Posted by admin on January 5th, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
No words in this universe are enough to describe him, superstar, living legend, and the face of Indian cinema. Amitabh Bachchan today is an icon to reckon with, both nationally and internationally. He has become a household name today on the lips of young and old alike. The very mention of his name spells magic. One must surely appreciate the hardwork and dedication that was shown by him to capture the film world. Success always follows hard work. Has vastu played any role in his success ?. Yes, looking at the juhu residence of Amitabh Bachchan any vastu expert can will answer positive. Vaastu Shastra cannot be directly linked with prosperity. It only suggests ways in which one can live in tune with the laws of nature, so that you can be healthy and peaceful and work efficiently.
1. Entrance: Entrance of Amitabh Bachchan bunglow is located at the North-East Corner of the bunglow. According to vastu North-East is a prime location for the prosperity and success. The treatises like “Vishwakarma Prakash” attribute special importance to the North-East direction (Ishanya Angle) in the selection and architectural map of the plot or construction of the house. This direction is regarded as highly surcharged with divine energies. Person becomes more healthy, wealthy & famous in such houses.
2. Roads: A house or plot with road to the north or to the east is a excellent position as per vastu. His house is very lucky to get the auspicious cosmic rays from North as well as east. This is another important vastu favouring tenets to the Amitabh Bachchan house. According to Vaastu, the most favourable and beneficial main entrances in the house or business premises are those in the North East, East or North direction. The suns rays, being a rich source of vitamin D are vital for the sustenance of life on earth; and the rays early in the morning from the east emitting more light and less heat are the best. Doors and windows in the east would allow the suns ultra violet rays to penetrate into the house, bestowing their benefits to the inmates of the house. It is auspicious to have more open space in the east or north of the house or plot. The plot or house having road on the east-north directions is better place to gain prosperity.
3. Fire: Direction that lies midway between the east and the south is known as Agneya (south-east). Agni (fire) is the lord of this direction. He is the preserver and defender of every being. The southeast is the home of the fire element. Because of the interconnectedness of two elements -water & fire, fire features should only be placed in the southeast corner of any building or property. This includes kitchens, fireplaces or transformer. The electric transformer in his house is located in the south east corner which is another important factor in making his house vastu friendly.
A warm Agneya direction makes a man healthy. Agni also provides person with comfort, peace, prosperity and progeny.
Vastu - global acceptance
Vastu is the oldest and most complete system of architecture in the world. The reason for its recent interest in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia is that people are demanding a better quality of life. There’s a greater awareness now that our physical environment does affect the quality of our life. Western people are now more attracted towards the spiritual and ancient sciences of eastern countries. There are simple Vastu corrections that people can do to any structure, anywhere in the world, that will bring improvements in their lives.
Vastu is gaining acceptance all over the world by business houses and individuals. We predict it will be the hot trend all over the world in coming time. There are so many books are published all over the world, which shows the growing popularity of vastu science.
Nitin Parmar
Vastu Consultant
http://www.vastuplus.com
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Posted by admin on January 4th, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
Last night I watched an artisan in the moment of the first showing of his creation to others. It reminded me of a young man taking his first risk of rejection with a young woman. He tentatively exposes himself to the risk of rejection while offering himself up in hopes of acceptance. We all go through this every day in our interactions with others. We take measured risks in seeking acceptance from others. Some of us, having faced repeated or particularly difficult rejections, give up and withdraw into ourselves refusing further risk. Others work to find ways to manipulate people into accepting them all the while knowing that recognition received in this way never has any real value. Most of us have become careful in how and when (and with whom) we take these risks.
Artisans, I have noticed, are forced to take these risks every time they create something. Even the celebrated craftsman offers his newest creation with a measure of fear and trembling. But they take the risk nonetheless. There must be something within that drives them to bring their creations to life and to share those creations with us. This, of course, is true of all artists: they must share; they must take the risk of rejection. This truth became experience for me last night as I watched the artisan bring in his new creation.
We all turned from what we were doing as he hand carried the chair into the house. A sort of expectant silence filled the room until we could all sense the palpable effect of his emotions in exposing this bit of his essence for our review. There was now no turning back: his self worth was on the line. He set the chair down and turned to us, unable to escape the vulnerable place in which he now found himself.
It’s interesting how most of us, when faced with a person who has just offered a part of their personhood to us for us to accept or reject, miss entirely the significance of the moment. We offer our opinions with little thought for the impact they may have. But last night we got it. We joined him in the moment and shared in rejoicing over one more tiny place where crass commercialism could not intrude.
Last night we witnessed something important; something you will never see at Wal-mart. We shared in the introduction of something that will likely be here in one hundred years or more. Long after we’re gone that chair will live on doing what it was made to do. Last night some pieces of wood became something that will provide enjoyment for generations of people.
Akylina Lee is mother to three adult children and an observer of life.
http://www.whybuyplastic.com
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Posted by admin on January 3rd, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
Reading history of world heroes such as; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Ghandy, Alexander the Great, former kings of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Chuon Nat (Cambodian), Nou Korn (Cambodian), presidents of the United States of America and villains such as, Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, has inspired me to fulfill one thing: leaving my human traces in this world as much as possible.
One of the extremely systematic philosophical questions that, until today no one can reasonable provide the answer yet, is why life? This article intends to answer this philosophical question and that answer is: “to remain human traces in this world as much as possible.”
To me, life is just about struggling to remain our human traces in this world as much as possible. This article is not to persuade the readers to the theological, scientific, or other extreme paths, but just to solve one of the life’s questions.
We are all proud that we are the most intellectual species of any specie of animal on earth. Indeed, we are lucky and extremely lucky to live in human lifestyle, but have we ever imagine that we will die in human ways or as animal’ behaviors? So try to live and to will die in human behaviors.
I do not contradict your cash business and other competition for luxurious human lifestyle, but do not forget to remain your human traces in this world as much as possible, because we do not know, in term of religious or non-religious belief, whether we would be born human again or not; if we are to be born human again, we would see our former human traces and if we are to be born animals, we would know that we used to be human and if we are not to be born again, our human traces will still help our next generation: there is no any negative aspects behind remaining our human traces in this world.
“Reaming our human traces in this world as much as possible; a one hundred percent perfect vocation.” Coined by Lay Vicheka (May 13, 2006, 11:10 p.m., Cambodian time)
Lay Vicheka is a translator for the most celebrated translation agency in the Kingdom of Cambodia, Pyramid Translation Co.Ltd.. He is now hoding other two professions: freelance writer for Search Newspaper; focusing on social issues and students’ issues and Media Liaison Officer for Asia’s first free on-line IELTS consultation website. Lay Vicheka is the expert author for ezine and prolific article contributor to other websites around the world such as articlecity, 365articles, spiderden, talesofasia, etc (Just google him). He is also a volunteer Cambodian-newspapers columnist (Rasmey Kampuchea and Kampuchea Thmey). Lay Vicheka has great experience in law and politics, as he used to be legal and English-language assistant to a Cambodian member of parliament, migration experience (home-based business) and in writing. He is also member of a New York-based research company. Posting address: 221H Street 93, Tuol Sangke quarter, Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tel: 855 11 268 445, vichekalay@yahoo.com
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Posted by admin on January 3rd, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
Most myths have some element of truth in them. The ‘melting pot’ that media of all sorts (which includes our propaganda in law and education) tell us became America, is another of the half-truths or superficial observations which deserves a little study if we are to accept the deeper potential meaning in it. John Hope Franklin of Duke University is a respected Black scholar who says some powerful words after pointing out the kind of thing that media managers or manipulators galore have said about the open-minded American with no reason to bring prejudices to this new and exciting land of opportunity. I would point out that it was not so new and historians like himself have participated in a cover-up but let us see what this man has to say about the ‘melting pot’.
People do not generally like to find out that they have ‘bastards’ in their family tree and the woodpiles of America created a lot of ‘bastards’. My father used to tell us about the Virginia legislature and legislation proposed that would make anyone with any black blood not able to sit and participate in it. This was the early 1950s not the 1850s. One legislator did the research that most Americans will not even do about their own family. He did not get more than half way through exposing every member of the legislature for their mulatto blood when the others were all in an uproar and clamoring that he must b silenced.
“This was one of the earliest expressions of the notion that the process of Americanization involved the creation of an entirely new mode of life that would replace the ethnic backgrounds of those who were a part of the process. It contained some imprecisions and inaccuracies that would, in time, became {become?} a part of the lore or myth of the vaunted melting pot and would grossly misrepresent the crucial factor of ethnicity in American life. It ignored the tenacity with which the Pennsylvania Dutch held onto their language, religion, and way of life. It over-looked the way in which the Swedes of New Jersey remained Swedes and the manner in which the French Huguenots of New York and Charleston held onto their own past as though it was the source of all light and life. It described a process that in a distant day would gag at the notion that Irish Catholics could be assimilated on the broad lap of Alma Mater or that Asians could be seated on the basis of equality at the table of the Great American Feast.” (8)
Needless to say he also addresses the matter of black emancipation and those who were ‘already in the country’ though I do not think he was referring to the blacks who were here long before Columbus. In fact there was no race that had not been coming to America since before the time of Christ. Genetics is indeed a powerful tool used in court to free innocent victims of our justice system but so far our history is still allowing lies to victimize our cultural perspectives or myths. It is important that we act as if there is no race except the human race.
Author of Diverse Druids, Columnist for The ES Press Magazine, Guest writer for World-Mysteries.com
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Posted by admin on January 2nd, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
Many words mean the same thing and may be used synonymously in context to make ideas and concepts clear in the process of standard writing. Some synonyms, however, may be used euphemistically to manipulate a reaction of the reader or listener to the context of a statement. Take the word “lie” for instance. The dictionary definition of the word lie is, “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive.” In the year 2003, the definitional use of the word “lie” became ambiguous when applied to the statements made by President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney regarding the imminent danger posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to the United States.
We now know that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction in the months leading up to the Iraqi invasion, nor did the country pose a grave danger to American security. According to the Downing Street Memo, which has been systematically downplayed by the media and ignored by Congress, there is undeniable proof of collusion and conspiracy by the Blair and Bush administrations, months prior to the Iraqi invasion, to deliberately deceive the American and British people into supporting the pending war. Nevertheless, the use of the word “lie” by the media, to apply to the conduct of the Bush Administration, was somehow not deemed proper.
They instead used the word “prevaricate,” which means “to speak falsely, misleadingly, or so as to avoid the truth; deliberately misstate; equivocate; lie.” Though the two words appear to be identical in definition, prevaricate doesn’t carry the same blunt ring of accusation conveyed by using the word “lie.” But is there any real difference? If I said that Peter took the money from an old man without permission, with the intention of keeping it, I might also correctly say that Peter stole the money. Moreover, if I said that Peter took the money and then denied doing it, I could also equivalently say that Peter lied about taking the money. What if I said, instead, that Peter took the money and then prevaricated about doing it? What would be the difference between my two statements? Would the use of the word “prevaricate” change the circumstances or mitigate the act of Peter denying that he stole the money? I think not.
A double standard has always been widely used when considering the conduct of kings, presidents, and prime ministers as opposed to the ordinary people of a nation-state. And the misuse of words and colloquial expressions has commonly been the means whereby the double standard has been applied. This is because kings, emperors, and other monarchs were historically considered sources of law, so they were also rendered as sacrosanct and considered incapable by the people of committing crimes.
If, for example, a divine-right king or emperor had provided the means for his close associates to evade interrogation during an investigation into crimes against the state, would the ruler have been culpable of obstruction of justice? In an historical reference, perhaps not. If the ruler claimed sovereign immunity to be able to commit acts, ordinarily considered crimes, with total impunity, which many kings did, the ruler had an out. Then how about an elected president or prime minister in a contemporary system of laws where everyone in the state are equally charged to obey the law? Equal protection under the law and equal liability for violating the law sound good when legislated as general principles. But by saying that presidents, prime ministers, and ordinary citizens are equal before the law, strict application and enforcement of guiding constitutional principles are ultimately necessary as proof that all people are judged equally in a nation of laws.
So has strict application and enforcement of criminal law been the case in the United States with regard to our Presidents, Vice-Presidents, U.S. Representatives, and U.S. Senators, and all other civil officers in accordance with Article 1, Section 3 and Article 2, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution? Of the “infamous” sixteen federal civil officers impeached since 1789, only one senator, William Blount, was formally investigated in 1799 for high crimes, but was not convicted because, of all things, the Senate declared that it did not have the jurisdiction to try one of their own, which was constitutionally incorrect. The two Presidents on the list, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, were impeached but acquitted of their charges. Of the nine federal judges impeached, six of them were tried, convicted, and removed from office. Three were acquitted. The one Supreme Court justice impeached, Samuel Chase, was acquitted in 1805. No Vice-President has ever been impeached.
Does the foregoing disciplinary record say anything about double standards occurring in the federal criminal justice system? Is it possible that if each aforementioned impeachment acquittal was closely examined in retrospect by an honest county prosecutor, in strict accordance with federal law, would political skullduggery and Machiavellian compromise be found as expedient bases for the adjudged innocence? One prominent senator majority leader once publicly said that trying Presidents and senators for petty criminal offenses is a waste of the Congress’ precious time.
The sanitized Congressional Record didn’t reflect any opposition to this senator’s statement on the Senate floor, so I suppose there were ninety-nine other senators who agreed with him. Perhaps if Richard Nixon had been tried by the Senate for the list of crimes with which he was charged, he would have also been acquitted. Perhaps not. But we do know that Gerald Ford pardoned him before he could be indicted by the Justice Department after resigning from the Presidency.
How about the Presidents, besides Nixon, who got away with committing high crimes while in office definitely like James K. Polk, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, and, possibly, Ronald Reagon and George H. Bush. What did Polk do? He lied to Congress about who started the fight with Mexico in 1848 in order to get a declaration of war against Mexico for the sake of Manifest Destiny. It was Gen. Zachary Taylor who actually started the Mexican War by having one of his soldiers shoot and kill (murder?) a Mexican cavalryman from across the Rio Grande River. Over two-thousand people, both Mexican and American, were killed in that unjust war.
Those Americans who have studied history know about the Teapot Dome Scandal and the acclaimed ignorance of President Warren G. Harding as to the money laundering that occurred between Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall, and an oil operator, Henry F. Sinclair. Several people got rich in the illegal exchange of money, but Harding claimed he didn’t know anything about what was going on. Fall was the only federal officer tried and convicted for the high crime of conspiracy and grand theft. Perhaps, in addition to being considered a failure as a President, Harding should have been impeached and tried by the Senate for presiding over the Teapot Dome Scandal and not doing anything about it.
According to meticulous historical research conducted by Dr. Charles Tansill, Distinguished Professor of Diplomatic History at Georgetown University who wrote “Back Door to War: Roosevelt Foreign Policy, 1933-1941,” John Toland, distinguished writer, historian, and author of “Infamy,” George Morgenstern, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Chicago who served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and wrote the book, “Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War,” published in 1947, Charles A. Beard, noted historian and author of “President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War, 1941: A Study in appearances and Realities,” and Frederick R. Sanborn, historical writer and author of “Design for War: A Study of Secret Politics, 1937-1941,” Franklin D. Roosevelt covertly planned for the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and knew, at least 48 hours in advance, that the Japanese Fleet were going to devastate the vulnerable U.S. Naval Fleet. Because of the many secret documents and records kept from the purview of the Blue Ribbon Pearl Harbor Commission by U.S. Army Intelligence operatives, the commission was not able to ferret out the facts and the disturbing truth about Pearl Harbor and the American entry in World War II.
It wasn’t until the late 1940’s that documents were released by Harry Truman which showed that FDR conducted secret negotiations with Winston Churchill, from 1939 to late 1940, assuring the British prime minister that America would enter the war against Hitler. In knowing that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had knowledge sufficient to warn the Pearl Harbor Naval Command well in advance of the impending Japanese attack, but, instead, ordered his War Department staff to allow the surprise attack to occur, there is no alternative but to call Roosevelt a war criminal who deceived the Congress and the American people. If Congress had known about Roosevelt’s secret negotiations with Churchill and his covert underhanded foreign policy with Japan, there is no doubt that the President would have been impeached for high crimes. Being a cripple and the purported American economic savior do not, in any way, mitigate FDR’s cold calculated strategy to manipulate a neutral nation into world war.
How may less incriminating words be used to euphemize the unnecessary deaths of over 3,000 American GI’s at Pearl Harbor? Isn’t that what the Nazi leaders attempted to do in their defense at the Nuremberg Trials to justify the murder of millions of innocent people? The Iran-Contra Scandal involving Ronald Reagon and George H. Bush was also a play on words. Oliver North deliberately lied to Congress and became a popular folk hero from doing it. In response to allegations, Reagon shrugged his shoulders and simply said, “I don’t remember what happened,” and he was exonerated of all blame. Vice-President George H. Bush, former director of the CIA, testified before Congress that he was out of the loop while the sale of arms for money to support an illegal CIA war operation in El Salvador and Honduras was going on. And no one questioned his veracity. Strangely, he was believed and the investigation into Iran-Contra was halted.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy nut to read between the lines and discover that contemporary American history reveals some startling facts about corrupt political behavior. Illegal agreements between federal officers to commit acts which are against the law and of the land and the interests of the people are called criminal conspiracies. In a nation of laws, criminal government conspiracies cannot be endorsed, tolerated, or ignored. Similarly, words of equal meaning cannot be used to lessen the severity of criminal acts committed by supposedly honorable public servants. When this happens, the darkest of evil may triumph under the guise of pseudonyms and aliases.
Norton R. Nowlin holds M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Tyler, an advanced paralegal certification, with honors, from Edmonds Community College, in Lynnwood, Washington, and one year of law school from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, in San Diego, California. In addition to the foregoing academic attainments, Mr. Nowlin has earned 70 post-graduate semester hours in economics, history, sociology, and business from Pepperdine and National Universities. In 1985, Mr. Nowlin successfully completed the 72nd San Diego County Sheriff’s Academy, at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, as a San Diego County Deputy Sheriff. Mr. Nowlin is presently a paralegal specialist for the Board of Veteran’s Appeals in the Office of Veteran’s Affairs, in Washington, D.C., and the father of the three grown children. He is married to the physicist, mathematician, and professional tutor, Diane C. Nowlin. Mr. Nowlin resides with his wife and two very intelligent cats in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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Posted by admin on January 1st, 2009 — Posted in Education + Training
Although it was produced in 1604, William Shakespeare’s play Othello still relates to the everyday situations of certain people. In the play, Shakespeare gives the reader situations of misguided trust, wrongful mistrust, and overpowering love. All of which are still around in modern lives, especially that of my own.
Today it often occurs that people tend to keep their enemies closer than their friends. This is done in hopes that the person can undermine his enemy with friendly persuasion to participate in a wrong doing rather than using brute force. In the story, Iago befriends Othello in hopes of one day gaining Cassio’s position of Lieutenant. Because he feels overlooked for the position, Iago convinces Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio to ruin the trust Othello and Cassio have for each other. This has also happened in my life; when I was dating my last girlfriend, a guy at school, or my so called Iago, tried his hardest to become my friend and convince me that my girlfriend was cheating on me with my best friend. The situation even got to the point where he had tried to plant evidence to prove his accusations.
As a result of the false friendships, there was also an added mistrust towards the women of both Othello’s and my own lives. When Iago hid the handkerchief in Cassio’s possession, Othello asked Desdemona if she had her handkerchief and of course she could not find it; Othello then begins to accept Iago’s accusations of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness, and like Othello, I also began to wonder if my girlfriend might actually be unfaithful to me.
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Posted by admin on December 29th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
A little girl came up to her mom in the store and she asked, Mom do we celebrate Hanukah? The little girl had obviously seen a sign in the store that said Celebrate Hanukah next to some merchandise. The mom said no we do not celebrate hanakah, but pointed to a lady sitting in the bookstore in the middle of the café and said that lady over there does. The girl asked her mom, what does Hanukah do? The mom said; ask the lady with the gold circle necklace over there.
So the little girl went over to the lady with the Mr. “T” size golden circle with the Star of David emblem in the middle. The girl said. My mom says you celebrate Hanukah, but we don’t, why don’t we celebrate Hanukah too. The lady said probably because you celebrate Christmas, the girl said ‘OH’, yes we do celebrate Christmas every year. But why can’t we celebrate both? The lady said that the bible is in two parts and we believe in the first part and not so much all of the second part. We believe that Jesus was a very very important person, but we believe there is another important person coming one day. The little girl said OH. The lady said you are Christian and I am Jewish. The little girl said oh. The lady said Merry Christmas and the girl said thank you. And the older lady told the girl if she had any Jewish friends that she should wish them Happy Hannaka.
The girl said okay then. “Happy Hanukah” the little girl said. The girl went back to her mom and said, that the lady was very nice and that she now understands the difference and why they did not celebrate Hanukah. Her mom smiled across the café at the older Jewish Lady with the huge golden circle containing the Star of David on it and mouthed the words; ‘thank you so much’. The older Jewish lady just blinked and smiled back. This is a true story, I witnessed in a Barnes and Noble Book Store in Ft Myers FL.
It makes me so glad to be an American with Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Hindu, Catholic, LDS, Scientologist, and Christian friends; what a great nation. What a great country to live in. We should be thankful for what we have built and fight hard to protect it. It was so interesting to here the café come to a silence listening to how the wise Jewish lady was going to explain this to an innocent little girl. I felt a sigh of relief come over the entire room as the Older Jewish lady fielded the question perfectly. I think everyone in the room learned something that afternoon. I do not know who that lady was, but it is so good to see the patience and understanding she had. What if the whole world was like that?
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
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Posted by admin on December 29th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Original Tribal masks are often seen by unknowing eyes as art objects in themselves. That is not the case, unless of course they are modern copies. A tribal mask has embued power and is alive during the ceremony for which it is used. An African visitor to a London museum stated, “This mask is dead.” He was seeing the mask out of context, it had lost its power for the people who created it and the the magic had died.
To the collectors eyes the very appearance of the mask and the story behind it leads to the magic. The mysterious art forms drawing on the imagination and a need to interpret. As a piece of art it has the power to involve the observer in fathoming meaning to reach an understanding. This can move the viewer into a different frame of reference. Touching a life style that is at once strange and distance, yet it has the feel of something closer to home. A paradox that seems to arise in studying older tribal ways. In a collection this is magic.
It is also important to appreciate that nearly all masks are part of a full costume. Often the costume is made from less durable materials and does not survive. Indeed some masks are also made of less durable materials, such as the basketery Yam mask, created by the Abelam in Papua New Guinea. And again some masks are destroyed as part of the ceremony for which they are used.
The commonality in masking traditions
Delving back into the earliest recordings, historically, a visit to the caves of Trois Feres in France is enlightening. Picture this painted Paleolithic scene.
A central figure stands wearing the head and antlers of a deer. He stands, shaman like, surround by animals. Animals that are important to the culture he represents. Some of the animals no longer exist in this area. Ibex, reindeer, bison, stag and horses. The shaman, for that is what he seems to be, stands, a human figure amongst the potential food. What magic he is creating or ancestors he is communicating with we do not know. Yet from our knowledge of tribal people studied in times closer to ours it is possible to understand the links. The need to hunt for food is essential to survival. The gods link all matters, stay in good standing with the gods and food will be available. Take only what can be used fairly and do not violate the natural laws. Life goes on, following the seasons. There is a balance to life and death. The link between them is maintained by the magician, shaman, wizard, witch doctor, whatever you wish to call him.
During my studies of masks this relationship between the magical and the shaman constantly arises. There is a commonality between the ancient cultures of the Pacific West Coast of North America ( now Canada and Alaska ) and the tribal traditions of Africa. Fertility, the hunted animal, ancestors, initiation, circumcision, cannibalism real and symbolic, healing and crossing over into the spirit world for guidance and healing powers or to appease the gods or ancestors. All these occur in different traditions spread around the world.
As you allow yourself to delve into the traditions surrounding masks in Europe something interesting arises. Here the traditions have been sanitised by the surrounding culture and the church. Yet when you delve back and attempt to understand the masking traditions, now displayed as folk lore, ineresting parallels are revealed. Whilst in Belgium I witnessed a processions depicting witches and and modern giants. Other masquerades also have links to witchcraft and by implication to shaman. One powerful link is the seasonal nature of many traditions. The Green man and the Hobby horse being two examples.
Forgive me. I could continue to wax lyrical about the links in our current traditions seen as folk lore to those of our ancient ancestors. To me there is a tremnedous link which is bound up with the very nature of the people we are and how we have developed. Our formative roots live in our societies now. That is why I find masks so powerfully evocative. Along with other forms of primitive and traditional art we can trace our own links to earlier times. Even today the shaman / magician exists following ancient magik rules.
Even modern latex masks contain some of the same magic, because they are linked back to the same collective unconcious and traditions of masquerade, disguise and the spirit world. As a school teacher I have come across some quite vociferous reactions by parents to having Halloween in school. Some see its pagan links and reject it. The seam runs deep into the modern psyche. Perhaps the most potent place to view this link is in the Mexican Day of the Dead Celebrations. This festival combines a mix of Christian and Pagan practices. In particular Halloween has a juxtaposition between the dead and children. Here children are masked to scare away the evil spirits and look after the dead. By this means a link with the ancestors and children is perpetuated.
Another fascinating link between the masks of many cultures is the fool. The fool has many characteristics, the most noticeable of which is paradox. The fool can be wise and foolish; handsome and ugly; playful and barbaric. He straddles the line between the extremes of the other masks switching from one role to the other. Perhaps the fool simply represents the many dualities and paradoxes in life.
Also the fool plays a full part in the staging of the ritual. Noohlmahl in the Kwakwaka’wakw rituals is a grotesque creature covered in hair with snot pouring from his nose. He struts about entertaining the crowd, making jokes and anticipating reponses. Should the reponses become too familiar a violent response could be expected. Of course the responses to the watchers comments could be of another more humourous nature. Surprise and paradox are essential to the nature of all fools. Another of his jobs is to control the children. He treads the line between clowning for them and ensuring that they do not disrupt proceedings. As with the inappropriate comments from adults a violent response can be provoked should the children, literally, over step the line.
To return to my original point masks are a way into the very nature of our being. The mythology of the Palaeolithic times is linked directly to tribal mask and western folk lore masks. For me this is why the mask holds such power and magic. The mask allows us to physically touch and share our past in a way which few objects can do. Tribal Masks carry a universal signature that appeals to our nature.
© Ian Bracegirdle 2004 1 Elderberry Close East Morton BD20 5WA UK 01535 692207
http://mask-and-more-masks.com You may use this article freely on condition that you include this copyright line and URL and that people who subsequently use this article follow the same conditions. Thank you for accepting these conditions.
Ian Bracegirdle is a teacher, course leader and therapist. He is the creator of the site
http://www.mask-and-more-masks.com a site for all interested in masks. Ian is fascinated by the art form of masks as well as the cultural connotations. He has researched many areas of masks and recognise commonlinks in many ancient traditions. He believes our current masking traditions are linked back to the time of shaman and other forms of magic predating monotheist religions.The earliest masking records are at least 25,000 years old.
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Posted by admin on December 27th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
There are many things to take into consideration before you are ready to place your order. You will first want to make a list of the people you plan to send the Graduation Invitation or Graduation Announcement to. This will help you to avoid a shortage of invitations. After you have the quantity you need, you will want to make sure you have all the correct information regarding the actual Graduation. You will need the place and the time of the Graduation. When choosing a verse, you will want the wording of your Invitation or Announcement to be written in a way that meets the requirements of the school. Some schools only allow a few family members to attend, where other schools allow you to invite as many people as you like. You may want to consider sending out an announcement verses an invitation if your school has a limit. An invitation invites them to attend and an announcement contains information that informs them that the event is going to happen or it has already happened.
One of the great advantages of ordering your own personalized Graduation Invitations or Graduation Announcements is the ability to order your Graduation Announcements or Invitations and include your name as part of the printed verse. This will give your invitation a more personalized appearance. You have the option of choosing different ink colors as well as customizing your wording. If you choose to have your name printed in the verse, you do not necessarily need to order name cards. Some students like to give these away, however you would not need them for your actual Announcement or Invitation.
Article courtesy of Jeff Fain from Dependable Printing
Jeff is the owner of Dependable Printing.
www.dependableprinting.com
jeff@dependableprinting.com
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Posted by admin on December 27th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Not everyone could manage a stagecoach. The stagecoach driver was held in higher esteem when on the summit of the Sierra than was the millionaire statesman who might be riding beside him.
While most stage drivers were sober, at least while on duty, nearly all were fond of an occasional “eye opener.” A good driver was the captain of his craft. He was feared by his timid passengers, awed by stable boys, and was the trusty agent of his employer.
The seat next to the driver, weather permitting, was the preferred seat of the men passengers. But this was one seat that was reserved, and it was not gotten by simply being the first to hop on the left front wheel rim and climbing into the box.
If the driver didn’t want the person who took the seat there, he would firmly order him down, and then enjoy the passenger’s discomfiture for the next ten miles.
To sit in the driver’s seat, one proceeded very much in the manner of securing an appointment to a high office. He went to the source of authorityabove the driver himselfto the superintendent and even to the president of the company.
Charlie Parkhurst was one of the more skillful stagecoach drivers, not only in California, but throughout the west. He was variously called “One-eyed” or “Cockeyed” Charlie, because he had lost an eye when kicked by a horse. For 20 years, he drove stagecoach in California.
Twice Charlie was held up. The first time, he was forced to throw down his strongbox because he was unarmed. The second time, he was prepared.
When a road agent ordered the stage to stop and commanded Charlie to throw down its strongbox, Parkhurst leveled a shotgun blast into the chest of the outlaw, whipped his horses into a full gallop, and left the bandit in the road.
One-eyed Charlie was known as one of the toughest, roughest, and the most daring of stagecoach drivers. Like most drivers, he was proud of his skill in the extremely difficult job as “whip.” Proper handling of the horses and the great coaches was an art that required much practice, experience, and not the least, courage.
Whips received high salaries for the times, sometimes as much as $125 a month, plus room and board.
“How in the world can you see your way through this dust?” one passenger asked Charlie.
“Smell it. Fact is,” Charlie replied, “I’ve traveled over these mountains so often I can tell where the road is by the sound of the wheels. When they rattle, I’m on hard ground; when they don’t rattle I gen’r'lly look over the side to see where she’s agoing.”
Yet, little was really known about Charlie Parkhurst before or after he came to California. It wasn’t until his body was prepared for burial that his true secret was discovered.
Charlotte “Charlie” Parkhurst was a woman. One doctor claimed that at some point in her life, she had been a mother.
Unknowingly, Parkhurst could claim a national first. After voting on Election Day, November 3, 1868, Charlie was probably the first woman to cast a ballot in any election. It wasn’t until 52 years later that the right to vote was guaranteed to women by the nineteenth amendment.
All stagecoach drivers, including Charlie, considered their whips worth their weight in gold. Drivers considered their whips a badge of honor.
Some drivers would as soon be caught without their pants as without their whips. Many of the whips used by the stage drivers were fine works of art, generally ornamented with handcrafted silver ferules girdling a handle made of hickory. Many of these whips are prized museum pieces today.
Whips were never sold, loaned, borrowed, or traded. In his book, “Stagecoach Days in Santa Barbara County, Walker A. Tompkins wrote, “Whips were considered a part of the driver, who kept the lashes well-oiled and as pliable as “a snake in the sun.”
Most stagecoach whips had buckskin lashes, usually from 11 to 12 feet in length, attached to a five-foot hickory shaft. The lashes were 10 feet too short to reach the lead team, which was controlled by reining.
Some rare drivers did carry a “six-horse whip” with a 22-foot lash, but these were mainly for circus and rodeo appearances, and considered too unwieldy for practical use.
The driver took his whip with him when off duty, and always hung it up. He never rested it in a corner for fear of warping the stock. Neither did he wrap the lash around the handle for fear of curling the thongs.
Stagecoach drivers were scornful of the way they were depicted in the movies. The top-grade stagecoach drivers used cracking of the whip sparingly. These drivers were concerned that the “pistol-shot” sounds made by the whips would only startle their passengers out of their naps or, worse yet, spook their teams.
Roads had to be built at public expense before stagecoaches were given a route. Some were little more than ox-cart tracks linking the various ranchos. Even the El Camino Real, the storied “King’s Highway”, was little more than a foot trail.
A tale is told about stage driver Whispering George Cooper. He got his name because of his loud bellow, which was said could be heard for miles, even against a wind, while he pushed his team up a treacherous pass.
At one point, Whispering George needed to repair a broken single tree that had developed a bad split. He scoured the stage for a bit of rope or a scrap of baling wire, to make the repair.
At that moment, a rattlesnake slithering across the road in front of them spooked his team. George killed the snake, which measured five feet or more in length. A passenger commented how much the snake resembled a rope.
“By gawd, that’s what I’ll use it for!” exclaimed George. He wrapped the dead snake around the single tree and knotted it into place. It worked, holding the damaged single tree together until it reached a relay station.
The term “stagecoach” came about in medieval Europe, when public coach travel was the only way one could get from one point to another without walking.
Trips were generally made in easy stages because of bad roads and the lack of overnight lodgings along the way. Hence, the term “stage” coach.
Alton Pryor has been a writer for magazines, newspapers, and wire services. He worked for United Press International in their Sacramento Bureau, handling both printed press as well as radio news. He traveled the state as a field editor for California Farmer Magazine for 27 years. He is now the author of 10 books, primarily on California and western history. His books can be seen at www.stagecoachpublishing.com Readers can email him at stagecoach@surewest.net.
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