The April Fools

Today is the day of the Jester--April Fools Day! This unofficial holiday is celebrated throughout the world in the event of changing the new year to January 1 from the last week March through April 1.

 It's unclear how this April Fool's tradition originated, but it's speculated that it dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as deemed by the Council of Trent in 1563. People's slow reaction or failure to the change  became the butt of jokes and hoaxes, which included having a paper fish placed on a person's back and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish), symbolizing a gullible person.

Historians have linked April Fools Day to ancient festivals, such as Hilaria, a Roman celebration at the end of March where people dressed up in disguises and possibly to the vernal equinox, first day of spring, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing unpredictable weather.
April Fools Day spread throughout Britain in the 18th century and in Scotland it became a two-day event called "hunting the gowk," where people(gowk's, meaning cuckoo bird and a symbol for fool) were sent on phony errands, followed by Tallie Day where pranks were played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or "kick me" signs on them.

Pranks and hoaxes have evolved throughout the centuries to our modern times, here is a highlight of some of  the elaborate pranks/hoaxes.

• 1957,  BBC news program, complete with footage of farmers harvesting noodles from trees, reported that Switzerland's farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop of home-grown spaghetti due to lack of natural spaghetti pests a mild winter. The BBC received numerous calls from people wanting to start spaghetti trees and were told to take a sprig of spaghetti and place it in tomato sauce.

• 1962, Sweden's only television station announced it could be viewed in color if one cut up tights and placed it over the television's screen which would bend the television's light to make it appear in color. Many Swedes fell for this hoax.

• 1972, Yorkshire, England, a photo of the Loch Ness Monster was taken by zoologists at a local zoo, turns out that it was a seal with shaved whiskers.

• 1985, Sports Illustrated ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch, who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour.

• 1996, Taco Bell restaurant chain, duped people when it announced that it agreed to purchase Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

• 1998, Burger King advertised a "Left-Handed Whopper," scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich.

Alas, laugh aloud, enjoy the day and remember to think about what people tell you or may end up "The Fool" on April Fools Day.


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Alban Eilir

Here we stand at the gateway of Alban Eilir(Spring Equinox). where the dark and light are in equal balance, where the renewed life forces surge through the veins of the Earth and her creatures give life to their offspring, and where we should open and find the balances in our own lives.

The symbolic flower of  the Equinox in Druidry is the shamrock or trefoil, representing the Sun God and the Triple Goddess. Thusly, the Equinox is associated with planting, promise, balance, air, and yellow.
Within the Equinox is the celebration of Easter, although a Christian festival, it is named after an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre, whose sacred animal was the Hare, thus the original Easter bunny. Easter eggs were also ancient symbols of springtime, children would roll decorated hard-boiled eggs down a hill in a game called "trundling," and some have seen this custom as a relic of  sun worship where the eggs represent the sun on its journey across the heavens.

We strive for balance in our lives and Alban Eilir is the time to open and find our own balances, to find that area of equilibrium in which we need to survive without the stress and negativity of life and to enjoy the peacefulness of  Mother Earth and her enduring children.

We salute the Equinox with this Welsh prayer:            

Good Luck to the hoof and horn
Good Luck to the flock and fleece
Good Luck to the growers of corn
With blessing and plenty of peace!

Blessed Alban Eilir to all.




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Crazy Moods

Crazy moods just happen. There's no reason and nothing you can do to prevent them, set off by some of the simplest things like, a song, a joke, something somebody says, or  a number of other things, they make you laugh, dance, get silly or make you perform other uncontrollable acts. Maybe it's a human reaction to just have a burst of fun amidst all the sadness in the world, to let yourself let go and enjoy some fun in life without  any boundaries. Crazy moods can last for hours or even a day or two, my recent crazy mood occurred from a song by Rick Derringer, it popped into thoughts and then I just had to hear it, from there it was crazy mood madness--singing, imitating and laughing a lot--so far it has lasted two days, but there's nothing I can do but enjoy the ride.Listen to the song, maybe it will throw you into a crazy mood. 

Love, laugh, sing and enjoy the moment. 

The Path We Should Take

The world today is in turmoil, from the Middle East to the Ukraine all you see in the news are the atrocities--bombings, beheadings and the paths to wars. For America, we are going to be engaged in another war or two, whether, under Obama or the next President, it's inevitable. It reminds me of the 1960's when we were in another war--Vietnam, which was called a police action, while today it's a role of military advisors. Whatever you want to call it both our foreign actions of today and Vietnam run in a lot of similar parallels, even though the world as changed since the 1960's it seems that our inability to stay out of countries affairs as not been learned from our past mistakes. Unfortunately, we are entrenched, have sacrificed the blood of our brave men and women, and are now compelled to wage war in the Middle East and possibly the Ukraine if for nothing else, our own survival.

                                                                                               

In seeing the news of today, I can't get the song  Woodstock by Crosby, Stills Nash  & Young out of my head. A song of  protest and a song of peace that even though meant for Vietnam could easily be used today.
When you listen to this song and read its lyrics, pay attention to it's meaning. It's the path we should taking.

Review: The Last Kingdom

For those who have an interest in Medieval tales and history, I would recommend,
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. This is the first offering of his "Saxon Tales" series.
The story is set in the middle years of the ninth-century when the Danes(Vikings) invaded England for plunder and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until only the Kingdom of Wessex remained and the fate of all England depended on one king--Alfred the Great.

The tale is told through the eyes of, Uhtred, son of Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg, Northumbria, who at the age of ten, goes to observe a battle with his father, but the battle is won by the Danes and Uhtred's father  is killed and he is captured by Warlord Ragnar. Due to Uhtred's fighting spirit, Ragnar raises him as his own son in the Viking tradition. Thus, this is also the story of Uhtred's coming of age, in which he struggles over being English and serving King Alfred with all of his rules or living among the Vikings and their gods who he has come to cherish. Uhtred follows his destiny, fighting for the Danes and  then the English in high tension adventures and thrilling scenarios that leads him to fulfilling his quest to becoming a warrior and into manhood.

A thrilling historical fiction tale that will intoxicate its readers.

Merry Yule

Happy Yule to all my faithful readers and followers. May your presents be many, your remembrances be merry and your love, kindness and compassion shine in your heart and throughout the world. 


Blessed Peace and Love

Wayne

Winter Solstice

We have arrived at the winter solstice (December 21 and 22nd),the shortest day of the year and the celebration of Alban Arthan/ Yule, which symbolize the renewal of light through the dark winter. Decorations of mistletoe, holly and evergreens are displayed upon houses symbolizing that new life will return in the spring.

Alban Arthan is Welsh meaning *Light of Winter," or a poetic meaning, "Light of Arthur." It is a celebration of the return of the Divine Child, the Mabon, and the rebirth of the golden solstice Sun that will bring back the warmth, light and life to the Earth again. A main feature of this celebration is the Yule log. Traditionally, logs are burned in a central fireplace. The log  must come from one's own land or be a gift, but not bought. It is ignited with a remaining piece of last year's Yule log,thus passing Light from one year to another. The log is burned slowly for 12 days in the fireplace before being extinguished and its ashes are stowed away til springtime then mixed with seeds and spread over the fields symbolizing the power of the Sun.

In Druid tradition, the Alban Arthan represents  the battle between the Oak King, or Divine Child (God of waxing Light) and the Holly King, or Dark Lord(God of waning Light), in which the Oak King wins and rules until he is defeated by the Holly King at the time of the summer solstice. Furthermore, the cauldron of Dagda, symbolizing the promise that nature will bear fruit and care for all living beings on Earth, and Brighid, the bearer of the flame of inspiration, that penetrates the mind and soul, like the Sun that gives rebirth to the light and penetrates the darkest time of the year, reign upon the winter solstice.


To All Warm Blessings.

Travis The Artist

As noted in my previous post, the Lovely Lady D and I traveled back to the Sarasota Medieval Fest.We walked along the pavilions of jewelry sellers, stages of shows and food peddlers. We stopped to look at trinkets for the Lovely Lady D and of course, bought various incense and oils from the incense peddler. Then we decided to get a caricature and met with Travis, a jovial master of the paint brush who agreed to create a masterpiece portrait of us in remembrance of our journey to the Fest.

After a brief conversation of what we wanted in out portrait, Travis set to work with pen, brush and paint, working diligently while engaging us in conversation on various topics and events. He started with me, looking for facial characteristics and features while drawing and coloring the image on his canvas. Within a short period he moved on to creating the image of the Lovely Lady D, his hand glided effortlessly over the canvas, with steady hand and keen eye he  drew and painted with passion and intensity while our curiosity grew and the crowd gathered watching the creation of our masterpiece unfold.

The excitement mounted as the time went by, at one point we asked members of the crowd for an opinion on the picture's progress and they said "it looks like you." More time went by, Travis worked and paused briefly  to check his work and then picked up his brush and continued. The excitement and curiosity mounted in high crescendo along with the approval of the crowd. Then with one final check and a large smile from Travis--our masterpiece was unveiled. Huzzah!!

A thanks to Travis for a great masterpiece which we will cherish forever. Travis lives in the Orlando area of Florida, besides caricatures, he provides services in comic art, illustration, character design, and more.
Travis can be reached at TravisJustinHill@lycos.com

New Book Promo

Don't miss out on my new book promo of The Patsy that is going on right now, hurry cause it ends on December 4th. It's a great way to start our winter readings.

Hail the Medieval Fest!

Huzzar! Huzzar! Good times at the Sarasota Medieval Fest (Nov.7-Nov. 23). Food, drink, bands, and entertainment--mini shows, the Wheel of Death and my favorite, Human Combat Chess.

A smaller Fest in terms of vendors, but the quality of the trinkets are good to make any Ren goer happy. I myself purchased a pendant, incense and a tree incense holder. The food was also excellent from the turkey legs to the grilled corn on the cob.

The setting is still held in a wooded area complete with dirt paths and the usual feel of any other Ren Fest. The day I went, it had rained the night before so the day was overcast and the paths were partly wet, just another enhancement of a trip to a more ancient time.

So this weekend I will travel back to the Fest. The weather will be sunny and hot (80's) according to the weather foretellers, and I will visit some of the vendors that I missed the last time, drink some more beer and mead along with some tasty food. Maybe I'll will watch another game of Human Combat Chess or just sit and take in the forest setting, the smell of the numerous foods and sounds of the bands.

If  I could read my poem, "Invitation to the Faire" to the royal court--now that would really rock!