PROMISE

 

JESUS PULSING WITH LIGHT

A friend sent me this Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I think the origin of it is somewhere in Poland.

THE RISEN JESUS

 

PECS CHRISTIAN CRYPTS IN ONE OF HUNGARY'S MOST BEAUTIFUL CITIES: WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #17

WORLD HERITAGE SITES : EARLY CHRISTIAN NECROPOLIS of PECS

Some excerpts: Pecs is very lovely town with beautiful cathedral, ramparts, pedestrian streets and traditional restaurants located in Southern Hungary near the Croaton border.

The complaint here is the glass coverings used to protect some of the tomb structures which is reflective.  I must say this is not the only place a tourist encounters glass; in museum displays in America too. These appraisals are valuable but most are pre-Covid so do check with the site to find out the latest information. 

"The Romans also brought Christianity with them and the World Heritage Site of Pecs is about this - early Roman, Christian tombs, in a condition not found anywhere else in the world.  All the Roman tombs are centrally located around Pecs' beautiful Basilica of St. Peter with its four towers.  The tombs are small and narrow and Christian symbols decorate the graves,  There are biblical frescos, Adam and Eve, Daniel in the lions den and the Jug - The Holy Sacrament.

 WHC - UNESCO : PECS CHRISTIAN ROMAN TOMBS

Excerpts: In the 4th century A.D. a remarkable series of decorated tombs were constructed in the cemetery in the town of Sopiana, in the Roman Province of Pannonia. .. The burial chambers, chapels and mausoleum excavated on the site of the Sopianae cemetery form a complex that bears witness to an ancient culture and civilization that had a lasting impact. It is the richest collection of structural types of sepulchral monuments in the northern and western Roman provinces reflecting a diversity of cultural sources.

NOTE; If you would like to bring up my curated selection of WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY, click on the label Wonderful-Hungary!

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

THE SAD STATE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY - FAKE EGGS TO DYE FOR EASTER - TWO FOOD BANKS INSTEAD OF ONE

I'm writing this post on March 10th, having just heard that an important bank that funds investments in the tech economy based in Silicon Valley, central California, has gone belly up. Like in the Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life, there has been a run on the bank, but it's not people physically going there expecting cash. Rather, upon hearing this was happening, people pulled their funds electronically. This bank failure is said to be the biggest since the crash that began The Great Depression.  I spend some time listening to various opinions about what will happen next. By the time this posts, I/we will all know if that bank failure has had a "rolling effect."

This past week or two I experienced some telling signs that our economy is not healing from the ordeal of Covid, that inflation is beyond the high being reported.

First it was going to the grocery nearest me, which I should name but won't at this point, a store that I have long suspected is gouging customers who do not want to put in travel time or gas money to buy groceries. I'm signed up for this companies special discounts for those enrolled. They are trying to break the union by having people register themselves out and by having people come and pick up their purchases through a pre-ordering shopping system. 

They also run coupons suggesting an item is free and usually there is such a run for it that that item that gets people in the store has run out before I get there.   Last summer they had a free store brand Pizza which was usually marked at about $2 to $3 dollars.  That same pizza was now marked at $6.99.

Seeing a box of 50 typical papery Made in China face masks for $5.99 there a couple months ago started me thinking they were gouging. Then I noticed their day old bakery items were marked double what they had been. The other day I went in to buy the laundry detergent I swear by, the Arm and Hammer 100 loads Unscented, which I last purchased for about $12 about a year ago. I was shocked to see this item marked at $23.00 for the same...

As a result I went to a pharmacy type store that is a chain about a half mile away. I searched for laundry soap and found NONE on the shelves.  So I went to the register and asked if it was possible that the product was elsewhere in the store.  Actually they had moved all the laundry detergent BEHIND THE REGISTER. The clerk told me this was because people were walking out - stealing - bottles of laundry detergent!  They did not have my brand.

I went to another store and saw what appeared to be white eggs in cartons.  It turned out that these fake eggs were crafts items ready for dying for Easter and offered as a substitute to those who CANNOT AFFORD REAL EGGS...  There is no indication the price on eggs is coming down, and some brands are $9. to $12 a dozen for the real eggs.  So kids will have fake eggs in their Easter baskets?

Finally a friend of mine headed for a senior center in another town where she was able to get some free groceries on Wednesdays. It turns out that, due to higher demand, they were going to do these food distributions by lottery and twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.  This food comes in from an outside organization not a governmental agency. They pick up food that grocery stores are supposedly are ready to throw away. The higher demand is because the extra money put into the EBT food cards from the federal government of the United States for Covid relief ended.  (This money also stimulated our economy.)

I needed some onions and also shopped for them.  The store I suspect of gouging wanted $1.69 for a pound of white onions. The "Mexican Market" a small chain that is probably not unionized, had them for two pounds for $1 but I didn't have an hour for the round trip. I found them at a "dollar store" (where near nothing is a dollar and where the register always ads on a penny)  where they were prebagged at three pounds for $2.  At home I found one big onion in there appeared to be moldering.

A young woman I know who works as a waitress for a chain said business wasn't down but the tips were (while the sexual harassment by men was up.)  Out to buy her own groceries after serving meals all day to others more fortunate, she loaded up on the cheap noodle soup packets for her own dinners.

As a result of all this, I'm going to try to post more recipes using food items that are often given out at food banks. Remember I have volunteered for a couple food distributions in recent years and have a good idea what is in those bags.

I will also be posting about EGG SUBSTITUTES for cooking soon.

During World War II, when food rationing was in place in England, they got one egg a week, one pint of milk, four ounces of meat... just barely enough... I believe people can make it through - when there is an end in sight.

Let us not forget that the Covid pandemic was very real. None of us could imagine when the first masking mandates began that we would be effected for YEARS.

I hope we are not headed for another Great Depression.

C 2023  Magyar-American BlogSpot

FOUR HUNGARIAN EASTER EGGS

 

EASTER

 

EGG

 

EASTER GREETINGS

EASTER EGG

MAGYAR AMERICAN BLOGSPOT - MY GENEALOGY - RELIGION - HISTORY and CULTURE of HUNGARY

This Easter Week has been and is exceptional for me because I'm volunteering at an small, informal, ecumenical and inclusive Christian church that has events all Holy Week, including the Washing of the Feet, The Solemn Good Friday, and culminating in an uplifting Easter celebration that includes a community meal and Easter Egg hunt for the children. This is the first time in years that I've been involved, and to be honest, I'm not too religious, but essentially I believe in the message of Jesus Christ, though not necessarily that being Christian is the only way to eternal life.

A question of the religion of my ancestors is also part of my genealogy research.

For a long time I've been searching for the marriage of my great great grandfather and great great grandmother, whose location, age, and religion at marriage is unknown.  

During the upheaval period of 1847-1849 (approx) my great grandfather was born in "Geres," and I've wondered if perhaps the family was moving about or effected or involved in this crisis. I learned that though the location probably was the Kis and Nagy Geres of Zemplen County, there was also a place called Geres in Szatmar County.  Could it be that they were just passing through?

I revisited the ongoing and wonderful work of Nick Gombas over at HUNGARY EXCHANGE (He needs volunteers!) the other day and am very excited about the searchable databases.

Recently I found there has been a connection between Nagy and Kis Geres and the other town where his son married twice and worked with a particular noble family and so I wonder if perhaps there has been a link between families into other counties such as Szatmar.

Years ago I talked to a man from the town my grandfather left. He expressed to me that though his family were devout Catholics (and it was the Church records from there, available at LDS, that I discovered so much), but overall he felt Hungarians had been through so many changes with religion that they were not especially devout overall.  I've wondered if this is part of my inability to be devout and my dislike of the Catholic versus Protestant divides.

I want to mention that I've been reviewing my genealogy oriented posts and links and want my readers to understand the focus of MAGYAR-AMERICAN BLOGSPOT.  Very basically, I know many of you Hungarian-Americans are doing genealogy research into your Hungarian (and often Slovak, German, Romanian, or other ethnicities originating in Hungary (with all those border changes).  At the same time, I believe that understanding Hungarian history, culture - in the past and present - is important to your understanding, your quest.

For me it's exciting to find the evidence for another ancestor - be it direct blood-line or families related - but these people are not just names on databases (or the more juicy original documents) but people who lived in a different time in history, who were more influenced by what we might call "folk culture."  I want to understand their work, how they dressed, and what they might have eaten, what influenced their choices when it came to marriage, and just how much if any freedom they had. This research leads me into town and county and country histories, collections of clothing and needlework, and so much else.

Beginning with the Hungarian language (which everyone I've ever met has mentioned as "most difficult")  and Hollywood and other stereotypes of Hungarian people (and people of Central and Eastern Europe), I believe there is much to learn and UNlearn about Hungarian people as individuals and as in groups.

By researching and writing this blog, I've learned so much about my unknown or forgotten heritage and have "owned" my own Hungarianess. When I was growing up, it was only the difficulty of my surname that informed me that I was perceived as different, and I was an adult before I learned the meaning of my surname.  (Now as people stumble over it, I explain it is Hungarian and what it translates to.)  

And so here you will find some of my own musings, my own life as a citizen of the United States of America, as well as that heritage.


C 2019  Magyar American BlogSpot
All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

WHAT'S IN THAT PIPE THEY'RE SMOKING?

Searching for a vintage public domain image for Easter, I came across this

ridiculously funny image of three rabbits smoking violets.  Does anyone know if

smoking violets makes one high?

HERE COMES THE RABBIT WITH THE RED EGG!

EASTER

CROWNED RABBIT IMAGE FROM RUSSIA

EASTER EGGS - HUNGARIAN STYLE

Use the Google Search feature
embedded in the Side Bar
to bring up lots of previous posts
on HUNGARIAN EASTER EGGS!

EASTER ANGEL

RED HUNGARIAN EASTER EGGS - TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - and HOW TO BY AN EXPERT

Image Vintage from Google Images

 

IBOLYA-LORINCZ'S EASTER EGG HOW TO HUB PAGE

 

The first remains of decorated egg were found in the Carpathian basin, in Hungary in an Avar grave, which is about 1500 years old. The pattern was etched on the coloured egg. This is the oldest form of decorating eggs. When you have dyed the eggs, take a tapering knife and etch the pattern on the surface of the eggshell.

 

The other widespread technique of decorating eggs is batik. In this case you paint the pattern on the eggs in hot wax then dip the eggs in the dye. This egg decorating technique is well-known from the Carpathian basin as far as the Urals. The Scythian people, who lived in these territories, were famous for keeping bees for their honey. The spin-off of it was wax, which was also used for many purposes. One of them was preserving eggs for a longer time. If you cover eggs with wax, you fill in the pores of the eggshell and it won’t get oxygen, so it prevents the egg from decomposition.

image from Ibolya's Hub Page.

 

Sun: it is the symbol of Jesus: Sol Invictus. It is the Sun after the spring equinox, when it defeats the darkness.

Star: When it is alone, it always refers to Venus, which is related to Jesus and his mother Mary.

Rose: Flowers usually symbolize love but a rose may also refer to Mary if it is white.

Lily of the valley: it symbolizes goodness and virginity. It is also the symbolic flower of Mary.
Pine tree: it is the tree of life since it is always green.

Heart: it is the symbol of love.

Oak tree: it has been respected as a saint tree since the ancient times. Later on it became the symbol of Jesus and his mother Mary.

EASTER ANGEL

EASTER FOLK CUSTOMS IN HUNGARY - FERTILITY - PERFUME - RED EGGS

HUNGARIAN EASTER FOLK CUSTOMS from HUNGAROTIPS

EXCERPT: A couple of decades ago men poured water on women in rural areas and women changed their clothes after each sprinkling. Boys often dragged girls to the well and poured water on them with pail. Sometimes they washed them in creek.
The possible reason for this very old tradition is that people believed in the cleaning, healing and fertility effect of water. ...  There is a competition among young girls - who gets the most "sprinklers" wins. It is a shame if the girl is not ready early morning when the first visitor rings the bell.

 The result? Women wear more then a dozen of different colognes by Monday evening, and sometimes the alcoholic beverages are harmful for men also. Many times, sprinkling continues on the next day in the working places and we, women wait the evening desperately to wash our hair.