What I’m reading now

I am still reading everything I can get my hands on that relates to published works that didn't make it into the King James Bible, and why. I am also deep into ancient folklore from the Celtic Isles. That is interesting reading.

“Never stop asking why? For when you run out of questions, the world will run out of answers.”

I can't help it. I have always been a lover of ancient history. One of my professors once told me that in order for man to fully understand where he is going, he must remember and understand, where he has been. Now, it is true that statement was made in his flat in London and he had just poured a generous helping of twenty-five year old Scotch whiskey while we warmed by his fireplace. However, I take information wherever I can find it. Although, I rarely ever drink anything other than a glass of wine now, I was a sipper of fine Scotch whiskey. My dear friend, Dr. Brian, was true to his heritage and could easily toss back one after the other. I never saw the man drunk.

However, the more he drank, the more he talked and the more he would pontificate upon the cause of things. We had delightful conversations on the multiverse, some of which I used in my novel Lea. We had grand discussion on gods and goddesses and how accurate they were and where they came from. You know, whether we like it or not, legends are built somewhere, somehow, upon something factual. I suppose how factual really depends on how much Scotch or Mead one has consumed.

In fact, one of the races of gods and warriors I speak of in The Last Templar series is the Tuatha Dé Danann In the old tongue or Gaelic, it means “People of the Goddess Danu”). in Celtic mythology, they were a race inhabiting Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians (the ancestors of the modern Irish). They were said to have been skilled in magic, and the earliest reference to them relates that, after they were banished from heaven because of their knowledge, they descended on Ireland in a cloud of mist. They were thought to have disappeared into the hills when overcome by the Milesians. The Leabhar Gabhála or Book of Invasions, a fictitious history of Ireland from the earliest times, treats them as actual people, and they were so regarded by native historians up to the 17th century. In popular legend they have become associated with the numerous fairies still supposed to inhabit the Irish landscape. How did these beings arrive? In great ships belching fire, which they destroyed so there was no turning back. This is only one story of races of people that had magical powers that came to our little planet. They were supposed to have been good. Good or bad, I'm not sure. History is written by those who win. They are a somewhat more dismal and warlike population in The Last Templar series.

I continue to read and study. The history of the world calls to me. By the way, I took some privileges in The Last Templar. Aye, I actually took quite a few. However, as my Mother was kind enough to point out to me in one of our discussions, the word Nephilim is not mentioned in the King James Bible. It is translated out to "Giant". In the Hebrew Torah, the word is not translated directly to "Giant". Instead the word Nephilim remains, which they know means "Giant". Even after the flood, the Nephilim were still alive and well, some way from the bloodline of one of Noah's son's wife. We all know the story of Goliath. He also had four brothers, whom David was to kill. I believe he killed three of them, but by the time he got to number four, he was too old, so God gave the privilege to another.

So, I'll keep studying to keep my novels interesting and at least factual in some instances. Remember, in a 1948 speech to the House of Commons, Churchill slightly changed an older quote when he said (paraphrased), “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” and George Santayana-1905 said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana-1905).

I would rather learn from someone else's mistakes, as I am quite capable of making enough on my own.

Cheers!