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. 

Enlightenment Through Torah Study

 

Shas Man

By Rabbi Pinchas Winston

This book expounds upon the mystical benefits of Talmud Study.  Studying Talmud and really understanding it can take a lifetime if not more. Fir4st off a bit of history. According to the rabbis, Moshe first received the written and oral torah on Mount Sinai. The written word was revealed while the oral torah was kept oral and known to select few.  Enter the second temple period and you have a severe roman occupation and persecution. The Oral Torah was in danger of being lost or no remembered so Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi codified the oral torah into the mishneh torah. The Mishneh would be studied and later on the commentary would be added and the commentary plus the oral law equals the talmud. There are two talmuds. One is Talmud Yerushalmi and the other is Talmud Bavli. One written in Jerusalem and the other in what is modern day Iraq.

To become a Shas man one must not only study talmud bu also le the talmud flow hough them. There is a holy liht that Hashem concealed during the time of creation. that light light is called Ohr Haganuz. It was saved for only the righteous to view in the world to come. The book is concise and kabbalistic in nature. Covering numerology and gematria. The book covers some rather intersting topics. One is hisbatlus. A person who has this exudes the service of god. They do not care what others think. They believe their success comes rom god and not self confidence. Jes especially the Chasidim believe in serving hashem with joy and  positivity. Negative thinking can bring you down while being positive can uplift you and help you serve Hashem. Thinking about past mistakes can bring us down. Set back in torah study can set us back. Here is a word of advice, " Build on positive past memories, not on negative ones. Train yourself to say, “The past is the past. This is a new experience, a new beginning, no matter how many times I have done this in the past. I am not interested in what has happened until now, only in what I can accomplish this time around.”

Great book just too short.

The Danger of the black Eyed Kids

Danger At Your Door Encounters with Black Eyed Children

By Gemma Jade

 Entities of evil. It is nightime and two children approach your car or knock at your door. As you approach them you find yourself caught between two different feeling. One is a dreadful fear that something is pure evil an these ids are malevolent. The other feeling is a compulsion like your hand has lost all voluntery control and you are opening the door against your will. the kids will say they are lost, need to use your phone or your toilet. Only one of them will speak. If you do not give in to their demands they will sport an angry tone with you. Dont let them in.

The book ish ort and concise in it's way of dealing with the black eyed children. The chapter are filled with stories of people who have had encounters with these evil beings.  Most people recount frightening circumstances. Besides the fear and dread they continually bang on their door if they do not get their way. then when you are about to call the police they suddenly disappear. What are these being? There is some speculation that they are vampires because they need your permission in order for them to enter your domain and they appear to feed off of energy. they could also be demonic or could be alien human hybrids. to be aware of them or to speak of them gets you on their radar. Once that happens the can keep coming after you. Many UFO abductees also get visits from the black eyed kids.

Often times when people encounter these beings they will find that their speech is funny and they have clohes that are from a different time and place. there  are also white eyed kids as well.  this is a fast entertaining read . Hope you enjoy.

Training Your Kajira

 Kajira Handbook

By Maste Vadim

John Norman has written 38 books in the gor chronicles. The novels have spawned a way of life and a lifestyle for a select few who choose that path. Gor is another planet in our solar system that is at the opposite side of the solar system hence we can never know of it. One day Carl Talbot is swept away to that world. Gor is a world where men are macho warriors and women are either free or slaves to their men. A female slave is called a kajira. Kajiras are under total control of their masters. their main function is to please. Now bear in mind Gor is a fictitious planet nd their way of life would be differnt from ours.

To start off the kajra needs to learn the basic position to take before her master. The slave postions are Nadu, Bara, Sula and Lesha. The Nadu position has the kajira kneel on the ground with her legs apart hands on each thigh open with palms up.  Bara position has The slave to lay facedown upon the floor, forehead lightly touching the floor, legs straight with ankles crossed and wrists crossed at the small of the back "Bara, Kajira!" he said. She rolled quickly to her stomach, placing her wrists behind her, crossed, and crossing her ankles, ready to be bound. The Sula position , a slave lays upon her back, her hands at her sides, palms upward, her legs widely spread, to await her Master's pleasure. The first Obeiscance  is when the Kajira's Master enter the room. In this position the Kajira will kneel and, bending forward, will place her head to the floor with her palms down on either side of her head. This position is to be held until the Master indicates or He instructs her to assume another position. The second Obeiscance has the kajira lie on her belly. the bara position has the kajira lay on the floor with her head turnedn to the left while her hands and feeel are crossed ready to be bound. The Lesha position is to be assumed when the master wishes to bind or collar his kajia.

On the world of Gor slaves are identified by a branded K on their thigh. Obviously here on earth we do not brand so people may decide to use tattoes.  The slave collar identifies who the slave belongs to. There are protocol on how a kajira must do things. In public she should be collared and brought to heel meaning that she walks three steps behind her master to the left. She should walk in a sensous manner and not demy her feminine beauty. Kajiras at times will be made to crawl. They must do so with their hind quarters high in the air and be sensual abou it.

Submission in the gorean sense is different from your garden variety kink. No so much emphasis on spanking and other sensual acts. pleasuring her master is important but there is much more emphasis on obedience and control. A kajira will gratify her master by walking in an alluring way. The slave dance is a slow motion dance where the kajira moves in differnt positions showing of the perfection of her body. A kajira must also know how to cook, clean and keep house. At times she will be called upon to give her master a massage. For belly dancing, I would recommend Amira Abdi, Oxana Bazaeva and Samira Zopunyan as good examples of gifted dancers. For tribal fusion dancing, I would suggest Yana Kremneva of the Kremushka dance company.

There ar several dances in the kajira repetoire. They are the belt dance, contrition dance, Sa Ela dance, Need Dance, Tether dance and the whip dance.   For music I suggest is The Masters Of Belly Dance Music. This will give you a good first exposure to a number of artists and styles of traditional music. If you should be seeking a fusion of belly dance and modern music, I would highly recommend a band by the name of Beats Antique. Of course, you are not limited to belly dance music alone; there are many different genres of music that can be used for slave dance. I have enjoyed slave dance performances that used music from artists as eclectic and varied as Dead Can Dance, Loreena MacKinnett, Peruquois and Trio Bulgarka to name but a few. All of these forms of music are vastly different from each other, yet all can work well with slave dance.

In terms of domestic service a kajia should be able to prepare food fix and mend clothing. There are protocols for serving the master wine and food. Many things are covered in this book both for  potential kajira and someone who wants to train a kajira. It is a nice short little read. I found it to be short , concise and to the point. A strength. Wish it coud have been a bitn longer. The book would benefit greatly from illustations and pictures to give better understnding of what Gorean clothes look like and what the various kajira postions look like.

King Solomon's Demon's

 The Demons of Solomon

By : Michael Ford

Goetia refers to demons. Ceremonial magicians will work with angels and demons. Original works of this nature were the greater and lesser kings of Solomon. Now contrary to popular belief King Solomon did not write this grimoire. The reason we can tell that this grimoire comes in at around the birth of christianity and maybe later. There are references to greek and roman demons. It is impotant to note that the Christians deomionized the old gods and made them wicked.   For example,   Asmodeus has the origins in the Avestan name, “aeshma”, from the Bronze Age male warrior-cults and tribes known as “Mairya”, “Maryanu” or Vedic “Marya”.      The grimoire tells the reader who the deon is and gives over a description of what the demon looks like, via illustration and tels what it's job function is. At the end of the description there is a ritual one can do to contact the demon.

As the biblical legend goes King Solomon was tasked with building the great temple in Jerusalem. His father king  David could not do it as he had too much blood on his hand. To build the temple King Solomon recieved a ring with whih to control the demons and ultimately seal them away in containers once he was through with them. Seems cruel but these demons could wreak havoc on human life. Not that it is one hundred percent cool right now.

Normnally one conjurs deities for favors. The goal of the left han path it apotheosis or becoming more divine and increasing oour competence. Apotheosis is more life absorbing the qualities of the demon you desire  The Left hand Path or Luciferianism is about making yourself godlike. I increases individuality. I have taken the liberty of putting some highlites into the review. Lucieferianism has a holy trinity but it is different from that of Christianity. There trinity is this Will, Desire and Belief . these three things are needed to make magic works. Luciferianism also liberates one from traditional magic practices that bind up our effectiveness. Here is what Luciferianism says about some of the things that we think make our magic stronger. No spells, ritual actions, chants, hymns, invocations including the trappings of planetary times, methods and “traditions” hold any power or substance for the Luciferian.    It is not the physical tools or items used in ceremonial magick which provide power: it is the simultaneous unity of Will, Desire and Belief with the disciplined mastery of self-confidence.These are tools of the expression of imagination, design and simultaneous unity of Will, Desire and Belief. Do not invest passion in the process or tools, seek Gnosis from the total invest of this Triad of the Morning Star, supported by the Four Pillars of Luciferianism:  the four pilars of Luciferianism are WISDOM, POWER, BALANCE, STRENGTH.  Theb ultimate goal of Luciferianism is liberation, illumination and Apotheosis. Liberation means giving us freedom to think independently. Illumination is gaining wisdom and insight. Apotheosis is gaining characteristics of gods or demons. What good are demons you ask.  They did teach mankind certain sciences and skills.  Beelzeboul in Luciferianism has long been recognized as the patron King of Demons who inspires divination, healing, knowledge and practice of the Black Artes (Magick) and summoning the spirits to with discipline, compel and enhancement of the energy and focus of the Ceremonial Magician.

Left handed spirituality is not all about light and love. Pain and Pleasure rotate on the same wheel. Lix Tetrax and other Solomonic demons under the regal authority of Beelzeboul, are supporting evolution, change, cultural enhancement by overcoming challenge and struggle. While peaceful bliss and a supposed ‘meek’ character is the ideal, stasis creates entropy and devolution. The Adversary does bring terror, chaos, destruction and death, this power also inspires creation, overcoming challenge, obstacles and the Will to Power seeking to master this world. Luciferians flourish by the strength of will and the discipline of our mind.

the Will of the Luciferian must confront and compel (and often devour) the energies of those who challenge.

A Tale of Two Divine Lovers

 

Loki and Sigyn

By Leah Svendsen

Loki, the joutnheim half adopted brother of Odin. Make a toast to Odin and you have to make one for Loki.  This adopted giant has never been widely reverred both historically and in the present. However , in recent times that has been changing. Afterall Loki is the one who will lead Ragnarok the final war of the gods. Loki both creates and makes trouble for the Aesir or the Gods of the air. He also finds solutions for them as well. As a joke he shaves of Skadi's golden blond hair and makes her bald. Since she is thor's wife,  Thor demands that he fix it. So of to the dwarves he goes. Going to two different clans he proposes a contest. This brings many gifts to the Gods and a toupee for Skadi but in the end Loki gets his mouth sewn shut. Another time someone steals thor's hammer. Loki dresses himself and thor up as females with the intention of marrying the person who stole it. they get the hammer back. Loli is a trickster god to say the least.

the God's are not all good and not all evil. Rather they are much like us with both good point and bad points. Hard to tell them at times from the Giants and other huge larger than life beings. In fact they even marry giants. Loki as the trickster often gets into trouble. Often times it seems he is treated more harshly than he deserves to be treated. the punishment does not fit the crime. Many times his tracks produce ifts for the gods. Once when the gods needed a wall around Asguard they promised a wall maker Freya's hand in marriage if he could complete the wall by a certain date. Freya was not happy about this. The Goddess of Love and War was too independent fo that. So Loki shape shifts into a female horse and causes the wall makers horse to runaway . He does not complete the wall in time. He gives birth o the eight legged Sleipner.

Loki can be a gender bender at times being a woman and at others a man. Despite his craziness he is the perfec deity to create a safe space for the LGBTQ folks.

He has had numerous children from different mates. With Anngrboda the forest giant he had Fenris, Jorgemonder and Hela.  Hela is queen of the underworld, Fenris is a giant wolf who eats Tyr's hand as they try to subdue it. And Jorgemonder is the midgard serpent. With Sygin he had Narvi and some other child. Of course when Loki calls out the gods at a feast, his son is killed and Loki is tied to a rock with his son's entrails while a serpent drips poison into his eyes.  The loving Sygin holds a bowl to stop the poison from going into his eyes.

The book gives a strong overview of both the rise of Heathenry and the most recent honoring of Loki and Sygin. heathenry itself is not monlihic like the major monotheistic religions appear to be, there are Odinist, Uraglawe and rokkatru. The final chapter give characteristics and traits of the deities and rituals in chapter six to honor them. The rituals are self growth rituals mostly with some honoring of holidays. perfect for those new to Loki and heathenry. Wish the rituals would go deeper then the typical self growth rituals.

Exiled from the Land of the Pharoah's

 Footprints on the Heart

By Jean Naggar

After 1956 when after a joint military maneuver involving France, Britain and Israel , the jews of Egypt are forced to leave the land of their birth. Egypt under Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and the other three 

countries took it back so to speak. The jews of Egypt for the most part had it pretty good.  Their forced departure left their lives in upheaval and in most cases irreparably damaged. The story starts off with Sol chilling in his house which is rather big. Young Salwa ventures into this house after picking some magoes. They have breif conversation then they go back to their daily lives. Life takes them in many directions.

Sol goes of with his family to France and then to New York. Life is hard in France as the family are refugees who left everything behind. New York is also challenging. Aldo the family patririarch cannot find a job and sinkks lower and lower into despair. Sol's mom becomes determined and makes a name for herself in the finance industry. Sol goes on to be successful as well. Sulwa gets married and has two kids named Ali and Jamila. Jamila means beautiful . Her life changes becuase of her beauty.

Sol really never comes full circle with Sulwa and they do not meet again. Sulwa remains behind in her village. Jamila gets adopted at age 12 and moves to America where Malvina who owns a modeling agency gets Jamila into modeling.  her name changes to Jasmine. The story tells the ups and downs she faces in the modeling industry, relationships, temptation etc. Going through two flings which leave her disappointed . She focused on her career instead of relationships. She makes it big. 

Ali gets cauht up i the Muslim Brotherhood. After stealing food he lands in prison and from getting released he ends up working in a hospital.  Eventually he is so good he gets promoted to nurse. Modern events are pivotal in all their lives. 9/11 and the arab spring had a strong impact on all their lives. Sometimes positive and sometimes negative.

Annunaki Origins of the RH- Bloodline

 Blood Line of the Gods

by Nick Redfern

This book expounds upon the theories set forth by Zecharia Sitchin and Erich Von Donken, in the distant past aliens from another planet visited earth and interacted with humans. Zecharia Sitchin posits that the aliens came from a planet called Nabiru and needed a slave race to mine if for them. Since the igigi or workers from Nabiru were hard to control they decided to genetically alter a proto-human species by giving them some of their own DNA. the aliens did some other experiments wit gene splicing which is why we got minotaurs, centaurs etc. these creatures and aliens gave rise to our mythology.

Gene splicing according to the author may go back hundreds and thousands of years. The first proto human to have their genes altered were the cro magnon people. they seemed to have legends about the stat system the Pleiadis. The bloodline tha is supposedly the product of alien manipulation is the RH - blood type. LOL my mom is O- while I am O+. The RH- is the bloodline they altered so they could take control of this planet and mine it for gold and other resources. The author details that people like the Basque, the Celts and other groups have a higher percentage of RH- in their populations than other groups do.

People with RH- blood have certain health advantages and certain disadvantages. They tend to have a lower blood pressure and heart bea which can be good. If an RH- mother is pregnant with an RH+ baby the mother must take RH+ hemoglobin to prevent her body from making antibodies that would destroy the fetus. Most abductees are RH- and what happens to them after the adduction can be blamed on the curse of having RH- blood.

What is the purpose for the abductions. Many say that the aliens are interbreeding with us to make hybrid being that will one day take over the planet and push the humans out. They are taken up and they have their sperm or ovum taken so it can be spliced with alien DNA. Why tey do this who knows ? It could be that their DNA is weak and it needs ours to strengthen it. Also it could be for a take over. Many such hybrids are no exactly human friendly. Often theyh have malicious intent towards us as evidenced by the Black Eyeed children and the men in black.

Abductions and getting human DNA samples has been going on through out history but it was called by a different name. Going back t Babylonian times we have Lilith who seduces men in their dreams. She heads a class if demons called lilin . They seduce men and get the human DNA from the encounter. Lilin also had male demons in their ranks wh did the same thing o women.. Celtic fairy lore has people being kidnapped by faeries and mating with them. The changeling phenomenom involves the faeries taking a healthy baby and rplacing it with a sick faerie baby.

Why the obsession with DNA. THe author posits that the Annunaki had nuclear wars against each other and that may have weakened their DNA. The author posits that the aliens left after the flood and after they wen t war with each other. A few remained behind.

While I find the Ancient Alien theory very plausible I have a hard time believing certain details that theorists hold dear. I find that humans being the product of gene splicing to be highl unlikely nor do I believe that the planet Nabiru exists. Not enough proof. Seeing technoloy today i we wanted to mine a planet we would use Artificial Intelligence or androids o do the work. Surely the annunaki had the tech for that and assuredy it would be easier and less problematic than creating a slave race. I do find it believable that RH- comes from Aliens. It is possible that humanoid looking aliens settled into our planet after theirs was destroyed or ruined and somehow they were able to breed with the humans already here. Of course the bible has instances of the angels mating with humans only t have the offspring miscarry or be born rather freakish.

My burning question for the author is how did the RH+ blood come about .

Overall good back has many facts to consider with some strength to it's hypothesis.

Armands Tale

 

Vampire Armand

By Anne Rice

Starting his life out as an artist protege, Amadeo, starts his life out as the son of a Kiev chieftain.  His gift at drawing recognized he is given to the Orthodox church where he has an apprenticeship drawing icon that are not made by the hand of man. That was at a very young age. Soon after he is a slave in what used to be Constantinople but now conquerd by the Turks. The slavery is tough but soon enough he finds himself in Italy and before long he is bought by Marius. Marius is an ancient vampire who sets to to teaching Amadeo the fine arts and the life of a refined gentlemen. Marius has a thing for humans and their manners. THey also become lovers . Of course Amadeo is lead to try the pleasured of Venice's bordellos and other young men in the city. He is bi sexual.  One day he angers one of his lovers and the man attacks the household while Marius is away. He kills some members and mortally wounds Amadeo.  I is when he is close to dying that Marius turns him. Soon enough Amadeo has his name changed to Armand. Together him and marius go hunting. They hunt mostly bad people and criminals.  They free a poisoner from the grips of a sadistic merchant who forces her to kill for him. 

Things were going well in the vampire life but the children of the  night come out and attack Marius's stronghold. Everyone is killed including Marius. The children of the light are like vampires for christ . He ventually becomes the leader of the groups. The story follows his leadership through the Theater of the vampire where he is in charge of all the Paris Vampires. When that ends he finds himself in New York watchig over a couple of kids. who protectively watches  over a boy and a girl. The girl is a talented musician. A good part of the story details how his life is influenced by the Vampire Lestat so it helps to hav read the earlier books. Eventually he tries his luck in the son and is burned. Inspired by the veil of Veronica.

The story frames itself much like Interview with a Vampire. This time David Talbot formeerly of the Talamasca now a Vampire writing down the story.  Anne Rice makes her vampires elegant and alluring while at the same time adhering to the folklore in a realistic way. Her vamps are sensual and while being undead they enjoy the pleasures of life with a gusto.

The Crown of Aleppo

 The Aleppo Codex 

By Matti Friedman

The Aleppo Codex has had a sweeping history going back to medieval times up to the present. The Codex was the property of the Jewish community in Aleppo. The Jews of Aleppo were there since the Assyrian conquest of northen Israel. It used to be called Aram Tzovah and the Jews were there well before the advent of both Christianity and Islam. While they had sojourned there they were in possession of one of the most accurate codices of the bible. The Crown of Aleppo as it was called used to be housed in the great synagogue inside of a grotto locked behind a safe. It remained whole and intact for centuries after Rabbi Ben Asher write it in Tiberiius.

The History of the Codex took a dramatic turn when after the UN voted in the state of Israel the Arab mobs of Aleppo rioted burned the synagogue an destroyed the safe it was housed in. These events signalled for the Jews that things were going to take a turn or the worse. After having lived there for millennia now they were being turned out by the Syriuan government. They lived under restrictions , discrimination and oppression. Unable to safely live in what was their home since Assyrian times the Jews would have to flee to Israel or somewhere else. Unable to make a living and hain their businesses shunned many made their way out through Lebanon or turkey. The route to freedom was perilous. Often times smugglers would abandon people once they got their money or they could even turn them over to the Syrian authorities. The Jews left behind money, property and valuables. The Codex was also left behind. Today it is housed in Israel at the Ben Tzvi institute, forty percent of it is missing. It was thought to have ben burned in fire but closer examination shows that it was not burned. In fact it was rescued by a certain Aleppo Jew and housed with a jewish merchant named Yakov Hakohen. He held on to it for a god long time.

A jew named Faham smuggled it out. He was told by the community to give it over to a religious or righteous person, supposedly. Once in Israel a man who was in charge of immigration. He took charge of it and had it sent to the Ben Tzvi institute.  A legal battle ensued afterwards. The Aleppo community wanted control over the codex because they felt it was theirs. The government of Israel felt it should be kept somewhere safe where it can be studies and learned from. Eventually it was stored in the Ben Tzi institute with partial ownership goin to the Aleppo Jews. This underscore the negative treatment experienced by Middle Eastern Jews upon their arrival to Israel. In many cases their holy books were taken and never returned. They were housed in less desirable areas, given menial jobs and in general loked down upon.

The big mystery is what happened to the missing 40% of the Codex.   At first it had been thought to have been burned by fire. Further analysis showed mold damage no fire damage. Whan Jacob HaCohen had it there was no mention f missing ages. No one ever reported it until after it had been housed in the Ben Tzvi institute. One possible theory is that the theft of the pages was an inside job and that somone rom the institute  stole them. The pages themselves were of value.  there have been many cases of inside theft from Israeli istitutions.

The codex started out in Tiberius then moved to jerusalem. After the crusaders sacked the city the Jews made arrangement to have it moved to Fostat Egypt. Maimonides used it for his studies while iving in Egypt.

Afte things became dangerous in Egypt it was moved to Aleppo. There are still many pages missing and there is plenty of blame to go around. Could it be that Syrian mobs destroyed tha part of the codex or that someone picked u the pages from the ground. Perhaps the smugglers took the liberty o stealing pages. Or most firghtening is that Israeli institution in charge o guarding the Jewish patrmony were the ones who took pat i the theft of the missing pages.

The Three Wise men of Tibet

 

Flight of the Bon Monks

By Harvey Rice

It was in the late 1950's that China overran Tibet. The country over run by China had it's own sovereignty, culture and distinct religious practices.  The two main religions are Buddhism and Bon. Bon was the older and indigenous religion while Buddhism was originally from India. Tibetan Buddhism has it's own flavor and is different from Chinese Buddhism. Both Bon and Tibetan Buddhism both revere many of the same deities and they revere each others holy people.  When China conquered Tibet they were communist and they were hostile to religion.

In more ancient times Tibet was a powerful kingdom and often went to war with China. Often times Tibet would conquer Chinese territory. Both Bon and Buddhism had monasteries and monks all through put Tibet. One famous monastery out of Tibet was Minri which was the seat of power for the Bon religion. Drapong was like the Harvard university of Tibetan Buddhism.  Bon monks had lands that produced farm good and it also had living quarter and temples. Most monks took vow of non violence, about a tenth of the monks were warrior monks who did not have such strictures of non violence andhad more freedom than the other monks. The main dish of Tibet is Sanpa. A nutritious staple food that is much like a superfood. 

The story which is non fiction centers around three of the monks who escaped when China took over. The Chinese take over consisted of razing monasteries, harming females, putting Tibetan in concentration camps and total cultural destruction. The chaos and destruction caused many to flee from Tibet into neighboring countries. Most went and settled in the country of India. It was there that they would rebuild their society in exile.

The three monks were Tenzen, Senten and Songyae. The book gives a thorough biography of each of these monks as well as describing conditions in Tibet during the Chinese take over. There was no Tibetan military so to speak during that war. Defense came down to warrior monks and guerrillas. The book also details the challenges the Tibetan faced as they settled in India and other nearby countries. Dr. Snellgrove managed to get a few Tibetan to Britain so as to teach them modernity and also to learn their Bon religion

THE Chinese take over of Tibet was one of the bloodiest chapters in world history. Tibet recieved virtually no help from the outside world. The CIA tried to use Tibet against China but only managed to exploit the Tibetan issue. Towards the twentieth century they eased up and allowed Tibet to rebuild some of their structures and culture. They became more tolerant oward Bonn and religion but the Dalia Lama cannot come inot Tibet due to his political influence. Even holding his picture and can get you put in jail. Free Tibet

Political Activism for Oppressed Witches

 

Bujas:  The Magic and Power of Witches of Color

By Lorrraine Migneult 

What followes is not a book about technique but rather a social commentary about oppression. Most of the stories deal with witches of color dealing with oppression. Oppression comes in many forms. In the world of witchcraft everything is politically correct. The stories are filled with how women were suppressed or put down by. People of color have been enslaved and oppressed. Indigineous people have been subjugated in their land and colonized. Cathlalocism opresses the old pagan religions. The hetero normative society has oppress tansgendered individuals and homosexuals. The authoress's object here is to reclaim those traditions for people of color etc

The book rails against capitalism as it pits people against each other instead of having them work together. Her chapter on Abuelito magic focuses on gardening and growing your own crops and herbs. These in turn can be bartered of for other goods that other people may have. The book is in favor of creating mutual aid societies whe people can form groups and rely on eachother. This is in itself an act of resistance against capitalism. Mutual aid instead of supporting big corporations. Support each other. Capitalism has had a very negative efect on the environment. Magical items like herbs, crystal are being mined out of the land and now we are facing shortages of sage, and certtain crystals.  Thanks to the big corporation like Ulta whoare making a profit off of mass market witch craft.

The authoress is very much into decolonizing the mind and magic.  She advocates witches of color practicing and accessing their own ancestral religions. For the latinx community that could be studying Santeria, Mayo Columbe. For those o African descent it coul be studying, Yoruba, Voodoo or Voudou. One thing the authoress talks about is sticking to your own lane. While she loves her traditions she cautions that the ancestors who were oppressed by European settlers might not be to open to the idea of white Europeans learning their traditions, The author also cautions against appropriating practices from other culure and using it as their own. Wiccan circle which are Eurocentric have not often met the needs of people of color and in fact many people of colo felt excluded or nto properly represented.

When African's were brought over as slaves they were discouraged from practicing their ancestral religion. So different Loa from the Voodoo pantheon were given the names of saints and thei worship wnet under cover. The book discusses the how Hoodoo came about and the differences between Haitian Voudou and New Orleans Voodoo. The chapters by and large  consist of narratives then conclude with suggestions for an altar, affirmations, meditations journaling prompts and finally resources for further learning. The book does cover a lot issues like racism, capitalism, LGBTQ issues and colonization.

The Tale of Unlikely Jewish Heroes

 Gangsters vs Nazis

By Michael Benson

The Jewish gangster was a hero to the young Jewish boys growing up in America around the beginning of World War II. Jewish people over the years had been persecuted and massacred and many were afraid to fight back Not so the Jewish gangster. In those days non Jews felt they could get away with
Harassing Jews. The Jewish gangster fought back. Nazi Germany had made serious inroads into America. The Bundt party was promoting Nazi ideology and antisemitism. They also harassed Jews. So Judge Perlman contacted Meyer Lanskey and that got the ball rolling. Anytime a Nazi group wanted to host a gathering the Jewish gangsters would be there to mess it up. This often times involved brawls, heckling and destroying Nazi property. It worked. Put a damper on Nazi activity. The book details the exploits the heroics of unlikely Jewish saviors , the gangster. Of parented by hard working folk these guys took to bootlegging, gambling, being musclemen you name it. We could sure use heroes like these right now.

Exploring the Final Frontier

 The Final Frontier

By Dr. Heather Lynn

Exploring space is the call of the times. Our future is out there as maybe our past. The UFO phenomena is gaining momentum as interest increases and more witnesses come forward. Another aspect of space exploration is Xenoarchaeology. What is that basically it is stydying the remnants left behind by other alien species on other planet.  In reality though we have not gotten there yet. We have sent manned missions to the moon and sent out a bunch of deep space probes. We have the rover on Mars bringing us pictures of the planet surface. We are still a ways away.

We are still lookingn for other planets that mightb able to maintian life that are in the goldilocks zone of their star. There are a couple of ways we can find out about  these planets. One way is though radio waves sometimes we send them out hoping for contact and other times we are scanning for their existence. Another way is to detect for markers of life. A planet that has life will have certain markers. there are cetin gasses and water that will be in the atmospher and phosphines.  If a civilization is advanced that wil hav evidence of industrial pollution and light pollution.

Omuamua was an oblong object that entered into our solar system from interstellar space. It passed through our solar system and then exited. there has been speculation about what i exactly was. There has ben speculation that it was a probe sent to observe us and there has been speculation that it was technological debris left behind by an advanced alien civilization. Hence another way we can explore an extinct alien civilization.

A final methodn involves psychic power or remote veiwing. Rather controversial and kind of sketchy. They say that the KGB and CIA have used remote viewing to spy on other countries and with some effectiveness.

However the issue is of verification . You have to be able to probe that something is real.  Xenoarchaeolgy is in it's early stages. Eventually we will find an alien civilization or we will find a planet that has the remnants of an alien civilization. We have to b careful not to jump to conclusions. It is easy to see what one wants to see. When nwe have proof it iwill also open up a pandora's box of societal changes and issues.

The tuth is out there. 

Tne Impaler Messiah

By Facile Lupasc Sfintes

 The story starts of with Vlad escaping from being a hostage from the Turks. In an in located at Wallachia follower of Vlad Tepesh conspire to route a preteder to the throne named Dan. These friend are actually Vlad's loyal knight they travel with him to Hungary to get troops and support from Hunyadi, a Wallachian power broker now in the Hungarian military.  They fight the Turks in Constantinople but the objective is not to defend Constantinople but rather to observe the Turks.

In the land of Wallachia there are many troubles. The noble who were appointed by previous voivodes are not loyal to the country of crown bu rather to their own self interest. Then you have the german merchants in Brasov who continually defy Vlad. Then you have the overall problem of the Ottoman Empire. They demand tribute, soldiers and grain. When Vlad ultimately defies them it is war. In Wallachia Vlad does not have to just contend with the Turks he also has internal divisions. Those that know the history know tha Vlad handled them with exceptional brutality which is what the traitors deserved.

Every bit of historical fiction about Vlad portrays things in different lights. Some of them portray Vlad and Mehmet as practically brother while growing up in the Sultan's castle.  This portrayal has Vlad being rebellious and always against the Ottoman Empire. Events leading up to Vlad dealing with the merchants and nobility are also portrayed differently. In this work both groups do some treachery which provokes a response from vlad. Now the book does not end with his death but rather it ends with a betrayal, something common in that part of the back in the day.

Great piece of historical fiction. Showcases his military capabilities and how he used his wit to defeat his oppressors. Great beginnin novel for those jus getting thei feet wet with Dracula history.

Lately some good historical fiction has been coming out about Vlad Tepesh and it is not about vampires rather it is about a messianic figure who is destined to save his nation and lead them out of oppression

Beware the Evil Eye and how to Combat it!

 

The Evil Eye

By Antonio Pagliarulo

Lately you have had some great fortune blow your way. Got a new car, sporting nice clothes and you got the trophy lover. Then bam all of the sudden you get hit qwith a series of events that can only mean one thing, someone gave you the evil eye. The evil eye is born of jealousy and envy and sometimes the person who gave it to you is unaware that they gave it to you. Might notice someone staring at you intently or hey may pay a complimnt but underneath it all they are slipping you some bad energy. the evil eye is known the world over  and it goes by many different names. Lately it has become a trend to wear a nazar or blue eye from the middle east in order to repel the danger.

The author grew up in an Italian American household and was raised around the mythology o the evil eye. His olsder female relatives were experts in diagnosing and getting rid o the evil eye. There are several ways someone can hex you with the evil eye. One way is for someone to compliment you like "gee that is a real cool are" and some passive aggressive comment might be thrown in. Sometimes they just stare at you an at other times they are openly hostile. When you are hexed with the evil eyes sometimes you feel psychologically off and at other times you are hit with headaches, insomnia or other physical maladies. There are instances when things just start going bad.

the author gives techniques on how to diagnose the evil eye and how to be rid of it. Included in this volume are deities and saints who help you fiht against the evil eye. There are also stone and herbs that also combat the evil eye.  the book also lists talismans that have been traditionally used to ward against the evil eye. He pulls his methods from his own background and from that of other cultures.  Neat little book!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.