text:
Aug. 8, 2010 / 8:50 PM
1,300 missing, 127 dead in China disaster
ZHOUQU, China, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived late Sunday in Gansu province where emergency officials say about 1,300 people were missing in a series of deadly landslides.
The rescue headquarters in Zhouqu County said an estimated 1,294 people were still missing as of 9 p.m. Sunday, down from 2,000 earlier, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Officials said 127 people were confirmed dead.
Officials said 117 people were injured, including 29 seriously, and another 1,242 had been rescued from debris or plucked from tops of buildings and other areas where they had sought safety, Xinhua said.
The disaster occurred in Zhouqu County, part of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's Gansu province. Tibetan ethnic herders and farmers make up most of the population, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The head of the prefecture told Xinhua mud and rocks poured into the community of Chengguan Township during the night, inundating about half of the town and destroying more than 300 homes.
Official said a thick layer of mud was preventing rescue crews from bringing in heavy equipment to help with the digging, forcing them to use shovels and bare hands to reach victims.
Engineers were also planning to blast away natural dams caused by landslides that were blocking the Bailong River and causing water to back up in parts of the stricken region.
State-run television estimated Sunday 50,000 people had been evacuated, the Times reported.
China and North Korea open border railroad crossing after two-year COVID-19 shutdown
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- China and North Korea restarted trade over a railroad crossing for the first time since Pyongyang sealed its borders to protect against COVID-19 two years ago, Beijing confirmed.
World News // 17 hours ago
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The Saudi-led coalition said late Monday it retaliated against the Houthi militia in Yemen after the rebels claimed responsibility for a rare drone attack that caused three oil tankers to explode in the UAE.
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of seven U.S. senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv Monday in a show of support for the country against possible Russian military aggression.
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Sudanese security forces shot and killed at least seven protesters during anti-coup rallies on Monday, a civilian doctors group claimed on social media.
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- At least 22 people died in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that struck a mountainous region of northwestern Afghanistan early Monday, official media reported.
Israel threatens to expel Palestinian family from Jerusalem home after standoff
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Israeli authorities threatened to forcefully evict a Palestinian family from its home in east Jerusalem on Monday after a lengthy standoff.
Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A distress signal emanating from a pair of isolated, low-lying islands near Tonga has been detected in the wake of this weekend's undersea volcano eruption, United Nations officials said Monday.
China decides not to sell tickets to public for Winter Olympics in Beijing


Zhang Ruifang played the title role in the 1962 film Li Shuangshuang.
Renowned Chinese actress Zhang Ruifang has died at the age of 94.
The actress was famed for playing the title role in the 1962 film Li Shuangshuang.
Zhang won the best actress prize at China's most prestigious film awards the hundred flowers award for the role the following year.
The actress died in Shanghai on Thursday night due to poor health.


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BBC Tees is the BBC's local radio station for Teesside as well as parts of County Durham and North Yorkshire. BBC Tees is available on FM and DAB radio, but not AM. It only broadcasts within the local area, so the only way to listen to it if you're located elsewhere is online.
BBC Tees is broadcast on FM using the frequency 95 MHz.
On DAB, BBC Tees broadcasts on the Teesside multiplex using masts in Bilsdale, Brusselton, Eston Nab and Romaldkirk.
What Frequency is BBC Radio Kent Broadcast On?


text:
Jason Totoiu, Center for Biological Diversity, (561) 568-6740, jtotoiu@biologicaldiversity.org
Cynthia Sarthou, Healthy Gulf, (504) 525-1528 x 202
Pearl River Map Turtles Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection in Mississippi, Louisiana
Four Similar Southeastern Turtle Species Proposed for Protection From Poaching, Trade
NEW ORLEANS— As the result of a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and Healthy Gulf, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to protect Pearl River map turtles as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
In the case of Pascagoula River map turtles, which the Center also sued to protect, the agency declined to give them the full protection of the Act, which would have provided protections for their habitat. Instead, it gave them weaker protections, along with three other species of map turtles — Alabama, Escambia and Barbour's — from poaching and commercial harvest due to their "similarity of appearance" to Pearl River turtles.
The turtles are found in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, the Florida panhandle and southern Georgia.
In July 2020 the Service agreed to decide on federal protection for Pearl River and Pascagoula turtles by Oct. 29, 2021. That agreement resolved a January 2020 suit that challenged the agency's failure to make a timely initial finding on the Center's 2010 petition to protect the turtles under the Endangered Species Act.
"Federal protection for the beautiful Pearl River map turtle is long overdue," said Jason Totoiu, a senior attorney at the Center. "After a decade of inaction by the Fish and Wildlife Service, these turtles have managed to hang on in just a fraction of their historic range. While it's disappointing the Service isn't proposing endangered species protections for both species, I'm hopeful that we can finally turn a corner and begin to recover these lovely turtles and the waterways they once thrived in."
Map turtles serve as indicators of river health; poor water quality can devastate their populations. In addition to habitat loss and degradation from dams, floodplain clearing and river channelization, other threats include the harvest of turtles for sale in food and medicinal markets and collection for the pet trade. The Pearl River map turtle is particularly threatened by a proposal to build a new dam above Jackson, Mississippi called the One Lake Project.
"We're glad that the Fish and Wildlife Service is finally moving to protect these two handsome turtles," said Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of Healthy Gulf. "These turtles are barely hanging on in waterways that are very degraded. Without federal protection they might not survive."
Map turtles are often called "sawbacks" for the ridges along their backs that can form small spikes. Pearl River map turtles can live up to 30 years in the wild and used to be considered the same species as Pascagoula map turtles; recently scientists have determined the two are separate species. The Pearl River map turtle is only found in creeks and rivers within the Pearl River drainage in Mississippi and Louisiana, while the Pascagoula has a relatively small range in its namesake river system in Mississippi.
Today's announcement follows similar proposals made this year to protect two species of alligator snapping turtles native to the Southeast.
Earlier this month the Service proposed to protect alligator snapping turtles as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. That turtle has a broader range and a larger population, though, like the Pearl River map turtle, it faces serious threats from river degradation, poaching and climate change.
"Given the small range and population numbers of the Pearl River map turtle, it probably should have been proposed for endangered status," said Totoiu. "We'll watch the process closely and fight to ensure the species has all the protection it needs."
Pearl River map turtle. Photo courtesy of Cris Hagen, University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Image is available for media use.
Healthy Gulf began in 1994 with a mission to unite and empower people to protect the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico for future generations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Franklin, who was already named the Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year, is also a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, which will be announced on Jan. 11.
Franklin's Nittany Lions put together a memorable season in his third year at the helm. Penn State finished with an 11-3 record, capturing the Big Ten Championship, defeating Ohio State, and coming oh-so-close to winning the 103rd Rose Bowl against Southern California.
Penn State finished the season at No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings and No. 7 in the AP Poll.


A self-initiated poster based on Kubrick's science fiction masterpiece.
I've been wanted to design a poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey for quite some time, and when I was approached by a Kubrick exhibition organizer in Paris, the time was now. I immersed myself in everything 2001 for a week and created the poster seen here.


displaying a sense of being better than others; "he hated the white man's superiority and condescension"
Wh-questions are said to show a superiority effect in the sense that in a question containing more than one wh-expression, it is the superior (i.e. highest) wh-expression which moves to the front of the interrogative clause. See §6.4.
An illusion created by the ego. It believes that differences can imply better or worse. Good and bad are simply judgments and have no basis in ultimate reality. A tall tree is no better than a short tree. It is simply taller. Love is no better than fear. It's just more loving.
A dimension of a defensive communication climate exemplified when a group member continually reinforces his or her strength or position over others.
Attitude or opinion that another individual is not beneath oneself. Opposite is equality.


text:
Myśl Polska – dwutygodnik polityczno-kulturalny drukowany w Warszawie od lutego 1936 do sierpnia 1939. Pismo powstało w kręgu Instytutu Wschodniego w Warszawie, z którym związany był Mieczysław Jaculewicz, redaktor naczelny oraz Włodzimierz Bączkowski, odpowiadający za jego profil polityczny. Czasopismo propagowało kwestie patriotyczne, łącząc je z ideami prometejskimi.

Do współpracowników "Myśli Polskiej" należeli m.in. Feliks Zahora-Ibiański, Józef Łobodowski, Mirosław Starost i Władysław Studnicki.

Przypisy

Bibliografia
 Myśl Polska, nr 1-5, 8-11 z 1936

Czasopisma w języku polskim
Czasopisma w Polsce (1918–1939)
Czasopisma wydawane od 1936
Czasopisma wydawane do 1939
Niewydawane czasopisma polskie
Prasa w Warszawie (II Rzeczpospolita)
Ruch prometejski

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
package com.kagmole.workshops.basicchat.webservice.shared.configurations;

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.ContentNegotiationConfigurer;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.CorsRegistry;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurerAdapter;

@Configuration
public class WebMvcConfiguration extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {

	@Override
	public void addCorsMappings(CorsRegistry registry) {

		registry
			.addMapping("/**")
			.allowedMethods("HEAD", "GET", "POST", "PUT", "PATCH", "DELETE");
	}

	@Override
	public void configureContentNegotiation(ContentNegotiationConfigurer configurer) {

		// When those 2 are false, the content type is defined with the "Accept" header
		configurer.favorParameter(false);
		configurer.favorPathExtension(false);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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This Replacement Spring is a replacement part for our Mash King Stainless Steel Bottle Filler - 3/8" OD.
The spring fits between the pin and the interior portion of the tip adapter. Provides resistance to stop the flow of liquid when pressure is not applied.


text:
wayland-mm
Wayland (MM)
by Lynn Hagen
Demon Warriors 8
Heat Rating: Scorching
41 Ratings (4.5)
Fantasy Paranormal Alternative (M/M, Gay)
[Siren Publlishing: The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection: Erotic Alternative Fantasy Paranormal Romance, M/M, demons, HEA]
With soul-sucking demons on the rise, Wayland and his brethren have their hands full. One night while on patrol, Wayland comes across another victim and rescues the human from having his soul sucked right out of him. But he isn't prepared for the instant fascination he has with the redhead, especially since Wayland isn't attracted to humans.
Gilmore Flanagan would rather work from home and get lost in his video games than deal with the outside world. People suck, and he's always felt as if he lives on the fringes of society, never really fitting in anywhere. One evening, on his way to his mother's, Gil is attacked, and he thinks he is about to die. That is, until a stranger comes to his rescue and takes him to a world he never knew existed.
Can Gil survive the demon world, or will he race back to a world where he never truly belonged?
Lynn Hagen is a Siren-exclusive author.
Buy eBook: $4.50
Cover Art by Emma Nicole
More From Demon Warriors
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Rainerio (MM)
Takeo (MM)
Panahasi (MMM)
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"I'll whip up some hot chocolate," she said with a lilt of happiness in her tone. "How does that sound?"
"I'm not a kid anymore," he argued.
"I'll add those little marshmallows you love so much."
Gil was glad she couldn't see his wide grin. "Well, since you're twisting my arm, I'll be there soon. Love you, Ma."
"Love you too, honey bunch."
She hung up and Gil groaned. He was so glad she'd never called him that in front of anyone. He still blushed when she said it to his face, but he never passed up a hug. Ever. He would never be too old for one of those.
After closing his laptop and sliding it into his messenger bag, Gil went to his cluttered room to dress. The snow had fallen steadily all day, so he grabbed his thermal underwear and top. Although Brac Village was surrounded by vast woods, and the trees beat back most of the wind and snow, it was still asshole-cold outside.
Posters from Supernatural and The Lord of the Rings covered his bedroom walls. The shelf anchored to the wall by the door was cluttered with figurines of howling wolves, fire-breathing dragons, wizards, and a wand. He even had a small stack of fake potions books that were made of plaster and stacked haphazardly.
He stood there for a brief moment as he glanced around his room, longing for that kind of world to truly exist. Gil brushed his fingers over the tiny statuette of a demon with jutting horns. What would living in a world filled with magic be like? To run like hell from a hungry vampire or be cherished by a gallant werewolf? Gil sighed heavily as he went to his closet.
If his dad knew how much he daydreamed about that kind of world, he would slap Gil upside the head. David Flanagan didn't believe in anything other than the real world. He had no imagination whatsoever and lived by absolute truths.
Ferguson was just like their father in every way. The only reason he didn't despise Christmas was because his wife wouldn't let him. But Ferguson was his father's golden boy. He was married, with two sons, lived in New York where he worked as a lawyer, and he could do no wrong in their dad's eyes.
Rafferty worked on a ranch in Montana, was married with two daughters, and his dad thought his second oldest could do better, but didn't harp on the fact.
Gil was the youngest, and nothing he ever did seemed to be good enough for the old man. Although he made pretty good money at what he did, his dad had never embraced technology and thought Gil was wasting his life. He also made comments whenever the two were around each other about Gil getting married.
That wasn't going to happen. So Gil spent most of his time trying to avoid his father.
"Get your butt moving. It's already dark out, and you need to get back here so you can attempt to get some work done," he murmured to himself, although he loved the fact it became dark after five. That was the one thing he loved about winter. Correction. The only thing he loved about the season. Mother Nature could keep the cold and snow.
Except for Christmas. It most definitely had to snow on Christmas. After that, the snow could bugger off.
After dressing in layers, Gil grabbed his bag, keys, and phone before he hurried out of his building and was met with a gust of frigid air. He instantly wished he could run back inside as he yanked his knitted cap farther down over his head. The snow fell in thick, fat flakes, and the rush of the lashing wind robbed him of heat and made his hands and face sting.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Gil hunched his shoulders and started his trek. He briefly thought about stopping at The Café for something to warm his insides, but that would take him out of his way. Gil didn't want to spend any more time outside than he had to. He was afraid his bits and pieces would crawl up inside him and hibernate until spring.
Although he hadn't had sex in a while, he still jacked off. If his beans and wiener disappeared for the winter, he'd be in real trouble. His hand was the only action he'd seen in six months.
Gil had rounded a corner when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He had the weirdest sensation he was being followed. But by who? As far as he knew, he had no enemies, and the crime rate in Brac Village was practically nonexistent.
Picking up his pace, Gil wrapped his arms around his chest, one hand gripping the strap of his messenger bag. If someone tried to take his bag, Gil would be screwed. His laptop was state-of-the-art, had two terabytes of storage, top-notch gaming graphics, and contained all his work. It was the only thing he'd made a real investment in. He would fight to the death before he allowed someone to run off with it.
As he passed the mouth of an alley, something slammed into his back, propelling him forward. A hand grabbed his upper arm in a viselike grip as Gil cried out.
Whoever had a hold of him was strong. The guy moved ahead of him while dragging Gil into the dark alley. Gil fought to get free, but the stranger swung behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck in a chokehold.
"I love when they struggle," the stranger said before he shoved his nose into Gil's neck and inhaled. "That's right, fight me."
"You can have my wallet," Gil coughed out as his heart raced and he struggled to breathe. "Just don't hurt me."
He had a mere seven dollars in it, so the guy could have it. He was still in shock that he was being mugged. Gil stopped struggling. He didn't know if his attacker was armed, and he didn't want to die in a filthy alley from a gunshot wound.
His chest was shoved into the brick wall and his arms pinned painfully behind him with strong, rough hands. "I'm not going to rob you, human. I'm just going to eat your soul."
"I want you," Wayland murmured so seductively that Gil's breath hitched. "I want to feel my cock sinking deep inside your body."
Gil gasped when he was pulled away from the window and lowered to the soft carpet. Wayland inserted himself between Gil's legs as Gil's fingers curled around his upper arms. Gil stared into coppery eyes as they stared back at him.
The demon shook his head. "Don't deny what we both want. You say you're not into men, but I've seen how you look at me with just as much craving as I feel for you."
Gil's head lolled to the side as Wayland's lips and tongue teased his neck. His legs instinctively curled around the demon's waist as Wayland lowered himself just a bit more so that their groins touched. Wayland ground his erection against him and Gil cried out.
"Do that again," Wayland begged into Gil's ear.
Gil wanted their clothes gone, all barriers out of the way. He glided his hands down Wayland's arms and then back up again, feeling the man's strength beneath his hands. Wayland's muscles flexed at his touch as the demon nipped at his collarbone.
"I have to warn you." Gil struggled to get the words out as Wayland's tongue glided over his Adam's apple.
"You think I don't know?" He nipped Gil's skin. "I already know, tiger."
"I just do."
Wayland devoured Gil's mouth with hot licks and starving kisses. The demon's groin ground harder into his. Gil started beating on the man's back with frustration. "I need my clothes off."
He wanted what Wayland wanted—to feel the demon's cock buried inside of him. Gil wanted to feel the man's flesh pounding into his, stretching him wide, and making him cry out for more.
The demon didn't get up, didn't move from his spot between Gil's legs. He used one hand to unfastened Gil's pants and planted the other on the carpet next to his head. Gil was amazed at how skillful Wayland seemed with one hand. The guy had Gils's pants down his waist in seconds. Gil's hips shot up before Wayland shoved the jeans the rest of the way down. Gil kicked his shoes off, and then used his feet to get the jeans from around his ankles.
Now he lay there naked while the demon was still fully clothed. The rough material of Wayland's jeans against Gil's cock made him hiss with pleasure.
"I want to see you come before I take you." Wayland's strong hand wrapped around Gil's cock. Gil's back arched into the demon's touch, Gil needing the relief his body craved. He hitched his hips higher, begging without words for Wayland's hand to move faster.
And it did.
But Wayland pulled it away long enough to spit in his hand, and then it was back on Gil, stroking him so expertly that Gil's head thrashed from side to side, his fingers dug into the soft carpet, and his toes curled. He panted for breath as he fucked Wayland's hand, staring up into those gorgeous, coppery eyes.
Wayland undid his jeans and freed his cock, then inserted it between Gil's thighs, just under his balls. He saw the ruddy head wet with clear liquid as the demon tugged at Gil's sac.
The pressure built along his spine and his balls grew tight. Gil closed his eyes as he clenched his jaw, and then a kaleidoscope of colors burst behind his eyelids. He cried out as Wayland's hand moved faster, and the man murmured something in a language Gil couldn't understand. But it sounded sexy, and he didn't want Wayland to stop.
As Gil's climax slowly eased, the demon coaxed him to his hands and knees. Gil rocked against Wayland's body like a wanton slut as he struggled to breathe.
"That was beautiful." Wayland kissed a spot on Gil's shoulder. "I want to hear your cries again as I take you."
His words penetrated the fog surrounding Gil's brain. "Wayland—"
The demon kissed Gil's nape. "Hush. No worries, tiger. I'll go as slow as you need me to." His hand pressed into Gil's lower back. "Don't move from this spot."
Gil nodded, then felt Wayland's heat leave him. The man had gotten up. Gil stayed on all fours, blinking several times. Never had an orgasm gripped him that hard. His insides were still humming as he wondered what the demon was doing.
A pair of jeans fell to the floor by Gil's head, followed by a shirt. Wayland was undressing. Seconds later, he was behind Gil again.
The head of his cock pressed against Gil's hole.
"Lubricant!" Was the guy insane? Gil may not have had sex with a man before, but even he knew lube had to be involved.
Since Gil was the newbie, he nodded. But his shoulders tightened and his cock hung flaccid. He was too afraid to be turned on. And then something spurted against his ass.
"What was that?"
"We demons have natural lube." Wayland's lips skimmed across Gil's shoulder. "It will help your muscles to relax and allow me inside you."
Another spurt hit him and Gil's muscles did exactly as the demon said they would. Gil's fingers curled into the fibers of the carpet as he felt pressure, but no pain.
"Steady," Wayland whispered. He smoothed his hands down Gils's back. "I promise it gets much better. You'll see, my little virgin."
Gil heard the teasing in Wayland's voice and wanted to smack the demon. So Wayland really did know what Gil had been trying to tell him. Gil wanted to give him an earful, but the head of Wayland's cock popped past the ring of muscles and all thoughts fled.
Healing a Hurt Mate (MM)
Anitra Lynn McLeod
Taming a Wild Mate (MM)
Catching a Clumsy Mate (MM)
Ronan's Turning (MM)
Heat of the Night (MM)
Lynn Hagen, Stormy Glenn
The Cat's Meow (MM)
The Wizard's Tizz (MM)
Jo Penn
Defrosting Jack (MM)
Susan Laine
A Kinkmas Carol (MMM, MFM, MM)
Clint (MM)
The Forgotten Mate (MM)
Jane Wallace-Knight
A Demon's Deliverance
Catherine Lievens
Secret Cravings (MM)
A Vampire's Touch (MM)
17h 27m left
What Once Was Lost (MM)


Michael Waltrip Racing has learned that Brian Vickers is not available to race for the remainder of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season due to health issues.Vickers said Dr. William Downey has placed him on blood thinning medication after an Octoober 14th examination on his right leg discovered a small blood clot in his calf region. The medications will keep Vickers out of the #55 Aaron s Toyota the remainder of the season, effective immediately. Vickers said his physicians are confident he will be able to resume activity before the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season begins."If there 's anything to be positive about with this news it' s that this is only a temporary setback, " said Vickers. "The timing for this is never good, but I' m glad we 'll get it out of the way now and be ready to run for a championship with the Aaron s Dream Machine in 2014.""We were just informed and our concern is for Brian s health", said MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman. " Anything else will be worked out in due course. As previously announced, two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip will drive the #55 Aaron s Dream Machine at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. A replacement driver for the remaining events will be named later." In 22 races with MWR in 2012 and 2013, Vickers owns five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes including a victory on July 14 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Many fans will recall, back in 2011, when the presence of blood clots placed Vickers in a life threatening, and career ending, situation. After having to endure sitting out an entire season during the healing process, Vickers found himself looking for a job after his former team, Red Bull Racing, decided to close its shop and discontinue its participation in NASCAR racing. Vickers eventually landed a part time Cup ride with Michael Waltrip Racing and shared the driving duties with veteran Mark Martin who chose to only campaign on a part time basis. The 2013 season found Vickers bolstering his Cup schedule with a full time ride in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Joe Gibbs also shared his concern regarding Vicker's medical condition via the following statement: "We are praying Brian will have a quick and full recovery from this latest issue," said Joe Gibbs. "Everyone at JGR appreciates all the hard work and effort he has given to our Nationwide Series program this year. He is a great competitor and we look forward to seeing him back on the track in 2014." An announcement on a replacement driver for the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota will be made at a later date. The next NASCAR Nationwide Series race is Saturday, November 2 in Texas.
Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of meeting Brian Vickers already knows what a great guy he is. A little over two years ago the NASCAR nation responded to this drivers medical malady with good thoughts and prayers. It time to do that again.


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Q: Use of return in deferred computation in Ocaml Async I know that this question may look very silly but whenever I search to get a relevant answer, I only get general questions about return values, so...
I'm studying deferred computation through OCaml, and I get the very basic concept of it. But when I was reading through functions regarding deferred computation (mainly, ASync docs from from Janestreet; https://ocaml.janestreet.com/ocaml-core/111.28.00/doc/async_kernel/#Deferred.t), I saw return function, and I don't get what it's for.
let x = return 1
produces a deferred value that is determined immediately, but what is the point of assigning immediate values if using deferred computation already? Why not just assign a normal value to it directly? Is it because other functions (like bind function) only takes deferred value or are there other good reasons?
Examples are greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

A: You may think of return as a function that creates deferred values. And it is really plays its role, when you define it in a context of other deferred value. Let's go to the example. Suppose we have a function that reads a char form input channel, and uppercases it.
let read_uppercased chan =
  Reader.read_char >>= function
  | `Eof -> return `Eof
  | `Ok ch -> let ch = Char.uppercase ch in
              return (`Ok ch)

In this function we actually have two uses of a return function. The former indeed creates a deferred value from a constant, indeed we do not need to «wait» before eof occurs to create this value. For example we can create a constant deferred
let return_eof = return `Eof

and use it anywhere.
The second occurrence is much more interesting. It creates a deferred from a value that will be determined only somewhere in the future (or maybe it won't be ever determined). But the cool idea is that we do not need to actualy wait for the value to be determined in order to define a computation on it. So, in order to bring a value from future, we use bind function, then we do some computation, but afterwards we need to fix the flow of time, and to return a result back to the future... Well, if all this don't make sense to you, just erase it from your mind. Different people likes different metaphors.
Indeed, maybe it would be more clarifying for you to know, that underneath the hood this return just connects a callback function to the chain of of other callbacks.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Toponyme

Welden est une ville-marché allemande de Bavière, dans l'arrondissement d'Augsbourg et le district de Souabe ;
 Église Sainte-Thècle de Welden, située à Welden dans l'arrondissement d'Augsbourg (district de Souabe), en Bavière, Allemagne.

Welden est une section de la ville belge d'Audenarde

Patronyme

 Franz Ludwig von Welden (1782-1853), officier supérieur de l'armée autrichienne ;
 Louis Welden Hawkins (1849-1910), peintre français ;
 Barbara Weldens, (1982-2017), chanteuse française.

Patronyme flamand
Patronyme germanique


text:
by William Shakespeare & George Wilkins
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole
Designed by Jonathan Fensom
Music by Claire Van Kampen
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
at Shakespeare's Globe, London
Sunday 22nd November 2015, 14.00
(In fact, most took four or five roles – only principal ones listed)
Simon Armstrong - Antiochus, king of Antioch /Simonides, king of Pentapolis
Jessica Baglow – Marina, daughter of Pericles and Thaissa
Tia Bannon - Daughter
Sam Cox - Escanes, a lord of Tyre /Cerimon, a lord of Ephesus
Steffan Donnelly - Lysimachus, Governor of Mytilene
James Garnon – Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Dennis Herdman – Bolt, the Pandar's servant
Tom Kanji - Thaliart, a lord of Antioch
Fergal McElherron - Helicanus, a lord of Tyre /Pandar (male brothel keeper)
Ryan McKen - Leonine
Dorothea Myer-Bennett - Thaisa, daughter of Simonides, wife of Pericles / Dionyza, wife of Cleon
Daniel Rabin - Cleon, Governor of Tarsus
Sheila Reid - Gower, medieval poet and chorus
Kirsty Woodward - Bawd (female brothel keeper) /Lychorida, nurse to Marina
Wanamaker Playhouse exterior on a crisp Sunday morning
I'd never seen it before. The corrupt quarto dates from 1609, and only this imperfect text has survived. Computer analysis suggest that Shakespeare's contribution is the second half, with the beginning written by George Wilkins, described by Wiki as "victualler, panderer, dramatist and pamphleteer." Some suggest collaboration, others rather that Wilkins' prose version of the story was perhaps based on missing text of the play. This is the start of the third season of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, modeled on the Blackfriars indoor theatre, and so far they have avoided Shakespeare deliberately, wanting to get used to the space first. This season four related Shakespeare plays finally get on that stage … Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest; so a lot of storms at sea and a great deal of father-daughter stuff. They're starting with Pericles so not "totally Shakespeare" yet.
I've been gradually replacing my single-play editions (mainly Signet) with the RSC / Macmillan editions whenever I see a new one. I buy them for the performance history. The RSC is the one edition the Globe shop doesn't sell. For Pericles I got the older Penguin / RSC edition and was taken with the introduction, especially the concept that the play deliberately mimics or pastiches earlier styles … going back to the mimes and tableaux of the Mystery Cycles perhaps. In other words, NARRATIVE and EVENTS take priority over CHARACTER.
We were delighted to see James Garnon taking the lead, after so many appearances in "the main four or five parts but not the lead or title role." Even when being serious, he can give fresh weighting and perfect timing to a line and draw a major laugh.
It begins and ends (as did Love for Love at the RSC this month) with the cast in simple trousers and white shirts, or white modern frocks. In between it's costumed with an eclectic mix of Classical Greek and much later Turkish or Middle-Eastern.
Sheila Reid (narrator)
The play uses a narrator as a link throughout, supposedly the medieval poet Gower, here played by the tiny Sheila Reid, and I hope she'll excuse the inevitable mention that she was the belligerent, feisty wheelchair-bound grandma through seven series of the sitcom Benidorm. Don't get snooty about Benidorm … Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith and James Cordern (all reviewed in the theatre on this blog) were in it too.
You can feel the joins between the Wilkins and Shakespeare. We both found the first half an hour (Wilkins) frankly somewhat tedious, and that was exacerbated, I think, by choosing to do the whole Antioch sequence with the candelabra blown out, and only hand held candles lighting the faces. It looked so great at the start, but because you can't see that much and the text is not fantastic, the mind drifts. The Antioch section is where Pericles has to solve a riddle to be a suitor for the king's daughter, and works out that Antiochus is in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Antiochus knows that Pericles knows, and dispatches an assassin to deal with him.
Pericles with sailors
We move on to Pericles rescuing Tarsus from famine with a boatload of food. Dorothea Myer-Bennett was so good at doubling the evil Dionyza, the wife of Cleon of Tarsus, and later Thaissa that it was only reading the cast list later that I realized she was both. I should have guessed from her ability to give such fresh and interesting weighting to every line she has.
Off Pericles sails to Pentapolis, where he is shipwrecked. Shakespeare didn't have an editor to say, "Hey, you've done this before!" but the only answer would be "And I'm going to do it again. See, I've got this idea about a tempest … " Pericles is rescued by fishermen who also dredge up his armour. He goes off to join a tournament in honour of King Simonides daughter, Thaissa, and suddenly with the tournament scene, the play starts to lift off. The Wanamaker has done it before, but the tournament was a glorious chase around the outside glimpsed through the windows (I doubt you'd see much from upstairs … but it was right by us and superb.)
After a splendid stylized dance by the men … a soldier's dance … then another by the women, a seductive dance, Simonides' initial doubts about Pericles dispels and he pushes them together. Simon Armstrong as Simonides does this with glee … a great role … as of course are James Garnon as Pericles with Dorothea Myer-Bennett as Thaissa. Ah, this is getting much much better.
Pericles (James Garnon) stuck in the rigging
Two years pass … as Gower tells us. Thaissa is pregnant and they set off by sea back to Tyre. A large sail appears and a plank with ropes appears at the front of the stage. The storm at sea is staged extremely well, especially given the confines of the Wanamaker. The four brilliant musicians do it all live … no recorded sound effects … with thunder sheets and percussion. The music is by Claire Van Kampen. Thaissa gives birth but apparently dies in childbirth. The superstitious crew insist that the dead body is put overboard, leaving Pericles with infant neonate, Marina. He decides to take the baby to Tarsus, and have Cleon and Dionzya foster her.
As luck would have it, they put Thaissa's body in a sealed sea chest as a coffin and that sea chest gets washed up on the coast of Ephesus where she is revived by the medical skills of Cerimon. She nips off to become a priestess of Diana.
We have an interval, and Gower tells us that fourteen years have passed. Poor Pericles is now in heavy wig and beard and rags, not having cut his hair since Thaissa died. He might not have had a bath either. Dionzya has grown jealous of Marina's virginal perfection and decides to have her murdered. The murderer is stayed by the arrival of pirates who kidnap her. Is their comic accent Rumanian? It's very funny. There are two main pirates, but in their initial raid several others have to join in.
We cut to a brothel in Mytilene (the modern Isle of Lesbos) for the very best scene on the play. The pirates have sold Marina to a brothel, as being a virgin she will command a high price. The brothel keepers are Kirsty Woodward who is very tall, and Fergal McElherron who is very short (though he towers over Sheila Reid's Gower) and they're assisted by Bolt. Good physical casting. They're a first-rate hilarious triple act with a lot of added lines and asides and business. Estuary accents work. Exotic costumes look good too. The virginal Marina fights off all advances, including those of the governor of Mytilene, Lysimachus, who repents of his naughty deeds on meeting her. The brothel keepers give up on selling her body (she just won't), and decide to rent her out as a singing and embroidery teacher instead.
Pericles (James Garnon) is reunited with Marina (Jessica Baglow)
This is where the travelling Pericles runs into her. He is mortally ill, and she's employed to sing to him. They get chatting and realize they are father and daughter. The "revelation" scene where they work this all out is very long (and beautifully executed too). Perhaps it's why Shakespeare skipped over the revelation in The Winter's Tale a couple of years later … been there, done that.
Anyway, the Goddess Diana has descended from the roof to help Pericles, so they troop off to thank Diana at her temple in Ephesus, meet Thaissa, her votary, and live happily ever after.
For the curtain calls, everyone's back in plain white clothes … fittingly as each actor played so many different parts … I've still no idea who the pirates were. The Wanamaker hasn't got the space on stage for Globe-sized casts, and economics must come into play … it's a small theatre. The audience weren't quite sure of the end point, as it went into a dance without any demarcation line. The curtain call section is fun, but really needs clarifying and signposting so we're sure when to applaud and when to clap along, then applaud again. We were sure that it was the director, Dominic Dromgoole, watching from the back row downstairs, just a few days in, so maybe that will all be tightened.
The play has such modern parallels … Tyre is in Lebanon, Antioch and Tarsus are on the coast of Turkey. Antioch is "round the corner" on the west-facing coast of the Mediterranean, like Syria and Lebanon. It's just 12 miles from Syria. Pentapolis was in Cyrenica, on the Libyan coast, then Mytilene is on the Island of Lesbos. People coming from the Lebanese coast so near to Syria, wandering the Mediterranean, leaving Libya, landing on the coast of Turkey, then getting to Lesbos, with shipwrecks and bodies washed up on the shore. People traffickers (the pirates) and sex slaves. I think it is to Mr Dromgoole's credit that he let the play of Pericles speak for itself without hammering in any modern parallels … best leave that heavy-handed angle to the Young Vic or Trafalgar Studio! I will be surprised if someone doesn't pick up on those locations and shoehorn a concept into it.
The play does have an intrinsic problem with the early text not being at the same level as the later text, but there are scenes, especially the brothel scene here, of such massive comic and dramatic potential. You can see why it was one of the most popular plays of its own era, and the very first Shakespeare played after the Restoration of the Monarchy.
The Globe has so much going for it on a day like today … excellent Sunday lunch in the restaurant, a "perfect programme" to read, and a given is the quality of acting and direction. Claire Van Kampen has cornered the field of accompanying music for classic English drama too. It's always just right, never intrusive.
A footnote: JOHN GOWER
The tomb of John Gower, Southwark Cathedral
Shakespeare chose John Gower to be his narrator. A couple of weeks after seeing Pericles we were in Borough Market and it started raining and we had a long wait before seeing Macbeth at The Young Vic. We decided to take a look inside Southwark Cathedral, which boasts that Gower, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jonson, Massinger, Fletcher and Charles Dickens were among its congregation. It was the nearest church to The Globe, and Edmond Shakespeare, William's brother was buried there in 1607 … the year Pericles was written. We were taken by the fine carving on a tomb on the side wall: John Gower, 1330-1408, poet laureate to Richard II and Henry IV who unusually for his era, wrote in English. An original medieval tomb which was there when Shakespeare was … church attendance was compulsory and we'd assume that Shakespeare at least attended his brother's funeral. A thought struck me … I could imagine William sitting in a pew, his mind flitting between the service and his latest work in progress … A glance to the left. The very fine tomb of John Gower. Gower … Richard II and Henry IV are mentioned on the tomb … done those already. Inspiration! Gower can be the narrator / chorus of Pericles …
State-of-the-art as ever.
RELATED REVIEWS ON THIS BLOG
DOMINIC DROMGOOLE
Measure for Measure, Globe 2015
Romeo & Juliet – Globe
The Changeling – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Julius Caesar – Globe
Hamlet – Globe
Duchess of Malfi– Sam Wanamaker
A Midsummer Night's Dream – Globe
JAMES GARNON
As You Like It – Globe (Jacques)
'Tis Pity She's A Whore – Wanamaker (Bergetto, Cardinal)
Duchess of Malfi– Wanamaker (Cardinal)
Much Ado About Nothing – Old Vic (Don Pedro)
Richard III – Globe / Apollo (Duchess of York / Richmond)
The Winter's Tale – Wanamaker (Autolycus)
DOROTHEA MYER-BENNETT
The Merchant of Venice – Globe (Nerissa)
Two Gentlemen of Verona – Tobacco Factory (Julia)
The Spire by William Golding (Salisbury) (Goody)


text:
The Atlantic Religion
A 'Prisca Theologia' of European Paganism
Bibliography and Reading List
Ancient Persian Religion
Hymn to the 'Son of Waters'
June 21, 2015 June 24, 2015 / Atlantic Religion	/ Leave a comment
Apam Napat ('Son of Waters') is one of the most important and intriguing aspects of the Vedic trinity of creator gods mentioned in the hymns of the ancient Rigveda texts, sometimes described as 'humanity's oldest scripture', deriving at least from the 1st millenium BCE. He represents the fiery creating force, emanating from the waters, and is also a divinity shared by the ancient Persian Mazdean (later Zoroastrian) faith. Since the 18thC and even more so during the 20th centuries scholars of religion, linguistics, archaeology and culture have increasingly recognised the connection between these faiths and those of Europe during the 2nd and 1st millenia BCE. In Apam Napat, we can see an etymological similarity to the name of the Italic sea-god Neptune and an ideological similarity to the Atlantic Gaelic god Manannan. The word 'Napat', means 'son' or 'offspring', and as Manannan is surnamed 'Mac Lír' – 'Son of the Sea' – his title is an almost exact equivalent to that of the Vedic god Apam Napat, who is in fact an aquatic manifestation of the Vedic 'fire-deity' Agni, so in reality (and like Manannan) a 'solar god'.
The Vedic hymn to the 'Son of Waters' (Apam Napat) demonstrates the conception of how fertility and growth manifests through the combined mystical actions of fire and water in their spiritual aspects. It stridently evokes themes clearly evident in the myths and symbolism of ancient European belief:
Rig Veda, Book 2, HYMN XXXV: Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.
'Son of Waters'
1. EAGER for spoil my flow of speech I utter: may the Flood's Child accept my songs with favour. Will not the rapid Son of Waters make them lovely, for he it is who shall enjoy them?
2 To him let us address the song well-fashioned, forth from the heart. Shall he not understand it, The friendly Son of Waters by the greatness of Godhead hath produced all things existing.
3 Some floods unite themselves and others join them: the sounding rivers fill one common storehouse. On every side the bright Floods have encompassed the bright resplendent Offspring of the Waters.
4 The never-sullen waters, youthful Maidens, carefully decking, wait on him the youthful. He with bright rays shines forth in splendid beauty, unfed with wood, in waters, oil-enveloped.
5 To him three Dames are offering food to feed him, Goddesses to the God whom none may injure. Within the waters hath he pressed, as hollows, and drinks their milk who now are first made mothers.
6 Here was the horse's birth; his was the sunlight. Save thou our princes from the oppressor's onslaught. Him, indestructible, dwelling at a distance in forts unwrought lies and ill spirits reach not.
7 He, in whose mansion is the teeming Milch-cow, swells the Gods' nectar and cats noble viands. The Son of Waters, gathering strength in waters, shines for his worshipper to give him treasures.
8 He who in waters with his own pure Godhead shines widely, law-abiding, everlasting— The other worlds are verily his branches, and plants are born of him with all their offspring.
9 The Waters' Son hath risen, and clothed in lightning ascended up unto the curled cloud's bosom; And bearing with them his supremest glory the Youthful Ones, gold-coloured, move around him.
10 Golden in form is he, like gold to look on, his colour is like gold, the Son of Waters. When he is seated fresh from golden birthplace those who present their gold give food to feed him.
11 This the fair name and this the lovely aspect of him the Waters' Son increase in secret. Whom here the youthful Maids together kindle, his food is sacred oil of golden colour.
12 Him, nearest Friend of many, will we worship with sacrifice. and reverence and oblation. I make his back to shine, with chips provide him; I offer food and with my songs exalt him.
13 The Bull hath laid his own life-germ within them. He sucks them as an infant, and they kiss him. He, Son of Waters, of unfading colour, hath entered here as in another's body.
14 While here he dwelleth in sublimest station, resplendent with the rays that never perish, The Waters, bearing oil to feed their offspring, flow, Youthful Ones, in wanderings about him.
15 Agni, I gave good shelter to the people, and to the princes goodly preparation. Blessed is all that Gods regard with favour. Loud may we speak, with heroes, in assembly.
Romano-British stela of a triple-goddess identified with Coventina. 'To him three Dames are offering food to feed him'…
The solar-energetic divinity Agni is depicted as manifesting through the waters, evoking fertility. The fertile seed of bulls (another core Vedic concept shared with Atlantic mythology) is said to originate within the waters inspired by Agni, as are all the trees and plants. The hymn depicts waters flowing to converge on Apam Napat who fertilises them, just as it invokes the ceremonial-ritual burning of oils (liquids which burn) in holy fires as a means of evoking his power and conveying prayers into the divine world of spiritual ethereal fire: Agni (as a kind of Vedic Hermes-Mercury) is said in the Rig Veda hymns to act as conduit to this realm. The descriptions of his youthful shining god-force also resonate strongly with ancient Greek ideations of Apollo, as manifesting divine logos. The idea of words as energetic seeds flow readily in the hymns of the Rig Veda, evoking the power also expressed in Atlantic Europe's medieval remnants of Iron Age bardic poetry. As such, the Atlantic god 'Manannan' may owe his name to the bright light of the mind, represented in the Proto-Indo-European rootword 'Mana-' (from which we get the Latin mens, and the word for human: 'man'.)
Greek Argonaut mythology and its Indo-European themes
March 19, 2015 March 20, 2015 / Atlantic Religion	/ Leave a comment
The eastern extent of ancient Greece's mythical imagining must surely lie within the Kingdom of Colchis on the western coast of the Black Sea, now modern Georgia. This was depicted in the famous mythic hero-tale of Jason and the Argonauts, whose most famous literary rendering was in the poem Argonautica of Apollonios of Rhodes from the 3rdC BCE, itself borrowing somewhat from Homer's Odyssey, and older traditions.
The 'Douris Cup' from the Vatican museum. Jason is devoured/regurgitated by the serpent in the sanctuary of Ares. The fleece hangs upon a mystical tree in the background … It appears more like the Scandinavian myth of Thor or Beowulf's serpentine battles than the depiction given by Apollonius' Argonautica.
"… And they two by the pathway came to the sacred grove, seeking the huge oak tree on which was hung the fleece, like to a cloud that blushes red with the fiery beams of the rising sun. But right in front the serpent with his keen sleepless eyes saw them coming, and stretched out his long neck and hissed in awful wise; and all round the long banks of the river echoed and the boundless grove. Those heard it who dwelt in the Colchian land very far from Titanian Aea, near the outfall of Lycus, the river which parts from loud-roaring Araxes and blends his sacred stream with Phasis, and they twain flow on together in one and pour their waters into the Caucasian Sea. And through fear young mothers awoke, and round their new-born babes, who were sleeping in their arms, threw their hands in agony, for the small limbs started at that hiss. And as when above a pile of smouldering wood countless eddies of smoke roll up mingled with soot, and one ever springs up quickly after another, rising aloft from beneath in wavering wreaths; so at that time did that monster roll his countless coils covered with hard dry scales. And as he writhed, the maiden came before his eyes, with sweet voice calling to her aid sleep, highest of gods, to charm the monster; and she cried to the queen of the underworld, the night-wanderer, to be propitious to her enterprise. And Aeson's son followed in fear, but the serpent, already charmed by her song, was relaxing the long ridge of his giant spine, and lengthening out his myriad coils, like a dark wave, dumb and noiseless, rolling over a sluggish sea; but still he raised aloft his grisly head, eager to enclose them both in his murderous jaws. But she with a newly cut spray of juniper, dipping and drawing untempered charms from her mystic brew, sprinkled his eyes, while she chanted her song; and all around the potent scent of the charm cast sleep; and on the very spot he let his jaw sink down; and far behind through the wood with its many trees were those countless coils stretched out…" Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes (3rdC bC) trans. R.C. Seaton.
Colchis and Magic:
Mythical Colchis was the home of King Aeëtes, in some traditions a Greek mortal sired by a Titan and a nymph. His beguiling and magically-skilled daughter, Medea, agrees to help the hero Jason to win the Golden Fleece of the magical ram Chrysomallus, guarded by a fierce dragon who Jason slays. In some of the traditions, the sorceress Circe (also a character from Homer's Odyssey) is the sister of Aeëtes.
Colchis represented the extent of the Greeks' nautical explorations in the East, being reached by traversing the Hellespont/Dardanelles into the Black Sea before turning east across the coast of Pontus. Ionian Milesians had formed a colony there c.7thC BC. In mythology, it provided a convenient and familiar far shore on which Greeks might interact with eastern exoticism and magic. The towering Caucasus mountains north of Colchis were the torture-ground of the mysterious Titan, Prometheus, chained to a mountain by Zeus for the crime of stealing fire for humanity. It was a 'fantasy land' of giants, dragons, fair magical maidens, and fabulous treasures – the perfect Indo-European mythological setting.
The Argonautica's story-tradition illustrates that the Greeks considered the 'Caucasian' peoples of this region as relatives of the Iranian tribe of the Medes. 'Medea', daughter of Aeëtes is portrayed as an ancestress of the West-Iranian Medes, a fact her 'magical' inclinations seem an attempt to reinforce. Aeetes' parents were portrayed in myths (i.e – Odyssey) as the deified sun, Helios, and the Okeanid nymph, Perseis. His brother was Perses, and they were both portrayed as wizard-kings.
Themes of destruction, warfare and violence:
The Titan Perses ('Destroyer') was said in Hesiod's theogony to have wedded Asteria ('Starry One') and fathered Hekate ('the night-wanderer'), whom the Argonaut myths relate as a goddess served by Medea and/or Circe. The 'Perseid' names (including that of the other epic hero Perseus) have a convenient linguistic similarity to that of the nations of Persians, whose lands bordered Colchis and Armenia. For Greeks of the (Hellenistic) era of Apollonius of Rhodes, the connection between Persians and destruction would have still been a painful and fairly recent memory of the Greco-Persian Wars. The Caucasus however, is also the scene of the Persian myths of the world's destructive creation, as I shall go on to examine!
The Scythians of the Caucasus also enjoyed a reputation for warfare (and ferocity), and were something of a historic byword for the practice of war. One must not forget that the Caucasus and Asia Minor was a historic homeland of metalcraft and weapon-crafting, as well as horsemanship. To the mythographers of the Jason legends, it is perhaps unsurprising that the god Ares (in whose grove the fleece resides) is referenced so overtly – after all it was in his sacred fields and precincts that Jason was to fight the magical bronze bulls and defeat the dragon to obtain the fleece. We shouldn't be surprised either that the smith-god Hephaistos is also linked to the region: it was he who taught the fatal Prometheus the qualities and secrets of fire, and manufactured the fierce bronze bulls of Aeëtes (the Khalkotauroi) with whom Jason is required to yoke and plough the sacred field of Ares, and sow the teeth of the Hydra, creating and army of 'earthborn men' who will attack him.
Bulls and the Argonaut myth:
"…And close by garden vines covered with green foliage were in full bloom, lifted high in air. And beneath them ran four fountains, ever-flowing, which Hephaestus had delved out. One was gushing with milk, one with wine, while the third flowed with fragrant oil; and the fourth ran with water, which grew warm at the setting of the Pleiads, and in turn at their rising bubbled forth from the hollow rock, cold as crystal. Such then were the wondrous works that the craftsman-god Hephaestus had fashioned in the palace of Cytaean Aeetes. And he wrought for him bulls with feet of bronze, and their mouths were of bronze, and from them they breathed out a terrible flame of fire; moreover he forged a plough of unbending adamant, all in one piece, in payment of thanks to Helios, who had taken the god up in his chariot when faint from the Phlegraean fight…"
The Bull is a constant motif of Indo-European religious imagery. The ancient Persian creation legend related in the Zoroastrian Bundahisihn, tells that the modern generations of humankind and all plants and animals were created from the body of the Celestial Ox, Goshorun, who dies in the first assault upon creation by the contrary spirit who opposes the omniscient creator-god Ahuramazda/Ormahzd. The Ox in the myth belongs the prototypical 'first man' Gayomard who is portrayed as the primal 'king of the mountains' (the Caucasus mountains) in some myths and folklore – something of a Hercules-like figure. Aeëtes and his Khalkotauroi in the Argonaut myths certainly appear to offer a model for or of the prototypic Indo-Iranian king.
The connection in Greek myth of the Colchian legends with bulls does not stop here, however. The god Helios, father of Aeetes, is also father of Pasiphae, whose legend depicts her conceiving the Minotaur of Crete ('Asterion') by having sexual intercourse with a cosmic white bull. This makes Aeetes and Pasiphae mythological brother and sister, and links the Cretan-Minoan and wider Asia-Minor mythos with its prominent bull-imagery, with the upland 'middle earth' of the Caucasus and Colchis.
The other important sacred cow of Greek myth who connects definitely with Argonautic ideas is Io – a priestess of Hera from the Argolid (homeland of Jason) transformed into a cow by Zeus, so that he could mate with her. Jealous Hera sets the titan Argus Panoptes to look over her, but Zeus encourages his son Hermes to kill Argus enabling pregnant Io to escape. In an Argolid tale echoing the Ionian myth of Leto, Hera then sends a gadfly to harass Io so that she must wonder from place to place without rest. She finally gives birth in Egypt to . The theme of sacred cow + watcher/shepherd + pursuit + generation of races of men is strongly reflected in the Bundahishin myth of the Persians, which has its origin-territories set in the Caucasus. This is made more explicit by Aeschylus (4th BCE) whose play Prometheus Bound, includes Io in the plot and has her visiting and conversing with the chained Titan, who prophecies of her wandering and eventual lodging in Egypt.
Prometheus, Hephaistos and Mount Elbrus:
"…As the evil spirit rushed in, the earth shook, and the substance of mountains was created in the earth. First, Mount Alburz arose; afterwards, the other ranges of mountains of the middle of the earth; for as Alburz grew forth all the mountains remained in motion, for they have all grown forth from the root of Alburz…" Bundahishin, Chapter 8.
Mount Elbrus – the Omphalos of Indo-European myth. Photo: Jialiang Gao
Mount Elbrus (Alburz) is the massive volcanic peak towering over the western Caucasus range to the north of Colchis. In Greek myth, this was the place where Zeus chained Prometheus to have his liver daily torn out. For the Persians, it was the mythical mountain from which all others grew in the creation of the earth. The forge of Hephaistos (where Prometheus learned the secrets of fire) was believed to be either here or in Etna by the Greeks. Again we can see the convergence of aspects of Greek and Indo-Iranian mythology in the 'Indo-European' corridor: The nidus of metalworking, smith-gods, creative fire and mountain kings is a mytheme which extended from India to Iron Age Ireland, and continued in the myths of the Scandinavians until they christianised in the middle ages of the 'Common Era'. Add to this the importance in Indo-European mythology to the birth of fresh water on mountain peaks and its downhill progress to the ocean, and the importance of Colchis and the Caucasus to the Greeks becomes clearer. 'Olympus' and the Omphalos of 'Delphi' seem like mere Pelasgian transfers of an older Caucasian creation myth, which the Argonautic mythology maintained a distinct connection to…
These considerations also transfer directly into the Irish mythology of the Tain Bo Culainge, which I will go on to discuss in another article…
Mythological Event Horizons Part 2: The Greco-Persian Wars
March 14, 2015 March 16, 2015 / Atlantic Religion	/ 6 Comments
The ascendancy of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty in the 6thC BC and the subsequent Greco-Persian wars provides another 'event horizon' which impacts deeply upon our abilities to make a clear analysis of Europe's ancient pagan history. The reason this so is not because Persian armies eventually reached Europe (they invaded the Balkans and Greece) but because of the negative and dismissive reaction it fostered in Greek opinion towards Persian and Mesopotamian ideas and civilisation from the 6th BC onwards. In view of the dark turns of current affairs in the Middle East involving campaigns of savage aggression towards the modern remnants of ancient Persian and Mesopotamian civilisation (focussed on Kurds, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Shia muslims and Iranians as well as actual archaeological sites), I thought it a noble cause worth examining.
Ancient Mesopotamian and Persian civilisations have rightly been placed as the cradle of civilisation, credited with creating the first cities, the first writing, and leading the world in technologies of agriculture, philosophy, astronomy and mathematics. These innovations were supported by and developed alongside a pervasive cosmological and religious philosophy which has made these civilisations a byword for mystery and ancient wisdom, from a long before the time Europeans could claim any such plaudits for their own religious, cultural and intellectual achievements.
Our story involving the Greeks starts with the collapse of the Indo-European Hatusa (Hittite) Empire of Asia Minor at the close of the 2nd millennium BC. This was a period of increasing colonisation and influence by Ionian and Aeolian peoples and culture (possibly those whom the Egyptians called the 'Sea Peoples') spreading from the east coast of Greece and from the region around the Gulf of Corinth (Homer's Achaea) and out through the archipelagos of the Aegean. Their cultural influence spread and established itself in what would become known as the Troas, Lydia and Caria along the west coast of Asia Minor. By the 6th BC these cultures had grown powerful and wealthy through trade and industry and would have developed close mercantile and cultural ties to the Persian (Mede), Semitic (Phoenician) and Mesopotamian (Assyria and Babylonia) cultures of the Near East.
An example of their cultural affinity to easterners is illustrated by the fact that mainland Greeks frequently characterised the Ionians by their 'long robes' – a style influenced by a succession of pre-Hellenic Anatolian cultures including the civilisation of the Hatti or 'Hittites', the Lydians, the Assyrians of northern Mesopotamia and the Indo-Iranian Medes. The Phrygians – like the Celts – wore breeches.
"… Many are your temples and wooded groves, and all peaks and towering bluffs of lofty mountains and rivers flowing to the sea are dear to you, Phoebus, yet in Delos do you most delight your heart; for there the long robed Ionians gather in your honor with their children and shy wives…" Homeric Hymn to Apollo, c.522BC.
The collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 7th and 6thC BC was a catalyst for growth and expansion of those nations it had formerly held in check. The empire of the Indo-Iranian Medes (Media) expanded to occupy eastern Asia Minor, Scythia (as far as the Caucasus) and northern Mesopotamia (Syria). In Eastern Anatolia, the Ionic-Anatolian kingdom of Lydia gradually expanded its power and influence until it controlled most of western Asia minor and began to push eastwards against the Medes. Lydia's proverbially wealthy king, Croesus, became politically and economically powerful due to his empire's innovations in trade and industry (particularly cloth making, dyeing and metallurgy) and the development of gold coinage as an exchange medium.
The Lydians were particularly friendly with Ionian Greeks (who claimed to be descendants of the solar God Apollo), and in 560BC, says Herodotus, Croesus came to the oracle of Delphi, bestowing it with great wealth. In simultaneously demonstrating his affinity to the Greeks and to Apollo, Croesus was no doubt looking for support to push his empire eastwards against Median ruler Astyages.
By the time he had crossed into the Median lands in 547BC, Atyages had been deposed by the western Persian leader Cyrus, who defeated Croesus and used his treasury to fund his efforts establishing the new Persian Empire, which by 540BC had conquered or formed treaties with the coastal Ionians. Cyrus was an enlightened man who no doubt valued the Ionic values of statesmanship and philosophy, and preferred to work with the Ionians against the Lydians and their neighbours. For starters, they had ships and naval experience that he and his son would call upon, as they built and consolidated their Empire. Having secured Lydia, Cyrus' had the finances needed to conquer Babylon in 539BC. He died in 530BC campaigning against the Scythians of central Asia and was replaced by his reputedly mentally unstable son, Cambyses II, who took Egypt in 525BC before his death followed by the succession of Darius in 522BC, during which there was a period of instability and fracture at the Empire's roots.
Some Ionians, such as the colonies Samos of Miletus, became – for almost 50 years – trusted allies, power-brokers and advisors of the Persians and maintained a degree of independence that colonies such as Ephesus and Colophon could not. Likewise the Dorian colony of Halicarnassus on the Carian coast to the south of Ionia served a similar special purpose to the Persians. Under Cambyses successor, Darius I, the Empire stretched from Thrace to the Indus valley.
So, having consolidated their empire, was the scene really set for the invasion of Greece? Let's just 'stop the tape' for a minute and discuss a few issues and clear up a few misconceptions about the Persians and the Greeks.
Poster for the 2014 movie '300: Rise of an Empire', directed by Noam Murro. Those scary Persians!
Anyone who has seen the movies '300' and '300: Birth of an Empire' (based on the Frank Miller comics) will know that the Achaemenid empire was a brutal, tyrannical, sexually debauched, scary and ill-disciplined alien horde, right? They must also know that when these apes swept into Greece they had their backsides kicked by a bunch of noble, well-oiled, disciplined man-loving hoplites, who then united to make Greece a glorious democracy as well?
This certainly fits with the 'barbarian' image of the Persians that the ancient Greeks came to entertain of them. Curious to the movie industry, charged as it is with the ideological politics of its impresarios and wealthy financiers, the story of the '300' films and their imagery also appears to have functioned on an explicit allegorical level related the modern middle eastern conflict, presenting the Persians (whose army in the film are made consciously to look like Arabs) as some kind of dark twisted enemy of 'Grecian' light.
The magical 'demonisation' of Xerxes in the '300' movie franchises fitted a very modern narrative. Were the opinions of the ancient Greeks ultimately to blame?
Of course, the '300' franchise was really just a brutal fantasy, based partly on the memoirs of Herodotus and partly on the prejudices of the 21st century. In reality, the Achaemenids were far from how they were depicted in these films. For starters, Cyrus the Great had established his empire promoting a policy of tolerance and respect for the religions and administrative structures of the countries he invaded, ensuring that rebellion was relatively rare, and his territories easier to govern. When George Bush Jr invaded Babylon, he himself might have taken a leaf out of Cyrus' book, but instead chose (deliberately it would seem) to set the nation of Iraq on a path to factionalism and chaos. Cyrus famously liberated the Jews of Babylon and helped them (re)build the temple at Jerusalem. Xenophon of Athens (a student of Socrates) declared of him in the 4th BC:
"… And those who were subject to him, he treated with esteem and regard, as if they were his own children, while his subjects themselves respected Cyrus as their 'Father'…" (Xenophon, Cyropaedia, trans. Bohn)
Indeed, it appears that Cyrus was not considered a great threat to Greek interests. His successor and son Cambyses II likewise showed no particular interest and even allied with the Ionian and Dorian Greeks in his conquest of Egypt, even exploiting the Greeks' good relations with the Egyptians during this period. Cambyses died in 522BC, supposedly by his own hand, although an assassination by his successor Darius (also implicated in the killing of Cyrus' other son Bardiya) has been proposed as likely. Whatever the truth, Darius' accession to the imperial throne was certainly marked by a period of dissatisfaction and unrest, and the Emperor was obliged to exercise harshness in putting down revolts across the Empire. This included the assassination of Samian tyrant Polycrates by the satrap of Lydia, Oroetus, at Sardis, which was then followed by the final conquest of the island, and a hurried exit or ejection for Pythagoras and other likely agitators of the Ionic cause.
In 499BC an open rebellion broke out among the Ionian city-states of Asia Minor, led by Miletus and backed by a military force from Athens. This pushed inland and sacked Sardis in 498 in an act which appears in the wider context of revolt within Darius' Empire to be more an act of challenge and aggression by Athens than one in support of the interests of Ionia or Lydia. The scene was therefore set for Darius and his successor Xerxes to take punitive action against the Athenians as well as to try and take advantage of the Greek tendency to infighting.
Democracy – far from being the noble ideal of the '300' films and modern political polemic – was used as a weapon imposed by Darius on the Ionian states: he saw it as a tool by which to weaken resistance – an enabler of empires. Think about this for a minute, in the light of modern world politics!
Although the combined power of the (nearly) united Greeks eventually and famously defeated Xerxes' huge invading army, Greek opinion of Persian culture (and Athenian opinion in particular) was never to recover, and would spark a chain of developments which ultimately lie behind a change in the course of religion in Europe and the Near East, with a focus increasingly based upon human power.
Greek opinion of Persians after the War:
One of the earliest accounts of Athenian Greek jingoism (or at least tragedian schadenfreude) following the defeat of Xerxes at the Battle of Salamis in 479BC is playwright Aeschylus' The Persians, which was performed at the City Dionysia in spring of 472BC. The play deals with the return and despair of Xerxes to Persia, and is essentially a chance for the Greeks to wallow in the glory of their victory, and to portray the vanity of working against the will of the gods. Aeschylus' words – the delight of his Athenian audiences – were later to ring hollow with the internicene chaos of Hellenic civil wars which closed the 6thC:
"…Ah, what a boundless sea of woe hath burst on Persia, and the whole barbaric race…"
Of course, not all Greeks opposed Xerxes' invasion – the Carians under Queen Artemisia and the Ionians and Aeolians provided critical naval support. This may be why Herodotus of Halicarnassus was more or less sympathetic to the Persian cause in his account of the war. The Dorians of the Peloponnese (Sparta and Argos, for instance) were later sponsored by the Persians in the Peloponnesian Wars which occupied the closing third of the 5th BC. Athens was not popular with everyone.
Before the War – Ionian philosophers and the influence of Persia and Mesopotamia:
The period both immediately before and after the Persian conquest of Lydia and Ionia had been one during which the Ionians experienced a flowering of religious philosophy, almost certainly under the influence of their eastern neighbours and eventual conquerors. The colony at Miletus was a particularly influential case in point, being home to the philosophical school of Thales (born c.624BC) and his successors Anaximander (born c. 611BC), Anaximenes and then Anaxagoras. Further to this, Miletus' main Ionian sparring partner, the island of Samos, could (under the rule of Persian ally, Polykrates) boast of Pythagoras (born c.570BC) and his school. Out in the Cycladic gulf south of Delos, was the famous Pherekydes (born c.584BC) on the island of Syros, who is known to have corresponded with Thales. Coming slightly later we have Xenophanes of Colophon (born c.570BC) , and Herakleitos of Ephesus (born c.535BC). These are credited as formulating the doctrines underpinning the Classical Era philosophy and cosmology expressed by Plato and his successors, often termed the 'fathers' of western philosophy. The Ionian philosopher Anaxagoras (died c.428BC) was credited with bringing philosophy to Athens, but how far could the ideas of the 'pre-socratics' be truly be considered 'western'? I would argue 'not many':
Persian and Assyrian religion:
Unlike the Greeks, the Persians (according to Herodotus) did not idolise their gods or god with imagery. Their's was a religion that seemed to mirror divine principles, founded in the supreme divinity Ahura Mazda, a god of ethereal light and goodness who challenged the forces of evil or chaos. Ahura Mazda, appears to be a Persian development of the ancient Assyrian and Hurrian sky god – Ashura or Assura – in whose name the kingdoms were theophorically titled. They are part of an continuum, tied up with the ancient mythology of ancient Sumer and Akkad, and to Egypt further to the south. The innovation in the time of the Persian Empire appears to have been a vigorous refining of the Assyrian and Persian religion into what would become known as Zoroastrianism, possibly evolving during the reign of Darius.
As such, compared to the often confusing imagery supporting the Greek pantheon of gods it was philosophically attractive, especially to those who wished to promote an empire whose leader was personified as the logos or divine utterance of Ahura Mazda. Ahura/Ashura was no doubt the archetype upon which the Phrygian 'Attis' was based. He would have been the god of the Hittites ('Hatusa'). The love of the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonists of Asia Minor (not to mention king Croesus of Lydia) for the god Apollo was no doubt heavily influenced by this ancient Indo-Iranian divinity who celebrated intellect and the mind.
Here are a selection of comparisons between Persian and East Semitic religion and the philosophies of the Ionian pre-socratics.
Principle of the waters as 'first cause':
Attributed by Aristotle to Thales of Miletos in his Metaphysics is the concept of water as the 'first principle' of creation, eternal and itself uncreated. The Aeolian rhapsode-theologian, Hesiod (8th/7thC BC), attributed the first cause to 'chaos'.
Pherekydes of Syros shared this viewpoint – his primal triad: Chronus ('eternal time'), Zas (Zeus – the creative expression of ethereal light or pure water) and Chthonie (the feminine receiving principle equated with Anahita, Persian divinity of the salty waters) was very congruent with Persian and Babylonian religion. 'Zas' is probably a Hellenisation of 'Ashura' or 'Ahura', accomplished by the addition of the prefixal 'Z'.
Herakleitos opined: "…For it is death to souls to become water, and death to water to become earth. But water comes from earth; and from water, soul…", and: "…it is pleasure to souls to become moist…", to which he qualified: "…The dry soul is the wisest and best…"
He saw water as a lower more primal form of development transcended by fire – that holy principle of the Persians. The Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian mythology placed the waters at the root of creation, and fire with the heavens and the divine – long before the Greeks became interested in the idea.
Strife as an life-giving factor for the universe:
Herakleitos said: "…Homer was wrong in saying: 'Would that strife might perish from among gods and men!' He did not see that he was praying for the destruction of the universe; for, if his prayer were heard, all things would pass away…". This is an expression of
The Mazdean (Persian, Zurvan, Zoroastrian) concept was that life came about because of a necessity for conflict of opposites.
The Universal Soul and the circle:
Herakleitos said: "…You will not find the boundaries of soul by travelling in any direction, so deep is the measure of it…"
Thales was said by Aristotle to have proclaimed that "…all things are full of gods…"
Again, the Persian and Mesopotamian philosophies attributed a connecting divine fire to the root of all existence in pure water – the mystical transformation through annihilation, and the Greeks were evidently borrowing this idea. The circle was a prominent part of the winged symbol used to represent the divine emanation in Babylonian and Persian symbolism. Likewise the mysterious cycle of the waters from mountain to river to sea, back to mountain. This geometry was at the heart of Persian and Babylonian thought.
The mixed elements of water and earth imply destruction:
Xenophanes is quoted as saying: "…All things are earth and water that are come into being and grow…". This was an expression of the Persian/Mesopotamian idea of the creative aspect of salty fluids, including the sea which was made of fresh water and the land mingled:
Hippolytus, quoting Theophrastus said: "… Xenophanes said that a mixture of the earth with the sea is taking place, and that it is being gradually dissolved by the moisture. He says that he has the following proofs of this. Shells are found in midland districts and on hills, and he says in the quarries at Syracuse has been found the imprint of a fish and of seaweed … These, he says, were produced when all things were formerly mud, and the outlines were dried in the mud…"
Pherekydes claimed that the generative act of Zeus (Zas) was bestowing a wedding blanket upon Chthonie made of earth and water, thus causing her to be fertile.
The legends of Enki (pure waters) and Tiamat (salt water of the abyss) expressed the same in Babylonian/Assyrian culture.
The Athenian 'aftermath' of eastern philosophy:
Considering the immense similarities between Ionian 'Pre-Socratic' and much more ancient Persian and Mesopotamian philosophies, we must presume that the Athenian schools of the lineage of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were simply trying to put a Hellenic spin on ideas that were not originally their own, but part of a much older pagan mythology of the ancient Indo-Europeans, which epitomised morality in its emphasis of virtues of goodness over evil: a 'rationality' that Greeks might find it hard to identify with ease in their own 1st millennium BC religion. Theirs was an 'event horizon' imposed by the victors of warfare and cultural dominance which denied the old and remodelled it in their own image.
Ancient connections between the Greeks and Indo-Persian peoples:
Many Greek myths are set deep within the Indo-European world. The most striking of these is the most ancient tales of Phrixus and of Iason/Jason and the Argonauts and their adventures in the Scythian kingdom of Colchis/Aia in the Caucasus. The recovery of the 'golden fleece' from the sanctuary of Ares (god of violent destruction), guarded by a dragon and beguiled by a lovely sorceress is an exploration of the heart of Indo-Aryan myth. Likewise, the oriental arrival of Dionysus follows in the footsteps of a people whose sacraments of intoxication (called Haoma in the Zoroastrian Avesta and Soma in the Rigveda) and may have underpinned the mysteries of ancient cults and oracles at Eleusis and Delphi.
Placing ancient mystical ideas in the mouths and written words of philosophers, and of prophets and emperors, rather than in the mouths of poets and Magi, created a direct and legalistic expression of the divine, which was to fundamentally change religion.
It combined to form a religious and temporal model of authority which seeks today to destroy and enslave the ancient pagan seeds of tolerance and diversity which gave birth to mankind and her greatest achievements.
Sabazios and the Phrygian moon-god 'Men'
August 13, 2014 March 10, 2015 / Atlantic Religion	/ Leave a comment
Note the 'lunar' crest – you can it is Sabazios because he has his foot on a bull… Just like in Mithraism
Sabazios was obviously a god of some prominence in ancient Thracian religion. To the syncretising Greeks and Romans of the Hellenistic age and late antiquity he came to be seen as equivalent to Dionysus – even considered to be an aspect of Dionysus which played an important role in the 'Orphic' mysteries, which were among the more important and influential of the classical age.
An intriguing feature of the devotional 'Sabazios hands' (invariably in Europe)from the later Roman Empire is that the god is sometimes depicted wearing 'lunar horns' of the type often seen with Roman and Greek statuary of Diana and Artemis. It occurred to me that Sabazios might somehow be related to another masculine lunar god of late antique Asia Minor, who was known as 'Men'. Men's cult was venerated not just in ancient Phrygia (Roman Anatolia) but his influence extended (through the Greek connection) into the city states of northern Hellas.
Men was (like many Lunar deities) depicted with what appear to be lunar 'horns' emerging from his shoulders, and often with his foot upon a ram's or bull's head, echoing the imagery of both Sabazios, the 'Thracian Hero' and Mithraism:
The god 'Men' – a Lunar Sabazios? Note the Bacchic 'Thyrsus' wand and the pine-cone held in the god's hand: this was also a symbol of the Phrygian god Attis, consort of the Great Goddess, Cybele.
Men was apparently a god of the months – the lunar cycles, associated in folklore with human fertility and the menstrual cycle. He was depicted as in the traditions of Apollo, the 'Thracian Heros' and Attis as youthful and androgynous, but his appearance in the Roman-era stelae are certainly less military than the Thracian horseman image. Given the depiction of him with very similar iconography as Sabazios, it would appear that he was possibly one and the same god – perhaps a 'young Sabazios', or a 'son of Sabazios'? Indeed, as Sabazios and Zeus/Jupiter became conflated in the Roman sphere, it is very likely that Men represented a dependent 'aspect' of the god. Suggestions that he was somehow Persian or Mesopotamian in origin need to be reconciled with these similarities with the Thracian Sabazios-Dionysus hypostasis…
Other mythological characters who share similarities are Endymion (the lover of the Moon – Selene, also known by the similar name 'Mene'), and Phrygian Attis, consort of the Great Goddess, Cybele. Endymion's name certainly appears to incorporate a version of the name of Men with this suffix portion: -mion. His mythology may have been borrowed into Greek stories from that of Men in Asia Minor. Like Attis, Endymion's active role as the lover of an important goddess (Selene) is placed in a suspended state: Whereas Attis castrates himself in a (Dionysiac) frenzy, Endymion is famous for being in an eternal sleep so that the moon might preserve and admire his beauty, and make love to him. Attis was likewise depicted as fresh-faced. Although Endymion was never (that I know) associated with the pine tree and pine cones, Attis – like Sabazios and Men – certainly was. The evergreen and erect pine which cloaks mediterranean mountain sides had an important phallic meaning to these seemingly related religious mystery cults.
A Moon God for a Moon Goddess?
Having mentioned the Hellenic goddess-titaness Selene – personification of the moon – it is worth examining other aspects of her from the pre-Christian era regional mythology of the eastern Mediterranean. Selene (also called Mene by e.g. Nonnos in his 'Dionysiaca') was also identified with Hecate, as well as the virgin huntress-goddess Artemis/Diana (Sabazios is usually portrayed as a hunter rather than a warrior!). Due to the proliferation of mythological traditions and the tussles for cultural hegemony that population movements tend to engender it is likely that all of these were variants of the same 'star-myths', used as explanatory vehicles for the mysteries of nature's great (and largely occult) mechanisms. The ambivalent male sexuality of the god Attis and the priesthood of the Galli who celebrated Cybele seem to find a kinship with the Phrygian god Men, whose depiction above typifies the Eunuchoid appearance more usually seen in depictions of Attis. However, the moon-shouldered god is shown with the military attributes of Sabazios, at least in terms of the 'vanquished beast' and the thyrsus-spear. Another thing worth considering is if the depiction really shows 'lunar horns' at all – it could possibly represent the god carrying a Thracian pelta shield or a pair of curved Thracian sica swords on his back. The horns might even be phalli – a well-known attribute of Dionysian cult.
Depiction of Thracian warrior with crescentic 'Pelta' shield.
It is likely that 'Men' was a more androgynous aspect the Great Goddess, who was herself often seen as cognate with Rhea, Artemis, Selene and Diana – even Hekate. Sabazios was also in some myths portrayed as both the son and lover of the Great Goddess, otherwise known as Cybele.
Mithraic stela from the Louvre – note the imagery of the moon and the wands wielded by the celebrants, as well as the 'Phrygian' clothing.
Medean and Persian Mythology: Vohu Manah
The Zoroastrian mythology ('Avesta') states that Vohu Manah ('Good Mind') was the spirit who introduced the prophet to the supreme being or Logos, known as Ahura Mazda ('Light of Wisdom'). The Indo-European word for 'mind' is echoed in the name of 'Men': consider the Latin word mens. Vohu Manah was associated with the care of flocks of cattle – a similar attribute seen in the mythology of Greek Apollo (and Hermes) – Men's cult image illustrated above shares aspects of this interpretation.
A form of Zoroastrianism was the religion of the non-Greek peoples of Asia Minor during the Assyrian and Persian Empires during the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. Like the Dionysian/Sabazian and Eleusinian cults of the ancient Hellenes (not to mention the practices of the Delphic Oracle), this religion also involved the imbibing of an intoxicating sacrament, known in this case as 'Haoma': A curious link to the moon, the mind and ecstatic mystery religions…
Baal-hamon:
Baal-hamon was the principle god of the Phoenician peoples of Carthage. Apart from the connection between the words 'Men' and 'Hamon' (and, of course, Manah) another feature linking him with Men was his epithet: Ba'al Qarnaim – 'Lord of Two Horns'. This seems very close (in turn) to the similarly-named horned Egyptian god, Amun/Ammon. Baal-hamon was related to the Ram, the symbol of this Egyptian deity. The Romans and Greeks equated Ba'al Hamon with Saturn/Kronos.
Revisiting the 'Celtic vs. Germanic' question
Loki, Lugh and Logos
Wayland Revisited: A Pan-European God?
Parallels in Indo-European religion: Sidhe and Siddha
Serpents and dragons in British folklore
Ancient Babylonian Religion
Ancient European Paganism
Ancient Irish Literature
European Celtic Iron Age
Roman religion
Vedic religion
C.EL.T – Corpus of Electronic Texts
Mary Jones: Celtic Literature Collective
Theoi


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Serial bank robber arrested after attempted repeat heist in Loop: feds
Sun-Times Media Wire
Surveillance image (right) of suspect Kurtis Krotser (left) in a bank robbery July 2, 2019, at the Burling Bank branch at 141 W. Jackson Blvd. | Illinois Department of Corrections and FBI
CHICAGO - Federal charges have been filed against a man suspected of robbing five Chicago-area banks in just over a week.
Kurtis Krotser, 51, is charged with bank robbery by intimidation for the June 26 hold-up at a Citibank branch, 180 N. Michigan Ave., according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court. He was arrested at 1:59 p.m. on July 5 after he allegedly tried to rob the bank.
Members of the FBI's Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force were conducting surveillance downtown because of the string of recent bank robberies when they saw Krotser walk into the branch and leave a short time later, prosecutors said. FBI agents and Chicago police officers noticed he matched the description of the robber.
An FBI agent entered the bank but did not see any employees, according to the complaint. When he announced himself as law enforcement, an employee came forward and said someone had just tried to rob the bank.
The agent then told other members of the task force to take him into custody, prosecutors said. In an interview with investigators, Krotser admitted to the June 26 robbery and said he spent the $1,443 he stole on beer and drugs and gave it away to acquaintances.
He walked into the bank at 2:15 p.m. and handed the teller a note that read, "This is A Robbery. I Have A GUN – I Will Kill you give Me CASh," according to the complaint. He then told the teller to hurry and threatened to shoot her.
Krotser also admitted to robbing four other banks – a U.S. Bank at 2263 S. Wentworth Ave. on June 25; a First Midwest Bank at 5545 Hohman Ave. in Hammond, Indiana, on June 28; a Burling Bank at 141 W. Jackson Blvd. on July 2; and a First Midwest Bank at 18120 Torrence Ave. in Lansing on July 3.
He is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.
His criminal history includes convictions for theft, burglary and writing bad checks dating back to 1994, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records. He was released on parole in December 2018 for a 2015 conviction for DUI with a suspended or revoked license and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Krotser is due to appear for a detention hearing before U.S. District Judge Maria Valdez on Wednesday.