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In support of the June 9, 2011 UK Hardcover publication of Jon Steele’s The Watchers (priced £12.99) via Bantam Press, Fantasy Book Critic is hosting a series of videos that discuss the different locations found in the book. The first four videos are linked above. Today’s video, which covers The Nave in Lausanne Cathedral, can be found below, followed by a brief explanation from the author, Jon Steele:
Growing up catholic, in the days of the Latin mass, I was a sucker for Gothic cathedrals. I mean just the word: “Gothic”. Cathedrak naves were designed to create the illusion of entering the kingdom of heaven, and I fell for it every time. Much of my young life I thought I would grow up to be a priest, and I would spend many hours before statues and crosses praying for an apparition...anything; a wink or a nod would do. It never happened. Then came sex and drugs and rock and roll, and that was that for me ever wanting to be a priest.
But I never lost the mystical feeling upon entering a Gothic cathedral. Many original Christian churches were built on pagan holy sites, much the way Christmas was tagged onto the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice. This gave the early Christians a ready crowd, as pagans would come to mass not so much to come to Jesus, but because they believed in the holiness of the place.
Lausanne Cathedral is the site of one of the first Neolithic settlements in Europe; people who believed in many gods, and in life after death. And the entire cathedral sits atop hundreds of open graves with “ancient skeletons looking like seeds waiting to be reborn”, as Rochat describes them.
And as I wandered Lausanne Cathedral and the crypt, I came to believe—as Rochat and Harper came to believe (and what the pagans knew all along)—that the earth beneath the stones is sacred.
(BTW: I’m posting a picture of one of the skeletons on my twitter page @beforetimes, so you might get the same feeling about the place.)
In addition to the videos, Bantam Press has agreed to give away ONE AUTOGRAPHED COPY of Jon Steele’s The Watchers for each video, for a total of SEVEN WINNERS. All you have to do is leave a comment in the post, or send an email to fbcgiveaway@gmail.com with your Name, Mailing Address, and the subject: WATCHERS. However, to double your chances of winning, link this post or one of the videos on your blog, Facebook, Twitter page, etc., and you will be entered TWICE! The giveaway is open to Anyone and the seven winners will be randomly selected after the last video is posted on Friday, June 17. Thank you for entering and Good Luck!
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