COFFEE TIME FOOTNOTES

1The Encyclopedia Britannica 2001, Deluxe Edition CD, confirms the 850 AD date.

2Delphi, Greek Mythology link. Http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Delphi.html I love the Greek mythology site – it takes me to all sorts of information on Greek mythology easily and quickly, and sticks to what is known about the subject, leaving supposition and speculation to the reader.

3Pagan Goddesses and Gods of the Delphi Oracle http://www.goddess.org/vortices/notes/delphi.html

4Back then, the people believed that the ecstasy was inspired by a god/s, and the historical source of their experience was a mystery or written off as pure myth. Scientists thought that there could have been no fumes because the area was not volcanic. However, a more recent geological survey revealed fissures, and the possibility of alcoholic fumes rising through them. For the full story on this, see the article “Questioning the Delphic Oracle” by John R Hale, Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, Jeffrey P Chanton and Henry A Spiller in Scientific American, August 2003

5Seers, Greek Mythology Link:Barbarians would kill prisoners of war and inspect the blood and entrails for signs of the future. If they got it wrong, they and the male members of their families would be executed for false prophecy. However, I suspect that anyone, including medical doctors and military Generals, might have had to go in fear for their lives if they got their prognosis wrong. I am also guessing that prognosis rather than prophecy was the real force behind the idea of seeing the future.

6Delphi, Greek Mythology Link I quote: “Second temple: According to the Delphians the second temple was made by bees from bees-wax and feathers, although others say that it was built by Pteras, who is known for this.” I honestly didn't know this when I chose Daedalus' name.

7And still is from what my rural relatives tell me about bee-keepers.

8“Scrying” Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Castle Books Edison NJ, 1991

9I got this piece of information from a TV documentary on Alexander the Great

10Pigeons were domesticated in Egypt about 3,000BC. I'm making the wild supposition that carrier pigeons might have had something to do with the idea that birds brought signs, or portents, from the gods, although it seems to have been hawks or falcons that people looked to for signs.

11It sort of was coincidence. The cult of Apollo lost power when the original settlers began to be immune to the diseases brought in by the Indo-European herders. Towards the end of the first Millenium BC, the fumes at Delphi also began to fade, making it harder for Apollo's priests to keep their political control. My Daedalus is outside history and very anachronistic.

12Nostradamus FAQs http://www.nostradamus-repository.org/faq.html