Mark Twain wrote in the nineteenth century that there were fifty locations along the Mississippi River that claimed the title of lover’s leap. In fact, they are spread out not only across this country, but others as well. Nobody knows where, or even if there was a place where this legend springs from, a single […]
Journal
Old Sarum ley line with Salisbury Cathedral and Clearbury Ring, from Old Sarum’s ramparts
The Old Sarum Ley was identified by Sir Norman Lockyear, and runs from north of Stonehenge to the western bank of Frankenbury Camp, near Fordinbridge, Hampshire. This photo was taken from Old Sarum, an Iron Age hill-fort, which became a Roman town, then Saxon and eventually a fortified castle and cathedral, once the residence of […]
Christmas Card from Orpheus to Eurydice (last known address, Hades)
Top: Orpheus in Hades, Pierre Amedee Marcel Beronneau Editor’s note: This is my website, so I get to do what I want. Occasionally I write fiction, though this was going to be a nice scholarly article on Orpheus and Eurydice. Instead I got to wondering what happened to Eurydice afterwards? Too lazy to look it […]
Exiled – In the abyss, with only the full moon and a hungry lion for company
December 3, 2017 I was taking photos in a zoo once, stalking a lioness, she was agitated, pacing in her pen, she didn’t seem to like the sound of my camera. I got up to the fence and started snapping again. I heard the people scream, I saw the lion hurtle towards me. I lowered […]
Sunrise through the trees and the Southwest entrance stones to Avebury Circle and Henge
People are always going on about celestial alignments with the neolithic stone circles of Britain, Ireland and beyond. But it’s a simple fact, these are, more or less, circles. Stand in the middle and eventually there well be a solar or other celestial alignment for every stone. The solstices, the equinoxes will usually line up […]
To the two little fairies who once lived in my garden, who had stars in their eyes and flowers in their hair
Last night I had the strangest dream. I dreamt it was my wedding day, or rather wedding evening. It was being held in that little church where I first really spent time with one of you. I had known you for years, but it was the first occasion where I was responsible for you and […]
Namaste this … a warning before embracing the gods within, for divinity has a dark side
Top: Gilded head of a Minerva, found in Bath, Somerset. Originally atop a statue larger than life, she would have looked out from her temple next to a sacred spring onto the altar where sacrifices were made in her name. That the gods require living sacrifice should be a warning to us all, that not all […]
Adam and Eve Longstones on a Misty Day
The longstones, known locally as Adam and Eve likely was the terminus for the Beckhampton Avenue, which was believed to have extended from the Avebury circle and was obliterated in the post medieval era. The slender stone, Eve, was likely the last stone in the avenue. Adam was part of a four sided cove which remained […]
Pickled, buried in lead beneath their death masks in the crypt at Farleigh Hungerford Castle
A collection of eight lead coffins can be found in the crypt of Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset. Bodies were essentially pickled and put into the anthropomorphic caskets to hold them together. The faces were carved from death masks. It’s believed this is the largest collection of lead coffins in Britain.
Living With Ghosts, Part One: The Downstairs and Restoring This Old Gothic House
Author’s Note: This is the first in a series of pieces on my childhood home. It’s my own story, more or less. I did fudge a few details to protect the innocent. I’m in the process of whipping it into shape, to stay or to sell it and go. It’s like This Old House with […]
