tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25633293778571500332024-03-13T22:23:34.712-04:00The Metaphysical TravelerJohn Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-56642570414941019812014-03-07T12:31:00.004-05:002014-03-07T12:37:24.864-05:00SANTA MUERTE CULT AT MY NEW BLOG<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Read about Mexico's fascinating cult of Santa Muerte at my new Metaphysical Traveler blog location:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><a href="http://jkachuba.com/metaphysical-traveler-blog/"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://jkachuba.com/metaphysical-traveler-blog/</span></span></a></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you!metaphysical-traveler-blog/</span></span></span>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-51568842645980144582014-01-15T17:41:00.001-05:002014-01-15T17:45:12.048-05:00<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello Friends,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am moving my Metaphysical Traveler blog to the following location:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><a href="http://jkachuba.com/metaphysical-traveler-blog"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>jkachuba.com/metaphysical-traveler-blog</b></span></span></a></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Please switch to the new URL and be sure to click "subscribe" to make sure you receive notifications of new postings.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Go now to the site and read my latest posting about Mexico's Day of the Dead Festiaval and learn how you can join me in Oaxaca, Mexico on my </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qVA9CoW2txA/UtcN_y0XtMI/AAAAAAAAAOo/ddjYxDMmROU/s1600/309479_439031846117801_1368955188_n_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qVA9CoW2txA/UtcN_y0XtMI/AAAAAAAAAOo/ddjYxDMmROU/s1600/309479_439031846117801_1368955188_n_1.jpg" height="200" width="172" /></a></span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">DAY OF THE DEAD 2014 CULTURAL TOUR!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks for following! I hope to see you at the new location.</span></span><br />
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-20601830971347549712013-11-12T19:14:00.002-05:002013-11-14T11:29:02.220-05:00SPIRIT GUIDES<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Many
cultures around the world believe that the spirit realm is a helpful one and
that spirits are charged with helping humans in seeking wisdom, insight and
guidance. These spirit guides, as they are collectively known, are described in
various ways, depending upon the culture. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQ_X59K8aWg/UoLAa4CKKwI/AAAAAAAAANk/1OCj9SlRb2Y/s1600/channeling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQ_X59K8aWg/UoLAa4CKKwI/AAAAAAAAANk/1OCj9SlRb2Y/s320/channeling.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Christianity
speaks of guardian angels, spiritual beings that were always spirit and never
human, as protectors of humans. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xXC_PKP8UUI/UoLAoRbPe7I/AAAAAAAAANw/6p2ZQ9NXyMU/s1600/The_Archangel_Michael_copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xXC_PKP8UUI/UoLAoRbPe7I/AAAAAAAAANw/6p2ZQ9NXyMU/s320/The_Archangel_Michael_copy.jpg" width="253" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
St. Michael the Archangel </span></span><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">is often invoked by
paranormal investigators for his protection against evil spirits.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Muslims
believe that each person has with him two angels, one good, one bad. These
angels strive to persuade their human host to follow their inclinations for
good or evil. Think of those cartoons in which an angel is depicted whispering
into one ear of a person while a devil is depicted whispering sinful
temptations into the person’s other ear and you will get the picture.</span>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But
not all spirit guides are angels. Spiritualists believe that we continue to
grow and learn after death in an afterlife they call Summerland. Further, they
believe that it is possible for those of us here on Earth to communicate with
our loved ones that have <i>passed into
spirit,</i> as Spiritualists would say. Those that are now in spirit take on
the role of helping their living relatives by communicating with them through
mediums.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
visited a Spiritualist medium in Cassadaga, Florida as I researched my book <i>Ghosthunters</i>. As my reading progressed,
the medium said that he saw two women standing behind me. He identified them as
my grandmothers. The medium said that the women were there as my spirit guides. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-egtVo9SR1TE/UoLCMI3o7yI/AAAAAAAAAN4/8u5yTymgATE/s1600/Anna+Kachuba+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-egtVo9SR1TE/UoLCMI3o7yI/AAAAAAAAAN4/8u5yTymgATE/s320/Anna+Kachuba+-+Copy.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna Kachuba</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He said that Anna, my paternal grandmother, was always with me because she had
never known me in life but that my maternal grandmother, Francesca, popped in
and out of my life, checking up on me as it were. My paternal grandmother died
when my father was just a boy so I obviously never knew her. My maternal
grandmother died when I was seven years old but I do have fond memories of
visiting with her. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
concept of spirit guides has been around forever and, even though it may not be
as defined for us as it is for Spiritualists, the popular notion that spirit
guides exist is found in almost all cultures and throughout the ages. I have
examined that concept in some of my writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
my e-book novel <i>Shantok</i> the spirit of
Uncas, a 17<sup>th</sup> century Native American leader in New England appears
to Ray Dawes, a modern-day Native American imprisoned, accused of murder. Ray
is a spiritual person and does not think it unusual that Uncas appears to him
several times to give Ray hope and guidance. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shantok-A-Murder-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00F6Y3G2O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379208893&sr=1-1&keywords=shantok" target="_blank"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h4kJqAvu460/UoLCi_g-ImI/AAAAAAAAAOA/GreHDGw6VL4/s200/Shantok+cover+final.jpg" width="141" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
<i>The Savage Apostle</i>, my novel about
the outbreak of King Philip’s War in New England, the spirits of the sachem
Philip’s father and brother appear to him at a time when the sachem was
conflicted about how to lead his people away from war. The two spirits sit and
smoke a pipe with Philip and leave him with advice, as well as a warning,
before departing for the Happy Lands.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Are
spirit guides real? That’s a loaded question. Are spirits real? Is God real? If
we accept that there is mystery in the universe, that it is not necessary for
us to see, hear, or touch something in order for it to be real, then there is
no reason why spirit guides cannot be real. Certainly, they are real enough for
those of us that have experienced them in some way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And
many of us have experienced them. When we are tempted down a wrong path, but
choose more wisely, or when we are led down that wrong path but then come to understand
the error of our ways, we say our conscience has corrected the situation. Where
does that conscience come from? Is it something innate in all of us, something
organic to our nature, or is it something else? Might it be possible that when
we hear our conscience speaking to us we are actually hearing our spirit guides
coming to our aid?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
maintain a daily practice of meditation and during that time I sit quietly,
listening for whatever might want to speak. Disregarding my own thoughts I try
to go deeper to a place where my mind unlocks, a place where all doors open. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AYGvzVEUegQ/UoLC1HdNC4I/AAAAAAAAAOI/A05tl5_aIqk/s1600/ec5660015cd44501a86107a052e01a231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AYGvzVEUegQ/UoLC1HdNC4I/AAAAAAAAAOI/A05tl5_aIqk/s320/ec5660015cd44501a86107a052e01a231.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> It
is in that place where I have sometimes discovered a voice not my own. Her
voice—for it strikes me as female—is heard inaudibly, with my mind rather than
my ear, yet it sounds as real as though she were in the room with me.
“Elizabeth,” as her name came to me, has given me some creative insights into
my work and I continue to seek her out in meditation.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How
many of you have come in contact with your spirit guides? What stories do you
have to tell?</span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-42777988783053497002013-08-26T16:01:00.001-04:002013-08-26T16:07:20.787-04:00THE CONJURING, THE WARRENS, AND ME.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Whenever anyone lists famous American ghosthunters the names of Ed
and Lorraine Warren are always at the top of the list. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nnTch7zcLcI/Uhuyl5MfnbI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mzNHoYidt0I/s1600/Ed+&+Lorraine+Warren+(courtesy+Lorraine+Warren).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nnTch7zcLcI/Uhuyl5MfnbI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mzNHoYidt0I/s320/Ed+&+Lorraine+Warren+(courtesy+Lorraine+Warren).jpg" width="287" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <span style="color: white;">Although Ed passed away
several years ago, Lorraine is still going strong, still giving public talks
about ghosts, still appearing on television and radio and lately, consulting on
a movie—<i>The Conjuring</i>. I did see the
movie and was impressed by how well the actors portraying the Warrens
demonstrated the couple’s compassion for the people that sought them out. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I first met the Warrens many years ago when I was living in
Monroe, Connecticut, their hometown. The old abandoned settlement of Dudleytown
caught my attention and I visited the place as I was doing my research. My
interest was not in the paranormal—at the time I knew nothing of Dudleytown’s
alleged haunted history—but was strictly historical. However, when my photos of
the place revealed what appeared to be a face peering out from one of the
cellar holes, I called the Warrens.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">They graciously invited me to their home and reviewed my photos.
They also showed me dozens of photos they had taken at Dudleytown; they all
showed anomalies of some kind. We talked at length about Dudleytown and other
haunted sites in Connecticut. I didn’t know a lot about ghosts and ghosthunting
before that time, but the Warrens gave me an earful that evening and the
interest has stayed with me.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I wrote about that first meeting with the Warrens in my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ghosthunters-Mediums-Investigators-Americas-Paranormal/dp/1564149374/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377546153&sr=1-1&keywords=ghosthunters+on+the+trail+of+mediums"><i></i></a><i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums,Dowsers, Spirit Seekers and Other Investigators of America’s Paranormal World</a></i>. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-X0_yteP1s/UhuzD1GV_II/AAAAAAAAANE/qw0Jsn0Q51c/s1600/book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-X0_yteP1s/UhuzD1GV_II/AAAAAAAAANE/qw0Jsn0Q51c/s200/book+cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
<span style="color: white;">That chapter also contains a story about my much later visit to the Warrens
after Ed had suffered his debilitating stroke. In between those two visits, Ed
kindly wrote the Afterword in my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ghosthunting-Ohio-Haunted-Heartland-Kachuba/dp/1578601819/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377546255&sr=1-1&keywords=ghosthunting+ohio"><i>GhosthuntingOhio</i></a>. Only a few months after that visit to their home, Ed passed away.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mV4fADJiGwk/UhuzjXtR9VI/AAAAAAAAANM/FOM42ZBl4Ns/s1600/GH_Ohio_cover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mV4fADJiGwk/UhuzjXtR9VI/AAAAAAAAANM/FOM42ZBl4Ns/s320/GH_Ohio_cover.JPG" width="203" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What I remember most about the Warrens was the compassion the
couple showed toward me, somebody they didn’t know, some guy that just called
them on the phone. Clearly, they considered their work to be important in both
a physical and spiritual sense and they welcomed with open arms and open hearts
anyone that showed the same serious interest in the paranormal. I try to be the
same way and feel that I am paying them back whenever I help a novice
ghosthunter.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: white;">That initial meeting also left me with the germ of an idea that
took root years later as a novella titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Entry-ebook/dp/B008OZEWTS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346003398&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+entry"><i>DarkEntry</i></a>. Available as an electronic book on Amazon.com, the book is an
imaginative journey into the haunted legends about Dudleytown.</span> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HkPViuZifpE/Uhuz2srBLlI/AAAAAAAAANU/bDWR4Zd2kco/s1600/dark+entry+FB+tag+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HkPViuZifpE/Uhuz2srBLlI/AAAAAAAAANU/bDWR4Zd2kco/s320/dark+entry+FB+tag+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fact and fiction
come together to weave what I hope you will agree is a terrifying paranormal
tale. Read it with the lights on.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
</span></span></div>
John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-46369857106405254842013-07-10T12:06:00.002-04:002013-07-10T12:06:29.854-04:00THE WENDIGO<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I have always been a Johnny
Depp fan so it was a foregone conclusion that I would see him in the role of
Tonto in <i>The Lone Ranger</i> movie. Unfortunately,
the movie was a flop and Depp did not play the role of a disturbed Native
American loner as much as he played the role of Johnny Depp in war-paint. But
Tonto’s assertion that he was the last of the Comanche wendigo hunters interested
me and I thought a discussion about wendigos would be timely for this blog.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The wendigo (spellings vary
among Native American peoples) is a demonic spirit that appears in the
traditions of Algonquin peoples along the Atlantic coast and in the northern US
and Canada. Associated with winter, the North, coldness—as well as famine and
starvation—the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being with
great spiritual power.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Basil Johnston, an Ojibwe
teacher and scholar describes the wendigo:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span>The Weendigo was gaunt to the point of
emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones
pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its
eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Weendigo looked like a gaunt
skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered
and bloody [....] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the
Weendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death
and corruption.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span> </span></i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TZbY-MQYjAg/Ud2Eh0Y6QkI/AAAAAAAAAMM/GK3o0zyNw8c/s1600/Wendigo_Color_SH_21_FEB_2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TZbY-MQYjAg/Ud2Eh0Y6QkI/AAAAAAAAAMM/GK3o0zyNw8c/s320/Wendigo_Color_SH_21_FEB_2011.jpg" width="204" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span> </span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It was
believed that a person could be turned into a wendigo if he engaged in
cannibalism, as in a time of famine. A person could also be possessed by a wendigo
appearing in his dreams. In some cultures, wendigos were depicted as giants. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOpPOL5zCTg/Ud2EsxWwkgI/AAAAAAAAAMU/6XvI_l4O394/s1600/Wendigo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOpPOL5zCTg/Ud2EsxWwkgI/AAAAAAAAAMU/6XvI_l4O394/s320/Wendigo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The wendigo had an insatiable appetite for human flesh and so came to epitomize
gluttony, greed, and excess. Some wendigo stories say that the wendigo would
grow in proportion to the human body it had just eaten, so that it could never
be sated. </span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Wendigo
Psychosis</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>There is an interesting—but
rare—psychological phenomena that supposedly occurred among Algonquin peoples in
which the sufferer believed he had become a wendigo (I say “supposedly” because
there is much debate over whether or not the condition actually existed.).
These people may have consumed human flesh at some point, perhaps in famine,
and so, developed an insatiable appetite for it, thus becoming wendigos.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In <i>The Lone
Ranger</i> movie, Tonto believes that the outlaw Butch Cavendish is a wendigo and
there is a scene in the film in which Cavendish cuts out an unrecognizable
organ from the body of Ranger Dan Reid and apparently eats it. Algonquin
peoples would affirm that such a barbaric act would turn Cavendish into a wendigo.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Whether or
no wendigo psychosis, as it is called, is real or not there have been cases of human
behavior that mimic the wendigo.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bHlmwuuikM4/Ud2FtbKvWII/AAAAAAAAAMk/Hoqkiz0ULEc/s1600/wendigo_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bHlmwuuikM4/Ud2FtbKvWII/AAAAAAAAAMk/Hoqkiz0ULEc/s320/wendigo_web.jpg" width="238" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">One of the more famous cases of
wendigo psychosis involved a Plains Cree<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_Cree" title="Plains Cree"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></a> trapper from Alberta
named Swift Runner. During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were
starving, and his eldest son died. Twenty-five miles away from emergency food
supplies at a Hudson's Bay Company post, Swift Runner
butchered and ate his wife and five remaining children. Given that he resorted
to cannibalism so near to food supplies and that he killed and consumed the
remains of all those present, it was revealed that Swift Runner's was not a
case of pure cannibalism as a last resort to avoid starvation, but rather of a
man suffering from wendigo psychosis. He eventually confessed and was executed
by authorities at Fort Saskatchewan.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">Another well-known case involving
wendigo psychosis was that of Jack Fiddler,
an Oji-Cree chief and shaman known for his powers in defeating Wendigos. In some cases this entailed euthanizing
(some might say, murdering) people suffering from wendigo psychosis; as a
result, in 1907, Fiddler and his brother Joseph were arrested by the Canadian
authorities for murder. Jack committed suicide, but Joseph was tried and
sentenced to life in prison. He was ultimately granted a pardon, but died three
days later in jail before receiving the news of this pardon.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">Wendigo legends persist today and
the wendigo can be found in many modern horror stories and films. If the
legends live on, one must wonder if somewhere in the vast, trackless North the
wendigo itself lives on, forever hunting human flesh.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0KarwQIfFJ0/Ud2F8uOyBsI/AAAAAAAAAMs/_U_0Ze6mlY4/s1600/who_what_where_wendigo_by_lukedenby-d4cz6oi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0KarwQIfFJ0/Ud2F8uOyBsI/AAAAAAAAAMs/_U_0Ze6mlY4/s400/who_what_where_wendigo_by_lukedenby-d4cz6oi.jpg" width="255" /></a></span></span></div>
<br />
John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-24681988919897889192013-05-23T18:06:00.002-04:002013-05-23T18:06:36.520-04:00IMPROBABLE TRUTHS: NOTES ON THE SCIENCE OF GHOST HUNTING<!--[if !mso]>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I’m pleased to post this guest blog from my friend Micah Hanks.
I know you will enjoy reading it.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>What are ghosts? How can they be studied, or is there even
merit to the study of paranormal occurrences that remain on the “fringe” in
terms of their ability to be proven scientifically?</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>To say, precisely, what a ghost is would be about as simple
as weighing the soul, something else that has been attempted in the past. The
problem here, of course, is that in general terms, the idea of a “soul” is more
like a concept—similar to human perception of time—and while we can seemingly
perceive its effects, putting our finger on any physical, measurable quantity
is more difficult to do. For now, I’ll leave you to think about that, as we’ll
be coming back to the problems with saying, with certainty, what a ghost is in
just a moment. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It was my own interest in this subject, as well as some of
the logical issues that arise from pondering what, exactly, a ghost may be,
that led me to begin visiting The Reynolds Mansion, an antebellum bed and
breakfast located in Asheville, North Carolina. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mYi7sk2Lieg/UZ6RrZY802I/AAAAAAAAALg/O9H2oPETurw/s1600/RM10_ExteriorWinter-3_DXO+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mYi7sk2Lieg/UZ6RrZY802I/AAAAAAAAALg/O9H2oPETurw/s320/RM10_ExteriorWinter-3_DXO+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It remains one of the oldest
buildings in the area and is a virtual treasure trove for the history buff or
antique enthusiast. It is also a bit unusual, in that its present owners, Billy
Sanders and Michael Griffith, have a particular penchant for the classic films
of yesteryear, especially old horror films. Therefore, visitors to the Reynolds
Mansion will find the building both tastefully and expertly decorated with the
colors and styles ranging from the antebellum period to the present day, and
yet interspersed within the mansion’s rooms and corridors, there are also
quaint reminders of the owners’ interest in the macabre. Classic movie posters,
statuettes and figurines, and in one instance, a pair of portraits hanging on
the wall in the library on adjacent walls display the eerie visage of Barnabas
Collins, the cryptic familial keeper of Collinwood on the popular 1960s soap
opera “Dark Shadows,” along with his long-lost bride, Josette DuPress. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>And yet, rather strangely, while their interest in the
unusual is obvious to any visitor, Sanders and Griffith are practical when it
comes to their interpretation of ghostly phenomenon. During a recent visit, I
recall asking Billy, who works as the innkeeper, whether he thought any ghosts
actually resided there at all. “I prefer to think of them as being something
energetic,” he told me. “For some reason, I have a hard time thinking there are
just spirits of the dead wandering around Reynolds Mansion for all eternity.” </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The idea of what, precisely, a ghost is—or is not—is part of
what initially attracted me to Reynolds Mansion. Granted, the home is very
beautiful, and it boasts of southern splendor from every darkened corner and
each of its cozy rooms. But there have been enough stories about the place,
shared mostly by the guests who have visited there, which remind us of its
alleged “haunting.” The Reynolds Mansion has no history of death, nor was it
ever raided, ransacked, or razed during the Civil War. There was a significant
renovation carried out around the turn of the last century by Nathaniel Augustus
Reynolds, during which the mansion had an additional floor added, elevating the
already very large Federal Style home to a three floor brick mansion. <br />
Strangely, it is from this third floor where the majority of the ghostly
activity seems to emanate. Psychics, paranormal investigators, and general
curiosity seekers have come and gone, at the kind, though occasional allowance
of Sanders and Griffith, reporting to have seen, felt, or otherwise determined
the presence of a little girl who seems to reside there around the vicinity of
what, today, is called Maggie’s Room. According to descriptions of the girl,
based on what those who have seen her have related of her--manner of dress, how
she wears her hair, and other attributes--some have suggested that she may be
the spirit of Annie Lee Reynolds, one of the home’s former residents. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>During my research for what would become the book <i>Reynolds Mansion: An Invitation to the Past</i>,
I uncovered <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RWbmPSlCUDc/UZ6Q-4IUAZI/AAAAAAAAALY/zmruZ6swNc8/s1600/Annie+Lee+Reynolds+1+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RWbmPSlCUDc/UZ6Q-4IUAZI/AAAAAAAAALY/zmruZ6swNc8/s320/Annie+Lee+Reynolds+1+(2).jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annie Lee Reynolds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
some rather interesting things about Miss Reynolds. For one, she had
indeed made the Reynolds Mansion her home for most of her life, and curiously
(especially for the period), she had never married. However, there were no
horrible deaths, illness, or other reasons for an untimely demise; Annie Lee
simply died of old age, and was later buried in the Reynolds family plot at
Riverside Cemetery, just across town. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>While there is some history that has become interspersed
into the legend of the Reynolds ghost, handed down from owner to owner over the
years, it seems that the legend is perhaps just that: a legend, which borrowed
here and there from convenient historical truths about the place in order to
put together a story of mystery and intrigue. And of course, going into my
research of the history—as well as the alleged haunting—at Reynolds Mansion, I
had already armed myself with a few questions that I felt the mansion, if
anything, might help me come to terms with. Seldom, for instance, does an
investigator of the unexplained have what would amount to being a laboratory at
their disposal for studying the location of an alleged haunting. And yet, with
Reynolds Mansion, I knew that, if the stories were true, this might be, in
essence, such a location where repeatability might come into question. In other
words, if ghosts appeared here with any degree of frequency, then perhaps if
the conditions were right I would be able to see one. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Again, we come back to the question of what a ghost may
actually be, and if people are actually seeing them at various old homes and
other historic buildings around the world, what allows them to be seen? Is
there energy behind their presence, and if so, why do images that seem to be in
keeping with events of the past seem to “repeat” in such an environment?
Another question would be whether a ghost is always just a replaying of past
events, or if it is sentient and capable of interacting with its environment,
or even with people in the present day. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Most of the encounters people had described at Reynolds
Mansion occurred in one of two ways: people either claimed to see what looked
like a spirit that was oblivious to anyone nearby (i.e. the witnesses), or
people had described having impressions during dreams that seemed to indicate
that a presence had tried to communicate with them. For instance, one woman had
described that she dreamed, while sleeping in the former master bedroom of
Daniel Reynolds, who built the mansion in 1847 as a family home, that a man had
been standing by the bed, and arguing that the door between this room and the
library adjacent to it must remain open. The door in question remains closed at
all times now, since the master bedroom, now called Guest Room Lila, is a room
which visitors can rent and stay in. According to Sanders, the door was
traditionally always kept open, since Daniel Reynolds had liked to have direct
access to his library in the next room. Even today, this room remains a
library, although the door between the two areas has been bolted shut, to keep
the door from mysteriously opening itself. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It would be difficult to confirm whether anything could be
verified based on what people claim to dream about while staying at Reynolds
Mansion. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4kPL_sPLhho/UZ6SE4cQrUI/AAAAAAAAALo/7pxpNTjIWrI/s1600/Exterior+Winter+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4kPL_sPLhho/UZ6SE4cQrUI/AAAAAAAAALo/7pxpNTjIWrI/s320/Exterior+Winter+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">But with regard to ghosts that people actually see in the physical
sense, it has long been understood that these “ghosts” are the spirits of dead
people; in other words, their souls somehow manage to live on after the time of
death. Furthermore, after they die, these individual souls, obviously
represented by some kind of energy that allows them to manifest on occasion,
remain in the “haunted” environment, and are capable of being studied by
paranormal investigators armed with fancy gadgets like electromagnetic field
detectors, laser temperature gauges, and other equipment.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>For all you or I know, this may indeed be the case. But
after spending a lot of time poring over the manner in which ghosts and
hauntings are studied by modern paranormal investigators, I feel that it has
become a matter of necessity that we reconsider a few things. For instance, as
I mentioned earlier, the soul is something that many of us feels is a tangible
thing, although it is obviously intangible enough that we can’t account for it
beyond being, in essence, a philosophical concept that is somewhat attached to
the notion of consciousness—something else we can’t fully explain. Ghost
hunters will often state that the disembodied soul is what a ghost is… but if
we understand so little of the soul, how can we label or explain what a ghost
is by evoking another uncertainty? </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>A similar logical problem occurs when we begin to describe
how EMF meters and similar devices are used to study ghosts. For instance, one
popular model, the TriField EMF Meter, can detect the bio-field produced by a
living organism, and will react to it with an audible signal. In the past, I’ve
observed ghost hunters in a haunted environment place one of these devices on a
flat surface, adjust it so that it will detect the electrical field produced by
an organic living body, and then move away from it, waiting for some invisible
energy to interact with it, and thus proving that a ghost is nearby. In these
instances, it should be fairly clear that the energy field a living body
produces requires a physical presence in order for the meter to respond; in the
absence of a physical body to produce such a field, what kind of energy would
be capable of interacting with the device?</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It must also be noted that there are indeed “invisible”
energies that can interact with an EMF detector. These range from geomagnetic
fluctuations, to simple electrical current emanating from electrical wiring and
power outlets. In some instances, based on the source of the electrical field,
these energies can appear to move about, and can and will often interact with
the different settings on a device like a TriField EMF meter in what appears to
be an anomalous way. But fundamentally, if we can’t put our finger on what a
soul actually is (let alone prove its existence), it becomes difficult to use
this as a justification for what a ghost is, and for what produces the varieties
of energy detectable with a device like an EMF meter. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>At Reynolds Mansion, bearing all this in mind, I chose
instead to look solely at the evidence that could be afforded me from the
historical record, as well as what family members, visitors, and employees at
the mansion could tell me about the nature of the alleged haunting. Using
flashy meters and advanced-looking gadgets may give the practice of “ghost
hunting” a more aesthetic appeal. At times they may even be useful for
determining various things about the environment that are naturally occurring,
which could contribute to the appearance of a haunting. But in my experience,
using such devices does very little in terms of helping us to actually
understand, scientifically, what is underlying the apparent presence of what,
culturally, we have come to call “ghosts.” </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Despite the progress we seem to have made over the last few
decades in the study of spirituality and the unexplained, it seems that the
more we learn, the less we know. I feel, very strongly, that not every person
who claims to see a ghost is simply a liar or publicity seeker. If there is
indeed some validity behind people’s stories of encounters with strange
apparitions that appear to be from the past, this is obviously an area of the
natural world that begs further inquiry… but we can’t rely on the unprovable in
order to find answers to other mysteries that continue to “haunt” us, pun
intended. However, as Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes had once argued, once
you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the
truth. Within the science of ghost hunting, we are still looking for that
improbable truth, and with any luck, we’ll continue to whittle away at the
impossibilities that surround it, with intent on cracking this nut in the years
to come. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Micah Hanks is a writer, researcher, lecturer, and radio
personality whose work addresses a variety of scientific concepts and
unexplained phenomena. Over the last decade, his research has examined a
variety of approaches to studying the unexplained, cultural phenomena, human
history, and the prospects of our technological future as a species as
influenced by science.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>He is author of several books, including <i>Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule</i>, <i>Reynolds Mansion: An Invitation to the Past</i>,
and his 2012 New Page Books release, <i>The
UFO Singularity</i>. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aA9jtRac0yI/UZ6Sj0ouDhI/AAAAAAAAAL4/ECoe144JAZw/s1600/UFOSingularityCover-662x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aA9jtRac0yI/UZ6Sj0ouDhI/AAAAAAAAAL4/ECoe144JAZw/s320/UFOSingularityCover-662x1024.jpg" width="206" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hanks is an executive editor of “Intrepid Magazine,” and
consulting editor/contributor for “FATE Magazine” and “The Journal of Anomalous
Sciences.” He also writes for a variety of other publications including “UFO
Magazine,” “Mysterious Universe,” and “New Dawn.” Hanks has appeared on
numerous TV and radio programs, including “Coast to Coast AM with George Noory,”
“Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland,” National Geographic’s “Paranatural,” the History
Channel’s “Guts and Bolts,” CNN Radio, “The Jeff Rense Program,” and many
others. A weekly podcast that follows his research is available at his popular
Website, <a href="http://www.gralienreport.com/" target="_blank">www.gralienreport.com</a><span>. Hanks lives in the heart of Appalachia near Asheville,
North Carolina.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.gralienreport.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span><img alt="https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif" border="0" height="1" src="file:///C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif" width="1" /></span></span></a><span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><a href="http://www.gralienreport.com/" target="_blank">The
Gralien Report - The Gralien Report: Weird News Updates from Beyond the Fringe<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></u></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="http://www.gralienreport.com/" target="_blank">gralienreport.com</a></u></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="http://www.gralienreport.com/" target="_blank">The
Gralien Report: Weird News Updates from Beyond the Fringe</a></u></span></span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-39041845810614105382013-05-01T19:52:00.000-04:002013-05-01T19:52:15.328-04:00THE PHANTOM ZONE: ALTERED STATES AND PARANORMAL EXPERIENCES<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am pleased to post this guest blog from my friend and
colleague Dr. Andrew Nichols. I know you will find it a fascinating article!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Phantom Zone:
Altered States and Paranormal Experiences</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span>FAUST:
“Come, <span>I think hell's a fable</span>.”<span>
</span>MEPHISTOPHELES: “Aye, think so still, till experience change thy mind</span></i><span>.”<span>
</span><i><span> </span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span>Christopher Marlowe - Doctor Faustus</span></i><span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a parapsychologist I am often asked if I have ever been
really frightened during an investigation.<span>
</span>I have certainly spent many nights in dark cellars, dusty attics and
deserted European castles, but I can honestly say that I have rarely
experienced anything which I found particularly scary. I have personally
witnessed apparitions and poltergeist activity on several occasions, and
although these experiences were startling and fascinating, I never regarded
them as personally threatening.<span> </span>Most
haunting investigations are rather tedious, and involve hours and hours of
waiting for something…<i>anything</i>, to
happen.<span> </span>However, some years ago I
suffered a particularly terrifying sleep-related experience following my
investigation of a poltergeist disturbance.<span>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">The case involved the phenomena typically associated with
such events; unexplained movement of objects, percussive sounds emanating from
the walls and ceiling of the home, and (somewhat unusual) sightings of
amorphous, shadowy apparitions. The ‘epicenter’ of the phenomena appeared to be
an 11 year-old girl with emotional problems. The family believed their home was
haunted by a “demon.” <span> </span>In view of
subsequent events, I am forced to admit that the family’s simple religious
explanation may be closer to the truth than my ‘scientific’ one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have investigated a number of such cases during my four
decades of psychic research, and - like most academically-oriented
parapsychologists - had always tended to attribute such disturbances to
unconscious projection of paranormal energies from a human agent, described in
parapsychological jargon as <i>recurrent
spontaneous psychokinesis</i> (RSPK).<span> </span>My
experience with this case led me to seriously reconsider the ‘spirit hypothesis’
as a possible explanation for some haunting and poltergeist cases, and to
re-evaluate certain cases of alleged ‘demonic possession’ as well. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had gone to bed along with my wife after a day of
investigation at the home of the poltergeist-infested family. Some time in the
early morning I ‘awakened’ to find myself in the midst of an out-of-body
experience. I found myself floating face down about four feet above my physical
body. I could clearly see the details of my sleeping body below, lying on my
back, and my wife sleeping on her side facing away from me. I had a couple of
OBEs previously, but none as vivid as this one.<span>
</span>I was delighted, and wanted to maintain this wonderful sensation as long
as possible. As I hovered there in mid-air, I was contemplating an attempt at
‘astral-travel’ to discover if I could project my etheric body to some distant
location. At that moment, the experience turned into a terrifying struggle for
my sanity, and - corny as it sounds – my <i>soul</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unexpectedly, the eyes of my sleeping body below me opened.
The eyes (<i>my</i> eyes!) were completely
black. No pupils, no iris, no sclera. Just pools of blackness staring up at me.
I knew instantly that those eyes could <i>see</i>
me, although I was also certain that my floating astral body would have been
invisible to anyone else standing nearby. <span> </span>I knew with absolute certainty that <i>something</i> had taken possession of my
body, and that the thing – whatever it was – could see me perfectly well. My
body below <i>grinned at me</i>. It seemed
to be enjoying my terror, and I was instantly aware of two things: first, I
knew I had to get back into my body very quickly, or I would be forever
displaced by this entity which, I had absolutely no doubt, was <i>evil</i>. Somehow (telepathy?) I also knew
that this thing intended to harm my wife.<span>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">I began to struggle to re-enter my body, and the feeling was
like pushing against an invisible barrier, similar to the feeling one gets when
trying to force two magnets of opposing polarity together. This struggle to reincorporate
myself was the last thing I remembered until I suddenly found myself back in my
physical body. Except I was no longer lying supine in bed, but was crouching
over my wife with my hands around her throat as she fought to break my grip,
screaming at me to “wake up!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">After we both regained some degree of composure, I explained
to her what I had experienced, and she described her version of the story. She
was awakened by the sounds of me groaning and muttering what sounded like a
foreign language which she did not recognize. She assumed I was having a
nightmare, and when she tried to awaken me, I attacked her, my eyes wide open
and apparently growling at her like a rabid dog. She said that the voice which
emanated from my body was deep and gravelly, totally unlike my own, and the
expression on my face she described as “leering and hateful.” My attack only
lasted for a few seconds before I came to myself again.<span> </span>Now, my wife is no shrinking violet. She has for
many years suffered a husband who spends his time ‘chasing spooks’, but this
was really <i>too much! </i>She informed me
sternly that if my<i> </i>episode had lasted
for a few more moments, she would have treated me to a broken nose. To this day
I am amazed that I didn’t land in jail, find myself hauled into divorce court,
or at least spend the rest of my married life sleeping on the couch. However,
my long-suffering spouse seemed to take the experience in stride, although I assure
you she slept with one eye open for some time afterwards. Thank God there have
been no recurrences of this condition of ‘possession.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, was I actually ‘possessed’ by some dark spirit? I am a
long way from being convinced, although I confess I can’t dismiss the
possibility either. I can’t state with scientific certainty that this
experience was anything other than a particularly vivid and horrific nightmare.
I have no witnesses other than my wife, and no evidence that this was anything
other than subjective.<span> </span>Certainly my
psychologist colleagues would dismiss the incident as a dream – a variation of
the ‘night-terror’ syndrome, possibly induced by anxiety associated with my
involvement with the poltergeist case. Psychoanalysts would probably also
speculate that repressed hostility toward my wife was at the root of the
experience. I cannot offer any evidence to contradict these explanations, but
the experience was so terrifying, so <i>real</i>,
that I can’t help wondering if the Spiritualists’ interpretation of possession is
closer to the truth. Their conclusions are drawn from centuries of practical
experience, unlike the armchair savants of academia and other self-appointed
arbiters of reality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">My purpose in relating this personal anecdote is to
illustrate several important points about the nature of paranormal experiences.
First, such experiences are inherently <i>transformative.</i>
In my case, my tendency to ascribe most such experience to purely psychological
factors has significantly decreased. Although I still believe that many
paranormal experiences have conventional explanations, I am far more prepared
to accept seemingly spiritistic phenomena at face value, even if the bulk of
the evidence is subjective eyewitness testimony. I have never been particularly
religious, and I can’t say that this experience has converted me to a regular
church attendee. However, I am far less skeptical than I once was, and I
believe my ability to assist my clients who are experiencing paranormal
occurrences has been enhanced by my ordeal. <span> </span>Whether my case constitutes <i>actual</i> spirit possession is
questionable. But I have no doubt that my <i>experience</i>
was identical to that of possession as reported throughout history. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">The second important point illustrated by my experience is
the crucial role played by altered states of consciousness in paranormal-type
experiences. I was asleep prior to the onset of my experience, which naturally
would lead the skeptics to attribute this event to dream-imagery. Western
science – grounded in philosophical materialism - regards dreaming as a type of
hallucinatory experience (i.e. false sensory perceptions); a type of drama
orchestrated by the subconscious mind during sleep. However, mystical and
occult traditions have always asserted that dreaming is a gateway to alternate
realities, and a means by which discarnate spirits communicate with humans. To
most scientists this stance is regarded as superstitious nonsense, but there is
persuasive evidence from parapsychology to support the claim that dreams and
related states are more than just the product of brain physiology.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">For decades, the best evidence for psi (ESP) from the
laboratories of experimental parapsychologists has been obtained through the
use of a mild sensory-deprivation technique known as <i>Ganzfeld</i>. This method induces a state of consciousness similar to
hypnagogic states experienced at the onset of sleep, or hypnopompic states
experienced while awakening, a type of ‘waking dream.’ This suggests that such
altered states may be conducive to actual paranormal experiences – by allowing our
minds to tap into alternate realities, perhaps even the ‘astral plane’ of
occult tradition.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another line of evidence comes from case studies of reported
paranormal experiences. It is evident that the bulk of paranormal experiences
occur during nocturnal dreaming or similar states such as the twilight zone of
hypnagogia described above. Even psychic phenomena which occur with the
percipient wide awake often seem to be associated with a state of reverie
(daydreaming), when the conscious mind is occupied with some habitual and
repetitive task, such as washing dishes or folding clothes. All of us
experience such altered states fairly regularly, including the type of
dissociation known as ‘highway hypnosis’ experienced while driving an
automobile.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">These facts emphasize the importance of carefully
considering the role of altered states of consciousness in paranormal
experiences of all kinds. Some paranormal investigators feel that this
undermines the case for such experiences being ‘real’ rather than imaginary.
This is not the case. It is quite possible for paranormal experiences to be
subjective <i>and</i> genuinely anomalous. My
approach to psychic phenomena these days is from the perspective of ‘humanistic
parapsychology’, which acknowledges the meaning and value of subjective
experiences, and is less reliant on scientific standards of evidence demanded
by mainstream scientific method and laboratory-based experimental
parapsychologists. Unlike laboratory experiments, the human psyche is not
subject to mathematical laws.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KUlcNX_ouqs/UYGqeW5_mtI/AAAAAAAAALA/PzZxmt821UU/s1600/Andrew_%27s+Photo+-+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KUlcNX_ouqs/UYGqeW5_mtI/AAAAAAAAALA/PzZxmt821UU/s320/Andrew_%27s+Photo+-+Head+Shot.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dr. Andrew
Nichols </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">is Director of the American Institute of
Parapsychology, and has been a professor of psychology for many years. He holds
a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and is the author, co-author or
editor of more than fifty research papers, popular articles and books on
paranormal topics, including <i>Ghost
Detective: Adventures of a Parapsychologist</i> (2004, Cosmic Pantheon Press,
Harper’s Ferry, WV), <i>Haunted Houses</i>
(2006, Capstone Press, Mankato, MN), and <i>Ghosts,
Spirits, & Hauntings</i> (2011, New Page Books, Pompton Plains, NJ). Andrew
has investigated more than 600 cases of reported haunted houses and
poltergeists, and in 1999 was co-recipient of the only academic grant ever
awarded to study hauntings, awarded by the Psychological Institute of the
University of Freiburg, Germany. Andrew currently lives in Gainesville Florida,
where he maintains a private practice in parapsychology, providing counseling
for individuals experiencing psychic or paranormal occurrences.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Email: </b><a href="mailto:anichols@instituteofparapsychology.org"><b>anichols@instituteofparapsychology.org</b></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Web Site: </b><a href="http://www.parapsychologylab.com/"><b>www.parapsychologylab.com</b></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">NOTE: There is an entire chapter devoted to Dr. Nichols and
his work in John Kachuba’s book, <i>Ghosthunters:
On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers and Other Investigators of
America’s Paranormal World</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In many parts of the world, the
bones of the deceased are displayed in chapels called ossuaries, seemingly for
the edification of the living, a reminder of mortality. One of the most macabre
is the Capuchin crypt of </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Concezione_dei_Cappuccini" title="Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Santa
Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> on the Via Veneto near </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Barberini" title="Piazza Barberini"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Piazza Barberini</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> in </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome" title="Rome"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Rome</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Italy</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">. I was lucky enough to have visited
the crypt, which contains the skeletal remains of 4,000 bodies believed to be
Capuchin friars.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIRnAFV8WoE/UXLpY6fcy7I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/qp8urWjh1-k/s1600/Capuchin+Crypt+-Rome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIRnAFV8WoE/UXLpY6fcy7I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/qp8urWjh1-k/s320/Capuchin+Crypt+-Rome.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When the monks arrived at the
church in 1631, they brought 300 cartloads of deceased friars with them and
placed them in the crypt below the church. By order of Pope Urban VIII soil was
brought from Jerusalem for the crypt. Fr. Michael of Bergamo supervised the
placement of the bones in the crypt in intricate patterns. Large numbers of
bones are nailed to the walls, many are piled high, and some hang from the
ceiling as light fixtures.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As monks died during the lifetime
of the crypt, the longest-buried monk was </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhumation" title="Exhumation"><span style="text-decoration: none;">exhumed</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
to make room for the newly-deceased who was buried without a </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin" title="Coffin"><span style="text-decoration: none;">coffin</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">, and the newly-reclaimed bones
were added to the decorative motifs. Bodies typically spent thirty years
decomposing in the soil, before being exhumed. There are six rooms in the
crypt, five featuring a unique display of human bones believed to have been
taken from the bodies of friars who had died between 1528 and 1870.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The day I visited the crypt a dour
old Capuchin friar collected a modest admittance fee from me and silently pointed
the way down to the crypt. I thought he was pretty spooky but the crypt was spookier.
In the still and silent rooms, leg and arm bones, ribs and pelvises, grinning
skulls completely surrounded me. They were arranged on the ceiling in floral
wreaths and displayed along the walls in amazing patterns. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In at least one room, complete
skeletons clad in brown monk’s robes stood against the wall, torsos drooping
forward, the dusty, eyeless skulls peeking out from beneath their hoods. Some
skeletons reclined in grizzly sleep upon platforms made entirely from bones. In
one room a skeleton held a scythe in its right hand, the symbol of Death which
cuts all down like grass, and in its left hand, a set of scales symbolizing the
good and evil deeds weighed by God when he judges the human soul. A placard in
five languages declared: <i>"What you are now we used to be; what we are
now you will be..." </i>It is no
wonder that the Marquis de Sade thought his 1775 visit to the crypt was worth
the effort.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As I stood in the crypt, the dark,
dusty bones surrounding me, the skulls staring at me sightlessly, I could feel
my skin prickling, the hairs at the back of my neck rising. I had the wild
sensation that if I suddenly turned around I would find one of those dead monks
standing right behind me. It seemed entirely plausible to me that the spirits
of those dead friars were accessible to those who would listen . . . and listen
I did. When I thought my senses could not take any more I hastened back up
stairs and out into the noisy and bustling traffic of Rome. In the brilliant
daylight, I gulped in the polluted air of Rome as though it was the breath of
life.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Here are pictures of some other
famous European ossuaries:</span></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_nFD35adduE/UXLpoXyJsWI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/9m2wcEG6wIg/s1600/Capela+dos+Osos+-+Evora,+Portugal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_nFD35adduE/UXLpoXyJsWI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/9m2wcEG6wIg/s320/Capela+dos+Osos+-+Evora,+Portugal.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Capela dos Osos - Evora, Portugal</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tum8Jwi-hXw/UXLqZvlqkqI/AAAAAAAAAKE/HeQMLcB0In8/s1600/Capuchin+Catacombs+-+Palermo,+Sicily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tum8Jwi-hXw/UXLqZvlqkqI/AAAAAAAAAKE/HeQMLcB0In8/s320/Capuchin+Catacombs+-+Palermo,+Sicily.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Capuchin cataciombs - Palermo, Sicily</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8q8ICj8R18/UXLq4M7J14I/AAAAAAAAAKM/Topc78IaA-0/s1600/Hallstatt+Karner+-+Hallstatt,+Austria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8q8ICj8R18/UXLq4M7J14I/AAAAAAAAAKM/Topc78IaA-0/s320/Hallstatt+Karner+-+Hallstatt,+Austria.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hallstatt Karner - Hallstatt, Austria</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii1yJfj7zvA/UXLrNaxJXjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/cLks1GOEZbo/s1600/Paris+Catacombs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii1yJfj7zvA/UXLrNaxJXjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/cLks1GOEZbo/s320/Paris+Catacombs.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Paris catacombs</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">________________________________________________________________________</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">COMING SOON: “</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Phantom Zone: Altered States and Paranormal Experiences” by Dr. Andrew Nichols</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-25DORIJx9e0/UXLrm-fLvgI/AAAAAAAAAKc/OzI5_rrf3Ww/s1600/Andrew_%27s+Photo+-+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-25DORIJx9e0/UXLrm-fLvgI/AAAAAAAAAKc/OzI5_rrf3Ww/s200/Andrew_%27s+Photo+-+Head+Shot.jpg" width="142" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dr. Andrew Nichols </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">is
Director of the American Institute of Parapsychology, and has been a professor
of psychology for many years. He holds a doctorate degree in clinical psychology
and is the author, co-author or editor of more than 50 research papers, popular
articles and books on paranormal topics, including <i>Ghost Detective: Adventures of a Parapsychologist</i> (2004, Cosmic
Pantheon Press, Harper’s Ferry, WV), <i>Haunted
Houses</i> (2006, Capstone Press, Mankato, MN), and <i>Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings</i> (2011, New Page Books, Pompton
Plains, NJ). Andrew has investigated more than 600 cases of reported haunted
houses and poltergeists, and in 1999 was co-recipient of the only academic grant
ever awarded to study hauntings, awarded by the Psychological Institute of the
University of Freiburg, Germany. Andrew currently lives in Gainesville Florida,
where he maintains a private practice in parapsychology, providing counseling
for individuals experiencing psychic or paranormal occurrences.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I’m
excited to have noted parapsychologist Dr. Andrew Nichols guest blogging on my
site. Stay tuned for his article.</span></span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-4296220018434411092013-03-12T17:03:00.002-04:002013-03-12T17:08:07.818-04:00DESTINY VS. CHOICE - A GUEST BLOG BY MARIE D. JONES<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I’m
pleased to have author Marie D. Jones provide this guest blog to you.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I Meant to Choose That:
Destiny vs. Choice. . . or Both?</span></b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3L_MvIooHeo/UT-WKItO4iI/AAAAAAAAAI0/sACcnbTIQ-M/s1600/RedDice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3L_MvIooHeo/UT-WKItO4iI/AAAAAAAAAI0/sACcnbTIQ-M/s320/RedDice.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Throughout
our lives, we are bombarded with contradictory claims that our lives are
pre-destined, that Fate deals us the cards we will play, that whatever happens,
happens for a reason—or that our lives are what we choose them to be, that what
we focus on expands and manifests, that it’s all just one big crapshoot.
Confused, many of us don’t know if there is indeed a blueprint for our lives
laid down before we are born, or whether e are entirely on our own and left to
our own defenses – making it up as we go along.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> The word “destiny” comes from the
Middle English <i>“destinee,”</i> and simply
refers to a predetermined course of events that are the result of an irresistible
power or agency. But destiny has often been confused with fate, which is a
little more constricting. While destiny implies that one has a bit of
maneuvering room by which they can reach their destined end point, fate implies
no such allowance for choice. Thus, some outside “agent” such as a God, Goddess
or other entity was once thought to be the purveyor of one’s fate. This outside
agent or force lay down in stone how a person’s life would unfold, and there
was nothing that person could do to change the course of events to come.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> The Greek myths spoke of the Moirae,
and the Roman myths, of Parcae. The Norse myths had their Norns. These were
goddesses that were given the role of imparting the circumstances and events
that would make up the mortal man or woman’s fate. There are even goddesses that are responsible
for giving out good fortune, such as the Greek goddess Tyche, and the Roman
Fortuna, ruling out any role that choice might play in finding and keeping
wealth, success and happiness. If the goddesses didn’t deem you fit, tough
luck.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6t5wZ9fXRoY/UT-WZOeRt2I/AAAAAAAAAI8/wwWswMWYyT4/s1600/tumblr_m6yjx3aWWG1ql40v5o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6t5wZ9fXRoY/UT-WZOeRt2I/AAAAAAAAAI8/wwWswMWYyT4/s320/tumblr_m6yjx3aWWG1ql40v5o1_500.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> In order for a life to be
predestined, it had to be predetermined, and this is where science,
philosophers and religious and spiritual leaders have long struggled to explain
exactly who, or what, predetermined it. If we understand that all causes have a
prior event, what was that first prior event? Which came first, the cause, or
the event? One can easily see why the battle between destiny and free will has
been an enduring one.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> While scientists might say it was
just random, the result of the Big Bang and its resultant physical laws that
fell into place by some kind of brilliant accident, philosophers and religious
thinkers sensed that there was something that started the whole chain of cause
and effect that laid down the path of each human life, maybe even the earth
itself. This beginning of the chain is known as “first cause,” and without
knowing first cause, we simply don’t know who or what destined us to our roles
in life. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> But we humans know we have free
will. We know we have choices . . . don’t we? We feel as though we have the
ability to choose our spouses, our jobs, our homes, the kind of food we will
have for dinner, and whether or not we will go to the movies on Tuesday or just
sit home and watch “American Idol.” It’s up to us to decide. </span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> The founding father of political
philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, states that freedom is the ability to do what we
wish without hindrance or constraint. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-226YINECH-g/UT-Wrf4V5lI/AAAAAAAAAJE/_9zK_pjKJ6Y/s1600/20121006_BKP001_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-226YINECH-g/UT-Wrf4V5lI/AAAAAAAAAJE/_9zK_pjKJ6Y/s320/20121006_BKP001_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Even within the confines of our social,
cultural, sexual and behavioral conditioning, complexes and needs, we can do
whatever we choose. Later philosophers added that perhaps freedom was not so
much about being able to do anything one wanted to do, but to have the <i>power</i> to do anything one wanted to do.
So much for semantics.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Yet, over thousands of years, we
have battled with the sense that both destiny and free will or choice play a
huge role in our lives, and certainly in how the world around us came to be.
Our religions are filled with stories and proverbs and quotes about having a destined
role or a predetermined fate, such as Christ’s destiny to be betrayed by Judas.
He knew. He said it was his destiny, and he drank of that particular cup
willingly, taking his final fate in his hands. But remember, he could have <i>chosen</i> not to follow through with it
all. He could have <i>chosen</i> to say no.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> But what does science have to say
about destiny and choice? If we look at our own bodies, we can easily see that
we have a genetic blueprint by which we became blond or brunette, green-eyed or
brown-eyed, short or tall, big boned or small boned, and any other physical
characteristics that were handed to us by our parents and their parents and
their parents. We didn’t choose our genes. And yet, when it comes to behavior
we seem to be able to make choices, both good and bad, and have some say in the
course and outcome of our life path. There seems to be ample evidence for both
nature vs. nurture, and both inherent and adapted characteristics that make up
a human being. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> The Big Bang is often referred to as
the starting point of our universe from which all the forces, laws and matter
and form and energy and life came into existence. It was perhaps a blueprint of
sorts, and yet many scientists will say that it did not have any kind of
intelligent design behind it. It just happened the way it happened. There was
nothing, then – BANG! – there was everything.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SD0A3Umh-Is/UT-XBgQ9s7I/AAAAAAAAAJM/vbhj3TCs2Uk/s1600/bigbang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SD0A3Umh-Is/UT-XBgQ9s7I/AAAAAAAAAJM/vbhj3TCs2Uk/s320/bigbang.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> But there are those scientists who
believe that the amazing sophistication and intricacies of how life came to be
simply could not have been a lucky accident of chemicals and particles and
gasses and heat and matter and energy all being in the right place at the right
time, and in just the right amounts. Even in the quantum world there is
interplay of both destiny and choice. At the level of the quantum, we are told
that particles exist in a suspended state both as particle and waveform, until
they are observed and their <i>wave function
collapses</i>, thus fixing the particle into a position or outcome. Particles
have a range of possible or potential states and until an observer effect
occurs, those states remain in superposition, or happening all at once so to
speak. Therefore, an observer can choose the state of a particle simply by
observing it.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> If this is how we are creating our
reality, as even the popular law of attraction teachings tell us, with focus
and intention and observing things into being, then how could anything be
predetermined? Are we all just making our lives up as we go along? And yet,
everyone can agree that we all are destined, once born, to die. Those who have
indeed died, and return to tell about it, often tell stories of being told by
higher guides or divine beings on the other side that they must return and
fulfill their roles, or destinies, on the plane of the living. These are
subjective and personal experiences, but the fact that so many report them is
something to be considered. It is as if we must stay put until our pre-chosen
destiny is fulfilled…even if we have to die and return to life again to find
out.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Millions of people visit astrologers,
palm readers, tarot readers, even love and relationship coaches wanting to know
their destinies. Will I meet my soul mate? Should I change jobs? What is my
purpose here? Some psychic readers will tell people that their lives, according
to the stars or rune stones or cards, are in some ways predestined, and yet,
they have considerable choice in how they will reach that destiny. An
astrologer might say that yes, the stars influence your life, but you still
have room to move about within the confines of those influences. A tarot reader
might tell you that you will meet with danger next week, but you can still make
the choice to be hyper-vigilant and avoid a terrible car accident while leaving
for work.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Love coaches will tell you that
there are many soul mates out there for you, and not just The One, and that
there might be someone destined for you in a sense that they will be the best
fit, but they won’t be the only best fit out of billions of people on the
planet.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hdq6xu5ql5k/UT-XQuyQNMI/AAAAAAAAAJU/XU2sjev1d4c/s1600/stelprdb5253884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hdq6xu5ql5k/UT-XQuyQNMI/AAAAAAAAAJU/XU2sjev1d4c/s320/stelprdb5253884.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; line-height: 200%; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Yet
if we are honest with ourselves, many of us do feel called, as if we have a
path, or a destiny, that we are moving towards. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; line-height: 200%; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When we ignore that path, or
deviate from it, we are unhappy and dissatisfied. When we feel on path and on
purpose, life flows. And yet, always, we have choices. The choice to walk that
path, to not walk it, to run or skip or bike it. There may be one destination
we are moving towards, but we get to choose the route by which we get there. </span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AxiIrBb-9bs/UT-Xdsp-KBI/AAAAAAAAAJc/5uifX-T8_Lk/s1600/Marie_Jones_075-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AxiIrBb-9bs/UT-Xdsp-KBI/AAAAAAAAAJc/5uifX-T8_Lk/s200/Marie_Jones_075-2.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marie D.
Jones is the author of <i>PSIence: How New
Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of
Paranormal Phenomena</i>, <i>Destiny vs.
Choice: The Scientific and Spiritual Evidence Behind Fate and Free Will</i>, <i>11:11 – The Time Prompt Phenomenon</i>, and
several other books. Her latest release is <i>This
Book Is From the Future: A Journey Through Portals, Relativity, Wormholes and
Other Adventures in Time Travel</i>. She has been on hundreds of radio shows
and appeared on the History Channel’s “Nostradamus Effect” and “Ancient Aliens”
series. She is also a co-host on the popular Dreamland Radio show.</span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1Tuc1etbn0/UT-Xz5DxSvI/AAAAAAAAAJk/bz0ZbTOgWxY/s1600/destiny_cvr_8+6+10+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1Tuc1etbn0/UT-Xz5DxSvI/AAAAAAAAAJk/bz0ZbTOgWxY/s320/destiny_cvr_8+6+10+a.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marie is a
staff writer for Intrepid Magazine and a regular contributor to New Dawn
Magazine. She has written on and lectured widely about cutting edge science,
the paranormal, consciousness, Noetics, and metaphysics. Her essays and
articles have appeared in dozens of books, anthologies and magazines, and she
is the screenwriter of “19 Hz,” a paranormal thriller in development with Bruce
Lucas Films. Her website is <a href="http://www.mariedjones.com/">www.mariedjones.com</a>.</span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-29570556034567483862013-03-05T16:58:00.003-05:002013-03-05T17:00:22.784-05:00THIS AND THAT<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I haven’t reviewed books before on this blog but I enjoyed reading <i>Spirit Stones: Unraveling The Megalithic Mysteries
of Western Europe’s Prehistoric Monuments </i>by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff, so I
thought I’d say a few words about it.</span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9lKaU_F07LI/UTZo-Tgc3-I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/rcqcjdzp8BI/s1600/91GqyeMC6OL__SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9lKaU_F07LI/UTZo-Tgc3-I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/rcqcjdzp8BI/s320/91GqyeMC6OL__SL1500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The ruins
of Stonehenge in England are iconic reminders of an ancient and mysterious past
but they are not the only links to that past. As author Beeaff points out in this
fascinating book, there are thousands of such prehistoric memorials—standing stones,
chambered tombs, stone circles—still remaining for us to ponder. The scope of
this book is limited to England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the
Republic of Ireland, and Brittany, but that is not a limitation at all; there
are more than 900 stone circles in the British Isles alone.</span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Beeaff gives
us a detailed history of how these memorials came into being, who built them
and why, and what they signified for their builders. But this is not some dry,
dusty academic study of stone memorials, which are rocks, after all. The author
gives us much more. After examining the monuments in terms of their cultures, architectural designs,
motifs, and their usage as sacred spaces, she goes on to speculate on the various
cultures’ beliefs relative to life and death, heaven and earth, the secular and
sacred, and body and soul. In a section titled “Spiritual Fitness” the author
shows how prehistoric monuments still have a connection to our modern times,
either as healing agents or as repositories of myth and legend.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Profusely
illustrated with color photos this is a beautiful and intelligent read. I highly
recommend it to anyone interested in the ancient ways of megalithic peoples.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">On a different note, I am happy to announce that Marie D. Jones will be my next guest blogger. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9WTW1ckS4g/UTZqMLdcSuI/AAAAAAAAAIk/xtB9777TjMU/s1600/Marie_Jones_075-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9WTW1ckS4g/UTZqMLdcSuI/AAAAAAAAAIk/xtB9777TjMU/s320/Marie_Jones_075-2.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marie is the
author of <i>PSIence: How New Discoveries in
Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal
Phenomena</i>, <i>Destiny vs. Choice: The
Scientific and Spiritual Evidence Behind Fate and Free Will</i>, <i>11:11 – The Time Prompt Phenomenon</i>, and
several other books. Her latest release is <i>This
Book Is From the Future: A Journey Through Portals, Relativity, Wormholes and
Other Adventures in Time Travel</i>. She has been on hundreds of radio shows
and appeared on the History Channel’s “Nostradamus Effect” and “Ancient Aliens”
series. She is also a co-host on the popular Dreamland Radio show.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YXLOQohKoQE/UTZp2sU8dhI/AAAAAAAAAIc/cDN7wlKUmac/s1600/destiny_cvr_8+6+10+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YXLOQohKoQE/UTZp2sU8dhI/AAAAAAAAAIc/cDN7wlKUmac/s320/destiny_cvr_8+6+10+a.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marie is a
staff writer for Intrepid Magazine and a regular contributor to New Dawn
Magazine. She has written on and lectured widely about cutting edge science,
the paranormal, consciousness, Noetics, and metaphysics. Her essays and
articles have appeared in dozens of books, anthologies and magazines, and she
is the screenwriter of “19 Hz,” a paranormal thriller in development with Bruce
Lucas Films. Her website is <a href="http://www.mariedjones.com/">www.mariedjones.com</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I’m delighted
to have her work appearing here on “The Metaphysical Traveler.” Stay tuned for
her blog!</span></span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-55295668646083040012013-02-25T18:21:00.002-05:002013-02-25T18:21:15.648-05:00BELIEVERS, SKEPTICS, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>Over the last few months I
had the unique opportunity of speaking about ghosts to two disparate groups.
One was a local MENSA group and the other was a group called Society for
Rational Thought, nicknamed The Skeptics.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>Honestly, I was nervous about speaking before the MENSA
group. After all, these were people whose I.Q.s were off the chart. What
questions would they have for me? How thoroughly would they destroy my presentation
and pick apart its bones afterward? Where could I hide?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>To my grateful surprise, the group was engaged and interested
in my talk. In fact, some of them had encountered ghosts, or had true ghost
stories to tell.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>I felt some of that same uneasiness before speaking to
The Skeptics, but my talk with the MENSA group made me a little less
apprehensive. But The Skeptics earned their name. With challenging questions
leveled at me throughout the presentation, it took me an hour and a half to
reach an endpoint in my talk, which normally runs about forty minutes. In fact,
I didn’t even finish my talk in its entirety but edited it for the sake of
time.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>I didn’t mind challenging questions—that’s part of the
give and take I’ve become accustomed to in such talks. But what I did mind was
the close-mindedness of people that consider themselves rational and scientific
thinkers.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>This is the great divide in paranormal inquiry. On one
hand are the believers, on the other, the skeptics, with a whole lot of us
stuck in the middle. Honest and open paranormal research is hindered by both extremes.
The believers are often too quick to ascribe any unexplainable sounds, sights,
or events to a ghostly presence without a thorough investigation into other
possible causes. The skeptics immediately dismiss a ghostly claim even if they cannot
find alternative explanations for the phenomena (not that a lack of such
explanations <i>automatically</i> means they
must be ghostly).</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>What would be of great benefit to paranormal research
would be if some of the skeptics—especially those that are scientists—took a
truly scientific approach to the paranormal. That is, if they decided it was a
field worthy of serious inquiry. Scientists are not as intellectually open or
curious as they would sometimes like us to believe. I remember one of the men
at The Skeptics talk said that ghosts do not exist because ghostly phenomena
cannot be reproduced at will in controlled situations. I asked him how he <i>knew</i> that they could not be reproduced. Suppose
the phenomena in question was reproducible, I asked, but repeated only with long
intervals of time in between, perhaps years. Would that not fulfill his
scientific requirements?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>But it is difficult to get a scientist to even consider
studying paranormal events. The paranormal is “nonsense,” dismissed out of
hand. But think of all the other “nonsense” that eventually proved to be true: earth
as a round planet rather than a flat one; an earth that orbited the sun rather
than the other way around; the ability of man to fly; voices and music
conducted through the air over long distances; the possibility of man walking
on the moon; cavemen riding dinosaurs—okay, sorry, delete that last one!</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>If scientists and the skeptics would come to assist in
researching the paranormal instead of stubbornly digging in their heels in
protest, we might all come to discover the answers to some of the most important
questions ever asked.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><span> </span>Any bets on whether that will ever happen?</span></span></span></span></div>
John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-2725475140366954372013-01-30T21:47:00.003-05:002013-01-30T21:47:32.347-05:00THE MAYAN "LITTLE PEOPLE"
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Many cultures around the world maintain a belief in
mysterious “little people.” Leprechauns in Ireland, gnomes and fairies in
Iceland and Scandanavia, trolls and gremlins throughout Europe, “little people”
of the Cherokee—they’re found everywhere.<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">An interesting variant of the “little people” are the aluxes
of the Yucatan Mayas. Recently, I was fortunate enough to visit the Mayan ruins
at San Gervasio in Cozumel, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roos, where I
first heard of the aluxes.<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">San Gervasio’s pre-Hispanic name was Tantum Cuzamil, Mayan
for “flat rock in the place of the swallows.” What is left of this ancient
Mayan town is not as imposing as some of the large Mayan pyramids that exist in
various parts of Mexico. Still, these humble ruins are the remains of a once
important site dedicated to the moon goddess, Ix Chel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vUITTOhUcsg/UQnY1HYio6I/AAAAAAAAAHY/T3GUbd9ke3Q/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vUITTOhUcsg/UQnY1HYio6I/AAAAAAAAAHY/T3GUbd9ke3Q/s320/IMG_0019.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unlike some of the other temple sites at which ritualistic
human sacrifice was conducted, Tantum Cuzamil was a place of peace. Pre-Columbian
Mayan women came from all over to worship Ix Chel and ask for her blessings for
fertility and childbirth, medicine and weaving. In 1549, Diego de Landa, the
Catholic Bishop of Yucatan, wrote that the Maya “held Cozumel in the same
veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used
to go to visit and offer presents there, as we do to holy places. . . “</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rgrdFgZgzsI/UQnZcYsKiMI/AAAAAAAAAHg/vbQFijBCzbU/s1600/IMG_0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rgrdFgZgzsI/UQnZcYsKiMI/AAAAAAAAAHg/vbQFijBCzbU/s320/IMG_0024.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">
So, what about the aluxes?<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">My guide at San Gervasio was a young man named Jose who was
well-informed about all aspects of Mayan culture. After we had spent some time
walking the paved paths that led from one structure to another I asked him if
any ancient Mayan rituals were still held at the site. Jose said that sometimes
women still come there and left offerings to Ix Chel for fertility and
children. He also said that some couples had been married at the propitious
site, the traditional ceremony officiated over by a shaman from the mainland.<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I asked Jose if he thought the spirits of this ancient place
still existed. He smiled at that question, then<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>lowered his voice so that others could not hear.<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Do you know about the aluxes?” he asked. I did not. “They
are little people, little spirits that live in the jungle. They often take the
form of an animal or sometimes even a rock.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UtEDdrHq_es/UQnZ0V-0kSI/AAAAAAAAAHo/LzuVVZ9W3UQ/s1600/Aluxes-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UtEDdrHq_es/UQnZ0V-0kSI/AAAAAAAAAHo/LzuVVZ9W3UQ/s1600/Aluxes-2.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
“A rock?” I asked.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jose nodded. “Yes, people in the jungle might walk right by
them and never see them . . .unless they want to be seen.” </span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">“Are they friendly?”<o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Yes, but they are like children. They run and play and at
night you can hear them laughing in the jungle. They like to play little jokes
on people.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38k1ychYVSI/UQnaGrglx7I/AAAAAAAAAHw/WfkcRjWLBRk/s1600/aluxes.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38k1ychYVSI/UQnaGrglx7I/AAAAAAAAAHw/WfkcRjWLBRk/s320/aluxes.gif" width="290" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jose told me about an American who was exploring the jungle
when he disappeared. No one could find him and then, three days later, he
walked out of the jungle as though nothing had happened. The American said he
had become disoriented in the jungle but was found by the aluxes and stayed
with them during those three days. Jose said the American wrote a book about
his adventure but none of my research has turned it up. If you know of this
book, please post a comment here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mxoa1ZjUyew/UQnaVLijGUI/AAAAAAAAAH4/QDIy_LM__48/s1600/aluxes_2_by_atanasio-d520mga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mxoa1ZjUyew/UQnaVLijGUI/AAAAAAAAAH4/QDIy_LM__48/s320/aluxes_2_by_atanasio-d520mga.jpg" width="221" /></span></a></div>
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Also, if you’ve had your own adventure with “little people,”
no matter where in the world, please tell us about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><o:p> </o:p>Muchas gracias!</span></span></span></div>
John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-56935883497580144472013-01-21T20:05:00.004-05:002013-01-21T20:05:49.876-05:00NEWS FOR 2013<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">A belated Happy New Year to all my readers! May 2013 be a happy, healthy and prosperous year for all of you.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">It may not be a New Year's resolution but I am committed this year to bringing you new and interesting posts on "The Metaphysical Traveler." In addition to my own "words of wisdom" I will be bringing you guest blogs from some of the most respected metaphysical writers. I know you'll enjoy reading them.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">So, please continue reading and, if you haven't already, sign up as a "follower." Also, if you like what you read, please tell your friends.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Namaste,</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">John</span>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-41654045304565517632012-09-14T10:14:00.002-04:002012-09-15T17:27:08.533-04:00Table Tipping a la Mexicana (with selected English and German language youtuberie)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">GUEST
BLOGGER: C .M. MAYO</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R-DKlB6meGY/UFM6eI8G5pI/AAAAAAAAAGs/j30IRsAgRu0/s1600/table-tipping-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R-DKlB6meGY/UFM6eI8G5pI/AAAAAAAAAGs/j30IRsAgRu0/s1600/table-tipping-2.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Of course I'd heard of Ouiji
boards, but <i>table tipping?</i> It was not until I happened to translate a
very rare and obscure book published in 1911, by the leader of Mexico's 1910
Revolution and President of Mexico from 1911- 1913, no less, that I first came
upon the term. Here is what that long-ago author, Don
Francisco Madero, had to say about it in his <i>Manual Espírita, </i>or <i>Spiritist Manual</i>:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q. Now I beg you to tell me, what is
understood by table tipping?</span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A. This name designates the phenomena produced
by small tables, or similar furniture, in transmitting messages by means of
raps, as at a door.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q. Of what importance is this phenomenon?</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A. It was very great in the mid-19<sup>th</sup>
century, the first days of Spiritism, and it still serves to confirm the
Spiritist phenomenon in one of its most interesting phases; but as a means of
communication, it has fallen into disuse as mechanical writing mediumship has
proven both easier and faster.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q. In enumerating these phenomena you have
mentioned moving objects by means of psychic powers together with spirits’
powers. Can you tell me something about this interesting phenomenon?</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A. It is the same as with the little tables. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Movements of objects by means of occult powers
(which, for brevity, we will call psychic or spiritist) serves to demonstrate
the existence of the invisible world which surrounds us and is interested in
and cares about us and takes part in our endeavors.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 1in 0.0001pt 58.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As materialism was extending its unhealthy influence
over the world’s most civilized nations, it was precisely the apparition of
these very natural phenomena and others which were so clamorous in order to
gain our attention. In sum, we can say that those phenomena at the origin of
Spiritism were the knocks by which the spirits called at the door of our
material world to announce their visit. Once we opened the door and admitted
them into the house, in calmness and solemnity, they have revealed the object
of their visit. They have come to tell us that our spirit is immortal, that
life continues after our mortal shell has dissolved, that this life and space
are one, that there is no debt that goes unpaid nor agreement that goes
unfulfilled; in a word, they have revealed to us the Spiritist doctrine, as
summarized in this manual.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VOdxItzBDCs/UFM610jA9oI/AAAAAAAAAG0/BRdCeU3Yqgg/s1600/manual-espirita-1911-madero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VOdxItzBDCs/UFM610jA9oI/AAAAAAAAAG0/BRdCeU3Yqgg/s1600/manual-espirita-1911-madero.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When,
by happenstance (</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">long story), I came upon Madero’s slender <i>Manual Espírita</i> in a Mexico City archive, I recognized that,
whatever its contents, its political importance was profound, for it would
illuminate the thinking of Mexico’s “Apostle of Democracy.” (This was a point
made in Mexican historian Enrique Krauze’s<i>
Místico de la libertad </i>in 1987.)<i> </i>At
once I volunteered to translate it, figuring it would take, oh, maybe a couple
of weekends. I had reason for such confidence: I’d already translated many works of short
fiction and poetry by some of Mexico’s leading contemporary writers, and Madero’s
can-do evangelical prose was, by comparison, pedestrian. The subject matter did
not particularly appeal to me, yet neither did it give me pause; from
highschool in California on, I’d dipped into esoteric literature, mainly on
ESP, psychokinesis, reincarnation, remote viewing, UFOs, and out of body
travel. So I was curious, and more than that: in some rock-solid yet mysterious
way, I simply knew I had to do it. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SkqYLALF-U/UFM53MKtsmI/AAAAAAAAAGk/UqXMuvI0srQ/s1600/francisco-i-madero-bhima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SkqYLALF-U/UFM53MKtsmI/AAAAAAAAAGk/UqXMuvI0srQ/s320/francisco-i-madero-bhima.jpg" width="182" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Francisco I. Madero</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Three
years into this translation project, I was still slogging through the
metaphysical literature, Hi-Liter in hand, trying to make sense out of so many
concepts and phenomena that, though Madero presented them in simple language, were
thoroughly exotic, for my previous reading in the fields of esoterica, broad as
it was, had not provided me with the foundation of historical and philosophical
context. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Table tipping, it
turns out, first became a generalized phenomena in the mid 19<sup>th</sup>
century with the Fox sisters, Kate and Maggie, in their house in upstate New
York. Knocks and raps disturbed the girls, then they found they could clap and
call out questions, and the noises, which they claimed came from a murdered
peddler, returned an answer. As if by contagion, this phenomenon, as well as
others such as </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">pencils
writing by themselves, or on a planchette, levitation, clairvoyance, the
appearance of strange lights, levitation, "spirit photography," and —yes—tipping
tables, spread quickly throughout the region, and into Canada, England, and
Europe, as scores of mediums emerged, claiming to communicate with spirits. Spiritualism
developed into a new religion, as did its French branch, Spiritism, led by
Allen Kardec, author of the Spiritist classics, <i>The Book on Mediums</i>, <i>The Book
of Spirits</i>, and many others.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Legions
of curiosity-seekers as well as not a few leading intellectuals (among them,
Victor Hugo, W. Crookes, and Alfred Russell Wallace), after attending séances,
joined the ranks of the converted. Apart from the Fox sisters, who went on to
spectacular fame, among the several outstanding mediums in this period were the
Eddy Brothers from Vermont, William Stainton Moses in England, Eusalia
Palladino in Europe, and the Scottish-born American <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/incidentsinmyli03homegoog#page/n8/mode/2up"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Daniel
Dunglas Home</span></a>, who toured England and the continent, where he
performed séances for the Emperor Louis Napoleon.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There
is more to say about tipping tables, but why not have a look for yourself on
YouTube? The following are modern videos of mediums and tables, purportedly
tipped, spun, and even flown about, by spirits. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">SELECTED
TABLE TIPPING YOUTUBERIE </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">At
the Bee and Thistle Inn in Lyme, Connecticut<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvrir-arFOk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvrir-arFOk</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Gets
very interesting at about 5:30)<br />
<br />
German table tipping<b><br />
</b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQpsHRx0LcU&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQpsHRx0LcU&feature=related</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
At Lampne Castle, UK</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5-iASpx28&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5-iASpx28&feature=related</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
Kenneth Batcheldor Table-Tipping Documentary<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2eDDP0fHRs&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2eDDP0fHRs&feature=related</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Clip
from the late 1970s with the psychokinesis researcher)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
Small table gets violent with lone medium in France<b><br />
</b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0HobUgbgtQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0HobUgbgtQ</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Computer
table, one medium plus chair</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg48JSQPJT8&feature=player_embedded#">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg48JSQPJT8&feature=player_embedded#</a>!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tiny
table, two girls, just thumbs<br />
<br />
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Read
more about the <i>Spiritist Manual</i> and
my translation, as well as Spritism in general, on the book’s dedicated website:
<br />
<a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-manual-HOME.html">http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-manual-HOME.html</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">which
includes Q & A, podcasts, bibliographies, and other resources for
researchers.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Download
the Kindle edition on <b>amazon.com</b><br />
<a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-m-download-ebook.html">http://www.cmmayo.com/SPIRITISTMANUAL/spiritist-m-download-ebook.html</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g0yzQeldLg8/UFM7M4yp-DI/AAAAAAAAAG8/Hvk_kHWrGjg/s1600/SPIRITIST-KINDLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g0yzQeldLg8/UFM7M4yp-DI/AAAAAAAAAG8/Hvk_kHWrGjg/s1600/SPIRITIST-KINDLE.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">P.S.
I’m working on a revised and expanded introduction for a second edition; if
you’d like to be notified when that is available, I invite you to join my mailing list.<br />
<a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/join-cmmayo-mailing-list.html">http://www.cmmayo.com/join-cmmayo-mailing-list.html</a><br />
<br />
P.S.S. Nope, I’ve never had a table tip. I did have a staple remover flip
on my desk once, though. That happened in Yaddo, the arts colony in a 19<sup>th</sup>
century mansion in upstate New York. Two other writers who had later been
assigned that same room told me they’d experienced similar phenomena, items jumping
and moving around and especially on that desk.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">___________________________________________</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/last-prince-of-the-mexican-empire.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire</span></i></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">, which was selected as one of the best books
of 2009 by <i>Library Journal</i>. She is also author of the widely-lauded
travel memoir, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/miraculousair.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Miraculous
Air:</span></i><i> </i></a></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Journey of a
Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/skyoverelnido.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Sky Over El Nido</span></i></a></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(one of my favorite books)</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">, which won
the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. </span></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-am5nsbpN3to/UFM7Zo__aeI/AAAAAAAAAHE/dc2dsdif8Ec/s1600/cmmayo-head-shot-green-small-72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-am5nsbpN3to/UFM7Zo__aeI/AAAAAAAAAHE/dc2dsdif8Ec/s1600/cmmayo-head-shot-green-small-72dpi.jpg" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">C. M. Mayo</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Founding editor of </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.tameme.org/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Tameme</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">, the bilingual Spanish/English) chapbook
press, Mayo is also a </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/pubs-translations.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">translator </span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">of
contemporary Mexican poetry and fiction. Her anthology of Mexican fiction in translation,
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/mexico.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Mexico:
A Traveler's Literary Companion</span></i></a></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">,
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">was published by Whereabouts Press
in March 2006</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I could fill this blog with all of C.M. Mayo’s
awards and accomplishments but instead, I’ll refer you to her Website at </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/">www.cmmayo.com</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> where
you can read it all for yourself.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-39015340254396280332012-09-06T14:43:00.000-04:002012-09-06T14:43:06.712-04:00Exciting, New Feature!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Blogs are often soapboxes for their authors’ viewpoints. While
there is nothing inherently wrong with that, the blog may become little more
than navel-gazing, the sound of one hand clapping, if the author is not careful.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My intention in this blog has been to bring to my readers new
information about metaphysical locations from all around the world. While I
will continue down that path, I have decided to also branch out onto other
paths, exploring metaphysical practices and beliefs; personalities and events.
To make sure that I cover these areas effectively, I will be hosting guest
blogs on this site in addition to my own. I hope you find this new approach to
be an interesting one; leave a comment and let me know what you think.<br />
<br />
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I am pleased to report that C.M. Mayo will be my first guest
blogger. I have known her and her work for many years and I’m sure her blog
will fascinate you. Here’s a little bit about her:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">C.M. Mayo is the author of the
novel <i><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/last-prince-of-the-mexican-empire.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">The Last
Prince of the Mexican Empire</span></a></i>, which was selected as one of the
best books of 2009 by <i>Library Journal</i>. She is also author of the widely-lauded
travel memoir, <i><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/miraculousair.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Miraculous
Air:</span> </a>Journey of a Thousand
Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico,</i> and <i><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/skyoverelnido.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Sky Over El Nido</span></a> </i><span>(one of my favorite books)</span>, which won
the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bMIIlOapQc8/UEjt2XwqgSI/AAAAAAAAAGM/62ZyWoVwXUY/s1600/cmmayo-head-shot-green-small-72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bMIIlOapQc8/UEjt2XwqgSI/AAAAAAAAAGM/62ZyWoVwXUY/s1600/cmmayo-head-shot-green-small-72dpi.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Founding editor of <a href="http://www.tameme.org/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Tameme</span></a>, the bilingual Spanish/English)
chapbook press, Mayo is also a <a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/pubs-translations.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">translator </span></a>of contemporary
Mexican poetry and fiction. Her anthology of Mexican fiction in translation, <i><a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/mexico.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Mexico: A Traveler's Literary
Companion</span></a>, </i>was published by Whereabouts Press in March 2006.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I could fill this blog with all of
C.M. Mayo’s awards and accomplishments but instead, I’ll refer you to her Website
at <a href="http://www.cmmayo.com/">www.cmmayo.com</a><span> </span>where you can read it all for yourself.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Without revealing too much about
her upcoming blog on this site, I can say that C.M. has recently translated
Francisco I. Madero’s <i>Spiritist Manual</i>
from Spanish into English. Madero was the leader of Mexico’s Revolution of1910
and became that country’s president. But he also had a life-long fascination
with Spiritism.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AOuAwL7MXr4/UEjuLI_yWbI/AAAAAAAAAGU/Zi7UDSr7FAc/s1600/SPIRITIST-KINDLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AOuAwL7MXr4/UEjuLI_yWbI/AAAAAAAAAGU/Zi7UDSr7FAc/s1600/SPIRITIST-KINDLE.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Table-tipping anyone? Stay tuned
for C.M. Mayo’s intriguing blog!</span></span></span></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-76407222215896315612012-09-04T19:46:00.001-04:002012-09-04T19:46:23.637-04:00The Dudleytown Curse - Part II<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My first visit to Dudleytown occurred at least twenty years
ago, in a time when cameras were still using something called “film.” I had
gone there to do some research on an historical piece I was writing. Jay Baca,
a frequent visitor to Dudleytown, served as my guide. We were the only two
people on the mountain. Although it was a beautiful and sunny summer day, the
deep woods cast cool shadows over the crumbling stone walls and cellar holes of
ruined houses. The woods were eerily quiet; not a single bird sang.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I took many pictures of the old walls, cellars and wells,
all overgrown with thick vegetation. In one cellar hole I discovered a broken
Ouija board and felt a shiver course through my spine. I left the board there. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After I returned home and developed my film, I was shocked
to discover what looked like a face peering at me from one of the cellar holes.
Colored like the vegetation, it resembled a “Green Man.” Thinking I was looking
at a pattern of leaves and bushes that just happened to resemble a face, I
enlarged the photo. The face became only more distinct. That’s when I called Ed
and Lorraine Warren—America’s godfather and godmother of ghost hunting—and told
them what I had found.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I lived in the same Connecticut town as the Warrens and they
invited me to bring my photos to their home. They examined the photos and said
that I had captured some kind of anomaly, but they were not all surprised and
proceeded to haul out a collection of scores of photos they had taken at
Dudleytown, each of them marked by unrecognizable streaks, blurs, and various colors,
all of which they said had paranormal origins.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over the years many people have explored Dudleytown and have
felt unexplainable chills and cold spots and have captured photographic
anomalies. There have also been reports of satanic rituals taking place there,
although that has not been verified (but I do wonder about that Ouija board I
found there so long ago).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dudleytown is located on private property and the police
routinely roust out trespassers so it’s not an easy place to visit today.
Still, its legends—and maybe its ghosts—still linger. Sharp in my mind, their
stories are the inspiration behind my paranormal novella, <i>Dark Entry</i>, available as an e-book on Amazon.com. Here’s the link: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Entry-ebook/dp/B008OZEWTS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346003398&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+entry">http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Entry-ebook/dp/B008OZEWTS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346003398&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+entry</a></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EfenYmGDc_Q/UEaSi8Cp3LI/AAAAAAAAAF8/jQc1Pq2zeAs/s1600/DE+owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EfenYmGDc_Q/UEaSi8Cp3LI/AAAAAAAAAF8/jQc1Pq2zeAs/s1600/DE+owl.jpg" /></a></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-85977159893658321602012-08-24T16:23:00.001-04:002012-08-24T16:34:17.285-04:00The Dudleytown Curse - Part I<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Tucked up in the hills of northwestern Connecticut is a
ghost town called Dudleytown. Settled in the eighteenth-century the hamlet’s history
is rife with stories of Indian massacres, murder, suicide, fatal accidents,
disappearances, and insanity. So much mysterious calamity plagued Dudleytown—also
nicknamed Dark Entry—that by the nineteenth-century the settlement had been
abandoned. Today, all that remains of Dudleytown are crumbling stone walls, cellar
holes and a few foundations, all hidden in the deep, dark woods.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Some people think that Dudleytown’s trials and tribulations
could be directly tied to a curse that followed the Dudley family. Before any
Dudleys came to America, two of them had already lost their heads to the
executioner’s axe in Merry Old England. Edmund Dudley was executed in 1510 for
supporting a plot to overthrow King Henry VIII—who seemed to be quite fond of
beheading people. Like father, like son, as John, Edmund’s son, also went to
the chopping block years later for again trying to overthrow the crown. Finally
getting the message, John Dudley’s son Robert fled England. Eventually, the
Dudleys arrived in America. Joseph Dudley was born in Saybrook, Connecticut in
1674 and it was three of his sons that brought property in the hills of Cornwall
that became known as Dudleytown.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Other settlers followed the Dudleys into the woods and it
wasn’t long before tragedies began falling upon them like autumn leaves. Some
Dudleytown residents died at the hands of Indians during the French and Indian
War. In 1774, an epidemic wiped out an entire family named Carter. Another
Carter family, relatives, moved to upstate New York, devastated by the loss of
their kin. There, Indians tomahawked to death the head of the family, Nathaniel
Carter, as well as his wife and infant; the Indians kidnapped the other three
Carter children and brought them to Canada.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1804, a Revolutionary War veteran, General Herman Swift,
went insane when lightning struck and killed his wife Sarah as she stood on their
front porch. In 1872, Mary Cheney, the wife of the famous journalist Horace
Greely, killed herself; she had been born in Dudleytown. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Toward the end of the nineteenth-century few residents
remained in Dudleytown, but the curse of the Dudleys was still at work. After John
Brophy’s wife died of consumption (tuberculosis), his two children disappeared
into the woods. Brophy then set fire to his house, burning it to the ground, and
walked away from Dudleytown; he was never heard from again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 1920, Dr.William Clark from New York City built a summer
home in the now abandoned Dudleytown. With some friends he established the Dark
Entry Forest Association with the intent of maintaining the former settlement
and woods as a nature preserve. A few years later, Dr. Clark was called to the
city on an emergency, leaving his wife alone at their house in Dudleytown. When
he returned home, he found his wife cowering in a corner. She had gone insane and
spent the rest of her life in a mental asylum. No one knows what happened to her
but some people say that “something” from the forest attacked her.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Today, Dudleytown remains part of the Dark Entry preserve.
It is private property and trespassers are prosecuted. Yet, the curious continue
to sneak into the woods to find evidence of the Dudleytown curse . . . or
worse.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Stay tuned to find out what they have discovered. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jzOFZIx5dss/UDfimbhgqGI/AAAAAAAAAFs/4yyGx8UXfBM/s1600/dark+entry+FB+tag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jzOFZIx5dss/UDfimbhgqGI/AAAAAAAAAFs/4yyGx8UXfBM/s320/dark+entry+FB+tag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-53902330632399727942012-07-08T15:22:00.004-04:002012-07-08T15:32:38.309-04:00Ggantija Temple - Malta<div style="color: white;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">Ġgantija</span><span lang="EN"> Temple</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">A few years ago I
had the pleasure of visiting Malta for two months. One of the world’s tiniest
countries, it was easy to visit its celebrated historic sites. The Ggantija
Temples sits on the island of Gozo’s Xagħra plateau. On cliffs high above the
azure Mediterranean Sea, they face south-east, in the direction of the rising
sun.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFxoBACv4KU/T_nfaDqrTDI/AAAAAAAAAFE/ej111TYZtg4/s1600/P5060035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFxoBACv4KU/T_nfaDqrTDI/AAAAAAAAAFE/ej111TYZtg4/s640/P5060035.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">The day I visited
the temple was cloudless blue with a refreshing breeze rising up from the sea. Tall
palm trees nodded on the wind. There were only a handful of visitors to the
site—a tour bus full of Japanese tourists arrived just as I was leaving the
site—and other than the gulls crying in the air and the surf pounding far below
the cliffs all was silent. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDctEvdBYkM/T_nfl9rjmAI/AAAAAAAAAFM/5KHbJ0kYIZ4/s1600/P5060034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDctEvdBYkM/T_nfl9rjmAI/AAAAAAAAAFM/5KHbJ0kYIZ4/s640/P5060034.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">The Ggantija
Temple is actually two connected megalithic structures from the Neolithic
period erected sometime between 3600 – 3500 BC. They are the oldest
free-standing buildings in the world, older even than the Pyramids of Egypt or
England’s Stonehenge. The temple was possibly the site of a fertility cult; archeologists
believe that the numerous figurines and statues found on site are connected
with that cult. According to local Gozitan folktales, giantesses built these
temples and used them as places of worship.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TjspaJd8mFs/T_nfxwT5SsI/AAAAAAAAAFU/nC71mqpNksw/s1600/P5060033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TjspaJd8mFs/T_nfxwT5SsI/AAAAAAAAAFU/nC71mqpNksw/s640/P5060033.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">Despite the restorative
work that was going on at the time, I was able to wander through the complex. The
plan of the temple incorporates five large apses with traces of the plaster
that once covered the irregular wall still clinging between the blocks. The
temples are built in the typical clover-leaf shape (some think the shape
resembles the womb, which would seem appropriate for a fertility cult) with
inner facing blocks marking the shape which was then filled in with rubble.
This led to the construction of a series of semi-circular apses connected with
a central passage. The apses were
originally covered by roofing. The structures are all the more impressive for
having been constructed at a time when no metal tools were available to the
natives of the Maltese islands, and when the wheel had not yet been introduced.
Small, spherical stones have been discovered. They are believed to have been
used as ball bearings to transport the enormous stone blocks required for the
temple’s construction.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN">I slowly walked
through the temple, the hot sun beating down upon me, and wondered what kinds
of rites were practiced here. There was some evidence of animal sacrifice but
the exact nature of the sacred rituals of these prehistoric Maltese remains a mystery
to us. It is clear, though, that sacred sites such as these leave some imprint
upon the environment, a spiritual essence that the sensitive visitor can still
feel after so many thousands of years. It should come as no surprise that even
today worshippers of the goddess find their way to the Ġgantija Temple to practice their modern-day rites.</span></span></div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-72375786913424315672012-06-16T12:28:00.003-04:002012-06-16T12:28:32.719-04:00<div style="color: white;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mea cupla, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! It's been awhile since I've last posted and, no doubt, you've noticed. Starting this blog has taught me one thing. . . they are difficult to keep current. I could cite the fact that over the last few months I've been busy with new books, or that I was a speaker at Ohioana Library Festival, Mid-Ohio Paranormal Conference, and Paracon on the Lakeshore II, or that I've been traveling throughout the U.S. to visit family and friends, as reasons for my absence. All that is true, but no excuse for not posting new material.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, okay, I apologize and promise to do better in the future. Stick with me, please, and you'll see.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">John</span>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-2259278727630972852012-03-22T12:22:00.000-04:002012-03-22T12:22:06.706-04:00Thai Ghost Clip<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I just couldn't resist posting this Thai commercial. It's all about traditional Thai ghosts . . . and funny. Take a peek.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1vxWMoAgPfg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-84589531920257688072012-03-05T15:27:00.000-05:002012-03-05T15:27:16.934-05:00Serpent Mound - Adams County, Ohio<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">On a plateau overlooking Brush Creek in southern Ohio’s Adams County stands Serpent Mound, a beautiful and mysterious prehistoric effigy. Built by Native Americans around 1070, the earthen effigy takes the form of a giant, undulating serpent. At nearly one-quarter mile in length, it is the largest effigy mound in the world. The serpent winds along the ground at a height of about three feet and consists of seven coils, a triple-coiled tail, and a head whose jaws are open in the process of swallowing a 120 ft. hollow oval that might represent the sun, an egg, or perhaps a frog.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sg0w7exBJbI/T1UhJzC1VuI/AAAAAAAAAEs/O-SIWjsrlbw/s1600/SerpentMound2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sg0w7exBJbI/T1UhJzC1VuI/AAAAAAAAAEs/O-SIWjsrlbw/s320/SerpentMound2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">No one knows why the mound was built. While various Native American cultures in Ohio built mounds, there is only one other mound in the shape of an animal (an alligator); the others are simple conical structures, often serving as burial mounds. But Serpent Mound was not a burial mound. So what purpose did it serve?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">There may be astronomical purposes behind its construction since the serpent’s coils are aligned with the two solstice and two equinox events occurring each year. In addition, some researchers believe that Serpent Mound was designed in accordance with the pattern of stars that make up the constellation Draco. If that is true, then the effigy may have been constructed as long as 5,000 years ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M_W3NClUs-I/T1UhURZqiCI/AAAAAAAAAE0/01uzgoub24s/s1600/Serpent%2520Mound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M_W3NClUs-I/T1UhURZqiCI/AAAAAAAAAE0/01uzgoub24s/s320/Serpent%2520Mound.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The head of the serpent comes to rest atop a cliff that overlooks the Serpent Mound Crater, a large impact site almost four miles in diameter caused by a meteorite slamming into the earth about 248 to 286 million years ago. Is it only by chance that the mound builders placed their effigy alongside the crater (badly eroded today with much of it submerged) or was it by design? And, if by design, why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRRJJ4ULTek/T1UhclIqmsI/AAAAAAAAAE8/gAkmbzX74M0/s1600/88d71f050cc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRRJJ4ULTek/T1UhclIqmsI/AAAAAAAAAE8/gAkmbzX74M0/s320/88d71f050cc2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I visited Serpent Mound on a warm, sunny day. There were only a few people at the site—now a National Historical Landmark—and once I headed down the path that runs beside the effigy, I found myself alone. Quiet and peaceful, the grassy coils of the gigantic serpent unwound beside me. It was easy to imagine the <i>Uktena</i>—in Cherokee stories, the giant serpent endowed with supernatural powers—coming to life right here on the plateau above the creek. There is no doubt that the site was sacred to Native peoples—it exudes a spiritual aura to this day—and it is often frequented by people seeking a metaphysical experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you’ve visited Serpent Mound, feel free to post a comment about your experiences there. </span></div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-69624259653854669972012-02-01T17:07:00.000-05:002012-02-01T17:07:03.995-05:00"30 Odd Minutes" Show<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had a great time on Jeff Belanger’s Internet TV show “30 Odd Minutes” last night. In case you missed the show, here’s a link to where you can see it:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.30oddminutes.com/archive/2012/02/01/mission-82-the-ghosts-of-ohio-with-john-kachuba/">http://www.30oddminutes.com/archive/2012/02/01/mission-82-the-ghosts-of-ohio-with-john-kachuba/</a></span></div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-54438004065348331072012-01-25T20:59:00.001-05:002012-01-25T21:15:07.644-05:00In the Footsteps of St. Paul on Malta - Part III<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZosT328MRrg/TyC2D8FipsI/AAAAAAAAAEU/o_FoTSp8hFw/s1600/SA9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Legend has it that Paul was kept as a prisoner in a cave during the three months he was in Malta, awaiting transport to Rome. That cave was said to still exist, now a religious shrine, so I decided to find it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I took a bus out of Valletta to Rabat in central Malta. As the bus drove through the arid countryside, punctuated by fields and rubble walls and painted with yellow-blooming prickly pear cactus and oleander trees heavy with big pink flowers, a walled city came into view high upon a hill. This was Mdina. The city takes its name from the Arabic word for walled city, <i>medina</i>, and the fortifications surrounding the tiny town are the same built by the Arabs during their occupation of Malta in the ninth century. Rabat is contiguous with Mdina and comprises the town immediately outside Mdina's city gate; <i>rabat</i> is also an Arab word, loosely translating to "suburb." Before the Arab invasion, there had been only one town under the Byzantines. The Arabs tightened the defenses by closing in the central part of the settlement, effectively creating two cities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was in Rabat where Paul was supposed to have been imprisoned. Today, St. Paul's Grotto rests beneath St. Paul's Church on Triq San Pawl. A long set of stairs descended from the sidewalk into the depths below the church. The light grew dim and the air was cool and damp. At the foot of the stairs was an iron fence with a gate standing open. On the other side there was an altar with a large statue of St. Paul. A tour guide sheparded half a dozen or so camera-toting visitors through the grotto and so I followed him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Azy9VZMYDpE/TyC0U8mF-BI/AAAAAAAAADk/7C_YR8sLKuA/s1600/spg2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Azy9VZMYDpE/TyC0U8mF-BI/AAAAAAAAADk/7C_YR8sLKuA/s320/spg2.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">He came to the actual grotto where it is said that Paul preached and administered to those curious about Christianity. The grotto was not a cave; in fact, it was not much more than a shallow alcove in the rock, perhaps eight feet high by ten feet across. A marble statue of St. Paul stood in the center of the grotto. He balanced a large book on one outthrust hip, while extending his left hand to the viewer--and sure enough, as the old man pointed out to me in Valletta, Paul had all five fingers extended. A small silver replica of a galley donated in 1960 by Knights of St. John Grand Master de Moyana hung from the rock ceiling. At the base of the statue were four ugly lamps, fashioned to look something like torches, set on short stone columns. The lamps were a gift from Pope Paul VI, who was not necessarily know for his sense of interior design.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGkq0DeahPo/TyC0fnrcxYI/AAAAAAAAADs/-_V5ibK1O74/s1600/spg3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGkq0DeahPo/TyC0fnrcxYI/AAAAAAAAADs/-_V5ibK1O74/s320/spg3.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The tour guide carried on about the miracles Paul worked in the grotto, although, if truth were told, as a Roman citizen it is unlikely that Paul would have been imprisoned in a cave while in Malta. It is far more likely that he would have spent his time on the island in the comfort of the magistrate Publius' house.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Paul's Grotto was disappointing and the pilgrims that trickled through the site seemed suitably unimpressed. Ascending into the bright sunlight I realized that I was near two ancient catacomb complexes, one named after, of course, St. Paul, the other named for St. Agatha. I headed southwest from the church square on Triq Sant' Agatha (Saint Agatha Street) to St. Paul's Catacombs. All that was visible above ground was a stone wall surrounding a few small stone structures scattered in a weedy lot. Below that weedy lot, however, lay a serpentine maze of early Christian tombs, most of them dug in the fourth and fifth centuries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RVF2bFIu6ZA/TyC1egyEyfI/AAAAAAAAAEE/SIFnfRav9FE/s1600/St.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RVF2bFIu6ZA/TyC1egyEyfI/AAAAAAAAAEE/SIFnfRav9FE/s320/St.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The temperature dropped significantly as I descended into the catacombs from the staircase in one of the little stone structures. It took a few moments before my eyes become accustomed to the darkness, broken now and then by naked light bulbs hanging on wires.<span> </span>I found myself in a vestibule of sorts with a primitive chapel and stone-cut altar on the right. On the left was a room that contained two large round tables carved from the stone, surrounded by a groove that served as a bench. The tables were called <i>agape</i> tables. Here people gathered, reclining on the benches Roman style, to mourn, pray and feast as they commemorated their dead.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3wkPsTiTxPs/TyC1BnHadfI/AAAAAAAAAD0/8t5zVO0aMnw/s1600/sp7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3wkPsTiTxPs/TyC1BnHadfI/AAAAAAAAAD0/8t5zVO0aMnw/s320/sp7.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wandered through the galleries of silent tombs cut into the native globigerina limestone. Originally, each grave would have been sealed with a slab made of stone or terra cotta, but now the dusty graves lay open, their occupants long gone. There was a variety of grave styles represented in the catacombs: <i>loculi</i>, small rectangular graves for babies carved into the walls of the passageways; <i>arcosolium</i> tombs dug directly into the floors of the passageways; canopied table tombs, a series of graves dug side by side about two feet above the ground on shelves framed by arches; window graves with arched "windows" cut above the sealing slabs so that one could look down an entire row of such graves; and various other styles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tj3SMPyg4FU/TyC1NIJqcZI/AAAAAAAAAD8/iqqA7WKWnfA/s1600/sp14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tj3SMPyg4FU/TyC1NIJqcZI/AAAAAAAAAD8/iqqA7WKWnfA/s320/sp14.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite the name of the catacombs, there is no historical association with St. Paul. On the surface once again, I thought I'd try my luck at St. Agatha's Crypt and Catacombs. I found the sign-posted alley for St. Agatha's about one-tenth of a mile southwest of St. Paul's Catacombs. It was a lovely, narrow tree-shaded alley--one that could easily be missed by the inattentive visitor-- that opened into a stone courtyard. There was a tiny, unassuming archaeological museum in the courtyard where I purchased a ticket to explore the crypt and catacombs. When I asked when the next guided tour would start, the cashier simply shrugged, and told me to help myself. He pointed across the courtyard to what looked like a subway entrance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I walked across the courtyard and found that the iron gate across the stairs descending into the catacombs was padlocked. I wiggled the lock. It was unlocked. The gate squeaked in protest as I dragged it open and crept down the stairs. "Crept" is accurate, since there were no lights to help me find my way down. At the bottom I entered the original crypt.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzgv8ct2_R4/TyC1xNFLflI/AAAAAAAAAEM/6DkBF91R1QY/s1600/SA18.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzgv8ct2_R4/TyC1xNFLflI/AAAAAAAAAEM/6DkBF91R1QY/s320/SA18.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was in that crypt that St. Agatha, an early Christian fleeing persecution in her native Catania in Sicily was said to have found refuge, at least temporarily. She had refused to marry the Roman governor of Catania and fled to Malta in 251 A.D. She stayed there for several months, but eventually returned to Sicily where the Romans arrested her, cut off her left breast, and roasted her to death. Today, Agatha is a popular saint whose influence is widespread both in Malta and especially in Sicily; my grandfather came to the United States from the Sicilian seaport of St. Agata de Mitello.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">A single weak light gave off firefly glow in the crypt. The flash from my camera was like a flare in the dark chamber, briefly illuminating a rough-hewn altar and colorful frescoes covering the walls and ceiling--I would find out later that the frescoes were painted in 1200 and depicted the ubiquitous St. Paul, St. Agatha, and the Madonna breast-feeding the infant Jesus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mHQijeeJ-Vg/TyC2U64jlFI/AAAAAAAAAEc/qdf9o3I7L2w/s1600/SA24.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mHQijeeJ-Vg/TyC2U64jlFI/AAAAAAAAAEc/qdf9o3I7L2w/s320/SA24.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a small recess in the wall, I could see steps cut into the stone and another puny light in the distance. I made my way up the three steps, entering the catacombs proper.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">As in St. Paul's Catacombs, there were a variety of grave styles present, but the light was weaker here and they were not as easy to distinguish. My camera flash served as a flashlight, pushing back the gloom a least momentarily. Spider webs appeared like black lace strung across the grave windows. The catacombs contained as many as 500 graves and covered about 2.5 square miles, although only a small portion is open to the public. This was a good thing; as it is, one could easily get lost in the dark passages that are accessible.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The section I was in was the oldest (the catacombs were used up until the seventeenth century), with burials dating from the second and third centuries. These were Christian graves, but there were also pagan graves dating from the same time period, a noteworthy example of early religious tolerance, something missing in modern Malta. The passages were narrow, the ceilings low. In one chamber, I looked into an open grave illuminated by a tiny bulb and was startled to find people looking up at me. Two crumbling skeletons lay side by side in the cool darkness, their empty eye sockets trained on eternity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZosT328MRrg/TyC2D8FipsI/AAAAAAAAAEU/o_FoTSp8hFw/s1600/SA9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZosT328MRrg/TyC2D8FipsI/AAAAAAAAAEU/o_FoTSp8hFw/s320/SA9.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Once my heartbeat returned to normal, I continued my exploration of the catacombs, taking pictures, many of them simply by pointing and shooting into the darkness. I found that, unlike St. Paul's, some of the graves here were decorated with frescoes and inscriptions. One such tomb bore Greek letters and the images of floral wreaths and pelicans.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">At last, I stumbled into what is believed to be the earliest Christian church in Malta. It was a semicircular chamber with a frescoed niche at one end that probably served as both an altar and tabernacle. In the dim light, I could barely make out the shape of the niche, but once again, my camera provided light. The central feature of the fresco was a large scallop shell and painted below the shell on either side, a bird. The tourist brochure described them as doves, representing the souls of the dead. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>What a wonderful thought, to think of those dead souls winging their way up out of the darkness into the light of eternity!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vgTlmp6ZpiY/TyC2vVE9qBI/AAAAAAAAAEk/Rsw2HGR1zdo/s1600/SA13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vgTlmp6ZpiY/TyC2vVE9qBI/AAAAAAAAAEk/Rsw2HGR1zdo/s320/SA13.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white;"><br />
</div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-37570649551432356022012-01-18T19:41:00.001-05:002012-01-18T19:44:39.408-05:00In the Footsteps of St. Paul on Malta - Part II<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, Catholicism is alive everywhere in Malta, thanks to Paul. It may be Malta's density--roughly 400,000 people packed into a seven-island archipelago only about thirty-five miles end to end--that makes the islanders' faith so visible. I've traveled through much of Catholic Europe, including Vatican City, but nowhere did Catholicism seem as pervasive as it did in Malta.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The population of Malta is almost 100% Catholic and the traditions and trappings of Catholicism are evident everywhere. In the scores of opulent churches and chapels that are found cheek by jowl in even the smallest villages. In the <i>festas </i>processions where colorful life-sized statues of saints are paraded through the streets upon the shoulders of sturdy young men and church marching bands try to outshine each other musically if at all possible, or in a brawl if necessary. In the antiquated smoke-belching buses where holy pictures, rosaries, crucifixes, saints' statues and prayers to Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary surround the driver like an altar on wheels. In the civil law, based strongly on Catholic orthodoxy, that does not permit divorce, abortion, or homosexuality. In the ceramic plaques depicting saints and the Holy Family that can be found on the exterior walls of many houses, along with the houses' names that are also religious in nature, such as <i>St. Theresa</i> or <i>Ave Maria</i>. In the Maltese love of jewelry, especially religious jewelry, such as the crosses, Maltese and Latin, dangling from gold chains around the necks of young men or nestling in the impressive décolletages of Maltese women.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">One day I was riding on an old red-and-yellow bus named <i>Paradise</i> headed for Valletta. The bus was filled with people on their way to work in the capitol city and I had to stand in the aisle. A woman got on at one stop and seeing how crowded was the bus, hesitated a moment before giving the driver her fare. But she did step aboard and grabbed the overhead rail with her left hand. She quickly made the sign of the cross with her right hand just as the bus lurched forward in a cloud of blue smoke, and nearly sweeping her feet out from under her. Her quick invocation worked, however; she didn't fall. After that incident, I became aware of how often bus riders made that same gesture, whether standing or sitting. Despite the kamikaze bus drivers and the condition of most Maltese buses, held together it seemed with bailing wire and chewing gum, accidents were not common. The Maltese attribute such salvation to God.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was intrigued by both the influence of Catholicism upon Maltese culture and the story of Paul during his shipwrecked days on Malta. There are dozens of churches and shrines scattered across the country, all bearing the name of the beloved saint. There are two churches in Valletta named after St. Paul. One is the austere St. Paul's Anglican Church, whose tall steeple is one of the dominant features on the Valletta skyline, visible for several miles to ships at sea. The interior is straight from the Protestant Reformation, plain and unadorned by statuary, paintings, stained glass, and the other artistic features common to Catholic churches in Malta. I suppose that if one did not wish to be distracted during prayer, this church would be the place to go. I thought it was boring.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">As my wife Mary and I exited St. Paul's and walked through the ancient streets of Valletta on Triq Il Merkanti (Merchants Street), we paused every now and then, gazing at statues of saints set in niches on the facades of various buildings. A smiling old man watched us for a few minutes, following us at a discrete distance. Finally, as we stood looking up at a colorfully painted statue enclosed in a glass case, he approached us.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Saint Dominick," the man said, flashing us a mostly toothless smile. "Do you know how you can tell?" We didn't know. "He is always holding up only one finger of his right hand, see?"</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">We looked again and, sure enough, the saint had his right hand raised, all but his index finger curled inward.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Every time you see a saint raising one finger at you, that will be Dominick," the man said. "Paul is different. He holds up all five fingers, like this," he said, demonstrating the gesture for us.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Like a traffic cop," I said, and the old man laughed.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Yes, like that," he said.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">We slowly walked down the street and the old man accompanied us, keeping up a steady patter all along. He told us that there were seventeen churches in Valletta alone and that the niches in which the statues now stood held torches in the old days. He was seventy-eight years old, he said, and he then proceeded to tell us all about his family. He started to give us directions to all seventeen of Valletta's churches, but knowing that there was no way I could keep all that in my head, I told him of my specific interest in St. Paul.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Then you must visit St. Paul's Shipwreck Church," he said.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"In Valletta?"</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Yes, but it's not easy to find. I'll show you the way," he said.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">I protested that he had been kind enough already and that we really couldn't impose upon him any longer (despite the fact that he had voluntarily attached himself to us as an impromptu tour guide), but he insisted on showing us the way.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end, it wasn't much further before he directed us one block south, to Triq San Pawl (St. Paul Street). He didn't go with us to the church and would take no compensation for his assistance, saying that he was simply proud of his city and liked to show it off to foreigners.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Triq San Pawl is a narrow street--typical of Valletta--and the unremarkable facade of St. Paul's Shipwreck Church is sandwiched between two other buildings. Were it not for the small sign out front, the church would be easy to miss. Yet, the church is one of the oldest in Valletta, built in the 1570s and designed by the Maltese architect Girolmu Cassar, who was responsible for much of the work of rebuilding Valletta after the Great Siege of 1565 by the Ottomans Turks reduced the city to rubble.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Paul's Shipwreck Church in Valletta was built to commemorate the auspicious wreck that brought St. Paul to the island, but should not be confused with a second St. Paul's Shipwreck Church, that one a much smaller and simpler church located on the waterfront at St. Paul's Bay, the traditional spot at which Paul is believed to have come ashore.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Valletta church is the final resting place for many Knights of St. John and ecclesiastical officials who could not find a place in St. John's Co-Cathedral, the traditional church of the Knights of St. John. Their remains lie beneath the floor, set with a chessboard of marble tombstones. Later architectural additions to the interior of St. Paul's Shipwreck Church came in the seventeenth-century in the Baroque renderings of Maltese artist and architect Lorenzo Gaffa.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">For me, the highlights of the church were the relics associated with St. Paul. In a little side altar stood a golden reliquary in the shape of an arm. A glass window was set in the forearm and inside I glimpsed a tiny bit of white. A sign told me that I was viewing a piece of bone from St. Paul's wrist. The reliquary was beautiful but the relic itself was unassuming. Saints' relics are widespread throughout Europe--there are enough pieces of the True Cross to build a flotilla of wooden ships--and I wondered about this relic's authenticity, although I suppose that would be of little importance to a true believer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P5FXvodna-w/TxdmLygZ-SI/AAAAAAAAADU/2CkjNbbHd0c/s1600/SPS6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P5FXvodna-w/TxdmLygZ-SI/AAAAAAAAADU/2CkjNbbHd0c/s320/SPS6.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was also a glass case that held a roughly columnar-shaped piece of stone, which was touted as a piece of the column upon which Paul was beheaded in Rome; he lost his appeal to Caesar and was executed, but his Roman citizenship spared him crucifixion, granting him a more humane beheading instead.</span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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</div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563329377857150033.post-19629144504635682372011-12-06T10:57:00.001-05:002011-12-06T11:01:36.429-05:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">In the Footsteps of St. Paul on Malta – Part I</span></span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">St. Paul's Bay, in northeast Malta, affords sailors safe anchorage throughout most of the year. But sometimes in winter, when the <i>Gregale</i> blows in from the northeast, whipping the water before it into a mad frenzy, the bay can become a terrifying place. Such was the situation in November 60 A.D. when a ship bound for Rome from Caesarea was caught in a ferocious <i>Gregale </i>near Crete. For fourteen days the winds raged, driving the ship southwestward toward Malta, then called Melita by the ancient Greeks (<i>Melita </i>means "honey" in Greek; the island was known for its excellent honey production). In addition to the captain and crew and a cargo of wheat, the ship also carried a man named Paul, who called himself a follower of Jesus Christ. A Roman military escort, commanded by an officer named Julius, accompanied him, along with fellow Christians Luke and Aristarchus. After imprisonment in Caesarea for almost two years, Paul, by his own request and invoking the rights of a Roman citizen to "appeal to Caesar," was on his way to Rome to answer several charges brought against him by Jewish and Roman authorities. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">By midnight of the fourteenth day of the <i>Gregale</i>, it was apparent that the ship was in danger of driving onto the island's rocky shoals. Even after dropping bow and stern anchors and jettisoning its valuable cargo, the ship continued to founder. Despite the captain's best efforts, the ship hung up on the rocks where wind and waves continued to batter it. As dawn broke, the passengers and crew could see the bay, its beach and the limestone bluffs rising up behind it. The ship began to break up in the pounding surf. Julius ordered everyone to jump overboard, the swimmers striking out for the shore, the non-swimmers clinging to the ship's broken timbers, all of them praying to their respective gods to be saved. </span></span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pcstRxxocds/Tt48T3VSdLI/AAAAAAAAADM/X05zabOZD8A/s1600/shipwreck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pcstRxxocds/Tt48T3VSdLI/AAAAAAAAADM/X05zabOZD8A/s320/shipwreck.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Amazingly, everyone made it safely to shore.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Island fishermen who had witnessed the shipwreck already had a fire blazing as the survivors staggered out of the surf. Paul helped them gather firewood and, as he did so, a snake sprang out of a pile of brushwood and fastened on his hand. Unconcerned, he shook the snake off into the fire. When the islanders saw that the snake had not harmed the stranger, that in fact, he did not die as they were certain he would, they began to look upon Paul as a god. To this day, the legend holds that Paul miraculously removed the venom from Maltese snakes, despite the fact that Malta <i>never</i> had any venomous indigenous snakes.</span></span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Paul and the others remained on Malta for three months before they were able to continue their voyage to Rome. During that time they were treated hospitably by the islanders and Paul began to preach to the people about Jesus. While a guest at Publius, the chief magistrate's house, he cured Publius' father of dysentery by the "laying on of hands." Such a public display of Paul's power brought him converts to Christianity, including Publius himself, who went on to become Malta's first bishop. Paul continued to preach to the people and when he finally departed Malta he left behind the beginnings of a Christian church on the island.</span></span></div><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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</div>John Kachubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08525451407319138598noreply@blogger.com0