Wilson's Blogmanac
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:16:08 +0100
Feb 3: Mayan Creation/Timewave Zero; St Blaize; Ryan executed
3114 BCE February 3 is the eciprocal date for Mayan Creation, the laying out of the ecliptic. (See also our article on the 2012 calendar convergence.)
Feast day of St Blaize (Blaise; Blasien; Blasius; Blas;Biagio; Sveti Vlaho; Vlasü) Bishop of Sebaste
(Great water moss, Fontinalis antepyretica, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint(pictured).)
A physician and bishop of Sebaste (modern Sivas), Armenia, Blaize was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded in the persecution of Licinius in about the year 316 CE. Because iron combs were used to tear his flesh, he is the patron saint of wool-combers. Wool-combers in Bradford and other English towns, particularly in Essex, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Norwich, had a septennial jubilee on this day, in honour of the saint and of the Greek god, Jason (he of the Golden Fleece).
At the head of the procession, the masters went on horseback, each bearing a white sliver, or ribbon, of wool. Then their sons followed, then their colours, then apprentices, uniformed and mounted on a horse. Persons representing the royal family and attendants followed. Then came Jason and Bishop Blaize, followed by shepherds, shepherdesses, wool-combers, dyers and so on, some in woollen wigs.
Apparently for no other reason than the sound of the saint's name, in England it was customary to light fires on this evening, on hill-tops. "Country women went about during the day in an idle merry humour, making good cheer; and if they found a neighbour spinning, they thought themselves justified in making a conflagration of the distaff," says Chambers (Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, etc, W & R Chambers, London, 1881 [1879 Edition is online and 1869 edition here with CD-ROM available; See also The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers' Book of Days]).
It was earlier believed that by a charm in the saint's name, a thorn could be extracted from the flesh, or a bone from the throat. One held the patient and said: "Blaize, the martyr and servant of Jesus Christ, commands thee (in the case of a bone) to pass up or down; (in the case of a thorn) to come forth."
St Blaize can cure sore throats. He lived in a cave; wild beasts came daily to be cured by him, and if he was praying, they did not interrupt. He once cured a youth who had a fish-bone caught in his throat, by praying ...
 1967 Ronald Ryan (b. 1925) was executed at Pentridge Prison, Victoria, Australia and his body buried in an unmarked grave. The killing of Ryan, who was probably not guilty, caused such outrage in the land that no Australian has been killed by Australian lawyers or politicians since – not officially, anyway. Within twenty years, capital punishment was abolished federally and in all State and territory jurisdictions.
In 1967, Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, was killed by the State. It was a killing that helped the Premier of the State of Victoria, Henry Bolte, win an election, but it split the community deeply, such that no politician or judge ever again dared take anyone's life. Bolte brushed aside all protests, appeals and petitions, including one signed by seven of the jurors who sat on the Ryan case. The judge, who had to impose a mandatory death penalty, was summoned by the Premier, who was soon to go before the electorate. Bolte asked the judge if there was any chance Ryan might have been innocent. The judge, who, despite the evidence, believed Ryan guilty, could have won a State reprieve by telling a white lie, but as a Roman Catholic, he felt he could not tell a mistruth to the premier. He thought it more ethical, rather, to allow a man to be hanged by the neck until dead. Years later, the troubled judge said on TV that he prayed to Ryan each night. I wrote a poem about it because I think this incident says a lot about people and belief.
'I could not tell a lie'
By Pip Wilson
(Based on an anecdote; avowedly a true story)
The judge sat through the weeks of trial
and sentenced Ryan to hang.
Premier Bolte sent for him
and asked him if this man,
this Ronald Ryan was truly guilty,
or was there "some way out,
with the election coming up and all" –
said the judge, "No reasonable doubt".
So Ronald Ryan's neck was stretched;
the judge spoke to the press:
"I could not tell a lie", he said
"I'm of the faith" he stressed.
And further pressed on how he felt,
said the judge, "Ryan had the right
to absolution, he's now in heaven.
I pray to him each night." At 8:00 am Ryan fell through the trapdoor and died on the same gallows as Ned Kelly. Ronald Ryan is buried in quicklime within the grounds of Pentridge Prison. His family are forbidden to visit the unmarked grave. On November 28, 2005 on ABC Radio National, elderly Judge Philip Opas, who was Ronald Ryan's lawyer to the end, stated that he still firmly believes that Ryan was innocent ...
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:16:08 +0100
Whim
When I was recently quite innocently prodded a bit as I sat in church, and I jumped a little, I was immediately reminded of Kassia Klinger. I knew Kassia in the 1990s. Kassia had a manner of coming up behind me when I was using the Macquarie Uni library catalogue, and poke me in the ribs. I believe Kassia, whose mother and father owned the Left-Handed Shop at The Rocks, Sydney, kinda liked me. I found it infuriating to have my kidneys poked, but I was single, and Kassia seemed somewhat interested in me. When I lived at 22 Bardo Road, Newport, in a small bedsit, converted from a garage, Kassia stayed one night, and although nothing was said, I felt that Kassia might have wanted to spend the night with me, but closer. But I was enjoying my solitude. At about this time, I published the Hope Calendar. You can read about it here, a page which will change as I get a working scanner, as I have a few Hope Calendars, any one of which I can scan. The Hope Calendar was for a door, or very large fridgedoor. It had hundreds of images from Wilson's Almanac, merged into a large image of a man jumping for joy. Regi Ziorjen, from Switzerland, and I had worked on it for many tens of hours at my place, a home unit perched on the southern headland of Av (Avalon), on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and at the Stone House at Bilgola Plateau, where Walter Burleigh Griffin's spirit hovered. (I also lived a Narrabeen, the suburb known for many things, including being mentioned in the Beach Boys song, Surfin' USA rival of Narrabeen people. A shop in Narrabeen parodied the Vegemite label, 'Somewhere on the Australian toast', by selling its own stickers about Avalon. Since New Year's Day, 2012, I've been calling it to myself, The Regi Principle. Maybe someone else will. I encourage that it will get around, to honour Regi and his family, and in the hope that it will increase the presence of people's and organisations' links to me and Wilson's Almanac, just as the Peter Principlepromoted the career and influence of Dr Laurence J Peter and Raymond Hull. I was a dreadfully shy boy, but I'm a gregarious man, who paradoxically loves his solitude. I have enough fruit and other food, which is generally vegetarian, radio, my jug of delicious(to me) keffa-with-honey, water(but no alcohol, as I have a policy of never drinking alone), things to fascinate me and work on, that I could easily sit in this chair at my desk for weeks on end if I wanted to, and still be gainfully active. I have plenty of organic home-grown tobacco from my burgeoning permaculture garden, and so on, in my Paradise. I fully endorse the Hindu principle of fasting for a calendar month. I always enjoy fasting. And Ralph Waldo Emerson said he wanted to see house-name signs with the word 'whim' painted above the doorway of every residence in the USA. My wish is that every home in Australia, whether McMansion or any type of shelter, will have such a sign. I'm in the process of painting one over my bedroom door, above the hardwood floor, so I'm having it framed well, in case it falls and breaks. I'm loving living like this. I can do whatever I want, promote the Almy, and not die, all at the same time, from my chair. I can change anything on the Almanac, frequency of being blogged, or emailed, how big, how small, how many words to a page or paragraph, how many images and youtubes, tunes, audio clips, cartoons, symphonies, new ideas ˗ anything I choose. I can ignore anything, or read it to within an inch of its life. Just gotta trust myself. It's pretty cool. It's sure as hellmuch better than the alternative, or being poked in the eye with a burnt stick. And amen to that, Ralph, mate. I believe that when I go, I'm going upstairs to Heaven, seeing the gods and goddesses, beautiful scenery and art, and hearing beautful music and poetry, insects, suns, stars, planets, subatomic particles, birds, animals, all stars and planets in the Universe, and all my my departed loved ones in complete peace,
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:42:05 +0100
Each February 1, Black History Month commences, USA
And I think it's a very good idea.
And, given my son Remy, a man of 21 in less than a year, I think we need one in Australia.
Black History Month commences, United States of America From Wikipedia: Black History Month is celebrated annually in the United States in the month of February. Black History Month originated as 'Negro History Week', the second week in February.
This celebration of black history in America was started by African-American historian Dr Carter G Woodson, who wanted to bring national attention to the large contribution of African-Americans to the history of their country, in 1926. Woodson chose February as black history month because in this month Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Langston Hughes were born. Some have speculated whether February's status as the shortest and coldest month of the year was a factor in Woodson's choice. History books had barely started covering black history when the tradition of Black History Month was started. At that point, most representation of blacks in history books was only in reference to the low social position they held. Dr Woodson hoped that the week would eventually be eliminated, when African-American history would be fully integrated with American history.
In the United Kingdom, Black History Month is celebrated in the month of October. The official guide to black history month is published by Sugar Media, Ltd., which produces 100,000 copies nationwide.
Criticism
Black History Month sparks an annual debate about the continued usefulness of a designated month dedicated to the history of one race. Critical op-ed pieces have appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today.
Many black radical/nationalist groups, including the Nation of Islam, have criticized Black History Month.
In the December 18, 2005 episode of 60 Minutes, actor Morgan Freeman criticized Black History Month. "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." Freeman believes that racism will persist as long as individuals continue to identify themselves by their race.
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:43:19 +0100
Guy Fawkes est mort
1606 Westminster, London, UK: Guy Fawkes (b. 1570), the only man to enter Parliament with honest intentions, jumped to his death from the gallows moments before his execution for treason in the plot to blow up James I of England. The punishment for treason involved the offender being dragged on hurdles through the streets to the execution-place, hanged, but taken down while still alive, castrated, disembowelled and cut into quarters (as four of the Gunpowder Plotters were executed on January 30). Fawkes was thus mutilated after his death.
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:32:19 +0100
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on this day, January 30
Gandhi's principle of satyagraha – using nonviolent methods when working for social change – not only helped deliver independence to India, but has also inspired countless activists, such as Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. During a trip to India in 1959, King met some of Gandhi's followers and decided the Gandhian method was the one to use in the US civil rights movement, though King had been influenced by Gandhi (and Henry David Thoreau, one of Gandhi's influences) as early as 1950. The Indian lawyer, activist and spiritual leader was shot three times in the chest from point blank range. Gandhi died with the name of Lord Rama on his lips – his last words: "Hey Ram!"
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:23:42 +0100
|
