The Star Road

St. James in battle

From L'Esprit du Chemin:

In the “Codex Calixtinus” the Camino is seen as the earthly replica of the Milky Way. According to the book, Charlemagne one night saw “a road of stars. It started at the Frisian Sea and led (...) to Galicia, where in that time the remains of the holy James rested without anyone knowing.” James himself then gives Charlemagne the task to liberate “my pilgrimage route (...), so that one (..) can visit my grave.” Whether this is true or not, Charlemagne never got further than Zaragoza, from where he made his famous retreat via Roncesvalles.

Faith in holy places is of all times. For example, the Camino de Santiago follows an old road to Cabo Fisterra (= the Cape at the End of the World) which had already been used by the Celts. There the sun sets and both the underworld and the world of rebirth begin. According to some, the Celts in their turn followed an old star road, which led back to the lost kingdom of Atlantis. In the Middle Ages many Christian pilgrims followed this old example, by walking on to Cabo Fisterra after Santiago de Compostela. This old tradition is followed by more and more pilgrims nowadays. (Read more.)

From Compostela: The Joining of Heaven and Earth:

Charlemagne and the Compostelan pilgrimage were inextricably linked in the medieval imagination. It was an essential component of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela that pilgrims were journeying through a mythical landscape. This was a world through which the armies of Charlemagne had passed, where great battles had been fought and the tombs of the fallen heroes could be venerated as the shrines of martyrs.

This legendary aspect was part of an eschatological narrative which was continuing and ongoing and in which pilgrims themselves were taking part. History and legend were merged, without distinction. The transcendent distant past was mirrored in events in the recent past and then into the present day, thereby confirming the transcendence of each. This was reaffirmed by geography. To visit the place where a transcendent event had occurred was to corroborate the authenticity and validity of the shrine and martyr associated with that site. Thus the world itself was invested with a numinous quality whose meaning lay in a divine plan. (Read more.)

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The Brainwashing of White Women

From Laura Ainsworth at Mike Huckabee:

In recent days, I’ve been dismayed to see young, white female protesters screaming in the faces of cops on duty, even black cops. Under different circumstances, those same cops would have jumped into action to save the lives of those very women –- or anyone else of any race or gender. That thought obviously hadn’t penetrated the tiny pea brains of these women. “You’re a traitor to your race!,” one white woman shrieked hysterically at a black officer.

Their conduct was so out-there, it seemed to me like some strange psychological phenomenon, and now I see that the same thought has occurred to Stella Morabito, a senior contributor at THE FEDERALIST. Something is seriously wrong. We’re talking cult behavior. This is the result of drinking the Kool-Aid as devotedly as the truest true believer at Jonestown. Perhaps you or someone you know has a daughter or granddaughter like this, and you feel defeated trying to even talk to her. What is going on with these middle- and upper-middle-class white women?

Actually, this weirdness has been a long time coming. I’ve written from time to time about the indoctrination being carried out by fashion magazines, within whose pages it is assumed that all readers hate Trump (and all Republicans), support abortion on demand as a woman’s “health” right, and think America would be a utopia if only it were run by an all-female committee headed by Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama.

Young white women are made to feel terribly “privileged,” simply for being born white.
Capitalism and profit are bad, bad, bad. Never mind that the prices of some of the clothes and accessories in these magazines rival those of a new car or the down payment on a house. Money to buy important fashion "must-haves" and “investment pieces” is a necessary evil; one must feel extremely guilty about possessing such wealth and find major ways to atone. (It helps if the designers you choose are “woke” and support the right causes.) If you’re buying a 1.04-ounce jar of face cream that costs more than what a sun-shriveled field laborer in some poor country makes in a year, you’ve GOT to atone, big-time. (Read more.)

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Life During the Norman Conquest of England.

From Heritage Daily:

There is evidence the Norman invasion led to more controlled and standardised mass agricultural practices. Pork became a more popular choice and dairy products were used less. But on the whole, a diet dominated by vegetables, cereals beef and mutton remained largely unchanged.

Dr Elizabeth Craig-Atkins of the University of Sheffield’s Department of Archaeology said: “Examining archaeological evidence of the diet and health of ordinary people who lived during this time gives us a detailed picture of their everyday experiences and lifestyles. Despite the huge political and economic changes that were happening, our analysis suggests the Conquest may have only had a limited impact on most people’s diet and health.

“There is certainly evidence that people experienced periods where food was scarce. But following this, an intensification in farming meant people generally had a more steady food supply and consistent diet. Aside from pork becoming a more popular food choice, eating habits and cooking methods remained unchanged to a large extent.” (Read more.)

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Castles in Wales

From National Geographic:

Powis Castle, on a prominent rock near the English border, is another medieval fortress that was reinvented as an artistic showcase when it became home to the aristocratic Clive family in the 19th century. Taking pride of place among the castle’s collection is the rich range of artifacts Robert Clive and his son Edward hauled back from India as their colonial spoils, including an entire, intact sultan’s ceremonial tent.

There is something for everyone crowded into the castle’s galleries: hand-woven tapestries, baroque furniture, a Joshua Reynolds portrait of Lady Henrietta Clive, and a prized Roman marble figure of a cat wrestling a snake. The show continues outside, in the 25-acre terraced Italo-French gardens that frame the castle. The lush landscape features clipped yews and formal flower plots all punctuated by a whimsical orangery. (Read more.)

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The Beginning of the End

In South Africa. From FrontPageMag:

“It’s been a rough month,” says Jess. Coming from a one-man mountain with more shrapnel scars than most, things must be looking bleak in South Africa. And it’s worse than any of us can imagine. Eighty-four farm attacks since lockdown began, twelve white farmers slaughtered from their land. The footage of the aftermath of one of the attacks circulating on Telegram and sent to me — too brutal to share. Only monsters could do such things to the elderly in their own homes.

As many of us celebrated the 4th of July this weekend, there were three murders in two days, one of them so unspeakably cruel that even those hardened to the news of torture of farmers by black gangs have found themselves white-knuckled at the speed of the horror. When these massive men like Jess feel it, we need to stop and listen. They are the first people I would run to if I needed protecting: strong, sturdy, unflinching. These strong South Africans are part of the land, they have it coursing throughout their blood just as the sunshine and water spills through the crops and trees on their soil. (Read more.)

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An Inscrutable Ceremony

From National Geographic:

This is the first facial reconstruction from human remains excavated about a decade ago in south-central Sweden at Kanaljorden, a curious archaeological site where, sometime around 6,000 B.C., animal and human bones had been deliberately arranged on a submerged stone platform in the center of a small lake. Kanaljorden made international headlines in 2018 when researchers published a report on the excavation, noting that wood preserved inside two of the skulls indicated that at least some of the skulls had been mounted on stakes. It was like nothing the scientists had seen before. (Read more.)

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The Stones of Hagia Sophia

Everyone is acting like the Turks just conquered Constantinople. The Hagia Sophia was made into a mosque in 1453. It has not been a church since. For awhile, it was a museum, because people came from all over the world to see what had been the largest church ever. It may be a church again before the end of the world but a lot has to change first. From Catholic World Report:

The Hagia Sophia stood as the most prominent Christian church in the world from its construction under Justinian until until 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans and it was turned into a mosque. So impressive is this edifice that much Turkish architecture is largely modeled after it, including other prominent mosques. Islam’s aversion to images meant the Hagia Sophia’s mosaics, icons, and frescoes were either destroyed or plastered over. The integrity of the structure was altered as Islamic features were added, the most prominent of which are the tall minarets on the outside from which the Muslim call to prayer never ceased to issue forth even after it became a museum.

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, Atatürk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum in 1934. He did so for the for the purposes of conserving it as a monument of world heritage and so it could stand as a symbol of tolerance and peace. In becoming a museum where restorers and conservationists were granted ready access, much of the structure’s Byzantine mosaics were recovered. For the first time in nearly 500 years the light of day shone again on the glittering images depicting the Lord Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother. For the past ninety years all visitors have been able gaze upon these symbols of the Christian patrimony and heritage of Turkey.

Turkey’s decision to change the status of the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque again has been met with protest the world over. The strongest objections, understandably, have come from the Eastern Orthodox nations of Greece and Russia, but even the United States Secretary of State and some senators have weighed in. The current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, is the heir to all those patriarchs before him who once sat in the Hagia Sophia. In Istanbul there is a little remnant of the Byzantine Empire in the neighborhood of the Phanar where his church and offices have been relegated. From there he has said, in part:

What can I say as a Christian clergyman and the Greek Patriarch in Istanbul? Instead of uniting a 1,500-year-old heritage we are being divided. I am saddened and shaken…we have survived for 17 centuries and we will stay here forever, as God wills.

It is not immediately clear how the Hagia Sophia’s change in status status will effect the monument. There is fear that its historic mosaics might be covered up again or destroyed. There is also concern that historians, conservationists, pilgrims, and tourists may be prohibited from entering or could have their access severely limited. Given the treatment of so many other churches by the Turks, these concerns are not unfounded. (Read more.)

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Seducing Our Daughters

From LifeSite:

Shrier, a lawyer by trade, began looking into the explosion of adolescent girls who said they were transgender after she wrote about transgender laws in an article for The Wall Street Journal. Parents and others reached out to her saying that their daughter(s) are struggling with transgenderism and that many of their daughter’s classmates or friends claimed to be transgender. Since the investigative journalist at The Wall Street Journal wouldn’t look into those claims, Shrier decided to herself.  

While writing her book, Shrier interviewed countless physicians, psychiatrists, parents, surgeons, girls who had transitioned, girls who never transitioned, and girls who regretted their transitions. During her research, Shrier realized the transgender agenda was targeting young women. Shrier highlights the fact that gender dysphoria, as a mental health condition, has been studied for years and that it overwhelmingly presents itself in boys of elementary school age and younger. Rarely do adolescent girls have gender dysphoria, which has been on the rise in recent years. (Read more.)

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Isaiah’s Prophecy of Global Communism

From Mark Mallet:

To be certain, the Antichrist is an actual person,^[4] but he also comes to reign through a global empire—a “beast with seven heads”.^[5] What is most notable in Isaiah’s passage is what this “him” whom God sends to chastise the nations does: he seizes plunder, carries off loot, moves boundaries, and snatches the riches of the nations. In other words, this is precisely what Communism does: it seizes private property, confiscates wealth, stifles private enterprise, and annihilates the boundaries of nations.

In her 1921 book exposing the plot for a Communist “world revolution,” author Nesta H. Webster tackled the underlying root philosophy of the secret societies of Freemasonry and Illuminatism who are driving today’s present upheaval. It is the notion that “Civilization is all wrong” and that salvation for the human race lies in a “return to nature.” Not only is this clearly nuanced in the United Nations’ 17 “sustainable development” goals,^[6] but it was also highlighted—and condemned—by Pope St. Leo XIII:

At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God Himself …that which is their ultimate purpose forces itself into view—namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order of the world which the Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from mere naturalism. —POPE LEO XIII, Humanum Genus, Encyclical on Freemasonry, n.10, Apri 20th, 1884

The philosopher François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was one of the most powerful French Masons whom one man described as “The most perfect incarnation of Satan that the world ever saw.” Voltaire supplies the vision and reason why so many popes condemned and warned about their plot for a global revolution… which, clearly, is well underway:

…when conditions are right, a reign will spread across the whole earth to wipe out all Christians, and then establish a universal brotherhood without marriage, family, property, law or God. —Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire, Stephen Mahowald, She Shall Crush Thy Head (Kindle Edition) (Read more.)

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