Wiki+Assignments

Hello, my name is April Slipsager and I have returned to UCF after a 10 year sabbatical :) Although I have no plans at this time to use my degree for employment once completed, I thought it would be a shame to remain only 3 classes short. I have been deeply interested in both Anthropology and Religion for some time now and am taking this opportunity to explore the topic of Celtic Religion in early European Civilizations.
 * Module 3 Wiki Assignment: Introduction **

[|Archaeology Magazine] ~ This publication contains many relavent articles on the topic of European Celtic archaeological sites; I have linked to a specific article discussing a Scottish Pictish carved stone. [|StonePages] ~ An archive of celtic stone monuments
 * Module 4 Wiki Assignment: Website **

Photo Credit and Link: Anthony Weir; [|Irish Megaliths] Here are 2 examples of carved cross pillars from Glencolumcille, County Donegal, Ireland
 * Module 5 Wiki Assignment: Photos **



 =  Module 6 Wiki Assignment:     = =Links to WikiSpaces with Celtic Religious information: = =Hawthorne Celts= =Ross Myth Wiki= =Sara Blackwelder's Wiki= **Here is a link to the "history" page of the** [|**Wikipedia Article for "Abortion"**] **1. Find a wiki that is appropriate to your topic (and your interest within that topic, if you have defined one). Wikipedia is a perfectly good example, although you would put yourself ahead on your project by finding a different site. (Done)** **2. On the wiki, click on the “history” tab of any relevant page and read the new page, clicking on several links and reading the changes that were made. In Wikipedia, for example, you can flip back and forth through various revisions. (Done)** **3. Now go to a wiki about any topic that you can think of that is controversial (Wikipedia would be fine for this). Go to the relevant wiki page and click on the history tab. (Done)** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**4. How reliable do you think that information is, knowing that it can be edited by anyone on the internet? (It looked like people only edited in order to cite authors or to add footnotes which were clearly their opinions. I have no idea where the original source information came from on the wiki page to begin with. I have never relied on wiwkpedia as being anything beyond a source of entertainment.)** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**5. As a group, make a new page on your wiki for links to other wikis, and make a link to the “history” page that you found. [ie you only need one page for wikis, not a new page for every post that each member of the group makes] (Done)** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I'd like to focus on Celtic religion and spiritual beliefs during the pre-Christian time period (approximately 1000 BCE - 500 CE). Specific areas of interest include reverence for nature, god and goddess worship, specific holidays and/or festivals and the rituals practiced at these times. Belief in afterlife and what they did with their dead, what rituals may have been included in their ideas about the afterlife. If and how their spiritual beliefs shaped their daily lives; the clothing they wore, jewelry, how they arranged their living quarters.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 7 Wiki Assignment: My Page/Brainstorm **


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I did not put this on a separate page since we are not working in groups and this is my individual wiki space.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The floodplains along the Nile constitute an important but as yet little utilized series of laboratories for the comparative study of the origins and interaction of ancient civilizations.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 8 Wiki Assignment: Copy/Paste first line from JSTOR article **

Mythology and Folklore Richard M. Dorson [|Annual Review of Anthropology] Vol. 2, (1973), pp. 107-126 Published by: [|Annual Reviews] []
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 9 Wiki Assignment: Cited Article **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The first took place in the beginning of May and was called Beltane or “Fire of God.” During this festival a large fire was burned on an elevated location in honor of the return of the sun after many months of winter. The other great festival of the Druids was called “Samhain,” or “Fire of Peace,” and was held on Hallow-eve (first of November) which still retains this designation in the Highlands of Scotland. On this occasion the Druids assembled in together in the central part of the district. All questions were brought before them for judgement. Judicial acts were combined with certain rituals; lighting of the sacred fire from which all the fires in the district (which had been extinguished beforehand) were relighted. This usage of kindling fires on Hallow-eve lingered in the British islands long after the establishment of Christianity.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 10 Wiki Assignment: **


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 11 Wiki Assignment: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Bronze Age hillfort at Rathgall, Co Wicklow (Ireland), the subject of a long-running archaeological excavation by Barry Raftery. A burial mound, or sidhe, at Knowth, Co. Meath (Ireland) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Photographs: National Monuments Service

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The first took place in the beginning of May and was called Beltane or “Fire of God.” During this festival a large fire was burned on an elevated location in honor of the return of the sun after many months of winter. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> John King, // The Celtic Druid’s Year, // writes that Beltane is the last Sabbat celebrated before the wheel of the year turns back to Midsummer and the reign of the Holly God, Bel. It is the festival of the purification by fire. To the ancient Celts, fire was ceremonial purification and healing. During this festival, livestock are driven between two fires for these purposes. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The other great festival of the Druids was called “Samhain,” or “Fire of Peace,” and was held on Hallow-eve (first of November) which still retains this designation in the Highlands of Scotland. On this occasion the Druids assembled in together in the central part of the district. All questions were brought before them for judgement. Judicial acts were combined with certain rituals; lighting of the sacred fire from which all the fires in the district (which had been extinguished beforehand) were relighted. This usage of kindling fires on Hallow-eve lingered in the British islands long after the establishment of Christianity. <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">During Samhain, the shroud between the "Worlds of the Living" and the ancestors was penetrable, according to Celtic tradition. This ritual was meant to contact spirits of the departed, sources of guidance and inspiration. <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The phase of the new moon ruled the day because it represented a time in which human sight has been obscured so they can see into the Otherworld. The dead are honored as living spirits of loved ones. <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; margin-bottom: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in; text-decoration: none;">Animals who wouldn’t survive the winter were slaughtered and the meat preserved for the cold seasons. <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; margin-bottom: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in; text-decoration: none;">Thanks were given for abundance while crops were harvested and stored. <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pagans feasted on a banquet of traditional Samhain foods: pomegranates, meat, apples, turnips, beets, gingerbread, nuts, mulled wine, mead and cider. **<span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 12 Wiki Assignment: ** <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Google Earth File <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">  <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Description:** Knowth (Irish: Cnobha) is the site of a Neolithic passage grave, one of the ancient monuments of the Brú na Bóinne complex in the valley of the River Boyne in Ireland. It is around a kilometre north west of the Newgrange monument and 2 km west of Dowth.

Knowth is the largest of all passage graves situated within the Brú na Bóinne complex. The site consists of one large mound (known as Site 1) and 17 smaller satellite tombs. Essentially Knowth (Site 1) is a large mound (covering roughly a hectare) and contains two passages, placed along an east-west line. It is encircled by 127 kerbstones (3 of which are missing, 4 are badly damaged). The passages are independent of each other (they do not meet) and both lead to a burial chamber. The eastern passage leads to a cruciform chamber, not unlike that to be found at Newgrange. It contains three recesses and basin stones into which the cremated remains of the dead were placed.

The right-hand recess is larger and more elaborately decorated with megalithic art than the others, which is typical for Irish passage graves of this type. The reason for this is unknown. The western passage ends in an undifferentiated chamber (ie: it has no sides, it is a rectangular room). This chamber is separated from the passage by a sillstone. The chamber seems to have also contained a basin stone. This was later removed and is now located about two thirds down the passageway. **<span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 13 Wiki Assignment ** <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Myths of the Goddess in Neolithic Island Cultures of Northwest Europe and in the Mediterranean
<span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Biaggi, Cristina. "Myths of the Goddess in Neolithic Island Cultures of Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean." //ReVision// 21.3 (1999): 36. //Academic OneFile//. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

<span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This article is a resource for information regarding Celtic Polytheism. There is a comparison drawn between pre-Christian mythology throughout Scotland, Ireland, Crete, and Britain based upon archeological sites such as temples, caves, and small settlements. The comparisons are mainly focused on aspects of Goddess Worship and the different names the groups appeared to have for the same figure. Each comparison is documented with archaeological evidence and this would be a valuable resource in understanding how the ancient Celtic Religions of Europe viewed the importance of each figure and its representation.


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Module 14 Wiki Assignment **

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Goddess in Wales <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dames, Michael. "The Goddess in Wales." ReVision 21.3 (1999): 15. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This article, similar to the first I posted, focuses on Celtic Goddess Worship. This article discusses the Goddess Don and her 14 offspring who were also Gods/Goddesses. An interesting aspect to this article is that the author also gives current information regarding the later views Christianity placed upon the meaning of each God/Goddess (which are not accurate to the original views portrayed by the earlier Celts). This article is helpful in understanding the relevance that the Celts placed on God/Goddess Worship and the rituals and traditions that surrounded them.