Belgium's cat parade: Once cruel, now just playful
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Posted:May 8, 2006 12:13 pm
Last Updated:May 8, 2006 8:17 pm 3705 Views
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Belgium's cat parade: Once cruel, now just playful
By Jayne Traendly, Special to Stars and Stripes
Stripes European Travel, Thursday, May 4, 2006
Hissssss! Be warned. Another element has been added to this year’s Cat Parade in Ypers, Belgium: a 130-yard-long cage of wild cats.
The 2003 parade featured the more “playful” side of the cat with the cartoon character Garfield. So this time, says Michele Martens of the city’s tourist board, “the director wanted to include the more aggressive parts.”
Every three years since 1955, the residents of this Belgian town have celebrated the cat by transforming themselves into human-sized felines for a festival weekend that includes art, music, folklore activities and the parade. But it’s a wonder Ypres’ cats haven’t let loose with this wild side before, considering their tragic history in Belgium.
The story didn’t begin so grim. In fact, legend has it that in pagan times, a giant statue of a cat god stood where the Cloth Hall in the town center now is located. But this cat adoration turned to fear when the locals converted to Christianity and the once-honored figure was transformed into a symbol of the devil.
It was all downhill after that. Throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, the cat was associated with witches and demons, suffering a list of atrocities too numerous to mention. And Ypres’ populace was no kinder.
The town’s history records show that a cat festival was celebrated in the 15th century, closely related to the Ash Wednesday fair. But this event was no fun for felines. The highlight involved the town jester hurling live animals out of high towers, an act that symbolized the exorcism of demons. At some point, this tossing was officially transferred to the Cloth Tower belfry.
Hissssss!
Unfortunately, this flinging of felines lasted for centuries. It wasn’t until 1817, according to a 19th-century Ypres archivist, that the last cats were thrown and the pitiless practice was banned.
Since its earlier days, the cat parade has grown, this year so much that part of it will be on Saturday, May 13, starting at 8:30 p.m. This shorter spectacle will feature the sections about the city’s history and the witch trials.
“It’s sort of an introduction to the larger one,” Martens said.
On Sunday at 3 p.m., the cats break loose for the grand procession. The wild cats join the traditional cast of cat characters: Cieper, wife Minneke Poes and their kitten, Piepertje, towering above the crowd. Exotic Egyptian cats ride in painted boats carrying Egyptian worshippers to the cat sanctuary in the town of Bubastis. Giant wild cats draw the German goddess Freya in her heavenly carriage. Black cats curl around their witch companions.
Cats from the musical “Cats” dance along the route. Other felines march in formation and ride horses in a cat cavalry, hiss and spring into the crowd and schmooze with the audience. Litters of kittens prance among the adults.
At the end, the jester arrives on his float in a flurry of confetti to ascend the steps of the Cloth Hall’s 230-foot belfry and carry out the traditional tossing of the cats – using plush animals. In former years, these toys were filled with money, but the practice was discontinued when the fights among the scrambling crowds got too wild.
“Humans call this fighting wild?” the Ypres cats must have said in disbelief. No ears back? No snarls? No extended claws?
So once again the town’s felines will hold a colorful parade and show these people how to do it right in Belgium’s “capital of cats.”Jayne Traendly is a regular contributor to Stripes’ Travel columns and a freelance writer living in Germany.
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Only Heretics thinks The Earth Circles the Sun -
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Posted:May 7, 2006 11:24 pm
Last Updated:May 8, 2006 11:28 am 3141 Views
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"And there it was that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought." John Milton, from Areopagitica (1644)*
another book entitled Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems : Ptolemaic and Copernican, Galileo forced the reluctant Church to once again take action. In 1633 Galileo went before the Spanish Inquisition one final time. At his inquisition, Church officials refused to even look through Galileo's telescope. They knew full well that the Devil was capable of making anything illusory and deceptive appear in Galileo's telescope.
The Middle finger of Galileo's right hand was . detached from Galileo's hand in 1737 by Anton Francesco Gori and the "Cult of Galileo." It is now on display at the of the Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence, Italy.
On the base the following verse by Thomas Perellius is inscribed:
"This is the finger with which the illustrious hand covered the heavens and indicated their immense space. It pointed to new stars with the marvelous instrument, made of glass, and revealed them to the senses. And thus it was able to reach what Titania could never attain."
In 1979 Pope John Paul II expressed a desire that the Pontifical Academy of Sciences conduct an in-depth study of the church's case against Galileo. A commission of scholars convened, and they presented their report to the Pope on October 31, 1992. The Roman Catholic Church then finally removed the verdict of heresy against Galileo.
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The Struggle Between Science and Religion
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Posted:May 7, 2006 9:44 pm
Last Updated:May 10, 2006 11:10 am 3128 Views
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Famed Astronomer Galileo Galilei proclaimed and proved that the planets revolve around the sun and not around the Earth. He was declared a heretic and faced the Inquisition for publishing and defending that idea.
Galilei was a Scientist but also a Catholic who tried to teach that Science did not undermine the position of God but reinforced it. He held that Science and Religion were not enemies but Allies - two difference languages telling the same story. Unfortunately the unification of Science and Religion was not what the Church wanted to hear. Galilei was tried as a heretic, found guilty and placed on permanent house incarceration.
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Publix Enemy WV-2 Geocaching
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Posted:May 7, 2006 11:24 am
Last Updated:May 7, 2006 7:01 pm 3152 Views
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Publix Enemy WV-2
N 37° 44.723 W 080° 28.099
UTM: 17S E 546841 N 4177698
S 2.1mi from your home coordinates.
or convert to NAD27 .
In West Virginia, United States [view map]
Hidden: 5/6/2006
Park overlooking a bridge - Easy walk from a fountain with benchparks overlooking the Greenbrier river
When I was caching in Georgia - I discovered several Publix Enemy Caches - A tradition introduced by geocacher Team PEZ - The cache, publix enemy, has sparked a local craze of other "enemy caches" all over georgia and neighboring states (tennessee, south carolina and florida.) Now Publix Enemy has come to West Virginia. Woo! Hoo~
Currently there are about 66 Publix Enemy Caches
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Happy One Hundred and Eleventh Birthday for Rudolph Valentino
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Posted:May 5, 2006 2:55 pm
Last Updated:May 12, 2006 10:00 pm 3235 Views
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Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 ‒ August 23, 1926) .was known as the Great Lover", and the first true male movie sex symbol.
Women are not in love with me but with picture they see of me on the on screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint thier dreams
Rudolph Valentino
There was an urban legend that at the funeral home they displayed a wax effigy of Valentino rather than the actual body itself to protect it from frenzied mourners
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, in 1994, he was honored with his image on a United States postage stamp designed by the noted caricaturist of more than 70 years, Al Hirschfeld.
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Two 18-Wheelers/One 4-Wheeler & 2 woman alone at the bus station
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Posted:May 4, 2006 5:20 pm
Last Updated:May 4, 2006 9:12 pm 3234 Views
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The cab of a double tractor-trailer sits in the middle of the northbound lanes of Interstate 77, near the Harper Road exit, after it was knocked off the truck during a three-vehicle crash late Wednesday. Engine parts, various debris and gasoline covered the roadway, shutting the road down for several hours.
Last Year, I was returning home via Greyhound for Charlotte, North Carolina. I got off the bus at 11:30 p.m. and ex-hubby was not there to pick me up. He thought he was suppose to pick me up at 11:30 a.m. the next morning. He ended up picking me up at the Sheriff Office. I had been robbed and very grateful that I wore my steel-toed hiking boots and jeans. Fight and Flight - mostly flight. The Thief got my leopard print bra and pink nightie. He didn't get my $$$$ because I carried it in my boobs and my ID was in my back pocket. A $600. hearing aid was knocked off in the struggle to get away from him. He was eventually apprehended on an unrelated probation violation and sent back to jail which is a good place for him.
Meanwhile, Last week, I took a bus to Georgia. I deliberately scheduled so that I would not be at the bus stop at night. Circumstances changed and I had to change the schedule. There was a transfer from Charlotte, North Carolina to Beckley - West Virginia arrival at 11:30 PM. Same Route - Is History Repeating itself. Oh Joy! I made sure ex-hubby knew that pick-up time was 11:30 pm. Pleeeeeeze be there - I pleaded.
As the bus was headed toward Beckley, I could feel the blood draining out of my face. I had difficulty breathing and felt like I was going to faint. As we got to the Harper Road Exit. There was a major league traffic jam. A Trucker told the Bus Driver they had been stuck for six hours because of a wreck. The bus driver took an alternative route and we made it to the stop in time.
Another woman and I got off the bus but our rides were not there. They were stuck in that mess. Happy Happy Joy Joy! She was glad that I was there and visa versa. I called 911 and advised them of the situation - telling them that we were not happy with the unsavory characters that hung around that bus station. They sent a cop to check on us. Two hours later - My ex-hubby arrived - We waited until the other woman's transportation showed up.
God must have been smiling upon West Virginia that night. None of the people in the accident were seriously hurt. Two Truckers and two women in a 4 wheeler. Had I not changed my schedule, that woman would have been alone at the station.
Still..................Next time I go to Georgia - I am taking a plane and hope it stays away from the Pentagon 
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Cat Spelled Backwards - Ain't No GOD!!!! Heh! Heh!
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Posted:May 2, 2006 3:13 pm
Last Updated:May 3, 2006 4:50 am 3326 Views
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Cat Spelled Backwards - Ain't No GOD!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Dogs understand the concept of loyalty and will always adore you –even when you're bad.
They will Listen to you no matter what you have to say. If a is not a backwards Deity - he is close. Many Dogs deserve to wear Angel Wings.
There are feline types who bitterly wish that
T-A-C spelled GOD but Ha Ha, it don't.
The Cat Meows but the will have his Day!!!!! AGAIN!!!!!
Dogs Rule at least in this household and .......................... It's all Good!!!!
I Am Happy With Who I Am And What I Am Doing AND I LOVE being me!!!!
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Happy Birthday -WildBillyLilly - FatherOfHoraryAstrology
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Posted:May 2, 2006 7:51 am
Last Updated:May 2, 2006 3:32 pm 3274 Views
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“I believe God rules all by his divine providence and that the stars by his permission are instruments.”
William Lilly
“Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heaven.”
William Lilly
WOO HOO! Another Famous Taurus! This one is the Father of HOrary Astrology
William Lilly was the foremost English astrologer of the 17th century. Born May 1, 1602 in Diseworth, Leicestershire, he began studying astrology in 1632. In 1641 he began a professional practice and soon became heavily involved with the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War. It was said that if King Charles I could have brought over Lilly he would have been worth a half a dozen regiments. Lilly published many astrological almanacs and in 1647 wrote Christian Astrology, the most definitive work on horary astrology ever written in English. He is perhaps most famous for predicting the Great Fire of London in 1666.
After the Restoration, Lilly was repeatedly investigated as a Parliamentary supporter, but managed to escape any serious consequences. He continued his thriving astrological practice and died on June 9, 1681.
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Geocaching In Georgia, GrumpyDRACONIS and Jimmy Carter
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Posted:May 1, 2006 6:45 pm
Last Updated:May 8, 2006 12:46 pm 3778 Views
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Georgia is nothing like what I visualized. This morning - My Georgia Honey and I went to the Jimmy Carter Presidental Library. This evening we went Geocaching - an on-line sport where coordinate for hidden are listed and A GPS Unit is used to find or hide a Cache. I hide my first Travel Bug - The Whereabouts of the the Travel Bug is tracked with a tracking number. I named the travel bug - GrumpyDRACONIS after my ex-hubby. He wants to travel to other realms but Georgia is a good place for him to start. All of my travel bugs have STAR names too. What else would any self respecting Astrologer do. 
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