Making the Connection

barter

The exchange or the process of negotiating certain goods or services for other goods or services.

Bedouin

A nomadic person who is an Arab from the desert areas of North Africa and Arabia. Via Old French beduin, ultimately from Arabic badw, or desert, nomadic desert people.

betrothal

The act of becoming or being engaged to marry another person.

birthstone

Each month of the year has a particular precious gemstone or a semi-precious stone associated with it. It is believed that if a person wears the stone assigned their birth month, good fortune or luck will follow.

deity

A divine being, god, or goddess or something or someone that is treated like a god. From the ecclesiastical Latin deitas, meaning divine nature.

Deity

When capitalized refers to God in monotheistic belief or religions.

exorcism

The act, religious ceremony, or ritual of casting out evil spirits from a person or a place.

omen

A prophetic sign or occurrence or something that gives an indication of the course of future events.

oracle

Either someone or something that is the source of wisdom, knowledge or prophecy. Can also refer to the place where the prophetic word would be given. Via French from the Latin oraculum, from orare to speak.

Passover

The seven or eight days of a Jewish festival that begins on the fourteenth day of Nissan and commemorates the exodus of the Hebrews from their captivity in Egypt. From the Hebrew word pesa, meaning to pass without affecting.

pharaoh

An all-powerful person in a position of authority and who expects unquestioning obedience, such as the ancient Egyptian rulers of Egypt. From the Hebrew paroh and Egyptian pr-o, meaning great house.

predator

Any organism or animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals. Can refer to a ruthless person who is extremely aggressive in harming another. From the Latin praedator and praedari, meaning to seize as plunder.

Sabbath

A day set apart as one of religious worship and rest from work—observed on Sunday for Christians, Saturday in Judaism and some Christian denominations. From the Greek sabbaton, via the Latin sabbatum, and Hebrew sabba, meaning rest.

spittle

Something that looks like or is saliva, which is secreted from the mouth.

superstition

The belief that certain actions and rituals have a magical effect resulting in either good or bad. From the Latin stem superstition, and superstes, meaning standing over or in awe.

taboo

Something that is forbidden. In some cases can refer to something being sacred, therefore forbidden, such as in Polynesian societies. From the Tongan tabu, said to have been introduced into the English language by Captain James Cook in the late eighteenth century.

talisman

An object such as a gemstone or stone, believed to have magical powers or properties. From the Greek telesma, meaning something consecrated, telein, to complete, and telos, result.

Valhalla

In Norse mythology, when the souls of heroes are killed in battle, they spend eternity in a great hall, which is called Valhalla. From the Old Norse valhall, literally meaning hall of the slain.

Valkyrie

One of the 12 handmaids of Odin in Norse mythology who ride their horses over the battlefield as they escort the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla. From the Old

Norse Valkyrja, meaning literally chooser of the slain.

Zoroaster

A Persian prophet (c. 628 b.c.e.–c. 551 b.c.e) and the founder of an ancient religion called Zoroastrianism whose principal belief is in a supreme deity and of the existence of a dualism between good and evil. Derived from the Greek word Zarat or Zarathustra, meaning camel handler.