miércoles, 5 de agosto de 2009

ODIN - Gods from Norse Mythology

Fuente:

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/norse-mythology.php?deity=ODIN&ds=N

Información:

Gods from Norse Mythology...

ODIN

Picture of ODIN
Also known as GANGLERI, ODINN, OTHINN, VAK, VALTAM

ODIN: The Norse Biggy. ODIN is Father of the Gods, King of ASGARD, Ruler of the AESIR and the Lord of War, Death and Knowledge.

To travel the world without being recognised, he wears a huge wide-brimmed hat. He also — thanks to LOKI — rides an eight-legged horse named SLEIPNIR into battle. All he needs is a six-shooter and a sheriff's badge to be able to stand in for John Wayne in True Grit. His biggest fans include the Berserkers, which should give you some idea.

He's also very hot on Knowledge and Military Intelligence, having two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who fly around the world every day bringing up-to-date reports.

ODIN himself has only one eye, having traded the other one for a sip from MIMIR's Well of Wisdom during his visit to the great World Tree YGGDRASIL. Consequently he's full of knowledge, while his missing eye is hidden in an unknown location care of MIMIR the Talking Head. The eye enabled MIMIR to focus on far-distant events, allowing ODIN the ability to always see far ahead.

To become the Top Wise Guy, ODIN put himself through some incredibly rigorous ordeals. The Well of Wisdom lies under the second root of YGGDRASIL, which allows the Dew of Knowledge to seep into it. So ODIN stabbed himself with his own spear and hung himself on the tree for nine days and nights. He was then allowed a peep, and saw magic runes appear on rocks beneath him.

With a superhuman effort he struggled to lift them, which must have been quite an acrobatic feat. Running his eye over the mystic symbols, he was instantly freed of all encumbrances; restored and rejuvenated with everlasting vigour enabling him to drop lightly to the ground.

His ordeal accomplished, ODIN was at last able to take a well-deserved swig from MIMIR's well, making him well-wise as well as wise. It was even tastier than his usual tipple Kvas, the Mead of Inspiration, a special brew made from the blood of KVASIR.

If you think a wise one-eyed Norse cowboy on an eight-legged horse would be easy to recognise, this ain't necessarily so for ODIN is a shape-changer, and his range of disguises make Sherlock Holmes look like Miss Marple. He also travels incognito under a variety of false names.

Sharing primeval God status with brothers VE and VILI, the Great ODIN helped bring the world as we know it into being, so we can forgive his little foibles. The legend tells that in the ice-laden wastes of NIFLHEIM, he got into a rather catastophic snowball fight with YMIR, the king of the FROST-GIANTS. The Abominable Snowgiant was slashed into pieces and ODIN made the world from all the bits. He even found a use for the eyebrows.

ODIN's dad is BOR, son of BURI, son of an ice cube. Married to FRIGG (with the occasional Freya fling and flirtation with RIND), the family firm includes BALDUR, HOD, HERMOTH, THOR and VIDAR. See also WODEN.

Estado - Byron

Apenas son suficientes mil años para formar un Estado; pero puede bastar una hora para reducirlo a polvo.

martes, 4 de agosto de 2009

Thor - Meta-Religion

Fuente:

http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Europe/thor.htm

Información:

Thor

Old Norse Þórr

The son of Odin and a member of the Aesir, he was the god of thunder and the main enemy of the giants. He would smash their heads with his mighty hammer Mjollnir. To wield this awesome weapon he needed iron gloves and a belt of strength. Mjollnir would return to Thor's hand after being thrown and was symbolic of lightning.

Thor would ride around middle-earth in his wagon drawn by two goats, His abode was Thruthheim [Land of Strength] and his hall, Bilskinir.

His wife was Sif.

He was foremost of the gods to the common man, who would call on him to ensure fertility, and widely worshiped. Hammer shaped amulets, a symbol of Thor because it was his weapon, were worn about the neck well into the christianization of Scandinavia. There are molds from that time which contain both cross and hammer shapes, side by side. His name occurs in numerous place names, and it was his statue which was central in the great temple at Uppsala.

Thursday is named for him and he was associated by the Romans with Jupiter, therefore also parallel to Zeus. They were all the wielder of ligtning bolts. Some claim that Odin is the Norse equivalent to Jupiter / Zeus, however, one needs look not much further than the name given to the fourth day of the week by the Romans and then to its English equivalent to see that the ancients equated Odin with Mercury / Hermes.

Donar was an early version of Thor among the Germans and the anglo-saxons worshiped a thunder god named Thunor.

El fórmulario de aduanas del Apolo 11 - No Solo Viajeros

Fuente:

http://www.nosoloviajeros.com/el-formulario-de-aduanas-del-apolo-11/

Información:

El fórmulario de aduanas del Apolo 11

Agosto 1, 2009 | por Jon Sainz | 21 views

Apolo 11

Hay mucha gente a la cual cuando viaja le aburre el ponerse a rellenar los típicos fórmularios de aduanas, que si llevo esto, que si lo otro….

Bueno, pues visto lo visto, en algunos casos este punto puede ser de lo más curioso, y por ello os traigo hoy una imagen del formulario que tuvieron que rellenar los tripulantes del famoso Apolo 11 ( Primera nave tripulada en viajar a la luna ). Ni los astronautas se libran de este trámite.

Una traducción rápida:

Vuelo: Apolo 11.
Salida: La Luna.
Llegada: Honolulu, Hawai.
Carga: Muestras de piedra y polvo lunares.

Apolo 11

No me imagino la cara del agente fronterizo al ver este documento.

Fuente y fotografía 2 | Eureka
Fotografía 1 | Space.com

Clases sociales en la India - No Solo Viajeros

Fuente:

http://www.nosoloviajeros.com/clases-sociales-en-la-india/

Información:

Clases sociales en la India

Agosto 6, 2008 | por Jon Sainz | 6,928 views

Castas en la India

La India es una gran nación, de ello no hay duda, miles de años de historia y tradiciones lo confirman. El problema surge cuando algunas de estas tradiciones, aunque sobre el papel extintas, se mantienen vigentes; me refiero a las castas.

Las castas son las clases sociales en las que esta dividida la sociedad India, la pertenencia a una u a otra depende de la familia en la que se nazca. Teoricamente desde 1952 este sistema discriminatorio esta prohibido, pero la realidad es bien diferente.

Existen cuatro castas, que de mayor a menos pureza son las siguientes:

  • Brahmanes: son los sacerdotes encargados de interpretar y enseñar los textos sagrados.
  • Kshatriyas: son guerreros y gobernantes encargados de defender su sociedad.
  • Vaishyas: son artesanos y comerciantes, encargados de alimentar a la sociedad.
  • Sudras: campesinos y gente trabajadora, cuya única labor es servir a las demás castas.

Por debajo de estas 4 castas están los intocables, a quienes no se les incluye en el sistema de castas, son personas consideradas impuras desde su nacimiento. Representan un 25% de la población India (más de 160 millones) y hacen los trabajos sucios que los demás no quieren hacer, como: limpieza de letrinas, incineración de cadáveres, limpieza de pozos sépticos, trabajos que implican un contacto físico con sangre , excrementos…

Los intocables suelen ser en demasiadas ocasiones víctimas de violaciones, linchamientos o asesinatos por miembros de castas superiores.

Lo oficial es que toda la sociedad India es igual ante la ley y ante el prójimo, la realidad es esta:

  • Cerca del 90% de las personas pobres y el 95% de las personas analfabetas son intocables.
  • Unos cuarenta millones de personas son intocables. De esos cuarenta millones 15 son niños y niñas que trabajan por un salario mínimo.
  • La mitad de los niños y el 64% de las niñas no pueden acabar la escuela porque son humillados por sus profesores /as.

Fuente y mayor información | Wikipedia