History of the Black Jews of America and Africa

Black Jews in Africa and the Americas by Tudor Parfitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perceptions of Jews and African especially in their perceptual relationship to each other and how the outside world has perceived them have gone through many phases. Perhaps in the Medieval times where neither enjoyed full equality in Europe or the Americas being of African descent and Jewish was perceived almost as that of an impossibility. The Africans had their own God while the Jews worshipped the same God as the Christians.
Yet things began to change. Blacks and Jews were perceived of as being related. Jews were thought to have had some black blood that got diluted or the African Blacks were perceived to have come from Jewish blood. Most Christian white Europeans would comment that both groups of people were cheap, unclean and dishonest. The Jews wanted to be accepted in Gentile society so they tried to distance themselves from those people with African descent.
Before when Jews had African slaves they would often have them convert to Judaism as it was deemed desirable to convert their slave to Judaism. These African Jews would have the right to rea\d the torah, marry Jews and be buried in a Jewish Cemetary. In order for the Jews of America to be accepted into Gentile white society they started peeling back on the rights of these African Jews.
In America both Jews and Africans felt affinity. Often times they would mingle together and even act like each other. As in Europe though the need to be accepted lead to a rift. The Bible itself was used to justify slavery and the vilification of the African person. Africans would soon learn to use the bible as a tool to resist oppression. They found in it an identity for themselves.

Missionaries and colonialist often times foisted the Israelite identity on such African tribes as the Zulu, Tutsis, Yoruba and Igbo. As the Europeans gave it the Africans accepted it. They gave themselves an identity. In America those of African descent found inspiration in the Bible as they identified with Moses, the Exodus and other parts of the Bible calling for freedon.

Europeans have never given Africa credit for it’s development. If they saw a sign of high culture or development they would assume that the tribe came from outside of Africa. This is a shame as many of the Jewish like customs are believe to be coming from outside of Africa I believe that the Mayb e the Jews learned their stuff from the Africans and not vice versa.
There are now several groups of Africans who have adopted Judaism or believe they are descended from Israelites. Abyaduda in Uganda, Falashas of Ethipia and the buba clan in zimabawe. The Buba clan tested positive for Israelite DNA. The Falashas do not. I believe they converted during the time of Solomon. How will the Jewish community respond to these new sub communities. Only time will tell.


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A Goddess Arrive. The Making of a Myth

A Goddess Arrives by Gerald B. Gardner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What is your take on reincarnation? Do you believe that groups of people can reincarnate together in groups based on who they knew in their past lives? Or does the soul move on to Heaven, Hell or purgatory after the physical body dies away?
Set in London during the 1930’s and 40’s , Robert Denvers is having marital troubles with his wife Mina. She is having an affair with a man named Hank Heyworth a person involved in the legal system. Denvers himself is an archaeologist with some intense psychic ability. Hank from some unknown reason hates Denvers with a passion. His reason behind stealing Mina away has not so much to do with his attraction for the woman but rather for some unknown hatred against Denvers.
Needless to say the impact of the affair is devastating and Denvers still loves Mina and has ultimate faith in her. Denvers can see things clearly in a visualization down to the nearest detail. He can also read the thought of people while stuck in his vision. Before zoning off into a deep trance, Denvers is examining a Cypriot Temple while clutching hold of a Golden Snail.
Flash back to a dream of the past life or just a day dream that lasts for two weeks. Cyprus is under occupation from Egypt. Many of the countries on that island have fallen to to Egyptian might, except for Karpass. Before the onslaught there is much debate as to whether Egypt will try to over take them. Denvers is cast as Kiranyas, Hank becomes the traitor Hange. Ereli a mercenary is granted kingship by the council. Kinyras and his brother Zadoug are in charge of constructing a wall and military strategy to keep the invading Egyptians out. While spying out Adirgha , Zadoug learns knowledge of a princess held in bondage , and of her escape.
No sooner does Zadoug come home bearing news that Dayonis the pricess arrives at the kingdom’s gates stark naked with Egyptian forces hot on her tail. In company with Kinyras and his soldiers she fights bravely against the Egyptians. She is given admission into the kingdom and into a secret brotherhood of warrior. Mean while hange maneuvers against the Karpassians by spreading rumor that Dayonis is a witch. Ereli, Dayonis and Kinyras have their hands full stopping Hange’s intrigues. At one point Dayanis and Kinyras are forced to flee. They embark on military raid against the Egyptians and fight side by side. Later they will escape to Aghirda and bet married under the auspices of a fictitious god named Jaske. Jaske is an earthquake god who is the patronof Daynis and the Aghirdans. Through out this adventure Kinyras will escape Egyptian capture, meet royal kindred in Paphos. Dayanis become elevated to Goddess status.
But the battle goes on life after life. Will good prevail or evil prevail. You find out.
Gerald Gardner wa s the founder of Modern Wicca, and has written two book of fiction both of which I enjoyed reading immensely. Too bad he did not produce more, he comes up with great stories and plotn lines. Had he focused on this he could have become a famous writer. The book does need some editing. The language can be hard to understand and there are spelling errors and typos.


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Mythical Creatures

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In traditional lore Jinn or Jinni are spiritual creatures roaming the desert with their bodies consisting of smoke and fire. Golem are being made of virgin clay and are usually mute. Golems were made for the protection of the Jewish people. Jinni are part of Islamic lore and have free will much like men. Jinni can also assume different forms and not all of them are friendly towards man kind.
In the story “The Golem and the Jinni” these two characters meet up in the late 1800’s New York. Perhaps the only place they could meet up as the golem is a European Jewish thing and the Jinni is an Arabian, Middle eatern thing. Chava our female golem was created by a rogue kabbalist named Yehudah Shallman at the express request of Mr. Rotfeld. Mr. Rotfeld wanted her to be endowed with certain characteristics so she could become his ideal wife. Of course Golems cannot have children. Mr. Rotfeld packs her in a box and ships her to America. He is warmed not to wake her up before arriving to America. Of course he does not heed this advice and end up dying on the way over.
Boutros Arbeely lives in “Little Syria” on Washington Street. Coffee shop owner Marian Fadal gives him a bronze vase to fix at his metal smith shop. When he rubs it out pop “Ahmad” the Jinni. Arbeely takes him in and makes him partner as they share the work of metal smithing. No one can really know that Ahmad is a Jinni so they say he is a Bedouin from Syria. Ahmad is prone to take long walks at night and meet up with various kinds of people. The golem is also taken to nighttime strolls.
After Avraham Meyer the Rabbi who takes her in passes away the two mythical people meet up on a weekly basis to take walks in the city and share their various secrets and challenges. The friendship can be rocky at times with many ups and downs. The plot is spiced up with a marriage to Michael ,Avrahams nephew. Ice Cream Saleh a former doctor in Syria is able to see Ahmad for who he truly is.
As the relationship progresses the two find out they have a common foe who they must defeat, the Wizard who imprisoned the Jinn in the first place. Yehuda Shallman comes to America for unsavory purposes regarding the golem and takes up in Michaels Hospice. Things edge towards a final showdown with the evil wizard.
Great piece of work for a new author. The book gives great insight into the lifestyle of new immigrants coming to new York during the 1890’s. Life was not easy and the author gives us a very vivid picture. The book is also about relationship and individuals from different communities learning to get along with common challenges and how communities used certain strategies to both stick together and cope with the challenge of living in a new land.
Yet what makes it amateurish is that from the get go it is not obvious what the story’s objective is .I saw a relationship developing and two very rare individuals learning to adjust but what was the point. It does not become clear until later. Still it was an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the author’s future works.


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Three Wisemen

Buddha, Christ, Merlin: Three Wise Men for Our Age by Christopher Penczak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written with an open mind and based somewhat on Theosophical writing. Three rays constitute spirituality and they are gold for wisdom, red for power and blue for love. Buddha stood for wisdom and represent detachment from the material world. Jesus represented love and his color was blue. Merlin was red for power.

A biography on each is included and for Jesus and Buddha there is inclusion of rituals. Over all great book I would question some of the facts. For example I question whether Jesus was really and essene Jew. Some scholarly opinion supports him being a a Pharisee. I did find some typographical errors in the text mostly spelling. I found that he did a good job for sourcing his Merlin material but for the other chapters on Jesus and Buddha I did not find such. There was no bibliography either. Such a great book as this could only be enhanced with a proper bibliography.


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An Exercise in Artificial Entities

Conjuring Up Philip: An Adventure In Psychokinesis by Iris M. Owen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in poltergeists? The wrapping on the wall and the moving of furniture has all been documented and proven. But is it really ghosts that are doing all this. Sure many incidence are fraudulent, some might be ghosts and other incidences might be psychokinesis or moving things with the mind.

A psychic society in Toronto, Canada came together and decided to create a fictional entity named Philip. This group of people numbering close to 8 -10 people met regularly to perform this experiment. first they brainstormed and came up with a fictional story for this guy Philip, a story that could no way be real. Then they had practice sessions where they would meditate and then try to conjure this fictitious ghost ,Phillip. For the first year they were unsuccessful. After about a year of trying and not producing any tangible results they decided to switch up their tactics.

They began copying from the spiritualists who conjured spirits in a group called a séance but with some major differences. Like the spiritualists they would gather in a group. But instead of mediating like they did before they copied the technique of socializing before conjuring. Instead of using a psychic medium they agreed that no one would play that role and instead if using dimly lit rooms they would use a well lit room.

Purpose was strictly scientific. Their goal was to produce a visible phantom generated by their psychic energy. Ultimately in this goal they were not successful. They did however manage to communicate with this invisible entity. A communication system of knock for yes and no communication was set up. Under laboratory conditions this entity moved tables, made knocking sounds and produced other phenomena. Belief and expectation are needed for results. this book will change the way you look at psychic phenomena and the paranormal.

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Wandering Djinn

Wandering Djinn: An Anthology of Fantasy by Ahmed Al-Sheikh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That's it just 41 pages. The stories are good and I wanted more the only problem is that it was not there. Well for 99 cents do I really have the right to complain. I think not. Some of the stories were a bit simplistic like the first one where he Malik Ibn Ibrahim meets Quin, a hardened chick bounty hunter. After Malik surprises her at the scene of the murder they strike up a friendship that seems all to quick for the purpose of taking down a charming serial killer. I would expect a bit more resistance on Quinn's part after meeting a Djinn with all it's powers I think she would want to get the you know out of there. Over all it was a good story. They finally bring down the killers guardian Jaffur, a troublesome Ifrit in a game of wits. Everyone gets their just deserts. The story was still entertaining.

Malik Ibn Ibrahim is one of those Djinn who thinks well of the human race and tries to help out when he can. The second story involves a troubled teen ager who gets into fights. His temper rages further and further out of control in each successive day. Seems that he is controlled by other Djinn and it is up to Malik to save the day for this troubled youth. In the third story he is conjured by professor Freeman quite against his will. Rather then be angry Malik offers some insight into the future healing of professor Freeman's son.

The last story involves a battle for a sword. I will let you read it in order to find out more about it.

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Wizards First Rule

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first book of any series is always the best. Most of the subsequent books did not match up to this first one until the author's later writing. Funny that I read this book last of all the others. The TV series "Legend of the Seeker" was not true to the book. The TV series changed things up and left a lot out. The Mud people and Scarlett the dragon were left out of the TV series. Darken Rahl was Richards father in the book not Panis Rahl as in the TV series.

The story starts off with Richard wandering in the woods of Westland for three weeks after his father is brutally murdered. He comes across some trees that are near the boundary between the Midlands and Westland. Snake vines are growing and killing the trees. Richard Cypher himself gets stabbed by one of their thorns. The boundary is acting a bit weird these days things are coming out that should not be coming out. Richard notices a huge flying beast come from over the boundary. As he wanders back to Hartland he has his encounter with Kahlan. In hot pursuit are 4 Dharan soldiers. Richard and Kahlan are victorious. They head back to Hartland to watch Richard's brother Michael become anointed as first counselor. Michael says some pretty strange things.
When Richard finds his house ransacked and trashed they make their way over to Zed's house.

It is at Zed's house that Richard finds his true destiny, confronts a mob and then sets off on a journey to the Midlands.On the way to passing over to the Midlands our three heroes join up with Chase. On the way over they encounter Harthounds, Adie ( a bonewoman) and Gars. Once they reach the Midlands Richard and Kahlan become guests of the Mudpeople and eventually are initiated. From their they journey to Shota the witch to here her prophecies and then finally over to Queen Milena's to get the third box of Orden. This journey has Richards coming to terms with the sword of truth and learning how to use it. Along the way Kahlan will reveal her secrets and let Richard in on why despite the fact that the two people love each other they can never be together.

Darken Rahal is a blond haired blue eyed monster who bears a long held grudge against Zed for killing his father Panis Rahl. He wants to find the Book of Counted Shadows and the last box so he he can rule the world. He is cruel and not above deceiving children and killing them in order to reach his goals. He has some dark secrets regarding Richard as well which are revealed at the end of the story.

After Shota's visit they come to Queen Milena's who had the Box of Orden but thanks to Giller ( A wizard) and Rachel ( princesses abuse playmate)the box of Orden is liberated from the Castle. Richard gets himself captured and trained by the Mord Sith only to be released. In the end their is a confrontation between good and evil that is solved by wit and wisdom rather then battle.

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