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Celtic Christmas Holiday Traditions

2011-12-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

Repost of Celtic Christmas Traditions: Melanie Smith

Most of us celebrate contemporary Christmas customs of putting ornaments on our Christmas trees and awaiting the arrival of Santa, the Celts on the other hand celebrated the Winter Solstice. The Druids believed that the sun stands still for 12 days from Christmas Eve to the 6th of January. A Yule log was used to burn for light back on those days and the charred relics sheltered the house throughout the year. Mistletoe, which is a sign of fertility, hangs in every house with other plants as a symbol of life in the midst of darkness.

Reposted from The Celtic Attic:

Search for the roots of today's Christmas traditions and you will find your way back to the ancient Celtic festival of Alban Arthuan, held during the Winter Solstice on December 21.
One of the principle reasons for the rapid propagation of Christianity throughout Europe during the first millennium was the willingness of Christian leaders to incorporate the rituals, beliefs and customs of other religions. Few of the ancient displaced religions were more assimilated than the Druids, Wiccans and Pagans.
Alban Arthuan is one of the ancient Druidic fire festivals. Taking place on December 21st through 22nd, Alban Arthuan coincides with the Winter Solstice. Translated, it means "The Light of Arthur," in reference to the Arthurian legend that states King Arthur was born on the Winter Solstice.
Alban Arthuan is also known as Yule, derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Yula," or "Wheel of the Year" and marked the celebration of both the shortest day of the year and the re-birth of the sun. Alban Arthuan was also believed to be a time of increased fertility. Early Celtic calendars measured the months according to the moon's revolution of the earth.
The custom of burning the Yule Log, the Yule-associated tradition that is most familiar to people today, was performed to honour the Great Mother Goddess. The log would be lit on the eve of the solstice, using the remains of the log from the previous year, and would be burned for twelve hours for good luck.
Decorating the Yule tree was also originally a Pagan custom; brightly colored decorations would be hung on the tree, usually a pine, to symbolize the various stellar objects which were of significance to the Pagans - 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 Pagan tradition of hanging gifts on the Yule tree as offerings to the various Pagan Gods and Goddesses.
Some of the current traditions surrounding "Father Christmas" or Santa Claus can also be traced back to Celtic roots. His "elves" are the modernization of the "Nature folk" of the Pagan religions, and his reindeer are associated with the "Horned God" (one of the Pagan deities).
Although Christmas is a major holiday in Ireland, it is not widely celebrated in Scotland. Some historians have suggested that the reason Christmas is downplayed in Scotland is because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church or Kirk, which viewed Christmas as a "Papist", or Catholic event. As a result, Christmas in Scotland tends to be a somber event, in direct contrast to the next Celtic festival, Hogmany, held on January 1. Hogmany is generally considered to be the much more significant celebration and it is a tradition that is beginning to spread outside of Scotland's borders.
To the Druids, it was holly's evergreen nature that made it special. They believed that it remained green to help keep the earth beautiful when the deciduous trees (such as the oak, which they also held sacred) shed their leaves. It was also their custom to wear it in their hair when they ventured into the forests to watch the priests collecting mistletoe. The holly berries were thought to represent the sacred menstrual blood of their Goddess.
In addition to these uses, some ancient religions used holly for protection. They would decorate doors and windows with it in the hopes that it would capture any evil spirits before they could enter the house. In effect, it was used as flypaper for demons.
So as you're hanging that holly wreath on your door, or placing it around the house this Christmas, think a little about the roots of this tradition. In addition to honoring your Celtic heritage and making your home look nice, you may also be performing the invaluable service of providing shelter to tree fairies and protecting your home from malevolent spirits.
In the Celtic language, Mistletoe means "All Heal". The ancient Celts believed Mistletoe possessed miraculous healing powers and held the soul of the host tree. According to Francis X. Weiser, in his Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs:
The Mistletoe was a sacred plant in the pagan religion of the Druids in Britain. It was believed to have all sorts of miraculous qualities: the power of healing diseases, making poisons harmless, giving fertility to humans and animals, protecting from witchcraft, banning evil spirits, bringing good luck and great blessings. In fact, it was considered so sacred that even enemies who happened to meet beneath a Mistletoe in the forest would lay down their arms, exchange a friendly greeting, and keep a truce until the following day. From this old custom grew the practice of suspending Mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of good will and peace to all comers. [p. 104]
In ancient times, the Druids held a special ceremony five days after the new moon following the Winter Solstice, in which they cut the boughs of the Mistletoe from the sacred Oak tree with a golden sickle. It was important that branches did not touch the ground and become contaminated. Then the priests divided up the boughs into sprigs and distributed them among the people who believed the Mistletoe protected them from storms and evil spirits.

Celtic Christmas Holiday Traditions

2011-12-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Celtic Christmas Traditions

Author: Melanie Smith

Most of us celebrate contemporary Christmas customs of putting ornaments on our Christmas trees and awaiting the arrival of Santa, the Celts on the other hand celebrated the Winter Solstice. The Druids believed that the sun stands still for 12 days from Christmas Eve to the 6th of January. A Yule log was used to burn for light back on those days and the charred relics sheltered the house throughout the year. Mistletoe, which is a sign of fertility, hangs in every house with other plants as a symbol of life in the midst of darkness.

Reposted from The Celtic Attic:

Search for the roots of today's Christmas traditions and you will find your way back to the ancient Celtic festival of Alban Arthuan, held during the Winter Solstice on December 21.
One of the principle reasons for the rapid propagation of Christianity throughout Europe during the first millennium was the willingness of Christian leaders to incorporate the rituals, beliefs and customs of other religions. Few of the ancient displaced religions were more assimilated than the Druids, Wiccans and Pagans.
Alban Arthuan is one of the ancient Druidic fire festivals. Taking place on December 21st through 22nd, Alban Arthuan coincides with the Winter Solstice. Translated, it means "The Light of Arthur," in reference to the Arthurian legend that states King Arthur was born on the Winter Solstice.
Alban Arthuan is also known as Yule, derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Yula," or "Wheel of the Year" and marked the celebration of both the shortest day of the year and the re-birth of the sun. Alban Arthuan was also believed to be a time of increased fertility. Early Celtic calendars measured the months according to the moon's revolution of the earth.
The custom of burning the Yule Log, the Yule-associated tradition that is most familiar to people today, was performed to honour the Great Mother Goddess. The log would be lit on the eve of the solstice, using the remains of the log from the previous year, and would be burned for twelve hours for good luck.
Decorating the Yule tree was also originally a Pagan custom; brightly colored decorations would be hung on the tree, usually a pine, to symbolize the various stellar objects which were of significance to the Pagans - 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 Pagan tradition of hanging gifts on the Yule tree as offerings to the various Pagan Gods and Goddesses.
Some of the current traditions surrounding "Father Christmas" or Santa Claus can also be traced back to Celtic roots. His "elves" are the modernization of the "Nature folk" of the Pagan religions, and his reindeer are associated with the "Horned God" (one of the Pagan deities).
Although Christmas is a major holiday in Ireland, it is not widely celebrated in Scotland. Some historians have suggested that the reason Christmas is downplayed in Scotland is because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church or Kirk, which viewed Christmas as a "Papist", or Catholic event. As a result, Christmas in Scotland tends to be a somber event, in direct contrast to the next Celtic festival, Hogmany, held on January 1. Hogmany is generally considered to be the much more significant celebration and it is a tradition that is beginning to spread outside of Scotland's borders.
To the Druids, it was holly's evergreen nature that made it special. They believed that it remained green to help keep the earth beautiful when the deciduous trees (such as the oak, which they also held sacred) shed their leaves. It was also their custom to wear it in their hair when they ventured into the forests to watch the priests collecting mistletoe. The holly berries were thought to represent the sacred menstrual blood of their Goddess.
In addition to these uses, some ancient religions used holly for protection. They would decorate doors and windows with it in the hopes that it would capture any evil spirits before they could enter the house. In effect, it was used as flypaper for demons.
So as you're hanging that holly wreath on your door, or placing it around the house this Christmas, think a little about the roots of this tradition. In addition to honoring your Celtic heritage and making your home look nice, you may also be performing the invaluable service of providing shelter to tree fairies and protecting your home from malevolent spirits.
In the Celtic language, Mistletoe means "All Heal". The ancient Celts believed Mistletoe possessed miraculous healing powers and held the soul of the host tree. According to Francis X. Weiser, in his Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs:
The Mistletoe was a sacred plant in the pagan religion of the Druids in Britain. It was believed to have all sorts of miraculous qualities: the power of healing diseases, making poisons harmless, giving fertility to humans and animals, protecting from witchcraft, banning evil spirits, bringing good luck and great blessings. In fact, it was considered so sacred that even enemies who happened to meet beneath a Mistletoe in the forest would lay down their arms, exchange a friendly greeting, and keep a truce until the following day. From this old custom grew the practice of suspending Mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of good will and peace to all comers. [p. 104]
In ancient times, the Druids held a special ceremony five days after the new moon following the Winter Solstice, in which they cut the boughs of the Mistletoe from the sacred Oak tree with a golden sickle. It was important that branches did not touch the ground and become contaminated. Then the priests divided up the boughs into sprigs and distributed them among the people who believed the Mistletoe protected them from storms and evil spirits.

Rowley-O'Rothlain DNA Project

2011-09-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

[DNA-R1B1C7] Ui Neill & Connachta Surnames

Ethnic Legacies: Are the Gaels Celts? Not Exactly.

2011-07-07T00:31:00.000-07:00

Our understanding of who the Celts were and are is very much based on speculation that has circulated among scholars and academians over the past 300 years, and has changed a great deal during that time, as it is likely to continue to change in years to come as archaelogists and anthropologists reexamine their notions and conclusions by comparing their theories with the evidence.

In fact, it was not until 1707 that the Gaelic and Brythonic speaking inhabitants of the British Isles and their cousins in Brittany and Galacia on the European continent came to be identified as "Celts" by the 17th century antiquarian Edward Lhuyd, who first hypothesised that the Irish, Scots, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Bretons represented the descendants of the ancient tribes referred to as the "Keltoi" by the Greeks and the "Celtae" by the Romans, who learned of these people through the writings of early Classical explorers.

These ancient accounts offer reason to doubt that the original early Celts even spoke languages that are related to those that we consider to be "Celtic" today, as the Gaelic/Gaulish/Galacian languages along with Cymraeg (Welsh) belong to the Indo-European family of languages that first evolved in Eastern Europe and the Near East; whereas the original Celts may have spoken an older, non-Indo-European language, more closely related to Basque. In fact, the Gaels/Gauls/Galacians as well as the Cymry are said in ancient records to have come to the British Isles from a region once known as Scythia, which covered a vast territory in Eastern Europe located roughly in the area of the present-day Ukraine, very near the original homeland of the ancient Aryan or Indo-European root language

Only one tribe in the ancient era called themselves by a name resembling "Celts" and these were the Celtici, a tribe located in southwestern Spain. These are in fact the first "Celts" mentioned in history by the writer Herodotus in 450 B.C.E., who reported:

"For the Ister (Danube river), beginning in the land of the Celts and the city of Pyrene, flows through the middle of Europe. The Celts live beyond the Pillars of Hercules (straits of Gibraltar) and border on the Cynetes (Conii), who are the westernmost inhabitants of Europe."

Later, as the Gauls (known by tribal names such as the Galli and Galaeci) spread into Western Europe infiltrating lands originally occupied by the indigenous Celts, they would have introduced their Indo-European language and culture to the pre-Indo-European Celts who were most likely the descendants of the earliest native inhabitants of Western Europe whose ancestors were responsible for erecting the many megalithic monuments and barrows found throughout the territories inhabited by the Celts.

Writing in the first century B.C.E. Diodorus Siculus spoke of how the Celts and Gauls were originally two distinct people, but had become merged, saying:

"It is useful now to point out a distinction unknown by most. Those tribes that live inland from Massalia (Marseilles) as well as those around the Alps and on the eastern side of the Pyrenees are called Celts. But those tribes in the northern area near the ocean, those near the Hercynian mountain (probably in today’s Czech republic) and those beyond as far as Scythia are called Galatae. The Romans, however, group all these tribes together as Galatae."

In his Description of Greece, the writer Pausanias explains the how the adoption of the Gallic culture by the Celts led to confusion between the identities of the two groups, saying:

“These Gauls inhabit the most remote portion of Europe, near a great sea that is not navigable to its extremities, and possesses ebb and flow and creatures quite unlike those of other seas...It was late before the name “Gauls” came into vogue; for anciently they were called Celts both amongst themselves and by others.”

One of the most famous references comes from Julius Caesar in his description of the Gallic Wars, De Bello Gallico, written in the middle of the first century B.C.E.:

"Gaul is a whole divided into three parts, one of which is inhabited by the Belgae, another by the Aquitani, and a third by a people called in their own tongue Celtae, in the Latin Galli. All of these are different one from another in language, institutions, and laws. The Galli are separated from the Aquitani by the river Garonne, from the Belgae by the Marne and the Seine...The mainland of Britain is inhabited by a people who claim to be indigenous to the island, on the coast live the immigrant Belgae, who crossed over for war and pillage, but settled to cultivate the land...Those living inland do not sow grain but live on milk and meat and wear clothes of animal hides. All Briton paint their skin with woad which makes them blue and more terrifying to confront in battle."

Thus the Gaelic/Gaulish/Galacian and Cymric languages are identified as "Celtic" today because they were adopted by the Celtic inhabitants of Western Europe when they absorbed the Galatae and Cimbri (Cimmerian) tribes from eastern Europe who settled amongst them, as similarly the Anglo-Saxon (English) language was adopted by the Celtic Britons when they absorbed the Germanic Angles and Saxons who settled in their country in the 400's A.D. The people themselves did not become genetically "English", they were still predominately Celtic, but adopted the language of the Germanic Anglo-Saxon ruling class, who were a minority compared to the native Britons.

If we look at genetics through DNA research, we find that the majority of the people living in countries like Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall are predominately of the R1b genetic haplogroup. The R1b haplotype is in fact the predominant haplogroup in Western Europe and occurs among a majority of the population in the same areas where the ancient megalithic monuments (dolmens, cromlechs, menhirs, and barrows like Newgrange, Callanish, Maes Howe, Avebury, Stonehenge, and Carnac) are found - which suggests that the majority of the people who we identify as "Celtic" are in fact descended from an aboriginal population that was native to Western Europe all the way back to the Stone Age.

Another interesting thing to consider is that Indo-European languages like Gaelic and Cymraeg would not have evolved among these people, but would have been introduced from Eastern Europe - the Aryan/Indo-European homeland, where the predominate haplotype is R1a - a fact which perfectly fits the old histories that record the Gaels as having originated in Scythia (present day Ukraine). So the Gaels/Gauls/Galacians who we think of today as being "Celtic" would not originally have been, as the real "Celts" - the prehistoric R1b haplotype megalithic culture would have spoken a non-Indo European language probably very closely related to Basque. In fact, the Basque people who have remained a relatively isolated population in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France have one of the highest percentages of R1b DNA in all of Europe, exceeded only by the inhabitants of Western Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales, while among the remaing populations of both France and Spain R1b is still the predominate haplotype, though not found in the excessively high levels as it is among the Basques and the populations of the Western portion of the British Isles.

This leaves us to draw the conclusion that while the Gaelic and Cymric languages evolved among an R1a population native to Eastern Europe, that these languages were at some point brought to Western Europe by their speakers who settled amongst the R1b Celts (who were the native population of Western Europe) and were eventually absorbed by the indigenous Celtic population that they settled among, though their language survived and was adopted by the Celts.

Repost from:
http://www.pagan-network.org/forums/index.php?topic=25901.0;wap2

Ethnic Legacies: Clann Na Granndaich: Stand Fast Craig Elachie!

2011-07-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

The Grants are one of the clans of Siol Alpin, and descend from the 9th century Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots. Cináed mac Ailpín (Modern Gaelic: Coinneach mac Ailpein), commonly Anglicised as Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Kenneth I (died 13 February 858) was king of the Dal Raidic Gaels and Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots, earning him the posthumous nickname of An Ferbasach, "The Conqueror". Kenneth's undisputed legacy was to produce a dynasty of rulers who claimed descent from him and was the founder of the dynasty which ruled Scotland for much of the medieval period. The Clann Na Granndaich, in DNA studies has been found to include elements of both the Pictish and Norse settlers of early Scottland in addition to the Gaelic geneologies.

The first recorded Grant was Sir Laurence le Grant who was Sherriff of Inverness in 1260. His son, John Grant was captured by the English during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Members of Clan Grant have owned land in Strathspey at least since 1316, prior to that , most likely in Stratherrick, to the east of Loch Ness. In 1316, John Grant of Inverallan sold his land to John le Grant, who was father of Patrick le Grant, Lord of Stratherrick. The clan's lands in Stratherrick would later come to be controlled by Clan Fraser.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence Clan Grant were supporters of William Wallace and fought at the Battle of Dunbar (1296) where both Randolph and John de Grant were captured and imprisoned for a time. The Clan Grant later supported King Robert the Bruce and it was this support that secured their landholdings in Strathspey upon Bruce's ascent to the throne. The taking of Castle Grant, 14th century; Originally a Comyn Clan stronghold, Clan traditions tell us that the castle was taken from the Comyns by a combined force of the Grants and MacGregors.

15th and 16th centuriesThe next available reference is of Duncan le Grant in 1434, and later, Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie (Castle Grant), who inherited land in Dulnain valley in upper Speyside from his mother, Matilda of Glencarnie. Her family had partially owned it since 1180, when Richard I of England gave Kinveachy (approximately ten miles southwest of Castle Grant) to Gilbert, 3rd Earl of Strathearn.

By the 16th century the clan and its chief had become powerful enough to play a part in national politics. Their main allies being the Clan Gordon, whose chief was the powerful Earl of Huntly. In 1535 James Grant, 3rd Laird of Freuchie was made responsible for the policing of Strathspey. In 1580 a Robert Grant defeated an English champion at a jousting tournament while on an embassy in the south.[3] Towards the end of the 16th century the Grants began to quarrel with their old allies the Gordons, over religion. The Grants being Protestant and the Gordons being Catholic. In 1586 the Earl of Huntly allied with the Clan MacDonald and Clan Cameron who both had a history of raiding the Grants lands. The Grants responded by bringing in the Clan Gregor but they came off worse in a clash at Ballindalloch. By the late 16th century, Clan Grant became an important clan in the Scottish Highlands. During this period, the clan's actions resulted in the murder of the Earl of Moray and the defeat of the Earl of Argyll at the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594. The Chief of Clan Grant ordered his men to retreat as soon as the action began. This treacherous move led to the defeat of Clan Campbell of Argyll.

17th century and Civil WarIn 1613 King James VII of Scotland wrote to the chief of Clan Grant complaining that he was shelteing outlaws from the Clan MacGregor. The chief responded by sending the notorious Alistair MacAllister MacGregor to Edinburgh. However, the King was not satisfied and in 1615 fined Grant 16,000 merks for protecting the MacGregors. During the Civil War Captain David Grant led his forces in support of the Covenanter forces against the Royalist forces at the Battle of Tippermuir in 1644. In October 1645 the Clan Cameron raided the lands of the Clan Grant. The Grants gave chase catching the Camerons in the Braes of Strathdearn, where the Cameron men were defeated and many clansmen were slain.

By 1651 the Scottish Covenantor Government was no longer in agreement with the English Parliament of Oliver Cromwell. Sir James Grant of Grant, 16th Chief, led the clan to fight for Charles I and the Royalists at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Also, an alliance between Sir James Grant and the Earl of Huntly led to the annihilation of the Clan Farquharson.

After the Civil War the Clan Grant supported the British government. A force of over 600 Grants joined Colonel Livingstone who fought in support of William of Orange and defeated the Jacobites at the Battle of Cromdale in 1690. These same Grants fought against the Jacobite Grants of Glenmoriston who had fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.

18th century and Jacobite uprisingsAt the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, Grants fought on both sides. The British government forces won the battle with many of the Jacobites surrendering to General Grant. The Grants also helped retake Inverness from the Jacobites. See Siege of Inverness (1715)In 1715 the fighting force of the Clan Grant was given as 850 men by General George Wade.

In 1725 six Independent Black Watch companies were formed to support the Government. One from Clan Grant, one from Clan Fraser, one from Clan Munro and three from Clan Campbell. The Regiment was then officially known as the Regiment of Foot.

One branch of the Clan Grant, the Grants of Glenmoriston sided with the Jacobites and fought at the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 and are credited with winning the day due to their timely reinforcement. The Grants of Glenmoriston branch also fought as Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Eighty four Grants of Glenmoriston were captured at Culloden and were transported to Barbadoes, in violation of their terms of surrender and sold as slaves.

Clan Grant was one of the few clans not to be affected by the Highland Clearances. The "Good Sir James" Grant (Clan Chief from 1773-1811) built the town of Grantown-on-Spey for the purpose of establishing a textile industry in the north, and for the expressed purpose of providing for his clansmen to keep them from emigrating. While other Highlanders were emigrating in the face of the changes that were sweeping away the old Highland way of life, Sir James Grant was busy building an entire new Highland town to provide for his Clan. Grantown-on-Spey is a monument to Sir James's loyalty to his clansmen.

Castle Grant, former seat of the clan. During the later part of the 18th century two regiments were raised from the Clan Grant. Firstly the "Grant or Strathspey Fencibles" in 1793 and the "97th" or "Strathspey Regiment" in 1794. The first was disbanded in 1799 and the second, was used as marines on board Lord Howe's fleet and later drafted into other regiments in 1795.[9]

Castle Grant was the seat of the Chief of Clan Grant. Ballindalloch Castle was owned by the Macpherson-Grants from the middle of the 16th century.

The current Chief of Clan Grant is the Rt. Hon The Lord Strathspey, Sir James Patrick Trevor Grant of Grant, Bt, 6th Baron Strathspey, 33rd hereditary Clan chief of Clan Grant.

Motto: Stand Fast (It is said to come from the Norse King Haakon who was ambushed by his enemies and, having no weapon to hand, tore a tree from the earth in order to defeat his attackers. "Stand Fast" then became the motto of Haakon's family. Haakon Magnus is the "Name Father" of Clan Grant.) .
Slogan: "Stand Fast Craig Elachie!"
Crest: An image of a burning hill. (The burning hill represents "Craig Elachie", the rallying point for the Grants. When signal fires were lit upon the summit of Craig Elachie, or "The Rock of Alarm", members of the clan would gather there in order to organize for an attack or defense.)
Pipe Music: "Craig elachie"
Gaelic Names: Grannd (Surname), Granndach (Singular), Na Granndaich (Collective).

Tartans: The official tartan for the Grant clan is the "1860 sett", and taken directly from the sett of Grant of Dalvey, which was declared official by Lord Strathspey, chief of the clan. The 1860 sett is used to define both the Ancient and the Modern colours, the Ancient colours being lighter and less sharp (for example, the red of the modern colours is more orange for the ancient colours). The Chief's sett is a smaller stitch count of the same sett.

Modifications of the official tartan are recognized for Grants of specific regions: the Grants of Ballindalloch and the Grants of Rothiemurchus. There is also a hunting tartan for the Grant clan, which was adapted by the Black Watch. The original tartan, with a green and blue sett was used in the military (and still is today by the Black Watch). Due to the green and black colours of the hunting tartan, one wearing a kilt with such a design would be able to blend in with his surroundings. The green and black sett was adopted by some clans as their official tartan. Sir James Grant of Grant does not recognise the white so called 'dress' Grant tartan, and therefore it should not be counted amongst the many acknowledged Grant tartans.

References:
John Bannerman, "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland" in Dauvit Broun & Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.) Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland. T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1999. ISBN 0-567-08682-8; Dauvit Broun, "Kenneth mac Alpin" in Michael Lynch (ed.) The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford: Oxford UP, ISBN 0-19-211696-7; Dauvit Broun, "Pictish Kings 761-839: Integration with Dál Riata or Separate Development" in Sally Foster (ed.) The St Andrews Sarcophagus Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-414-6;Dauvit Broun, "Dunkeld and the origins of Scottish Identity" in Dauvit Broun and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds), op. cit.
Thomas Owen Clancy, "Caustantín son of Fergus" in Lynch (ed.), op. cit.
A.A.M. Duncan,The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
Katherine Forsyth, "Scotland to 1100" in Jenny Wormald (ed.) Scotland: A History. Oxford: Oxford UP, ISBN 0-19-820615-1; Sally Foster, Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland. London: Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-8874-3; Máire Herbert, "Ri Éirenn, Ri Alban: kingship and identity in the ninth and tenth centuries" in Simon Taylor (ed.), Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297.Dublin: Fourt Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-516-9; Michael A. O'Brien (ed.) with intr. by John V. Kelleher, Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae. DIAS. 1976. / partial digital edition: Donnchadh Ó Corráin (ed.), Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502. University College, Cork: Corpus of Electronic Texts. 1997; Donnchadh Ó Corráin, "Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the ninth century" in Peritia 12 (1998), pp. 296–339. Etext (pdf); Alex Woolf, "Constantine II" in Lynch (ed.), op. cit; Alex Woolf, "Kingdom of the Isles" in Lynch (ed.), op. cit.

Ethnic Legacies: Calraighe Trí Maige

2011-07-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

Calraige - The territory of the Calraighi Móra included parts of eastern Co. Sligo and northwestern Co. Leitrim. Ó hInnreachtaigh were hereditary cheiftains of the Calraighe of Corann. The chiefs of the Calraighe of Loch Gile, along Lough Gill on the Sligo/Leitrim border, included O'Finn, Ó and Cearbhaill (O'Carroll), and remembered in the name of the parish of Calry, barony of Carbury, co. Sligo. The Calraighi Luirg are noted in the Onomasticon Goedelicum in the area of Moylurg, northern co. Roscommon. O'Drean was hereditary chieftain of Calraighe Luirg.

The septs of Ó Mailfhina, Ó Gaibhtheacháin (O'Gaughan), and Ó Floinn are mentioned as chiefs of Calraighe of Magh hEileag, aka Calraige of Maige Muirisc in the barony of Tirawley, Co. Mayo. Their near neighbors included the Calraige of Cuil Cearna, aka Cúli Cernadán, or Coolcarney, represented by Ó Scingin and Ó Rothlain, an area on the border of counties Mayo and Sligo. The term Calraighe Trí Maige appear to apply to the Calraigi groups of this region of Connacht.

A common claim of the various Calraighe septs is to their ancestor, Lugaidh Cal, son of Dáire mac Íréil Glúnmáir mac Conaill Cernaich.

Note: Calraighe, or Calry, is a term used in the midland region of Ireland as well. The Calraige (of Tethba) in western Westmeath and northern Offaly included the Mac Amhalghaidh (MacAwley) clan. The Calraighe an Chaluidh, of Brí Leith, and of Breaghmhaine are noted in this region of the old territory of Tethba. For further reference, see Calraighe of Midhe.

The Annals cite for all Calraige territories:
M704, Oissene of Freamhainn Frewin, son of Gallust, Abbot of Cluain Mic Nois, died. He was of the tribe of Calraighe Teathbha.
For 752, Destruction of the Calraige of Lorg by the Uí Briúin.
For 777, A slaughter of the Calraige by the Uí Fhiachrach.
M781, Snedriaghail, Abbot of Cluain Mic Nois, one of the Calraighe of Aelmhagh.
For 787, Cathmugh, lord of Calraighe, died.
For 807, The slaughter of Calraighe Luirg by the Ui Briuin.
For 943, Aireachtach, mac Anbhith, chief of Calraighe, was slain.
For 1045, Amalgaid son of Flann, king of Calraige, died of an unidentified disease within three days of inflicting a forced billetting on Cluain moccu Nóis. (Westmeath).
For 1052, A slaughter was made of the Calraighi, together with their lord, i.e. Mac-Aireachtaigh, by the Conmhaicni, through the miracle of Ciaran.
For 1056, Odhar mac Flaind, chief of Calraighe, was slain.
For 1081, Mac Amalghada h-Úi Flaind, taisech Callraighi, was slain.
For 1081, Giolla Siadnata mac Amhalghadha, mic Flainn, tigherna Calraighe (Westmeath).
For 1103, Cionaodh, mac Mic Amhalghadha, lord of Calraighe an Chalaidh. (Westmeath).
CS1107, The defeat of Áth Clagan inflicted by east Tebtha, in which Cinaed grandson of Amalgaidh, chief of Calraige, was killed.
For 1105, Niall mac Mic Riabhaigh (MacGreevy or MacIlrea?), tigherna Callraighe, died. (Connacht?)
For 1144, Cionaedh, mac Mic Amhalgadha, toiseach Calraighe, was slain by Flann Mac Amhalghadha (Westmeath).
For 1149, Callraighi do argaín o Shil Ronan & a n-índarba a Condachtaib a cinaidh Gilla Ulltan maic maic Carrgamna.
U1050, Cluain Moccu Nóis was thrice plundered in one period of three months, once by the Síl Anmchada and twice by the Calraige with the Sinnaig.
For 1152, Cathal, son of Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair, royal heir of Connaught, was killed by the son of Cronn-Luachra Ua Coscrachain, and by the Calraighi of Corann, i.e. the Callraighi-mora.
For 1178, Flann, the son of Mac Awley, chief of Calry, was killed by Melaghlin Beg O'Melaghlin (Westmeath).
M1180, Auliffe O'Toghda, Chief of Bredagh, was killed by O'Gaughan, Chief of Moy-heleag.
For 1187, Aireaghtagh Mac Awley, Chief of Calry, died (Westmeath).
For 1208, Auliffe O'Rothlain, Chief of Calry of Coolcarney, was slain by O'Moran. (of Cuil Cearna)
For 1251, Flaithbertach Ua Cerbaill, chief of Calraige, was slain by Art macAirt Ua Ruairc (Sligo/Leitrim).
For 1252, Gilla Isa O Cerbaill, chieftain of the Calry of Drumcliff, died (Sligo/Leitrim).
For 1269, Flaherty O'Maelfina, Chief of half the territory of Calry of Moy-heleog, was slain by Gaughan, Chief of the other half.
For 1265, Muiredach O Cerbaill, chieftain of Calry, died (Sligo/Leitrim).
For 1326, Muircertach, son of Domnall, son of Tadhg Ua Concobuir, lord of Cairpre and Calraighi, select son of the sons of kings, died (Sligo?).
For 1346, A war broke out between O'Rourke, i.e. Ualgarg, and Rory, the son of Cathal O'Conor; and an engagement took place between them in Calry-Lough-Gill, in which O'Rourke was routed (Sligo/Leitrim).
MC1392, This epidemic struck down Amhlaoibh son of Amhlaoibh Mac Amhalghadha, chieftain of Calraighe, so that his death was expected, but he made a successful recovery (Westmeath).
MC1402, Incursions were made by some of the Dillons, the family of Conchobhar Ó Fearghail, and Muinntear Mhaoil Shionna on Calraighe. They killed Brian Mac Amhalghadha, only son of Amhlaoibh Mac Amhalghadha, chieftain of Calraighe, the best chieftain of a single territory in his time; and more the pity! (Westmeath).
For 1408, Amlaib Mag Amalgada, chieftain of Calry, died and was buried at Athlone (Westmeath).
For 1441, Conchobar Riabach Mag Amalgaid, chieftain of Calry, died (Westmeath).
M1444, John, the son of Brian, son of Edmond O'Farrell, and eight others along with him, were slain by John O'Farrell and the sons of Donnell O'Farrell on the mountain called Sliabh-Calraighe-Bri-leith. (Longford/Westmeath)
For 1527, Auliffe Oge Duv Magawley, Chief of Calry, fell by the Clann-Colman. (Westmeath).

Ridiculously Interesting

2011-05-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ireland: Land of the pharoahs Quote: Repost from an Anonymous Coward:

Fascinating stuff, isn't it? I've been into this subject for the last couple months. Amazing what they don't teach us in the history books.

Here are some interesting facts I've come across...

Let us pose a hypothetical question: Where the Hebrews who left Ur with Abraham in 2000 BC, and the Hebrews who entered Egypt under Joseph in 1600 BC, the same people as the Israelites who were led out of Egypt by Moses in 1200 BC? Were these Israelites who came out of Egypt the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or were they a different people?...In Genesis, the book dealing with their history before their entry into Egypt, the Jews are, with one exception, referred to as Hebrews, not as Israelites. After their exodus from Egypt and in the other Books of Moses, the Jews are referred to mostly as Israelites, very seldom as Hebrews. After the exodus, it is the pagans who usually refer to the Jews as Hebrews, whereas the Jews usually refer to themselves as Israelites - Max Dimont (Jews, God and History)

The names of the patriarchal heroes, as that of God Himself, are non-Semitic...and go back to the earliest known civilizations in the near East, indeed of the world - John Allegro (The Chosen People)

The question of who are the modern Jews is difficult to answer in a brief synopsis. Though innumerable fine books have been written on this fascinating subject by Jews and Gentiles alike, few Jews or Gentiles understand the truth about their own origins. The mainstream institutions, from the kindergarten onward, to the top university levels, avoid dealing with racial subject matter. And when the subject is broached, we are taught patent falsehoods, by those with much to lose should the truth be learned. In short, the bizarre fact is, that in almost every case no "Jew" living today, or even since the 18th Century (when the term "Jew" was first coined) can trace their family's ancestry back to the time of Israel and to the Judites, let alone back to the Egypt of the supposed Exodus. It is from the stupor of grievous self-delusion that any Jewish person (or Gentile) today proposes otherwise. There are no direct blood-ties to these ancient peoples, and the world's Jews are Jews by simple religious conversion, and not by race. The word Juda comes from the Gaelic Iuda, meaning the "Golden" or "Shining" or "Illustrious" Ones. The word Hebrew, comes from the Celtic heber, and from Ibaru, meaning "fire," "light" or "sun." The original name of Ireland was Hibernia, (meaning "Place of the Ibaru" - the "Enlightened Ones").

The Celtic-Israelite Connection
As we show above, and as we will continue to show, the symbols, and icons and idioms that have been employed by eastern peoples (Sumerians, Egyptians, Judites and others) derive from the Celtic-Druidic canon and archive.

They derive from the Stellar Gnosis which was studied to perfection in Ireland, and which was transported by the Celtic Phoenicians throughout the world. The Celtic travelers stunned all whom they visited with their looks and wisdom. All nations knew and respected the Druids, and many, in search of truth, flocked to their great colleges, now destroyed. In the same way as in Christian times, Franciscan and Dominican monks traveled hither and thither throughout the world, so thousands of years previously had the great Druidic masters done the same.

Now, since it was quite understood by Jewish historians that their symbols, names, titles, and icons were of Druidic (and Egyptian) origins, a cover-story had to be concocted to explain the phenomenon. Nowadays, the cover-story, despite its flaws, is taken for history by some of the greatest intellectuals in the world. it is also accepted "hook, line and sinker," by those who merely accept what they are told from their rabbis, priests, and pastors.

The cover-story was quite simple, if intriguing. It concerned the east to west migration of ten tribes of Israel and of Jeremiah, the prophets and of other personalities. This theory, propounded especially strongly by "British-Israelite" coteries, is true to a point. It refers to migrations that may have taken place at a much later date, after the time that the Druids had already made their eastward excursions, and after their sublime Gnosis had been infused into the far-flung cultures of the world. The cover-up is still propounded by so-called Celtic scholars from Jesuit-run Trinity University in Southern Ireland and by other duplicitous historians. They have a great deal to gain should the students believe that Druidic symbols appear on Jewish stones and temples because those symbols are Jewish in the first place, and got to Ireland as a result of the migration westward of Jewish prophets and their followers.

The Jewish mythographers used other ploys also, in their attempt to disguise the Egyptian and Druidic origins of their symbolism and iconography. They would take a story from their canon, and change it to make it appear original to their people. Most of the stories and tales that one reads in the various Jewish books, and in the Old Testament have undergone such revision. The accounts of Pharez and Zarah, of David and Goliath, of Salome and the Baptist's beheading, and of the forty days in the wilderness, of Solomon and the two mothers, the massacre of the innocents, and the plagues of Egypt, etc, etc., have all been given "the treatment." However, the tawdry, convoluted, eviscerated versions lack profundity, which was not a strong point with the editors, and it is this lack, together with the general derth of logic and sophistication, that betrays egregious tampering.

In ancient Irish (Iris) religion and mythology Tara was also the sacred home for the Ari (later the Ari-ish or Irish) who ranked below the Illi gods, yet above the people. Ireland (Ari-Land) takes its name from the Aris (lion / ili-on - in Hebrew) or Arians. Ireland is considered the Great Motherland of the Aryan race, otherwise known as Atlantis, Thule or Tula - William Henry (The Secret Throne of the Illuminati Discovered)

As one of their leading dogmas, they include this: that souls are not annihilated, but pass after death from one body to another, and they hold that by this teaching, men are much encouraged to valor, through disregarding the fear of death. They also discuss and impart to their young many things concerning the heavenly bodies and their movements, the size of the world and our earth, natural sciences, and the influence and power of the immortal gods - Julius Caesar (on the Druids, Gallic Wars)

Particularly, in the case of Egypt, we marvel at the construction of the great pyramid and temple of Luxor, etc., but cannot account for the technology which built them. Although equally magnificent temples and megaliths exist in Ireland, North America and Mexico, although entire lost cities are found beneath the oceans, and although the vast majority of words, place-names and personal names in the Bible and in the various ancient scriptures are of Celtic and Gaelic origin, we would, it seems, rather live with mysteries and unsolvable conundrums than face the actual truth. In almost every case where a major site exists, or where a great civilization existed, we find the same refrain from the modern inhabitants. Either we are told that "godlike foreigners" erected the sites, or that technically superior semi-divine ancestors, of whom we now, suspiciously, find no trace did it. Archaeologists are more than lax to explain who these foreigners or mysterious ancestors were. Yes, all the world over, the locals themselves admit that they and their own fore-bearers were not the makers, the builders, the astronomers, the Magi. Investigators have habitually looked to every country except Ireland for their answers. It is almost comical to say that we can be certain that Ireland played a seminal role, merely because the laws of exclusion are in its favor. All other countries have been studied and can be struck off as originators of civilization. So, dare we now, at long last, face the actual truth which has lain in plain sight for so long. Dare we examine the evidence for the Irish Origins of Civilization, and have done with the damnable conundrums? The first Pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt, King Menes, is buried in Northern Ireland. Scota (Meritaten), the eldest daughter of Akhenaton and Nefertiti, is buried in Country Kerry on the west coast of Ireland. Mummified baboons have been discovered at Navan Ireland, and entries concerning places in Ireland have been found in Egyptian papyri.

Far from these ancestral Britons having been mere painted savages, roaming wild in the woods as we are imaginatively told in most of the modern histories, they are now, on the contrary, disclosed by newly found historical facts given by Professor Waddell, known to have been, from the very first grounding of their galley keels upon these shores, over a millennium and a half before the Christian era, a highly civilized and literate race, pioneers of civilization - Isabel Hill Elder (Celt, Druid, and Culdee, 1962)

There has been maintained a smoke screen around Ireland since the English invasion and the consequent looting of the island with the destruction of her sacred shrines, which was meant to obscure her great past and her contribution in letters, science, culture, true religion, and civilization. It goes without saying that we owe more to ancient Ireland (Eire) for these blessings than to any other people or nation - Conor MacDari

To mar this sublime Pillar, this grand masterpiece of the Irish...was a part of a plot as selfish as any ever conceived. It was conceived and put into effect by the ruling spirits at the head of the Roman Catholic Church and State of their day, who cherished the ambitious and far-reaching idea of nothing less than universal rule for their Catholic Church - Conor MacDari

The story of the Roman Church is quite different and not a pleasant one to dwell upon. She made her advance through the medium of intrigue, war, fire and sword, persecution, torture, confiscations, and death, the exemplification of force and intolerance. By such means she gained control and increase in power and the Irish Church missionaries were gradually forced to withdraw from the continent. It was only be such forcible means that she could make gains against the Irish Church whose representatives surpassed hers in every field of peaceful endeavor...in learning, the sciences, philosophy and spiritual culture - Conor MacDari (The Bible: An Irish Book)

It shall be our effort to show that, not only Celtic tongues and literature, but the histories of distinct nations, point all in the one direction, and that the materials of modern science are daily contributing to the proof of pre-historic Europe being the seat of many places and peoples mentioned in the Holy Writ - Anna Wilkes (Ireland: Ur of the Chaldees, 1873)

The fact is that Ireland was the first power that colonized along both sides of the Mediterranean sea and, therefore, the colonies came from the West instead of from the East as our astute Roman and British historians would have us believe. And the world has believed it up to now...Investigators have followed the fast clue sent out from this source and found nothing in the East to support this claim that the Aryans emigrated from the East and colonized toward the West. The real and true evidence points just in the opposite direction - Conor MacDari

The area covered by Celtic domain at the height of its expansion in the third century B.C. was enormous, encompassing no less than the British Isles, France, the western Iberian peninsula, a large part of northern. Italy, most of Germany, the Low Countries, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, a major portion of the Balkans, and Galatia in Asia Minor. And we have reason to assume that as far as the Celtic realm extended, so did the power and influence of the Druids. Everywhere evidence speaks strongly for the cultural, if not political, unity of the people - Paul R. Lonigan (The Druids: Priests of the Ancient Celts, 1996)

Back

Mr. Lonigan could not be more correct. His words echo those of Wilkes, MacDari, Waddell and Beaumont, and spur us to finally get our minds round this idea - immense as it is - that the whole good earth was once in the power of these Atlantean, later Irish, Druids. We need to understand how the vast majority of our historical and religious "education," has been designed by despotic arch-hierarchies to lead us away from this fact? Why, after all, was the ancient name of Spain (Iberia) practically the same as the ancient name of Ireland (Hibernia)? Why does the word Syria (from Seir) mean "The West." Why does Iran come from the same root as the Irish Erin? Why does Sumeria come from the Celtic Sumaire meaning "Serpent" or "Dragon?" Why are the round towers found in India and in Ireland identical? Why does the word rabbi come from the Gaelic abari (meaning "teacher")? Why does the word Brazil come directly from the Gaelic Hy Brasail? Why is the word Phoenician so close to the Irish word Fenician? Why was the Phoenician capitol city Tyre derived from the same root as the high capitol of the Druids, Tara? Why is the Canaanite Dagon so similar to the Gaelic chief god Dagda?

The Arthurian Tradition is based on the earlier Celtic Stellar Myths. And the situation with Christianity is no different.

Why is the name of Ireland's great hero Culhulainn so similar, phonetically, to that of the Maya god-king Kukulkan? Why is the name of the Egyptian site Amarna, so similar to the Irish place name Armagh? Why is the Roman Chronos so similar to the Celtic Crom? Why is the Hebrew Aaron uncannily similar to the Welsh Celtic Arawn, the god of the underworld? Why is the Latin word Logos (meaning "thought," "speech" "genius" or "wisdom") so similar to the Celtic God Lugos (Lugh), who was the prototype for Mercury? Why is the Semitic Maccabeus (kings of Israel) a word derived from the Irish MaCabe (Mac Ab - Son of the Father/God)? What is the connection between the Hermetic and Egyptian Hermes and the Celtic Herne, god of forests and magic? Is it really a coincidence that the name of the Celtic Alphabet - Ogham - is pronounced aum like the renowned Hindu power word AUM? The answers should now be apparent, if not obvious. It is not, as idiotic researchers assume, because Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Gypsies passed through Ireland on their way to drowning themselves in the Atlantic Ocean or falling off the edge of the world. No, it is because the Irish had passed through their lands bringing their spiritual, as well as physical, treasures with them.

There is no mistaking the monuments left by the Irish who were once the rulers and masters of the whole earth. Their rule embraced all countries - it was world-wide. Ireland was the first mistress of the seas; it was the first and only world-wide empire which has ever been known. For it was spiritual. It was greater in extent than Persian, Greek, Roman, or Mogul ever attained to - Conor MacDari

In comparing Irish gods with others, Neit has been identified with the Naat of India and Neith of Egypt; Creeshna (the sun) with the Indian Christna: Prith (lord of the air) with Pritha, a title of Vishnu; Ner (Latinized to Nereus) with the Naros of India; Cau, with Caudra; Omti with the Buddhist Om, Esar with Eswara (Ishwara) - James Bonwick (Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions)

The Irish King of the Sun was called Iesa or Essa (Esa). This is where we derive words such as "essence," "Essene," and "esoteric," etc,. Other versions of the name are Hesu, or Esus, and Aesar which meant "He who creates (or brings) the fire." The Egyptian version is Asir (close to Asura or Osiris). The Greek hero Perseus, and the Arthurian Sir Percival have their origins in this Celtic Esus, (or Esius). The Grecian rendition and symbolism is, however, a travesty of the original. Iesa is the arche, the original archetype, upon which all other masters of light and virtue were modeled. The scandalous attempts of later Judeo-Christian myth-mongers to transfer Iesa's qualities to a stereotype of their own limited manufacture does not detract from this fact.

The state of learning on the continent of Europe at that time, wherever the influence of the Roman Church was dominant, was at a very low state or non-existent. It was only in the monastic establishments maintained at different points on the continent by the monks of the Irish Church that learned men were to be found. There were practically no learned men in the Roman Church at that time. Even a century later when the Emperor Charlemagne espoused the cause of the Roman Church, he had to get Irish schoolmen for instructors to teach in the palace school which he established - Conor MacDari (The Bible: An Irish Book)

While it is acknowledged that the renaissance of learning on the continent of Europe in the early medieval period was due to Irish instruction and culture, this acknowledgement comes only in outspoken candor from German rather than from British or Roman sources. These latter have endeavored to minimize the work of the Irish philosophers, schoolmen, and monks and their learning and culture - ibid

Iesa was also known to the original Irish as Crios, a word which means "circle," and also "cross." The word probably referred to the sun and also to the zodiac which is made from a circle and a cross. The Druids revered the zodiac above all things. Most of their legends are metaphors for Star-Lore, and encapsulate celestial phenomena such as the movement of the planets and luminaries (the sun and moon) along the ecliptic. The Druidic knowledge of astromancy was transcribed by the Bards (Poets), Ovates (Speakers) and Minstrels (Singers) into songs and tales and into the legends of "historical" personalities who had no physical existence. The idea was always that mortals should model themselves on these fictional but archetypal renditions. The Crios (as the Hindu Creeshna or Krishna and the Christ) was the exemplar of the perfected man, the divine Androgyne, the nucleation of all opposites. The Christians (Khrestians) of later times adopted this icon and used it for their own purposes, adding the name Jesus Christ to their fraudulent scriptures during the Reformation, between the 14th and 17th Centuries, very late in the day. Subsequently, the biblical editors and commentators, did their best to excise and obliterate previous mention of this illustrious name and title.

The earliest rendition of Iesa is Esa (also Esu and Esus), the Celtic god of fertility. The word Esu means "the raised one." He was the third party in the Druidic Trinity, and represented the Wind. He was commonly shown hanging from a great tree and often as being stabbed to death. Esa's life blood healed the earth. It purified and revivified the land allowing a new season's abundance. The Druids understood the land to be born again from the blood of the sacrificed god.

The earth is the central creative principle in the universe that lies beneath the feat of the mortal, within which resides the god of the underworld. Through the intercession of Esus, the renewal of life is achieved every spring with the sprinkling of the blood of his raised victims - Gregory A. Clouter (The Lost Zodiac of the Druids)

If Esus was a god of vegetation, once represented by a tree, this would explain why, as the scholiast on Lucan relates, human sacrifices to Esus were suspended from a tree. Esus was worshipped at Paris and at Trèves; a coin with the name Esus was found in England; and personal names like Esugenos, "son of Esus - J. A. MacCulloch (Religion of the Ancient Celts)

This name Esus or Iesa gets Latinized into Jesa, and Anglesized into Jesu, or Jesus. Jesus is still referred to as Essa in the Koran, and was known by that name to both the Arabs and the Copts (Egyptian Christians). The Essenes were clearly named after Essa. The sect known as the "Essenes" are on record as being the first followers of Jesus (also called Joshua), whom they believed was not the official Jewish Messiah, but a teacher who lived hundreds of years previously. Bishop Epiphanius referred to them by the name Jesseans and said that they were followers of Jesus. They were a hard-core branch of the Pharisaic Nazarene Church and were opponents of the Sadducee run Jerusalem Temple, which affiliated with the Roman invaders.

* Gnostics were Gentile Christians and Essenes were Judaic Christians. Both groups believed that Jesus, the man, lived centuries before the orthodox enclaves were insisting in the Bible. And both groups knew that the Christ-Archetype was not their own creation or concept. It was for these reasons that the orthodox (later Roman) Church persecuted these sects, and it is why their works (Dead Sea Scrolls and Gnostic Gospels), uncovered in more recent times, are so threatening to those of fundamentalist persuasion. Vatican appointed priests and agents were on site to monitor every stage of the translation of these apocryphal scriptures.

In the Talmud Jesus is Jeschu or Yeschu (Yeschu bar Panthera). This is where the name Joshua comes from. We can see that if the "J" and "Y" are silent, the ESU stands out. The Jewish Jeschu or Jesus is, again, non other than the Celtic) Esu, or Essa.

* The Celts were dominant all over Asia. They ruled in Syria and Persia, and were associates of the Medes and the Egyptians. They were known as the Chaldeans (Kaldeans or Kalteans or Culdees). This word comes from Cal-dea, meaning the "Ones of God." It also means the "Shining" or "Golden" ones. The Philistines spoken of in the Bible were more than likely Celtic Sun worshippers. The story of the boy David slaying the Philistine warrior Goliath, is actually a blatant plagiarism. The tale concerned a Celtic Sun King who slew a great and evil giant with a slingshot. If the Philistines were Celtic, then it from them that the Jews got legend they would later make their own. One rendering of the word Celt (Kalti) means "builders in wood." This tells us that the Celts were very probably related to the Phoenicians who were the great maritimers and shipwrights. It was they who built the Temple of Solomon for the king who is now known by this name.

The monogram used for Jesus in Rome and Greece was the three-lettered "IHS." Scholars know that this was first the symbol of Bacchus, or Dionysus. However, in Latin the Greek "H" become "E." Thus, IHS becomes IES, revealing its actual connection to Es, or Esa.

Prior to Constantine's Council of Nicea, which was organized to unify the world's creeds and cement the power of the Roman Church, Iesa was acknowledged throughout Europe and was known as an Irish deity. His origins were understood to be in Ireland, not Judea, and not Egypt. All Europe knew Iesa's birthplace to be Ireland, the great temple without walls. The ancients of India referred to the Britons (Celts) as Britashtan, a word which meant "the seat of religion." Iesa's aspects were worshipped under various names depending upon the culture and the facet that was being venerated. He was Osiris, Horus, Set, Aton, Amun-Ra, Ptah, Serapis, Mithras, Apollo, Dionysus, Orpheus, Zeus, Jupiter, and Sol. He was all of them, and yet he was one. This simple fact has been well confounded so that we are compelled to think in terms of vast pantheons, of gods morphing out of gods ad infinitum. Sorry, but it just was not the quagmire that we have been deviously lead to believe, by those who imagine themselves so superior because they worship but one god.

The One God was..."Mentioned in Egypt 2,600 years prior to the Judaic monotheism" - Douglas Reed (Controversy of Zion)

The adoption of the name “Israel” by the Zionist state which was set up in Palestine in 1948 was transparent false pretense - ibid

Returning to the doctrine of the Savior, I have already...given so many instances of belief in such a deity among the pagans - whether he be called "Krishna" or "Mithra" or "Osiris" or "Horus" or "Apollo" or "Hercules: - that it is not necessary to dwell on the subject any further in order to persuade the reader that the doctrine was "in the air" at the time of the advent of Christianity. Even Dionysus, then a prominent figure in the "Mysteries," was called Eleutherios - "The Deliverer." But it may be of interest to trace the same doctrine among the pre-Christian sects of Gnostics. The Gnostics, says Professor Murray, "are still commonly thought of as a body of Christian heretics. In reality there were Gnostic sects scattered over the Hellenistic world before Christianity as well as after...Their Savior, like the Jewish Messiah, was established in men's minds before the Savior of the Christians. "If we look close," says Professor Bousset, "the result emerges with great clearness that the figure of the Redeemer as such did not wait for Christianity to force its way into the religion of Gnosis, but was already present there under various forms." - Edward Carpenter (Pagan and Christian Creeds, 1920)

Jesus - The Star in the West

That Christianity came from Judaism is acknowledged by churchmen, but it never has been truthfully divulged before where Judaism had its origins and home, or who were the Hebrews and the Jews. The term "Hebrew" and "Jew" for deceptive purposes has been conferred upon a people of Aramaic race, and it is a misnomer to call this people - the modern so-called Jews - Conor MacDari (The Bible: An Irish Book)

The traditional history of Christianity is hopelessly inadequate to the facts. From our research into ancient spirituality it has become obvious that we must fundamentally revise our understanding of Christian origins in the most shocking of ways. Our conclusion, supported by a considerable body of evidence in our book, The Jesus Mysteries, is that Christianity was not a new revelation. It was a continuation of Paganism by another name. The gospel story of Jesus is not the biography of an historical Messiah. It is a Jewish reworking of ancient Pagan myths of the dying and resurrecting Godman Osiris-Dionysus, which had been popular for centuries throughout the ancient Mediterranean - Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (The Original Jesus)

To the original Druidic Church Iesa was a personification of the sun. He was the light of day, and the light of reason and intelligence.

He was the capacity, within every man or woman, for spiritual exaltation. Man was understood to be a light unto himself, a living temple of the universe, a sanctum of all mysteries. Iesa was the purified consciousness, radiant and hygienic. He was the Anthropos who had ended within himself all conflict and psychic disharmony. He was the sainted one who had unified all discordant aspects of his four hemispheres - his energetic, emotional, mental and sensational selves. If we are, therefore, to see a restoration of original Christian (Irish) tenets we must resurrect the true Stellar Gnosis which lay behind all human theology from Ireland to Egypt. Our work is dedicated to this great opus, and is dedicated to those masters who labored in previous ages to defy the malfeasance of those who have made a travesty of the original Sidereal Canon.

Jesus is said to have been born in Bethlehem, the "house of the day." The Irish word for house is "Both." "Lah" means day in Irish. And as "Hebrew" is just a jargon of Irish, the fraud becomes as "plain as day." The name Christ is added to Jesus and is meant as a title, which is to indicate that spiritual perfection or the Messianic state has been attained - Conor MacDari

I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star - Rev 22:16

Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, But not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn; The cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain, Unless within thyself it be set up again - Angelus Silesius (17th Century German Poet)

Gael-Mheiriceánaigh Me! [I'm Irish American!]

2011-05-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

"Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge"! What could be meant by saying "Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge"? These are two forms used in different regions — Scotland and much of Ireland respectively — to mean the same thing, the Gaelic language — all of it. So what could be meant by contrasting the terms? Could it be that people are using them to mean "Scottish Gaelic" and "Irish" respectively? If so, well, that's the English way of thinking about it. That's not the way a Gael thinks of it. To the Gael, it's all the one thing — "the Gaelic".

If he's from Scotland, he calls it the One Thing "Gàidhlig", and he calls Irish "Gàidhlig Éirinneach". If he's from Ulster, he calls the One Thing "Gaedhilg", and Scottish Gaelic is "Gaedhilg na hAlban". If he's from Munster, he calls it "Gaolainn". If he's from Connacht, or from caighdeán-land, he calls it "Gaeilge".

But to someone thinking in English, the primary concepts are "Scottish Gaelic" and "Irish", regarded as different languages. The term "Gaelic" is available to signify their commonality, but it is little used in English and is of secondary rank. But in Gaelic itself, the commonality is the primary concept, and it is called by one of the regional forms given above of the word for "Gaelic", while the names for the different varieties (Gàidhlig Éirinneach, Gaeilge na hAlban, Gàidhlig Uladh, Gaeilge na Mumhan, etc) are secondary.

To hear someone thinking in English while speaking Gaelic, and copying the primary distinction of English by contrasting "Gàidhlig" and "Gaeilge", a Gael wouldn't understand it — the idea that they are different languages is foreign (or at least not primary) to him. And when he catches on to what is intended, the usage really grates. Ouch!

It's great when Gaels from Ireland and Scotland get together. But how often we hear people at these events talking about "Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge". They're supposed to be bringing the two groups together, and they begin by raising a psychological division between the two, which never existed in Gaelic, only in English. The contrast they're trying to express is not between two forms of speech at all but between "Éirinn agus Alba" and that's how it should be expressed.

Is Gael-Merichanachme

2011-05-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Super interesting reposting from freeserve.uk that makes me think of the term Scotch-Irish in America...which is obviously a redundancy when it comes to most cultural Celtic-Gael customs here.

"Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge"! What could be meant by saying "Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge"? These are two forms used in different regions — Scotland and much of Ireland respectively — to mean the same thing, the Gaelic language — all of it. So what could be meant by contrasting the terms? Could it be that people are using them to mean "Scottish Gaelic" and "Irish" respectively? If so, well, that's the English way of thinking about it. That's not the way a Gael thinks of it. To the Gael, it's all the one thing — "the Gaelic".

If he's from Scotland, he calls it the One Thing "Gàidhlig", and he calls Irish "Gàidhlig Éirinneach". If he's from Ulster, he calls the One Thing "Gaedhilg", and Scottish Gaelic is "Gaedhilg na hAlban". If he's from Munster, he calls it "Gaolainn". If he's from Connacht, or from caighdeán-land, he calls it "Gaeilge".

But to someone thinking in English, the primary concepts are "Scottish Gaelic" and "Irish", regarded as different languages. The term "Gaelic" is available to signify their commonality, but it is little used in English and is of secondary rank. But in Gaelic itself, the commonality is the primary concept, and it is called by one of the regional forms given above of the word for "Gaelic", while the names for the different varieties (Gàidhlig Éirinneach, Gaeilge na hAlban, Gàidhlig Uladh, Gaeilge na Mumhan, etc) are secondary.

To hear someone thinking in English while speaking Gaelic, and copying the primary distinction of English by contrasting "Gàidhlig" and "Gaeilge", a Gael wouldn't understand it — the idea that they are different languages is foreign (or at least not primary) to him. And when he catches on to what is intended, the usage really grates. Ouch!

It's great when Gaels from Ireland and Scotland get together. But how often we hear people at these events talking about "Gàidhlig agus Gaeilge". They're supposed to be bringing the two groups together, and they begin by raising a psychological division between the two, which never existed in Gaelic, only in English. The contrast they're trying to express is not between two forms of speech at all but between "Éirinn agus Alba" and that's how it should be expressed.

Celtic Ceile De Rules of Order

2011-05-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

Immanaire

• The first obedience is to the Christ
within.
• The second obedience is to the anam
chara, whose duty is to teach and
guide the aonaran and to mediate the
Christ within when the aonaran feels
far from its presence.
• This rule takes precedence over all other
rules.
• Until one is able to live by this rule
alone, here is the rule of the
co-bhann –

2011-04-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

O'Briain, Garaidh. Forgotten instrument of Ireland. Accessed on 26 April, 2011 from http://www.doyle.com.au/great_irish_warpipe.htm

"The skirl of the pipes: Either you love them or hate them, and few there be who are between. One needn't be of Celtic blood to enjoy the bagpipe (however, those who are Celtic do seem to have some genetic encoding that instills a love for the instrument); for the instrument has existed in every culture in one form or another throughout history.

Today the bagpipe is synonymous with Scotland, but the pipes really came from IrelandThe bagpipe was even given place in the Brehan Laws of the 400s. Here it is called the cuisle, meaning "the pulse," being a reference to the blood pulsing through one's veins. It's also in reference to the hum that comes from the drones.

An observation of the Irish pipers was made by the musician Vincenzo Galilei in a published work titled Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music in 1581 in Florence. Galilei wrote, "The bagpipe is much used by the Irish. To its sound this unconquered, fierce, and warlike people, march their armies and encourage one another to feats of valour. With it also, they accompany their dead to the grave, making such a mournful sounds as to invite - nay, almost force - the bystander to weep!"

This use of the bagpipe at funerals is mentioned at the funeral of Donncladh, King of Ossory (father of Sadhbh or Isolde, Queen of Ireland in 975) in an ancient poem where nine keeners sung lamentations with an accompaniment of "cymbals and pipes harmoniously."

King Richard II delivered a silencing blow to the long tradition of the Irish warpipe playing the folk airs of the Emerald Isle or marching her troops into battle. The King recognized the warpipes ability to rouse Irishmen to acts of "insurrection" and "violence." England caused for the Statute of Kilkenny to be passed in 1366 making the possession and playing of the warpipes a penal offense, which included having pipers entertain in the home. The English government became paranoid that Irish pipers acted as "...agents or spies on the English whereby great evils often resulted."1 The consequence of an infraction of the Kilkenny statute was death. No doubt the English were pleased with the results. The silencing of the warpipe in Ireland would not raise the Gaelic Clans anymore. This edict was again supported by Queen Elizabeth I and again by Cromwell, whose punishment was banishment to Barbadoes or other West Indies islands. Ironically, the English were delighted to have Irish regiments retain pipers outside of Ireland. Even in Ireland pipers still played, but by special order, like those given to Donal O'Moghan in 1375 and Richard Bennet in 1469. Both men, having proved their loyalty to the crown, were allowed to play their pipes."

Iona Leigh Sounds

2011-04-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.ionaleigh.com/

Culdee-Druidic Principles of the Gael

2011-04-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

Morgan, R. W. (1857). "The Druidic Religion of Britain" The British Kymry. Retrieved on 21 April, 2011 from http://www.llangynfelyn.org/dogfennau/british_kymry_druids.html

The following post is an extended quotation from a source on druidic-celtic principles of belief from the past. They are interesting reading and a good beginning to creating a thread for discussion of the ideas that have suffered under the yoke of Rome and the Anglo-Saxonic domination of the gaelic peoples and beliefs.

"The Druidic Religion was brought into Britain by the Gomeridae, from the Mountains of Noah, or the Caucasus, at the first emigration under Hu Gadarn. Its leading principles were the following.—

"God is an Infinite Spirit, whose nature is wholly a mystery to man in his present state. He is self-existence ; from him all creation emanated and into him it is always resolving and will always continue to resolve itself back. To the human mind, but not in himself, he necessarily presents a triple aspect in relation to the past, the present, and the future—the Creator as to the past, the Saviour or Preserver as to the present, the Re-creator as to the future. In the Re-creator; the idea of the Destroyer was also involved. The Druidic names for God were Duw, Deon, Dovydd, Celi, Ior, Perydd, Rhun, Ner.

Matter is the creation of God. Without God it cannot exist. Nature is the action of God through the medium of matter.

The universe is matter as ordered and systematized by the intelligence of God. It was created by God's pronouncing his own name—at the sound of which, light and the heavens sprung into existence. The name of God is in itself a creative power. What in itself that name is, is known to God only. All music or natural melody is a faint and broken echo of the creative name.

The Druidic symbol of it is three pencils of light. Of these three lines, in various conjunctions, was framed the first or Bardic Alphabet. Knowledge and religion cannot be separated.

The universe is in substance eternal and imperishable, but subject to successive cycles of dissolution and renovation.

The soul is a particle of the Deity possessing in embryo all his capabilities. Its action is defined and regulated by the nature of the physical organization it animates.

The lowest point of sentient existence is that in which evil is unmitigated by any particle of good. From this point existence ascends by cycles of genera, until it attains its acme by being blended with that of the Deity. The human cycle is the middle one in which good and evil are equipoised. Every human being is a free agent—the soul according to its choice being liable to fall back into the lower cycles, or capable of rising into the higher. Probation ceases with the human cycle. Above it good becomes the dominant, evil the helpless principle. Continually thus ascending, the soul becomes at last united to and part of God, and in God again pervades the universe.

A soul which has passed the probationary state has the power of returning to it and resuming for the good of mankind the morphosis of humanity. The re-incarnation of such is felt in its action and effects through the whole race whose nature is thus taken by the superior being.

The soul which prefers evil to good retrogrades to a cycle of animal existence the baseness of which is on a par with the turpitude of its human life. The process of brutalization commences at the moment when evil is voluntarily preferred to good. To whatever cycle the soul falls, the means of re-attaining humanity are always open to it. Every soul, however frequent its relapses, will ultimately attain the proper end of its existence—union with God."

Please comment and build a discussion thread if the topic is of interest to you.

Ireland: Hebrew-Phoenician?

2011-04-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Campbell, Alan. Reposted from Hebrew-Celtic Connection. OB Minitries. Copyright 2000 Accessed on 16 April, 2011 from http://www.1335.com/hebrew.html

LANGUAGE LINK

In the 18th century, historians discovered exciting proof of Phoenician-Celtic ties. An ancient Roman dramatist, Titus Maccius Plautus (died 184 B.C.) wrote a play, the Penulus in which he placed then current Phoenician into the speech of one of his characters. In the 18th century, linguists noticed the great similarity between that Phoenician and the early Irish Celtic language. In the adjacent box is a sample given by historian Thomas Moore's, History of Ireland, showing the connection between these languages. Leading 18th and 19th century scholars, such as Gen. Charles Vallancey, Lord Rosse, and Sir William Betham, also wrote on this subject. Vallancey, for instance, speaks of, 'The great affinity found in many words, nay whole lines and sentences of this speech, between the Punic [Phoenician] and the Irish.' Famed historian, George Rawlinson, added that this and other inscriptions are 'READILY EXPLICABLE, IF HEBREW BE ASSUMED AS THE KEY TO THEM, BUT NOT OTHERWISE.'(Phoenicia, p. 327)

THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE EARLY IRISH-CELTIC AND THE SECOND CENTURY, B.C., HEBREW- PHOENICIAN LANGUAGE, AS SHOWN BY THE PENULUS OF PLAUTUS:

PHOENICIAN OF PLAUTUS:

Byth lym mo thym nociothii nel ech an ti daisc machon

Ys i do iebrim thyfe lyth chy lya chon temlyph ula.

EARLY IRISH-CELTIC:

Beth liom' mo thime nociaithe, niel ach an ti dairie mae coinne

Is i de leabhraim tafach leith, chi lis con teampluibh ulla.

In 1772, General Charles Vallancey, a leading Irish scholar of the day, published his famous work, Essay On The Antiquity Of The Irish Language, Being A Collation Of The Irish With The Punic (Hebrew) Language.-In his opening remarks he states, 'On a collation of the Irish with the Celtic, Punic, Phoenician and Hebrew languages, the strongest affinity, (nay a perfect Identity in very many Words) will appear, it may therefore be deemed a Punic-Celtic compound.' Vallancey continues, 'from the Hebrew proceeded the Phoenician, from the Phoenician, Carthaginian, or Punic was derived the Aeolian, Dorian and Etruscan and from these was formed the Latin ... Of the Roman Saxon capital letters, the Irish use but three, all the others bear a very great resemblance to the primitive Hebrew and Phoenician.' (p. 2-3) Modern language scholars have confirmed that there is a definite connection between the Celtic and Hebrew, as we have shown in our tract, Hebrew And English.

Enough already? There are some arguments against linking these two languages in the past, but also many linguistic relationships that suggest there is a link, probably from the northern phoenician-israelite lands. Interesting.

Rediscovery

2011-03-01T16:24:00.001-08:00

I'm researching how the ancestral beliefs of the early Irish church differed from all those rooted in Rome. On the eve of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations, I wonder how much has been lost. A person of Irish ancestry owns this problem as much or more than any others. I am planning to reconstruct the ideas of the pre-Roman Irish right here on the blogosphere. I suppose I have discovered a curiosity and need to follow it through go its logical end.

2011-01-12T23:37:00.000-08:00

Cultúr Tá traidisiún sa rudaí beag!

2011-01-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Some reflections on what it meant to grow up in an Irish American lineage as a youth...Dysfunctions are not what define a person, or a family, rather those aspects of repetitive traditions that cause everyone to gather and celebrate their commonality. In Spokane, Washington, to be a poor kid from the town's periphery meant to be religious, to be envious, to have a special regard for the holidays in the winter, and not much for those of the other seasons, except for Independence day at Priest Lake with the cousins from the city or with second and third cousins from Iowa and other distant places; it meant grandmas Spanish rice and homemade ice cream; it meant the bull-headedness of the males and the submissive sarcasm of the ladies It was religious hype but not the right kind; the mostly empty St. Als a relic from the past, but a full green on the front lawn for the jazz and the gaelic music; the Spanish coffees at O'Dougherty's by Riverfront Park; the parade on St. Paddy's Day; the Celtic games and a fiercely independent spirit. To be Spokane Irish is to be aware of who you are and a fierce defender of it. Cultúr Tá traidisiún sa rudaí beag!

2011-01-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

With the corruption and lies of the Roman priesthood on Ireland, one of the most committed of Christian nations, has offered the Irish people a choice to get in touch with some truth. Research the historical Jesus and separate from the abusive control of the centralized Roman church. There is no saving grace in deference to cruelty and wickedness. The ancient Irish mystical character is strong enough to withstand a crisis in faith. The druidic past is still embedded in the celtic soul of the people in the old country and in the diaspora. Sometimes a culture has to go to its roots to establish a clear vision of its future. The Irish have been a conquered people for so long, or subservient to the whims of more powerful neighbors, that its people exhibit characteristics of being conquered. The way back is a long and frightening road, but just might begin with throwing off the obvious, returning to the language of the ancestors [similarly to the Israeli Jews] and getting right with truth. [To thine own self be true]

Scythian Keltoi a.k.a. Hebrews in Exile

2011-01-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

Keating assures his readers that the Milesians, from the time they first conquered Ireland, down to the reign of Ollamh Fodhla, made use of no other arms of distinction in their banners than a serpent twisted round a rod, after the example of their Gadelian ancestors. Despite the best efforts of clerics and historians it is only the last group of invaders - the Milesians - who can positively be shown to have come to Ireland from the East for the first time. The story of the visitation of the Milesians is of central importance... to be explored in greater detail in the future. What interests is that these Milesians, the descendants of Celts from Scythia, have been linked with the Israelites whose exodus from Egypt occurred after the fall of Akhenaton around 1300 BC. Historians date the Milesian invasion of Ireland to approximately 1000 BC, but is believed to have occurred at a few hundred years earlier. This is because a daughter of Akhenaton, referenced as Scota, is believed to have accompanied the Milesians on their journey to Ireland. Her real name was Meritaten and she (or a namesake daughter) is buried in Country Kerry, Ireland. It is from the time of the Milesian invasion from the Eastern [Scythian] lands that Ireland's so-called "Historical Cycle" begins. According to records and accounts the Milesians regarded their predecessors, the Tuatha De Danann, as nothing less than gods (Gawler).

Herodotus (book iv. cap. 24) speaking of some very remote people, apparently Tartar races, lying at the foot of lofty mountains, states, "The Scythians frequently go there, from whom it is not difficult to obtain information, as also from Greeks belonging to the part of Borysthense, and other ports in Pontus. The Scythians who go there transact business by means of seven interpreters and seven languages."

Again (book iv. cap. 46), Herodotus says, "The Euxine Sea, to which Darius led an army of all countries except the Scythians, exhibits the most ignorant nations; for we are unable to mention any one nation of those on this side Pontus that has any pretensions to intelligence; nor have we ever heard of any learned man amongst them, except the Scythian nation and Anacharsis."

In Keating's Irish history, translated by Dermond O'Connor in 1723, I find at p.24, "Epiphanius says that the laws, customs, and manners of the Scythians were received by other nations as the standards of policy, civility and polite learning."

"AEschylus too .... says, 'but the Scythians governed by good laws and feeding on cheese of mare's milk.' And this is still the opinion entertained of them by the Greeks; for we esteem them the most sincere, the least deceitful of any people, and much more frugal and self-relying than ourselves." (Strabo, book viii., iii. 7)

Now, whence this energy in commerce, these laws, this refinement, learning, and intelligence as a nation so markedly superior to the other very ignorant people who dwelt in their neighbourhood?

Another remarkable feature was their knowledge of architecture. The Irish historians note these Scythians coming there as being highly skilled in architecture; and according to the reports of the Russian Archaeological Society, the tornbs and tumuli ascribed to the Scythians, along the shores of the Black Sea, reveal the finest turned arches imaginable; and it is scarcely necessary to remind any European that the Goths had a style of architecture which bears their name, and excites admiration to this day. To say the least of it, it was a very strange acquirement for a people commonly supposed to have been a set of wild nomads.

Herodotus iv. 63. "Swine they never use nor suffer them to be reared in their country at all" (Gawler).

Gawler, J. Col. (2010). Our Scythian Ancestors: Identified with Israel. 1/1/2011 from http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/scythian.html

Clann Na Rothlain: People of the Raven

2010-12-23T23:34:00.000-08:00

The family's association with the raven, from the crests of the ancient and medieval Eire or the connection to the monarch Aptach the dread of Morrigan and her raven, the symbol of the knowledge of impending death...the association of the raven as symbol of knowledge and mysticism from ancient times all make this pictorial representation a perfect allusion to the importance of knowing yourself. The Clann Na Rothlain [O'Rothlain/Rowley] are people of the raven and its powerful characteristics do represent a continuous thread running through our history. People of the raven, crafters of the white stone, patrons of Santiago de Compostela.

Mandalas on the Mind

2010-12-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

I have been looking into mandalas over the past few days and have some thoughts on the topic. I have seen them with om inside and four directional feet, and with a red and blue hexagram inside a circle, inside the mandala. These are quite interesting. Here

2010-12-03T19:40:00.001-08:00

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ह्य्पटिया ऑफ़ Alexandria

2010-11-13T00:58:00.000-08:00

Just viewed the film Agora, a Spanish film about the life and death of Hypatia and the Patriarch Cyril...Saint Cyril to some. I am mourning at the end of this film. I have to admit to not knowing much about this story before viewing it and only researching afterward due to my peaked interest. I am so ashamed sometimes of the sins of the church in the past...how anyone can claim Christianity and kill as these Alexandrians are accused of is incredulous. If true to the film, the knowledge killing, jew slaughtering monks prepared the population for the invasion of Islam. I have always wondered whether the theocratic tendency follows the population or oppresses it, and in light of the troubles in the world to this day I still wonder.

There is a scene in the film that is truly disturbing to a "modern" person, right-wing, left-wing, or otherwise...The absolute power of the written scripture over any other "truth" and the requirement to kneel and submit to that regardless of conscience...which produced the subjugation of the population to the whim of the tyrant. It was amazing and profound, true to history or not is irrelevant...it was the concept that mattered. Cyril is accused of promoting the destruction of the Alexandrian Jews, and the subjugation of the non-Christian female population among other crimes, and he is still canonized anyway? Interesting. There has to be a middle ground somewhere. It is such a heart-wrenching story. A must see if you are into history for more than just your own apologetics.

Grad School Blues

2010-04-20T22:07:00.001-07:00

I began graduate school way back in 2005 and have steadily worked through Seattle Pacific University's MA in Curriculum and Instruction and then on through Capella University's Education Leadership Administration doctoral program. I have invested over 60,000 in this venture and have also been interning for fifteen months as of today...I can officially say that I am tired of it all. I have the grad school blues.

Sotomayor

2009-05-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Justice Sotomayor creates many problems for those Americans who wish to put the false and misguided racial thinking into the dustbin of hostory. Chosen as a condidate for the vacant Supreme Court position primarily because she seems to fill some politically expedient needs as a woman and as a Latina, her nomination may actually do more harm than good. So many of President Barak Obama's selections since assuming the office have been PC picks based on a seeming need for quaota representation from every ethnic and minority group that the actual legitimacy of the nomination process and the seats of power the nominees would hold after confirmation can be called into question. What ever happened to the words of the American patron saint Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character". It is troubling that so many of the minority leaders in America listen to militancy and not to reason. REverend King was advocating that merit should be our standard and not color or gender or any other trivial characteristic. Electing the first African-American president seems to have had the opposite effect from so many believed it might have, to cause Americans to focus more attention on the false concept of race not less. I, for one, will stick to Dr. King's merit-based idealism.

Stimulating the Irish Temper!

2009-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

What is to like about a nearly 800 billion dollar stimulus package? There is one item that has been removed by the senate that gets my ire up, and that is the removal of the E-Verify program from the bill. This would lead to those construction and infrastructure jobs being available to illegal immigrants. Everyone out on the west coast knows that the construction trades are dominated by the illegals as much as the agricultural economy is. Such blatant action against the interests of law abiding citizens of America is insulting! It is high time to get this fight on...militarize the border and demand that no one leaves or enters without a passport. Any undocumented visitor will have to remain withing the borders of the US for over five years, take citizenship classes, and get a US passport before being allowed to return to Mexico or any other destination. If any undocumented visitor refuses they should be forced to obtain a passport from his or her home nation's consulate, get on visa, or be immiediately deported. Militarize the border to protect the United States from the newest narco-state that is sapping billions from the taxpayers in a forced subsidy of a failed state. In the event that the narco-trafficking becomes pervasive enough to threaten national security, the United States could offer military and civilian law enforcement services to potential secessionist states. And, talk of reconquista is seditious and must be dealt with. Professor Charles Truxillo of the University of New Mexico called for the creation of a new Hispanic nation in the Southwest "by any means necessary". Ridiculous...and seditious...arrest him. Enough is enough.

Republican Recession Woes

2008-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

According to the federal government's reporting released Monday December 1st, the US economy has led the world into potentially the deepest recession in several decades.

2008-11-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is all over the screen today! She is a pretty face but what is the point of such overexposure?

Obamified

2008-11-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well, congratulations to the United States of America for electing Senator Barak Obama, the nation's first African-American president. Considering the history it is a great accomplishment. It was achieved my an incredible expansion of the electorate, specifically those populations that have tended to underproduce in big elections. Whether or not President-elect Obama will try to govern from the center or from the right will determine how aggressive the Blue Dogs have to be in defense of balanced budgets, a muscular military, and social-personal responsibility. A majority in the Congress is an excellent position to be in for a new president, and it can benefit the nation by allowing for quick passage of major legislation needed to help the nation's struggling economy, among other things. But, it shouldn't be viewed from the White House as a blank check. The coalition of Blue Dog Democrats in the Congress has grown into a formidable check on excessiveness and hubris that could undo the Democratic agenda. Long live the Blue Dog Caucus!

Bailout Blues

2008-09-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

What the hell? I wonder how bad this crisis really is. Money needs to flow cheaply if the economy is to sustain itself. With $700,000,000,000 as government sponsored welfare for the wealthy and well connected. Back in the 1980s the film Wall Street showed the nature of the deregulated market...amoral...with a natural tendency toward fraud and theft. Only in America can this level of fraud against the people occur without blood. These criminals need to be tried, convicted, jailed for many years, and have their assets seized and auctioned. CASE CLOSED.

McCainocrat?

2008-08-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

These are tough days to be a Blue Dog Democrat. I am hoping for some break in the news cycle that can lift my political spirits. Maybe a Jim Webb or an Evan Biye could help as the veepstakes wind down. We will soon find out I guess. Until then...more coffee and a big tub of something cold and sweet.

Upheaval and Underwhelmed

2008-05-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

Barak Obama will most likely be the Democratic nominee for the presidential election in the fall, but there has been enough blood spilled in the party to create the opportunity for the moderate voice of the Republicans to ease through the crack left in the seemingly insurmountable wall of Bush-hate that has developed in the past several years. Is this good for America? It is debatable that is for sure. A Hillary Clinton presidency would be marked by triangulation and brass knuckle politics on behalf of the common man, while maintaining the old Calvin Coolidge mantra of "The business of America is business..." the great commercial republic would still be making money and raising the living standards of as many as possible is really her ultimate goal, not some draconian redistribution of wealth. Rather the growing of the new economy to move more people into positions of financial strength. I fear just the opposite with Barak Obama. An Obama presidency will be full of payback and payoff to those special interests that lined up behind him to get him elected. It may be the saving grace of the Democratic Party that the Blue Dogs have gained in numerical strength and can block some of the hideous deficit spending that I fear is coming with an Obama victory. The McCainocrat is the wildcard. Are Blue Dog Democrats going to be McCain Democrats this fall? The answer as of right now would probably be yes...especially if their candidate, the DLC candidate, was Hillary Clinton. These members would likely bolt in the general election because they hold to the very values that were providing Hillary with significant wins all across the border of the Mason-Dixon and in the southwest. The Blue Dog McCainocrat...who would have ever predicted that we would be in the position that we find ourselves in at the present moment. No one.

Dobbsian Independents-Blue Dogs?

2008-03-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Is CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs really a Blue Dog Democrat? I say yes. The difficulties inside the Democratic Party really originate in the absence of the traditional right half of the party dynamic. The left wing of the party is strong, alive, and well. The other half is less developed in the modern era, and really is a recognizable structure mostly since the midterm elections of 2006. The resurgence of the right half od the party bears well for the future, but only if it can survive the power grab from the left. Lou Dobbs regularly appeals to the independent-minded voter to stand up for those values that are common in the middle class of America. Lou advocates for the defense of border security, fair trade, peace through strength, and empowerment through the ballot box. These are all Democratic values. All of the argument for redefining the defense of borders, language, and culture in America, while being touted by others as well, has been the steady cadence from the anchorman for a lengthy period. These voters, the ones who are smitten by Lou Dobbs and his approach, may identify themselves as independent, but in reality have a home in the right half of the Democratic Party. It is the party of the hard working family, the tolerant and idealist, the soldier and the focused church-goer who cares about human conditions and spreading the ideals of America. Lou Dobbs would make a great Blue Dog Democrat.

Courting the Irish Vote

2008-03-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, courting the Irish vote can be a tough gig. Take it from Senator Hillary Clinton the candidate most aggressively seeking the support of this interest group in Pennsylvania. The exposure of Senator Barak Obama's relationship with the racism of his congregation and pastor can't help him in his quest to win Pennsylvannia. Senator Clinton should not just win in the state but shoulf win by an incredibly impressive margin. With the seating of the Florida delegation and the rerun of the Michigan primary, the results should tighten the race and cause superdelegates to move in her favor. In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, let's hope for the sake of the Democratic Party that the Clintonian wing of the party prevails and racial thinking and preaching can get off of the front page...because it is disgusting. It is disgusting for all Americans, black and white and very other shade of human. What else does Senator Obama have in his corner besides the African American community and the emotionalistic voting pattern of the college aged crowd? Not much at the moment. Senator Obama has put at risk the Democratic Party's chances to win the white house in 2008. The freshman senator belongs serving the people of Illinois and gaining some perspective...the perspective that comes with the distance of age, wisdom, battle scars, and experience. Bennachtai na Feile Padriag, 2008!

A Third War?

2008-03-02T11:56:00.001-08:00

How far should the United States go in support of its close ally Colombia? Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president, has ordered ten tank batallions to the border of Colombia in response to a cross border incursion by the Colombian military chasing and killing a FARC rebel leader inside Venezuelan ally Ecuador. The situation in South America is getting intense. The United States military is already on location in Colombia in support of antinarcotrafficking efforts. It is quite plausible that the United States could become entangled in a multination war erupting between Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Hugo Chavez is proving to be what rational people in America have predicted, a danger to peace in the Western Hemisphere. He is really the only truly dangerous leader left, other than the Castro imposter in Cuba. Unfortunately, Americans should pay close attentiojn to the rhetoric of the candidates in this campaign cycle. To meet without precondition with American adversaries around the world, including Hugo Chavez, is ridiculously immature, which is what Barak Obama claims he will do. Hillary is right on this issue. The power of the presidency and the presitige of the presidency would be soiled by such meetings. Pay attention America...times are getting dangerous.

Jack Endorses Senator Clinton for President!

2008-03-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Hey, if Jack thinks she's all that...then how bad could she be? Senator Clinton is the choice of the the great Hollywood icon Jack Nicholson, but how can that be...he's a Hollywodd liberal! Maybe there are some on the left out there, even in Hollywood, that can see the forest for the trees. Can a person be liberal on some issues and less so on others and have a mind of his own? Well, obviously yes. Here's his endorsement. It's a good ad.

Willful Wrongheadedness

2008-02-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

A few comments about the Democratic Party. There is a serious illness within the Democratic Party. Comments made today on the Tucker program between the commentators concerning the ethnic and racial composition of the candidate field are sick and offensively anti white male, without any reservations whatsoever. The Independent-Republican Patrick Buchanan commented about the reasoning for the "whiteness" and "maleness" of the Republican field by relating the high proportion of white male candidates to the level of agressiveness at which they have pursued their ideals. I find this argument very interesting. The Democratic Party's membership has engaged in the exclusion of the Caucasion male voter, and they lose the majority of them as a result. Racial and gender based politics is a failure in the making for the Democratic Party and really embodies the opposite of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to the Civil Rights Movement crowds as someone who opposed classifying people by color and gender, not reveling in the racial or gender composition of an individual. What can be used for promotion can also be used for exclusion, the very same argument reversed. It is too bad for America that the rhetoric is so divisive under the cloak of feel good unity between gender and ethnic consciousness.

The Nader Effect!

2008-02-25T00:14:00.001-08:00

Here we go again! Ralph Nader, of Green Party fame, has announced he is running a third party candidacy for the presidency today on NBC's Meet the Press television program. President George W. Bush won the state of Florida, upon recount, by 537 votes. Ralph Nader gained over 92,000 votes in the state of Florida alone. Ralph Nader's left wing candidacy is at least partially responsible for the Bush presidency and its effect on the nation over the past seven years. The list of abuses is long... If we are to move toward a multiparty coalition-building type system it has to be better conceived of than what Nader has done so far. He may be an advocate for the consumer, for the left, for the middle class but the results of his politics is that the right wing governs. Nader undermines the middle ground. There is no reeal weakness for Nader to exploit in the Democratic Party candidates. If there were real weaknesses that he could use to wedge himself into the debate then a candidacy could be reasoned and understandable. Barak Obama is already dominating the left wing of the Democratic primary base, and Hillary Clinton, a DLC brand centrist has the rest of the party covered. Republican John McCain is more center right than right wing, except for the military issues, which Nader seems to avoid. It seems obvious that there is very little political space left unoccupied on Nader's half of the political spectrum. His candidacy therefore WILL cannibalize the Democratic Party's support and possibly cause a rerun of the 2000 election. If Ralph Nader wishes to elect a Republic to the White House in 2008 and be a real cause of further difficulties for the constituents he claims to represent, then he should reconsider his candidacy.

Chesapeake Primary

2008-02-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

The primaries in the Chesapeake Bay area today are not going the way of the Clinton family. Too bad, because the consequences of it are potentially larger than one might guess at first glance. If Barak Obama wins the Democratic nomination for the presidency the party had better hope for a Huckabee miracle. In a time of extreme national need, war, economic instability, a border falling apart, and deceit and corruption at all levels of Republican power, the voters are focusing in on these by doing? By getting the Obama fever? This is turning out to be an election decided by emotion, youth, and race? Are you kidding? I wish. What happened to politics being for serious people intent on providing solutions to real problems. I am disillusioned by the level of ignorance of the issues among the Obama support. One aspect of the Clintons, all three of them, that is absolutely a recognizable trait...is the intellectual aproach they have to discussions of the nation, world, and the problems faced by the people. It will be a severe blow to the Clintonian wing of the Democratic Party if this election ends the way it stands today. The Blue Dog Democrat approach to problems in America will have to work harder to insert sanity into what could be a leftist onslaught. Obama represents the far left of the party and the Clintons the center. Rejecting Hillary Clinton's campaign, for what ever reason, is a vote of confidence for the left edge. Can this philosophical shift actually defeat a Republican in the general election. Maybe. More likely, the Democrats have allowed the Republicans back into the race, in a season that they didn't deserve it at all. Democrats must hope to turn out more voters. Period.

The Day After

2008-02-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Maine is voting today, sort of. A caucus is an archaic form of democracy that reserves the most important democratic processes for the elite party insiders. Yes, I qualify as an activist and therefore, these help my ego and my influence...but these are not the most democratic ways of electing candidates to offices. I am in favor of eliminating the caucus system and replacing these with a primary system in all states. A closed party primary system is more democratic, more broad based and allows for everyone to vote. In the State of Washington we have an all mail in ballot for the primary, but it elects zero delagates. Are Democrats for increased voice for the public or less, are we for increased influence for special insider voices or less. I am for less. It is a hard sales pitch to make to the world, and to the rest of the country, if we are not living it within our own system and party. Let's get our own house in order. Why should Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or any other state get to be more equal than the rest of the states. I am for a national primary. I am for equal treatment in a democracy. Just within my own precinct in the caucus an uneven split in voting led to an even distribution of delegates. This is not democratic in the truest sense of the idea. Most people believe in fairness. Most people believe that the political system is in some ways corrupt. I can agree on some level. If one candidate gets 55 percent of the vote in a precinct, but the delegates split evently that is not democracy...that is corruption. Here is one voice for cleaning house! Direct democracy is the way of the future.

Caucus Day

2008-02-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

I voted for Hillary today, and I will explain why I did. Hillary is not as liberal as the former President Clinton. She is a DLC Democrat, very middle of the political spectrum and difficult to undermine by trying to label her as a liberal. She really is liberal on only one issue: universal healthcare. She is for being vigilant in defense of the United States against enemies both foreign and domestic, even if it requires a massive use of force. Her comments about the military support this. General Wesley Clark, former NATO commander and presidential candidate supports her candidacy and is a possible running mate if she wins the nomination. Senator Clinton has a long history of public service. Yes, she was first lady of Arkansas and the United States while her husband served as governor and president. This is not what makes her an excellent candidate for president. Here is what does:

1] A fundamental belief in universal healthcare for all Americans, based on you having choice between your private insurance or a government-based insurance based on the Congressional model.

2] A strong and active military presence in the world.
Wise use of the services to defend American assets and policy around the globe. An end to the Iraq War and a realignment of our military strategy and priorities so that we can actually respons appropriately to real threats -not imaginary ones. Senator Clinton supports the NATO military mission in Afghanistan and the hunt for Al Qeada there and in other countries.

3] Senator Clinton is in favor of allowing the $200 billion dollar tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans to lapse and the funds to be realigned to pay for the needed medical insurance needs of Americans. She believes in fair trade, not necessarily free trade, a serious departure from her husband's policies in support of NAFTA.

4] Senator Clinton is for penalizing undocumented, illegal immigrants in America and securing the borders with both Canada and Mexico to protect the United States from illicit drugs, human trafficking, and migrant workers coming into the country as an invisible and exploitable workforce. Hillary would also allow for a path to citizenship, after a civil penalty for breaking our laws, yet would not force deportation and the division of familes and communities. Hillary also supports severe penalties for businesses that knowlingly hire illegal workers. This is a very reasonable immigration policy.

5] Senator Clinton, according to many sources, has travelled to 84 different countries as an emissary of this nation either in the capacity of the first lady, or as a United States Senator from New York. These foreign visits feed a knowledge of the world that is extrmemely important for the president to possess, as the past eight years have demonstrated with too much clarity for all of us. Hillary understands our role as the most powerful nation on earth economically, militarily, and culturally as a mecca for all people who want to know freedom and democracy...we are the the most recognizable model. She understands how serious this is.

There are many more reasons for supporting Senator Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. But for the same reason that as a caucus goer I am restricted to very limited persuasion, every voter should read and research to know for himself or herself why to support a candidate. Is she a Blue Dog Democrat? Not quite. Is she closer to Blue Dog principles than Obama? Yes.

On Obama...I just listened to his speech from Virginia. His policy ideas are not as solid as Hillary's. He is for an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions in the next 30 years, through taxing companies for their emissions. At the same time he will increase minimum wages to the point that there are no working poor people in America. His social ideas take the country toward McGovern and Dukakis Demicratic principles, not Clintonian [DLC] principles. Do I need to remind you all that President Clinton had to deal with a war on his presidency from within the Congress [Newt Gingrich's Republican majority Congress and Contract with America?] The 1990's began with a Bush led economic collapse and it was fiscal balance that brought it back from the brink, the very same DLC Democratic principles President Clinton promoted. He ran from the center of the political spectrum and appealed to people with reality, not promises. Hillary Clinton is a realist as well, who will be a bloody knuckle bulldog Democrat for the people. She doesn't have the speaking cadence of Barak Obama, or his height and charisma, but those are shallow qualities that mean nothing. She does have he knowledge, work ethic, and history as a fighter for the causes that make people's lives better. An advisor to the House Watergate Commission in the 1970's, a decade as first lady of Arkansas, almost a decade as first lady of the United States, two terms in the United States Senate...this is a career to be proud of and while there are more qualified candidates to run for president -none are in the Democratic race against her. Senator Clinton is not the perfect presidential candidate, but she is the most qualified to govern on day one in the oval office from the field we have to choose from.

Berkeley Gone Bonkers

2008-02-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

OMG can the city of Berkeley do anything more ridiculous than BAN THE MARINES FROM THE CITY!!! The city of Berkeley, California voted that the United States Marine Corps is not welcome within the city limits. Since when can a city ban the military from having a recruiting office there? In what universe is this kind of behavior acceptable? Any Democrat worth much will stand up to this ridiculousness and reaffirm support for the soldiers, the military, defense of the country, and the ability of the ALL VOLUNTEER FORCES to recruit willing people in any city in the nation. Berkeley is so far out on the fringe that the actions of the city are indefensible at best and totally irresponsible. Here is one Democrat with yellow dog loyalty and blue dog philosophy for common sense. Common sense says that the sensible patriots in Berkeley...if there are any...should stand up and take back their city. It has been hijacked by narrow-minded and dangerous zealots. Berkeley is evidence that there are more than just evangelical right-wing crazies in this nation. Vote Democrat. Vote Blue Dog Democrat. Vote common sense solutions to America's problems.

Super Tuesday Drama

2008-02-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

It is anything but boring in the USA today. Some thoughts on the dialogue of the day. There is a lot of venom flowing between the campaigns. The press...at least the television press is really honking the horn for Barak Obama. The question that needs to be asked, "Is the tail wagging the dog or the other way around".

Are we a good example of how democracy works best to the rest of the world? Insn't that part of our pitch to everyone else? This is supposed to be what we do best. I'd like to see a new emphasis on our democratic voting and representation system, and then when we make our argument to the world we have some moral authority while doing it.

Obasms all Around!

2008-02-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

It pains me to write this, but I feel an impending doom coming. As exciting as Barak Obama may be at the podium speaking in lifted lines, parroting some of the greatest American leaders, I have serious problems with his candidacy for the presidency. He has been on the circuit for almost a year and I cannot identify much of any policy positions that he may be for or against. Even though he claimed to be against the war he suggested that a first strike into Pakistan was a possibility for the next president, A NUCLEAR POWER! Are we that shallow as Democrats? This should be one of the most lopsided Democratic victories in the history of American politics, but I doubt that it will materialize in the way that it should. Democrats in the modern era, other than the campaigns of President Clinton's two victories, have been excellent at pulling defeat from the jaws of victory. I cannot identify significant positions held by candidate Obama that I support whole-heartedly. I, and other Blue Dog Democrats, should demand a closer attention to issues that matter, and those that are good for the country, rather than participate in the hype and charisma parade that is already underway.

2008-01-30T20:19:00.001-08:00

Donate to Act Blue

2008-01-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Blue Dogs for Soldiers!

2008-01-30T20:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22923548/

Visit the link above and read about the effects of our ridiculous overextension. What can be done? Call your elected officials and say "I am a Democrat...and I will not stand for the poor treatment of our soldiers!"

Democrats for Moral Use of the Military!

2008-01-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

John Edwards for Attorney General

2008-01-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

I know it might be a controversial move...but I would offer the Attorney General position to Senator John Edwards in a new Democratic administration. I believe he would be a bloodhound in pursuit of those intent on harming the American people, both of foreign origin and those domestic. The issues John seems to be most concerned about are really corporate law enforcement...the responsibility of the administration, specifically the Attorney General of The United States. To have an Attorney General with the capacity to actually improve the lives of people...this is a good option for him. What a good trade off for some delegates.

Bulldog Attitude and Bare Knuckle Tactics

2008-01-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

One of the interesting aspects of the Republican debate in California is the fervor with which these candidates chase after the legacy of President Ronald Reagan, a president who knew how to spin myth in his wake. He spent us into serious debt, yet claimed he was a man of financial responsibility [wrong on fiscal policies] He claimed to be politically consistent, yet flipped parties from Democrat to Republican after the election of John F. Kennedy [political narcissism] He claimed to support democracy in the neighborhood, yet supported paramilitary neofascists and right wing dictatorships throughout Latin America. There is a lot to be wary of when the Republicans genuflect to the Reagan altar. Reagon was complex, not as simple as they all wish to make him. He was not wholly good by any means. Reagan, as a two-term president, was no more effective overall than any other president, other than bankrupting the nation in military expenditures to force the Soviets to cry uncle. Two term Democratic Preident Bill Clinton can also claim to have significantly altered the American landscape, as a byproduct of his leadership. It is quite possible that there has been no more financially responsible administration in the past century than that of President Clinton. Now, this is not because it was popular. It was because he was financially principled and was smart enough to place the right people in the right positions...that is true centrist leadership. He was liberal on the right issues and conservative on the right issues...they happen to be different issues as they should be. The extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party is unrealistic and often dangerous to the health of the nation, and the right wing of the Republican Party is extremely dangerous for completely different reasons. The best place from which to govern is in the interest of the American people as a whole, which happens to be all over the ideological spectrum, depending in the issues. Why not a tough as nails military and also national health care, or why not a balanced budget and also civil rights for all Americans? These issues define the Blue Dog Democrat, an philosophy of leadership for America that needs to bloom in order to rescue us from the nastiness and incompetence of the extremes.

Mr. President...Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

2008-01-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

Um...Mr. President (whispered) Please be quiet for a few days. Former President Bill Clinton has been all over the airwaves for the past three days politiking for Hillary and trying to put out fires over the MLK-LBJ commentary. Who cares about this thing anyway? We all LOVE MLK as our patron saint, and the country is forever changed as a result of his life and courage. LBJ did get Civil Rights codified and I am not sure any other politician of that day could have been as successfull doing it against those odds. He was a bastard...but he was also a brilliant politician. MLK was a visionary and a hero. Nobody is saying LBJ and MLK are on par, just that they needed one another to get things done, and I might add that LBJ probably didn't appreciate it in his day. I could be wrong about that, but his reputation supports that conclusion. LBJ was an idiot on the issues of Vietnam, and MLK was on the right side of revolution in Indochina, but LBJ was a pragmatic workhorse on getting Martin Luther King's vision into the law. We should be thankful for both types of men, the courageous visionary who puts life on the line for a cause that is just, and the pragmatist who schemes to achieve political results. I think of the Malcolm X "Ballots or Bullets" speech and believe that LBJ was no fool. He knew when the cards he held were bad and when they were good. Today, I think LBJ would support both the ideas and goals of the major candidates in the Democratic field, as would MLK...with the possible exception of support for Roe v. Wade. They probably would have split on that...but maybe not.

Carolina Hyperbole

2008-01-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

When a candidate has to cover his/her record for fear of embarassment over votes or positions, and then has to use racial politics for defense, then that candidate is using the worst of all American tactics to try to win. Barak Obama is resorting to the most divisive politics possible in claiming that the Clintons are using racial code speech in order to slander Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Civil Rights Movement leaders. How absurd. I don't know if I have ever read something so stupid. The Clintons need the support of every African-American, not only just to win, but also to govern if Senator Clinton does win. Besides, thinking people who have cared enough to learn about the Clintons know how much they each value the African-American community and the Civil Rights Movement. It defines part of their own identities as people, not just as politicians seeking votes. African-Americans have valued the Clinton family in the past and not by mistake. That value was genuine then and nothing should have changed. If Senator Barak Obama is to win the Democratic nomination and be the party's candidate against the Republicans he doesn't want to gain it by driving a wedge between those European Heritage Americans and the African Heritage Democrats that he needs to win too. Let's get realistic, and let's do it in a hurry. None of the ballyhoo that is going on in South Carolina would amount to a montana de frijoles if our messed up nomination process were more fair and simulataneously started in both the east and the west...where the candidates favored are often valued differently. If our party destroys the Clinton campaign for the White House in favor if an untested two year Senator who is marginal to a vast majority of Americans due to background issues, rhetoric, and votes...then we will lose and we will deserve it by pulling defeat from the jaws of victory.

Bye Bye Bill

2008-01-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is deciding to quit in his quest for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. You knew it would happen sooner or later...just maybe not this soon after New Hampshire voters voted to propel New York Senator Hillary Clinton forward toward Super Tuesday with some momentum of her own. The forewall strategy in New Hampshire did not only slow down the Obama hysteria, but also stole the spotlight from candidates like Governor Bill Richardson. On many issues Governor Richardson is true to his Western identity and his absence in the Democratic race will allow the campaigns to drift away from some important debates that need to be had on issues. The best hope for Blue Dog Democrats who favor strong national defense policies and foreign policy that increases focus on terrorism and using our forces for the rule of law in many areas of the world...is...Hillary Clinton. Believe it or not, she is to the right of president Bill Clinton on many issues. She is the most favorable candidate left in the race that supports Blue Dog thinking on many issues. I strongly urge voters to think about tuning in and making their voices heard, so that before it is finished the candidates have felt the pressure to listen, think, and incorporate much of our tone and many of our ideas into campaigns. This will also force the Democratic candidate to the center for the general election where we all know the victories are.

Spinning for Democrats

2008-01-06T16:26:00.001-08:00

Obamazing hype for the potential breakthrough candidate Barak Obama, who could become the first black president. The most serious contenders to win the nomination are not necessarily the strongest against the Republican machine. Hillary brings extreme intellectual power to the race, pragmatic realism, and immediate international respect among former friends. Barack Obama brings up memories of great public personas of the past [see Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.]. John Edwards is a fiery orator that resurrects the image of REPUBLICAN Teddy Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryant. And, let's not forget that the first serious candidate for president with a Hispanic background, Governor Bill Richardson, undoubtedly the most experienced person in the race on either side. He will be a force in a Democratic administration. I fear the smear! We need to be practical and anticipate the disgusting habits of the right wing! Choose someone with a practical chance in hell to beat the right wingers. We have four strong candidates left, but they are not all equal in their ability to beat the Republican oligarchy. I am ranking the candidates by my view of their practical chances to win: 1. Senator Hillary Clinton; 2. Governor Bill Richardson; 3. Senator John Edwards; 3. Senator Barack Obama; 4. Representative Dennis Kucinich. I place Edward and Obama tied for third because they are both similarly less experienced than Clinton and Richardson, yet more electable and mainstream than Kucinich. Pay attention! and vote to win not place. President Clinton once remarked that being idealistic is great, but to govern you must win first.

Interpreter of Maladies -Jhumpa Lahiri

2007-04-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Book review coming soon! Stay tuned!

Slide Show

2007-04-17T23:10:00.001-07:00

2007-04-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

The mass murder of thirty-three people on the Virginia Tech University campus April 16th should be a wake up call to all Americans. We have a few choices to make. The consequences for not making the choices seem to be quite clear. The Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado shocked and outraged most decent people. The massacre at Virginia Tech University is a one up on the Columbine killers achievments in blood-letting. I don't know if evil exists in the way so many other Americans want to believe in it. I take the position that people commit these horrible acts against other people for very human-centered reasons. We have it in us to act this way just as we have it in us to act out in the most opposite possible manner. The disillusionment that has to exist for a person so heavily invested in life to commit horrific acts of life-taking violence makes me wonder what we have lost. If we have lost our way as a people by buying into the fiction that we are organized in order to secure capital and profits and expand out financial holdings and to hell with the neighborhood...I can always move to a better one. Those days are numbered. When anyone owning property has to build a wall and have it monitored...and has to fear and worry for the basic safety of family and friends...then we have lost a critical element to the pursuit of happiness. I fear we may just be creating a scenario in which the succession of killers rampages just a little bit more than the one before, that plans, trains, and executes killing a little better and more efficiently than the one before...and that getting the greatest bang for the buck at the end of the line is the mark of a crime well committed. It sickens me to think that this is what we have become. I have always turned away from buying guns...or accepting them when they have been offered to me as gifts from family members or friends, but I don't know how much longer it would be wise to hold out. I might cross over and prepare to protect myself in a deranged, hyper-violent society. It is a society within which I live simply...but walk the fine line beteeen safety and risk. My students threaten and harrass the most innocent of people, there have been five shots fired within three blocks of the school where I am employed, gang graffiti and violence has invaded once rural and isolated places as well as formerly upscale, protected neighborhoods causing nearly everyone to be at least a bit uneasy. In this condition , innocent and decent people do not always make the best choices. We are changin rapidly...and for the worst. We need to stop and turn around before it is too late.
The Virginia Tech killings are only one sign of our cultural rot...there are plenty more if a person just opens his eyes to see.

Blog Tranfers

2007-02-22T23:12:00.000-08:00

I have been blogging away over on myspace, but the conversation there is...how should I say it, "limiting" so I am transferring some of the blog entries I have made over the past months back to blogger. I plan to continue blogging the important issues here and leaving the other for more socializing and light topics. So many of the blogs will be dated the same yet are actually far apart in creation dates.

The Unconquerable World

2007-02-22T23:06:00.000-08:00

This book has to be one of the most eye opening reads I've encountered in my life. Jonathan Schell is an excellent thinker...worth every second devoted to it. As a progressive thinker and one who cares about international relations by tendency I like the way the author thinks about the issues that have faced us here in America. As a person with lofty ideals but who also recognizes the need for pragmatism I find this book to be a great read...one of the best I have ever read. The chapter about the timeframe from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Destruction of the Twin Towers is awesome...great writing and a wonderful understanding of history in context.

A visionary work that explores the limits of violence and charts an unexpectedly hopeful course toward a nonviolent future

Join Red?

2007-02-22T23:03:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I have ever heard of a greater cause than this one. Bono is a peacemaker and he has a great idea here...I knew there was a subliminal reason I was a huge U2 fan. Please join Red whether you are conservative or liberal or somewhere in between, that is not at issue here. AIDS kills innocent people, millions of them and destroys the lives of the living. This is the plague of our time and how we respond to it matters. Are we moral, immoral, or amoral...actions will decide for us, and our collective history will be written in relation to how we act on these issues. Please respond.

Posted By:JOIN (RED)

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Islamofascism = Death of Multiculturalism?

2007-02-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

I have heard this terminology bantered about for a few years now. It is the tendency for right wing nutjobs to claim that every dictator with a bit of blood on his hands is somehow a "Stalin" or a "Hitler" which in light of the offenses they have perpetrated is very heavy language. Yes they are often brutal...yes they are often tyrants. But let's just agree to disagree and consider that there are vast degrees of tyranny. If Amadinejaad is successful in obliterating the jews in Israel and other lands, and the jihadists are successful in overthrowing governments by force or by persuasion to create a larger Islamic Sharia Superstate...then we can compare him to Hitler, but not yet. If the world is stupid enough to sit back and watch it all happen then I will eat my words.

The United States represents a clear and fundamental difference of culture and opinion in the world. The USA is by this very fact...the number one target of the jihadists, who only strike close to home because that is the extent of their reach at the moment. If we think that the movement will wither and die on the vine for a lack of nutrient...I think we may be woefully inept in our judgement. The trouble with the USA is that we are not even comfortable with our own realities, with our own culture dreadfully divided and hypocritical in many ways. We are, in modern times, inept at doing much of anything important except enriching a small upper class of technocrats and business builders. We forget the fundamental reason for our existence as one people. It is dramatically eroding our ability to generate positive momentum for any cause. We no longer teach cultural geography or civics or much science and math...the building blocks of a modern, economically healthy, civicly decent, and defensible state. Fascism is real...just as real today as it was in the 1930s in Europe, and ultimately just as deadly. If only ten percent of the Islamic world radicalizes then we are talking 100,000,000 jihadists willing to die to impose sharia law upon kaffars [infidels]. We may not trust each other here in our own neighborhoods. We may think we have the right to ignore the trends. We may believe that our god would allow us to triumph in a battle between civilizations. But, we would be fools.

Personally, I have no problem vocalizing that I was against the invasion of Iraq. A powerful oil state under the control of a secular government...one day we may wish for those days. It was a balance to Iran and other neighbors. True, long-lasting democracy ultimately comes from the belly of a beast...after trauma and after the everyman is willing to battle to obtain it for himself, and for his community. To believe we could impose it and have a lasting nation is idealistic, and noble...but impractical. We may have been more successful in a step by step approach of engagement and statesmanship. But we are there and the damage is done. To leave would be a generational disaster for our country and the world...and will eventually cost the freedom and lives of millions. Who are we kidding...with 140,000 troops. We couldn't clean up New Orleans with that. If we are serious about this effort then we need to act like it. A draft will generate domestic hostility. We need to pull troops from other assignments and raise more. We have not learned from history. We need to learn how to pretend to love our neighbor while we secretly plot and scheme to protect ourselves and our interests...and those interests are more than financial...they are ideological. We are not Roman enough in our scheming. We have become a fat couple in thongs at the beach hogging the sunshine, not because there isn't enough sunshine to go around...but because our greased lard is so imposing that the rest of the crowd is trasfixed in horror and disgust...so much so that they could care less about our "personalities" . Just some thoughts. What do you think...am I bloviating?

Symbols of Hate

2007-02-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

Driving home from Seattle on Monday afternoon I was travelling down the Yakima Valley to my exit near Benton City [the back road to West Richland] and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a very familiar, yet very ugly symbol. I have been teaching about hate and its consequences for a very long time, sometimes with success and sometimes without it. I found the blatant ugliness of this sight almost beyond words. Mentioning it to my students... frankly, I received a very disinterested response. I guess I expect a lot from people. If anyone out there in cyberland views these occurances of ugliness like I do...maybe you could give me a pick me up...lately I need one.

A Long Way Gone...

2007-02-22T22:52:00.001-08:00

I watched The Daily Show on Comedy Central interview with Ishmael Baeh and immediately went out to buy his book Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. I read the first thirty pages nonstop and the rest soon thereafter. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in world conditions, and just great writing. His story is very personal, emotionally intense, and extremely tragic, yet in the end there is hope. I like to find books that everyone SHOULD read. This is definitely one of those books.

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