Sunday 30 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 67: Be a benevolent guest

This is one in a series of very short posts containing snippets from the Havamal text (which can be found in full here - http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html)

Why post snippets of an old pagan text here, in a blog that's supposedly about the Androsphere?  I’m posting them because they contain helpful everyday advice that is applicable in the modern world e.g. being aware of your surrounding environment, drinking alcohol responsibly, how to score with women.  And for many of us, it is part of our heritage that goes back to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) beliefs that stretch back 4000 years or more.

Christianity and demi-nihilism offer the only other dominant philosophical view points in the Androsphere, the former represented by bloggers like Vox Day and Simon Grey, the latter by many PUA bloggers.  Christianity, and indeed the other monotheisms from the region draw, from the mythologies of the PIE culture.  For instance Noah’s flood is a replication of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of the Angels rebelling against God in the bible is just a copy of the Giants rebelling against the Gods, which is present in both the Greek and Norse religious traditions, as Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in the eighteenth century.

So, instead of offering you snippets of second-hand wisdom from the Bible, I will offer you snippets of first-hand wisdom from the (probably) older and much more concise Havamal text (roughly 5,000 words compared to the 190,000 words of the New Testament).

(My own thoughts/comments are in italics).

I have no idea what this stanza means.  Perhaps it's about being a decent guest when at other peoples homes, and either taking nothing or giving more than you take.  In other words being benevolent to your hosts if you are a guest in someones home.

67
Hér ok hvar
myndi mér heim of boðit
ef þyrftak at málungi mat
eða tvau lær hengi
at ins tryggva vinar
þars ek hafða eitt etit

Here and there
I would be invited home
if I needed no food at meals;
or two hams would hang
at a loyal friend's
where I had eaten one.

Friday 28 June 2013

Men of Yore: Franz Achard

This is another in a series of posts about men from history who have either achieved great things in one form or another by pushing boundaries: either in themselves or in society or science or exploration of some form.  Boundary pushing and growth is what men do, it's their nature: to grow and push outwards.  We, as men, are the frontiers men, the first to discover/uncover new territory, in a metaphysical sense (i.e. including both material and the immaterial) that is later colonised and 'civilised' by the rest of humanity. 

It is also partly intended to show images, be they paintings, statues or photographs of the countenaces of men of yore.  Because, quite frankly, many men wear the countenances of women these days: smiling, smirking, cooing, rolling their eyes, looking smug etc.  It's a sign of the times, and by showing some images of men from the past, I hope to show some modern men why looking surly, frowning and giving hard-ball stares at people is something to do, something to practice.





Franz Karl Achard (April 28, 1753 – April 20, 1821) was a German (Prussian) chemist, physicist and biologist. His principal discovery was the production of sugar from sugar beets.[1][2]

Life and Works
Achard was born in Berlin, the son of preacher Max Guillaume Achard, descendant of Huguenot refugees and his wife Marguerite Elisabeth (Rouppert). He studied physics and chemistry in Berlin. He became interested in sugar refining through his stepfather. At the age of 20, Achard entered the "Circle of Friends of Natural Sciences" and met Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, then director of the physical classes at the Royal Academy of Sciences. Achard studied many subjects, including meteorology, evaporation chillness, electricity, telegraphy, gravity, lightning arresters, and published in German and French.

Achard was a favorite of King Frederick II of Prussia, and directly reported to the King on his research twice a week. About a study on the influence of electricity on mental capabilities, Frederick II was reported to have said: If he is able to provide reason for the half wits in my Prussian states using electricity, then he is worth more than his own weight in gold.
In 1776 Achard was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. Following the death of Marggraf in 1782, Archard went on to become the director of the physical classes of the academy. In 1782 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

For his discoveries in the acclimatisation of tobacco to Germany, the king granted him a lifetime pension of 500 taler. Achard was also esteemed by Frederick William II of Prussia.
Achard revived the discovery by Marggraf in 1747 that sugar beets contained sugar, and devised a process to produce sugar from sugar beets. Beginning in 1789, he planted various sugar-bearing plants on his manor in Kaulsdorf near Berlin. Because of their efficiency, he soon preferred sugar beets. In the following year he studied different varieties of beets and the influence of fertilisers. The research was interrupted when Kaulsdorf manor burnt down and had to be sold. Achard later continued on the manor Französisch Buchholz.

In 1801, with the support of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, he opened the first sugar beet refinery at Gut Kunern near Steinau[3] Silesia, Prussia.[4] In 1802, the refinery processed 400 tons of beets with a degree of efficiency of 4%. Other refineries were soon built by his students Johann Gottlob Nathusius and Moritz, Freiherr von Koppy. In 1806 Achard's plant was burned down by Napoleon's war and in 1810 it was rebuilt on a small scale. Embargoes by Napoleon kept cane sugar imports away from Germany and thus the growing and refining of sugar beets became highly important for the Prussian government. Refineries also appeared in Bohemia, Augsburg and in 1811 in France. France itself built many refineries and was only in later years surpassed by Prussia.

English sugar merchants offered Achard 200,000 taler to declare his experiments a failure but he refused. With Achards discovery, sugar was no longer a luxury product, but became a necessity, due to the embargoes. Achard taught classes to have a large number of sugar beet growers and the specially developed sugar beets became available for everyone.

In 1794, Achard built an optical telegraph between Spandau and Bellevue. This device had been invented just one year before by Claude Chappe.

Due to Archard's financial difficulties as a result of several fires in 1806, his refineries were declared bankrupt in 1815. He died, destitute, in 1821 in Wohlau. His life's work was carried on mainly by French industrialists such as at the refineries of Matthias Christian Rabbethge. In mid 19th century America, Achard's grandson Anton William Waldemar Achard successfully promoted beet sugar production in Michigan according to a later descendant, Emil Lockwood,[5] son of Mabel Pauline Achard.[6]
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Carl_Achard
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Carl_Achard


Without contributions by men such as Achard, most of us would still be dependent upon imported sugar cane from the Caribbean, India and the Mediterranean; and thus at the whim/mercy of the merchants/middle-men who transport the goods between there and here.  Achard freed Europe from these Sugar merchants and allowed it to produce its own sugar, to gain autonomy.

Achard had the Promethean spirit in him and desired to share his knowledge, rather than keeping it all under his hat, like the Chinese tried to do with knowledge of Silk making.  Indeed instead of just publishing his knowledge in a book and leaving it on a bookshelf to collect dust, he actively taught students so that they could learn his knowledge for themselves.



Check out some of the other entries from the 'Men of Yore' series:


[End.]

Thursday 27 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 66: Be punctual when arriving at social gatherings

This is one in a series of very short posts containing snippets from the Havamal text (which can be found in full here - http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html)

Why post snippets of an old pagan text here, in a blog that's supposedly about the Androsphere?  I’m posting them because they contain helpful everyday advice that is applicable in the modern world e.g. being aware of your surrounding environment, drinking alcohol responsibly, how to score with women.  And for many of us, it is part of our heritage that goes back to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) beliefs that stretch back 4000 years or more.

Christianity and demi-nihilism offer the only other dominant philosophical view points in the Androsphere, the former represented by bloggers like Vox Day and Simon Grey, the latter by many PUA bloggers.  Christianity, and indeed the other monotheisms from the region draw, from the mythologies of the PIE culture.  For instance Noah’s flood is a replication of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of the Angels rebelling against God in the bible is just a copy of the Giants rebelling against the Gods, which is present in both the Greek and Norse religious traditions, as Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in the eighteenth century.

So, instead of offering you snippets of second-hand wisdom from the Bible, I will offer you snippets of first-hand wisdom from the (probably) older and much more concise Havamal text (roughly 5,000 words compared to the 190,000 words of the New Testament).

(My own thoughts/comments are in italics).

Arrive at social gatherings at the allotted time: the right time.

66
Mikilsti snemma
kom ek í marga staði
en til síð í suma
öl var drukkit
sumt var ólagat
sjaldan hittir leiðr í lið

[2] I came to many places
[1] very much too soon,
and too late to some;
sometimes the ale was drunk,
sometimes it wasn't ready;
the unwelcome one seldom hits the spot.

Sunday 23 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 65: Investment often reaps rewards.

This is one in a series of very short posts containing snippets from the Havamal text (which can be found in full here - http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html)

Why post snippets of an old pagan text here, in a blog that's supposedly about the Androsphere?  I’m posting them because they contain helpful everyday advice that is applicable in the modern world e.g. being aware of your surrounding environment, drinking alcohol responsibly, how to score with women.  And for many of us, it is part of our heritage that goes back to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) beliefs that stretch back 4000 years or more.

Christianity and demi-nihilism offer the only other dominant philosophical view points in the Androsphere, the former represented by bloggers like Vox Day and Simon Grey, the latter by many PUA bloggers.  Christianity, and indeed the other monotheisms from the region draw, from the mythologies of the PIE culture.  For instance Noah’s flood is a replication of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of the Angels rebelling against God in the bible is just a copy of the Giants rebelling against the Gods, which is present in both the Greek and Norse religious traditions, as Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in the eighteenth century.

So, instead of offering you snippets of second-hand wisdom from the Bible, I will offer you snippets of first-hand wisdom from the (probably) older and much more concise Havamal text (roughly 5,000 words compared to the 190,000 words of the New Testament).

(My own thoughts/comments are in italics).

Investment often reaps rewards.  Like begets like.  Be freindly to friends and you're life will be more joyous, more pleasant.

65
Orða þeira
er maðr öðrum segir
opt hann gjöld um getr

[3] Often a man gets a repayment
[1] for the words
[2] which he says to another.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 64: How to use 'Political Will'

This is one in a series of very short posts containing snippets from the Havamal text (which can be found in full here - http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html)

Why post snippets of an old pagan text here, in a blog that's supposedly about the Androsphere?  I’m posting them because they contain helpful everyday advice that is applicable in the modern world e.g. being aware of your surrounding environment, drinking alcohol responsibly, how to score with women.  And for many of us, it is part of our heritage that goes back to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) beliefs that stretch back 4000 years or more.

Christianity and demi-nihilism offer the only other dominant philosophical view points in the Androsphere, the former represented by bloggers like Vox Day and Simon Grey, the latter by many PUA bloggers.  Christianity, and indeed the other monotheisms from the region draw, from the mythologies of the PIE culture.  For instance Noah’s flood is a replication of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of the Angels rebelling against God in the bible is just a copy of the Giants rebelling against the Gods, which is present in both the Greek and Norse religious traditions, as Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in the eighteenth century.

So, instead of offering you snippets of second-hand wisdom from the Bible, I will offer you snippets of first-hand wisdom from the (probably) older and much more concise Havamal text (roughly 5,000 words compared to the 190,000 words of the New Testament).

(My own thoughts/comments are in italics).

'Political will' as it is called today, is a finite resource, use it sparangly.

64
Ríki sitt
skyli ráðsnotra
hverr í hófi hafa
þá hann þat finnr
er með frœknum kømr
at engi er einna hvatastr

[3] Each [2] of the prudent must
[3] hold in moderation
[1] his power;
then he finds it,
when he comes among valiant men,
that none is keenest of all.

Sunday 16 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 63: He who wishes to be called wise, ask and reply.

This is one in a series of very short posts containing snippets from the Havamal text (which can be found in full here - http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html)

Why post snippets of an old pagan text here, in a blog that's supposedly about the Androsphere?  I’m posting them because they contain helpful everyday advice that is applicable in the modern world e.g. being aware of your surrounding environment, drinking alcohol responsibly, how to score with women.  And for many of us, it is part of our heritage that goes back to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) beliefs that stretch back 4000 years or more.

Christianity and demi-nihilism offer the only other dominant philosophical view points in the Androsphere, the former represented by bloggers like Vox Day and Simon Grey, the latter by many PUA bloggers.  Christianity, and indeed the other monotheisms from the region draw, from the mythologies of the PIE culture.  For instance Noah’s flood is a replication of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of the Angels rebelling against God in the bible is just a copy of the Giants rebelling against the Gods, which is present in both the Greek and Norse religious traditions, as Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in the eighteenth century.

So, instead of offering you snippets of second-hand wisdom from the Bible, I will offer you snippets of first-hand wisdom from the (probably) older and much more concise Havamal text (roughly 5,000 words compared to the 190,000 words of the New Testament).

(My own thoughts/comments are in italics).


Wisdom and common sense are at antipodes of exclusivity: wisdom is for the few, common sense (hence the name) is for the many.

63
Fregna ok segja
skal fróðra hverr
sá er vill heitinn horskr
einn vita
né annarr skal
þjóð veit ef þrír ro

[2] Each of the wise must
[1] ask and reply,
he who wishes to be called wise;
one alone must know
but not another;
the people knows if there are three [who know].

Friday 14 June 2013

Men of Yore: Daniel Boone

This is another in a series of posts about men from history who have either achieved great things in one form or another by pushing boundaries: either in themselves or in society or science or exploration of some form.  Boundary pushing and growth is what men do, it's their nature: to grow and push outwards.  We, as men, are the frontiers men, the first to discover/uncover new territory, in a metaphysical sense (i.e. including both material and the immaterial) that is later colonised and 'civilised' by the rest of humanity. 

It is also partly intended to show images, be they paintings, statues or photographs of the countenaces of men of yore.  Because, quite frankly, many men wear the countenances of women these days: smiling, smirking, cooing, rolling their eyes, looking smug etc.  It's a sign of the times, and by showing some images of men from the past, I hope to show some modern men why looking surly, frowning and giving hard-ball stares at people is something to do, something to practice.




Daniel Boone, 1820 (84 years old)

Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 [O.S. October 22] – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then part of Virginia but on the other side of the mountains from the settled areas. Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1775 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky. There he founded the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.[2]

Boone was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. Boone was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe. Later, he left the Indians and returned to Boonesborough to help defend the European settlements in Kentucky/Virginia.
Boone was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the Revolutionary War, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782. Blue Lick was one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War, coming after the main fighting ended in October 1781.

Following the war, Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant, but fell deeply into debt through failed Kentucky land speculation. Frustrated with the legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone emigrated to eastern Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life (1800–20). Boone remains an iconic figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, he was frequently the subject of heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—were influential in creating the archetypal Western hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen.
[..]
Early Life
Daniel Boone spent his early years on what was then the edge of the Pennsylvania frontier. Several Lenape Indian villages were nearby. The pacifist Pennsylvania Quakers had good relations with the Indians, but the steady growth of the white population compelled many Indians to move further west. Boone was given his first rifle at the age of 12, as families depended on hunting for much of their food. He learned to hunt from both local settlers and the Lenape, and he always loved it.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone





Check out some of the other entries from the 'Men of Yore' series:


[End.]

Sunday 9 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 61: Mind and body are more important than clothes

It's Wednesday (Woden/Odin's Day) which means that it's time for another verse from the Havamal 'Sayings of the High One - Odin'. The poem full of wisdom, both everyday and ethereal. (The poem can be found in full HERE):
61. Washed and refected
let a man ride to the Thing,
although his garments be not too good;
of his shoes and breeches
let no one be ashamed,
nor of his horse,
although he have not a good one.

(Source: http://heathengods.com/havamal/thorpe.htm)
Attending a meeting (in Nordic a meeting is called a Thing, the Icelandic parliament is called the Althing) of local men, attire is of little importance, it is a healthy body and mind that matter.


[End.]

Friday 7 June 2013

Men of Yore: Aaran Manby

This is another in a series of posts about men from history who have either achieved great things in one form or another by pushing boundaries: either in themselves or in society or science or exploration of some form.  Boundary pushing and growth is what men do, it's their nature: to grow and push outwards.  We, as men, are the frontiers men, the first to discover/uncover new territory, in a metaphysical sense (i.e. including both material and the immaterial) that is later colonised and 'civilised' by the rest of humanity. 

It is also partly intended to show images, be they paintings, statues or photographs of the countenaces of men of yore.  Because, quite frankly, many men wear the countenances of women these days: smiling, smirking, cooing, rolling their eyes, looking smug etc.  It's a sign of the times, and by showing some images of men from the past, I hope to show some modern men why looking surly, frowning and giving hard-ball stares at people is something to do, something to practice.



Aaron Manby (15 November 1776, Albrighton, Shrewsbury, Shropshire – 1 December 1850, Isle of Wight) was an English civil engineer and the founder of the Horseley Ironworks, notable for the many fine iron canal bridges that it built. The eponymous Aaron Manby steamboat was the first iron-hulled steamer to go to sea, and it was driven by Manby's patent Oscillating Engine, an effective and durable marine steam engine.
In 1812 Manby was managing partner of the Horseley Coal and Iron Co, Tipton, Staffordshire.[1] It ran coal mines, blast furnaces to make iron, and assorted workshops. Manby expanded the business into civil engineering.[1]
In 1813 Manby obtained patent No 3705 for a means of casting the slag from blast furnaces into blocks for building.[1][2]
In 1815, the firm supplied a cast-iron swing bridge, possibly the first of Horseley's many iron bridges.[1]
In 1821, diversifying into mechanical engineering, Manby obtained British Patent No 4558 for his "oscillating engine" designed for use in ships. That same year, Horseley Ironworks constructed the world's first sea-going iron steamboat, named the Aaron Manby, using his oscillating engine.[3][4] The boat was built at Tipton using temporary bolts, disassembled for transportation to London, and reassembled on the Thames in 1822, this time using permanent rivets.[1]
Between 1819 and 1822, Manby started his engineering works at Charenton, near Paris, with the Irish chemist Daniel Wilson as manager. This controversial move enabled France to stop buying engines made in England, which made Manby somewhat unpopular.[1][5]
In 1822 Manby and Wilson's Compagnie d'Éclairage par de Gaz Hydrogène ('Hydrogen Gas Lighting Company') was granted the right to provide gas lighting for several streets in Paris.[1] According to Michel Cotte, "The company Manby & Wilson is certainly the largest company of British origin which set up in France under the Restoration."[6] Their "Compagnie Anglaise" ran until 1847, expanding to take in the Le Creusot ironworks.[5]
Manby's Horseley Ironworks profited from the growing canal trade, manufacturing canal bridges in the English Midlands[7] including the Engine Arm Aqueduct (1825) and two roving bridges at Smethwick Junction (1828).[8]
In 1845 Manby sold Horseley Ironworks to John Joseph Bramah (~1798 - 1846), nephew of Joseph Bramah.[5]

Family life

Manby was born at Albrighton, Shropshire on 15 November 1776 to Aaron Manby of Kingston, Jamaica and Jane Lane of Bentley.[2]
Manby's first wife was Julia Fewster. They had a son, Charles Manby, who became Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[1] Julia died in 1807.[5]
In 1807 Manby married Sarah Ann Haskins. with whom he had one daughter, Sarah Maria (d. 1826), and four more sons. The oldest three of them, John Richard (1813-1869), Joseph Lane (1814-1862), and Edward Oliver (1816-1864), also became civil engineers. Sarah Ann died in 1826.[5]
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Manby_(ironmaster)




Aaron Manby had a love for creation and innovation, and this coincided with a love for freedom of information: as demonstrated by his desire to construct ship engines in France (Englands enemy of the day) making them self-sufficient in the manufacture of engines, thus independent from the British Empire which chastened many other Britains.  The Promethean Spirit is something that transcends political and cultural boundaries.  Freely giving knowledge, or making knowledge openly available to all men is something that True men abide by.



Check out some of the other entries from the 'Men of Yore' series:


[End.]

Thursday 6 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 60: Know the value, use of materials

It's Wednesday (Woden/Odin's Day) which means that it's time for another verse from the Havamal 'Sayings of the High One - Odin'. The poem full of wisdom, both everyday and ethereal. (The poem can be found in full HERE):
60. Of dry planks
and roof-shingles
a man knows the measure;
of the fire-wood
that may suffice,
both measure and time.

(Source: http://heathengods.com/havamal/thorpe.htm)
Know the value of materials, get to know them. Know what wood is good for kindling fires, know what wood is good for building lodges. Know what people are good for fun, know what people are good for partnerships.


[End.]

Sunday 2 June 2013

Havamal Snippets 59: wealth is half in the hands of the active.

It's Wednesday (Woden/Odin's Day) which means that it's time for another verse from the Havamal 'Sayings of the High One - Odin'. The poem full of wisdom, both everyday and ethereal. (The poem can be found in full HERE):
59. Early should rise
he who has few workers,
and go his work to see to;
greatly is he retarded
who sleeps the morn away.
Wealth half depends on energy.

(Source: http://heathengods.com/havamal/thorpe.htm)
If you have few workers then you will have to work hard for your wealth. In conceptual terms, Workers are just people who perform given tasks thgat the employer doesn't think about. Therefore you copuld compare Workers to robots, or to machines (a food processor instead of a knife and chopping board), or to computer software (a word processor and Windows NT saves you from typing in binary), or to doing your shoe laces up (it's a set of actions that someone performs without thinking about it). With that in mind you could easily say that the more Workers you have at your disposal (be they personal skills or physical tools or human people) the more wealthy you will be.


[End.]