Category: history

May 1092 Lincoln Cathedral Consecrated

Wenceslas_Hollar_-_Lincoln_Cathedral_from_the_west
By Wenceslaus Hollar – Artwork from University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar Digital CollectionScanned by University of TorontoHigh-resolution version extracted using custom tool by User:Dcoetzee, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6241265

One of my favourite places, Lincoln Cathedral, was consecrated this month way back in 1092.

To put that into perspective, King William (Rufus) the Second of that name, son of the mighty Conqueror, had been on the throne since 1087. It was only a quarter of a century after the Normans’ hostile (in fact rather brutal) take over of the board of the richest kingdom in western Europe, but already their introduction of Romanesque architecture was changing the landscape of the country for ever.

However Lincoln Cathedral’s early history was blighted by disasters. A fire destroyed the roof in 1124, an earthquake destroyed most of it in 1185.

Nevertheless despite this the structure was rebuilt in magnificent fashion to become effectively the tallest building in the world, thanks to its huge central spire. The triple spire configuration as it was during the late medieval and early modern period must have been an incredible sight. Then, tragically, in February 1549 the central spire collapsed during a storm. The two smaller spires remained for some time until they were taken down for safety reasons.

Even so, Lincoln Cathedral still remains high on its hill, and is at least to my mind, the best cathedral in England and therefore one of the best anywhere. If you are in the region it’s well worth a visit.

There is much more I could say about the cathedral and the city but I will leave that for future posts.

 

Lex Barker born 100 Years Ago Today

Tarzan All Story

In astrological terms the birth chart speaks for itself.

Leo rising with Neptune right on the ascendant. There are several movie stars with prominent Neptunes such as this, the ‘outer planet’ probably adding a certain mystical glamour to the individual’s prominent appearance. Leo loves the limelight and Neptune will attract through the power of film, a very ‘Neptunian’ medium. For some reason, certain faces look good on celluloid and this was no exception.

Added to this we have a fairly tight Sun Mars conjunction in Taurus in the 10th house of career. Here we see the imposing, handsome 6ft 4in physical presence too, strength, bravery, determination. Taurus is solid, stubborn, yet sensuously attractive with Mars so close to the Sun. He rose to the level of Major in WW11 and was injured in Sicily.

This same determination drove him in his movie career, where allied with Mercury in Aries conjunct the Midheaven trine Saturn in Leo, he enjoyed a very varied, yet sustained career, playing most famously in Tarzan of the Apes, movies of Karl May’s novels, Westerns and numerous European films later in his career.

His linguistic abilities (he could speak Italian, Spanish, French and German) are also indicated by Mercury’s prominent conditioning; he was able to utilise this ability in his career.

source: http://www.astro.com

Lychgates – Signs and Symbols

IMG_1221 (3)

Lychgates, also sometimes called resurrection gates, are a curious English (though not exclusively) phenomenon.

The name derives from the Old English word lych, or lich, meaning body, referring to entrance to the churchyard though which the body of the deceased was carried. This was seen as the beginning of the path towards resurrection by being buried in holy ground.

In medieval times, signs and symbols carried a lot of weight as most of the population were illiterate. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that signs and symbols don’t carry as much weight today. We just have to read and understand them.

THE RUSSIAN VIKING

Great stuff here and fascinating

Putin as President

saint basil s cathedral
Photo by Julius Silver on Pexels.com

It’s interesting to note that it’s 19 years to the day since Vladimir Putin was first elected to the Russian presidency.

I don’t believe it’s been continuous, I think Medvedev spent four years as President too, but few western politicians have spent so long in high office, or achieved such levels of popularity, which he appears to retain to this day and Russia has certainly been transformed in those years, the Orthodox Church being reinvigorated, for example.

Naturally though, he remains a controversial figure in the West.