On Munds, Part Two of Three

Tacitus in his work on the Germans, writes about munds. In one place, Tacitus writes that a mund is equal to five cows. Here is Iowa, that would amount to 4,000 USD for a prime Black Angus, but up to 100,000 USD for a show cow. Not a bad mund...

,...marriage in Germany is austere, and there is no feature in their morality that deserves higher praise. They are almost unique among barbarians in being satisfied with one wife each. The exceptions, which are exceedingly rare, are of men who receive offers of many wives because of their rank; there is no question of sexual passion. The dowry is brought by husband to wife, not by wife to husband. Parents and kinsmen attend and approve of the gifts, gifts not chosen to please a woman's whim or gaily deck a young bride, but oxen, horse with reins, shield, spear and sword. For such gifts a man gets his wife, and she in her turn brings some present of arms to her husband. In this interchange of gifts they recognize the supreme bond, the holy mysteries, the presiding deities of marriage. A woman must not imagine herself free to neglect the manly virtues or immune from the hazards of war. That is why she is reminded, in the very ceremonies which bless her marriage at its outset, that she is coming to share a man's toils and dangers, that she is to be his partner in all his sufferings and adventures, whether in peace or war. That is the meaning of the team of oxen, of the horse ready for its rider, of the gift of arms. On these terms she must live her life and bear her children. She is receiving something that she must hand over unspoilt and treasured to her children, for her son's wives to receive in their turn and pass on to the grandchildren.

Cows or land seem like good munds to me.

And, the ladies had the right to pass on their munds to their children or grandchildren.

Hmmm, I missed out on something here.  I could have bought a comfortable house in Spain for four Black Angus show cows!

..

On Munds, Part One

The tradition of dowry has changed and in been in flux for centuries. The exchanging of swords became a sign of trust between a past enemy and the new friend. In the Icelandic annals, a new sword became a symbol of this old one of trust. The new sword could have been purchased by the new husband who would give it to his new wife. He could have been returning her father's sword, given to him, or he and she would have exchange swords.

By the time these customs were written down, the original customs had faded.

Why I am writing about this is that this type of thing is called a mund. The mund was a security for the woman, who was given land for her own posterity, so in case the man died, the widow would have something to live on. The mund is found in Beowulf, where it is called a "spear dowry", which would have been a cache of weapons. Weapons had a stable value. One could always sell these off, if needed. Would not a widow keep the weapons and pass these on to her son. The sons inherited stuff from the father, but so did the woman, for her upkeep and security.

The woman would not have to rely on brothers or uncles, which was a good thing. My saint, Etheldreda, had her own land ownership. As one betrothed, she had that security.specifically the male dowry. It's a Scandinavian concept, one made a promise of land, and if one broke the engagement or popped off that becomes the property of the woman betrothed and her family

The betrothal ceremony was extremely important, and legally binding. Christianity became controversial in some cultures, as it changed the emphasis from the engagement to the marriage. But, in England and in Germany, both stayed important.

The mund of the woman was usually money and that of the man, land. See an example, below.

What a great idea. The word mund is found in many Anglo-Saxon names, such as Edmund, Osmund, Garmund, Sigmund and others which include mund.

Mund means guardian, which is the shield for the wife. This is the security for the wife.

Any prefix makes sense with mund. Edmund means goodly or cute guardian. Ed is short from Edel, which means princely, or great. Etheldreda is from the same root, Ed being the diminutive.

Sigmund means victorious guardian, implying mund gotten in war.

Osmund means godly guardian, like the wonderful wizard of....as Os was a pagan god of the Anglo-Saxons.

In the first episode of By the Sword Divided, one sees played out in the series the old Anglo-Saxon idea of mund in the betrothal of Anne Lacey and John Fletcher, wherein, the fathers set the terms: Sir Martin Lacey gives money and Austin Fletcher gives lots of land, ships, and stuff from the New World.

Unless there were invasions, civil war, or pigginess from such monarchs as Henry VIII, who stole many a woman's mund, a woman could expect to have her mund until she died.

(Notes from Edmund. To be continued...)

Happy Mum's Day to All Brit and EU Mums

To all mums in Britain and the EU, have a great day.

Thanks be to God for children.  And, thank you, Mother Mary, for saying "Yes" to God.

Mother's Day comes from the Medieval "Lady's Day" which was the celebration of The Annunciation extended to all mums on the nearest Sunday after March 25th.

It is NOT a Hallmark invention.

Be good to your mums today.

I wish a happy day to the mums I know and love in England, Ireland, the EU. Carole, Jenna, Ursula, Elizabeth, Lynda and many others.

It is an honor to be a mum.

Wow and thanks to Peter for the heads-up

http://www.conservativeinfidel.com/u-s-politics/covered-california-sends-voter-registration-cards-pre-marked-democrat-party/

EWTN Waking Up?

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=9650

No Cricket for miles and miles and miles

Glad I have cricket on twitter...

Hey, I want one of these...on a little patch of English soil

http://www.leedcabins.com/Photos.html

Good one for the BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26754947

While the American media is silent. Thanks to Spencer for the heads-up on this report.

Noah Update Two

http://time.com/42274/ken-ham-the-unbiblical-noah-is-a-fable-of-a-film/

Strong words...“Noah” is an insult to Bible-believing Christians, an insult to the character of Noah, and most of all, an insult to the God of the Bible. As a result, I believe Hollywood will have a much harder time in marketing future biblically themed movies to Christians.

Looks like a missed opportunity....Aronofsky may be trying to exorcise his own Jewish roots--too bad.

Another look...

http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/03/29/im-a-christian-and-i-think-noah-deserves-a-four-star-review/

On Asthma

Only twice in my long life have I had such a horrible time with asthma.

The first time I "got" asthma was in 2010, living in Missouri. That bout lasted from January to March first.

The second horrible bout has come this year, from January, up to and including, this very day.

I have no idea what triggers this asthma. All I know is that I am severely impacted by certain conditions in rural Missouri and Iowa. What these triggers are, I do not know.

I have never had asthma in Ireland, Great Britain, or Malta. Go figure.

One of my nurse friends tells me that the sea water is good for people with lung and bronchial problems.

Could be. But, God in His Wisdom has me plunked down in rural Iowa, surrounded by fields and in sight of a misty river.

Hmmm. Perhaps, someday, I may be able to afford allergy tests, but not this day.

I pray for all those who have asthma and allergies. I ask God to have mercy on us all and heal us.

One of the worst aspects of this disease is sleep deprivation. One cannot sleep when one is coughing or wheezing.

I have some friends with asthma and today, I think and pray for you. Please pray for me.

I would much rather be by that sea and salt air.

On Oedipus

In the past two months, I have been tutoring off and on in English Lit, Composition, the Novel, Poetry and Greek Drama.

Yesterday, I asked my student to watch the fantastic version of Oedipus Rex, from Toronto, directed by Tyrone Guthrie and featuring a famous Treker in the chorus, William Shatner.

One can watch it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZUCgq8LfhY

This rendition of the play is famous for using Greek masks. Only one other place I know uses the traditional Greek masks, and that is the Genesius Guild, right here in the Quad Cities. Here is the website for the Genesius Guild. http://www.genesius.org/

I had forgotten, having shown this version to my students in 1980, that the Toronto version opened with someone referring to the "symbolic" actions of the Mass. How Catholic Canada was in 1957, or how Anglican, to use the Mass and the re-enactment of Calvary as a starting place for a Greek play. Of course, for centuries, Catholics have seen this play as moral enough to teach virtues, those same virtues praised by Aristotle and held by the Greeks to be necessary for the peace of the polis.

Ironically, both Canada and the States reveal a deeper aspect of paganism than the Greeks ever experience.

The fullness of Revelation had not been given to the Greeks, but to the Hebrews. That the Greeks knew so much about salvation, suffering, morality, and the reparation for sin was a knowledge given to them via both natural law and reason. Reason, the great gift to humans, provided the Greeks with insights into the soul, the mind, the intellect, the imagination.

In our day and age, we see a huge falling off of both the belief in natural law and the belief that reason, one way in which we are made in the Image and Likeness of God, can lead one to moral norms.

The present generations prove to be more pagan than the pagans of ancient Greece. Would today's pagans howl like Oedipus, when he discovered his sins, or rationalize these sins, or worse, accept these sins, patricide and incest, as normal?

The terrible truth of the generations which live today centers on the fact that, unlike Sophocles, these people have been shown the Truth and rejected the Truth.

God has been mocked. Oedipus took on himself his own sins and went into exile. Christ has taken our sins upon Himself and we have made Him go into exile, but marginalizing Christianity from our cultures, our politics, our homes.

I suggest that God will deal much harsher with those who have had the chance to accept Christianity, than with those who lived before Christ.

Again, On Common Rotten to the Core

If you have not watched the video on Common Core placed on this blog, then do so. The message is loud and clear. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/03/showing-evil-of-common-core.html

Catholic Parents, if you are sending your child to a school which has adopted this plan, you will be severely judged according to this passage below. The parents are the primary educators of their children, and those children either are formed in the Truth or not, according to our efforts.

Most of my usual readers know that I home schooled, both in England and in the States. I began home schooling in 1991. Some of the laws for home schooling have eased up over the years in certain states. Some of the laws in some countries have forbidden home schooling.

Your children do not belong to the State to form, but to God. You are to form them in God's ways, and the thinking of the Catholic Church.

What children will get in a school which abides by the CC is contrary to the formation of virtues, the formation of conscience as a Catholic, the learning to think like a Catholic, and the freedom to live as a Catholic.

You cannot cooperate with evil when it comes to your children's souls.

Do you want your children to think like the secular State? Send them to CC schools.

Do you want your children to not learn how to think independently but only mouth the "belief" of the State?

Send them to a CC school.

Do you want your children to lose their baptismal Faith? Send them to a CC school.

Matthew 18

Douay-Rheims 

18 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?

2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them,

3 And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

6 But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.

7 Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.

8 And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire.

9 And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

A Can of Worms in Ireland

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/judge-apologises-after-saying-muslims-3294545

Noah Updates

I would imagine that after the Los Angeles earthquake, more people will be open to the Bible. But, remember. This movie is entertainment, not a theological exegesis.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-noah-friday-matinees-691984

Philip DeFranco        ✔ @PhillyD

Nothing quite like the end of the world scene in Noah starting and 20 seconds later your movie theater starts shaking from an earthquake.

4:21 AM - 29 Mar 2014

http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/moviegoers-are-thinking-things-over-after-earthquake-hits-during-noah/359853/

more on Noah and not as flattering as EWTN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzKtiSUv_cs

see here

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/03/28/Noah-review-brilliantly-sinister-anti-christian-filmmaking

For Those Without Community

I have written many, many posts on how to set up community and how to "pod". Sadly, I can see that the two generations under me have real difficulties with the idea of community. I have met a few who understand and are open to this, praise God, but the vast majority do not budge or see the signs of the times.

For those of you, especially single women, who are isolated and without support, and for those elderly who have no support groups, I encourage you to think of these options.

One, become perfect, become holy. Read the perfection series, Read the Doctors of the Church series. Know that your way may be one of green martyrdom-that is, to suffer without help. This means you must be strong and holy.

Two, pray for the Catholic men who cannot see beyond their own castles and own egos. So many women tell me that they want community but their husbands do not. One mother I know has started a mini-community, as her husband is one-hundred-percent in favor of such an endeavor. There house is full of people and they discuss both how to become holy and how to face the days to come.

Three, pray for priests, who will be persecuted, that they begin to think outside the box and realize the times. They will need to be sheltered and aided by the laity.

I am actually sad more young people cannot see the need and the times to come. Perhaps is it because they did not grow up in big families and are not open to lots of people around. One of my closest friends grew up in a three bedroom house with eleven children, a mom and a dad. Families like this were not unusual after WWII. One of his sisters is a saint in heaven, and one of his aunts was a saintly member of Mother Angelica's order. Saints come out of hardship.

He told me he grew up sleeping in the living room.  Now, he has his own house and is retired, but is one of the kindliest men in our TLM community.

God bless those who understand that the early Church was not "individualistic" but geared towards the ideals of family and friendship in the Lord.

On Anonymous Commentators

I have put the note on the side for over two years on not accepting anonymous comments. Most are derogatory, rude, and even hateful. In fact, most hateful comments, which are not posted, are from Anon...

If a person wants to make a real comment which adds to the discussion, that person must use a name. I am beginning to think at least one "Anonymous" is the same cowardly person who makes horrible personal comments. Same spelling errors....

If a commentator wants to be part of any discussion, please get a name, reader.

As to some of the valid comments under Anonymous, no more...shall I post these, as the same rule applied to all.

A few notes, however, bearing on comments by Anons.

One, read carefully. If I write "too many" of the laity only want to do clerical things, like being Eucharistic Minister, I am not saying "all" should not do so. Priests in many areas cannot get to hospitals for Communion, for example, and a duly trained, duly appointed lay person may be able to do this, if there are no clerics available, such as deacons. Some of my readers do not read carefully, which is a sign of the times. If a lay person is only doing clerical jobs, he is not living up to his baptismal promises.

I do not see clerical positions in this command given to all those who witnessed the Ascension.

Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19 DR

Two, read my previous posts and ones recently re-posted or referred to on certain non-medically approved practices. Read, again, carefully. I ask again one question. Would you trust someone whose method is based on ideas gotten in a seance?

Three, compliance to Fatima is not our business, but the Pope's business. Someone compared the lay involvement to that to St. Catherine of Siena talking the Pope into returning to Rome.

When someone is a saint the caliber of Catherine, one can do such things. Sorry, MYOB, and do what the laity are called to do. We have not been instructed by Mary to do what she told the three saints at Fatima to do.  And, if you read Lucia's letters, you may change your mind. End of discussion.

Four, if the laity are not doing the job we are all called to do, the Church is weakened and will not grow. The New Evangelization is "our" call, to bring back those who have left and to evangelize in the workplace.

Five, if you add your name to the end of something labelled Anonymous, I cannot see it until after publication. The Anonymous category is what I shall go by in the future, and not hope for a name at the end. Please follow directions as to how to set up a blog name. Thanks.

Yesterday

....was a sixteen post day. Take time and enjoy.

On The Dark Night Again

Purification is not to be confused with despair. One does think and even feel like one may be damned while one is experiencing the Dark Night. But, that is normal. To finally realize that one deserves to be damned for one's sins is pure gift.

The first realization of one's unworthiness reveals that one finds one's self, indeed, in the Dark Night.

That realization should bring about humility and, eventually, thankfulness.

Such are the purifications of the Dark Night that one finally doubts one's worth and one's false feelings.

Purification cannot be comfortable.

Read the long post series on the Dark Night, if you have not done so. Many begin in June of last year.

View from My Window But Not Today

Answering A Question Related to The Dark Night

The Dark Night seriously involves the purification of the emotions.

That is one of the main points of the Dark Night.

One no longer desires to be religious, or holy.

One no longer "feels" the Presence of God or "feels" like one loves God.

These false feelings must be struck dead.

Feelings belie faith and in the Dark Night, one lives in faith only.

That is the point.

To live by faith and in the will is to really love God.

No desires, no consolations, not a moment of "fun"....

But, if one perseveres in faith, one will encounter God.

The ego has to die.