https://www.popsci.com/science/lucy-ancient-human-walking-bipedal
https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-aphrodite-adonis/
Wikipedia
Britannica
https://www.popsci.com/science/lucy-ancient-human-walking-bipedal
https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-aphrodite-adonis/
Wikipedia
Britannica
Catherine Parr (1512-1548) became Henry VIII's 6th and last wife. He was her 3rd husband, and although a faithful and in every aspect a good wife to him, she married him out of duty: The king bid, and she did. Actually, that seems to have been the case with all of her previous husbands, so who is to blame her, when she chose the fourth one out of love? She was infatuated with the brother of the king's third wife, Jane Seymour, the mother of King Edward VI, namely Thomas Seymour. Maybe only because she was the richest widow in England at that time, he also "was very much besotted by her". Anyway, they got married.
Thomas Seymour
He always struck me as a typical social climber who got his chance when his sister married the king and gave birth to his sole male heir, the new king. Marrying the king Henry's widow was a step upwards on the steep social ladder, but he can't have respected her very highly, as he started a more or less dangerous flirtation - or maybe more? - with the future Queen Elizabeth I when she moved in to live with them, 14 years old.
A very young Princess Elizabeth
What did Seymour feel for his wife, Catherine, was it love, was it some kind of veneration? To me it doesn't look like that which may be the cause of his not caring for the daughter, they had, and who cost her her life because of childbed fever: Mary Seymour, born August 30, 1548. As it is none of the parents seemed to care for this hapless infant who was to become a burden on those who did. Unfortunately - and strangely - her mother didn't leave her only child anything, only her husband who thus became very affluent. As to the child's father, the by now rich widower, then he was executed for treason and maybe even piracy. His large fortune was forfeited when he was convicted for treason, and he didn't seem to care for his daughter and thus didn't secure her social position before he was executed. Neither her maternal nor paternal uncles wanted to commit themselves to her upbringing, now that her father had left her penniless.
MAYBE Mary Seymour, IF she reached adulthood
The infant was reluctantly accepted as a foster child by the closest friend of her mother, Catherine Brandon, the widow of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. She may have felt it was her duty, but she didn't like it, and it was costly: Being the daughter of a former queen, little Mary had her own household staff, and was to be clothed according to her station, all of it very costly. Had she had some dynastic value it might have been all right, but no, she didn't as she didn't have any dowry. The poor girl was without purpose in a world that had put down marriage as the only female career possibility.
In Abrahamic Religions, the so-called Garden of Eden, The Garden of God or The Terrestrial Paradise is, for instance, described in Genesis 2-3 and Ezekiel 28 + 31 of The Bible. Also it's mentioned in Joel and Zechariah. This very beautiful and peaceful place, brimming with plants and animals, is ruled by a sort of "king", the so-called god, who is known by the name of Yahweh. The garden is guarded by one of the beings he is supposed to have made, namely the human Adam.
The consort of this Adam is his wife, Eve, and her role in the Paradise-drama is to be the scapegoat of the expulsion of the couple from this wonderful place. Her subordinate position vis-a-vis Adam is not indicated by her name which literally means "living one", "source of life", "breath" and "mother of all living" which mirrors the power of the old female gods who were not only "consorts", but the supreme gods themselves. I take it that The Biblical Genesis-myths tell a sort of flip-flop-story of how the male sex gained power by demeaning the female and simply steal her power. The more powerful she was, the more she has to be demeaned - and demeaned she is for many hundred years. What was a myth is turned into a historical event, and Eve is the culprit who made Adam do what he was not allowed to do: Eat of the "forbidden fruit".
For those who see the Biblical myths and legends as history there is one question: Where is this Paradise situated geographically? In John Steinbeck's famous novel "East of Eden" it's primary position is supposed to be the very fertile Salinas of California, which has been dubbed "The Salad Bowl of the Nation". That's because he only makes use of the myths of Paradise as a prop for his novel: The Bible knew nothing of the USA which wasn't its birthplace. No, as we know, with The Bible we are in The Middle East which is something quite different.
It may be understandable that a place that is described in the so-called "holy book", The Bible, shouldn't be considered a mere figment of the imagination by the old folks, the early Church Fathers, etc., but we, modern people, have to accept it. Genesis said:
"And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."
That might be from a map of some genuine, geographically situated place, but it's not. Much has happened since the early days, but not that much that it has eradicated The Garden of God from the planet.
Not only was Adam expelled from Eden, but he, and everybody after him, were tormented with the alluring visions of this wonderful garden without being able to find it. Had he and the coming generations followed the directions of the Genesis, they would have to find the exact place of the four ancient rivers Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon and Gihon, which I'm sure many have tried, but in vain. Still, even people of today talk of Paradise as a reality where "they shall meet their dear ones after death".
Well, it's understandable, and if it's a consolation to them, then I suppose it's OK, except for one particular issue that makes it hard for me to accept religious ideologies: The Abrahamic religions are and have always been used for the subjection of women. When the Biblical myths are turned into "the truth" or "history" women would fare much better if they not only left these fairy tales, but those who gained power by presenting them as "the truth".
What ideas, what knowledge
and then so young, not even four
she is a genius, knows who loves her
understands that some don't
and then she knows how to win them over
See how they succumb to her charm
also see them get quite bewildered
after all, she is a mini-woman
full of tricks she steps into focus
watch them see her as they see women
Being cute, loving attention, she is victimized
how could she know to shun Uncle Dave?
That this one, adoring her, wasn't on her side
she was a flirt, loving the world in innocence
but the little fairy changed into an untrusting furie
ALL rights reserved©Else Cederborg
![]() |
(Dreamstime-picture) |
Several years ago someone told me a gruesome, but not all that uncommon tale, of a young woman who let herself get involved in a cyber affair with a bad man on the Net. I suppose they sort of seduced each other, and for a while they were very close indeed. However, over time he somehow got the upper hand over her because nobody had told her of the dangers of webcams.
Her net-lover, being no better than he was, threatened to post his takes of her on YouTube when she decided to leave him for a more substantial lover in her neighborhood. Suddenly, what had been some kind of love and a lot of fun games turned bad, and she grew more and more afraid that he would revenge himself on her for leaving him and thus stop their cozy times. This revenge was nothing but what might be called "shame terrorism", which is something that has kept women in line for a very long time. In this case there was no money, but still she was made to feel like a prostitute, who "sold her body".
In 1921, when he was 31 years old, he had a vision, or an enlightening experience on an undisclosed day in the month of March. Some would call it a dream and others may see it as a hallucination, but to him, it was his cosmic baptism. The event was as follows: He was sitting alone, focusing on God, when all of a sudden he had what he himself called "a divine calling". Somehow special information was disclosed to him from somewhere: He was told to use his intuition to explain the cosmic truth which not even Jesus had been able to disclose to his fellow men, namely for the lack of scientific knowledge of his times.
Everything which Martinus said or wrote - and that was a lot - he considered a follow-up to the Bible. However, his sayings or writings differed so much from the Christian scripts that in reality he has written something which may be called "a new Bible". As to his earth shaking experience in 1921 he always claimed that it had the bearings of a cosmic vision: "The vision of Christ that I experienced was not a dream or a hallucination, but a fully awake, day-conscious cosmic experience, and it contained a distinct declaration of a mission that I was to carry out." From that moment he really was on a mission, never to return to the path of the ordinary church teachings. To him, his mission was the obligation to show people God and to teach them about the divine mission of Jesus as he saw it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinus_Thomsen
Well, that's a "solution" that's NOT solving the issue of people getting ill from something that may be contagious.
Not all illnesses can be cured, I regret to say so, but I know that's a fact, not entirely of life itself, but also of social circumstances. For instance, the lack of free healthcare in the USA deem many American citizens to an early death. Something that e.g. Elon Musk as well as tRump find quite all right. Actually, it's their opinion that people who try to live "for too long", whatever that is, endanger society: People should live, work and die when that's not possible anymore for health reasons, which means "no golden years" for the part of the population who are engaged in physical work. In reality, it's those non-billionaires who can't afford medical treatment, simply because they are exploited by being underpaid: Money is the key!
Not a good situation for the "ordinary guy and girl", but somehow it just goes on and on. People may complain about it, but that seems to be as far as they are ready to go. Why??? Not being an American, I shall probably never be able to understand that part of it, but it is strange.
Fight as you may, but time is running out for those who don't target the main problem, namely the exploitation of those who ought to harvest what they invested by working and paying their taxes. Instead the money that should be their social safety bank is spent on those people who exploited them. However, people tend to forget that no, billionaire boss stood beside them when they were out there, working hard in their chosen - or assigned - field of work.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trickledowntheory.asp
https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine
https://www.thedailybeast.com/now-maga-is-coming-for-the-fluoride-in-your-toothpaste/
https://boobytrapec.blogspot.com/2025/03/when-diagnostics-go-wrong.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_the_United_States
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/human-life-expectancy-elon-musk-b2044971.html
The Muslim princess Zaida of Seville (1070-1107), the presumed daughter of king Abu al-Qasim, of Sevilla taifa, is an extremely shady character in the history of European royalty because the many legends about her seem to contradict each other. Was she even a historical figure??? However, strangely enough, she is considered to be part of the British royal line through her son, Sancho - or so it seems, because I don't feel sure that it really is the case. One thing is for sure (or almost for sure???): She was not a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Fatima, which has been suggested by some scholars. Maybe there was some family connection to the Fatima-descendants, but not in a direct line.
This family tree is very interesting, but is it reliable? I, for one, don't think so - or at least I doubt it. However, it's (almost) safe to say that there was a Zaida, who was a Muslim princess and a widow before she became the concubine of King Alfonso VI of Castille (born ca. 1040-1109), and that she gave birth to his son, Sancho. At some time later she became a Christian and took the name of Isabella - or so some think, as not even that is quite clear. Also, according to legend, she may have become his queen after some years - may have ....
King Alfonso VI (died 1109)
It has been said that King Alfonso adopted some Islamic habits from Zaida, but most scholars tell about his hatred and cruel persecutions of Muslims, so what are we to believe? I, for one, don't buy the legend of Zaida as it is being told. Actually, I suspect that her character, as it is presented in various descriptions, is a severe mix-up of several women, and that it needs a more thorough investigation than we have seen up till now.
https://www.medievalists.net/2024/03/the-legend-of-zaida-princess-of-seville/
Wikipedia
Britannica (: doesn't even have any mentions of Zaida!)
A Well Done Hatred
Above the rim of Reality
beneath Nothingness
floating in Space
that's where I found you
All of it came true
as predicted, all of it hard work
no idyll
no rest
not even pleasure
Maybe I came to hate you?
Or did you do the hating game by yourself?
Hatred there was, and hatred there is
quite idyllic and restful, by the way
a well done hatred holds pleasures like love
Those old Scandinavian Vikings do have a reputation of cruelty and what is considered "bad manners" in modern times, but they also had an allure, that can't be denied. Besides, they furnished us with some interesting love/hate-stories, that even sort of comment and highlight modern day life. One of these stories is the one about the Danish Viking Helge, who was the brother of King Roar. According to legend he may have died very young, but in the "Skjoldungesaga-fragment" he is depicted as a very active man, doing what Vikings do. He is considered a hero, although he is the one who raped and impregnated Olof, who was the wife of a Saxon earl. It seems that somehow Olof and Helge had fallen out, and this rape was supposed to be his revenge for her scorning him. - My verdict? Shame upon you, stupid Helge, your "deed" proves that rape isn't the way to go!!!
NB: This is not a picture of Olof, but of another famous woman from the sagas, the Valkyrie, Brunnhilde.
Anyway, Helge's vile rape of Olof led to the birth of a daughter, who was so hated by her mother that she named her after her dog, Yrsa. When she grew up, she became very beautiful, and "fate" had her father - who didn't know anything about her existence - meet her and fell in love with her.
He brought her back to Denmark, married her, and they were happy together, until the vengeful Olof told Yrsa that Helge is her biological father, and that their son, Rolf Krake, thus not only is her child, but also her brother. Incest was not acceptable to a proud Viking-woman, and the unhappy Yrsa leaves her husband-father, but is later married to the Swedish king Adils.
This king may have been jealous of both Helge and his son with Yrsa, Rolf Krake, because he sets out to kill both of them, but in vain. Actually, the seemingly ever-lecherous Helge has one more daughter, Skuld, by some not high-ranking or maybe even criminal woman. (Some see her as a fairy, an elf, a witch or something like that). This daughter is nothing like Yrsa, on the contrary, she is demonic and cruel, and later on she takes part in the killing of her brother, Rolf Krake, who by that time has become one of the super-heroes in the Viking-sagas. He is also supposed to have been one of the early kings of Denmark, but it's difficult to know for sure as all these old-time heroes seem to be mixed-up characters, so that one finds it impossible to discern between them: WHO did what, and why? The one who was considered a hero with the Vikings appears to be nothing but, when we take a closer look at him ....
However, some are interesting as archaeological objects, like e.g. this guy: