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Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Divine Feminine from the Coasts of Africa

 






Orisha's, Goddesses and Voodoo Queens

By: Lilith Dorsey

From Lilith Dorsey comes a tour de force that gives someone new to African-Carribean Religions an overview of the female deities within the Afro Carribean Religions. There are many. Depending on the religion you are working with you will call the deities of Voodoo either Orishas or Loa's. Afro Carribean Religions such as Voodoo (New Orleans), Voudou (Haitian), Candolombe, Santeria or Hoodoo developed under the boot of a harsh slavery. Based on African traditions back home, the slaves did their best to keep the practices alive. But it was difficult  as the slave masters tried to suppress this practice and force them into Christianity. Plus slaves from different parts of Africa were thrust together. No common language and no common religion makes it hard to mount a rebellion. Often times the religion and spirituality of the slaves combined with that of the master's Christianity, native American practices and with that of other slaves.


The way voodoo is structured is that Bondeye is the main creator god and under this god were the Loa, Orisha or spirits who ran the affairs of the universe. The Loa is what one works with or prays to if they want to do magic or do rituals. Hoodoo is voodoo with a catholic lay over it. If a human being is spiritualy advanced enough they can beome a Loa in their lifetime, as what happened with Marie Lavaugh. the religion was the slaves way of combatting an unjust system they were forced into. being suppressed has forced it to develop in diferent ways than it could have if left out in the open. Voodoo houses can be real secreteive as well and not too open to outsiders.  The author stresses and rightly so that if you want to get serious about Voodoo you need to get initiated along with proper training.


The book is primarily about female Orisha's. Now not only has the African religions been mligned and a certain space must be reclaimed but also the sacred feminine has been maligned and must be restored. These Orisha's can be role models for women to stand up to the patriarchy, Covered in this book are thirteen female Loa. They are Oshun, Yemaya, Oya, Nana Baruku, Mami Wata, Erzulie, Aida Wedo, La Sirene, Annie Christmans and Maman Briggitte along with Pomba gira, Marie Lavaugh and Santa Muerte. The coverage of these deities is as follows. First there is a description of the deity and an explanation of the lore behind them. Next comes mention of how some artists have honored them. Finally there are recipes and rituals to connect with these deities.


An excellent book fo beginners to Voodoo or someone who wants an overview of the dieties and Afro Carribean Religions.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Libraries of the Subconscious

 








Lost Wisdom 

By Heather Lynn PHD


Libraries those great repositories of knowledge. There is one is every city, in fact several in every city and they have been with us since ancient times. Looking back to ancient times we come across two great libraries. One is in Egypt and the other in Mesopotamia. Both libraries are no longer in existence. It is somewhat of an open question as to who built the library in Alexandria. It may have been rebuilt a coupe of times. Certain sources say Julius Ceasar burned it down when he attacked ships in the Egytptian harbor. Others say Christians burned it down while others would have you believe that Muslims burned it down. Speculation continues did it really burn down and did it exist.


Asshrbanipal was supposed to be trained as a priest hence he had all thsi philosophical knoledge and scientific knowledge. He collected all this stuff in one big library. After the fall of Assyria the libray fell to disuse and was buried under stone. Many were still left as raw clay. Once fired up we had a treasure trove of knowledge. Other clay tablets were so baly smashed up that many years later we ar still trying to piece them together.


The Library in Epheus is just a fascade left standing. Epheseus is known for it's temple to Artemis. It was founded by a Greek ruler who was told in a divination that he should build a cirty marked by a boar and a fish.It while cooking that the fish jumped out of the frying pan and then a boar fled from the fire of the camp. Hence Epheseus was found. Another library or it's ruins wefe found in the city of Cologn Germany. It was built by the Romans and housed a substancial amount of scrolls.


Dr. Heather Lynn believes that information is not just passed down through books. Rather like the cloud all livin things are connected to the universal or collective consiousness. Not sure if I one hundered percent buy into it but is it not weird that two people all the way across the world with no contact with each other come up with the same idea at the same time. Civilizations do it as well. The book is short and concise but I wish it could have been longer and more fleshed out. She has many good insights.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Alternate Djinn Reality

 





A Master Of Djinn

by P.Djeli Clark


In an alternate reality the scenery of World War I looks a lot differnt then it does here. It is a world filled with Djinn from an opening torn into the Kaf or Djinn world. Marids, Ifrits and ghouls walk the streets with human beings. The technology is a little bit different as well. Robots or automatons serve an warm up coffee. Mechanical dogs guard the doorways to ministries checking out those who enter.  An important backdrop is back in the 1800's Al Jahiz a sufi mystics opened the gateway to the world of the Jinn.


Much like in our world there are secret brotherhoods sudying the mystica arts, kind of reminiscent of Aleister Crowley and his studies of magic in Egypt. Shrine and temples are built for the gods of old. The brotherhood is attacked by a man in a gold mask. He kills everyone in the brotherhood. He can duplicate his baody and he can command the Djinn. Some say he is Al Jahiz. Despatched to the case are fatma an her partner Hadia.They are part of the ministry that investigates paranormal activity. Together with other members and Fatma's girlfriend Sitti , who is a follower of bastet, go forward battling Djinn as tehy solve the case. After killing the brotherhood the masked man creates a disturbance in the city promising to reveal all. He also robs a ministry of angels where he steal the sword of Al Jahiz an Solomon's Ring.


Who is the masked man? What is his motive? In the end we find out who it is and they is a nice battle that ensues with some reconciliation between Djinn and man. there is more in the series.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Tex Mex Vampires

 



Vampiros Del Norte


By Isabel Canas


In 1836 Magdalena and nestor were roaming the chapparal in search of Spanish gold. What they found instead was a ravenous beast that walked on al fours only to approach them on it's bipedal legs. Looking much like a bat this feral beast has no eyes. It feasts on both animal and human blood. These vasmpires were much discussed in the lore of the abuelas. Confronted by the beast after followin orbs of light. Magdalena is attacked and almost dead. Nestor brings her back...almost dead and then the father who owns the rancheros they both live on and work on chases him off.  He works independently for different rancheros. He has an affair with a widow named Celeste. He left the ranch for 9 long years.


Magdalena gows into a curandera or healer albeit with a damaged aura. the vaqueros or workers start geting sick with sustos, she knows the evil that is afoot. Not only are vampres a plague bu the American army is invading Mexico and the army and ay able bodied men are being called in to fight. Nestor returns to find his loved one alive. Upon his return there is a ton of drama as teh two reconcile. This is also a classic Romeo and Juliet tale. Nestor is a vaquero or a worker for the rachero. Magdalena is the daughter of the patron or owner of the ranchero. Their love is forbidden. They must overcome lots of challnenges.


On the battle field they realize that the ranchero is vulnerable to vampire attack. They head back and along the way they fight many vampires. Back at the ranchero there are challenges taht contiue to plague their love. At the end there is a ferocious vampire and it is learned that the vampires and the invading American army are in league. These vampires are not your classic vampire. While salt drives them back they never really apear to be human, rather they are wild animals that hunt to survive like any other but they do comprehend human speech and they are capable of acting like humans even thouh you will never mistake them for one. The story also deals with forbidden love..a worker fallin or the bosses daughter and all he rules their society must follow to conform with ettiquette. Excellent book. They should base a series or a movie on it.







Vampiros of El Norte

By Isabel Canas


In 1836 Magdalena and nestor were roaming the chapparal in search of Spanish gold. What they found instead was a ravenous beast that walked on al fours only to approach them on it's bipedal legs. Looking much like a bat this feral beast has no eyes. It feasts on both animal and human blood. These vasmpires were much discussed in the lore of the abuelas. Confronted by the beast after followin orbs of light. Magdalena is attacked and almost dead. Nestor brings her back...almost dead and then the father who owns the rancheros they both live on and work on chases him off.  He works independently for different rancheros. He has an affair with a widow named Celeste. He left the ranch for 9 long years.


Magdalena gows into a curandera or healer albeit with a damaged aura. the vaqueros or workers start geting sick with sustos, she knows the evil that is afoot. Not only are vampres a plague bu the American army is invading Mexico and the army and ay able bodied men are being called in to fight. Nestor returns to find his loved one alive. Upon his return there is a ton of drama as teh two reconcile. This is also a classic Romeo and Juliet tale. Nestor is a vaquero or a worker for the rachero. Magdalena is the daughter of the patron or owner of the ranchero. Their love is forbidden. They must overcome lots of challnenges.


On the battle field they realize that the ranchero is vulnerable to vampire attack. They head back and along the way they fight many vampires. Back at the ranchero there are challenges taht contiue to plague their love. At the end there is a ferocious vampire and it is learned that the vampires and the invading American army are in league. These vampires are not your classic vampire. While salt drives them back they never really apear to be human, rather they are wild animals that hunt to survive like any other but they do comprehend human speech and they are capable of acting like humans even thouh you will never mistake them for one. The story also deals with forbidden love..a worker fallin or the bosses daughter and all he rules their society must follow to conform with ettiquette. Excellent book. They should base a series or a movie on it.

Friday, February 16, 2024

Omuamuma the Interstellar Asteroid









 Extra Terrestrial

By Avi Loeb



It was a few years ago that an interstellar asteroid type object sailed through our solar system. It's long cigar like shape was rather od and it drew lots of attention. When I said interstellar I meant that it came from outside the solar system. It is very rare for objects to travel accross space and enter into another solar system. It would have to have lots of propulsion for it to travel from one solar system to the next. It was first spotted from a super strong telescope in Hawaii and hence teh name of the asteroid is call Omuamuma . It's trajectory was rather odd as it sailed right on through ou solar system and pat the sun. Usually objects like this smash into a planet or get caught in some other body's orbit. Since it caught a lot of attention there was speculation that this miht be extraterrestrial. That is waht Harvard's Avi Loeb felt, and this wnet against the established grain of thought that does not really believe in life out there in the stars.


This large rock is rather strange and some of the facts miht lean into extra terrestrial origin. First off in order fo it to sail through our solar system it had to have lots of force pushing it. This could happe though a planet exploding and bits o debris go flying around or someone sent it for one purpose or another. At certain points it appeared to accelerate in order for it to maintain speed and accelaerate it would have to have somekind of fuel. the burn off should have eroded some of the rock o taken some of th ice of it's surface. There have been speculaions as to why it is able to do that, some have said tha the ice was made of hydrogen but i does not hold water. Pardon the pun.


What could possible fuel this rock to fly. There is no exhaust coming from a fuel supply. The author says it is light sails that ge there power from sunight. The next question is what is this rock and what is it's purpose. the author posits that is could be a buoy or some debris from an old space craft. The cilization that produced i could be extinct. While the author spend a good chunk o the book discussing this interstellar object he also goes into the speculation about life in the universe and what it would be like t make contact. The author also suggests exploring other planets and doing archaeology to disover the remnants of other civilizations to see what we could learn from them. This part can get real philosophical. He also goes into his background as well. Informative read.

 


Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Shapeshifter Stories

 





Werewolf Stories =

By Nick Redfern


Stories about werewolves and wolf like creatures and more. Like the subtitle says they also talk about other shapreshifters. As if that is no enough even werewolves are varied and not easy to put into a category.

Never mind the legend that if you get bit by a werewolf or scratched by one you will become, total Hollywood legend. same for the silver bullet killing the werewolf. The only way to become a werewolf is to do magic to become one or if a sorcereror turns you into one. Stories are filled with the Gods punishing people by turning them into animals. King Lycas sacrificed bad meat to Zeus and for that he was turned into a werewolf. In Medieval Europe you have witches placing 7 year curses on people making them into wolves so they have to wander about in the wood.


Lots of people volunterily became were wolves. Usually this involves the werewolf having a magic wolf pelt that can turn them into a wolf if they wear it. Some do rituals in circle but it is always a wolf pelt. Stories abound of elderly women o strang men living somewhat off from the rest of society who have a pelt and when they put it on a wolf will terrorize the village by eating people or livestock. When hunters wound it and follow the trail of blood it leads to that strange person's house. Persone would later die of their wounds. Norse legends had warrior bands going out into th forest and doning wolf skins from this they would be turned into wolves for a certain period of time.


Where do the concepts of werewolves come from ? One guess would be the Norse Berserkers who would don a wolf o bear skin and rage on the battle fild as though they were wild animals and totally impervious to pain. They were called Bear Serkers or war wolves. The Ulfreddin were warrior swho donned wolf skins and faught in packs. It is also said that withces can shapeshift into any animal they desire and they can summon animals as well.


Modern day America has it's share of werewolf type creatures roaming around. The Beast of Brey Road in Wisconsin is know as a wolf man who is really tall an chases after cars down the road. Fortunatly non one was hurt. Often times these beast or more frightening than harmful. One could question if they are entirely physical. The Author Nick Redfern saw a wolfman creature come for him in his house and as it reached his bed it disappeared. Some of these creatues are tracked and pursued often to only have them disappear. Are these creatures extraterresrial or are they inbterdimensional creatures?


Shapeshifters exist th world over. In America you have skin walkers who are evil sorcerors who take any animal shape they want and they are dangerous to humans. You have have hyena men, jaguar men from Africa and the Americas. The author discusses many shapeshiting creatures out there and their origins. Very informative read.


Tuesday, February 6, 2024

The Science Behind the Legend of Big Foot











 Out in the forests of America, especially on the West Coast there exists a very hairy and large biped.  Native Americans call it sasquatch, popular vernacular identifies the beast as Big Foot. It's existence is very difficult to prove as no one has ever produced a corpse or brought in a live specimen. The Only evidence produced is scat, footprint and some very questionable hair samples. Large hairy ape like creatures are found all over the world. In the Himalayas you have the Abominable Snowman or the Yeti. Since Sasquatch's existence is so hard to prove the author strives to do that using science.


As mentioned earlier there are no physical specimens in captivity. Just cause a live one has not been caught does not mean that it does not exist. Many animals exist but canot be kept in captivity. Of course we have all seen footage of great white sharks which cannot be kept in captivity. Yet scientists are discovering new species daily.  Bigfoot is elusive. Few people have seen him and when they come forward they are often ridiculed our someone says that they have mistaken it for some other animal out there. The Photos and videos that are produced are often labeled as hoaxes and experts will find something wrong with it. The pictures oten times do not produce a very clear image.  Bigfoot remains have not been found either. Of course it is hard to find skeletal remains of animals that we know do exist. The skeletons disappear or rot away very quickly . Over all the places where these giant hairy ape like creatures have been found , very few remains have been found.


Native American legends describe the Sasquatch as a tribe of beings who used to kidnap their women and even mate with their women. Sometimes these monsters would even eat people. Sasquatch appears to be omnivorous. Giganticus pithicus appears to be a distance ancestor of the Big Foot and he lived in Southern China. The author makes the case that Giganticus Pithicus traveled nothward due to climate changes  until it reached Siberia from Siberia it crossed teh Bering Streit into America.


The main evidence the author focuses on are the foot prints and the Patterson Gimli film showing big foot running accross a sand break. It has generated controversy. Many of the footprint were found in very out of the way places where very few people dare to venture.  To call these foot prints a hoax missing the point as to why a hoaxer would hang out in some desolate area and pretend to be big foot. The author goes examinations of the films and foot print.  While nothing is conclusive the things is not human.

Baba-Sali

Baba-Sali
Holy Morroccan Sage engaged in Prayer

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One blond hair blue eyed Calfornian who totally digs the Middle East.