Cat on a hot tin roof

It seems that the devil has taken his centurial holidays once again in Devon. It seems a pensioner woke recently on a winter's morning to find the world covered in a blanket of crisp snow, only to find mysterious footprints in the shape of a cloven hoof forming a trail through her garden. With no obvious signs of an entry point or any suggestion that a wild animal had been in her garden, the pensioner was obviously flummoxed.

However, the footprints could well add to the legend of the Great Devon Mystery - proving that legends can be a part of living history, as well as ancient history. On the morning of February 8, 1885, villagers across a 100-mile swathe of south Devon awoke to find a trail of cloven footprints in the deep lying snow. An escaped pig, or wild boar, you might think, which would be a good guess until the footprints walked up walls and across roofs as if gravity didn't exist. Of course, scientists believe there is a rational explanation for both sets of prints, which there may well be, but until they come up with one - it could well be spring hares, the legend will grow with each re-telling...

Did those feet...

When it comes to legends, or traditions, there can be none bigger, in this day and age, than the whereabouts of the young Jesus. Regardless of your view of religion and divinity, there is no doubting that the later life of this person has in many ways shaped the lives and opinions of a wider proportion of humanity than any other person - whether this was intentional, or entirely down to his own work, will I think never be known.

However, of all the many theories regarding his ministry, his death, his possible resurrection and even the survival of his family, one period of his life his always missing, no matter what history or religion you subscribe to. The bible mentions a prodigal child and then mentions nothing until Jesus starts his ministry as a fully grown man. So where did this remarkable child go?

Did he simply stay in Judea and learn a trade, not troubling any more money lenders, or did he, as some suggest, travel through India and the Orient, learning various forms of mysticism? Or did he, as some legends suggest travel to Britain, possibly with his uncle, mixing with the religious leaders of this island, and possibly others? It might seem far fetched that Jesus would be anywhere other than in the holy land, throughout all of his life, but that part of the world was very much a part of the Roman empire and a centre of trade in the mediterranean, both of which would have had trade and logisitical interests in farther flung countries. So, it is indeed possible that those feet did indeed walk in ancient time...

Anyway, if you wish to learn more about this fascinating possibility - that doesn't rely on hearsay and strange codes - you would do well to pick up a copy of Dennis Price's new book The Missing Years of Jesus, and visit his website at www.eternalidol.com

Find out more:

• http://www.themissingyearsofjesus.com/
• http://www.eternalidol.com

Romani lore

Life in all its glory is keeping me busy right now, which leaves me little time to update this site. However, there are those glorious times when, without searching for it, you stumble across another fascinating helping of folklore and custom.

On this particular occasion I was sorting through some books and found a couple of book on Gypsies that I had inherited from my grandmother, both written in the early 1970s. I use the term gypsy simply because it is used in the title of each book, and not for any derogatory reason. I certainly learned a lot about Romani culture that I did not know before, and the book I chose to read was definitely sympathetic to the culture, beliefs and rights of travelling peoples. I'm only sorry that it took me the best part of four or five years before I got around to reading it - the other one is now waiting its turn in the pile of unreads.

Anyway, to the point. Among many aspects of history and culture I learnt from the book, there were a couple of interesting points of folklore and tradition that I thought worth sharing. I've no ideas whether the book is still widely available, but I will provide relevant details as I have them, and paraphrase liberally. If you can find the book, it is a very interesting read:

Astrology
Astrology was invented by three wise men. Two were shepherds and one was a Romani Chal [a tru-blooded Romani man]. That is why Gypsy's have always been important in the world of duckering [fortune telling].
this extract was taken from an interview with Prince Nathaniel Petralengro Lee, in Jeremy Sandford's book Gypsys (Abacus Books, ISBN: 0349131201. 1975 edition).

Spirit and the nature of good and evil
Everybody has a good spirit and an evil spirit. It's in our minds. Spirit is in our mind and actions are controlled by the spirit. A Romany Chal is not afraid to die, because they believe that the life we are living is a dream and that the real life starts when we're dead, when the spirit leaves the body.
this extract was taken from an interview with Prince Nathaniel Petralengro Lee, in Jeremy Sandford's book Gypsys (Abacus Books, ISBN: 0349131201. 1975 edition).

Find out more:

• Gypsys by Jeremy Sandford. Published by Abacus Books (ISBN: 03491312010)
• A useful website: http://www.geocities.com/~Patrin/tradition.htm