Tag Archives: Atlantis

today’s holiday: Lemuralia


Lemuralia

In ancient Rome, the lemures—the ghosts of the family’s dead—were considered to be troublesome and therefore had to be exorcized on a regular basis. The Lemuralia or Lemuria was a yearly festival held on the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May to get rid of the lemures. Participants walked barefoot, cleansed their hands three times, and threw black beans behind them nine times to appease the spirits of the dead. On the third day of the festival, a merchants’ festival was held to ensure a prosperous year for business. More… Discuss

today’s birthday: Athanasius Kircher (1601?)


Athanasius Kircher (1601?)

One of history’s great polymaths, Kircher was a German archeologist, mathematician, biologist, astronomer, musicologist, and physicist who knew Hebrew, Aramaic, Coptic, Persian, Latin, Greek, and various modern languages. He tried to decipher one of the most ancient writing systems—Egyptian hieroglyphics—but most of his thoughts on the subject proved incorrect. An avid inventor, he built playful devices including a talking and eavesdropping statue that used a primitive intercom, and what else? More… Discuss

quotation: God is truth and light his shadow. Plato


God is truth and light his shadow.

Plato (427 BC-347 BC) Discuss

Atlantis


Atlantis

According to legend, Atlantis was an ancient island that long ago sank into the sea and was lost. Plato is the primary source of the legend, writing in his dialogues the Timaeus and the Critias of the flourishing Atlantean civilization and the island’s destruction 9,000 years before his time. Many have sought the missing island to no avail. While it likely never existed as Plato described, elements of his story may have been drawn from real events. What does he say sank Atlantis? More… Discuss