APRIL FOOLS!

Who's excited for the first of April?! We all get to laugh a little and be tricksters for a day :)

Is Left Wrong?

Many cultures would historically look at people who were left handed as being wrong or against the norm. In the Latin culture, the word sinistera originally meant "left" but eventually took on the meaning "evil" or "unlucky". This is where the word sinister in our language comes from. To go further behind this Latin word sinistera, it actually came from the word sinus or "pocket". When togas were still being worn, there was often one pocket on the left handed side. This would allow for the left hand to be useless and rest in the pocket while the right hand was associated with skill. This began the idea that right handed people were more skilled while the left hand was more useless. In the image of the woman wearing a toga, it is seen that her left hand is covered in the cloth while the right hand is available for any skills she needed to perform.

Excalibur/Caledfwlch

The legendary sword of King Arthur is known as Excalibur and Caledfwlch in Welsh. This sword, in a few versions of the story, is known to be the same weapon as the Sword in the Stone. Excalibur is often given magical powers and also shows who is in charge of Britain. In the picture to the left, the Lady of the Lake is reaching out to take the sword that King Arthur has commanded Sir Bedivere to throw into the lake. King Arthur knows what good it will do but Sir Bedivere is afraid to throw something so valuable into the lake. There are many different images of Excalibur but they are often gold plated and very elaborately designed.

The Cauldron, Chalice, Cup, Etc.

Known as the "Cauldron of regeneration", the image of a cauldron is a very important part to European and Irish mythology. Sometimes referred to as the great cauldron of the Dagda, this cauldron is the precursor to the Authurian Holy Grail. Although referred to as "the great cauldron of the Dagda", he does not actually own the cauldron because of its feministic representation. It is yet again another representation of the womb of the Great Mother. This is because of the fact that it is the place of creation, much like the womb in a female. Dagda, who is the Good God and was the Chief of Gods at his time, protects and brings safety to the cauldron, rather than owning it. This image can be seen in many celtic myths and has much the same idea as the upside down triangle or the curly cue do in the myths we read today.