Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - No Wimpy Wines

Ravenswood Winery

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - A Ravenous Brew

Black Raven Brewing Co.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - Software

Raven Software

Happy Birthday Edward Gorey

Happy Birthday Edward Gorey!

National Love Your Pet Day

Wishing all pets out there a very happy tail-wagging and purring National Love Your Pet Day and very special wishes and love to LaKeit, Nugget, Gretel, Macie, Hansel and Tasha.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens - Veggie Ravens

Ravens' Restaurant - Vegetarian Dining on the Mendocino Coast...we're now ravenously hungry!!!

Superstition of the Week - Valentine's Day

St. Valentine’s Day...gone to the birds

The origins of this day are not exactly clear but it may have been created from Lupercalia, a pre-Christian Roman festival that was held in the honor of Pan and Juno to ensure fertility and a bountiful harvest. This festival was thought to start on the evening of February 14th and young men drew names of girls from a large urn to discover who would be their partner for the festival.

However, in the 4th century, the Christian Church became concerned about this pagan festival and tried to abolish it, but to no success. Thus they renamed the day after St. Valentine, supposedly an early Christian martyr, though it is highly likely that St. Valentine may have never existed.

The Puritans brought Valentine’s Day to America in 1629 but life was harsh and there was no time allowed for celebrations that seemed frivolous. Consequently, it took about another hundred years for Valentine’s Day to be celebrated in the United States.

During the middle ages there was a superstition believed that the first bird a young girl would see on Valentine’s Day would identify who her future husband would be:

Blackbird = A Clergyman

Robin = A Sailor

Goldfinch = An Extremely Wealthy Man

Yellowbird = A Well Off Man

Sparrow = A Farmer

Bluebird = A Happy But Poor Man

Crossbill = An Angry Man

Woodpecker = Will Never Marry

Dove = A Kind and Good Man

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - Valentines

Raven Heart Available at All Us All the Time on Zazzle

Superstition of the Week - The Oscar Curse

The Oscar Curse

We had not heard of the Oscar Curse but there was a rumored theory that women who win the Best Actress Academy Award are doomed to divorce.

Now according to an article in the Huffington Post, researchers at the University of Toronto have released a study that found the effect of the “Oscar Curse” has the data to back it up.

Researchers compared actresses who won Best Actress from 1936 to 2010 to those who were nominated but didn't win, and found that winners were, indeed, 1.68 times as likely to divorce as non-winners. Of the 265 married nominees, 159 eventually divorced--a whopping 60 percent. The same was not true for men--there was no significant difference in divorce risk for Best Actor winners and Best Actor nominees.

Here are a few notable names who were plagued by this curse: Jane Wyman, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Helen Hunt, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Hilary Swank, and Sandra Bullock.

Cool Stuff We Found Related To Ravens (Or In This Case Crows)

Matsumoto Castle, also known as the “Crow Castle” because of its black exterior, is a premier historic castle in Japan built in 1504 by the Shimadachi Sadanaga clan out of earth, stone and wood. “Crow Castle” was in use from 1504 to 1868 until the outer castle was demolished when the land was reclaimed in the Meiji Restoration. The original black keep and inner walls survived. The “Crow Castle” is now listed as a National Treasure of Japan and is located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture and is within easy reach of Tokyo by road or rail.

Superstition of the Week - Zombie Apocalypse

 

Zombie means “living dead,” and was originally a god in different countries in Africa, particularly in the Congo. However, the term also grew into an integral part of voodoo magic describing a corpse that has been enchanted and brought back to life by having part of its soul restored by a sorcerer, who then has control over the zombie.

It was believed the only people who can become zombies are those who have had an unnatural death. Thus to prevent the sorcerer from being able to bring them back as a zombie, was to symbolically kill them for a 2nd time.

Of course Hollywood has now added several incidents where one might get zombied.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - Yet Another Musical Raven

Amos Lee Mission Bell

Superstition of the Week - Blue Monday

Watch out, it is that time again: Blue Monday, "the most depressing day of the year."

According to a, well let's just say very creative formula, written by psychologist, Cliff Arnall, in 2005, this upcoming Monday, January 24th, is the day when post-holiday gloom is at its worst.

While on the payroll of a PR firm five years ago Arnall "calculated" that the Monday falling in mid-January was the most miserable day of the year. To make this divination, the former Cardiff University lecturer came up with a complicated equation comprising seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since failed quit attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.

Consequently, this unique bit of math was used to give academic weight to a press release put out by Sky Travel encouraging people to cheer themselves up by taking a trip during this time of year. Hmmmm.

Soooooo...I guess if you are down in the dumps on Monday, you can say your mood is substantiated by the seven-variable Arnall equation. Even though you are depressed, you will at least sound impressive.

Cool Stuff On Ravens - The Tower of London

It case you missed our previous post, let us introduce you again to the Tower of London Ravens...

Marley, a male, born in North Somerset, age 3

Erin, a female, born in North Somerset, age 3
Merlin, a female, born in South Whales, age 4
Baldrick, a male, born in Dartmoor, age 4
Munin, a female, born in North Uist (Scotland), age 14
Thor, a male, born in Hampshire, age 14
Hugine, a female, born in North Uist (Scotland), age 14
Gwylium, a male, born in Welsh Mountain Zoo, age 21

Source: The Historic Royal Palaces website, hrp.org.uk

Superstition of the Week - Clocks

There is a superstition that says if a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.

Cool Stuff on Ravens - Learn a New Language

Is one of your 2011 New Year's resolutions to learn a new language? If so, here is your bilingual Raven....

Bilingual Ravens

Cherokee....Kalanu
Cree....Kahka'kwi
English....Raven
Danish....Ravn
Dutch....Raaf
Finnish....Korppi
French....Corbeau
Gaelic....Bran
German....Rabe
Greek....Korax
Hopi....Adoko
Icelandic....Hrafn
Inuit....Tulugaq
Irish....Fiach
Italian....Corvo
Japanese....Karasu
Latin....Corvus
Polish....Kruk
Portuguese....Corvo
Scots Gaelic....Fitheach, Fhitich
Spanish....Cuervo
Swedish....Korp
Turkish....Kuzgun
Welsh....Cigfran
Yiddish....Woron
Zuni....Kotollo-ah

Superstition of the Week - Rabbits

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on 2/3/11 and ends on 1/22/12. Here are a few superstitions on our fine floppy-eared friends.

RABBITS

• A rabbit running through your yard is a sign of fertility either meaning it is a good year to have children or to grow a garden.
• A rabbit running down the street means there will be a fire in the neighborhood.
• Dreaming about a rabbit means you could soon be confronted by misfortune.
• Seeing a white rabbit is a death omen, this might stem from British folklore where it was believed that wicked witches turned themselves into white rabbits or hares.
• Seeing a black rabbit is unlucky. Not sure if this is related to the black cat superstition or that in some folklore it was thought that black rabbits host the souls of human beings.
• A superstition to gain good luck, usually a present, that was also common in many part of Great Britain, with several variants, was saying ‘Rabbits’ three times before going to sleep on the last day of the month, and then ‘Hares’ three times first thing when waking in the morning. Another version of this myth states that on the first day of the month you should shout out ‘White Rabbit’ when you wake up in the morning and then shout out ‘Black Rabbit’ right before you go to bed that night and you will have good luck throughout the month. A more modern version states the person should say “rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit” upon waking on the first day of each new month, and doing so will bring good luck all month long. Yet there are other versions that say instead of the first day of the month it should be the first day of the new moon.
• And finally...the rabbit’s foot. The most common superstition of this supposed lucky charm says the rabbit’s foot will bring luck and protect the owner from evil spirits if carried in the pocket. Though some versions say the original owner must give their rabbit’s foot away and the recipient of the gift would have good fortune. If the owner were to keep the foot for themselves, they would in turn have bad luck. Also if the recipient loses the rabbit’s foot, they would also have bad luck. Oh but there is more....
• In American folklore, the foot of the rabbit is considered an amulet of good luck originating from African-American folk magic known as hoodoo. But not just any rabbit’s foot will do. It needs to be the left hind foot. Here is where it gets sticky. Some say the rabbit must be shot by a silver bullet in a cemetery while others say the rabbit should be captured alive in the cemetery and the foot needs to be cut off while the rabbit is still alive. Also the phase of the moon is important, but again, some say the rabbit should be taken in the full moon where others say it should be taken in the new moon. There are even others that say it should be a Friday, preferably rainy.

We think we will just let them keep their furry little feet and we will find our good luck someplace else.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It - Skulls

Raven on Skull Statue from Goery Details