As the sun rides high
O'er the rolling hills
The spirits below make
Contact at this time of
Midsummer.
May the dreamtime of the Fae
Whisper secrets and wisdom
Of the Sacred summer landscape
And may the holy flame of light continue
To be kindled,
Lighting a torch of hope, love and healing;
Reconnecting lost souls, loves and friendships
Across the vibrant green cloaked
And sacred sun drenched summer land.
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.
Awen.
Full Moon for July 2016July Full Buck Moon
Learn about the Full Moon for July 2016—plus moon phase dates, best days by the Moon, folklore, and more!
Moon Phases for July 2016
All dates and times are ET. See the Moon Phase Calendar for YOUR city/state.
New Moon: July 4, 7:01 A.M.
First Quarter: July 11, 8:52 P.M.
Full Moon: July 19, 6:56 P.M.
Last Quarter: July 26, 7:00 P.M.
The Full Moons have descriptive names that come from Native Americans and Colonial Americans who used the Full Moons as a sort of calendar to keep track of the seasons.
July is the month of the Full Buck Moon. Bucks begin to grow new antlers at this time. This Full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.
July Full Buck Moon Video
Each month, we will explain the traditional names of the Full Moon along with some fascinating Moon facts. This month, learn about the Full Buck Moon, why July is such an important month in Moon history, and how scientists measure the distance from Earth to the Moon. Click below to watch the video.
Full Buck Moon: July
Old Farmer's Almanac
Learn about the Full Buck Moon, and why July is such an important month in Moon history. Also, learn about how scientists measure the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Below are the best days for activities, based on the Moon’s sign and phase in July.
For Cutting Hay:
24–26
For Setting Eggs:
19–21
For Fishing:
4–19
Moon Facts
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the Moon. He also placed the U.S. flag there.
On July 31, 1999, the ashes of astrogeologist Eugene Shoemaker were deposited on the Moon.
Midsummer festival in Rumania
The Wickerman Festival is an annual music festival held near to Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", the festival celebrated its 10th Birthday in 2011 on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 July.
The movie 'The Wicker Man' has been covered here. It's truly a multi-generational cult classic, which could be thought of as either a mystery, horror, musical, or pagan rite. I found an interesting review of the movie on Phillip Coppens website called 'The Wicker Man: the Return of the Pagan World'.
"The Wicker Man is a remarkable story of the duality between the Christian and pagan ways, set against a Scottish background. In recent years, the story of the movie itself has been used as the struggle between the old Christian establishment and the reintroduction into Western society of “pagan movies”, of which The Wicker Man was one of the most shining examples."
-- Philip Coppens
2000 year old Miami Circle, Florida
Phenomenal Travel Videos
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Miami Circle
United Ancient Order of Druids of California
The United Ancient Order of Druids of California are a fraternal benefit organization established in Placerville in 1860. It has its origins in England, but is not associated with the sacrificial Druids of Stonehenge. The Order is based on the ancient Druids beliefs of benevolence and education and was founded on sound morality.
It is a "secret" ritualistic Order only in the manner in which the meetings are conducted. It asks no promises of you that conflict with any religious system or the laws of any civilized country.
Plans to re-introduce extinct megafauna
Stefan Anitei - Softpedia.com - June 1, 2007
During the Ice Age, huge beasts forming the megafauna, like mammoths, saber-toothed cats and woolly rhinos roamed the continents of our planet.
But the Ice Age ended some 10,000 years ago and most of the megafauna disappeared, a fact which is connected to the spread of modern humans. This fauna loss left the Holocene, the current era (which started 10,000 years ago) with a very poor megafauna.
Species like the American mastodon, dire wolf, giant deer and ground sloth are long vanished, but some species, or related subspecies, still persist, and a Pleistocene-like megafauna and their ecosystems can be re-created.
cont'd
Allman Brothers Band - Ramblin' Man
TheClassicRewind
"Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band
Year: 1973
Album: Brothers and Sisters
Five mind-blowing facts about Saturn’s moon Titan
Jonathan O'Callaghan - SpaceAnswers.com - February 2013
Did you know you could fly on the surface of Titan with a pair of homemade wings? Well, you could. Find out why, and more, in these amazing facts.
You could fly in its sky
Titan’s thick atmosphere, low gravity (less than our Moon) and reasonable surface pressure (50% of Earth’s) mean that, by flapping a pair of wings strapped to your arms, you could fly in its skies with no more effort than walking.
It’s the only other world with liquid (that we know of)
Aside from Earth, Titan is the only world we know of that has liquids on its surface. These are in the form of lakes and rivers composed of liquid hydrocarbons including Ontario Lacus, a lake 240 kilometres (150 miles) long in Titan’s southern hemisphere.
The liquids on Titan undergo a similar cycle to water here on Earth. Liquid methane evaporates from the surface, forming extremely thick clouds in the skies, before eventually raining down and replenishing the lakes and rivers on the ground.
We’ve landed on it, and we will again
The Saturn-orbiting spacecraft Cassini carried with it the Huygens probe, which landed on Titan (our only landing in the outer Solar System) on 14 January 2005. There are proposals being discussed for another landing, this time possibly using a boat.
It’s bigger than Mercury
Titan is beaten in size only by the Sun, the seven planets other than Mercury, and Jupiter’s Ganymede. It is over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) wide, and is significantly more massive than all Saturn’s 61 other known moons combined.
Catharism
Catharism, "the pure ones" was a Christian dualist or Gnostic revival movement that thrived in some areas of Southern Europe, particularly northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Cathar beliefs varied between communities, because Catharism was initially taught by ascetic priests, who had set few guidelines. The Catholic Church denounced its practices including the 'Consolamentum' ritual, by which Cathar individuals were baptized and raised to the status of 'perfect'.
The Cathar Temple
John of the Holy Grail
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The main figure of this mostly British, Spanish, and American movement is John Bogomil, who has written 450 books. That's a lot of books to author. The Cathars were burned by the Catholic Inquisitors. Catharism ties into Ghostics, Hyperborea, and a lot of other things. It's interesting that the Cathars are back.
Scientists create lab-grown spinal cords
Researchers in Germany have grown complete spinal cords in a Petri dish
TheGuardian.com - October 10, 2014
As regenerative medicine and stem cell technologies continue to progress, so the list of tissues and organs that can be grown from scratch – and potentially replaced – continues to grow. In the past few years, researchers have used stem cells to grow windpipes, bladders, urethras and vaginas in the lab, and, in some cases, successfully transplanted them into patients.
Others are making progress in growing liver and heart tissue; one team in London is busy growing blood vessels, noses and ears; and some have even managed to grow tiny chunks of brain tissue, the most complex of all the tissues in the human body. Now, researchers in Germany report that they have grown complete spinal cords from embryonic stem cells.
cont'd
Triple Moon... and now Triple Sun
If the Triple Moon represents the Almother Goddess, then would the Triple Sun represent the Alfather God? The above also shows what amounts to a complete Solar Cross.
Sun dogs
Sun dogs (or sundogs), mock suns or phantom suns, scientific name parhelia (singular parhelion), are an atmospheric phenomenon that consists of a pair of bright spots on either horizontal side on the Sun, often co-occurring with a luminous ring known as a 22° halo.
Sun dogs are a member of a large family of halos, created by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as two subtly colored patches of light to the left and right of the Sun, approximately 22° distant and at the same elevation above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the Sun is close to the horizon.
Cheddar Man is the name given to the remains of a human male found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England. The remains date to the Mesolithic, approximately 7150 BC, and it appears that he died a violent death. A large crater-like lesion just above the skull's right orbit suggests that the man may have also been suffering from a bone infection at the time. It is Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton.
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Below, from 1996, a Welsh school teacher is proven through mitochondria DNA to be the direct descendant of Cheddar Man. Even though over 9,000 years had elapsed, I had once heard that the school teacher lived less than one mile from where Cheddar Man was excavated. To the best of my understanding, Wales was a part of the southern portion of the island which was not covered in an ice sheet during the last glacial movement. That could give some clue of how the Welsh are true natives, and how there was tremendous continuity. However, this story is amazing. After 400 generations, and the descendant is living less than a mile away!
Eric Close and Cheddar Man
Tanya Ivanna
From "The Hunt For Amazing Treasures" hosted by Eric Close, season 1 volume 1, 2001. Cheddar Man. For all fans of Eric, it's a great documentary.
Meet The Coywolf (Wildlife Documentary)
AnimalPortal
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Coywolf
Coywolf (sometimes called woyote) is an informal term for a canid hybrid descended from coyotes and one of three other North American Canis species, the gray, eastern and red wolf. Coyotes are closely related to eastern and red wolves, having diverged 150,000–300,000 years ago and evolved side by side in North America, thus facilitating hybridization. In contrast, hybrids between coyotes and gray wolves, which are Eurasian in origin and diverged from coyotes 1–2 million years ago, are extremely rare.
Such hybridization in the wild has only been confirmed in isolated gray wolf populations in the southern United States, while several specimens were produced in captivity via artificial insemination from sperm extracted from northwestern wolves introduced to female western coyotes. Although it has evolved via hybridization, it has been proposed that the northeastern coywolf be given individual species status, as it is morphologically and genetically different from other North American Canis species and has now largely replaced the former territory and filled the historical predator-prey roles of the now nearly extirpated eastern wolf.
The embedding wouldn't hold, so I'm just placing the link. I love the idea of Blog Talk Radio, but it's a strange site in some ways. It's slow, difficult to navigate, and even simple searches are far from adequate. You can find some hidden gems though.
Man, Myth and the Occult: Ancestral DNA with Raven Grimassi
Join hosts Dr. Bryan Ouellette and Michael Kell as they welcome Neo-Pagan author Raven Grimassi to the show. Raven will be discussing his recent exploration of "the idea that through our DNA we are passed more than the instructions on how to make us; we also inherit the 'ancestral spirit' that is carried in the energy that holds the DNA cohesive regarding its structure and "data". To pose a question or present a comment, join the discussion in the chat room or call into the show at 347-9963-3307 and press 1 to queue to the switchboard.
Marilyn Manson - Disposable Teens
MarilynMansonVEVO
Music video by Marilyn Manson performing Disposable Teens. (C) 2000 Nothing/Interscope Records
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'Disposable Teens' was used for the opening scene of the 2000 movie 'Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'. I don't know much about Marilyn Manson, but he is apparently either a Satanist or at least projecting that image. He is also very occultic. One lyrical line from this seemingly convoluted song, which he sings with particular fervor, caught my eye:
I never really hated a one true God,
But the God of the people I hated!
On his website - "The Nachtkabarett - Marilyn Manson, Art, and the Occult" - he appears to explain himself and his art/music. Usually, as with AC/DC or Black Sabbath, occultic musical acts just leave it up to you to decide what it all means. The website goes onto explain many other dark aspects of Alchemy, Hollywood, Charles Manson, dark art, Saturn, Fascism, Egyptian mythology, Freemasonry, Aleister Crowley, Jesus, Satanism, the Kabbalah, etc.
My own feelings about some of this is that for thousands of years, our ancestors lived with both light and dark concepts and symbolism, and I think that our natural inclination is to gravitate to both. For example, a few days ago I was hiking and it had gotten quite dark along the trail I was on. I felt uncomfortable. There could be a person or coyote lurking amid one of the many dark places all around me. I also felt invigorated. We were never intended to be so safe and secure at every point in our entire lives.
'Jesus in the Old Testament'
By Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ph.D. - President Emeritus - Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
Excerpts:
"There is no finer teacher on whether Jesus is to be found in the pages of the Old Testament than the teaching of our Lord Jesus himself."
"It is only right that we should find that Jesus was both actually present in the Old Testament
and accurately predicted..."
"Old Testament Predictions of the Coming Messiah
Jesus is first seen in the Old Testament as the person who appeared as “the Angel of the Lord” in his sudden confrontation with Sarah’s maidser- vant, Hagar (Gen 16:7). Thereafter, he continued to appear intermittently throughout the earlier books of the Old Testament."
Later, it was the same Angel of the Lord who appeared to the wife of Manoah (Judg 13:2-25), mother of Samson, whom she reported to her husband was indeed a “man of God” that had appeared to her. When Manoah asked for the “Angel of the LORD” to also appear to him as he had appeared to his wife, the Angel repeated the appearances and his conversations to him, after which he ascended in the flame of the altar (Judg 13:20), implying the sacrifice was in worship of the Lord himself! Moreover, this “An- gel” is regarded as a “Redeemer,” who saves Israel from evil (Isa 63:9)."
2 dozen predictions and future references:
'Is Jesus in Every Book of the Old Testament?' (Adrian Rogers - Jesus.org)
Massa Marittima Mural
Medieval Mural and its tale of Witches
Raven Grimassi - Stregheria.com
A mural that has recently come to light in Tuscany has been identified by a British university lecturer as the earliest surviving representation of witchcraft in Christian Europe. A book published in Italy by George Ferzoco (director of the center for Tuscan studies at the University of Leicester) argues that at least two of the women in the erotic wall painting are sorceresses. "I have no doubt that this is by far the earliest depiction in art of women acting as witches," Ferzoco says.
The 13th-century mural was discovered on August 6th, 2000, at Massa Marittima, a town south-west of Siena. The large, richly colored painting - seven meters high - was found under layers of subsequent over-painting next to a fountain in the centre of Massa Marittima. It shows a tall, spreading tree with two groups of women standing below it. The first thing that was noticed about the tree was its unusual "fruit," which is apparently sprouting from the branches as twenty-five phalluses.
cont'd
A couple of days ago I watched this movie, not really expecting it to be much more than a typical sequel in response to the commercial success of the popular first movie '300'. I was surprised, I thought it was awesome! Especially how it builds up to the end. Great great ending. I thought it was a better movie than the first one. It's off topic to review, and I don't want to spoil it here. A truly heroic movie based on historical events, but done in a semi-fantasy style. Very well acted in as much as how they wanted to develop these characters within the films' scheme.
I live on a mountainside right among ravens. They're part of my everyday life. They aren't aggressive towards humans, but are fiercely territorial with other animals. I've observed them go after smaller birds, sea gulls and occasionally hawks. Once even a cat. They can be pets and trained to mimic human speech as a parrot or myna bird does.
Cultural depictions of ravens
There are many references to ravens in legends and literature. Most of these refer to the widespread common raven. Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the raven has long been considered a bird of ill omen and of interest to creators of myths and legends.
Greco-Roman antiquity
In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy. They are said to be a symbol of good luck, and were the god's messengers in the mortal world.
Germanic cultures and Viking Age
To the Germanic peoples, Odin was often associated with ravens.
The raven was a common device used by the Vikings. Ragnar Lodbrok had a raven banner called Reafan, embroidered with the device of a raven.
At the crest between valleys, I take out binoculars, and in turn they take my breath, multiplying the number of visible stars tenfold. I feel as though I’m falling, have to pull away to find my balance in the dark.
By Paul Bogard - Readers Digest
True darkness is rare in our lit-up world. But our well-being depends on the still—and the thrill—of the night.
“We’re going to be in a big black hole on the map,” says Dan Duriscoe, slowing his red Toyota Tundra so we can gaze down into Death Valley National Park. “There’s nothing between us and that mountain, and then there’s nothing for another 100 miles.” Dan speaks in a low, gravelly voice and has encyclopedic knowledge of the desert west. He’s full of dirt roads leading off into deserted valleys and turnoffs no one else knows. As a founding member of the National Park Service’s Night Sky Team, Dan has traveled all over the United States documenting levels of darkness. Death Valley holds some of the darkest places he’s seen. Tonight we are headed to one of his favorite spots, Eureka Valley, between the Last Chance Range and the Sylvania Mountains. “This is about as isolated as you can get in California,” he says.
We drop into Eureka Valley, hit washboard gravel for miles, turn and climb 100 yards past a Road Closed sign, and park. Immediate stillness and quiet, no wind, no bugs, the scent of sagebrush and creosote, distant sand dunes 60 feet high. We set up chairs and a table and build a fire.
Primitive darkness. The desert before civilization, before settlement. The dark land with no light of its own, and stars coming all the way to the ground: the Big Dipper setting, revolving into the northern horizon, Orion rising from southeast earth with Betelgeuse flashing its red-orange cape in the atmosphere. The zodiacal band, like a fainter Milky Way, twirls skyward from the western horizon. The valley so dark you see night’s natural light—the zodiacal light and airglow, and maybe 10 percent from the stars. Dan and I see each other faintly. With no trees or woods, we see in all directions to where mountains saw jagged horizons from the bottom of the sky. That sky becomes brighter and darker the longer we stay out, in a way almost no one in America experiences now.
cont'd
World is one of five thought to be circling star just 12 light years away, say scientists
'The Guardian' - December 19, 2012
A planet with conditions that could support life orbits a twin neighbour of the sun visible to the naked eye, scientists have revealed.
The world is one of five thought to be circling Tau Ceti, a star just 12 light years away that is almost identical to the sun.
Astronomers estimate the Tau Ceti planets to be two to six times bigger than Earth. One of them, with five times the Earth's mass, lies in the star's "habitable zone".
Also known as the "Goldilocks zone", this is the orbital region that is neither too hot nor too cold to allow liquid surface water and, potentially, life. Details of the discovery are to appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Because of the difficulties involved in detecting extra-solar planets, most found so far have had high masses. The Tau Ceti planetary family is thought to be the lowest-mass solar system yet detected.
Scientists found the planets using a highly sensitive technique that combined data from more than 6,000 observations from three different telescopes. They used the radial velocity method, which looks for "wobble" in a star's movement caused by the gravitational tug of planets.
"Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy."
More than 800 planets have been discovered orbiting stars beyond the sun since the 1990s. Those found around the nearest sun-like stars are the most interesting to astronomers.
Professor Steve Vogt, another team member, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said: "This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets. They are everywhere, even right next door."
Professor Chris Tinney, an Australian member from the University of New South Wales, said: "As we stare at the night sky, it is worth contemplating that there may well be more planets out there than there are stars, some fraction of which may well be habitable."
Jenkins is a visiting fellow at the University of Hertfordshire who is based at the University of Chile.
Gothic Subculture Documentary - An Inside Look For Outsiders
Documentaries
Gothic Subculture Documentary - An Inside Look For Outsiders - World Documentaries
The goth subculture is a modern subculture located in lots of nations. The goth subculture has survived a lot longer compared to others of the very same time, as well as has actually continued to diversify.
The goth subculture has actually associated tastes in songs, aesthetics, as well as style. The music of the goth subculture incorporates a number of various styles, including gothic rock, deathrock, post-punk, darkwave, angelic wave, and neoclassical.
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. Notable post-punk groups that presaged that genre are Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and Bauhaus. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. Its imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from the 19th century Gothic literature along with horror films.
The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion. The music of the goth subculture encompasses a number of different styles, including gothic rock, industrial, deathrock, post-punk, darkwave, ethereal wave and neoclassical. Styles of dress within the subculture range from deathrock, punk and Victorian styles, or combinations of the above, most often with dark attire (often black), pale face makeup and black hair. The scene continues to draw interest from a large audience decades after its emergence. In Western Europe, there are large annual festivals, mainly in Germany.
Gothic rock
Stonehenge Maryhill, WA
Ed Nease
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Maryhill Stonehenge
The Maryhill Stonehenge is a replica of Stonehenge in England located in Maryhill, Washington. It was commissioned in the early twentieth century by businessman Samuel Hill and dedicated on July 4, 1918 as a memorial to those who had died in World War I. The memorial was completed in 1929. It is constructed of concrete.
Stonehenge replicas and derivatives
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I may have even posted something about Maryhill once before. I saw some pictures of it at dusk, and it's beautiful in a simple way... sitting alone out there. I definitely want to visit it.
Lynyrd Skynyrd-Free bird
You want good music you came to the right place
Awesome guitar solo at the end
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
cause theres too many places Ive got to see.
But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldnt be the same.
cause Im as free as a bird now,
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.
Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.
Though this feeling I cant change.
But please dont take it badly,
cause lord knows Im to blame.
But, if I stayed here with you girl,
Things just couldnt be the same.
Cause Im as free as a bird now,
And this bird youll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.
Lord help me, I cant change
(AWESOME GUITAR SOLO)
.
