Smokin' Neeps

Smokin' Neeps

I think I first heard the tale where Jack was a drunk, but there's nothing to say he couldn't be a drunk and a smith...

Steely Dan-The Mooncoin Jig:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-mix36SjZY

Originally shared by Dirk Puehl

31 October - #onthisday Hallowe’en is celebrated by now all across the world on the traditional date of Samhain or All Hallows’ Eve.

A long time ago, when bronze working was a state-of-the-art skill, smiths were regarded as some kind of magicians, those who were able to craft two different metals from the womb of the earth into something new, more than the sum of its parts and cast wonderful tools and weapons from it. Smithies remained enchanted places, conveniently close to the magic crossroads, often with a gateway to the Otherworld and the idea of the uncanny smith remained in the collective consciousness of the people. And thus, it was a smith called Jack Oldfield, once upon a time in Ireland, who struck a deal with the devil. When old Nick came to snatch Jack’s soul, he asked the adversary to buy him a last drink. The fiend agreed and since he had no loose cash on him, he changed into sixpence and Jack grabbed the coin from the counter, put it into his pocket together with a silver cross. Thus, the dickens couldn’t change back and Jack made another deal. He’d free the archfiend if he wouldn’t come back to claim his soul for another ten years. The Lord of the Flies agreed and when he returned at the agreed time, Jack asked him for an apple as last meal and up a tree went Belzeboub to get one for the smith while Jack quickly carved a cross into the bark of the tree and the archfiend was snookered again. Jack agreed to let him go if his soul would be safe from hell for all eternity. And then, one fine day, Jack’s number came up. The gatekeepers in heaven sent the old sleeveen packing post-haste and then Jack stood at the gates of hell and he couldn’t go in there either, since he had his deal and Jack was condemned to wander the world forever and a day. Old Nick, however, took pity and gave him a glowing coal from the fires of hell to provide at least a bit of light and warmth for the lost soul on his way and Jack put it in a turnip he had with him as provisions for the journey. And so he became known as Jack of the Lantern, Jack O’Lantern and his damned soul wanders through the night on All Hallow’s Eve.


But read more on:

http://wunderkammertales.blogspot.de/2015/02/all-hallows-eve.html

#culturalhistory #folklore #mythology #wunderkammer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Entremet

Entremet Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "“Like most people in the US, I grew up knowing the words to this carol and even (shudder) singing them occasionally (singing is not a strong point of mine), but never really thought about what they meant, how the carol originated, or what birds were involved”, says Dr Rasmussen in email. So she decided to figure it out. Dr Rasmussen, who’s tied for third for the most bird discoveries in the world, is probably also the world’s foremost avian sleuth, due to her meticulous detective work a few years ago that uncovered the many ornithological thefts and records frauds in museums that were committed by eminent British ornithologist, Richard Meinertzhagen. But who would ever have thought that an old Christmas carol might also hold an avian mystery? “After all, it’s just a Christmas carol!” Dr Rasmussen points out." https://medium.com/@GrrlScientist/meet-the-real-birds-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-fame-grrlscientist-5a8bc09350c9
Read more

Flushbunkingly Gloriumptious

Flushbunkingly Gloriumptious Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "Renowned children's author and occasional spy, Roald Dahl spent the last years of his life in a home located in the small English village of Great Missenden, and now his beloved village is home to an attractive museum devoted to his life and works.  [...] Today the museum holds all of Dahl's original manuscripts, as well as his "Idea Books" where he would jot down his nascent creations. In addition to celebrating his writing career, there are also displays covering his service in the RAF. However, the crown jewel of the museum is the recreation of Dahl's purpose built "Writing Hut," complete with the arm chair he had customized to write in." http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-roald-dahl-museum
Read more

Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh

Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh So Labradors tend to overeat. Now it has been traced to genetic differences. "Dr Eleanor Raffan, a veterinary surgeon and geneticist who studies how genes influence metabolism at the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge recently published a study that examines the genetics that underlie food motivation and obesity in Labrador retrievers. [...] When Dr Raffan and her team carefully examined this POMC gene variant, they found that a small 14-basepair section a little more than halfway down the gene’s length was missing. This deletion creates a frameshift mutation that results in the production of an abnormal protein where the last half is scrambled into a blob of nonsense [...]. Normally, the POMC is translated into the POMC pro-peptide, which is cleaved at precise sites to give rise to number of smaller peptides, including the appetite suppressing neuropeptides, ß-MSH & ß-endorphin, but the abnormal POMC pro-peptide do...
Read more