I always like to learn about heroines from history and legend, and today I decided to learn a little bit about the Swedish legend of Blenda, a woman from Småland who led the rural women of Värend in an attack on a pillaging Danish army and annihilated the invaders.
     According to the legend, the events took place in the time of Alle, King of the Geats, when this king lead the Geats in an attack against Norway. King Alle had marshalled not only the West Geats, but also the South Geats (or Riding Geats) of Småland, and so many men had left for Norway that the region was virtually defenseless.
     When the Danes learned of Småland's precarious situation, they took advantage of it and attacked the defenseless small lands. Blenda was a woman of noble descent in the Konga Hundred and she decided to send the fiery cross to rally all the womenfolk in the hundreds of Konga, Albo, Kinnevald, Norrvidinge and Uppvidinge. The women armies assembled on the Brávellir, which according to Smålandish tradition is located in Värend and not in Östergötland.
     The women approached the Danes and told them how much they were impressed with the Danish men. They invited the men to a banquet where they were provided with food and drink. After a long evening, the Danish warriors fell asleep and the women killed every single one of them with axes and staffs.
     When King Alle returned, he bestowed new rights on the women. They acquired equal inheritance with their brothers and husbands, the right always to wear a belt around their waists as a sign of eternal vigilance, the right to beat the drum at weddings, and so forth. The five hundreds were combined into the land of Värend, which means the "defense", since it was a bulwark for Geatland. Blenda's village was called Värnslanda and a location near the battle ground was called Bländinge.
     Damn!

 ~Ally

     Ever wished to quit your life for a bit and then starting it fresh? Here's a way to do it! Enjoy and have a nice rebooting!

~Ally

     Thanks to the unbelievable heat that seems to be always present in the town I live, I always wonder if I should buy myself a hand fan or not. After I discovered that it was used as a sort of a secret language in the 18th century, however, things got a little more interesting! So, as I know you're probably wondering which sign meant what in those days, here is a quick list!
    As most of us know, in that period the hand fan was both utilitarian as well as decorative. There were many kinds of fans, from the extremely plain paddle fans made from paper or wood, to the most ornate made of the finest silk and adorned with fine embroidery or painting. A lady was never seen in public without her fan, for it was not only used as a device for cooling oneself, but also as a means of discrete and quiet communication, as I said. What is most interesting (and romantic!) about it, though, is that both men and women understood the "language of the fan" and used it to communicate some very private sentiments while in the midst of some very public places.
     Some of the most commonly understood fan gestures were:

• A fan placed near the heart: "You have won my love."
• A closed fan touching the right eye: "When may I be allowed to see you?"
  

• The number of sticks shown answered the question: "At what hour?"

• Threatening gestures with a closed fan: "Do not be so imprudent"

• Half-opened fan pressed to the lips: "You may kiss me."

• Hands clasped together holding an open fan: "Forgive me."

• Covering the left ear with an open fan: "Do not betray our secret."

• Hiding the eyes behind an open fan: "I love you."

• Shutting a fully-opened fan slowly: "I promise to marry you."

• Drawing the fan across the eyes: "I am sorry."

• Touching the finger to the tip of the fan: "I wish to speak with you."

• Letting the fan rest on the right cheek: "Yes."

• Letting the fan rest on the left cheek: "No."

• Opening and closing the fan several times: "You are cruel"

• Dropping the fan: "We will be friends."

• Fanning slowly: "I am married."

• Fanning quickly: "I am engaged."

• Putting the fan handle to the lips: "Kiss me."

• Opening a fan wide: "Wait for me."

• Placing the fan behind the head: "Do not forget me"

• Placing the fan behind the head with finger extended: "Goodbye."

• Fan in right hand in front of face: "Follow me."

• Fan in left hand in front of face: "I am desirous of your acquaintance."

• Fan held over left ear: "I wish to get rid of you."

• Drawing the fan across the forehead: "You have changed."

• Twirling the fan in the left hand: "We are being watched."

• Twirling the fan in the right hand: "I love another."

• Carrying the open fan in the right hand: "You are too willing."

• Carrying the open fan in the left hand: "Come and talk to me."

• Drawing the fan through the hand: "I hate you!"

• Drawing the fan across the cheek: "I love you!"

• Presenting the fan shut: "Do you love me?"

     Now excuse me while I get a fan and become the weird girl with the fan in the next party.

~Ally

     Ever wondered how body language can influence our lives? Check out this documentary and learn more about it and how you can use it in your favor!

~Ally

     Back when I was in fourth grade, there was a day when the teacher asked us to read about and learn Morse Code. As all the other kids in class, I quicly read it, memorized some of the signals and soon forgot everything. But, since you never know when aliens could suddenly attack Earth and cut out our communications ("Independence Day", anyone?), I thought it would be useful to remember how the hell to use it. So there you have it. o  - o  o - - -  - - -  -o - - !

~ o- o-oo o-oo -o--

     Not that canonic lores mention it, but if I had to choose a time to become a werewolf (yes, that's the kind of question that populate my mind every single day), it would have to be on the Blood Moon. This time, though, I wasn't so lucky, since the sky this morning was very clouded where I live. Plus, I don't know of any cases of lycantropy nearby, so the chances of stumbling upon a werewolf and getting bitten were so small I didn't feel like getting up in the middle of the night. It will have to wait until next time!
     Anyway, the phenomena known as Blood Moon or Red Moon is caused by a lunar eclipse - when the Earth stands between the Sun and the Moon -, and, before it disappears, the Moon's light turns red because of the sunlight being tinted by Earth's atmosphere before it hits it. It's a beautiful and yet somewhat terrifying spectacle. I mean, can you imagine what ancient people thought about it? Some people say the Blood Moon happens before important and sometimes tragic occurrences in the world... Guess we'll have to wait and see!

~Ally

     A mummy of an Egyptian woman dating back to 700 A.D. has been recently scanned and revealed a tattoo on her thigh that displays the name of the biblical archangel Michael! The discovery, announced by researchers at the British Museum, was made during a research project that used advanced medical scans, including Computed Tomography (CT) images, to examine Egyptian mummies at a number of hospitals in the United Kingdom last year.
    The woman’s body was wrapped in a woolen and linen cloth before burial, and her remains were mummified in the desert heat. As deciphered by curators, the tattoo on her thigh, written in ancient Greek, reads Μιχαήλ, transliterated as M-I-X-A-H-A, or Michael. Curators at the museum speculate that the tattoo was a symbol worn for religious and spiritual protection, though they declined to offer additional details.
    According to the researchers, “like Greeks and Romans across the Mediterranean, the portion of the population that was literate was fascinated by the shapes of letters and delighted in making designs with letters in names. Hence, we have the odd shape of the tattoo composed of the letters.”
    Placing the name of a powerful heavenly protector on one's body by a tattoo or amulet was very common in antiquity, they said. “Christian women who were pregnant often placed amulets with divine or angelic names on bands on their abdomens to insure a safe delivery of their child”. The researchers also claim that “placing the name on the inner thigh, as with this mummy, may have had some meaning for the hopes of childbirth or protection against sexual violation, as in ‘This body is claimed and protected.’ Michael is an obvious identity for a tattoo, as this is the most powerful of angels.”

~Ally

     While reading the book series "The Mortal Instruments", I stumbled upon the word "Nephilim", which in the books means the race of the Shadow Hunters - a mix of humans with the blood of an Angel. You can than imagine my surprise when I saw this word while I read about fallen Angels for yesterday's post!
     According to traditional religious belief, Nephilim can be considered the offspring of the "Sons of God" (the Angels) and the "Daughters of Men" (human women) before the Deluge according to Genesis 6:4. The name is also used in reference to giants who inhabited Canaan at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan according to Numbers 13:33. A similar biblical Hebrew word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors.
     This became a very complicated subject, and it can be analyzed through many angles: for example, the New American Bible draws a parallel to the Epistle of Jude and the statements set forth in Genesis, suggesting that the Epistle refers implicitly to the paternity of nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth and had sexual intercourse with women. The footnotes of the Jerusalem Bible suggest that the Biblical author intended the nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race". Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus's statement that angels do not marry. Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.
     What about you? What do you think the Nephilim are? As for me, I think I'll continue with the Shadow Hunters view, at least until I gather more information about this subject!

~Ally

     Last week I went to the cinema to watch what I thought was going to be one of the best movies of 2014: Noah. At the end, I was very disappointed. Aronofsky turned the original story - which spoke about redemption and the purification of a fallen world - into a tale of a man who becomes addicted to the task of saving the innocent, that is, the animals, and simply refuses to save mankind, whether they're worthy or not. Sensationalist scenes of animal and human slaughter were also a big part of the movie, and they made me feel sick and unworthy of God's mercy. If that's what the director was going for - making everyone feel horrible just because we're human -, than, by all means, mission accomplished!
     But what bothered me the most was the story of the fallen angels, who are called "the Watchers" in the movie. While they added a sensitive and sensible tone to the story and "showed a probable way of how the Ark was built", their whole story is wrong!
     You see, being a Catholic, I was taught that the first fallen angel was none other than Lucifer. But, since I haven't read the Holy Bible yet, I decided to learn a little more about this and other fallen angels.
     The texts tell us that Lucifer was the left, creative, hand of God, created in a perfect state (Ezekiel 28:12,15). And he remained perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him (verse 15b), when they say “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” Lucifer apparently became so impressed with his own beauty, intelligence, power, and position that he began to desire for himself the honor and glory that belonged to God alone. The sin that corrupted Lucifer was self-generated pride. Apparently, this represents the actual beginning of sin in the universe—preceding the fall of the human Adam by an indeterminate time. Sin originated in the free will of Lucifer in which—with full understanding of the issues involved—he chose to rebel against the Creator. Than, this mighty angelic being was rightfully judged by God: “I threw you to the earth” (Ezekiel 28:18).
     In the movie, though, the fallen angels supposedly chose to fall, because they took pity on Adam and Eve and, because of that, God punished them turning their beautiful and perfect light forms into stone. [SPOILER ALERT] In the end, when the flood is beginning and humans are desperate to get in the Ark, the Watchers kill them and, because of it, they're forgiven by the Creator and allowed to return to the Heavens. That's a complete mess, if you ask me. But that's just my opinion. Did you watch Noah? If so, what did you think about it? Tell me in the comments!

~Ally

     Berserkers (or berserks) are described as Norse warriors who are primarily reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. What I didn't know about them was that most historians believe that these warriors may have worked themselves into a rage before battle through the consumption of drugged foods.
    The Úlfhéðnar (singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers, mentioned in the Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga, were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle. Úlfhéðnar are sometimes described as Odin's special warriors:

     "[Odin’s] men went without their mailcoats and were mad as hounds or wolves, bit their shields...they slew men, but neither fire nor iron had effect upon them. This is called 'going berserk."

     In addition, a helm-plate press from Torslunda depicts a scene of Odin with a berserker—"a wolf skinned warrior with the dancer in the bird-horned helm, which is generally interpreted as showing a scene indicative of a relationship between berserkgang... and the god Odin" — with a wolf pelt and a spear as distinguishing features.
     To "go berserk" can be also considered to “hamask”, which can be translated as “change form," in this case, as with the sense "enter a state of wild fury" and one who could transform as a berserker was typically thought of as “hamrammr” or “shapestrong”.
     Berserkers appear prominently in a multitude of other sagas and poems, many of which describe them as ravenous men who loot, plunder, and kill indiscriminately. Later, by Christian interpreters, the berserk was even viewed as a "heathen devil."
     The earliest surviving reference to the term "berserker" is in Haraldskvæði, a skaldic poem composed by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honour of King Harald Fairhair, as ulfheðnar ("men clad in wolf skins"). This translation from the Haraldskvæði saga describes Harald's berserkers:

"I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood,

Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated,
Those who wade out into battle?
Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle
They bear bloody shields.
Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight.
They form a closed group.
The prince in his wisdom puts trust in such men
Who hack through enemy shields."

      Emphasis has been placed on the frenzied nature of the berserkers, hence the modern sense of the word 'berserk.' However,  sources describe several other characteristics that have been ignored or neglected by modern commentators, such as Snorri's assertion that 'neither fire nor iron told upon them' and the sources frequently state that neither edged weapons nor fire affected the berserks, although they were not immune to clubs or other blunt instruments.      Similarly, Hrolf Kraki's champions refuse to retreat 'from fire or iron.' Another frequent motif refers to berserkers blunting their enemy's blades with spells, or a glance from their evil eyes. This appears as early as Beowulf where it is a characteristic attributed to Grendel. Both the fire eating and the immunity to edged weapons are reminiscent of tricks popularly ascribed to fakirs.
     In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, sentenced berserker warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, organised berserker war-bands had disappeared.
     Nowadays, the word "berserker" applies to anyone who fights with reckless abandon and disregard to even his own life, a concept used during the Vietnam War and in Vietnam-inspired literature and film. "Going berserk" in this context refers to a state induced by adrenaline (or military-issued amphetamine for long missions) in the human body and brain leading a soldier to fight with fearless rage and indifference, a state strikingly similar to that of the 9th century berserkers. "Going berserk" is also used colloquially to describe a person who is acting in a wild rage or in an uncontrolled and irrational manner. Furthermore,  "berserker" is also a well known character archetype and status in video games and other media.

~Ally