Perhaps this time around it will be a good omen.
Harry
----- Original Message ----
> From: Jones Beene <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Sun, December 19, 2010 12:49:48 PM
> Subject: RE: [Vo]:Omen or no?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mauro Lacy
>
> > That's correct. So, it seems there was a solstice eclipse in the year
> 1554, and all your "omen" speculation regarding that epoch and the
> occurence of a solstice eclipse is appropriate. That does not mean it's
> true, of course.
>
>
> Well, it was light-hearted. Many scientists do not like to consider the
> possibility that historical "coincidence" can have a root cause in
> non-random external events, much less that "the stars" or astrology can
> provide partial answers, or that cycles repeat. To be honest, I am probably
> in that group but I do like to find and point-out the cases where there
> could be some mystical and predictive value in celestial or other seemingly
> random events.
>
> Even so, I doubt that this is one of them. However the events of that time
> frame, circa 1550-1650, are extremely important for the history of the USA
> as it now exists. It is also amusing to play the 'alternative universe'
> game.
>
> Were it not for the Reformation, the religious strife and the
> blood-thirsty-ness of a few English Queens, Bloody Mary in particular, and
> the forced migration of persecuted minorities to the New World, then the
> early Spanish lead in exploration would surely mean that the USA would look
> very different now than it does, for better or for worse.
>
> Already by 1554 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (who died this same year) had
> explored mid-America all the way to what is now Kansas, and could have laid
> a successful claim to most of North America, were it not for persecuted
> Protestants from Northern Europe being forced into exile further East. That
> - and the lack of gold, as an enticement, and/or the perception of bad
> winter weather. We like to date Plymouth Rock as a starting point for
> Mayflower Pilgrims who founded a Colony in 1620. They could have been routed
> by a few dozen Conquistadors.
>
> Generally the early Anglo settlements were not based on choice or perceived
> opportunity - but more on the fear of not leaving. Most ironic.
>
>
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