h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Damn - the 5000 went while I wasn't looking.

Interesting though.

Which religion or whatever actually had vestal virgins?

This morning I nearly asked if Duncan and WS weren't back yet - this wedding seemed to go on for a long time.

And I hope it's nothing serious that we haven't heard from Nikki for so long - gut feeling tells me it's not serious, so I hope so.

So Welcome Back Wandrin

How was it then?

So Wandrin' Star is back from her trip to the Wets of Ireland!

Wets of Ireland? Don't know if it was accidental, but it certainly sounds like Ireland to me.

including good Irish and some Scotch, champagne and good white wine, a little gin, a few Pimms to wash down some of the world's best food.(For groomsmum gush see journal entry )

Oh, and they've had 3 times the average annual rainfall already in Galway and Connemara

*follows crowd over to W's page*




~jwf~

>Which religion or whatever actually had vestal virgins?

Roman mythology. Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, corresponding to the Greek Hestia, who was one of the 12 great Olympian gods. Vesta was the keeper of the sacred fire brought from Troy by Aeneas. It was never permitted to go out, lest a national calamity follow. The fire was kept in a special sanctuary in the Forum at Rome, and tended by the vestal virgins aforementioned.

Vesta matches were originally made of wax.

Shak. figuratively called Qu Elizabeth I a 'vestal virgin'.

I wonder whether the Christian emphasis on virginity, the virgin birth and so on, is a hangover from these Roman notions.

It's highly unlikely, as it's a logical rather than cultural thing: the emphasis on virginity only exists because it should leave no doubt as to who the father is.

>> a hangover from these Roman notions <<

Which were themselves hangovers from earlier 'civilised' rituals concerning the status of virginity/marriage/etc.

The practice of sending young girls in their prime to live for a time with other prospective brides under the auspices of the local 'church' is quite ancient and there were many variations on the sequence of events.
In some cultures they would (when considered ready) be ritually deflowered by the priests to prepare them for marriage.
In others they would serve as prostitutes for all men of rank for some given period of time until they were suitable as wives.
In others they were simply sacrificed but often only if found unwilling or 'unsuitable' for marriage by the priestly try outs.

The notion that 'love is blind', comes from a Roman symbol of Cupid wearing a blindfold. This was a standard 'sign' at the doorways of brothels. It promised 'discretion'; that no one would report the identities of patrons.

But this too comes from more ancient cultures, where the 'virgins' were blindfolded at their initiations so they might never know who actually 'prepared' them for marriage. Sometimes a priest, sometimes the father of the groom, or the local chief, king, a scorned suitor, the prospective husband himself, other men of rank and privilege ...all depending on the times and the local power structure.

The modern tradition of rowdy pre-nuptial stag nights and hen parties is a hangover of these preparatory ceremonies, although we currently think of it as 'one last stand' instead of an education process.

The more things stay the same, the more change seems ..pointless.

~jwf~

I quite like the sound of the Moslem hen parties where they all dress up and paint each others' feet and generally have a woman-to-woman giggle and chinwag. With lots of sweet food. And dates which aren't associated with rape.

But then again, the other things Moslem women have to put up with hardly make it worth while changing religion for that.

I apologise for my customary lowering of the tone (and possible repetition, but I can't remember whether this has been mentioned) I thought that "innuendo" was Italian for "suppository".

I ..sup ..pose so.

*gazes into future*

BRIT-ENG FORUM
Index: Law and Language
Entry: Pythonesque Expectations
Sample: 17-A. "Construe or conceive a relationship between a judge's 'chambers' and a french bedroom."

Answer -"farce" - which seems to be related to the French for "stuffing" (or "forcemeat")

#2 - Sur mon honor

Chambres dictionaire


17-A
beat me to it; so can I have "briefs"?

Over at F19585?thread=196219 (What's wrong with humans) the term *species* and race (in regard to humans) is being used interchangeably...

Race is linked to racial, surely

So how / when did *race* come to encompass all of us <?>

six7's

It didn't, not as far as I am aware anyway! Just incorrect usage by someone that has maybe caught on with others.

Otherwise a racist would be someone who was prejudiced against humans (I know a few!) when in actual fact they are merely grumpy b*st*ards!

On that note, I remember when I was at University that we had a big drive on against various -isms. One of them was 'racialism', by which I believe they meant racism. My question is, what would the term racialism mean? If anything