Happy Halloween.

[Tawmis]

[Rath Darkblade]

Happy Halloween/Hallowe'en/All Hallows Eve/whatever you'd like to call it!

What, no Pirate Tawm this year?

[Tawmis]

What, no Pirate Tawm this year?

Because of Covid, no. We didn't do candy or anything. Was just a normal (or as normal as Covid days are) day.

[Rath Darkblade]

Aw, and I was looking forward to seeing pictures. Oh, well.

I saw little girls walking around my local neighbourhood, dressed as witches (and accompanied by their parents). I'm not sure why Australia is doing Halloween this year, but apparently it's been growing for the past few years. Never mind! As long as the kids have fun ...

[Jules]

A little spoOo0oky mystery legend of Halloween I saw somewhere and wanted to share...

They say the transition from October to November is the anniversary of the destruction of Atlantis, which is why the original reason why we have All Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, and All Saints Day - Oct 31, Nov 1st, Nov 2nd (the day before the destruction, the day of destruction, and the day after the destruction).

Legend has it the Taurid meteor shower are remnants of the comet Encke, which can be seen shooting through our sky during the passage of those three days, which destroyed the Bahama/Cuba area of our Earth where Atlantis once stood, still acting as a reminder of the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new.

Kind of goes in line with our politics in America right now.

Happy belated Halloweeeeen..!

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh? I've never heard about the connection to Atlantis, but this is curious. Do we know this is true, or is it just a legend?

The connection to ancient origins I've heard most often mentioned is the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or "darker half" of the year. In the northern hemisphere, it is held on 1 November, but with celebrations beginning on the evening of 31 October, as the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumn equinox and winter solstice.

Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins, and some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. Early Celtic literature (roughly 9th century) says Samhain was marked by great gatherings and feasts, and when it happened, some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise, and some of the Neolithic burial mounds were open -- they were seen as portals to the Otherworld. (Maybe this is why Halloween is marked with spooooky celebrations of witches and the dead, and so on!)

In the 9th century, the Church had shifted the date of All Saints' Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls' Day. Over time, it is believed that Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' influenced each other, and eventually merged into the modern Halloween.

So I'm curious where the "Atlantis" legend comes from. As far as I've been able to make out (from googling it and so on), there's no proof for any of it -- or any proof that Atlantis even existed. Plato is the only ancient authority to mention Atlantis, and he created it as a fictional island, an allegory for the hubris of nations. Basically, he wrote that because the Atlanteans wanted to usurp the nature of the gods, their land was sunk beneath the sea, But he always said this was a legend, not a real place. (More on wikipedia)

Happy Halloweeeen!

[Jules]

Interesting..! I want to explore those Neolithic passage tombs! They sound like they're filled with enough mystery for another good Jane Jensen novel!

Oh it's a true legend alright.

I think I saw it somewhere a while back that someone put some effort in researching Atlantis and somehow found a connection with the comet judging by the location that the comet hit the earth. And after reading the argument it actually made pretty neat sense! Regardless if it's actually the case, I thought it was a pretty cool Halloween mystery especially how there are similarities in different cultures around the same few days in a row, like a passage of time.

[Rath Darkblade]

No worries, Jules! I recommend The Celtic Myths from Thames and Hudson -- it's a very good introduction to (you guessed it) Celtic myths. If you're interested in history or mythology, I recommend all Thames and Hudson books. They're very attractive and very accessible to anyone who's new to the subject.

I have their books on Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Norse and Roman mythology. I also have their 24 Hours in... series (the link is to 24 Hours in Ancient Athens, but there are books about Rome, Egypt, and China -- it's a way to experience ancient civilisations through the eyes of the people who lived there).

If that's not enough, Thames & Hudson also published several books about what it's like to be warriors of all kinds -- pirates, Roman legionary, Samurai, Knight, Gladiator, Viking or Ninja. All highly recommended! It just depends which one you want to learn about. Any, or none.

I'm a major history/mythology geek. Sorry. *blush*

As for Neolithic passage tombs ... they're all across the UK, Wales and Ireland. Some examples include Newgrange (Ireland), Maeshowe (Orkney), Barclodiad y Gawres (Angelsey, off Wales), and Carrowkeel (Ireland -- with some really STUNNING photos).

As for Atlantis ... gee. The whole "land submerged by the sea" legend is hardly unique, especially for that era. Just think of the story of Noah's Ark in the Bible, or (to a lesser extent) Moses closing the sea over Pharaoh's men. But the Bible isn't alone for stories like this; a similar story was told in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's earliest surviving work of literature. In real life, a gigantic storm buried Skara Brae (the famous stone-built Neolithic settlement) in about 2,500 BC, off the coast of Scotland.

Loads and loads of places were swallowed by the ocean. Here are some of them. Have fun ... mwa-ha-ha. And, thanks to global warming, loads more places could go too ... mwa-ha-ha again!

[Jules]

Oh dang all of those books looks interesting! Especially the Celtic Myths. I can just get lost in legends and tales Thank you for sharing those!

Newgrange is on my bucket list! I want to see Ireland soooo badly

As for rising seas.. ice caps have been melting in Antarctica, revealing bare land. I am interested in what we will find in regards to our earth's geological history! And interestingly enough there are quite a few conspiracy theories out there of what's hidden there, if anything at all. Hmmm...!

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh dear. How long will it be before someone notices the bare land in Antarctica and think, "Saaaaaaaaaay ... lots of land around, no government! Cool! I'm moving to Antarctica -- later, suckers!"

Or maybe he notices the land and thinks, "It's mine, all mine!"

[Tawmis]

I want to see Ireland soooo badly

Lemme know when you're ready. Will gladly go back and revisit Ireland.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'd love to go and visit the UK again, or anywhere in Europe ... but Australia is so far away. Australia to the UK is a 32-hour flight (at best). *shudder*

How long did it take you to fly to Ireland, Tawm?

[Tawmis]

How long did it take you to fly to Ireland, Tawm?

I think it was like 16 or 17 hours?

[Jules]

Oh dang yes! That would be amaaazeeee

Sierra meet up in Ireland..!

[BBP]

Sierra meet-up in Ireland? I'm in!