tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41852511055279947732024-03-13T11:22:33.881-07:00The Flight of the SorceressThe home of commentary related to the historical novel, my research on the fourth and fifth centuries, the relevance of those times to now. The blog is interactive and invites comments, debate and questions. Book groups are welcome to schedule video chats with the author.Bonnie Willdorfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02194875830675790712noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-42904712679497538612012-11-19T10:45:00.001-08:002012-11-19T10:45:29.922-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-22634179269959253192012-08-23T14:43:00.000-07:002012-08-23T14:43:11.145-07:00TODD AKIN AND ST. AUGUSTINE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Todd Akin didn’t just pull his rape comment out of thin air.
It's Christian theology from the Dark Ages. Rape victims
who kill themselves (or who get pregnant) must have enjoyed it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When St. Augustine heard that multitudes of Roman women, raped by the invading
Visigoths in 410 A.D. were committing suicide rather that living with the
consequences, he wrote: </div>
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“‘No one can dispute that if a woman remains firmly opposed
to the act upon her, no violation of a woman is her fault as long as she cannot
avoid it without sinning. But because a woman’s lust may be gratified during
such an act, the woman will experience shame, even though she is pure of spirit
and truly modest, because such an act cannot be experienced without some
sensual pleasure, and people will believe that she gave her consent.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Augustine, City of God.</div>
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In <i>The Flight of the Sorceress</i>, Hypatia lectures on this dogma, as expounded by St. Augustine. When I wrote it, I had a premonition that the political debate on this issue would come to pass. A significant portion of our country is advocating a return to Dark Ages thinking. They may not like it characterized this way, but St. Augustine, Pope Innocent I and attendees at the Council of Nicaea (322 A.D.) would be comfortable with Todd Akin's thinking and vice versa.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-80256782463457776992012-08-18T10:52:00.000-07:002012-08-18T10:52:06.847-07:00PUSSY RIOT: Sorceress Redux<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Flight of the Sorceress tells the story of a declining
empire scrambling for an ideology that will motivate a skeptical population to
restore the empire to its former greatness. Caesar choses Catholicism.
Intellectualism is stifled. Women are increasingly oppressed. Dissent becomes
heresy as the lines between church and state are increasingly obliterated. All
for the sake of a renewed empire that will bring little benefit to anyone
except the privileged few. </div>
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Although The Flight of the Sorceress is fictionalized, the big picture is not
made up. We have a thousand-year Dark Ages to show for it. During
which, according to estimates, six million women were accused of witchcraft or
sorcery and either burned or stoned to death. It was a millennium of ignorance,
superstition and cruel human oppression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Europe's knowledge of agriculture, engineering, manufacture and trade
remained stagnant. Literally nothing of significance created in the arts or
discovered in the sciences was permitted to flourish. And presiding over it all
was an omnipotent religious organization.</div>
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Today, we have another toppled empire in Russia and a
neo-czar, Putin, an heir to the Caesars. During his reign he has crushed all
organized political opposition and jailed every serious challenger to his
power, accusing each of the corruption that he has enabled and from which he
profits. But in this latest gambit involving three women, Pussy Riot, his
regime had revealed the next page in his game plan to restore Russia to its
former imperialist stature. It is now state heresy to lampoon the Russian
Orthodox Church. No sarcasm permitted. No ridicule. No hyperbole. Alles ist
verboten. Heil Putin. Heil the Russian Othodox Church. Heil theocracy. Down
with high-steppin on the pulpit. It’s got to be hatred. An attempt to stir up
the masses against this pillar of state power. </div>
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And so now Russia has announced to the world that it has
joined the ranks of the theocracies, where blasphemy remains a crime and you
could lose your head if you dissent from orthodoxy. Certainly a substantial
portion of the peasantry will rally around this comfortably familiar custom and
practice, but most of them were serfs until 1861, and as a practical matter, up
until the present. Having a base of power among those you have deliberately cultivated
to remain backward can bring limited success when it comes to retaining power,
but it certainly is no prescription for restoration of an empire’s greatness. And
so Pussy Riot has become a reincarnation of the Sorceress.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-64556838896264554132012-06-27T17:59:00.003-07:002012-08-15T20:47:07.005-07:00Three New Four Star Reviews on Goodreads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a class="user" href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10258612-merissa-sheppard" title="Merissa Sheppard">Merissa Sheppard</a>
rated it
<img alt="4 of 5 stars false" height="15" src="http://www.goodreads.com/assets/layout/stars/red_star_4_of_5-6e8b1302fa37d95fe007ac5ebe0e2575.png" title="4 of 5 stars, really liked it" width="75" /> <span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer349437327"><span id="freeTextContainer6384787511032636053">"A fast-paced book with lots of detail. If you like historical books, then give this one a try.</span></span><br />
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<div class="review" id="review_284456383" itemprop="reviews" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Review">
<link href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/284456383" itemprop="url"></link></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1815474-stephanie" title="Stephanie"></a><a class="user" href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1815474-stephanie" title="Stephanie">Stephanie</a>
rated it
<img alt="4 of 5 stars false" height="15" src="http://www.goodreads.com/assets/layout/stars/red_star_4_of_5-6e8b1302fa37d95fe007ac5ebe0e2575.png" title="4 of 5 stars, really liked it" width="75" /> "<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer284456383"><span id="freeTextContainer7893225460590748386">Great historical fiction, obviously well researched. I wish there had been more elaboration. Overall great quick read."</span></span><br />
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<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer284456383"><span id="freeTextContainer7893225460590748386"> </span></span><a class="user" href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6984259-edith-parzefall" title="Edith Parzefall">Edith Parzefall</a>
rated it
<img alt="4 of 5 stars false" height="15" src="http://www.goodreads.com/assets/layout/stars/red_star_4_of_5-6e8b1302fa37d95fe007ac5ebe0e2575.png" title="4 of 5 stars, really liked it" width="75" /><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer321395979"><span id="freeTextContainer17868235054899666895"> "Barry
S. Willdorf weaves an intriguing tale about the lives of two
exceptional women. While one boldly stands up for what she believes in,
the other seeks to escape persecution and continue her fight for women's
rights. Really a fascinating read, only the ending felt a bit rushed..." </span></span>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-46420055628809191872012-05-30T10:57:00.000-07:002012-05-30T10:57:09.083-07:00TEMPLE VANDALIZED<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was devastated to learn that the temple in Tiberias that I have Pelagius describe in Flight of the Sorceress was seriously damaged by what appear to be Ultra-Orthodox religious fanatics. <br />
"The most beautiful part of the mosaic from the fourth century was
severely damaged," said Dror Ben Yosef of the antiquities authority.
"The perpetrators drilled a hole in the drawing of the holy ark and
damaged the menorah drawing as well. It seems they worked very hard
trying to take apart the floor."
<br />
A zodiac wheel (described in the novel in detail) drawn on the mosaic appears to have been hit by a pickax. For more: <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/vandals-desecrate-ancient-tiberias-synagogue-authorities-suspect-haredim-1.433220#.T8Xa8t_J2Xc.blogger">Temple vandalized</a><br /><br /><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-80424658139583356162012-05-23T14:36:00.000-07:002012-05-23T14:36:11.496-07:00Medical marijuana: A mummy tells all<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My dear friend, Justice Gus Reichbach, has caused a stir with an Opp Ed in the New York Times advocating for the legalization of medical marijuana in New York. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/opinion/a-judges-plea-for-medical-marijuana.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/opinion/a-judges-plea-for-medical-marijuana.html</a> His piece reminded me that there is a scene in The Flight of the Sorceress about medicinal use of marijuana in ancient times. Indeed my scene (recounted here in brief) was the result of research.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this scene, Glenys, a Celtic healer and herbalist is attending to the labor of a young girl whose pelvis is too small. She is unable to deliver. The baby is stuck. They will both surely die unless something drastic is done. Glenys instructs the husband to retrieve some cannabis from her treatment rooms.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div class="column" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span>"Go to the great pool. At the far end there’s a hall. The first door you come to will be my treatment chamber. Inside you’ll see shelves. Upon the top shelf, in a blue basket, there you’ll find herbs. The one you are looking for has leaves of dark blue-green and the smell will remind you of a skunk. Bring me that basket in all haste!” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>The thatcher snatched the key and rushed from the cottage.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><br />
“What herb is that?” asked the old crone. (The midwife.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><br />
“A rare herb,” said Glenys. “I obtained it from a Jew in Clausentium who </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>trades with Palestinia. It should relax the girl so that I can manipulate her baby.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>The old woman fussed with the wattle beneath her chin. “From Palestinia, you say? I’ve heard of this herb. You will burn it, yes? The girl will breathe the smoke </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>and lose her senses? Is this the herb?”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><br />
Glenys scrutinized the woman before responding. “Perhaps, I’ve not used it </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>before. But this is an emergency and I’ve been told that in Egypt they use this herb for difficult childbirths.” </span></span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
I obtained the raw material for this scene from a May 20, 1993 report in the Albany Times Union. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“The first physical evidence that marijuana was used as a medicine in the ancient Mideast was reported Wednesday by Israeli scientists who found residue of the drug with the skeleton of a girl who apparently died in childbirth 1,600 years ago. The researchers said the marijuana probably was used by a mid-wife trying to speed the birth, as well as ease the pain. Until now, the researchers wrote in a letter to the journal Nature, "physical evidence of cannabis (marijuana) use in the ancient Middle East has not yet been obtained." The seven researchers -- from Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the National Police Headquarters forensic division -- said references to marijuana as a medicine are seen as far back as 1,600 B.C. in Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and Roman writings. But physical evidence that the hemp weed, cannabis sativa, was used for that purpose has been missing. The researchers' examination of an undisturbed family tomb near Jerusalem dating to the fourth century AD indicated the girl, about 14, died because her pelvis was too small to permit normal birth." </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We hear a lot about how there hasn't yet been enough research. Well, you'd think that with all the written medical accounts over the lady four thousand years, plus this kind of forensic evidence, there would be enough to go on, at least to permit its use palliatively by terminally ill patients. We hear a lot about pot being a gateway drug. So be it, if the gateway we are talking about is the pearly one. </span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-76770878236931698192012-05-15T11:11:00.002-07:002012-05-15T11:11:15.498-07:00CATCH THE "A SHOT IN THE ARM" VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="" 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" /><br /><br />A
SHOT IN THE ARM, Part Two of my 1970s Trilogy of mystery/suspense
novels is on a virtual book tour this week and next. Pop in to the blogs
below and find out more. <br /><br />MAY 15 - Queen Tutt's World of Escapism (Guest Post )<a href="http://queentuttsworldofescapism.com/"> Queen Tutt</a><br /><br />MAY 16 - Zee Monodee's Author's Corner (Book Feature)<a href="http://zeemonodee.blogspot.com/"> Zee Monodee</a><br /><br />MAY 18 - Murders & Mysteries (Guest Post) <a href="http://murdersandmysteries.wordpress.com/">Murders & Mysteries</a><br /><br />MAY 23 - Elizabeth Morgan's Blog (Guest Post) <a href="http://xxxxmyworldxxxx.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/playing-20-questions-with-verity-ant.html?zx=fb865532e6412c95">Elizabeth Morgan's Blog</a><br /><br />MAY 24 - Zee Monodee's Author's Corner (Interview) <a href="http://zeemonodee.blogspot.com/">Zee Monodee</a> <br /><br />In
conjunction with the tour, Part One, BURNING QUESTIONS is available at
Amazon KDP, and free to Amazon Prime members. Check in to my blog <a href="http://1970strilogy.blogspot.com/">1970s Trilogy</a> for information about giveaways to come.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-59845858650186626382012-05-10T19:00:00.002-07:002012-05-10T19:00:26.361-07:00The Reviewer is looking forward to more!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
05/08 Sheree gave 4 stars to: The Flight of the Sorceress by Barry S. Willdorf <br />bookshelves: historical-fiction, own, 2012-100-plus-challenge, 2012-historical-fiction-challenge, read-in-2012, reviews <br />recommended for: historical fiction lovers<br />status: Read in April, 2012<br /><br />Glenys, Celtic healer & herbalist in Aquae Sulis, Britannia & historical figure Hypatia of Alexandria are the strong female characters in this compelling tale. Set in 410AD, my sparse knowledge of this period in history and Willdorf's skilled storytelling made for a fascinating and page turning experience.<br /><br />I loved the opening chapter; it detailed Glenys using her herbal and midwifery skills in a difficult birthing despite the recent edict prohibiting any engagement in the healing arts. Branded a sorceress she flees to escape the prescribed punishment; death by stoning.<br /><br />The beautiful Hypatia; renowned philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, teacher and last librarian of The Ancient Library of Alexandria was a symbol of learning, feared by early Christians associating knowledge with paganism. When Glenys & Hypatia's paths cross their friendship is cemented but they, along with Jews and Hellenistic pagans continue to face bigotry, persec ution, blind hatred & brutality. <br /><br />Hypatia's murder by a Christian mob was graphically detailed and after doing a little research of my own, I was horrified to read this was quite accurately portrayed. <br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters Glenys, Hypatia, & Jewish herbalist Aschi but Glenys' relationship with lover Ceallaigh made my skin crawl. <br /><br />Willdorf vividly describes a period in history dominated by misplaced power, religious paranoia, ignorance and persecution but I could have easily consumed more, more pages and more detail. I look forward to more from this author. </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-17013588019387178392012-04-16T17:12:00.001-07:002012-04-16T17:12:31.536-07:00NEW REVIEWS OF SORCERESS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="reviewer">HERE ARE THE LATEST REVIEWS FOR SORCERESS ON GOODREADS. </span></div>
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<span class="reviewer"><a class="userReview" href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7396884-robin-e" itemprop="author">Robin E</a></span>'s review
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<span itemprop="publishDate">Apr 16, 12</span>
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<span class="userReview">bookshelves: </span>
<a class="actionLinkLite" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7396884-robin-e?shelf=to-read">to-read</a>
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Read in April, 2012
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I really liked this book! We are indoctrinated to view
religion, particularly Christianity, as a benign and socially positive
infuence in our world. We assume that the rise of Christianity brought
about beneficial social changes and that the well-being of the
inhabitants of the Roman Empire was improved by their conversion from
paganism. Barry Willdorf would counter that it was the rise of
Christianity as the doctrine of the Roman Empire that lead to the Dark
Ages. His historical novel The Flight of the Sorceress vividly
illustrates that notion.<br />The heroine and alledged sorceress in this
book is Glenys, a Celt from the tribe of the Silures in Britannia.
Glenys is raised as a druid and has acquired skills in midwifry and
herbal medicine at an early age. After her parents are killed she
becomes the lover of Ceallaigh, a somewhat dissolute man who maintains
the Roman baths in Aquae Sulis (Bath). Glenys practises her healing
skills among the residents of Aquae Sulis. She has been baptised a
Christian but has no great commitment to the faith. She maintains an
alter to Asclepius, the pagan god of healing, but considers it more of a
good luck charm than an actual deity.<br />When the Visigoths under
Aleric threaten to sack Rome, the Roman legions are recalled from
Britannia and the power in the former Roman province falls to the tyrant
Vorteneu. Vorteneu immediately issues edicts that, essentially, forbid
Glenys to practice her healing arts. Any use of herbal remedies would
have her branded a sorceress and lead to her being condemned to death.
Women were also forbidden to travel abroad unaccompanied. Glenys runs
afoul of the law almost immediately when she attends to the delivery of a
baby by a very young girl. The baby is stuck in the breach position and
Glenys is unable to turn it. She gives the woman an herb that she
bought from a Jew to try to get her to relax, but it is all to no avail
and the mother and baby die. The woman's husband complains to the
authorities that Glenys is a sorcerer and she is forced to flee
Britannia. Ceallaigh and Glenys' cousin Morcant are traveling to Rome to
try to persuade the Pope to accept the Celtic Christian church, which
maintains doctrines considered heretical. Glenys flees Britannia in
their company.<br />The action in the book switches back and forth from
where Glenys is to Alexandria. Alexandria is the most cosmopolitan city
of its day, full of Jews and pagans as well as Christians, but
Christianity is now in the ascendancy and affairs are rapidly
deteriorating for both pagans and Jews. The library of Alexadria was a
repository of knowledge of the western world. It contained millions of
books, writings from everywhere in the known world, and on every subject
known to the age. The library was run by a Greek woman named Hypatia.
Hypatia was one of the very few women educated at Plato's academy and
was, very likely, the most learned woman of her day. Hypatia gave
lectures on various subjects and was much admired for both her beauty
and her intellect. The authorities began to view her as a threat and
issued edicts sharply limiting what subjects she could lecture about.
Anything but pure mathmatics was hazardous. The library itself was full
of Pagan and Jewish works and was, itself considered a threat. The
Christian authorities decided to put the library to the torch. With the
help of some of her Jewish friends Hypatia was able to save a very small
fraction of the books, but nearly all of it was lost. A tremendous
amount of knowledge about such things as history, mathmatics, biology,
agriculture and archetecture was lost to future generations. (My gosh I
wish I had Plutarch's Life of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africnus for my
own historical research on the second Punic war. No doubt it perished in
the conflagration!)<br />Glenys's flight eventually takes her to
Alexandria where she becomes friends with Hypatia and also with Aschi,
one of Hypatia's Jewish admirers. Ultimately the tensions between the
Christians on the one hand and the Jews and Pagans on the other come to a
head, with dire consequences both to Hypatia and to the Jews of
Alexandria.<br />Barry Willdorf's novel is supurbly written and a must read for any devotee of historical fiction. </div>
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<span class="reviewer"><a class="userReview" href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1842352-shomeret" itemprop="author">Shomeret</a></span>'s review
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<span itemprop="publishDate">Apr 13, 12</span>
<span class="value-title" title="2012-04-13"></span>
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<span class="value-title" title="4"></span>
<img alt="4 of 5 stars false" height="15" src="http://www.goodreads.com/assets/layout/stars/red_star_4_of_5-98d5191e52a31aaa9a911dc090235c7a.png" title="4 of 5 stars, really liked it" width="75" />
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<span class="userReview">bookshelves: </span>
<a class="actionLinkLite" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1842352-shomeret?shelf=historical-fiction">historical-fiction</a>,
<a class="actionLinkLite" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1842352-shomeret?shelf=kindle">kindle</a>,
<a class="actionLinkLite" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1842352-shomeret?shelf=my-reviews">my-reviews</a>
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Two women who challenged the beliefs of their era, one
fictional and one a well-known historical personage, are the focus of
this book. Their lives alternate in the narrative up until their
meeting. It's a very compelling and well-written story. <br /><br />I
confess I downloaded this book because Hypatia of Alexandria is one of
these women. According to the most reliable authorities, Hypatia did not
teach religion or expound on it as this author depicts in one momentous
scene. I recommend <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/400065.Hypatia_of_Alexandria" title="Hypatia of Alexandria by Maria Dzielska">Hypatia of Alexandria</a>by Maria Dzielska for those who want a scholarly biography of Hypatia.<br /><br />Yet this was a lovely novel. I enjoyed reading it right until the unexpected ending.
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-42903826094469169112012-03-28T13:30:00.000-07:002012-03-28T13:31:33.803-07:00Get THE FLIGHT OF THE SORCERESS FREE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="postbody entry clearfix">
To my readers:<br />
<br />
WILD CHILD PUBLISHING has just announced that my award-winning historical novel, <i>THE FLIGHT OF THE SORCERESS </i>will be available as a free download on Amazon on April 2 and 3. 2012 <u>even if you are not an Amazon Prime member</u>.<br />
<br />
As the current candidates for President debate the issue of separation of church and state, <i>THE FLIGHT OF THE SORCERESS</i>
has become increasingly relevant. This carefully researched historical
novel accurately recounts the consequences of joining together church
and state the last time a world power tried it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Sorceress-ebook/dp/B0047T7FZS/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332966399&sr=1-1">click here for information on getting a free download</a></div>
</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-16074033517252023632012-03-08T16:24:00.000-08:002012-03-08T16:24:54.487-08:00BRINGING BACK THE DARK AGES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">One of the reasons I wrote <i>The Flight of the Sorceress</i> was to raise my voice against ominous signs that there were powerful forces presently at work striving to destroy the separation of church and state. The objective is intolerance. The mission is to impose a strict, theocratic moral code upon the entire population. The result will be a return to the Dark Ages. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Shortly after Theodosius I became emperor of Rome, in 479 A.D., he revoked the Edict of Toleration and made Catholicism the state religion. No longer was there even a pretense of separation of church and state. In short order, pagan worship was outlawed, pagan temples were seized and their properties confiscated. Possession of many books was declared illegal and the penalties for possession of such books or pagan icons could include confiscation of all property. Terrified Roman citizens soon began burning their own libraries. Untold numbers of written works were lost to posterity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People were simply unwilling to take the chance that they might lose everything they owned. Ultimately, this is the goal of religious zealots <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"></span></span>--to use to power of the state, its police and military might, to impose their religious beliefs upon everyone else. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The campaign begins with innocence. The zealots pose as the victims. All they want, they will declare, is the right to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">practice</i> their religion. But soon, they will proclaim that their rights are violated if others practice differently, or do not practice at all. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today we see the ugly tactic again rearing its head. Emboldened by a relentless campaign first against “unrestricted abortions” that morphed into “any” abortions for any reason, we now see these same zealots turning their attention to contraceptives. Lead by the same theocrats that brought us the first Dark Ages <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">--</span></span>the Roman Catholic Church --<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"></span></span> politicians such as Rick Santorum whine that the rights of their most extreme religious adherents are being violated if the state does not take their part in a campaign to undermine women’s reproductive health care. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Over the last several weeks, we have been subjected to a debate that attempts to raise a freedom of religion argument in opposition to government regulations that would require some religious organizations to provide certain health care benefits to its workers. This debate is a sham with the ultimate objective of dismantling a health care program that one should expect religious organizations to support for the good of people.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some see this as simply an attack upon women by misogynist Christian sects (as well as some Jewish and Muslim elements) but it is more than that. Like the canary in the mine that heralds poison gas leaks that will ultimately kill every miner, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if the fight over women’s reproductive rights ends with victory for these zealots, it will prove to be just a jumping off point for their ultimate objective, the utter and complete control over all societal behavior. Religious zealots cannot be satiated until everyone practices their brand of whatever religion they profess, or at least pretends to. The current sparring over contraception is merely a harbinger of things to come, for they cannot stop. They must always have heretics or infidels to crusade against and exterminate. Their promise for society is another Dark Ages, with more book burnings and witch burnings and Inquisitions. Lest there be any doubt, this is Rick Santorum’s real platform, and it is an agreeable Faustian bargain for all of the other Republicans currently running for president.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">No one advocates a policy that would prevent anyone from expressing his or her religious beliefs. Nor is anyone being compelled to use contraceptives, or to have an abortion. No one is being forced to have sex out of wedlock. No one is being forced to marry someone of the same gender. Religions are free to convince people to behave consistently with their dogma, but they are, and ought to be prohibited from using the power of the state to force people to obey their dogma. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If a religious institution decides to run a hospital, a thrift store or to operate a university, it is making a choice. No religion is being forced to engage in these activities. But when they do, they are competing in a marketplace and they are hiring employees. The playing field must be level when it comes to voluntary endeavors. Employees should all be subject to the same minimum wage laws, the same laws relating to hours and breaks. If the government mandates that employers provide certain benefits it would be discriminatory to exempt some businesses while requiring other similar businesses to comply. An employer who is exempt from paying a benefit is actually paying its workers less than a non-exempt employer and is therefore at a competitive advantage. Such a result rewards a religious employer with an economic preference.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Take, for example, a thrift store run by Jehovah’s Witnesses. They don’t believe in any medical intervention at all. Are they entitled to a complete exemption from providing medical insurance to their employees? Can they require that their employees refrain from spending any portion of their paycheck for health care? Can the Catholic Church prohibit employees at their hospitals from privately purchasing health insurance that includes contraception and abortion benefits? If the minimum wage is $8.00/hour plus a health plan that provides contraceptive coverage, can the Catholic Church get away with providing a cheaper plan that does not provide that coverage? What if the law says, if an employer fails to provide the coverage, the employee is entitled to a minimum wage surcharge equal to the cost of obtaining such coverage privately?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can the religiously affiliated employer demand, as a condition for employment, that its employees not use birth control? Not have an abortion? Not seek any medical care at all? Can Baptists tell potential employees that they must sign a pledge to not drink alcohol? Where does it stop?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our constitution addresses religious liberty in two parts: freedom to practice religion and a prohibition against government establishing religious requirements. There is a tension between these two liberties. One person’s freedom can be another person’s oppression. In some places laws exist that prohibit various commercial activities on Sunday. Is this a government-imposed religious requirement? After all, Sunday is a Sabbath to some, but not to all. Can the government force a Jew or a Muslim to abide a Christian Sabbath? Sometimes courts avoid this question by declaring that there is a secular purpose to a day of rest that simply through custom has fallen on a religiously recognized day. But is that really the case? For some, that would mean two days of inability to do business, their religion’s Sabbath and Sunday. Over time, Sunday Sabbath laws have dwindled, but they are not completely obliterated. However most of us now recognize that the decision to close a business on Sunday, or any other day, ought to be a private one.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The constitution also gives our government the power to regulate commerce. One of the purposes for this power is to insure that there is a level playing field for similarly situated enterprises. If the government makes exceptions, it must justify them. However, the government need not make exceptions. Once any person or entity decides to engage in commerce, it is agreeing to abide by reasonable government regulation of that commerce. For example, just because a religion endorses the use of a hallucinogen, it doesn’t mean that the government must permit a business run by such a religion to sell the drug.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So it is not infringing upon religious freedom to require, let us say Georgetown University, to provide its janitors with the same health plan as NYU. No one is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">requiring </i>the Catholic Church to operate Georgetown University. But the government does have a legitimate interest in insuring that all janitors get similar health coverage. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The freedom to practice one’s religion is a freedom that pertains to activities involving worship. It is a freedom that entitles church members to assemble together and to employ free speech to convince others to follow their path. But it is not a freedom to advantage the religious institution in its commercial enterprises. Such a demand by any religious denomination is a demand for special treatment. It is a demand that our government must not agree to because it is really asking for all of us to treat as special, a specific religion. To give Catholic universities or hospitals an exemption from any labor laws that apply to similar commercial enterprises would be a violation of the constitution’s prohibition against establishing a government sanctioned religion. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What these advocates of so-called freedom of religion are arguing for is that their practices be imposed upon all of us. They want to prevent everyone from using contraceptives. They want to prevent every woman from having an abortion, regardless of the reason. So they demand that the enterprises they support get special treatment, thus an advantage over others. Over time their demands will prove insatiable, their position intractable and we will find a government edict dictating that we follow their creed. This is not a matter of freedom but a matter of theocracy. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once upon a time, in ancient Catholic Rome and in Europe during the Middle Ages priests were not subject to the laws of the state. They could not be tried in a civil court. They could commit any crime and walk free, unless the Catholic Church decided to discipline them. Some, like Rick Santorum, would have us go back to those days. But we must be aware of the danger, as were the drafters or our constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every cleric, of every stripe should be put on clear notice that once stepping out of the church and beyond their roles as leaders of services, that upon entering into the public square the secular laws of our state apply equally to them as to everyone else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And politicians who advocate special exemptions to clerics from our secular laws, merely because of their religious affiliations, cannot without perjuring themselves, swear to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States. The likes of Santorum, Romney and Gingrich, in particular, are by their own admissions, disqualified to hold public office under our constitution. If we do not want to invite a return to the Dark Ages, we must repudiate them and their extremism.</div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-41044402647566395902012-02-06T09:45:00.000-08:002012-02-06T09:45:24.306-08:00WHAT DO LAWYERS AND AUTHORS HAVE IN COMMON?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h3 class="post-title entry-title">While I was preparing my non-fiction trial guide, SEE YOU IN COURT! for publication, it came to me that it was a good reference work for writing fictitious court scenes. It is full of nuances and quirks that could lend credence to a narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that got me to wondering what, if anything, lawyers and authors have in common. Go to the mystery and thriller section of a bookstore (if you can find one of those) and you will see that a lot of authors are actually lawyers who write novels. I came to the conclusion that there must be something they have in common. But what? Find out by reading the whole article at <a href="http://cunct.blogspot.com/">See You In Court!</a></h3><div class="post-header"> </div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-55198722222211495382012-01-24T22:20:00.000-08:002012-01-24T22:20:55.800-08:00A King's English Bookstore Reviewer weighs in.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>A </b><b>page-turner of an historic novel! Wendy Foster Leigh</b></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-22739996622834317492011-12-30T17:23:00.000-08:002011-12-30T17:23:46.494-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="" height="100" 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width="320" /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-48165481625189983082011-12-26T13:17:00.000-08:002011-12-26T13:17:57.810-08:00HEADLINES FROM "AROUND THE EMPIRE" AN ANCIENT NEWS SOURCE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Scrounging around some old archives, I recently uncovered a stack of long-forgotten stone tablets hoarded by a Roman news junkie more than fifteen hundred years ago. For those readers not up on their ancient history, "Around the Empire" was the premier news organ of its day, bringing all the latest stories to the cognoscenti in every province. The tablets were pretty dusty but I was able to make out the headlines. Here they are:</b></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(April 410 A.D.)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SORCERESS FLEES PROBE INTO DEATHS OF MOTHER AND BABY </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(August 410 A.D.)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>RAPE AND PILLAGE! </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">VISIGOTHS SACK ROME </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(June 411 A.D.)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CHURCH RULES HUNDREDS OF BISHOPS ARE HERETICS</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(April 415 A.D.)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DEATH OF NEOPAGAN PHILOSOPHER HYPATIA SPARKS RIOTS</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(April 415 A.D.)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">JEWS EXPELLED FROM ALEXANDRIA</b></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Read all about these stories and more in <i>The Flight of the Sorceress.</i></span><br />
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-3357032133673311912011-12-16T13:16:00.000-08:002011-12-16T13:16:49.816-08:00Two for One Holiday Offer!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What will it take to put YOU between the virtual covers of a brand new e-copy of my new mystery/thriller, Burning Questions? All you have to do is buy a copy of The Flight of the Sorceress!</span></b> </div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There’s murder, Russian roulette, burning hotels, Mafia, a NAZI general’s overcoat, a ghost town, witches, wild doggies, some sex, surfing, cops and donuts, crooked politicians and lawyers, some religion, a little bit of marijuana and pizza.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span>It’s just the right length to read on a single plane trip across the country. Why settle for a crappy airline movie when you can read about all this good stuff? Part Two </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">of this trilogy</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, <b>A Shot in the Arm</b> is coming up in April . Why not read part one first? Do you really want to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Left Behind?</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><b> </b><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span><b>Buy an e-book copy of Flight of the Sorceress</b> from Amazon before Jan. 1, 2012 and <b>I’ll give you a copy of Burning Questions free</b>. So when you give that certain somebody that new Kindle this holiday season, they can have something to read on it. (Here's Amazon's "buy" link, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Sorceress-ebook/dp/B0047T7FZS/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324069812&sr=1-1">Buy Sorceress get Burning Questions free!</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ) When Amazon sends you an order confirmation, email a copy to me at </span><a href="mailto:barrywilldorf@gmail.com"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">barrywilldorf@gmail.com</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> with the email address of the person to whom you want me to send the gift copy. I will send them a copy. That's it: <b>two books for $5.95</b>. </span></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-67820784129991350612011-12-15T10:23:00.000-08:002011-12-15T10:24:24.135-08:00Interview with Barry Willdorf!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h1 class="entry-title"><a href="http://wildchildpublishing.com/blog/?p=128">Inteview on Wild Child Publishing Blog</a></h1><div class="entry-meta"><span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted on</span> <a href="http://wildchildpublishing.com/blog/?p=128" rel="bookmark" title="9:00 am"><span class="entry-date">December 15, 2011</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://wildchildpublishing.com/blog/?author=2" title="View all posts by Jenn Nixon">Jenn Nixon</a></span> </div><div class="entry-content"><b><b><b>Today’s author interview spotlights Barry Willdorf. Author of the Historical Novel, <a href="http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=67&products_id=354&zenid=432086247eec7ced12d0334446051200">Flight of the Sorceress</a>.</b></b></b><br />
<b>WCP: What was your inspiration for The Flight of the Sorceress? </b><br />
I was visiting Bath, England a number of years ago and went to the ruined Roman baths where I picked up some literature that said that within three generations of the Romans leaving England the population didn’t even know what the baths were, much less how to run them. I was taken by how quickly a people could lose all science and history and basically return to virtual caveman status. How did that happen? I began to look into it and that gave me the history. But the trick was to personalize it --to relate the history through what I could imagine were similar to real lives. What were the forces that crushed knowledge? And how would a real person have experienced that?<br />
<b>WCP: Do you have any other genre you’d like to try your hand at?</b><br />
I also write mystery/thrillers. I love noir. I was a trial lawyer for 40 years but I began my career as an investigator for the NYC Legal Aid Society. I was trained by a retired NYD police detective. We’d go out investigating criminal cases for the defense. We went to some really sketchy places, just the two of us, with his one .38 special. You would be crazy to do that today. A .38 isn’t enough firepower to go where we went. It was very noir. I got off on it. But over the years, I really got into forensic investigation ¾things like forged documents, different kinds of chemical tests, scientific evidence. Plus I got pretty good a cross-examination. Most of the stuff I write in that genre is inspired from cases I had over the years. I make a lot of it up but the nuggets are perfect background for mystery thrillers.<b> </b><br />
<b>WCP: Do you have any favorite authors? Or ones that have influenced you more than others?</b><br />
I like Raymond Chandler for the ambiance. I like Dashiell Hammett for his spare stiletto-like writing. I have always been moved by Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. I like Jack London, the way he hits nerves.<br />
<b>WCP: Is there anything you would like the readers to take away from the story?</b><br />
Absolutely. When zealots get into power, whether they be motivated by religion or a political philosophy that is basically intolerant, such as Nazism or Communism, the outcome will always be that disagreement will be viewed as treason or heresy. Dissenters will invariably be terrorized and eliminated. Their ideas will be eradicated. Eventually we will be pushed into a dark age. The best idea is to keep power out of the hands of people who can’t live with different opinions or beliefs.<b> </b><br />
<b>WCP: Now for some fun questions: </b><b>What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?</b><br />
How much like a business it is. I HATE promotion. I hate having to sell my writing as if it were a product. I like the writing part. I love doing the research and learning stuff. I love making up stuff. But selling it? UGH!<br />
<b>WCP: If you could be any one, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?</b><br />
That’s a hard question. When I think about it, I tend to go for anonymity. Right there, you can’t get much of an answer can you? All the famous people, the one’s most people pick when they answer this question, have baggage. You get famous, people tend to fantasize you, love you, admire you, hate you. Who wants any of that? Probably I’d want to be someone none of us ever heard of. Like I’d be living in a tropical paradise, kind of like a Garden of Eden shtick. (But close by a good ski slope and not far from some really nice mellow surf. A caterer at your beck and call. Etc. etc. You know what I’m driving at.) And the best part would be that no one would really know you were there, so they wouldn’t move in next door and screw up all the fun you were having, knocking on your door asking to borrow a cup of your “sugar” or just your “sugar” forget the cup.<br />
<b>WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)</b><br />
YEAH, I would like everyone who reads this to buy my books for themselves and everyone they know. If they want to sell them for me, I wouldn’t say ‘no.’ I’ll even cut them in on the action, such as it is. I can get them wholesale. I have an “in” with the publisher.<br />
My website: <a href="http://agauchepress.com/">A Gauche Press</a><br />
Blog: <a href="http://flightofthesorceress.blogspot.com/">The Flight of the Sorceress</a><br />
<b> Wild Child Books by Barry Willdorf:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=67&products_id=354&zenid=432086247eec7ced12d0334446051200"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-129" height="300" src="http://wildchildpublishing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/fotsweb-199x300.jpg" title="fotsweb" width="199" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79&products_id=326">Purchase link</a></div></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-31186472887467901322011-12-14T12:46:00.000-08:002012-11-19T10:56:14.870-08:00THE FIRST POGROM<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="ssens"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Pogrom”: an organized massacre of helpless people; </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">specifically</span></i><span class="ssens"><span style="font-family: Arial;">: a massacre of Jews. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yiddish, from Russian, literally, devastation. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) “Pogrom”<span style="color: black;"> signifies “the destruction of Jewish life and property --through a thuggish or thug-like encounter of organized mob violence and vandalism-- against Jewish individuals, shops, homes or businesses that were directly or indirectly supported or organized by the government” according to K.K. Brattman of</span> the Holocaust Survivors and Remembrance Project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">When we think of a pogrom, what springs to mind is a frenzied mob whipped up by religious fanatic descending upon a Jewish community as local government authorities stand by watching. Because the Jews have been dehumanized, the mob believe they are doing God’s work and the killing, maiming raping, looting, burning and destroying of Jews and their worldly goods is justifiable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Although the term pogrom is generally associated with massacres in Russia and the Ukraine, such anti-Jewish violence was not invented in 19<sup>th</sup> Century Eastern Europe. Similar incidents were common during the Middle Ages and particularly during the Crusades.But just how far back in history did this go?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the course of eight years of research for my historical novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red;">The Flight of the Sorceress</span>, </i>I was able to find a prototype for the stereotypical Eastern European pogrom, the expulsion of the Jews from Alexandria, Egypt in 414 or 415 A.D. under the leadership of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saint </i>Cyril. Though history records a number of massacres of Jews before that time, they all had aspects similar to the traditional behavior of plundering conquerors </span><span style="font-family: Symbol;">-- </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">armies engaged in warfare or in its retaliatory aftermath. The virulent anti-Semitic religious justifications were absent. It was not until the church and state combined to form a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roman </i>Catholicism under the auspices Emperor Constantine that the violence took on a decidedly anti-Semitic context with calls for ethnic cleansing. Before that time, state/religious-sanctioned claims of a Jewish pariah were not common. (The reader should be aware that when discussing the <i>Roman </i>Catholic <i>Church,</i> I distinguish the institution from the flock.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Gibbon<i> </i>in his<i> Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, </i>chapter 47,<i> </i>describes the Alexandria pogrom of 415 A.D. thusly: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Without any legal sentence, without any royal mandate, the patriarch (Saint Cyril), at the dawn of day, led a seditious multitude to the attack of the synagogues. Unarmed and unprepared, the Jews were incapable of resistance; their houses of prayer were leveled with the ground, and the episcopal warrior, after rewarding his troops with the plunder of their goods, expelled from the city the remnant of the unbelieving nation." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The foundation for this new kind of ethnic oppression, based upon an inferior status before God, began a century earlier, with Roman Emperor Constantine’s dissembling Edict of Milan in 313. A.D. by which he freed Christians from the brutal repression they experienced under the preceding emperors. But with this edict, Constantine actually began empowering a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roman</i> Catholic Church, giving it the green light to vilify and harass Jews. And soon this cacophony of hate, preached from the pulpit began to dominate the public forum, laying the groundwork for further oppression. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">From then on, anything but toleration prevailed for Jews in the Roman Empire. Soon after, others of Constantine’s Imperial decrees isolated Jews by prohibiting conversions to Judaism and banning inter-faith marriage, which often entailed conversion. He changed the Sabbath to Sunday. Later emperors restricted visitation of Gentiles to synagogues, barred repair of Jewish places of worship and instituted restrictions on Jews holding public office. Thus encouraged, by the latter half of the fourth century, CE, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roman</i> Catholic bishops, such as John Chrysostom were spewing libels and hate against Jews that would rival anything Joseph Goebbels could crank out of his Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, such as: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">“[The Jews] are inveterate murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil... debauchery and drunkenness have given them the manners of pigs and lusty goats. They know only one thing, to satisfy their gullets, get drunk, to kill and maim one another. They murder their offspring and immolate them to the devil ...The Jewish disease must be guarded against. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Christian's duty is to hate the Jews</b>.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">For this hate mongering,</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> John Chrysostom</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> was canonized and is still revered to this day as a saint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Though not as vituperative as Chrysostom, even St. Augustine got into the act. "Let them live among us, but let them suffer and be continually humiliated," he counseled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Originally brought to Alexandria Egypt as soldiers seven hundred years earlier, just before the pogrom of 415. A.D. the Jewish population of Alexandria was said to have numbered between 40,000 and 75,000 </span><span style="font-family: Symbol;">--</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">one quarter of the city’s inhabitants. Jews enjoyed the civil rights of citizens as decreed by Augustus and as a guarantee their rights were engraved upon a tablet of brass mounted in a public space for all to see. But as in Spain in 1492, once the Roman Catholicism became the state religion, such “guarantees” became meaningless. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Early Roman Catholic accounts of the Alexandria pogrom read like NAZI propaganda. <i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Socrates</span></i><span class="st"> Scholasticus, the fifth century Roman Catholic historian claims that the expulsion of the Jews from Alexandria was provoked after a priest named Hierax shouted down a dance performance claiming it was blasphemous. </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Socrates</span></i><span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>claims that when Jewish audience-members complained Orestes, the city’s prefect, arrested and tortured Hierax. He writes that Saint Cyril… </span></span></div>
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<span class="st"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">on being informed of this, sent for the principal Jews, and threatened them with the utmost severities unless they desisted from their molestation of the Christians. These menaces, instead of suppressing their violence, only rendered the Jewish populace more furious, and led them to form conspiracies for the destruction of the Christians. Having agreed that each one of them should wear a ring on his finger, made of the bark of a palm branch, for the sake of mutual recognition, they determined to attack the Christians on a certain night; and sending persons into the streets to raise an outcry that Alexander's church was on fire, they thus drew the Christians out in great anxiety and slew them readily distinguishing each other by their rings. At daybreak the authors of this atrocity could not be concealed; and Cyril going to their synagogue attended by an immense body of people, took it away from them, and driving the Jews out of the city, permitted the multitude to plunder their goods. Thus were the Jews, who had inhabited the city from the time of Alexander the Macedonian, expelled from it, stripped of all they possessed, and dispersed, some in one direction and some in another.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Bishop John of Nikiu, an eighth century Copt, with little to support his account but the account of Socrates, embellishes further:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">“(The Jews) added outrage to outrage and plotted a massacre through a treacherous device. And they posted beside them at night in all the streets of the city certain men, while others cried out and said: ‘The church of the apostolic Athanasius is on fire: come to its succor, all ye Christians.’ And the Christians on hearing their cry came fourth quite ignorant of the treachery of the Jews. And when the Christians came forth, the Jews arose and wickedly massacred the Christians and shed the blood of many, guiltless though they were. And in the morning, when the surviving Christians heard of the wicked deed which the Jews had wrought, they betook themselves to the patriarch. And the Christians mustered all together and went and marched in wrath to the synagogues of the Jews and took possession of them, and purified them and converted them into churches. … And as for the Jewish assassins they expelled them from the city, and pillaged all their possessions and drove them forth wholly despoiled.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Not being completely satiated by their violent expulsion of Alexandria’s Jewish population, Bishop John delights in recalling how the Christian mob then went on to murder the Neo-Platonist librarian-philosopher, Hypatia. “They tore off her clothing and dragged her through the streets of the city till she died. And they carried her to a place named Cinaron, and they burned her body with fire.” (Other, more graphic versions recount that this mob </span><span style="font-family: Symbol;">-- </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">the same frothing band that were at the vanguard of the pogrom</span><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> --</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> actuality ripped her skin from her bones using broken clamshells while she was alive. There is no reason to suspect that she was the first such victim.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It should go without saying that each of these surviving accounts comes down to us because the historian/propagandists were apologists for the institution that was the Roman Catholic Church. No other account would have been permitted to see the light of day and would more likely have been relegated to the fires. Indeed, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I, it became a crime, punishable by forfeiture of all property to even possess written materials offensive to Christians. Many literate Roman citizens burned their entire libraries out of fear that their lands would be confiscated by Church stool-pigeons eager to enrich themselves by informing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That Jews dared to fight back against the “menaces” of Archbishop Cyril, would, of course, render them the aggressors in these propaganda pieces. We are asked to accept that this pogrom only occurred because a few Jewish theatergoers complained about the disruption of a performance. And further, those Jewish complainers instigated the punishment of the Christian disrupter by a non-Jewish prelate. However, the historical evidence shows that Cyril, from the moment he ascended to head the Alexandrian archbishopric campaigned to rid the city not only of Jews, but also of pagans and non-Catholic Christian sects. The ethnic cleansing of Alexandria was on his plate all along.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We are then asked to believe that despite the fact that armed and allegedly well-organized Jewish “assassins” were in the field and had successfully massacred Christians all that previous night, this brave Archbishop rallied his allegedly unprepared believers and lead them to victory. How he was able to manage the defeat of these well-armed Jews (many of whom had military experience) even as his followers were simultaneously being slaughtered by them is never explained by the Roman Catholic chroniclers. Both Socrates and Bishop John are equally silent on how Cyril was able to burn every synagogue in town within a few morning hours without encountering resistance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Gibbon, again in Chapter 47 of <i>Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, </i>dismisses this nonsense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">“Having purged the official Church of Alexandria of its dissenting minority, (Saint) Cyril next targeted the Jews. This numerous community, he decided, should be expelled from the city and the privileges, which they had enjoyed for seven hundred years, since the time of Alexander the Great, rescinded. Without any legal sentence, without any royal mandate, the patriarch, at the dawn of day, led a seditious multitude to the attack of the synagogues. Unarmed and unprepared, the Jews were incapable of resistance; their houses of prayer were leveled with the ground, and the episcopal warrior, after rewarding his troops with the plunder of their goods, expelled from the city the remnant of the unbelieving nation." <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The evidence is overwhelming that what occurred in Alexandria in 415 A.D. was a quintessential pogrom instigated by a virulent anti-Semitic zealot who was canonized for his ethnic cleansing, just as John Chrystostom was canonized for his hate-mongering. Each of them remains sanctified despite the blood on their hands.</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-80720236899958467842011-12-06T11:22:00.000-08:002011-12-06T11:22:25.277-08:00Egypt - The Vortex<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">As told in Sorceress, the Dark Ages begin when religious zealots murder of Hypatia in Alexandria in the year 415 A.D. Their reasons? She was pagan and an independent woman. They were Christians then. Today, Alexandria is predominantly Muslim, and religious parties are set to take power. Do they have the same mindset as Hypatia's murderers? What can we expect from the new Egyptian paradigm? Read Arab Spring-Islamist Winter at <a href="http://agauchepress.com/category/whats-new/">A Gauche Press</a><br />
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-11378889898345931932011-11-27T12:29:00.000-08:002011-11-27T12:29:23.715-08:00“Burning Questions.” Now only $3.99 at Amazon!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Give yourself or a friend my new mystery, “Burning Questions.” Get the special $3.00 holiday discount for the E-Book version. <strong>Now only $3.99 at Amazon.</strong><br />
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<span style="color: red;">“A poor fisherman’s daughter must fight for her life when her wealthy boyfriend is found dead and she is blamed.”</span><br />
• A terrific crime mystery! I can’t wait to read Parts II and III of the “1970′s Trilogy.” Steve Rohde, Los Angeles, CA<br />
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• Bravo!! It kept me up long after I should have turned out the light and gone to sleep. Todd Endelman, Ann Arbor, MI</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-89571340798598895862011-11-11T08:59:00.000-08:002011-11-11T08:59:08.210-08:00JOIN ME AT 1970S TRILOGY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This post is especially to the followers of this blog, but also to everyone who reads it. Please consider becoming a follower of my other blog for the 1970s Trilogy. <a href="http://1970strilogy.blogspot.com/">1970s Trilogy Blog</a><br />
<br />
Activity on that blog is picking up. Part 2, A Shot in the Arm, is currently in editing. I will soon be looking for blurbs. If you are a regular reviewer of books, author, publisher, agent or have a book-related blog, you can get a free ARC if you agree to write a review of Burning Questions for Amazon and Goodreads and a free ARC of A Shot in the Arm (when I get it) if you agree to do a blurb for the cover. Such a deal!</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-83307326390552446462011-11-04T11:08:00.000-07:002011-11-04T11:08:01.806-07:00Bird & Beckett reading time is THREE P.M.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, if anything can go wrong.... Somehow I got the time wrong for my own reading, I've been saying 2:00 p.m. and it's should be 3:00 p.m. Now you can finish watching a football game and still make it to <style>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -.25in; margin-right: -.25in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">BIRD AND BECKETT BOOKSTORE</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -.25in; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA 94131-3033 (415) 586-3733</span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -0.25in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sunday, November 13, 2011 @ <span style="color: red;">3:00</span> P.M.</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-17238990970114100392011-10-27T16:07:00.000-07:002011-10-27T16:09:26.560-07:00NOW AT THE GLEN PARK BRANCH OF SFPL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Flight of the Sorceress is now at the Glen Park Branch of the SF Public library. It should show up on their online catalog. </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-4286788622383160902011-10-27T13:15:00.000-07:002011-10-27T13:15:52.922-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">"Sorceress is just the sort of book I never want to end."<br />
Mark Curchack, Philadelphia, PA</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185251105527994773.post-14036567701348719302011-10-21T09:10:00.000-07:002011-10-21T09:10:27.349-07:00READING IN SAN FRANCISCO<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Come hear a reading from my award-winning historical novel, <span style="color: red;">The Flight of the Sorceress <span style="color: black;">at <b><u>Bird and Beckett Bookstore, </u></b></span></span><b><u>653 Chenery St., San Francisco, CA, on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.</u></b> <br />
<br />
As an extra zinger, you'll get to hear "One hundred years of Roman history in twenty-seven hundred words." </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0