10/7 The Day Hamas invaded Israel

 10/7

By Lee Yaron

October 7, 2023 marks one of the bloodiest days in Jewish History. In the early morning hours of Simchat torah around 2,500 to 3000 terrorists surged into Israel via land , air and sea. The flood of terrorists inundated the Jewish state. Up to 60 communities were over run by hostile terrorists from Hamas and Gazan civilians. The army did not respond until at least 8 hours later. Defense of kibbutzim and communities in the Gaza envelope fell upon the civilian home front. They did a good job holding them off. In all 1,200 Israeli citizens including men, women and children were buthered in th worst possible way. There are still hostages.

How did this happen? Israel has one of the most powerful armies in the world. Civilians runing in fear for there llives recount wondering where the army was. Lot of this was the fault of Israel. For several years prior to the atttack spotters were noting Gazan  actions at the border fence but there reports to there superiors fell on deaf ear.  According to Lee Yaron the spotters were females and the army did not take the word of female too seriously. Plus they were unarmed which made it easier for the terrorists to over run the base and take the girls hostages.

There were other faults of Israel as well. A favorite of the Hamas is rocket attacks. Houses in the Gaza envelope should have rocket shelter but not everyone can afford them.  There were also shelter in the towns but they would not open when the emergency happened. The author , Lee Yaron, takes the story of 100 survivors  and tells their harrowing story of escape and resistance. Many of the stories are obviously about Jews.  These Jews came form a variety of different backgrounds.  She delves into their backgrounds often times revealing the antisemitism they fled only to be slaughtered in Israel.  Other stories are about Bedoins and Israeli arabs who were often shot and killed indiscriminantly alongside there Jewish nationalist and taken hostage as well. Their story is not of antisemitism but often discrimination and uneqal treatment at the hands of Jewish authority in Israel. Other stories involved thai workers or workers from Nepal. There jsut to earn money and learn agricultural skill they were swept up in a conflict they had nothing to do with.

Lee Yaron gives a good description of the conflict telling the reader in stages how everything unfolded. She lets the reader know that both sides play an equal role in the  conflict. Both Palerstinian and Israeli societies have their flaws that needs to be examined. A well written and well rounded book.

Return of the Aztec War Gods

 

War God : Return of the Plumed Serpent

By Graham Hancock

this is the sequel to Grahman Hancock's first war god novel. taking place in the year 1519. Hernan Cotes and his Coterie have landed in what is today Mexico. The land is in turmoil. Montezuma is gathing virgins for a massive sacrifice to his patron deity the Hummingbird God. Things are getting desperate. Malinal a former slave descended from royalty is now Cortez's interpreter. She was sent there by Huictol a spy against the Aztecs. Cortez nd his 500 conquistadors from Spain make quick mince meat of the mayans at Pontachon. Unhappy with theb lack of gold to be found they are soon directed toward Teonochtilan,  a city rumored to be filled with gold. On his march over to the Aztec capital Cortes does battle and makes alliances with different tribes in the region. The enemies of Cortez are wiped out and the friend will join him in battle against Montezuma.

the Tlascan are hereditary enemies of the Aztec. Over rhe years they have offered staunch resistance. Many of the elders want to join an alliance against the Aztec. Skikotenka the young war chief ses through Cotez's plan and sees that a spanish victory will mean the eradication of his culture. After losing many battles against the Spaniards he is finally forced to join the alliance. The novel is filled with intrigue and internal poltics both amongst the invading Spanish and the Native inhabitant of the land. There is also a chapter on tozi the invisible witch. She goes on a spiritual quest to land of Azatlan in her dreams. It is the source of all magic as she must prepare to battle a Nahuatl, or sorceror.

From the Devil's Den: Life story of the black Pope

 Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan: Infernal Wisdom from the Devil's Den

By Carl Abrahmsson

In Wlpugis Night 1966 Anton Lavey announced th birth of the Church of Satan. Dressed in a cape and devil's horns he stormed out onto the American scene. The naked women on his alters helped attract followers to his new religion. this new religion attracted the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Jane Mansfield, Kenneth Anger, Ruth Wyat and Larry Wessel to name a few. Anton's philosophy did not preach faith in a deity or even a reward for an afterlife what it did promise was individual freedom and responsibility. His philosophy was a philosophy of atheism or  belief in no deity whatsoever. Anton Lavey was a hard materialist, he did not believe in the spirit world. Once you died that was it so you better enjoy it now. He preached indulgence in the things we liked but he warned against gluttony and he absolutely abhorred abstinence. What for ? Why deny yourself ? man is a carnal creature who is meant to enjoy theb physical pleasured of this world.

His background before founding the Church of Satan was that of an organ player at carnivals and a police photographer. this background plus his secular Jewish upbringing gve him a unique perspecive. He kew what mankind was capable of. He infused his life experiences into his magic.  Modern psychology, photography and modern science infused his magicl practice. His philosophy took from Ayn rand and Nietche along with Jungian ideas. Anton mixed it together and made a creation that many could partake in so they coud embrace personal freedom. He taught out of the Black House on California Street which is locted nin San Francisco. His house embraced a concept of his called Total Environment. In this it is much like creating a ritual space but you are creating an environment that creates a fantasy scnario that is cut off from the world. He also embraced another concepts called Erotic Crystallization Initiative. This concept embraced the concept of harnessing energy  of your fit erotic experience and taking it forard as an energy draw. His house had a mock bar scen with ladies, bar tenders and music. Anton loved that environment. He also kept at one point a lion and a tiger.

Anton Lavey was a spiritual innovator. He combined old ideas with his life experience and modern science like psychology, film etc.  Hence he was very progressive and enlihtened for his time. He founded the Church of Satan during the 60's and that was an era of free love. Anton Lavey did not think it wise to just love everybody because. You did not have relations with people just because. You had to be epicurean or selective about who you befriended or had relations with . One did not pig out on their favorite food rather one partook of their favorie food and enjoyed it. Pigging out lead to health problems. He surrounded himself people of all races, sexual orientations and lifestyles. He was very progressive in his acceptance of homosexuals and of the transgendered. Adults were free to choose in what they indulged in as long as it did not interfere with the lives of others.

The first part of the book focuses on his life and his biography. The second part is interviews with famous and not so famous people who met him and wee influenced by him. Most of the interviews are with people who were directly involved with the Church of Satan. Individuals such as Peter Gilmore, Peggy Nedrania, Blanch Barton and Xerxes Lavey were intimately involved with the church. Other like Kenneth Anger, Robert Johnson and Ruth Wyats were celebrities who became involved with the church  Many of questions ask how they came into contact with Anton Lavey and his Church, they also ask a slew of other questions that delve deeply into Anton's personality an philosophy. 

Necromantic Mysteries in Space

 Gideon the Ninth

By Tamsyn Muir

This is a rather interesting story for a command elements of Science Fiction and fantasy. The story itself takes place in the solar system or somewhere in outer space on a series of planets may be a planetary system or even our own solar system. There are nine houses of necromancers Gideon belong to the ninth house , the ninth house has a terrible secret behind it. As far as Gideon knows she was born in orphan. Her mother died in childbirth while giving birth to her, and she was adopted by the ninth house ever since she has wanted to get away at the start of the story she is about to get away hopper border, shuttle and leave the ninth however, she is stopped by the leader of the house Harrow Before she can board the shuttle, she’s escorted into the bowels of the ninth house and told she has one more task to do before. She’s allowed her freedom from the ninth house. The house is looking for a new Lichter wants to be that it’s going to save the ninth house, Gideon will travel along as her rapier carrier is used to a two-handed broad so you know how to learn how to use a rapier. Will be magical to see who is worthy of the title and serving the holy undying emperor unfold the house people are dying, getting killed left and right and all the skeletons constructs are being given life, is that as big mystery. Eventually, as things move on, there’s a terrible secret behind Gideon‘s birth. It’s also a terrible secret behind why the ninth house is still alive and almost perished. Will get her freedom in the end. That is the big question is plenty of life and battles to be had with the sword and magic Will become the next term. Something is going on and Gideon has a terrible destiny.

History of Old Horney

 The Horned God of the Witches

By Jason Mankey

the two figures that stand out most in modern Wicca are the Lord and Lady or the Goddess and the Horned God. There are many horned gods in old paganism. You have Pan, Dionysus, Cernununos etc. Which one of these horned gods the witches wish to honor is up to them. Some witches jus work with a generic "the Horned God" So Jason Mankey unpacks the horned god for us. How people picture deity can get rather interesting. Some see each of the horned gods as separate deities unto themselves, each with their own identity. Others see the horned god as a deity encompassing all of h honred gods. Yet even other witches see the deities as aspects of themselves something to be evoked out of them.

the main basis for the horned god is the Celtic Cernunnos and Pan.  Pan is an easy god to learn about. There is a whole mythology abou the god complete with stories and everything. thre were shrines dedicatd to Pan. This horned god, upper half human lower part goat with some horns. He was a god of ecstasy, wine and he loved fornication with just about anyone or anything. Pan was a god of shepherds and he owned the Arcadian wilderness. His loud shout could cause panic. Cernunnos is a Celtic god with no known mythology about him. He does have shrines set up to him all over th place in Europe. Both o these horned gods are phalic gods and sometimes havea phallus representing them. There are some indications that Shiva might have ben an inspiration of Cernunnos.

The author covers some other horned deities as well. Jason goes over Dionysus, Herne the hunter, the devil, the witch father and Krampus. I may have missed a few so you will have to go back to the book and check.At the end of each chapter there is a ritual one can perform if they wish to build a relationship with that particular god. The author exposes some historical inaccuracies that have crept into the historiography. The God is also evolving as is Wicca. He is becoming less of a horned god and more of a universal god.  Wicca and witchcraft used to be focused on the horned god  but now the emphasis has shifted to the goddess. Great book totaly enjoyed it.

Eating Bitter in Shaolin

 

American Shaolin

By Matthew Polly

Matthew was a student at Princeton who wanted to learn genuine kung Fu.  The best way to do that is to go to China and learn kung Fu at the Shaolin Monastery. Of course now they call it the WuShu center. When the communists took over they took all the combat out of kung Fu and called it WuShu.  When he wanted to go over there he consulted with a professor from China who said that if he wanted to learn kung Fu he had better learn to eat bitter.  In other get ready fro  grueling hard work.  His parents were dead set against it and he had some self esteem issues.

Arriving in China was an adventure. First off hardly anyone knew how to find it. He hasd to ask directions and take varied routes to get there. Upon arriving there the communis officials in charge of he monastery agree to take him and charge him for lesson and rent. He ends up living in a nearby hotel. As a foreigner he is called a low wai and it does not garner tha much respect.  He has several near romances as it is not considered proper for a chinese woman to be with a low wai. If a woman is in a mans hotel room after midnght it is considered illegal and she would be a courtesan. He has several adventure while training. He is not the only Low wai. There is a German guy who comes over and a chinese american kid Matthew's age. One foreigner finds Jesus while in the shaolin monastery and promptly leaves. 

The Chinese American is named John. His entrepeneurial father sent him to learn kung Fu to get some discipline. They have drinking adventures together and they have gil chasing adventure. At one point Jon meets a dancer ho broke up with a chinese mafioso.  John asks Matthew for help and gets some weapons and advice from one of the coaches . He goes over to the mafiosos hotel and threaten the manager. They nver hear from the mafiosos again. At one point John injures himself and this leads to a confrontation in the hospital where in the doctors are unprofessional and lazy and it is up to Mattew o confront them about medical cleanliness.

throughout his journey he has sparring matches in some he is a typical low wai nd in others he wins the fight and brings honor to Shaolin. He also studies Sanda which is chinese kickboxing. He details how this martial art is different from Shaolin kung Fu and Thai Kickboxing. He ends up goin back to America. He visits China much later and finds thart everything has modernized. Some Shaolin monks migrate to America.

A Tale of Biblical America

 A Handmaids Tale

By Margaret Atwood

In the near distant future according to this novel American society goes back to strict biblical roots. In the future the state of Maine is part of the country called Gilead. It is a country based on biblical precepts. The story opens up with a main character imprisoned in some sort of dorm. She ha a ritual to follow and she is not exactl a free person. The story narrates the life of thse handmaids who are forced to cover up puritan style and be dressed in red. The handmaid are there to poduce ofspring fo families who cannot have children. In the future a virus wupes out the reproductive ability of certain people which is here the handmaids come in. They have to endure so they can produce an heir. Since they are prisoners of sorts if they fail to concieve they can be sent to the colonies. Some colonies are farming colonies while others are colonies that clean nuclear waste. Those are a death sentence.

The change over seems gradual. at first she is living a normal life and then slowly the religious regime strips away the rihts and freedom o women. With her daughter and husband Luke they try to make an escapre from Gilead to Canada or England. This gets her imprisoned. She is seperated from her family. Wondering where they are always keeps her in check. She is the property of the Commander. Since he and his wife canno concieve they try using her. all former prisoner are like slave workers. THe main character falls for a man named Nick who is the commanders driver. Teh commander begins to have a relationship with the character. Fist it is in the room playing games like scabbl or chess. Nothing romantic . Then he takes her to a gentleman's club. the affair comes more physical.  In the time the commanders wife realizing the fmily cannot concieve uges the main character to have an affai with Nick and concieve.

While at the gentlemans club she reconnects with a friend called Moira who escaped. For a biblical society they sure have their Jezebel's. Eventually a plan is concoted for the characters escape.