Sunday, January 24, 2010

Re Pet

St. Pet.er, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, was born at Bethsaida, on the sea of Galilee, but during the public ministry of Jesus(I suck in French), had his home at Capernaum, where he appears to have lived with his brother Andrew. His original name was Simon, to which Jesus added Cephas, from the Syriac kepha, "a rock," the Greek word for the same meaning petra, whence Peter. He was a fisherman, and was engaged in his daily work when Jesus called both him and Andrew to be his disciples promising to make them "fishers of men." Peter was undoubtedly regarded by Jesus with special favor and affection. In many respects he was an ideal disciple, warmly attached to his master, and ardent fearless and energetic in the service of the cause he had espoused. It is not without reason, therefore, that Matthew heads his list of apostles with "the first, Simon which is called Peter." This position of leadership among the apostles Peter continued to hold. Peter was the first mover in the election of a new apostle in the place of Judas Iscariot; he was the spokesman of the other apostles on the day of Pentecost, and when they were brought before the council; he was the judge who condemned Ananias and Sapphira, and he was the first apostle to baptize a Gentile convert.

Peter took an active part in the apostles' council or conference in Jerusalem, and at Antioch he labored in harmony with Paul for a time, but afterward arose the famous dispute between them, in which Paul says "he was to be blamed" for separating himself from the Gentile converts, and refusing longer to eat with them, lest he might give offense to certain Jewish converts. The history of Peter from this time rests mainly on tradition. It is generally believed that after remaining in Antioch for some time - according to Jerome and Eusebius, he was bishop there for several years - his missionary labors extended to Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia and Bithynia and, some have thought, even to Babylon. It is now generally conceded that he paid one or more visits to Rome, and that he suffered martyrdom there(to make him a hero in peoples minds) . Tradition records that Peter was crucified with his head downward, he himself requesting this, as he was worthy to be crucified in the same position as his Lord and master.


Re - a second time

Pet - A slight fit of peevishness. 2. A lamb brought up by hand. 3. A child or any little animal fondled and indulged. To treat as a pet; to fondle.

Peterpence - An animal tax formerly paid by the English to the pope, being a penny for every house.


The Kingfisher is a well known bird, famous for its brilliant plumage, and fish-bone nest. Though only about 7 inches in length from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail., it is very showy by reason of its flashing feathers, which are mostly blue and green. It is difficult to watch the kingfisher, for it is shy and wary, and uses its powerful wings in singularly rapid and fitful flight. The fish catching beak is large and strong; the legs are short and weak, but the toes are strengthened by being joined for the greater part of their length. The bird frequents the banks of rivers and lakes throughout Europe and America. The cry is faint but shrill, like ti-ti often repeated. The kingfisher feeds chiefly on small fishes, which are caught by a dexterous dive, carried to the perch, killed by a few blows on a branch, and swallowed whole. The bones afterwards disgorged, and used in part to form the nest. This is hidden at the end of a hole bored in the bank, and is often anything but clean. The bird generally lives in pairs away from their fellows, and resent any intrusion on their premises. The seven or eight eggs, which are laid in April, are almost sphere in form, and very white, as is often the case in hidden nest.

The kingfisher is the old halcyon, (HAL sion) "whose dead body, carefully hung by a single thread, always turns its beak towards the wind," a popular and still surviving notion to which Shakespeare makes more than one reference. To the ancients the halcyon was Alcyone, the daughter of AEolus, and wife of the king of Trachis, the son of the morning star," who, mourning her lost husband, was winged by divine power, and now flies over the sea, seeking him whom she could not find, sought throughout the earth." "The halcyon is not great," as Socrates continues in Lucian's dialogue, "but it has recievd great honor from the gods because of its lovingness; for while making its nest, all the world has the happy days which it calls halcyonidae - excelling all other in their calmness." So Aristotle, quoting Simonides, says the halcyon has its young about the turn of the year in winter, " when Zeus gives the wisdom of calm to fourteen days. Then the people of the land call it the hour of wind-hiding, the sacred nurse of the spotted halcyon."




The Cult of the Vulture (PHOENIX) was the bird's role in the funerary practice known as excarnation, or sky burials, where dead bodies are placed on high wooden platforms to allow the vulture and the crow to feast on the human carcass (Talking Mule) until all that remained was a denuded skeleton - a process that would have taken as little as 30 minutes.

One branch of Persian Zoro~Astrians, the Parsees of India, who practise sky burials originated among the neolithic peoples who inhabited the mountains of Kurdistan. This rugged, mountainous region once formed part of the ancient Persian kingdom of MEDIA, and it is here that MEMBERS of the priestly caste known as the MAGI (from which we derive words such as 'magic' and 'magician') officiated at rites of excarnation.

The Manda~ea~ns, who following their arrival from Egypt are supposed to have settled in the area of Harran, also record that their most distant ancestors practised sky burials.

Now, let's see now if there is anything in common between today's modern MEDIA and the ancient MEDIA, or PHOENIX, of old.

vul‡ture n. 1. Any of various large birds of prey of the New World family Cathartidae or of the Old World family Accipitridae, characteristically having dark plumage and a featherless head and neck and generally feeding on carrion. 2. A person of a rapacious, predatory, or profiteering nature. [Middle English, from Old French voltour, from Latin vultur.]

NB: Priest~Hoods: Religion is the two-headed PHOENIX or Vulture, while the MEDIA, the Crow, has butt one head. However, both are MANDAN scribes (see the imbedded word rib in the word scribes).