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Sylvia Rose
Apr 8, 20246 min read
Sträggele: Witch Hag of the Wild Hunt
Sträggele is the wife of the Dread Huntsman, der Türst of Lucerne canton in Switzerland. In Lucerne the huntsman, Sträggele and their...
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Sylvia Rose
Mar 23, 20246 min read
Elp: Bronze Age Militant Cattle Culture
The Elp culture spreads through the Netherlands, Northern Germania and just south of the Baltic coast. Bronze and Iron Age cattle people,...
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Sylvia Rose
Mar 15, 20247 min read
Verdigris: Coveted Blue Green Copper Pigment
Verdigris is the green rust or patina on copper, created as the metal reacts with oxygen in the environment. Copper corrodes green to...
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Sylvia Rose
Mar 1, 20244 min read
Woad, the People's Blue: Ancient Pigments
Woad ( Isatis tinctoria ) is a plant yielding a blue pigment used in dyes, paint and medicine. A member of the mustard family, it's also...
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Sylvia Rose
Jan 10, 20244 min read
Salt Trade - the Most Precious Mineral
Salt is an essential mineral of life. In food it stimulates taste and is among the oldest preservation methods. Part of the human taste...
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Sylvia Rose
Dec 19, 20235 min read
Cinnamon - Spice Trade of Ancients
Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum ) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians...
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Sylvia Rose
Nov 28, 20232 min read
Ornithomancy - Prophecy by the Birds
Ornithomancy or augury is first recorded during the Hittite Empire (c. 1450 - 1180). From ancient Greek "take omens from the flight and...
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Sylvia Rose
Nov 15, 20234 min read
Volcanic Wipeout - 1600 BCE Eruption of Thera
In the mid Bronze Age the Minoan Greeks come under fire in more ways than one. A series of volcanic eruptions by the Cyclades island of...
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Sylvia Rose
Nov 6, 20235 min read
Before the Vikings - Early Northern Cultures
In the European Bronze Age, the North is a wild place, populated by nomadic tribes, great bears and endless nights. Brilliant fires blaze...
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Sylvia Rose
Nov 4, 20234 min read
12 Days of Zagmuk: Chaos & the King
The Feast of Zagmuk begins in December and lasts twelve days. The name Zagmuk comes from the Sumerian term for 'beginning of the year'....
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 30, 20234 min read
Cult of the Bull - Prehistoric Aurochs
A prehistoric species of cattle, Aurochs (Bos primigenius) rules Europe and much of Asia in the ancient world. The last known Aurochs is...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 26, 20234 min read
Amber Trade - Bronze Age on the Baltic
During the late Bronze Age 2000 - 1200 BCE and after, the Amber Roads form passage for trade, merchants, craftspeople, criminals,...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 26, 20233 min read
Phosphorus: Element of Fatal Fascination
Phosphorus is the first element not known since ancient times. This glowing substance is discovered by German alchemist Hennig Brand in...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 25, 20234 min read
Spiritual Alchemy - Attuning the Self
Spiritual alchemy is a set of methods using mental processes, colors, phases, archetypes, integration, practical application and...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 23, 20235 min read
Baltic Amber - Gold of the North
Baltic amber is among the most prized trade items for millennia. The European amber trade starts in Sicily, with exports to other...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 23, 20234 min read
Weapons & Warfare of Bronze Age Europe 1
The Bronzing of Europe introduces new tools and weapons, harder than copper and less brittle than stone. Bronze is made with about 88%...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 19, 20233 min read
Women of Alchemy - Mary the Jewess
Mary the Jewess, Maria the Jewess or Maria Prophetissa is considered the world's first alchemist. Working in Alexandria, Egypt, she's...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 18, 20233 min read
German House Spirits: Beer Donkey (Bieresel)
Bieresel loves beer and other fermented beverage s , such as apple cider, mead or wine. In German folklore the beer donkey lives in wine...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 17, 20233 min read
Rise of Pan: Fertility Goat God Péh₂usōn
In the late Neolithic Age (10,200 - 4500 BCE), Europe is a wild unsettled place. Great bears , aurochs and big cats roam the forests....
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 13, 20236 min read
Seven Metals of Antiquity - Metallurgy
The Metals of Antiquity are the seven metals identified and used by humans in Europe and the Middle East in prehistoric times. They are...
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