Happy Thor’s Day, everybody!

I haven’t posted on Thor’s Day since August, and while I normally reserve Thor’s Day posts for things strictly Norse today I’m making an exception. Why? Because yesterday the world lost another Robert Howard.

This is an important name. If you’ve followed this blog and/or my involvement with the ezine Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, then you doubtless know of my great respect for (and influence by) a writer named Robert E. Howard. You know, the guy who gave us Conan the Barbarian. (Among other things.)

Until yesterday, I thought this Robert Howard (REH) was the greatest of all Robert Howards who ever lived.

But then a US Soldier named Robert L. Howard died.

And if you’ve read any portion of my novel excerpt, you probably understand the tremendous respect I have for honorable warriors. Which is why Robert L. Howard trumps Robert E. Howard for the title of Top Bob at Storm of the North blog.

If you’re not familiar with the soldier and great American named Robert L. Howard, do yourself a favor and check out his page at Wikipedia. If you don’t feel like reading further, then just hit RLH’s Wiki and scroll down to see the images of his many, many medals and bars — word has it he’s the most decorated US soldier of the 20th century.  (Eight Purple Hearts. Eight?  Seriously — did this guy ever get tired of being wounded? Had he no fear at all — not even of military hospitals? Did I mention his winning of The Congressional Medal of Honor — America’s highest military award — alongside two other recommendations for the same award within barely more than a year. I’m guessing 99% of soldiers never receive a single recommendation in an entire career.)

Truly, truth is stranger than fiction; no mere writer could’ve dreamed up this man’s exploits and made them believable. Thus in the case of Robert L. Howard the warrior vs. Robert E. Howard the writer, actions speak way louder than words.

So Robert L. Howard you deserve the best of all toasts, offered here for a true warrior as written in the Havamal and translated by the incomparable H. R. Ellis Davidson:

Cattle die, kinsfolk die,
oneself dies the same.
I know one thing only which never dies –
the renown of the noble dead.

Hey! (For the uninitiated — drink!)

RIP, RLH.

For more information on Robert L. Howard, visit the RLH Tribute website.

Oh great, now I have more proof that sleep is good and that one of my favorite passages in the Havamal makes even more sense than I gave it credit for.  I’ve been working on living by this one and the ones about drinking, it’s kind of hard…there’s just so much to do in a day. 

23.
The unwise man is awake all night,
and ponders everything over;
when morning comes he is weary in mind,
and all is a burden as ever.

Havamal (Bray Trans.)

I’ve been making it a habit to stay up for at least two days at a time over the last few months just to work on things, whether it be music, bass, songwriting, computer stuff, reading, homework or whatever.  But maybe it wasn’t worth it, according to this study.  I know for a fact that a lot of people I know, musicians and artists and other creative types, pull hours just as weird as mine either by choice or by necessity.  Just remember that sleep is apparently a boon to creativity.  Cool.  Thanks, Havamal!

Sleep, it turns out, is imperative for coming to new insights and being able to see new creative solutions to old problems because while you sleep, your mind can discover hidden or novel connections between seemingly random pieces of information. This process not only helps you find the meaning in what you have learned, but by forging connections among differing pieces of information, the odds that a creative idea or insight will surface increases.

If you keep toiling over a problem you can easily wind up with tunnel vision that keeps you from finding an appropriate solution. Sleep removes the blinders and helps “reset” your brain to look at things from a different perspective, which is crucial to creativity.

One could come to the conclusion that sleeping is essential for wisdom, since most knowledge or information alone, without meaning or context, is useless. But by discovering the relationships between bits of information, it can help you can make better decisions in the future.

“Sleeping on it” may indeed be the most practical solution when you’re faced with a tricky problem.

Sounds During Sleep Can Boost Your Memory

Have it good,

-Mike

Go you must.
No guest shall stay
in one place for ever.
Love will be lost
if you sit too long
at a friend’s fire.

- The Havamal

Things have changed so much. My camera has kinda retired, since I have temporarily lost my eye for the small things in life.

I had days of the fox, days of the toad, good days, bad days, fuckin’  worse days.

Things that seemed to matter weren’t so big after all, and things that never seemed to be a problem started to gnaw on me.

Avant d’entrer plus loin dans la demeure
Soyez prudent avant d’y pénetrer,
Vous devez en surveiller tous les abords
Car qui sait d’avance sur quels sièges,
Siègent les ennemis dans l’assemblée ?

[Hávamál]

Elder Futhark

Lo so io, fui appeso
al tronco sferzato dal vento
per nove intere notti,
ferito di lancia
e consegnato a Odino,
io stesso a me stesso,
su quell’albero
che nessuno sa
dove dalle radici s’innalzi.

Con pane non mi saziarono
né con corni [mi dissetarono].
Guardai in basso,
feci salire le rune,
chiamandole lo feci,
e caddi di là.
(Edda poetica – Hávamál – Il Discorso di Hár, 138-139)

L’Elder Futhark, cui l’immagine si riferisce, è il primo alfabeto runico
utlizzato dalle popolazioni nordiche di cui si abbia notizia. E’ quasi
certo che derivi da alfabeti italici, probabilmente quelle popolazioni
entrarono in contatto con i veneti o con i reti, che utilizzavano
una variante dell’alfabeto etrusco, derivato con buona probabilità
dal greco.

Odino ottiene le rune attraverso la sofferenza, si può parlare di
filantropia? allora andrebbe associato ad un altro filantropo,
Prometeo, che per avere rubato il fuoco al padre degli dei, sarà
incatenato ad una “montagna senza gioia” da Kratos e Bia, potere
e muta violenza.

Tacito scrive che i germani non possedevano la scrittura,
eppure narra della divinazione messa in atto da queste popolazioni,
che probabilmente, venendo in contatto con simboli grafici e non
possedendone di propri, ha elaborato questi non come un sistema
di scrittura ma come un mezzo significante:

“La normale procedura per interrogare la sorte è assai semplice.
Tagliano dei piccoli pezzi da un ramoscello tolto da un albero
fruttifero, li segnano con certi simboli e li spargono in modo
casuale e fortuito sopra una candida veste. Poi il sacerdote
della tribù (nel caso di un pubblico vaticinio) o anche il padre
di famiglia (se il vaticinio è privato) prega gli dèi innalzando gli
occhi al cielo. Quindi tira su, uno alla volta, tre pezzetti e li
interpreta secondo il segno precedentemente impressovi. Se
il responso è negativo, per quel giorno, non si procede più nel
cercare auspici; ma se il responso è favorevole, si richiede
anche la conferma degli auspici”.
(Tacito, Germania, cap. X)

Resta il fatto che ancora oggi, le rune sono utilizzate, al pari dei
tarocchi, per la divinazione, che dovrebbe forse essere rivalutata:
non un mezzo utilizzato da biechi figuri per rapinare il prossimo,
ma un supporto meditativo per la riflessione sul proprio presente,
il mistero dei simboli al servizio della conoscenza di sé.

La runa, “sussurro” o “segreto“, è un ponte che lega in modo
indissolubile significante e significato, permettendo di “vedere
la montagna attraverso la pietra” (come nel suiseky), con un
livello di astrazione molto elevato e forse complesso, per chi vi
si approccia.

“Rune tu troverai
lettere chiare,
lettere grandi,
lettere possenti,
che dipinse il terribile vate,
che crearono i supremi numi,
che incise Hroptr degli dèi”.
(Edda poetica – Hávamál – Il Discorso di Hár, 142)

Happy Thor’s day, everybody!

As co-proprietor and editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, I’ve been mighty busy the last couple weeks with duties related to HFQ’s July 1 launch. Because I’m equally busy this week, I thought it would be fun to dig into a little book called FEROCIOUS COMMON SENSE and share a few sayings that capture the spirit of heroic fantasy.

These verses are John Louis Anderson’s interpretations of a section of The Elder Edda known as Havamal, which is also known as ‘Sayings of the High One’.

Rise early to battle for your life
or win another’s land;
Prey never falls to sleeping wolves,
nor victories to sleepers.

Never praise a day till the sun has set,
nor a torch till it’s burned out;
Ice till it’s crossed,
nor ale till the cup is empty.

The generous and bold live the best lives,
and seldom harbor sorrow.
But the timid shrink back from life,
and the greedy cling to spare change.

The foolhardy think they will stay unhurt,
if they keep aloof from the fray;
But old age will wound them all the same,
even though no spear cut through their flesh.

Your gifts need not be large,
sharing what you have will oft bring thanks;
Half a loaf and a half-empty cup
have won me many friends.

Words to live by, yo. Wait — I mean words to live by, ja.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya Tuesday!

Happy Thor’s Day, everybody!

The number nine in Norse mythology is a recurring symbol. Symbolic of what, I’m not exactly sure. Perhaps transitional events — like birth or death. Or transitional things — like Yggdrasil, the tree which touches both heaven and (Nifl) hel. The transitional meaning supposedly comes from the fact that the number nine is the last single-digit number before we reach double-digits with the number 10.

But for dummkopfs like me, the number nine in Norse myth is most useful for giving me a head’s up, like: Yo. Pay attention. This part is really important.

Here follow some famous nines in Norse myth:

• The Nine Worlds
• Heimdall had nine mothers
• Nine thralls Odin incites to killing each other so he could take their place in the fields and learn from their master where to find the mead of poetry.
• Hermod rode for nine nights before reaching Niflheim and there attempting to bring Balder back from the dead.
• Nine — the number of days and nights Odin hung on the World Tree, Yggdrasil, in order to learn the secret of runes.

There are more instances of nine in Norse myth, but its use in the story of Odin and the runes is probably the most important. Want to know what he learned those long nights on the tree? Some powerful magick, that’s what. Check out the following passage from Havamal, a section of The Elder Edda by Benjamin Thorpe:

ODIN’S RUNE-SONG.1

140. I know that I hung, on a wind-rocked tree, nine whole nights, with a spear wounded, and to Odin offered, myself to myself; on that tree, of which no one knows from what root it springs.

141. Bread no one gave me, nor a horn of drink, downward I peered, to runes applied myself, wailing learnt them, then fell down thence.

142. Potent songs nine from the famed son I learned of Bolthorn, Bestla’s sire, and a draught obtained of the precious mead, drawn from Odhraerir.

Did you catch that? Another instance of the number nine, this in stanza 142 and telling how many magical songs Odin learned from drinking the mead of poetry. (But I’ve also read that Odin learned these nine songs from the giant Suttung himself rather than through the mead Odin stole from him.) Could it be that in stanza 141 Odin’s “wailing” indicates he might have sung these songs in order to call forth more powerful runic magick whilst hanging on Yggdrasil? Without further ado, here are the spells he learned those nine nights on The World Tree:

148. Those songs I know which the king’s wife knows not nor son of man. Help the first is called, for that will help thee against strifes and cares.

149. For the second I know, what the sons of men require, who will as leeches live.

150. For the third I know, if I have great need to restrain my foes, the weapons’ edge I deaden: of my adversaries no arms nor wiles harm aught.

151. For the fourth I know, if men place bonds on my limbs, I so sing that I can walk; the fetter starts from my feet, and the manacle from my hands.

152. For the fifth I know, if I see a shot from a hostile hand, a shaft flying amid the host, so swift it cannot fly that I cannot arrest it, if only I get sight of it.

153. For the sixth I know, if one wounds me with a green tree’s roots; also if a man declares hatred to me, harm shall consume them sooner than me.

154. For the seventh I know, if a lofty house I see blaze o’er its inmates, so furiously it shall not burn that I cannot save it. That song I can sing.

155. For the eighth I know, what to all is useful to learn: where hatred grows among the sons of men—that I can quickly assuage.

156. For the ninth I know, if I stand in need my bark on the water to save, I can the wind on the waves allay, and the sea lull.

157. For the tenth I know, if I see troll-wives sporting in air, I can so operate that they will forsake their own forms, and their own minds.

158. For the eleventh I know, if I have to lead my ancient friends to battle, under their shields I sing, and with power they go safe to the fight, safe from the fight; safe on every side they go.

159. For the twelfth I know, if on a tree I see a corpse swinging from a halter, I can so grave and in runes depict, that the man shall walk, and with me converse.

160. For the thirteenth I know, if on a young man I sprinkle water, he shall not fall, though he into battle come: that man shall not sink before swords.

161. For the fourteenth I know, if in the society of men I have to enumerate the gods, JEsir and Alfar, I know the distinctions of all. This few unskilled can do.

162. For the fifteenth I know what the dwarf Thio- dreyrir sang before Delling’s doors. Strength he sang to the ^Esir, and to the Alfar prosperity, wisdom to Hroptatyr.

163. For the sixteenth I know, if a modest maiden’s favour and affection I desire to possess, the soul I change of the white-armed damsel, and wholly turn her mind.

164. For the seventeenth I know, that that young maiden will reluctantly avoid me. These songs, Lodd- fafnir! thou wilt long have lacked; yet it may be good if thou understandest them, profitable if thou learnest them.

165. For the eighteenth I know that which I never teach to maid or wife of man, (all is better what one only knows. This is the closing of the songs) save her alone who clasps me in her arms, or is my sister.

166. Now are sung the High-one’s songs, in the High-one’s hall, to the sons of men all-useful, but useless to the Jotuns’ sons. Hail to him who has sung them! Hail to him who knows them! May he profit who has learnt them! Hail to those who have listened to them!

So there you have the 18 rune-songs Odin learned upon The World Tree. (I probably don’t need to point out that 9 x 2 = 18.)

Thanks for stopping by! See ya Tuesday.

16.
Ein stakkar tykkjest
han støtt må leva,
når han strid mun sky.
Men alderdomen
gjev ingen mann fred,
um sverd honom sparde.

122.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
ord skifte
aldri du skal
med ein uvitug ape.

125.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
aldri tri stridsord
du skifte med illmenne;
gjæving tidt gjev seg
der låking tek liv.

126.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
gjer ikkje sko
eller skaft åt andre;
ver glad du greider deg sjølv.
Um skoen vart stygg
eller skaftet vart rangt,
då er ulukka ute.

127.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
merkar du vondt,
vondt du det kalle,
gjev ikkje din fiende fred.

128.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
yver det som er ilt
aldri deg gled,
men lat vondt til godt vendast.

133.
Ofte veit dei
som inne sit
lite kva folk som kann fara.
D’er ingen so god
at gall han vantar,
eller so arm at til inkje han duger.

135.
Eg råd gjev deg, Loddfåvne,
råd du take,
nyttug um du nem,
god um du gaumar:
gøy ikkje mot gjest
som hund ved grind,
tak imot trengande mann.

136.
Det lyt sterke tappar
som skal svinge døri
til upplating for alle;
men gjev din skilling,
at ikkje skade
vert ynskt deg på liv og lem.

Hele dritten kan leses på heimskringla.no.

WHEN SOMEONE CRITICIZES THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT for its educational failings, many people would agree. But when that person goes-on to call our religious leaders ‘fools’ and claim that there is ‘a hidden meaning in the Bible’s Scriptures that can be successfully unearthed by referring to the Tarot,’ the chances are they would be considered quite mad.

So is the person behind the ItsAFact Blog, here on WordPress, just a simple nut-case; or is there something in what he says? I went to see him at his home, not far from the East Essex coast, to find out…

‘My privacy is important to me, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t mention my name.’ said the ageing man behind ItsAFact. ‘You see, despite your inferences, I don’t consider myself to be a prophet, guru or any other kind of preacher. I don’t hear the Voice of God and I don’t have visions predicting the demise of Mankind. I’m just a normal guy, like yourself, who has just undertaken some research and formed a particular opinion.’

Well, he certainly seemed normal. There was no flowing beard; no ill-fitting robes and no wild look in his eyes. He was dressed in crisply pressed Farah slacks, a soft, blue, silk shirt with an open neck; Pierre Cardin cotton socks and a regular pair of slippers. But I knew, from a previous conversation I had with him, that, in 2004, he had admitted himself to a mental ward.

‘Yes,’ he confirmed, ‘I did admit myself for a week back in 2004 — and I’m still on a daily cocktail of Prozac and Risperdal; but I don’t think that invalidates my conclusions, or the facts presented in my Blog.

‘It all started when I was given a set of Runes, by my girlfriend, earlier that year. In short, I became fascinated by the characters — perhaps obsessed would be a better word. It was as though I knew, intuitively, that they could be arranged in groups of three; but that the set was not complete.

‘I spent hours on the Web trying to find a clue to the missing characters, and there I ran across the Havamal — an ancient Nordic poem, which I was sure provided a clue.

‘It is obvious, from the outset, that the Havamal is written in metaphor; but I was immediately able to understand what it was talking about. The Havamal can be read, on the surface, as a guide to moral behaviour; but I was convinced (and still am) that what the author was really describing was creation and the human soul.

‘It was obvious to me that its eighteen “spells” referred to eighteen of the Runic characters, which, as I was later to discover, like the Hebrew alephbet, represent actual words themselves. It was the first time I had come across such a phenomenon — and the possibilities it lent to writing in metaphor fascinated me even more.

‘I soon became totally obsessed: dismissing six of the twenty-four Futhark letters as vowels and deciding that only the consonants mattered. I spent hour upon hour, with many sleepless nights, trying to arrange them in groups of three that described, in simple terms, the process of creation.

‘I hadn’t slept for three days and, on the morning of the fourth, after working on the grid, it was suddenly as though my head exploded. The room suddenly became much brighter, everything snapped into focus (literally) and I began to experience, what I can only describe, as forces beyond this realm.

‘I don’t really want to go into any more detail; but, suffice it to say, there were moments of ecstasy and others of absolute terror. A very good friend recognized that I was beginning to lose it entirely and took me to the local hospital. I had no intention of signing myself in; but, let’s just say, his will was greater than mine! (And he is much bigger than I am.)’

He stopped and offered me a Scotch from a cut-glass decanter, pouring a liberal amount for himself.

‘And did the week there cure you?’ I asked.

He concentrated on his drink for a moment.

‘I’m not sure “cured” is the correct word. I’m not even sure a complete cure is possible, or even appropriate. You can’t “cure” a person of what they have experienced, can you?’

‘So you still have “experiences?”‘

‘No. At least,’ he smiled, ‘Not while I’m taking the pills. Sometimes I still have “thoughts” though. Thoughts that I don’t recognize as my own. That is normally accompanied by a kind of ringing in my head and a tightness of my scalp.’

He raised his glass towards me.

‘Scotch often helps,’ he explained.

‘And those thoughts?.. Those thoughts that you say “aren’t your own.” Did they help you with your Blog?’

‘Yes. Yes it did,’ he replied, after a pause.

‘So what made you set the Runes aside and turn to ancient Hebrew?’

‘The conviction that I was working with an incomplete set; that the Runes had their basis in ancient Hebrew — and the certain knowledge that the Christian God had Revealed Himself to me.

‘It is really difficult to explain; but it is not easy, for me, to fully understand those other “thoughts.” At least: not straight away. You see: they don’t “tell” me anything. Rather, they just “comment.” It’s a bit like being back at school with a frustratingly superior teacher leaning over your shoulder, commenting on what you are doing; but not revealing how you should proceed. They are, of course, patiently waiting for you to discover the answer for yourself — only providing input when they can see you are completely on the wrong track. It can be mentally draining; but,’ he laughed, ‘Very entertaining at the same time!’

‘Can you give me an example?’

‘Yes. I think I can…

‘There was this one time when I was obsessed with the meaning of trust. I forget just what the context was; but I was debating whether it could have a hidden, or metaphoric meaning. Suddenly I got this ringing in my head and the impression that my “voice” was asking: “Do you trust me?”

‘I can’t really explain the process; because it doesn’t all happen in words. You see, in order to fully communicate, the voice sometimes needs me to release control of my body. When that happens, I can sometimes find my hands gesticulating or my head moved to a new position so I can see something before me.

‘Actually, “release control of my body” is not quite right. Because I am always in control. That is, I can regain control of my body’s movements at any time. It is as though our positions are reversed and I am looking over its shoulder, examining what it is doing with the power to stop it at any time.

‘Anyway, it was as though I was being asked: “Do you trust me?” Had I been forced to reply, I would have had to say “No;” but instead I relaxed and waited.

‘I found myself walking into my hallway and standing looking East. Then I got the impression that the voice was proposing I should let myself fall backwards and trust that it would catch me.

‘It was a ridiculous proposition; but my mind was also being bombarded by other thoughts at the same time. Thoughts like: “If I really am hearing the Voice of God, surely He Can Do Anything. So TRUST!”

‘And, during all this time, I was tottering on the edge of falling backwards and willing myself to regain my balance.

‘I don’t know how long I stood there, teetering back and forth; but eventually I decided, “What the hell? The hallway is fully carpeted. It is not as though I am likely to bust my skull.” So I released control…

‘The inevitable happened of course: I fell indignantly onto my rump and, as I did so, I swear I could hear the voice gently laughing and saying: “Behold the lesson for today: STAND ON YOUR OWN TWO FEET!”‘

‘In other words,’ I summarized, ‘The only person you can really trust is yourself.’

‘Precisely. But there was a direction too. By this time, with my voice’s help, I knew that the Tarot and, certainly, the Old Testament were intimately connected. While I nursed my stinging behind, I found myself sitting in front of the computer and locating the story of Noah on the NetBible Website. That was to be the first of many visits to get at the underlying Hebrew of the Scriptures.’

‘And the Noah story? Where did that fit in?’

‘The Two,’ he replied. ‘My voice hadn’t said: “Stand on your own feet.” It had specifically said: “Stand on your own TWO feet.” It was directing my attention to the use of the word “two” in the actual story, and the way most people interpret it.

‘In hindsight, it was also giving me the first clue to the fact that there are two different “trees;” Adam’s and Eve’s; but it took me some time to comprehend that.’

‘There is actually a heavy Kabbalistic undertone to your Blog, isn’t there?’ I put to him. ‘Are you Jewish?’

‘No. Actually, I wouldn’t term myself “religious” at all; because that presupposes I agree with the Scriptures’ interpretations by a single religious organization. Whereas, the fact is: I do not. My parents never Christened me (leaving that option open to myself when I got older) and I can count on a single hand the number of times I have attended a Church service.

‘Until a few years ago, I had never really read the Bible. We had Religious Education at school, of course; but I simply could not follow what the teachers were saying. I kept asking them “Why?” but they would always avoid answering the question. So it seemed to me that they knew just about as much of their subject as I did. And that wasn’t a lot!

‘”Kabbalistic?” I’m not sure. Certainly I share the revelation of “Trees”; but I certainly don’t go along with the idea that one is good and one is evil. The nearest I could go would be to say that one is ordered; the other chaotic. But the fact is that both, in their own ways, are stable.

‘I should admit here that, when I say “Kabbalistic,” I am only talking about the Western version — propounded by the likes of the Masons and their off-shoot of the Golden Dawn. I don’t profess to know anything about the true Jewish tradition. (And I would hate for anyone to think that my use of the term had anything whatsoever to do with the ridiculous, celebrity funded, New Age American organization that has usurped the term).

‘I’m not a Mason either; so perhaps I shouldn’t mention them. But it seems to me, from what little research I have made on the subject, that they may share the idea of a 22 path tree along with the Golden Dawn. If that is the case: they are seriously mistaken. There are, in fact, three pillars and nineteen paths. (Three elements; seven planets and twelve constellations).’

‘And you don’t hold with an inverted tree that is pure evil. What some Kabbalists term the Qlippoth?’

‘No. I don’t.’

‘And it seems you have completely re-arranged the order of the Tarot cards to make them fit your theory.’

‘Er, that’s not exactly the case. You see, the Tarot’s numbers (in its trumps) are a strictly modern invention. There is also some discrepancies in different decks. The fact is that the Tarot trumps have no numbers. Instead, each corresponds to a character in the Hebrew alephbet, which, in turn, corresponds to a number.

‘But you are right in saying that they are in a different order to that modern numerical sequence. I can’t really offer an explanation as to why that should be, except to say that the numerical sequence is wrong. I think a lot has to do with the Emperor and Empress cards, which others have assigned to Mars and Venus respectively. Presumably because those sigils appear in their illustrations.

‘They are wrong though. The Emperor heads the left hand pillar on the Tree Of Life which is dominated by Mars, whilst the Empress heads the right hand pillar which is dominated by Venus. The symbolism, you see, is quite correct; but it seems nobody has been prepared to put these two cards in their proper context.’

‘Are you inferring that others have arrived at the same conclusions as you, and yet have chosen to withhold them?’

‘Yes, I am. I have no proof, of course; but one thing has always bothered me in all this. Why does the Rider Waite Tarot Deck, designed by Pamela Colman-Smith, so accurately fit my conclusions? (You only have to read my Blog to see that is the case). Throughout all this I have been absolutely amazed at how accurately everything dovetails into place. And yet I had never seen a Rider Waite deck before I was “instructed” to buy one.

‘I actually began by purchasing a Golden Dawn deck, along with a number of their books, hoping to get some answers. But after I had read them, I found myself taking them all downstairs and throwing the lot in the trash bin.

‘You see, as I understand it, A.E.Waite was a founding member of the Golden Dawn — so why is all their literature full of so much nonsense? Surely Waite and Colman-Smith must have been aware of the proper correspondences for their cards; because they fit so perfectly. And yet, what accompanies them, no doubt courtesy of the publishers, is, again, absolute nonsense.

‘And why has the Church never made this evidence public? Or need we really ask?

‘You see, you can look upon me as just some kind of mad bastard who sees “hidden meanings” and “conspiracies” everywhere he turns. But all the evidence is there in my Blog. Readers can go away and begin disambiguating other Bible passages to see that the evidence speaks for itself. For example: Leviticus 27 — and pay particular attention to the numbers.

‘If you were to ask me to give you an example of what I consider evil: I would point to the organized religions that have kept all their followers in the dark.’

‘You know, some would say that, according to the Bible, all evil emanates from Woman.’

‘Yes: woman comes in for a lot of stick in the Bible; but in order to understand why, you have to realize that the Scriptures are all written from Man’s point-of-view. (Perhaps I should say Adam’s).

‘We all have an inner voice. (Perhaps mine is louder than some). But what people need to understand is that their inner voice emanates from their soulmate. In Man, that inner voice is female and, quite rightly, can sometimes give its host a bad time.

‘But Woman isn’t evil. Far from it — because only Woman has the innate ability to distinguish right from wrong. The vast majority of evil in the world is conducted by Man, who is not born with that ability — although it resides in his conscience, or inner voice, should he choose to listen to it.

‘Of course, an individual woman can be evil, and, when that is the case, she is often even more so than her male counterpart. That is because she has chosen the “right-hand-path” in the full knowledge that it leads down the Tree Of Life and towards ultimate destruction. Maybe not quite in those terms, you understand; but she most definitely knows what she is doing. (Dragging her soulmate with her towards impending doom.)

‘It is this aspect of Eve (Woman having eaten the apple) that the Bible often addresses when it makes use of the age old analogy of the wife giving her husband grief — and the husband angrily admonishing her. It is making clear that it is Adam’s role to ensure Eve does not fall; and Eve’s to teach Adam to distinguish between good and evil so that they both might be saved. (That is the underlying message in the story of Abraham and Sarah, in which he treats her terribly, completely unaware he is doing any wrong. Sarah is powerless to intervene directly and it is only when Abraham takes her back and admits she is his wife that he finds reward.)

‘The story of Isaac and Rebecca is another example of this division of the soul; but Rebecca certainly isn’t evil here: she is the Hand of God ensuring that the good son, Jacob, achieves his birthright. (And you notice that I purposely refrained from saying “the human soul’s division”.)’

‘Yes. As I remember it you take Darwin to task in your Blog and say “There is only one species — and that is Life itself.”‘

‘Indeed.’

‘And where is your proof for that?’ I asked.

‘I am tempted to say “My Blog;” but that would be somewhat arrogant.’

He paused.

‘Perhaps the best way to explain it is to say that the seasons affect every living thing, and everything that isn’t. That is to say, the weather and its elements even erode the rocks.

‘In “Autumn” the soul repents of its sins and, in “Winter,” is given the opportunity of making restitution. Here the Buddhists are right in believing that the soul can reincarnate in any form. But I don’t believe it actually has a choice in the matter. It simply reincarnates in the form most suitable to expressing that soul.’

‘Isn’t that a wild, perhaps childish proposition?’

‘I don’t think the Buddhists, and other like thinkers, would agree with that. Besides, if you really think about it: it is the only solution that makes any logical sense. How else can you possibly reconcile Darwin’s theories and his numerous missing links?

‘Look. Darwin postulates that “Nature” is the driving force behind all creation, and that it is “Nature” that decides how a form should evolve. Now: however you interpret “Nature,” one thing is for sure: it succeeds a creature’s death and, for want of a better term, is a depository of the actions that the creature made in life. How else can it “decide” upon the next suitable form when the creature that made those actions is dead?

‘Let’s face it. You cannot postulate that the changes all occur in life (that a creature’s offspring are somehow modified by the behaviour of its parents — and that everything comes down to DNA) because, if that were the case, we would all see Darwin’s theory being played out in the animal kingdom, and ours, with each successive generation. But we don’t. Forms remain stable and then, unexpectedly, there is a jump. A jump based upon prior knowledge of a creature’s behaviour. Not as an individual; but as a group. And to propagate a group, or a new species, you have to have a complementary pair of male and female “parents” from which to breed.

‘Darwin’s theory only holds water if we were all androgynous and no death intervened. But we aren’t; and it does…

‘What Darwin was trying to describe as “Nature” is simply the migration of the Soul — to a form most suited to its expression.’

‘You mentioned: elements, planets and constellations earlier. Do you believe, like the Astrologists, that they, in some way, control Mankind’s destiny or behaviour.’

‘No. Most certainly not. I hope I’ve made that point clear in my Blog.

‘In Genesis we are told that God created the stars and planets as “signs, for days and seasons and years” and, to that extent, we have created our own time measurements from the orbits of the moon, and the Earth around the Sun. I don’t believe, for example, that the Sun actually influences, or decides, whom will be wealthy and whom should be impoverished. But I do believe that the Sun marks the period during which wealth can turn to poverty and vice versa. Similarly, I also believe that the other planets, in their orbits, mark time to Creation’s other pulses.

‘I guess you could say that I look upon the planets and constellations as one gigantic calendar, and the Scriptures as a “user manual” explaining its components.

‘If anyone ever required proof of God’s existence, then surely it lays in the majesty of the heavens.

‘The next time you lay on your back at night, looking up at the stars, consider this: every constellation and every planet you can see is represented in the Hebrew alephbet by a single letter. And every possible condition known to Man is described in the Scriptures, in Hebrew, using words constructed from those letters that reflect the arrangement of the heavens when that condition manifests. Consider too that all Scripture can be read on two levels: the obvious (corresponding to pure narrative) and the hidden (corresponding to the disambiguation of the Hebrew words).

‘Surely you don’t need any further proof of God’s existence? But, if you do: how else can you explain, other than by Divine Intervention, that the Hebrew language ever came into existence? For how can someone design a language that exhibits these properties without first using it to explain how its words are to be written — and have the necessary wherewithal to analyze and document the heavens upon which the language is based without a means to describe it?

‘Monkeys, typewriters and Shakespeare?..

‘I don’t think so. Do you?..’

It was dark when I finally left ItsAFact’s flat and, as I donned my car-coat and lowered the roof on the roadster, I could not help but notice the stars and recall the old man’s last words.

Throughout our conversation, I had been impressed with his desire to keep his anonymity and not become involved in establishing yet another ‘New Age Sect.’

A typical British preacher: ‘No publicity please. I’m not in this for money. People can read my Blog if they want to — or they can simply leave it alone. I’m not here to convert anyone to my views.‘

I found myself wondering if he had at last found the answer to the ‘Why?’ with which he had pestered his religious teachers, and whether he would really be left alone.

I certainly hope so…

I think the majority of people in Britain (and many outside of Britain) will have heard of the case of Alfie Patten, who fathered a child at the age of twelve. It has, naturally, provoked a lot of debate in Parliament and outside. So I thought I’d jump onto the bandwagon.

First of all – is Sex Education, or lack thereof, really responsible? Should parents (and children!) expect the Government to educate young teenagers on the ways of the world? Really? Isn’t that what the family is for? While I don’t disapprove of Sex Ed, I don’t think we should demand that the Government takes over the role of the parents. Apparently it is considered awkward to talk about the “birds and the bees” in this day and age. Possibly a sign of a lack of communication throughout the family.

Now – the parents. Well, at the end of the day, while these children obviously aren’t capable of looking after their offspring, and were quite possibly too immature to deal with their offspring, they made the decision. No matter how difficult the parents may have made it for them, children are crafty. There will always be somewhere where they can get up to mischief away from their parents scrutiny. However – as reported in one of the tabloids, the then fourteen year old mother was sleeping with eight other boys at the time she got pregnant, all in her home. Now that, I believe, is where the parents should be condemned. At the age of fourteen (or ten years later, age irrespective) my mother would not have allowed me to sleep in the same bed as any boy, relationship or otherwise, nevermind eight of them. I would go as far as to suggest that this young lady lacks respect for herself. Has she heard the whole nation calling her a slag yet?

The young children themselves. Well, at the end of the day, it was their act and no one else’s. If they wanted to sleep together, they would, regardless of what anyone said. Should a twelve year old boy be sleeping with a woman? Probably not. The lad hasn’t gone through puberty yet and should be playing with Action Men and studying in school (so he can actually support the child!) rather than putting a lot of stress on other people and letting Mommy and Daddy foot the bills. Bringing life into the world is a very selfless act – but only when you’re not being selfish with respect to the people around you.

Reporter: How are you going to provide for your child financially?
Alfie: What’s financially?

I thought I’d end with a few stanza’s from Hávamál. A more worthwhile subject, at least!

Herds know the hour of their going home
and turn them again from the grass;
but never is found a foolish man
who knows the measure of his maw.

The unwise man is awake all night,
and ponders everything over;
when morning comes he is weary in mind,
and all is a burden as ever.

EDIT: Ha! A court order was passed to stop more information about Alfie Patten and Co. being in the media, but naturally things do leak … and it turns out it wasn’t his kid. The sad thing is that this 15 year old girl was sleeping around to such an extent.

Un texte de Norrabrud de la fin de l’année,
Ma grand’mère me disait que quand elle était jeune , il y avait toujours un assiette en plus à table pour quelqu’ ouvrier agricole de passage, il y avait toujours de la soupe chaude sur le coin du feu .
on l’appellait la place du pauvre
De nos jours on est très loin de cette mentalité, on se barricade , bien au chaud chez soi et on se branche sur la télé
En ces temps de grands froids, je n’ai pu m’empêcher de faire le rapprochement, de penser à ceux qui sont dehors, et de relire le havamal :

De feu a besoin
celui qui est entré
gelé jusqu’aux genoux
de nourriture et de vêtements secs
a besoin l’homme qui a voyagé par les montagnes

Et aussi en voyant les reportages sur les sdf refractaires aux foyers d’accueil , et qui campent dans des cabanes de fortune, je n’ai pu m’empêcher de les comprendre :

un chez-soi est meilleur
même s’il est petit;
chez soi chacun est maître;
saignant est le coeur
de qui doit mendier
sa nourriture de chaque repas

Alors juste une boite de conserve aux resto du coeur apporte un repas chaud et comme c’est bientot les soldes, on va faire de la place dans les armoires, ne jettez pas les anciens vêtements , il y a de nombreuses associations qui seront heureuses de les prendre

Jag har ikväll varit hemma hos min mor och pluggat svenska i 6 timmar. Jag har nu gjort klart 3 av 4 uppgifter och ska fixa den sista imorgon tänkte jag.

Mot slutet började jag få in flytet och i kvällens sista uppgift kom jag fram till att “Havamal var för forntidens människor på Island, vad en överlevnadshandbok och Magdalena Ribbing är för oss idag.” Sen dess har jag varit hög på min egen intelligens och fiffighet.

Nu ska jag sova så att jag få 6 timmars sömn iallafall. Gnatt!

Eben stolperte ich zufällig über einen YouTube-Clip, in dem der originalsprachliche Vortrag des Hávamál in altem Stil durch
Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson mit (u.a.) Bildern von ihm unterlegt ist.

Das wollte ich Euch nicht vorenthalten.

Today’s daily wise man is a viking. I find this quote to be quite humorous.

A wench’s words let no man trust, nor trust the troth of a woman; for on a whirling wheel their hearts are shaped, and fickle and fitful their minds.

-The Poetic Edda, Havamal, 84

Aw poor viking.