I wanted to post a list of all of the historical family names from all of the villages of the Paisco Loveno comune, or what I prefer to just call Val Paisco. The River Paisco cuts west to east through the mountain pass, and is a tributary to the River Oi which travels the north to south length of the Val Camonica. Val Paisco includes the six villages of Ardinghelli, Case di Bornia, Case del Longo, Grumello, Loveno, and Perdonico. Paisco and Loveno are both administered by one little village government, and I am almost certain that this would include the other villages as well. There are two groups of villages; one in the "Paisco area" and another in the "Loveno area."
In the 1800's, these villages were relatively more heavily populated. I can't vouch for every one of these surnames, as a few of them may have been added over time. A few have disappeared. Beyond "the eighteen families of Loveno Grumello," this would be a compilation of what we can just call "the fifty-one families of Paisco Loveno." For the sake of genealogy research, here are the fifty-one family names of Val Paisco in alphabetical order:
For centuries they were so closely knit. The Paisco Valley was their rural realm, regardless of who or what entity was running the country. Now whether descendants live in Milan, Bordeaux, Sao Paulo, Milwaukee, Toronto, or Melbourne; blood relatives lost in time.
Incontri Tra/Montani means "Meetings Between/Mountains," and to the best of my knowledge was formed to provide a political voice to communities in the eastern Alps of Lombardy, Trentino, and also to other Alpine communities who are often overlooked. I think it's comparable to rural Upper Michigan building an "embassy" near the capitol in Lansing to provide a voice for the detached region. ITM turned 30 last year. I believe that province of Sondrio, the Brescian Tri-Valley, and the Bergamo Alps encompasses a strong cultural milieu as well. Naturally we would like to express solidarity with them.
Incontri Tra/Montani was born in 1990 from a chance meeting between cultural associations of Valle Camonica and Val Trompia. From the observation of a lack of communication between the valleys and from the reading of the great difficulties in which the mountain communities finds itself (exodus, destructive interventions, youth unemployment, etc.), the idea arose of an annual conference that would begin to create a network of non-institutional relations between groups operating in the Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and French Alps with the aim of promoting mutual knowledge, collaboration, exchange of analysis and possible proposals.
In the term Tra/Montani there is a double meaning: 1) The need for dialogue and the consciousness of the sunset of a civilization that was at the center of the pre-industrial economy since all medieval "machines" needed the energy produced by the fall of water.
The study and reflection meetings on issues of common interest in Alpine resorts have been organized regularly since 1990 and touch on topics of various kinds and locations that are always different.
The ITM to which the Valle Camonica, the Giudicarie Valleys, the Val di Sole, Valtellina, Val Seriana, Val Cavallina, Carnia, and Val Verzasca adhere to permanently, has no official seat, nor a statute. It is a self-managed, spontaneous, and free thinking.
Membership of the ITM Group is open to all associations, study centres and cultural groups in the Alps.
The following all collaborated in the realization of the ITM:
• Associazione Comitato Organizzatore Festa di Trate - Gaverina Terme (Bergamo) • Associazione IVS Inventario delle Vie di Comunicazione Storiche (Milano) • Centro Studi e Ricerche Archivio Bergamasco (Bergamo) • Centro Studi Etnografici Val Imagna S. Omobono Imagna (Bergamo) • Centro Studi Judicaria – Tione (Trento) • Centro Studi Val di Sole – Malè (Trento) • Centro Studi Valchiavennaschi Chiavenna (Sondrio) • Circolo Culturale Baradello Clusone (Bergamo) • Circolo Culturale Ghislandi Cividate Camuno (Brescia) • Comune di Montereale Valcellina Montereale Valcellina (Pordenone) • Cooperativa Arca Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia) • Cooperativa Il Chiese - Storo (Trento) • Fondazione Progetto Poschiavo Poschiavo (Svizzera) • Fondazione Val Verzasca Canton Ticino (Svizzera) • L’Arcilettore, Circolo di Sondrio (Sondrio) • Museo Etnografico S. Caterina Valfurva (Sondrio) • Museo Etnografico Tiranese - Tirano (Sondrio) • Pro Vita Alpina - Längenfeld (Austria)
-- Carl Jung, from lecture: 'Ending Your Inner Civil War'
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Quote
"This is who I'm making fun of... when I make a joke on twitter on the day of a tradgedy. The people who see something horrible happen in the world, and they run to the internet, and they run to their social media, their facebook, their twitter, whatever they got, and they all write down the exact same thing: 'My thoughts and prayers. My thoughts and prayers with the people in Aurora. My thoughts and prayers with the families in Boston'. Do you know what that's worth? F*****g nothing. "F*****g less than nothing. Less than nothing. You're not giving any of your time, your money, or even your compassion. All you are doing. All you are doing is saying: 'Don't forget about me today'." -- Anthony Jeselnik on Netflix
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If You Understand This Everything Will Make Sense | Gregg Braden
http://www.missinglinks.com Explore the deep truths of our origin, history, destiny and fate, with celebrated author and researcher Gregg Braden. Connect science and spirituality to reveal a new understanding of humanity’s history, the origins of civilization and the power of our heart’s intelligence.
We are playing a necessary learning game here in order for our soul to ascend
Our life plan within the simulation of this world provide and facilitate our true purpose here
"When we think about our simulation, and we think of the descriptions of Heaven, the word itself was left to us about twenty-five hundred years ago. What does that mean to us in terms of the simulation? Well, simulation is a localized experience, but it tells us:
'We're not really here. You're not really here. We exist somewhere outside of the simulation, and we are projecting our energetic body--what we call our spirit, or our soul, or our avatar--into this experience so we can learn something here that apparently we cannot learn where we come from, and apparently we're going to need where we are going'."
-- Gregg Braden; five-time New York Times best-selling author, researcher, educator, lecturer and internationally renowned as a pioneer bridging science, spirituality, and human potential
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Duncan Trussell Explains Ritual Magick to Joe Rogan
The Carpathian Mountains are the second largest mountain range in Europe that stretch across 7 countries, one of them being Ukraine! My diverse tour with Cobblestone Freeway allowed me to breathe in the fresh air of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and enjoy natural beauty, traditional villages, and experience a lifestyle that has remained unchanged for centuries. The journey was a memorable one and here are my favorite highlights!
[Written contributions by Wendy Andrew & Rod Groom]
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Angelic Intervention - "The Adjustment Bureau?"
In 1975, in downtown San Francisco, a 19 year old Katie Mahon was walking down a busy street when she was approached by a man who asked her for help. Unbeknownst to her, this man--if we should even allow him the title of "man"--was none other than Ted Bundy.... as in very literally.. Ted Bundy himself! Through continued pleading using his psychopathic charm, Bundy was able to lure the naive teenager up into an empty floor of a hotel to a pay phone. I don't recall what he wanted in particular, but it had to do with a story about needing to make an emergency phone call. When completely alone, his demeanor completely changed. Katie Mahon was about to die.
Prior to Bundy's execution in Florida, he tried to barter for his life by claiming that there were many other victims; that he could show authorities the burial locations in numerous western states, including California. Although thought to have murdered about forty women, it's likely that it was more like one hundred. He was one of four known male serial killers who probably murdered 80-100 females (Gary Ridgway, Rodney Alcala, Samuel Little). A man who once had to spend the night with Bundy in a jail cell--not a prison cell, but a county jail cell which temporarily housed those awaiting legal processing--told an interesting story about Bundy. He said that Bundy had started to transform in some way. That his facial expression became eerie, his muscle tone and posture changed, and he started to sweat and stink. This gives some insight into how this ordinary looking person could become a murderous beast. His parents were father-daughter, which must have contributed to what he became.
Alone on a deserted hotel floor with Ted Bundy who was already going through his eerie transformation, there is little question that Katie Mahon was about to be murdered. Bundy no doubt had chosen this location prior. He was just about to take another victim. Suddenly the elevator just rings and opens! What was seemingly a man in a bellman's uniform then looked at them and said: "Katie, don't you think it's time to get going now?" Still half in shock, she walked towards the elevator and got in as Bundy stood there, and they retreated to safety. He escorted her back onto the street, and when she turned to thank him... he had vanished.
There are only two possibilities: 1) This bellman was actually a man with psychic abilities who somehow foresaw the details of what was to happen, and acted on it. I suppose that it was possible that he really could have been a bellman who worked at the hotel; 2) This bellman was actually an angel who intervened for some reason, and to me that's much more likely to have been the case. For whatever reason, she was not supposed to die that day. It simply was not meant to be, and an angel intervened. I suspect that had Bundy still attacked her, that the angel would have been able to stop him.
This wasn't entirely unlike the film 'The Adjustment Bureau', where adjustments must be made to keep things straight. Once I lost about three hours, and maybe it was part of some adjustment; perhaps to fix a timeline. Although ultimately I think our system of lifelines is good, we are here to learn lessons for soul ascention, and that unfortunately includes suffering and tragedy. The chief purpose of this world to for our souls to have learning experiences. That's why this coming corporate-marxist surveillance society cannot work. In the coming years something will occur and it was disappear, and there will be nothing that the power structure can do about it.. just like there was nothing that Ted Bundy could do about it on that day. It simply was not meant to be.
I've really only seen her in 'Gone Girl' and 'Jack Reacher', but I can't really get a take on her. She appears a little mousy in photographs, but she can pull off the femme fatale role. She's intelligent, alluring, and can get rough.
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'3 From Hell'
I finally watched '3 From Hell'. Rob Zombie went full-on Charlie Manson with this, and the ending leaves the door open for more. Sadly, Sig Haig wasn't really able to continue his role as Captain Spaulding, a great B-horror character. Baby was outright deadly in this, if she wasn't enough before. Sheri Moon Zombie is an underrated actress, being somewhat ridiculed for appearing in all of Rob's film. In the right role, she can be bigger than life. Bill Mosely has played so many creepy characters, but he's a bigger-than-life alpha-bad guy as Otis Driftwood; his appearance is completely different than in 'House Of 1000 Corpses'. The series had stated out as more of a dark-metaphysical flick.
Scientists have extracted DNA from the teeth of mammoths that roamed the Earth 1.2 million years ago.
The prehistoric DNA samples, which were recovered by scientists from Sweden, far exceed the age of the 700,000-year-old DNA samples previously recovered from ancient horse remains.
The 1.2 million-year-old DNA was extracted from the teeth of three separate mammoth specimens that had been unearthed in the Siberian permafrost all the way back in the 1970s.
"This is by a wide margin, the oldest DNA ever recovered," said Prof Love Dalen - an evolutionary geneticist from the Center for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm.
I believe a lot of people think of mammoths as an animal which existed up to a mere 10,000 years ago, back to the last glacial movement. It's hard to imagine this animal being around 1.2 million years ago, and no doubt beyond that. What's interesting is that the DNA was extracted, which means that anything is possible in the future. These particular mammoths most likely can be cloned at some point; a giant prehistoric mammal which would be the larger than any land animal alive today. I'm aware that the concept is to have a female elephant serve as a stand-in surrogate for it using modern cloning techniques--but the offspring would be something of a hybrid apparently, since there are no mammoths to use--but there will eventually be a way to skirt around all of that at some point and just go for the straight up clone.
℗ A Geffen Records Release; ℗ 1971 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Released on: 1972-01-01
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'Groundhog Day' and Reincarnation
The 1993 film 'Groundhog Day' staring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell has become at late winter tv classic. The film is clearly a reference to reincarnation, and the premise even touches upon a big part of the essential reason for our soul's reincarnation journey; to keep doing it again and again until we finally get it right. Even the sequence where he tries to do what he can to help the dying man, even though he died anyway, still hinted at a part of the lesson. This is all something that we need to learn before our soul can ascend to where it needs to go. We are here to learn about love, compassion, and suffering.
Part of the lesson is to suffer, which is hard to grasp. This is all aside from certain powerful forces in the world who weaponize everything and produce fake values, compassion, morals, etc. It's about the individual soul. The producers must have done there research. Hollywood partly serves as an occult oracle; dispensing many aspects of the truth for those who wish to receive it. Some say that powerful dark occult forces feel that they must do this in order to avoid the cosmic consequences of their actions; having "told us" the codex of the world, including what they themselves are all about.
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'Dark Side of the Ring' (now playing on Vice)
Season 3 of 'Dark Side of the Ring' is now playing on Tuesday evenings on the Vice channel... a George Soros charity. Even if you don't care about wrestling, it's still interesting to hear about the stories. Sometimes it's fun to, metaphorically-speaking, "go to someone else's HS reunion." Wrestlers are type-A personalities, so it always makes for some interesting documentary.
Also on Vice TV, premiering on March 29, is season 2 of 'The Devil You Know'. Season one was about the bizarre story of "Pazuzu Algarad" and his Satanic cult, and this season apparently will be about a "reptilian cult" involving Sherry Shriner. I have no idea if this will be with her cooperation, or an attack piece on her. As far as I know, she's done a lot of good in recent years exposing cults in high places. If this is about putting her in a negative light, then they may as well do one next year going after Mike Rinder! We'll just have to see..
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Bald Eagle in Africa?
This is actually an entirely different eagle; the African fish eagle. It appears very similar to the American bald eagle. It feeds mainly on fish. With the bald eagle, the white feathers only cover the head area; with the fish eagle, the white feathers cover the whole neck and shoulders.
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Another good example of a cruel joke someone can play on themselves, how about when you wash a big lead of clothes, hang them up, and then realize that you forgot to use laundry detergent.... and had to wash them all over again..
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Bonnie Tyler - It's A Heartache (Official HD Video)
Official remastered HD video for 'It's A Heartache' by Bonnie Tyler.
Released in 1978, It's A Heartache was a global smash hitting number one in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Brazil and Argentina and number four in the UK, number three in the US and number 2 in Germany. Along the way it sold 6 million physical copies worldwide (including a million in France and the US and 1/2 a million in the UK).
The song has been covered many times by a diverse list of artists including Rod Stewart, David Johanson (of the New York Dolls,), Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, Glaswegian Indiepopsters Arab Strap, rocker Gene Vincent and, most recently, pop superstar Miley Cyrus.
Lyrics;
It's a heartache Nothing but a heartache Hits you when it's too late Hits you when you're down It's a fool's game Nothing but a fool's game Standing in the cold rain Feeling like a clown It's a heartache Nothing but a heartache Love him 'til your arms break Then he let's you down It ain't right with love to share When you find he doesn't care for you It ain't wise to need someone As much as I depended on you Oh, it's a heartache Nothing but a heartache Hits you when it's too late Hits you when you're down It's a fool's game Nothing but a fool's game Standing in the cold rain Feeling like a clown It ain't right with love to share When you find he doesn't care for you It ain't wise to need someone As much as I depended on you Oh, it's a heartache Nothing but a heartache You love him 'til your arms break Then he let's you down It's a fool's game Standing in the cold rain Feelin' like a clown It's a heartache Love him 'til your arms break Then he let's you down It's a fool's game
1) Jaguar: More compact than other big cats, extremely thick and muscular, speed, agility, killer instinct; the jaguar has it all. I saw a video once of a huge dog who freed himself of his restraints and attacked a jaguar, catching it somewhat off guard. The jaguar battered it a few times with its quick and powerful forepaws, and the dog stepped back to re-evaluate the situation. As he did, the jaguar locked itself in position like a boxer, and started to advance. As the dog hesitated, the jaguar jumped onto it's back; locking itself onto the dog with its wrapping forepaws and claws, it's teeth clamped to the neck, and with its hind legs resting against the dogs back. From this position it was clear, the one huge advantage that big felines have over almost all canines... the size, length, muscle, power, speed, claws, and grip of the arms. The jaguar then moved it's jaws around the dogs head, crushing it's skull.
Jaguars routinely kill caimans in the Amazon, and they can do it right in the water. They can kill boa constrictors; outmaneuvering them and wearing them out, then holding their heads under water and drowning them. Since Jaguars exist in Mexico, and a few in the southwestern states, I'm including them with North American canines and felines. Jaguars are closer to lions in size and strength than they are to leopards or mountain lions. I saw one video of a tiger and jaguar who were caged together for some reason, perhaps to transport them to or from a zoo. The tiger was at least 50% larger, probably a little more. They aggressively grappled and sparred with each other. The jaguar more than held its own; no fear whatsoever.
2) Mountain lion: The mountain lion would be a clear #2 pick, and taking into consideration that canines and felines can occasionally be "spooked out" when faced with smaller aggressive animals. They might retreat, mostly due to their evolutionary strategy. They seek food, they will kill for it, but they don't want any major fight. Even a victory in a fight might cause an injury which would prevent them from hunting. Also, a pack of coyotes can chase and sometimes wear out a mountain lion; in which case any one-on-one matchup wouldn't even be in the offering. A mountain lion might even avoid a raccoon who is willing to put everything on the line to fight for its life. Generally, a mountain lion can usually kill a wolf, which it may go after if it can get a one-on-one with it... if it was hungry enough.
3) Wolf: They are still the most formidable canine, although the African hunting dog might have something to say about that. Wolves are big, powerful, and aggressive. I'm guessing that they could kill a 60 pound lynx 51% of the time in a one-on-one confrontation. Most in the know consider a wolf-vs-lynx to be a tossup. Still, this is all a generalization. I've seen wolverines fend off a much larger wolf rather easily. A lone wolf will leave alone a very aggressive smaller animal like a badger most of the time.
4) Lynx: Although I put them at #4 here, actually a lynx can carry itself quite well against a mountain lion or wolf. It has so many weapons; unequaled athleticism, long thick powerful limbs, powerful jaws for it's size, razor sharp teeth and claws, blinding speed, damaging bunny kicks, they're all over their opponent like the Tasmanian Devil from the old cartoons. No animal in nature wants to fight a lynx one-on-one. One whack from a lynx's powerful arm, with those little razors, will send anyone to the hospital. Wolves and lynxes avoid each other, and for good reason.
5) Bobcat: Even though the general consensus is that bobcat-vs-coyote is a tossup, I'm guessing that the bobcat wins a one-on-one 51% of the time. They have the same weapons as a lynx, but they're almost 50% smaller. With a pack of coyotes, it's a different story. Trained hunting hounds can easily track and wear out a bobcat. I'm only referring to one-on-one confrontations here. Canines usually have an edge in stamina.
6) Coyote: I saw one video of a person who let their pitbull loose in a park. Along comes a lone coyote, and the pitbull runs after it. The coyote easily outmaneuvered it using its great agility. Then the coyote got in position, lowering it's head, locking it's eyes on its opponent. The pitbull just stared back, but didn't go in.
7) Fox: Foxes routinely kill feral cats or pet house cats. Only a particularly big and/or aggressive cat can stand up to a fox. Even if we took a one-on-one between a wild fox and a big powerful alley cat, it might be a tossup. The cat has speed and agility on it's side, while the fox is actually a faster runner in the open field. If the cat runs, then the fox can kill it with a chase and bite to the neck. Still, the fox always seems wary of the cats paw speed and apparently the damage it can inflict with its sharp claws.
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Pitbull vs. Lynx
IF it happened. The ultimate one-on-one matchup would be a trained, vicious, American pit bull terrier vs. a wild Canadian lynx... both 60 pounds. The pitbull has aggression, boundless determination, and a powerful jaw with a powerful neck to compliment it, on its side. The lynx has a lethal combination of power, blinding speed, and razor sharp claws and teeth on its side. The pitbull could win if it was able to get a good bite in early, and capitalize on it. There is zero chance that the pitbull can win without suffering major injuries. The lynx could win by avoiding the pitbull's jaws, which the odds are that it would.
The pitbull would not quit, so the lynx would need the stamina to inflict a plethora of injuries on it while avoiding it's jaws. The whole matchup would depend on whether or not the pitbull could get a bite and maintain a grip on the lynx. Both are absolute devils in a fight. I saw one video of a mountain lion who tried to ambush a lynx. The lynx reacted quickly, firing back lightening fast swipes, staring the lion down with a scary snorting growl. The lion retreated. I know there are so many pitbull die hards out there, but 85% of the time--all things being equal--a pitbull can't do anything with a lynx.
Every now and then somebody reports stepping out of normal time
and space. It does not seem to matter where they live or their
background--the veil of ordinary reality drops and they suddenly slip
into the past or future, usually seamlessly and unknowingly,
experiencing a temporary and accidental form of time travel. Von Braschler, a former faculty member at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, joins Richard Syrett (Twitter)
to discuss step-by-step exercises to prepare you to experience time
shifts, to help set them up, and to enhance the experience when you have
slipped through time. Followed by psychic Michael Bodine
who calls himself a "future guy." He looks ahead in time to deal with
what is coming up. Bodine will share his future predictions and what it
was like to grow up in a psychic family.
6-10pm PT: Art Bell - Somewhere in Time returns to 3/15/01 when (the late) Evelyn Paglini talked about Wicca, paganism, and blood sacrifice.
I had a missing time experience which was published in one of the books of the late author Brad Stieger. Although I don't want to publish the occurrence here right now, I can say that it wasn't aliens. I know exactly when it occurred; I was fully awake; there were people around me; I lost four hours. Maybe it was like the "Adjustment Bureau," fixing things a bit? Perhaps someone needed a miracle, so some stuff needed to be rearranged?... or maybe something bad was going to happen to me and some strings were pulled to save me by removing the event?
Yeah, maybe I was kept in that place to prevent me from walking into that hypothetical "liquor store robbery gone bad"..? Well, if so, I never said "thank you"... so THANK YOU to whomever... if that was the case. I have no psychic or empathic abilities, but I think I occasionally have connected to frequencies which have allowed me to tap into things; I've witnessed or experienced the paranormal throughout my life. Nine years ago I experienced a very strange series of synchronistic events over a few weeks. I think it was a message that I was supposed to receive. Anyway, I just don't talk about those experiences; I can't prove it.. so..
The Harvest Moon is known as the full Moon that occurs closest to our autumnal equinox. It is also one of the most culturally referred to and celebrated full Moon names.
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With the current warm weather along the West Coast, this should be a spectacular Harvest Moon. Just in the last week, smoke from the agonizing distant fires have subsided. I still smell the faint smell in a nearby canyon where I walk and where the air settles when there's no wind.
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The ancient city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
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Partick Bridge, Scotland
TV mystery programs
The Travel Channel still leads the pack. Some believe that the Travel Channel should go back to purely travel-related programming. Actually since Discovery, Inc. has so many channels, why not just form a paranormal/mysteries channel devoted explicitly to that brand of programming?
'Paranormal Nightshift' is another top-notch program, airing on Friday evenings on the Travel Channel. 'The Alaska Triangle' was another first-season program on The Travel Channel, which just sort've came-and-went, so I missed it. They've been airing some of them, and they're worth taking a look at if you like regional mysteries and folklore.
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Has the hair on the back of your neck ever stood up?
"The hair on the back of my neck stood up!" It has become the metaphor for describing experiences in paranormal/mystery programing. The hair on the back of my neck has never stood up; not even one time in my entire life!
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Carpathian mountain folklore
In the Metaliferi Mountains it was believed in the fifteenth century that the collapse of the stovepipe was an indication of an imminent death, an opinion that was still widespread during the nineteenth century.
Believers 'Believers' is a documentary style paranormal program, which are more thoughtfully done than the investigative style ones. It aires on Saturday evenings on The Travel Channel. I know there's an overkill of these types of ghost, mysteries, and paranormal programs, but this one is clearly a cut above the rest. Another good one is 'The UnXplained' which aires on Saturday evenings on the History Channel.
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Carpathian Mountains
'Fly agaric mythology and folklore' Paul Kendall - https://treesforlife.org.uk/ Think of any fairy tale illustration of elves or goblins sitting on or under a toadstool, and most likely the cap of such a fungus will be bright red with white spots. The autumnal abundance and vibrant colours of the fly agaric mushroom make it probably the most widely recognised of our fungi. As the name suggests it was formerly used as an insecticide, with pieces often floated in milk, to intoxicate and kill flies attracted by its aroma. Similarly most people will be wary of its poisonous reputation (though fatal reactions are rare), and appreciation of this mushroom will mostly be limited to the aesthetic. It has been suggested that northern Europeans’ wariness of mushrooms may stem from long-established taboos relating to the use of mushrooms containing mind expanding substances. These would originally have been reserved for those shamans or priests who served as intermediaries between the common folk and the unseen worlds of spirit. The fly agaric may have been the earliest source of entheogens, that is hallucinogenic substances used for religious or shamanic purposes, the use of which date back possibly over 10,000 years. Fly agaric has been put forward as the most likely candidate for the mysterious Soma, mentioned in around 150 hymns of the Hindu Rig-Veda, which was written between 1500 – 500 BC by Aryans in the Indus valley. Soma was a moon god, as well as a related plant and a holy brew which were also worshipped. Though there have been many suggestions as to the identity of the plant, fly agaric fits many of the Vedic references as a substance with which to contact the gods. Fly agaric contains two toxins, ibotenic acid and muscimol, which are responsible for its psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects. To minimise its toxic side effects fly agaric would be processed in some way eg. dried, made into a drink, smoked or made into ointments. Care in its preparation and ritual were paramount. The Celtic Druids, for example, purified themselves by fasting and meditating for three days, drinking only water. Amongst the Koryak people of north-eastern Siberia the ceremonial use of fly agaric involved the shaman ingesting the mushroom, after which others would drink his urine to partake of its entheogenic effects. Though this sounds distinctly unpleasant to modern ears, if the shaman had been fasting, the urine would have been mainly water containing the hallucinogenic compounds. The body absorbs the fly agaric’s hallucinogens first, and then expels the toxins from the stomach. The hallucinogenic chemicals then exert their influence on the body and are expelled unaltered in the urine. Reindeer in northern Europe are also attracted to the fly agaric’s euphoric effects and Siberian people would notice the drunken behaviour of such animals and slaughter them to get the same effects from eating the meat. Modern research has also shown that the two active ingredients’ effect on the brain can inhibit fear and the startle reflex. This would corroborate theories that the ferocious Viking Berserker warriors used fly agaric prior to going into battle, bringing on the uncontrolled rage and fearlessness for which they were renowned. Fly agaric has been a popular icon for the Midwinter and Christmas festivities in central Europe for a long time and is found on Christmas cards and as replica decorations for tree and wreath. Our current concept of Santa Claus can be traced back as an amalgamation of several characters of popular European folklore, such as a more pagan Scandinavian house goblin who offered protection from malevolent spirits in return for a feast at midwinter, and the fourth century Byzantine archbishop who became St Nicolas and was renowned for his kindness to children. More recently it has been suggested that the Siberian use of fly agaric may have played a part in the development of the legend of Santa Claus too. At midwinter festivals the shaman would enter the yurt through the smoke hole and down the central supporting birch pole, bringing with him a bag of dried fly agaric. After conducting his ceremonies he would leave the same way he had come. Ordinary people would have believed the shaman could fly himself, or with the aid of reindeer which they also knew to have a taste for fly agaric. Santa is now dressed in the same colours as the fly agaric, carries a sack with special gifts, comes and goes via the chimney, can fly with reindeer and lives in the ‘Far North’.
Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl (Audio) 4,732,555 views - May 19, 2017 CharlieRichVEVO Music video by Charlie Rich performing The Most Beautiful Girl (Audio). (C) 2017 Sony Music Entertainment http://vevo.ly/dFcHxF *************************
Damaging gravestones is always bad energy One minor but disturbing trend in recent years is the random desecration of gravestones. Vandals, mostly thrill seekers, overrun cemeteries late at night and overturn or smash the markers. This is very bad energy, regardless of whom the person was or what they may have done in life... or whether they did it to you personally. To the right is the stone marker, before it was broken, for the real Bathsheba Sherman from the book and film 'The Conjuring'. Nobody truly knows if it was even her ghost which terrorized the Perron family home in the 1970s. No, she will not come after the vandals, but there will be some karmic payback at some point. *************************
Octopuses are from space because of alien DNA? Rumble Viral
