i have always been drawn to legends, fables, myths, and folk and fairy tales
and also have a love of tiny things
that is how this tiny painted ceramic rooster
came to travel home with me from portugal
not much bigger than a coin
but a mighty symbol
its presence is deeply intertwined with portuguese culture,
symbolizing the values of integrity, righteousness, and the pursuit of justice.
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the tale that started it all:
The folk tale of the rooster of Barcelos, tells the story of a dead rooster’s miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man who had been falsely convicted and sentenced to death. The story is associated with the 17th-century calvary that is part of the collection of the Archaeological Museum located in Paço dos Condes, a gothic-style palace in Barcelos, Portugal.According to the tale, a landowner in Barcelos had stolen silver and the inhabitants of that city were looking for the thief. A man became a suspect, despite his pleas of innocence. He swore that he was merely passing through Barcelos on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to fulfill a promise. Nevertheless, the authorities arrested the man and condemned him to hang.The man asked them to take him in front of the judge. Affirming his innocence, the man pointed to a roasted rooster on top of the banquet table and exclaimed, “It is as certain that I am innocent as that rooster will crow when they hang me.” The judge pushed aside his plate, deciding not to eat the rooster, but otherwise ignored the appeal.However, while the pilgrim was hanged, the roasted rooster stood up on the table and crowed as predicted. Understanding his error, the judge ran to the gallows, to discover that the man had been saved from death thanks to a poorly made knot. The man was immediately freed.Some years later, he returned to Barcelos to sculpt the Calvary (or Crucifix) to the Lord of the Rooster (Portuguese: “Cruzeiro do Senhor do Galo“) The monument is located in the Barcelos Archaeological Museum.
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‘asleep in the legends of old.’
-John Keats, from The Feast of St. Agnes
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other interesting barcelos rooster facts:
In the 1990s U.S. sitcom Seinfeld, Elaine’s first apartment is shown furnished in kitschy style, cluttered with bric-a-brac, including a rooster of Barcelos.
The cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada in Spain keeps two live chickens in remembrance of the local version of the event.
Over the years, reported sightings of the legendary — and mystical — Bigfoot have made headlines across the United States. He’s been spotted in parks and campsites by people who claim the giant Sasquatch is unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.
The legend of the beast has grown over the years as there are whole groups of people who search for Bigfoot and track his “known whereabouts.”
According to a new TV show, “In Search of Monsters,” Michigan is one of the top places to encounter Bigfoot as there have been 1,131 sightings reported in our state over the years.
Did a Northern Michigan eagle cam catch a Bigfoot sighting? An unknown figure can be seen walking below the eagle’s nest at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery.
In a description of their findings, the show — which airs on the Travel Channel — says many of the reported sightings were near the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula. They even describe a scenario where a woman claims Bigfoot walked up to her car and looked in while her baby was inside. She said there was a foul odor in the air and then she saw the massive creature.
In the fall of 2016, there were at least three reported sightings of Bigfoot in Michigan in the span of a few weeks. All of these occurred in the Upper Peninsula.
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“the inclination to believe in the fantastic may strike some as a failure in logic, or gullibility, but it’s really a gift. a world that might have bigfoot and the loch ness monster is clearly superior to one that definitely does not.”
-chris van allsburg – author of the polar express
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credits: mlive.com, matt durr, grand haven tribune
I didn't have my glasses on.... 