This material first appeared in my congregational newsletter

The first mention of spiritual blessing in Inverness is associated with the visit of Columba to bring the gospel to the Picts, in particular to King Brude, his headquarters being near Craig Dunain. Columba came to Iona in AD 563 when he was 42. Iona became a kind of training-school for preachers of the Celtic Church (the Celtic Church based in Ireland, Wales and the West of Scotland sent evangelists to modern-day France, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the rest of Britain.

 William Garden Blaikie, in his book, The Preachers of Scotland (available from the Banner of Truth), mentions four emphases of the Celtic Church: (a) its preaching was thoroughly biblical – they loved the Bible, and it is said that Columba in his life wrote 300 copies of the Gospels and the Psalms; (b) they lived out their beliefs – they lived simple lives, caring for others; (c) it laid stress on praise of God, not just in worship of God, but also in evangelizing the heathen; Columba once silenced hostile Picts by singing Psalm 44 to them; (d) the church engaged in holy, courageous enterprise – they thought nothing of traveling over land and sea to spread the gospel.

The Picts that Columba visited were nature-worshippers, added to which was a belief in fairies. In order to show his superiority over the Druids, Columba defied the spirit of a well by washing his hands and feet in the water (this and other similar responses are pointless to both the Christian mind and the modern mind, but as a means of showing the powerlessness of Druidism it was very effective). Eventually the king was convinced of the superiority of Christianity. Although there is no evidence that he himself became a Christian, a church was established that existed for a short time as a witness to the gospel in the Inverness area.

 The Celtic Church was overpowered by the Roman Catholic Church and Scotland became part of the Pope’s spiritual empire about the year 1000. But virtually nothing is known about Christianity in the Inverness area between Columba’s visit and the Reformation in the fifteenth century.

Caledonian art in the north flourished during Roman neglect

It was not merely a matter of geography. The Northern Tribes of the Caledonians, in what eventually became Pictland, were hostile but they were no immediate threat to Rome. They were warlike and they were rich in land, but their territories were only worthy of one campaign: that of Julius Agricola in AD77. During that campaign, while he was Consul of Rome and Governor of Britannia, he conquered much of Wales and northern England and made his historic venture into lowland and eastern Scotland to conclude his enterprise at the legendary battle of Mons Graupius, in the Grampian mountains of Aberdeenshire.

Traprain Law, great hilltop stronghold of the Votadini

So, why were earlier campaigns by Roman generals, consuls and even emperors so concerned with the north of England, North Wales and, in particular, the sacred Brittonic island of Mona?

It is known that Roman emperors, their generals and subalterns were well-versed in local traditions. By the end of Roman occupation, in c. AD420, Britain had become a civilized nation, almost the jewel of the empire, before military collapse and return to Rome. While villas and whole towns were built according to Roman design and the country used as a kind of ’summer vacation’ retreat for some, for others it was a necessary part of living in a conquered nation that they learn the local language and lore.

Part of that education – a largely undocumented source – was learning the ways of Britons in the early years of occupation, when Brittonic tribes were fully in control of their lands and had a hugely successful system of barter and trade among neighboring and interrelated peoples.

On the other hand, Roman learning also included the works of Claudius Ptolomeaius, a Romanized Greek scholar who visited Britain between the campaigns of Hadrian and Antonine in the AD 2nd century; He was historian, geographer, astronomer, physicist, astrologer and a prolific author. His works are the source of much of what has been handed down to modern scholarship.

Ptolemy's map of North Britain

This body of knowledge was the exclusive realm of the cognoscenti, the magicians and wise men of the Britons: the Druidic class.

Within the Druidic tradition, it took an apprentice 30 years before he was allowed to perform any of the feats which he had been taught by his elders. His education included specific learning of astronomy, the calendar, seasonal festivities and rites, traditions associated with appeasing the sky spirits with fire festivals and propitiation ceremonies; herbalism and magic, the raising and stilling of storms, divination, the calling up of wind and the healing of humans and animals from sickness and disease. In this respect the druid or priest-class was as important as king or queen in any tribe.

In some cases, it is thought the king or prince may himself have served as druid-priest, in order to understand and act as intermediary between his kingdom and his gods. This is the case of the so-called ‘Peat’ or Lindow Man, the princely royal body found in 1984 in a marsh near Liverpool and featured in Anne Ross and Don Robin’s novel: ‘The Life and Death of a Druid Prince‘ published in 1991. His own self-sacrifice by a three-fold death by sword, strangulation, and drowning is thought by the authors to have been the last desperate attempt by the leader of his nation to appease the gods who had sent Roman legions to wipe out his kingdom. In his stomach were found the remains of a burned portion of barley cake, used in sacrifice to denote the portion of one chosen to die. No signs of struggle or binding on his wrists indicated that he died voluntarily.

John Opie's imagined Romanized version of Iceni Queen Boudicca

Ynys Mons: island of the mount of Druids, the druidic stronghold of Boudicca's kingdom

Gundestrup cauldron, 17ins x 10ins found in a Danish bog

Gundestrup Cauldron, which was crafted in Gaul around 100 BC was discovered in a peat bog in Denmark in 1891, where scholars suggest it had been placed as an offering to the deities of Nature in a druidic ritual. The cauldron’s 13 panels recount a Celtic Foundation Myth similar in importance to the Hebrew Genesis cycle, the Egyptian legends of creation by Ra and Nut, the Greek Illiad, and Roman Aeneid. It is only one example of treasures found in the hoards of ancient Britons. Traprain Law near Edinburgh held a similar priceless vault of treasures belonging to the Votadini people of southern Pictland or Roman Caledonia.

Part of treasure hoard found inside Traprain Law, East Lothian

Then in AD 60 and 61, when Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus led a campaign to North Wales, on the pretext of subduing barbarian tribes, but in quest of treasure, the Iceni rebelled. Other tribes joined them. Roman armies were threatening the stronghold of their most revered wise men. Next to threatening their Queen, this was an outrage.

History records how Boudicca’s warriors successfully defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed their capital of Roman Britain, Camulodunum, the modern Colchester. It is from this victorious siege that great myths have seaped through the British imagination and into oral culture, including the famed Camelot, the so-called capital of the Great Briton, Arthur. However, in the first century AD, this tale is told not of a hero, but a heroine.

Boudicca, the great Anglian Queen of the Iceni: her

It is interesting to note that the drowned peatbog body of the Druid Prince of Lindow who gave his life willingly for his people was found to date roughly to AD60. He might romantically be thought of as one of Boudicca’s princes, or even her own son.

“She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her……”
-Dio Cassius

By the end of Suetonius Paulinus’s campaign, Boudicca and her armies were no more, a Roman road stretched between East Anglia and Anglesey, and Mona’s treasures and emblems of her druidic hierarchy were either looted, destroyed or buried where no Roman eyes might see. Druidic wise men themselves went into hiding, taking their knowledge with them.

Their calendars, astronomical calculations and science disappeared too. With that body of science went the legacy, perpetuated in the thirty-year cycle of medicinal, herbal-spiritual divination and crystalline power, known only to initiates. It is claimed by several esoteric communities today that the knowledge is still alive and becoming reactivated in mankind’s present time of need.

In these times of instantly-accessible information of the written word, it would be a most wonderful and valuable resource to be able to tap into.

Novice British saints, travelling the highways and country tracks of early-historic Britain were challenged by the people to prove their ability in such feats as raising and stilling storms and making ills and tumours disappear by the healing touch. Ninian cultivated the habit of his British antecedents and was able to manifest some miracles. Columba, an Irish saint, was confronted in the palace of Bridei at Inverness by the Pictish king’s druid, criticizing him for being unable to command the wind. It is said Columba thought long and hard on this and went away to learn.

Within the almanac of the present pagan community (‘paganus’, Latin, country person) perhaps it is possible to find a long-lost ability of Druidic heritage which has lain dormant since Boudicca’s untimely death and the desecration of her Druidic compendium of knowledge.

If she were to look down from her regal chariot in the cosmos, she might see a race diminished by the commonplace, belittled by its own intense machinations and obsessed with cultivation of the gods of power and gold. She might say that Man is sadly lacking in versatility if he cannot call upon his ‘unseen’ powers at will: to make amends.

The director Norman Stone first came to my attention when I watched a brilliant documentary about The Narnia Code (all I’m saying is, it involves planets and Aslan).

My Father told me about who he was and about the fact he was a Christian, the son of a preacher (poor guy) as well as the grandson of a preacher (even worse) and that he is married to the daughter of this guy:

Magnús Magnússon

After some research a few months later I found out that he directed another documentary about C S Lewis as well as the original TV version of Shadowlands more recently he directed the BBC Florence Nightingale series.

I also recently bought a film called Man Dancin’ which he produced & directed. It’s set in Scotland and is about a ex-gang member recently released from prison. There’s a good Christian message in there without making it wet or cheesey; it’s a gritty 15! Awesome.

I’ve only watched half of it thus far; I started watching it late and a man’s gotta wake up in’t mornin’. We’ll see if I benefit from the finished product and wether it will receive the Blewog Seal of Approval.

How gritty!

I’m delighted that there are representatives out there in popular(ish) culture who are generating good quality art with an un-watered down Christian perspective.

I’m reading a book at the moment (I know, unbelievable!) it’s called Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture and it’s by William D. Romanowski. I’m really benifitting from it’s clear and wise message; if you’re a Christian you have a duty to engage with the culture around you! We are commanded to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it [the earth].”

If we are looking upon the culture we see around us as purely evil, then what hope does the world have of being reached with the message of Christ? We ought to be salt and light in this world, we are to be in this world but not of it. Engage with what you see daily, be critical, comment on it from a biblical perspective.

I was thinking about all this and all of a sudden I got an email about something called The Pitch.

The Pitch is your opportunity to pitch to make a short film with professional production support worth in excess of £20,000, a

nd to receive advice from top industry professionals.

Work on your film maker vision and delve into the Bible for inspiration

So I’m working on that with this refreshed perspective in mind.

There are people out there who have the right attitude but I’m sure there could be more. Instead of being someone who makes ‘Christian Music’ why not be ‘A Christian who makes Music’? If Christ is at the centre of your life he will touch everything you do and shape it.

Anyway, something to chew on.

And finally, some news hot off the press involving Mr Stone and this guy:

Jeremy Irons

The project is a film on the life of St Columba.

No, not him:

Him:

Of course you all know who that is but just in case you didn’t; he’s basically credited as the guy who brought Christianity to Scotland.

This film (knowing how these things go) probably won’t be out until 2011; but I’m excited to see if it comes to fruition and what it will be like.

__________________

Oh! You want to know my favourite Jeremy Irons role? No brainer:

Desidero segnalare il sito di Carlo Columba “Come trasformare un prof in e-Prof!”.

Ho conosciuto Carlo nel 2008 in occasione di un corso online in cui svolgeva il ruolo di tutor, al di là delle sue innegabili competenze tecniche e relazionali mi ha colpito l’interesse e la motivazione che trasparivano nel suo continuo sforzo di arricchire il percorso formativo dei corsisti con esempi, risorse e applicazioni che aiutavano ad orientarsi  nelle potenzialità immense del web.

Ritengo che il sito di Carlo possa essere un valido supporto a tutti coloro che desiderano tentare un primo approccio con le tecnologie e con le applicazioni web 2.0, come lui stesso dice:

Molti docenti stanno tentando di utilizzare strumenti e metodi che possiamo catalogare tra quelli caratteristici dell’e-learning e, più in generale, delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (le cosiddette Tic).
Il contatto con gli studenti, l’esperienza degli effetti del rapido cambiamento nei campi della comunicazione e della informazione, li incoraggia ad utilizzare nuovi strumenti, a sperimentare nuovi metodi e nuove tecnologie capaci di motivare gli alunni di rinnovare l’efficacia dell’ azione didattica.

Nel sito potete trovare sezioni utilissime su alcuni strumenti da utilizzare nella didattica: Blog, HotPotatoes, WebQuest, CmapTools. Le spiegazioni sono chiare, i tutorial semplici e curati nel dettaglio. Buona lettura e soprattutto buona sperimentazione!

The island of Noirmoutier, first site of the community of St Philibert; perfect for isolation, sea breeze and Viking raiders...

The second day of the St Andrews conference just mentioned dawned comparatively kindly since proceedings didn’t start till the civilised hour of 10 o’clock, which suits me very well, leaving time between closing time and breakfast time for enough sleep and then for enough reading and tea to become coherent by the time anyone tries to talk to me. And the way the programme unrolled, it was a while before I thought of anything to say anyway, but Christian Harding’s study of the peregrinations of the monks of St Philibert, who once they were shifted from their original coastal house at Noirmoutier during the Viking Age went through about six more locations before finally settling at Tournus many decades later, did raise some questions. He was seeing the monks and the gifts from the kings by which they were able to move as political tools in the rivalry between the Carolingian kingdoms, starting as a loyal outpost in the Breton march where, as we’d heard yesterday, Carolingian control was never as tight as might be wished, and then being competed for between Charles the Bald and Pippin II of Aquitaine his nephew on that border. This raised questions about whether you could really shunt a community around like that, or whether they had serious problems settling and begged more and more land, where, in short, the initiative was in all these translations, questions that could have been argued for much longer than we had.

St Edgwad's Llanegwad, Wales, 10th or early 11th century structure with later modifications

In the second session Thomas Owen Clancy talked about the leadership of the familia of Columba (not Columbanus this time) and Alex Woolf addressed the question of how the Welsh Church ran before the Normans got to it, focusing on the secular nature of its church communities, who seem to have operated by dividing the church property between them in private tenure. This is something that, though the Normans saw it as something in need of reform, I could easily recognise from the way that the pre-Catalan Church uses deacons and priests as unofficial managers operating from mother churches, and which Anglo-Saxonists might recognise as a bit like the `minster hypothesis’. As I said to him, Alex has a particular talent for taking a tangled argument and suggesting a brilliantly simple solution, and here again he had chosen one good way of doing this, which is to wonder if the situation was really weird or if what’s going on was what was going on in other places under different words. He also raised the important point that we often identify church sites with enclosures as monasteries, but the fact that there was a monastery at a site doesn’t necessarily imply that the site is a monastery.

The modern church of San Vincenzo al Volturno seen through the ruins of the Carolingian abbey, from Wikimedia Commons

In the session after that Federico Marazzi, who is leading the continuing dig at the huge Italian monastic site of San Vicenzo al Volturno, gave us an extensive introduction to the site, which raised among other things the peculiarity that the huge abbey church appears to have been accessible only via the cloister, and therefore to the monks and those they admitted; the locals, such as they may have been, must have worshipped elsewhere on the site. Melanie Maddox then told us about how Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, used not just force of arms but forces of clerics in her reconquest of the North-West from the Danes and Norse, by translating saints’ relics into new churches she’d set up, not least St Peter’s at what might have become a new Mercian capital at Chester.

The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, one of the establishments local sources consider a 'monastery', from Wikimedia Commons

In the last session that day, all certainties were temporarily dissolved. We had begun the conference, most of us, reasonably certain that we knew what a monastery was and that, fundamentally, there was a Benedictine ideal in play for most of our period to which places either conformed or did not. Now, Tom Brown told us (more) about Ravenna, where drawing the line between monastery and not-monastery is made harder by a plethora of tiny little private cells with a population of maybe one or two who really lived elsewhere, more like Egyptian hermits’ cells than Benedictine abbeys except for the fact of their urban location. Monasticism can, as he said, mean a lot of things. But this was nothing compared to what Albrecht Diem unleashed by what started as an innocuous comparison of Gregory of Tours’s Vita Patrum to Jonas of Bobbio’s Life of Columbanus (told you we’d be back there). He stressed that almost all our sources operate by asserting some kind of continuity with the time of writing, even if it’s only a recognisable location, and that the present therefore shapes the past in its reporting, but then brought out specifically how Gregory’s and Jonas’s times and agendas bent some of our primary established facts about the ecclesiastical set-ups of their times. Gregory has a range of ascetics from all walks of life doing their various things, but the noble bishop is still the boss; but Jonas makes the ascetic the boss, even telling kings what to do and immune from their attack (both legally and by miraculous intervention), and the interesting thing is that he’s using Gregory as he does it; the parallels Albrecht drew were pretty damning. Someone out there can tell me where the maxim about not dismantling your master’s house with his own tools comes from (yes, OK, so can Google, it’s Audre Lorde), but here is Jonas at the very least rebuilding his master’s house with exactly the same equipment. Take that, Loltheorists!* The upshot is that we really don’t know a lot about the politics of these people’s times even though it seems as if we do. If the Vita Columbani is at least partly literary construction, how much do we really know about how Merovingian kings operated? Almost only what’s in Gregory, who makes them seem like illiterate buffoons because of his basic “trust the educated bishop” message. And for an encore, in questions, Albrecht went on to question the historical existence of Saint Benedict of Nursia and whether the Rule of Benedict even existed as a text before the Carolingians asked for a copy. I’m not joking. Piotr Górecki summed up with the air of a man slightly shellshocked, and urged that a book should come of all these papers; I later gathered that this is indeed the plan. If so Albrecht’s paper will be the kind of reading that makes the floor seem worryingly flimsy beneath us.

A later illumination showing Archbishop Gregory of Tours as suppliant before a king

O Concerto de Verão provavelmente terá os dias contados…com este figurino.

Inicialmente, o evento foi lançado na perspectiva de se integrar e “engrandecer” as Festas de Santa Cristina, mas por razões que só a razão conhece tal nunca se veio a concretizar.

À semelhança de   outros projectos propostos pela Direcção do Orfeão, vistas as coisas numa perspectiva mais ampla, acaba por não ser novidade esta realidade pelo que apetece “cantar”:

- Acorda Condeixa…e dá oportunidade aos filhos da terra que por ti estão apaixonados. Olha que há coisas que só com o coração se conseguem atingir!!!

Este ano com o empenho de todos, encerrou-se a época (até Setembro que o Orfeão vai para banhos) com um espectáculo do agrado de todos. Julga-se!

Coral Columba

Coral Columba

Orfeão Dr João Antunes

Galhardetes...e discursos

Maestros e músicos

O presidente do Coral Columba

Boas férias aos coralistas, Maestro e Direcção…e a todos quantos nos visitam.

By your God-inspired life
You embodied both the mission and the dispersion of the Church,
Most glorious Father Columba.
Using your repentance and voluntary exile,
Christ our God raised you up as a beacon of the True Faith,
An apostle to the heathen and an indicator of the Way of salvation.
Wherefore O holy one, cease not to intercede for us
That our souls may be saved.

http://www.oca.org

Today the Church of England remembers St Columba, who died on this day in 597.

Columba (or Colum Cille meaning "Dove of the church") was born in Ireland in about the year 521 into the Uí Néill royal family. He founded several monasteries, including probably Kells, before leaving to settle in exile on Iona, off the coast of Scotland, after provoking a pitched battle with his teacher St Finnian over a Psalter! (See picture: The Cathach of St. Columba now in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.)

His foundation on Iona thrived, despite or perhaps because of its austere discipline. It became the base for mission onto the mainland of Scotland and into Northumbria, and for book production.

The main source of information about Columba’s life is the Vita Columbae by Adomnán , the ninth Abbot of Iona, who died in 704. My favourite episode from it concerns the Loch Ness Monster. Columba meets a group of Picts who were burying a "poor little man" who had been killed by the monster, and saves another with the sign of the Cross and the imprecation "You will go no further", at which the beast fled terrified.

Collect

Almighty God,
who filled the heart of Columba
with the joy of the Holy Spirit
and with deep love for those in his care:
may your pilgrim people follow him,
strong in faith, sustained by hope,
and one in the love that binds us to you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Whitby Abbey. Picture taken by yours truly in 2002. This would be the location of the important Synod Of Whitby in 664 which would result in the majority of Britain following the Roman version of Christianity at the expense of the Celtic system. The Abbey ruins above date from about 1220, but were built as an improvement on an older building dated to the early eleventh century. It is quite likely that Hild established a monastery at this site which would date back to about 655.

Britain in the middle of the seventh century was divided into two religious camps: The Ionan and the Roman (for the sake of argument I am ignoring the non-Christian elements within the British Isles: apologies to all you pagans out there…). The former camp also known as Celtic Christianity, was centred around the teachings of Columba (or Columcille: the Holy Dove) who had been granted some land on the small island of Iona by a local King (probably Conall mac Congaill) in or about 563. From this base Columba sent missions and established trade routes with both Anglo-Saxon and Scottish kingdoms and in doing so increased the reach of the Celtic belief system. The Roman version of Christianity had arrived in England in 597 when Pope Gregory dispatched Augustine to convert the kingdom of Kent. After a brief reluctance the Kentish king, Aethelbert converted, this probably down to a pincer movement between his wife, Bertha who was a Frankish Christian and Augustine himself. It should be noted that Augustine’s followers left his life unwritten and that the majority of source material on this fascinating man were put down by the equally impressive Venerable Bede in the eight century. Bede was a student and avowed follower of the Roman church and therefore any commentary by him on the Synod of Whitby must be treated with an element of caution. Nonetheless, the arrival of Augustine did lead for some interesting, but probably false stories. In particular, when King Aethelbert was due to meet Augustine at Thanet, he is alleged to have insisted on the encounter taking place beneath the open sky through fears of what this new and complex religion could do. Allegorical maybe, but this is a perfect tale of how Christianity was viewed at that time. Little understood, such a belief system could be seen to be as a new sinister form of magic which could have limitless repercussions for those introduced to it. This reluctance to embrace Christianity is manifest when it is realised that twenty years after the death of Augustine, the Kingdom of Kent had still not been wholly converted, let alone the rest of the British Isles.

In comparing the two versions of Christianity, the most obvious difference between them is also arguably the most fundamental. The Ionan church was much more lax than its Roman rival in matters of hierarchy. In selling the Columban version to the fiercely independent Celtic kings it would have been a non-starter to insist that they be answerable to the Pope. In granting permission for Columba to base himself on Iona, it is certain that King Conall mac Congaill was after something more than just saving his soul. Trade and an establishment of a literate elite would have figured largely, and if this strange new religion could help preserve him in the afterlife, then so much the better. The Roman Church had no such misgivings about who was at the top of the chain and insisted on a structure of worship which ran through layers territorially based bishops and was drawn together by the centre of authority in Rome.

For much of the next one hundred years the two churches co-existed, albeit uneasily, with each other. It is likely that the population, as a whole, paid lip-service to the competing ideologies and would hedge their bets by taking the eminently sensible precaution of following the direction of their king. As an aside, it has always struck me as curious that historians appear to assume that the unknown majority of a nation will inevitably have the same affiliations as their leader. In times such as the Anglo-Saxon period, even the major figureheads have limited source material with which to verify their actions. As far as the common people are concerned there is, too all intents and purposes, no information at all. From my perspective, I believe that most would have been more concerned about ensuring that the next harvest was not ruined by ill weather, or that their next born would make it through labour. If a new fangled religious belief assisted with these everyday preoccupations then all well and good, but there is no need to immediately forsake the old, established and tried and trusted pagan rituals.

Be that as it maybe. The two groups seemed destined to meet and resolve their differences. The location of this clash would be Whitby and the arbiter: King Oswiu. Historians are (unsurprisingly) not agreed as to the reasons for the opposing sides being forced together for the Council Of Whitby. What is known is that it was King Oswiu who ruled over Northumbria who decreed that the meeting should take place.

Northumbria had up until recently been separated into the two kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. Oswiu’s father had been killed in fighting King Eadwine of Deira whon would briefly unite the two kingdoms. Following the death of his father Oswiu, aged about five, had found himself exiled in Scotland and later Ireland. Eadwine was later to die at the hands of the British king Cadwallon of Gwynedd, who would also kill Oswiu’s brother, Eanfrith and lead Northumbria to sunder itself again. It would be another brother of Oswiu, this time Oswald who would meet Cadwallon near Hexham (the exact location being unknown but possibly Rowley Burn or Heavenfield) in 634. Oswald defeated and killed the British king and was greeted as a saviour of both Deira and Bernicia which were united as the Kingdom of Northumbria.

Whilst all this going on, Oswiu was becoming ever more familiar with Celtic culture, including the ability to speak Irish and also being christened into the Ionan faith. Although not established for certain it is quite possible that the christening took place on Iona and he would remain a patron of Celtic Christianity right up until the Synod of Whitby. However, more immediate concerns would prevail upon Oswiu’s time. In 641, Oswald met the pagan king Penda of Mercia in battle at Oswestry. It is alleged that as Penda’s forces closed in on Oswald’s army, he knelt and prayed for the souls of his men. This battle is important as it demonstrates that Christianity, of either persuasion had a long way to go before Britain could be considered converted. Pagan beliefs still existed and as if to further underscore this point, Penda, following heathen-tribal ritual, dismembered Oswald’s body and placed the head and arms on stakes. The manner of his death at the hands of a pagan meant that Oswald would soon be given martyr status. Oswiu ascended to the throne of Bernicia , he would soon invade Deira and force the newly installed king to flee. However, the population of Deira chose one of Oswald’s sons to be their leader. This was a man named Aethelwald who promptly placed himself under the protection of Penda. Thus the first decade of Oswiu’s reign would be characterised by conflict with Penda who led continual incursions into Bernicia. In 655, Oswiu, following the refusal of a peace offering to Penda, would finally settle matters with the pagan king at the River Winwaed in the area of Loidis (possibly Leeds which is located in what was once Deira). It seems likely that despite having an overwhelming force at the start of the battle, many of Penda’s allies deserted him, including Aethalwald. Penda, almost certainly as revenge for the death of Oswald was beheaded by Oswiu. For the time being Oswiu could be considered as overlord (Bretwalda) of England, for he was certainly the most powerful king at that time.

Oswiu remained a fervent Christian and was only too eager to spread the word of the (Ionan) church. In overcoming great odds and defeating the powerful Penda, God’s hand could be seen to be at work. The move to the Synod of Whitby proceeded apace when Oswiu’s son, Alchfrith adopted the Roman Church and expelled the Celtic brethren from the monastery at Ripon. Furthermore, Oswiu’s wife Eanflaed had retained the Roman teachings of her youth. It is here that we see what Bede called the ‘great and active controversy of Easter’ when it is recognised that within the confines of one kingdom, the important date of when Christ ascended to Heaven was being celebrated differently. Due to the adoption of differing calendars (the Ionan being an older version which had been regarded as an error by the Roman Church), practitioners of each faith found themselves in the rather absurd situation of one group celebrating Easter (Oswiu and the Ionans) whilst the other group (Alchfrith and the Romans) were fasting in Lent. Of course Bede with his love of the Roman Church always being uppermost in his thoughts, would regard this as being the reason for the Synod being called. To Bede’s way of thinking, his nation would once more belong to the true Church of Christ, rather than being guided in matters theological by what he regarded as a “handful of people in the remotest islands”. It is far more realistic, however, to assume that the conference was held by Oswiu as he noticed his grip on power slipping. Yes, this was in part due to religious differences between himself and his son, but the immediacy of political realities would have been at the forefront of his actions. It should be recalled that Easter had been celebrated twice within a year for nearly two decades already – reconciling the date would have not been regarded as an urgent matter.

In moving across to the Roman faith, Alchfrith had aligned himself with a movement whose star was very much in the ascendant. Oswiu had appointed Alchfrith as a sub-king of the kingdom of Deira and it would be Alchfrith who would expel the Ionan’s and install Wilfrid, one of the most fanatical supporters of the Roman Church into the monastery at Ripon. For Oswiu it was unfortunate that the better organised Roman Church was making inroads into Britain whilst the Ionan Church was being sidelined. Alchfrith would make a greater impression on his subjects having the weight the of the church behind him, Oswiu recognised that this would ultimately be at his expense. The influence that Alchfrith had on the decision to call the Synod must also be factor. Anglo-Saxon successions could quite often be erratic affairs, at the time there was no rule of automatic succession. Although strong kings were able to choose who would take their place, very often a successor was appointed via an election. Differing from what we recognise as the electoral procedure, the Anglo Saxon variant involved an individual garnering support from magnates which meant that he would be able to back up his claim with force. It is very important to realise that force was a major consideration in the seventh century. As noted, Alchfrith had joined with the dominant Roman Church, it is not stretching the point to far, to suggest that within that church were more prominent and powerful figures than could be found in the Celtic version. These are people that Alchfrith could call upon to assist in his aspirations for power. Furthermore, in choosing Rome, Alchfrith would be re-affirming his autonomy from his father. In expelling the Celtic monks from Ripon, Alchfrith could be seen to be delivering a slap in the face to his father as those monks were under Oswiu’s patronage. It also cranked up the tensions between the two factions and was a possible reason (and more immediate) reason for the Synod to be called.

Oswiu, perhaps through experience gained with age, is unlikely to have missed the machinations of his son. Indeed, he would have been hard pressed to have overlooked the challenge laid down by Alchfrith when the latter expelled the monks from Ripon. Ripon was part of Deira which was governed by Alchfrith as a under-king. But, Deira was part of Northumbria and viewed in that light was very much the realm of Oswiu. Following Oswiu’s defeat of Penda, he would have been recognised as Bretwalda, but by 644, his standing was being eroded not least by a surge in Mercian influence. At the helm of this rise to power was Penda’s son, Wulfhere, who over time had managed to subject most of the southern kingdoms to his lordship. A new power block was forming to challenge the Northumbrians. The water was further muddied when it is realised that Alchfrith was the brother-in-law of the Mercian king

Oswiu was demonstrating his understanding or real politics when he called the Synod of Whitby. Despite the arguments flying backwards and forwards, it is even quite probable that Oswiu had made his decision prior to the meeting taking place. In the end what choice did have but to align himself with Rome? No matter what arguments were put forward in favour of adopting the Celtic church, in the end the decision would be a foregone conclusion. When the Roman firebrand Wilfrid pointed out that the Roman way was traceable directly back to St Peter, who held the keys to the gates of Heaven, the writing was on the wall. Oswiu asked the Celtic contingent if it was indeed true that St Peter held the keys which they could only respond to by answering in the affirmative. St Peter (and by extension, his successors, the Popes of Rome) was of a much greater authority than Columba (the lynchpin of the Celtic argument) and in recognising this Oswiu made his decision in favour of Rome.

Oswiu out manoeuvred his son, allied himself with a rising centralising force and reasserted his authority. He can be viewed as being not just a fine leader of men militarily but also a learned politician. The Anglo-Saxon period is often contemplated in simplistic terms, but when one digs beneath the service of what is seemingly a minor dispute about a date of celebration, the convoluted nature of the peoples and practices of this period, bubble to the surface.

Further Reading:

(1) Any study of the Anglo Saxon period must make recourse to: Stenton, F (1971). Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press, Oxford (ISBN 0-19-282236-3). A lot of what Stenton has proposed has been overturned (historians are more than most, smug with the benefits of hindsight)but this seminal study still remains at the vanguard of Anglo-Saxon study.

(2) Nobody can lay claim to be the Historian of the moment more than: Schama, S (2001) A History Of Britain – Volume 1: At The Edge Of The World: 3000BC – AD1603, BBC Worldwide, London(ISBN 0-563-38497-2). Schama is opinionated and authoritative and his writing style is unsurpassed.

(3) Falkus, M and Gillingham, J (1981). Historical Atlas Of Britain. Book Club Associates, London (Sorry, I don’t have the ISBN) – Excellent resources for study of the Sceptred Isle.

(4) Craig, D.J (2004). Oswiu. Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography, Oxford University Press,Oxford

(5) Abels, R (1983). The Council Of Whitby: A Study In Early Anglo-Saxon Politics. The BritishJournal Of Studies, Volume 23, Number 1 (Autumn 1983) – An excellent but argumentative review of the Synod Of Whitby. Abels writes lucidly and convincingly, but leaves me with the urge to knee him in the knackers!

(6) Savage, A (Trans) (1982) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Book Club Associates, London (Sorry I do not have the ISBN). If you are interested in Anglo-Saxons then I don’t really need to introduce this do I?

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), photographed at the Huntsville Botanical Garden—this beautiful perennial, native to the U.S., flowers in spring and is a favorite of moths and butterflies. It grows from a thin, woody rhizome and can be found on rocky ledges, slopes and low woods. The spurs of the petals contain nectaries and are attractive to insects with long proboscises.

From the website, www.rook.org:

Aquilegia, from the Latin, aquilinum, “eagle like,” because the spurs suggested the talons of an eagle to Linnaeus; OR, from the Latin word for “water collector,” alluding to the nectar in the spurs of its petals.

canadensis, from the Latin, “of Canada”

Columbine, from the Latin columba, “dove,” the spurred petals perhaps having suggested a ring of doves around a fountain.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

On the evening of Good Friday we had booked to have a special meal with Mike and Mary, as a late celebration of our Wedding Anniversary at an unusual  little restaurant, “La Pulcinella”, in the historic centre of Itri.  As we walked up the cobbled steps we saw that preparations were underway for the “Processione del Cristo Morto”.  

After our welcoming aperitif of chilled Prosecco served with a fresh strawberry we were ushered up through the beautifully renovated olive mill to our table.  Whilst you can chose from a menu, we chose to let the restaurant follow in their tradition, in which they bring customers a selection of tempting Neapolitan mini-dishes to sample,  instead of a single starter, not unlike tapas.  These were  numerous, very interesting, unusual and plentiful, with so many different flavours.

We then heard strains of music being played by the town’s brass band, which proceeded the procession.  This brought a not unwelcome pause to the meal as everyone, staff and customers, went outside to watch the proceedings. 

The solemn procession of the priest and people bearing torches and candles slowly filed down the narrow passageway, groups of men dressed in white cassocks and black sashes reverently carried the statue of the Dead Christ and that of the Virgin Mary dressed in black.

The procession periodically paused and the participants sombrely recited prayers before moving on  along the route. The procession seemed to be unending as the faithful continued to flow down the steps. It was a moving experience to witness and seemed even more poignant in the wake of the recent terrible tragedy in L’ Aquila. 

 We returned to our meal, where we decided to pass on the pasta course and move directly onto the “secondo” which naturally with it being Good Friday, comprised solely of fish, which was absolutely delicious. Just three of us managed to move on to the delectable dessert course, before opting to stagger home for some coffee. We would highly recommend this unusual little restaurant to anyone who likes to tantalise their tastebuds.  La Pulcinella website.

La Pulcinella, comes from the Naples area, and is one of the clown figures from the “Commedia dell’Arte”, a theatre form dating from the 16th century.  The name Pulcinella was Anglicised to Punchinella who became better known as Mr Punch. 

Today, Easter Sunday, Italians rejoice at the resurrection of Christ and people gather together to share in a special family meal.  Traditional desserts include “Pastiera”, which is a rustic sweet ricotta pie, typical of Naples and “Columba” cake, which is similar in composition to a Christmas Panetone, but is baked in the shape of a dove, signifying peace.

White Dove of Peace at Montecassino, April 2009

Well, may we take this opportunity to wish you, one and all

A  Happy Easter / Buona Pasqua

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K ondx Cxbrones,

.

En este post les hxblxre un poco de mi ekipo xD, no, no son superheroes, no trxbxjxn pxrx mi (xunke xveces pxrece k si xD), pero lok si son es mi ekipo scolxr. trxbxjxmos juntos en cxsi todxs lxs mxterixs y crexnme cuxndo se trxtx de hxcer un trxbxjo bien, xveces no dxmos unx XD.

.

Estos cxbrones y cxbroncitxs son bien chilos, sus hxbilidxdes t dejxrixn xtonito, Empezxndo por el chris que es bien bueno pxrx lx lirx, hxstx lx Xbi con su hxbilidxd pxrx hxcer reportes x tiempo.

.

Todos y cxdx uno de ellos tienen xlgo chido k los distingue y me dx mucho gusto conocerlos y xgxrrxr curx con ellos (tmb jugxr xlxs cxrtxs xD)

.

xxxx si No los e nombrxdo x todos pero xhi vxn

Lxs primerxs dos no son del Texm pero se les kiere (Mencion especixl x Lx morrx Hippie y lx Morrx de Mesillxs)

Jhonny

Cxrreño

Xbi

M. CoLumbx M.

Lizeth

Yo

Y el Puto k tomo lx foto, ese pinche morro mxmon con elk xgxrro curx y le gxno en lxs cxrtxs, me dije “pendejo eh” te echx pxsto cuxndo t duermes y t kiere meter xl closet, el puto mxmon mxmon mxmon del Christixn.

esto es Todo por hoy cxbrones

sxludos x todx lx rxzx del itmxz, x todo el 2b de bioquimicx k xunke no los conosco se ven chidos lx mxyorix ^^u

bye!

I photographed these two wood pigeons while they were feeding on seeds in my yard. We have many rock pigeons roosting on the roof of our building. The wood pigeon can be distinguished by its much larger size and the white patch on the neck.

The wood pigeon is the most common bird in the UK but I see the rock pigeon more in Belgrade. This is the tenth bird species I photographed in Belgrade. I am trying to reach the 60+ I photographed in Anaco, Venezuela. We’ll see.

Axel – Tu  amor por siempre.

In domo mea est tua columba: verba tua

e

alberi

che hanno aperto la mia terra

sulle voragini dei tuoi oceani

percorsi senza fine

sponde        spoglie      ogni tuo sorriso

trasparenze d’acqua     che mi premono in bocca la sete

desiderio mai dimenticato  vivere

fino all’ultima notte

fino all’ultima nota

la tua voce che abito

veste ogni mio movimento

e

mi travalichi

di memoria nuova mi accendi.

V e r b a r i o   la tua  sintassi eterna

fiume  di erbe

radice di luce

che mai spegne  il suo  richiamo

Se propone una aproximación con un fuerte componente descriptivo al primer período de publicación de la historieta seriada Nippur de Lagash, con guión Robin Wood y por distintos dibujantes. El artículo se propone como una etapa previa a otra centrada en las modelizaciones construidas en la serie.

Ver texto completo: nippur_vonsprecher

A Brisbane Catholic school has some of its flock in a flap after announcing a plan to charge kids $50 to have their photo taken with cricketing star Michael Clarke and his baggy green cap at their fete.

Clarke and fiancee Lara Bingle will attend the St Columba’s Primary School fete on August 2 in an appearance agreed upon through his manager Chris White, whose children attend the school.

And while pictures of the future Australian skipper without his sacred green cap will be free, a snap of Clarke and the child with the cap on is being sold for $50 – with all money going towards the construction of an outdoor, undercover sporting shelter for the school in Brisbane’s northern suburb of Wilston.

A representative from the St Columba’s Parents and Friends Association, Di Hempenstall, confirmed the arrangement yesterday, saying it had been given the green light by Clarke’s manager. (news)

It’s hard to imagine the Late Latin name Columba taking off as a boy’s name circa 2008.  But with a bit of modification, that just might happen in the US – and has already happened in the UK.

Thanks to Unknown for suggesting today’s Name of the Day: Callum.

Early saints’ names are often recorded in multiple versions – the Latin, the vernacular, the variant spellings common to their time.  Columba is no exception.  He’s listed as Columbanus, Columba and Columb, and is credited with bringing Christianity to Scotland.  A second saint by the same riddle of appellations brought Celtic monastic practices to Italy and France.  A trio of female saints were also called Columba, one living in Cornwall in the same century as her masculine counterparts.

The name means dove, and today is worn by a constellation and a type of pigeon.  Columba appears to have been used for sons and daughters in about equal measure through the early Middle Ages, but the Celtic variants with the longest staying power are all boy:  Colm and Callum, with Columb and Calum popping up from time to time, too.

But it’s Callum that has been white hot in the UK in recent years.  He’s ranked in the Top 25 for the past five years, peaking at #13 in 2006.  But stateside, he’s never even cracked the Top 1000.

While the pronunciation is straightforward – KAL um – some parents report hearing “column” or “Calvin” instead.  The similarity to callus and callous probably doesn’t help.

But baby names that heat up in the UK often make the leap across the pond, and we’ve heard several parents consider Callum.  (Though we’ve yet to meet one.)  

It’s an ideal choice for parents seeking something simple and nickname-proof that fits with Celtic charmers like Aiden, Liam and Connor, but is far less frequently heard.  Callum also offers a distinctive twist on the ends-in-en, two-syllable trend in boys’ names – fresh, and yet completely current.

Historia de las Constelaciones

COLUMBA – LA PALOMA

Mitología e Historia

En nombre de Columba o la paloma se debe al flamenco Petrus Plancius y en el célebre atlas de Johann Bayer, de 1603, se encuentra simbolizado por primera vez el plumado heraldo de la paz con el ramo de olivo en el pico, volviendo al arca de la que Noé todavía dudaba si salir.

Como en Egipto las estrellas principales de Columba son observables en el horizonte sur durante los meses de invierno boreal, se conoce aún la teoría que algunos templos egipcios estaban orientados en al dirección en que se levantaba esta constelación.

Características

Columba es una constelación que se halla en el hemisferio austral visible durante los meses de septiembre a abril en el hemisferio sur y en el norte durante las noches frías de invierno. Limita al norte con Canis Major y Lepus, al este con Caelum, al sur con Pictor y Puppis y al oeste con las constelación de Puppis. Su forma es practicamente rectangular únicamente irregular en el sector noroeste que limita con Canis Major. Se halla a unos 30º de latitud sur del ecuador galáctico observando en ella varias zonas ricas en estrellas brillantes y cúmulos estelares y globulares.

Estrellas Principales

Alfa, a; denominada Phact, de color azul y magnitud 2,60, se halla a 140 años luz y es 140 veces más luminosa que nuestro Sol.

Beta, b; denominada Wezn, de color naranja, y magnitud 3,11. Se halla en el sector central de la constelación, dista, también 140 años luz de nosotros; es 90 veces más luminoso que nuestro Sol.

Gamma, g; de magnitud 4,36, más débil de brillo es de color azul. Dista 850 años luz de la Tierra, es una supergigante azul 1000 veces más luminosa que nuestro Sol.

Delta, d; de mangitud 3,85 se halla ya muy próxima a la constelación de Canis Major, de color amarillo como nuestro Sol. Dista 180 años luz. Es unas 70 veces más luminosa.

Otros Objetos

NGC 1851; espectacular cúmulo globular de magnitud 7,30 situado al sur de la constelación, de 11′ de arco de diámetro situado a 39.000 años luz de la Tierra.

NGC 1808; galaxia espiral del tipo Sa de magnitud 9,9 y 7′x4′ de arco de diámetro.