I have just mailed out my Yuletide cards and one Christmas box (from Germany!) has already arrived. Seasonal cards are starting to appear in the mailbox, and soon I will be setting up my little Christmas tree in the living room. Due to the pandemic I am no longer offering classes in my home and I may be the only one to see it (except for the cats). But the bright lights and little bird, elf and reindeer ornaments are cheering on cold winter nights. I can’t imagine a yuletide season without them.
For the past two years I have been working on my next herbal “The Sacred Herbs of Christmas and Yule”. I am nearly finished and will probably submit it to a publisher within the month. I thought I would share a small excerpt from its pages;
The Origins of the Christmas Tree
The custom of decorating the home with evergreen plants at winter solstice goes back at least as far as the ancient Egyptians and the Roman Saturnalia festival (held on December 25). The idea of bringing a whole tree into the house seems to be a European invention.
Christmas trees are now found in homes of many religious persuasions; Christian, Jewish (now called a Hannukah Bush), Pagan, Atheist, and more.
The earliest recorded Christmas tree was erected in 1441, in Tallinn, Estonia, by the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a Tallinn military and commercial association of merchants, ship owners and foreigners. The group decorated a tree for their holiday festivities in their “House of the Brotherhood”. On the last night the tree was taken to the Town Hall Square where members and womenfolk danced around it before it was finally set on fire. It is unknown whether the “tree” was a Spruce, or a Christmas Wooden Pyramid decorated with paper shapes, flowers, fruits and toys.
The practice of setting up a personal Christmas tree in the home appears to have originated later, in Strasburg, Germany, where in 1605 people put up private Christmas trees in their houses for the first time. Decorations included “roses cut of many-colored paper, apples, wafers, gilt, sugar.” Later, the “Bride’s Tree” tradition developed in Bavaria, Germany, where magical objects were hung on the Christmas tree to ensure a happy marriage such as; an angel for divine guidance, a bird for joy and happiness, a bird in a nest for confidence, a fish for many blessings, a flower basket for beauty and good luck, a fruit basket for generosity and abundance, a heart for true love and a loving home, a house for shelter and protection, a pine cone for motherhood and fertility, a rabbit for hope and harmony with wild nature, a rose for faithfulness in love, a teapot for hospitality, and a Saint Nicholas for good will.
Public Domain
Other ornaments could be a carrot for success in the kitchen, a star for guidance, a boat so the couple might successfully sail the waters of life, colored balls as symbols of the many spheres of life, chains and garlands symbolizing cohesiveness and working together, lights for the returning Sun, grapes as symbols of friendship and good cheer, or a bell to symbolize joy. Somewhere on the tree, the last ornament to be hung was a glass pickle. The child that found it was rewarded for being so diligent in searching, and finding the pickle was thought to ensure good luck in the coming year.
The “Paradise Play” was a Medieval drama about Adam and Eve. It was enacted during the Middle Ages, especially around December 24, which the church had declared as the feast day of Adam and Eve. There was a central prop for the play; a tree representing the Biblical “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” and the “Tree of Life”. At first the tree was only decorated with apples (it is worth noting that there are no apples in the Biblical account; the Medieval mind thought of apples as rare treats and the only tree fruit they could conceive of that would have tempted Adam to sin). The actors eventually chose an evergreen tree, possibly because evergreens are still alive with greenery in December.
Later still, the evergreen prop was decorated with communion wafers and red cherries in a circle of lit candles within which the action took place. These popular plays continued into the sixteenth century, even after the church had banned miracle plays a century earlier.
In Germany the tree was named the “Christbaum” (Christ tree) and ornaments such as white pastry hearts, stars, angels and bells replaced the bland communion wafers. Brown dough figures of people, birds and animals were added to the tree along with blooming roses made of paper.
In London of 1444 a Christmas tree was set up, covered in ivy and holly for the pleasure of the public, while in Latvia an evergreen tree was decorated with roses, carried to the town square and burned in 1510.
English Queen Charlotte had a yew tree decorated with toys and sweets at Windsor castle in 1800 and when Albert and Victoria married, the Christmas tree finally became a fashionable household fixture. Eventually, German immigrants brought the tradition to the USA and to Canada.
Public Domain
The earliest household Christmas trees were small and without decoration. They sat on a tabletop or were hung upside-down from the rafters. By the nineteenth century they were becoming larger and then candles were added (real candles are still favored by Europeans).
Whatever you are celebrating, be it Yule, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, or the festival of Sol Invictus, may you have a bright and glorious feast with loved ones from near and far!
BOOK NEWS
My new children’s book: “Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year” will be on sale April 19, 2022 in the U.S. The UK on-sale date is about 6 weeks later. It is available for pre-order now at https://www.innertraditions.com/books/once-around-the-sun and other retailers worldwide here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Once-Around-the-Sun/Ellen-Evert-Hopman/9781644114148
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES
FEBRUARY 18-20, 2022
On February 19, at 2:45 PM Eastern
WitchCon (virtual conference)
Ellen will be teaching a class on Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore
MARCH 5, 2022
1-4PM CST
Women’s Wellness Series (virtual class)
The Witching Herbs – Working with Baneful Plants: Healing, Magick, and Homeopathy with Ellen Evert Hopman
Use code Ellen10 and get a discount!
NEWS YOU CAN USE
If you love your cat please keep them inside. They will live longer.
*A Reminder: You can find all my books and DVDs for sale here: www.elleneverthopman.com
Get a book signed by the author. Makes a great gift!*
Below you will find the last Moonth’s gleanings from the media: Archaeology, herbs, health, climate, nature, Celts, Fairies, arts, religion, ethics and more. Enjoy!
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS
A statue of Minerva was topped by a statue of King Alfred
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/new-discovery-concerning-southwark-statue-of-king-alfred.html
Ancient tagging and graffiti from Pompeii
The ancient neighborhood beneath the Acropolis
https://greekreporter.com/2021/11/27/ancient-neighborhood-acropolis/
A Hellenistic sanctuary found in central Greece
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/hellenistic-sanctuary-unearthed-in.html
1350 BCE statues and jewelry found in Cyprus
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/12/gold-jewellery-from-time-of-nefertiti.html
Anglesey, the Druids’ last stand (video)
http://Anglesey, the Druid’s last stand (video)
The oldest Denisovan fossils identified to date using DNA
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/molecular-analysis-reveals-oldest.html
Mysterious Footprints In Tanzania Made By Early Humans, Not Bears
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/12/mysterious-footprints-in-tanzania-made.html
The US returns more than 900 looted artifacts to Mali
Remains of ‘last fugitive’ killed by Mount Vesuvius eruption unearthed at Herculaneum
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/12/02/herculaneum-fugitive-skeleton-discovery
Stonehenge builders may have eaten sweets like mince pies, evidence shows
Graves of rich, powerful Scythian women found
How did the ancient Irish laws handle mental illness?
https://brehonacademy.org/how-did-the-brehon-laws-handle-mental-illness/
1000 sphinxes found buried under the sand in Egypt; a parade in Karnak to celebrate
More: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/egypt-reopen-ancient-avenue-sphinxes-luxor-karnak-parade-rcna6723
Watch the full parade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-8lLjf2SM
The oldest jewelry ever found in Eurasia
A 13 year old girl in Britain found a Bronze Age ax hoard
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-59386261
A mammoth tusk found off the California coast
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/researchers-recover-ancient-mammoth.html
Ethiopia hails return of looted artifacts
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/ethiopia-hails-return-of-looted.html
The Met returns artifacts looted from Nigeria
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/met-returns-three-artworks-looted-under.html
When Catherine the Great pushed for smallpox vaccinations in Russia
Canadian bison uncover petroglyphs
Ancient hominid walked like a human and climbed like an ape
Prehistoric mothers were more capable than was thought
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/prehistoric-mums-may-have-cared-for.html
A temple of Zeus unearthed in Turkey
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/temple-of-zeus-in-ancient-greek-city-of.html
The ancient potato of the future
Roman soldier’s cavalry mask found
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/roman-soldiers-cavalry-face-mask-found.html
And a Roman dagger
Ancient pits near Stonehenge are made by humans
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/stonehenge-pits-human-made-research-1234611127/
Celtic origins – Iberian connections (paper)
https://www.academia.edu/1432724/Celtic_Origins_Iberian_Connections?email_work_card=view-paper
Ancient dump reveals Goddess’s artifacts
What really happened at the first Thanksgiving
The many myths of the Crusades
The Shawnee reclaim the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio
https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/shawnee-relcaim-great-serpent-mound
Who were the Yamnaya? Origins of the Indo-Europeans (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48bhkOiEuA
A possible hill fort found in the Pennines
https://www.teesdalemercury.co.uk/news/dig-may-have-unearthed-ancient-hill-fort
A Clovis point found in Zacatecas, Mexico
The UK archaeologist who restored Sicily’s temples
Ness of Brodgar – updates on the dig
http://52m3.mj.am/nl2/52m3/mhykg.html?hl=en
Celtic DNA evidence (paper)
Justinianic Plague Was Nothing Like Flu And May Have Struck England Before It Reached Constantinople, New Study Suggests
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/justinianic-plague-was-nothing-like-flu.html
Scythian Deities On A Silver Plate: A Unique Archaeological Find In The Middle Don
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/scythian-deities-on-silver-plate-unique.html
World’s oldest jewelry on display in Morocco
https://www.dailysabah.com/life/history/archaeologists-unveil-worlds-oldest-jewelry-in-morocco
More: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/worlds-oldest-jewelry-morocco-2037635
More: https://www.dw.com/en/worlds-oldest-jewelry-unveiled-in-morocco/g-58291898
How ancient humans brought us pumpkins
Egypt’s sacred baboons
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mysteries-of-ancient-egypts-sacred-baboons-revealed/
A huge hoard of Roman coins found in Germany
Roman Britain in color
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/roman-britain-in-colour-at-great-north.html
Byzantine Basilica With Graves of Female Ministers and Baffling Mass Burials Found in Israel
7000 year old Bog bodies found in Florida
https://spacecoastdaily.com/2021/11/windovers-ancient-bog-people-made-history/
Unique Jewelry From Fifth Century Discovered Near West Bohemian Town Of Rakovník
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/unique-jewellery-from-fifth-century.html
Harald Hardrada: why there’s more to the last great Viking than his death in 1066
12 extinct species of humans and how they differ
https://www.grunge.com/660637/types-of-extinct-human-species-and-how-they-differ/
Archaeologists say they’ve found a lost 4,500-year-old sun temple of Ra in Egypt
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/egypt-sun-temple-scli-intl-scn/index.html
An ancient Greek boy playing with a yo-yo
https://greekreporter.com/2021/11/14/the-ancient-greek-boy-and-his-yo-yo/
Ancient shops unearthed in Turkey
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-shops-unearthed-in-aizanoi-169340
What really happened at the Saint Brice’s Day massacre?
https://www.historyextra.com/period/anglo-saxon/st-brices-day-massacre-what-happened-how-violent/
The Sutton Hoo ship is being re-created
The Sutton Hoo helmet (video
)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYk0GH5iFYI
The world’s oldest mercury poisoning found in Iberia
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-world-oldest-mercury-poisoning-revealed.html
How the Romans went to the bathroom
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-ancient-romans-went-to-the-bathroom-180979056/
Persecutory cultures (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emPlQsd-hxQ
How Did a 15th-Century Coin Minted Under Henry VII End Up in Newfoundland?
Mass Grave of Women, Children Found in Pre-Hispanic City in Peru
Why the ancient Germanic Nebra Sky Disk was sent into space
Evolution and human identity
Mourning Kin After the End of Cannibalism
These Greek ‘masterpieces’ are actually clever, legal copies
Ancient treasure trove: Hoard of 2,500-year-old artifacts found in Swedish forest
https://www.studyfinds.org/2500-year-old-artifacts-sweden/
Homo Erectus Vs. Saber Tooth: Archaeology Site Reveals What Early Humans Encountered in Eurasia
The Ness of Brodgar – an update
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/about/the-structures/structure-twenty-six/
The Celts, Part I (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU1dKfMIEUQ
The Celts, Part II (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVovskAh5QA
5,000-Year-Old Engraved Chalk Plaques Found in Stonehenge Region
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/stonehenge-chalk-plaques-10255.html
2021 Underwater Survey Of Antikythera Shipwreck Concluded
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/2021-underwater-survey-of-antikythera.html
Thanks to Medical Technology, the Black Prince’s Tomb Reveals Its Secrets
Indigenous Tainos protest sale of artifacts at Christies
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/indigenous-taino-protest-artifacts-sold-by-christies.html
Doggerland: Lost ‘Atlantis’ of the North Sea gives up its ancient secrets
A Viking axe struck a Newfoundland tree in the year 1021. Here’s how scientists proved it.
Did Vikings and their stowaway mice beat Portugal to the Azores?
Early Humans in Prehistoric Israel Were Picky About Where Their Deer Came From
Textiles Unearthed At Çatalhöyük In Turkey Reveal History Of Clothes Making
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/textiles-unearthed-at-catalhoyuk-in.html
Wooden Falcon Sold for $101 Originally Belonged to Anne Boleyn
About 500 ancient ceremonial sites identified in Mexico
Perfectly Preserved Late Bronze Age Sword Discovered In Mallorca
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/perfectly-preserved-late-bronze-age.html
Unusual Relief Discovered At Neolithic Site In South-Eastern Turkey
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/unusual-relief-discovered-at-neolithic.html
Longhouses Of The Earliest Farmers From The 6th Millennium BC Discovered In South-Western Germany
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/longhouses-of-earliest-farmers-from-6th.html
Makeshift Camp For Refugees Fleeing Invading Germanic Tribes Discovered On Croatian Island
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/makeshift-camp-for-refugees-fleeing.html
New Finds At The Great Temple Of Heliopolis At Matariya
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/new-finds-at-great-temple-of-heliopolis.html
1,200-Year-Old Canoe Recovered From Wisconsin Lake
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/1200-year-old-canoe-recovered-from.html
Medieval paintings discovered in a Yorkshire Medieval hall
Were the ancient Britons mere “Barbarians”? (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTsr7TE_NDM
Slave Room Discovered At The Civita Giuliana Villa North Of Pompeii
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/slave-room-discovered-at-civita.html
The Parthenon Sculptures Inexplicably Kept Under Lock And Key For 10 Months
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-parthenon-sculptures-inexplicably.html
Greek PM campaigns to get the Parthenon sculptures repatriated to Greece
‘Tools’ Suggesting Humans Reached Mexico 30,000 Years Ago May Not Be What They Seem
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/tools-suggesting-humans-reached-mexico.html
As Earth warms human history is melting away
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/as-earth-warms-human-history-is-melting.html
First Partial Skull Of Homo Naledi Child Sheds Light On Enigmatic Hominids
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/first-partial-skull-of-homo-naledi.html
More: Paleoanthropologists Find Fossil Remains of Immature Homo naledi
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/leti-homo-naledi-10242.html
More: https://bigthink.com/the-past/homo-naledi-skull-rising-star/
Viking lead trade weights
https://www.anoxfordhistorian.com/post/viking-lead-trade-weights
See the Largest Trove of Early Medieval Gold Coins Ever Found in England
Who are the Basques? (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un1QtE5swEU
As Earth warms secrets emerge from the ice
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/science/climate-change-archaeology.html
Gold Ring Unearthed At Site Of Byzantine Winery In Yavne, Israel
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/gold-ring-unearthed-at-site-of.html
Not Even Extreme Cold Stopped The First Modern Humans From Settling In Iberia’s Interior
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/not-even-extreme-cold-stopped-first.html
Rewriting human history (book review)
Nigeria demands return of Benin Bronzes (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx61445FJS8
Related: the Smithsonian’s African Art Museum plans to repatriate its Benin bronzes
A terracotta effigy of the Goddess Astarte/Aphrodite found
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/terracotta-effigy-of-goddess-astarte.html
Tomb of Ramses II treasurer found
Scotland’s earliest Pictish fort digitally reconstructed
Mexico Asks France To Cancel Pre-Columbian Art Sales
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/mexico-asks-france-to-cancel-pre.html
Heads of Aphrodite, Dionysus found in Turkey
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/statue-heads-of-greek-deities-found-in.html
Mammoths and hippos once roamed ancient German rivers
Seal of a Hittite female administrator found in Turkey
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/digs-reveal-seals-of-hittite-female-administrator-in-se-turkey/news
Roman statues uncovered in Britain
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/roman-bust-hs2-intl-scli-gbr/index.html
Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/05/caesars-invasion-of-britain/139274
DNA Confirms Living Great-Grandson Of Legendary Sitting Bull In First-Of-Its-Kind Study
Ancient art deep in SW American caves
Reclaiming the Salem Witch trials
Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Is Filled With Corpses’ Ghostly Silhouettes
Experts Name New Species Of Human Ancestor
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/experts-name-new-species-of-human.html
Exclusive Kitchenware Set Discovered At Roman Officer’s Villa In Bulgaria
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/exclusive-kitchenware-set-discovered-in.html
Thousands of prehistoric artifacts found during railway construction in Mexico
Returning the artifacts of the ancestors
https://wildhunt.org/2021/10/returning-the-artifacts-of-ancestors.html
Egyptian embalming techniques may be 1000 years older than was believed
When a British aristocrat tried to find the Ark of the Covenant
The Surprising Origins Of The Tarim Basin Mummies
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-surprising-origins-of-tarim-basin.html
More: https://www.livescience.com/tarim-mummies-origins-uncovered
Why dragons dominated the Medieval landscape of monsters
500-Year-Old Manuscript Exposes Religious Beliefs And Cults In Medieval England
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/500-year-old-manuscript-exposes.html
The Sheela na Gig – an inspirational figure (paper)
Horned Goddesses
https://earthandstarryheaven.com/2016/01/14/horned-goddesses/
A 16th century Bardic poetry book
https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/publications/aom/009-en.html
A paleolithic colored bead found in Japan
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211023/p2a/00m/0na/002000c
An Iron Age hillfort is for sale in the UK
Luxury trade revealed at King Arthur’s Tintagel
Why did human brain size decrease 3000 years ago?
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/when-and-why-did-human-brains-decrease.html
700,000 year old stone tools discovered in the Philippines – older than homo sapiens
Oldest evidence yet for herd behavior in dinosaurs
HERB NEWS
How to cook with Bitter Orange
http://www.eattheweeds.com/hardy-orange/
The uses of Fennel
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/fennel-herb.html
Medicinal properties of Boxwood
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/boxwood.html
Medicinal value of Oakmoss
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/oakmoss.html
Cat’s Claw benefits and uses
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/cats-claw-herb.html
How to use birch polypore mushrooms (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWtZ4VowLGA
More: https://mushroomgrove.com/birch-polypore/
More: https://thevillageplate.com/2017/03/22/birch-polypore-medicinal-wild-mushroom/
Make elderberry syrup
Make fermented honey cranberries
https://www.growforagecookferment.com/fermented-honey-cranberries/?ck_subscriber_id=215216636
Make a traditional Middle Eastern bean soup with herbs
https://www.facebook.com/TasteLifeOfficial/videos/1559507300920058
Rosemary Champagne Cocktail with Blood Orange
https://www.growforagecookferment.com/rosemary-champagne-cocktail/
A plant based anti-viral that is effective against all Covid strains
Make a persimmon Champagne Cocktail with Cinnamon and Sage
https://www.growforagecookferment.com/persimmon-champagne-cocktail/?ck_subscriber_id=215216636
Celtic tree medicine and lore (recorded workshop)
https://www.midwestwomensherbal.com/product-page/celtic-tree-medicine-lore-ellen-evert-hopman
Make mulled hard cider
https://www.growforagecookferment.com/mulled-hard-cider/?ck_subscriber_id=215216636
Columbine in folk medicine – a monograph
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/columbine-herb-traditional-uses.html
Great Mullein benefits and uses – an herbal monograph
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/great-mullein-herb.html
Greater Celandine benefits and uses – an herbal monograph
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/greater-celandine-uses.html
Peppermint side effects and uses – an herbal monograph
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/peppermint-herb.html
Varuna is an Ayurvedic herb – an herbal monograph
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/varuna-herbs.html
Yaupon Holly – our only native American tea plant with caffeine
How to make acorn flour
https://honest-food.net/acorn-flour-recipe-cold-process/
HEALTH NEWS
Questions and answers about waning Covid immunity
Omnicron, the newest Covid variant of concern is worrying scientists
More: Heavily mutated Omicron variant puts scientists on alert
http://Heavily mutated Omicron variant puts scientists on alert
More: The US will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other nearby countries beginning next week as fears grow over the new variant
.https://nypost.com/2021/11/27/omicron-variant-found-in-uk-germany-czech-republic/
Covid vaccines are safe during pregnancy study finds
Homicide is a top cause of maternal death in the United States (just one more reason why women need access to safe and legal abortions).
“Pregnant women in the United States die by homicide more often than they die of pregnancy-related causes — and they’re frequently killed by a partner, according to a study published last month in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Researchers revealed this grim statistic by using death certificates to compare homicides and pregnancy-related deaths across the entire country for the first time.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03392-8
Up to 1.6 Million People in the U.S. Have Long-Term Smell Loss Due to Covid-19
Coffee and Tea drinking may lead to less dementia, strokes
A 16 week old preemie is youngest to survive on record
Pfizer Says Covid-19 Pill Cuts Hospitalization and Death Risk by Nearly 90 Percent
Fact check: does Covid immunity wane over time?
Europe is once again the epicenter of the Covid epidemic
Booster Shots Drastically Reduce Delta Variant Hospitalizations And Deaths In Israel
Study: Covid-19 conspiracy theorists are more likely to contract the disease
SARS Covid virus can infect the inner ear, study shows
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-sars-cov-virus-infect-ear.html
Mental illness is a new criteria for getting Covid-19 booster shot
Mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines could boost immunity
A deadly tropical disease linked to Walmart aromatherapy spray
Sperm Quality In US Has Dropped Significantly Since 2005, New Study Shows
Covid-19 can cause lasting brain damage
CLIMATE AND NATURE NEWS
Global Temperatures Over Last 24,000 Years Show Today’s Warming ‘Unprecedented’
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/global-temperatures-over-last-24000.html
Thousands of giant Sequoias have been lost to forest fires
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=301401c7-59ba-4d93-8079-d4e20401505f
The ‘Last Ice Area’ May Provide a Final Refuge for Arctic Life in a Warming World
COP26: World Set For Disastrous 2.4°C Warming Under Current 2030 Pledges
Last Seven Years On Track To Be Hottest On Record: UN
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/10/last-seven-years-on-track-to-be-hottest.html
A rational approach to siting solar arrays – every city and town should do this
World fungal network to be mapped for the first time in history
On the quantum level time can flow both forwards and backwards at the same time
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/in-quantum-realm-not-even-time-flows-as.html
Monarch butterfly numbers slowly rebounding! Go out and plant some milkweed.
Scientists are testing astronauts in long range Mars simulations and the results are worrying
The first north American whale sanctuary planned for Nova Scotiahttps://www.ecowatch.com/whale-sanctuary-north-america-2655521483.html#toggle-gdpr
How wolves saved Yellowstone (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPt70vA39k
Comedy wildlife photography award winners 2021
Deep sea life that lives at 500 degrees F
Satellite Monitoring Of Greenland Ice Melting Highlights Global Flood Risk
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/11/satellite-monitoring-of-greenland-ice.html
Type Of Water Ice Hotter Than The Sun’s Surface Is A New Phase Of Matter
Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be listed as sentient beings in UK law
A Russian ship played classical music to save entrapped whales
https://whalescientists.com/russian-ship-entrapped-belugas/
Humpback whales had a record number of calves this year
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/500-humpbacks-return-with-record-number-of-calves/
Scorpions Swept Into Egyptian Homes by Floods Sting More Than 500 People
Once Deemed ‘Biologically Dead,’ a New Report Shows London’s River Thames Recovering
Presumed extinct Butterfly Ray is found
Winning photos – wildlife photographer of the year
COP26: Over 40 Countries Agree To Phase-Out Coal, But Not The US, Australia, Or China
Female California condors reproduce without a male (nature always finds a way)
https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2021/10/28/california-condors-reproduce-without-male-first
We are officially trying to talk to whales
NASA Chief Suggests Recent UFO Sightings Could Be Extraterrestrial Life
From 1912
Honey is medicine for bees – let them keep some for their health
The scent of trees – how to understand their language
https://www.ft.com/content/a01c8d4b-1915-42cc-b015-9b7c1b56578e
A meteorite with the building blocks of life fell on Costa Ricahttps://www.science.org/content/article/unusual-meteorite-more-valuable-gold-may-hold-building-blocks-life?utm_campaign=SciMag&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Facebook
IPCC report: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ “Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5C and 2C will be exceeded the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades”
FAIRY NEWS
In search of the Morsu Pixies (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FC0hGIVkd4
Some Pixie sightings (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj924wXdSwo
Morsu Pixie Temple (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgZkMkICrWk
The Banshee in Folklore
https://theaddersden.wordpress.com/2021/06/30/ban-sithe-banshee-folklore/
The Glaistig, the Gruagach, and the Green Lady
https://theaddersden.wordpress.com/2021/10/17/glaistig-gruagach-and-green-lady-folklore/
CELTIC NEWS
An 800 year old style of singing (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zCv3XXjCY8
Saining not smudging
The Cailleach in Scottish place names
https://clog.glasgow.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JSNS/article/view/58/107
More: https://theaddersden.wordpress.com/tag/the-cailleach/
Is handfasting an ancient Celtic custom?
https://theaddersden.wordpress.com/2021/09/04/handfasting-an-ancient-celtic-ceremony/
Ancient Celtic Ethics
https://www.morgynbard.com/post/not-hard-to-tell-celtic-ethics
Rowan trees and wildlife in Scotland
https://theaddersden.wordpress.com/2021/11/19/rowan-trees-wildlife-highlights-%f0%9f%93%b8/
RELIGION NEWS
“ I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.” – Martin Luther during the Bubonic Plague
Religious groups that claim “religious exemption” to the Covid vaccine discussed
https://wildhunt.org/2021/12/covid-vaccination-recommendations-in-pagan-groups.html
USA, France and South Korea are the most divided over religion (Pew Report)
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/pew-research-says-u-s-france-and-korea-most-divided-over-religion.html
Parliament of the World’s Religions welcomed Pagans
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/historic-parliament-of-worlds-religions.html
Interfaith work at the Parliament
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/interfaith-work-the-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-part-two.html
The long history of Christian Witches
The Viking Age as a model of diversity
https://wildhunt.org/2021/11/column-the-viking-age-as-a-model-of-diversity.html
Why the Witch hunt victims of Europe have come back to haunt us
Indian Hindus turn to honoring ‘corona goddess’ to quell pandemic
https://religionnews.com/2021/06/22/indian-hindus-turn-to-honoring-corona-goddess-to-quell-pandemic/
PAGAN NEWS
Laurie Cabot, the official Witch of Salem (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_MvfQwhxo
Nine principles of Celtic spirituality (workshop)
Celtic tree medicine and lore (workshop)
https://www.midwestwomensherbal.com/product-page/celtic-tree-medicine-lore-ellen-evert-hopman
The Swedish Witch Trials Teach Us How to Confront Dark Heritage
Stripe discriminates against Witches
https://www.wired.com/story/stripe-occult-witches-payment-processing-sacred-arts/
ARTS NEWS
75-Year-Old Artist Memorializes His Late Cat in Scenes of Giant Topiary Gardens
https://mymodernmet.com/the-topiary-cat/
Why old women are replacing young men as the art world’s darlings
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-women-replaced-young-men-art-worlds-darlings/amp
Stunning pictures of indigenous peoples in their ceremonial splendor
Artist Paula Modersohn-Becker’s Portraits Were Ahead of Their Time
Orangutans Have Their Own Personal Artistic Styles That Can Change With The Seasons
Sketch bought at estate sale for $30.00 may be an Albrecht Durer worth $50 million
A missing modernist sculpture found in a Missouri front yard
Contemporary art comes to the pyramids
https://wildhunt.org/2021/10/forever-is-now-brings-contemporary-art-to-the-pyramids.html
One real Warhol print sold, hidden amongst 999 fakes
How Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in the USA
Winner of the Catrina body paint contest in Mexico City
This Arshile Gorky Painting Spent 70 Years Hidden in Plain Sight
POLITICS AND ETHICS
This nation helped the pilgrims survive for the first Thanksgiving – they still regret it 400 years later
COP26: Over 40 Countries Agree To Phase-Out Coal, But Not The US, Australia, Or China (call your senators and demand they back green energy)
Why America is the laughing stock of the world
80 hour work weeks and Kellogg’s workers are on strike – please support them – boycott their products until the strike is settled
Land is returned to the Nipmuc Nation in Massachusetts, after 14 generations
Which are the least biased news sources in the USA?
https://towardsdatascience.com/how-statistically-biased-is-our-news-f28f0fab3cb3?gi=b6b83ab85df2
Māori of New Zealand demand that vaccine protestors stop using the Haka dance
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/15/1055803038/new-zealand-maori-tribe-vaccine-protesters-haka
Nobel prizewinner in economics: raising the minimum wage does not increase unemployment
The Strange New Trend That’s Enraging Hiring Managers
https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/10/job-seeking-advice-hiring-trend-tight-economy.html
Trump has sold the naming rights to his failing Washington DC hotel
Meanwhile, QAnon followers are still in Dallas, waiting for the appearance of JFK and JFK Jr
.https://www.vice.com/en/article/4awvyb/qanon-dallas-jfk-protzman