An Old Haunt Returns....

[Dana Acker]

Not that I feel an explanation is owed, it's not the Apocrypha, but the Pseudepigrapha about which I was referring. Genesis6:1-4 is referring to the Book of Enoch. The Enochian account expands on the Biblical account about fallen angels (the Watchers) coming to earth, mating with human women, and spawning a race of giants, called the Nephilim. Enoch's account also chronicles said Watchers teaching humans things that they didn't know; one of those things was the forging of weapons, so as to more effectively kill one another. The watchers didn't care for humans all that much, except for breeding with.

These ancient Hebrew Texts and their English translations can be hard to come by, and printed collected editions quite expensive. For those interested in reading them and further exploring the story, Dr. Heiser's works can be as helpful as they are affordable in parsing and understanding said texts, should one want to explore them. So in that context, the mention of his books was quite relevant, both to those interested in the texts, and those wanting to further their understanding of ancient supernatural connections to bladesmithing.

But whether you believe either the story or the sources or not, it's a interesting read that does connect our beloved trade with the supernatural, in a way that is somewhat different from the Greco-Roman stories of Vulcan's forge. He was a divine being in their pantheon who forged thunderbolts for Zeus. Not many other trades have such ancient supernatural connections. It's only natural to want to discuss ancient origins, be they real or fabled, because of their connection to the craft.

Again as there was no evangelism to anything taking place, and any opposing views would have been welcome, although we weren't discussing particular theological positions of belief. Has anyone complained? Are there more than just a handful of people who even use the forums anymore? It was pretty dead around here when I began posting again. I'd think anything to discuss would be better than nothing, which was pretty much what I found when I returned.

And when did you become so concerned with everybody's feelings? You were thrown off of several forums for stepping on people's toes quite frequently, and with reckless abandon. You threw down gauntlets literally designed to elicit a brawl. I didn't agree with your being banned, as forums "should" be free, and if you don't like what's written, then you're free not to read it, but the history is there. There was a time when everything and anything was fair game for discussion, and arguments were encouraged, as long as they didn't degenerate into insults and threats. Welcome to the new normal, I guess. Maybe we should call ourselves The Kinder Gentler Neo-Tribal Metalsmiths.