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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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This makes sense since people would need to know where specifically to look for hermits. The 'hermitage' will likely be somewhere prominent. And being able to find them day or night is, I suppose, a good thing, though I had not envisaged travel at night. However you do not say where this 'orthodox' view comes from (Christian hermits did not live on hilltops, did they?) nor why the word 'beacon' is used.
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DPCrisp
In: Bedfordshire
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Hmm. Is a whole range of hills called beacons only in megalith country, to the west of where there are proper roads? (I.e. the megaliths are not needed in the east: they and the beacons are concentrated in the west.)
Ivinghoe Beacon stands above the Icknield Way/Michael/Dragon Line, of course, but are there many others in England?
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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| Is a whole range of hills called beacons only in megalith country, to the west of where there are proper roads? (I.e. the megaliths are not needed in the east: they and the beacons are concentrated in the west.) |
It's hard to say whether megaliths were less numerous in the east or simply destroyed or dispersed. Stones have a tendency to crop up in village crosses, gateposts, kerbsides and so on, probably nicked from surrounding areas which may or may not have had circles and the like.
Not all high points have an obvious connection to beacon but their names are often suggestive (for instance Leith Hill, one of the highest if not the highest hills on the North Downs, which sounds very much like 'light').
| Ivinghoe Beacon stands above the Icknield Way/Michael/Dragon Line, of course, but are there many others in England? |
There was a whole network of beacons in the south apparently prior to the Armada so the assumption must be that all the coastal areas had some kind of beacon system in place.
Keith Briggs did a project to see if the beacon points in Dorset and Hampshire were intervisible and found that they were:
The blue squares stand for Armada beacons. There are several 'node' names (Nothe, Nath, etc.) which he links to OE: the element "node" are from Middle English (atten) Äd(e), meaning 'at the fire' or 'beacon'. Aten sounds like an Egyptian sun-god but I bow to his superior knowledge.
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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| Mick Harper wrote: | | The answer is...hermits ie employees of Hermes, people employed to live permanently out in the sticks (though at significant places). |
I lie prostrate before thee.
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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| you do not say where this 'orthodox' view comes from (Christian hermits did not live on hilltops, did they?) nor why the word 'beacon' is used. |
No-one in particular came up with the notion as far as I know, it simply appears in the general literature as it were. I don't think hermits were specifically Christian, just public-spirited or 'holy' if you prefer. Homesteads and farms can often be quite isolated, I suppose it would be worthwhile to tend a fire if it meant profiting from passing trade.
Beacon is said to derive from Old English (OE) word bēcun, there aren't many beacon place-names in the Anglo-Saxon record.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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| I lie prostrate before thee. |
Yes, the old magic never quite leaves me. And your quickness to see the importance of particular discoveries never leaves you. Which is why I am a little worried (since it presses directly on your space theories) that you have not picked up on the importance of my recent vapourings over on the The Funny Thing About Gravity... thread.
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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| Mick Harper wrote: | | Yes, the old magic never quite leaves me. And your quickness to see the importance of particular discoveries never leaves you. Which is why I am a little worried (since it presses directly on your space theories) that you have not picked up on the importance of my recent vapourings over on the The Funny Thing About Gravity... thread. |
I've been operating under the assumption I've no need to know how gravity works in order to make use of it.
However, you should know my work has progressed in secret (no one was paying attention when I was sharing it -- perhaps as a mystery, you'll all become breathlessly curious). I have been led to make larger use of magnetism than I anticipated. Not only that, I almost dare to guess "why" the universe "invented" magnetism in the first place.
I have explained so much more than before (though so much more remains).
As I have hinted, I have found the principal mechanism you have always needed for your "planetary gyroscope". I shared that detail with Chad. He knows it works. Not just in theory. It also matches the geography.
And Komori will be pleased to learn I've also explained why seashells suggest the Earth once spun much faster.
Thing about electro-magnetism though is that I need the assistance of an expert. I need my magnetic force to do a very specific thing but I don't know what are the present theoretical underpinnings of how it operates.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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Wasn't it me that first pointed out that magnetism could do all that is claimed for gravity?
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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| Mick Harper wrote: | | Wasn't it me that first pointed out theat magnetism could do all that is claimed for gravity? |
All?
Gravity affects all mass, including silicate rock. Magnetism -- rather conveniently as we shall see when all is revealed -- targets iron.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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The problem for the medieval scribe was that the written word, in book form was highly susceptible to attack by demons.
The scribes "solved" this problem by placing complex spirals and knot-work patterns around the borders of the pages as a distraction.
The demons would then became so entranced by these patterns they were unable to attack the written text.
So at one level the spiral functions as magic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotropaic_magic
Orthodoxy gets this.
But it cant take it further.
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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| Mick Harper wrote: | | Wasn't it me that first pointed out that magnetism could do all that is claimed for gravity? |
And electromagnetism can do even more.
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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Ok. And you will?
When?
Please say now.
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Wile E. Coyote
In: Arizona
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Our scribe is not engaged in "art" he is engaged in battle and should be understood accordingly.
The strategy is to defend the Word and the tactics are to use intricate patterns to disorientate the demons.
Our scribe is more a soldier than a artist. In his minds eye he is a saint taking on a serpent. The patterns evolve according to the "Fullerite Constant Tactical Factor" that states that every improvement in warfare is checked by a counter-improvement, causing the advantage to shift back and forth between the offensive (the demons) and the defensive (the scribe).
The success of the pattern is not how appealing it looks but whether the demons are defeated. The threat of defeat creates the need for innovation within the patterns.
The scribes strategy of disorientation is as old as deer hunting as modern as Clausewitzian center of gravity (COG).
The Strategy dictates the plan the tactics implement the strategy.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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Aren't you forgetting these are all late medieval forgeries trying to look 'Celtic'?
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Boreades
In: finity and beyond
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Mornington Crescent.
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