Category: History and Folklore

With Halloween just around the corner it seems like a good time to explore the history of the popular pumpkin-based lighting solution known as the jack-o’-lantern.

The Book of Revelation – the final book of the Bible – describes the coming end of the world. Written in the 1st Century AD, the author appeared to expect the Apocalypse to occur in their lifetime. Happily, they were disappointed, but Christians have remained fascinated by the subject ever since, with doomsayers keeping it alive by reinterpreting Revelation to refer to their own age, or creating their own version of the imminent End Times. During eras like the Middle Ages, when few people could read, such warnings needed to be communicated visually.

Ancient Greece is most often associated with its intellectual achievements – in fields like philosophy, mathematics, and politics – leading many to regard it as the bedrock of Western civilisation. But a recent archaeological discovery has served as a grim reminder that the Ancient Greeks had a sinister side.

Students of the occult and devotees of the darker fringes of history will be delighted to hear that the Royal College of Physicians, in Regent’s Park London, are planning an exhibition dedicated to John Dee. A pioneering scholar – learned in mathematics, philosophy and navigation – Dee was one of the most fascinating and brilliant figures at the 16^th century court of the English queen Elizabeth I, universally admired for his learning.