Forum Romanum


Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Digest Number 1014
From:	wicachu@--------
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 04:52:44 EDT

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Free @Backup service! Click here for your free trial of @Backup.
@Backup is the most convenient way to securely protect and access
your files online. Try it now and receive 300 MyPoints.
http://click.egroups.com/1/6348/8/_/61050/_/969196646/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

Greetings all...cranky ol Mamma Brit peeking in to say hi and that moving is
a royal pain in the posterior and male children should be put into barrels
and fed through the hole till age 30. Three guesses as to how my week went :)

A few things this old witch would like to throw out for debate or thought
'mongst those who care to :

Nota Bene : The following is only the opinion of an irritable, querulous and
impatient old crone who is not officially affiliated with a bloody thing, nor
is her opinion to be taken as being official anything other than opinion.
This should not be read by those with weak stomachs, by those with problems
dealing with lunatics, or small household appliances. Clear as mud? Great!
Moving on :

In Mamma Brit's tradition ( tradition being like a church denomination...
Mamma Brit's tradition being Heinz 57) , divination is something done that
has 0 to do with supernatural things. Pendulums, crystal balls, mirrors,
moonstones, whatever the means used ( I've used all of the aforementioned)
merely are aids to allow the person to tap into things they already know on
some level. Imagine that you have a back yard. You build a fence across your
back yard. The things in your yard on the other side can no longer be seen.
Sometimes you can hear things, but not nearly as loudly or clearly. Sometimes
something hits your fence a foot from your head and scares the daylights out
of you. But you have no idea what it was, other than loud. Divination is
like the hammer you could use to yank a board out of your fence to see just
what in the heck is going on over there.. dang kids in my yard again ..
where's my gun. Nevermind.
I personally don't see how someone could kill a cow , take a look at the
remains and say " Oh yeah. Rain tomorrow for sure." There must be something
else going on that I, uncultured hag that I am, know nothing of. Being an
admitted Phillistine, I will smile and nod and say that different things
work for different people. More on that below.
I kind found this really interesting. Some strong thought here.
<< We do not "create" truth. We possess knowledge, or truth, when our
thoughts coincide with how things actually are. The old over-used adage
that
"what is true for you may not be true for someone else" is error. If there
are no gods at all, or if there are more than one, then my belief in a
single
deity is wrong. There is no "pluralism" of truth about it! The subjectivist
notion that truth is relative and that one belief is as good as another is
perhaps the lowest level to which Western Civilization has fallen. While
the
holding of diverse beliefs may be protected under civil law, it is absurd to
think that beliefs are all equal in worth or truth.
>>
May I submit to you... my parents :
" Wilk, turn the &$&% heater on. "
" Dianna, ( note the name eh?) it is already 78 degrees in here. The rest
of us are hot."
" I'm freezing to death."
" Wear more clothes!"
" Take some off!"
" $^&* Dianna, we do this every year."
" I want a divorce."
This is obviously a simplified example for the purposes of illustration.
Yes it was 78 degrees in the house. By the GODS the rest of us were about to
expire. Mother as usual was bundled up and shivering. Same condition, two
very different responses based on the individual. Yes yes I know this is a
physical example. Gimme a break . It's near 4 am and I'm tired.
I for one , must be glad that the plurality of belief is accepted. Why?
Because were it not, I would already be dead. Burned alive and sent to a hell
I do not believe in with the blessing of a god I call by another name. Now...
which belief is true? That will depend... on who you ask. For millions...
yours truly is the handmaiden of Satan. < curtsies> Which I find a tad
funny as I don't even believe in a Satan. My kind have been hiding from their
kind for longer than I want to admit. Given all the bad press one gets (
that soot -never- comes out of clothes) you'd think I would toe the line and
belive in the one true god etc. So why don't I? Because , in this battered,
scarred, naive and hopeful soul, one thing rings true. And the one holy and
apostolic church is not it.
Comparing religious thought systems is much like the classic apples and
oranges scenario. did I spell that right? ANyway... applying the values of
one to the thought of another doesn't work too well. Logic , which may be the
end all be all of one system, may just be a tool in another. Emotion
likewise. ANything.
Apologies to all who have been offended by the previous statements. I do
not mean to ruffle feathers overmuch. Merely to muddy the waters, cause
confusion and wreak havoc. KIDDING!! Gods... relax folks....

Iona Sententiosa Britaega

signing off for another however long.
Dont do anything I would and ya'll will be just fine.


Subject:	[novaroma] ante diem XV Kalendas October -- Ludi Romani
From:	Razenna <razenna@-------->
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 08:38:36 -0700


Subject:	[novaroma] In the latest Explorator
From:	Marcus Papirius Justus <papirius@-------->
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 13:47:40 -0600

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Special Offer-Earn 300 Points from MyPoints.com for trying @Backup
Get automatic protection and access to your important computer files.
Install today:
http://click.egroups.com/1/6347/8/_/61050/_/969212266/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

Items of interest from my newsletter:

Perhaps the biggest hype this week (especially in proportion to the
evidence which supposedly supports it) surrounds the discovery of a grave
of a female/woman/first feminist gladiator (what ... no one has
gladiatrix?) in London (the various items from the Times are probably most
worthwhile reading) (watch the wrap on the thisislondon piece; ditto for
the Telegraph) :

http://www.foxnews.com:80/science/091300/times_gladiator.sml
http://web.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2000/09/13/national/GLADIATOR13.htm
http://www.courierpress.com:80/cgi-bin/view.cgi?200009/13+grave091300_news.html+20000913
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_61670.html
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_58717.html
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk:80/news/pages/tim/2000/09/13/timnwsnws02039.html
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk:80/news/pages/tim/2000/09/13/timnwsnws01038.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/This_Britain/2000-09/gladiator130900.shtml
http://www.ngnews.com/news/2000/09/09132000/gladiator_3023.asp

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk:80/dynamic/lifestyle/review.html?in_review_id=315464&in_review_text_id=259305

http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000405944438668&rtmo=QxkzemHR&atmo=hhhhhhhe&pg=/et/00/9/13/nglad13.html

AT ABOUT COM

Latin Guide Janet Burns' latest pair on on the various shades of meaning in
agere, as well as a feature on Roman bread and grain (including recipes):

http://latin.about.com/library/weekly/aa091100a.htm
http://latin.about.com/library/weekly/aa090700.htm

ON THE NEWSSTANDS

Military History Quarterly has an excellent article by Rosemary Sheldon on
espionage in Ancient Rome:

http://www.thehistorynet.com/MHQ/articles/2000/autumn003_cover.htm

FOLLOWUPS

More from the Barhariyah oasis (it's pretty much the same article, but both
sites have short shelf lives):

http://www7.mercurycenter.com:80/premium/local/docs/tomb16.htm
http://www.latimes.com:80/news/state/20000916/t000087525.html

MILESTONES

This is utterly devoid of any ancient content, but since the guy is so
important to the creation of this newsletter, I thought folks might like to
read a nice little feature on the 40th anniversary/birthday of Juan Valdez
and his donkey:

http://www.thestar.com/editorial/updates/fyi/200009140_COLOMBIA-VAL.html


Subject:	[novaroma] Digest Number 1014 {Was Religious Thoughts}
From:	Lykaion1@--------
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 13:50:14 EDT

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
0% Introductory APR!
Instant Approval!
Aria Visa - get yours today.
http://click.egroups.com/1/7102/8/_/61050/_/969213018/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

In a message dated 9/17/00 9:19:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wicachu@--------
writes:

<< May I submit to you... my parents :
" Wilk, turn the &$&% heater on. "
" Dianna, ( note the name eh?) it is already 78 degrees in here. The rest
of us are hot."
" I'm freezing to death."
" Wear more clothes!"
" Take some off!"
" $^&* Dianna, we do this every year."
" I want a divorce."
This is obviously a simplified example for the purposes of illustration.

Yes it was 78 degrees in the house. By the GODS the rest of us were about to
expire. Mother as usual was bundled up and shivering. Same condition, two
very different responses based on the individual. Yes yes I know this is a
physical example. Gimme a break . It's near 4 am and I'm tired.>>

Festus: Yes, it was 78% according to the thermometer. That is the objective
fact. Your mother's personal feelings do not change the fact one bit. But
your mother was not disputing this fact. She was only saying she felt cold.
If she was saying that it was really 32%, she would be in error.

The difference between the objective and the subjective is this. When
something is said to be objective, it is the same for all people. It is
public, not private.

But when something is subjective, it is different {or at least can be
different} for you and me and for everyone else. It is private.

So, there is no conflict between the fact of the temperature being 78%, and
your mother feeling cold. She was not disputing the fact, but only saying
she felt cold, which could be explained by metabolism, blood, etc.

Turning from the temperature to religious questions, the objective nature of
these questions still remains. Either there is one god, more than one god,
or no gods. An eternal hell exists, or it does not. Your "feelings" on the
matter do not affect the reality of their existence or non-existence. If you
believe in many gods, and I in one, we cannot both be correct. We may both
be wrong. But it is silly to say "Ma Brit believes in many gods, so that is
belief is true, and Festus believes on one, so that belief is also true".


Subject:	[novaroma] Gladiatrix.
From:	Razenna <razenna@-------->
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 11:03:23 -0700


Subject:	[novaroma] and during the Ludi Romani
From:	Razenna <razenna@-------->
Date:	Sun, 17 Sep 2000 11:23:04 -0700