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of Tibet

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Dreams

Published: 18 December 2010

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I dreamed that we finally made it to Tibet and were sitting in a Monastery, having breakfast or lunch or something. It was a long trip, we had to climb that mountain, the dream mountain wreathed in mists and riddled in caves with Tea Huts halfway up, (this I've dreamed of a few times, but have never reached the summit...), but it's behind us now and we can just enjoy the view.

This Monastery or Lamasery, it's a lot like the Banff Springs Hotel, or one of the better hotels in Prague. The ceilings are high and looking up I can see that I've painted my portrait over them all, I did that the last time I/we were here, a couple of years ago but I don't remember an awful lot more, the paintings aren't so good but I'm not too fussed, nobody is looking at the ceiling anyways....

Death Superstitions

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Ideas & Questions

Published: 18 December 2010

Hits: 2189

If you read a book, say by Hemingway, and a gun is mentioned in the first few pages we can surmise that someone will die by the end of the story. It's foreshadowing, and authors have a host of means to hint at or foreshadow the death of their characters.

Life, however, isn't usually so tidy as a novel. Which hasn't stopped people from arranging a host of superstitions which foreshadow the death of someone near or within the family. Take, for example, the Irish Banshee, the sight or sound of which foretells the death of someone near and dear. Or the Barguest, who if he doesn't directly cause your death may foreshadow it. Then there are the hosts of superstitions (some actually remarkably commonsensical) that virtually guarantee that no death goes unforshadowed. A few of which I've listed below:

• A live adder on the doorstep (I'd argue this is common sense, get rid of the adder and you'll probably live longer) 
• If your dog becomes rabid it foretells the death of someone in your family (if your rabid dog bites someone it almost guarantees it)
• Fleas leaving a body foreshadow the death of the host (possibly a sign of ill health)
• Rats leaving your house  (someone inside will die)
• 3 knocks heard on the door, then when answered no one is there (Usually means someone close to you has already died)
• A beetle walking over your shoe (foretells your own death)
• A broken clock suddenly chimes
• A single magpie circling the house, a dove circling, an eagles cry or a jackdaw settling on the house are all omens of death
• A bird (especially a robin) flies into the house (foreshadows death in the household)
• A Nightjar or Whippoorwill heard after dark foreshadows death
• A dog howling three times in the night or early morning
• To dream of birth or hares foreshadows death
• A white moth in the house or trying to enter or to see a butterfly at night foreshadows impending death
• If 13 sit at a table, one will be dead before the year is out
• If there is a corpse in the house all mirrors should be covered, otherwise anyone who views himself in one will die
• To point at a funeral will cause one to die within a month
• A funeral on a Friday will mean there's another death within the family before the year is out

There are of course many, many more and this is but the briefest of lists.

Read more here or start here on Wikipedia (sorry, they're not so tidily arranged but a bit of searching will lead you to a few). 

Ned Kelly

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Books

Published: 18 December 2010

Hits: 1818

OK, I've already mentioned it but thought I'd mention it again. "The True Story of the Kelly Gang" is a great book. But, doing a slight bit of research, it's almost entirely true and Peter Carey had to make surprisingly little up. It was an damned interesting subject before he tackled it.

Now if you want to read more about Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger and folk hero, start here. If you'd like to read Ned as spoken by Ned read The Jerilderie Letter. Neither of which articles are as long as the book, but the facts and testimony are remarkably consistent.

Or just pick up the Peter Carey book.