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Wolfssegen
In Bavarian folklore of the Early Modern period, a ''Wolfssegen'' (; also ''Wolfsegen, Wolf-Segen'') was an apotropaic charm against wolves; conversely, a ''Wolfbann'' (''Wolf-Bann'') was a malevolent spell causing a wolf attack. The ''Wolfssegen'' is just one specific example of various distinct kinds of '' Segen'' ("blessing; charm, incantation") in the folklore of German-speaking Europe. While early examples of ''Wolfssegen'' survive from the Late Middle Ages, use of these charms seems to have peaked during the 17th century, when they were offered by professional "wolf charmers" (''Wolfssegner'' or ''Wolfbanner''). This corresponds to the cold period known as the Little Ice Age, for which there is ample historical evidence of wolf populations in much of the Bavarian Alps. There is no extant text of a ''Wolfbann'', the malevolent opposite of the ''Wolfsegen''; however, there is the text of a spell ''reversing'' a ''Wolfbann'' recorded in 1635 (in effect again a ''Wolfsegen'', ...
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Werewolf Witch Trials
Werewolf witch trials were witch trials combined with werewolf trials. Belief in werewolves developed parallel to the belief in European witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland (especially the Valais and Vaud) during the Valais witch trials in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the "witch-hunt" phenomenon, albeit a marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The 1598 case of Peter Stumpp led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves, primarily in ...
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Werewolves
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy (), are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and ...
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Segen
''Segen'' is a German word translating to "blessing, benediction; charm; prayer; spell, incantation". It is in origin a loan from Latin ''signum'' ''sīgnāre'' "to make a sign", viz. the Sign of the Cross used to confer a Christian blessing, The term is attested as Old High German ''seganōn'' from as early as c. AD 800, resulting in a modern ''segnen'' "to bless". The noun ''Segen'' "blessing" was derived from the verb at an early time, attested in the 9th century as ''segan''. Old English had the corresponding ''sægnan'', which survives as the dialectal (esp. Scottish) ''sain'' (popularized by Scott, '' Heart of Mid-Lothian'' "God sain us"). The concept of ''Segen'', understood magically, was very productive in the folklore, folk religion and superstition of German-speaking Europe, studied in great detail by the German philologists and folklorists of the 19th century. The medieval church used the ''Segen'' (the sign of the cross with a spoken formula) liberally, intended a ...
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Genealogy Of Jesus
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but differ radically from that point. Matthew has twenty-seven generations from David to Joseph, whereas Luke has forty-two, with almost no overlap between the names on the two lists.⁠ Notably, the two accounts also disagree on who Joseph's father was: Matthew says he was Jacob, while Luke says he was Heli. Traditional Christian scholars (starting with Africanus and Eusebius) have put forward various theories that seek to explain why the lineages are so different, such as that Matthew's account follows the lineage of Joseph, while Luke's follows the lineage of Mary, although both start with Jesus and then go to Joseph, not Mary. Some modern critical scholars like Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan state that both genealogies are invention ...
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Superstitions Of Europe
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, spirits, and certain paranormal entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific (apparently) unrelated prior events. Also, the word ''superstition'' is often used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions or to all religions by the antireligious. Contemporary use Definitions of the term vary, but commonly describe superstitions as irrational beliefs at odds with scientific knowledge of the world. Stuart Vyse proposes that a superstition's "presumed mechanism of action is inconsistent with our understanding of the physical world", with Ja ...
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Johann Andreas Schmeller
Johann Andreas Schmeller (6 August 1785 in Tirschenreuth – 27 September 1852 in Munich) was a German philologist who initially studied the Bavarian dialect. From 1828 until his death he taught in the University of Munich. He is considered the founder of modern dialect research in Germany. His lasting contribution is the four-volume ' (Bavarian Dictionary), which is currently in the process of revision by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Biography In 1821, he published ''Die Mundarten Bayerns'' (Bavarian dialects). This was later supplemented by his ''Bayerisches Wörterbuch'' (Bavarian dictionary), which appeared in four volumes from 1827 to 1837. Perhaps his most notable publication was the first modern edition of the ''Heliand'' (1830). He was also the compiler of the ''Carmina Burana'' (1847), which he named. Schmeller edited the Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, convention ...
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Wolfgang Franz Von Kobell
Wolfgang Xavier Franz Ritter von Kobell (19 July 180311 November 1882) was a German mineralogist and writer of short stories and poems in Bavarian dialect. Biography Kobell was born in Munich, Bavaria (where he also died), son of the painter Wilhelm Kobell. After studying mineralogy in Landshut, he became professor of mineralogy in 1826 at the University of Munich, and in 1856 was appointed first curator of the Bavarian State collection of minerals. His greatest contributions were new methods in crystallography. In 1855 he invented the stauroscope for the study of the optical properties of crystals. The mineral kobellite is named after him, and he invented a comparative fusibility scale. Besides his work as a mineralogist, Kobell is also famous for writing many short stories and poems in the Bavarian dialect of Upper Bavaria. He was among the regular hunting companions of the Bavarian dukes and monarchs. His best known work is a short story which was later used as base f ...
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Wolfsangel
(, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) that was hung by a chain from a crescent-shaped metal bar (called the , or the in French). The stylised symbol of the Z-shape (also called the , meaning the "double-hook") can include a central horizontal bar to give a Ƶ-symbol, which can be reversed and/or rotated; it is sometimes mistaken as being an ancient rune due to its similarity to the " gibor rune" of the pseudo '' Armanen runes''. Early medieval pagans believed the symbol possessed magical powers and could ward off wolves. It became an early symbol of German liberty and independence after its adoption as an emblem in various 15th-century peasant revolts, and also in the 17th-century Thirty Years War. In pre-war Germany, interest in the was revived by the popularity of 's 1910 ...
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Wolf Hunt
Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting gray wolves ''(Canis lupus)'' or other species of wolves. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock and, in some rare cases, to protect humans. Wolves have been actively hunted since 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, when they first began to pose a threat to livestock of Neolithic human communities. Historically, the hunting of wolves was a huge capital- and manpower-intensive operation. The threat wolves posed to both livestock and people was considered significant enough to warrant the conscription of whole villages under threat of punishment, despite the disruption of economic activities and reduced taxes. The hunting of gray wolves, while originally actively endorsed in many countries, has become a controversial issue across the globe. Most people see it as cruel, unnecessary and based on misconceptions, while proponents argue that it is apparently vital for the conservation of game herds and as pest control ...
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Cherie Dimaline
Cherie Dimaline () is an Indigenous Canadian writer from the Georgian Bay Métis Nation, a part of Métis Nation of Ontario. She has written a variety of award-winning novels and other acclaimed stories and articles. She is most noted for her 2017 young adult novel ''The Marrow Thieves'', which explores the continued colonial exploitation of Indigenous people. In addition to ''The Marrow Thieves'', Dimaline has won the award for Fiction Book of the Year at the Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival for her first novel, Red Rooms. She has since published the short stories "Seven Gifts for Cedar", the novel The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy, and the short story collection A Gentle Habit. She is the 2019 editor of Little Bird Stories (Volume IX), published by Invisible Publishing and featuring winners of the annual Little Bird Writing Contest run by Sarah Selecky Writing School. She was founding editor of ''Muskrat Magazine'', was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premi ...
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Alexander Tille
Alexander Tille (April 30, 1866 in Lauenstein – December 16, 1912 in Saarbrücken) was a German philosopher. He published the first English translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' in 1896. Tille strongly supported eugenics and Social Darwinism. He claimed Christian ethics, democracy, equality, humanism and socialism were only the delusions held by the weak. Tille felt slums were good, since they could help purge society of the "unfit". He also thought disabled and mentally ill people should be left to starve, with food only given to the "fit". References *Fritz Hellwig Fritz Hellwig (3 August 1912 – 22 July 2017) was a German CDU politician and European Commissioner. He was born in Saarbrücken and turned 100 in August 2012. and died on 22 July 2017 at the age of 104. He died 12 days before his 105th bir ...: "Alexander Tille." In: Peter Neumann (ed.): ''Saarländische Lebensbilder''. Vol. 4. (1989), . *"Darwinismus und Zeitgeit." ''Zeitsc ...
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Christmas Night
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. Christmas celebrations in the denominations of Western Christianity have long begun on Christmas Eve, due in part to the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset, a practice inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: "And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day." Many churches still ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening; for example, the Nordic Lutheran churches. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke 2:6-8), Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, in c ...
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