#View of Constantinople by Evening Light

[zegalba]

Ivan Aivazovsky: View of Constantinople by Evening Light (1884)

#Ivan Aivazovsky #View of Constantinople by Evening Light #art #paintings #water #boat #1884

[ivan-aivazovsky-paintings]

-View of Constantinople by evening light-

#art #art history #artwork #culture #history #museums #painting #vintage #ivan aivazovsky

[gsirvitor]

Another weird question when did the….uuuh…glamorization of the Roman civilization began? I thought the Roman Empire was a abusive regime (especially towards provinces like Britannia) to Western Europe. So when did the Europeans decided to romanticize the Romans?(pun intended)

Because Rome went from being one of many city-states in the Italian Peninsula to being the center of the most powerful empire in the world between the fifth century BC and the first century AD.

From Rome, Europe got its languages, law, philosophy, and most importantly Christianity, it was viewed as Europe's own cradle of civilization along side Greece.

Rome was no more abusive than any other regime back then, even the Gauls and other tribes were as bad, or worse, however, the people's conquered by Rome and living in its provinces enjoyed a much higher standard of living than those living outside of its borders.

Roman citizens paid taxes and in return enjoyed safety, stability, increased commerce, and the technological benefits of Roman roads and Roman aqueducts. Roman sanitation systems not only created a more pleasant environment, but also drastically reduced disease.

While some civilizations are remembered for massive monuments, the Romans are remembered as builders of civilization. We still use Roman numerals, and our calendar is almost exactly the same as the Romans. Our planets are named after Roman deities.

Rome’s advances lived on in the countries and regions that would come to dominate the world in a few hundred years.

Yet none of the successors of Rome were as grand, and as large and powerful as Rome in the period following the decline of the Roman Empire.

But to answer the question of when this started, it began immediately after the collapse of Rome, when the German chieftain Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, 476 AD.

Odoacer became the first barbarian King of Italy, initiating a new era. With the backing of the Roman Senate, Odoacer thenceforth ruled Italy autonomously, paying lip service to the authority of Julius Nepos, the last Western emperor, and Zeno, the emperor of the East.

Rome never truly fell, its influence and name carried so much weight across Europe no nation or people would declare it was dead, instead each nation that gained power would declare themselves Rome's successor.

The most enduring and significant claimants of continuation of the Roman Empire have been, in the East, the Ottoman Empire and Russian Empire, which both claimed succession of the Byzantine Empire after 1453; and in the West, the Holy Roman Empire from 800 to 1806.

Separately from claims of continuation, the view that the Empire had ended has led to various attempts to revive it or appropriate its legacy, notably in the case of Orthodox Russia.

There's also Imperial Spain, Fascist Italy which was called Third Rome, Napoleonic France, Austrian Empire, the Greeks in 1844 through the Byzantines, and the German Empire.

Hell, Rome held so much weight that the Church is considered a continuation of the Empire, even Constantinople was considered the second Rome.

Today only one entity is trying to be like Rome today, and it isn't the US, it's the EU.

Memories of the Roman Empire have accompanied the European Union since its inception with the 1950 Schuman Plan. The Roman Empire has provided the European Union, like many countries, with Roman legal concepts and their language, Latin.

As such Latin has been used as one non-official lingua franca in the European Union, for example by EU Institutions using Latin concepts in texts and titles.

The comparison of the European Union with the Holy Roman Empire, in a both negative and positive light, is an all too common trope of political commentary.

The EU has been viewed as a reincarnation of a foreign and overbearing Roman Empire in some European countries, particularly the United Kingdom.

The 2020 withdrawal of the UK from the Union, or Brexit, has been variously compared with the Rebellion of Boudica or the end of Roman rule in Britain.

A different negative view of the EU as a new Roman Empire has been used in Christian circles in the US.

According to that view, the EU, like other supranational endeavors such as the United Nations and World Bank, by attempting to revive the Roman Empire, signals the approaching end time, rapture or Second Coming, these Christian circles are usually fundamentalist in their teachings.

Occasionally, the EU is portrayed as a Fourth Reich. This critique is often portrayed as fringe in media despite the fact the EU is Hitler's wet dream.

Oh yes, and we can't forget, the League of Nations, the UN's predecessors were seen as the start of a new Roman form of rule.

The French historian Louis Eisenmann, in a 1926 article titled The Imperial Idea in the History of Europe, chose to portray the newly created League as the modern expression of an imperial idea that had been degraded by the German Empire, Habsburg monarchy and Russian Empire.

He argued that the three empires' final demise and the League's establishment represent a renewal of the Pax Romana.

In a sense he was right, since the end of WWII, we have been living, at least in the west, in a pseudo Pax Romana, an era of unprecedented peace, though I suspect it won't last the 200 years required to be the Golden Age of Roman Peace.

[lordofthestrix]

Tristan de Martel and the unavoidable death of all things.

For someone who not only is an immortal but has been one almost since the supernatural occurrence of vampirism transformed into its own growing species, Tristan remains very combative in matters of athanasia and oblivion. 

On his view concerning how he sees the regular world working:

“I've always despised churches, but cemeteries I love. Churches celebrate fairy tales, guardian angels, patron saints. But cemeteries hold concrete proof that not one of those things can save you from the inevitable.”

As simple as that. The world is merciless. The world is cruel. All the prayers and hopes in the world won't change that. You are a goldfish at the mercy of the ocean and you simply don't get it. This applies to common vampires as well. He has lived enough to perceive the regular vampire as just as much of a temporal guest of this world that will inevitably find his way to the sharpened leg of a chair. 

There is a beauty to all of this. There is plenty to be captivated with in the endless dance of destruction and creation. Old melodies must perish for new songs to arrive and one must hedonistically enjoy each second of the gala. 

But there is also a reason why Tristan can so freely take satisfaction in this waltz of light and darkness:

“Now that Constantinople has fallen, the Roman Empire is no more, my Strix endure beyond even that which was deemed eternal. In time there will be no place on Earth where our influence is not felt. Not even the Mikaelsons wield that power.”

Or simplifying a principle Tristan remained loyal to for the entirety of his life: The rules don't apply to me. Be it societal, moral or universal. I'm free to desire whatever I please. I'll tame the world, not the other way around.

Because, yes. All empires fall. All reigns end. Each seat of power is a fleeting attraction. But what are his Strix if not the unique exception to the rule? If the world is a dance of destruction and creation, let him compose. He will play the compositions of most beautiful ruin and glorious rebirth. All the while, he will save what he deems worthy of everlasting life. Warriors, leaders, artists and whatever else alike. And in doing so, isn't he infinitely more generous than the world?

Tristan openly mocks the idea of guardian angels while unironically deeming himself salvation for others.

In his own twisted way, he would see himself as the only real fairy tale. Although he wouldn't like that moniker. 

All things die. But if Tristan loves you? (Admittedly a monumentally rare attribute) Then you will get to live forever. Even if he has to unapologetically shatter the world into a million pieces and build it back from scratch just to ensure it always has a place for you in it. 

This also relates to how even when Tristan can already have ridiculously high expectations from others, he isn't nearly as absurdly impossibly demanding of anyone else as he is of himself. But that's a headcanon for another day. 

#Out of eternity #Tristan de Martel #My apologies for the disappearance. I'm dealing with a family affair. #So here you have a piece of meta no one asked for in the meantime.

[cassianus]

The Martyrs Florus and Laurus (Feast Sept. 18th) were brothers by birth not only in flesh but in spirit. They lived in the second century at Byzantium, and afterwards they settled in Illyria [now Yugoslavia]. By occupation they were stone-masons (their teachers in this craft were the Christians Proclus and Maximus, from whom also the brothers learned about life pleasing to God).

The prefect of Illyria, Likaion, sent the brothers to a nearby district for work on the construction of a pagan temple. The saints toiled at the structure, distributing to the poor the money they earned, while they kept strict fast and prayed without ceasing.

Once, the son of the local pagan-priest Mamertin carelessly approached the structure, and a chip of stone hit him in the eye, severely injuring him. Saints Florus and Laurus assured the upset father, that his son would be healed.

They brought the youth to consciousness and told him to have faith in Christ. After this, as the youth confessed Jesus Christ as the true God, the brothers prayed for him, and the eye was healed. In view of such a miracle, even the father of the youth believed in Christ.

When the construction of the temple was completed, the brothers gathered the Christians together, and going through the temple, they smashed the idols. In the eastern part of the temple they set up the holy Cross. They spent all night in prayer, illumined with heavenly light. Having learned of this, the head of the district condemned to burning the former pagan priest Mamertin and his son and 300 Christians.

The martyrs Florus and Laurus, having been sent back to the prefect Likaion, were thrown down an empty well and covered over with earth. After many years, the relics of the holy martyrs were uncovered incorrupt, and transferred to Constantinople.

[alphacenturian4]

Reading the Bible with the Church Fathers

St. John Chrysostom and Origen

Antiochene (literal) vs Alexandrian (allegorical)

Genesis 1:1-3:19

By: Alphacenturion

Background Chrysostom, lived between 314 and 407 AD, and among many other works he wrote about 76 homilies on genesis. he was a preacher in Antioch and in Constantinople he stands high in the tradition of Antioch looking for a more literal, “by the letter,” interpretation of the bible. His is an exegetical tradition. He preaches and promotes good works such as attending church Bible study and giving alms, and the avoidance of evil deeds such as gambling, being lazy, sloth, and watching horse races. The only time he allows for a spiritual or allegorical sense of the interpretation is when that interpretation is in support of, or supported by, the New Testament especially the writings of Paul.

Origen was born around 185 AD most likely in, or around, Alexandria, though that is disputed by his detractors, his father was a known martyr. Origen himself is a bright light and immense structure of the early church as his works and accomplishments are myriad, he is considered by many to be the first theologian and the first to use reason as a methodology for examining the Bible and biblical texts, at least the first Christian to examine the Bible in this way. A dean and major figure of the Alexandrian School, which was founded by St Mark the Evangelist (the Apostle and Author of the Gospel of Mark), the school didn’t find fame until 190, Origen didn’t become dean of the School until 203 AD. Origen examined the Bible from a Spiritual or what we might now call an allegorical point of view. His most famous work is titled On First Principles. He is spoken highly of by other major Christian figures such as Eusebius. But for all of his accomplishments and his many admirers in the early church he had vocal enemies and powerful detractors such as Demetrius the bishop of Alexandria. Who's slander against Origen persist to this very day in many prominent Protestant and Calvinist circles. Origen was a well-read classicalist for his time, and he enjoyed studying the Bible, first in the Greek then later in the Hebrew, it is his fondness for the Hebrew which will begin to get him in trouble with the orthodox of his day, around 215, Origen visited Rome, a See that still appreciates his gifts to Christian Theology to this day, he was well traveled for that time period and even toured throughout Palestine. His death is disputed, he either died in ignominy, in 255 having unfortunately survived horrible torture, or he died as a martyr in 250 during the persecution of Decius. If you think Origen should be considered a church father, then you are more likely to think that he was a martyr and thus went to heaven; if on the other hand you think he was a heretic you are more likely to think he died having been denied martyrdom.

First let’s look at St. Chrysostom’s literal interpretation of Genesis 1-3.

He begins by an exhortation to temperance, obedience, and moderation which will lead to Wellness; while he warns that indulgence, intemperance and mildness lead to illness and death. For Chrysostom, if overindulgence is the cause of the problem, then fasting and avoidance is the cure and corrective. He is a proponent of self-denial. He then warns that one should not compete in fasting or temperance nor even in moderation; one must not go to excess or excesses in being temperate; one must demonstrate self-control even in self-denial.

He then looks at Romans 2:13 and quotes that: “It is not hearers of the law whom are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Then Chrysostom adds a quote from Amos 6:3 “You who put far away in your mind the day of coming disaster, woe to you that sleep upon beds of ivory and are wanton on your couches: that eat the lambs out of their flock, and the calves out of the midst of their herd; you who sing songs idlily from the Psalter; you that think themselves to have instruments for music like David; you who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best of ointments; but yet are not concerned for the affliction of Joseph! Wherefore now shall they go for you will be the first to be held captive, led at the head of the exiles, of those who go into captivity: and that faction, the revilers, the luxurious ones shall be taken away.”

After this grim warning, Chrysostom affirms Biblical inspiration, that the word of God truly spoke through the inspired authors, though it was written many generations after the events portrayed or relayed had occurred. Chrysostom takes pains to downplay the abilities of human reasoning, and then takes a moment to talk down to Jewish people for being stubborn in their doubt and questioning. Reminding the Jewish of his audience, as relates to the Hebrew Bible, that it is “God who makes and transforms all things and refashions all things according to his will.”

He bases his teachings about spiritual things on visible realities. That while we are to be guided by the spirit in our teaching and sharing the good news, we are to do so by faith within our limitations and not try to grasp higher than our reach. He advises that we should, and explains that he does, adapt the Message of the Good News to different audiences, based on their needs and comprehension abilities, that your methods, means, and wording of the message must be adapted to who you are speaking in front of or writing to. This for him is especially true when dealing with the Old Testament and even more so when working through Genesis.

Chrysostom, in example, speaks of two passages here. He compares Genesis 1:1-5 with John 1:1-5; but he also makes many inferences and implications that he does not expound on, nor explain in any detail for the rest of these set of Homilies. For instance: What he meant by authorship? Or, What he means by the separation of light and darkness. These are just two examples of where Chrysostom’s principles of interpretation can be applied aptly, but he merely teases out the inference and doesn’t delve into deeper meaning. This is a limitation of his Antiochian approach.

For instance, on authorship he implied that even given the objections Moses being the literal author one could reason to, and remember he is writing circa the 300’s, he claims that it is still correct to call Moses the blessed, or the inspired, author of genesis. His explanation runs something like this, to put it in semi-modern terms. It is right to call “Moses” the author of Genesis just as it is right to call Mark Twain the author of Tom Sawyer, or Shakespeare the author of the plays attributed to him, or Homer the author of the Iliad and the odyssey. The next reasoned to objection, he also dismisses, that even if a myriad of authors penned the work, even if great authors wrote a series together but they did so under one pen name, it would still be correct to give credit of authorship to that penname. As we know what we are getting and what to expect when we pick up that pen name. We, the audience know and trust that pen name and understand the style and conventions we are to expect if we read something by say Anne Rice or by A.N. Roqueluare. To put a finer point on it, we, the consuming audience, are not reading Samuel Clements we are reading Mark Twain and we know the difference.

So too with Moses. Moses is the tongue, Moses is the pen, Moses is the instrument God uses through inspiration to tell his story. In the story of Genesis, Moses is the storyteller. That is his role for us the listener and the reader. Does that mean that Moses was the first to tell the story or that he was its only contributor? No more than Homer was to the Iliad but when we read the Iliad, we read we hear Homer. When we read Moses, we know who and when he represents. That attribution may have come later than the first recitation of the story, but that does not change the authorship for us, nor does it alter the inspiration. In this case the Holy Spirit inspired blessed Moses, whomever blessed Moses was or was not.

The first four homilies of Saint John Chrysostom’s apology on Genesis can be broken up into seven points and span the first four days of creation. The seven themes are as follow:

Day one

1. God is the creator of all things.

2. God is a God of order

Day two

3. God is a God of authority and obedience.

4. God is a God of goodness

Day three

5. God is a God of unity.

6. God is a God of beauty.

Day four

7. All things have their use and purposes. Lights are there to guide and divide. Vegetation, growth, and fruits even those things that are harmful, inedible, or poisonous are that way for a reason.

Chrysostom then comes to some conclusions about the message of the story so far. For him, the first two accounts in Genesis are teaching that there is one heaven; one earth; one reality. And thus, there is only One God, and only One truth. But again, he doesn’t expound beyond his own limitations of interpretation, nor does he go beyond the perceived limitation of the text into speculation.

Instead, he takes this opportunity, in raising and then dismissing the obvious questions and objections, to promote daily study and prayer as exercise for the mind and soul. That rigor and discipline in good habits and good works will produce good fruit. Chrysostom also takes time to demonstrate in his writing an appreciation for Saint Paul. Something many of his readers and commentators take note of. To make sense of his Homilies on Genesis, it is important to make a mental note that he is preaching to a domestic church, during the season of Lent, and that he is actively encouraging them to participate in small group, daily Bible study, and that in these small groups they ought to converse on the divine, and on biblical topics; that is instead of gossiping, gambling, gaming, or indulging in other temptations. He then finally gets to the body of the text, but first he complements the precision and considerateness of the Blessed Author, as he says that he teaches through the telling of the creation of Adam that the body comes first and then ensoulment. But at this point we come to homily 15 and we get to the first major textual corruption, so the rest of this homily is a paraphrase of what is missing from his lecture.

Ironically his next encouragement is to say that with the Christian, correct doctrine is of no benefit unless one attends to the business of living. Therefore, blessed is the one who both does and teaches. He then quotes Matthew 5:19. Followed by an exhortation to “let us not stop short at the literal level; instead, let us reason from the perceivable visible realities to the superiority of spiritual realities.” And here again, Chrysostom complements the precision and considerateness of the text and author. He explains again that the biblical text, especially Genesis, is written with the limitations of its audience in mind. He explains that the words used by the text are precise: that to will, direct, and command are each different things, just as to form and shape are different modes of operation, as is the words formed versus fashioned. Each saying something different about how God approaches the creation of different creatures and beings. After plenty of base level commentary, which can be found in most study bibles or on most apologetic YouTube channels that speak about Genesis the next big topic Chrysostom takes on in his Homilies is the Fall, and here he says something I had not heard elsewhere before, he claims that the snake in the garden was not the devil but that the snake was used by the devil, and that this is evidenced by the devil's words and the fact that snakes don’t talk. That the devil worked through the serpent, but by being a tool for the devil the serpent was still punished, and that we, mortal humans, shall trample upon are the serpents and scorpions of/in our minds. Considering that I had just read a little over a hundred pages extolling the benefits of a literal interpretation I was almost shocked that Chrysostom went for a more spiritual metaphysical interpretation here. That the snakes and scorpions mentioned in Genesis are the temptations and doubts that live in our mind. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil also gets an allegorical treatment here, though to a much lesser degree, the forbidden tree is that of carnal knowledge, it is the divide between the theoretical knowledge of evil and the act of evil, it is highlighting the difference between and is the embodiment of theoretical knowledge and practical experience, between potential and actual. The eating of the fruit is knowing the difference by experiencing it, the act of knowing versus simply understanding, going back to Chrysostom warning about the limitations of Human Reason. Knowing is different than doing, doing is a deeper level of knowing. It is knowing in a true sense. In this vein Chrysostom continues. The concept that “God strolled in the evening” is equivalent to the conscious which knows all but still asks. Adam trying to hide from God is equivalent to shame. To be denuded and aware of one’s own nakedness is equivalent to being stripped of God's good glory. The reason for this departure from a literal simple reading of the plain text is that Genesis if read absolutely literal pushes against the understanding of God from Psalms and the New Testament. An anthropomorphic God is not compatible with the simplistic (unchanging), all knowing, all powerful, timeless, eternal, monotheistic, Trinitarian God of the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation. Hence the limitation of the Antiochian School, Protestantism, Ultra-literalism, and Sola Scriptura.

Now, for contrast, let us look at Origen and how he understands Genesis 1:1-29. For Origen, the heaven being spoken of in Genesis one is incorporeal, which is consistent with later Biblical text which states that God's throne comes before the world. Therefore, Genesis and the verse in the beginning is not and cannot be speaking of temporal beginning nor is Genesis meant to be taken in a chronological manner or temporal sense.

Like Chrysostom, Origen finds many of the same themes in the opening seven lines of the Bible. For both men, and therefore for both schools, Genesis and the Bible as a whole teaches that God creates, God orders, God brings light from/to darkness. God brings order from/to chaos. For Origen though, the abyss referenced in Genesis is the same as the abode of the devil and the demons. For Origen, he sees direct references to the dragon and his angels in the warnings and ongoings of Genesis. In Origen’s recounting of the Genesis account, God dissolved the darkness, and it was God who names all things before the invention of language.

This can be and is true, because all this takes place before the existence of time. And time, for Origen, is older than this world. You may at this point be excused for thinking mistakenly that this Alexandrian method of interpretation is more literal and fundamental than the Antiochian, but you would be wrong on at least one of those counts. For then Origen explains that the firmament here and the heaven made in the second account is corporal; for him, the division is between earth and heaven, between body and soul. The heaven of the mind. The earth of the body. Darkness is chaos, which is to say lack of reason, lack of consciousness, lack of self-awareness. Light is order, reason, thought, and consciousness. Genesis 1-8 is the story of humanity reaching consciousness, both collective and individual.

Origen’s next big claim is that the world created in genesis came into being before time existed. For all the fun this concept and idea can generate it does lead to some questions, for instance, What does this represent? What is the water above heaven? What are the waters below heaven? Is darkness equivalent to the abyss, is the abyss equivalent to hell?

Origen implies that Heaven and spirit is equivalent to mind, and that mind is equivalent to self. That Heaven is the internal (eternal) self, and that Earth is the external (temporal) self. The firmament is the barrier between your existential metaphysical self and your practical physical body. Christ and the church are the sun and the moon for the believing Christian, he goes on, that just as a blind man cannot see or make sense of the light radiating from the sun so to the spiritually blind cannot make sense or understand the light radiating from Christ. The Birds are equivalent to high thoughts, while crawling things are equivalent to low thoughts. The firmament Divides the spiritual from the carnal.

Origen’s theory, his interpretation of genesis is that it is speaking of the spiritual creation and that genesis 2:5 is speaking of carnal creation. Origen is an interesting and intriguing read. While, his approach does circumvent the current literacy development hypothesis, Origen does have a proof. In Genesis one, man is formed (from dust in later parts of Genesis), while in Genesis two, man is shaped from slime. Genesis one, being the form or spirit of all things. Man being in the likeness of God, bears special significance for Origen. Earth, sun, and moon are created by God. Everything else is created by God’s command. There is present in the interpretation some fine distinctions between words, but I cannot deny that his approach is compelling.

Origen’s views on Humans is also different than Chrysostom’s. For Origen, Male and female are stewards of the earth, the animals, and the vegetation. They, Male and Female, are equal in dignity. Yes, the Male first, then female second, in authority; but that authority is over all creation. This order shows sovereignty of God over beast, earth, rock, and human alike. Ocean or fish; air or bird, God has sovereignty over all. In Origen’s take on the events of the fall, animals suffer due to our fault, due to our flaw the whole of creation suffers. Our power then is in our care for the welfare of the planet, it's resources, and it's life that lives on in it, including each other and ourselves. As the text says, We “are like gods” but we are like gods, lowercase g, in our dominion over the earth and it's creatures. We are made in both the image in likeness of God. Form and Dominion, spirit and creation; through reason, we as humans, can dominate even lions and sharks. The text shows this dominion in our naming things. It should be noted that in these older Early Church Father Homilies you will find the Woman named Zoe and not Eve as we are accustomed too. A common misunderstanding about Zoe and the serpent, as some might explain it, was that Zoe was the weak willed one, the cause of our fall; but for Origen and the Alexandrian school this could not be further from the Truth. She is as much human as Adam, Zoe is as much human and free as you or I. Evidence for this is in the text of Genesis itself. For the woman has a conversation with the snake, the woman's stands her ground against the snake, accuses it of its own faults without hesitation. In Origen’s telling of it, she could have chosen not to take its advice. The snake was scared of her, but she was not scared of it. Again, he highlights that she conversed comfortably with it. She did not take flight. She was not terrified by its appearance. Here we get Origen’s understanding of Sin. For him, and presumably for his school, sin is the loss of both esteem and authority together. That we should not be shocked by this, nor should we be resentful of the punishment, nor think it unjust as we are fellow slaves of God as are the animals. Animals and beast, crops and wild jungles, and untamed forest, all serve and aid us in our daily lives even though they suffer for our mistakes and our cruelty.

Here Origen reminds us of the Biblical precept that “Not sacrifice of animals but contrite spirit and a humble heart is what God desires.” For Origen, the co-creation accounts are a summary of what we would call evolution: but for him it documents more than just physical development, but it documents spiritual adaption and mutation as well. Life adapts to its environment and the environment adapts to the life that is living on it. Habitation is more than just mere survival. The land, seas, rivers, and waters all change and adapt, life in temporal caporal reality changes. But in the spiritual realm there is no change only the eternal.

Here Origen iterates the same philosophical warning as Chrysostom, everything in moderation. The goal here seems to be excellence of some sort, human or divine is unclear at this point of his homily. For Origen, excellence is equivalent to perfection, and perfection is equivalent to the good. If all created things are constantly changing, then excellence must be reached in the spiritual realm. Life is affected by all that is around and interacting with it. Gravity, wind, pressure, and time, to heal and grow are all necessary, but do not fear for all is guided and/or permitted by God's will. For Origen, it is our ability to acclimatize and actualize that is the evidence of design, and then he gets very near to Chrysostom and says that this precision and considerateness is proof of God’s good will toward us. I would like to note here that you may be tempted to contrast and criticize Chrysostom’s apparent anti-Semitism and misogyny against Origen’s perceived environmentalism and egalitarianism; but this would be an anachronistic mistake as these political and social concepts did not exist during the periods that these men were writing. The same accusation and contrast is made by many, modern, would-be, theologians when it comes to St. Peter and St. Paul, but again this perceived difference is anachronistic to the lives, thinking, and times of these men. Sources:

St. Chrysostom, John. The Fathers of the Church vol 74 Saint John Chrysostom Homilies on Genesis 1-17. Translated by Robert C. Hill, Published by The Catholic University of America Press. 1986, 1999.

Origen. The Fathers of the Church vol 71 Origen Homilies on Genesis and Exodus. Translated by Ronald E. Heine, Published by The Catholic University of America Press. 1982, 2002. pp. 1-71.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Today in Christian History

Today is Friday, May 27th, the 147th day of 2022. There are 218 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

669: Theodore of Tarsus arrives in Canterbury to serve as Archbishop. He will visit the whole of England, establishing the Roman date for Easter and settling bishops in all the sees except London.

1084: Robert Guiscard, a Norman adventurer, enters Rome at the request of Pope Gregory VII. He liberates the pope and reduces half the city to ruins. His men will rape even the nuns and sell thousands of Romans into slavery.

1096: Archbishop Ruthard hides 1,300 Jews from anti-Semitic mobs, but the rioters find and massacre all but a handful.

1341: A council of bishops in Constantinople declares heretical the views of Eastern Orthodox theologian Barlaam the Calabrian. Barlaam and his supporters had argued against the hesychast method of prayer and against the theological teaching that the light at the transfiguration and the fire in the burning bush were examples of the uncreated energies of God. After his condemnation, Barlaam will become a Roman Catholic.

1549: Anabaptist Elizabeth Dirks is drowned in a bag in the Netherlands. Her Catholic captors, in an attempt to get her to betray the name of the person who baptized her, had tortured her with thumbscrews until blood spurted from under her fingernails, and crushed her legs in screws until she fainted from agony. (Her death is sometimes, mistakenly, said to have been on 27 March.)

1564: Death at Geneva of John Calvin, reformer and theologian.

1661: Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyle, is beheaded at Edinburgh on accusations of treason because of his involvement with the Scottish Covenanters.

1702: Death at Clermont of Jesuit author Dominique Bouhours, best known for biographies of Loyola and Xavier.

1828: Lyman Beecher and former opponents of Charles Finney’s revival methods publish a letter saying that the general interests of religion will not be served by continued controversy on the subject. Finney is among the signatories of the letter.

1831: Christian explorer Jedediah Smith is surrounded and killed by Comanche Indians at a water hole near the Cimarron River.

1944: Billy Graham gets his start in big-city evangelism at a Youth for Christ rally at Orchestra Hall in Chicago ten days before D-Day.

1948: Death in Atlanta, Georgia, of Luther B. Bridgers, author of the hymn “There’s Within My Heart a Melody.“

1969: Xu Chenping becomes the Catholic bishop of Hong Kong where he will seek to implement the instructions of Vatican II.

2001: Authorities beat to death Yu Zhongju, a twenty-seven-year-old Christian woman, in China’s Hubei Province merely because she happens to be present when they arrest another Christian. Before her death, she is sexually abused, tortured with electricity, and burned with cigarette butts along with other Christian women.

2007: Abune Dioskoros, the fourth patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewhado Church is installed. His predecessor, Abune Antonios, is under house arrest at the time for criticizing the government for interfering in church activities and for persecuting evangelical Christians.

#Today in Christian History #May 27 #death of Luther B. Bridgers #Billy Graham gets his start in big-city evangelism #Yu Zhongju martyred #Jedediah Smith killed #death of John Calvin #Earl of Argyle beheaded #Elizabeth Dirks is drowned

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus of Illyricum. Saints Florus and Laurus were brothers by birth not only in flesh but in spirit. They lived in the second century at Byzantium, and afterwards they settled in Illyria [now Yugoslavia]. By occupation they were stone-masons (their teachers in this craft were the Christians Proclus and Maximus, from whom also the brothers learned about life pleasing to God). The prefect of Illyria, Likaion, sent the brothers to a nearby district for work on the construction of a pagan temple. The saints toiled at the structure, distributing to the poor the money they earned, while they kept strict fast and prayed without ceasing. Once, the son of the local pagan-priest Mamertin carelessly approached the structure, and a chip of stone hit him in the eye, severely injuring him. Saints Florus and Laurus assured the upset father, that his son would be healed. They brought the youth to consciousness and told him to have faith in Christ. After this, as the youth confessed Jesus Christ as the true God, the brothers prayed for him, and the eye was healed. In view of such a miracle, even the father of the youth believed in Christ. When the construction of the temple was completed, the brothers gathered the Christians together, and going through the temple, they smashed the idols. In the eastern part of the temple they set up the holy Cross. They spent all night in prayer, illumined with heavenly light. Having learned of this, the head of the district condemned to burning the former pagan priest Mamertin and his son and 300 Christians. The martyrs Florus and Laurus, having been sent back to the prefect Likaion, were thrown down an empty well and covered over with earth. After many years, the relics of the holy martyrs were uncovered incorrupt, and transferred to Constantinople. In the year 1200 the Novgorod pilgrim Anthony saw them. Stephen of Novgorod saw the heads of the martyrs in the Pantokrator monastery around the year 1350. May they intercede for us always + Source: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2018/08/18/102324-martyrs-florus-and-laurus-of-illyria (at Split, Croatia) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChYBm6GvwUA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[taxiyatritempo]

Lucknow's Architectural Marvels: Exploring the Grandeur of Nawabi Heritage

Welcome to the city of Nawabs, Lucknow – a place where history, culture, and modernity blend harmoniously. With its rich heritage, exquisite architecture, delectable cuisine, and warm hospitality, Lucknow has something to offer every traveler. And what better way to traverse this magnificent city than with Taxi Yatri's spacious and comfortable Tempo Traveller in Lucknow, where you can embark on a journey of unforgettable memories and experiences!

Bara Imambara: The Architectural Marvel visit 

Our first stop takes us to one of the most iconic landmarks in Lucknow, the Bara Imambara. This architectural masterpiece was built in the 18th century by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula to provide employment opportunities during a severe famine. The main attraction is the Bhool Bhulaiya, a labyrinth of passages and staircases leading to the rooftop with a breathtaking view of the city.

Chota Imambara: The Palace of Lights

Next, we visit the Chota Imambara, also known as the Imambara of Hussainabad. This opulent monument is adorned with grand chandeliers and intricate chandeliers, which come alive during religious festivals like Muharram. The stunning white dome and golden turrets are a treat for architecture enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

Rumi Darwaza: The Gateway to Heritage

As we continue our journey, we encounter the magnificent Rumi Darwaza, an enormous gateway that stands as a testament to Awadhi architecture. Also called the Turkish Gate, it was built during the reign of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula and is said to be a replica of the gateways of Constantinople.

Hazratganj: Shopper's Paradise

For those who love to shop, Hazratganj is the place to be. This bustling shopping district is brimming with traditional bazaars, modern boutiques, and chic cafes. Indulge in some retail therapy, savor delicious local snacks, and experience the vibrant energy of the city.

British Residency: Reliving the Past

Stepping back in time, we visit the British Residency, a site of significant historical importance during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The ruins and gardens evoke a sense of nostalgia, making it an ideal place for history enthusiasts seeking to relive the past.

Janeshwar Mishra Park: Nature's Retreat

Need a break from the bustling city? Janeshwar Mishra Park, one of Asia's largest parks, offers a serene escape. Enjoy a leisurely stroll amidst lush greenery, unwind by the lake, or engage in recreational activities with your fellow travelers.

Indira Gandhi Planetarium: A Celestial Experience

Calling all astronomy lovers! The Indira Gandhi Planetarium offers an enthralling celestial experience with its interactive exhibits and captivating shows. Witness the wonders of the universe and gain a deeper understanding of our cosmic existence.

Ambedkar Memorial Park: Tribute to Social Equality

Dedicated to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, this park is a magnificent amalgamation of architecture, sculpture, and landscaping. The memorial serves as a tribute to the ideals of social equality and justice, making it an inspiring place to visit.

The Residency Restaurant: Culinary Delights

After a day of exploration, treat your taste buds to the delightful Awadhi cuisine at The Residency Restaurant. Savor succulent kebabs, rich biryanis, and mouthwatering sweets that will leave you wanting more.

Gomti Riverfront: Evening Serenity

As the day draws to a close, head to the Gomti Riverfront to witness a stunning sunset. The picturesque view, coupled with the cool breeze, creates a tranquil atmosphere that will stay etched in your memory.

Conclusion

Lucknow, with its regal charm and cultural grandeur, offers a captivating experience for every traveler. Whether you're a history enthusiast, a nature lover, a foodie, or someone seeking a memorable adventure, this city has it all. And with Taxi Yatri's spacious and comfortable Book Tempo Traveller in Lucknow, your journey becomes even more enjoyable and convenient. So, pack your bags, book your ride, and get ready to embark on an enchanting journey through the heart of Lucknow. Happy travels!

#travel #tempo traveller #tempo travel

[thedansemacabres]

2023-2024 Brontoscopic Calendar

Photo by Philippe Donn on Pexels.com

[ID: An image of a black sky with lightning striking in the centre, with golden lights suggesting that it is in a city.]

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Content warning: The brontoscopic calendar refers to several possibly triggering events, such as death, disease, animal death, and abortion. The text also refers to common practices in the ancient world such as slavery, which we must acknowledge for the evil it is.

ACCREDITED TO TAGES, the brontoscopic calendar—a divinatory almanac of sorts—only survives within a Roman Byzantine translation of a Latin edition of an Etruscan calendar, said to have been recorded by Johannes Lydus (“John the Lydian”) in De ostentis (“On Portents”) from Justinian Constantinople. Etruria had many almamacs created by Rasenna’s people across its lifetime—but only one survives in full, which is this calendar. 

The brontoscoptic calendar begins upon the first full moon in Cancer, which in 2023 is July 3rd/July 4th. Please note that the Etruscan day begins at noon, so ensure when using this that you keep it in mind—which I have indicated at the 12:00 mention of each day. For example, if it thundered on July 5th at 09:00, the message would be the one given on the fourth as the Etruscan day has not yet changed. 

To use this calendar, if it thunders look for the day indicated and check the time of the event to ensure it is the proper day. Then look at the prediction and interpret from there. You may also check the 16 divisions of heaven to see which aiser sent the omen you have received. The calendar is very direct in what can happen, but with all divination, there is always more that could be understood and therefore avoided—or followed if favourable. 

This year’s calendar is cut off as next year the full moon in Cancer is June 21st. 

JULY-AUGUST 2023 

CANCER JUNE 21ST-JULY 22ND

LEO JULY 23RD-AUGUST 22ND

FIRST FULL MOON IN CANCER: JULY 3RD-JULY 4TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be an abundance of fruits, with the exception of barley; but dangerous diseases will be inflicted upon bodies.

12:00 JULY 5TH: If in any way it should thunder, women in labour will have an easy delivery,

but there will be abortion of cattle, yet there will be an abundance of fish.

12:00 JULY 6TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a scorching and drying wind,

such that not only grains but even the soft fruits will be parched through and through and shrivel up.

12:00 JULY 7TH: If in any way it should thunder, the air will be cloudy and rainy, so that out of a mouldy dampness the crops will rot.

12:00 JULY 8TH: If in any way it should thunder, ill-omened for the countryside. Those

responsible for villages or towns will be thrown into a state of disorder.

12:00 JULY 9TH: If in any way it should thunder, just as the crops are maturing, some sort of wild pest that has sunk deep into them will waste them.

12:00 JULY 10TH: If in any way it should thunder, diseases will infect [men], but not many shall die. And although the cereal crops shall be successful, the soft fruits shall dry up.

12:00 JULY 11TH: If in any way it should thunder, it indicates wet weather, and ruin of the grain.

12:00 JULY 12TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a loss of flocks through being overrun by wolves.

12:00 JULY 13TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be frequent death, yet prosperity.

12:00 JULY 14TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be days of heat, burning but aarmless; there will be glad festivities in political affairs.

12:00 JULY 15TH: If in any way it should thunder, the same thing as on the preceding day.

12:00 JULY 16TH: If in any way it should thunder, it announces the fall of a ruler.

12:00 JULY 17TH: If in any way it should thunder, the atmosphere shall be burning hot, but there will be abundant harvest and good flow, not the poorest, of the river fish. Bodies, nevertheless, shall be utterly weak.

12:00 JULY 18TH: If in any way it should thunder, the winged creatures shall be injured during the summer, and also the fish shall perish.

12:00 JULY 19TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens not only dearth of the necessities of life, but also war, and a prosperous man shall disappear from public life.

12:00 JULY 20TH: If in any way it should thunder, there shall be days of burning heat and destruction by mice, blind-mice, and locusts. Still, it brings abundance and at the same time murders to the people.

12:00 JULY 21ST: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens destruction to the crops [soft fruits]. 

12:00 JULY 22ND: If in any way it should thunder, pests destructive to the crops shall perish.

12:00 JULY 23RD: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens discord for the community.

12:00 JULY 24TH: If in any way it should thunder, it means there will be a dearth of wine, but an increase in the other crops, and an abundance of fish.

12:00 JULY 25TH: If in any way it should thunder, the hot weather will be especially ruinous.

12:00 JULY 26TH: If in any way it should thunder, it announces good cheer, a putting aside of ills, and an end to disease.

12:00 JULY 27TH: If in any way it should thunder, it announces plenty.

12:00 JULY 28TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be wars and countless ills.

12:00 JULY 29TH: If in any way it should thunder, the winter will be especially harmful to the crops.

12:00 JULY 30TH: If in any way it should thunder, there is danger from the army for the men in power.

12:00 JULY 31ST: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a good harvest for the crops.

12:00 AUGUST 1ST: If in any way it should thunder, the affairs of the queenly city [Tarquinia, or possibly Rome or Constantinople] will be improved.

12:00 AUGUST 2ND: If in any way it should thunder, in a short time there shall be frequent death.

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2023

LEO JULY 23RD-AUGUST 22ND

VIRGO AUGUST 23RD-SEPTEMBER 22ND

NEW MOON: AUGUST 17TH: Upon the new moon, if in any way it should thunder, there shall be plenty, yet there shall be ruin of the flocks.

12:00 AUGUST 18TH: If in any way it should thunder, the late autumn will be good.

12:00 AUGUST 19TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals a heavy winter.

12:00 AUGUST 20TH: If in any way it should thunder, the airs will be turbulent, so that of them will be born scarcity.

12:00 AUGUST 21ST: If in any way it should thunder, there will be an abundance of grain, yet it is the downfall of a virtuous ruler.

12:00 AUGUST 22ND: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens death-bearing diseases to the fortunes of slaves.

12:00 AUGUST 23RD: If in any way it should thunder, there will be rains harmful to the grain fields.

12:00 AUGUST 24TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies peace for the community, but ruin for the cattle herds, and a dry cough shall infect.

12:00 AUGUST 25TH: If in any way it should thunder, it foretells a vision of the gods and the advancement of many good men.

12:00 AUGUST 26TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be lifesaving river waters.

12:00 AUGUST 27TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals hot weather and stormy rain and a scarcity of grain.

12:00 AUGUST 28TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be unexpected cold in the summer, because of which the necessities of life will be spoiled.

12:00 AUGUST 29TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will appear the most poisonous reptiles.

12:00 AUGUST 30TH: If in any way it should thunder, it shows one man will come to power over many. But this man is most unjust in state affairs.

12:00 AUGUST 31ST: If in any way it should thunder, there will be dissension among the common people and a scarcity of grain.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 1ST: If in any way it should thunder, the king of the East … will be overcome [by?] war …and disease will be received from dry hot weather. * this section has been damaged 

12:00 SEPTEMBER 2ND: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies the succession of a great ruler.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 3RD: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens a dearth of crops due to rainy weather.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 4TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies war and the destruction of the powerful. On the other hand, there will be a plenty of cereals.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 5TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens an unhealthy drought.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 6TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be disagreement among the subjects, but not for long.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 7TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals good things for the affairs of state, but for the bodies, diseases around the head.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 8TH: If in any way it should thunder, the dissension of the common people will come to an end.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 9TH: If in any way it should thunder, it shows the possible misfortune of a powerful man.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 10TH: If in any way it should thunder, it will go badly for a band of youth and also for the crops along with them. It will be a disease-bearing time.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 11TH: If in any way it should thunder, after great plenty there will be famine.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 12TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens subcutaneous eruptions to [men’s] bodies.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 13TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a dearth of water and a plague of poisonous reptiles.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 14TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies a good harvest.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 15TH: If in any way it should thunder, men bent on vengeance shall slip into the worst kind of treachery.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2023 

VIRGO AUGUST 23RD-SEPTEMBER 22ND

LIBRA SEPTEMBER 23RD-OCTOBER 22ND

12:00 SEPTEMBER 16TH: If in any way it should thunder, the affairs of the state will be slightly better, and there will be plenty.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 17TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens both diseases and at the same time a dearth of the necessities of life.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 18TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens both [public] trials and debates among the common people.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 19TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a dearth of foodstuffs for

both humans and dumb animals.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 20TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies that the women are the more sagacious.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 21ST: If in any way it should thunder, there will be an abundance of honey, yet a lack of both water and the other foodstuffs.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 22ND: If in any way it should thunder, it signals harsh winds and diseases at the same time.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 23RD: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens harmless disease to the four-footed.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 24TH: If in any way it should thunder, it proclaims good health for men for a full year.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 25TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens bodily pains and wretchedness for the greater part of the people.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 26TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be a good harvest, yet the downfall of reptiles and harm to men.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 27TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be an abundance of cattle fodder and of acorns, but in the first ripening season, it will go badly.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 28TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be plague upon the bodies of both humans and dumb animals.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 29TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals war for all the people, yet an abundance of crops.

12:00 SEPTEMBER 30TH: If in any way it should thunder, affairs will change for the worse.

12:00 OCTOBER 1ST: If in any way it should thunder, it promises a deep peace.

12:00 OCTOBER 2ND: If in any way it should thunder, the men of lowly degree shall be gloomy.

12:00 OCTOBER 3RD: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens civil war.

12:00 OCTOBER 4TH: If in any way it should thunder, the women and the servile class will dare to undertake murders.

12:00 OCTOBER 5TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens a plague on the cattle and disorder in the affairs of state.

12:00 OCTOBER 6TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens at once prosperity and discord among the commons.

12:00 OCTOBER 7TH: If in any way it should thunder, affairs will be moderately good for an entire year.

12:00 OCTOBER 8TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies that the lightning bolt shall fall, and warns of slaughter.

12:00 OCTOBER 9TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens the loss of wellborn youths.

12:00 OCTOBER 10TH: If in any way it should thunder, it foretells that during a stormy winter there will be a scarcity of soft fruits.

12:00 OCTOBER 11TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals war.

12:00 OCTOBER 12TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens at once wars and treachery.

12:00 OCTOBER 13TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals both an abundance of crops and a loss by death of cattle.

12:00 OCTOBER 14TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signals no sort of reversal.

12:00 OCTOBER 15TH:If in any way it should thunder, it threatens diseases in the city over which it [the thunder] is cast down.

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2023

LIBRA SEPTEMBER 23RD-OCTOBER 22ND

SCORPIO OCTOBER 23RD-NOVEMBER 22ND

12:00 OCTOBER 16TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies both a good harvest and good cheer.

12:00 OCTOBER 17TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be discord among the common people.

12:00 OCTOBER 18TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies heavy rains and war.

12:00 OCTOBER 19TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies the downfall of a powerful man and preparation for war.

12:00 OCTOBER 20TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies an abundance of barley but a decrease in wheat.

12:00 OCTOBER 21ST: If in any way it should thunder, there shall be power among the women greater than [what is] appropriate to their nature.

12:00 OCTOBER 22ND: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens a disease and out of it, a disaster for the servile class.

12:00 OCTOBER 23RD: If in any way it should thunder, it indicates that those especially powerful will consider crooked dealings in government, but they will not achieve their aims.

12:00 OCTOBER 24TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens that a disease-bearing wind will blow.

12:00 OCTOBER 25TH: If in any way it should thunder, there will be strife in the area in which the thunder is let loose; for another place [it is] not inapplicable.

12:00 OCTOBER 26TH: If in any way it should thunder, the underlings of the wellborn will foment revolution in the state.

12:00 OCTOBER 27TH: If in any way it should thunder, it says that the time of harvest shall be very rainy and there shall be famine.

12:00 OCTOBER 28TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens grave famine.

12:00 OCTOBER 29TH: If in any way it should thunder, it threatens diseases.

12:00 OCTOBER 30TH: If in any way it should thunder, it signifies a wet spell, but at the same time, prosperity.

12:00 OCTOBER 31ST: If in any way it should thunder, it is made known that there will be good sprouting, but [the plants will be] fruitless.

12:00 NOVEMBER 1ST: If it thunders, it threatens a lack of the necessities.

12:00 NOVEMBER 2ND: If it thunders, it signals both famine and wars.

12:00 NOVEMBER 3RD: If it thunders, the fruits of the trees will be successful, but there will be diseases and sedition among the commons.

12:00 NOVEMBER 4TH: If it thunders, it threatens the destruction of a famous man and war.

12:00 NOVEMBER 5TH: If it thunders, it threatens ills and losses for the people.

12:00 NOVEMBER 6TH: If it thunders, it signals prosperity yet a heavy and wet winter.

12:00 NOVEMBER 7TH: If it thunders, it foretells a time of need during the winter of the year.

12:00 NOVEMBER 8TH: If it thunders, it threatens a drought. There will be an abundant harvest of the hard-shelled fruits [nuts?], around late autumn though, they will be destroyed by storms.

12:00 NOVEMBER 9TH:If it thunders, out of civil unrest a tyrant shall be raised up, and he will be undone, but the powerful will be destroyed utterly with insufferable penalties.

12:00 NOVEMBER 10TH: If it thunders, a corrupt ruler will be felled by divine decision.

12:00 NOVEMBER 11TH: If it thunders, powerful men will work hatred toward themselves, and shall take sides against each other.

12:00 NOVEMBER 12TH: If it thunders, there will be signs revealing great things. Beware lest it pour rain upon the fire of joyful elation.

12:00 NOVEMBER 13TH: If it thunders, it threatens a severe drought.

12:00 NOVEMBER 14TH: If it thunders, affairs of state [shall change] from worse to better.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023

SCORPIO OCTOBER 23RD-NOVEMBER 22ND

SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER 23RD-DECEMBER 21ST

12:00 NOVEMBER 15TH: If it thunders, it threatens a corrupt tyrant over the affairs of state.

12:00 NOVEMBER 16TH: If it thunders, there will be prosperity but the destruction of the mice of dry land.

12:00 NOVEMBER 17TH: If it thunders, it signifies hurricanes and disturbances by which the trees will be overturned; there will be a great disruption in the affairs of common people.

12:00 NOVEMBER 18TH: If it thunders, the lower classes will have the upper hand over their betters, and the mildness of the air will be healthy.

12:00 NOVEMBER 19TH: If it thunders, there will be a surplus of all the necessities excepting grain.

12:00 NOVEMBER 20TH: If it thunders, appearance of future abundance, yet harvest will be less plentiful and autumn practically empty of fruit.

12:00 NOVEMBER 21ST: If it thunders, pulses will be plentiful but wine less.

12:00 NOVEMBER 22ND: If it thunders, an earthquake with roaring is to be expected.

12:00 NOVEMBER 23RD: If it thunders, it threatens destruction to wild beasts.

12:00 NOVEMBER 24RTH: If it thunders, it signifies the downfall of a praiseworthy man.

12:00 NOVEMBER 25TH: If it thunders, it signifies a strange sort of wind will be of service to the pastures.

12:00 NOVEMBER 26TH: If it thunders, there will be prosperity, but wind squalls will oppress.

12:00 NOVEMBER 27TH: If it thunders, commerce [Literally, “contracts” or “business dealings”] will be good, and prosperity in addition. He who controls the government with heavy hand will not be strong for very long.

12:00 NOVEMBER 28TH: If it thunders, it threatens war and the loss of flocks to death.

12:00 NOVEMBER 29TH: If it thunders, there will be scarcity from a dry and searing wind falling upon the crops.

12:00 NOVEMBER 30TH: If it thunders, men will be weakened in such a manner that they will seem to be unrecognizable.

12:00 DECEMBER 1ST: If it thunders, good fortune for a rich man and for men wellborn.

12:00 DECEMBER 2ND: If it thunders, it signifies a plentiful grain supply brought in from foreign lands.

12:00 DECEMBER 3RD: If it thunders, it warns the downfall of a ruler or the overthrow of a king, but it warns both discord among the common people and abundance.

12:00 DECEMBER 4TH: If it thunders, it warns there will be a festering wound, and for the many,extreme suffering out of the discord.

12:00 DECEMBER 5TH: If it thunders, there will be coughing sicknesses and oppression of the heart.

12:00 DECEMBER 6TH: If it thunders, it threatens for the people, bad conditions and spotted diseases.

12:00 DECEMBER 7TH: If it thunders, the people will be of marvelously good cheer.

12:00 DECEMBER 8TH: If it thunders, out of the discord of those in power, the common people will oppress [others].

12:00 DECEMBER 9TH: If it thunders, there will be heavy misery resulting from misfortunes.

12:00 DECEMBER 10TH: If it thunders, there will be an increase of animals, but at the same time they will suffer thirst.

12:00 DECEMBER 11TH: If it thunders, it signifies heavy rains.

12:00 DECEMBER 12TH: If it thunders, there will be a dearth of the necessities.

12:00 DECEMBER 13TH: If it thunders, a year of serious disease.

12:00 DECEMBER 14TH: If it thunders, it signifies not merely prosperity, but even fewer enemies, and good cheer for the state.

DECEMBER 2023-JANUARY 2024

SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER 23RD-DECEMBER 21ST

CAPRICORN DECEMBER 22ND-JANUARY 19TH

12:00 DECEMBER 15TH: If it thunders, it signifies discord for the city.

12:00 DECEMBER 16TH: If it thunders, it foretells prosperity.

12:00 DECEMBER 17TH: If it thunders, situations will pertain through which the lower classes will oppress [their] betters.

12:00 DECEMBER 18TH: If it thunders, grain will be better.

12:00 DECEMBER 19TH: If it thunders, it signifies storm for the state, and disease for humans and dumb animals alike.

12:00 DECEMBER 20TH: If it thunders, borers will ruin the grain.

12:00 DECEMBER 21ST: If it thunders, for those who are in the west, both humans and dumb beasts, diseases.

12:00 DECEMBER 22ND: If it thunders, it says gluttony shall come about from menacing diseases.

12:00 DECEMBER 23RD: If it thunders, the common people will be led into misery, but an abundance of daily provisions.

12:00 DECEMBER 24TH: If it thunders, for those in power, it makes an end to their perverted plans. A parching wind will wrack the trees.

12:00 DECEMBER 25TH: If it thunders, men shall give blessings to the god, for the wind shall blow out of the east.

12:00 DECEMBER 26TH: If it thunders, it indicates insomnia for some time for men.

12:00 DECEMBER 27th: If it thunders, a wealthy yet sickly period threatens, tormenting bodies with internal worms.

12:00 DECEMBER 28TH: If it thunders, poisonous snakes shall somehow be gently undone by the men.

12:00 DECEMBER 29TH: If it thunders, the fish especially plentiful, but it shall plague the water-bound beasts. The commonwealth rather better.

12:00 DECEMBER 30TH: If it thunders, the creation of locusts and field-voles, to the king, danger, and there will be an abundance of grain.

12:00 DECEMBER 31ST: If it thunders, it signifies plentiful fodder for the flocks.

12:00 JANUARY 1ST: If it thunders, it signifies plentiful fodder for the flocks.

12:00 JANUARY 2ND: If it thunders, it signifies war and woes for city folk.

12:00 JANUARY 3RD: If it thunders, welfare of women.

12:00 JANUARY 4TH: If it thunders, it signifies famine not of long duration.

12:00 JANUARY 5TH: If it thunders, the mice shall perish; an abundance not merely of grain but also of pasturage, and a plenty of fish.

12:00 JANUARY 6TH: If it thunders, it signifies a year of well-being.

12:00 JANUARY 7TH: If it thunders, disease-bearing wind will blow.

12:00 JANUARY 8TH: If it thunders, the watch post shall complete for the state good service against enemy tricks.

12:00 JANUARY 9TH: If it thunders, there will be a very dangerous war.

12:00 JANUARY 10TH: If it thunders, it signifies a civil war and the death of many.

12:00 JANUARY 11TH: If it thunders, it threatens the same.

12:00 JANUARY 12TH: If it thunders, many of the councilmen of the wealthier rank shall be ruined utterly by cowardice.

12:00 JANUARY 13TH: If it thunders, the lower classes will do better, but the hoped-for fruit harvest shall be destroyed.

12:00 JANUARY 14TH: If it thunders, the mortals shall live in a condition more favored by the gods. Naturally, evils [will come] in due proportion.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 

CAPRICORN DECEMBER 22ND-JANUARY 19TH

AQUARIUS JANUARY 20TH-FEBRUARY 18TH

12:00 JANUARY 15TH: If it thunders, it signifies a year of well-being according to concord.

12:00 JANUARY 16TH: If it thunders, a plenty of fish and especially of fruits.

12:00 JANUARY 17TH: If it thunders, men will excessively consume their flocks because of a dearth of fish.

12:00 JANUARY 18TH: If it thunders, winter will be heavy, yet [there will be] abundance also.

12:00 JANUARY 19TH: If it thunders, it threatens mangy diseases.

12:00 JANUARY 20TH: If it thunders, the men shall be visited with visions of the faces of the gods, they shall experience a bad outcome.

12:00 JANUARY 21ST: If it thunders, it signifies the same for all.

12:00 JANUARY 22ND: If it thunders, virulent disease; out of it, though, will be an abundance of crops, but a plague on the flocks.

12:00 JANUARY 23RD: If it thunders, there will be the downfall of a famous man.

12:00 JANUARY 24TH: If it thunders, it threatens slaughter for men from diseases, but the fish shall be abundant.

12:00 JANUARY 25TH: If it thunders, heat-bearing shall be the summer season, and plenty imported from foreign lands.

12:00 JANUARY 26TH: If it thunders, it threatens diseases from diarrhea.

12:00 JANUARY 27TH: If it thunders, plenty, yet diseases it threatens.

12:00 JANUARY 28TH: If it thunders, it signifies at the same time civil war and abundance.

12:00 JANUARY 29TH: If it thunders, many will set out for war but few shall return.

12:00 JANUARY 30TH: If it thunders, newfangled affairs for the state.

12:00 JANUARY 31ST: If it thunders, it threatens that small locusts shall be born, yet there will still be plenty.

12:00 FEBRUARY 1ST: If it thunders, there shall be a heavy war.

12:00 FEBRUARY 2ND: If it thunders, it threatens prolongation of war.

12:00 FEBRUARY 3RD: If it thunders, it tells a lack of the necessities.

12:00 FEBRUARY 4TH: If it thunders, it threatens a hot and disease-making wind will blow.

12:00 FEBRUARY 5TH: If it thunders, the summer will be hot but plentiful in crops.

12:00 FEBRUARY 6TH: If it thunders, it signifies a disease for men but a harmless one.

12:00 FEBRUARY 7TH: If it thunders, it threatens civil wars for the city, and a plague on the beasts of the woods.

12:00 FEBRUARY 8TH: If it thunders, a movement of troops to war, but it will turn out well.

12:00 FEBRUARY 9TH: If it thunders, it threatens diseases for the slaves.

12:00 FEBRUARY 10TH: If it thunders, the king will help many.

12:00 FEBRUARY 11TH: If it thunders, the hatching of locusts.

12:00 FEBRUARY 12TH: If it thunders, it signifies the most healthful leanness for the bodies.

12:00 FEBRUARY 13TH: If it thunders, it signifies a rebellion against the kingdom and, reasonably, war.

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2024

AQUARIUS JANUARY 20TH-FEBRUARY 18TH

PISCES FEBRUARY 19TH-MARCH 20TH

12:00 FEBRUARY 14TH: If it thunders, a fast wind will blow, but not dangerous.

12:00 FEBRUARY 15TH: If it thunders, there will be unlooked-for war.

12:00 FEBRUARY 16TH: If it thunders, it shows after victory, loss for those in the war. Still, there will be plenty.

12:00 FEBRUARY 17TH: If it thunders, the common people will agree to make peace.

12:00 FEBRUARY 18th: If it thunders, it signals health for the flocks.

12:00 FEBRUARY 19th:  If it thunders, it threatens a coughing sickness, but signifies an abundance of fish and of fruits.

12:00 FEBRUARY 20th: If it thunders, there will be a slave revolt and recurring illness.

12:00 FEBRUARY 21ST: If it thunders, the ruler of the state shall be in danger from the people.

12:00 FEBRUARY 22ND:  If it thunders, the king of the East shall be in danger.

12:00 FEBRUARY 23RD: If it thunders, it signifies rapid movement of wind, and a plenty of grain, but a dearth of other crops.

12:00 FEBRUARY 24TH: If it thunders, it signals famine [reaching] just up to dumb animals.

12:00 FEBRUARY 25TH: If it thunders, men shall be damaged in their faces, but there will be much fodder [for horses/cattle], and a plenty of fish.

12:00 FEBRUARY 26TH: If it thunders, it threatens diseases.

12:00 FEBRUARY 27TH: If it thunders, it threatens need, and the birth of mice, and the destruction of four-footed creatures.

12:00 FEBRUARY 28TH: If it thunders, servile revolt, and punishment for them, and abundance of crops.

12:00 FEBRUARY 29TH: If it thunders, the people shall be oppressed by the king.

12:00 MARCH 1st: If it thunders, it threatens non-dangerous diseases.

12:00 MARCH 2ND:  If it thunders, affairs circulating abroad shall make the people rise up.

12:00 MARCH 3RD: If it thunders, when the king will have victory, then the common people will have the upper hand/stronger position.

12:00 MARCH  4TH: If it thunders, there will be abundance of imported goods, but a coughing disease will afflict bodies.

12:00 MARCH 5TH: If it thunders, the king hated by many shall be the object of a final plot.

12:00 MARCH 6TH: If it thunders, there will be plenty, but also there will be an abundance of mice and of deer.

12:00 MARCH 7TH: If it thunders, it signifies good order for the city.

12:00 MARCH 8TH: If it thunders, it signifies disease following want.

12:00 MARCH 9TH: If it thunders, there will be unrest among the slaves.

12:00 MARCH 10TH: If it thunders, many shall be cut down by a man in power, but in the end he himself [will be killed].

12:00 MARCH 11TH: If it thunders, it signifies non-threatening diseases.

12:00 MARCH 12TH: If it thunders, the fish of the sea shall be plentiful, but yet the flocks will be ruined by death.

12:00 MARCH 13TH: If it thunders, the condition of the air oppressive, and disease-bearing for all.

12:00 MARCH 14TH: If it thunders, it threatens plentiful death.

MARCH-APRIL 2024

PISCES FEBRUARY 19TH-MARCH 20TH

ARIES MARCH 21ST-APRIL 19TH

12:00 MARCH 15TH: If it thunders, it threatens war and the ruin of wealthy men.

12:00 MARCH 16TH: If it thunders, wheat in less supply, but barley better, and an increase in livestock, but there will be a wasting away of humans.

12:00 MARCH 17TH: If it thunders, there will be civil unrest.

12:00 MARCH 18TH: If it thunders, men shall be troubled not only in visage but also in their very minds.

12:00 MARCH 19TH: If it thunders, there will be a large harvest, a destruction for men.

12:00 MARCH 20TH: If it thunders, destruction of grain supplies and especially barley.

12:00 MARCH 21ST: If it thunders, it threatens destruction though not for long to humans.

12:00 MARCH 22ND: If it thunders, the greatest affair will inflame the state, and also fish will increase and yet dangerous wild beasts shall perish.

12:00 MARCH 23RD: If it thunders, worse the barley.

12:00 MARCH 24TH: If it thunders, the wild beasts shall undo the humans.

12:00 MARCH 25TH: If it thunders, good deliveries [in childbirth] for women.

12:00 MARCH 26TH: If it thunders, it threatens frequent death and unseasonable winds.

12:00 MARCH 27TH: If it thunders, there will be plenty, yet at the same time, political unrest.

12:00 MARCH 28TH: If it thunders, it threatens loss of progeny, and an onslaught of poisonous reptiles.

12:00 MARCH 29TH: If it thunders, the air shall carry plague, creation of both wild beasts and mice.

12:00 MARCH 30TH: If it thunders, to the people, auspicious, but of the powerful ones, bad [will come] out of discord.

12:00 MARCH 31ST: If it thunders, summer will be most fruitful.

12:00 APRIL 1ST:  If it thunders, it threatens a heavy wind and eruption of pustules on bodies.

12:00 APRIL 2ND: If it thunders, there will be a throng of reptiles, and in addition, of worms.

12:00 APRIL 3RD: If it thunders, it signifies fine breezes.

12:00 APRIL 4TH: If it thunders, it signifies abundance.

12:00 APRIL 5TH: If it thunders, the air will be disease-carrying but not lethal.

12:00 APRIL 6TH: If it thunders, it threatens deformity for men, but destruction for birds.

12:00 APRIL 7TH: If it thunders, it threatens good health for men, but destruction for both fish and reptiles.

12:00 APRIL 8TH: If it thunders, to those living luxuriously, a reversal. There will be wars, and a heavy storm.

12:00 APRIL 9TH: If it thunders, it threatens hot weather, and a lack of water, and scabs on bodies.

12:00 APRIL 10TH:  If it thunders, it signifies unrest among the commons.

12:00 APRIL 11TH: If it thunders, it prophesies abundance, yet at the same time, a disease-giving wind will blow.

12:00 APRIL 12TH: If it thunders, it signifies war and abundance.

12:00 APRIL 13TH: If it thunders, it signifies good things with long duration after great divisions of the people.

APRIL-MAY 2024

ARIES MARCH 21ST-APRIL 19TH

TAURUS APRIL 20TH-MAY 20TH

12:00 APRIL 14TH: If it thunders, for the entire year there will be strife and disagreements.

12:00 APRIL 15TH: If it thunders, it shall end the threatening affairs.

12:00 APRIL 16TH: If it thunders, for the state, discord following famine.

12:00 APRIL 17TH: If it thunders, there will be boundless prosperity.

APRIL 18TH: If it thunders, the spring will be sunny and the summer fruitful.

12:00 APRIL 19TH: If it thunders, the same and even better.

12:00 APRIL 20TH: If it thunders, a heavy wind will arise, which shall move the affairs of powerful men.

12:00 APRIL 21ST: If it thunders, it signals rains.

12:00 APRIL 22ND: If it thunders, it threatens ruin of man and creation of wild beasts.

12:00 APRIL 23RD: If it thunders, destruction to the four-footed.

12:00 APRIL 24TH: If it thunders, it signifies heavy rain and the creation of locusts.

12:00 APRIL 25TH: If it thunders, a powerful man in politics or a general is endangered;

on his behalf, battles will be waged, and the wild beasts shall fall upon man.

12:00 APRIL 26TH: If it thunders, there will be plenty but the wild beasts shall be destroyed and the fish shall increase; and reptiles will trouble habitations but will not be harmful.

12:00 APRIL 27TH: If it thunders, it signals prosperity but threatens a death of men and birth of wild beasts.

12:00 APRIL 28TH: If it thunders, it signals hot spells and drought and a great throng of mice and fish.

12:00 APRIL 29TH: If it thunders, healthful the year, yet lacking in necessities.

12:00 APRIL 30TH: If it thunders, something unexpected will befall the people; ruin upon ruin for men and four-footed beasts.

12:00 MAY 1ST: If it thunders, it signifies a period of severe rain, and disease, and the birth of locusts, barrenness [of crops] near at hand.

12:00 MAY 2ND: If it thunders, a very dry summer and destructive.

12:00 MAY 3RD: If it thunders, man will live with better behavior at the same time as more prosperously.

12:00 MAY 4TH: If it thunders, it signifies prosperity after wars and hot spells causing destruction.

12:00 MAY 5TH: If it thunders, destruction of birds, but a plenty of daily supplies.

12:00 MAY 6TH: If it thunders, it signifies discord.

12:00 MAY 7TH: If it thunders, it signifies prosperity.

12:00 MAY 8TH: If it thunders, new affairs are given birth among the people.

12:00 MAY 9TH: If it thunders, it announces [the] acquisition of imported slaves.

12:00 MAY 10TH: If it thunders, it signifies abundance imported from abroad.

12:00 MAY 11TH: If it thunders, there will be a plenty of marine fish.

12:00 MAY 12TH: If it thunders, the women shall obtain the better reputation.

12:00 MAY 13TH: If it thunders, there will be some powerful, self-possessed man of the kingdom, through whom [will come] good cheer.

MAY-JUNE 2024

TAURUS APRIL 20TH-MAY 20TH

GEMINI MAY 21ST-JUNE 21ST

12:00 MAY 14TH: If it thunders, it threatens civil discord and the downfalls of fortunes.

12:00 MAY 15TH: If it thunders, sign of justice, bearing prosperity to good men, and paltry things to evil men.

12:00 MAY 16TH: If it thunders, it signifies profit out of a grain supply brought from abroad.

12:00 MAY 17TH: If it thunders, anger it threatens of those more powerful against the upright.

12:00 MAY 18TH: If it thunders, it signals a hot summer early [in the season] but a healthful year.

12:00 MAY 19TH: If it thunders, civil wars will arise.

12:00 MAY 20TH: If it thunders, it signifies all good things and a prosperous season.

12:00 MAY 21ST: If it thunders, it signifies heavy rains bearing disease.

12:00 MAY 22nd: If it thunders, it signifies victory for the kingdom and good cheer for the powerful ones.

12:00 MAY 23RD: If it thunders, of upright men there will be advances.

12:00 MAY 24TH: If it thunders, it signals the same things.

12:00 MAY 25TH: If it thunders, rains and prosperity and ruin of fish it signifies.

12:00 MAY 26TH: If it thunders, for men and for cattle destruction it threatens.

12:00 MAY 27TH: If it thunders, good health and prosperity it signifies.

12:00 MAY 28TH: If it thunders, it signals a plague.

12:00 MAY 29TH: If it thunders, it signifies abundance but at the same time the birth of field-voles.

12:00 MAY 30TH: If it thunders, it signals a plenty of daily supplies.

12:00 MAY 31ST: If it thunders, it signals discord and thoughtlessness of men.

12:00 JUNE 1ST:  If it thunders, a powerful man in the state shall be deprived at once of both reputation and property.

12:00 JUNE 2ND: If it thunders, it signals divine anger.

12:00 JUNE 3RD: If it thunders, it signifies good fortune for the crops, yet war for the state.

12:00 JUNE 4TH: If it thunders, it will be the destruction of the flies.

12:00 JUNE 5TH: If it thunders, it signifies a rain helpful for the sprouting time.

12:00 JUNE 6TH: If it thunders, there will be discord among those in power, but their plans will be exposed.

12:00 JUNE 7TH: If it thunders, peace during the entire year.

12:00 JUNE 8TH: If it thunders, it signifies great hope of fruits and scarcity of harvests.

12:00 JUNE 9TH: If it thunders, omens from the sky incredibly shall be revealed.

12:00 JUNE 10TH: If it thunders, by shields the people shall be saved.

12:00 JUNE 11TH:  If it thunders, a zephyrus will prevail.

12:00 JUNE 12TH: If it thunders, a shower of good things.

JUNE 2024

GEMINI MAY 21ST-JUNE 21ST

LEO JULY 23RD-AUGUST 22ND

12:00 JUNE 13TH: If it thunders, it signifies flight for the common people and loss of honor.

12:00 JUNE 14TH: If it thunders, it threatens need.

12:00 JUNE 15TH: If it thunders, it signifies abundance imported from abroad.

12:00 JUNE 16TH: If it thunders, the air will be mild and the crops will be plentiful.

12:00 JUNE 17TH: If it thunders, there will be an interchange of hardships in political affairs, and wheat more plentiful than barley. The pulses, however, will be ruined.

12:00 JUNE 18TH:  If it thunders, it signifies that crops will ripen in haste and will be ruined.

12:00 JUNE 19TH: If it thunders, there will be abundance of birds and fish.

12:00 JUNE 20TH: If it thunders, ill-omened for the common people.

FULL MOON IN CANCER JUNE 21ST, 2024: If in any way it should thunder, there will be an abundance of fruits, with the exception of barley; but dangerous diseases will be inflicted upon bodies.

References

The Religion of the Etruscans. (2006). In University of Texas Press eBooks. University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/706873

Turfa, J. M. (2012). Divining the Etruscan World: The Brontoscopic Calendar and Religious Practice.

#rasenna polytheism #etruscan polytheism #etruscan polytheist #rasenna polytheist #pagan #paganism #divination #witchblr #witch #pagan reconstruction

[wellshoopes]

The Fight Manifesto

You can not breathe, you do not know the way out, and everything is coming to an end. Is that how it feels when your world is slowly falling apart? So many traumatizing experiences could happen all at once that all seem to be crashing down on us. However, your choice is to choose one, fight or flight. The overarching theme of my blogs has been people who are continuing to fight. The painting that I wrote about for assignment 4 called Gong by Pierre Alechinsky reflected this overarching theme. This painting was an abstract work of art that was meant to have a meaning given to it. For this painting, I saw a woman who was trapped with no hope of getting out. She was out of energy and scared, but she continued to fight with the strength that she had left. This painting shows the moment when the women realized everything had not been pointless. She finally saw the light at the end of the suffering. The people that I wrote about this semester believe even with darkness there can be light, and this is something that I referenced in our first assignment which was a photograph that I took. A brutal storm just passed over and everyone had run for their cars. Although, we took cover and waited for the storm out for what ended up being one of the most gorgeous sunsets Naples has shown me. My writing was not about the horrific parts of life we experience. It was meant to show the time when the fighting was over. Where not giving up served its purpose, and the beautiful outcome of success was awarded to us. This is also where our assignment 10 ties into my overarching theme which was the 5 pictures I took. The Day After A Disaster is what I titled my picture of the Naples Pier after Hurricane Ian. This picture showed destruction with no faith in a better outcome. These situations seem to put us all in complete disbelief because this is something we can not control. This was a disaster that no one could have fought off. We just had to prepare for the worst and choose flight instead of fight. Which is something that my overarching theme completely disagrees with. There should never be a time when we stand down and let others control the outcomes of our situations. However, what our country did after this experience is what showed if we were going to stand down and hide. Instead of reliving the trauma, we found ways to solve our situations. Restaurants, hotels, large corporations, government officials, and our people came together to assist in any way possible. We showed that with darkness there can be light, and to reach the light you need to fight in whatever way you know how. Together we rebuilt what we could and we stood as a community that felt powerful against any circumstances. We found comfort in believing that we would all be okay again. I believe that with fight there can still be comfort and relaxation. This is something that was shown in assignment 14 where I wrote about the Church of Holy Wisdom of God. This writing was about the final stretch where you find ultimate peace. This church suffocated me at first as I viewed the photograph, but as I looked and researched more it brought me a feeling of comfort. The light being drowned into the room showed that there was no more searching left. The fight was over and ultimate success was achieved. As I researched more into this church; which is also called Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. I learned it was originally a Greek Orthodox Church in 360 AD, and also a glorious landmark that many wanted. After a long fight from the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church was finally awarded to the Ottoman Empire. It served as a mosque until 1935 when it was then created into a museum. This was a time in the past when people made history by fighting instead of backing down at the world crashing down.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Tuesday 2 July 1833

8 ½

12¼

had π- quietly in bed three quarter’s hour till my getting up – fine morning and F65° at 8 ½ - breakfast at 10 - dawdling over 1 thing or other - with π- read her letter to Mr Crewe said it was in the same style as she wrote to me concluding with affectionately yours read a few pages of Herschell [Herschel] on the study of natural philosophy and natural history Lardners’ cabinet cyclopaedia - Dinner at 2 - Mr L- bought M- a nice little 6 years old grey horse yesterday price 40 guineas and bought a hack at the same price -  Miss Cholmley wrote to ask us to dinner tomorrow and meet the Sympsons in the evening π-  wrote note to Mrs Dormer said for me that I did not yet despair of meeting her on the continent  just wished Miss Bowes goodnight and off from Leamington at 3 25 - changed horses at 4 ½ at Gaydon Inn in 8 minutes - at 5 25 got out of the carriage for 10 minutes and walked up to the very pretty hill-placed church of Warmington a very picturesque nice village in the valley just below and about 6 miles from Banbury  - red argillaceous sandstone made road from Gaydon – rather hilly – must be heavy in the winter – beautifully wooded round-topped verdant hills and rich country – Banbury one of the nicest prettiest neat old towns I ever saw – changed horses at the Red Lion – the best Inn, looks clean and quiet and inviting – plants in large pots (with a red lion on each, placed over the door and bay windows) very pretty effect, and pretty looking courtyard – about 3 miles on the road the very pretty picturesque village of Teddington with its tall pretty spire – still red argillaceous sandstone to North Aston, and then whiter-coloured road – North Aston where we changed horses a neat small Inn (single house) 9 miles from Banbury – view on both sides more extensive and in the distance plainer, and little wooded - at the Angel Inn Oxford at 9 - Oxford perhaps the most picturesquely beautiful town I have ever seen - strolled out for ½ hour - then tea and came upstairs at 10 ¾ - M- sat by me knetting while I wrote the above of today - a slight shower just on reaching Banbury and a little light rain afterwards but not much – I read (partly aloud) as we came along the 1st 90 pp. of Slades’ journey to Constantinople - F61° now at 11 ¾ - in our double bedded room ½ hour remaking our bed - making 2 into 1, or so scanty were the bed clothes and so bad the bedding there would have been no choice of sleep

[bulgariastreets]

Great excitement and bawling

At last, with great excitement and bawling, to which the Pool late on the evening of Greenwich fair was nothing, we got out of the Golden Horn. A long caique with a sail, and twelve or fourteen passengers, overtook us, like the wind, and soon shot ahead. The people smoked and drank coffee, all working their beads about with restless irritability; and a band of music played airs from the operas of Donizetti and Verdi. The great feature of this band was the performer on the Pandean pipes ; it Ls impossible to conceive the excellent music he blew out from them. They contained four octaves, and were not flat, as the common ones, but curved round, so that his lips formed the arc of a circle, as it were, of which his neck was the centre. Only associating the Pandman pipes with a street drum, as accompanying the exertions of Punch, acrobats, and the fantoccini, I was amazed to find what they were really capable of, when well played.

The voyage lasted, altogether, nearly two hours, and each time passengers were landed the riot was awful. The captain, who was a little podgy man, in a fez and frock-coat, stormed and swore, and jumped about on the paddle-boxes like a maniac. The watermen in the caiques fought and hanged each other with a ferocity that exceeded the boatmen at the Piraeus, as they struggled to get their fragile barks next the steamer; and the passengers jostled, and pushed, and so increased the confusion, that it was wonderful how they were not all drowned. All this went on at every island, but the most frightful to-do was at Prinkipo ; and, although a tolerable swimmer, I was not sorry when our over-laden caique touched the shore. We had been nearly swamped by getting between two larger boats, in a manner that would have been dangerous on a river, but here a heavy sea was running city tours istanbul.

Principally Greeks

We landed under a chi, along which a row of coffee-houses and some private villas ran; and, at the extremity of the promenade, we found an inn, in a fine position, with a view of Constantinople in the distance, looking far more beautiful than Venice — which, in all truth, is ‘not so attractive on first sight as some writers would make it — with the domes and minarets of Stamboul shining like gold, in the sunset. The hotel was kept by a Neapolitan; and was built entirely of light thin wood — very like those we see in Switzerland, in high and out-of-the-way spots. The landlord appeared very anxious to make his customers comfortable. ‘He gave us a very good dinner at a table-dhoti, where we sat down some fourteen or sixteen — principally Greeks; but he somewhat committed himself in recommending a bottle of Broussa beer to our notice. Broussa is a city in Asia hlinor, celebrated for its manufactories of silk, which supply the Levant. It certainly cannot claim any distinction for its breweries, for I never tasted anything so nasty in my life. With my eyes shut, I could have imagined it a species of effervescing black-draught.

As soon as dinner was over, we turned out for a stroll about the village, which possesses several very novel and entertaining features. I have said that there was a row of coffee-houses on the heights facing the sea. These were all wooden buildings with porticos before them; and on the opposite side of the promenade, in front, were platforms, surrounded by railings, built to project over the edge of the cliff, and singularly insecure. The masters supply coffee, narghiles, and a very tolerable punch.

The steamboat band was playing in front of the principal house ; and before all of them were suspended hoops, with thin white cylinders depending from them, which I at first took to be candles. But I found afterwards that they were blue-lights; and that when the beauties of Prinkipo assembled, (which they were to do on tho morrow in great numbers,) and it got dark, some public-spirited and gallant gentleman would pay to have one of these fireworks ignited, and thus show off the fair gazers to the admiration of the spectators. At present there were not many ladies about. Our steamer was evidently the “husband’s boat;” and they were listening to tho gossip of Constantinople in their own houses.

#Great excitement and bawling

[airaglub]

Fine views of the Bosphorus

We were at a tolerable elevation, and now and then got fine views of the Bosphorus. Occasionally, a long smooth piece of turf offered a course for a capital gallop, and the air was so pure and delightful, that our spirits were raised to the highest degree. Hence the thirteen miles between Pera and Buyukdere appeared to be traversed at express speed. I did not see many travellers on the road. Now and then an araba or teleha was met, crawling along—the latter usually filled with Greek girls — and we came up with two or three horsemen, apparently on a journey, and armed to the teeth. Once, also, in the distance, I saw a string of camels, laden, most probably, with charcoal, for Constantinople; but this was all. The difference in traffic which a road of the same relation would have shown, between two of our humblest market-towns in England, was a matter of some interest.

As we approached Buyukdere the country became very rich and beautiful, and a little way out of the village, in a large meadow, I was shown some wonderfully fine plane trees, under which Godfrey de Bouillon was said to have encamped, when on his way to the crusades. This is one of those pleasant local legends, which a traveller never believes, and yet would not spare from any agreeable spot he may be passing. So it is with the Pihine, and William Toll’s country. The plane trees here are finer even than those in the Sultan’s valley, on the opposite side of the Bosphorus. Formerly there were several more, and they grow so closely together that they look as though one root was sending up several huge stems city tours istanbul.

Facing the Bosphorus

We came down to the sufiny water-side, along which the village runs, and stopped at an excellent house — the Hotel de V Empire Ottoman, kept by a Piedmontese and his wife, and facing the Bosphorus. The bill of this establishment was in five languages, — viz., Turkish, Armenian, French, Greek and English; and, for a wonder, there were none of those amusing mistakes in the latter, for which polyglot hotel cards abroad are so famous.

This was one of the loveliest mornings I ever knew. The Bosphorus was sparkling like a stream of liquid lapis-lazuli, and so beautifully clear that all the shells and pebbles at the bottom were perceptible, as well as numbers of gleaming fish. A light cool breeze came up from the Euxine, just moving the pennants of the ships lying about, and the mists on the Asiatic side were gradually lifting up and dispersing, as they revealed the beautiful hills near the Genoese castle. All the pretty card-board waterside palaces, far away on either side, came out brightly in the clear sunlight against the dark woods behind them. Two or three bits of bright color, in the dresses of the people who lounged about, came in exactly where they were wanted, for effect, and all points contributed to make so charming an ensemble, that I marveled how any one, with means and leisure at their command, could give up this glittering spot for the noisome, dusty, corpse-crammed Pera.

#Fine views of the Bosphorus

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Great excitement and bawling

At last, with great excitement and bawling, to which the Pool late on the evening of Greenwich fair was nothing, we got out of the Golden Horn. A long caique with a sail, and twelve or fourteen passengers, overtook us, like the wind, and soon shot ahead. The people smoked and drank coffee, all working their beads about with restless irritability; and a band of music played airs from the operas of Donizetti and Verdi. The great feature of this band was the performer on the Pandean pipes ; it Ls impossible to conceive the excellent music he blew out from them. They contained four octaves, and were not flat, as the common ones, but curved round, so that his lips formed the arc of a circle, as it were, of which his neck was the centre. Only associating the Pandman pipes with a street drum, as accompanying the exertions of Punch, acrobats, and the fantoccini, I was amazed to find what they were really capable of, when well played.

The voyage lasted, altogether, nearly two hours, and each time passengers were landed the riot was awful. The captain, who was a little podgy man, in a fez and frock-coat, stormed and swore, and jumped about on the paddle-boxes like a maniac. The watermen in the caiques fought and hanged each other with a ferocity that exceeded the boatmen at the Piraeus, as they struggled to get their fragile barks next the steamer; and the passengers jostled, and pushed, and so increased the confusion, that it was wonderful how they were not all drowned. All this went on at every island, but the most frightful to-do was at Prinkipo ; and, although a tolerable swimmer, I was not sorry when our over-laden caique touched the shore. We had been nearly swamped by getting between two larger boats, in a manner that would have been dangerous on a river, but here a heavy sea was running city tours istanbul.

Principally Greeks

We landed under a chi, along which a row of coffee-houses and some private villas ran; and, at the extremity of the promenade, we found an inn, in a fine position, with a view of Constantinople in the distance, looking far more beautiful than Venice — which, in all truth, is ‘not so attractive on first sight as some writers would make it — with the domes and minarets of Stamboul shining like gold, in the sunset. The hotel was kept by a Neapolitan; and was built entirely of light thin wood — very like those we see in Switzerland, in high and out-of-the-way spots. The landlord appeared very anxious to make his customers comfortable. ‘He gave us a very good dinner at a table-dhoti, where we sat down some fourteen or sixteen — principally Greeks; but he somewhat committed himself in recommending a bottle of Broussa beer to our notice. Broussa is a city in Asia hlinor, celebrated for its manufactories of silk, which supply the Levant. It certainly cannot claim any distinction for its breweries, for I never tasted anything so nasty in my life. With my eyes shut, I could have imagined it a species of effervescing black-draught.

As soon as dinner was over, we turned out for a stroll about the village, which possesses several very novel and entertaining features. I have said that there was a row of coffee-houses on the heights facing the sea. These were all wooden buildings with porticos before them; and on the opposite side of the promenade, in front, were platforms, surrounded by railings, built to project over the edge of the cliff, and singularly insecure. The masters supply coffee, narghiles, and a very tolerable punch.

The steamboat band was playing in front of the principal house ; and before all of them were suspended hoops, with thin white cylinders depending from them, which I at first took to be candles. But I found afterwards that they were blue-lights; and that when the beauties of Prinkipo assembled, (which they were to do on tho morrow in great numbers,) and it got dark, some public-spirited and gallant gentleman would pay to have one of these fireworks ignited, and thus show off the fair gazers to the admiration of the spectators. At present there were not many ladies about. Our steamer was evidently the “husband’s boat;” and they were listening to tho gossip of Constantinople in their own houses.

#Great excitement and bawling

[travelplannerbg]

Great excitement and bawling

At last, with great excitement and bawling, to which the Pool late on the evening of Greenwich fair was nothing, we got out of the Golden Horn. A long caique with a sail, and twelve or fourteen passengers, overtook us, like the wind, and soon shot ahead. The people smoked and drank coffee, all working their beads about with restless irritability; and a band of music played airs from the operas of Donizetti and Verdi. The great feature of this band was the performer on the Pandean pipes ; it Ls impossible to conceive the excellent music he blew out from them. They contained four octaves, and were not flat, as the common ones, but curved round, so that his lips formed the arc of a circle, as it were, of which his neck was the centre. Only associating the Pandman pipes with a street drum, as accompanying the exertions of Punch, acrobats, and the fantoccini, I was amazed to find what they were really capable of, when well played.

The voyage lasted, altogether, nearly two hours, and each time passengers were landed the riot was awful. The captain, who was a little podgy man, in a fez and frock-coat, stormed and swore, and jumped about on the paddle-boxes like a maniac. The watermen in the caiques fought and hanged each other with a ferocity that exceeded the boatmen at the Piraeus, as they struggled to get their fragile barks next the steamer; and the passengers jostled, and pushed, and so increased the confusion, that it was wonderful how they were not all drowned. All this went on at every island, but the most frightful to-do was at Prinkipo ; and, although a tolerable swimmer, I was not sorry when our over-laden caique touched the shore. We had been nearly swamped by getting between two larger boats, in a manner that would have been dangerous on a river, but here a heavy sea was running city tours istanbul.

Principally Greeks

We landed under a chi, along which a row of coffee-houses and some private villas ran; and, at the extremity of the promenade, we found an inn, in a fine position, with a view of Constantinople in the distance, looking far more beautiful than Venice — which, in all truth, is ‘not so attractive on first sight as some writers would make it — with the domes and minarets of Stamboul shining like gold, in the sunset. The hotel was kept by a Neapolitan; and was built entirely of light thin wood — very like those we see in Switzerland, in high and out-of-the-way spots. The landlord appeared very anxious to make his customers comfortable. ‘He gave us a very good dinner at a table-dhoti, where we sat down some fourteen or sixteen — principally Greeks; but he somewhat committed himself in recommending a bottle of Broussa beer to our notice. Broussa is a city in Asia hlinor, celebrated for its manufactories of silk, which supply the Levant. It certainly cannot claim any distinction for its breweries, for I never tasted anything so nasty in my life. With my eyes shut, I could have imagined it a species of effervescing black-draught.

As soon as dinner was over, we turned out for a stroll about the village, which possesses several very novel and entertaining features. I have said that there was a row of coffee-houses on the heights facing the sea. These were all wooden buildings with porticos before them; and on the opposite side of the promenade, in front, were platforms, surrounded by railings, built to project over the edge of the cliff, and singularly insecure. The masters supply coffee, narghiles, and a very tolerable punch.

The steamboat band was playing in front of the principal house ; and before all of them were suspended hoops, with thin white cylinders depending from them, which I at first took to be candles. But I found afterwards that they were blue-lights; and that when the beauties of Prinkipo assembled, (which they were to do on tho morrow in great numbers,) and it got dark, some public-spirited and gallant gentleman would pay to have one of these fireworks ignited, and thus show off the fair gazers to the admiration of the spectators. At present there were not many ladies about. Our steamer was evidently the “husband’s boat;” and they were listening to tho gossip of Constantinople in their own houses.

#Great excitement and bawling