Category Archives: History

The true home of Halloween ?

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Did you know that Halloween began on the island of Ireland? 🎃 The spooky season began as an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”), celebrated over 2,000 years ago. Marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of … Continue reading →

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Magical (not lucky) Charms

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Book of Magical Charms, is a handwritten occult commonplace book composed in England in the seventeenth century and currently in the holdings of the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois. Its author is suspected to be London attorney Robert Ashley. The Book of Magical Charms original volume, that … Continue reading →

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“Renaissance Baedeker”

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I first learned about the 15th century incunabula Mirabilia Romae while I was researching a magazine article on the history of the travel guidebook. One of the earliest European printed guidebooks, the Mirabilia Urbis Romaea is a geographically arranged inventory of … Continue reading →

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Frankenstein Season

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Frankenstein Varorium is an online tool which allows the user to explore the iconic Science Fiction novel’s text through its various incarnations, allowing the user to select individual passages and see how they have evolved through different revisions of … Continue reading →

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“Get on the stick”

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

While I was watching the new Marvel spin-off TV series “Agatha All Along”, which revolves around a coven of witches, I wondered when witches were first depicted flying on broomsticks. Thanks to the net the answer involved the image pictured … Continue reading →

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Do we ever really learn from history

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

LEARNING FROM HISTORY David Ferry They said, my saints, my slogan-sayers sang, Be good, my child, in spite of all alarm. They stood, my fathers, tall in a row and said, Be good, be brave, you shall not come to … Continue reading →

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General Headquarters

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

When I first read about a lost board game called “General Headquarters” that was created by Kurt Vonnegut, I was certain that it was an elaborate internet hoax. But, apparently I was wrong. Vonnegut’s life was not without its ironies. … Continue reading →

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Wild Beasts of Art

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t think that I really appreciated the work of the great French artist Henri Matisse until I saw a fabulous retrospective show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.. After viewing the exhibition, I became a huge … Continue reading →

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It’s really all about mutual aid

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

It may seem to be a big leap from U.S. Presidential politics to a book published in 1902 by a Russian scientist and anarchist, but this week watching the electioneering I have been thinking about Peter Kropokin’s seminal work Mutual … Continue reading →

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Making of an Icon

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Kafka: Making of an Icon is an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death and celebrating not only Kafka’s achievements and creativity, but also his continuing inspiration for new literary, theatrical and artistic creations around the world. After … Continue reading →

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