I am updating this post as we have just had several people here to eat with us and none of them was aware of what happened to St George's Church in Ramsgate during the last few days.
Two pictures taken from the same place. This is before
and this one after, sorry about the definition the bookshop is rather a long way from the church for my mobile phone's camera
A thought on digital cameras here, with both pictures taken from the same place. The top one was taken with my Pentax ist D which is a 2003 6.1 megapixel digital slr with a 210 mm zoom lens which I bought in the 1970s. The bottom one taken with the 8 megapixel camera on my 2011 mobile phone.
I have to admit to being reluctant to use my older lenses on my newer camera because of the dust on the the sensor problem, the ist D is only worth about £50 and I have debugged the sensor in this by getting it wet with surgical spirit before now, not something I recommend however anyone who uses a digital slr a lot will know that the specks on the sensor problem can be like bad bugs on a car windscreen.
Anyway happy Christmas all round, sorry I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday due to family Christmas.
Three ships may be a reference to the "Three Kings" of the constellation Orion. These pop up in folklore across the world. Native Americans to Chinese. About 16 myths of three kings or magi indicating the birth of a true shepherd or saviour (Of which Christ is the 16th myth). About 800 years before Christ there was one saviour born Dec 25th who walked on water, had 12 disciples, raised the dead etc etc.
ReplyDeleteEven our local church leaflet circulation this year admits to the mythology and numerous historic precedent myths for 3 magi, three kings, three ships or three marys and virgin births etc and the astrological origins of the yarns.
Seems a 17th century Derbyshire hymn writer may have been taking the mickey ?
Colin Wilson gives an excellent and learned account of the origin of various religious myths. [The Occult - the ultimate book of those who would walk with the Gods. Hodder & Stoughton 1971 and Mayflower Books 1973].
ReplyDeleteYes John. I think John Greenleaf Whittier was a Quaker. He made a concession to catholic superstition in his poem Curse of the Charter Breakers. Sort of if we sustain the superstition and myth good may come of it. But nowadays the mythology. of christianity was increasingly exposed in countries that have subsequently gone "Multicultural" so as to host people of fundamentalist "Faith" who are centuries behind the ascent of western man. The western ship anchored from sailing ahead.
ReplyDeleteThus the increasing use of a new generic term "People of faith".
Religion and ritual (such as masonic) work on the same part of the brain as the recognised illness of obsessive compulsive disorder. The coping ritual whether it be obsessive hand washing, eating bread and supping wine proffered by a dressed up priest or gustily singing Vienna and strutting around inside a building exchanging recognition signals and handshakes.
"I wander a spiral to examine myself, examine myself, examine myself on St John's day in the morning"
And "Faith" is in the same part of the brain as superstition. Superstition equals OCD ritual in the delusion it ensures good luck (or a form of good luck called redemption)
Still gets us a holiday at the old mid winter fest.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI may have confused my argument by my misuse of the word mythology. Colin Wilson does not seek to debunk religion, he is no Richard Dawkins. Neither is he an erich von daniken. Rather he explores the origins of religions and faiths and mysticisms. He may well convince some that there is indeed a God, a supreme being.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating stuff. Colin Wilson explores Astral Projection; Levitation; Telepathy; Black Mass; Reincarnation; Water Divining; Astrology; Telekinesis, Flying Sauces; Lycanthropy; Synchronicity; ESP & LSD; Werewolves; Vampires; Ghosts; Witches & Warlocks; Voodoo; Evil Eye; Bone Casting; Tarot; Shamans; The Premonitions; Visions & Ecstasies of Nostradamus; Rasputin; Ouspensky; Crowley; Jung; and the Higher Emotions of the super- psychic poets.
Colin Wilson's book is no vacuous flight of fancy. It is a serious and learned study.
My two earlier deletions merely reflect my inability to spell, a propensity for typos and a sometime tenuous grip on grammar.
ReplyDeleteI give up; I now notice that I have missed my ' Flying Saucers' error.
ReplyDeleteAh John anyone with children is aware of the flying condiments problem, but grammar is, I am afraid, one of life’s great mysteries to me. Frankly without the spellchecker there would be no blog as none of my spells would work.
DeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteInnit though.