OT: on signs and omens

[StmmZaum]

Last 'sign' I saw I was standing at a window looking out over the garden at night wondering if I should do something (something specific that is, not just 'do something'), looked up at the sky and the sky went from cloudy to clear in a matter of seconds to make a beautiful starscape visible. I took it to mean 'do it' and so far it was right.

 

[Lion's Roar]

Growing up on a farm, I learned from my grandmother about old farming signs, she was usually right. I'm not a superstitious person, but one thing gets my attention and sends chills. In my family, everytime a bird has flown in the house, and particularly into the kitchen, someone in the family has died. This has been going on for generations.

David

 

[Nasty]

Dan - the weather in Fairborn has sucked since the Khon...that single window was indeed a gift!

Ferrous - Interesting at least the way the clouds parted and the moon came out at the end of the ceremony. BTW, that pesky light in the kitchen (hearth) is still working!

Somethin' is a-happenin' for these things to occur.

FWIW, the only animal sign I *always* pay attention to is the single deer in my scooter's headlight...I know there are others *just* outside the beam and always slow down.

 

[Ferrous Wheel]

...and of course the flight of the birds directly across the moon at the moment of the cloudbreak (from our right to left, not sure what the compass points were on that)--just to let us know that, yeah, some mojo was afoot...and these were just the observable animal signs.

Keith

 

[StmmZaum]

Plus there are always the explainable signs, like if flocks of birds fly low and cows are sitting down its probably going to rain, or if the buds on my Nans bush have been nibbled the chances are one of the local farmers/hunters will get venison for dinner

 

[Yvsa]

Plus there are always the explainable signs, like if flocks of birds fly low and cows are sitting down its probably going to rain, or if the buds on my Nans bush have been nibbled the chances are one of the local farmers/hunters will get venison for dinner

Curious as to how the deer would be harvested StmmZaum?
I didn't think guns were allowed there anymore.

 

[StmmZaum]

You can own firearms, you just need a lisence. Handguns are totally illegal but if you can get a section one firearms certificate (Sect 1 FAC) then you can buy up to 5 bolt action rifles on it (they put a limit of 500 rounds on the amount of ammo you can have per rifle). You can also get a shotgun certificate (which is easier to get IIRC). Actually the gun laws around here are not as strict as everyone seems to think when it comes to rifles. As long as you have a genuine reason (hunting, target shooting, living history, anything other than 'self defense' basically) and a clean record plus a couple of good references and safe facilities (a cabinet that complies with home office regulations) then you shouldn't have too much problem getting a certificate. They actually go from section 1 (bolt action rifles) up to section 5 (as many rifles as you like plus fully automatic weapons, usually this is restricted to dealers though).

As for where you can hunt, well essentially in counties (i.e. relatively rural areas) if you can get permission from the landowner you can hunt vermin (deer, rabbits, that kind of thing) as much as you like as long as you comply with certain health and safety guidelines. Actually a friend of mine was a big deer hunter until he had a stroke and was wheelchair bound, funnily enough though he stuck with it and bagged one or two from his chair in a camoflaged hide.

 

[clearblue]

When I was in high school, I went tracking deer with dad B4 hunting season, just to see where the deer were in Marion county. We followed parallel tracks, and they diverged. We each took a set and follwed. Mine ended, the deer having jumped up and away to a place I couldn't detect. Right at the last deep hoofprints, I saw what made the deer jump, it almost made me jump--a wonderful stone axe head half buried in the muddy furrows of the field. The track just ended there, right at the Thunderstone.

Lots variables of course had to align themselves for me to find it.

Keith

An interesting account of finding a "stone power object" can be found in Castaneda's book, "The Eagles Gift" in the first chapter titled "The Fixation of the Second Attention."

 

[Ferrous Wheel]

I call it a Thunderstone (Thunarstein, Donnerstein) as in the old Northern ways. Basically, the stone hammers and axe heads (and sometimes bronze votive axe heads) were thought to be left over from lightning strikes, which were equated with Thor's hammer striking the ground. Thus, they were 'artefacts' left from Mjollnir. They were then placed inside the home at the hearth, to ward off inclement weather and natural disasters.

The chaos of nature was represented by/attributed to the Ettin-kind (giants, forces of nature). Thor was a protector of the world and a few other realms, an agent of order, who fought the giants at almost every turn. Not all giants were chaotic tho, and some actually assisted or married Gods and men.

The Northern way is more acclimated to discussing forces in terms of Order or Chaos, not good vs evil (as these latter things change over time, either in the telling or with additional perspective).

Oopsie, OT again!

Keith