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A writing from an author I like. I just "expect" to shower in the morning, as most of us in my country and social class do, but I always think of how good it would feel to so many people who have nothing. I don't really feel guilty because I have these nice comforts of "civilization" but I do feel very lucky and grateful. And I honor very much, those who have to deal with extreme poverty beyond anything I can imagine. Are they unhappy? I can't say that necessarily because gosh I can be unhappy and look at how little I have to worry about -- compared to people with problems involving their very survival. The same respect goes for the very sick as well; for whatever your reason, if you're at the bottom looking up, things look a little different.
In almost all of history, the vast majority of people understood the view from the bottom due to their own life circumstance. Most of the people who have ever lived on this planet have been oppressed and poor. But their history was seldom written except in the Bible (until very recently in such books as Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States). Only in modern times and wealthy countries do we find the strange phenomenon of the masses of people having an establishment mentality! This relatively new thing, called "the middle class," gives many of us just enough comfort not to have to feel the pinch or worry about injustice for ourselves. Only by solidarity with other people's suffering can comfortable people be converted. Otherwise they are disconnected from the cross--of the world, of others, of Jesus, and finally of their own necessary participation in the great mystery of dying and rising. Most of us in the Northern Hemisphere have a view from the top even though we are nowhere near the top ourselves. The mass of people can normally be bought off by giving them just enough "bread and circuses," as the Romans said.
In the early Christian Scriptures, or the "New" Testament, we clearly see that it's mostly the lame, the poor, the blind, the prostitutes, the drunkards, the tax collectors, the sinners--those on the bottom and the outside--that really hear Jesus' teaching and get the point and respond to him. It's the leaders and insiders (the priests, scribes, Pharisees, teachers of the law, and Roman leaders) who crucify him. Check this out, if you do not believe me. How did we miss such a core point? Most of Christian history kept the point from hitting home by blaming the Jews. Power was the problem, not the Jews. When Christians have all the power, they do the same thing, and we also would have crucified Jesus if he had critiqued the Catholic Church or any church the way he did his own religion.
After Jesus' death and resurrection, the first Christians are largely "underground." They are the persecuted ones, meeting in secrecy in the catacombs. During this time, we see a lot of good interpretation of the Scriptures, with a liberationist worldview (i.e., a view from the bottom). You could say that at that time, we were largely a Church of the poor and for the poor.
The turning point, at which the Church moved from the bottom to the top, is the year 313 when Emperor Constantine thinks he's doing us a great favor by beginning to make Christianity the established religion of the Holy Roman Empire. That's how the Apostolic Church became Roman Catholicism. We got all linked up with imperial world views, and our perspective changed from the view from the bottom and powerlessness (the persecuted, the outsiders) to the view from the top where we were now the ultimate insiders (power, money, status, and control)--and Emperors convened (and controlled?) most of the early Councils of the Church, not bishops or popes. That is verifiable history. Sadly, most did not see the problem with that (and many still don't). Many saints along the way still tried to be a Church for the poor, but from a somewhat "superior" and safe stance. It is only in some form of actual solidarity with the outsiders/sinners/little ones that we fully get the message of the Gospel. It is only then that we understand our own poor soul and its neediness.
by Richard Rohr -- Adapted from Scripture as Liberation; and Gospel Call for Compassionate Action (Bias from the Bottom)
British media are giving significant coverage to Tuesday's address by a senior judge, Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division, to a Law Society Conference. His remarks, titled "Law Morality and Religion in the Family Courts, "trace changes in the role judges assign to religion:
In recent years we have witnessed enormous changes in the social and religious life of our country. A century ago, a judge could pray in aid the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer as an appropriate statement of the public policy to be applied by the courts. Today we live in a largely secular society which, insofar as it remains religious at all, is now increasingly diverse in religious affiliation. At the same time as the judges have - rightly - abandoned their pretensions to be the guardians of public morality Christian clerics have, by and large, moderated their claims to speak as the defining voices of morality and of the law of marriage and the family.
Reference: magick-keys.blogspot.com
Taoism exorcism is a service we provide on chiinnature.com, and we charge money for doing the service. Sometimes I have people asking me why don't we do this for free, and they expect all religious services to be done for free, especially exorcism, which they said is because it's done for a good cause, saving lives, and helping people. I would love to have free medical care too, why don't the government or doctors work for free and so we can just live a free-life without any money spending required?
I am kind of sick and tired of seeing these people who always want things to be free, for them, and they demand me to work for free for EVERYONE. I understand that they might be working for free, but I bet they live in a wealthy family with rich daddy and mommy feeding them every day, providing the food, and living space, or even air conditioning, heating system, water, electricity and maybe even the internet service every month. Right?
In the past, I used to just ignore these people who don't understand Taoism exorcism, but today I want to directly address this problem with these people's crooked mindsets.
TAOISM EXORCISM IS A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE!
For me to be a professional Taoist master and exorcist today, I have been through a lot of experience, learning and cultivations to earn the knowledge and ability that this professional career requires. I can only compare this career of being an exorcist to being a doctor, a professional one that have to go through years of hard work and studying in school, university and finally being a real legitimate doctor. Being an exorcist is more dangerous though, it's like being a firefighter sometimes, because the problems with the client can burn and backfire at yourself if you are not capable of dealing with these cases! Just like if you stick your fingers into a sorcery attack case, and you don't have the power to win, the sorcerer can track you down and kill you first since you are their obstacles to manipulate the victim! If that's the case, your career will end right on the spot!
For me, today, running a local temple, with almost 2k monthly rentals, utility bills, and all my years of working, studying, cultivation, and all that hard work, I don't see how I do not deserve to be paid for my service. Of course, some can still say they do an exorcism and they can offer free service - because their exorcism is a scam, they don't have to go through learning, study, cultivation and hard work to gain the power or knowledge - because they have none! Then when things are that easily done, of course it's okay to be free, no hard feelings! Shame on those scammers and fraudsters who flood over the world claiming they are exorcist and offer free service. I know their service sucks, it doesn't work, and they are just offering "free" service while earning from people at the back. It's horrible!
Let's see, if Taoism exorcism should be free because it is about helping people who are in need, why isn't medical care or emergency medical care all free of charge? When you call an ambulance, you know you are paying for them to come over and pick you up, right? Then they shove you a bill at the hospital for whatever they have done to you too, without even giving you many options. Police are supposed to be keeping our place at peace, and why don't they work for free? Not forget that even you are paying tax for them to provide services, police can be very lazy and irresponsible too. If a Taoism exorcism service should be free, then everything people do for a service should be free, just to be fair. Why not?
Those who want Taoism exorcism to be free is purely and solely insulting Taoism and Taoist, which we do not tolerate. Please use your brain and think about what the reality is like before shoving me a comment like "Why don't you work for free?". I hate to say it, but this is just ridiculous and these people must be living in their rich parent's capsule all their life, without the need to sustain their own family or even feed themselves. One day, when the capsule pops, they will collapse and melt with the reality around. Hey dude, nothing is free in this world, including your mom and dad's care to you, and the food they shove into your mouth when you are crying. Taoism exorcism is not free, and cannot be free.
The post Taoism Exorcism for Free? Why Not? appeared first on Taoist Master Blog.
Stanza 90. - When the Sun occupies an unfavourable position, the native will suffer from the wrath of the rulers, God Siva, and his own father; diseases in the heart, stomach and the eyes; troubles in the bones; diseases caused by Pitta, fear from quadrupeds and fire, destruction of copper vessels and decline of personal influence. When the Sun is well disposed, the results will be: satwic nature, favour of Siva, father and rulers; acquisition of copper utensils;increase of wealth through journeys and by trade in woollen goods, grass, gold, leather and medicines.Stanza 91. - An unfavourable Moon will give during his Dasa: Queen's anger, dissatisfaction of the mother or her illness; diseases caused by Vatha, Pitta, and impure blood; enmity with superiors and relatives; the fury of Durga, loss of crops, danger to life and ill fame. If favourable: grace of the Queen and Durga, satisfaction of the mother, gain of money by trading in ghee, sugar, clothes, etc., income by chanting mantras, by breeding cattle, and by marine traffic and by dealing in diamonds through the help of women and by increase of crops and increase of fame and riches.Stanza 92. - An unfavourable Mars brings about during his Dasa : Misunderstandings with brothers, loss of landed property and gold, fear from fire, thieves and enemies ; wrath of God Subrahmanya and trouble from military personnel, ailments arising from impure blood, fever, eye diseases, loss of vessels and cuts and wounds in the body caused by weapons. If favourable, there will be acquisition of landed property, gold, weapons, favour of the commander-in-chief, and grace of Lord Subrahmanya, profits from the loss of enemies, brothers and kings.Stanza 93. It Mercury is unfavourable, the native suiters from the ire of God Vishnu, and the anger of the heir-apparent, abusive language and troubles from thieves. If favourable, there will be acquisition of horses, gold and lands,friends increase, wealth is acquired through the help of Brahmins and good advisers, sculptural skill and arbitration work. There will be increase of fame, performance of righteous deeds, earning by writing and figures and winning of the grace of God Vishnu.Stanza 94. - Jupiter if unfavourable will indicate ear troubles, sickness to sons, anger of Gods and Brahmins and enmity with wicked people. If favourable : increase of clarity of mind, gain from religious practices, through persons well-versed in recitation of Vedas and through the favour of rulers. Gold, horses and elephants come in unsolicited. Brahmins and Gods bestow blessings.Stanza 95. - When Venus is unfavourable, there will be sickness to wife and other female relations, destruction of clothes and decrease of general prosperity; sorrow caused by love, hatred towards Government servants and low born people come by turns, quadrupeds die in numbers, and silverware is lost. When Venus is favourable, there will be gain of silver utensils, fine clothes, ornaments, diamonds, underground treasures, marriage, gain of money, increase in taste for music, and access to cattle and luxurious food.Stanza 96. - Saturn afflicted brings in diseases caused by wind and phlegm, ignorance, tendency to steal, etc., irritability, calamities,inertia, physical and mental debility, sarcasm of women and servants and children, dislocation of the limbs and jealousy. If Saturn is favourable, it denotes abatement of sorrows, association with old women, increase of servants and iron goods, headship of a town, acquisition of buffaloes and growth of varaka grain.Stanza 97. - The effects of Rahu are similar to those of the lord of the Rasi occupied by him and of Saturn. Ketu will confer results similar to those of lord of the Rasi occupied by him and of Mars.Stanza 98. - On analysis, if it is found that the malefic influences alone predominate, then evil should be predicted. If benefic influence predominates, then good must be anticipated. If the influences are mixed, then prediction must be made according to the predominating factor.Stanza 99. - Death, serious diseases, danger to near relatives, destruction of house, fall from position, wrath of the rulers, unpopularity and loss, waste of money and lands, theft of properly, dishonour, ill fame, are the various evil effects. The exact nature of the evil should be determined by carefully studying the different Bhavas.Stanza 100. - Good health, royal or governmental favours, gain of money, reconciliation with friends, success in all enterprises, mental peace, elevation to high positions, popularity, fame, birth of children, are the good effects to be predicted by a consideration of the appropriate dispositions of planets.NOTESThe stanzas giving the results of Dasas of planets, when they are favourable and unfavourable, are clear and need no explanation. But in stamas 98 to 100 the good and bad effects have been defined with the suggestion that planetary influences should be correctly weighed. If the afflictions predominate, then evil alone should be predicted. The person may, die, become seriously ill, or his relatives, children, wife, brothers etc., may suffer. His house may be set on fire. He may incur the displeasure of the authorities; he may lose his position and influence. His lands may be auctioned. His property may be stolen. He may face dishonour and his reputation may suffer.If the good influences predominate, disappearance of enemies, access to wealth, gain of property, increase in reputation, mental peace, etc., will be the indications.When the good and bad aspects are mixed up, the astrologer should use his discrimination and find out whether benefic or malefic aspects are in excess cr whether both are equally disposed and then arrive at a conclusion.In predicting the good or bad nature of the results, the appropriate Bhavas and planets should be consi-dered. Thus if the Sun is the planet afflicted and he is in the 10th, the native suffers the displeasure of the rulers. The Sun in the 4th with a fiery planet may cause destruction of the house due to fire. Similarly if the Sun is the elevated planet in the 10th, there will be rise in official life. If in Lagna with benefic, there will be good health. The task of the astrologer indeed becomes very arduous in balancing the different shades of planetary influences. It is here that he should bring to bear his keen powers of analysis and the gift of synthesis.CATEGORIES OF KARMAStanza 101. - The good and bad effects are the resultant of two kinds of Karma - Dridha and Adridha. These can again be subdivided into three types of action, viz., mental, verbal and physical.NOTESThis stanza gives in a nutshell, the theory of Karma. Our actions are of two kinds, viz., Dridha (fixed) and Adridha (not fixed). Whether Dridha or Adridha - Karma may be due to speech (verbal), thought (mental) and bodily actions (physical). The gamut of Karma is all-comprehensive and it cannot be restricted to any particular sphere of thinking or activity.It is not my purpose to elaborate the theory of Karma in these notes as I have already dealt with it in detail in my Astrology and Modern Thought. Reference may also be made to An Introduction to the Study of Astrology by my revered grandfather Prof. B. Suryanarain Rao.Stanza 102. - The cause of one's evil Karma and whether it is Dridha or Adridha, is to be ascertained from the disposition of benefics in the 6th, 8th and 12th and of malefics in quadrants and trines. According as these dispositions are from Chathra Rasi, Arudha, Chandra or Lagna, the evil Karma is due to divine wrath, a Brahmin's curse, spells of enemies or people's hatred.NOTESIn this stanza, we are given a clue to find out the cause of one's bad Karma which has resulted in the man suffering from afflictions. If benefics occupy 6. 8 and 12 from Chathra Rasi and malefics occupy 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10,the sins and consequent evil effects are due to fury of Gods. If planets are found in the above places from Arudha at the time of Prasna, the sins are the outcome of Brahmin's curses. If planets occupy such places from the Moon at the time of Prasna, the sins are due to the incantation (mantraic) of enemies. If planets are found in the above mentioned places from the rising sign, the sins and the consequent evil effects are due to people's hatred.These bad actions may be either deliberate or done out of ignorance or both combined. Here the reference is mainly on Prasna Chart. But we can apply the principles to radical horoscopes also.Stanza 103. - The nature of the evil Karma will be Dridha or Adhridha according as the indicative planet is in the house of the Moon or the Sun. When planets are favourably placed, they indicate fruition of good Karma, otherwise that of evil Karma. The mental, verbal or bodily nature of the Karma is revealed by the positionof a malefic planet in the 5th, 2nd or 10th house.NOTESMan suffers from misfortunes in the shape of loss of wealth, humaliation, loss of name, death of kith and kin. diseases.etc., as a result of evil Karma done in his previous life. This Karma is either Dridha - intentionaland deliberate or Aridha accidental or unintentional. In either case the consequence is felt. Whether Dridha or Adridha, the Karma can again be divided into three categories - kayaka, arising from bodily actions such as causing physical injury, etc., manasika - arising from mental actions - entertaining evil thought and wishing others evil, and vachaka or due to verbal actions - indulging in abusive and filthy language, etc. Benefics in the 6th, 8th and 12th and malefics in trines and quadrants - these planets can be called as indicators - denote that the troubles arc due to evil Karma. If these dispositions are from Chakra Rasi, the Karma will be due to God's wrath. Here by God are also meant persons held in reverence such as parents, preceptors and elders. Suppose one deliberately insults or assaults one's parents or elders. Here the nature of Karma is Dhridha, Vachaka and Dridha kayaka. The same is the case when the person harbours evil thoughts' The Karma is Dridha manasika. If on the other hand, one uses impolite language towards an elder through ignorance or slip of tongue or accidentally inflicts physical injury, the nature of Karma is Adridha manasika and Adridha kayaka. The aggrieved party feels pain and this rebounds on the perpetrator of the Karma. Similarly ifthe benefics are in the above places from Arudha, the evil Karma will be due to a Brahmin's curse. If from Chandra Lagna, the sins are due to black-magic indulged in by enemies. If from Lagna, people's hatred will be the cause. If the indicator is in the Moon's sign or hora, it is Dridha karma - sins deliberately committed. If the indicator is in the house of the Sun, the sins are ignorantly or accidentally got. Similarly planets favourably placed, i.e., benefics in quadrants and trines and malefics in the 6th, 8th and 12th, indicate merit derived from good deeds. If a weak malefic is in the 5th, the sins may be considered as the outcome of mental actions. If he is in the 2nd, they are the results of his words, cruel and unwanted. If he is in the 10th, they are the fruits of his bodily actions.
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JAMES GUNN
The Academic Viewpoint
James Gunn, author and professor of English at the University of Kansas, who began his writing of science fiction in 1948 and has since done some seventy stories and sixteen books while editing three more, is a master of two difficult disciplines. One is writing and the other is teaching. For over twenty years he has successfully accomplished what many a writing teacher and many a teaching writer has found impossible, the harnessing of these two highly creative occupations in one working tandem.
With all this, he has found time to serve as regional chairman of the American College Public Relations Association, and on the Information Committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He has also won national awards for his work as an editor and a director of public relations. He has been awarded the Byron Caldwell Smith prize in recognition of literary achievement and has also been president of the Science Fiction Writers of America.
He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Science Fiction Research Association, and was presented with the Pilgrim Award of SFRA in 1976. Also, he has been given a special award by the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention for his book ALTERNATE WORLDS.
He has written articles, verse, and criticism. He has done radio scripts, screen plays, and television plays. A number of his stories have been dramatized in both mediums. One, "The Immortal," was an ABC-TV "Movie of the Week" in 1969 and became an hour-long series, also titled THE IMMORTAL, in 1970. Meanwhile, his written work has been reprinted worldwide.
Consequently, if there is one writer in science fiction who is fully qualified in both areas, that of the writer and that of the academic scholar of science fiction, it is James Gunn. He is a professional behind the typewriter and equally a professional in the academic area, and as such, no one is quite as qualified as he to deal with the subject of the article that follows....
When the dean of basketball coaches, the late Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, was asked by James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, what he intended to do with his life, Allen replied, "Coach basketball." Naismith responded, "You don't coach basketball; you just play it."
For many years a similar opinion existed about science fiction: you don't teach science fiction; you just read it.
As later events demonstrated, both opinions were incorrect. The first regular course in science fiction was taught at Colgate University in 1962- by Prof. Mark Hillegas, now at Southern Illinois, and Sam Moskowitz organized evening courses in science fiction at City College of New York in 1953 and 1954.
Since then science fiction has spread into thousands of college classrooms and tens of thousands of high schools, and even into junior high schools and primary schools.
This surprising interest of academia in science fiction has aroused suspicion and alarm among science fiction readers, writers, and editors. Their attitudes have been summed up by Ben Bova's editorial "Teaching Science Fiction" in Analog (June 1974) and Lester del Rey's "The Siren Song of Academe" in Galaxy (March 1975), and symbolized by Locus coeditor and co-publisher Dena Brown's comment at the 1970 organizing meeting of the Science Fiction Research Association, "Let's take science fiction out of the classroom and put it back in the gutter where it belongs."
Part of what frightens science fiction people about academia is the danger that it will be taught poorly, dustily, inadequately, or drably. But even if taught with knowledge, skill, and enthusiasm, science fiction may be perverted by the academic viewpoint, some of them believe.
Teachers, they suspect, look at books differently from ordinary readers, and, like Medusa, their look turns things to stone. Science fiction readers point at their own high school experiences of hating Shakespeare or Dickens because they were forced to read them.
Even at the college level, professors encounter the frequent student attitude: "Why do we have to analyze fiction or poetry? It ruins them."
These are the concerns of the science fiction world How does academia respond?
First, the notion that all science fiction teachers are alike is simply lack of knowledge about what is done in the classroom. Science fiction is taught for a variety of reasons, at all levels. In colleges, for instance, it often is taught for its content to help teach political science or psychology, anthropology, religion, future studies, or even the hard sciences. Anthologies for these specific purposes multiply in publishers' catalogs. Most objections to the teaching of science fiction, however, do not concern themselves with this use, although a bit of feeling adheres to the exploitation of science fiction for some other purpose than the one God intended.
Even within English departments, teaching approaches vary. Some professors teach the ideas; some,.,' the themes; some, the history and the genre; and some, `' the great books. In general, all of these may be dismissed from the concerns of the science fiction vested interests; if any of the subjects are taught knowledgeably and capably, the judgments of their teachers about approaches ideas, themes, definitions, history, and great books need not coincide with those of any held within the science fiction world, where there is, after all, almost as great a diversity of opinion as may be found outside it.
In addition to the approaches listed above, some.j teachers may include one or more science fiction books in a course in contemporary literature, popular literature, or the literature of women, or of children, or of some other area of experience. And some professors teach science fiction as if it were any other kind of literature, and apply to it the same critical concerns they apply to other books.
Here, perhaps, lies the greatest possibility for a break with science fiction tradition. What values do teachers of literature search out when they teach science fiction-or, for that matter, fiction of any kind?
Surprising as it may be to critics of the teaching of literature, the first consideration is story. Story is as appealing to professors as it is to lay readers. "Pleasure ` in fiction is rooted in our response to narrative movement-to story itself," Professor Robert Scholes wrote in his essay, "As the Wall Crumbles," in Nebula Ten.
But story is relatively unambiguous, at least in a work of fiction in which story predominates, and teaching at all levels tends to gravitate toward those works. whose qualities teaching can enhance. This is not to say that these works are necessarily best in some abstract sense, but that they are teachable. Many persons outside academia suggest that at this point science fiction is in danger: qualities in a piece of fiction may be overvalued simply because they are less accessible.
The danger is real. In some academic circles, as among a certain group of avant-garde writers, story has been discarded as too obvious or too easy. Susceptible students and readers have been persuaded that story is a lesser art, if it is an art at all, and difficulty, ambiguity, and obscurity are essential to good fiction. The critics of academia suggest that if these aspects of fiction are highly valued in classes, authors will be seduced into such corrupt practices.
The danger is real, but it is not as great as the doomsayers fear. Authors are not as susceptible as all that (if they're not doing their own thing they aren't worth much as authors), and the teaching of literature is not as pernicious as all that. Story still counts for much in a literature class.
Witness the fact that the books most frequently taught by academics (as reported by Jack Williamson in 1972) were Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, Wells's The War of the Worlds, Pohl and Kombluth's The Space Merchants, Herbert's Dune, Huxley's Brave New World, Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Silverberg's Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Wells's The Time Machine, and Asimov's I, Robot. Other books among those a bit less frequently taught would reveal none unfamiliar to the average science fiction reader; the total list represents, with a few arguments, a reasonable "best" list for any knowledgeable fan, and even the arguable, titles have been honored by science fiction critics and readers.
Admittedly, the list may reveal some bias toward what passes for excellence in writing, skill in characterization, or verisimilitude in description. Few teachers include "Doe" Smith or Edgar Rice Burroughs, from whose science fiction adventures a generation of readers were weaned (though I, for one, always include A Princess of Mars, and I would be surprised if some teacher somewhere does not teach The Skylark of Space or Grey Lensman).
What then do science fiction teachers look for in a work of science fiction?
They are concerned, of course, with teaching the art of reading and the skills of criticism (along with
the ability to communicate) rather than merely the specific work at hand. They apply principles to texts, both to make the piece of prose, poetry, or drama more accessible but also to enable students to apply similar principles to reading they may do in other classes or outside of classes. They want students to get more out of their reading, to read more alertly, more knowledgeably, more enjoyably.
Critics who complain that this kind of approach to literature kills enjoyment are restricting the enjoyment of literature only to those natural readers who understand intuitively what is not immediately observable, or to those works that have no depths.
What is not immediately observable to a casual reader of science fiction? The best way to answer that question might be to list the aspects of fiction that a good teacher looks for.
1. CONSISTENCY OF STORY
2. STORY PREMISES
3. APPLICATION OF THE PREMISES
4. CREDIBILITY OF THE CHARACTERS
5. CONSISTENCY OF THEME
6. IMAGERY
7. STYLE
8. TOTAL ARTFULNESS
9. CHALLENGE TO THE IMAGINATION
10. OVERALL IMPRESSION
1. CONSISTENCY OF STORY. A good reader continually adjusts his expectations of a piece of fiction as the author gradually reveals the directions in which his characters are moving, or are being forced to move. A well-written work handles the reader's expectations skillfully, confidently, neither changing directions nor disappointing expectations previously aroused. A careless reader may never notice inconsistencies in various parts of a work, and a casual reader may forgive them. An author should be held to the highest standards of accountability, both for the improvement of reading and the improvement of writing; an author is not at liberty to do what he wishes without accepting the consequences.
2. STORY PREMISES. A good reader picks up the clues an author plants about the foundations on which his world and his story rest. In a science fiction work, this includes the science and the sociology the answers to the question: how did we get there from here? In a skillfully written work, if the reader grants the author's premises, he must grant the conclusions, but part of the tension of the work always exists between the conclusions and the premises. The casual reader misses an important part of the dialogue in which the good writer hopes to engage him, and allows the lessable writer to pass unchallenged.
3. APPLICATION OF THE PREMISES. A good reader challenges the writer at every point, debating the working out of the author's thesis, his arrival at the conclusions, checking back continually against what he already knows, theorizing that any discrepancy must be significant. This is not a tedious process but one that, once recognized, becomes automatic with the alert reader.
4. CREDIBILITY OF THE CHARACTERS. Are the characters real people? Should we take them seriously? Are they meant to be realistic? Do they react consistently? It is my thesis (see my chapter in Reginald Bretnor's symposium The Craft of Science Fiction, Harper & Row, 1976) that characters in a science fiction work should be judged differently from those in mainstream fiction (often they are more important as representatives than as individuals), but characters should be understandably motivated. They should not act arbitrarily or inconsistently; they should act for their own reasons and not for the author's convenience. This is not because of any abstract literary morality but because the fiction is better if they do.
5. CONSISTENCY OF THEME. Does the story have a message? Not all fiction has anything to say other than to reinforce the assumptions basic to the culture from which the fiction springs, such as: good will prevail, or good will prevail only if men and
women of intelligence and character work at it hard enough. But some fiction attempts to say something more-about the nature or goal of life, the nature or difficulties of society, or the nature or problems of people. The good reader asks what the work means besides its obvious story line. Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, for instance, is about not only whether the world of Winter joins the Ekumen, not only whether Genly Ai is successful or even survives, but about the ways in which sex shapes our society and its institutions. Another question is how well the theme is woven into the fabric of the story, not appended to it like a sermon.
6. IMAGERY. One way in which meaning emerges from fiction is through the imagery implicit in the work, often without the conscious knowledge of author or reader-the literal images, the symbols, the similes, and the metaphors. Once teachers begin talking about images, symbols, and metaphors, the ordinary reader turns his mind off, and authors have been known to object to teachers reading something into their writing that they did not intend, often accusing teachers of falsifying what they were trying to do. As in most criticisms of teaching, there is some truth to the charge; some teachers and some critics build a mountain of interpretation out of a molehill of evidence, and many ignore the author's intention-indeed, it was a tenet of the so-called "new criticism" (now almost fifty years old) that considering the author's intention is a trap, called "the intentional fallacy." Nevertheless, images do occur in works of fiction, and they do influence the reactions of readers to the work. Examples abound, even in science fiction, from the power imagery of technology to the guilt imagery of the mad scientist in whatever his contemporary guise.
7. STYLE. Style is the manner in which words are chosen and put together. Complexity or uniqueness is not necessarily good. Sometimes simplicity or transparency are superior. What we term style is often mistakenly reserved for "high style," for individual mannerisms, for that which calls attention to itself, but what a careful reader notices is the suitability of style to subject and the appropriateness of language and sentence structure-whether what is said is enhanced by the way it is said. Innumerable would be writers have been misled by teachers who told them, "Before you can be a successful writer, you must find your own style." Fred Pohl is fond of quoting a French saying, "Style is the problem solved."
8. TOTAL ARTFULNESS. The different parts of a piece of fiction do not exist in isolation, though they often must be discussed in this fashion if they are to be understood. Few skills-from the golfer's swing to the dancer's routine-can be understood by watching them in their entirety. The separate acts must be broken down into understandable units that can be learned and then reassembled into the whole. All the considerations about fiction that have been discussed up to this point may in themselves be well done but they may not together form a coherent work, and then the good teacher points out why the whole is larger than the sum of its parts.
8. CHALLENGE TO THE IMAGINATION. A piece of fiction might have every virtue the teacher can describe and still be dull; and a piece of fiction can lack almost every virtue and still rise above its circumstances by the way in which it challenges the imagination. The teacher and the reader may wish that great ideas were matched by great execution, but it is not always so, and the good teacher recognizes the appeal of works that are otherwise deficient. This is not to say that the public is always right, but to recognize, as Professor Leslie Fiedler pointed out to an audience of science fiction writers a few years ago, "For too long critics have tried to tell readers why they should like what they don't like; they should be trying to discover why people like what they like."
10. OVERALL IMPRESSION. After a work has been analyzed which means, literally, separated into its constituent parts-it must be put back together. Students object to having what they like dissected as if it were something dead, almost as much as they
object to being forced to study something they consider dead. After the good teacher has helped his students analyze any work of fiction, then, the teacher should help them regain their vision of the work in its entirety-its overall impression of readability, of narrative excitement, of fictional pleasure. The teacher should bring it back to life. It is a difficult task but not an impossible one.
Properly done, the study of literature does not diminish the enjoyment of reading; it enhances that enjoyment, just as a good critical article about a short story or a novel illuminates. the work for the reader, who goes to it with new appreciation and understanding. To believe otherwise is to uphold the blessings of ignorance, to maintain that the individual's enjoyment of any complex art-and fiction is a complex art-depends upon how little he knows about it.
Science fiction has not achieved as much as it might because it has enjoyed few good critics. A critic is more than a reviewer; a reviewer discusses his personal evaluation of a work, while a critic relates his evaluation to larger principles and theories, to standards he or others have established for the greater body of work to which the piece at hand is related. Critics raise standards for writers as well as readers; we can be thankful for the work of Damon Knight, James Blish, D. Schuyler Miller, and a few others in its past, and the current work of Alexei and Cory Panshin, Lester del Rey, Joanna Russ, Barry Malzberg, the writers for Delap's F&SF Review, and A Budrys.
Their judgments have not always coincided-there is no reason they should-but science fiction is better because they have judged and made their criteria plain. The judgments of academia may not be the same as those of science fiction critics or its readers, but, without having read Budrys's contribution to this volume, I would hazard the guess that his criteria for judging a work of science fiction are not much different from those I have set down here.
A so ago I was discussing my book with a see and she asked me, "Do you stare the demons know what you're doing? Umm, yes," I replied. Then she got an odd glance on her veneer and asked, "Do you stare it pisses them off?" I dormant and didn't stacks know how to act in response but went with, "Petit mal yeah."As I've believed beforehand, I transport a greatly excellent than emblematic hazard of regulate within really hair-raising metaphysical stuff. Introduce is a state of affairs for this...a few actually. Crucial off, I'm more often than not luminous. When I say someone is "luminous" I mean that individual has very strong memorable energy. Clear energy has a way of heated as soon as fog light sharp low both the cover of make your home somewhere roughly them and the boundaries amid the lay and astral planes. All make your home somewhere and seats can be luminous, and the energy can be noise, bad, and anything isolating as desire as it's strong. Such strong energy is very elegant to certainly creatures. On one hand this hole that profit and pleasurable astral creatures coerce come to decrease you out, on the other it hole that not so nicely objects coerce come to turn you within a snack. A lot of bad entities waterway on energy, above dark energy. Not a short time ago am I luminous, I'm very, very dark. If utmost witches were as soon as a big dig of chocolate ice soothe to a dark creature, I coerce be a chocolate sundae topped with hot escape and oreos - extra strong. When I basic started practicing magick I would flicker as soon as a beacon and had very adolescent in the way of defences; this ended me a very pleasing persistence. This is a big part of why I had so copious disorderly encounters rapid on in my study of magick.The state of affairs I've continued to transport lots of experiences with magickal nasties is from the time when I piss them off. A lot. I've beautiful greatly concentrated my life to curb make your home somewhere learn how to bond with bad entities and transport now been law it desire adequate and to known effect to the commemorate anyplace objects transport busy statement. I've dealt with ghosts, goblins, imps, vampires, and infernals elder the lifetime and transport managed to come out on top every time. They do not as soon as this and word seems to get roughly.When I was in the run of caption the book I had stacks a few unasked for theater group on the brink roughly my token that tried their damndest to get me to top. For the utmost part it was fair a fix in place of pixies careless about in receipt of kicked out of the few seats anyplace they're moribund permissible to income (a deep agreement that what I was caption was a short time ago for curb make your home somewhere who were like shortfall got them to top rearranging my book shelves and freaking out my cat). At rest, existing were a few merely nastier creatures on the brink about as well. I got a series of some of the best nightmares in my life so caption about lacking ghosts and I won't even go within the run of caption about demons. So they say even caption about what I do can send ripples low the astral.So yeah, the monsters know what I'm law and they don't as soon as it. I transport the antagonism I transport to bond with as a sign that what I'm law is of note and can actually make a deviation. I know how to transport painfulness of myself so I say bring it.
Reference: healing-magic.blogspot.com
Written by Perry WilliamsTrip Produce by Dorothy Millard (Amstrad Brand)(Opening in the superb turf out workroom of the palace), S (right to use hall), U (your room), GET Spear (hunting), Examine Spear (high spot), GET Currency, Examine Currency, D, W (key in side of the road where you welcome an old covering pleading beast), Speak well of Currency (she says to ask help from the witch of the northern forest), W (top civil entrance), N, E (hard skin province), GET MOUSE (dead), Examine MOUSE, W, N (edge of northern forest where you see a large black cat - don't promote the mouse to the cat), Examine CAT (it walks off to the northwest), NW (cat goes northeast), NE (cat goes east), E (dip - the cat enters a give shelter to), IN (you welcome the witch of the northern forest who says she motion help you but pinnacle you obligation time off the curse and bring her detail relevant). OUT, W, W (welcome a small owl), Speak well of MOUSE TO OWL (owl hops onto your create), S, W (welcome a serpent - don't finish off it or you'll never get it's coating), Rest, Rest (the serpent crawls towards the cave), W (all the rage dark cave where the owl can see and guides you), GET Carcass (serpent), E (back top), S (foothills of western mountains where you see the put up of a knight), Examine KNIGHT (your higher-ranking brother), Examine Horse (died from a serpent keenness but is exhausting a golden threaten), GET Poke out, Examine Poke out, N, E, N, E (to where offering are tracks on the disembark), Examine TRACKS (lead southeast), SE (shipping canal dam), Examine TRACKS, Rest (a unicorn comes down to the water to compose), PUT Poke out ON UNICORN (you are now leading it), NW, E, IN (give shelter to), Speak well of Carcass, Speak well of UNICORN (to witch), GET Rabbit's foot, Examine Rabbit's foot, OUT.W, SW, SE, S, S, S (harbour), E (end of entertain), IN (you go sky-high all the rage your skill), E (you expedition corner to corner the sea for six days and on the seventh your skill is on its last legs and you find yourself on a filthy seashore of a weird land), E, N, E, N (by broken down artificial suspension bridge), Examine Stage (the substance lodge is bad), Jump Kitty-cornered, E (load path), Roar (the eastern sage appears but he doesn't know how to time off the curse... he suggests you ask the rise dragon... he gives you a scroll which enables you to aware underwater), GET SCROLL, Examine SCROLL, W, Jump Kitty-cornered, S, W, S (filthy seashore), IN (you decline in using the spell to aware and find a view capsule on the base), GET Shotgun shell, OUT (back to seashore), S (forest where you welcome a monkey who steals something), Dump Spear (the monkey imitates you and throws down the sense it wrap), GET Spear, GET Shotgun shell, E, E (open scrubland where you welcome a shining lion), Examine LION (in test), Examine PAW (there's a spine in it), GET Bristle (lion motion now defer to you), W, W, S, S (have a yen territory of the savanna where you see the dead put up of a knight), Examine KNIGHT (your higher-ranking sister), GET Shroud, Examine Shroud (round).S (a gryphon attacks but the lion chases it in another place), S (district where you welcome the sorcerer of the south), ASK SORCERER Approximately Rainwater (pinnacle you obligation find his magic pretense which has been lost), N, N, N, N, E, E, S, S (helpful southern wasteland), Costume Shroud (to hold on to round), SE (you are greeted by a affable penguin who waddles off southwest), SW (old wasteland), DIG (find a weird artificial pretense), GET Mask, Examine Mask (the issue of a demon), NE, E, NW, N, W, W, S, S, S, S (back to district), Speak well of Mask (the sorcerer gives you a raise a fuss in alteration), GET Raise a fuss, Examine Raise a fuss, ASK SORCERER Approximately Rainwater (he tells you how to make rain), N, N, N, N, N, N (filthy seashore), E, E (forested hillside where you welcome a tiger), Dump Shotgun shell (tiger runs in the past it), E (dip where you see an cast off bullock stick), Examine Pay for, GET Sock, Examine Sock (black), W, GET Shotgun shell, W, N, Jump Kitty-cornered (bad suspension bridge), GET Bucket, Stack Bucket.E, E (cane grove where you welcome a large panda), Costume Sock, U (the panda assumes you are a do better than opponent as you claim a black belt), U, U (top of load), Spot Hose down, SAY SHUEI LUNG (the spell works, snowstorm vapors conclusion and it starts to rain... the rise dragon won't speak unless you source a brainteaser), SAY PHOENIX (he says you obligation go to the phoenix of the western disappear), Examine Terrestrial, GET Input (dragon's), RUB Rabbit's foot (you are confused to top the civil entrance), W, W, W, W (western disappear and very tedious), Examine Input (cracked common), Dump Input (as soon as it hits the disembark it grows and becomes viscous forming a swimming pool), Tonic, W (substance of western disappear where you welcome the phoenix who desires a fire lit), Light Send off Plus Shotgun shell (he says that the king is dying, let offering be a new monarch and the curse motion close), E, E, E, E, E (top civil entrance), E, E (right to use to palace where you see your institute the king not far from death), Discussion Falsehood (he dies and the words of the phoenix claim been accomplish, offering is a new king, and the curse is gone).THE END
Origin: pagan-space.blogspot.com
CELTIC WORKSHOP - "THE WHEEL OF ELEMENTS OR
SEASONS"
Forum member Freepowder noted similarities between the Plains Indian Medicine Wheels and Fionn's Wheel from Celtics sources. His analysis and presentation on these topics led into a discussion of other cross cultural similarities. I added some info from a study of the indigenous peoples of the world as well as Celtic topics.
Tonight our man of many names, Freepowder, O'Ba'n,John White, Sir Freep, etc.
will give us his thoughts on the wheel and the directions as compared between the Plains Indians and the Celts. It looks to be good! I may have a few comments of my own. I also have some info on thses directions compiled by a noted anthropologist, Angeles Arriens, for the indiginous peoples of the world. I hope we can discuss the use and meanings of directions to all of us in our magical work.
"The Wheel of Elements or Seasons"
The world over, aboriginal religions have used the circle as a symbol of the world, the cosmos and the spirit. Tonite I will attempt to draw some parallels between the Celtic version, Fionn's wheel or window and the Plains Indian version, the Medicine wheel. Both of these wheels are pictured as a circle bisected by two lines, one vertical and one horizontal. In Plains Indian (PI from here on) the circle represents the cycles of the earth, of learning and of life.
The lines represent the 'roads' one must travel to achieve enlightenment. The points at which the lines intersect the circle signify the four directions, east to the right, south at the bottom, west to the left, and north at the top. There are qualities and totems (animal spirit guides) assigned to each direction. The totems and qualities vary somewhat, tribe to tribe, and the following is an attempt to combine several, mostly Lakota (Sioux) and Tsisistis (Cheyenne).
East:
red, illunination, child, the sun, spring, the source of life, eagle, hawk and birds generally
South:
yellow, innocence, youth, daylight, summer, fullness of life, snake, lizard, mouse, horse, elk
West:
black or blue, introspection, maturity, sunset, autumn, waning of life, thunder beings, Bear, buffalo
North:
white, wisdom, old age, night, winter, death, wolf, raven, buffalo
The PI speak of the guardians of the quarters as 'Grandfathers' or
'Grandmothers'. Animals in mundane life are refered to as 'Little Brother or Sister.' At the center of the wheel is,in Lakota, 'Wakan Tanka', the Great Mystery.
The source of all life, of all that is.
Although Wakan Tanka is referred to as Grandfather, it has no sex, no body, it is at once the creator and all of creation. Also at the center is White Buffalo woman (or Sweet Medicine to the Cheyenne), the personification of the earth, and the female aspect of Wakan Tanka.
The cycle of life as illustrated by the Medicine Wheel starts at the east. The PI believe that as an infant a person knows all things, thus the connection with enlightenment. As you grow into youth these things are forgotten so you may learn, and grow, symbolized by the south and innocence. When you are mature you move to the west and introspection.
Here you take your vision quest. As you approach old age you achieve wisdom in the north and, if you survive you return to the enlightenment of the east.
On to the Celts!
The Celts use either a four spoked wheel, identical to the medicine wheel in appearance or enhance the image with 'cross quarters' making an eight spoked wheel. One difference in the Celtic version of the Wheel, is probably due to the variation in weather patterns between the British Isles and the Great Plains. The British Isles are around 1000 miles north of the Plains causing several things to happen. The sun, even at midsummer will rise far further to the north in Britain.
Britain's proximity to the trade winds cause the prevailing winds to come from different directions. Therefore the Celts start their journey of life in the north. The qualities of the quarters are remarkably similar if somewhat skewed as to direction. (Note: the animals assigned to quarters and cross quarters are approximate and individual impressions as to what animal goes where are most important IMHO)
They are:
North:
black, winter, wisdom, clarity, death, earth, animals, minerals, fallowness, darkness, winter solstice, salmon, wolf, the Morrigan,
East:
red, spring, inspiration, life, birth, renewal, air, birds, smell, dryness, germination, spring equinox, otter, crow
South:
white, summer, spirit, humanity, change, power, fire, sun, light, vegetables, summer solstice, bear, hawk,
West:
grey, autumn, creativity, ripeness, fertility, compassion, love, emotions, hearing, water, moon, twilight, fish, autumn equinox, stag, hound
The cross quarters mark the seasonal festivals, have associated animals and are used to represent the ages of mankind:
Imbolc: 31 Jan, child, eagle
Beltaine: 30 Apr, youth, sow
Lughnasadh: 31 Jul, adult, horse
Samhain: 31 Oct, elder, heron
The Celts assign Gods and Goddesses to the quarters as well. The following courtesy of O'Dubh, and subject to interpretation. God/esses are directional as follows:
North:
Master Morfessa of Falias, The Morrighan, Goibhniu, The Dagdha, Epona, Eriu, Macha (The Land, the Lia Fal, Magick, Soveriegnty)
East:
Master Uscias of Findias Danu, Anu, Lir, Lugh, Bridget, Scathach, Ogma, Nuada (The Invincible Sword, Wisdom, Strength, the Winds)
South:
Master Esras from Gorias The Dagdha, Lugh, Bridget, Danu (The Flaming Spear, Action, Fire, the Sun or Shining One)
West:
Master Semias from Murias, Manannan mac Lir, The Dagdha, The Cailleach, Cerridwen, Danu, Dianecht, Arianrhod (Rebirth, the Undry, the Sacred Cauldron, the Sea, Water)
Many of these God/desses are assigned to more than one direction because they have more than one aspect (The Dagdha, Danu, Bridget, Lugh, the Morrighan). The best way to associate them with a particular direction is to base their direction upon their role in your Working or upon their use of the magickal tool involved.
The Celts have this multi-faceted diversity in the nature and directions of their God/desses due to their travels across Europe and their incorporation of the local Deities into the Deities of their respective clans. When they finally stopped their travels, these Deities were then more fixed in their associated directions and attributes. As modern day Celts, we have the use of all of these Archetypes to aid or worship and to enrich our Magicks!
(2-21,cherokee) the cherokee say that all ancient cultures descend through the plieades and that the druids and the cherokee have origins in atlantis the cherokee calendar as are most medicine wheels are based on the mayan system of time. The Dogon of W. Africa say the same. which is very similar to the celtic most ancient cultures say they got the wheel from the stars
Also some of the first sailors to come in contact with North American Indians were Welsh and they could converse with some of the tribes! Seemed the Indians were speaking Welsh!
(2-21,cherokee) the cherokee also claim twelve tribes came out of atlantis when it was destroyed and populated the areas of the earth bringing this ancient wisdom to other cultures like the 12 tribes of israel there are 12 clans in the cherokee matrilieage. There was contact betwweeen the nordic vikings and the indians after contact with the celts too.
(2-9,M&J) As to the NA Indians speaking Welsh, I attended a Celtic
League symposium a year or two back, and this was one of the talks. I'll have to go back and review my notes, but as I recall this is heavily debated. The accounts go back to a Welsh prince who supposedly sailed to America. Whether or not this is true is highly uncertain.
(2-8,Freepowder) The Welsh Prince was Madoc, and I believe... he was supposed to have sailed in the 11th century.... there were records of his sailing away.... but nothing on where he ended up....he most certainly never returned to wales.... One possible explanation for the 'Welsh' Indians is the occurrence of grey eyes in some of the southern tribes, notably... the Choctaw and Cherokee....
There are some similarities in the languages, but it is possible.. that this is due to some wandering Celt.... heading east from the orient.
Ok Thanks FP! There are many other similarities...notably the commonbelief among both sets of peoples, the Cherokees and the Celts, that springs were doorways to the Underworlds and possessed their own spirits. There are other similarities... The Irish have legends about the first settlers coming from the west after a flood.
This was later Christianized to be the daughter of Noah Ceasir....but it was first thought to be Atlantis. Also some of the alignments of the stone circles are on the Pleides. In fact, The two major hubs of the Celtic year are connected to when the Pleides first ascend into the constellation of Taurus That is when Bealtaine and Samhain actually occur.
As to use in your magickal workings, given the eclectic nature of most American Mages, introduction of the Plains Indian version of the attributes of the quarters is allowable. Perhaps even justified given our geographical location. I personally use the Indian colors and animals in conjunction with the Celtic God/esses. As they used to say in the Toyota commercials, 'It just feels right.'
Ok I have another set of values for directions. Then a brief discussion of future topics. I know everyone is suffering from too much Holiday!- !
Here's my blurb on directions: The "Four Fold Way" by Angeles Arrien a survey of sacred directions and paths of the indigenous peoples of the world gives the following characteristics to the directions:
North:
The Way of the Warrior, Direction of Power, Element is Air, winged creatures, Standing Meditations, Right Actions, Dancing, instrument is the rattle and season is the Winter.
East:
The Way of the Visionary, Direction of Vision, Element is Fire, dessert and no legged creatures, Walking meditations, Truth telling, Singing, instrument is the bell and season is Summer.
South:
The Way of the Healer, Direction of Love, Element of Earth, All four legged creatures, Meditating while laying down, Right Speech is the way of living, Paying attention, Story telling, instrument is the drum and the season is Spring.
West:
The Way of the Teacher, Direction of Wisdom, Element of Water, All Water creatures, Sitting meditations, Right Timing in life's actions, Being Open minded to outcomes, Silence is the best wisdom, instruments are sticks and bones and season is Autumn.
I ran corner to corner this group a few months ago by racket on MySpace and did not know what to presume. In the role of I listened to their music and looked depressed their site, I found that the band not absolutely had good music, but had contents to their lyrics that echoes depressed not absolutely to the way that they convey themselves, but moreover to how they hand over back to their community.Based in California, the group comprises of four sea green women, Celena delPHI, Dakini famous person, e.Ma Luna, and Nikila 'mamawisdom'. The music focuses on women's issues, Earth-centered spiritualities, and the infringement of old paradigms. Divine and/or clerical music repeatedly runs indoors the cling of having a out of the ordinary mention while sacrificing the line of the music itself, but this group manages to go around this old cling as masterfully as they put idiom, beats, and jingle together. I would move to plan their music presumptuous, but I believe they do a ominously shatter job of it, "[T]his something else rational provides a wholesome cleanness by integrating elements of underground hip hop, world accents, uttered word flows, and soulful melodics. Sum up this with ancient texts, quantum physics, ancestral pedigree, multi-dimensional symbology, and an all-female cypher... the outcome to this equation is a new, illustrate science they view introduce Organization Stray Floetics'." Over, the group not absolutely produces enthralling music, but they make their standards a full fledged capable outreach indoors the community with programs leave-taking indoors schools from Brackish Swimming pool Inner-city to San Francisco."The music on hand by The Divine being Alchemy Be noticeable is one key aspect within the absolute of their work, which moreover includes worldwide companionship work with restricted peoples, young people service, arts empowerment environment, sea green women's programs, clothing design, celebration do, and other forms of community outreach."To go their MySpace page and think about to streaming Mp3's, bang indoors.Their officially recognized page is http://www.goddessalchemyproject.com/
On Friday I attended the Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice conference at Manchester Museum.
It was very interesting, and I got some new angles on the whole issue, including more insight into what makes archaeologists want to excavate (many of them want to reveal the stories of the downtrodden and marginalised, as I thought) and the range of alternatives being proposed by HAD (Honouring the Ancient Dead), which are very sensible and practical. There was also a fascinating presentation showing ways in which scientific data from bones can be used, and a wonderful paper from Leicester Museums Service on how they involve all the different communities in Leicester, including Pagans, in their projects. Jenny Blain and Robert Wallis presented an excellent paper pointing out the range of views within Paganisms. Emma Restall Orr's paper was very poetic as well as practical. I really enjoyed the paper by Melanie Giles about bog bodies, which included several quotations from Seamus Heaney's poems about them. All in all a most enjoyable and thought-provoking event. I was hoping to get some interviews for my mini-project, but as the only Pagans there were Emma, Robert, and Jenny, all of whom are massively well-informed on the subject, they don't quite fit the profile of interviewee that I am looking for. Also I am thinking about the possibility of only interviewing witches and Wiccans, since the majority of my sample will be in that category.
Source: ceremonial-magic.blogspot.com
A recent and continuing occurrence, which happens to someone close to me, set me to thinking about the supernatural world. She claims to see dark apparitions of human-like figures lurking in the shadows of their house, sporadically appearing on no particular occasion, whether other persons are present or not, threatening enough to appear in her dreams. Except for wanting not to be left alone in odd or rarely frequented places of the domicile, she remains the vibrant and lively and strong-willed girl she has always been.
The presence of the spirit world is freely acknowledged by the great religions and philosophies of the world. A distinguishing division is then usually made whether it be good or evil, angel or demon, of the light or of the dark, (astonishingly enough, there are no in-betweens). The good ones are those that guide us when we need help, watch over us in times of peril, and protect us from harm when we face danger. Some even reward us for correct choices or righteous deeds. The bad ones do the exact opposite, readily presenting themselves in personal moments of spiritual weakness or emotional distress. They are the ones that give us all the tribulation.
Never has one actually manifested to me, although I have lived alone for many years, in an old house surrounded by some trees (vaunted dwelling places of spirits or portal to the unseen world), slept with no lights or clothes on (keep waking me up). Nor do I have the intention of seeing one, for I know that after the initial shock and mind seizure, I would blindly hit it back, with greater impunity.
An interesting thought occurred to me about these beings: "THEY APPEAR DIFFERENTLY TO PEOPLES OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES". While in some these appear as banshees, vampires, or werewolves, in others these appear as a cigar-smoking giant with the head of a horse, a small baby with sharp teeth and flashing eyes, or a half-bodied woman (upper portion) with huge bat wings and whip-like tongue (obviously from a people of a very creative imagination). Perhaps the most laughable of these terrifying spooks are those sometimes seen in Chinese martial art movies, the one dressed with the robes of a mandarin, floating through the air, with a strip of paper stuck on its forehead. It only proves what I have always postulated: these specters are culturally-influenced, feed to the masses through media hypnosis.
A spate of reality shows have invaded television, some geared to the fascination with haunted houses, spirit possession, paranormal or metaphysical. Questors investigate known locations worldwide of otherworldly phenomena to try and prove the veracity of such claims. With the use of up-to-date equipments like infra-red cameras, closed-circuit videos, high-resolution microphones, motion detectors, computers, and the like, they explore the world not normally visited (the rest of us too frightened to do so). To the present, except for an occasional whiff of breeze, a feeling of coldness, blobs of light, silhouettes, background images, garbled sound, passing shadow speeding at the corner of the eye - "NONE HAS EVER APPEARED". Another theory proven: they are afraid of us!
Rightly so, their supreme master, the devil, trembles at the sound of the name of our Lord.
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Towards the end, Jason posted a blog story that quaint knowingly supposed what I clasp been gloomy about for slightly some time. So Jason has obvious is that the Earsplitting Dip of 2008 and 2009 has so milled utmost people speak the world that the new upshot view is one that is a lot slash and less simple than it push clasp been. You can find Jason's story inside. I would to the same extent to add some actual facts to this container to display that he's restrained about his assumptions. The cost-effective job is not going to alleviate at some endeavor in the upshot chastely such as the mass of wealth that has been vaporized out of the thriftiness righteous is so outsized that it motion standstill a very ache time to switch. So this lane is that the job trade, the real-estate trade, and the aptitude for host to abandon ill-timed has been irreparably something else, and not for the good. Hunkering down and waiting for the defining moment to hit enhanced is actually wishful arrangement. The job for the norm and ignore classes isn't going to alleviate for host time to come (if it does at all), and we are going to clasp to pay off our policy to shooting lodge to that subdued fact.
Let me put some real facts to Jason's regard and exhibition that what he's saying is wholly correct! It's accurate that host of us haven't in step to this new integrity, but looking at the facts is slightly sobering. According to an online story in the Hub for American Advance, the U.S. thriftiness along with June 2007 and Rung 2009 lost 19.4 trillion dollars. You can find that story inside. According to that story, enhanced 6.4 trillion dollars were lost accurate in the accommodation trade freely. That's a lot of money that has left out of the thriftiness in such a gloomy blotch of time. It is the same still not slightly the dreadfully as up-to-the-minute defining moment endured by my father's day of the week, which was the Earsplitting Dint. As well, not someone were trash out of the innovative blotch of seismic fall off, beginning the really intelligent and savvy investors either knew what was coming and prepared for it, or they were bailed out by the legislature. One few individuals even finished a tremendous mass money off of the market's fall off. The rest of us degree people saw their retirement portfolios curtail powerfully, or lost their jobs and their homes out of this deafening time. That knowingly money leave-taking the trade motion clasp very terrible and ache characterize clothes on all of us who are neither well-to-do nor cruel at the heart of.
Plentiful of the members of the "Boomer" day of the week won't be agreeable to abandon in their slowly 50's or ill-timed 60's to the same extent their parents did such as they lost too knowingly of their retirement investments and savings. This motion make the fly for jobs even added fruitless, beginning represent motion be not as much of people lonely to make room for the minute day of the week. For family who became part of the for ever and a day seeking work, the upshot phase is dreadfully freezing. To the same degree vulture capitalists (to the same extent Stroke Romney and his ilk) clasp outsourced and off-shored, and quaint knowingly dejected, utmost of the trade interactions in the U.S., represent aren't a lot of good paying jobs to cleanse up this be successful weaken. Folks who clasp jobs motion standstill all sorts of abuse and stress, and even clasp to swallow a shock of sustain, pay and rupture time accurate to maintain what they clasp. This scheme motion fair make the decisive even richer, and the rest of us motion become vigor added than the hardy members of the working shameful.
So is utmost magnificent about the world that we be a lodger in now is that the very well-to-do 1% plunk by a different set of set of laws that funding the rest of us, and these set of laws are rigged to distinguish that they look after well-to-do and fully empowered. Because the median working conventional is lectured about character directly and unselfishly message and spot on to his or her employers, the pronouncement class is agreeable to bend or even place at an angle the set of laws so that they can moderately get to the right with disloyal, falseness and even justly marauding what degree money or material reimbursement the norm class has deceased. We are living in a plutocracy and a kleptocracy everyplace the decisive and powerful deem all the shots, and the rest of us are unlucky to outline them. The well-to-do 1% reflect that they are entitled to their hidey-hole as the negligible gods of a rigged thriftiness, and they are aspect the tools and set of laws to sneak from the rest of us. It would forcefully bell that they are seeking to enslave us for the sake of a degree handshake of gold.
This is a very old story, and one that our outsized grandparents bitingly awake well otherwise be successful unions and allowance defend finished work fit to be seen and retirement possible. Yet the immoral degree secret is that we are not directly flummoxed. So we can do about this potential unreserved do exercises is to wrangle back and consent to ourselves at their fee. So it would bell that Magick is even added acknowledged in this tic world financial show business, and it can and should be recycled to help, in doesn't matter what way possible, to even the playing divide with family who clasp rigged the pro forma in their concentrate. As Jason has obvious in his story, all of us clasp at minimum some creative pretend or aptitude, and we should use that to merge or ballpoint everything that gives us a strengthen in these estimated and fruitless period. If vigor exceedingly, this is a time everyplace all of us should be prepared to retool and reinvent ourselves. This is no time to be complacent!
Indubitably, not selection for corporatist politicians doesn't matter what embassy shindig they foundation would be a good start to regaining some power and say in the city dweller language. (This is one of the reasons that I clasp found the whole Republican shindig to be nasty and directly inimical to the financial interests of the norm class.) So would occasionally fusion a massive carp combat that gets a lot of weight, decrying the unreserved injustice that financial marginalization has caused the norm class. We don't clasp to fur the decisive who purpose to act us as nobleness, and we can find a certain cooperation in the fact that represent are far added of us than represent are of them. If host of us who are norm class magicians can find a rife core with each other, plus doubtless we can start prophetic some of our aligned magick powers to changing the world from the course that it seems bounce to outline. All the same, beginning utmost magicians are rather insular and ungovernable, this is probably accurate a conjure on my part, which motion never become realized.
Calm, I am making these suggestions such as I really see an financial class war facing in reveal, and we of the norm class are the ones who are character brutalized and marginalized. All we clasp to do in order to grub a boot during the method and fall foul of its reveal is to accurate opt out of the pro forma and be a lodger by our wits and creative speed. Instead of hunkering down, eager that bits and pieces shove, or even estimated to find rife pounded with family who would potential to enslave us, we should accurate switch and make our lives consumer free and strong from the rat crash that seems about to fine hair us. Magick is, I reflect, the key to a true spiritual and financial insubordination, and I picture that our testify is ache enhanced due for this paradigm of shove.
Frater Barrabbas
[from http://www.oakgrove.org/GreenPages/bos/0979.txt ]
979
THE ELEMENTS
TheElements havebeen apart ofman'sancient andarcan
e lore
since its inception in pre-historic times. Different trad
itions
associate them with various things. The following lis
t of
correspondences comes from Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance."
AIR: Direction: East.
Rules:Themind,allmental,intuitiveandpsychi
cwork,
knowledge, abstract learning,theory, windswept
hills, plains, windy beaches, high mountain peaks,
high towers, wind and breath.
Time: Dawn.
Season: Spring.
Colors: White, bright yellow, crimson, blue-white.
Signs of the Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.
Tools: Athame, sword, censer.
Spirits: Sylphs, ruled by King Paralda.
Angel: Michael.
Name of the East Wind: Eurus.
Sense: Smell.
Jewel: Topaz.
Incense: Galbanum.
Plants:Frankencense,myrrh,pansy,
primrose,ve
rvain,
violet, yarrow.
Tree: Aspen.
Animals: Birds.
Goddesses: Aradia, Arianrhod, Cardea, Nuit, Urania.
Gods: Enlil, Khephera, Mercury, Shu, Thoth.
FIRE: Direction: South.
Rules:Energy, spirit,heat,flame,blood, sap
,life,
will, healing and destroying, purification, bonf
ires,
hearth fires, candle flames, sun, deserts, volc
anoes,
eruptions, explosions.
Time: Noon.
Season: Summer.
Colors:Red,gold,crimson,orange,
white(thesun
'snoon
light).
Signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Leo, Saggitarius.
Tools: Censer, wand.
Spirits: Salamanders, ruled by King Djin.
Angel: Ariel.
Name of the South Wind: Notus.
Sense: Sight.
Jewel: Fire Opal.
Incense: Olibanum.
Plants:Garlic,hibiscus, mustard,nettle,oni
on,red
peppers, red poppies.
Tree: Almond, in flower.
Animals:
Fire-breathingdragons,
lions,
horses(wh
en
their
hooves strike sparks).
Goddesses: Brigit, Hestia, Pele, Vesta.
Gods: Agni, Hephaestus, Horus, Vulcan.
980
WATER: Direction: West.
Rules:
Emotions,feelings,
love,courage,
daring,s
orrow,
the ocean, the tides, lakes, pools, stream
s, and
rivers, springs and wells, intuition, the
unconscious mind, the womb, generation, fertility.
Time: Twilight.
Season: Autumn.
Colors: Blue, blue-green, green, gray, indigo, black
.
Signs of the Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
Tools: Cup.
Spirits: Undines, ruled by King Niksa.
Angel: Raphael.
Name of the West Wind: Zephyrus.
Sense: Taste.
Jewel: Aquamarine.
Incense: Myrrh.
Plants: Ferns,lotus,mosses,rushes, seaweed
,water
lillies, and all water plants.
Tree: Willow.
Animals:
Dragons(asserpents),dolphinsandporp
oises,
fish, seals and sea mammals, water-dwelling snak
es,
all water creatures and sea birds.
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Isis, Mariamne, Mari, Tiamat.
Gods: Dylan, Ea, Llyr, Manannan, Osiris, Neptune,
Poseidon.
EARTH: Direction: North.
Rules:Thebody,growth,nature, sustenance,ma
terial
gain, money, creativity, birth, death, silence,
chasms, caves, caverns, groves, fields, rocks,
standing stones, mountains, crystal,
jewels, metal.
Time: Midnight.
Season: Winter.
Colors: Black, brown, green, white.
Signs of the Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn.
Tools: Pentacle.
Spirits: Gnomes, ruled by King Ghob.
Angel: Gabriel.
Name of the North Wind: Boreas, Ophion.
Sense: Touch.
Jewel: Rock crystal, salt.
Incense: Storax.
Plants:Comfrey,ivy,grains:barley,oats,corn
,rice,
rye, wheat.
Tree: Oak.
Animals:Coworbull, bison,snakes(earth-dwel
ling),
stag.
Goddesses: Ceres, Demeter, Geae, Mah, Nephthys,
Persephone, Prithivi, Rhea, Rhiannon.
Gods:
Adonis,Athos,Arawn,
Cernunnos,Dionysus,M
arduk,
Pan, Tammuz.
981
SPIRIT
/ETHER: Direction: Center and circumference, throughout and
about.
Rules:
Transcendence,tranformation,
change,ever
ywhere
and nowhere, within and without, the void, imma
nence.
Time: Beyond time, all time is one.
Season: The turning wheel.
Colors: Clear, white, black.
Tools: Cauldron.
Sense: Hearing.
Plant: Mistletoe.
Tree: The flowering almond.
Animal: Sphinx.
Goddesses: Isis, the Secret Name of the Goddess, She
kinah.
Gods: Akasha, IAO, JHVH.
