Lammastide/Lughnasadh LightFest, Lionsgate, Two Full Moons in August +Tropical Cyclones & Hurricanes

LAMMASTIDE/LUGHNASADH LIGHTFEST, LIONSGATE, TWO FULL MOONS in AUGUST plus TROPICAL CYCLONES and HURRICANES

AUGUST EMERGING FROM SUBTERRANEAN (WATER-FILLED)WRITING CAVERN 2 GREET HEAT & then DIVE BACK DOWN BELOW SURFACE for MUSE-DIRECTED COOL

Euro Heatwave Hits All-time High, Ocean ‘HotTub’ temps in Florida

While tourists dive into Rome’s famed Trevi Fountain to keep cool, and Florida residents stay indoors w/ air conditioning on full blast, rather than take a dip in the Ocean at their local beach, then you know something weird is controlling our weather.

So, what’s up in Paradise?

Even Paradise Island resort-a short boat trip across the Florida Straits in Bahamian waters, connected by bridge from Nassau-reports their young honeymooners-along with older patrons-are hogging the indoor bar, rather than luxury poolside deckchairs on the lanai outside.

Music festival-goers are struggling to hear performers on stage from their ice-filled coolers set as a barricade under umbrellas to ward off (mosquitoes &) heat!

“June too soon; July stand by; August come it must; September remember; October all over”

Old Bahamian hurricane rhyme, now outdated

Helping Wildlife in the Heat

Meanwhile Europeans are struggling with triple digit [Fahrenheit]temperatures in a summer where many have agreed to conserve/enhance natural wildlife in farmland & natural parks-pix top middle: wilderness Glenfeshie rewilding preserve & lower l. Aberdeenshire private Scots pine replanting, w/protected 1826 Douglas Fir, upper rt brought as seedling from Pacific NW by David Douglas, given as gift to Moderator Church of Scotland whose residence it was at that time. Other pix top include protected species-wren; honey bee, w/ local shared beehive within same garden; Kirkton of Bourtie, ABD. Harvest, usually the domain of combine harvesters end August/September top lower rt, in full swing before end July 2023.

Irish god of Light, Lugh—from whom derives August fire festival of Lammas [Lughnasadh] is celebrated still, albeit camouflaged as Nevada desert’s Burning Man; but in ancient times the last handful of grain/sheaf of barley, oats, wheat was woven into a ‘corn dolly’ and hung on doorways & celebrated with bonfires after a field was cleared. The Lammas fire festival is still held by some communities in Scotland’s Northern Isles: it lasts for six weeks— from 3 weeks before>3 weeks after August 1st.

Lammas is happening NOW.

Unst in Shetland holds both the record for longest-lasting Lammas fire festival AND Hermaness, most northerly cherished headland of protected sea-birds, including puffin, greater & lesser kittywake, cormorant, black-backed gull, herring gull and guillemot.

The Gertrude Jekyll rose, top centre, bred by David Austin to commemorate the British horticultural genius & garden creator in her work with architect/life-long partner Edwin Lutyens. Together they designed English formal gardens, including Lindisfarne Castle, N.umberland, the Cenotaph,London.

Harvest this year progresses a month ahead of schedule in Scotland—c.f. winter solstice pic from 2002-20yr ago humour-farmer only just finished baling November, rolled them into position round RSC Kirkton of Bourtie ABD in lieu of missing megaliths -author photo aligned SSW to midwinter sunset viewed from Manse Glebe

Two Full Supermoons, August 1 & 30, 2023 Bright as Daylight

First supermoon of August—the full “Sturgeon” moon, according to Native American lore, is August 1st full moon, with its sister full Blue Moon (two occurring in one month) on August 30th, after the sun moves out of summery Leo into autumnal Virgo. A supermoon is one which nearly coincides with perigee—or, the closest the (full or new) Moon comes to the Earth along its elliptical orbit.

During Lionsgate-8/8 starting July 28 thru August 12, this year’s full Sturgeon Moon coincides w/ Delta Aquarid meteor shower which, because of the moon’s brilliance, may only be visible as sparkles in the sky, or completely outshone altogether.

Our Oversoul Shining thru 8/8 Lionsgate

Those who believe in the opportunity given by the Universal Consciousness to us hoomans in opening the Lionsgate on August 8th each year call themselves followers of Telosians—invisible beings who live in a subterranean cavern inside Mt. Shasta, accessible from a pool in central Mt. Shasta City-itself the source of the Sacramento River; and from snow-lined slopes of the great peak herself near Weed, CA.

Lionsgate 2023 is open between July 28-August 12th, with its peak on 8/8/23. Astro chart 11:11a.m. EST/03:11p.m. UT 08:11a.m. PDT/05a.m. Hawai’i ST Hilo,HI

Astrotheme chart shows detailed focus at midHeaven/MC Cancer with potent cluster round Sun, Venus retrograde in Leo. Grand trine of planets Mercury/Mars in earth sign Virgo with Jupiter, Moon & Uranus in Taurus & Pluto R in Aquarius-sign of ‘Great Awareness’ aka ‘big picture’ ❤

Saturn Retrograde awash in watery Pisces can inflict no harm in his solitude rocked by fellow Uranus R in its topsy turvy orbit.

This year Hawai’i & mid-Pacific islands e.g. Midway, Guam, French Frigate Shoals (pix below top & bottom rt) receive 8/8 energy first, with California, Oregon, WA, Alaska & Mexico next in line.

Significantly, Lionsgate opens end July, strengthening until its climax 8/8 & then diminishes until it closes on “Glorious Twelfth”.

Oldies from Scotland [‘Olde Countrie] may recall this was a day when lairds & their visitors to estates from Aberdeenshire thru Banffshire, to Moray & Inverness [also Argyll, Perthshire & thru Devil’s Elbow by way of Braemar & Cabrach in Highlands, to Caithness & Sutherland] took elaborate picnics-carried by servants-to remote shooting grouse moors; men of the party supplied with guns/women champagne while they wantonly massacred every flying creature in sight—from black grouse, to ptarmigan, even accidental crows, buzzards, eagle & blackbirds if they got in their line of fire. Subsequently, rich purple heather moorland [food source for grouse] was burned to ‘encourage’ a new crop for next year’s sport.

Polynesians & Hawai’ians Celebrate British Return of Sovereignty- mid-Pacific ‘Independence Day’ Festival La Ho’iho’i Ea

Seafaring Polynesians discovered Hawaii as early as A.D.200 by paddling double-hulled canoes across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean, pic below rt. When in 1778 British explorer James Cook became the first European to arrive, several chiefs ruled over different parts of the archipelago. Yet by 1810, King Kamehameha I had united Hawai’i’s eight-island chain as one kingdom.

During first half 19thC, British missionaries arrived & began to convert a population seen by them as heathen savages. American and European businessmen, hearing that the islands’ climate & landscape were perfect for growing sugar cane, began buying up plots of land.

La Ho’iho’ai Ea‘s origin links to King Kama-hameha III who on July 31,1843 succeeded in reclaiming his Hawai’ian kingdom after the British had occupied the Hawai’ian Islands for a period of five months. King Kamahameha III achievement is celebrated as Hawai’ian ‘Independence’ Day ❤

Queen Lili’uokalani took the throne in 1891 & attempted to restore rights of her people solely without interference from U.S. business interests, which her brother had allowed under duress, along with a free trade agreement that greatly favoured the islands’ Brit/U.S.sugar planters who by then controlled four-fifths of all farmable land.

In 1894 U.S. Minister to Hawai’i, John Stevens headed a conspiracy to overthrow her, ordered a nearby naval vessel to land troops ostensibly to protect U.S. residents, but surrounded the palace & told U.S.

“The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it”

John L. Stevens 1893 leading white militia Honolulu Rifles to depose Queen Lili’uokalani

The Queen agreed to step down so long as the U.S. recognized her sovereignty under law. Instead, President Grover Cleveland opposed the coup after learning she had been overthrown, and as most Hawai’ians opposed the coup, Cleveland’s administration urged for restoration of the monarchy. Instead the provisional government dug in its heels, establishing a Republic of Hawaii in July 1894.

The British did not go along with U.S. annexation, but the Queen agreed to abdicate in 1895.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, the islands became strategically important for U.S. troops fighting in the Philippines. Annexation of the islands happened August that year. Statehood was the next step.

There are 4,000 Polynesian residents currently in Hawai’i & both nationals celebrate La Ho’iho’ai Ea together.

Hawai’ians’ Abandon Ohana/Home for Las Vegas NV ‘Ninth Island’

Thus it is no giant leap for [Polynesian/Hawai’ian] Mankind that between 2011 & 2021, the mid-Pacific population of Clark County, NV grew by 40% to 22,000 people.

Since Covid passed, both Spring & Fall Pure Aloha Festivals have resumed at the Craig Ranch in N.Las Vegas, with authentic Hawaii’an music & dance, ukulele ‘slack key’ [open tuning in D], hula contests & more.

2023’s 17th Annual Pure Aloha Fall Festival will happen September 29th-October 2nd

Many native Hawai’ians-who grew up in the islands in simple outdoor-lifestyle homes akin to shacks at the bottom of grandpa’s garden on Oahu-have returned to their ancestral homes to visit, but have found economics of their Las Vegas life more achievable. Many now have bought homes, where ownership would have been out of reach in native Oahu or Maui, Hawai’i.

While Hawai’i governor Josh Green works hard to encourage local landowners, farming, & homegrown fruit/vegetable homesteading, Hawai’i is still considered the U.S.’s most expensive state to live in, as economics dictate importation of common household items-—from toilet rolls to automobiles—a luxury.

Dragons & Monsters—Hiding out for Centuries Waiting…Waiting…

A little light fantasy before we creative writers, Insecure scribblers, penwielders, pencil scratchers head back down our personal [rabbit hole] subterranean hideout for another session with our Muse.

Reflections of the gleaming sacred monstah icon above midpage,top l.& here, bottom rt. kept by anonymous warlock spellcaster in undisclosed [secret] location, or exposed for all to see on an historic dragon-shaped headland on 21stC Moray Firth at entrance to famed Loch Ness, above middle l., the dragon is a potent & intriguing symbol we are all drawn to.

Dutchsinse—see his Youtube channel—is an amateur volcanologist, with years of experience finding surprise geological events (& now surprise geographical ones) where the professionals forgot to look. In his latest discovery, he focuses on position of 18thC military Fort George sticking out like a #dragon’s head at the point where Loch Ness spills into the Moray Firth. On the ground it’s famed for its Garrison kirk & its founder King George IV [“fat Geordie”] who is traditionally credited with being wheeled to hunting grounds in Scotland [too hard for him to hike] & killing the nation’s last wolf.

Lying a stone’s throw across the Moray Firth at the mouth of Loch Ness-N of Inverness & the spit stretching out from Roseisle on the Black Isle across the water, the stark outline of a dragon/monster stands for all to see. Only we didn’t-until young Dutchsinse, above pic middle l. pointed it out. He elaborates how close to being the real Loch Ness Monster it is—with examples!

From my perspective, as a Pictish fanatic & believer in genealogy of the Pictish Chronicles & their Anglo-Saxon copies, it might well be the site of Pictish King Brideii whom Saint Columba [521-597] visited to try to convert to Iona version of Christianity. But the king’s chief Druid, Broichan dissuaded the king from listening and chastised Columba because in his exalted position, he should have had the [heavenly] power ‘to raise & still storms’. Columba was sent on his way without achieving his goal.

But there’s another hint for dragon-monster fans.

No modern historian has ever been able to identify Pictish king Brideii’s fortress. Urquhart Castle mound, on the W shore of Loch Ness is suggested, because of its extreme antiquity and proximity to [the monster &] Inverness; that’s in the Chronicles.

Nobody so far had proposed Fort George.

In Garrison kirk where military battalions guarding an 18thC fort gathered to worship, a miraculous stained glass window shows St.George piercing his angelic staff into his defeated opponent-a [dead] dragon. St.G is England’s patron & any six-year old can recite he killed a dragon. But how cosmic to find them here, hidden within a private chapel on a dragon-faced promontory on the edge of Monster territory.

Wildlife…and Wolves

In 1999, Dr Martyn Gorman, senior zoology lecturer at University of Aberdeen & vice chair of Mammal Society called for reintroduction of wolves to the Highlands and northern English countryside because at that time 350,000 young trees in commercial forests were being damaged by red deer.

Recently philanthropist & rewilding laird Paul Lister who bought Alladale Caledonian Forest in Sutherland North Scotland in 2003, has plans to reintroduce large carnivores into his wildlife reserve, such as wolves, lynx, and bear. He says farming interests [sheep farmers not keen] are not affected, as there is little agricultural activity in this far Northern county; and he affirms his type of reintroductions would be beneficial both to Scots tourism & economy-as it has been in the U.S.

Yellowstone Park recently reintroduced wolf into its forests.

Elk, CA is famous for its free-roaming Elk, above. One guy breathed heavily into my nostrils when I opened the car window ❤

Before we Submerge2 WritingCave, Moon Message from Dragons

Reminder: last night’s full Leo/Aquarius Moon is still 99% full tonight, only beginning to wane over the next few nights. High tides feature more than ever because Earth’s companion is so close & aligned to stir strong ocean movement. Surfers-enjoy! Beachgoers don’t bathe without proper equipment. Nature always wins.

Post scriptum

A Hawai’ian bumblebee stumbled into my medical bedchamber—its dimensions unbelievable: minimum cupcake size. But then it demonstrated that Mother Nature pairs intelligence with size. It flew [heavily-it was a hot day] towards the light of my [screen] window, put on the brakes as it got near enough to see no bee exit. Then, curving in best NASCAR style, it circled, found a gap in my cubicle curtains big enuff to buzz thru; kept on humming, aimed for the corridor with its outside glass sliding door &—clearly a highly bright boy—hovered. Could almost hear him thinking: “hoomans come in & out here”.

Sure enough, within two seconds, a nurse appeared from another ward with a bag of rubbish for the outdoor bin, punched her code into the door & yanked it sideways. Monsieur cupcake bee took off like a jet. Did I imagine it or did he turn & give me a black & gold blink from his huge eyes? Bless his little pollen socks ❤

p.p.s.

With gratitude to my much-appreciated followers<3

Bees & wolves & monstah thoughts preyed on my efforts earlier [last week’s draft prep4 blog] & my Firefox itchy finger pressed the publish button by mistake. Some of you will have read an opening title with several enormous unedited images before I managed to delete & do this one instead. Thanks for your attention-and patience. Hope this one makes up for it. Happy Lammas summer. Stay cool. ©2023MarianC.Youngblood

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Barons of Scotland Pave Way for Declaration of Independence

Seals of Scotland’s bravest & finest: crests shown: Cheyne of Duffus, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, and Gilbert de la Hay, Baron of Errol in Gowrie

BARONS OF SCOTLAND PAVE WAY FOR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
700 Years since Declaration of Arbroath 1320: Food for Writerly Thought in 2020

For so long as there shall but one hundred of us remain alive we will never give consent or subject ourselves to the dominion of the English. For it is not glory, it is not riches, neither is it honours, but it is liberty alone that we fight and contend for, which no honest man will lose but with his life
Barons of Scotland, April 6th, 1320 Aberbrothock

Arbroath, former Aberbrothock, is an historic royal burgh (town), North Sea fishing port, and holiday resort in the county of Angus, Northeast Scotland. Dundee, home to RSS Discovery (Capt.Robert F Scott’s frozen Antarctic vessel),jute, jam and journalism, lies 15miles south. Aberdeen 50 miles north.

It is famous today for Arbroath smokies—or smoked haddock ‘kippers’. And for its mediaeval Abbey, once foremost (richest) cathedral church and chief Benedictine monastery in the realm.

Founded 1178 by King William the Lion for Thomas à Becket, Arbroath Abbey served by 14thC as both secular parliament and most revered religious hub

Arbroath Abbey, the richest and most influential religious center in the North, was founded in 1178 by King William I, the Lion, of Scotland, who chose to be buried there. The Declaration of Arbroath, asserting Scotland’s independence from English rule, was a letter written 700 years ago this week to the (French) Pope by Bernard de Linton, Abbot of Arbroath and Chancellor of Scotland.

It is one of the great icons of the Scots, written in Latin to the Pope in Avignon, and signed by eight earls and 31 barons of Scotland. They plead with him to rescind excommunication—which the Roman Catholic church had just imposed on the King of Scots along with his earls and nobles, based on claims by the English king Edward. They ask him to acknowledge Scotland as an independent nation—which eventually he does.

It has been claimed to serve as model for slave-owning American landowners in their 1766 Declaration of Independence, but history may dispute that.

Drafted by Bishop of Aberdeen, Alexander de Kininmund, (d.1380) from his Pictish Palace of Kineddar, near Burghead, Moray, it was signed by Nobles and Parliament at Arbroath Abbey—richest and most elite religious and secular center of the land. Those nobles unable to attend sent their seals by messenger to the Chancellor, to be affixed to the final document. The Declaration was then sent by sea from the small fishing port to Pope John XXII at his court in Avignon. It left the harbour—looking much as it looks today—in a small fishing vessel on April 6th, 1320, headed for Provence and the Mediterranean coast.

By then, as the nation’s supreme cathedral church, the Abbey was enlarged through 14th-16th centuries inkeeping with its grandeur. The Abbey church at that time boasted the nation’s largest known stained glass windows—in the south transept. It replaced nearby St.Vigean’s (Pictish 8thC heraldic/religious stone center) and was briefly home to Aberdeenshire‘s Monymusk Reliquary, believed to hold relics of St. Columba, now housed in National Museum of Scotland.

Cancelled Celebrations and Call for Loyalty in 2021
It is no surprise to learn that the City & Burghers of Arbroath have announced cancellation of their long-awaited “700 Years” Festival for this year, but have rescheduled festivities for 2021. Hurrah for the smokies!

Signatories included the Earl Marischal Robert Keith, Gilbert de la Hay Constable of Scotland, the Earls of Mar, Fife, Ross & Sutherland, & Lords of Brechin, Kincardine, Lovat & Saltoun. No seal represents the Comyn Mormaer of Buchan

Scots, wha’ hae wi’ Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome tae yer gorey bed,
Or tae victorie

Now’s the day, an now’s the hour:
See the front o’ battle lour,
See approach proud Edward’s power
Chains and Slaverie

Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha will fill a coward’s grave?
Wha sae base as be a slave?
Let him turn an’ flee

Wha, for Scotland’s King and Law,
Freedom’s sword will strongly draw?
Freeman stan’, or Freeman fa’,
Let him on wi’ me…
Robert Burns, 1793, recently used as SNP anthem

Words put in the mouth of Robert I Brus, self-proclaimed king of Scots, on eve of Bannockburn, 1314. Reason for papal decress: Bruce, a west-coaster claiming royal lineage, had murdered last Pictish Earl and Mormaer, John “Red” Comyn of Buchan, 1306 on the altar of Greyfriars church, Dumfries. His army of followers subsequently put torch to all Comyn hunting lands in N.E.Scots landmass: Buchan——modern Aberdeenshire——and the people spoke of the Herschip o’ Buchan Caledonian hunting forests,”burning for 30 years” i.e. fires were still smoking during Bannockburn; Comyn’s descendants did not sign the Declaration, above left; no signature represents Buchan or half the landmass of NorthEast Scotland on the document.
[caveat:In 242 sq.miles of Buchan ‘Broch loons’ and ‘Doric quines’ still feel this way aboot R the B]

The Round O and Reid Lichties
We sympathize with all Scots at this time, particularly celebrants in the coastal town—so-called Reid Lichties*—for their temporarily-suspended Festival because of Corona virus precautions. Councillors and festival organizers have proposed April 2021 as the month they will be “ready to roll” once again.

Distinctive round window high in the 15thC south transept, top, was originally lit up at night as a beacon for mariners aiming for the North Sea port. It is known locally as the ‘Round O’. From this maritime tradition inhabitants of Arbroath are colloquially known as *’Reid Lichties’ (Scots reid = red). Not to be confused with any other red light district.<3

Earth Week now Earth Month
April, as we writing fanatics know, is A-to-Z Challenge month—2020 Challenge sign-up closes April 5th. So my writing cohorts, Insecure or otherwise may forgive me for sidestepping our usual first Wednesday blog-hopping ritual—and daily wordcount—in order to give precedence to Scotland’s historical milestone. I feel Arbroath deserves the mention. There are many American descendants of those noble families whose seals deck the document who may feel inspired to visit the great Abbey after all this medical stuff has blown over. I hope they will.

And we writers KNOW—when the Muse speaks, we listen. We ignore her at our peril. So what’s a few missed sentences between the centuries?

Post scriptum: On Christmas Day 1950, the Stone of Destiny—used in recent centuries for royal coronations—was removed from Westminster Abbey, London. On April 11, 1951, the missing stone was found lying on the site of the Abbey’s altar at Arbroath.
©2020 Marian Cameron Youngblood