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Rare Viking Sword Fragments unearthed on Isle of Man
Reads: 17 |
Posted by Isis on Monday, May 12, 2008 (CDT)
 Beautifully cast fragments from a Viking sword have been discovered on the Isle of Man by two members of the Manx Detectorists Society. Dan Crowe and Rob Farrer discovered the artefacts whilst metal detecting in the north west of the island. Both Dan and Rob are experienced metal detector users and have found many interesting artefacts over the years, so they knew the importance of what they had found and reported it to Manx National Heritage.
“This is only the 13th recorded Viking sword from the island," said Manx National Heritage Curator for Archaeology, Allison Fox. "Even though they had done exactly the right thing by not cleaning the surface dirt from the finds, when they brought them into the Manx Museum it was clear straight away that we had something very special indeed."
The most decorative part of a Viking sword was usually the handle, or hilt, and it is part of this that has survived over one thousand years in the soil. Rather like a set of knuckles, the pommel (the top part of the sword) design is divided into 5 parts, or lobes, each with intricately carved designs. In between the lobes are sets of finely twisted silver wires – a technique seen a few times on artefacts from the Isle.
(Read More... Ancient History | Word Count: 374 | comments? | Score: 0) |
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The Dalai Lama
Reads: 12 |
Posted by Isis on Monday, May 12, 2008 (CDT)
 The Dalai Lama is the most influential person in the world, according to Time magazine. He draws crowds that no other spiritual leader or politician could hope to match, and sits there laughing, exuding an infectious joy, despite the suffering that he and the Tibetan people have known. Unique, celibate, idealistic, compassionate, exotic - he seems to look at life in a different way to everyone else. What is his secret? According to these two books, it lies in the fact that his mind was trained from an early age in an abstruse religious tradition that makes no distinction between the spiritual and temporal worlds.
Unlike the plethora of Hollywood meditators and their celebrity appendages who claim friendship with the Dalai Lama, Alexander Norman has known him well for two decades. As the ghostwriter of his autobiography, Freedom in Exile, and the ethical guidebook Ancient Wisdom, Modern World, he spent more than 250 hours interviewing him. In the eccentric world of Tibetology, it may not be strange that Norman also happens to be a practising Roman Catholic, a former British Army officer and a vintage-aircraft enthusiast.
Starting from the first principle that the Dalai Lama is a series of reincarnations of the Bodhisattva Chenrezig, his book sets out to examine the historical roots of the lineage. It is not always a pretty story. Several Dalai Lamas were murdered at a young age, and one was a notorious seducer who drank hard, wore his hair long and refused to take monastic vows. Norman seems at times to be shocked by the fruits of his own research.
(Read More... Religion & Spirituality | Word Count: 1238 | comments? | Score: 0) |
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Most haunted places revealed
Reads: 17 |
Posted by Isis on Monday, May 12, 2008 (CDT)
 From screaming skulls and headless horsemen to murdered brides and phantom farmers, English folklore is full of spine-tingling ghost stories. Terrified witnesses speak of seeing ghostly armies marching through the fog, spirits searching for hidden treasure and bells ringing from ruined churches. Authors Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson have sifted through centuries of myths, legends and local tales to compile a county-by-county guide to England's ghosts.
"Readers may be surprised to see that a tale they had thought belonged to one place is found elsewhere," the authors say in the foreword to the "Penguin Book of Ghosts." "Folktales and legends are in constant slow movement, like an iceberg," they note. The village of Prestbury in Gloucestershire has a good claim to the title of England's most haunted place, the book says.
Its entry includes: A headless Civil War soldier galloping down a lane on horseback. Legend has it that he was a Royalist executed after being caught by Roundheads camped in the village.
(Read More... Ghosts & Spirits | Word Count: 632 | comments? | Score: 0) |
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Vikings: from ram-raiders to fishmongers
Reads: 51 |
Posted by Isis on Sunday, May 11, 2008 (CDT)
 Archaeologists and scientists have revealed that 1,000 years ago cod was traded extraordinary distances across Europe, from the Norwegian Arctic to England and the Baltic. The research may force yet another revision of the image of the Vikings, from longship ram-raiders, to mainly traders and colonising farmers, to the fishmongers of Europe. Vikings in York were eating cod caught off the Norwegian coast.
Scientists have perfected a technique of analysing cod bones which was originally developed to track modern fish stocks. It analyses collagen, which carries chemical traces of the water the fish originally swam in. Applied to bones from archaeological sites, it is beginning to show a picture of fish transported remarkable distances from AD950 on, when the quantity of bones shows a huge rise in consumption.
The team, led by archaeologists at Cambridge University, say that when fish were chopped up for processing, matching the results from fish bones and heads shows that in some cases they are separated by thousands of miles.
(Read More... Ancient History | Word Count: 291 | comments? | Score: 4) |
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Haunts for brave hearts
Reads: 54 |
Posted by Isis on Sunday, May 11, 2008 (CDT)
 The jail cell at Hartley historic village is filled with darkness, so thick it could be treacle. The air is oppressive and cold. Outside, large trucks rumble across the hills leading to the Victoria Pass. But inside it is silent. And black. Very black. There are seven of us in a small cell of hardwood that in its day held up to 30 convicts - many in leg irons - in Hartley's courthouse and police station on the far side of the Blue Mountains.
Suddenly, the lights of the "ghost detecting" electromagnetic meter go berserk. And then I feel it: a thump on the head. No, I'm not imagining it. There it is again. Thump. I flick on my torch and rub my hair. "Something hit me on the head," I say. The silence is broken and hysteria takes hold.
"It's not unusual to feel an actual physical sensation," says Paranormal Pete, our tour guide. "There's a pretty aggressive ghost that is known to be in this cell." I have to admit that, yes, I am scared. As everyone flicks on their torches I am centre stage, bent over and frantically rubbing the top of my head. Then their lights pick out the real culprit: a bogong moth. It's the idea of meeting Paranormal Pete that draws me to the Blue Mountains Ghost Tour. Will he be a weirdo goth? A new-age hippie?
(Read More... Ghosts & Spirits | Word Count: 1514 | 1 comment | Score: 4) |
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The Quest for Truth: Mysteries, Enigmas and the Unexplained
ThothWeb is pleased to announce the publication of its first e-book - The Quest for Truth: Mysteries, Enigmas and the Unexplained.
The 400-page book, which is completely free, covers an amazing range of exclusive articles dealing with all aspects of the paranormal and unexplained, including subjects such as ancient civilizations, ghosts, cryptozoology, conspiracies and ufology. The eighty articles contained in the book have been written by our own members, including many experienced researchers in fields such as Egyptology, Archaeology and Anthropology or are experienced Paranormal Investigators and Reiki Masters.
Rather than asking people to pay for the book, the ThothWeb team decided that the best way to reach as many people as possible was to make it available for free.
‘The Quest for Truth’ e-book can be downloaded from our Downloads section. Members will need to be logged in before they are able to download it; guests will need to register before they can access the Downloads Section. This is a very quick and easy process and only takes a minute of your time. And like everything else on ThothWeb, it’s free! |
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Support ThothWeb - Your Portal to the Unknown
You can show your support for ThothWeb by making a monetary contribution via paypal or by purchasing your books, CDs, magazine subscriptions, DVDs and a whole lot more through our Amazon Shop. ThothWeb is not run for profit but your support will help us offset the expenses associated with running the site and hopefully enable the site to grow.
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Our Media Library contains over 600 Paranormal Audio and Video Clips. Click here to view.
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According to ancient tradition, The Book of Thoth was the legendary repository of the Egyptian mysteries; as such it is forever connected with occult knowledge, mystery schools and the esoteric secrets and magical systems that these schools taught. The Book of Thoth has long been associated with the tarot, which is said by many to be the embodiment of its teachings.
