On Sat, 3 May 2008 09:17:39 +0100, "Jani" 
blethered:

>
>"Halla"  wrote in message 
>news:hicn1452qok87uq2j54nv40cp29qaseq2r@4ax.com...
>
>> I did *not* post anything with negative connotations[1]. If you read
>> some into my post I cannot very well do anything to stop you, now can
>> I?
>>
>> [1] Although I will admit that this is about intention, perhaps some
>> introduced themselves through poor word choice on my part.
>
>FWIW, I didn't see anything particularly negative about "fishing"; seems 
>like a perfectly good description of that kind of de-contextualised 
>question.

As a word it may have gathered some negative baggage (if I may mangle
a phrase) through use online, so perhaps to call this exercise
'fishing' is careless of me, but I can't think of another word as
suitable off the top of my head. The bait is 'four black swans', the
catch is whatever pops into our heads - like if someone said 'grey
seals', is there an obvious response or two that springs to mind?

>
>Although, I'm now not entirely sure what information the OP was looking 
>for - all the sites posted, while very interesting, don't seem to have any 
>information on the symbology of four black swans, 

My tired brain is trying to arrange them in an ace of spades fashion
on a playing card, or circling about in a moat. They are rather cross,
whether because they've been jammed onto a card, whether it's because
of bits of this thread or whether it's because they're swans I dunno.
<g> However they still aren't offering me any symbolism beyond a vague
stereotypical half-assed sort of thing - they're at the base of a
tower, that sort of thing. 

I'd be the first to admit that I am not a bookish pagan and am not up
on various symbols etc., but I don't recall hearing about four swans
in any context, whether they were black or white.

>which was the original 
>query. Maybe it's just me, but if someone asks me to research X, I go and 
>look for X, not Y and Z ;)

Well quite. <g>


-- 
Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.
 -Elizabeth Watson