Lost_Warrior

What I'd really like to know is how these things are made. This one is funny but some of them are *really freakin' cool*.

The Celtic sun wheel? I know it as a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign... I just like it. No real reason, other than I was drawn to it. So much for this nice relaxing weekend off. So much for going to bed early tonight because I have to be up early to have my car in the shop tomorrow. I HATE CONVENIENCE STORES.

I believe some of them were actually representations of sick people (or sick body parts) which needed to be healed. They were given as offerings to the appropriate god or goddess in hopes that the person would be healed. Romans often had figurines representing the gods on their shrines, and also figures representing the lares, or household spirits, and the genius and juno of the man and woman of the house (their spirits). They made offerings to them.

Well, the last part of my "easter" present came today: a small brass cauldron in which to burn my incense. It was a grave disappointment. I wasted two charcoal tablets because they refused to burn properly in that small cauldron; they became starved of oxygen, and quickly went out. Once the igniter stuff is gone from them they are impossible to relight. I did get figured out how to light it safely though. Going back to the brass bowl filled with sand that I'd wanted to use to begin with, I put the whole kit n' caboodle in the bathtub, with the shower curtain pulled out of the way, and lit it. The sparks can't go anywhere then! And the icky charcoal lighter smoke doesn't end up in my room, either. It ends up in the bathroom. I'm such a sh*thead!

OMG...I really could imagine Kramer saying what I just said... I don't even like Seinfeld LOL.

LOL have you ever done those magic eye puzzles? The trick is to unfocus your eyes...to the point almost to double vision and then "refocus" at that unfocused point.

It took me a minute to get it, but it's funny.

What about Lorica Segmentata made from leather? I know a lot of reenactors wear it, but is there any historical basis?

Um...eww...no thanks. LOL I'll just stick to being well rested, a good vitamin pill, lots of fluids and the occasional hot cup of tea. Eucalyptus helps too (the smell of it).

My mom gave me my "Easter" present today, even though the last part isn't here I already had something suitable. It's just what I wanted, and expected: resin incense with charcoal tablets. We gave it a test run downstairs, where my mom could be there to help keep an eye on it because neither of us had ever done it before. It's interesting to light, instead of flaming at first like normal charcoal, it sparks and smokes in a manner that threatens to set things around it on fire! That rather quickly subsides, however it's quite frightening! The stuff burns quite a long time, I'm not entirely sure how long one tablet will burn, but now that it's not sparking or anything, I really don't think the fire can go anywhere. The bowl its in is barely even warm. The resin incense (in this case, Dragon's Blood but I have a few different ones) smells *divine* and the charcoal, though it has a slight odor, doesn't give off many fumes. That means, no "punk and wood" smell left over in the room like happens with stick incense, and I can seriously see myself starting to love this stuff, I just have to find a way to control that sparking! It burns long after it becomes useful for incense though, because once it gets REALLY burning (white all over) everything you put on it just evaporates in a puff. It smells good, but doesn't last long at all. Although when it first lights it's good, and a small bit of resin will last a good fifteen minutes. I also got my new scanner, which works wonderfully. I'm sure some of you have noticed the updates in my gallery I'm ill again, with flu like symptoms, but I'm hoping that will soon pass. I didn't get much rest at all the other night, which is a likely culprit, combined with stress. I managed to score a whole weekend off! This is the first time in probably over a month. I think it was a little "thank you" gift from my manager, because I agreed to give up two days off in a row and work a dreaded morning shift for her because she had no one else to work that shift.

I don't smoke, I've never smoked and I sure as HELL am not going to start.

For my new scanner to get here. I hated using my camera to get my artwork online, and my old scanner is beyond worthless, so I decided to get a new one. My dad sent me a Circuit City gift card, but, much to my surprise and dismay, the local Circuit City does not carry flatbed scanners! I've ordered one online and received conformation last night that it has been shipped. I cannot wait till it gets here! I have managed to get my hands on a copy of Roman Sex and have taken a break from Simon Scarrow to read it. Nonfiction is my true favorite thing to read, and I got halfway through this book in a matter of an hour or so! Of course, it helps that it's mostly pictures, but I am enjoying it. My mother found a copy of another book, I believe it's called Sexuality in Ancient Rome for 94 cents and she got it for me for Easter. The last part of my Easter present should be arriving any day now, I know my mom is going to give it to me as soon as it gets here. If it's what I think it is, I can't wait to have it. I know I dropped enough hints LOL. I've written two more essays for Love, Hope and Life, I was "out of the loop" so to speak and only wrote two essays last month. Shame on me! It's a beautiful day, and I think I'll find some lunch and then go for a walk.

That makes quite a bit of sense. It seems like people have been, and still are, quite fond of using poisons (even unwittingly) in order to gain mystical knowledge and experience.

An arrow could pretty easily penetrate chain mail, as could a sword point, dagger, or spear. Actually, a good sword can pretty easily slash through it, however as Gene said above, the quality of their steel wouldn't have been as good and that may not have been an issue at the time.

This makes sense, as combining factors tend to create a definite snowball effect. Also, most certainly, at the time Ergot wouldn't be recognized for what it was. Some might say "well if we eat the wheat from this area we get sick" but as far as I know it's relatively invisible, so they couldn't say "don't eat the wheat with the funny white stuff on it."

On that, I have no idea. I guess I never really thought of it. They may have buried it, similar to what we do. I have read of wine amphorae, once used, being abandoned in a large pit of some variety; at least, that's where they found them, in a pit or along a beach somewhere. (they could not be reused because the terra cotta absorbed the wine and it would have become "skunky") It's also possible that they did what many modern people like to do with their garbage, and that is, throw it into the river, or into the sea. Out've sight, out've mind. Considering that they didn't have the kind of materials we have today, plastics and the like, there may not be much evidence left of how some things were disposed of. Plastic doesn't biodegrade, but an old toga does. My guess is that we would have to turn to literary references to find much of the information, but I'm unfamiliar with most ancient literary works.

And yet, the Pope was protected from the black death by the "diabolic charm" of being placed between two large bonfires, the heat of which could not be withstood by the fleas, and so, he was not afflicted. What about evidence further back in history of ergot poisoning? Was it known in ancient Rome, or Greece? I would think that because of the marshy wet climate in parts of Britain, it would be a serious problem for Roman invaders. Was it? Or did our little friend Ergot make his appearance later in history?

I once watched a documentary on the belief that ergot was the cause of the various witch trials, in particular, Salem. The "possessed" individuals were actually suffering from the hallucinogenic/convulsive properties of the ergot growing inconspicuously in their food supply. Do you know of any other cases of "possession" or "witchcraft", "evil eye", etc which could be attributed to ergot?

In some places they had "drains" from the bath houses and the streets into the rivers, I guess somewhat like our modern storm drains. (The cloacima maxima, also known as the Great Drain comes to mind, although I am positive I have spelled it wrong. ) I'm also fairly certain they had channels at the edges of the streets, with water running through them to wash away refuse and...whatever else may be in the streets. At least in the Legions, latrines were dug out, daily or weekly (of course, what this entailed was anything but sanitary!)

I actually just realized that the bill linked in my post above (post #12) isn't even the same bill we're talking about. That's what I get for not looking fully at a link before I post it.

Thanks for that bit of info, that does clear some things up (and allays my own fears about the fate of my message board).

The link to the Wired News article is in a following post. It's somewhere on the first page. I do hope you're right though. I hope it's complete bullocks.

Here is some more info: Bill Status Committee in Charge

Here is the news story from Wired News.

I do not know where he got this information, it might be complete hype; I have posed that question in the original thread. I have not heard of this anywhere else, so I don't know.