Further to yesterday's blog....

I'd like to thank my good buddy Rick, who took the time to research the missing link in my Claddagh blog: Beathauile.

Ricky writes, "the crown represents Beathauile. Beathauile does not appear to be a person or a god but appears to represent all of life. Gaelic-English dictionaries indicate that beatha translates to the word life and uile to the word whole or all."

All in all, to me, the Claddagh quite possibly is the most complete symbol of human relationship to have been wrought by man.

For all my Claddagh wearin' friends...

There are many stories...so I've done my best to bring it all to a coherent whole. Keep in mind, the fables are mixed and I bring you the ones, or part of the ones I found most interesting.

We start by going back, back, back to the time of the gods. There's the Dagda--the father of the gods. He was a powerful fellow...he had the ability to make the sun stand still, which he did once and stretched a day and a night into nine months during which time he bedded with a goddess he lusted after and also during which time she bore him a son...but that's another story. The Dagda, some say, represents the Right hand of the Claddagh ring.

Then there's Anu. In early times she was the ancestral and universal mother of the Celts. She later became known as Danu. It would appear she chose, at one time or another, to change her name. Perhaps she didn't like the old one. I know she's not alone in this mode of thinking. In any case Anu supposedly represents the Left hand of the Claddagh ring.

Beathauile represents the Crown. Unfortunately, I do not know who or what Beathauile is...I did not have time to research it...and if anyone knows and cares to pass it on, I, for one, would appreciate it.

The heart represents the hearts of all of mankind...and also represents that element which gives everlasting music to the Gael.

We now shoot forward through the eons of time and place ourselves in the small fishing village of Claddagh, near Galway city. This is where the ring supposedly originated. In the village's earlier times, the design of the ring was the symbol of the "Fishing Kings of Claddagh", the meaning being then, "in love and friendship let us reign."

There is a tale that tells of a king who was madly in love with a peasant woman. Now we all know from experience that these things can't work out, don't we? In any case, because she was of lower class, his love had to go unrequited. Poor king couldn't handle the turmoil in his soul, so, in the dredges of depression, he killed himself and had his hands severed and placed around his heart as a symbol of his undying love for the peasant woman. But this is only a folk tale. The TRUE story follows....

One Richard Joyce (or Ioyce), a native of Galway, was being shipped by sea to be sold as a slave to the West Indies plantation owners. However, the seas weren't safe, and he was captured by a band of Mediterranean pirates and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who taught him the craft of goldsmithing. The year is now 1689. Joyce is released and returns to Galway and then sets up shop in Claddagh where he designs this terrific ring. Everybody loves it. He did one heck of a job. All of Ireland wants one. The years pass. The great Famine of 1847-1849 causes a mass exodus from the West, and with that exodus spreads the fame of the Claddagh ring. These rings were kept as heirlooms, passed on from mother to daughter. It was not till the high scale production techniques of today that everyone could be the proud owner of one of these magnificent rings. Today, the ring is worn throughout Ireland, and this is the way it's supposed to be done.

1--On the right hand, crown in heart out, the wearer is free as the birds in the sky.

2--On the right hand, crown out heart in, the wearer is spoken for, so lay off!

3--On the left hand, place of choice, heart in crown out, wearer is happily committed (married) for evermore.

I have made the above gender neutral, which is only fair. It's a new era. Historically, only women wore this ring. . .historically men did not wear wedding or commitment rings at all. If you were the king or bishop, you wore the ring of state or church (generally on the middle finger). Some men wore military, fraternal or coats-of-arms rings, but only on the pinkie.

The first Claddagh I saw was waaaaaaaaay back in 1967 or so. A relative of my late husband wore one as a wedding ring. The image above is the closest I could come to her ring. It's beautiful.

Wear them in good health!!!

What is Jell-O????

As an aspiring and halfway-successful vegetarian, I eat a lot of jello. I thought JELL-O was made from plant slime and, therefore, I could eat it without regret. As it turns out, because Jews can eat it with milk products and still stay kosher, I can continue to eat it, but wonder if I should.

Sometimes
the most innocuous of foodstuffs contain constituents whose origins are less than appetizing. Such is the case with JELL-O, a dessert that has graced millions of dinner tables since its 1897 debut. Underneath JELL-O's jiggly wholesomeness lurks a secret many consumers are disconcerted to learn: JELL-O is made from gelatin, which is an animal product rendered from the hides and bones of animals. The production of gelatin starts with the boiling of bones, skins, and hides of cows and pigs, a process that releases the protein-rich collagen from animal tissues. The collagen is boiled and filtered numerous times, dried, and ground to a powder. Because the collagen is processed extensively, the final product is not categorized as a meat or animal product (huh?!?!) by the federal government. Very strict vegetarians avoid gelatin entirely, but more permissive vegetarians have no problem including JELL-O in their diets. Even Jewish dietary law classifies gelatin as neither milk nor meat -- so animal-derived gelatin (even the piggy part) can be certified as kosher (huh?!?!) and consumed with dairy products. That ain't right!!!

Popular belief has it that gelatin comes from horses' and cows' hooves. Kraft, the maker of the JELL-O brand, asserts that hooves do not contain the necessary collagen and therefore are not used in the production of their JELL-O brand gelatin product. (That's reassuring, isn't it!)

Would you not think that if the ancestry of JELL-O originally had breath, moo-ed and oink-ed and kicked around on the Earth that it would be animal???

Go figger!

Monday, Monday....

Dear, O Dear! I can't publish photos. Blogs without photos appear to be so bland; but they're not. They just lack the eyecatching colors or subjects that make people want to read them. I read all blogs, whether they have photos or not.

Two people I'm very fond of had hospital trips this week. One incident was a life-threatening allergic reaction to a prescription medication; the other involving blocked arteries in the lower extremeties, a limb-and-life threateningsituation. Fortunately, the allergic reaction responded to medication without leading to a tracheotomy. The clogged artery patient had to make a choice of whether to do the surgery (POSSIBLE amputation) or to try to clear up the problem with newer medications (why they didn't try that before they sliced open his leg, I don't know!). He chose the medication.

I don't know what I would do in similar circumstances. All I can say is that those two folks are amazing. Asthma girl up and about taking care of Cholesterol man, who seems to be doing pretty well on his own. I'd be a wimpering mass of something.

Hats off to you two. Your resolve and caring for one another is a lesson not to be forgotten.

A provocative subject and...

no one got mad!!!! It's a miracle!

After a lovely dinner, some old friends (and new ones, too) got together to discuss the Church Universal and its attitude toward a most provocative and relevant subject.

Going into the room, I decided I wasn't going to say much, if anything. Darned if it wasn't so comfortable listening AND talking, that I put in my $10-worth.

I said what I wanted to say and, amazingly, no one alluded that I was irrelevant, stupid, uninformed, invalid or anything of that ilk.

Oh dear, my halo is crooked.....

Looking toward the future....

This is what.....

a cup of cinnamon tea should look like. This is a fine example of persuasive photography (look at that little bubble on the orange rind). It just makes me want to pick it up and have a sip.

The only thing missing is an ashtray and some cigarettes.

Musings...

A little while ago, someone urged me to reveal things about myself.

After pondering this for a couple of months, I've decided I don't want to do that. The reason I don't want to do that is I no longer have a past -- nothing to tell.

I've pretty much always been a person who really doesn't talk much about myself. I've even been accused of not talking about myself because I don't give a rat's pe-tootie about hearing other people's tales. I didn't need to reveal anything to those folks, they had me down pat. I'm not easily entertained by the nuances of other people's lives in the past. Sure, it can be interesting to hear how someone went from rags to riches, or how a person paid off that $150,000 of college loans in a mere two years, or how someone taught their cat to jump through hoops of fire. What I'm interested in is how that has affected who they are now. . .and I don't want them to tell me, I want to figure it out for myself.

I'll grant you that where I have been has had an influence on who I am now. However, does it matter that I grew up poor as a church mouse; that I used to be slim; that I used to have friends I don't have anymore; or had long hair? No, it doesn't matter at all.

What matters is who I am NOW, what influences me NOW and how I respond to current situations.

If you want to know something about me, you've got to talk to me in the present, not the past.