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PZ547
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Several on the go as usual. I'm book rich these days - guilty sin. Have them stuffed everywhere. Garage filled to capacity to the point the family revolted last year and I had to dispose of (over a period of a few months) close to 60 cartons of books, some of which I hadn't read but had lost my head buying them cheap at the local library. Gave them to the local op-shops until they refused to take any more. Then I had to slip them back through the library slot after dark, because they were on my case as well
They (library) put the donations out for sale. Makes me cry, thinking of all the books we donated to the Burleigh Heads library when we were moving down here, because I realise now they wouldn't have put them on the shelves, even though they were immaculate and expensive art books, coffee table travel, etc.
Anyway, the book-angel has been shining on me for a few years now (thank you, thank you) and in the last few years I've had stacks sitting there unread. If only this had been the case when I was young and had to choose between books and food, books and everything, lol
Currently am reading The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss. Just knocked off Nottingham a History, by Chris Weir and stop-starting Country Houses in Edwardian Cheshire - very atmospheric black and white photographs - some of the houses I visited as a child
Read The Colour by Rose Tremain in one sitting over the weekend. When I picked it up I thought it was non-fiction, about the gold-rushes in New Zealand. Few pages in, realised it was fiction but it was strangely absorbing, or maybe it was just my mood. Ended up being a bit of a bodice-ripper but with enough factual element to render it entertaining
I've been delving into the collected Charles Fort while waiting for household appliances to finish their cycles. Fascinating, every page
When I get my act together and quit wasting time online, will get stuck into 3 books which arrived from the Book Depository last month, all by Claude Lecouteux - non-fiction, lurid titles, but a wealth of information concerning pre-Christian beliefs in Western Europe - many of which underly current religions and what are today considered myths & superstitions, fables & nonsense
They are (lurid titles, remember) (1) Witches, Werewolves and Fairies (2) The Return of The Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind and (3) Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead ( from the back-cover blurb: Claude Lecouteux is a former professor of medieval literature and civilization at the Sorbonne - is the author of numerous books on medieval and pagan afterlife beliefs )
Excerpt: ' Once upon a time a phenomenon existed in medieval Europe that continuously fueled local lore: during the long winter nights a strange and unknown troop could be heard passing outside over the land or through the air. ( I read about this many years ago and it's what prompted me to buy Lecouteux's books, in fact) Anyone caught by surprise in the open fields or depths of the woods would see a bizarre procession of demons, giants, hounds, ladies of the night soldiers, and knights, some covered in blood and others carrying their heads beneath their arms. This was the Wild or Infernal Hunt, the host of the damned, the phantom army of the night - a theme that still inspires poets, writers and painters to this day. Millenia older than Christianity, this pagan belief was employed by the church to spread their doctrine, with the shapeshifters and giants of the pagan nightly processions becoming sinners led by demons seeking out unwary souls to add to their retinues. Myth or legend, it represents a belief that has deep roots in Europe, particularly Celtic and Scandinavian countries.
The first scholar to fully examine this myth in each of its myriad forms, Claude Lecouteux strips away the Christian gloss and shows how the Wild Hunt was an integral part of the pagan worldview and the structure of their societies. Additionally, he looks at how secret societies of medieval Europe reenacted these ghostly processions through cult rituals culminating in masquerades and carnival-like cavalcades often associated with astral doubles, visions of hte afterlife, belief in multiple souls and prophesies of impending death. He reveals how the nearly infinite variations of this myth are still a living, evolving tradition that offers us a window into the world in which our ancestors lived '
Promises to be a fascinating, informative read. General Patton claimed he watched such a procession and although the Angels of Mons are said to have been debunked (which itself is disputed) there hasn't been any prosaic explanation (of which I'm aware) for the columns of Australian soldiers, several dozen in all, maybe more, who reportedly marched into several decidedly odd, 'bread loaf' type clouds and vanished never to be seen again, in Gallipoli from memory - could be wrong about that. Those who claimed to witness the phenomenon included officers, apparently, who stated for the record that they were provided an excellent view of the whole thing. They reportedly signed a document to that effect. I've always wondered how the men's disappearance and failure to return from war was explained to the families
Suppose everyone by now is aware of the Book Depository and the fantastic deals to be had ? If not, they're easily found online. And they send discounted books to Australia post free. Great bargains and they seem to be reprinting many formally out-of-print books too. Worth a look
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