Sunday, April 12, 2020

Easter Rebirth: How Rabbits and Eggs Came to Symbolize New Life




EASTER REBIRTH: How Rabbits and Eggs Came to Symbolize New Life

Ancient Origins

12.6K subscribers

http://bit.ly/AOHISTORY

Easter is one of the most misunderstood and varied holidays celebrated today. How did a story of resurrection become associated with rabbits and chocolate eggs? The pagan origins of these ancient traditions may surprise you!

This is Ancient Origins, and today we'll be exploring the surprising origins of the Easter celebration.

Check out one of our Easter articles on our Ancient Origins website:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/ancient-pagan-origins-easter-001571

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Music by AfterInfinity
Images and video by Videoblocks.



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'The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter'

Joanna Gillian - Ancient-Origins.net - April 9, 2020

Easter is a festival and holiday celebrated by millions of people around the world who honor the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his crucifixion at Calvary. It is also the day that children excitedly wait for the Easter bunny to arrive and deliver their treats of chocolate eggs.

The date upon which Easter is held varies from year to year, and corresponds with the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox. It occurs on different dates around the world since western churches use the Gregorian calendar, while eastern churches use the Julian calendar.

While Easter, as we know it today, was never a pagan festival, its roots and many of its traditions have associations with ancient pagan customs and beliefs.

According to the New Unger’s Bible Dictionary: “The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honour sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the eighth century Anglo–Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.” However, even among those who maintain that Easter has pagan roots, there is some disagreement over which pagan tradition the festival emerged from. Here we will explore some of those perspectives.


Resurrection as a Symbol of Rebirth

One theory that has been put forward is that the Easter story of crucifixion and resurrection is symbolic of rebirth and renewal and retells the cycle of the seasons, the death and return of the sun.

According to some scholars, such as Dr. Tony Nugent, teacher of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University, and Presbyterian minister, the Easter story comes from the Sumerian legend of Damuzi (Tammuz) and his wife Inanna (Ishtar), an epic myth called “The Descent of Inanna” found inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets dating back to 2100 BC. When Tammuz dies, Ishtar is grief–stricken and follows him to the underworld. In the underworld, she enters through seven gates, and her worldly attire is removed. "Naked and bowed low" she is judged, killed, and then hung on display. In her absence, the earth loses its fertility, crops cease to grow and animals stop reproducing. Unless something is done, all life on earth will end.

con't....


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Saturday, April 11, 2020

'Reincarnated: Past Lives' - A glimpse into our true place in the universe - Part 2

Since part one, I've had a chance to re-watch the three episodes. I wanted to state--regarding each of us having male and female souls--that it's merely energetic. We all naturally have both male and female energy. One of the big problems now is what I call "masculo-feminism," which focuses on male energy. Now we're overloaded with male energy the world over! Masculo-feminism is neither maternal nor feminine, but was actually created by men of Kabbalistic and Masonic traditions and serves a self-serving religious and monopoly capitalist agenda.

I got the sense that Carlos had a little trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that "he was a woman." It's an experience, and has nothing to do with the ancient transgender cults, and their modern contrived ascension. The most masculine men and the most feminine women could have an opposite soul gender as easily has anyone else.

I had not watched this series since it aired some four years ago. I misinterpreted Rosalind Baltazar as an immigrant from Spain, when she and her family had actually immigrated from Quebec to Wisconsin. She and her parents may well have come directly from Spain since "she" answered that she spoke some French. Also, Carlos speaking French is such a strong clue in of itself! He didn't know any French.

I had forgotten about the regression of Anika, also from episode two, and the incredible look into her former incarnation as Catherine Winslow. As far as I can see, there are no ifs, ans, or buts about it... Anika was Catherine Winslow! As to why she was a conniver in that life, and a forthright woman in this one, I don't know. We may be able to speculate on clues from how long they spent at "Source" before reincarnating. Julian, from episode one, didn't reincarnate for centuries. Perhaps he had killed so many people that his soul wanted to wait for some reason, or maybe he did choose that?

"Source" must be a pleasant place if someone can spend such a long time there before opting to come back for more lessons. Rosalind Baltazar passed away in 1898, so that soul waited for more than eighty years to return. Catherine Winslow was murdered in the 1930s it appears, so that was over forty years at Source. Carmen, who was Laura's previous incarnation from episode three, was born in 1790. In some cases of note, the soul returns very quickly.





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Apparently, from everything I can comprehend, the main component of the soul--the "higher self"--stays at Source while allowing part of it's essence to incarnate. Within that higher self are the expressions of all past incarnations. I would then guess that the intense feelings from those incarnations are still both remembered and felt. I also believe that both ancestral memory and collective memory from this earthly plane are different than the journey of the soul, although the two concepts are probably conflated. It can start to get confusing when comparing one's ancestry with their personal soul journey. I don't have an answer to that, except that I'll stick with both.

I think one tends to reincarnate in a similar culture and with their soul group, but occasionally will break off for a different experience, in a different culture, and without their own soul group. It's interesting that Vincent from episode three answered as to when he was born as 1713 after hesitating. This likely was the higher self putting a year to the birth, which would probably not have been known to that remote tribe at that time.

Although it can be important to watch programs such as 'The Dead Files' to understand the spirits and energies that exist in this realm of existence, I think it would be more productive to have programs like 'Reincarnated: Past Lives'. The simple truth is that very few souls experience being "ghosts," which means that something has compelled them to not go towards "the light," but remain behind. Therefore, it can paint a picture of the afterlife that is far out've proportion. For the other 99.7% of us, reincarnation is the much more applicable field of study. So if this blog has any sway (it has hundreds of thousands of views), then I would urge Lifetime network or one of the others to bring back 'Reincarnated: Past Lives' and similar programs... and give it a big promo! I believe that there are certain Christian and Atheist "powers that be" who are afraid of this field of study being disseminated too widely!


DamianBertrand.com

Damian Bertrand facebook

Damian Bertrand YouTube

Damian Bertrand Amazon.com

'Past Lives: Journeys Revealed' (Damian Bertrand; Lauren Jefferson; 2017)

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Monday, April 6, 2020

'Reincarnated: Past Lives' - A glimpse into our true place in the universe




Reincarnated: Past Lives S01E01 "Shelise & Julian"

Synopsis: A hypnotherapist guides people to recall their past lives. In the opener, the source of a woman's strange compulsion to repeat an invasive medical procedure is revealed when she learns about her multiple past lives; and a man gets help to break a cycle of violence by going back to the bloody battlefields of 15th century France.








Reincarnated Past Lives S01E02 Anika & Carlos








Reincarnated Past Lives S01E03 Laura, Vincent & Devavani


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'Reincarnated Past Lives' aired for a one season and three episodes on the Lifetime channel a few years ago. I found it to be very eye opening and memorable. I believe something like this gives us a glimpse at the spiritual system that we live (and die.. and live...) under. Of course, it seems improbable from our perspective, but the open-minded science points strongly to it. I think undeniably, but that's just an opinion. How could Carlos in Los Angeles, with no real connection to Spain or Canada, remember a past life from more than a century earlier of being an immigrant women from Spain living in Montreal.... including specific information! Also, that information actually checks out! There was really a woman that fits the information from his regression, and it isn't only him but thousands and thousands of people! Reincarnation is real. Yes, it sounds like wishful thinking, so we must approach the subject objectively for research. We are actually here for our soul to "learn lessons," and to some extent "to love" and "to suffer" in order to achieve that end.

We actually choose our circumstances here, and some of the experiences. The further you delve into it, the stranger that it gets. We have soul genders, but it's energetic... not gender in the way that we think of it manifesting on earth. We usually reincarnate as our soul gender and within the same general background. We also have "soul groups" which are our spirit family within which we all reincarnate together, and interact over and over. If you have ever seen the 1978 film 'Heaven Can Wait'; it gives a very good "feel" for the tragedy and quickening that we experience. It all works out in the end, sometimes after much suffering. We mourn those we lose, but then we reconnect with them in spirit and life again..... but we don't remember when we're here! If we remembered, then we wouldn't learn any lessons. In the great scheme of things, it's like a loved one going missing... then being found. During the time suffering when they were missing we don't realize that they're actually okay... then we reconnect. "Love and suffering, love and suffering, love and suffering".... the universal theme of our existence. This could be compared to the concept of "losing in order to win."

The only real tragedy is that we suffer in general...  and that we believe that we lost loved ones forever. Then we have a reunion in spirit.... then we all reincarnate together again, and again, and again. Reincarnation is the metaphysical system in which we live under. I don't know "who" created this system, but it appears from everything that I can comprehend that WE collectively created and/or willed it into existence. Also, there are other physical worlds to reincarnate within other than this one. We must ascend to higher levels, and it appears that this world is very low on the spiritual scale... an unpleasant world to overcome. Some soul groups reincarnate to a higher level occasionally and come back here, but ultimately they must ascend higher and higher. Sometimes we encounter individuals who are so damn destructive and ignorant and incorrigible, and I suspect that they are "newcomers" from an even lower spiritual level who have come up here to "join us." All of these physical worlds are like shades of grey, with some ready to move up and other's who are newcomers. It's all about ascension for all of us. Animals and other life are apparently something different, but may have something of a soul; they have their place.


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Above video links (in case the embedded videos don't hold)

Reincarnated: Past Lives S01E01 "Shelise & Julian"

Reincarnated Past Lives S01E02 Anika & Carlos

Reincarnated Past Lives S01E03 Laura, Vincent & Devavani

 

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'Past Lives: 11 Signs Your Soul Has Reincarnated Many Times'

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Friday, April 3, 2020

Ostara 2020 - Part VII




WHO REALLY WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON?

ranxer

(The Spalding Enigma)

Did an “angel of God” in the late 1820s really give 18-year-old con artist Joseph Smith Mormon bible, as he claimed? Or was the book really derived from Solomon Spalding’s romantic fantasy novel called Manuscript Found? Did Baptist/Campbellite preacher Sidney Rigdon steal the recently deceased Spalding’s book from the Pennsylvania print shop? Did Rigdon hook up with Oliver Cowdrey and Joseph Smith Jr. and after their 3-year rewrite publish the book in 1830? Co-authors Arthur Vanick and Wayne Cowdrey discuss their 558-page book (Concordia Publishers, 2005; video thanks to Doug Spaulding) 15 min. produced by www.snowshoefilms.com


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Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.

According to Smith's account and the book's narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Smith said that the last prophet to contribute to the book, a man named Moroni, buried it in the Hill Cumorah in present-day Manchester, New York before his death, and then appeared in a vision to Smith in 1827 as an angel, revealing the location of the plates, and instructing him to translate the plates into English for use in the restoration of Christ's true church in the latter days. Critics claim that it was authored by Smith, drawing on material and ideas from contemporary 19th-century works rather than translating an ancient record.


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The power of imaginative-reality

I think there's a fine line between collective imaginative-reality and true individual synchronicity. The 'Book of Mormon' is an interesting book to delve into, which is easy via YouTube. It's interesting to search "mormonism what happened to the gold plates," and see both pro and con. If Joseph Smith wrote the 'Book of Mormon," then he did quite an elaborate job. Personally, I think that he should have left out the "gold plates" part.... too big of a hole! Other than that, it's an interesting imaginative history. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night, I pop on the BYU channel and listen to one of their discussions about the 'Book of Mormon', as they analize one part of it or one part of the timeline. I can't help but hear a little George Carlin voice in my head saying one of his old lines regarding religions, mainly Christianity and the Bible: "I have some other books for you to read. "Humpty Dumpty', 'The Three Little Pigs'...."

Of course then George Carlin would be aligning himself with the ultra conservative/closed minded science which is now the mainstream thanks to those who hold the purse strings via the great tax-exempt foundations. At least I can say for certain that my very own ancestors were among those who made the trek from the Valtellina, the Bergamo Alps, and the Brescian tri-valley to a location along the Tonale Pass to celebrate the eight seasonal sabbats and the full moons amid the great mountains surrounding them. The mountains were their cathedral, and this occurred continuously up to the Middle Ages... clear back into pre-history. That's not imaginative-reality. There really were carvings and paintings of the antlered god, pentagrams, and the Camunian Rose... the very emblem of their tribe.


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I Saw Jesus Christ In My Dream: Jesus Is Returning Soon With A Double-Edged Sword

86,519 views - March 12, 2020

Mariah Jones

6.54K subscribers

Jesus Christ is returning soon and He is bringing with Him a sword. This sword will divide and separate those who have been made righteous in Christ from those who have rejected Truth (the wicked). If you don’t know Jesus Christ, now is the time to ask Him to reveal Himself. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is very much alive and real. And He is coming back sooner than most expect. There has never been a better time than now. NOW is the time to turn to God. Repent and believe... that’s all it takes! Jesus Christ will give you the peace you’ve never had. Jesus Christ will wash away the sin, the guilt, and the weariness that burdens you. Trust in Jesus. He is the ONLY way! God bless you all.


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Lake Wanaka, New Zealand

Now being featured on Windows 10. Below, the actual image featured...





Crack willow tree in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand

The old adage 'location, location, location' certainly applies to this solitary tree rising from the shallows of Lake Wanaka. Known in parts of the world as something of an invasive species, the fast-growing crack willow is considered a nuisance in New Zealand and is banned from being sold or distributed. This so-called 'Lake Wanaka Tree' is an exception. Its slender branches and gently curving form (as if it's about to drink from the lake) makes a sublime sight near the shore and is one of the most photographed spots on New Zealand’s South Island.

Far from banning this tree, the government has taken steps to protect it from overzealous visitors wanting to climb the fragile, and easily broken, branches.


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Half Moon and Venus

An upturned crescent Moon with a close by Venus, from our perspective, occurred on Friday, March 27. Compared to the above image, they were closer together, Venus was much larger and brighter, and the crescent Moon was more pronounced. It's surprising how large and bright Venus can appear at times.


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Full Pink Moon

The next full moon will occur on the evening of Tuesday, April 7


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Lyrics to Lola by the Kinks

SoftballPrincess47


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Will this Asteroid End the World on 29 April 2020? | NASA

308,111 views - March 21, 2020

Astro Bytes

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There is a buzz going around that on April 29, the world is going to end, as an asteroid as big as the Himalayas is going to hit the planet.

The asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), is estimated to be 4 kilometers in diameter. At the higher end of that estimate, it suggests the space rock could be around half the size of Mount Everest!

It’s set to pass Earth on April 29, at which point it will be 3.9 million miles from our planet. While that might sound far away, it’s classed as a ‘close approach’ by NASA.

Let’s make it absolutely clear that there’s no chance of a collision between this asteroid and Earth. At its closest approach, the asteroid will be 3.9 million miles from Earth. That's more than 16 times the average distance between Earth and the moon.

Track the Asteroid 52768 - https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=52768


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It's eerie to think that there are huge mountain-sized rocks just flying threw outer space.


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Tupac Shakur & "Your Word is Your Wand"

Throughout his musical career, it's a well known fact that Shakur wrote about and even depicted his own shooting death. Well, the universe listens when these signals are in regards to oneself. Not only to your spoken words, but your written words, enactments, drawings, and even thoughts are all self-projected signals sent out and the universe very slowly begins to arrange it for you. I'm not saying that this was the actual reason for his death, but one's own depictions of oneself stacks the odds in favor of what was self-projected. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but even the light magic of self-projections can have powerful consequences for or against the individual. These "stacking of the odds" in self-projection are cosmically weighed against the practical odds in general. Therefore if you say "I am going to win Powerball this year," it's still millions-to-one against; however if you regularly self-project something like "I am going to achieve strong financial stability," AND you actually have a plan and work at achieving that end, then opportunities can open up to make that happen. The universe very slowly starts working to set that up.

Tupac Shakur self-projected his demise as-well-as partook in actions which would have made that demise much more likely. Even something as simple as a person saying after experiencing something disappointing: "Oh, that's just my luck!" They're literally self-projecting "That" meaning disappointment in general.... "is just my luck" meaning their continuous misfortune in life. Sure, that one comment won't ruin their life, but those types of comments are habit forming and just draw the negativity towards oneself... and of course the polar opposite is also true. If you said out loud: "I'm going to start having great luck!" one single time, it's likely that nothing would happen. But if you said that often, AND backed it up with planning and actions in support of that idea, then the universe will listen and very slowly start to arrange it for that individual.


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Hell, Jung, and lots of other stuff

A couple of evenings ago I viewed the 2009 horror film 'Drag Me to Hell' staring Alison Lohman. It was a little more than just another scary movie.... approaching 'Evil Dead' territory in terms of terror and high strangeness. When Christine Brown (Lohman) consulted an Indian fortune teller with her skeptical boyfriend present, there was an interesting exchange between them in which Karl Jung and his work were touted. Then just the next day I saw the following comment left on a YouTube video about a four year old who had clinically died and came back to tell of her experience. I don't know how to characterize all of this, except that it's all somehow interrelated. Actually the word "Hell" comes from the ancient Phoenician god "EL"... and appears to be a word that the early Christians--who arose out of the ancient solar cults--used in condemnation of Satan or EL from the rival ancient Saturnian cults. The following is the quote....

"After a long time of studying this sort of thing - there are all sorts of different things ranging from beings to Jungian archetypes. A good example of what I mean - look at Akiane Kramarik's and where it's lead her, ie. while she's a delightful and brilliant person her encounters with Jesus didn't lead her to some denomination that 'had it right', and it definitely didn't lead her to being a missionary or speaking in terms edifying of the idea that you have to profess faith to get into heaven. The trick with religion is that seeming miracles can happen, they often happen in religious contexts and if one's not careful such miracles prove to a person that their religion is the true religion when really what they're missing is that Descartes and cartesian dualism combined with reductive materialism is an incorrect view of the world. Someone who I think is probably making the most sense and thinking the most progressively, from the evidence, is a Cal Tech professor named Donald Hoffman. The theory of consciousness and matter, rather than reductive materialism, where these things makes sense is called 'functionalism' and in particular functionalism with 'multiple realizability', such as that an ant colony or bee hive can be a group organism, or that flocks of fish or starling can turn in unison faster than their nervous systems can observe and relay responses.

"A way of explaining this from functionalism with multiple realizability - groups of people can share conscious 'contracts' of sorts or group entities, in the world of western esotericism they're called 'egregores', or really they're higher order macro-organisms within the human species. Jungian archetypes are the most likely candidates to be like that and similarly what people call gods and goddesses, or people's encounters with Jesus, or like the ones I had with Isis/Mary/Sophia, suggested that these forms of consciousness may either be macro organisms of that sort supervening on humanity or they at least interact with us through the same circuitry, ie. we can feel communication between nerve cells in our fingers and our brains making the relay because they're below us in our personal stack, similarly though if there's something above us in the stack we won't experience it on a regular basis and it will only jump out at rare times of contact, a bit like the analogy of a sphere carving its way through Flatland where the Flatlanders see a circle come out nothing, grow, and recede to nothing again.

"While I was raised Catholic and I still love the rituals when they're done in a classic 19th century church or cathedral, especially delivered in Latin, I have to admit that the world became a much less confusing place when I traded the God of Abraham for the God of Spinoza (ie. pantheism/panentheism). It maps onto reality far better than the notion that the whole cosmos is so self-aware as to be paying direct attention to us and constantly giving us moral correctives or be sparing us from disfiguring experiences. A good look at the first half and middle of the 20th century would either suggest that's the case or, more troubling, that God doesn't care about Europeans, Russians, and Chinese otherwise there wouldn't have been a Great Leap Forward, Bolshevism/Leninism/Stalinism and the gulag archipelago, European fascism, etc."

-- carbon1479, YouTube


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Wolverine vs wolf

485,669 views - May 31, 2018

Demarcyo McGee


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The symbolism of this is very powerful. Of course, wolverines can stand up to any animal they encounter including bears. For anyone familiar with them, the result is not surprising. However, the wolf did have an edge in position, hovering right over the wolverine.

"Never quit. Never, never, never quit."


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"I love Wolverines. Pound for pound they are the meanest, baddest, toughest animals in North America." -- Keith Allver, YouTube user


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Give A Little Bit

3,039,392 views - July 25, 2018

Supertramp Official

144K subscribers

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Give A Little Bit · Supertramp

Even In The Quietest Moments

℗ 1977 UMG Recordings, Inc.

Released on: 1977-01-01


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The Gates of Hell is a monumental sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 meters high, 4 meters wide and 1 meter deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft) and contains 180 figures. The figures range from 15 centimeters (6 in) high up to more than one meter (3 ft). Several of the figures were also cast independently by Rodin.


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I was watching 'The Haunting' (1999) recently, and there was a reference to The Gates of Hell in regards to the interior architecture of the house. Also, the film 'The Devil's Advocate' depicted the same theme with the animated cherubs, griffins, etc. There are replicas of The Gates of Hell all over the world; the above image is located in Zurich.


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The striking Gina Gershon










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Andromeda Galaxy (featured currently on Windows 10)

The most distant object that most folks can see with the unaided eye is also the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way. Although the Andromeda Galaxy lies a mind-bending 2.5 million light-years from Earth, its trillion stars are enough to emit a strong glow across the vast reaches of space. Despite the wide gap, the Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision course and predicted to begin merging in roughly 4.5 billion years. (You've been warned.)

The Andromeda Galaxy was once thought to be a nebula. Early in the development of modern astronomy, any diffuse, undefined celestial body was called a ‘nebula,’ including what we now know to be a neighboring galaxy. Our modern definition of nebula refers to galaxies-in-training that will coalesce over cosmic time into something less…nebulous.


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Araceli & Minerva: Two female obscure given names of Roman/Etruscan origin

The only two times that I've heard these names were two females of Central American origin who looked pure blooded Mayan, and they were perceived as being of "their culture." Well, that's really not true, is it? These would be good names to start re-appropriating.


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Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Araceli

Araceli is a somewhat obscure Spanish and Italian female name derived from the Latin elements “ara” meaning “altar” and “cælum” meaning “sky, heaven”. It’s generally used in reference to a basilica in Rome known as Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Saint Mary of the Altar of Heaven); it is notable for housing the relics of Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great who converted the Roman Empire to Christianity. The basilica is also the location of Saint Juniper’s remains, one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. The female given name Araceli is primarily used among Spanish-speakers in the same tradition as other significant “Mary/Maria” locations (i.e., Guadalupe, Fatima, Montserrat, Lourdes, etc). Today Araceli can be found on the female naming charts of Catalonia, Spain and among Hispanic-Americans in the United States.

con't....


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Araceli: Baby Name of the Day


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Minerva - Behind the Name

Meaning & History

Possibly derived from Latin mens meaning "intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.


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Minerva Origin and Meaning

The name Minerva is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "of the mind, intellect".

Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the mythology names for girls that might appeal to adventurous feminist parents.

Minerva Pott is a character in Dickens's novel Pickwick Papers. In Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall is a Witch and Deputy Headmistress of Hogswarts, and in the Artemis Fowl books, Minerva Paradizo is equally intellectual. There's also a series of kids' mystery books centering around a Minerva Clark.

Minerva was a Top 500 name through the early 1920s, last appearing on the list in 1973. It's well liked on Nameberry though—currently at Number 417. Nickname Minnie fits right in with the other currently stylish vintage nickname names. Curiously, though, actress Minnie Driver was not born Minerva, but Amelia.


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Maria, Olga, Jennie & an urban legend

These are two very European female given names, both long being common not only in southern Europe, but in the German speaking countries as well as all over central and eastern Europe. Of course, Maria being the more common of the two. I recall growing up there was a White Cuban family in the neighborhood with two sisters. The one in my class was named Olga, a blonde with an eccentric/bimbo personality like the entertainer Charo if anyone remembers her. The younger sister was named Jennie, with the old spelling common over a century ago (not Jennifer). Jennie, if you didn't know who she was, you might swear that she was a European model. Very thin without being "skinny," maybe 5'6", long straight light brown hair, all style and plush and glitter, along with a happy-go-lucky personality without overt flaunts of sexuality or other negative traits.

In any industry you always hear urban legends, such as hypothetically a schoolyard basketball legend called "The Helicopter" who if he had gone along in the proper channels you would never have heard about Michael Jordan. Of course, that's silly, but there are urban legends. So I suppose I could say that if Jennie Gutierrez had been "discovered" accidentally by a talent agent, you never would have heard about Cindy Crawford. She looked a little like the late Gia Carangi, Niki Taylor legs, a bit little prettier than those two... although similarly without the overt innocent face, but with the same perceived "model look." I had a great aunt named Jennie, born in Canada, but died of the flu at age 18.


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The Rising of the Moon - Irish folk song

9,910,151 views

Sportymike

Na Casaidigh with the popular Irish song about the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland. Na Casaidigh or The Cassidys are a traditional Irish family band from the Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore) Gaeltacht in County Donegal.


Lyrics:

Oh then, tell me Seán O'Farrell, tell me why you hurry so?
"Hush a bhuachaill, hush and listen", and his cheeks were all aglow,
"I bear orders from the captain:- get you ready quick and soon
For the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon"
By the rising of the moon, by the rising of the moon,
For the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon

"And come tell me Seán O'Farrell where the gath'rin is to be?"
"In the old spot by the river, right well known to you and me.
One more word for signal token:- whistle out the marchin' tune,
With your pike upon your shoulder, by the rising of the moon."
By the rising of the moon, by the rising of the moon
With your pike upon your shoulder, by the rising of the moon.

Out from many a mud wall cabin eyes were watching through the night,
Many a manly chest was throbbing, for the blessed morning light.
Murmurs ran along the valleys like the banshee's lonely croon
And a thousand pikes were flashing at the rising of the moon.
At the rising of the moon, at the rising of the moon.
And a thousand pikes were flashing by the rising of the moon.

There beside the singing river that black mass of men was seen,
High above their shining weapons flew their own beloved green.
"Death to every foe and traitor! Forward strike the marching tune."
And hurrah my boys for freedom; 'tis the rising of the moon".
Tis the rising of the moon, tis the rising of the moon
And hurrah my boys for freedom; 'Tis the rising of the moon".

Well they fought for poor old Ireland, and full bitter was their fate,
Oh what glorious pride and sorrow, fills the name of ninety-eight!
Yet, thank God, e'en still are beating hearts in manhood burning noon,
Who would follow in their footsteps, at the risin' of the moon
At the rising of the moon, At the rising of the moon
Who would follow in their footsteps, at the risin' of the moon.


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Judging by the comments, it seems that people don't really understand this song. I think one needs to read the lyrics separately. This is not some ho-hum/jolly folk song. This is about resistance; this was war, for centuries.

There beside the singing river that black mass of men was seen,
High above their shining weapons flew their own beloved green.
"Death to every foe and traitor! Forward strike the marching tune."
And hurrah my boys for freedom; 'tis the rising of the moon."


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 "Shark Week" - The tradition continues

I see where the Discovery Channel is having "Shark Week" starting this coming Saturday, and for the entire following week nothing but sharks! It's only the start of spring and we have the first of numerous "shark weeks" on various cable channels for the next four or five months. "Jaws" may well have been the first major media, social, and economic blitz based on a movie. In 1975, everything was sharks, sharks, sharks... and for several summers to follow. The affect that the blockbuster film had was great and still felt today. If you search out "jaws affect on movies," "Jaws affect on beach culture," or "jaws affect on beach tourism," you will find a slew of articles from the last ten years. One such article, entitled 'Shark phobia: The memory of Jaws continues to scare swimmers away from the ocean', even sites the work by a university professor who had studied this phenomenon for thirty years. One quote from the article:

"What is it about Jaws that we can’t shake? How could a 37-year-old mechanical shark be stalking us, still?"

Even though there are only about a dozen shark fatalities per year worldwide, if one is swimming or floating anywhere in the ocean... there's the specter of an unseen danger based largely on the movie alone.... and especially "that certain scene." At least with a large land animal, you probably could at least see it coming! For me, from the film 'The Edge', I think I found the brutal killing of "Steve" by the mankiller kodiak bear in Alaska to have been more haunting since I'm much more likely to be on a trail than in the ocean. One time I was trapped on a relatively small beach on the coast in Marin County as darkness was approaching, with cliffs on three sides and high tide arriving. I actually had to wait for the tide to go out in order to swim to a rock and endure big wave before then making all the way to safety during the next outgoing tide.

I did make it to the rock. If the wave knocked me off the rock I very well could have hit my head on one of the many rocks all around me and could easily be killed by drowning. A hang glider was actually killed just one week before, crashing into a cliff there. I barely held on and then made it the the main beach. As I ran along the beach to safety, it felt like the rush of scoring a touchdown, then unexpectedly and anticlimactically a big wave came rushing in and knocked me to the beach hard! That was the end of challenging the ocean for me. The ocean is like gravity itself, an undeniable and unbeatable force of nature.

Outside of a very few exceptions like dolphins and whales, fish life is particularly cold and uncompromising. There is only one rule: bigger fish eat smaller fish. The great white shark is the ultimate predator, with a small brain, going on instinct, destroying everything in it's path. At least with a land animal, you can gauge it a little bit, read it's face and body movement to some extent, and assess the danger level.


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FACTOID

There are about 6,000 sunken ship at the bottom of the Great Lakes.


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'The Life, Death, Afterlife, and Curse of Rudolph Valentino'

Alyse Wax - The13thFloor.tv - July 11, 2016

Rudolph Valentino is an icon of early Hollywood. The “Latin Lover” was a sex symbol during film’s silent era; was rumored to have been a homosexual; died at age 31, which left fans in hysterics; and is now said to haunt various Los Angeles locations. Oh, and he had a cursed ring that has caused problems long after his own demise.

Valentino was born in Italy in 1895, but left for New York shortly after he turned 18. He worked as a dancer and befriended a Chilean heiress named Blanca de Saulles. It is unknown if Valentino and Blanca had a romantic relationship, but when she finally divorced her husband, Valentino defended her in her child custody suit. Blanca’s ex-husband, John, used political connections to get Valentino arrested on flimsy, unspecified vice charges. The scandal meant that Valentino had a difficult time finding work. When Blanca shot her ex-husband to death, Valentino fled to Los Angeles, fearing being brought in on another sensational trial.

con't....


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RUDOLPH VALENTINO'S CURSED RING

44,008 views - May 11, 2017

gabulosis

108K subscribers

💍 OPEN ME!! 💍

Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella, aka Rudolph Valentino, aka The Great Lover, aka the man I wish I could marry if I was alive in the 1920's, passed away on August 23, 1926 at the young age of 31 due to pleurisy. The news of his death spread quick and caused hysteria around the world. As years passed though many thought his untimely passing may have been the result of something more. In today's video we discuss his cherished ring and the supposed curse behind it that many believe may have caused his death.

con't....


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Video: Enormous Bat Colony Overtakes Australian Town

Tim Banall - CoastToCoastAM.com - February 6, 2020

 A small town in Australia has been overrun by an enormous colony of bats and frustrated residents have had enough of the annoying aerial invaders. The problem has reportedly been getting steadily worse over the last few weeks as the population of 'flying foxes' in the community of Ingham has grown to the point that experts believe that there are now around 300,000 of the creatures taking up residence there. To put that in some perspective, only approximately 4,500 people live in the town.

As one can imagine, the bat infestation has caused a slew of problems for the community. Since the creatures have seemingly taken a liking to gathering in the town's botanical garden, many of the trees at the site cannot handle the weight of all the animals and their limbs have begun snapping from the stress. Meanwhile, a rescue helicopter attempting to land at a hospital in the town recently had to be diverted because it would have flown into a proverbial cloud of bats had it continued on with its journey.

And, of course, with 300,000 of the creatures flying around each day, the ground below has become a veritable litter box to the point that local businesses and town workers are forced to clean up the bat droppings every morning. Perhaps the most nightmarish aspect of the invasion occurs for about an hour each night and every morning when the animals fill the sky. "The noise is horrendous," said reporter Pippa Bradshaw as she stood beneath the massive swarm, "the smell is putrid and lingers long after the bats have flown away for the evening."

With the creatures now moving closer to schools in the community, residents are concerned that children will get scratched by the invasive animals and, in turn, become sick. As such, some parents are threatening to boycott sending their kids to school unless something is done about the infestation. However, when it comes to solving the problem, the town has run up against something of a bat bureaucracy as it turns out that the creatures are a protected species in the area and the strict regulations surrounding the animal's status say that only non-lethal measures can be used to disperse the creatures. Compounding that complication, such tactics can also only be used when the bats are not in mating season.


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"Valhalla" A Chant by: Raven Shadowhawk

Raven's Den

This is just a quick chant that i thought of while in the shower last night. Hope you all like it. Blessed be! -Raven


Lyrics

Valkyrie, Take me to my father
Valkyrie, Lead me to Valhalla

Valkyrie, Take me to my father
Valkyrie, Lead me to Valhalla

Valkyrie, Take me to my father
Valkyrie, Lead me to Valhalla

Odin, All Father,
Here I stand ready to take my place among my brethren in the Great Hall of Valhalla
And to feast alongside my brothers and sisters who have fallen in combat.
Ready to fight alongside you and the Aesir at Ragnarok
The day when all shall come to an end..
Accept my sacrifice..


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"This gave me chills. Learning of our true history has meant everything to me." -- M. Bax, YouTube comment


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Your Word Is Your Wand

“Infinite Spirit, open the way for my great abundance. I am an irresistible magnet for all that belongs to me by Divine Right.”
-- Florence Scovel Shinn














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Cults and Extreme Belief: Jehovah's Witnesses - Full Episode (S1, E2) | A&E

218,435 views - March 10, 2020

A&E

4.56M subscribers

Love Cults and Extreme Belief? Stay up to date on all of your favorite A&E shows at http://aetv.com/schedule.

Former Jehovah's Witness Romy Maple - a survivor of abuse - embarks on a journey to uncover why her pleas for justice were systematically ignored by top members of the organization in Season 1, Episode 2, "Jehovah's Witnesses". #CultsandExtremeBelief

In Cults and Extreme Belief, Elizabeth Vargas, alongside former members of controversial organizations, goes on a search to uncover how these sects use their influence to prey upon people's desperation to create powerful and often destructive belief systems.


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An exchange of mine from the comments section:

whatsthebigfndeal: "I've never understood religion. God doesn't need an interpreter"

Bethany O'Neal: "I totally agree"

Joseph: "@Bethany O'Neal People crave structure, like joining a socially binding club. Strength in numbers."

Bethany O'Neal: "Joseph I understand that, but there are other groups and social things besides churches and cults"

Joseph: "@Bethany O'Neal Well, even just with a small church, they actually have a clubhouse to hang out at. They at least somewhat beholden to each other. People want that. I have a cousin who's a JW, and they open their homes to each other. Younger people sit and listen to energized elderly people tell stories, which isn't very common anymore. I suppose we can at least give them that. I wouldn't do it. I'm not even a Christian, but people are hardwired to be "tribal" in some form or fashion. They seek an organizing principle."



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Cults and Extreme Belief: U.N.O.I. - Full Episode (S1, E4) | A&E

Growing up in the United Nation of Islam (UNOI), Elijah Muhammad was forced into child labor, physical abuse and squalid living conditions. Today, he has a unique opportunity to speak to the FBI in hope of getting justice for himself and the other children abused by UNOI and its leader, Royall Jenkins', teachings in Season 1, Episode 4, "U.N.O.I". #CultsandExtremeBelief


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"I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly"
-- From the lyrics of 'Rocky Mountain High' by John Denver

I see hawks circling in the afternoon here fairly often, and I feel that's essentially the same thing. The extremely territorial ravens do fly towards the solitary hawk, following it, but it's more like warships posturing on the high sea. They know it's not wise to actually attack the hawk like they do other birds.


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Orleans - Still the One - 45 rpm 1976

Cletus Hunnicutt

Charted #5 U.S. Pop Singles Chart, 1976


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