents with the load noises they made.

Caesar describes that the drivers as extremely agile on the chariot, they would even climb forward on the yoke in order to steer the horses better. Celtic chariots used a suspension system that allowed them to operate on rough ground and even on steep hillsides.

I've been searching in sectors both private and dark
With the eye of a witness - silent and stark
Seen everything that goes on in the night
Things that are twisted and hide from the light
Things that live under the rock and the stone
Flesh like a fever on a platter of bone
Blacker than blackness and whiter than white
Things that live only on the edges of sight

So I pack my sack with a fistful of fire
There are cutthroats and thieves in this night of desire
Who steals this treasure must contend with its flame
Where only the strange remain

Yea, only the strange remain

Only the strange remain
Only the strange remain
Only the strange remain







They didn't even list us overdue for a week.

Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like 'ol squares in battle like uh, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo.

And the idea was, the shark goes to the nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away.

Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white.

And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.

Happy Halloween!  

Happy Halloween and All Saints Day (1st November).

Technopiper... Excellent screenshot.

Happy Halloween!  

And of course:

I'll have to look up that flick "Dead Snow 2", just to see what they do with that zombie Tiger. Saw the first "Dead Snow" and it wasn't that bad after a good fifth of Jim Beam. LoL

woofiedog wrote:I'll have to look up that flick "Dead Snow 2", just to see what they do with that zombie Tiger. Saw the first "Dead Snow" and it wasn't that bad after a good fifth of Jim Beam. LoL

They really put a lot of love and details into that tank. Pretty amazing I would say. Great interior too. Wonder if it's leftover from some other movie.

Make it half and it is actually quite okay.

Technopiper... Make it half and it is actually quite okay.

Yes a fifth is a bit over loading the system. But before indulging with your favorite beverage preparation is key.

Eat before hand and while, also hydrate well before. And the most important item... never consume more than you are capable of consuming and always "spread your drinks out".

Also... leave your keys at home... not in your pocket.

Hangover's and bad memories are for those who do not follow some very simple rules before enjoying the pleasures of life.  

A screenshot I put together called... The Chilled Air.