Category Archives: African

Through an Uskglass Darkly

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke – The author’s debut novel was recommended to me because I liked her Piranesi.This book was much longer and more complicated, but I liked it. It takes place in the early nineteenth … Continue reading

Posted in African, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Christmas, Comics, History, Holidays, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Relationships, Rick Riordan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ready to Fly ‘Round the World in the Shuffle Man’s Boot?

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any albums, or at least it feels like it’s been. Here are three recent releases I’ve been listening to. Pixies, Doggerel – I quite enjoy this album. I know some Pixies and Frank … Continue reading

Posted in African, Albums, Animals, Aztec, Egyptian, Frank Black/Black Francis, Humor, Mayan, Music, Mythology, Native American, Pixies, Poetry, Religion, Robyn Hitchcock, They Might Be Giants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We’re Sunk

The King in Yellow, by Robert Chambers – This Gothic horror story from the 1890s is largely notable for being incorporated into H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology. The title is that of a play that exists within the universe of the book, but … Continue reading

Posted in African, Authors, Book Reviews, Carribean, Catholicism, Characters, Christianity, Global Warming, Health, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Neil Gaiman, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Santeria, Science, Sesame Street, Television, Terry Pratchett, Voodoo, Yoruba | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Self Called Erewhon

Erewhon and Erewhon Revisited, by Samuel Butler – The son of an Anglican priest, Butler spent some years as a sheep farmer in New Zealand, and both of those things influenced this work. “Erewhon” is almost “nowhere” spelled backwards, making … Continue reading

Posted in African, Anglicanism, Authors, Book Reviews, Chinese, Christianity, Current Events, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Rick Riordan, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

You Can’t Sit at Our Table

Today, I wanted to look at the Table of Nations from Genesis 10. The Hebrew word that’s usually translated “nations” is goyim, which became gentilis in the Latin Vulgate. Both words have come to mean non-Jewish people in general, and … Continue reading

Posted in African, Christianity, Egyptian, Ethnicity, Etymology, Families, Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Language, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Prejudice, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When the World and I Were Young

Continuing on the theme of calendars from another recent post, I’ve done some investigation into different calculations of the age of the world. The Jewish calendar and the traditional Byzantine one both date from the Anno Mundi, or Year of … Continue reading

Posted in African, Babylonian, Chinese, Christianity, Eastern Orthodox, Egyptian, Greek Philosophy, Hinduism, History, Judaism, Mathematics, Mayan, Mythology, Native American, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Semitic, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three Period Pieces

For my first post of 2022, how about some movie reviews? Licorice Pizza – Beth and I saw this at the theater the other day, and she doesn’t even like licorice or pizza! No, this is a Paul Thomas Anderson … Continue reading

Posted in African, Celtic, Cold War, Conspiracy Theories, Egyptian, History, Humor, Magic, Music, Mythology, Names, Philosophy, Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As the Hours and the Days and the Weeks and the Months and the Years Go By

With this year soon coming to an end, I was thinking about whether there’s any connection between the number of days in a year and degrees in a circle, and apparently there is. Of course, a modern year doesn’t have … Continue reading

Posted in African, Astronomy, Babylonian, Christmas, Easter, Egyptian, Greek Mythology, History, Holidays, Islam, Judaism, Mathematics, Mesopotamia, Mythology, New Year's Day, Norse, Religion, Roman, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Get Off Your Ass

This might well be my last book review post of the year. I got an overview of the books I read in 2021 on Goodreads a few weeks ago, but I have no idea why they didn’t save it until … Continue reading

Posted in African, Animals, Authors, Babylonian, Book Reviews, Celtic, Characters, Conspiracy Theories, Egyptian, Hinduism, Korean, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Mayan, Monsters, Mythology, Native American, Navajo, october daye, Oz, Oz Authors, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Roman, seanan mcguire, Semitic, Voodoo, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My God Can Beat Up Your God

I can’t remember how I was originally signed up for Quora, but I do find it interesting to read some of the answers, especially about mythology. Like much of the Internet, answers are from both experts and people who are just … Continue reading

Posted in African, Babylonian, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Conspiracy Theories, Egyptian, Etymology, Feminism, Gender, Greek Mythology, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Politics, Prejudice, Relationships, Religion, Roman, Wicca | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments