The Witching Well

My husband grew up on the bank of the Hudson River, and considering his passion for history it’s hardly surprising that he’d be fascinated by the ruins of Bannerman’s Castle on Pollepel Island. In the last couple of years, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has let the Bannerman Castle Trust lead walking tours.

Andy’s parents took us on the tour Saturday, and oh my gods but it’s a wonderful little excursion. Well worth the $30 a head between the very relaxing boat ride out and back and the hour-and-a-half tour of the grounds around the old arms warehouse and the hilltop residence of the Bannerman family who used to own it.

And, yes, we took pictures. But WordPress seems to be having trouble uploading files just now, so sharing those will have to wait.

Mood: enthralled
Music: Soul Coughing: Circles

Andy and I went to a reading of the letters of John and Abigail Adams last night at Faneuil Hall. Which in and of itself is a wonderful thing, since the Adams letters are really quite an amazing snapshot of what was going on during those years. Not to mention wonderfully personal.

But this particular event was even cooler because the Massachusetts Historical Society managed to get as readers Ted and Victoria Kennedy, Duval and Diane Patrick, and Michael and Kitty Dukakis.

That’s right. A sitting senator, a sitting governor, and a former governor. Reading historical documents.

And it was wonderful. They obviously had a lot of love for the material. And most of them seemed to be having a ball up there.

And that line between politicians and actors? Very thin indeed.

Mood: impressed

Andy and I spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon watching a competition of antique hand-pumped fire engines. Now there’s a cool but obscure hobby for you!

The machines themselves are just gorgeous. Of course, they were built back when it was considered important that useful things also be as beautiful as possible.

Stunning, ain’t they? They’re even prettier in person. And you should see how well they work, especially when you get thirty or forty people to help pump:

Gods, but being married to a historical society curator gets me invited to some fun events!

Mood: impressed

Why is it that I always find something I’ve been looking for (1) after I’ve given up actively trying to find it, and (2) when I really can’t justify buying it?

I stumbled across this while looking for information on a completely different weapon: Fighting with the Quarterstaff.

I’m wondering how hard it would be to make a flintlock explode in someone’s hands. You know, in a really bad way. And I wonder how much damage it would do. Time to do some research. Yay, research!

My husband and I heard about this on the radio on Friday morning, from Isaac-Davy Aronson, who was guest-hosting for Rachel Maddow on her show’s last morning-timeslot broadcast (she’s moving to evenings starting Monday). And, quite frankly, I think Aronson was decidedly condescending to those of us who find such things exciting. But despite the messenger’s annoying attitute, I found myself thrilled by the news. It’s not often a previously unknown writing system is discovered, after all.

Here’s the story from Kambiz Kamrani at Anthropology.net.

Rabidsamfan pointed me toward Radio Dismuke, and it is simply lovely. Just the background music for writing a Jazz Age vampire story. Yay!

(Signing up for Live365 is free, if you don’t mind the occasional commercial, and there are lots of cool stations to listen to. I love having broadband!)

To a certain faction of the Christian faithful, the discovery of lost gospels can be a disturbing thing. These now non-canon documents paint a picture of a religion that was still getting its act together, after all, and if it didn’t start off with one complete, overarching vision, that could shake some people’s faith, perhaps, just a little. Of course, one can always just shrug and say, well, there have always been heresies.

When I was a young seeker, still putting at least some energy into trying to understand the Catholic faith that my parents raised me in, one of the things that I had the hardest time reconciling was the portrayal of Judas as a villain. It seemed to me that, if Jesus had to be crucified, then Judas’s betrayal was absolutely necessary. So why did we vilify Judas for doing what simply had to be done?

I developed an image in my head of a dedicated Judas, who would do whatever his rabbi told him to. Maybe he was even chosen because Jesus knew that none of the others had the strength to do it. Jesus tells him that this is what he must do, that the others won’t understand, that he will be remembered by history as a villain. Judas does as he’s asked. And afterwards, he hangs himself because he can’t live with it.

For some reason, I accepted that Judas was in Hell, but not that he was a traitor. Sometimes, I fancied that his damnation was actually because of his suicide (which is, after all, a mortal sin in Catholic doctrine), and sometimes because Jesus had given the other apostles the power to condemn others. Either way, I thought it was supremely unfair.

It didn’t occur to me at the time that others had thought about this issue. That the role of Judas, so central to the great Mystery at Christianity’s heart, could have been seen from many different angles right from the beginning.

I’m glad someone else has had a bit of sympathy for the poor old bastard.

Scientists are saying that the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages may have as many as three million male descendants worldwide. Connected modern surnames include (O’)Gallagher, (O’)Boyle, (O’)Doherty, O’Donnell, Connor, Cannon, Bradley, O’Reilly, Flynn, (Mc)Kee, Campbell, Devlin, Donnelly, Egan, Gormley, Hynes, McCaul, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, McMenamin, Molloy, O’Kane, O’Rourke, and Quinn.