Hyhmä

On Tjugondag jul, there has been a tradition a bit analogous to modern Santa Claus, where men dressed as a goat (Finnish: Nuuttipukki) would visit houses. Unlike Santa Claus, Nuuttipukki was a scary character (cf. Krampus). The men dressed as Nuuttipukki wandered from house to house, came in, and typically demanded household residents for food and especially alcoholic beverages. In Finland the Nuuttipukki tradition is still living at areas of Satakunta, Finland Proper and Ostrobothnia. However, nowadays the character is usually played by children and now involves a happy encounter.

Why? You might wonder.

CANADIAN ZODIAC 3: Baby Seal

The Nebra sky disk, found near Nebra, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. It is dated to c. 1600 BCE, and is associated with the Bronze Age Unetice culture.

This artifact weighs 2.2 kg, and is inlaid with gold symbols. It is thought that this disk was an astronomical instrument, and likely also held religious significance. This find reconfirms the abilities and astronomical knowledge of the people of the European Bronze Age, which included the sun’s angle between its rising and setting points at summer and winter solstice, and close observation of the sun’s course over the year. The Nebra sky disk is the oldest known “portable instrument” showing such measurements.

The disk appears to have been developed in four stages (Meller 2004):

1) On the right is the waxing moon, on the left the full moon, and between and above, the Pleiades.

2) Arcs are added on the horizon for the zones of the setting and rising of the sun. Individual stars were shifted and/or covered.

3) The “sun boat” is added.

4) The disk in its current condition. A star and part of the full moon (or sun) was restored.

(The diagrams used are by Rainer Zenz)

Euan MacKie suggests that the Nebra disk can be linked to Alexander Thom’s reconstructed solar calendar from his analysis of standing stone alignments in Britain.

Carriers and other vessels got infested with rodents. So cats were not just moral boosters (which they very much were) they were also working members of the crew. Some have even been immortalized for surviving multiple attacks on their ships, etc. Military dogs have been recognized for the important roles they’ve played but I think cats kinda get lost in the shuffle of military animals sometimes.

Everyone, shut up a minute.