A date for Art to Explain
Bob Grumman
found out that Delia Bacon was born 2 February 1811. Inasmuch as I
was born 2 February 1941 and have a superstition about birthdates
though I don't *really* believe in astrology, that made me laugh out
loud when I read it. I just hope she wasn't born at 4:48 A.M. I
can't change my birthdate, but maybe you can change it, Art. I
believe you've done that for others. It's nice to identify with James
Joyce (born 2 February 1882) but not as nice as it is horrible to be
identified with Delia.
On the other hand, some wack has published a severely-edited version
of Delia's great classic that's supposedly brought it down to the
level of us mortals, so maybe her reputation is going to have a
turnaround. . . . I think I still want my birthdate changed--to
Crowley's. No matter how big Delia becomes, she'll never outshine him
in the eyes of those who count.
--Bob G.
Art Neuendorffer
> The latest Oxford-Shakespeare Society newsletter is out. In it I
> found out that Delia Bacon was born 2 February 1811. Inasmuch as I
> was born 2 February 1941 and have a superstition about birthdates
> though I don't *really* believe in astrology, that made me laugh out
> loud when I read it. I just hope she wasn't born at 4:48 A.M. I
> can't change my birthdate, but maybe you can change it, Art. I
> believe you've done that for others. It's nice to identify with James
> Joyce (born 2 February 1882) but not as nice as it is horrible to be
> identified with Delia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In a letter dated [Wednesday] February 2, 1785,
to Count APONYI concerning his forthcoming Masonic Degree,
Haydn mused: "Oh, how I wish it were Friday already.
Oh, to feel the unspeakable joy of being among such worthy men!"
Haydn was initiated in Zur Wahrheit, the Truth, Lodge.
<< *EPONA* : from Celtic Gaul, was especially worshipped
as a giver of well being to *fools*.>>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2, 1529, (The Courtier) BALTHASAR Castiglione dies in Toledo
February 2, 1585, Shakespeare's twins, Hamnet & Judith baptized.
February 2, 1602, John Donne wrote his father-in-law George More
concerning his unapproved marriage to Anne More. When Donne was
put under virtual house arrest for marrying the girl, he used a
diamond to write on a windowpane, "John Donne, Anne Donne, undone."
February 2, 1650, Charles II's mistress NELL Gwin born
February 2, 1685, Charles II said "Let not poor Nellie starve" & died.
February 2, 1709, British sailor Alexander Selkirk rescued [Wedn.]
February 2, 1785, Wed. Haydn's Freemasonry letter [Wedn.]
February 2, 1862, Samuel Clemens uses pseudonym: Mark Twain.
February 2, 1870, Wed. Mark Twain marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, N.Y.
February 2, 1875, Fritz Kreisler born in Vienna
February 2, 1901, Jascha Heifitz, born in Vilna
February 2, 1882, Thursday James Joyce, born
February 2, 1922, Thursday Ulysses published
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
<<Counting forward from December 25 as Day One, we find that Day Forty
is February 2. A Jewish woman is in semi-seclusion for 40 days after
giving birth to a son, and accordingly it is on February 2 that we
celebrate the coming of Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus to
the TEMPLE at Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, both on behalf of
Mary and on behalf of Jesus as a first-born male.>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shakespeare's Hamnet & Judith baptized: February 2, 1585
+ 113
+ 113
--------------
Delia S. BacON: born February 2, 1811
---------------------------------------------------------------------
250 year Mercury cycle: Francis BacON => Delia S. BacON
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Delia S. BacON born: [Gregorian] 2 February, 1811
Francis BacON born: [Gregorian] 1 February, 1561
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disting [Imbolg - February 1] is the time of swearing of *oaths*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SUSAN Vere Herbert dies February 1, 1629
+222
-----------------
Frankenstein's Mary Shelley dies February 1, 1851
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.angelfire.com/de/poetry/Whoswho/Brigit.html
<<Brigit is an Irish Goddess identical with Dana and Brigindo. She is
daughter of the god Dagda "The Good" and has two sisters also named
Brigit. The three sisters were usually amalgamated into one entity. One
is a goddess of poetry, handicrafts, and learning; one is a goddess of
smiths and metalworking; and the third is a goddess of healing and
fertility. Ruadan, her son by Bres, was slain by Goibnui. For him
shemade the first keening that was ever heard in Ireland. She is honored
on February 1st at Imbolc.
In her triple aspect, she was patroness of scholars, poets, healers,
fertility, and smiths and metalwork. Her primary affiliations were with
the element of fire, providing illumination, life and health, and
creativity. The ancient Filid or bards were under her direct inspiration
for the creation of filidhecht (poetry), and she was also important to
the Druids as a goddess of divination. In Romano-Celtic temples she was
frequently amalgamated with the goddess Minerva. It was she who first
made the whistle for calling one to another through the night. Like the
Norse goddess Hel, the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side
was very comely. She was called Breosaighit, a fiery arrow, and her name
can be traced all the way to the Sanskrit word Brhati which means
"exalted one."
To the Christians she became Saint Brigit of Kildare, founding the first
female religious community after Christianity had been established in
Ireland. The nunnery of Kildare kept a perpetual fire which was not
extinguished until the Reformation. Saint Brigit is the secondary patron
saint of Ireland. Within Scottish tradition Brigid (the saint and the
goddess) is associated with the lambing season and the coming of spring,
when she ousts the winter reign of the Cailleach Bheur, the blue hag.
The saint is also known as the 'Mary of the Gael,' credited with being
the midwife to the Virgin. A folk-story tells how she played the fool by
lighting a crown of candles and wearing it on her head to distract
Herod's soldiers from the Holy Infant. Traces of Brigit can be seen in
Brigantia.
Brigantia, meaning high one, is the titular goddess of the Brigantes of
the West Riding in Yorkshire. She was worshiped almost exclusively by
Cartimandue, queen of the Brigantes. Both the rivers Briant and Brent
were named for her. A dedication and bas-relief at Birrens depicts her
with the victorious attributes of Minerva and wearing the mural crown of
Cybele which shows how the Romans adopted her into their own mythos. She
is also called Caelestis Brigantia on an altar found in Corbridge
Northumberland, and she is identified with Dea Callistis on a section of
Hadrian's Wall. She was a goddess of water and herding, said to have
been reared on the milk of a red eared cow (meaning it was not of this
world). She is a Northern Celtic variation of the Irish Brigit. The
Celts of Eastern France call her Brigindo.
Whenever the Romans occupied a new colony they were careful to
propitiate the genius of the land. Britannia was the personified genia
of Britain and was first depicted on a coin of Antoninus Pius (d. AD
161). Latterly, Britannia, with the attributes and weapons of Minerva,
appeared on coins during the reign of Charles II in 1665, and became
the symbol of the British Empire. She is the last remaining
personification of Britain's native Sovereignty.>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Art Neuendorffer
> The latest Oxford-Shakespeare Society newsletter is out. In it I
> found out that Delia Bacon was born 2 February 1811. Inasmuch as
> I was born 2 February 1941 and have a superstition about birthdates
What about the number 13 (decades).
> though I don't *really* believe in astrology, that made me laugh
> out loud when I read it. I just hope she wasn't born at 4:48 A.M.
> I can't change my birthdate, but maybe you can change it, Art.
> I believe you've done that for others. It's nice to identify
> with James Joyce (born 2 February 1882) but not as nice as
> it is horrible to be identified with Delia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DELIA F-AILED
BOB G BOB
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In a letter to Count APONYI dated [Wednesday] February 2, 1785,
concerning his forthcoming Masonic Degree,
Haydn mused: "Oh, how I wish it were Friday already.
Oh, to feel the unspeakable joy of being among such worthy men!"
Haydn was initiated in ZUR WAHRHEIT ["TO THE TRUTH"] Lodge.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Thalia" from "The Teares of the Muses"
by Edmund Spenser, 1591
http://www.eliki.com/portals/fantasy/circle/thalia2.html
And he the man, whom Nature selfe had made
To mock her selfe, and TRUTH to imitate,
With kindly counter vnder Mimick shade,
Our pleasant Willy, ah is dead of late:
With whom all ioy and iolly meriment
Is also deaded, and in dolour drent.
But that same gentle Spirit, from whose pen
Large streames of honnie and sweete Nectar flowe,
Scorning the boldnes of such base-borne men,
Which dare their follies forth so rashlie throwe;
Doth rather choose to sit in idle Cell,
Than so himselfe to mockerie to sell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Cell of the oak] Cill-Dara
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<<Brigid is the patron saint of Ireland, poets, cattle & fugitives.>>
<<About the year 470 A.D., Bridget founded both a monastery & convent
at Cill-Dara [translated Kildare] and was abbess of the convent,
the 1st of its kind in Ireland. She built her room, called a cell,
under a large oak tree, and thus derives the name of her convent:
Cill-Dara [cell of the oak].>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2, 1529, (The Courtier) BALTHASAR Castiglione dies in Toledo
February 2, 1585, Shakespeare's twins, Hamnet & Judith baptized.
February 2, 1602, John Donne wrote his father-in-law George More
concerning his unapproved marriage to Anne More. When Donne was
put under virtual house arrest for marrying the girl, he used a
diamond to write on a windowpane, "John Donne, Anne Donne, undone."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2 ritual at the great Goddess Brighid/St. Brigit's Well
<<As patroness of poetry and crops, Brigit is most clearly equated
with Freya whose animal is the DEER, and whose bird is the SWAN.>>
<<St. Brigit/Brigantia/BRITANNIA was the personified genia
of Britain and was first depicted on a coin of Antoninus Pius
(d. AD 161). Latterly, Britannia, with the attributes & weapons of
MINERVA, appeared on coins during the reign of Charles II in 1665.>>
February 2, 1650, Charles II's mistress NELL Gwin born
February 2, 1685, Charles II said "Let not poor Nellie starve" & died.
February 2, 1709, British sailor Alexander Selkirk rescued [Wedn.]
February 2, 1785, Wed. Haydn's Freemasonry letter [Wedn.]
February 2, 1862, Samuel Clemens adopts pseudonym: Mark Twain
February 2, 1870, Mark Twain marries Olivia Langdon [Wedn.]
February 2, 1882, James Joyce, born [Thur.]
+40
-----------
February 2, 1922, Ulysses published [Thur.]
February 2, 1875, Fritz Kreisler born in Vienna
February 2, 1901, Jascha Heifitz, born in Vilna
February 2, 1811, Delia S. BacON: born
+40
-----------
February 2, 1851, Frankenstein's Mary S-HEL-ley dies
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
<<Counting forward from December 25 as Day One, we find that Day Forty
is February 2. A Jewish woman is in semi-seclusion for 40 days after
giving birth to a son, and accordingly it is on February 2 that we
celebrate the coming of Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus to
the TEMPLE at Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, both on behalf of
Mary and on behalf of Jesus as a first-born male.>>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Imbolc February 2: The Festival of Lights
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/cyrannahome/imbolg.html
<<Outside, the snow falls. The Queen of Winter reigns, and we appreciate
Her beauty. All seems silent. All seems still. But beneath Her frozen
mantle, the Goddess stirs. In the sky, the Sun shines brighter. The Sun
King, reborn at Yuletide, grows stonger. Already, the days are noticably
longer. Our King shines down on our Lady of the Earth, and drowsy, she
opens Her eyes. Now start the unseen beginnings of spring. Imbolc (in my
years, I've also seen it spelled Imbolg or Imbolic,) is the Sabbat that
marks the very subtle changes that occur in the very ealiest beginnings
of Spring. We can already see some changes, such as the lengthening of
the days. We interpret this as the growing and strengthening of the Sun
King, the God. As He grows, he warms our Lady. So begins the spring.
In Celtic mythology, Imbolc is the Festival of the great Goddess Brighid
(pronounced "breed.") Brighid is known as the Goddess of fire, poetry,
healing and crafts. In Her firey aspect, She is also associated with the
hearth and the home. In ancient times, the Hearth fire was a symbol of
life -- it provided heat, light, and a source of energy to cook food
with. It was Brighid's fire that sustained Her people, and for this, She
was heald in very high regard. In the Spring, 1999 issue of PanGaea
Pagan magazine, there was an article about Imbolc, namely about Brighid.
It talked about the great Goddess, and her role in Ireland, where Her
greatest following was, over the years. Bardic Legends of Her followers
in Ireland tell about the NINETEEN Priestesses of Brighid. The NINETEEN
Priestesses were said to have kept a fire in Brighid's honor for many
years. As time went on, the people continued their worship of the Lady
of Fire and healing, all the way up to, and straight through the
Christian conversion of Ireland. Today in the Irish Catholic Church,
Brighid is now known as Saint Brigit, one of Ireland's most celebrated
Saints. The article told of a convent of nuns in Ireland today that, to
this day, have tended a fire in honor of the Saint Brighid. In addition
to this, the convent performs a ritual on February 2 at Saint Brigit's
Well, a prehistoric structure dedicated to Brigit/Brighid, whose water
is said to have healing properties.>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sura - 74 The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
http://www.submission.org/suras/sura74.html
[74:30] Over it is nineteen.
[74:31] We appointed angels to be guardians of Hell, and
we assigned their number (19) to disturb the disbelievers,
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Acts 19:19: "And a number of those who practiced magic ARTs brought
their *books together & burned them* in the sight of all;
and they counted the value of them and found that
it came to fifty thousand pieces of silVER."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTS 19
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion:
and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus,
men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in TRAVEL,
they rushed with one accord into the THEATRE.
30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people,
the disciples suffered him not.
31 And certain of the chief of Asia,
which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him
that he would not ADVENTURE himself into the THEATRE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
<= 19 =>
T O T H E O [N] L i E B E G E T T E R O
F T H E S E [I] n s U I N G S O N N E T
S M [R] W h a [L] L h a] P P I [N] E S S E A
N D [T] h a t [E] T [E|r] N I T [I] E P R O M
I S [E] D B Y O U [R|e] V E R [L] I V I N G
P O [E] t W i s h [E|t] H T H [E] W E L L W
I S [H] I N G A [d V e] N T U R E R I N S
E t [T] I N G
---------------------------------------------------------------------
<<GILBERT Shakspere was a HABERDASHER at St. BRIDE's in 1597 when he
& a local shoemaker put up £19 bail, in the court of Queen's Bench, for
the clockmaker William SAMPSON>> - Honan's _Shakespeare a Life_ p.229.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
23 July => St. BRIDGET's feastday
----------------------------------------------------------------
<<On 23 July 1567, while practicing fencing with Edward Baynam,
a TAILOR, in the backyard of Cecil's house in the Strand, the
seventeen-year-old Oxford killed an unarmed undercook named
THOMAS BRINCKNELL with a thrust to the thigh.>>
------------------------------------------------------------------
<<On 23 July 1567, at Lochleven, Mary Queen of Scots was forced
to sign an act of withdrawal in favor of her one-year-old son,
who was crowned as James VI five days afterward at Scone.>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Saint Mary Magdalene: July 22 Feastday
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/0722.htm#mary
1st century; feast of her translation: May 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LEVITICUS 19:9-10 And when ye reap the harvest of your land,
thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field,
neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou
gather every GRAPE of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them
for the poor and *stranger*: I am the LORD your God.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of the Annotations in Edward de Vere's Geneva Bible
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Book |Chap|Verse|Verse Marks | Markings in the Margin
---------|----|-----|------------|----------------------------
Lev | 19 | 9-10| N(R) |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Imbolc: February 2 by Mike Nichols copyright by MicroMuse Press
http://www.msu.edu/user/rohdemar/earth/sabbats/imbolc.html
This file contains 10 seasonal articles by Mike Nichols. They may be
freely distributed provided that the following conditions are met: (1)
No fee is charged for their use and distribution and no commercial use
is made of them; (2) These files are not changed or edited in any way
without the author's permission; (3) This notice is not removed. An
article may be distributed as a separate file, provided that this notice
is repeated at the beginning of each such file. These articles are
periodically updated by the author; this version is current as of
9/28/88.
<<It seems quite impossible that the holiday of Candlemas should be
considered the beginning of Spring. Here in the Heartland, February 2nd
may see a blanket of snow mantling the Mother. Or, if the snows have
gone, you may be sure the days are filled with drizzle, slush, and
steel-grey skies -- the dreariest weather of the year. In short, the
perfect time for a Pagan Festival of Lights. And as for Spring, although
this may seem a tenuous beginning, all the little buds, flowers and
leaves will have arrived on schedule before Spring runs its course to
Beltane.
'Candlemas' is the Christianized name for the holiday, of course. The
older Pagan names were Imbolc and Oimelc. 'Imbolc' means, literally, 'in
the belly' (of the Mother). For in the womb of Mother Earth, hidden from
our mundane sight but sensed by a keener vision, there are stirrings.
The seed that was planted in her womb at the solstice is quickening and
the new year grows. 'Oimelc' means 'milk of ewes', for it is also
lambing season.
The holiday is also called 'Brigit's Day', in honor of the great Irish
Goddess Brigit. At her shrine, the ancient Irish capitol of Kildare, a
group of 19 priestesses (no men allowed) kept a perpetual flame burning
in her honor. She was considered a goddess of fire, patroness of
smithcraft, poetry and healing (especially the healing touch of
midwifery). This tripartite symbolism was occasionally expressed by
saying that Brigit had two sisters, also named Brigit. (Incidentally,
another form of the name Brigit is Bride, and it is thus She bestows her
special patronage on any woman about to be married or handfasted, the
woman being called 'bride' in her honor.)
The Roman Catholic Church could not very easily call the Great Goddess
of Ireland a demon, so they canonized her instead. Henceforth, she would
be 'Saint' Brigit, patron SAINT of smithcraft, poetry, and healing. They
'explained' this by telling the Irish peasants that Brigit was 'really'
an early Christian missionary sent to the Emerald Isle, and that the
miracles she performed there 'misled' the common people into believing
that she was a goddess. For some reason, the Irish swallowed this.
(There is no limit to what the Irish imagination can convince itself of.
For example, they also came to believe that Brigit was the
'foster-mother' of Jesus, giving no thought to the implausibility of
Jesus having spent his boyhood in Ireland!)
Brigit's holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires,
since she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the
forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. Bonfires were lighted on the
beacon tors, and chandlers celebrated their special holiday. The Roman
Church was quick to confiscate this symbolism as well, using 'Candlemas'
as the day to bless all the church candles that would be used for the
coming liturgical year. (Catholics will be reminded that the following
day, St. Blaise's Day, is remembered for using the newly-blessed candles
to bless the throats of parishioners, keeping them from colds, flu, sore
throats, etc.)
The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday upon
holiday, also called it the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. (It is surprising how many of the old Pagan holidays were
converted to Maryan Feasts.) The symbol of the Purification may seem a
little obscure to modern readers, but it has to do with the old custom
of 'churching women'. It was believed that women were impure for six
weeks after giving birth. And since Mary gave birth at the winter
solstice, she wouldn't be purified until February 2nd. In Pagan
symbolism, this might be re-translated as when the Great Mother once
again becomes the Young Maiden Goddess.
Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. Even our
American folk-calendar keeps the tradition of 'Groundhog's Day', a day
to predict the coming weather, telling us that if the Groundhog sees his
shadow, there will be 'six more weeks' of bad weather (i.e., until the
next old holiday, Lady Day). This custom is ancient. An old British
rhyme tells us that 'If Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there'll be
two winters in the year.' Actually, all of the cross-quarter days can be
used as 'inverse' weather predictors, whereas the quarter-days
are used as 'direct' weather predictors.
Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches' year,
Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on it's alternate date, astrologically
determined by the sun's reaching 15-degrees Aquarius, or Candlemas Old
Style (in 1988, February 3rd, at 9:03 am CST). Another holiday that gets
mixed up in this is Valentine's Day. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolf
makes this quite clear by noting that the old-timers used to celebrate
Groundhog's Day on February 14th. This same displacement is evident in
Eastern Orthodox Christianity as well. Their habit of celebrating the
birth of Jesus on January 6th, with a similar post-dated shift in the
six-week period that follows it, puts the Feast of the Purification of
Mary on February 14th. It is amazing to think that the same confusion
and lateral displacement of one of the old folk holidays can be seen
from the Russian steppes to the Ozark hills, but such seems to be the
case!
Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that the
very name of 'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It seems that it was
customary for French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'g'
as a 'v'. Consequently, the original term may have been the French
'galantine', which yields the English word 'gallant'. The word
originally refers to a dashing young man known for his 'affaires
d'amour', a true galaunt. The usual associations of V(G)alantine's Day
make much more sense in this light than their vague connection to a
legendary 'St. Valentine' can produce. Indeed, the Church has always
found it rather difficult to explain this nebulous saint's connection to
the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love.
For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may then be seen as the Pagan
version of Valentine's Day, with a de-emphasis of 'hearts and flowers'
and an appropriate re-emphasis of Pagan carnal frivolity. This also
re-aligns the holiday with the ancient Roman Lupercalia, a fertility
festival held at this time, in which the priests of Pan ran through the
streets of Rome whacking young women with goatskin thongs to make them
fertile. The women seemed to enjoy the attention and often stripped in
order to afford better targets.
One of the nicest folk-customs still practiced in many countries, and
especially by Witches in the British Isles and parts of the U.S., is to
place a lighted candle in each and every window of the house, beginning
at sundown on Candlemas Eve (February 1st), allowing them to continue
burning until sunrise. Make sure that such candles are well seated
against tipping and guarded from nearby curtains, etc. What a cheery
sight it is on this cold, bleak and dreary night to see house after
house with candle-lit windows! And, of course, if you are your Coven's
chandler, or if you just happen to like making candles, Candlemas Day is
THE day for doing it. Some Covens hold candle-making parties and try to
make and bless all the candles they'll be using for the whole year on
this day.
Other customs of the holiday include weaving 'Brigit's crosses' from
straw or wheat to hang around the house for protection, performing rites
of spiritual cleansing and purification, making 'Brigit's beds' to
ensure fertility of mind and spirit (and body, if desired), and making
Crowns of Light (i.e. of candles) for the High Priestess to wear for the
Candlemas Circle, similar to those worn on St. Lucy's Day in
Scandinavian countries. All in all, this Pagan Festival of Lights,
sacred to the young Maiden Goddess, is one of the most
beautiful & poetic of the year. - by Mike Nichols>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that
the very name of 'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It seems that it was
customary for French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'G'
as a 'V'. Consequently, the original term may have been the French
'galantine', which yields the English word 'gallant'. The word
originally refers to a dashing young man known for his 'affaires
d'amour', a true galaunt. The usual associations of V(G)alantine's Day
make much more sense in this light than their vague connection to a
legendary 'St. Valentine' can produce. Indeed, the Church has always
found it rather difficult to explain this nebulous saint's connection to
the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love."
http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/time/febday.htm#2
<<Celtic feast day of 'Brigid', the Abbess of Kildare. The church was
said to be on the same site as a sacred oak grove used for pagan
worship, and that for one thousand years after her death, a fire was
kept alight in the grounds tended by women only although men and women
followed a religious life here. Also associated with Conleth (10 May),
Donatus (22 October), VIRGIL (27 November) and Budoc (8 December).
Brigid was seen as the joint protector of cattle together with
Columcille (9 June). Druid bard 'Dubtach' is believed to be her father.>>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UNO VERE-VIR(G)IL G = 33th letter (Masonic)
OUR EVER-LIVIN(G) G = 33th letter (Masonic)
NIL VERO-VERIU(S) S = 19th letter
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shakespeare's Hamnet & Judith baptized: February 2, 1585
+ 113
+ 113
--------------
Delia S. BacON: born February 2, 1811
---------------------------------------------------------------------
250 year Mercury cycle: Francis BacON => Delia S. BacON
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Delia S. BacON born: [Gregorian] 2 February, 1811
Francis BacON born: [Gregorian] 1 February, 1561
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Disting [Imbolg - February 1] is the time of swearing of *oaths*
-----------------------------------------------------------------
#1 sister: SUSAN Vere Herbert dies February 1, 1629
+222
-----------------
Frankenstein's Mary S-HEL-ley dies February 1, 1851
-----------------------------------------------------------------
St. Brigit is honored on Imbolg: February 1st
http://www.angelfire.com/de/poetry/Whoswho/Brigit.html
<<BRIGIT is an Irish Goddess with two sisters also named BRIGIT.
These 3 SISTERS were often amalgamated into one entity.
#1) a goddess of POETRY, handicrafts, & LEARNING;
#2) a goddess of smiths & metalworking;
#3) a goddess of healing & fertility.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Comedy of Errors Act 3, Scene 1
DROMIO OF EPHESUS: MAUD, BRIDGET, (=> BRIDGET) #2 sister
MARIAN, CICEL, (=> CECIL)
Gillian, GINN! (=> "children of fire having
the power of assuming various formes")
---------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.angelfire.com/de/poetry/Whoswho/Brigit.html
<<Brigit is an Irish Goddess identical with Dana & Brigindo. She is
daughter of the god Dagda "The Good" and has two sisters also named
Brigit. The three sisters were usually amalgamated into one entity. One
is a goddess of poetry, handicrafts, and learning; one is a goddess of
smiths and metalworking; and the third is a goddess of healing and
fertility. Ruadan, her son by Bres, was slain by Goibnui. For him
shemade the first keening that was ever heard in Ireland.
She is honored on February 1st at Imbolc.
In her triple aspect, she was patroness of scholars, poets, healers,
fertility, and smiths and metalwork. Her primary affiliations were
with the element of fire, providing illumination, life & health, and
creativity. The ancient Filid or BARDS were under her direct inspiration
for the creation of filidhecht (poetry), and she was also important to
the Druids as a goddess of divination. In Romano-Celtic temples she was
frequently amalgamated with the goddess MINERVA. It was she who first
made the whistle for calling one to another through the night. Like the
Norse goddess HEL, one side of her face was ugly, but the other side
was very comely. She was called Breosaighit, a fiery arrow, and her
name can be traced all the way to the Sanskrit word Brhati
which means "exalted one."
To the Christians she became Saint Brigit of Kildare, founding the first
female religious community after Christianity had been established in
Ireland. The nunnery of Kildare kept a perpetual fire which was not
extinguished until the Reformation. Saint Brigit is the secondary patron
saint of Ireland. Within Scottish tradition Brigid (the saint and the
goddess) is associated with the lambing season and the coming of spring,
when she ousts the winter reign of the Cailleach Bheur, the blue hag.
The saint is also known as the 'Mary of the Gael,' credited with being
the MIDWIFE to the Virgin. A folk-story tells how she played the fool
by lighting a crown of candles and wearing it on her head to distract
Herod's soldiers from the Holy Infant.
Brigantia, meaning high one, is the titular goddess of the Brigantes of
the West Riding in Yorkshire. She was worshiped almost exclusively by
Cartimandue, queen of the Brigantes. Both the rivers Briant & Brent
were named for her. A dedication and bas-relief at Birrens depicts her
with the victorious attributes of MINERVA & wearing the mural crown of
CYBELE which shows how the Romans adopted her into their own mythos.
She is also called Caelestis Brigantia on an altar found in Corbridge
Northumberland, and she is identified with Dea Callistis on a section
of Hadrian's Wall. She was a goddess of water and herding, said to
have been reared on the milk of a red eared cow (meaning it was not of
this world). She is a Northern Celtic variation of the Irish Brigit.
The Celts of Eastern France call her Brigindo.
Whenever the Romans occupied a new colony they were careful to
propitiate the genius of the land. BRITANNIA was the personified
genia of Britain and was first depicted on a coin of Antoninus Pius
(d. AD 161). Latterly, Britannia, with the attributes & weapons of
Minerva, appeared on coins during the reign of Charles II in 1665,
and became the symbol of the British Empire. She is the last
remaining personification of Britain's native Sovereignty.>>
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Susan Vere died St. Brigit's day, 1629
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Brigid of Kildare V (Feast day February 1)
(also known as Bride, Bridget, Brigit, Ffraid)
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/0201.htm
<<Even as a child Brigid showed special love for the poor. When her
mother sent her to collect butter, the child gave it all away. Her
generosity in adult life was legendary: It was recorded that if she
gave a drink of water to a thirsty stranger, the liquid turned into
milk; when she sent a barrel of beer to one Christian community,
it proved to satisfy 17 more. Even her cows gave milk three times
the same day to provide milk for some visiting bishops.
In England, there are 19 ancient church dedications to her.
The most important of which is the oldest church in London-
-St. Bride's in Fleet Street--and the parish in which Saint
Thomas à Becket was born -- Bridewell or Saint Bride's Well.
She is usually portrayed in art with a cow lying at her feet,
a reference to a phase in her life as a cowgirl; or holding
a cross and casting out the devil.
Brigid is the patron saint of Ireland, poets, dairymaids, blacksmiths,
healers, cattle, fugitives, Irish nuns, midwives, and new-born babies.
She is still venerated highly in Alsace, Flanders, & Portugal
(Montague), as well as Ireland and Chester, England.>>
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Saint Brigid and the Boar
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/0201.htm
<<In those days the ground around a monastery was enclosed and was
considered holy ground; it was a sacred place where God was worshipped.
If a criminal was trying to escape, he could seek sanctuary in the
monastery enclosure and no one could do anything to him until he himself
agreed to leave. Well the wild animals seemed to know about this law,
too. One day a wild boar was being chased by hunters and was on the
point of being caught. The boar managed to reach Saint Brigid's convent
in Kildare. The huntsmen were forced to draw up outside the gates and
wait. They expected the nuns to chase the boar out to them again, when
they could easily kill it. Brigid happened to see the unhappy boar
stagger in, so she called to it and then sent a message out to the
hunters, saying that the animal claimed the right of sanctuary just
as people did. They sent back a message saying that animals are only
animals and didn't have the same rights as men. Could they please have
their boar? And Brigid sent back a final message that as far as she was
concerned the animal had the same right of sanctuary. The disappointed
hunters rode away. Then Brigid turned her attention to the wild
boar; it was lying down, exhausted from its long run and nearly
frightened to death. She gave it a drink and then led it to her own
herd of pigs. At once the boar became quite tame and settled down
with the other swine on Brigid's farm for the rest of its life.>>
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PIGLET
Description: A timid pink pig.
Address: Trespassers Will, 100 Aker Wood S.W.,
In a Beech Tree, South of Pooh's House
Next to Piglet's house on a broken board: "Trespassers W".
and it was short for "Trespassers Will",
which was short for "Trespassers William".
(Piglet says this was his grandfather's name)
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Brigit as Triple Goddess, especially the Yellow-Green Enchantress
http://www.artesmagicae.com/TripleBrigit.htm
(Dr. James MacKillop's masterful Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology,
1998, Oxford University Press, for most of the mythological minutia
herein.)
<<The Old Irish goddess Brigit is patroness of so many areas -- fire,
smithing, cattle, fertility, poetry, crops -- that we may be justified
in considering her a form of Triple Goddess, as Cormac hinted in his
tenth-century Glossary. We examine here some arguments for seeing Brigit
as a conflation of the Rorian tradition's Demiurges of the three Earth
Signs: Blue-Violet Mason (Saturn in Taurus-Equinox Capricorn),
Red-Orange Diviner or Abbess (Proserpina in T-E Taurus), and especially
the Yellow-Green Enchantress (Isis in T-E Virgo). All three of these
earthy Archetypes are both mothers and daughters of their opposite water
Archetypes; this may explain Brigit's long-held associations with wells
and waters.
Brigit as the Blue-Violet Mason: As patroness of fire and smithing,
Brigit might well have originally been lady of the similarly-earthy but
older arts of masonry, pottery and stone-cutting. Cooking pots were
fired in clay long before they were cast in bronze; before tools and
weapons were crafted in metal, they were carved or chipped from stone.
As a stonemason Brigit would be equated with the Celtic deity called the
Cailleach, the blue-faced Hag of Winter, who gathers up and deposits the
giant boulders of the countryside, and thus would have been the builder
of the cromlechs and menhirs. In the Rorian tradition the Cailleach is
identical to the Indigo Mason, whose trees are the blackthorn and elder,
whose animal is the goat, and whose bird is the raven or the crow.
Governing Saturn in T-E Capricorn, this form of the Triple Goddess is
the Crone, goddess of wisdom, trickery, and death. In her marvelous
Pagan Celtic Britain (1996, Academy Chicago Publishers, p. 278), Anne
Ross mentions an unidentified squatting deity thought to be the
patroness of potters, and beaked like the Irish raven- or
crow-goddesses; this would appear to be a form of the Cailleach or
Brigit-as-Crone. The Cailleach is also the term for the last sheaf of
the harvest, which is saved until spring. This may relate to the straw
figure of Brigit placed in "Brigit's Bed" on her Feast Day of February 1.
Brigit as the Yellow-Green Enchantress: As patroness of poetry and crops,
Brigit is most clearly equated with Freya as the Rorian tradition's Singer,
Enchantress, and harvest-queen of Lammas and August, whose trees are HAZEL
and apple, whose animal is the DEER, and whose bird is the SWAN. The
governor of Isis in T-E Virgo, this form of the Goddess is a Virgin and
patroness of virgins, but is also the Mother, who in the Rorian calendar has
just given birth at Lammas to the Blue Planter and the Violet-Red Forester.
Brigit is thus an early form of the Virgin-Mother archetype later used by
the Christians for Mary; "Saint" Brigit was revered by Celts as the midwife
of Mary. Further, the Feast Day of St. Brigid is February 1; in the Rorian
Calendar this is the time of Early Imbolc (ca. January 29-31), when the
Yellow-Green Enchantress is reborn. In Celtic tradition this is when
"Brigit's Bed" is made of (hazelwood?) basketry and a small figure of straw
placed in it. (We can further add that February 14, the Christian
"Valentine's Day," is the Rorian calendar's Late Imbolc, the Feast of the
Epiphany of Brigit-Freya, when the Yellow-Green Enchanter becomes a woman.)
Despite her many roles, Brigit is best known as patron goddess of poets and
virgins, and her primary Demiurgic Archetype must thus be the Yellow-Green
Enchantress.
Brigit as the Red-Orange Diviner or Abbess: As patroness of cattle and
fertility, Brigit is clearly equated with Tara-Anna-Eithne, the Rorian
tradition's Abbess, Diviner, and healer of the springtime, whose trees
are WILLOW and furze, whose animal is the cow or BULL, and whose bird is
the CRANE. Governing Persephone in T-E Taurus, this form of the Goddess
is according to some the Mother (springtime is fertile, and her divine
centers are the heart, hands, and breasts), or to others the Maiden, as
in the springtime is not yet a mother; in the Rorian calendar she does
not give birth until September, when she has the Red Hunter and the
Turquoise Fowler. Like the Red-Orange Abbess, "Saint" Brigit is the
mother of Ruadan ("the Red"), apparently a form of the Red Hunter.
Brigit is often compared to Minerva, who in her Greek form of Athena
would appear to be cognate with Eithne, wife of Nuada (the Green Priest)
and thus the Red-Orange Abbess. In her form of Brigantia, she is equated
with victory and Minerva, and even wears the mural crown, as Anne Ross
points out in her Pagan Celtic Britain (1996, Academy Chicago
Publishers, p. 279).>>
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THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE (1895)
MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS,
"The BRIDE Comes to Yellow Sky"
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http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/LIT/crane.htm
<<Stephen CRANE, born in New Jersey, had roots going back to Revolutionary
War soldiers, clergymen, sheriffs, judges, and farmers who had lived a
century earlier. Primarily a journalist who also wrote fiction, essays,
poetry, and plays, CRANE saw life at its rawest, in slums and on
battlefields. His short stories -- in particular, "The Open Boat,"
"The Blue Hotel," & "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" -- exemplified that
literary form. His haunting Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage,
was published to great acclaim in 1895, but he barely had time to bask
in the attention before he died, at 29, having neglected his health.>>
------------------------------------------------------------
In England readers believed that
the book was written by a veteran soldier
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/scrane.htm
<<American author, whose second book, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE (1895),
brought him international fame. CRANE's first novel, MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE
STREETS, was a milestone in the development of literary naturalism. At its
appearance in 1893 CRANE was just 21. His manuscript was turned down
by the publishers, who considered its realism too 'ugly'. CRANE had to print
the book at his own expense, borrowing the money from his brother. In its
inscription CRANE warned that "it is inevitable that you be greatly shocked
by this book but continue, please, with all possible courage to the end."
The descent of a slum girl in turn-of-the-century New York into
prostitution was first published under a pseudonym. Maggie was generally
ignored by readers but it won the admiration of other realist writers.
In England Crane became friends with Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells, and
HENRY JAMES. He rented a 14th-century Sussex estate, called BREDE Place.
Crane died on June 5, 1900 at Badenweiler in Germany of tuberculosis.
He was 28 - his career has lasted only eight years.
After Crane's death his work was neglected for many years until
such writers as Amy Lowell and Willa Cather brought it again to public
attention. Crane introduced realism into American literature, although his
use of symbolism also gave much of his best work a romantic quality.>>
---------------------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Bob Grumman
> "Bob Grumman" <bobgr...@nut-n-but.net> wrote
>
> > The latest Oxford-Shakespeare Society newsletter is out. In it I
> > found out that Delia Bacon was born 2 February 1811. Inasmuch as
> > I was born 2 February 1941 and have a superstition about birthdates
>
> What about the number 13 (decades).
Hmmmm. I think I see it. Here I was, a promising poet, but I got
sidetracked by the madness Delia Bacon started, and wasted my best
years trying to get her followers to recognize that they were nuts
instead of composing Great Poetry--the fact that I was born exactly 13
decades after she gives it away.
> > though I don't *really* believe in astrology, that made me laugh
> > out loud when I read it. I just hope she wasn't born at 4:48 A.M.
> > I can't change my birthdate, but maybe you can change it, Art.
> > I believe you've done that for others. It's nice to identify
> > with James Joyce (born 2 February 1882) but not as nice as
> > it is horrible to be identified with Delia.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> DELIA F-AILED
> BOB G BOB
Nice.
> Delia S. BacON born: [Gregorian] 2 February, 1811
Gregorian??!
> Francis BacON born: [Gregorian] 1 February, 1561
This is the kind of thing I need, Art--a change of birthdate.
--Bob G.