Issue 23

Stock photo by: http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=maypole#/d2f8k5y Photo manipulation by: SDA

Contents:
Welcome Monthly Correspondence God & Goddess of the month This Months Horoscopes And Chinese Astrology Tarot Events for May Crafts and Rituals Paths and Disciplines Meditation Knowledge and Principals The Green Witch Poetry Featured Stories Personal Journeys Around the News Verse Persephone's Movie Review Recipes Pagan UnderWorld Member Articles Pagan UnderWorld Featured Member Pagan UnderWorld Featured Groups Earth Monster World Member Articles Earth Monster Featured Member

Page:
4 5 25 35 60 64 78 95 99 109 126 133 136 150 153 155 158 163 176 179 182 200

Earth Monster World Groups Urban and folk legends Truth Portal Featured Sites Metal shows Events

201 205 208 226 235

Lifestyles

Forever Gothic Fetish Balls and Events Fetish Article's LGBT Credits Disclaimer and Complaint dept

253 260 277 282 285 286

Welcome everyone We would like to dedicate this issue to all the mothers out there and to wish each of you a Happy Mother's day. Thank you for being such an inspiration in your children's lives! We would also like to send our thoughts and prayers to all those who lost their home's and loved one's with what has become the worst month on record for storms..

Love and Light; Sweet Dark Angel, Persephone, & Andrew

by: Sweet Dark Angel & Andrew

Moon Phases
Full Moon 5/06/2012

Last Quarter 5/12/2012 New Moon 5/20/2012

First Quarter 5/28/2012

Correspondence for the Month of May By: Sweet Dark Angel & Andrew Beltane: 5/1

Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),May Day, Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltaine, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch) Correspondence of Beltane:

The Plants and Herbs of Beltane: Flowers, Herbs: Lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom, Hawthorne, Dittany of Crete, elder, mint, mugwort, thyme, yarrow, almond tree/shrub, clover, ivy, marigold, meadowsweet, rowan, sorrel, woodruff

Associated Colours: Red, White, Brown, Pink, Green

Stones and metals associated with Beltane : Emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz

Incense and oils: Passion flower, frankincense, tuberose, vanilla, lilac, rose.

Animals and mythical : Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard Gods and Goddess Associated with Beltane : Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility

Symbols for Beltane : May Pole, fires, fertility, flowers, growing things, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers, Broom, May Pole, cauldron

Foods of beltane: Dairy, bread, cereals

Activities of Beltane: fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking ones property, feasting

Spell Work of Beltane: The Great Rite, love, romance, fertility, elf and faery power, offerings to Elementals, crop blessings, divination, re-lighting sacred fires.

May Correspondences
Nature Spirits Herbs Colours Flowers Scents Stones Trees Animals Birds Deities Power Flow: Faeries & Elves Dittany of Crete; Elder; Mint; Mugwort; Rose; Thyme & Yarrow Green-Brown & Pink Broom; Foxglove; Lily of the Valley & Rose Rose & Sandalwood Amber; Carnelian; Emerald; & Malachite Hawthorn Cat; Leopard & Lynx Dove; Swallow & Swan Aphrodite; Artemis; Bast; Diana; Maia; Pan; The Horned God & Venus Contract with Faeries and other supernatural beings; Intuition; Power flowing from Greenwood Gods and trees & Propagation

The Angel of May - Ambriel (AKA: Ambiel)

Spring is embodied in this angels rulership. May sees the Earth grow, trees and shrubs in bloom and the Earth becomes fruitful. A new cycle of life commences. Ambriel helps us to develop and realize you inner potential and give a promise of fulfillment.

Archangel Lumiel - Angelic & Planetary Correspondences Name of Planet under rulership Planet Name in Hebrew Hebrew Meaning Teaching Angel Correct Pronunciation Celestial Title Tradition - Angel identified in Hebrew Letter Egyptian Angel Station Ruler of Guardian Angel of Planet Metal Day Hours of Day Ruled Month Ruled Cycle of Results Orbit Fixed Stars Days to Avoid working with Archangel Samael Gems Earth Eretz Earth or Land Lumiel Loo-ME-EL The Lightbearer Not identified None identified Osiris Archangel, Planetary and Teaching Ange Not applicable Metatron Not identified All Days of the Week All Not identified 12 Months. 12 Months None None Emerald and Quartz

Greek/Roman God of Planet Adonis

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Ritual Candle Colour Planetary Colour Harran / Hermetics Colour Complimentary Colour Colour of the Pentacles Astral Colour Astral Colour Symbol Tarot Card (s) Planetary Numbers Talisman Size/Sides Numbers of Earth Magical Note Direction Ruled Degree Angelic Thought form Fruit Tree Flowers/Herbs Insect Animals Anatomy Governed River Ruled Letter Composition

Dark-Green, Brown Blue N/A Green Violet. N/A N/A Tau Cross The World (XXI ), The Fool (0 ) and the Hermit( IX) Not identified. Not identified. 0, 9, 20 Not identified Not identified Not identified Strong proud tree (Any kind ) Not identified Not identified Red Rose, Wild Rose (5 petals Not identified Not identified Not identified All All

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Magical Script Planetary Spirit Planetary Demon Olympic Spirit Demon of the Day

Any Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified

Incense, Oils, Perfumes and Inks

General Incense: Incense 1: Myrrh

Magical Oils: Patchouli

Perfume: Myrrh

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Related Astrological Correspondences: Earth

Astrological Dates Astrological Symbol Element Mode Astrological Plants/Herbs Tree Metal Power Gems Gems Colour Number Day Season Tarot Card Animal Bird Symbolic Creature Anatomy Governed Body System Earth Not identified Not identified Not identified Iron Diamond Quartz. Brown Not identified Not identified Not identified The World (XXI). Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified Full Year

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Scents/Oils Incense Harmonious Signs Geomantic Number Geomantic Ruler Gods/Godesses Age Governed Zodiac Sign

Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified Not identified The Milky Way

Related Deities: Osirus, Adonis, Pan, Krishna, Lucifer. (Incorrectly identified with Satan.) Miscellaneous Information: Archangel Lumiel -(Hebrew) "Light of God" - He appears a young man clothed on a white tunic and brilliant white cloak. According to some, on his brow he has a blazing star radiating rays of pure white light. he also wears a necklace of a Tau cross entwined with a serpent. In the Angelic Magic of Madeline Montalban Lucifer's identification as "The Morning Star" (Venus) equates him with 'Lumiel', whom she regarded as the Archangel of Light. Signs & Symbols Related - Archangel Lumiel and the Earth: Arcangel Lumiel - (Hebrew) "Light of God" - He appears a young man clothed on a white tunic and brilliant white cloak. According to some, on his brow he has a blazing star radiating rays of pure white light. he also wears a necklace of a Tau cross entwined with a serpent.

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The Tarot Cards which related to the Archangel Luniel are the Fool (0 or 22), the Hermit (IX) and the World (XXI). At an occult level,the Fool represents both the Grade 0 initiate who knows nothing but wishes to lean and the adept, grade22. Number nine in the Tarot, the Hermit can be interpreted as man in search of himself and finally the Worl which signifies the personal world of the enquirer. (The Prediction Book of The Tarot. - page 71- Madeline Montalban. Javelin Books UK. 1986.) Archangel Lumiel's symbol is the Tau Cross .The rose is also a symbol for the Archangel Lumiel.

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The Archangel Governs: Magical Intentions: The World and issues relating to the World (Earth). He may be called upon to assist you with help in an emergency, but only if it is an emergency. He is the Teaching Angel of all peoples of the Earth especially women. Influences: All things directly to do with the Earth. Negative aspects: None identified. Note: According to Peter de Abano, . that the first hour of the day, of every Country,and in every season whatsoever, is to be assigned to the Sun-rising, when he first appeareth arising in the horizon: and the first hour of the night is to be the thirteenth hour, from the first hour of the day .... According to occult law a day starts at daybreak, not at midnight.

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Related Elemental Correspondences:

Earth
Element Ruled by Earth Guardian Angel Earth Angel Earth Ruler Earh King Direction Time Ruled Zodiac Wind Sense Qualities Hours of Day Governed Season Governed Alchemical Symbol Magical Phrase Magical Tool Tattivic Symbol Tattivic Tide Symbolic Creature Elemental Symbol Elemental Spirit Element Colour Tacere, to keep silent Pentacle and Crystals Yellow Square (Prithivi December 23rd to March 21s Sphinx and Bull Shekel of Gold Gnomes Brown, Black and Green Taurus Archangel Uriel. ( Some traditions indicate as: Gabriel) Phorlakh Keru Ghob North. (in some traditions East) Midnight Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo Boreas and Ophio Touch Cold, Moist, Passive and Heavy Midnigh Winter

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Gem Incense Animal Tree: Element Plant Elemental Tarot - Major Arcana Elemental Tarot - Minor Arcana Talismanic Elemental Angels Geomantic Number Sefira Number Body System Ruled Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Astrological Personalities

Rock Crystal and Salt Storax Cow, Bull or Stag Oak Red Poopy and Thrift Major Arcana: Universe (XXI). Minor Arcana: Pentacles Vioel 10 3 Sex Organs and Bones Reliable, Stable, Punctual and Persevering Materialistic, Greedy, Unprogressive and Sensualist. People born under the signs of Taurus, Capricorn and Virgo are thought to have dominant earth personalities. Earth personalities tend to be calm, practical, pragmatic, responsible and cautious; however, they can also be stubborn, intolerable and inflexible.

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Related Kabbalistic Correspondences:

Angelic Order Order of Angels Chief of Angels Archangel Biblical Name of God Personal Dedication Spiritual Experience Sefirothic Form Sefira/Sephira Sefira Meaning Pronunciation Sub Creature Element Planet Colour Number Virtue Vice Spiritual Experience Tarot Animals Gems Perfumes Weapons A crowned young woman Malkuth Also see Kether Kingdom. ( Ruler of the Earth) Malkut Not identified Earth Earth Brown 10 Materialism Discipline Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel The four tens, Princes Sphinx. Rock Crystal Dittany of Crete Circle and Triangle Not identified Not identified Lumiel Methattron or Sandelphon. The Approacher and Prince of Prayer Adonai ha Aretz I bless.

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Correspondences of the Moon

Hare Moon
Also known as: Merry or Dyad Moon, Bright Moon, Flower Moon, Frogs Return Moon, Thrimilcmonath (Thrice-Milk Month), Sproutkale, Winnemanoth (Joy Month), Planting Moon, Moon When the Ponies Shed

Once April's rains and winds have subsided, the sun begins to warm up the earth and we're able to get the gardens planted. Typically, May is the month we begin to sow our crops. Get out in the Garden under a Flower Moon and put your hands into the soil. Spring is a time of fertility, and May is a fiery month indeed -- full of lust and passion! It's sometimes called the month of the Hare Moon -- and we all know what hares are busy doing in the spring. Correspondences:

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Colors: Red, orange, yellow Nature Spirits: faeries, elves Flowers: lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom Scents: rose, sandalwood Stones: emerald, malachite, amber, carnelian Animals: cats, lynx, leopard Birds: swallow, dove, swan

Gemstones:

Ruby, garnet, amber, Apache tear Trees: Hawthorn, rowan Gods: Kali, Priapus, Cernunos, Flora, Bast, Venus, Aphrodite, Maia, Diana, Artemis, Pan, Horned God

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Herbs: Cinnamon, members of the mint family Element: Fire Power Flow: full creating energy; propagation. Intuition, contact with faeries and other supernatural beings. Strengthen connection with supernatural protectors and beings around you. Power flowing from the Greenwood Gods and trees.

This is a good time to work on magic related to careers and jobs. Thinking about switching to a new position, or perhaps trying a new field altogether? Want to take a class or get your degree? Take the seeds you've planted last month, and allow them to bloom and grow in your favor. Do some fire divination this month to help guide you on your way. Also Known As: Flower Moon Examples: For the Flower Moon, Willow transplanted her seedlings from their cups into the garden. November/May

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Farmers Almanac for May

Farmers Almanac-May 2012

Skywatch: The Moon,gloriously full,reaches perigee(it's closest point to Earth)at midnight on the 5th-6th.Saturn,at bright magnitude 0.4,is out all night above the blue star Spica in Virgo.Venus,now a striking crescent through binoculars,moves rapidly lower towards the twilight glare with each passing day but might be glimpsed to the right of the crescent Moon on the 22nd.Mars,it's retrograde finished,pulls away from Regulus and sits above the Moon on the 25th.An annular solar eclipse over most of North America,occurs in the early evening on the 20th.

Weather rhyme.
Deplorable:This weather's horrible! Don't get your truck stuck in the muck, Buck! Beamish noon,frosty morn:still to cool to plant your corn. Pinch yourself;rub your eyes. Summer's here:Surprize!

Moon phases.

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Full Flower.5th.rises at 8:05 p.m.Sets at 5:06 a.m. Last quarter.12th.rises at 1:30 a.m.Sets at 12:18 p.m. New moon.20th.rises at 5:06 a.m.Sets at 8:29 p.m. First quarter.28th.rises at 12:41 p.m.Sets at 1:03 a.m. Meteor shower. Name.Eta Aquarid. Best viewing.Predawn. Point of origin.South east. Date of maximum.May 4th. No.Per hour.10. Associated comet.Haley.

Annular eclipse of the Sun.May 20th. This eclipse will partially visible from all but eastern North America.For most western locations,the eclipse will begin between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.PDT.In Alaska and parts of northern Canada,the eclipse will start an hour earlier and end 2 to 3 hours later(or will be interrupted by sunset).In San Franscisco,for example,the eclipse will begin at 5:16 p.m.PDT,reach it's maximum at 6:33 p.m.,and end at 7:30 p.m.,with the Sun very low on the horizon.

Three Chilly Saints.May 11,12,13.

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Pan

The consort of the Goddess is commonly referred to as The Horned God, by those who follow him, whether Wiccan or not. The true name of this God as used by Wiccans is a guarded secret that is only revealed after initiation. But not knowing the name of The Horned God does not stop people knowing who he is and the role he may take in our lives. More importantly, this is the first step to achieving a relationship with him.

Who is the Horned God? The personage of The Horned God has been inspired by the myths of many Gods from around the world, as well as various fictional works that are often

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noted as milestones to modern Paganism. World mythology has many Gods with horns, wear horned headdresses or otherwise have horns as a symbol to represent them. The Horned God of the Wicca follows in this tradition. It should be noted though, that The Horned God is more rightly viewed as an Antlered God, rather than literal horns, making him synonymous with the noble stag and the way in which deer grow and shed their antlers with the change of the seasons. This too is part of his imagery and a note to his British heritage. The Horned God is a diune God, meaning that he exists in two primary elements, which in his case are the God of Life, and the God of Death. These two identities are different sides of who he is aspects of his personality which become evident as the seasons change and the God engages in his continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth. As he moves between his dark and light aspects, The Horned God adopts different roles which reflect his duties in the changing seasons of the world. To make these roles easier to understand, they have been divided below into who he is according to the four great Sabbats and who he is in the imagery of the Solstices & Equinoxes.

The God of the Sabbats The Young God From the Yule to Midsummer the God progresses from a child to a man. This part of his life, as a youth, is best represented in the Sabbats of Imbolc and Beltaine. At Imbolc we see the young God as a child playing merrily in the newly born natural world. He is taking his first steps into the forest, which will someday rule as a king. But for now he is a child, revealing in the joys of the fields and the forests.

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As we move to Beltaine he has grown into a strong and virile youth, romantically frolicking with the Goddess in the forest that he has now claimed for his own. He is like the stag, walking tall and proud, and assuming sexual dominance in his territory. The Corn King When the Sabbat of Lughnassadh comes round, it is the beginning of the Harvest time. By now the Horned God is old and this is his time of sacrifice. The God is one with the land and so he willingly gives his life in the grain harvest so that his people will be able to eat in the coming cold seasons. This is the Horned God in the role of The Corn King, the lord of the fields whose body is the food of the community. He is a willing sacrifice and the harvests mark his transition from God of Life to God of Death. The Lord of the Underworld With Autumn and Winter the Horned God has taken up his throne in the Underworld. He is the Dark God of death, and ruler of the realm of spirits. He opens the door between life and death on Samhain and then is protector of the Goddess as she passes through the Underworld to emerge as the new world on the other side of death, path which time she will prepare for the rebirth of the God on Yule.

The Imagery of the Solstices and Equinoxes The Solstices and Equinoxes are events in the passage of the Sun, marking the shortest day, longest day and the times when night and day equal. Yule: The shortest day and longest night. This is the rebirth of the Sun and likewise, the rebirth of the Horned God into this world.

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Spring Equinox: The nights have shortened and the days have lengthened, now they stand in balance, with night and day equal. Midsummer: The longest day of the year and the shortest night. The height of the Suns power and likewise the height of the Gods strength in this world. Autumn Equinox: As the world wanes back towards the cold seasons, night and day once more equalise.

As one can see, these holidays demonstrate the growth of The Horned God (as God of the Sun) as he grows, matures and then recedes. Effectively, the Sabbats marks the significant events in the life of The Horned God, whereas the Solstices demonstrate his growth and power.

The Oak King and Holly King Two other identities that are sometimes associated with the Horned God are the Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King is the representation of the Horned God as Lord of the living forest. He is the King of life and is represented by the mighty Oak tree, which I green through Spring and Summer, and one of the mightiest trees in the forest. The Holly King is the representation of the Horned God as Lord of death and the slumbering forest. He is represented by the Holly bush, which remains green all year round, but most significantly it continues to grow unstoppably in the Autumn and Winter. At this time the Holly becomes the crown of the

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forest. The Oak King and Holly King enter the mythology of the Wicca at Midsummer, where they become identities for the dark and light sides of the Gods character. At this time, the Sun is at its most powerful, but being as this is the longest day of the year, after this the days will start to reduce and the night will become longer. So it is here that the Oak King and Holly King are seen to do battle. The Oak King reaches the Height of his power, but ultimately he is slain by the Holly King, who then assumes the throne of the forest and begins to usher in the time of the growing night and the coming of the cold seasons.

Bast

Bast (Bastet, Pasch, Ubasti, Ba en Aset) - Daughter of the sun god Ra, wife of Ptah, and mother of Mihos, Bast is an ancient Egyptian goddess who is still greatly revered by many today. Her worship began around the year 3200 BCE during the second dynasty in northern Egypt and her city is Bubastis. There, and in many other ancient cities, Egyptians celebrated Basts feast day, October 31st, with great joy and enthusiasm honouring their goddess, their protectress. Related to Neith, the Night Goddess, Bast symbolized the moon in its function of making a woman fruitful, with swelling womb. She was also the Egyptian Goddess of

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pleasure, music, dancing and joy, and associated with the Eye of Ra, acting as the instrument of the Sun God's vengeance. Bast is the Sacred Cat and her name means devouring lady. She is depicted as having the body of a woman and the head of a domestic cat. She holds the sacred rattle, Sistrum, and she possesses Utchat, the divine, all-seeing eye of Ra. Indeed, the people of ancient Egypt turned to Bast for protection and for blessing, as she was a renowned and beloved goddess. She was the protectress of women, children, and domestic cats. She was the goddess of sunrise, music, dance, and pleasure as well as family, fertility, and birth. The goddess' protection can still be invoked for modern cats in homes and apartments. Cats were very sacred animals to the ancient Egyptians. They held a high, honoured position in many households and were more important even than humans. Cats were demigods in ancient Egypt. Anyone caught harming or killing a cat, even by accident, was punished by death, for cats guarded the royal granaries keeping them relatively free from vermin which threatened the food supplies.

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The famous Temple Ruins of Bast at Bubastis (Per-Bast in Tameran, today Tell-Basta). The sacred enclosure consisted of a grove of tall trees (the only one to be found in an Egyptian temple) holding the shrine of the goddess within. The temple was full of cats who were carried around in baskets and ritually fed.

"Other temples are greater and more costly, but none more pleasing to the eye than this." - Herodotus, Histories Book II, Chap. 137

Though the cat-headed goddess Bast was revered and loved throughout Egypt from the earliest of times (her worship was formalized at the end of the First or beginning of the Second Dynasties), there were several cities sacred to her cult and which hosted several large, important and influential temples. Among the more well-known cities were Memphis (Mennefer), Heliopolis (Iunu) and Herakleopolis (Henen-nesut); among the dozen or so cities important to the Bast Cult, none was more important or holy than Bubastis. Located in the Eighteenth ("Prince of the South") Nome of Lower Egypt, in the southeastern portion of the Delta, the city the Greeks called Bubastis was originally known simply as Bast; early in its long history it became known as Pwr-Bast or Pwr-Bastet. The Egyptian word "pwr," commonly rendered as

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"per," can be translated either as "house" or "realm," so the city would have been known as the House of Bast. Exactly why this city, relatively unimportant in Egypt's larger history until the advent of the Twenty-second Dynasty in the Tenth Century BCE, should be so important to the Cat Cult, or become so identified with the goddess Bast, is one of the many mysteries of Egypt lost in the proverbial mists of time, unlikely to leave physical traces in the archaeological record. During the Bubastite period (22nd dynasty), cat cemeteries became popular, and a huge profusion of cat amulets were being made. Cats were mummified and ritually buried. In 640 AD Bubastis was still alive and people were still worshipping cats there. Once per year, a great festival was held in Bubastis to honour Bast, attracting devotees from all over the country. According to Herodotus, the original accidental tourist, upwards of 700,000 people attended, most traveling by barges to the sound of flutes and percussion instruments. Though this was a religious festival, gaiety was rampant along the riverbanks and through all the avenues of the city, and in character it could easily be compared to Mardi Gras. One aspect of the festival, however, was quite moving, and came on the last night - in a town of silence, a town of darkness, a single light is lit in the Temple of Bast, and from there the light spreads through the town, carried by devotees; and prayers rise into the night, accompanied by music and incense.

All things come to an end, and so it came to Bubastis, destroyed by the Persians in 350 BCE. Today, only ruins remain of Bubastis, and the once-proud temple is nothing but tumbled blocks. One of few sights to see these days is the famous cat cemetery, where so many beloved pets journeyed to the Other Realm.

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Sekhmet - Twin Sister of Bastet

Another aspect of Bast is her twin sister, Sekhmet. Sekhmet is also a goddess, depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness. She represents the negative, darker side of the goddess. As the lioness goddess, Sekhmet symbolizes the destructive forces in Nature and in human nature, while Bast is everything pure and good and life-giving. Together, the sister goddesses make up a whole - the balance of good and evil.

A Prayer

Beloved Bast, mistress of happiness and bounty, twin of the Sun God, slay the evil that afflicts our minds as you slew the serpent Apep. With your graceful stealth anticipate the moves of all who perpetrate cruelties and stay their hands against the children of light. Grant us the joy of song and dance, and ever watch over us in the lonely places in which we must walk.

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You may wish to take a moment to honour this great ancient egyptian goddess. Light a green candle (Bast's sacred colour) and be nice to a cat, her cherished animal. O Ra, exalted Lion-king, thou art the great cat, the avenger of Gods and the judge of words... The seventy-five praises of Ra - c. 1700 BC

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A wind of instability will blow on you, making you to behave like a weathercock. You'll change projects or interests, without being conscious of the gravity of your decisions or of the disarray of your entourage. But your chance of salvation will reside in the affection which your beloved one has for you, or in the encounter that you could make. In order to calm your nerves, eat dried vegetables and dried fruits, which are very rich in magnesium. You'll be more expansive, more imaginative also. Don't renounce a project of travel with your mate.

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Many various sentiments will intermingle in your affective life; two of them will be particularly noticeable: a desire for security on one hand, and on the other hand an aspiration to give or to receive tenderness of a maternal nature.

You'll have explosive energy; then, do your best to canalize it correctly and to use it for constructive purposes.

Be careful, particularly, not to be aggressive with certain persons of your entourage who are trying to destabilize you.

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In order to avoid various perturbations and annoyances, you must adhere to a clear and definitive behavior line.

Act thoughtfully so as to jeopardize nothing, and try to foresee the unforeseeable.

A friend of yours might give you a good bit of advice concerning your sentimental life, but you'll greet it very badly; this friend is nevertheless quite sincere and only has good intentions.

You should be a little more reasonable in love and accept good counsels which you'll greatly need.

Don't attach too much importance to the small problems of everyday life.

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Good sentimental climate, without great surprises or fabulous joys. An encounter may take place during a trip, a travel abroad, or with a foreigner or someone returning from a travel. Many natives of the sign must expect to feel certain interior malaise because this astral ambience will make them more vulnerable to frustrations, wants, and constraints, notably on the career plane. You'll sometimes be inclined to overdo things, in work as well as in sport; be reasonable, or else your body may flinch.

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Heartwise, numerous annoyances will throw you into disarray. You'll ask yourself if your mate would one month come to understand you. At certain moments, you'll feel very lonely. However, don't dramatize the situation. On the professional plane, the astral influxes will be very favorable to you; you'll take good initiatives. The natives who suffer from high or low blood pressure will note an improvement of their state. Avoid too mundane gatherings.

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You'll have your heart on your lips, and you'll be on edge.

In short, because of your exacerbated emotionalism, your sensations will be tumultuous, and you'll go without transition from the seventh heaven to hell.

Recognize that this situation is not quite easy to live, but at least your life won't be monotonous or insipid.

Your finances will benefit from all the good astral influences of the moment, and an unexpected money entry will allow you to do some innocent and very pleasurable follies.

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Irresistible charm and enthralling magnetism! You can make the most of your power so as to achieve your professional ambitions as well as to reach your goals in your love life.

You'll succeed, at least partly, in putting your best ambitions into concrete form, thus consolidating your career position.

Friendship will be lived by you as an open, frank, and demonstrative sentiment.

Possible offers generously made by well-intentioned friends, who'll act straightforwardly and without ulterior motives.

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There'll certainly happen clearly positive events in your social and professional life. You'll obtain all necessary supports and protections. Your moves of an official character will be crowned with success. Sentiments won't be neglected but you'll this time be inclined to a more spiritual than physical understanding. This astral ambience will favor the efforts of all those who want to reduce their use of tobacco or alcohol. If you want to follow a diet program, it will give you the courage to go ahead this time and will assure you of excellent results.

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This astral climate will allow you to feel well at ease and to experience the joy of living. You must, however, beware of certain euphoria and smug optimism which might induce you to carelessness. You must above all resist the impulse to spend, to buy quantities of things which will reveal themselves not indispensable at all. As what you'll write will be convincing, renew ties with persons whose news you haven't got since some time, by sending them a small letter or even simply a post card.

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Risk of dispersion; difficulty to concentrate yourself, to gather up your ideas.

Satisfy yourself for the moment with carrying out monotonous, repetitive tasks, for which you're perfectly prepared.

You'll have the desire to change your professional horizon, to do a more interesting, more creative job; but can one always do what one likes to? You'll try to relive certain events of the past, to rediscover certain atmospheres of the revolved times; let the past in oblivion, don't allow it to clutter up your life.

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You'll let yourself be charmed by the refined and courteous manners of a person whom you'll have met during a meeting, and you'll begin to dream much about that person.

Your capacities will be well appreciated, but if you continue to take nothing seriously you'll end with being taken lightly.

Resolutely stay away from beaten tracks: you'll win by showing originality and creativity.

The stars will make you have reactions which are patently exaggerated and quite disproportionate to events; thus you'll find yourself ridiculous and will suffer from it.

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Everything will fare well for you.

You'll try to improve your social status and will be ready to make important expenses so as to increase your comfort and even your exterior signs of wealth.

Nevertheless, there'll be a moment where you'll be obliged to stop so as not to find yourself in a painful financial situation.

Your affairs of the heart will be flourishing; neither taboos nor inhibitions in your amorous relationships: you'll feel quite liberated.

A climate of perfect harmony will reign between you and your mate.

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During this month, try to stay on the alert instead of seeking to solve delicate problems. Everything will go well as far as your love affairs are concerned; past disappointments and disillusions will be forgotten! Your chances in stock-exchange speculations being very weak, take refuge in the traditional investments. Excellent atmosphere in your family. The Moon will make you irritable and influenceable: avoid conflictual situations, don't take tranquilizers, eat healthy and light foods, and do some sport in the open air.

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Many satisfactions in prospect, heartwise and workwise; you'll be very brilliant, self-confident and efficient.

You'll climb up in the social hierarchy.

You'll obtain excellent results at your work.

For once, do yourself pleasure by indulging in a small folly, for that will boost up your spirits very much.

Your material situation will present itself rather well; if you're careful and shrewd, you'll make your resources bear fruit; however, you should absolutely avoid lending money to one of your close relatives.

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Risks of stormy relationships between you and your partner, with scenes of jealousy and arguments; try to control yourself.

It won't be the right time to buy lodgings.

Much energy and vitality.

Don't make promises that you'll not be capable to keep; try to give pleasure by other means.

Your relationships with your children will be strengthened during this month that's privileged for them and also for you; you'll become aware that greater firmness with them would be necessary.

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Beware, your overflowing energy may cause useless clashes with your entourage.

Don't make to your beloved one such promises as you won't be able to keep.

Risks of digestive disorders due to a violent emotion, a fear of failing in the pursuit of a goal; try to control yourself by doing yoga or sport.

You'll be lucky with your finances; it'll be the moment to invest or to gamble on a large scale.

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Safeguard your private life, don't let it be invaded by anyone.

Avoid discussing philosophical, political or religious subjects with your friends, for they'll cause misunderstandings and arguments.

Beware of your finances: they won't be brilliant and will give way to nasty surprises! Your food should be carefully controlled because of the risks of intoxication that threaten you; don't neglect your small discomforts: cure them before they develop.

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Notable beneficial changes in your professional life or your social status.

Don't refuse to take responsibilities.

Rather unstable love life: quarrels will spring from trivial molehills that'll grow into mountains.

Privilege the safe values, don't try to enrich yourself hastily.

Profit by the helping hand that the stars will give you in order to make true friends; that will make you happy.

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You'll be willing to take your responsibilities and to show vigorous ardor at work. Your children will give you many satisfactions because of their greater sense of discipline. Your cherished projects will seem a failure to you, whereas in fact they are on the way to success. Your doubts concerning your beloved one will be swept away. If you have decided to undertake a reducing diet, it'll be now or never to start it; nevertheless, don't exaggerate too much: it's not only a question of trimming down, but also that of staying in good health.

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You'll be very irritable, your spirits will be prone to frequent highs and lows; let off your steam on a sports ground. Tendency to insomnia. Detach yourself from certain improper friends; you'll have the opportunity to tie new friendly bonds. At work, don't try to get ahead of schedule. Say what you think and you'll feel better. Heartwise, you'll experience great emotions; moments of hope will alternate with moments of anguish.

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Vitality definitely higher than average. Turn your tongue in your mouth seven times before speaking, if not conflicts are likely to break out in your family. You'll have much success with a person of the other sex. It's preferable to count only on yourself; this way, you won't be disappointed. Supervise your children closely. Be ready to seize opportunities worthy of interest: you'll have the possibility to make good business deals and to carry out lucrative financial transactions; you'll be able to balance your budget with ease.

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Many upheavals, and you should to show flexibility in order to cope with them gracefully. Family life is likely to go through a small crisis; don't let anybody meddle with your household affairs. Possible amorous pains, but don't despair, let time heal. Drink much to eliminate toxins. To have too many friends is equal to having no friends at all: you have certainly realized this; this time you'll sort out your relationships so as to retain only the most trustful ones.

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Life in your home can be disturbed if you don't show great comprehension. Financial questions will be alarming but can be solved easily. It would be high time for you to show more lucidity in love matters; don't trust any first one who comes. There will be an interesting real-estate affair to seize. You're likely to feel more tense, more nervous; consequently, organize yourself so as to find a solution of certain conflicts you have with people.

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A fine month to reach some of the professional goals close to your heart.

Take care to leave sufficient maneuver room to those whom you love best, so that they don't feel captive.

With an apparently inexhaustible vitality, you'll be able to make titanic efforts.

Don't give your confidence too easily at this moment: you're likely to be a victim of unscrupulous people, who will tell you numerous lies in order to manipulate you: be very vigilant.

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Cards used:
Dark Angel Tarot (Opportunities & Obstacles)

Cards 1,2,&3 are Past influences on the querent's question. Present influences on the querent's question. Future influences on the querent's question.

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Card 1: Queen of Disk~ Enthroned with wealth & sorrow, the angel is satisfied and replete.

Card 2: The Hermit~In the ruined land knowledge may be sought but the price of this gathering can be hard and costly. The Hermit is the seeker after wisdom, but his lamp illumines only that which is lost.

Card 3: 8 of Swords~Thee unexpected delays & restraints, self doubt restrict movement.

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Cards 4,5 Energies working in the querent's favor. Opportunities.

Card 4: 9 of Wands~Defence most be maintained, an attack must be repelled with force.

Card 5: 4 of Wands~When a goal is reached then even angel's may rest.

Cards 6,7 Energies working against the querent. Obstacles.

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Card 6: Temperance~ The talent to combine little with less and to make more is a valuable skill at the end of time. The angel's take what there is & applies her art, creating something from nothing, she endures to thee end.

Card 7: Page of Disk~The angel holds what she has, As a talisman against the dark.

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Baltaine May 1 2012

Also known as: May Day, Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic). Date: May 1 Symbols: May Pole, Egg, Baskets, Flowers, Butterchurn

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Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt Colors: Red and White Herbs: almond, ash, cinquefoil, frankincense, marigold, meadowsweet, and woodruff may be burned; angelica, bluebells, daisy, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, primrose, and rose may be decorations.

*The first of May has been celebrated in song and verse for longer than human history has recorded the date. It is a time to celebrate new life in all its forms, and the time when the Goddess and the God are united in sacred marriage, their relationship consummated, an act which symbolically fertilizes the animals and crops for the coming year. The most common ritual act which celebrates this union is known as the Great Rite. It is the symbolic union of the male and female principles of creation, the union of the two halves of the All-Power which unite to bring all things into being. The Great Rite is usually performed by ritually placing a male ritual tool, usually the athame, into a female ritual tool representing the cosmic womb. A chalice or small cauldron is usually chosen for this purpose. Couples working together will often invoke the deities into themselves and perform the Great Rite de facto, which is also acceptable. The dancing of the May Pole is another May Day Celtic custom practiced both within and outside of Paganism. The weaving of the red and wite ribbons around the pole, like the Great Rite, symbolized the union of

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Goddess and God. *Taken from "Celtic Myth and Magick" by Edain McCoy

Make paper baskets by folding a square piece of decorated paper diagonally and gluing or tying a handel of yarn through punched holes. Then place a few spring flowers inside the basket and place on the front doorknobs of your friends' and neighbors' houses. The kids will especially enjoy this because you have to do it undetected and not let on when people wonder who brought them the May flowers. A variation of this is too cut colored construction paper into strips and weave two color strips together to form a square, then proceed as above.

Make a wish as you jump over a bonfire, (or campfire, May Day is a good time to go camping).

String beads or flowers for a a blessing: May the God and Goddess and the power

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Of the elementals bless me now and always be with me.

Make Beltaine bread. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and combine: 4 cups sifted flour 1/2 cup ground almonds 2 cups sugar 1 tube almond paste 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 5 eggs

When dough is worked to medium soft, shape into flattened balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool, ice with a white Solar Cross. You could try this as a single loaf.

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Walpurgis Night The Other Beltane May 1,2012

Germany In Germany, Walpurgisnacht, the night from 30 April to 1 May, is the night when witches are reputed to hold a large celebration on the Brocken and await the arrival of spring. Walpurgis Night (in German folklore) the night of 30 April (May Day's eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain and hold revels with their gods..." Brocken is the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is noted for the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre and for witches' revels which reputedly took place there on Walpurgis night. The Brocken Spectre is a magnified shadow of an observer, typically surrounded by rainbow-like bands, thrown onto a bank of cloud in high mountain areas when the sun is low. The phenomenon was first reported on the Brocken. Oxford Phrase & Fable. A scene in Goethe's Faust Part One is called "Walpurgisnacht", and one in Faust Part Two is called "Classical Walpurgisnacht". The last chapter of book five in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain is also called "Walpurgisnacht". In Edward Albee's 1962 play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Act Two is entitled "Walpurgisnacht".

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From Bram Stoker's short story, "Dracula's Guest", an Englishman (whose name is never mentioned but is presumed to be Jonathan Harker)[citation needed] is on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night, and in spite of the hotelier's warning not to be late coming back, the young man later leaves his carriage and wanders toward the direction of an abandoned "unholy" village. As the carriage departs with the frightened and superstitious driver, a tall and thin stranger scares the horses at the crest of a hill. In some parts of northern coastal regions of Germany, the custom of lighting huge fires is still kept alive to celebrate the coming of May, while most parts of Germany have a derived Christianized custom around Easter called "Easter fires". In rural parts of southern Germany, it is part of popular youth culture to play pranks such as tampering with neighbours' gardens, hiding possessions, or spraying graffiti on private property. In Berlin, traditional leftist May Day riots usually start at Walpurgis Night in the Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg. There is a similar tradition in the Schanzenviertel district of Hamburg, though in both cases, the situation has significantly calmed down in the past few years.

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Mother's Day May 13, 2012

From all of us here we send our heart felt wish to all you mothers, may this day be filled with love and joyous memories, and know that you all are an inspiration to each of our lives, and that should be celebrated not just on this day but every day.....

Victoria Day May 21, 2012

Victoria Day (in French: Fte de la Reine) is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized. It is sometimes informally considered as marking the beginning of the summer season

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in Canada. The holiday has been observed since before Canada was formed, originally falling on the sovereign's actual birthday, and continues to be celebrated in various fashions across the country on the fixed date. In Quebec, the same day was, since the Quiet Revolution, unofficially known as Fte de Dollard until 2003, when provincial legislation officially named the same date as Victoria Day the National Patriots' Day. It is a statutory holiday federally, as well as in six of Canada's ten provinces and three of its territories. History The birthday of Queen Victoria was a day for celebration in Canada long before Confederation, with the first legislation regarding the event being in 1845 passed by the parliament of the Province of Canada to officially recognize May 24 as the Queen's birthday. It was noted that on that date in 1854, the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria, some 5,000 residents of Canada West gathered in front of Government House (near present day King and Simcoe Streets in Toronto) to "give cheers to their queen." On May 24, 1866, the town of Omemee, also in Canada West, mounted a day-longfte to mark the occasion, including a gun salute at midnight, pre-dawn serenades, picnics, athletic competitions, a display of illuminations, and a torch-light procession.

Victoria Day, 1854; crowds gather outside Government House in Toronto Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, May 24 was by imperial decree made Empire Day throughout the British Empire, while, in Canada, it became officially known as Victoria Day, a date to remember the late queen,

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who was deemed the "Mother of Confederation". Over the ensuing decades, the official date in Canada of the reigning sovereign's birthday changed through various royal proclamations until the haphazard format was abandoned in 1952. That year, the Governor-General-in-Council moved Empire Day and an amendment to the law moved Victoria Day both to the Monday before May 25, and the monarch's official birthday in Canada was by regular vice-regal proclamations made to fall on this same date every year between 1953 and January 31, 1957, when the link was made permanent by royal proclamation. The following year, Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day and in 1977 it was moved to the second Monday in March, leaving the Monday before May 25 only as both Victoria Day and the Queen's Birthday. Victoria Day celebrations were marred by tragedy in 1881, when a passenger ferry named Victoria overturned in the Thames River, near London, Ontario. The boat departed in the evening with 600 to 800 people on board three times the allowable passenger capacity and capsized part way across the river, drowning some 182 individuals, including a large number of children who had been with their families for Victoria Day picnics at Springbank Park. The event came to be known as the Victoria Day disaster. Practice Official protocol dictates that on Victoria Day the Royal Union Flag is flown from sunrise to sunset at all federal government buildings including airports, military bases, and other Crown owned property across the country where physical arrangements allow (i.e. where a second flag pole exists, as the Royal Union Flag can never displace the national flag). Royal salutes (21-gun salutes) are fired in each provincial capital and in the national capital at noon on Victoria Day. Several cities will hold a parade on the holiday, with the most prominent being that which has taken place since 1898 in the monarch's namesake city ofVictoria, British Columbia. In nearby New Westminster, the Victoria Day weekend is distinguished by the Hyack Anvil Battery Salute, a tradition

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created during colonial times as a surrogate for a 21-gun salute: Gunpowder is placed between two anvils, the top one upturned, and the charge is ignited, hurling the upper anvil into the air. Other celebrations include an evening fireworks show, such as that held at Ashbridge's Bay Beach in the east end of Toronto, and at Ontario Place, in the same city. As a federal holiday, Victoria Day remains a holiday in Quebec. However, in 2003, the province's legislative assembly passed legislation that dedicated the same day as National Patriots' Day, which commemorates the patriotes of the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. This replaced the Fte de Dollard, which had been celebrated by Quebeckers on Victoria Day since the 1960s and which commemorated Adam Dollard des Ormeaux.

Turkish Canadians march in the 2007 Victoria Day parade in Victoria, British Columbia Across the country, Victoria Day serves as the unofficial marker of the end of the winter social season, and thus the beginning of the summer social calendar. Banff, Alberta's Sunshine Village ends its lengthy ski season on Victoria Day, and, likewise, it is during this long weekend that many summer businesses such as parks, outdoor restaurants, bicycle rentals, city tour operators, etc. will open. Victoria Day is also a mark of the beginning of the cottage season, the time when cottage owners may reverse the winterization of their property. Gardeners in Canada will similarly regard Victoria Day as the beginning of spring, as it falls at a time when one can be fairly certain that frost will not return until the next autumn. The holiday is colloquially known as May Two-Four in parts of Canada;

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a double entendre that refers both to the date around which the holiday falls (May 24) and the Canadian slang for a case of twenty-four beers (a "two-four"), a drink popular during the long weekend. The holiday weekend may also be known as May Long or May Run, and the term Firecracker Day was also employed in Ontario.

Memorial Day May 28, 2012

On this day we honor all those who have served our countries and continue to serve them, your memories are forever etched in time, with the hope of one day a world that knows only peace.

We would like to take a moment to thank all of our soldiers, fireman, police, paramedics and all those that take time to help in times of need and show that the true fight for freedom and liberties that our forefathers fought for is never forgotten but honored through deeds of bravery and self sacrifice in hope of making this world a better place. You will always be remembered and never forgoting.

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Awareness For the Month of May

Months - May Health Current Events 2012 Awareness Event ALS Awareness Month Nation United States Related Organization ALS Association Arthritis Foundation Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America ASHA

Arthritis Awareness Month United States Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month United States

Better Hearing and Speech United States Month Better Sleep Month Celiac Awareness Month Clean Air Month Correct Posture Month United States United States United States United States

Better Sleep Council National Foundation for Celiac Awareness American Lung Association American Chiropractic Association

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Cystic Fibrosis Month Hepatitis Awareness Month Huntington's Disease Awareness Month Lyme Disease Awareness Month Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month National Cancer Research Month National Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Month

Worldwide Worldwide

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Hepatitis Foundation International Huntington's Disease Society Of America Lyme Disease Foundation

United States

Worldwide

Canada

Multiple Sclerosis Society Of Canada American Association for Cancer Research Crohn's & Colitis Australia

United States

Australia

United States National High Blood Pressure Education Month National Lupus Awareness United States Month National Melanoma Skin Cancer Awareness Month United States

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Lupus Foundation of America

American Academy of Dermatology

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National Mental Health Month National Neurofibromatosis Month

United States

Mental Health America

United States

Children's Tumor Foundation

United States National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month National Physiotherapy Month Canada

National Osteoporosis Society

Canadian Physiotherapy Association National Stroke Association

National Stroke Awareness United States Month Vision Health Month Canada

Canadian National Institute for the Blind

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Homemade Potpourri

Beginning with the first show of spring daffodils, you can start making a simple and fragrant kitchen windowsill potpourri. You will need a large clean jar, and scissors to cut an assortment of colored and fragrant flowers as they appear in your garden. Shown here is a jar of homemade potpourri packed with daffodils, lily of the valley, violets, bleeding hearts, roses, geranium, sweet william, pansies, viola, veronica, lavender,

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lemon balm leaves, citronella leaves, phlox, clover, and, just to add tang to the pot, the cut up dried peel of oranges and lemons. If you have some sprays of eucalyptus that is past its prime, wash off the dust, pull off leaves, and add these leaves to your potpourri flower jar as well. I simply cut a few blossoms off each flower when they arrive in the garden and add to the mason jar. The drying process is simple...you just let the blossoms dry out in the jar with the aid of the sun shining through your windows. As you add more blossoms, you should stir the lower layers of potpourri with a kitchen fork or spoon, and add the new blossoms on top. Don't pack the blossoms and leaves down too tightly- you want plenty of air space to encourage quick and complete drying. By July, you could have several of these potpourri flower jars starting to fill to capacity; it is up to you whether you continue to add the August phlox or the fall asters. You might like to have one jar of predominantly roses, or another packed with mostly lavender; the fun is in experimenting to find the one you like the most. I chose to add lots of citronella and lemon balm, as the smell was so fresh and pleasing that I couldn't resist it. It also had the added benefit of not requiring the addition of essential oils; the fragrance was aromatic enough to stand alone, although I did add some chopped up orange and lemon peel, after I had used the fruit. I might add an essential oil later, to refresh the potpourri when the first natural fragrances begin to fade. That's it: a kitchen windowsill homemade potpourri of spring and summer flowers from your garden. What could be easier?

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How to Make Glitter Body Gel and Glitter Hair Gel

There's a good reason why some recipes for glittery body gel are called "Fairy Dust Gel" or "Fairy Glitter" - these easy concoctions are magically simple to make, while providing a mysterious dusting of glimmer and shine. That light shimmer on cheekbones, shoulders or arms is very appealing, especially for girls of a certain tween age, women who love to brighten the night - or people like me who simply love fairy tales.

Homemade Glitter Body Gel:

For each 1/4 cup of gel, you will need: 1/4 tsp cosmetic grade fine glitter (such as the great line of Zink Glitters) 1/4 cup of clear aloe vera gel 1 tsp liquid glycerin (available in most drug stores, or sometimes in the grocery store, near the icing sugar) small bowl or paper cup bowl tiny jars, bottles or containers with tight-fitting lids optional: drop or two of food coloring, plus essential oil or fragrance oil if you want to scent the gel

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Glitter Body Gel - Recipe Instructions In a small bowl, mix a quarter of a cup of clear aloe vera gel with one teaspoon of liquid glycerin. Stir in a quarter teaspoon of ultra fine glitter and blend well. To tint the body gel, stir in one or two drops of food coloring. You can now use the body gel as is, unscented, or add a drop or two of essential oil, fragrance oil, or your own perfume to add scent. Store the gel in small, air-tight containers. Cautions: - Ordinary craft glitter is often made of flaked metal and isn't suitable for cosmetic use. - Cosmetic grade glitter is fine for use on skin and hair, but shouldn't be used close to the eyes. - As with any cosmetics, there is always the risk of allergic reaction, and only you can decide if the ingredients in these recipes are suitable for you.

Glitter Hair Gel Recipe Supplies: water whole flax seeds saucepan colander or strainer ultra fine glitter

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 optional: fragrance oil Add one cup water and two tablespoons of whole flax seeds to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, then remove from the heat and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine colander or strainer, catching the liquid in a bowl set below the strainer. Use a flexible spatula to press the flax seeds against the strainer to extract as much of the natural gel as you can. If any smaller seeds have fallen through the strainer, use a spoon to remove them from the liquid gel now. If desired, stir in a drop or two of fragrance oil. Add Glitter: Stir about a teaspoon of glitter into the flax seed gel. Experiment with colors; silver and gold enhance most hair colors, while coppery hues add lustre to red or brown hair. Use white glitter gel for sparkling highlights in blonde hair. Storage: Keep the glitter hair gel in a glass jar with a tightly-fitting lid. Store at room temperature.

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Crackled Decoupage Rose Vase

Decorate a glass vase with a decoupaged rose motif paper napkin then complete this project with an antique crackle finish.

What You Will Need: Glass vase Decorative Paper Napkin (we chose a rose motif, but you can use the same decoupage technique for any paper napkin design) Clear drying craft glue or decoupage medium Waterbase Polyurethane White Acrylic Enamel Paint or Glass Paint Paint Brush Rubbing Alcohol or White Vinegar Crackle Medium Craft Project Instructions: Wash the vase thoroughly. With a clean cloth, wipe the outside of the vase with rubbing alcohol or white vinegar to remove any remaining oil deposits that are left behind on the glass from your fingers. Paint the outside of the vase with white paint and allow it to dry. Several coats of paint may be required. I applied three coats of paint to mine. Be sure to allow each coat of paint to dry thoroughly before applying the next. Once you

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have finished painting, if required, follow the paint manufacturer's instructions for heat setting the paint. Heat setting the paint at this point will prevent damage to the paint finish with the next step. Now that the paint is heat set and there is no risk of it rubbing off when wet, apply glue to the entire outside surface of your vase. Separate the layers of your napkins, as shown in photo, at right.

Most napkins are two or three ply (two or three layers) but you will only need the top layer with the pattern printed on it. First apply a cut out from your napkin (I cut out the rose section of my napkin), by placing the cut out on the wet glue and with your finger or a paint brush, add a little more glue to cover the entire cut out top. I applied a rose pattern to the front and back of this vase. Now with clear (white) sections from your napkin, tear out pieces and glue them to any exposed paint areas of the vase. You will end up with the entire outside of the vase covered with torn pieces of the paper napkin. If your napkin is not white, paint the vase with paint that is as close as possible to the napkin colour. Don't try to smooth out the napkins sections; it is almost impossible and the wrinkles add a nice affect to the finished vase. Once you have the entire vase covered with napkin pieces, allow the glue to dry. Apply a crackle medium of choice, following the manufacturer's instructions for application. Allow the medium to dry completely.

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Apply at least three coats (six to seven is recommended) of Polyurethane (following the manufacturer's instructions). This will give you the needed protection against any water spills when using your vase. Although the vase can't be submerged in water, it can be wiped gently if you apply several coats of polyurethane for protection. These decoupaged vases with crackle paint finish are really are pretty and if you want your vase for decorative purposes only, you can use clay instead of glass. Another idea for clay or plaster vases is to use a water-filled glass inside the container for displaying fresh flowers.

Rituals
Special Notes: Time of the Horned God and the Lady of the Greenwood; honor of the house guardian. Altar Supplies: incense; burner; chalice of water; salt; pentacle; dagger or sword; 4 Element Candles; chalice of wine; wand. Somewhere within the circle area, the house guardian or his symbol, in whatever form you have chosen; perfumed oil.

With casting the circle as your basic staring point, perform the Sample Ritual, inserting the following steps where the Sample states "proceed with your planned spellwork or ceremony":

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Raise your wand in greeting, say: I give greetings to the Goddess of things wild, of skies and of waters. I do call upon you, Lovely Lady to be here with me. Dance or at least march around the altar, beginning in the east and moving clockwise. Pause to salute each Elemental quarter with raised arms. Move back to the alter when finished. Blessed by the words of the Lady of May and the laughing Lord of the Greenwood. Let now thy great light come into me. I am a cup to be fulled, that I may do what is needful. Blessed ever be the Lord and Lady! Stand before the house guardian or symbol. Lovely Lady, great Lord, I present to you the guardian of this house, the special spirit I have invited into my home as protector and helper. I honor this spirit in the symbol of its being. Great Ones, bless this guardian of this house. And to your blessings, I add my thanks. Blessed Be. The guardian symbol or statue is lightly anointed with perfumed oil. If the symbol is such that it cannot be oiled, at least swing the smoking incense burner around it. Place the wine chalice on the pentacle for a few moments, then lift it high, saying: Honor to the Old Gods! Merry meet, and merry part, And merry meet again!! Drink the wine, saving some to be put outside for the little people.

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Bardic Beltane Ritual

BELTANE RITUAL: May Day -by the White Bard The BARD should stand to the WEST, unless otherwise specified in the ritual. Materials: One cauldron, filled with water a wreath of flowers for the MAIDEN the Maiden should wear white, if possible two wooden swords (optional) a fire, as close to the ground as possible A BARD/GREEN MAN (note: if you have no Bard, then a male to act as Green Man should be chosen either by lottery, or by the Maiden. The Maiden is, of course, free to request a specific person to act as Green Man even if there is a Bard available to the coven.) candles for all, if possible *****************************************The place of ritual should be set up, away from the gathered participants. It is more than a good idea to manage bathrooms and such like before the circle is closed. This Mystery is not something any of the participants should miss out on! HPS: Go we now to the sacred place And stand within the sacred space Turn your minds to sacred things And dance with me unto the ring!

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HP and HPS lead the coven to the place of ritual by a spiral dance, ending in a circle around the altar. The cauldron should be at the south. The Bard/Green Man dances at the end of the line. HPS: Come we forth, with the Spiral Dance Within the Lady's radiance To celebrate the Year renewed And praise the Powers, with gratitude. Earth and Water, Fire and Air I invoke the Goddess there! This night we are Between the Worlds To celebrate the year unfurled! HP: Earth and Water, Fire and Sky I invoke the God on high This night we are Between the Worlds To celebrate the year unfurled! The corners shall be called thusly, that all may hear, but shall not be called until the HPS reaches that corner on her circumnabulation. EAST: O Guardians of the Eastern Tower, Airy ones of healing power I do summon, stir and call you See these rites and guard this circle! Come to us and heed our call! By the Power that made us all; By the Power that blesses Thee: Come to us; and Blessed Be!

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SOUTH: Oh fiery ones of Southern Power Thus I invite you to this tower I do summon, stir and call you See these rites and guard this circle! Come to us and heed our call! By the Power that made us all; By the Power that blesses Thee: Come to us; and Blessed Be! WEST: Western ones of water's flow Help to guard us here below I do summon, stir and call you See these rites and guard this circle! Come to us and heed our call! By the Power that made us all; By the Power that blesses Thee: Come to us; and Blessed Be! NORTH: Earthen ones of Northern fame Bless and guard our Power's fane I do summon, stir and call you See these rites and guard this circle! Come to us and heed our call! By the Power that made us all; By the Power that blesses Thee: Come to us; and Blessed Be! The HPS shall move to each corner, and say, following each corner's crying as she moves to the next:

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HPS: So I cast and consecrate This Circle of the small and great: By Fin and Feather, Leaf and Tree, By Rock and Earth, by Land and Sea, By Fire and Water, Earth and Air, By the Lord, and Lady Fair! By Love and Joy and Work and Play, All things harmful cast away! By lightening's flash, and rain's soft fall, By the Power that made us all; By the Power that blesses Thee: (Cast the Circle: Blessed be!) On her return to the first corner she shall change the last line above, and say: The Circle's cast; and Blessed Be! The callers of the corners shall return their tools to the altar, and then shall join the circle at their corners. --------------------------------------------------Here begins the Beltane Mystery BARD or GREEN MAN: Thus I invoke the Lady White To come to us this sacred night. By Fin and Feather, Leaf and Tree, I show you a Mystery! The Maiden shall stand beside the HP, who shall hold a wooden sword. The Bard/Green Man shall approach them, also carrying a wooden sword, and shall, in mime, challenge the HP. They shall strike their swords together in three sets of three blows, then Bard/Green Man shall strike the HP, with the last blow of his sword, who shall fall as if dead. (Note: This can be played as a Morris Dance, if so wished.) If no Maiden and Bard/Green Man are used, then the above combat may be eliminated, and the HP and HPS shall enact the Mystery. The HPS' part shall then be spoken by the participants.

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The Maiden moves to the East. The Bard/Green Man moves to the North. HPS: Cunning and art she did not lack But aye his whistle would fetch her back! MAIDEN: Oh, I shall go into a hare with sorrow, sighing and mickle care And I shall go in the Lady's Name Aye, until I be fetched hame! BARD/GREEN MAN: Hare, take heed of a swift greyhound Will harry thee all these fields around For here come I in the Lady's Name All but for to fetch thee hame! The Maiden moves to the South. The Bard/Green Man moves to the East. HPS: Cunning and art she did not lack But aye his whistle would fetch her back! MAIDEN: Yet I shall go into a bee With mickle fear and dread of thee And flit to hive in the Lady's Name Ere that I be fetch-ed hame! BARD/GREEN MAN: Bee, take heed of a red, red cock Will harry thee close thru door and lock For here come I in the Lady's Name All but for to fetch thee hame! The Maiden moves to the West. The Bard/Green Man moves to the South. HPS: Cunning and art she did not lack But aye his whistle would fetch her back! MAIDEN: Yet I shall go into a trout. With sorrow and sighing and mickle doubt And show thee many a merry game

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Ere that I be fetch-ed hame! BARD/GREEN MAN: Trout, take heed of an otter lank Will harry thee close from bank to bank For here come I in the Lady's Name All but for to fetch thee hame! The Maiden moves to the North. The Bard/Green Man moves to the West. HPS: Cunning and art she did not lack But aye his whistle would fetch her back! MAIDEN: Yet I shall go into a mouse And haste me unto the Miller's House There in his corn to have good game Ere that I be fetch-ed hame! BARD/GREEN MAN: Mouse, take heed of a white tom-cat That never was baulked of mouse nor rat For here come I in the Lady's Name And -thus- it is I fetch thee hame! Bard/Green Man walks to Maiden and takes her hand. They both move to the Cauldron, and face HPS. HPS: Cunning and art she did not lack But aye his Song has fetched her back! Old Winter's dead, the Lady reigns And Summer has returned again! Bard/Green Man and Maiden both wet their hands with water from the Cauldron, and sprinkle it on the HP, who comes to life again. HP: Cunning and art I do not lack But aye Her Cauldron will bring me back! Bard/Green Man and Maiden both move to, and jump, the fire. Here ends the Beltane Mystery. Note: This Mystery is the more historically correct "Great

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Rite." ------------------------------------------------If there is a May Pole, it should be erected by the men -only- at this point, and all dance around it, alternating male and female to raise the cone of power as outlined below. A normal cone-of-power may be raised, for growth and healing: HPS: In a ring we all shall stand Pass the Power, hand to hand. HP: As the year is given birth Build the Power; root to Earth HPS: Pass the Power, hand to hand Bless the Lady, bless the Land HP: Bless the Lord, and bless the Skies Bless the Power that never dies! The above four verses should be repeated three times, (or as many as needed to fully wrap the pole) and then the HPS should say: HPS: By Fin and Feather, Leaf and Tree: Let the Power flow out and free! All should release, at this point. ------------------------------------------------------Such coven business as must be transacted may be done here. ------------------------------------------------------The Circle is opened. HPS: Thus I release the East and West Thanks to them from Host to Guest Thus I release the South and North

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With "Blessed Be' I send them forth! The Circle's open, dance we so Out and homeward we shall go. Earth and Water, Air and Fire Celebrated our desire. Winter's cold is gone away Now it is the Day of May. By Fin and Feather, Leaf and Tree, Our circle's done; and Blessed Be! COVEN: Blessed Be! All spiral dance out from the Circle, jumping the fire as they go. HP and HPS lead, with Bard/Green Man and Maiden taking care of bringing the Bel Fire into camp. Allow the Bel fire to burn out on its own, if possible, otherwise put it out with the water from the Caldron. Disposal of the water otherwise should be to pour it at the roots of a tree. All participants may take fire from the Bel Fire to take home with them, cook over, or whatever, before it is extinguished.

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Sumerian Religion
Development Sumerian religion has its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water. The ancient sages of Sumer found it necessary to bring order to that which they did not understand and to this end they came to the natural conclusion that a greater force was at work. The forces of nature were originally worshipped as themselves. However, over time the human form became associated with those forces. Gods in human form were now seen to have control over nature. The Cosmos

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The Sumerians regarded the universe as consisting of heaven and earth. The Sumerian term for universe is an-ki, which translates to "heaven-earth." Earth was seen as a flat disk surrounded by a hollow space. This was enclosed by a solid surface which they believed was made of tin. Between earth and heavens was a substance known as lil, which means "air" or "breath." The moon, sun, stars, and planets were also made of lil, but they were also luminescent. Completely surrounding the an-ki was the primeval sea. The sea gave birth to the an-ki, which eventually gave rise to life. Sumerian theologians believed that every intricacy of the cosmos was controlled by a divine and immortal being. The cosmos adhered to established rules. The world below was known as the nether world. The Sumerians believed that the dead descended into the nether world, also known as the under world. The souls of the dead entered the nether world from their graves, but there were also special entrances in cities. A person could enter the nether world from one of these special entrances, but could not leave unless a substitute was found to take their place in the world below. A person entering the nether world must adhere to certain rules: He must not make any noise. He must not carry any weapons. He must not wear clean clothes. He must not behave in a normal manner towards his family. He must not wear sandals. He must not douse himself with "good" oil. Failure to adhere to these rules would cause the person to be held fast by the denizens of the nether world until a god intervened on their behalf. The nether world was ruled by Nergal and Ereshkigal. They had at their disposal a number of deities, including a number of sky-gods who feel out of

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faith with later Sumerian theologians. After descending into the nether world a soul had to cross a river with the aid of a boatman who ferried them across. They then confronted Utu, who judged their soul. If the judgment was positive the soul would live a life of happiness. It was, however, generally believed by Sumerians that life in the nether world was dismal. The Gods The gods of Summer were human in form and maintained human traits. They ate, drank, married, and fought amongst each other. Even though the gods were immortal and all-powerful, it was apparent that they could be hurt and even killed. Each god adhered to a set of rules of divine authority known as me. The me ensured that each god was able to keep the cosmos functioning according to the plans handed down to them by Enlil. Hundreds of deities were recognized in the Sumerian pantheon. Many were wives, children, and servants of the more powerful deities. The gods were organized into a caste system. At the head of the system was the king or supreme ruler. The four most important deities were An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursag. These were the four creator deities who created all of the other gods. An was initially the head of the pantheon, though he was eventually seceded by Enlil. Enlil is seen as the most important god. He is known as "the king of heaven and earth," "the father of the gods," and "the king of all the gods." Enlil developed the broad designs for the universe. However, it was Enki who further developed and carried out his plans. Ninhursag was regarded as the mother of all living beings. Under the four creator deities were the seven gods who "decree the fates." These were An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna. These were followed by the 50 "great gods" or Annunaki, the children of An.

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Mankind's Role Sumerians believed that their role in the universe was to serve the gods. To this end the ancient Sumerians devoted much of their time to ensuring their favor with the gods with worship, prayer, and sacrifice. The high gods, however, were believed to have more important things to do than to attend to the common man's every day prayers, and so personal gods were devised as intermediaries between man and the high gods. The personal gods listened to the prayers and relayed them to the high gods. The temple was the center of worship. Each city usually had a large temple dedicated to their patron god, and might also have small shrines dedicated to other gods. Daily sacrifices were made consisting of animals and foods, such as wine, beer, milk, and meats. Additionally special occasions called for spectacular festivities that would sometimes last for days. Special feasts took place on the day of the new moon, on the 7th, 15th, and last day of the month. However, the most important day by far was the New Year. The head of the temple was called the sanga. The sanga was responsible for ensuring the temple's finances, buildings, and day-to-day activities were all in good order. The en was the spiritual leader of the temple. The en could be a man or woman depending upon the deity. Under the en were various priest classes, such as the guda, mah, gala, nindingir, and ishib. The roles of all of these classes is not known, though the ishib was in charge of libations, and the gala was a poet or singer. The city's main temple was usually dedicated to their patron deity. Patron deities often assumed the powers of other deities, which tended to result in confusion and contradiction in the literature of ancient Sumer. For example, ancient legends would often change to reflect the new-found popularity of a particular god. If Marduk rose to prominence, then certain legends would alter to reflect such.

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Guided Chakra Meditation

The Chakra Flower Meditation A Step-By-Step Guide This Chakra meditation is one of many meditation techniques for opening your closed chakras. This is a step-by-step guide that will help you through this meditation technique on chakra meditation. I suggest that you read the information about each chakra before starting this meditation technique. Preparation Before starting the chakra opening meditation technique, you will first have to relax your body and mind. Find a comfortable position. You can for instance choose the Lotus position or any posture you find most comfortable. It is

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important that you are able to sit relaxed and uninterrupted for the entire meditation. Start by preparing your body for the chakra meditation by doing a relaxing breathing exercise. Get completely relaxed and calm and let all your worries exit your body and mind. When you feel completely relax, you can proceed. I suggest that you do the breathing meditation for minimum 5 minutes. The more relaxed you are, the more successful your meditation is going to be. Step 1 Visualizing The Flower Close your eyes. Inhale some fresh air all the way down to your root chakra at the base of your spine. Picture a bright and warm red colour at you root chakra area. It is very clear and beautiful. In the middle of this bright red colour, you see a closed flower. As you breathe, you breathe in to that flower focusing all of your energy and love on that particular area. This chakra is the location of stability and security. It is the foundation of your entire chakra system and should therefore make you feel steady and grounded. Keep breathing slowly and deeply, carrying loving and warm energy to your root chakra. See how the flower which slowly opens for each breath that you take. Love your chakra and allow it to heal and be free. Step 2 Using your Senses It is important to use your senses and make it as real as possible. You have to see the red colour and the flower clearly in your minds eye. It should be bright and beautiful. You have to feel the warmth and love in the colour. Notice how safe and secure you feel. Safe enough to let you root chakra open up a little more. Breathe in to the flower. Focus on it and feel safe. Step 3 Opening Your Chakra Flower

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Allow your root chakra flower to open some more. Focus on the area and fill it with love. as you begin to feel safer, your flower continues to open. It is important that you believe that your chakra has the right to be open and to bloom. Only focus on positive thoughts and emotions. These thoughts are the healing ones and all you need. Fill the chakra with such strong energy that no negative experiences or any difficulties that may come are powerful enough to close your chakra flower. Allow it to totally open. Move up to your second chakra and fill this area with a bright orange colour, which is the colour of your sacral chakra.

Continue this chakra mediation for the rest of the chakras, taking your time without rushing the meditation. If possible try to let the meditation take at least about 30 minutes.

The Seven Gemstone Chakra Meditation Technique

by Eileen Nauman, DHM(UK) Chakras are a Far East concept. Those familiar with Chinese acupuncture, meridians and nadi's, will have a good feel for what they are. To put chakras into a basic understanding, there are seven of them (what we call major chakras). You can consider them like a power station of sorts. They pull in "prana" (energy/food) from the surrounding universe, suck it in, transform it, and then "feed" not only our physical body to keep us healthy, but also feed our aura, which is composed of many fields. The chakras are deposited in our etheric body, the auric field that is closest to our physical body. They then extend out like the cone of an ice cream cone, through the front and back of us. The chakras on the front of us are

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fueled by desire. The one's in the back are our will. The major chakras are positioned over major endocrine glands in our body Each chakra has a symbolic area that it rules. Through stimulation, the opening and closing of this chakra, it draws in the energy to help us learn the lesson(s) we want to educate ourselves about this lifetime. Not all chakras are open. Usually, the lower three, the root, navel and solar plexus, are open. As a race, we are endeavoring to open the heart chakra (universal love and compassion for all things on Mother Earth). The other chakras, known as the upper ones, the throat, brow and crown, open and close as need be. No one has all seven chakras up and running; if you do, you are an ascended master! We may have all seven of them open and closing, however, all the time, depending upon what we've come into this body and time to learn. One important part is keeping these chakras clean. They get 'gunked up' with our emotions, our mental perspective, for starters. Or, we get off track on our spiritual path we wanted to take. Or, we get an injury to that particular part of the body When a chakra has debris in it (positive ions), is blocked or has been injured (spiritually, mentally, emotionally or physically), then cleaning it or them out, can help us process through the experience sooner rather than later. I'm of the mind of: why suffer more than we need to? We don't. I'd like to introduce the chakras. And also share what I call the 7-stone chakra meditation that I was taught many years ago, and use to this day when I'm feeling particularly "constipated" energetically in one of my chakras I use seven gemstones; a color that will denote or symbolize each chakra. Let me introduce the chakras, and then I'll put the meditation at the end of this article: 1st Chakra (Root): RED Organs: physical body support; base of spine; legs, bones, feet, rectum, and the immune system. Mental/Emotional Issues: Safety and security; ability to provide for life's necessities; ability to stand up for one-self; feeling at home (here on earth),

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and emotional support. Grounds a person; keeps them common sensed. Practical. Logical. Rational. If this chakra is damaged, the person is spacy, out-of-the-body, undisciplined, disorganized and unable to finish what they start. Physical Dysfunctions: Chronic lower back pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors/cancer, depression, and immune disorders. Gemstone: Red Jasper

2nd Chakra (Navel/Spleen): ORANGE Organs: Sexual organs, large intestine, lower vertebrae (lumbar/coccyx), pelvis, appendix, bladder, and hip area. Mental/Emotional Issues: blame and guilt, money and sex, power and control, creativity, ethics and honor in relationships. Victim attitude. Codependence. "Poor me" attitude. Physical Dysfunctions: Chronic lower back pain, sciatica, ob-gyn problems, pelvic/low back pain, sexual potency, and urinary problems. Gemstone: Carnelian 3rd Chakra (Solar Plexus): YELLOW Organs: Abdomen, stomach, upper intestines, liver, gall bladder, kidneys, pancreas, adrenal glands, spleen, and middle spine (thoracic vertebrae). Mental/Emotional Issues: Trust, fear and intimidation, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-respect, care of others, responsibility for making decisions, sensitivity to criticism, and personal honor. Panic attacks, anxiety attacks, and known or unknown fear, are symbolic of this chakra.

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Physical Dysfunctions: Arthritis, gastric or duodenal ulcers, pancreatitis/diabetes, indigestion, chronic or acute, anorexia or bulimia, liver dysfunction, hepatitis, and adrenal dysfunction. Gemstone: Amber (fossilized tree pitch) 4th Chakra (Heart): GREEN Organs: heart and circulatory system, lungs, shoulders and arms, ribs/breasts, diaphragm, and the thymus gland. Mental/Emotional Issues: love and hatred, resentment and bitterness, grief, self-centeredness, loneliness and commitment, forgiveness and compassion, hope and trust. Physical Dysfunctions: congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction (heart attack), mitral valve prolapse, cardiomegaly, asthma/allergy, lung cancer, bronchial pneumonia, upper back, shoulder and breast cancer. Gemstone: Green Quartz 5th Chakra (throat): BLUE Organs: throat, thyroid, trachea, neck vertebrae (cervical), mouth, teeth and gums, esophagus, parathyroid and hypothalamus. Mental/Emotional Issues: choice and strength of will, personal expression, following one's dream, using personal power to create, addiction, judgment and criticism, faith and knowledge, and the capacity to make decisions. The ability to speak up for one's self. To speak our personal truth, no matter what the cost to us. Faith. To believe without having to see it. Blind-faith-knowing. Physical Dysfunctions: raspy throat, chronic sore throats, mouth ulcers, gum difficulties, tempromandibular joint problems (TMJ), scoliosis,

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laryngitis, swollen glands and thyroid problems. Gemstone: Sodalite or Lapis Lazuli 6th Chakra (Brow): INDIGO/PURPLE Organs: Brain, nervous system, eyes, ears, nose, pineal gland, and the pituitary gland. Mental/Emotional Issues: Self-evaluation, truth, intellectual abilities, feelings of adequacy, openness to ideas of others, ability to learn from experiences and emotional intelligence. Our ability to perceive and see this reality. The ability to see the macrocosm vs. microcosm. The "big picture". Physical Dysfunctions: brain tumor/hemorrhage/stroke, neurological disturbances, blindness/deafness, full spinal difficulties, learning disabilities, and seizures. Gemstone: Charoite or Amethyst 7th Chakra (Crown): WHITE/GOLD Organs: Muscular system, skeletal system and skin. Mental/Emotional Issues: Ability to trust life, values, ethics and courage, humanitarianism, selflessness, ability to see larger pattern, faith and inspiration, spirituality and devotion. Physical Dysfunctions: paralysis, genetic disorders, bone cancer, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Gemstone: single terminated, small quartz crystal (may be 1" or 2" long....length doesn't matter).

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7-Chakra Gemstone Meditation 1. Always have your tumbled gemstones, with the exception of the single terminated quartz crystal, in their own bowl, abalone shell, cup or pouch. That way, you know where they all are, and none of them will get lost. 2. Choose a time and place where there are no interruptions. Shut the door. Tell your family you are not to be disturbed. Take the phone off the hook or shut off the ringer. 3. I use sage to 'smudge' myself (sage emits negative ions and cleanses the aura like a dust mop would dust a wood floor), and I also pass my stones, which I have in my hand, through the smoke. Or, I may set the stones out on the altar or table, and waft the sage smoke across them with a feather. 4. Wear loose, comfortable clothes. Keep your shoes off. Lay down on the floor or lay down on your bed. Or lay prone on your favorite chair that unfolds for you. 5. Place the RED stone just above where your legs are attached to your body, near your crotch. 6. Place the ORANGE stone on your abdomen (about 2-3 inches below your belly button). 7. Place the YELLOW stone over your stomach region (about 2-3 inches above your belly button). 8. Place the GREEN stone in the center of your chest where your heart rests.

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9. Place the BLUE stone in the middle of your throat. 10. Place the PURPLE stone in the center of your forehead, just above the root of your nose. 11. Place the single terminated quartz crystal, point TOWARD the center or top of your head. (You're lying down, so place the tip of it toward your head, about 1-2 inches away from your skull). 12. Close your eyes. Take three deep breaths in your nose and out your mouth. 13. Visualize silver tree roots wrapping gently around your ankles and going down through each foot into Mother Earth (about 100 to 200 feet). This grounds you. 14. Lay quietly for 20 minutes like this. If thoughts come into your head, let them come and go without any attachment. 15. When you're done, pick up the stones in REVERSE ORDER, starting with the quartz crystal, then the PURPLE stone, the BLUE stone, and so on. 16. Put your stone friends into a salt bath for 1 hour. This means placing them gently in a bowl of tepid water that has 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, sea salt in it. This cleanses them off. After an hour, pour off the salt water, wash them with fresh, tepid water, dry them off and put them back into your pouch. I do this meditation every day when I'm under a lot more stress than usual. It can take a headache away in 20 minutes; and that's pretty impressive. It can take pain away, at least for awhile,too. More than anything, it allows the stones, which are sitting over each major chakra, to absorb any positive ions or other debris, energetically speaking, so that

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your chakras are getting a minor "tune-up." If you will do this 2-3 times a week, for a month, you'll find you have more energy, your mind is clearer, sharper, more focused, and not as forgetful. It aids everyone. So, give it a try!

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Who is Baphomet? Part1

Baphomet is an enigmatic, goat-headed figure found in several instance in the history of occultism. From the Knights Templar of the Middle-Ages and the Freemasons of the 19th century to modern currents of occultism, Baphomet never fails to create controversy. But where does Baphomet originate from and, most importantly, what is the true meaning of this symbolic figure? This article looks at the origins of Baphomet, the esoteric meaning of Baphomet and its occurrence in popular culture.

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Throughout the history of Western occultism, the name of the mysterious Baphomet is often invoked. Although it became commonly know name in the twentieth century, mentions of Baphomet can be found in documents dating from as early as the 11th century. Today, the symbol is associated with anything relating to occultism, ritual magic, witchcraft, Satanism and esoterica. Baphomet often pops up in popular culture to identify anything occult. The most famous depiction of Baphomet is found in Eliphas Levis Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, a 1897 book that became a standard reference for modern occultism. What does this creature represent? What is the meaning of the symbols around it? Why is it so important in occultism? To answer some of these questions, we must first look at its origins. Well first look at the history of Baphomet and several examples of references to Baphomet in popular culture. Origins of the Name There are several theories concerning the origins of the name of Baphomet. The most common explanation claims that it is an Old French corruption of the name of Mohammed (which was Latin-ized to Mahomet) the Prophet of Islam. During the Crusades, the Knights Templar stayed for during extended periods of time in Middle-Eastern countries where they became acquainted with the teachings of Arabian mysticism. This contact with Eastern civilizations allowed them to bring back to Europe the basics of what would become western occultism, including Gnosticism, alchemy, Kabbalah and Hermetism. The Templars affinity with the Muslims led the Church to accuse them of the worship of an idol named Baphomet, so there are some plausible links between Baphomet and Mahomet. However, there are other theories concerning the origins of the name. Eliphas Levi, the French occultist who drew the famous depiction of Baphomet argued that the name had been derived from Kabbalistic coding: The name of the Templar Baphomet, which should be spelt kabalistically backwards, is composed of three abbreviations: Tem. ohp. AB., Templi

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omnium hominum pacts abbas, the father of the temple of peace of all men. Arkon Daraul, an author and teacher of Sufi tradition and magic argued that Baphomet came from the Arabic word Abu fihama(t), meaning The Father of Understanding. Dr. Hugh Schonfield, whose work on the Dead Sea Scrolls is well-known, developed one of the more interesting theories. Schonfield, who had studied a Jewish cipher called the Atbash cipher, which was used in translating some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, claimed that when one applied the cipher to the word Baphomet, it transposed into the Greek word Sophia, which means knowledge and is also synonymous with goddess. Possible Origins of the Figure The modern depiction of Baphomet appears to take its roots from several ancient sources, but primarily from pagan gods. Baphomet bears resemblances to gods all over the globe, including Egypt, Northern Europe and India. In fact, the mythologies of a great number of ancient civilizations include some kind of horned deity. In Jungian theory, Baphomet is a continuation of the horned-god archetype, as the concept of a deity bearing horns is universally present in individual psyches. Do Cernunnos, Pan, Hathor, the Devil (as depicted by Christianity) and Baphomet have a common origin? Some of their attributes are strikingly similar.

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The ancient Celtic god Cernunnos is traditionally depicted with antler horns on his head, sitting in lotus position, similar to Levis depiction of Baphomet. Although the history of Cernunnos is shrouded in mystery, he is usually said to be the god of fertility and nature.

In Britain, an aspect Cerennunos was named Herne. The horned god has the Satyr-like features of Baphomet along with its emphasis on the phallus.

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Pan was a prominent deity in Greece. The nature god was often depicted with horns on its head and the lower body of a goat. Not unlike Cerenunnos, Pan is a phallic deity. Its animalistic features are an embodiment of the carnal and procreative impulses of men.

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Pope Sylvester II and the Devil (1460). In Christianity, the devil has similar features to the pagan gods described above as they are the main inspiration for these depictions. The attributes embodied by these gods became the representation of what is considered evil by the Church.

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The Devil Card from the Tarot of Marseilles (15th century). This cards depiction of the devil, with its wings, horns, breasts and hand sign is undoubtedly a major influence in Levis depiction of Baphomet.

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Robin Good-Fellow (or Puck) is a mythological fairy said to be a personification of land spirits. Bearing several attributes of Baphomet and other deities, he is here shown on the cover of a 1629 book surrounded by witches.

Goyas 1821 painting Great He-Goat or Witches Sabbath. The painting

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depicts a coven of witches gathered around Satan, portrayed as a half-man, half-goat figure.

A Baphomet-like figure on the Notre-Dame-de-Paris Cathedral, which was originally built by the Knights Templar. Eliphas Levis Baphomet

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This depiction of Baphomet by Eliphas Levis from his book Dogmes et Rituels de la Haute Magie (Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic) became the official visual representation of Baphomet. In 1861, the French occultist Eliphas Levi included in his book Dogmes et Rituels de la Haute Magie (Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic) a drawing that would become the most famous depiction of Baphomet: a winged humanoid goat with a pair of breasts and a torch on its head between its horns. The figure bears numerous similarities to the deities described above. It also includes several other esoteric symbols relating to the esoteric concepts embodied by the Baphomet. In the preface of his book, Levi stated: The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of Hermeticism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyn of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The ugly beasts head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyn arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences. In Levis depiction, Baphomet embodies the culmination of the alchemical process the union of opposing forces to create Astral Light the basis of magic and, ultimately, enlightenment. A close look at the details of the image reveals that each symbol is inevitably balanced with its opposite. Baphomet himself is an androgynous character as

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it is bearing the characteristics of both sexes: female breasts and a rod representing the erect phallus. The concept of androgeniety is of a great importance in occult philosophy as it is representative the highest level of initiation in the quest of becoming one with God. Baphomets phallus is actually Hermes Caduceus a rod intertwined with two serpents. This ancient symbol is has been representing Hermetism for centuries. The Caduceus esoterically represents the activation of chakras, from the base of the spine to the pineal gland, using serpentine power (hence, the serpents) or Astral Light.

The Caduceus as symbol of chakra activation.

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The Science is a real one only for those who admit and understand the philosophy and the religion; and its process will succeed only for the Adept who has attained the sovereignty of will, and so become the King of the elementary world: for the grand agent of the operation of the Sun, is that force described in the Symbol of Hermes, of the table of emerald; it is the universal magical power; the spiritual, fiery, motive power; it is the Od, according to the Hebrews, and the Astral light, according to others. Therein is the secret fire, living and philosophical, of which all the Hermetic philosophers speak with the most mysterious reserve: the Universal Seed, the secret whereof they kept, and which they represented only under the figure of the Caduceus of Hermes. Baphomet is therefore symbolic of the alchemical Great Work where separate and opposing forces are united in perfect equilibrium to generate Astral Light. This alchemical process is represented on Levis image by the terms Solve and Coagula on Baphomets arms. While they accomplish opposite results, Solving (turning solid into liquid) and Coagulation (turning liquid into solid) are two necessary steps of the alchemical process which aims to turn stone into gold or, in esoteric terms, a profane man into an illuminated man. The two steps are on arms pointing in opposite directions, further emphasizing their opposite nature. Baphomets hands form the sign of Hermetism which is a visual representation of the Hermetic axiom As Above, So Below. This dictum sums up the whole of the teachings and the aims of Hermetism, where the microcosm (man) is as the macrocosm (the universe). Therefore, understanding one equals understanding the other. This Law of Correspondence originates from the Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus where it was stated: That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing. The mastery of this life force, the Astral Life, is what is called by modern occultists magick.

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The Magician tarot card displaying the Hermetic axiom As Above, So Below The practice of magic either white or black depends upon the ability of the adept to control the universal life force that which Eliphas Levi calls the great magical agent or the astral light. By the manipulation of this fluidic essence the phenomena of transcendentalism are produced. The famous hermaphroditic Goat of Mendes was a composite creature formulated to symbolize this astral light. It is identical with Baphomet the mystic pantheos of those disciples of ceremonial magic, the Templars, who probably obtained it from the Arabians. Each of Baphomets hands point towards opposing moons, which Levi calls the Chesed and the Geburah two opposing concepts taken from the Jewish Kabbalah. In the Kabalistic Tree of Life, the Sefirot, Chesed is associated with kindness given to others while Geburah refers to the restraint of ones urge to bestow goodness upon others, when the recipient of that good is judged to be unworthy and liable to misuse it. These two concepts are opposed and, as everything else in life, an equilibrium must be found between the two. The most recognizable feature of Baphomet is, of course, its goat head. This monstrous head represents mans animal and sinful nature, its egoistic tendencies and its basest instincts. Opposed to mans spiritual nature (symbolized by the divine light on its head), this animal side is regardless viewed as a necessary part of mans dualistic nature, where the animal and the

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spiritual must unite in harmony. It can also be argued that Baphomets grotesque overall appearance might serve to ward off and repel the profane who are uninitiated to the esoteric meaning of the symbol.

Angel's and Demon's in magick

By: Andrew

Let me start off with a (WARNING) this may be a bit controversial for many people with some of the ideas and philosophies I will be using and from my own personal experiences when working with Angel's and Demon's, so I ask that everyone just keep an open mind. As we are taught we are taught to have a good relationship with both angel's and demon's, but we are also taught to be more commanding and authoritative when dealing with demons, and to be more humble and respectful with the angel's. I find this practice to be one that is questionable and more of a thin line when dealing with both, because in truth we are dealing with angels, for the demons we work with are nothing but Fallen angel's. My personal opinion is for a beginner the way we are taught is the safest but not right either. This month I would like to cover just some of the examples of similarities and difference between the two and in the months to follow delve deeper into each and what mysteries we can unlock when using them.

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Lets us start with the angel's which are perceived to the force of good and should always be trusted , and never questioned. One should not command them but show respect to them always. Let us first remember that we have dominion over everything on earth and in heaven and that they are subject to our will's not the other way around! When dealing with angel's one needs to know their station's which generally is what makes up there qualities and attitudes, and one would do well to remember that Angel's see us as lesser beings and are very quick to point out our flaws and short comings in life. When first working with them this is going to happen regularly and they will test these limits fully and try to come off as superior and dominating. There are a few that don't and it also depends on the relationship you have with them and how much you have worked with them. Do Angels Lie and deceive? This is an on going debate and much can be said and shown to prove the case either way. The best lesson and argument to this is the Case of Dee & Kelly and their working with the angels and working with enochian magick where we do see a duality of them, and also the realization that within the enochian system there is an opposite to every angel and they are not classed as fallen Angels. Through the documentation that is available we can see how the Angel's used them and in many cases mislead them and that the Angel's were trying to bring about something entirely diffrent from what Kelly & Dee thought, even Kelly questioned some of their motives. In my own personal experiences I have had a few try to mislead and deceive for there own agendas which depending on the Angel, might not be in anyone's best interest. That is why one should always question what it is being taught and said, if it goes against what you feel is right, for they do have their own motives. In conclusion Angels can be very helpful and beneficial to our magical

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workings, they are a powerful force, but in many ways they are not much different from the demon's, just more colorful and crafty at how they do things, treat them with respect but never forget that you are in control and they are subject to you and have to obey.

Now a bit about Demons or better put Fallen Angels the so called forces of evil. Here one will ask; "why should I have a good relationship with demons?" the answer to that is actually simple, the better the relationship, the less aggravation you will have and believe it or not the more helpful they become. For after all they are not much different from the angels, because in the end it is this relationship that reflects the attitude they will have with you and how helpful they will be or how much they will test you in every aspect and push the boundaries, which could become life threatening. But this is not what I want to touch upon we all know the bad qualities and the dangers, what I want to touch on is something I have not ever heard anyone question or talk about. Will the Fallen Angels one day regain there previous stations in the hierarchy of angels? In my working with them I have come across this and it is in writing in many of the older text, and most of them will say and believe that one day they will regain their lost stations amongst the angels before their fall, if they are right then there is a very big flaw in the christian theory of salvation and eternal damnation, and even the way we have perceived them ourselves, which brings us back to the duality of things, are we so much dealing with a separate being or are we dealing with let's say Michael and his opposite persona Sameal being one in the same? Let me also state that not all demons believe this nor wish to have their stations back amongst the other Angel's but would rather bring death and destruction but then again don't we have angels who have the same job title?

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Another misconstrued view and belief is that demons only do evil and bad deeds, this is not the case and very untrue, they are much like the angels in this department and even easier to get them to do so, and as you build the relationship with them you will see this more. Let me state this and be very clear, without that relationship they are very malevolent and one better know what they are doing because they will harm you in ways that you don't want to even think about, as with the angels they have their own agenda and will test you in every way and push you to see how far they can get, but don't treat them with disrespect as so many do, but with respect and understanding you will find this to be more rewarding when dealing with both, because in the end of it all it is our intent and will that make them do what we want, and always be specific in your wordings, leave no question for error or doubt and that is where many fall victim to there own demise. This is why it is so important to know what their stations are and what they do. Another way to look at Angels and Demons is to look at it as if you were dealing with an ego, it will help you along the way with seeing past their lies and misguided truths and help you also see why they feel they are superior to us and that we have no right to order or command them. Treat them as you yourself would want to be treated but be in control when it is needed! Next month I will get into a bit of their stations and how we can use them in our magick work and to continue to touch a bit more on the similarities and difference between the two....

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10 Hardy Medicinal Herbs to Grow Posted by Christine *Admin* EMC by Joybilee Farm I homestead in a Northern climate, in Canada. While most of the people around me benefit from a moderate zone 5 climate, Im in a mountain valley at 2700 feet. I can get frost any day of the year, in zone 3. So I need to pick herbs that can withstand frost. Being in a rural area, I dont have a family doctor and so for illness and accident we have to be our own doctor. The emergency room is 30 minutes away. But any real emergency is airlifted to a real hospital about 2 hours from here, by car. Herbs help us stay healthy. We havent had a prescription in over 8 years and the only over-the-counter meds on hand are vitamins and veterinary medicines. Taking a pill isnt the same as using whole herbs. While pills are isolated active ingredients, herbs work in synergy with all the different parts of a plant adding to the holistic healing properties. So grow your own and learn to use them before a complaint gets serious. Of course, call your own doctor for

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serious complaints. This list isnt a substitute for expert medical opinion. But for a little bit of independence and self reliance check out this list and plan your garden accordingly. This is part 1 of a series of articles on Growing and using Herbal medicine. Part 2 10 Must Have Medicinal Herbs from your Grocery Store Part 3 Making Horehound cough drops and lozenges for your Homestead Medicine Chest 1. Oregano Oregano (origanum vulgare) is a perennial herb, common in the kitchen garden, and used to flavour sauces and soups. But it is also a potent immune booster. It is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. It works especially well on respiratory complaints, sinus congestion, coughs, and lung congestion. We use oregano oil, instead of antibiotics, with lambs with pneumonia, too. Oregano oil is Essential oil of oregano that has been diluted with a carrier oil. Strong oregano tea is also effective for colds, and flu symptoms. Oregano is also analgesic, anti-septic, diuretic, neurotonic, vasodilator. Thyme and marjoram may also be used in the same way. Thyme and marjoram are stronger than oregano. Oregano is a perennial herb, so once you get it established it will give you many years of use. There are several varieties. Wild Greek oregano is hardy to zone 5, but I grow it successfully at Joybilee Farm, with our ample winter snow. You can use it fresh or dried. For medicinal use brew a handful of leaves in a litre of water, let sit for 10 minutes, strain and drink throughout the day. To dry it, harvest it just before flowering, tie in bundles, and dry in a warm, airy place away from sunlight. Once it is dry, strip the leaves from the stalks, and store the leaves in glass jars in the dark. 2. Yarrow Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is an herb of the pasture and waste places, but there are garden varieties you can grow. All of the above ground parts of the

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plant are medicinal. It is diaphoretic, hypotensive, astringent, diuretic, antiseptic, anti-catarrhal, emmenagogue, hepatic, stimulant, and tonic. It is a perennial herb, so harvest it by cutting the plant, when in flower, just below the last set of leaves, dont pull it out by the roots. The white variety is hardy to zone 3, and is the most medicinally active. It grows wild around me. It has a strong medicinal smell. You can use it in tea, as you would oregano, but I prefer to make a tincture of it. To make a tincture, fill a glass jar with the herb. Pack it in tightly. Cover with vodka. Place in a sunny window and allow to steep for 2 weeks. The liquid will turn dark green. Strain and bottle. Keep in cool, dark place. To use pour 1 tsp. into a 1/2 glass of water and drink. 3. Balm of Gilead Balm of Gilead (populus gileadensis) is the sticky, red resin that exudes from the Spring buds of the Black Cottonwood tree. It is the perfume of Spring around me. It soothes, disinfects and astringes the mucous membranes. Balm of Gilead is an excellent remedy for sore throats, coughs, and laryngitis that is accompanied by loss of voice. It may be used in chronic bronchitis. Externally it can be used to ease inflammation due to rheumatism and arthritis, as well as for dry and scaly skin conditions such as psoriasis and dry eczema. The Complete illustrated Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman. Weve also used it successfully, along with St. Johns Wort to heal the pain from broken bones, after the bone has been set. As well as for back pain from strains, with the use of over the counter medicines. You harvest the buds from the tree anytime after leaf drop in the fall and before bud break in the Spring. Your fingers will get coated with the sticky resin, but if you find aspen trees growing nearby, just rub your fingers over the bark, and it acts like corn starch to keep your fingers from getting too sticky. Place the freshly harvested buds into a 1 litre glass jar, pour olive oil over the buds. Place in a sunny window and allow to steep for 2 weeks. The oil will turn a dark red.

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Balm of Gilead is anti-inflammatory, and analgesic. Mix with beeswax, coconut oil, and cocoa butter to make a salve for aching joints and inflammation. St. John's Wort blossoms in oil, ready to go into the sunny window to steep for 2 weeks. 4. St. Johns Wort St. Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is perennial and an herb of pastures and waste places. You can find it growing wild and it is hardy to zone 3. It prefers dappled sun and you may find it on the edges of woods and in clearings, or along paths. Harvest just the flowers when they open in late June or Early July. Its called St. Johns Wort because in Europe, where it is native, it opens on June 24th, St. John the Baptists saints day. You may have read about it being used as a treatment for depression. It is very effective against seasonal depression. But it is also useful as an analgesic, to heal nerve pain and accelerate nerve healing. It is anti-inflammatory and pain relieving. It is also sedative and helps with sleeplessness and nervous anxiety and reduces fever. There is some concern about sensitivity to sunlight for those taking St. Johns Wort and all the herbal literature warns against exposure to sunlight. But we have used this herb regularly for over a decade and find that we are less sensitive to sunlight, probably due to the strong antioxidant properties of using the whole herb. We harvest just the flower heads, leaving the plant to continue growing for next years harvest. It will spread from the roots. Put the flower heads in a glass jar and cover with olive oil, if you intend to use it for joint relief and in a salve. Cover it with vodka to use it internally in a tincture. Tincture does is 1 tsp. in a cup of water at bedtime. 5. Willow Willow (salix alba, s. triandra, s. viminallis) is from the same family as cottonwood and has analgesic (pain killing) and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also anti-pyretic, anti-speptic, astringent, and vulnerary. You

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use the bark of white willow and basket willow varieties, a waste product if you are stripping your branches for weaving baskets. The best time to strip the bark is in the spring when the sap rises and before leaf break. To use it, dry the bark. Use a handful of bark to 1 liter of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cool. Stain out the bark. Sweeten with honey and drink a cup for pain relief. 6. Mint Mint ( Mentha x piperita) is a perennial herb that grows prolifically. Put it in a place in your garden where it can be allowed to spread. Avoid putting several varieties of mint in the same garden bed. If you have several varieties, spread them away from each other, to keep the flavours distinct. My favourite mint is a very strong chocolate mint that moved with me from the coast. It is analgesic, and antibacterial. It dilates the nasal passages and this makes it a good adjunct for cold symptoms, like stuffy nose. It is also an appetite stimulant, and it helps with the digestion of fats. It is also cheering and elevates mood. The herb books describe its actions as: carminative, anti-spasmodic, aromatic, diaphoretic, anti-emetic, nervine, analgesic, anti-catarrhal, anti-microbial, emmanagogue, rubefacient, stimulant. (Hoffman, p. 113) Harvest the branches before flowering. It will continue to grow and you may get several harvests in a summer. Tie in bundles and dry in a warm, shaded spot. Strip the leaves from the stocks and store in glass jars, in a cool, dark room. To use brew 1 tsp. of leaves in a tea pot. Drink while tea is hot. 7. Wild Rose Wild roses (Rosa canina) grow profusely in my zone 3 area. I harvest the petals and the rose hips. Both are excellent for skin conditions. The rose hips provide a very good source of vitamin C in Northern areas. To use the petals, harvest in the early morning, while the dew is still on them. Place in a glass jar, cover with olive oil. Allow to steep in a sunny window for 2 week. Strain the oil. Add vitamin E to preserve it. Store in a glass jar in a cool, dark place. Use it as an addition to skin creams.

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The hips are nutritive, mildly diuretic, and a mild astringent. To harvest rose hips, wait until the leaves are gone from the rose bushes and the hips have had a frost. Harvest hips. Remove the seeds and the blossom end of the hips. At this point you can make rose hip jelly or rose hip syrup. Or you can dry them on a low heat, in your dehydrator, and use them as a tea during the winter. Rosehips are the best Northern source of vitamin C. 8. Skull Cap Skull cap is a perennial herb that grows near streams and creeks. It prefers wet ground. It is useful for calming, and helps with seisures, and nervousness. Skull Cap (Scutellaria laterifolia) is a nerve tonic, sedative, analgesic, hypnotic, and anti-spasmodic. To harvest it cut the above ground parts late in the flowering period. Dry it in bundles in a warm, airy place in the shade. Use the dry herb as a tea. 9. Chamomile Chamomile ( Chamaemelum nobile, Matricaria recutita) both Roman and German chamomiles are annual. Ox eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) also shares the properties of chamomile, so you have several choices to get the calming effects of this daisy-like herb. Chamomile and its cousins are anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anti-parasitic, calming, reduces fever, and is a diuretic. In babies it reduces the pain of teething, earache, and colic. Harvest the blossoms and dry them in the shade. Use it in tea. Left over tea can be used as a hair rinse for fair hair to accentuate blonde highlights. 10. Calendula Another daisy like flower that is a hardy annual. Begin the plants indoors from seed to extend the harvest. Allow some plants to set seed in mid summer to save your own seed. If you harvest the blossoms, the plants will continue to set new blossoms but you will delay seed setting. Although plants can

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withstand a light frost, if they dont set seed until Fall, you may get poor pollination after regular frosts set in. Grow Calendula (Calendula officinalis) for its blossoms that contain strong skin healing properties. Calendula is anti-inflammatory, astringent, vulnerary, anti-microbial, cholagogue, emmenagogue, and tonic. Harvest the blossoms between early summer and fall. and allow to macerate in olive oil for up to two weeks. Strain, add 1/4 tsp. vitamin E oil, and store in a cool, dark place. Add to your homemade hand lotions, and first aid creams.

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To Cherish
By; Andrew The way you smile, The way you laugh, The love that you give, Makes me cherish each day that I spend with you, For your beauty is radiant, And your eyes glisten with such passion, That draws me deeper into your embrace, That I cherish each & every moment that you hold my heart, Your voice is that of an Angel, Your words move every fiber of my being, To feel your lips softly touching mine, Is as a dream of pure bliss, that I cherish to thee end, The way you say I love you,

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With such emotion & meaning, That just touches my soul, & gives me new life, I would not wish to cherish anything else, For your love is all that I will ever need, And I will cherish that till the end of days!

THE YEARNING OF THE SOUL

By; Andrew A moon lit sky all filled with mystery & wonder, Oh how does the soul yearn to swim amongst the stars, shining ever so bright. With each passing second, I hear the soft whispers calling me to join them, To dance within there magnificence & glory, but alas my heart belongs to the moon & all her beauty & mystery. For one could not want more, than her cryptic embrace, For twilight soul am I, ever roaming within her magnificence. Shrouded by her cloak of darkness & illuminated by her brilliance, Her love & pain are mine to bare, but in the end I still must return, & walk once more with in a place were all is not so bright, oh how does my heart weep. To dance amongst the star for just a little while longer could not hurt. For there is no sorrow, or pain, just a distant dream full of love. Why deny such a moment as this, for they are far in between.

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And I must confess I do not wish to leave! But I must for my place is In between both worlds & always to yearn for that moment such as this!

A NITES SKY
By Andrew Look into the night sky and tell me what you see, Do you see the heavens light with such beauty and mystery, Mirrored in an endless sea of splendor, Just beckoning you to get lost in there illustrious embrace, Can you feel that desire burning in side you, As a kindling flame starts to grow, And passions start to ignite, As you fall deeper into there embrace, And your mind becomes at peace, As your heart starts to beat, To a pulse of inner desire that is so unbelievable, That you dare not release, For you know it's just a fleeting moment of what's yet to come, As you slowly drift away into a state of pure bliss, And you realize that you have become one with the Heavens, As your passion pulsates like a new born star, For now you have become one with the moon and stars So tell me what do you see when you look into the night sky, Do you see the one you love calling to you, For it is only your hearts desire that you will find in that endless sea of such beauty!

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Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas chapters III & IV

by Hamilton Wright Mabie

CHAPTER III ODIN'S SEARCH FOR WISDOM [24] THE wonderful ash-tree, Ygdrasil, made a far-spreading shade against the fierce heat of the sun in summer, and a stronghold against the piercing winds of winter. No man could remember when it had been young. Little children played under its branches, grew to be strong men and women, lived to be old and weary and feeble, and died; and yet the ash tree gave no signs of decay. Forever preserving its freshness and beauty, it was to live as long as there were men to look

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upon it, animals to feed under it, birds to flutter among its branches. This mighty ash-tree touched and bound all the worlds together in its [25] wonderful circle of life. One root it sent deep down into the sightless depths of Hel, where the dead lived; another it fastened firmly in Jotunheim, the dreary home of the giants; and with the third it grasped Midgard, the dwelling-place of men. Serpents and all kinds of worms gnawed continually at its roots, but were never able to destroy them. Its branches spread out over the whole earth, and the topmost boughs swayed in the clear air of Asgard itself, rustling against the Valhal, the home of the heroes who had done great deeds or died manfully in battle. At the foot of the tree sat the three Norns, wonderful spinners of fate, who weave the thread of every man's life, making it what they will; and a strange weaving it often was, cut off when the pattern was just beginning to show itself. [26] And every day these Norns sprinkled the tree with the water of life from the Urdar fountain, and so kept it forever green. In the topmost branches sat an eagle singing a strange song about the birth of the world, its decay and death. Under its branches browsed all manner of animals; among its leaves every kind of bird made its nest; by day the rainbow hung under it; at night the pale northern light flashed over it, and as the winds swept through its rustling branches, the multitudinous murmur of the leaves told strange stories of the past and of the future. The giants were older than the gods, and knew so much more of the past that the gods had to go to them for wisdom. After a time, however, the gods became wiser than the giants, or they would have ceased to [27] be gods, and been destroyed by the giants, instead of destroying them. When the world was still young, and there were still many things which even the gods had to learn, Odin was so anxious to become wise that he went to a deep well whose waters touched the roots of Ygdrasil itself. The keeper of the well was a very old and very wise giant, named Mimer, or Memory, and he gave no draughts out of the well until he was well paid; for the well contained the water of wisdom, and whoever drank of it became straightway wonderfully wise.

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"Give me a draught of this clear water, Mimer," said Odin, when he had reached the well, and was looking down into its clear, fathomless depths. Mimer, the keeper, was so old that [28] he could remember everything that had ever happened. His eyes were clear and calm as the stars, his face was noble and restful, and his long white beard flowed down to his waist. "This water is only to be had at a great price," he said in a wonderfully sweet, majestic tone. "I cannot give to all who ask, but only to those who are able and willing to give greatly in return," he continued. If Odin had been less of a god he would have thought longer and bargained sharper, but he was so godlike that he cared more to be wise and great than for anything else. "I will give you whatever you ask," he answered. Mimer thought a moment. "You must leave an eye," he said at last. Then he drew up a great draught of the sparkling water, and Odin [29] quenched his divine thirst and went away rejoicing, although he had left an eye behind. Even the gods could not be wise without struggle and toil and sacrifice. So Odin became the wisest in all the worlds, and there was no god or giant that could contend with him. There was one giant, however, who was called all-wise in Jotunheim, with whom many had contended in knowledge, with curious and difficult questions, and had always been silenced and killed, for then, as now, a man's life often depended on his wisdom. Of this giant, Vafthrudner, and his wisdom many wonderful stories were told, and even among the gods his fame was great. One day as Odin sat thinking of many strange

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things in the worlds, and many mysterious things in the future, he thought of [30] Vafthrudner. "I will go to Jotunheim and measure wisdom with Vafthrudner, the wisest of the giants," said he to Frigg, his wife, who was sitting by. Then Frigg remembered those who had gone to contend with the all-wise giant and had never come back, and a fear came over her that the same fate might befall Odin. "You are wisest in all the worlds, All-Father," she said; "why should you seek a treacherous giant who knows not half so much as you?" But Odin, who feared nothing, could not be persuaded to stay, and Frigg sadly said good-by as he passed out of Asgard on his journey to Jotunheim. His blue mantle set with stars and his golden helmet he left behind him, and as he journeyed swiftly those who met him saw nothing godlike in [31] him; nor did Vafthrudner when at last he stood at the giant's door. "I am a simple traveller, Gangraad by name," he said, as Vafthrudner came gruffly toward him. "I ask your hospitality and a chance to strive with you in wisdom." The giant laughed scornfully at the thought of a man coming to contend with him for mastery in knowledge. "You shall have all you want of it," he growled, "and if you cannot answer my questions you shall never go hence alive." He did not even ask Odin to sit down, but let him stand in the hall, despising him too much to show him courtesy. After a time he began to ask questions. "Tell me, if you can, O wise Gangraad, the name of the river which divides Asgard from Jotunheim." [32] "The river Ifing, which never freezes over," answered Odin quickly, as if it were the easiest question in the world; and indeed it was to him, although no man could have answered it. Vafthrudner

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looked up in great surprise when he heard the reply. "Good," he said, "you have answered rightly. Tell me, now, the names of the horses that carry day and night across the sky." Before the words were fairly spoken Odin replied, "Skinfaxe and Hrimfaxe." The giant could not conceal his surprise that a man should know these things. "Once more," he said quickly, as if he were risking everything on one question; "tell me the name of the plain where the Last Battle will be fought." This was a terrible question, for the [33] Last Battle was still far off in the future, and only the gods and the greatest of the giants knew where and when it would come. Odin bowed his head when he heard the words, for to be ready for that battle was the divine work of his life, and then said, slowly and solemnly, "On the plain of Vigrid, which is one hundred miles on each side." Vafthrudner rose trembling from his seat. He knew now that Gangraad was some great one in disguise, and that his own life hung on the answers he himself would soon be forced to make. "Sit here beside me," he said, "for, whoever you are, worthier antagonist has never entered these walls." Then they sat down together in the rude stone hall, the mightiest of the gods and the wisest of the giants, and [34] the great contest in wisdom, with a life hanging in either scale, went on between them. Wonderful secrets of the time when no man was and the time when no man will be, those silent walls listened to as Vafthrudner asked Odin one deep question after another, the answer coming swiftly and surely. After a time the giant could ask no more, for he had exhausted

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his wisdom. "It is my turn now," said Odin, and one after another he drew out from Vafthrudner the events of the past, then the wonderful things of the race of giants, and finally he began to question him of that dim, mysterious future whose secrets only the gods know; and as he touched these wonderful things Odin's eyes began to flash, and his form began to grow larger and nobler until he seemed no longer the humble Gangraad, but the mighty god [35] he was, and Vafthrudner trembled as he felt the coming doom nearing him with every question. So hours went by, until at last Odin paused in his swift questioning, stooped down and asked the giant, "What did Odin whisper in the ear of Balder as he ascended the funeral pile?" Only Odin himself could answer this question, and Vafthrudner replied humbly and with awe, "Who but thyself, All-father, knoweth the words thou didst say to thy son in the days of old? I have brought my doom upon myself, for in my ignorance I have contended with wisdom itself. Thou art ever the wisest of all." So Odin conquered, and Wisdom was victorious, as she always has been even when she has contended with giants.

CHAPTER IV HOW ODIN BROUGHT THE MEAD TO ASGARD [36] BESIDES the gods who lived in Asgard and ruled over Midgard, the world of men, there were the Vans, who ruled the seas and the air.

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The greatest of these was Njord, who kept the winds in the hollow of his hand and vexed the seas with storms or spread over them the peace of a great calm. His son Frey sent rain and sunshine upon the earth and cared for the harvests, while his daughter Freyja was so full of love that she made the whole world beautiful with tenderness, and filled the hearts of men with the sweetest joys they ever knew. [37] It happened almost at the beginning that the gods and the Vans went to war with each other, and long and fierce was the struggle between them. When peace was made at last, Njord, Frey, and Freyja found homes for themselves in Asgard, and henceforth they were all as one family. While the council at which peace was made was being held, a great jar stood in the open space between the two parties, and when the meeting was over the gods were so glad to be rid of the troublesome war that they resolved to create something that should always remind them of the council. So they took the great jar and out of it they moulded the form of a man, and called him Kvaser. Kvaser was grown up when he was born, and a wonderful man he was [38] too. In all the world there was nobody so wise as he; ask him any question, and he could answer it. He knew how the gods lived, how the world was made, and what sort of places heaven and hell were. Kvaser was good, too, as all really wise men are. He was a great traveller, always going from place to place, and always welcome, because wherever he went he made men wiser and better. People sometimes think poets rather useless sort of men; but that was not the opinion of the gods, for when they made the first poet they made the very best man they could think of. But poets cannot keep out of trouble any easier than other men, and sometimes not half so well. One night as Kvaser was travelling along through one of those deep [39] valleys that run down to the sea in that country, he came to the house of two dwarfs with very queer names, Galar and Fjalar. They were not only little in

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size, but small and mean in nature, and like all other people of little nature, they were very envious and cruel, and they hated Kvaser because he was so much nobler than they. Galar had a dark, ugly face, which looked still uglier when he saw Kvaser coming towards the house. "Fjalar! Fjalar!" he called out, "here comes the wise man who always talks in rhymes, and thinks he knows so much more than anybody else." And when Fjalar saw the poet walking across the fields, a black shadow came over his face like a thunder-cloud. "Galar," he whis- [40] pered, looking around to see that nobody could hear, "we've got him alone; let's kill him, and see how much good his wisdom will do him." Meanwhile Kvaser was slowly approaching the house, and the sea, as it dashed against the rocks, was making a song in his mind. If you had heard him sing it, you would have heard the voices of the waves as they toss their white caps and chase each other foaming and roaring and tumbling on the beach. When Kvaser came up to the dwarfs they pretended to be very glad to see him, and told him he was the one person above all others they had wanted to see, because they had a question they had been waiting a long time to ask him. Kvaser was so noble himself that he never thought evil of any one, and when they asked him to [41] go with them into a very dark and lonely part of the valley, so that nobody could hear their talk, he had no suspicion that they meant any harm; but no sooner had they come to the place than they struck him down from behind. Having killed him, they caught his blood in two jars and a kettle, and mixed it with honey, and so the wonderful mead as made. It took not only sweetness but life to make true poetry. Not long after this Galar and Fjalar killed a giant named Gilling, and were punished for it too; for the giant's son, Suttung, when he discovered how his father had been put to death, took the dwarfs out to sea and put them on a little rocky island where they would

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certainly be drowned when the tide came in, and rowed off to leave them; but the rascals begged [42] so hard to be taken off, he finally promised to let them live if they would give him the mead. Then Suttung took the mead home and put it in his cellar, and told his daughter Gunlad to watch it day and night, for he knew what a precious drink it was. So the mead passed out of the dwarfs' hands into the keeping of a giant. Now the gods were very fond of Kvaser, and when a long time had passed without any word from him, they asked Galar and Fjalar if they knew anything about him, and the dwarfs said he had been choked by his own wisdom; but Odin knew that this was a false story. He kept his own counsel, and said nothing about what he was going to do, but one day the gods missed him, and knew he had gone on one of his long journeys. [43] As he walked along nobody took him for a god; he looked like a very handsome labourer, and in fact that is what he really was. He had pretty much the whole world in his charge, and he had to work very hard to keep it in any kind of order. Words could hardly describe the beautiful country in which Odin took his way,its deep, quiet green valleys, with the sparkling cold streams rushing through them; its steep mountains, crowned with fir and pine; its great crags standing out into the sea; and its fjords breaking the coast into numberless bays. Odin enjoyed it all, for the gods love beauty, but he was thinking all the time how he should get the mead out of the giant's cellar. He knew perfectly well that Suttung would never give it up willingly, and that he must get it either by force or by [44] stratagem. Suttung was very strong, and the cellar was cut out of the solid rock; and the more Odin thought about it the harder it seemed to him. If he had been a man he would have given up, but that was not his way; besides, he had loved Kvaser, and the mead was his blood, and he meant to bring it to heaven. Now Suttung had a brother named Bauge, who was a farmer, and one afternoon, as his nine thralls were mowing in the fields, they saw a stranger coming towards them. It was a very uncommon thing to see a stranger in that out-of-the-way place, and the men all

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stopped work to watch him. He was a farm labourer like themselves, but he was very large in stature, and had a very noble face and manner. "A fine meadow of grass," he said [45] in a deep musical voice as he joined them, "but you find it hard work; your scythes are dull." They certainly did look tired and overworked. "Hand me your scythes and I will whet them for you," continued the stranger. The thralls were very glad to have anybody do that for them, so they gave him their scythes without saying a word. In a moment the valley rang with the quick strokes of the stone on the hard metal, and the sparks flew in showers around them. The men had never seen such a whetting of scythes before, and their astonishment grew greater still when they found that the grass seemed to fall like magic before them. The mowing, which had been so hard, was now the easiest thing in the world. [46] "Sell us the whetstone," they shouted, crowding around the stranger. "Well," said he very coolly, "I will sell it, but I must have a good price for it." Then each demanded it for himself, and while they were quarrelling as to which should have it, the stranger threw it high into the air, and bade them fight for it, which they did so fiercely that each slew his fellow with his scythe, and the stranger was left alone in the field. He threw the whetstone away, walked off, and as the sun was going down, came to the giant's house and asked if he might stay all night. Bauge was willing, as people were in those days, to give supper and a bed to the stranger, and asked him in. After supper they talked together, and Bauge told the stranger that his [47] nine thralls had been fighting in the field and had killed each other, and that he was in great trouble because he did not know

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where to get men to do his work. "I'll do it," said the stranger. "Yes," said Bauge, "but you are only one. "That is true," he answered, "but try me and I'll do the work of all nine." Bauge looked as if he didn't believe it, but it was one good man gained, at least, and that was something. "What shall I pay you?" continued Bauge, determined to finish the bargain before the man had time to change his mind. The stranger thought a few moments as if he were uncertain what pay he wanted. "I'll do the work," he said slowly, [48] at last, "if you will give me a drink of the mead in your brother's cellar." Bauge was very much surprised; he could not understand how the man knew anything about the mead. He was very sure, however, that Suttung would not give him a drop of it, and he thought it was a good chance to get his work done for nothing. "Well," said he, "I can't promise you that, for Suttung takes precious good care of the mead, but I will do what I can to help you get it." So the bargain was made, and the next morning the stranger was at work; and all summer, early and late, he was in the fields doing the work of nine men. Bauge often wondered what kind of a man his new farm-hand was; but so long as the work was done he cared for nothing more, and he asked no ques- [49] tions. The stranger once said his name was Bolverk, and that was all he ever said about himself. The months went by, winter came, the work was all done, and Bolverk demanded his pay. "We'll go and ask my brother for it," said Bauge; so they both went to Suttung. Bauge told his brother the bargain he had made with his workman, and asked for a little of the mead.

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"No" said Suttung very crossly, looking suspiciously at Bolverk; "it's no bargain of mine, and not a drop shall you have." Bolverk seemed not at all surprised at his ill fortune, and Bauge thought that he had gotten his work done for nothing; but after they had gone a little way together and were hidden from the house by the trees, [50] Bolverk drew out an auger from under his clothing. "Bauge," said he, "you promised to help me get that mead. I am going into Suttung's cellar for it." Bauge smiled at the idea of cutting through a thick rock and getting into the cellar with that auger, but when it was handed to him he took it without saying a word and began to bore. It was an astonishing auger, for no sooner had he pressed it against the rock than it began to fly around with wonderful rapidity, the chips of stone fairly making a cloud about him. Once he stopped, for he was afraid he really would get into the cellar, and told Bolverk he had bored through, but Bolverk knew that couldn't be true, because the chips still flew out, so he told Bauge to go on. In a little time the au[51] ger slipped through. Bauge looked around, but there was no Bolverk, and while he stared in every direction a large worm crept up the rock and into the hole. When Bauge caught sight of it he thrust the auger hastily into the hole, but Bolverk's voice answered back from the cellar, "Too late, Bauge; you needn't bore any longer." Then Bauge suspected that a man who had done the work of nine men summer, and suddenly changed himself into a worm, must be somebody more than common. Bolverk was actually in Suttung's house, but how was he to get out again with the mead? Gunlad, the young lady who had been charged by her father to watch the precious drink day and night, was sitting quietly beside it, when she [52] was suddenly surprised, and not a little frightened, by the apparition of a young and beautiful man standing before her.

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What the handsome young man said to her nobody knows, but he probably told her he was very much exhausted, and hinted that she was very lovely; that he had never seen any one he admired so much before. At any rate, he persuaded her to let him drink three draughts of the mead, only three. They were certainly the most astonishing draughts anybody ever heard of, for with the first he emptied one jar, with the second he emptied the other jar, and with the third he finished the kettle. And now another wonderful change took place. Bolverk had entered as a worm, but no sooner had he drunk the mead than in an instant he be- [53] came an eagle, and before Gunlad knew what had happened, with splendid wings outspread he was rising upward in broad, easy flight. Through the still air, faster and faster, higher and higher, in wide circles that swept far round the summits of the mountains, in swift majestic flight he rose until the earth had vanished out of sight, and his mighty pinions beat against the gates of Asgard.

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Rising upward in broad easy

flight

So Odin brought the mead to heaven, where it remains to this day, and only those whom the gods love are permitted to drink of it.

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ALS Awareness

The aim of ALS awareness month is to raise awareness about ALS, gather support for those affected by this condition and to encourage funding and research into a treatment or cure. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a devastating progressive neuro-degenerative disease which destroys the ability to walk, speak, eat and breathe. ALS was first recognized as a disease in 1869, by Jean-Martin Charcot, a French Neurologist. However, ALS is sometimes referred as Lou Gehrig's disease; named after Lou Gehrig, a famous baseball first basemen, whose career was stopped in 1939 when he developed ALS at the age of 36. At that time, ALS was given widespread public attention due to the high profile of this baseball player.

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Raising Awareness About The Effects Of ALS ALS affects the body by attacking motor neurons (nerve cells) of the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons are cells which process and transmit signals which help to control muscles. Destruction of motor neuron cells leads to symptoms related to loss of muscle control. Typical symptoms of ALS include inability to walk, speak, eat and even breathe. As ALS is a progressive disease, more motor neurons are destroyed overtime worsening the symptoms. Difficulty breathing and swallowing are later symptoms; paralysis can also develop. After the onset of this disease, fatality usually occurs within 2-5 years. ALS Awareness Month Details Coverage Month Duration Date Days To Event Organization How Is Date Set? United States May 1 Month May 2012 Event Starts Tomorrow ALS Association Fixed: Same Month Each Year

Healthy People In Their Prime Can Also Get ALS ALS typically affects people over the age of 40, including those who were previously enjoyed excellent health in the prime of their lives. Whilst ALS affects a minority of the population (in the US about 30,000 people have this condition), ALS is indiscriminate in the types of people who will be affected by it. Famous people who had ALS include NBA player George Yardley, Senator Jacob Javits and former vice president of the US, Henry Wallace.

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ALS can be devastating to both the person and to their friends and family. At present there is no known treatment or cure for ALS. If a cure or greater understanding of ALS is achieved, then it is likely that this will benefit research into related conditions like Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease. There could be a similar underlying neurodegenerative condition in each of them.

'Walk To Defeat ALS' Helps Raise Awareness & Support For People With

ALS Supporting ALS Awareness Month Several organizations which represent people with neurodegenerative diseases back ALS Awareness Month to support those with this condition and to raise funds for research into a cure. These include the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the ALS Association who host seminars and other activities throughout the United States, during May. To coincide with this awareness month, the ALS Association have in more recent years run a campaign, 'ALS Across America'. Established in 2008, 'ALS Across America' aims to raise awareness about ALS by sharing with the media and public the experience people throughout the United States have with ALS. When we become aware of the plight of people with this serious disease, we are more likely to support them and the related organizations which work to find a cure.

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What are they not Telling US???

With the way things are going around the world one might think the predictions for 2012 may not be that far off. As we start the month of May we have come to see and find that April was one of the worst months ever when it came to natural disasters that have left the top scientist's at a lose to what is happening. April had over 13 major earthquakes with in the 1st two weeks which hasn't every been seen or recorded before on such a scale leading them to believe it is only the beginning of things to come. April also became the deadliest month ever for sever weather, to the point here in the US we have seen storms on such magnitude that has never been seen before, and it seems the climate is in a constant flux with parts of the US feeling like winter or fall and other places like summer, with place getting snow at the of April while others are getting tornados and powerful thunderstorms. The only thing that has been said is that the do not know why this is happening nor do they believe it will get better, some fear it will get much worse, and so far this year has seen record's broken and seen what one could say is a very clear warning that things aren't going to get any better.

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So many people this month have lost their homes do to the weather and have lost loved ones, as we sit in a day of age where most of these people will not be able to rebuild and may become homeless, for some of the areas hit have been the areas where job unemployment rate is at record highs, and our government would rather spend the money needed on there own pockets and focus on laws that infringe on our very rights & liberties, makes one wonder which has been worse here of late the weather or our very corrupt government. For we have so many people here that need help rebuilding and help getting back on there feet, and my heart truly goes out to all those families. With this beginning an election year I would rather be hearing about what they are going to do for all of these people and not what keep talking about and thus far that has been nothing but lies and broken promises, because right now our family and friends are what need attention, we need job's back, and government aid for all the families to help rebuild, for we don't need to add to our growing homeless rate but we need to reduce it, and that is not the peoples fault, it's our governments fault and greedy corporations. What aren't they telling us??? well it's more like what hey are telling us and showing us and that is we as americans no longer have rights, nor freedom, and that if you are middle class or poor then you have nothing to look forward to and that in all honesty you are not american's but rather slaves with no value. I think all one has to do is look at what is going on all around the world listen to what the earth is saying and showing us and that truly say's it all, but that does not mean the end of things for we can change, it just means we all need to wake up and start changing the things we do and how we look at things, and that we need to speak up and make our voice heard and that we are not some sheep or cattle before the slaughter but living intelligent beings that just want a better future for our families......

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Its the end of the world as we know it, and we dont feel fine.

Amidst the maelstrom of controversy surrounding his comments at the 2011 Cannes Festival, it was easy to forget that Lars Von Trier had actually made a movie. Whether you think that then Danish director should have his mouth forcibly sewn shut or not, its hard to deny Von Triers status as one of the worlds most interesting filmmakers. On the surface, Melancholia is meant to be Von Triers stab at a sci-fi film (in his quest to make at least one film in every popular genre). But, whilst there are one or two nods towards the conventions of the genre, the film is better viewed as an

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examination of the corrosiveness of familial relationships and a treatise on the effects of depression. > After a stunning and oblique credits sequence/prologue in which the end of the world is rendered to a disconcerting and dreamlike effect, we move to the story of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) who is celebrating her wedding to the benignly dutiful Michael (Alexander Skarsgrd). With friends and family including her acid tounged mother (Charlotte Rampling, who is brilliantly cold) and her louche father (John Hurt) Justine tries to enjoy the occasion. However Justines struggle with depression consistently looms and she seems incapable of preventing herself from sabotaging the occasion and alienating those who care for her. As her long suffering sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) attempts to salvage the wedding reception, it seems that Justine will let everything fall apart. But when Justine discovers something in the sky, there seem to be bigger problems to deal with. Fast forward and Justine in the midst of a crippling depressive episode goes to visit Claire a nd family. > Whilst they try and deal with Justine, a planet called Melancholia is due to fly past the Earth. But there is no way it will collide. Is there? From the outset the film sets its stall in the operatic and melodramatic. From the aforementioned opening sequence to the use of Wagners Tristan & Isolde, theres no denying of the moments of epicness in the film (so much so that Von Trier has labelled his own film vulgar). Yet its also balanced by an affecting intimacy partly achieved by the urgent camerawork and improvised feel but also by the juxtaposition between the enormity of universal happenings and the seeming insignificance of everyday human existence. Certainly, whilst the depression metaphor is somewhat laboured (its a blue planet called Melancholia: DO YOU SEE?!), theres no doubt that the film is an often painful insight into the nature of the illness. Inspired by Von Triers own crippling bouts of depression, the film is one of the diseases asp ects writ large. As depression can often make everything feel pointless and insignificant, Melancholia proves that it is: the upcoming end of the world renders human existence a mere triviality. Yet, despite its inherent bleakness, theres still a certain hope inherent in proceedings with human stoicism in the face of the inevitable end shown as

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something of a virtue (albeit a virtue brought about naivety). > The performances are superb with Dunst deserving the accolades shes received as she gives a raw, exposed and unafraid performance. Justine is often completely unlikable as she spits venom at those closest to her yet theres still an identifiable sympathy and vulnerability to her. Gainsbourg also deserves as much of the praise as she is a wonderful foil for Dunst. As Claire, she straddles the line between caring and angry as she attempts to care for her sister. Her increasing mania as the end of the world seems more certain is painfully and powerfully rendered and shes very much the emotional heart of the film. There are also plenty of fine supporting roles, including the aforementioned Rampling and Udo Kier who for his hand alone deserves some sort of award. > Whilst the film constantly threatens to tip into the realms of the pretentious and melodramatic, there is something tangibly real and human here that prevents it from doing so. Indeed, for all his bluff and bluster, Von Trier is often remarkably adept at examining the human condition and Melancholia is no exception. The (http://www.sabotagetimes.com/life/if-the-mayans-are-right-im-going-to-tak e-up-heroin/) end of the world may not come soon enough for some. But whilst we wait, Melancholia will prepare us well.

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Chicken-Prosciutto Bundles

Ingredients 4 Tyson Grilled & Ready Fully Cooked Grilled Breast Fillets, thawed 8 leaves fresh basil 4 slices mozzarella cheese, 1/4 inch thick 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper

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 8 slices prosciutto 1 tablespoon olive oil Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place chicken on cutting board. Holding sharp knife horizontal to board, cut a 3-inch deep pocket lengthwise in the thick side of each breast. 2. Place 2 basil leaves on each slice of mozzarella, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stuff each breast pocket with a cheese bundle. Wrap 2 slices prosciutto around each breast, anchoring with toothpicks. 3. Heat oil in large oven-proof nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer chicken in skillet to oven; bake 12 minutes or until done (internal temp 170 degrees F). Nutritional Information Chicken-Prosciutto Bundles Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving Calories: 318 Total Fat: 18.5g Cholesterol: 103mg Sodium: 1105mg Total Carbs: 1.9g Dietary Fiber: 0.1g Protein: 36.4g

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Beer Lime Grilled Chicken

Ingredients 1 lime, juiced 1 (12 fluid ounce) can light colored beer 1 teaspoon honey 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro Salt and pepper 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves Directions 1. In a bowl, mix the lime juice, beer, honey, garlic, cilantro, and salt and pepper until the honey dissolves. Pour the mixture over the chicken, cover and marinate for 30 minutes. 2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil grate. 3. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess; discard remaining marinade. Grill chicken until tender and juices run clear, about 7 minutes per side.

Nutritional Information Beer Lime Grilled Chicken Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving Calories: 182 Total Fat: 2.9g

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Cholesterol: 67mg Sodium: 160mg Total Carbs: 7g Dietary Fiber: 0.5g Protein: 25.2g

Easy Peach Cobbler

Ingredients 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup milk 1 (15 ounce) can peaches Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a one-quart baking dish or 9 inch square pan, cream together sugar and butter. Mix in flour and milk until smooth. Pour peaches and their juice over the top. 3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

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Nutritional Information Easy Peach Cobbler Servings Per Recipe: 6 Amount Per Serving Calories: 390 Total Fat: 16.4g Cholesterol: 44mg Sodium: 393mg Total Carbs: 58.8g Dietary Fiber: 1.5g Protein: 4g

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Featured Articles

The Nature of Magic

by Persephone It is pretty amazing how our nature teaches us to live a successful life. But most of us act as if we can't hear what it has been preaching. Let's take a look at plants. A Plant might be standing "alone" without a friend to visit or a doctor to cure when sick but is not lonely yet self dependent. It takes care of itself. It never complained and it still gives fruit and shade. It could be hot or cold but a plant stands still. It keep growing .... . Maybe this example might seem unreal, let's take a look at infants. Have you ever seen infants learning how to walk, what do they do after falling many times?..........you bet they get backup. Infants never give up when they fall, they keep trying, they are controlled by

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what is inside (their ambition or intuition) rather that the outside world. It does not matter what is happening to their surroundings, but what is happening inside their mind. Take action I can't stress this enough! If you just sit around and fill sorry for what has happened you will keep getting worse for the reasons described above.The world we live has no mercy for people who feel sorry for themselves. Just like an infant who does not care what is happening or who is watching, just do it. The Nature of Magic: an anthropology of consciousness by Dr. Susan Greenwood Questions, questions, questions I wrote The Nature of Magic to answer some questions that I wanted answering (those of you who know me know I'm one for asking questions!). I was one of those awful children that were always asking questions. I remember saying to an RE teacher at school, who had just carefully explained that God made the world, 'Well, if God made the world, who made God'. She gave me an exasperated look and just told me not to ask stupid questions. On another occasion, when I was much younger (about 5), I asked a question of my primary school teacher. I can't remember what the question was but I do remember the answer: it was 'Susan, are you up the pole?' It would be very romantic to interpret this as her seeing some sort of shamanic vocation in my eager, young face - that her response referred to a sign of a shamanic cosmological central axis - but unfortunately I think she just wanted to shut me up. Probably just as well! So as a celebration I'm going to Start this talk with a question. - this is my own question but it's one that anthropologist, biologist and psychologist Gregory Bateson would understand: What links boggart (nature spirit) stories, a ghostly cavalcade led by a

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goddess or god, cyborgs, and Covent Garden? We'll come back to that question or rather we'll go on a roundabout tour, using other questions and looking at problems, by way of answering it. I'm going to talk about magical consciousness, the main theme of The Nature of Magic What is Magical consciousness? I probably don't have to explain too much about what magical consciousness is to this audience. Perhaps it's something that many of us think we know about but when we sit down and try and explain it - perhaps the words don't come. It's something that's difficult to put into words; concerns what 19th century psychologist William James called 'the ineffable'. - magical consciousness is difficult to describe - it's an experience, maybe of a spiritual feeling of connection - seeing a sunset over the sea, the moon (full moon tonight) being in love or emotionally engaged; Mystery, of profound connection, spiritual insight, deep understanding, communion with other beings or Being, a feeling of expansion, being in touch with something greater, loss of ego-self. the list continues. Magical consciousness is developed through magical practice - which might involve meditation, rituals, or going on a vision quest, amongst a hundred other examples - you all know what I mean. 'Magic' and 'consciousness' are both difficult terms academically: a) Magic has meant different things at different times - during the Renaissance it was considered to be a way of contacting God; later during the Reformation is came to be seen as false religion; it has been seen by some as a form of pre-science (before we really knew what was going on). Not going to talk more about that here - like teaching Grandmother how to suck eggs There's a prejudice against magic in the social sciences - seen as irrational, superstition; okay in small-scale, non-western, tribal peoples but not in educated westerners; certainly not in academia - it's not taken seriously. Magic isn't examined on its own terms - its reduced to sociological, cultural,

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or psychological explanations. b) Consciousness can't be pinned down or measured - it's ambiguous. Science doesn't deal well with ambiguity. Reduces explanations for consciousness to the individual human brain, in many cases; it was left to philosophy to explain. Is consciousness located solely within the human brain or the human mind, or is it something wider - does it expand outwards in nature; do other beings experience consciousness as part of a wider universe? This is the view being developed by those interested in what's called 'the new physics' - Bohm, Capra and others. My answer to this question is 'yes' - consciousness is wider than the individual human mind, wider than the human brain; here we can go back to Gregory Bateson (Mind and Nature: a necessary unity) who said that mind is in nature: not only in the head (we are nature) but also out there in our environment; and we share minds with trees and sea-anemones (for example) through stories. Stories create links between personal mind and the wider consciousness or consciousness. So, our brains are not the originators of consciousness but merely the transmitters of it (a view taken by transpersonal psychologist Stanilav Grof - see his book The Holotropic Mind). And if you don't believe that it doesn't matter - just suspend disbelief and imagine that it's true (we're talking about worldviews here not absolute truths) so we can explore magical consciousness. So what is 'magical consciousness'? Magical consciousness, as I've defined it: - above all it's an experience - an aspect, dimension, strand of consciousness that allows for creative participation - through the imagination - between human beings and spirit of deities, ancestors, and all manner of other-than-human people - from hedgehogs to prawns.

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Magical consciousness works through connections. How? Through seeing things in terms of patterns of communication (and this is an important clue to the question I asked at the beginning). If we see 'consciousness' as something wider than just our own minds; as something that enables us to connect with other beings through our imaginations - there are no limits: we can change shape, shape-shift, with all manner of beings - and thereby gain knowledge. We can experience what it's like to be an owl, for example. We can feel what it's like to have feathers and to feel the air moving through our feathers when we fly. Magical consciousness is a source of knowledge that has been devalued and trivialized in Western societies. Connections are made through our personal minds linking with other minds in a wider consciousness or consciousnesses. - through participation, an ancient concept in philosophy which means that things 'take part' in something bigger The term was developed by philosopher Lucien Levy-Bruhl to refer to mystical thinking - a unity of thinking that made associations between things based on the idea that energy suffuses everything. Levy-Bruhl initially said that this was how non-western peoples thought. This started something of an aggravated debate in anthropology in the early 20th century with various celebrated anthropologists claiming that Levy-Bruhl made native peoples more mystical than they really were. Levy-Bruhl then modified his position but what he said about participation still remains relevant. Anthropologist Stanley Tambiah developed Levy-Bruhl's notion of participation to argue that people everywhere have two co-existing orientations to the world: 1. causality (logical thinking: abstract, separated, focused) 2. participation (analogical, holistic thinking: works with patterns and connection, though myths, ritual, and symbols) - basis of magical consciousness. Causality and participation do not form a dualism but rather an 'entwining' -

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we use both, probably slipping in and out of each with ease without really realizing. We're looking at magical consciousnesss so we're interested in participation rather than causality. How to examine participation? Lots of examples in the book, but I'll talk about one: The trance-dance of Gordon the Toad It's hard to write about this kind of experience because writing is the wrong code (in Bateson's terminology) of expression. The written language, and the spoken language are the wrong codes for expression - it's incommunicable in words. What is the message of the dance? Bateson would say that it's about communication. The dance is a participatory communication between shaman and spirits whereby Gordon invokes the spirits he works with; he moves over and lets them in and in the process both Gordon and the spirits are set free (Gordon's words). Gordon says that he feels a world that thinks and its presence humbles him and sets him free'. - he is 'bringing through' and giving corporeal expression to the non-corporeal. The dance is an expression of magical consciousness; an experience. And this is why it is so difficult to write about. - but the communication with spirits enable Gordon to do the work that he does in environmental education; it enables him to be a shaman in a practical sense as performing a social role. I'm going to backtrack a bit here: How did I come to write The Nature of Magic? I was a bit of an odd child! But apart from that, I thought animistically perhaps all children think animistically. Certainly we're encouraged to think in this way - up to a certain age that is, and then we're expected to grow out of it. Trouble is - I didn't, and I expect most people in this room didn't either (and we just kept quiet about it!). What is animism? It's the view that sees all things in the world as alive and possessing spirit and/or soul. For Aristotle, soul was equivalent to psyche - the 'principle of life' that animates a living creature (it's only lately that psychology has developed as a discipline to study psyche in the human head as if that was

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all it was). - we can easily see ourselves as being alive as having the 'principle of life', and the dog, the cat, but stones, and mountains that might be a little more difficult; and this table and the chairs is even more difficult (the more processed things are the less alive they seem). I remember asking a student on my altered states of consciousness course at the University of Sussex to imagine that a stone was alive. She could just about imagine that, with a great deal of effort; and when I asked her what she thought about the stone now that she had imagined it was alive, she could handle that - just. But when I asked her what she thought the stone thought of her, well that finished her! She thought I was mad (and perhaps I am, but that's another story!). Back to me being a weird child - I played with worms in my sandpit; I grew saplings from apple seeds and whitebeam seeds; apricot and peach trees from stones. I loved watching young horse chestnut leaves unfurling from a tightly closed sticky buds and I imagined things. Like most children I used to talk to things - the worms as well as my toys But I digress. How do we come to lose this animistic world? Our Western culture encourages us to separate ourselves off from the natural world; nature and the earth have been devalued. Culturally, we've valued other approaches that control and dominate nature - for economic and political reasons. And we've valued rationality and disengaged reflection on the world above intuition and sense experience of engaging with the world. Culturally we've lost our sense of soul. But maybe if we're into magic we haven't. - certainly the people I've worked with as an anthropologist haven't lost their sense of an animated, connected, magical world. So, what's the Problem? As an anthropologist: how to explain my experience and those I was conducting 'participant observation' with - shamans, pagans, druids, witches, magicians - within a social scientific framework that doubts, doesn't accept, the existence of magic on its own terms (that is, not reduced to sociological or

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psychological (in the sense of relating only to the individual) explanations)? We don't have a scientific framework that incorporates magic - as an expanded animistic awareness - as a form of knowledge. This was a problem that I came up against in my PhD research. I wanted to explain the world of magic to the world of academia and vice versa. I saw myself as a communicator between two, largely separate, worlds I ended up in an academic court having to fight for the views contained in my PhD because my examiners thought I wasn't a 'proper anthropologist'; I'd 'gone native'. I won the case (the spirits were with me that day, as were a number of amazing friends), the PhD was eventually awarded, and the result was published as Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld (published by Berg in 2000). That book led to more questions and eventually The Nature of Magic. What was 'nature religion'? How did practitioners relate to nature? Was it how I related to nature? The whole experience of conducting fieldwork and writing it up was an adventure that took 9 years When I was writing the book it felt as though it was writing me. You're not supposed to write anthropological ethnographies like that. And even if you do, you're not supposed to say that that's how you've done it! It's a bit like admitting to a crime. It felt as if it was writing me - like I had to get into the space of magical consciousness in my own mind in order to experience it. And then write from that place (helped by a number of spirits that had come to me in the process of conducting fieldwork - you're certainly not supposed to admit to that!). Back to the first Question (or perhaps I should say 'forward to the past') What links boggart (nature spirit) stories, a ghostly cavalcade led by a goddess or god, cyborgs, and Covent Garden? You've probably guessed the answer: the link is 'magical consciousness', and it's now quite obvious really, or I hope it's obvious... Boggarts and other spirits of nature stories can relate us to the participating land. Through the eye of magical consciousness, the land is made up, as

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eco-philosopher David Abram says, of multiple intelligences. As Abram puts it: Magic is participating in a world of multiple intelligences with the intuition that every form one perceives - from swallow swooping overhead to the fly on a blade of grass, and indeed the blade of grass itself - is an experiencing form, an entity with its own predilections and sensations that are very different from our own (Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, 1997: 10). This is an animistic view - seeing the world as animated and having soul - it's about connection. The 'ghostly cavalcade' refers to an old European mythos - commonly termed the Wild Hunt - that represents the cyclicity of life; it is symbolic of the connections between the living and the dead, the hunter and the hunted; as well as light and dark, and all manner of other distinctions. - myth is a 'language of magical consciousness' - it gives the experience a framework in which to expand. I've used the example of The Wild Hunt but there are many others that have similar or different themes, they all work in the same way. Cyborgs well, that was a bit of a cheat - just put that in to keep your interest. Refers to Donna Haraway's critique of the Goddess as a relational symbol in postmodern technological societies How human beings relate to technology, a very processed form of nature Covent Garden Nature in the City; not just pristine obviously magical places such as Stonehenge or Avebury. Magical consciousness is how we think in all sorts of situations and places, including here. Jonathan Raban wrote Soft City in 1974; explained how we all create meaning through our own personal reference points: A black-fronted bookshop in south Kensington, a line of gothic balconies on the Cromwell Road' symbols denote a particular quarter - the underground may, for example, turn into an object of superstition, an irrational way of imposing order on the city: the Piccadilly Line is full of fly-by-night and stripe-shirted young men who run dubious agencies' (Page 169).

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Bateson called this personal map-making 'ideation', a way of imposing order on the world. Witch Chris Penczak (in City Magick: urban rituals, spells, and shamanism) takes it one step further when he describes the city as a 'powerful landscape of magick' by imbuing it with magical power: - mechanical spirits my manifest physically in the form of subways seen as great electric serpents, akin to underworld gods, like the great king worm burrowing under us (I had to get the worm spirit in somewhere!); they can take us to other dimensions - tall buildings may function as cosmic axes for interconnecting realms, like the World Tree, linking deities, humans, ancestors, and giants - graffiti might be magical sigils This is 'abduction' - magical consciousness - recognizing the patterns. Looking for the pattern that connects, Bateson asked: What pattern connects the crab to the lobster and the orchid to the primrose, and all the four of them to me? And me to you? And all the six of us to the amoeba in one direction and to the backward schizophrenic in another? This is what he calls 3rd order connection; connection in terms of stories (Mind and Nature: a necessary unity). Stories help us connect; help us make sense of our world. And now we know the answer to the question (I hope!): Magical consciousness To Conclude Magical consciousness is about recognizing the subjective patterns that come to us through our engagement with our everyday here and now world as well as the cosmos. - it isn't something inherently mystical (although it can be interpreted in this way)- it's a part of being human, a part that has been denied by Western societies. Magical consciousness is about reconnecting with souls as psyche - the life principle - the souls of everyday lived experience.
http://www.philhine.org.uk/writings/ess_naturemagic.html

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Spirituality and Indigenous People

I particularly enjoyed Dr. Leo Booths last comment which resonates how we as Pagans look at things. Persephone "Recovery comes when we cease to fight our challenges and embrace the ancient spiritual truth of surrender. Indigenous people, all over the world, are knowing this Truth, not from reading books, but by absorbing and experiencing nature's totality."

My understanding of spirituality has always affirmed the concept of the many connecting with The ONE; and this speaks to indigenous people. Over the past twenty years I've drawn a distinction between religion and spirituality, suggesting that religion describes a group of people who have definite beliefs and rituals, expressing concepts that concern morality, holy writings and worship. Religions and denominations are necessarily exclusive, separating themselves from other religions and beliefs. Spirituality, on the other hand, is inclusive; it enjoys and celebrates the diversity of beliefs in the world, affirming individual cultures and sacred writings.

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When I was visiting Teotihuacn, Mexico, I came to understand how the Toltec people had absorbed Spanish, Mexican and Native American rituals and fables into their culture and worship. Indeed, their inclusion of cultures enabled it to meaningfully represent the various indigenous tribes and survive. Today, people who have never traveled to Teotihuacn are being introduced to some Toltec beliefs in the popular book, "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. Spirituality is that golden thread that connects today with ancient times. A fascinating aspect of Toltec spirituality for me was the concept of living in a fog. The idea that we can live for years not knowing who we really are or what we need to make us happy. This Toltec story suggests that the fog, the mist of not knowing, is created by a tragic truth; we are living somebody else's story. Too often others have told us what to believe, how we should feel, what is the correct thing to say: and we exist like empty zombies. This was true for me. Society and the church had given me a tape to play in my head and I never questioned what I believed until recently. Today I am becoming spiritually aware of what I believe, what I truly feel and what I need to say; my truth is taking me out of the fog into an authentic life. And I'm grateful to the people of ancient times for giving me an insight into my personal recovery. September this year I shall be taking a group of spiritual seekers to Cambodia and Vietnam. Again, we will see and experience a comprehensive spirituality that brings together Hindu, Buddhism and various Chinese religions, not forgetting French Catholicism, combining a collection of indigenous peoples and rituals. The diversity of the rituals adds something to the teachings, reflecting a divine Truth: The many connecting with ONE.

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On my last trip to Vietnam, I remember a Buddhist friend telling me that the smallest gesture can reflect an ancient spiritual truth. An example; he smelled and gently touched the fruit he was holding before cutting it into delicate pieces; this showed respect for the fruit, respect for the earth that had fed the fruit, respect to the Creator of all things. Today, I often catch myself smelling the apple or orange, gently holding it before I respectfully eat the fruit. I'm sure this tradition was birthed in some forgotten indigenous tribe and has been passed on as a living tradition. I believe that spirituality holds the key to peace and harmony in the world. Instead of the historical record of religions fighting with each other, arguing that one belief is superior to another, we are moving into an all-inclusive spirituality that combines the best of all the indigenous cultures and brings a respectful reverence. If we imagine ourselves falling into a powerful river, we will survive if we cease to fight the waves and let the mighty current take us to the surface. Recovery comes when we cease to fight our challenges and embrace the ancient spiritual truth of surrender. Indigenous people, all over the world, are knowing this Truth, not from reading books, but by absorbing and experiencing nature's totality. (http://www.recoverytoday.net/2011/55-august/358-spirituality-and-indigeno us-people)

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Featured Member
Ameen

When coming into Pagan UnderWorld community what do enjoy doing first, heading to your favorite group, reading the newest discussion, greeting members, interacting with friends? Well I like to see what's new in my inbox and see who's online and look at groups and go to pagan radio. I love the music and podcast. Give us an idea of how you came about your beliefs and what you do to express them?

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Wow well I was only 5 when my gave this book call Wizards and Witches and it had me hooked, then I stated to study on my own came a cross that a friend gave my first book on Celtic Magic. I express my ways of the path I like to go out to the woods and play my wooden flute and thank the Goddess with music. Express yourself on yourself! A quote, A prose, A personal belief, An interesting Fact. OK, well I'm an out going person I love art and music and walking, I like to study a lot about wicca can stocks and I'm gamer. My personal belief in life is to live it and have fun. Just don't cause harm to no one. I want to make more friends be fore I leave for other side. I love to drink coffee and text and talk. What have been some fascinating things you have come across in one of the Groups you belong to? The most I can say is the information I get and people in put and out put on it. I love how it's so vast and nice to have when I'm needed some answers. And it's a best to make friends as well lol. We considered you a good member to feature; this is your chance to voice your opinion on anything you wish. I'm bless to be a part of next mouth featured member and honored as well. I feel like it's great family tree and my name was engraved on the wall. I really like to say pagan underground is great place I like to visit as often I can. To my friends old and news ones thanks, and to my fellow members may the Gods watch over you blessed be.
http://pathsofpaganunderworld.com/profile/Ameen

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Featured Group Sub-Cultures Emo & Goth

The Emo and Goth movements both represent sub cultures in post-industrial or post-modern civilization. Goth and Emo One thing I get tired of hearing is that emo and Goth are the same. They are not. Nor are they 'sub-sets' of each other, as the Daily Mail has claimed at least once. No, they are two different and separate subcultures, who happen to have some basic aesthetics and public misconceptions in common. Emo, like Goth, has had to put up with various prejudices and stereotypes, mostly revolving around self-harm and depression. (Do I need to point out again that belonging to a subculture is no more or less likely to mean that a person is depressed or a self-harmer?) Emos, again like Goths, often have to

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put up with verbal and sometimes physical abuse for dressing differently and being interested in different things than the 'average' person. When it comes to the 'depressed' stereotype, the fact is that emo kids are more likely to act moody and miserable than Goths. Most - and I do mean MOST newbie Goths learn quickly that the 'Goths are gloomy' stereotype is exactly that: a stereotype. Unfortunately, most would-be emos who are new to the scene and the music tend to believe the media hype, and think that acting sad will help them fit in with the subculture. Goth and emo also both originated from punk. When researching this post, I first read that emo began earlier, in the early 70s, whilst Goth began in the mid-to-late 70s and reached the height of its popularity in the early 80s, but I have since been informed that emo actually began in the mid-80s, after the evolution of Goth. But either way, emo is not 'a type of Goth', it is a separate musical subculture in its own right. To the casual observer, Goth and emo fashion are apparently interchangeable. But if you look beyond 'piercings' and 'black clothes', the two looks are actually very different. The emo look is an amalgamation of punk, Goth, and urban Japanese; whereas the appearance of Goth was originally derived purely from punk and then created its own aesthetic rather than borrowing from other subcultures (with exceptions such as the gothabilly look, which is derived from rockabilly). Goth, on the whole, is darker than emo, especially more recently when emo has become closely meshed with 'scene' fashion. Many styles of Goth are considered elegant and whimsical, whereas emo tends to be more cute and kitschy. Music-wise, the two scenes are also very different. While both Goths and emos may listen to rock and metal, the emo subculture revolves around emo music (are you surprised?) with bands such as Dashboard Confessional, the Rites of Spring, and Hawthorne Heights, and Goths, of course, listen to Goth

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music. (There may also be some crossover - plenty of emos enjoy the dark, emotional music of The Cure, and I for one do like a certain song from Secondhand Serenade. But unlike the Goth/metal scenes, Goth/emo crossover is relatively uncommon.) Goth is also a larger scene with a stronger community, as shown by Goth clubs, and huge international Goth festivals such as the Wave Gotik Treffen and Whitby Gothic Weekend, which can attract up to 20,000 people. I have not yet heard of 'emo clubs' or a 'Wave Emo Treffen'... Whilst emos and Goths can, and often do, get on, the fact that they are lumped together by the media, the mainstream, and various wannabes from both subcultures, means that there is disdain building between them. Many Goths are becoming scornful towards emos because they are tired of being classified as 'emo' by those who don't know what they're talking about. The feeling is probably mutual - and looking on online forums has shown that both groups are surprisingly prone to believing the stereotypes that exist about the other. Lastly, I guarantee that almost every person reading this will have met or spoken online to someone who calls themselves an 'emo/goth' (or vice versa) or, reaching new lows, a 'gemo'. Nine times out of ten, this person will dress in either Goth or emo fashion, or a mixture of both, and listen to music that belongs to neither genre - i.e. Korn, HIM, Linkin Park, Evanescence, My Chemical Romance. I've said it before and will say it again - how can you consider yourself part of ANY music-related subculture if you dont know the first thing about the music? Its OK to have a crossover between scenes (although this whole emo/goth or 'gemo' thing threatens to make me roll my eyes so hard there's a risk of them getting stuck), but there IS more to it than just dressing the part. Research. Learn. Get your facts straight before you give your chosen subculture(s) a bad name. http://pathsofpaganunderworld.com/group/gothicforever

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Featured Member Articles Chakra work meditation and EFT

by Mystic Moonwolf

Sound associated with this chakra is (O). It is located above the perineum at the anus Perinial point (Coccyx, segment ll), base of the spine and the sacral and pelvic nerves and coccygeal plexus. Gland - Adrenal Color Red Celestial body- governed by the planet Saturn

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Archetype- Mother Earth Sanskrit name- Muladhara: support or foundation Represented by the 4-petal red lotus flower Musical Note B Area of body governed spinal column, skeletal system, legs, feet, rectum, and immune system. Issues and challenges: rectal problems, conditions that affect the feet, knees, and hips, insecurity, depression, and difficulty with stillness. Life Lesson (souls desire) is to feel safe and secure in the physical plane. The Root chakra is a MASTER chakra and it is the most important one to activate. This chakra is the doorway for the Kundalini energy. Unless this is opened sufficiently, the energy cannot flow into the other chakras. I suggest you concentrate most of your time and energy into stimulating your Base chakra, at least in the early stages of chakra development. When you begin to feel various sensations from the root chakra, the more active the chakra will be. If you place your hand on a chakra when it is active, you will actually feel in this location pulsing and or tingling. Associated Crystals/Gemstones are - Ruby, Garnet, Lodestone, Obsidian, Bloodstone, Red Jasper and Hematite. Psychologically, it concerns one's relationship with the material plane, and the principle of limitation in both its constructive and destructive aspects. In its more unbalanced expression, it governs the drive for survival, as well as such states as greed and fear, while its more balanced expression points to such qualities as practicality and worldly skillfulness (business, science, etc.).

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2nd Sacral, Orange Sacral chakra Two: associated with ovaries/gonads, Sound associated with this chakra is (EH). It is located two inches below the navel. (Sacral chakra) It is at the region of the genital organ. It is in the area of the Hypogastric plexus and lumbar-sacral plexus. It is behind the lower abdomen. Gland Ovaries in women, testes in men Color Orange Celestial body- ruled by the planet Jupiter Archetype- Water Sanskrit name- Svadhisthana Represented by the 6-petal orange lotus flower Musical Note A Area of body governed Reproductive system, kidney, bladder, uterus and ovaries in women, testes in men, and in the middle of the spine. Purpose Creativity, pleasure, and healthy sexuality. This center holds the basic needs for sexuality (when connected to an emotional need), emotions, and creativity. Proper balance in this chakra means the ability to flow with emotions freely. When balanced it supports confidence in creativity and ability to relate to others in an open and cordial manner. Life Lessen (Souls Desire), to bond and connect our emotions with others, without losing our identity and to freely express creativity. Psychologically, it is one of the centers concerned with emotions. At its grosser levels of expression, it governs such states as escapism, excess, and dogmatism, while its more constructive expressions include enthusiasm and religious devotion.

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Associated Crystals/Gemstones are - Carnelian, Coral, Amber, Orange Calcite, Orange Agate, Sunstone and Tigers Eye. Sacral chakra: Draw energy from the feet, through the Base chakra and on up to the Spleen chakra. Open the Spleen chakra. Repeat this three times, starting at feet.

Solar Plexus, Yellow Solar plexus chakra Three: Master chakra - associated with pancreas & adrenals Sound associated with this chakra is (HARA). Its location is (1 hand-span above the belly button) (spleen) fourth lumbar vertebrate. Part of vertebral column associated with the navel celiac plexus behind the navel Gland - Pancreas Color Yellow Celestial body- Sun/ Mars is its governing plane Archetype- Fire Sanskrit name- Manipura: jewel of the lotus Represented by the 10-petal yellow lotus flower Musical Note G Area of body governed - Upper abdomen, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, intestines, and spleen. Purposes Balanced self esteem, feeling of empowerment, and a purpose. Solar Plexus Chakra continued: working with this chakra can sometimes cause a shortness of breath feeling, which can cause you to hyperventilate. This will pass, with time and use, as the chakra becomes more stable. Life Lesson (Souls Desire), to experience the depth of who we are, without reservation, fear, or

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controlling others, to live our life task or souls life purpose. Associated Crystals/Gemstones are - Topaz, Amber, Citrine, Calcite, Gold, Yellow Tourmaline and Moonstone This chakra rules over emotions in their more dynamic and energetic forms. Thus, in its less refined state, it relates to anger and combativeness, and is more positively expressed as strength and assertiveness. Solar Plexus chakra: Draw energy from the feet, through the Base and Spleen chakras and on up to the Solar Plexus chakra. Open the Solar Plexus chakra. Repeat this three times, starting at feet.

Heart chakra Four: associated with the thymus gland, Sound associated with this chakra is (AH). It is located in the region of the heart thoracic point (Thoracic 9 or 10). Cardiac plexus - behind the heart. Gland Thymus (Thymus) Color Green, pink Celestial body- corresponding planet is Venus Archetype- Quan Yin (Goddess of Compassion) Air Sanskrit name- Anahata Represented by the 12-petal green lotus flower Musical Note F Area of body governed Heart, circulatory system, blood, lungs, diaphragm, thymus, and breasts. Purposes Love, compassion, emotional empowerment, healthy relationship with self and others. This is the connection of body with mind and spirit. Life Lesson (Souls Desire), to experience compassion and connection with oneself and others. The psychological focus is on love, beauty, and allurement, and it governs the capacity for harmony in all romantic and social interactions. In its unbalanced form, it produces a tendency toward hedonism, pleasure-seeking, and

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excessive "sweetness" of temperament, while, when in balance, it can give rise to an exceptional sense of aesthetics, and even unselfish love. Associated Crystals/Gemstones- Green Aventurine, Malachite, Fluorite, Emerald, and Rose Quartz. Heart chakra: Draw energy up from the feet, through the Base, Spleen and Solar Plexus chakras and on up to the Heart chakra. Open the Heart chakra. Repeat this three times, starting at feet.

Throat, Blue Throat chakra Five: associated with thyroid gland Sound associated with this chakra is (HU). It is located in the V of the collarbone at the lower neck and is the center of communication, sound and expression of creativity. (Thyroid) It is in the region of the vocal chords. At the throat Cervical point (fourth cervical vertebrate). Pharyngeal plexus Throat Gland Thyroid Color - Blue Celestial body- governed by the planet Mercury Archetype- Hermes Sound Sanskrit name- Vishuddha: Pure Musical Note E Area of body governed Throat, thyroid, trachea, cervical vertebrate, mouth, teeth, gums, esophagus, parathyroid, and ears. Represented by the 16-petal blue lotus flower Purposes Communication, expressing, creativity, learning to take responsibility for ones own needs. The throbbing in it can cause a very mild choking feeling, because of the sensitive area it is in. This feels something like having an emotional lump in the base of your throat.

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Life Lesson (Souls Desire), to be heard and understood, to speak and receive the truth. This chakra's psychological focus is upon mental self-expression and one's ability to formulate or verbalize thoughts. When unbalanced, it produces chaotic thoughts and/or communications, while its constructive expression tends toward creative spiritual thinking and refined communication skills. Associated Crystals/Gemstones are Amazonite, Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Turquoise, Kyanite, Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite, Celestite, Green Fluorite, and Turquoise. Throat chakra: Draw energy up from the feet, through the Base, Spleen, Solar Plexus and heart chakras to the Throat chakra. Open the Throat chakra. Repeat this three times, starting at feet. Brow ("3rd eye") Violet/Purple Sixth Chakra (Ajna 3rd eye) associated with pituitary Sound associated with this chakra is (I or EEE) It is located between the eyebrows at the center of the head. Eyebrow point (Caudal 3rd ventricle) Medulla plexus, pineal plexus, midbrain Center of forehead, or third-eye point. Pituitary gland Gland - Pituitary Color - Indigo Celestial body- Neptune Archetype- Dreamer/ Psychic Light Sanskrit name- Ajna: command, perception, knowledge, authority Represented by the 2-petal indigo lotus flower Musical Note D Area of body governed Eyes, sinuses, nose, face, and brain Purposes Action of ideas, perception, intellect, dreaming, insight (intuition), mind development, to see where one is going. Lifes Lesson (Souls Desire), to use insight and intuition instead of judgment.

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This is where peace and clarity automatically occur. Associated Crystals/Gemstones are - Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Sugilite, Azurite, and Tanzanite Chakra 6 is called Chandra, and is ruled by the Moon. Though overlooked in most published discussions of the chakras, Paramahansa Yogananda described this as the feminine polarity of the Ajna chakra, or "third eye" (to be considered next). Its emphasis is upon awareness in its most reflective or introspective mode and it governs such qualities as nurturing compassion and psychic sensitivity. Its more destructive expressions include the experience of fearfulness, emotional dependency, and a preoccupation with the past.

Chakra 7 is called Ajna and is located in the center of the forehead, also known as the "third eye". Celestial body - corresponding planet is the Sun, and it governs the principle of pure consciousness in its most active, visionary, and expressive form, as well as the higher will. In its balanced state, it rules creativity, spiritual energy, and self-expression, while in unbalanced form it can manifest as egoism, willfulness, "dry" awareness without compassion, and the drive for attention. Associated Crystals are - Fluorite, Sodalite, Lapis Lazuli, Sapphire, Amethyst, and Indigo Tourmaline. Ajna Chakra: Draw energy up from the feet, through the Base, Spleen, Solar Plexus, Heart and Throat chakras to the Brow chakra. Open the Brow chakra. Repeat this three times, starting at feet. White and/or Purple/Indigo Seventh chakra (Crown chakra) Master chakra

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This chakra corresponds to the pineal and pituitary gland. Sound associated with this chakra is (MMM). Gland Pineal Color Violet, white it is located at or above the crown of the head. (Extra-cranial) Cerebral plexus Cerebral cortex. Celestial body- Uranus Archetype- Wise Woman/ Sage Thought Sanskrit name- Sahashrara Represented by the thousand-fold lotus flower Musical Note C Area of governed Nervous system, brain, top of head midline above the ears. Purposes Understanding, knowledge, wisdom, make logical decisions, connection to ones spirituality, integration of the whole, discovery of the divine trust, selflessness, ability to see the bigger picture in life, devotion, inspiration. It is the center of spirituality, enlightment. It allows for the inward flow of wisdom. This is also the center of connectedness with God or Divine Source. When fully active it feels like a thousand soft, warm fingers gently massaging the inside of the top of your head, above the hairline, and extending down in the center of the forehead, to include the brow chakra, which is part of it. This sensation is the reason the Buddhists call it "The Thousand Petalled Lotus". Life Lesson (Souls Desire), to experience the divine meaning of life. Associated Crystals/Gemstones are Alexandrite, Amethyst, Apophyllite, Clear Quartz, Fluorite, Rock Crystal, Selenite and Sugilite. Crown chakra: Draw energy up to the Crown chakra as in the previous step. Open the Crown chakra. This chakra is much larger than the others (whole

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top of head, above hairline). Imagine you have a much larger, flatter bread roll inside the top of your head and are tearing it open with your HANDS, or like you are tearing your scalp open. Repeat this entire process twice, starting with the feet.

Chakra 8 is called the SOUL STAR CHAKRA It is also associated with Archangel Metatron, Shekinah, Pistis Sophia, Buddha and Christ. Associated stones / crystals - Clear Quartz, Celestite or Herkimer Diamonds The eighth chakra does have a color associated to it and it is an ultraviolet light. Unfortunately you are unable to see what ultraviolet light looks like (at least not with your conventional vision). However, to give you a way to perceive ultraviolet light in a mundane sense, you could imagine a very deep violet light being interpenetrated with spiraling bands of green in it. A barely-functioning eighth chakra will have 6000 vortices. A fully open one will have nearly 10,000. The more open the chakra, the faster the chakra spins and the greater number of vortices that will be visible (assuming that you could count these spokes, if you could see them, that is).

Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World

Posted by CAM))) The concept of sign, a portent observed in the physical world, which indicates future events was first developed in ancient Mesopotamia. The collections of omens, interpreting the signs either in heaven or on earth, were first written down during the Old Babylonian period. Those collections grew into compendia of ominous phenomena, where the segments of original

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observations were expanded into very comprehensive omen series (for an overview, see Maul 2003). These series had either a written form or circulated orally as traditional knowledge of the Mesopotamian diviners. This branch of Babylonian science extensively influenced the other parts of the world. There is evidence in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, Sanscrit, Sogdian and in other languages that knowledge of Mesopotamian omen compendia was widespread both in space and time in the ancient world (see Pingree 1992; Sims-Williams 1995). The wandering diviners, sometimes called the Chaldaeans in the Mediterranean sources, were often responsible for the dissemination of the Mesopotamian wisdom in the late Antique world. One goal of the symposium is to map the diffusion of the Mesopotamian omen lore in other parts of the world. The concept of divine signs is present in many ancient cultures in Classical, Hebrew, Chinese, Indian and Arabian culture, and the symposium will investigate how such concepts in other parts of the world may have been influenced by ancient Mesopotamia. Among such interesting questions is the Mesopotamian influence on the Stoic theory of signs given the circumstance observed already by F. Cumont that all first masters of the Stoic school were Orientals (Cumont 1912: 69-71, 81-82). Ancient Jewish and Muslim traditions also enjoined believers to ponder or reflect on the natural world and its movements in order to discover the signs of Gods omnipotence and appreciate his majesty. There is considerable evidence of the diffusion of Mesopotamian omen literature in Aramaic and Arabic. Another important aim of the symposium is to investigate and to juxtapose the related concepts of divination, prophecy, ideology, evidence and inference as traceable in written sources of the ancient world. The written texts versus oral lore The omens were probably transmitted from one culture to others both by means of written texts and orally because we know many incipits of smaller omen collections in ancient Mesopotamia of which we lack textual evidence (see Oppenheim 1974). In the secret lore of the Mandaean priests, the tradition of omen interpretation persisted orally until modern times, and only

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some parts of it were written. A Mandaean priest in Ahwaz, speaking of the secret knowledge transmitted from priest to priest, once vaunted this knowledge to Lady Drower as follows: "If a raven croaks in a certain burj (= astrological house) I understand what it says, also the meaning when the fire crackles or the door creaks. When the sky is cloudy and there are shapes in the sky resembling a mare or a sheep, I can read their significance and message. When the moon is darkened by an eclipse, I understand the portent: when a dust-cloud arises, black, red, or white, I read these signs, and all this according to the hours and the aspects" (Drower 1937: 5). The cry of a dealer of the secrets and magic, the fatahfl in Arabic, was still heard in the market-places of Baghdad before the Second World War: I count the stars and take omens! (aaddad nejm, khudh khra), as reported by the Lady Drower (Stevens 1931: 74). The oral background of the ancient Mesopotamian omen literature is also emphasized by many scholars: not only the categorisation of celestial phenomena, but the establishment of a simple code and a series of rules, which enabled them to be interpreted, had taken place before the writing down of the first celestial omens took place. Some of these premises must, to a large extent, be understood to be given or in other words recognised that they derive from an oral background, or are traditional. It is, however, not without relevance that omens in Mesopotamia do not appear until a millennium after the invention of writing. When they do first appear some already demonstrate the effects of their literate production (Brown 2000: 112). Like the Mesopotamian law codes, the Babylonian omen texts never outline the principles behind the concrete if then sentences and observations. The nature of principles behind the concrete statements should be reconstructed on the basis of written examples contained in the law codes and

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omen texts, but one should assume that these texts reveal only some parts of the knowledge they are based on. Babylonian theory of signs According to the ancient Mesopotamian view, practically everything in the universe could have an ominous import to mortals. In the written culture of ancient Mesopotamia, not all omens occurring in omen series were observed in the real world, because many examples describe phenomena that could never occur (Brown 2000: 109). This indicates that simple observation and recording was complemented by theorization and systematization. The original practical purpose of omen collections was later expanded, and even superseded, by theoretical aspirations (Oppenheim 1964: 212). But what do we know about these theoretic and hermeneutic principles underlying the interpretation of divine omens? What kind of thinking or the system of ideas connects protasis with apodosis? A. Oppenheim has written: Only exceptionally are we able to detect any logical relationship between portent and prediction, although often we find paronomastic associations and secondary computations based on changes in directions of numbers. In many cases, subconscious association seems to have been at work, provoked by certain words whose specific connotations imparted to them a favourable or an unfavourable character, which in turn determined the general nature of the prediction (Oppenheim 1964: 211; see also Noegel 2002). According to the holistic world view of the ancient Mesopotamians, everything in the universe had its firm place according to divine will. According to the incipit of the celestial omen series Enuma Anu Enlil, the gods Anu, Enlil and Ea themselves designed the constellations and measured the year thereby establishing the heavenly signs. Thus, the Mesopotamian divination was an all-embracing semantic system designed to interpret the universe (Koch-Westenholz 1995: 13-19). The belief that all of the universe are connected is not an Ionian Greek invention (contra Scurlock 2003: 397),

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but a similar statement is already found in the Babylonian Diviners Manual (lines 38-42): The signs on earth just as those in the sky give us signals. Sky and earth both produce portents though appearing separately. They are not separate (because) sky and earth are related. A sign that portends evil in the sky is (also) evil in the earth, one that portends evil on earth is evil in the sky (Oppenheim 1974: 204). How much do we know about the ancient Babylonian theory of signs? The Babylonian omen compendia represent parts of ancient Mesopotamian world view and are by no means separated from other genres of the Mesopotamian literature. Thus, the observation of Anzus footprints in a house is an ill omen according to terrestrial omen series Shumma alu 2.155 and 19.38, reminding us of Anzus sinister role in the Akkadian Epic of Anzu. Also, the city making noise is prone to dispersal, while the quiet city will go on normally (Shumma alu 1.8-13), reminding us of the Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis, where the noise of mankind was the reason of its destruction attempts by the disturbed gods. Accordingly, the omens and other Mesopotamian texts constitute representations of the same world view, as studies in the intertextuality indicate: As for subject matter and style, the apodoses of the omen literature are closely linked to literary texts of the late periods that describe the blessings of peace and prosperity or the horrors of war, famine, and rebellion as well as elaborate blessings and curses similar to those found in certain Mesopotamian royal inscriptions and public legal documents (Oppenheim 1964: 211). In the Mesopotamian interpretation system of signs, the portent which predicted, for example, the kings death was not the cause of the kings death, but only the sign for it. The apodosis was considered solely a warning that could be diverted by ritual measures provided by the series Namburbi. The

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Mesopotamian scribes never expressed general principles of sign interpretation in abstract terms, but they strove to cover the range of possibilities by means of systematic permutations in pairs such as left and right, above and below or in long rows (Oppenheim 1964: 212). The task of the symposium is to bring together specialists of the omen literature in order to learn how much do we know now and make prospects for the future. How much do we know for certain? In various branches of Mesopotamian divination, some more or less universal principles apply that already can be outlined. In general, the right side or part in Mesopotamian omen theory was considered to be related to good omens and the left side to negative ones. The signs were divided into good, bad and neutral. In some branches of divination, like Babylonian extispicy, signs were classified according to their intensity into stronger and weaker. Thus, a strong sign in the right side of the sacrificial animal was a favorable omen, but the same sign in the left side was unfavorable. The opposition of light and dark was also meaningful: a light color of the ominous organ conveyed favourable significance and dark color an unfavorable one. Dark color was essentially connected with the left side, and a light hue with the right side of the sacrificial animals parts under examination. These principles were universally applied (Starr 1983: 18-19). It is striking, however, how often in the physiognomic omen series Alamdimmu the right side is ill-omened and the left side favorable, and cases also exist where both sides are equally good or bad. Why the usual pattern is reversed? J. Scurlock suggests: there are in fact four types of signs, those that are good (and therefore good on either side, although usually somewhat less good on the left), those that are bad (and therefore bad on either side, although usually somewhat less bad on the right), those that are neutral (and become good only when placed on the right, and bad only when placed on the left), and those that are bad but

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not irreversibly so (that is, they are bad when placed on the right, but are transformed into good when placed on the left) (Scurlock 2003: 398). The basic problems of the Mesopotamian divination seem to be related to the motives for divine communication, its accuracy and inevitability. From our contemporary perspective, the Mesopotamian omen literature consists of a blend of science, superstition, and religion. The same can be said about the other parts of the ancient world. Superstitions need not have strict rules, but in the omen texts we also discover certain principles that may enlighten us regarding our understanding of the history of the human mind. Nevertheless, some transparent principles that scholars have identified in ancient omen texts, the interpretation of these texts is still often quite obscure. Mesopotamian theories of sign interpretation appear to be much more complex than was presumed. Thus the opposition of right and left are observed differently in omen texts and in scientific compendia. In physiognomic omen texts, the right and left of the body of the observed human being is measured from the observers point of view, but: SA.GIG is a diagnostic series and insofar as arbitrary right and left distinctions are relevant, signs are influenced in a good or bad direction from the physicians, not the patients, point of view. Thus a normal pattern is revealed. Alamdimmu, by contrast, is a collection of omens, and right and left are good or bad from clients, and not the consultants, point of view. It follows that neutral signs are good on the observers left (which would be observeds right) and bad on the observers right, which would be the observeds left apparently an inverted pattern but actually normal for Alamdimmu. Conversely, signs that are bad but not irreversibly so are good on the observers right (which would be the observeds left) and bad on the observers left (which would be the observeds right), apparently a normal pattern but actually inverted for Alamdimmu. It follows that the picture of the ideal woman should be modified to include only signs that are good on both sides, since all other signs are either bad (i.e., undesirable) or neutral.

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(Scurlock 2003: 398.) More generally, the symposium will address the issues of gaining and use of knowledge through observation of the various parts of physical world in antiquity. The results and inferences of such observations gained in the ancient world would not always count as scientific from our contemporary perspective, but as our own times will pass into an antiquity, the future scholars will look at our accomplishments in the field of intellectual culture with similar glasses as a blend of science and superstition.

2010 The Oriental Institute http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/symposia/2009.html

ABC of candle magic

by Ester

In the candle joined four elements: air around the candle and feeds the fire, melting the wax symbolizes water and the wick - the earth. Embodied energy in the flame of a candle flame and can calm and clear, and burn unwanted.

If zazhzhesh candle, put forth at the same time take a certain desire, she,

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burning, creates a powerful energy channel that is your desire to move into the small world. For a very simple ritual, quite clearly articulated desire, the white candle and some time when you will not be disturbed. It is important to rely not only on knowledge but also on intuition - it will work, others may not be suitable for you. Your experience should be pleasant and positive. If they will be something bad, better than interrupt the ritual. And always remember the ethics of white magic: it focuses only on the positive, rejects the dark purpose, and the subordination of the will of others to his ego.

What kind of candles to choose The candle must be new and desirable kind - from beeswax or soy wax from palm oil (stearin). Beeswax - an ideal storage medium that interacts with the energy performer of the ritual, and essential oils fill the room a wonderful aroma of honey and meadow flowers. Thou shalt not take the candle is too large diameter, as in every ritual you have to burn it to the end. Color Candles

To enhance and strengthen the romance in a relationship, take one pink and two white candles. For positive financial change is better to light a dark green and yellow candle for the harmonic and passionate love - wine-red and white, for eroticism - a pink and red (and blue suit - it enlivens the intimate conversations), to improve health - three yellow for harmony in the house - a pink, yellow and blue, for inspiration - white and red, after a row - pink and yellow, before the exam - blue and white candles.

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Featured Member of the Month

Anca van Niekerk **ADMIN**

Anca is EMW featured member for the month of May. She is a very warm hearted soul and one that brings life and energy everywhere she goes. She has a wealth of knowledge and brings so much to EMW site each & everyday and is always helping out and working with all are members. So please stop by her page and let her know how much she means to us and how much we appreciate her work here...

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Featured Groups

MONSTER TRANCE
Created by Earth Monster http://bill3626.ning.com/group/monstertrance

This group has some of the best trace music to set your soul a flight, feature the top trance music of today and the best of the past so come on in and free your mind and get lost in the music.....

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Chakras

Created by Polivic Fairie *Co-Creator* Our bodies are made up of an electromagnetic energy sometimes known as the AURA, and the flow of this energy affects our wellbeing. The chakras are responsible for directing and distributing this energy throughout our body.
http://bill3626.ning.com/group/Denver

We all need a place to go to meditate and refocus our selves, and in this group you will find that and so much more, great information on chakra's and some of the best guided meditation as well. This group is a true treasure trove for finding that inner peace....

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The Garden Gate

Created by Christine *Admin* A group devoted to magickal gardening, herbology, along with tips of the day!
http://bill3626.ning.com/group/the-garden-gate

With spring upon us what better time to get out and start our herb gardens and find the true joy of gardening and the calming and relaxing affects it brings.. This group is perfect for everyone from the novice to the veteran gardener, where one can learn of the herbs and correspondence of each for the days of the week to what one's herb pantry should have in it. You will find awesome tip's and advice, so stop on by and find the true magick of gardening....

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Spirituality - The Truth About Fairies- Are Fairies Real?

Posted by MysticPagan

This is an article I found online regarding the faery folk, I really enjoyed reading it and resonated very well with the writers description and wanted to share it here with you lot, so anyway, here goes, I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did! Fairies are Nature Angels, the lowest manifestation within the Angelic Hierarchy. They, along with Nereids, Gnomes, Salamanders, Undines and

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Elves make up the Elementals. Fairies are tiny energy beings that are transported from place to place by their dragonfly or butterfly-like wings. They are the Guardian Angels of animals and nature, therefore their purpose is to ensure the health and safety of all plants, trees, animals and Mother Earth. Sprites are wingless water fairies- they are protectors of the water ways and guardians of the waterbirds and water animals. Fairies, unlike other angels, have a very light etheric physical body. This is because they live on a denser astral plane, closer to our physical plane than other angels, who exist higher up in the spiritual realm. Human Beings live on the densest astral plane of all, then the plants and animals and just above them, the fairies and other elementals. Because they live on this dense level, they are half incarnated, half in the spirit world. As with other incarnated beings, they live in a world of illusion and therefore, a world experienced via the ego. Fairies exist around trees and plants, preferring wildflowers and natural bush settings. They feel the pain inflicted upon plants, trees and animals and their physical bodies are harmed by our pesticides and cleaning agents. By refusing to use these harmful products, we are not only helping the environment but we are being kind to the fairies and helping them to fulfil their purpose. With every little thing we do to preserve and protect nature and the animals, every bit of rubbish we pick up, every item we rinse and re-cycle, every product we buy that is free-range and with every product we purchase and eat that is organic, we are helping the fairies! The fairies want us to 'say no to pesticides and cruelty to animals'. The elementals can sense when a human has genuine concern for the environment and they will regard you highly for this. Fairies are emotionally and physically sensitive to the thoughts and emotions of humans. They have great healing abilities which we feel the benefits of when we are out in nature or close to animals. When we spend time in nature, the fairies can clear the negativity from our energy fields (auras), leaving us feeling more vibrant and refreshed. Fairies have been misperceived over the years as naughty and even nasty, this is because they have been compared to angels. It is unfair to make this

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comparison as the fairies live in the densest energy and have to contend with an ego. The truth is, fairies are very loving beings who have a very important job to do. They take their purpose seriously and can get agitated and annoyed when people are purposely cruel to animals or have no regard for nature and the environment, which by the way, is their home. The truth is- fairies are just as real and just as loving as all of the other angels. Next time you are out in nature have a thought for these little beings and when you come back feeling refreshed give thanks for the healing you just received - free of charge. In return, maybe you could invest in some chemical free cleaning agents or find some other way to help the environment! ~Lyn Nichols About the Author: At Spiritual New Age Guide we are passionate about 'All Things Spiritual' You will find information on Spirituality and the Steps To Beginning Your Spiritual Journey. There's info on everything from Angels to Auras, Psychics to Spirit Beings- please visit us at www.spiritualnewageguide.com.au This is exactly how I perceive faeries,exactly.....I have always believed in faeries, always felt their presence around me, always felt their energy but never until reading this have I heard it put so eloquently so may I say thank you Lyn Nichols for putting my feelings into words!

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Making Fire,Warmth,Protection,Signaling And More.

by SteamPunkRebel Out in the wilderness you will not have central heat and air or the luxury of a remote control fireplace.As our technology grows and the next generation of humans are born,they are breast fed if you will,on electronic milk,on cell phone texting,plasma,HD,3D TV's,internet dating and words like omgs,lol,bbf and more techno junk than they will ever really use.We as a species have really lost ourselves,most no longer know how to hunt and gather firewood.Would you know how to make a fire if your life depended on it,what about clearing a safe area for a fire,would you know what raw materials were needed to build your fire.Here are some alternate ways of creating a fire,but do not just read about these techniques,practice them.

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FIRE Building a fire does many things. It can provide warmth, keep you dry, provide light, cook food, purify water and it can be used as a signal. Another advantage to successfully building a fire is the confidence it can bring. Since fire is almost always needed in a survival situation, practicing firebuilding skills and taking more than one means of starting a fire are crucial. The worst time to learn how to properly start and maintain a fire is when you need one in a survival situation. Practice building a fire in normal and poor weather conditions with the firemaking tools in your survival kit. Where and how you build a fire is dependent upon the environment you are in, the tools and materials available, how quickly you need the fire and its intended purpose. In a wooded area, you should clear a 3 foot circle from brush and any burnable material to keep the fire from spreading. If you create a ring of stones around your fire, it will help to retain heat and will allow your fuel to burn longer. Use dry non-porous stones like granite. Wet, porous stones may explode when heated. To successfully start and maintain a fire, you will need 3 types of burning material: tinder, kindling and fuel. Tinder is any dry material that will easily ignite with a little heat or a spark. Shredded bark, dead leaves, wood shavings, dead moss, dead evergreen needles and cotton are examples of tinder. The key to tinder is that it must be dry and it must be airy enough to allow oxygen to

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flow through it. Tinder can also be brought with you. You can make your own using cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly or you can purchase tinder in stores. Some manufactured tinder can be easily lit even when its soaking wet. If there is no other dry tinder around you can use any paper product or non-essential clothing that has been shredded as tinder. Kindling is dry material that can be caught on fire when added on top of tinder. Small pieces of wood such as twigs and thin branches, wood shavings and cardboard are examples of kindling. If the only kindling available is damp then you can shave the outer layers until you reach dry wood. Feathering twigs and branches by creating shallow cuts can help them catch on fire faster. Fuel is material that can burn when added on top of kindling. Fuel takes longer to ignite, but it will burn slower and steadier once it is lit. Dead branches, dry standing wood, finely split green wood, and dried animal dung are examples of fuel. Look up for burnable wood, not down. When you leave a campsite be sure that your fire is completely out. If youre in a survival situation the last thing you need is a forest fire chasing after you.

METHOD 1: MAKE A FIRE PLOW What Youll Need:

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 Hard stick with a blunted tip Flat piece of wood Tinder Kindling Knife or sharp-edged rock What Youll Do: Using the knife or sharp rock, scratch a straight indentation in the center of the flat piece of wood about the same width as the blunt stick. Arrange the tinder so air can easily circulate, and set it at the foot of the piece of wood. Then, in a kneeling position, hold the flat piece of wood between your knees at an angle and move the stick rapidly back and forth in the indentation until friction ignites the fibers of tinder at the base. Mix in more tinder material and fan the smoke until a small fi re starts. To keep the fire going, carefully add kindling material.

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2: SPARK GENERATION What Youll Need: Knife or steel Sharp-edged rocks Tinder Kindling What Youll Do: Use this method with very dry tinder material in a secluded, non-windy environment. Depending on what items are available, strike two rocks together to create a small spark close to tinder material. If a spark catches the tinder, you will see a glow. Carefully blow on it so it turns into a small flame.

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Fan the material until it starts to smoke and burn. If you have an item made of steel, like a knife, scrape it against various rocks until a spark appears.

3: MAKE FIRE WITH A LENS

If its bright and sunny, its possible to use a lens to focus the heat of the sun on tinder material and start a fire. What Youll Need: Lens (from eyeglassesreading glasses only, a magnifying glass, binoculars or telescope) Tinder Kindling

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What Youll Do: With plenty of dry tinder available, aim the lens at it until it starts to smoke. Have other tinder material available to keep the fire going. When the tinder begins to burn, add kindling

4: MAKE FIRE WITH A REFLECTOR What Youll Need: A reflector from a flashlight or headlight Tinder Kindling What Youll Do: Position the tinder material in or in front of the reflector for maximum absorption of the suns rays. With plenty of sunshine available overhead, and a little luck, the tinder material will get hot enough to catch fire.

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5: MAKE FIRE WITH WATER

When positioned properly, water can act as a lens and focus enough of the suns heat to ignite tinder. What Youll Need: Water Jar or bottle Tinder Kindling What Youll Do: Pour about two teaspoons of water into a clear jar or bottle. Tilt the jar so the water rests in a corner at the bottom and position it so the suns rays shine through the water onto the tinder and ignite it.

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Bow & Drill Fire Kits for Primitive Fire Making Ever wanted to learn how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together? It's easier than you might expect, especially if you have a well-made set to begin with. Ultimately we hope you will learn how to make your own bowdrill sets, but you can start by practicing with ours until you get a feel for the proper materials and design. A fire is created by rapidly spinning the dowel-like "spindle" back and forth in a hole in a fireboard below it. Downward pressure and speed grinds wood

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powder from the two wood surfaces while generating intense heat. A notch in the fireboard allows the wood powder to collect at one point, where it gets hot, then smoulders and glows red. Then the glowing coal is transferred to a "tinder bundle", basically a wad of soft, dry, fibrous material shaped like a bird's nest, and blown into flame. Here briefly, is the proper technique, for right handed people (opposite for left): 1. Be sure to place a piece of bark or other material under the notch to catch the coal before you start drilling. 2. Place your left foot halfway across the fireboard and about one inch to the left of the hole in the fireboard. 3. Kneel with your right knee almost directly behind your left foot. 4. Wrap the spindle one time into the bow string and place the spindle in the hole in the fireboard. The bow should be positioned so that you can pull it back and forth beside you and not across in front of you. 5. Place the socket on top of the spindle and hold it with your left hand. 6. Since your left foot is half way across the fireboard the spindle will stand up right alongside your shin. Your hand with the socket should be held firmly against your shin, with the spindle straight up and down. The movement of the bow being pulled back and forth puts a lot of sideways force against the spindle. You need to anchor it against your shin to be able to control it. I literally "pinch" my hand in between my shin and the socket so it cannot move. 7. With your right hand pull the bow back and forth, turning the spindle. Keep the bow level and take full strokes. Speed is not as important as good

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steady technique and downward pressure on the socket. 8. If the bowstring slips around the spindle use the fingers of your right hand to pull the cord taut against the bow to cinch the cord around the spindle. 9. When you have a definite and steady wisp of smoke the first thing to do is calm down. People get excited about their first coal, and they yank the bowdrill set away, scattering a hard earned coal several feet in every direction. You have time. A coal will smolder for several minutes before consuming the punk. Carefully pull the spindle out of the hole and set it aside. Place your set in a safe, dry spot. Carefully take your foot off the fireboard and fan the hot coal in the notch by gently waving your hand. Tap the fireboard and pull it away from the glowing ember. The wood punk welds itself together as it glows, forming a durable ember. Pick up the bark and drop the coal into the center of your tinder bundle. Hold the sides of the bundle and blow long, steady breaths into it. Allow the smoke to pass out the back. Cradle the tinder closely around the coal. Blanket it to keep it warm, but not so tight that you smother it. Blow long steady breaths and it will grow and spread, smoke, and then flame. Each bowdrill set is handmade from carefully selected woods by Chris Morasky. Currently we are selling sets like the one pictured here, with a spindle and fireboard made from western red cedar. The socket and bow are hardwoods, usually oak, plum, hawthorn, apple or maple. Each set is "burned in" --properly notched and ready to create fire!

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Bic lighters are so common and cheap,they are like ten for about a dollar or two and some change.Having one lose in your coat,jeans,backpack or vehicle can be of immense help.But what if you do not have one of these modern miracles then what... No brainer right...

Ok remember to use your head,don't do anything stupid with this,use caution,caution...break it down one more time...caution.. when working with flamable materials.enough said right Because fire is so important to survival, it is always a good idea to have a fire starting aid in your survival kit. To this end many of us carry what is known as a fire stick as part of our standard survival gear. In this article I will show you how to make your own fire sticks at home using commonly available materials. Why Carry Fire Sticks? Lightweight and waterproof, a fire stick can help kindle a blaze in even the worst conditions. If you need to build a fire in a hurry, for example if you fall into a stream during cold weather, you can quickly gather combustible materials and use your firestick to start a fire even if the wood you are using is damp. In fact, a properly made fire stick will burn even if it has been submerged in water. Anyone who has ever traveled in very wet conditions can appreciate the advantage to that.

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Fire Stick Even during non-emergency situations sometimes wood can be stubborn to kindle. A good firestick will burn for eight or ten minutes at least, providing plenty of heat to dry and ignite wet wood if used correctly. Other uses for firesticks include being a quick source of heat. You could make a winter survival debris hut and light the firestick inside. By letting it burn completely before crawling in, the shelter would be pre-heated and much more comfortable. Buying Fire Sticks You may have seen or even used the commercially available firesticks or firestarters. These are typically made of pressed wood particles and wax. Coghlans markets these aids for starting fires quickly and easily in a variety of outdoor stores and online marketplaces. Making Firesticks Because the formula for making fire sticks is so basic, you can easily make your own at home using commonly available materials. This should satisfy the do-it-your-selfer who enjoys making his own survival equipment.

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Fire Stick Materials What you will need: Wax. Pretty much any candle wax will do. I like to recycle wax from leftover stubs and broken candles. Corrugated cardboard. String. Do not use man-made fibers as they often emit toxic fumes when burning. Cotton or other plant based fibers is what you want to use when making firestarters. A double boiler to melt the wax in. If you do not have one you can easily make your own by using two pots of different sizes. A means to cut the string. A source of heat to melt the wax. The most time consuming part of making firesticks is the melting of the wax but you can do this while working on the rest of the project. Assuming you do not have a double boiler, make your own using two pots of different sizes. Partly fill the larger pot with water and put it onto your source of heat (stove, fire, or what have you). Next put your wax into the smaller pot and place it so that it is floating on the water in the larger pot. Put this combination on your source of heat so that as the water warms it melts the wax.

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Homemade Fire Starters While the wax is melting you can prepare the fire starters. First obtain a piece of corrugated cardboard, preferably without the backing on one side. If all you have is cardboard boxes you can easily remove the paper backing from one side using a pair of needle nose pliers or similar tool. This is what I did and it worked very well. Then cut the cardboard into strips about six or seven inches long and two inches wide as shown in the picture. Roll these strips up and tie them with a natural fiber cord. Carefully dip the cardboard rolls into the hot melted wax and let soak for several seconds. I like to use the pliers on my favorite survival tool, a Leatherman wave multi-tool, to hold the cardboard by the string as I dip it. Remember the wax is very hot and can burn you if it touches your skin.

Melting the Wax

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Shake the cardboard a bit the help the wax penetrate into the spaces of the cardboard and then take out to cool. Once cool the wax has hardened inside and around your home made firestarters you can quickly dip them into the hot wax again for an additional coating. This will cause your firestarters to burn even longer, though it possibly is not necessary and will add some extra weight. Testing the Homemade Fire Sticks As a test I used a match to light one of the home made fire starters. It caught fire very easily and burned with hot flame from one end to the other over a period of about 9-minutes. This is plenty of time to dry out even wet kindling so that you can build a fire. I recommend carrying two or three of your fire starting sticks in your survival kit wherever you go. Though you may have a great amount of firemaking experience, an extra margin of safety could very well save your life in an emergency

Making Fire handsticks I've written up detailed instructions so you can make your own.Fire sticks can also be used as torches to light up caves

As with any procedure, you should read the directions completely before buying materials or starting construction. There are surely many other ways to make fire handsticks.Use caution anytime you work with materials like these,this stuff can cause severe burn injuries,so use your head lets not light them up in moms backyard,or parading down the street with them burning like a juvenile....I know.... but you'd be surprised.

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Materials Required These are the materials you'll need for making one torch end. If you want to do two handsticks, double the recipe. If you want torches on both ends of each of two handsticks, quadruple the recipe (except for the handsticks). Materials for one torch end: 1 black silicone handstick (This is what I used, but the silicone doesn't help much once there's soot on the devil stick, so you could probably wrap a dowel in something cheaper.) 1 10 foot length of fire eating cord 1 Sheet metal screw #6 x 1/2" 1 Fender washer 1/8" x 1" Aluminum tape (You'll only need 6 to 8 inches. A roll cost me about $5. I found it in the plumbing section of Home Depot.) Tools Required drill or dremel tool knife Directions These are directions for each handstick. You could do each step for all handsticks, assembly line style, or do an entire handstick before starting the next one. 1. Cut off and discard 3 inches of the silicone tubing from the end of the handstick. 2. Drill a hole in the same end of the handstick. (Note for novice drillers: I don't remember what size drill bit I used, but you want the one that makes a hole wide enough for the body of the screw but not the threads; the threads should bite into the wood. To determine whether a bit is the right size, hold it in front of the screw. If you can see all the threads but not the shaft, it's the right size. It's easier to do this with the back of the

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drill bit where it's solid.) 3. Cover the exposed wood with a single layer of aluminum tape. 4. Screw washer onto end of the handstick, but leave a small gap -- don't tighten it all the way. 5. Place one end of the fire cord between the washer and the handstick end, and tighten the washer to hold the cord in place. 6. Peel back some tubing (to make room for the tape you'll apply in two more steps). 7. Tightly wind the cord around the stick, covering the aluminum with a few layers, and ending up with the end of the cord at the edge of the wound cord closest to the silicone tubing. 8. Wrap aluminum tape around the stick and some of the wrapped cord. Be sure to securely fasten the free end of the cord. 9. Unpeel tubing. You could probably use fire wick instead of fire cord. You'd need to screw it onto the dowel, but you wouldn't need the washer on the end. Read more: Making Fire,Warmth,Protection,Signaling And More. - Keepers Of The Realms http://therealms.ning.com/group/thesurvivalist/forum/topics/making-1#ixzz1 tUjzXCFv

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http://rainbowconstruction.ning.com/

Rainbow Construction is by far thee best theme site that I have ever seen and one that we are happy to support and be a part of. It has some of the best themers's on the web. But what makes this site so much more is that everyone there is willing to help and teach and will always answer any of your questions and give you advise and tips. So for those that want to learn this is the place to be, for those that want a place to show off there work, this is were you want to be. All there groups are for helping you with

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ideas to code tweaks, even to finding the right site to find pic's and cursors. You will not find any site out there that as everything you need to create a work of art and the help and support that will help you as you go along and learn. They also have themes in many categories that you can use for your ning pages some may need there codes updated so just follow this saying and you will have a perfect theme for your page: "Seasons change and so do codes so if you have an issue with a theme please let the creator know and they will fix"

So please stop by and check this wonderful site out if your looking to learn or show off your work then this site is for you..... One thing we do ask is that if you join please be respectful for the people that are there are serious and dedicated to there work, and if you join just to use themes that are available please send a thank you or leave a comment for it does mean a lot to all of them.....

view theme

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Bikers Against Child Abuse International Breaking The Chains Of Abuse

http://bacaworld.org/about/mission/

MISSION BACA Mission Statement Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) exists with the intent to create a safer environment for abused children. We exist as a body of Bikers to empower children to not feel afraid of the world in which they live. We stand ready to lend support to our wounded friends by involving them with an established, united organization. We work in conjunction with local and state officials who are already in place to protect children. We desire to send a clear message to all involved with the abused child that this child is part of our organization, and that we are prepared to lend our physical and emotional support to them by affiliation, and our physical presence. We stand at the ready to shield these children from further abuse. We do not condone the use of violence or physical force in any manner, however, if circumstances arise such that we are the only obstacle preventing a child from further abuse, we stand ready to be that obstacle. How BACA Works Bikers Against Child Abuse, Inc. (BACA) is organized with a central contact person to receive calls from referring agencies and individuals. A recognized, authorized agency with which the child has had contact determines that the child is still frightened by his or her environment. The agency representative contacts BACA, or refers the individual to contact BACA and the name and address of the child is given to our BACA/Child

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Liaison. The Liaison determines that the case is legitimate, meaning that the authorities have been contacted, and the case in being processed within the system. The Liaison contacts the family and an initial ride is organized to meet the child at their home or in some other location. The entire BACA chapter rides to meet the child and he/she is given a vest with a BACA patch sewn on the back. The child is free to wear the vest or not, and we support their decision. The child is also given bumper stickers, and other gifts that are generally donated by the public. These initial visits generally last about a half an hour. Following this initial contact, the child is given the name and number of two BACA members residing geographically closest to them, who then become the child's primary contact person(s). Prior to becoming the primary contacts for the child, the bikers are cleared for participation by clearing an extensive background check, have ridden with the Chapter for at least a year, and have received special instructions from the Licensed Mental Health Professional. Anytime the child feels scared and feels the need for the presence of his new BACA family, the child may call upon these bikers to go to the child's house and provide the necessary reassurance to feel safe and protected. BACA members and supporters also support the children by: providing escorts for them if they feel scared in their neighborhoods; riding by their homes on a regular basis; supporting the children at court and parole hearings; attending their interviews, and; staying with the children if they are alone and frightened. The BACA members never go to the child's house alone and never without the knowledge or permission of the parents. Our mission is not to be permanently engaged as the child's power. Our mission is to help the children and their families learn how powerful they can be. Our presence will be available as long as the child needs us. BACA also holds other functions for the children such as Bar-B-Ques, and parties. Level 1 Intervention Will consist of the organization deploying a ride, uniting as many BACA members as are able to attend. We will ride as a group to the childs house where the parent(s) / Guardians will be present to assist us in

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presenting the child with a patch, stickers, and a photograph of the child with his/her new biker family. If the child is afraid, it is our hope the child will use the photograph as a comfort to convey the message I am not alone, and you dont want to mess with my family. Level 2 Intervention If Level one is not sufficient to deter further abuse or harassment, several BACA members will be sent for further exposure. This group of BACA members will create a presence at the home of the child, being visible at times when the family might be the most vulnerable. The purpose of BACAs presence is to deter further abuse and to protect the children and the family, if necessary. Level 3 Intervention If the physical presence of our BACA members at the residence of the childs home does not deter the abuser, a formal letter will be drafted by the Chapter President or Vice-President in the area in which the abuser lives. This letter will be written on BACA letterhead. The substance of the letter will be to explain to the perpetrator that we are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to become the obstacle to further abuse. Level 4 Intervention While it is against the purpose of BACA to purposely engage a perpetrator, we will ask for the general geographical location of the offender, and conduct a Neighborhood Awareness Ride in which we will ride to the general location given to us and go door to door letting people know who we are, hand out stickers to kids, and distribute our literature regarding our mission and how we function. If the location or address of the perpetrator becomes known to any BACA Member, we will immediately withdraw our physical presence to avoid any contact. BACA does not condone, support or participate in the use of aggression, violence or physical force in any manner. If, however, ANY person should seek to inflict harm on one of our BACA Members, we will respond with commitment and loyalty to protect our Member.

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Our Court Appearances We also attend court with our wounded friends. The sole purpose for our physical presence is to assist the child in being less intimidated and frightened, and subsequently give an accurate testimony regarding his/her abuse. If the child requests our presence in the courtroom, the parent or guardian for the child must petition the childs attorney, who then will intercede on behalf of the child to the presiding Judge. Absolutely no physical confrontation of the perpetrator will be tolerated by BACA, and anyone acting in such a manner will be acting outside of the scope of BACA and will be held completely and solely accountable for his/her actions. When possible, the two bikers assigned to the child as his/her primary contacts should be in attendance. Given that it is not always possible for the primary contact bikers to be in attendance, a petition may be made to the general membership for their attendance and support. A listing of the court dates and times will be kept and updated on the BACA hotline at all times. BACA Creed I am a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse. The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I wont look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past has prepared me, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by the faith in my works, and lean on the strength of my brothers and sisters. I love with patience, live by prayer, and labor with power. My fate is set, my gait is fast, my goal is the ultimate safety of children. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are tried and true, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought,

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compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and showed up for all wounded children. I must go until I drop, ride until I give out, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me, for He will see my BACA backpatch and know that I am one of His. I am a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse, and this is my creed. Chapters
United States

Select a state (states in gray do not yet have a BACA chapter): Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connectic ut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachus etts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

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http://wetstags.ning.com

http://globalconspiracytheories.socialparadox.com/main

http://roadhouserockers.ning.com/

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http://shadowheartandsouloftheblackrose.ning.com/

http://bill3626.ning.com/

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Korn

Wednesday May 2, 2012 8:00 PM Korn Murat Egyptian Room at Old National Centre - Indianapolis, IN Tickets Friday May 4, 2012 8:00 PM Korn The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD Tickets

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Tuesday May 8, 2012 8:00 PM Korn The Paramount - Huntington, NY Tickets Thursday May 10, 2012 8:30 PM Korn Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ Tickets

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Hellyeah Sunday May 20, 2012 7:00 PM Hellyeah Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA

Thursday May 24, 2012 8:00 PM Hellyeah Vogue Theatre - IN - Indianapolis, IN

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Marilyn Manson

Tuesday May 1, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD Tickets

Wednesday May 2, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ Tickets

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Friday May 4, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson House of Blues Atlantic City - Atlantic City, NJ Tickets Saturday May 5, 2012 6:30 PM Marilyn Manson Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA Tickets Sunday May 6, 2012 6:30 PM Marilyn Manson Orbit Room - Grand Rapids, MI Tickets Tuesday May 8, 2012 7:00 PM Marilyn Manson Val Air Ballroom - West Des Moines, IA Tickets Wednesday May 9, 2012 3:00 PM KRRO Fest feat. Marilyn Manson

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Sioux Empire Fair - Sioux Falls, SD Tickets

Friday May 11, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson The Palladium Ballroom - TX - Dallas, TX Tickets Saturday May 12, 2012 7:00 PM Kissfest feat. Marilyn Manson Sunken Gardens - San Antonio, TX Tickets Sunday May 13, 2012 7:00 PM Marilyn Manson House of Blues Houston - Houston, TX Tickets Tuesday May 15, 2012 8:00 PM

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Marilyn Manson Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK Tickets Wednesday May 16, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson Uptown Theater - MO - Kansas City, MO Tickets

Friday May 18, 2012 9:00 PM Marilyn Manson (Moved from The Brick) Myth - Saint Paul, MN Tickets Saturday May 19, 2012 8:00 PM Marilyn Manson Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI Tickets

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Meshuggah Thursday May 3, 2012 6:00 PM Meshuggah Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ Tickets Friday May 4, 2012 7:00 PM Meshuggah House of Blues Anaheim - Anaheim, CA Tickets Saturday May 5, 2012 8:00 PM Meshuggah House Of Blues Los Angeles - West Hollywood, CA Tickets Sunday May 6, 2012 8:00 PM Meshuggah Fillmore-CA - San Francisco, CA Tickets

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Friday May 11, 2012 7:00 PM Meshuggah Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO Tickets Tuesday May 15, 2012 5:00 PM Meshuggah House Of Blues Chicago - Chicago, IL Tickets Wednesday May 16, 2012 6:30 PM Meshuggah St. Andrews Hall - Detroit, MI Tickets Thursday May 17, 2012 7:00 PM Meshuggah Sound Academy - ON - Toronto, ON Tickets Friday May 18, 2012 7:00 PM Meshuggah

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The Fillmore at TLA - Philadelphia, PA Tickets Saturday May 19, 2012 6:30 PM Meshuggah Palladium-MA - Worcester, MA Tickets Tuesday May 22, 2012 8:00 PM Meshuggah The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD Tickets Wednesday May 23, 2012 8:00 PM Meshuggah Terminal 5 - New York, NY Tickets

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Ramstein Tuesday May 1, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Bell Centre - Montreal, QC Tickets Thursday May 3, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH Tickets Friday May 4, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Allstate Arena - Rosemont, IL Tickets Sunday May 6, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Palace Of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI Tickets

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Tuesday May 8, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Target Center - Minneapolis, MN Tickets Thursday May 10, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein MTS Centre (Manitoba) - Winnipeg, MB Tickets Sunday May 13, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Rogers Arena - Vancouver, BC Tickets Monday May 14, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Tacoma Dome - Tacoma, WA Tickets Thursday May 17, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein

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Honda Center - Anaheim, CA Tickets Friday May 18, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Jobing.com Arena - Glendale, AZ Tickets Sunday May 20, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO Tickets Tuesday May 22, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein American Airlines Center - TX - Dallas, TX Tickets Thursday May 24, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX Tickets Friday

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May 25, 2012 8:00 PM Rammstein Toyota Center - TX - Houston, TX Tickets

Soulfly
Friday May 4, 2012 7:00 PM Soulfly State Theatre-FL - Saint Petersburg, FL Tickets Tuesday May 8, 2012 7:30 PM Soulfly Emo's-Austin - Austin, TX Tickets Saturday May 5, 2012 7:00 PM Soulfly Culture Room - Fort Lauderdale, FL Tickets

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Wednesday May 9, 2012 7:00 PM Soulfly The Palladium Ballroom - TX - Dallas, TX Tickets

Lacuna Coil
Saturday May 5, 2012 7:30 PM Lacuna Coil Masquerade-GA Atlanta, GA Tickets Tuesday May 8, 2012 7:00 PM Lacuna Coil The Fillmore at TLA - Philadelphia, PA Tickets Wednesday May 9, 2012 6:00 PM Lacuna Coil

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Blender Theater at Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY Tickets

Rob Zombie and Megadeth

Saturday May 12, 2012 7:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth Toyota At Montage Mountain - Scranton, PA Tickets Sunday May 13, 2012 3:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD Tickets Wednesday May 16, 2012 6:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA Tickets Friday May 18, 2012 6:00 PM

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Rob Zombie and Megadeth Deltaplex - Grand Rapids, MI Tickets Tuesday May 22, 2012 7:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth La Crosse Center - La Crosse, WI Tickets

Friday May 25, 2012 7:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth Hartman Arena - Valley Center, KS Tickets Thursday May 24, 2012 7:00 PM Rob Zombie and Megadeth Tyson Event Center - Sioux City, IA Tickets

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Don't forget to check out the realms huge music section of groups, we are not lacking in the metal~Realms Music Page

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History of Gothic Clothing

by Lady Vampiress

The history of the Gothic clothing is basically based on the two periods of the Gothic era-the early Gothic period and the late Gothic period. The early Gothic period saw more elegant and sophisticated styles of dressing. Sleeves became tight and the forearms got prominence. The early Gothic period also saw minimal trimmings on the Gothic dresses. The necklines went deep and the Gothic dresses became longer. The gothic clothing styles changed during the late Gothic periods with the fabrics looking stiffer in their appearance.

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Here the draperies shortened considerably and women wore their hair long with different headgears such as the wimple, which would cover the head and the gorget, which was used to cover the neck. The men had short hairstyles and there was more emphasis on the detailing of the upper silhouette. Gothic fashion would always show the major use of reds, blues, greens and gold. The vermilion shade also was highlighted during the Gothic period. The gothic clothing also has interesting elements fused in their design. Here are a few: Cote-hardieThis is a short A shaped garment which opens in the center and has buttons down on the front. Women who generally wore the cote-hardie had it tight-fitting especially around the shoulder, hips and waist area. This generally ends at the hips in such cases and can be laced up at the front or back. PourpointThis was generally worn under the cote-hardie. The pourpoint is a short jacket with tight sleeves. It was even lined with fur to provide warmth. The pourpoint was also known as the paltock. HouppelandeThis was a long garment that was mainly worn by men in the Gothic period. This Gothic costume was fitted at the shoulders and was worn with a belt at the waistline. It was also worn with a stand collar with long decorative sleeves. The sleeves had slits at the elbows for the hand to pass.

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The remaining portion of the sleeve used to dangle below. SurcoteThe surcote was generally a traditional dress for women. These were also available in various versions. Sometimes, such Gothic dresses were also known as the sideless gowns. This was because the womans gown was cut away from the arms to the hips. This would reveal the cote hardie that was worn below.

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Cybergoth
Cybergoth is a subculture that derives from elements of cyberpunk, goth, raver, and rivethead fashion. Unlike traditional goths, Cybergoths follow electronic dance music more often than rock.

History While the term 'Cybergoth' was coined in 1988 in the United Kingdom, by Games Workshop, for their roleplaying game Dark Future, the fashion style did not emerge until a decade later.Valerie Steele quotes Julia Borden, who defines cybergoth as combining elements of industrial aesthetics with a style associated with "Gravers" (Gothic ravers). Gravers hybridized "the British Raver look and the NYC ClubKid look with a 'freak show' spin." This fusion between New York and London styles began in 1999.[ Borden indicates that initially the hair extensions and bright fishnets did not mesh well with goth fashion, but that by 2002 "the rave elements of dress were replaced by Industrial-influenced accessories, such as goggles, reflective clothing, and mostly black clothing."Steele summarizes: Today cyber goths tend to wear primarily black clothing with hints of neon colors, as well as clothing made of reflective materials and PVC, and huge platform boots. Their hair extensions or falls often incorporate a bright color and multiple piercings are typical. Goggles are often worn. Some cyber goths also wear gas masks or (in what appears to be a kind of medical fetish) shiny PVC doctors' masks. Nancy Kilpatrick indicates that David Bowie's look in the 1970s is the initial inspiration for the style, and that Fritz Lang's Metropolis provided the prototype for cyber aesthetics. Kilpatrick also notes a link

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to cyberpunk science fiction, particularly William Gibson's Neuromancer. Fashion

Cybergoth neon fashion under a nightclub black light. Cybergoth fashion combines rave, rivethead, and goth fashion, as well as drawing inspiration from cyberpunk and other forms of science fiction. Androgyny is common. The style sometimes features one starkly contrasting bright or neon-reactive theme color, such as red, blue, neon green, chrome, or pink, set against a basic, black gothic outfit. Matte or glossy black materials such as rubber and shiny black PVC can be mixed and matched in an effort to create a more artificial look. The black-and-monochromatic juxtaposition can take a variety of forms, including brightly colored hair and make-up, cybernetic patterns such as live LED circuit boards, body modification, gas masks and goggles (especially aviator-style), typically worn on the forehead or around the neck rather than on the eyes. The most common use of a theme color is in the hair or eye make-up. Artificial, extended hair or falls are sometimes used to create this added effect. Falls can be made of various

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materials, ranging from yarn to fluorescent tubing to electrical wiring. Popular club gear for cybergoths includes tight black pants, tight black vests or shirts cut from ripped, solid or fishnet fabrics, resembling costumes from 19th Century Gothic novels or early black and white horror films from the mid-20th century.[5] Companies that specialize in the style include Cyberdog, DANE in London, Pen & Lolly Clubwear based in Sheffield (UK), Lip Service, based in Southern California, Robotic Kitty Fashions which specializes in custom, made to order cybergoth gear, based in Chicago, and Diabolik, a shop in Montreal. Hair

A cybergoth with artificial hair extensions, goggles and 'DIY fashion' Cybergoth style incorporates extravagant hair pieces and styles, including synthetic dreadlocks, cyberlox, extensions and so on. These hair pieces can be made of a variety of materials, from real hair to synthetic kankelon hair, plastic tubing, tubular crin, rubber and foam strips, belts, and are often accented with goggles. DIY Cyberfalls example using almost all of the above materials. Also an example of the use of goggles, and a gas mask. Many different styles of cyberlox and other related hair products can be found at sites such as CyberloxShop , based in the UK. Music

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In the first decade of the 21st century, the instrumental, computer driven, synthesized hypnotic tempos and textures of the trance music of the late 1990s were transformed into futurepop, a term coined by Ronan Harris of the UK band VNV Nation and Stephan Groth, vocalist of Apoptygma Berzerk. Other associated music includes aggrotech, power noise and club-oriented dance music styles such as techno, drum and bass, acid trance, darkstep, synthpop, electropop, gabber, intelligent dance music, EBM, hard trance, hardstyle, dubstep and dark psytrance.

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Welcome my kinky friends! And another packed month of fetish fun to keep yourselves more than amused ;)

On a personal note if anyone goes to any of these events please oh please let me know and maybe send me a pic or a little write up on it so I can let others know what's hot and what's not! Happy Playing my beloved friends TQ

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May 4-6 Kinko De Mayo Cleveland, Ohio, USA www.ohiosmart.org

Welcome to OhioSMART! Since 1995, we have provided a forum for those who identify with BDSM, S/M, D/s and various fetish orientations. One of the oldest and largest poly-pansexual BDSM organizations in the nation, we are a registered-not-for-profit organization with over 300 current members.

As an educational and social organization, we invite all who are open, interested, or curious about the various power exchange relationships and play scenarios to join us in a safe, comfortable, private environment where

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like-minded individuals can engage in consensual play, discussions, and education.

OhioSMART is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Membership is not required to attend any of our events except quarterly member-only parties. We have many opportunities for fellowship throughout the month. Our two main events are: First Friday: Extreme play party at our downtown dungeon location. Third Saturday: Educational meeting night and play party at our downtown dungeon location. Additionally we have six special interest groups that meet at various intervals throughout the month.

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We hope to see you at an OhioSMART event this month! Please check out our calendar to the left for upcoming events.

May 16-20
DomCon LA
Los Angeles, California, USA

www.domconla.com

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May 18-20
Northwest Leather Celebration
San Jose, California, USA

www.northwestleathercelebration.com

(NWLC 2012 Online Registration is Open Thru Tuesday, May 15.) ~ $99 registration rate good thru April 30. Price increases to $119 on May 1. ~ Click HERE to View the Registration Options. Register Now! online event registration by Regonline

Northwest Leather Celebration is a gathering place for all the leather tribes! NWLC offers a full weekend of education, fellowship and fun. This year 2012 will mark the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY for NWLC and the seventh year for the Northwest regional Master/slave contest. Northwest Leather Celebration is proud to serve as the host event for the Northwest regional Master/slave contest! In addition to the Northwest regional Master/slave contest, NWLC also offers workshops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Our educational focus is on building healthy relationships and communities. Social opportunities abound at NWLC. Check out our Fetlife Group and Fetlife Event Page:

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http://fetlife.com/events/55278 After Friday's workshops, enjoy an onsite Meet & Greet and the Exiles' famous "Champagne & Chocolate" evening social. On Saturday and Sunday you can shop in our air-conditioned vendor fair, relax in our Bootblack Salon, attend more workshops and witness the NWM/s contestant interviews.Saturday evening be entertained at the NWM/s contest show, followed by the Society of Janus' "Port & Decadence" social. On Sunday join us for a keynote banquet, more workshops, more vending and the annual regional open MAsT meeting. NWLC Now Features an Onsite Dungeon! Not only can you find some really incredible toys at our onsite vendor fair, you can also "test drive" your new toys on both Friday and Saturday nights at the play parties of Northwest Leather Celebration. NWLC features an onsite dungeon -- conveniently located in the event host hotel. This year's NWLC play parties will be sponsored and staffed by the volunteers of the Legion of Sin Motocycle Club and coordinated by local "party hosts extraordinaire," Stefanos and Chey, known for their fabulous play parties at the SF Citadel and at SF Bondage-A-Go-Go. NWLC play party tickets are a steal at just $15 each! Or you can double your fun and save a few bucks on both nights ($25). Hmmm... Too much excitement? Wind down and re-focus as you walk the Leather Heart Labyrinth in The Chamber, a brand new feature at NWLC. Also available for commitment ceremonies and re-commitment rituals, The Chamber is your peaceful retreat amid the stimulating activities of the busy weekend. This year will be a very special anniversary for NWLC -- our fifth year for the conference. If you are celebrating a special anniversary, too, consider a recommittment ceremony in "The Chamber" at NWLC 2012. An ordained officiant will be available. (More info below.)

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Sign up for NWLC 2012 today! Why wait? You know it's gonna be great! Everyone is welcome because NWLC is a gathering place for all the leather tribes; join us! Who will be the next Northwest Master and slave? Join us for the 2012 Northwest Master/slave contest! Admission to all contest-related public activities is included in your basic weekend admission package. The contest begins with a "Meet & Greet" on Friday evening, hosted by the San Francisco girls of Leather in the ballroom foyer area of the second floor conference wing. (See the weekend schedule for exact start/end times.) On Saturday all registered attendees are invited to observe the contestant interviews and hear the questions posed by the contest judges as well as the answers given by the contestants. There will also be an opportunity for registered attendees witness the contestant presentations. On Saturday evening don't miss the Northwest Master/slave contest show! In addition to the enertainment we have planned (two lively musical acts of professional quality), registered attendees of NWLC will have the opportunity to enjoy the NWM/s contestant speeches and pop-questions. Stick around until the end of the show and find out exactly who will be the next Northwest Master and slave!

Featured Entertainment at the Saturday Evening Contest Show

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~ The Rainbow Women's Chorus ~ http://rainbowwomen.org/index.htmlrainbowwomen.org/index.html The Rainbow Women's Chorus works together to develop musical excellence in an atmosphere of mutual support and respect. We perform publicly for the entertainment, education, and cultural enrichment of our audiences and community. We sing to enhance the esteem of all women, to celebrate diversity, to promote peace and freedom, and to touch people's hearts and lives. Throughout the years, we have performed many concerts with various themes, always with a focus on musical excellence, entertainment, and education. Songs with a message of strength and equality and fighting injustice are joined by those with humor, fun, and celebration. RWC has also put an emphasis on outreach, singing all over the Bay Area, at venues such as San Jose City Hall, Santa Clara County offices, World Aids Day, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose Opera (Lobby holiday performance) Genentech and Oracle Corporations' diversity celebrations, as well as in churches, at festivals, in celebrations, weddings and funerals. ---------Arrive early for the best seating or purchase a VIP "mountaineer" event package for prime reserved seating at the Saturday evening contest show. VIP passes are limited/subject to availability. Inquire at [email protected] and see our registration page: http//www.northwestleathercelebration.com/registration. ALSO APPEARING: Shay and Figaro performing their perverted version of "Some Enchanted Evening"

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About the Performers: Shay has been playing harp as a hobby since middle school, professionally since high school, and topless since all you kinky people encouraged her to pervert this wholesome skill in 2007. She is a compulsive volunteer within the leather community, and feels that combining volunteering with partial nudity and being on stage is the ultimate three-for-one deal! Figaro joined the chorus in High School because that's where all the hot girls were. Two decades later he actually makes a living singing, but in his heart of hearts he's still in it for the girls, not the money. He is delighted to have a chance to mix his passion for singing with his passion for smart sadistic naughtiness; don't tell SF Opera, Opera San Jose, Berkeley Opera, Sacramento Opera or West Bay Opera he was here though as they might not hire him again! *winks*

NEW FEATURE this year at NWLC! ~ The Chamber ~ sponsored by EduKink (www.edukink.org)

Join us on Friday for the opening ritual of The Chamber, a brand new feature

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at Northwest Leather Celebration's Fifth Anniversary event! NWLC and EduKink are proud to present The Chamber as your special space set aside from the bustling activity of the weekend. The Chamber offers the opportunity for quiet contemplation/meditation and for personal/relationship rituals and ceremonies. After the opening ritual on Friday, the space will be open throughout the weekend during posted hours.

Unique Features of The Chamber: The Leather Heart Labyrinth -

One of the main features of The Chamber is the Leather Heart Labyrinth -truly the heart of The Chamber -- which will be available as a walking meditation. The Chamber will also be available for public and private rituals, such as collaring ceremonies, or awarding of earned leathers. The walking of a labyrinth has been a mystical tradition for spiritual growth and meditation dating back to ancient times, cross-culturally all over the world. It symbolizes pilgrimages, centering, and harmony in the life journey. The energy of the labyrinth brings harmony and balance. Unlike mazes, which are designed with branching paths, and often intended to confound and confuse, labyrinths have a single path, providing an unambiguous route to the center and back, and are not designed to be difficult to navigate. As you walk the labyrinth, we encourage you to consider your own leather journey, and how it influences your life. Think also about those others who

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walk the path with you -- or who have gone before you -- or will follow after.

Stone Cairn - We use stones to mark significant places, to create monuments, and to give guidance to those who follow us on our paths. The Chamber will provide an opportunity for you to create your own stone -- of remembrance, of meditation, or to mark a special intention. You are then encouraged to carry the stone with you on your labyrinth journey and add it to the cairn of stones created with the intentions of others in the center. Altar - Another feature of The Chamber will be an altar dedicated to those people who have helped us in our leather journey, and honoring the loved ones in our lives, both living and dead. We encourage you to bring some symbol of the important relationships in your leather journey to add to the altar. Ordained Officiant - In keeping with the NWLC theme of "relationships", an ordained officiant will be available by prior arrangement for attendees who wish to celebrate marriage or re-commitment ceremonies at the conference. The officiant will also be available for collaring ceremonies. For more information or to arrange for these services, please contact EduKink (edukink AT gmail DOT com) prior to the conference.

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May 19
Mischief in May
Des Moines, Iowa, USA

www.mischiefinmay.com

Welcome to the event of the year! Come for just a little bit of mischievous play in the middle of May! We hope that you will join us as we enjoy our third year of fetish fun and kinky classes from presenters and educators all over the country! May 19, 2012 Featuring: Two tracks of learning for 8 Educational Classes and a D/s Forum! Leather and Fetish Pageant Fantastic 4 hour Dungeon Party Friday Night Meet and Mingle Awesome Silent Auction to benefit next years Mischief in May About Mischief in May Mischief in May III is the premier Iowa Kink Event hosted by CIPEX, a pansexual BDSM community in Des Moines, IA.

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May 25-28
Shibaricon
Chicago, Illinois, USA

www.shibaricon.com

Shibaricon is the world's premier international pansexual annual conference that focuses on education and information exchange for lovers of rope bondage, by lovers of rope bondage. Shibaricon offers an international team of instructors, including some of the best rope educators from around the world. Whether you are a seasoned rigger or have never tied a knot, with 4 days of classes Shibaricon will offer the perfect learning opportunities for you. The educational focus is practical, meaning that you will leave our "hands-on" or "minds-on" classes with skills you can use. Shibaricon will also provide the opportunity for you to practice your new-found skills in our playspace each evening as well as our practice space.

Shibaricon features:

4 Days of Classes for everyone from the novice to experienced rigger, with specialized classes on various aspects of bondage, suspension, psychology and many other topics to help you become a better rope top or bottom! Presenter office hours where you can get extra hands-on tutoring to improve your skills! Play Space with tons of great equipment and play areas for

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you to test and use your new learned skills! Practice Space open during the day where you can work on your new skills! Vendor Mall where you can shop for quality rope, toys, corsets, shoes, chainmail even furniture! Meet and mingle with instructors who are accessible and participate fully in the event! Supportive, friendly community! Make new friends and become part of a community that is like family, and of course, have tons of fun! Shibaricon is a gathering of rope lovers, rope Masters, rope bottoms, bondage aficionados, knot fetishist and those just curious enough to take those first steps outside the bedroom into the sensual art of Japanese rope bondage. Bondage players from around the world, this is an opportunity to attend a gathering that will provide education, support self-expression, foster new friendships, and renew old acquaintances! It is our goal to encourage everyone interested in this sensual art form to unite as community and grow as a result. Whether you are new to rope bondage, BDSM, or are a skilled practitioner, there will be something for you!

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May 25-28
German Fetish Ball Weekend
Berlin, Germany

www.german-fetish-ball.com

Berlin will once again be the centrepoint of the worldwide Fetish & BDSM scene over the Whitsun Weekend in 2012. For nine years now, the German Fetish Ball Weekend has been the biggest fetish and BDSM weekend in Europe, attracting numerous guests from all over the world. A diversified programme promise that fetishists and BDSMer will get their moneys worth. The weekend begins already with Fetish & Cocktails on Friday evening. Old and new friends meet in a fancy bar and enjoy delicious cocktails thereby getting into the mood for the weekend. The evening is entertaining and fetish outfits are welcome. On the Saturday, our big Expo, the German Fetish Fair & BDSM Convention opens its gates. For years already, the best of extravagant fetish fashion and qualitatively high-quality BDSM toys have been presented here. You will find everything from kinky accessories to the complete furnishing of

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a private playroom. Especially popular are unique products that you would otherwise search for in vain in the shops. Saturday evening is then devoted to the official pre-party of the GFB with dance, cool music, delicious cocktails, shows and a mixed crowd providing the best atmosphere for partying with same-minded people. On Whitsunday there are two fantastic events: On the second day of the Expo, you have the last opportunity to find your special outfit for the evening. That is namely when the GFB Weekend reaches its climax, with the actual German Fetish Ball. The bright ambience of the location ensures that the glittering, unusual and glamorous outfits of the guests are shown off to their best advantage. Theres a reason why the dress code is called Dress to Impress. Several dance floors, shows galore and guests willing to party cater for an unforgettable evening. And on Monday morning, we review the happenings of the wonderful weekend during a delicious and cool brunch. Let yourself be spoilt with exquisite dishes and coffee specialities at the GFB Breakfast & Farewell and already look forward to the next GFB weekend in Berlin in 2013.

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May 26 - June 3
Camp Crucible
Southeastern Pennsylvania, USA

www.the-crucible.com

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Mind Fuck from a Dom's perspective

By Andrew As we delve deeper into ourselves, we come to find that we wish to go even farther & deeper to where there are no bounds or limits, for those of us that enjoy the edge play scene, we ultimately reach a point where we realize the need to go even farther with it. It is said that the darkest scene is that of the mind fuck, & one of the more dangerous ones, because it delves into the areas of the unknown & can last for days even weeks. So with that said I highly suggest You know your partner fully & know yourself fully, because in the end you as a Dom are the one that is responsible for the wellbeing of your sub, and after care in this scene is a must, for it can take some time for your sub to come down from this high, and if not done right could leave your partner with long lasting psychological & mental damage.

To me the ultimate enjoyment is found here, taking the mind from the pleasure of pain to finding the pleasure of a soft touch of a feather when she knows for sure that the whip in my hand is going to strike her, but not being

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able to see the feather in my other hand because she is blind folded, & granting her the feel of the whip & as I go to strike again just missing & brushing her with the feather, or as I restrain her on the table she sees on the desk by it a torch & branding iron, then place the blind fold over her eyes & light the torch & let her hear the heating of metal, she knows what is coming & the pain that will be felt it is already there in her mind, she is just waiting for the moment that she feels that intense pain, & as I apply the branding rod to her flesh she feels the pain... but what she didn't see was the branding rod I pulled out of the freezer & used, but her mind could no longer know the difference, & to her it is that of a red hot branding rod. As the scene continues reality becomes lost, for now she knows that each thing we do there may be pain, or a soft loving pleasure. In this we play on all of our senses, sight, sound, taste, feel, smell, even our subs very own fears, testing the very boundaries of trust that is so highly placed in our hands. All the Tools we use now have new meaning & fresh new ideas for pleasure, for the sub no longer knows what is coming but waits anticipating what will be next, her body now reacts differently to all things & to each new sensation, and therein lies the danger for the sub & the Dom for now your sub is in a state where she has never been & where she may not want to come out of for she is no longer in the natural state of mind & has lost reality, it falls on us to know when to stop & start to bring her back to reality, once this point is reached it is when the Dom truly has control, because the safe words no longer come into play for she is not capable of saying them nor will desire to end things. It is on us to know when enough is enough, which can be just as hard for some because of the pleasure & excitement that we are getting we can also lose our state of reality, & lose focus on our sub, & that is where the true danger lays.

For those that wish to delve in the mind fuck scene, I recommend that you know your partner fully & that it is someone that you have been with for awhile in the edge play scene. Know their fears & know how their body reacts,

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but also know yourself before going down this path. Discuss it thoroughly & have an open imagination. & remember that after care will be needed afterwards, & may be needed for several weeks depending how far you take it. Read more: Mind Fuck from a Dom's perspective - Keepers Of The Realms http://therealms.ning.com/group/thedungeon/forum/topics/mind-fuck-froma-dom-s-perspective#ixzz1tUmRrnzb

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A Decree of Obedience
By Andrew

A decree of obedience, From a master's love, A submissive stance, Almost pleading in a daring way, Begging to be taken, With violent passion, As she feels her head jerk back, Held firm in her master's embrace, The teasing sensation as she feels the blades edge, As it free's her wanting breast, Ever so slowly reaching the folds of her now moist lips, As she is now free from all her garments, Ripe & wanting Begging & pleading, Arching as she feels the blade come slowly up her stomach, Tracing her every curve, With breathless gasp, As it slides back between her wetness, With lips quivering, She cries out, Take me now.... Oooh Please take me now, With a wicked grin, He tightens his hold upon her hair & turns her to meet his gaze, Will you Bow before me, and accept my decree? And I will take you like you have never been taken before.

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(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender community)

Boy Scouts Refuse Meeting with Ousted Lesbian Mom Jennifer Tyrrell

The Boy Scouts of America has refused to meet with lesbian mom Jennifer Tyrrell, the Ohio-based mom who was booted as den leader of her 7-year-old sons Boy Scout troop based solely on the fact that she is a lesbian, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). But even more than a refusal to meet with Tyrrell the BSA reaffirmed its discriminatory position that led to her ousting in a statement to CNNs LZ Granderson. (http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/opinion/granderson-gay-den-leader/)

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The BSAs Director of Public Relations, Deron Smith said the following the statement to CNN: "Our focus is on delivering the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. Our mission does not include teaching young people about sex or sexual orientation, and we do not believe it is Scouting's role to introduce this topic in our youth development program." The news broke (http://www.shewired.com/soapbox/2012/04/18/lesbian-den-leader-booted-s couts-solely-her-orientation) a week ago that the BSA had kicked Tyrrell out as den leader, and just this past Saturday Tyrrell appeared at the Los Angeles GLAAD awards with her partner and children by her side. Following her ousting Tyrrell launched a Change.org petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/boy-scouts-of-america-reinstate-cub-scoutleader-who-was-removed-for-being-gay)imploring the BSA to change its policy against gay youth and leaders. The petition is up to 130,000 signatures according to a release from GLAAD. GLAAD attempted to set up a meeting between Tyrrell and the BSA but the organization refused via email, according to a press release from GLAAD. While the BSA stands firm in its position, Tyrrell has plenty of support, not just from her petition but also from parents of children in her sons Pack 109 who have voiced support for her. One parent, Robert Dunn said, "I'm not a city person. I'm just a backwoods hick, and I don't think anybody around here have an issue with homosexuals. She did a wonderful job, and what they did to her was just horrible. When I told my son Jen was kicked out because she is gay, he didn't know what was wrong because he thought gay meant happy. He's just devastated."

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Another parent from Pack 109, Crystal Sabinsky, said, "The boys knew her as Tiger Leader Jen, not Gay Tiger Leader Jen. They are only first graders. Most don't even understand what 'gay' or 'lesbian' mean." Follow SheWired on Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/SheWired)

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Pagan UnderWorld

SH&S Of The Black Rose

Keepers Of The Realms

Earth Monster World

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~That's All Folks~ If you have a site you would like featured in our next issue or would like to contribute an article contact [email protected]
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~Thanks For Reading~

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material we post. Journalism is (or used to be) the profession of gathering and presenting a broad panorama of news about the events of our times and presenting it to readers for their own consideration. We believe in the intelligence, judgment and wisdom of our readers to discern for themselves among the data which appears in this magazine that which is valid and worthy...or otherwise.

The idea of a free press in America is one that we hold in the highest regard. We believe in bringing our readers the widest possible array of information that comes to our attention. We have great trust and respect for the American people, and our worldwide audience, and believe them to be fully-capable of making their own decisions and discerning their own realities. Among the thousands of articles posted here for your consideration, there will doubtless be some that you find useless, and possibly offensive, but we believe you will be perceptive enough to realize that even the stories you disagree with have some value in terms of promoting your own further self-definition and insight. Our magazine is a smorgasbord of material...take what you wish and click or scroll right past that which doesn't interest you. We suggest you don't make 'assumptions' about our official position on issues that are discussed here. That is not what this Magazine is about. We believe it to be unwise to sweep controversy under the carpet. We also firmly believe people should not only read material which they agree with. The opinions expressed through the thousands of stories here do not necessarily represent those of the Editors. We are not going to censor the news and information here. That is for you to do.

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We strongly recommend not 'assuming' anything. Read, consider, and make your own informed decisions. People 'assumed' the Warren Commission report was accurate. People 'assumed' the Federal Government would never conduct biochemical experiments on the general populace. People 'assumed' the world was once flat. One more time... Keepers Of The UnderWorld Magazine does not necessarily adhere to, or endorse, any or all of the links, stories, articles, editorials, or products offered by sponsors found on this magazine. All of the materials and data offered in this Magazine are for informational and educational purposes only. And remember: it's all free to you Thank you for reading. Enjoy. Sweet, Andrew, Persephone and Oak

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