
Witch Marks, Curses, and Magic in the Neglected History of Medieval Graffiti - diodorus
http://hyperallergic.com/266861/witch-marks-curses-and-magic-in-the-neglected-history-of-medieval-graffiti/
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girzel
This stuff makes me drool.

I remember being in the Norwich Cathedral a couple of years ago, and getting a
tour of the graffiti. Some of it was just regular lampooning of authority
figures, young guys letting off steam, that sort of thing, but some of it was
kind of nuts. Apparently this pattern known as the "daisywheel"[1] shows up
all over the place, and no one knows exactly what it means.

While we were there, the person showing us around flipped up one of the seats
to show us the "green man" who'd been carved in lavish detail on the underside
of the seat. As we looked at it, one of the cathedral workers came chugging
down the aisle, flipped the seat back down, and continued on, all the while
grumbling bitterly but incoherently. Apparently they're not too keen on the
green man...

[1] [http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/blog/medieval-graffiti-
at...](http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/blog/medieval-graffiti-at-norwich-
cathedral),
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274401/Archaeologis...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274401/Archaeologists-
fascinating-quest-decipher-medieval-graffiti-scrawled-cathedral-walls.html)

------
tcfunk
> Transfiguration of wine into the blood of Christ in a communion service was
> often considered something literal, rather than figurative...

Was? It still is.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Confused. Has nobody who ever had communion ever tasted blood? Its nothing
like wine. Clearly everybody knows its not a literal transformation.

~~~
edgarvaldes
They teach the transformation is at the "substance" level, instead of the
"accident" level.

From one of the Wikipedia cited sources[1]

> the "substance" of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy
> Spirit into the "substance" of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the
> same time, the "accidents" or appearances of bread and wine remain.
> "Substance" and "accident" are here used as philosophical terms that have
> been adapted by great medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in
> their efforts to understand and explain the faith. Such terms are used to
> convey the fact that what appears to be bread and wine in every way (at the
> level of "accidents" or physical attributes - that is, what can be seen,
> touched, tasted, or measured) in fact is now the Body and Blood of Christ
> (at the level of "substance" or deepest reality). This change at the level
> of substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is called
> "transubstantiation."

[1][http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-
ma...](http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass/liturgy-
of-the-eucharist/the-real-presence-of-jesus-christ-in-the-sacrament-of-the-
eucharist-basic-questions-and-answers.cfm)

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Yeah, another way of saying "even though nothing happens, we're saying
something really does happen. You just have to believe!" Why bother saying it
'really' happens then? Just admit it; its a figurative change? Instead of
saying its real somehow, followed by a description of exactly what a
figurative change is.

