Blog Archives

Cinco De Mayo

4/30/2021

NOT JUST AN EXCUSE FOR A PARTY
Cinco de Mayo is a widely celebrated holiday in the US, particularly in the southwestern parts of the county, but like many other holidays in the US, the commercialization of Cinco de Mayo has obscured the meaning of the event being commemorated.

Having lived most of my life in Southern California, I grew up assuming it was celebrated everywhere with lots of music, dancing, food and margaritas, and everyone knew what they were celebrating.

came as a minor shock to learn so many people, including Mexican Americans, had no idea what is being commemorated or believe May 5 is either:
● Mexican Independence Day (which, in fact, occurred on September 16, 1810), fifty years earlier; or
● The anniversary of the defeat and expulsion of the French forces from Mexico (which did not happen until 1867).

This is amazing because there are at least a zillion articles on the web about the origins of the holiday.

The answer is simple enough. It’s an annual celebration commemorating the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over the much larger and better-equipped military forces of the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. Viola! Napoleon III, Emperor of the French Empire

Keep in mind the army of the French Empire, under the rule of Napoleon III, was considered the premier army in the world at the time. The victory boosted the morale of the Mexican army and created a sense of national unity among the people, but ultimately the battle was only a setback to the French occupation.

THE SPARK THAT LIT THE FLAME

The battle -- and therefore, the holiday -- had its roots in the French occupation of Mexico which took place after the end of the Mexican-American war and the Reform War (a civil war in Mexico over separation in of church and state and freedom of religion).

These wars left Mexico nearly bankrupt. In July, 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez called for a temporary moratorium on payment of debts for two years.

President Benito Juárez
Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives

Late that year, he landed troops at Veracruz. President Juárez retreated toward Mexico City, the French on his heels. At Puebla, the French met with determined resistance and the battle of Puebla took place.

The number of French troops, well-trained and well-supplied vastly outnumbered the rag-tag Mexican troops. The numbers vary depending on the source, but clearly the French expected it to be cake. It wasn’t, and the French withdrew in defeat … but not permanently.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE NORTH
News of the Battle of Puebla didn’t reach the Latino population of California for several weeks, but when it did there was lots of celebrating. California-based Latinos, who had been disheartened by the falling Union forces in the Civil War, truly turned the date into a memorable celebration. They raised funds to support the Mexican troops, formed a network of patriotic organizations, and linked the fight for freedom, democracy, and racial equality in Mexico to the struggles in the Civil War.

THE SHORT-LIVED FRENCH OCCUPATION
A year later, the French returned to Mexico with 30,000 troops, took Mexico City, and installed Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as Emperor Maximilian I who ruled Mexico from 1864-1867. Emperor Maximilian

Once the American Civil War was over (May, 1865), the United States began to provide military assistance to Mexico. The French began to withdraw, Maximilian was captured and executed, and by June of 1867 President Juárez was back in office.

On May 9, 1862, President Juárez declared May 5 as a national holiday. I found conflicting references as to whether or not Cinco de Mayo, today, is a federal holiday. However, all references indicated the date is largely ignored in Mexico, except in the state of Puebla, and is overshadowed by Independence Day and other holidays.

Once the American Civil War was over (May, 1865), the United States began to provide military assistance to Mexico. The French began to withdraw, Maximilian was captured and executed, and by June of 1867 President Juárez was back in office.

On May 9, 1862, President Juárez declared May 5 as a national holiday. I found conflicting references as to whether or not Cinco de Mayo, today, is a federal holiday. However, all references indicated the date is largely ignored in Mexico, except in the state of Puebla, and is overshadowed by Independence Day and other holidays.

WE ALL HAVE A REASON TO CELEBRATE
Although the holiday commemorates a battle between the Mexicans and the French and, in the long run, didn’t prevent the takeover by the French, it did several important things.

● First, it surprised the western world that the Mexicans won a victory over an army considered the best in the world, that hadn’t been defeated in nearly fifty years.

● Second, since the battle of Puebla, no country in the Americas has been invaded by a European nation.

● Third, without that defeat, France would have thrown its support to the Confederacy in the Civil War which might have resulted in a different outcome.

CINCO DE MAYO
Cinco de Mayo has been celebrated in California continuously since 1862, a hundred and fifty-five years. In the US this observance day has taken on a greater significance beyond that in Mexico, and is associated with the celebration of the of the Mexican-American culture and heritage. Some of the largest festivities take place in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Houston.

Omaha, Nebraska Traditional Dancing Los Angeles, California

Sources
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/cinco-de-mayo
http://www.ibtimes.com/cinco-de-mayo-facts-history-things-know-mexican-holiday-1905597
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/05/04/cinco-de-mayo-food-cuisine-mexican-holiday
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thehistoryofmexico/p/Seven-Facts-About-Cinco-De-Mayo.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo
http://www.mexica.net/literat/cinco.php
http://time.com/4313691/cinco-de-mayo-history/
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/cinco-de-mayo
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cinco-de-Mayo
https://insider.si.edu/2017/04/celebrating-history-behind-cinco-de-mayo/
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-people-in-mexico-celebrate-cinco-de-mayo
https://www.history.com/topics/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h101.html
http://blamemyfather.com/cinco-de-mayo/
https://grants.nmsu.edu/cinco-de-mayo-what-is-it-all-about/
https://thenib.com/cinco-de-mayo-isn-t-what-you-think-it-is
https://www.tastemade.com/articles/13-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-cinco-de-mayo
https://www.popsugar.com/latina/Real-Meaning-Behind-Cinco-de-Mayo-40579049
http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/808930/cinco-de-mayo-recipes-fiesta-food-and-drink
https://thebrandboy.com/cinco-de-mayo-messages/

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BOCCA DELLA VERITÁ: Drain or Ancient Lie Detector

4/23/2021

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The City of Rome is full of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of ancient and historical artifacts. I believe someone could live there a lifetime and not see everything. Part of the fun of just wandering around the city is the discovery of these wonderful pieces of art and architecture tucked away in small corners, ready to surprise and thrill the newcomer.

Unless you are on a tour that takes you to this location, The Bocca Della Veritá [The Mouth of Truth] is a rather unexpected find, located in the ancient cattle market in Piazza della Bocca della Verità, at the left side wall of the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin church.

Piazza della Bocca della Veritá. Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Image source: rome-roma.net/bocca-della-verita

WHAT IS THE BOCCA DELLA VERITÁ?
The Mouth of Truth itself in a disc shaped sculpture [a sort of mask] made of Pavonazzo marble, with the carving of a male face with wide open mouth, nostrils and eyes. The stone disc is 5’9” in diameter, seven inches thick, and weighs 2,800 pounds. [In photos the thickness appears to be over 7”, but that was the measurement I found.] The estimated age is 2200 years.

Source of images: romesightseeing.net/mouth-truth/

BITE ME
The name “Mouth of Truth” and the legend both originated in the fourteenth century. The legend warns that anyone not telling the truth who places a hand in the mouth of the sculpture will have it bitten off. Supposedly, Medieval Romans used the sculpture as an ancient lie detector for those who committed acts like adultery and perjury.

Piazza della Bocca della Verità served as the venue for trials of petty criminals. Those accused were asked to take an oath of honesty at the piazza by placing one hand in the mouth and then answering the questions of the “executioner” i.e. judge. If the executioner believed the person was telling the truth, nothing happened. When the judge did not trust the veracity of the accused, a hidden “executioner” with a sharp sword would slice off the hand. This gross demonstration was intended to punish criminals and at the same time encourage people to be more honest by creating fear of the consequences.

How’s that working out?”
Travelers who witnessed the trials believed it was magic and eventually the legend spread.

THE DUPLICITY OF WOMEN
The practice of using the Mouth to verify a wife’s adultery ‒ no mention of men being tested this way, or tested at all ‒ generated the following popular story/legend. A cunning woman accused of adultery had to undergo the test of the Bocca della Verità in front of her husband and a judge. She persuaded her lover to come with her disguised as a fool and at the crucial moment he mischievously embraced her. She could then swear, without fear, that no man apart from her husband and that fool had ever touched her.

The story was picked up by German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach, the Elder, who created a series of paintings illustrating the “duplicity of women.” Instead of the Mouth, he substitutes the image of a lion.

Image Credit: Lucas Cranach, The Elder Image Credit: Lucas Cranach, The Elder
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit% Image Source:wga.hu/cranach/lucas_elder

The stone was dubbed “The Mouth of Truth” in the middle of the 15th century. This superstition apparently appealed to the Romans and it persists still, although hundreds of thousands of tourists and Romans alike have put it to the test and miraculously retained the threatened appendage.

THE REAL PURPOSE
As with many artifacts from ancient times, the original purpose is not always clear. To consider the possible origin theories, it’s important to understand that this sculpture has always been located in this area of Rome, but its current location was not its first home. That is the big unknown.

Archaeologists know the disc was moved from its original location in the thirteenth century and placed in front of Santa Maria in Cosmedin; one source indicated it was placed against a wall. However, rome.us/ancient-rome says that “it was installed vertically only in 1632 by Pope Urbano VIII. At first, it was located directly in front of the church, and then – moved to the portico.” If this is true, the statement implies that the stone was not vertical before that.

● Drain Theory
Because the area was once a cattle market, some researchers believe the Bocca della Verità was used by merchants as a downpipe to drain the blood of the cattle slaughtered as a sacrifice to Hercules.

Another variation on the same theme is that it was a drain cover inside the nearby Temple of Hercules Victor, a pagan temple in Piazza Bocca della Verità [built 161-166]. Temple of Hercules Victor
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit

This small round temple had a round open space in the middle of the roof allowing rain to come in. As a drain, probably placed directly under the aperture, it would have provided for disposing of both rainwater and blood from sacrifices, plus the timing, location, and shape of the stone make this a viable possibility.

The outstanding anomaly with this theory is why a temple dedicated to the pagan god Hercules would include a sculpture with another god’s face on it. Apparently, no archeologist or historian believes the face is supposed to depict that of Hercules.

● Fountain/ Artistic Disc Theory
Another theory is that it is a remnant of a fountain dedicated to a pagan god, or was simply a decorative sculpture. Those are possible also. If so, it would have been mounted vertically, similar to the mounting of the Roman fountain, The Mask, below.

The Mask sculpture is much more recent and displays the manner in which Face Fountains are mounted and how they deteriorate with water flowing from the mouth. However, the concept of free standing fountain or wall display makes better sense in terms of whose likeness is represented on the sculpture.

Fountain of the Mask-Rome
Sculpture by Giacomo della Porta , 1593
Image Source: art.com/products/giacomo-della-porta

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
A great deal of debate is in this name, and no one will ever know for sure. In the meantime, some scientists believe it is meant to resemble the Greek god Oceanus, Titan god of the seas, preceding Poseidon as ruler of the world's oceans.

Other candidates include 1) Tiberinus, god of the Tiber River; 2) Faun, a creature from Roman mythology who is part human and part goat; and 3) Pan, the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs. I thought Faun and Pan are basically the same god.

Before 1953, the name of this artifact didn’t mean much unless you were a Roman, an architect, or an archaeologist. Then, in that year, the world was introduced to the monumental marble stone face in the film Roman Holiday, staring Audrey Hepburn, in her breakout role, and Gregory Peck. The movie was a hit, Audrey Hepburn was a hit, and the legend of the sculptured stone was a hit. It still is in 2021. In the photos below, Gregory Peck is telling the heroine the legend and pretends to lose his hand showing her.

By Trailer screenshotLicencing information: https://web.archive.org/web/20080321033709/http://www.sabucat.com/?pg=copyright and http://www.creativeclearance.com/guidelines.html#D2 - Roman Holiday trailer, Public Domain,
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2470305

REPLICAS AND DERIVITIVES
If you can’t get to Rome to see the real thing, this work of art has been replicated is many places. A full-size reproduction sits in the Alta Vista Gardens in California, and one of Jules Blanchard’s sculptures in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris depicts a woman with her hand in the sculpture's mouth.

You can buy a replica sculpture of your own to hang in the garden or drawings and photos to hang on your walls.

My replica sculpture is about 16” in diameter, and is very realistic… except for the toy duck one of my grandchildren put in his mouth.

JUST SAYIN’
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Sources:
it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit%C3%A0#/media/File:Roma_-_Santa_Maria_in_Cosmedin_5846.jpg
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-mouth-of-truth-rome-italy
https://rome.us/ancient-rome/mouth-of-truth.html
https://www.itertours.com/mouth-truth-story-behind-one-romes-recognizable-symbols/
https://www.romesightseeing.net/mouth-truth/#:~:text=The%20Mouth%20of%20Truth.%20La%20Bocca%20della%20Verit%C3%A0%2C,face%20with%20wide%20open%20mouth%2C%20nostrils%20and%20eyes.
https://www.watergallery.net/blog/a-look-back-at-ancient-roman-water-fountains/
Photographs:
https://www.art.com/products/p36985595387-sa-i9597927/giacomo-della-porta-rome-fountain-of-the-mask-1593-by-giacomo-della-porta-c-1540-1602.htm?savedConfig=true
https://www.rome-roma.net/en/bocca-della-verita.html
https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cranach/lucas_e/14/2bocca1.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit%C3%A0
https://www.art.com/products/p36985595387-sa-i9597927/giacomo-della-porta-rome-fountain-of-the-mask-1593-by-giacomo-della-porta-c-1540-1602.htm?savedConfig=true

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HUMANITY'S BACKUP PLAN: the Arch Mission

4/23/2021

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HD footage captured by ISS HDEV cameras on board the International Space Station.
By the courtesy of International Space Station: ( https://www.nasa.gov ).

HUMANITY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
Most humans on earth are living their lives, going on about their business as usual, with modifications caused by COVID. Some of us are advance thinkers who care about the future and are directly involved in encouraging and causing changes in an effort to make things better.

A group of these people have done more than sit around and debate the long-term future; they have created the Arch* Mission Foundation because, to quote their website: *pronounced Ark

“Humanity, we have a problem.
Our modern civilization, the most technically advanced in human history, has no backup. If a global catastrophe occurred today, most of our collective knowledge would be gone within a decade, and it would take centuries to re-build.
We have a moral obligation to our ancestors, and to our descendants, to help reduce the time it takes to re-build civilization by building archives that preserve knowledge.”

The purpose of this non-profit organization founded by Nova Spivack and Nick Slavin in 2015 [incorporated in 2016] is ”to continuously preserve and disseminate humanity’s most important knowledge across time and space for the benefit of future civilizations.” To carry out this purpose the foundation intends to build and maintain long-term data storage archives: i.e. redundant repositories of human knowledge called Arch Libraries.

These are designed to be the most durable records of human civilization and to survive in multiple locations on earth and across the solar system.

Since the foundation’s creation, more and more brilliant minds have been joining the project. The Arch Mission Foundation is supported through grants and donations, and several spinout companies have also been formed based on related research will help to support the Foundation in the future if they are successful. The goal of the organization is to become an independent, self-perpetuating, self-funding organization that will continue to support the itself indefinitely into the future.

THE FOUNDATION LIBRARY (SPACEX, 2018)
ARCH’s first mission was launched in 2018 by SpaceX on the Falcon Heavy Test launch. Its obit should take it around the sun for millions of years. This first Arch Library contains Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy which is riding in space with the rest of the library in the glove compartment of Elon Musk’s Cherry Red Tesla Roadster orbiting the Sun.

According to Wikipedia “In December 2017, when Arch co-founder Nova Spivack heard that SpaceX was launching a Tesla into Space, Spivack tweeted to Musk who jumped at the opportunity to include one [Arch library] on the mission - Musk was a book fan. Musk was also given the 1.1 disk for his private library.” wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Mission_Foundation

Image Source: arstechnica.com/2018s-most-commented-stories

Image Source: archmission.org/

The Arch library, which is expected to orbit the earth for “at least 30 million years… was created using a new technology, 5D optical storage in quartz, developed by our advisor Dr. Peter Kazansky and team at Southampton Univesity's
Optoelectronigs Research Center.” https://www.archmission.org/
Image Credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo
Image Source: Petapixel.Com/2018/02/13/Shot-Tesla-Roadster-Space-1-Million-Miles-Away/

Certainly the Roadster would draw attention, should anyone show up, plus current data and photos are beamed to earth in real time.

THE LUNAR LIBRARY I (SPACEIL 2019)
In 2019, a thirty-million-page library of books, data, images, a copy of English Wikipedia, Wearable Rosetta disc, the PanLex database, the Torah, children's drawings, a children's book inspired by the space launch, memoirs of a Holocaust survivor, Israel's national anthem ("Hatikvah"), the Israeli flag, and a copy of the Israeli Declaration of Independence was sent to the moon in the Israli Beresheet moon lander.

This was the first non-government and first Israeli mission to land on the moon. Well, land isn’t quite the right word. The lander’s gyroscopes failed, the main engine shut down, and Beresheet crashed landed on the moon.

Despite that, the contents of the Lunar Library one is believed to be intact on the moon, including the sample of tardigrades, a form of life that can go into suspended animation and survive in space.

At the time, the chairman of the foundation, Spivack, was accused of being a “space pirate” who had contaminated the moon.
Image Source: archmission.org/

Other scientists claimed that tardigrades already exist on the moon. That’s a stretch, but an interesting plot idea for a sci-fi novel because the rumor includes the speculation that human DNA was also part of the payload. Nove Spivack, Founder and Chairman
Image Source: marssociety.org/2019/

At the time, the chairman of the foundation, Spivack, was accused of being a “space pirate” who had contaminated the moon. Other scientists claimed that tardigrades already exist on the moon. That’s a stretch, but an interesting plot idea for a sci-fi novel because the rumor includes the speculation that human DNA was also part of the payload.

It is true the Lunar Library contains several vaults of secret content, one of which is David Copperfield’s magic secrets, a secret recipe of queso, a microscopic shrine including relics and spiritual texts and a sample of the Bodhi leaf from India.

The Library is housed within a 100 gram nanotechnology device that resembles a 120mm DVD. However it is actually composed of 25 nickel discs, each only 40 microns thick, that were made for the Arch Mission Foundation by NanoArchival. If you are interested in the technology, go to: https://www.archmission.org/spaceil

THE LEO LIBRARY (SPACECHAIN, 2018)In October 2018, SpaceChain and Arch Mission Foundation launched a cubesat ‒ a miniaturized satellite for space research that is slightly less than 4” square ‒ containing a live blockchain node into low-Earth orbit. The cubesat contained a copy of the English Wikipedia in a solid-state Arch Library.

◄ Image Source: archmission.org/

▼ Image source:/space.skyrocket.de/cubesat.htm

The LEO Library, is part of the Arch Mission’s Billion Year Archive™ initiative, which seeks to fill the solar system with indelible records of human civilization.

The is the first cubesat in a constellation of interplanetary blockchain nodes that ARCH Mission expects to send into space, with the goal to provide decentralized data synchronization and transactional infrastructure across the solar system.

More than 1350 cubesats have been launched successfully into orbit [total, not not just by Arch Mission] and more than 90 have been destroyed in launch failures.

THE LUNAR LIBRARY II (ASTROBOTIC, 2021)▼The second installment of the Lunar Library will be launched in 2021. This version contains additional information. The Arch Mission Foundation is delivering the second installment in the Lunar Library, containing additional content, in an upcoming mission with Astrobotic to the lunar surface.

This Chief Arch Library contains datasets of human knowledge and culture, including the entire Wikipedia in English, datasets from the Internet Archive, Project Gutenberg, and many more.

The Lunar Library 2 is printed on nickel NanoFiche, an ultra durable analog storage medium developed by Arch Mission Scientist, Bruce Ha.
Image Source: archmission.org/
WHO IS MAKING THE DECISIONS?
I was surprised to find little information on this project, other than from The Arch Foundation itself, and paltry discussions about the ramifications of the entire idea.

Personally, I believe this is an incredible commitment to humanity and its continuation. It may sound like science fiction to even assume the need for such libraries, but no one knows the future. So, kudos.

But I have to wonder who is making the decisions about what information should be put out there for humanity to need and find at some later date or for some other intelligent species to find. Will they be friends or enemies? How will they know who to interpret and learn the information? Are we giving away secrets that would enable other “bad aliens”, or “bad humans” for that matter, to conquer us? Image source▼: best-sci-fi-books.com/alien-invasion

How are we representing history and culture when there are such differences of opinion as to what happened?

I believe that those involved are making every effort to do the right thing. What amazes me is the lack of public discussion of the project, its goals, what information will be disseminated. I realize this is a private enterprise costing billions of dollars in private money, and I realize public interest and input could easily cause the project to never happen.

Still, isn’t it something we should be aware of?
JUST SAYIN’
□
Note: The Arch Mission Foundation,™ the Arch Solar Library™, the Arch Lunar Library™, the Arch Mars Library™, and Arch™ Libraries are trademarks of the Arch Mission Foundation

Sources:
https://www.archmission.org/
https://speedyessay.com/essay-the-advanced-thinker/
https://science.howstuffworks.com/lunar-library-backup-human-knowledge-on-moon.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Mission_Foundation
https://www.archmission.org/structure
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/02/spacex-test-sn9-faa-license/
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2/6/16981856/space-x-tesla-falcon-heavy-live-stream-mars
https://www.astrobotic.com/2018/5/15/arch-mission-foundation-partners-with-astrobotic-to-launch-historic-lunar-library
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/if-you-think-nasa-is-frustrated-with-spacex-youre-probably-right/
https://petapixel.com/2018/02/13/shot-tesla-roadster-space-1-million-miles-away/
https://www.facebook.com/archmission/?__xts__[0]=68.ARA7US6yZgNOm7yS7Z9S07r7zDj4bmyb62bSjKqDQvhrUvhdSijKvLhHzSDuJmT3HS2JcqVNzYTWHStB38O_kBYgcwzN6XuICPlIIScp9BW1DATF5HvsWOhMvveXVvYN_vYBRIOB653F3THWg2Ya5r6jzv6jcbQLpaP-9iO5BInKUp-Xr0Nk_g05GKCXVHWVN16bV9q_Th3f
Photos:
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/06/11/xplore-arch-mission-foundation-partner-fly-arch-libraries-moon-mars-venus-asteroids/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/elon-musk-e2-80-99s-spacex-violated-its-launch-license-in-explosive-starship-test-triggering-an-faa-probe/ar-BB1ddEj3?ocid=uxbndlbing
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/spacex-secures-contract-to-launch-nasas-spherex-astrophysics-mission/ar-BB1dr5Gm
https://www.marssociety.org/news/2019/09/16/arch-mission-foundation-chairman-nova-spivack-to-address-mars-society-convention/

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SAY GOODBYE TO TAX DAY

4/16/2021

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Image Credit: Charles M. Schulz
Image Source: forums.parentingclub.com/index.php?showtopic=521Charles M. Schulz

TAX DAY IS OVER
Whew! You can sit down and relax now. Have a glass of wine. Put up your feet. You’ve filed your income tax return, and for a while the pressure is off. Sometimes I believe filing taxes is the most stressful event of the year.

I’ll bet you thought there was nothing interesting about April 15, Income Tax Day ‒ and you were right ‒ but like everything else, Tax Day has a history.

Remember, the creation of our country had a lot to do with taxes.
“You know, the idea of taxation with representation
doesn’t appeal to me very much, either.”

THE ONLY THINGS CERTAIN IN THIS WORLD:
DEATH and TAXES

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote this in French in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, a French scientist. In the letter, Franklin was discussing the French Revolution. He also described the constitution that had recently been accepted in the United States and his hopes for its durability. Our founding Father was not referring to federal income taxes in his famous quote. But as we know now, Franklin had a lot of foresight.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT LINCOLN
Our 16th president might be not as popular if everyone knew he initiated the federal income tax. Still, he deserves a break. From July, 1776, to July, 1862, there was no federal income tax. It took almost a century before the reviled institution of the Internal Revenue Service was established by ‒ you guessed it ‒Abraham Lincoln.

Realizing that funding the Civil War would require a lot of money, President Lincoln and the US Congress enacted the Revenue Act of 1862. The legislation created the first income tax, the inheritance tax, and the Internal Revenue Service, all of which continue to haunt the American public to this day.

The tax then was 3% on all incomes over $800 [about $18,150 in 2020 dollars]. Later in the year, the income level was lowered, and a higher tax bracket was created.
newsweek.com/history-tax-day/2020

Actually, Lincoln’s idea to fund Civil War with taxes was not original. The Congress had already considered an income tax to fund the War 0f 1812, but did not carry it out.

Lincoln’s system was repealed in 1971 and the current system was not enacted until 1909. By 1913, after bugs about state sizes were worked out and all states were in agreement, 16th Amendment of the Constitution was enacted.

THE IDES OF MARCH
Tax Day started out in 1913 on March 1 but was shifted to March 15. Even I can remember lots of jokes about the similarity between the Ides of March and Tax Day.

In 1955, for no apparent reason, the due date was again changed, this time to April 15, which is still the deadline to date, unless it conflicts with certain holidays. According to Time, "They switched income-tax day from March 15 to April 15, thus giving the taxpayer an extra month to recover from Christmas expenses and sparing him the yearly ordeal of hearing and reading clichés about the ides of March."

The “official” reason given for the change was the need to spread out the IRS employee’s workload. Rumors run rampant and suggest it is a way for government to wait even longer to pay refunds so it can earn more interest.

DON’T GO THERE
You’ve probably been sitting on a pile of tax forms for weeks, and during that time, in addition to cursing, you’ve probably wondered how long the tax code is. You really don’t want to go there.

The federal tax code is said to have 44,000 pages and 721 different forms, “a testament to confusion over common sense." trygve.com/taxcode.html

In case that’s not clear enough, the full text of Title 26 has 5.5 million words, about four times as many as the bible.

JUST SAYIN’
□
Sources:
https://www.newsweek.com/history-tax-day-americas-first-taxes-why-deadline-april-15-1497809#:~:text=Abraham%20Lincoln%2C%20who%20was%20an%20American%20president%20from,the%20historical%20day%20that%20marks%20the%20future-changing%20decision.
https://time.com/3772455/april-15-history-tax-day/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Day
http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/income-tax-history.html
https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/personal-income-taxes/april-15-tax-day1.htm
Photos/Cartoons only:
https://www.frontiersman.com/opinions/cartoons/tax-day/image_ebd9a594-e250-11e4-8686-43236d63e0cf.html
https://www.pinterest.ca/
http://forums.parentingclub.com/index.php?showtopic=521
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/429671620670745990/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/16/cartoons-tax-day/

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YIKES! THAT AGAIN? OH, PFFT! Interjections, Onomatopoeia, and Prevarications

4/9/2021

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Not long ago I was searching for the correct spellings for uh-huh (agreement) and uh-uh (negation), since I invariably mix up the two, and in the process ran on to a number of articles on interjections. The definitions from one article to the next seemed inconsistent and the word lists given were definitely mixing parts of speech…or so it appeared.

My favorite soap box topic is “Know the rules. If you then choose to break them, it should be on purpose, not out of ignorance.” And, preferably, for a reason you can articulate. After all, words are the tools of the writer, so let’s get them right.

THE OH-SO-TEDIOUS PARTS OF SPEECH
Since this article is aimed at fiction writers, you don’t need a grammar lesson on parts of speech. However, it never hurts to remind yourself every now and then. I had learned – at least a hundred and fifty years ago – that there were eight parts of speech, but I found nine listed in Wikipedia.

1) Noun; 2) Verb; 3) Adjective; 4) Adverb; 5) Pronoun; 6) Preposition; 7) Conjunction; 8) Interjection; and 9) Article or (more recently) Determiner.

I must have lost one over the years and, frankly, the term “determiner” was new to me in this context. Ah, well… It really doesn’t matter. We all know everything in English grammar overlaps just about everything else at one time or another.

THE SPONTANEOUNS UTTERANCE
The best definition of an “Interjection” ‒ for me as a writer – is this: “An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection

Some grammarians deem interjections as least important of the nine parts of speech because they are not generally required in order for the meaning of the sentence to be clear. That might be true for technical writing and some non-fiction but, in fiction, anything that expresses on the page a spontaneous feeling or emotion is important.

Words on the page is all writers have to work with.

This part of speech occurs most often in informal dialogue, interrupting the flow of conversation with a word or phrase that indicates the speaker’s or view point character’s emotion or reaction to the content of the discussion. They are also found in letters or other written communications between people, or even in internal thoughts.

Almost any word or part of speech can be used as an interjection, but they are usually one or two words followed by an exclamation point. The interjection “Oh, gosh!” is a complete and grammatically correct sentence although it doesn’t have the requisite verb and subject.
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/interjections/what-is-an-interjection.html.

Who knew? Not many of the writers who judge writing contests… in my experience, anyway.

GETTING A BANG OUT OF ONOMATOPOEIA
“Onomatopoeia” has been one of my favorite words since grammar school, probably because it sounded so strange and no one else in my class could spell it.

Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia, and it is not a part of speech but more of a figure of speech.

The purpose of this literary device in writing is to add sensory description and depth to your writing. The reader can almost hear those sounds as they read through a written work. The words mimic the sounds, painting a more visual picture, and help the writer show and not tell.

There are a large variety of these categories of words: animal sounds, water sounds, music sounds, people sounds, ad infinitum. Good vocabulary and creative use of onomatopoeia can help a writer conquer the dreaded cliché by their coming up with a fresh description or by simply using one or two words.

WHEN LISTS MERGE
I’ve come full circle. Remember, I was concerned only about correct spelling, and I found this lovely list of “Interjections” which gave me the spelling I was looking for. In addition, the list contained words I suspected were not interjections: “belch”, for example.

Except in the case of little boys and teenagers, a blech is a spontaneous utterance and can definitely interrupt a conversation, but I challenge anyone to convince me the word “belch” expresses a feeling or reaction to the conversation. One might intuit physical feelings of the “belcher”, but the word is not intended to do so, and stomach upset most likely has nothing to do with the conversation. The same goes for a sneeze, a fart, and a number of other basic – or base – human onomatopoeia.

Keep in mind that onomatopoeia and interjections are two different concepts. They are not the same although many words can be both, as well as being a noun or verb at the same time. While there are many onomatopoeic words used correctly as interjections, it’s not all the time that an interjection imitates sounds. People don’t commonly use “oink” as an interjection in a conversation.

Just be cautious with lists from the internet unless you are confident of the writer’s credentials.

LITERARY PREVARICATIONS
Onomatopoeia mimics a sound. Interjections interrupt with a spontaneous word or phrase that expresses a feeling or reaction related to the conversation. And either one might be both, depending on context and punctuation. What could be simpler?

Still a source of ambiguity for me are words or human sounds which simply prevaricate. They are Time buyers. Place holders for a pause. A momentary lull in order to redirect one’s attention or to think of what to say, how much to say, a substitute for not knowing the answer when you should, etc. We’ve all been there.

For my own purposes, I have bestowed the term "Literary Prevarications" on these words/sounds.

Time buyers show up on lists of Interjections and, occasionally, on lists of onomatopoeia. The operative thought being that often they are intended as neither.. Some of the most obvious examples, from various lists, with explanations – by others, not me – of what they mean:

“ahh… ” ‒ this means relief or delight.
"er”         ‒ (sometimes “erm”) plays for time.
“hmm” ‒ extended as needed, suggests curiosity, confusion, consternation, or skepticism.
“huh” ‒ a sign of disbelief, confusion, or surprise. With a question mark, repetition.
“mmm” ‒ conveys palatable or palpable pleasure.
“oh”        ‒ is among the most versatile of interjections. Use it:
• to indicate comprehension or acknowledgment;
• with question mark, a request for verification;
• to preface direct address (“Oh, sir!”);
• as a sign of approximation or example (“Oh, about three days”);
• to express emotion or serves as a response to a pain or pleasure.
“sst” / “psst” ‒ calls for quiet or may be intended to attract someone’s attention.
“uh”        ‒ is an expression of skepticism or a delaying tactic.
“umm”   ‒ is a placeholder for a pause but also denotes skepticism.

NO AMBIGUITY, PLEASE
My point is that when writing fiction meanings should not be ambiguous. I’m convinced most authors want their readers to understand what they’re reading – unless the author is making something confusing or ambiguous on purpose. That’s okay.

The potential pitfall comes with the author who knows what the words and sentences mean, what the characters are thinking, their backgrounds, and everything that ultimately goes into the meaning of their words, actions, and thoughts.

Most of the time, the rest of the dialogue and actions render an interjection or onomatopoeia perfectly clear, so it is only occasionally that there might be some confusion. And if the author is aware of the possibility, he or she will most likely select the best words.

For example, when there could be doubt about the intent, the word “shh” is more likely to be understood as “be quiet”, “stop talking”, or “stop making noise” than the word “ssst”, which might be someone trying to attract someone’s attention without being too obvious.

Also, consistency can make a difference. I have a spy character who always hums “Mmm” when he can’t or doesn’t want to answer his girlfriend’s questions. He does not use that sound to mean anything else, not even – and I quote – palatable pleasure, which is the definition or feeling given to “Mmm” by one of the list-makers.

JUST SAYIN’
□
Note: See my "Resources" page for the best list I found for interjections, plus a few other I added from other lists.

Sources:
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/written-representations-of-sounds
https://surveyanyplace.com/the-ultimate-interjection-list/
https://blogs.transparent.com/english/onomatopoeia-the-sounds-we-make-and-how-to-spell-them/
http://writtensound.com/index.php
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/100-mostly-small-but-expressive-interjections
https://www.howtolinks.com/how-to-spell-grunt-sounds
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378216614002422
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271141148_distinguishing_onomatopoeias_from_interjections
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia
https://thinkwritten.com/onomatopoeia/
https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/onomatopoeia
https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/interjection
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/interjections/what-is-an-interjection.html
https://www.examples.com/education/onomatopoeia-sentence-examples.html
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/grammar-rules-for-writers
https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/quiz/jeu-quiz-onomatopees-interjections-onomatopoeia-eng
https://www.gigapromo.com/?q=grammar%20writing%20book&asid=giga_us_ba_gc4_02&de=c&ac=10025&cid=316705730&aid=1364494360306783&kid=kwd-85281133597227:loc-190&locale=en_us&msclkid=fedb7e152b6e1604564d1e743375519c
https://www.thoughtco.com/sounds-in-english-language-3111166#:~:text=%20the%2018%20consonant%20sounds%20%201%20b:,yawn%2018%20z:%20zipper%20and%20zap%20more
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-with-Sound-Interjections-Exclamations-and-Onomatopoeia-Words-4572492

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EASTER BEFORE EASTER BUNNIES: Medieval Easter Customs

4/2/2021

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Easter is of the one of the most important days in the Christian tradition. It is the Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the foundation upon which the Christian religions are built. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly 30 A.D. The precise year is debatable.

AFTER THE RESSURECTION
After the resurrection of Jesus, the apostles set out to spread the Word of Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. The early Gospel message was spread orally, probably Image Credit: By Surgun100 - Own work, Public Domain in Aramaic.
Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org/index.php ▲ There was no real. “organized” religion or church at that
time. Instead, there were enclaves of Jewish Christians who tended to develop their own interpretations and doctrines.

Dark blue-Spread of Christianity to AD 325 / Light blue-Spread of Christianity to AD 600
Christians in the 3rd-4th Century & Constantine - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
▼Image Souree: islideserve.com/zachary-dean/christians-3rd-4th

Because the early Christians were Jewish, it is logical that they were first to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Such observances took place in relation to Passover. A more Christian observation of Easter, the festival of Pascha, first appeared in the middle of the 2nd century.

By then, there was a more formal structure which evolved from early Jewish-Christian communities, and variant Christian doctrines developed. Christianity grew apart from Judaism, creating its own identity.

In 325 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine the First called together a council of about 300 Christian bishops in the city of Nicaea, to develop a consensus regarding the issues that divided the leaders, including the name of the religion, and also the date upon which Easter (Ressurection Sunday) would be celebrated.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
“Easter” is the English word for “Pascha” which is directly related to the Jewish Passover, the commemoration of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt.
▼ Image Source: christianbook.com/ecclesiastical-history-of-the-english-people/

This name in Hebrew was פֶּסַח pesach; in Aramaic; פָּסחָא pascha; Greek, Πάσχα (Pascha); and Latin, Pascha. The earliest written mention of Pascha in reference the Resurrection of Christ was in the middle of the 1st century AD by Paul the Apostle, writing to the Christians in Corinth.

The word “Easter” appears in the 6th century’s “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” written by Saint Bede the Venerable. This text claims the word Easter derives from “Eostre (or Eostrae)”, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Other historians claim the name derives from a Latin phrase which, in plural, means dawn. The word dawn/alba became “eostarum” in German, a precursor to the English language.
Isn’t etymology fun?

WHAT’S IN A DATE?
Following the etymology of the name for this celebration is a piece of cake compared to figuring out the day to celebrate the Resurrection.

The calculation begins simply. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is cited in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans, which occurred in 30 AD -- A piece of cake!
A five-part Russian Orthodox icon depicting the Easter story.
Eastern Orthodox Christians use a different computation for the date of Easter than the Western churches.
Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org/3200390 ▼

Then the calculations get complicated. According to Flavius Josephus, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea from AD 26 until he was replaced by Marcellus, either in AD 36 or AD 37, establishing the date of the death of Jesus between 26 AD and 37 AD.

According to the Gospel of John, the resurrection of Jesus happened to fall on Saturday, not Friday. aethelmearcgazette.com/medieval-easter-traditions/

And why does Easter (aka Resurrection Sunday) fall on different dates in various parts of the world and among different denominations of Christianity? Eastern Orthodox Christians and Western Christians celebrate at different times because the west still goes by the old Julian calendar to set the date of Easter, even though we use the Gregorian calendar for fixed feasts like Christmas.

The controversy over when to celebrate Easter continued for years because of the differences between the Hebrew and Julian calendars and the way Passover is established in the Bible. Hebrew Calendar ▼ image source: pinterest.com/495958977703692715

The matter was not settled until the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD), which decided to ditch the Hebrew lunisolar calendar in favor of the Julian Calendar (developed under Julius Caesar), a solar calendar based on the best scientific and astronomical information available at the time.

That was later modified under Augustus Caesar and used until The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582l. Over the years, that calendar has been refined to be more accurate, but not without more controversy and complications.

Today Easter “comes the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter
If that doesn’t clarify things, forget the calculations and look on the internet for the date.

EASTER IN THE MIDDLE AGES

▲ Art from a 13th Century Missal
Image Source: tor.com/the-medieval-origins-of-easter-traditions/

The early middle ages date from around 500 to 1000 AD; the high middles ages run from 1000 to 1300 AD. The material I found on Easter in the middle ages makes no distinction between the two eras, nor does it identify where these customs developed. Most likely these are European traditions.

The Easter celebrations are surprising similar to today’s practices, with a few major difference.

● Holy Week
Holy Week is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. The three days before Easter — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — were called the Triduum. The people spent most of the day in almost-completely-dark churches for the services called Tenebrae. During this period, no one was allowed the Holy Eucharist.

While today Christians attended services on those days, they are not held in the dark. I guess they didn’t worry about public liability in those days.

● Sunrise Service
Easter Sunday began at dawn with the congregation gathering outside the church to sing hymns. Then the priest would lead them into the church for a joyful service, and the congregation received Holy Communion. At the end, the people would be dismissed in grace and forgiveness, and then enjoy a great feast.

In the twenty-first century, Easter celebrations often include going to church followed by a special meal, except that nowadays we haven’t been fasting for three days.

● New Clothes Image Source: steel-mastery.com/middle-ages-clothing ►
This was the time of year when people got new clothes. It was the custom that the local nobility had their new clothes made for them, and then passed their older clothes to the servants. The servants kept some and handed the rest to relatives, and so on. And if you were going to sew new clothes for yourself, this was the time of year to do it.

How often have you had new clothes for Easter? Maybe we don’t walk in the Easter Parade, but it’s often a good time to have something new to wear.

● The Big Feast
Following the Church services, there was a big feast. After eating only fish for forty days, the people were ready to party.

Feasts were a serious matter in the middle ages. At least for the nobility, they were colorful and a great deal of attention went in to appearance. In some cases, the lord of the manor would give a feast for the servants. Some believe that was a symbol for Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and serving them. The practice is also reminiscent of certain Roman festivals.
If you were fortunate enough to dine with the nobility, you would enjoy jesters, minstrels, troubadours, acrobats, or conjurers. Demonstration of falconry and jousting were also forms of entertainment.

The menu often consisted of three to six courses. The first course would probably include a civet of hare, a quarter of stag, stuffed chicken, and loin of veal. For the second course, gilt sugar plums and pomegranate seeds covered in German sauce, plums stewed in rose-water. Sliced cheeses, creams, ham, and strawberries might be another course. The last was the finest wines. And don’t forget the eggs.

● Eggs
Eggs at the Easter meal were a big treat, because they were forbidden during lent. Eggs laid during the period were boiled and preserved. For forty days? Pew!

However, I learned that fresh eggs (the ones you collect from the chicken coop on the farm) can stay unrefrigerated for a month or more. organicfeeds.com/fresh-chicken-eggs-last/

▼Image Source: medievalisterrant.wordpress.com/medieval-easter

Since pickled eggs were popular from the middles ages into the 1800’s, I imagine that this was one of the methods used to preserve them during Lent.

But the Medieval folks did more than eat them. They also painted them and rolled them down low hills as a game. The practice of painting eggs dates far back in history when decorated shells were part of the rites of spring. One source said these were Ostrich eggs, which probably applied to eastern Christians, rather than Europeans.

“Early Christians of Mesopotamia painted them red to symbolize the blood of Christ. The Medievalist Errant notes, “In 1276, Eleanor and Simon de Montfort bought 3700 eggs for their celebration, and in 1290 Edward I’s accounts show that he paid to have 450 eggs decorated with gold leaf.” Eggs were hidden for children to find as an allegory for the disciples finding the risen Christ in the tomb on Easter morning."
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2015/04/05/medieval-easter-traditions/

Other accounts claim that hiding eggs was a German practice that didn’t come about until the 1700’s. Germans painted them green and hung them on trees.

● “Hock Monday and Tuesday”
“Hock” Monday, the day after Easter, young women would “capture” young men and not release them until they made a donation to the church. On “Hock” Tuesday the young men would capture the girls. I’m not sure this practice exists today.
There are places still where the day after Easter is a holiday as well, but for most of us, it’s back to work or school.

So all in all, there isn’t much difference between the medieval celebrations and our own, except for the Easter Bunny phenomenon which is another whole blog -- and just as controversy as everything else.

Just Sayin’
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Sources:
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2015/04/05/medieval-easter-traditions/
https://medievalisterrant.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/medieval-easter-traditions/
https://medievalisterrant.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/medieval-easter-traditions/
https://www.tor.com/2019/04/19/the-medieval-origins-of-easter-traditions/
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/easter-ideas/g191/history-easter-traditions/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday
http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/17394
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/worship-in-the-supposed-dark-ages/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity#Early_Christianity_(c._31/33%E2%80%93324)
organicfeeds.com/how-long-can-fresh-backyard-chicken-eggs-last/
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1205
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/...
https://merovingianworld.com/2015/04/03/easter-and-co-ordinating-time-in-the-early-middle-ages/#:~:text=In%20the%20early%20Middle%20Ages%2C%20as%20Roman%20imperial,portion%20of%20the%20rest%20of%20the%20liturgical%20calendar.
https://themiddleagesportfolio.weebly.com/medieval-food-and-feasts.html#:~:text=Some%20types%20of%20food%20that%20were%20traditionally%20served,plums%20and%20pomegranate%20seeds%20covered%20in%20German%20sauce.
https://realfoodforager.com/recipe-purple-pickled-eggs/#:~:text=Pickled%20eggs%20were%20popular%20in%20the%20middle%20ages,rage%20in%20pubs%20and%20bars%20until%20the%201970%E2%80%99s.
Sources of Photos/ images
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2015/04/05/medieval-easter-traditions/
https://www.tor.com/2019/04/19/the-medieval-origins-of-easter-traditions/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=313273
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P%C3%B6tting_Kirchenfenster_7_Osterlamm.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3200390
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=313273
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8724640
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/a-history-of-the-english-church-and-people_bede/282805/item/1238888/?mkwid=Vp0rZzwJ%7cdc&pcrid=11558858428&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=1238888&plc=&pgrid=3970769502&ptaid=pla-1101002859940&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_camp

https://www.wattpad.com/237404088-the-goddess-eostre-eostre-and-eos
https://www.slideserve.com/zachary-dean/christians-in-the-3rd-4th-century-constantine
https://steel-mastery.com/middle-ages-women-s-clothing.html

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Cinco De Mayo

BOCCA DELLA VERITÁ: Drain or Ancient Lie Detector

HUMANITY'S BACKUP PLAN: the Arch Mission

SAY GOODBYE TO TAX DAY

YIKES! THAT AGAIN? OH, PFFT! Interjections, Onomatopoeia, and Prevarications

EASTER BEFORE EASTER BUNNIES: Medieval Easter Customs

Author R. Ann Siracusa

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