Gerrie Ferris Finger's Blog, page 15

JANUS WAS A VERY BUSY GOD

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates and doors and openings; a god of beginnings and endings. It has roots in the word janitor which means a gatekeeper.





Janus is portray with two faces, one facing forward, one backward.



In January, the Sun returns and the days grow longer, marking the start of a new year. However, in Roman Times, the new year began in March, which is why September (seventh month), October (8), November and December seemed oddly placed in the calendar.



In myth, Janus was the patron of concrete and abstract beginnings of the world, i.e. religion, the gods, human life. He symbolized change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one universe to another.



In time of war 'The Janus' (gates/doors) were kept open after a contingent of soldiers had marched through it. The doors were closed at the conclusion of peace. Augustus and Nero declared peace and closed the doors of the Janus during their reigns.



Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, deaths and other beginnings.



Now you know.

Happy January.

Researched from internet encyclopedias



Gerrie Ferris Finger

THE ORIGIN OF THE PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

There is one Christmas Carol that has always puzzled me. What do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come outof the pear tree, have to do with Christmas?


According to Wikipedia, the meaning of The Twelve Days of Christmas has yet to be satisfactorily explained. According to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, "Suggestions have been made that the gifts have significance, as representing the food or sport for each month of the year. Importance [certainly has] long been attached to the Twelve Days, when, for instance, the weather on each day was carefully observed to see what it would be in the corresponding month of the coming year. Nevertheless, whatever the ultimate origin of the chant, it seems probable [that] the lines that survive today both in England and France are merely an irreligious travesty."

On the other hand, modern folklore claims that the song's lyrics were written as a catechism song to help young Catholics learn their faith, at a time when practicing Catholicism was discouraged in England (1558 until 1829). In this catechism version there are two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of the church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

Even if it's lore - and who's to say? - it's good lore.

Merry Christmas.

Gerrie Ferris Finger

ON COMET! ON CUPID! ON DONNER AND BLITZEN!

Why did Santa choose reindeer to pull his sleigh across the globe on Christmas night? Are Rudolph and Blitzen the stuff of legend, or are they real? And are the eight flying reindeer the best animal to pilot the toy maker and his elves to the homes of believers? enature.com knows the answers. "While Dasher and Prancer and the gang are the stuff of legend, reindeer are not. These large deer live in northerly climes, in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Arctic. In Eurasia (and the North Pole) they are called reindeer and in North America more commonly caribou, but they are all the same species."The wild herds of Alaska and Canada are known for their mass migrations, while large numbers of those in Eurasia are domesticated, raised for fur, meat, milk, and as work animals. Whether you call them reindeer or caribou, one thing is certain: they are physically well suited to pull a sleigh full of toys and a right jolly old elf. Questions and Antlers"Dasher and Dancer and Blitzen and the rest -- sport antlers. Does this mean that all of them (even Vixen?) are males? Not exactly -- in fact, it almost means the opposite. Reindeer and caribou are unique among deer in that the females grow antlers, too. And even more interesting is the fact that the females retain their antlers from one spring till the next, while mature males shed their antlers in the fall -- and are unadorned on Christmas Eve. So the creatures that pull Santa's sleigh must be females or youngsters. Of course, it's entirely possible that a male reindeer with the power to fly also has the power to keep his antlers through the holidays.All-Terrain Feet"The caribou or reindeer ... has an all-terrain foot. The animal's remarkable hoof actually adapts itself to the season -- becoming a sort of ice skate in the winter and sneaker in spring. The caribou of North America can run at speeds of almost 50 miles per hour and may travel 3,000 miles in a year. Luckily, the animal is helped along by its amazingly adaptable footpads. In the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become spongy like the soles of tennis shoes and provide extra traction. In the winter, when snow and ice coat the North, the pads shrink and firm up, while the rim of the hoof, like an ice skate's blade, bites into the ice and crusted snow to keep the animal from slipping."Sounds like the perfect footwear for an animal that needs to come to a flying stop on an ice-encrusted rooftop in the dark of the night! Fur Float "Given its geographic preferences, a reindeer has to have a pretty warm coat. In fact, the coat has two layers of fur, a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat. The outer coat consists of hollow, air-filled hairs that give the animal such buoyancy when it enters water that only the lower two-thirds of its body submerges. A caribou or reindeer swims with ease and good speed, and migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river. If Santa ever decides to take to the seas rather than the air, he is in good hands."From enature.com
Gerrie Ferris Finger
http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com/

ECLIPSE - THE SKY GODS' CHRISTMAS GIFT

Wake up, sleepyhead and see the sky. On December 21 a lunar eclipse will last for three-and-a-half hours from its start as a partial eclipse at 1:33 a.m. ET to its finish at 5:01 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The previous lunar eclipse occurred June 26.
During a lunar eclipse you'll see an array of color changes as the moon, the Earth, and the sun align so that the sun's rays are shielded from the moon. An eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full,.
The moon will pass through the Earth's umbra - shadow - which blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. The moon will take on a dramatic red color, so says NASA.
Before and after the total eclipse, the moon will pass through the penumbra, or outer region of the Earth's shadow, where Earth blocks some of the sun's rays, but not all.
If you live in North America, Greenland and Iceland and Western Europe you'll see the beginning stages of the eclipse. Western Asia sees the later stages after moonrise.
Compiled from News Sources and NASA
Gerrie Ferris Finger

SEND A CHRISTMAS CARD TO A SOLDIER, SAILOR OR MARINE

Please take the time to address a Christmas card to a Recovering American military man or woman when you're addressing your Christmas cards this year.

TO:
A Recovering American in Uniform (you can specify Soldier, Sailor or Marine)
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
6900 Georgia Avenue,
NW Washington, DC 20307-5001.



If everyone sends one card, think how many cards these women and men who sacrificed their safety and lives to keep us safe and free, will receive.





Gerrie Ferris Finger


http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com/

FIVE GOLD RINGS - UP 30%

The Partridge in the Pear Tree is going to cost you more this Christmas.

If your Christmas list includes every item in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" list, cash in those bonds and sell your gold. It's going to cost almost a hundred grand, or to be precise, $96,824.

Trying to buy the 364 items from 12 drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree would be a 10.8 increase percent over last year,according to the annual Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management.

Think you might just try one of everything? That would cost only $23,439, or 9.2 percent more than last year.

But consider that gold prices are high, which pushed the cost of five gold rings up 30 percent to $649.95. So, too, the cost of hiring entertainers skyrocketed.

Not to mention the birds.

"There's no doubt that our feathered friends in general make up a good portion of the increase," a PNC weath management spokesman said. "The price of feed and availability led to a 78.6 percent increase in the price of two turtle doves, to $100 and a whopping 233 percent increase in the cost of three french hens, to $150.

Only four of the 12 gifts in the song didn't go up in price from last year: the pear tree ($149, not including the partridge), four calling birds ($599.96), six geese ($150) and the eight maids-a-milking ($58).

There you have it.

Gerrie Ferris Finger
From wire reports

http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com

BLUE MOON MONTH

A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, but other sources define it differently. The Farmer's Almanac defines blue moon as a fourth full moon in a season. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon. Odd, because that defines it in retrospect.

Curiously, often times the moon appears bluish, perhaps because of smoke (from volcanoes) or dust particles., or maybe people see blue because it's a blue moon.

Blue moon is also used colloquially to mean something that rarely happens, or, once in a blue moon.

Songwriters Rodgers and Hart gave it an additional meaning. In their song, Blue Moon, the protagonist of the song is relating a story of a stroke of luck so unlikely it must have taken place beneath a full moon, and since blue is also the color of sadness, this rare event is personified by a blue moon taking pity on a poor lonely, loveless singer.

Lyrics:
Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own, Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for, You heard me saying a prayer for, Someone I really could care for.

And then there suddenly appeared before me, Someone my arms could really hold, I heard you whisper "Darling please adore me," And when I looked to the moon it had turned to gold,
Blue moon, now I'm no longer alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own. Happy Blue Moon MonthGerrie Ferris Fingerhttp://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com

KEEP WRITING FUN

KEEP WRITING FUN

I got a call from a writer friend; a midlister who worries from contract to contract. She has three books with an intermediate indie publisher and worries if they'll buy her next book in the series.
Did I say worries twice? You already know my friend. Miss Anxiety.
I tell her to recover that feeling she had when she wrote her first book, or the first book the publisher bought.
"I used to think writing was fun," she said.
"It still can be," I said.
"I feel like an athlete. Over the hill and off the playing field - if I don't come up with a big plot and marvelous characters."
"You have a series; you've done that."
"What if they get stale?"
What if, what if? Miss Anxiety has become a stuck disc.
I'm a writer; and I suffer an occasional bout of the doubts, but I still think writing is fun. Not every manuscript I produce is going to be a winner with readers, editors, publishers… But I know when I wrote it, it was fun.
I wish I had more encouraging words for my friend, an elixir for writing-is-fun work. I've known her for years and I think her anxiety comes through in her work, which is a plus, because she writes edgy noir fiction.
Now, for me, it's back to the playing field.
Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com

I got a call from a writer friend; a midlister who worrie...

I got a call from a writer friend; a midlister who worries from contract to contract. She has three books with an intermediate indie publisher and worries if they'll buy her next book in the series.
Did I say worries twice? You already know my friend. Miss Anxiety.
I tell her to recover that feeling she had when she wrote her first book, or the first book the publisher bought.
"I used to think writing was fun," she said.
"It still can be," I said.
"I feel like an athlete. Over the hill and off the playing field - if I don't come up with a big plot and marvelous characters."
"You have a series; you've done that."
"What if they get stale?"
What if, what if? Miss Anxiety has become a stuck disc.
I'm a writer; and I suffer an occasional bout of the doubts, but I still think writing is fun. Not every manuscript I produce is going to be a winner with readers, editors, publishers… But I know when I wrote it, it was fun.
I wish I had more encouraging words for my friend, an elixir for writing-is-fun work. I've known her for years and I think her anxiety comes through in her work, which is a plus, because she writes edgy noir fiction.
Now, for me, it's back to the playing field.
Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME

ME, BETSY AND BOOK CLUBS

I can't stress enough the power of book clubs. I appeared at the Rivermont Women's Book Club in Atlanta this week. The members were so excited to have a "real live author" talk about her book. Brunch and mimosas over, we settled down to a white glove grilling. These women, after all, are southerners.
Afterward, I signed copies of my book. At other clubs, members share books or get them from libraries, which is fine. As authors we're really looking to build our brand by word of mouth. But these women bought their own copies. If they had ebooks, I signed bookmarks for them. Such a great time.
Next day, the secretary of the club got in touch with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (a newspaper from which I retired) and they ran an item about me and the book club. The hits on my website went out the roof, just like when the AJC reviewed my book.
Libraries and book clubs - do them.
Gerrie Ferris Finger THE END GAME
http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com/