The "Eifel" Behind Those Zoo Escapes

Several animals, including 2 lions, 2 tigers, a bear and a jaguar break out of a zoo in Germany's hilly Eifel area on Friday, June 1, 2018. All were soon captured, except the bear, which was shot dead.

Eifel? Eiffel? What's the story behind the name?

The Eifel lies between the cities of Aachen to the north, Trier to the south and Koblenz to the east. It descends in the northeast along a line from Aachen via Düren to Bonn into the Lower Rhine Bay. In the east and south it is bounded by the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle. To the west it transitions in Belgium and Luxembourg into the geologically related Ardennes and the Luxembourg Ösling. In the north it is limited by the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde. Within Germany it lies within the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia; in BeNeLux the area of Eupen, St. Vith and Luxembourg. Its highest point is the volcanic cone of the Hohe Acht (746.9 m). Originally the Carolingian Eifelgau only covered the smaller region roughly around the sources of the rivers Ahr, Kyll, Urft and Erft. Its name was more recently transferred to the entire region.

The Eifel was inhabited by people: Neandertals and modern man, Homo sapiens.

Regarding the origins of the name Eifel:

Müller/Schnetz (1937) believe that an -n- has dropped out between the diphthong and the syllable, -fel. The resulting root form Anfil or Anfali would then mean an "area that is not so level". An- would then be a prefix and -fali, which is related to the Slavic polje ("field"), means "plain" or "heath".
W. Kaspers (1938) deduces from the surviving form in pago aquilinse the root form aku-ella, akwella and points to its development into the name "Eifel" in the following sequence: aquila > agfla > aifla > eifla > Eifel. Akuella derives from the pre-German and means "land with summits" or "land with peaks".
Both propositions, like several others, are highly contentious. The most convincing proposal is that of Heinrich Dittmaier (1961). Dittmaier initially derives it from the Germanic Ai-fil. The second component corresponds to Ville, which is the name of a ridge between the Erft, Swist and Rhine today. The variants Vele, Vile and Viele may often be found in place names such as Veler Weg or Veler Pfad. Unlike the modern word Ville the fricative consonant is hard in "Eifel". Responsible for that was probably a sound between ai- and -fil, which was assimilated by the f, possibly f, k, ch, d, t. Dittmaier believes the missing sound was a k or ch, whereby "Eifel" originally went back to Aik-fil. Aik/Aich is also a name for oak (Eiche) and qualifies the root word ville. On the basis that it was covered by oak trees, the Eifel (= Eich-Ville) could thus be distinguished from the other Ville, a name still used today, on the Erft. However, the original, historical and even current vegetation of the present day Ville is dominated by oak mixed forest.
The meaning of "Ville" is also disputed. Dittmaier gives three possible explanations: "marshy region", "plain, heath" and "heathland", which would all bring geology and vegetation into harmony.
Another proposal sees the name as even older and possibly of Celtic origin. Near Cologne, an altar was found, which was dedicated to Matronae Aufaniae Celtic goddesses which were honoured by flowing water. The thesis that the name "Eifel" was derived from this source is not conclusive, but it is persuasive; Eifel would then mean "land of water" or "watery mountains".

Gustave Eiffel was born in Burgundy, France, in the city of Dijon, Côte-d'Or, the first child of Catherine-Mélanie (née Moneuse) and Alexandre Bönickhausen. He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, who had emigrated from the German town of Marmagen and settled in Paris at the beginning of the 18th century. The family adopted the name Eiffel as a reference to the Eifel mountains in the region from which they had come.

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bönickhausen; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale Paris, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit viaduct. He is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Lions Kill A Gem of A Lion, Route 66 Again, and More

Johari, the female lion tragically killed at the Dallas Zoo.

Johari is Swahili for a "gem; something of worth."

Readers here are very aware of the symbolic gemstones in past events, including the killing of kings and queens, inside and outside the jungle - let along in Dallas. See my "Gemstones Are Forever," July 13, 2012.

A female lion was killed by another lion Sunday [November 17, 2013] at the Dallas Zoo, officials say.
“We are heartbroken,” zoo officials said in a written statement about the death of 5-year-old Johari.
Dr. Lynn Kramer, the zoo’s vice president of animal operations and welfare, said Johari had been on display with the zoo’s four other lions — two males and two females.
Johari was bitten on the neck by one of the males, Dinari or Kamaia, about 2:15 p.m. Before the staff could intervene she was dead.
Kramer said the lions, all 5 years old, had engaged in roughhousing in the past, which is normal. But Kramer said that in his 35 years working as a veterinarian at zoos, he had never heard of something like this happening.

“I would have to think something caused the males to react that they don’t normally see every day,” he said. “Lions can be aggressive, but they don’t kill each other.”
The zoo denied an early media report that one of the lions had been eating Johari. Dallas Morning News.

All attention this week will be directed on Dallas, as the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is recalled on Friday, November 22, 2013. Taking a trip down Mason Road 33 will hold new meaning, perhaps, as we review the twilight language of the JFK event here, later in the week.

In the meantime...pondering the weekend's events...D.A. notes:

The Lion thing is still producing.
--The MSSU Lions defeated the Lindenwood Lions of Belleville, IL on 11/9.
--Belleville is near St. Louis/Route 66, 37 miles west of New Minden and its bell.
--MSSU won 55-0. Interstate 55 is the old Route 66.
--Coal City is on 55.
--A lion kills a lioness at the Dallas Zoo 3 hours after the Illinois tornadoes, having lived together peacefully for 3 years. 5 lions, 2 males and 3 females.
--Joplin and Johari the lioness...She was 5 years old.
--Was she named before the 1.14.2010 episode of Fringe? It has lion references.
--The Johari Window psychological technique was created in 1955.

Some recent overlapping postings:

Washington Named Locales Hit Hard By Tornadoes

Old Route 66 Again: McStay Remains Found

Lions Coach Shooting, Lions, and Hekate

Route 66 Bigfoot Hunting Shooting Suspects Identified

Lions Coach Killed

Lions Coach Shooting, Lions, and Hekate

A Lions coach whose team was just about to play another team nicknamed the Lions was shoot and killed after watching a film on All Saints Day. Mystery surrounded the why, a week ago. For those who have noted the Auroras and Dawns, the name game continues.

More details have emerged. The CNHI News Service reported:

Jeffrey Bruner, 39, approached his estranged wife, Dawn Michelle Bruner, and Derek Moore, an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State University, in the drop-off lanes in front of Northpark 14 Theatres. People were emerging from the theaters after a showing of Captain Phillips about 9:50 p.m.
Dawn Bruner, a campus police officer, and Moore had been to the movie together and were headed toward their vehicle when Jeffrey Bruner said something, then shot Moore in the torso at close range, said Joplin police Lt. Matt Stewart.
Moore fell to the ground, and Bruner fired additional shots, Stewart said, citing witness accounts.

Oftentimes, I receive stream of consciousness communiques from my readers, identifying a pattern they see unfolding in the material I share.

There have long been past associations between Hekate and lions, and some folks have been thinking in that direction after the recent incident in Missouri.

Today, I post, with slight editing (to expand abbreviations and shorthand sentences), a contribution from D.A.

The Crossroads Companion

Strategic Sorcery

Hekate Rite Recap

by Skyllaros 

This past Nov 1st I participated in Jason Millers Hekate Rite for Strategic Sorcery students.
I had some quite interesting experiences, more than I was anticipating.
I started with the Sphere of Hekas, and the reciting The Orphic Hymn to
Hekate, followed by the Rite Jason sent out itself. It wasn't until the
mantra portion that things started getting interesting.
Around 300 Mantras in I started entering a trance state. I suddenly found
myself astrally in a wooded copse of trees by a large bon fire. Around it
with me were other shadowing figures, also chanting the mantra. I assumed
these were the other students around the world chanting it during the 3
day time frame. Then I had entered the fire, and was being consumed by
flames.
The flames ate my physical body and suddenly I was reconstructed as an
entirely new fierce body, to replace the one I had first generated when
taken the course. Then the same process occurred for the Joy body. After
this I was granted with a vision of Hekate in front of me, not in her
regular form but with the head of a lion, holding torches and flanked by
lions (Call on me often enough and you shall perceive all things in lion
form). Honestly, if I hadn't been performing a Hekate rite I would of
thought this was Sekhmet. After this vision I was instructed in her higher
mysteries that I won't speak of in public. I continued past 1000 mantras,
and communed with Her.
All in all a bit more than I had expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.

===

Missouri Southern State University's yearbook is called the Crossroads, and so is their alumni association's magazine.

Hekate is the goddess of crossroads.

===

Another mention of the lion association with Hekate is to be found here, and this seems like this could be a pretty revealing can o' worms!

==

Another possible Hekate association--

Bear also being sacred to Hekate:

Bruner [the last name of the suspect and his estranged wife] is close to Bruin

Which is also close to Middle Dutch Bruun

And maybe I'm stretching a bit for more synch,

but in the 1970s when I went to the (Joplin) high school that was

destroyed by the tornado, it was called Parkwood --

the Parkwood Bears, sometimes refered to as

the Bruins.

===

A few more thoughts:

*murder over a love triangle--Hekate is the triple goddess

*murder during Hallowmas, a 3-day celebration

*murder on Day of the Innocents/Day of the Little Angels

*son of slain named Elijah

*Lions vs Lions game cancelled on Saturday, Day of the Dead

*Moore, graduating from St. Cloud State University, died on All Saint's Day

*Joplin is a "crossroads" town in the middle of the US with I-44 & I-49/71

crossing (also on the old Route 66)

===

In the book The Goddess Hekate by Stephen Ronan (Chthonios Books, 1989), there is a link made between "Hekate and lions."

From Wikipedia: 

Hecate or Hekate (ancient Greek Ἑκάτη, Hekátē) is an ancient goddess, most often shown holding two torches or a key and in later periods depicted in triple form. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery. She has rulership over earth, sea and sky, as well as a more universal role as Saviour (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul. She was one of the main deities worshiped in Athenian households as a protective goddess and one who bestowed prosperity and daily blessings on the family.

===

The Hecate Chiaramonti, a Roman sculpture of triple Hekate, 

after a Hellenistic original (Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museums)

===

Northstar [the theater's name] would be Polaris.

Polaris is in Ursa Minor.

Ursa Minor is both a bear & a dog--both linked to Hekate.

Ursa Minor is surrounded by Draco, essentially a snake--also linked to

Hekate.

===

Maybe stretching a little, but Ursa Minor has 7 stars (including the north

star) in it, and Derek Moore's son, Elijah, is 7 years old.

Elijah raised the dead, brought down fire from Heaven, was taken up in a

whirlwind (tornado), and will announce the eschaton (complete with Messiah).

===

Hekate is described as of terrible appearance, either with three bodies or three heads, the one of a horse, the second of a dog, and the third of a lion. (Orph. Argon. 975, &c.; Eustath. ad Hom. pp. 1467, 1714.) 

The head of Hekate on the right, and on the reverse, the head of a lion sprouting water.

Lions Coach Killed

A Lions coach whose team was just about to play another team nicknamed the Lions was shoot and killed after watching a film on All Saints Day.

Authorities say a football coach at Missouri Southern State University - the Lions - was shot outside a Joplin theater and later died.

Joplin police said that 37-year old Derek Moore of Joplin was shot Friday night, November 1, 2013, as he was leaving the Regal Northstar 14 Theatres at 201 North Northpark Lane, Joplin. He died later at a hospital.

Moore was in his first year on the Missouri Southern football staff as the offensive line coach. He came to MSSU after three seasons at Western Illinois University - the Leathernecks - in Macomb, Ill.

Police say a 39-year-old suspect was arrested shortly after the shooting and is being held at the Joplin City Jail on a 24-hour hold pending formal charges.

They were scheduled to host Lindenwood University - also the lions - Saturday afternoon for their Homecoming game but the school canceled all activities including the game, parade, brunch and class reunions. MSSU issued a statement saying the school was "stunned and saddened" by Moore's death.

Police have arrested Jeffery L. Bruner, 39, of Joplin Mo., and charged him with felony murder following the murder of a college football coach Derek Moore. Photo: Joplin Police Department.

The name Brunner has its origins in a German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) topographic name for someone who lived beside a spring or well, Middle High German brun(ne), spring, or habitational name for someone from a place named with this word.

Joplin police Sgt. Ryan West said the two men had a relationship though he declined to reveal specifics.

"It was a homicide," he said, but declined to state a possible motive for the suspect. "This was not a random act."

Moore, a football coach for the past 14 seasons, was also the father of a 7-year-old son, the school said.

The name of the movie that Moore had just attended was not identified, in early reports.

+++

By coincidence, the mascot of Denver Nuggets (NBA Basketball team) collapsed on Friday night. The nickname of the mascot is Rocky the Mountain Lion.

Denver Broncos coach John Fox was hospitalized Saturday after feeling light-headed while playing golf. The Broncos released a statement confirming that the 58-year-old Fox was taken to a hospital in the Charlotte, N.C., area. Apparently, heart valve replacement surgery is going to take place now.

Another Fair Shooting: One Dead

There has been another shooting at another Southern fair.

Gunfire erupted and a man was critically wounded Sunday evening [November 4, 2012] on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard less than 500 yards away from the lights and sounds of the Greater Jacksonville Fair.
Sgt. Shawn Coarsey said two men were arguing on a sidewalk near the intersection of Jessie Street about 5:30 p.m. when one of the men pulled a gun and fired multiple rounds.
The victim was struck in the upper torso and was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital. The gunman fled the scene on foot, heading northbound, witnesses told detectives, but police had no description or leads on his identity two hours after the shooting. Source.

Phillipe A. Foster, 36, whose address was not released by police, was struck in the upper torso after a gunman pulled a handgun and fired several shots about 5:30 p.m., police said.
Foster and the shooter had been arguing on a sidewalk near Jessie Street. Foster was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital and died.
The gunman fled on foot. No arrests have been. Source.

Enki, who sent in this news tip, added, "The Jaguars vs. Lions comment at the end [of the first article] is interesting. Cats and dogs have been coming up for me a lot lately. It was even raining them not too long ago."

Coarsey said the shooting appears to have no relation to the fair or the Jaguars’ home game against the Detroit Lions. Source.

The Detroit Lions routed Jacksonsville Jaguars 31-14, behind Mikel Leshoure's three touchdowns.