Lost In Beauty-

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

heyas!
today was an OKAY day. haha.
had...HPE first. it was a theory lesson so not so tiring. haha. but also had to cram the names and places of like 12 muscles into my already full head. and also, had to like rmb the types of muscles, the structure blah blah blah. hahaha.
it was quite interesting anws. haha.
we also went through some pretty complicated stuff like flexion and extension. between joints and muscles coz we had to really think alot. haha.
then we had...IPT. which was sucky. hahaha. i don't think we really did much anws. haha.
we just talked and talked. also coz i'd alr finished my assignment. WHICH REMINDS ME. we have 2 new assignments that we have to finish by the end of this term(die). one for science and one for history and THAT ALSO REMINDS ME. i have to find a partner for the science one. haha. but one group can have three i think coz there's an odd number so maybe i'll have to talk that one out with Mr J. hahaha.
then we had catering but i my violin lesson took up most of it. so yea. haha. and i'm playing this really LONG. really DIFFICULT. grade 8 piece for the exam and i'm so gonna die for that la.
then we had history. and we learnt about the holy grail and the holy lance and the sword of King David and this plate that was used in the holy supper and the knights templar and stuff like that .ahaha. also more on the crusades. hahaha. but actually, i was really tired and when mrs van rooyen told us the read out parts of it. i din really get it. hahaha.
so i'm gonna like type it out. you don't have to read it if you don't want to but it's more to my benefit if i go through it slowly. haha. here it is:
The Templar Knights or "Poor Knights of Christ" were a monastic order of knights founded in 1112 A.D to protect the pilgrims along the path from Europe to the Holy Land (Jerusalem). They took a vow of poverty [pretty wierd vow eh.] which was rare for knights, and had to supply themselves with a horse, aromour and weapons.
In the middle ages, a period of a thousand years from 450-1450, it was an era of religious persecution, an era when the Templars, the Cathars ( Albigensians) and the Hugots, among others, were being tortured and burned alive by the Inquisition for their beliefs. They wered called Heretics or pagans; a heretic is someone who holds controversial opinions, espectially one who publicly dissents from the officially accepted dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. [in other words, a heretic is someone who does not follow the order of the Roman Catholic Church] and a pagan is one who is not a Christian, especially a worshipper of a polytheistic[believe in more than one god] religion.
The orgin of the Grail legend is unclear; some sources say it is of Celtic origin, though the classical version of the story starts with the Crusades. One legend has it that the Templars found not only the Holy Grail, but other holy relics, including the Four Grail Hallows. the first Grail Hallow was the platter used at the Last Supper, the second the lance that killed Jesus on the cross, the third was the Grail itself, the cup that caught Jesus' blood so that none of it would touch the ground, and the last was the Sword of King David, father of King Solomon and the first in the a dynasty of Jewish kings. Legend had it that it was this sword that was used to cut off the head of St. John the Baptist.
The Templars were known to have dug under their quarters in Jerusalem, which is believed to be on the site of King Solomon's temple, and to have exacavated many artefacts. They also plundered Constantinople, having conquered it, and stoeln relics from there and elsewhere. According to the book "The Sword and The Grail" by Andrew Sinclair, European kings fervently sought out relics of historical importance to bring prestige to their city or palace. One such relic was the Byzantine Crown of Thorns, presumably worn by Christ, which was held in Venice. King Louis the Ninth of France, by bribery and Skuldugger, arranged for it to be moved to Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Rumour has it that even when the basilica of San Marco in Venice was gutted by fire in 1231, the Crown of Thorns miraculously survived. Stories give it that the Templars hid these relics, and others such as the Holy Rood, a piece of the cross Christ died on, in the Apprentice's Pillar in Rosslyn Chapel.
The first mention of a Holy Grail was in a poem written in 1204, when the Grail was described as the cup used at the Last Supper,other later texts refer to "Perceval" and "Parsifal", one of the kingths of King Arthur's table. Some of the Grail stories were written by people who were supporters of the Templars, and in one called "Parzival" there is mention of knights dressed in white surcoats emblazoned with the red cross of the Templars. Not all the Percival stories identify the Holy Grail as a cup, some call it a stone, very similar in concept to the Philosopher's stone, because legend has it that both the Grail and the Philosopher's stone would give immortality to their owners and transmute everything to spiritual harmony.
The connectiion to King Arthur was that legend has it that he attended Holy Communion with some hermits where the Holy Grail was used, he naturally thought the ownership of the Grail would restore England it it's former glory, to a time before the English were enslaved by the Imperial Roman armies that had invaded in 43AD, and he sent the knights of the Round Table in search of it. It is possible that the hermits King Arthur met were in some way related to Joseph of Arimathea who came to Glastonbury in AD63, on the first Christian mission to Britain. Legend says that he brought with him the Holy grail, which was either a cup or two 'cruets" thought to contain the blood and sweat of the crucified Chritst.
In Rome at present there is an Order of Templars, and they claim to have in safe keeping the Holy Grail, but not only one but two, as it is thought that the cup used at the last supper and the one used to catch Christ's blood were two different cups.

PHEW. that was really long and i typed it all out myself. haha. but copying from the history notes of course. haha. but i think i learnt alot. hahaha.and there's still more but i think that should be all today. more tomorrow!
you are too hot to let go.

the beauty exposed ;