Happy 5 Year Anniversary

At the Zoo in some cave dwelling, thats where Hakka people originated from, the mountains and caves of China=)Today is wifey and my, 5 year anniversary, sounds kind of funny, let me just say it the way everyone does its Me and wifeys 5 year anniversary today. There that sounds better. Its been kind of long but short, so much has transpired and changed during that time. We have grown alot in our own independant ways and spiritually and pychologically we have developed and changed. Im so thankful for family and friends and most of all for Christ Jesus in our life, without God binding our relationship together we most likely would not be together still and in this world where we are programmed to think its all about ourself and there are always alternatives. It beats down on relationships and marriages today and its so sad. So were so thankful for our church and just our walk of faith til this point. There were times when we wanted to giveup and walk away from everything that we had built and instead of growing, walls were being torn down. Im happy that today we have learnt from the past and we have actively been building up eachother and our family. I love you honey, I cherish you and I honor you! Believe me its easy to say and intend it but its harder to do and often remember it. This weekend we have a last minute planned marriage event were goign to which happens to be at church so were really excited about that. We have been really busy with the kids, pregnancy and work so this date would be really nice and memorable. Well Some photos below of me and the family, so soon it will be Jeff and Gee Plus Three and we will need to take an updated family portrait. So with a final prayer,God protect and bless each and everyone of our children, help us to grow and prosper in our marriage and every aspect of our life. We pray that your Angels always have charge over each and everyone of us, that we may live in victory everyday of our lives right up until the day we die and enter your kingdom!

Origin: i-love-witchcraft.blogspot.com

The Imprisonment Of The Pagan Republican Sodomites The Heathen Minded Humanists Part Three

I have so far written four posts in this blog about the 1468 (Anno Deceptoris) conflict between Pope Paul II and the Roman Academy. Here is a brief overview of the ground covered so far:

Part One provided some background on the two opposing sides: the "Heathen-Minded Humanists" of the Academy, who "despised the Christian religion and passionately inveighed against its adherents," versus the Pope and other representatives of "the genuine and noble Renaissance, which had grown up on Christian principles, and, while embracing classical studies with enthusiasm, had made them subordinate and subservient to Christian aims and ideas." The words in quotes are all from Ludwig von Pastor's "History of the Popes" (which ran to 16 volumes published between 1886 and 1930).

Part Two went into more detail about the unfolding of the "Crisis of 1468", as it is often called. The executive summary is that the Pope had the Heathens arrested on the trumped up charge of plotting to assassinate His Holiness (with the end goals of both the rebirth of the Roman Republic and the revival of Roman Paganism). I then jumped to Part Four, because I wished, at least for a while, to pass over the unhappy tale of our heroes' incarceration, and instead to move directly to the far more pleasant subject of the discoveries made by Giovanni Battista de Rossi (starting in 1852) of inscriptions that were found deep in the catacombs of the city of Rome. These were made by the Sodomite Republican Pagans in question after their release and exoneration, and they serve to demonstrate that the Heathenism of the Academicians went far beyond either delusional paranoia on the part of their accusers, or mere antiquarian affectation on the part of the accused. And Part Five told the story of the other Roman Academy and its illustrious ringleader, Cardinal Bessarion, in order to help provide a somewhat broader context concerning the "Heathen-Minded" Academies, plural, in Renaissance Italy.

It still remains to tell the middle part of the story, Part Three, for I can no longer put off dealing with the ill-treatment of the imprisoned Pagans. To that end I now turn to a modern, 21st century, source: Anthony F. D'Elia's 2009 A Sudden Terror: The Plot to Murder the Pope in Renaissance Rome. First, though, I think we should refresh our memories about the material already covered so far, or at least revisit those events from the perspective of Anthony F. D'Elia, who provides the following very lively account of how it all went down in 1468 in the following three excerpts:

excerpt 1. [from pages 1-2 of D'Elia 2009]

The year was 1468. On Fat Tuesday, the last and most extravagant night of carnival in Rome, Pope Paul II sat attentively watching the races from his throne high above the boisterous crowd, when suddenly a scuffle broke out. The papal guards had stopped someone who was loudly insisting on speaking with the pope urgently about a matter of life and death. The man, his beard and dark eyes barely discernible under his hood, was dressed like a philosopher. Seeing that had captured the pope's attention, the "philosopher" broke free of the guards and intoned: "Holy Father! You are in great danger!" The pope sat up, leaned forward, and beckoned the stranger to approach and explain. What he heard made him tremble and turn pale

The cloaked informant asserted that an organized gang of miscreants was circulating in the crowd, not with the intent of cutting the purses of hapless revelers, but with a far more sinister aim: to murder the pope. An army of four hundred to five hundred criminals, he said, lay hidden in the ancient Roman ruins next to the pope's family palace. There, they awaited the signal to rise up, overwhelm the papal guard, and kill the pontiff. The conspirators planned to overthrow papal rule and destroy the power of the priests. After issuing his warning, the stranger gave no further details that we know of, but slipped away. A sudden terror came over the pope. As he looked down at the crowds of drunken revelers, he saw assassins everywhere. The masks and grotesque faces now seemed malignant and menacing. Paul was convinced that his life was in danger.

excerpt 2. [fr0m pages 3-6 of D'Elia 2009]

Carnival ushered in a week of merriment and unbridled pleasure, the last gasp for gluttony and excess before the forty lean days of Lent, when everyone [by law] had to fast in preparation for Easter. Before Paul ascended the papal throne, carnival in Rome had consisted of little more than some bull fighting and subdued revelry on the outskirts of the city. This pope changed all that. He turned the Roman carnival into a real party. He hosted sumptuous banquets for civic magistrates and citizens, at which delicate fish, choice meat, and many kinds of wine were served. After each feast he showered coins on the crowds outside his window, to demonstrate his benevolence toward the Roman people. Like other Renaissance cities, Rome used primarily the florin as currency, for the Medici bank in Florence had a virtual monopoly over European finance in the fifteenth century. Each year from 1468 through 1470 Paul spent between 329 and 376 florins on carnival banquets and other acts of liberality.

To give some notion of the scale of the outlay, some comparisons will be helpful. In 1449 a slave wet nurse could be hired for seventeen florins a year. The Venetian artist Titian paid assistants in his work- shop four florins a month in 1514. An apprentice banker lived on twenty florins a year, and a school teacher in early sixteenth-century Rome made twenty-five to thirty florins a year. Paul's expenditure of hundreds of florins on carnival celebrations was, therefore, extrava- gant. The purpose of such elaborate festivities was to win over the Roman people, as Paul made clear in two medals he issued for carnival. On one medal was inscribed, "A public banquet for the Roman peo- ple," and on the other, "Public joy." He did his utmost to make himself beloved by the Roman citizens and members of the papal government.

Paul II encouraged everyone to participate in the carnival celebrations. Gem-studded swords at their sides, cardinals in full military regalia rode on horseback through the streets, accompanied by an elaborate retinue. The cardinals' palaces were converted into casinos. The nephew of the future Pope Innocent VIII lost fourteen thousand florins to Cardinal Riario at one sitting. Such a fortune could have bought eight palaces in Florence at the time. The Roman diarist Stefano Infessura was aghast at the cardinals' behavior: "This year at carnival all the cardinals rode on sumptuous triumphal floats, accom- panied by trumpeters on horseback, and sent masked revelers through the city to the homes of other cardinals, accompanied by boys who sang and recited lascivious and pleasing verses and by clowns, actors, and others, dressed not in wool or linen, but in silk and gold and silver brocade. A great deal of money has been spent, and the mercy of God has been converted into luxury and the work of the Devil. There is no one who is not shocked by this." Extravagance, especially during carnival, was a hallmark of Paul's papacy.

A major feature of the entertainment he offered to the citizens consisted of the public humiliation of those living on the margins of Roman society. For the carnival celebrations of 1468 the pope sponsored eight races. First the Jews ran, then the prostitutes, the elderly, children, hunchbacks, dwarves, and finally donkeys and oxen. They had all been forced to take part in the contest; the jeers of the crowd, the lashing and cudgeling, the pelting with rocks, drove the runners through the awful gauntlet, down the slippery, torchlit cobblestone streets. Many of these wretches stumbled and fell to the ground, bruised and filthy. The sight elicited such mirth "that people could not stay on their feet but collapsed, breathless and exhausted." Pope Paul II, having taken pains to move carnival to the center of Rome and greatly ex- pand the races, enjoyed watching the suffering and humiliation of these helpless contestants. It was his idea to force the Jews of Rome, among others, to run, and he personally gave a gold coin to the winner of each race. Before Paul's pontificate, Jews had been forbidden to participate in the celebrations, but they were nevertheless compelled to pay a special tax to fund the festivities. Paul is often rightly seen as anti-Semitic. He did, however, lower the tax exacted from 1,230 florins to 555. By forcing the Jews to run in the races, Paul also provided the Roman people with an outlet for their aggression, by promoting a safe enemy, a scapegoat against which the Christian majority could bond together. Later in the sixteenth century, after the Jews had been isolated in ghettos, carnival became an especially dangerous time for Jews, almost as bad as Easter, when, in order to protect them from Christian rage, the authorities forbade them to leave the ghetto. Many Romans, some powerful, some powerless, had a motive to kill this eccentric and arrogant man.

excerpt 3. [from pages 9-11 of D'Elia 2009]

Pomponio Leto, Bartolomeo Platina, and Filippo Buonaccorsi (Callimachus) were singled out as the leaders of the conspiracy. They were the best of friends. With their classical knowledge and dedication to learning, they had much in common. In his popular cookbook Platina represents them joking merrily with each other, leaning over a bubbling pot of soup to be served at a dinner party. It was their friendship, perhaps, that attracted them to the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, for whom the absence of pain was, along with a community of friends, the highest pleasure. But for the humanists the joys of social life included the sexual. Callimachus, a Tuscan who, like other humanists, had come to Rome to serve as secretary to a cardinal, wrote love poetry to younger members of the academy. He praised their beardless youthful beauty and described the pleasures of their embrace. Pomponio, the beloved mentor and head of the academy was similarly inclined. At the time of the conspiracy, he was under arrest in Venice on a charge of sodomy stemming from the love poetry he had written about two youths, students in his care. Back in Rome it was alleged that "unnatural" vice had driven the humanists to murder the pope.

Pomponio was a professor of rhetoric at the University of Rome who was known for his pagan beliefs and devotion to the genius of ancient Rome. At a time when everyone in Europe, apart from the oppressed minority of Jews and Muslims, was a Roman Catholic, the assertion that the humanists were pagans had serious repercussions [note that D'Elia has already previously mentioned the fact that "Among their many scandalous behaviors they performed secret pagan rites and mock religious ceremonies at which Pomponio was called Pontifex Maximus..." p. 7]. Pomponio tried to defend himself, but without success, especially after it came out that he had not fasted -- indeed, had even eaten meat -- during the forty days of Lent. Platina, who would later write a damning life of Pope Paul II, worked for Cardinal Gonzaga and had extensive contact with church government. He had started life as a mercenary and had served in two armies for four years before finding his true passion in classical literature. His love of Plato's philosophy was cited as clear evidence of pagan leanings.

The humanists had been suspected of harboring ill will toward the pope for some time before the mysterious philosopher's revelation on Fat Tuesday. Platina had already been imprisoned once three years earlier for challenging the pope's autocratic rule and for threatening to call a church council to depose him. Callimachus, who was overly fond of drink, often attacked the clergy in his drunken diatribes, and he had recently handed out fliers predicting the imminent death of the pope. An anonymous astrologer had similarly foretold that the pope would become ill and die within days. By some bizarre coincidence, Paul II was in fact seized shortly thereafter by a violent chill. Like most people of his time, Pope Paul took astrology very seriously.

The appearance of Halley's Comet in 1456 prompted all manner of astrological predictions and calls for prayer to ward off the ill fortune that the flaming ball of fire might portend. With their expert knowledge of the stars and admittedly outlandish ideas about the movement of planets, astrologers were the necessary forerunners of modern astronomers. Most universities, in fact, had chairs of astrology until quite recently. The Church never regarded astrology and magic as nonsense, as modern skeptics do. These were deceptive sciences, effectual but demonic, for they tried to manipulate Nature for personal gain to reveal its secrets. Astrologers claimed to divulge knowledge that only God possessed; their belief that stars determined character threw into question the Christian doctrine of free will. The Magisterium of Mother Church alone could pronounce on the proper use of magic and had a monopoly on all things spiritual. Portents, horoscopes, witchcraft, and magical spells were taken very seriously in this world, where the reasons for even the simplest changes in weather were unfathomable.

But just how did these men of letters intend to carry out their grandiose plan to return Italy to its glorious Pagan Republican Sodomite past? Surely they must have powerful allies - but who? Among those who were mentioned as possible supporters of the Conspiracy were the King of Naples, the King of France and the Ottoman Turks. But was there any evidence to connect the accused to such illustrious confederates? In the end, nothing could be produced to substantiate anything of the sort (and moreover, the Christian princes named as unindicted co-conspirators loudly protested their innocence). Many other questions about the supposed plot, from the details of its planned execution to its ultimate motives and goals, were similarly without clear answers.

Of course, the Holy Father had lost no time seeing to it that the conspirators were thoroughly and frequently tortured, and this naturally yielded results. But the stories that were extracted under torture were inconsistent with each other, as is so often the case, due to their being obvious fabrications produced only to satisfy the torturers.

Having arrested and savagely tortured many of the most distinguished, and well connected, intellectuals of Western Christendom, Paul II now found it difficult to justify his actions. No one dared, at least openly, to directly contradict the Pope. But even the most discrete and diplomatic inquiries about the affair proved to be an embarrassment. Now let us return to Dr. Ludwig von Pastor's narrative (here's a link to the full text at OpenLibrary.Org):

It was not easy for the Ambassadors of the [Italian] League, who were then in Rome, to obtain really authentic information regarding the events which had just taken place there, for the most varied and fantastic accounts were circulated. Many different statements were made as to the day fixed upon for carrying the plot into effect. Some said that Paul II was to have been murdered on Ash-Wednesday, at the Papal Mass, others that the crime was to have been perpetrated on Carnival Sunday, when all the people, and even the Papal Guards, would have gone to Monte Testaccio for the accustomed festivities. Others again declared Palm Sunday to be the day selected. It was further reported that the conspirators had, with a view to the accomplishment of their purpose, associated with themselves Luca de Tocio, who was a member of the Council at the Court of Ferrante I at Naples. This man was believed to be in league with other banished persons. Four or five hundred of them were to enter the city secretly, and to hide themselves in the ruins of the houses which had been pulled down in order to enlarge the Papal Palace. On the other side, forty or fifty partisans were to join the conspirators, and begin an attack on the attendants of the Cardinals and Prelates, who would be waiting in the Square in front of the Palace. By this means the Pope's small Guard would be occupied, and the conflict was to serve as a signal to the hidden outlaws, who would then make their way into the Church and murder the Pope and those about him. General pillage was to ensue, and Luca de Tocio was to establish a new Constitution. Even more alarming than the plot itself was the reported extent of its ramifications. The King of Naples was accused of taking part in it, and some were of the opinion that the King of France was also engaged, while others declared that Sigismondo Malatesta to be one of the conspirators. These varied accounts led the Ambassadors of the League to seek from the Pope himself more accurate information, and, at the same time, to express their sympathy and offer assistance on behalf of their several masters. An account of the Audience was drawn up by the Milanese Ambassadors personally, and in duplicate.

[pp. 49-50]

Pastor then gives us his own summary of the Milanese Ambassadors' notes, and the first several paragraphs of that summation (on pages 50-51) were already excerpted in Part Two of this series of posts. This goes on for several pages, and the interested reader is strongly encouraged to go to the full text, linked to above, and read the gory details for yourself. The executive summary is that while there was little room for doubt concerning the Academicians' hatred of Christianity and Papal authority in particular, or their love of all things Pagan and Roman Republicanism in particular, or their unbridled libertinage and their penchant for homoeroticism in particular, still there was no solid evidence to support the main charge of treasonous conspiracy.

In the end, the Duke of Milan's Ambassador, Johannes Blanchus, concluded that, "Regarding the Conspiracy against the Pope's person, enquiries have been most carefully made, but as yet nothing has been discovered but some blustering talk." [Pastor, p. 58]

In the next installment (I have managed to split Part Three into two sub-parts!) we will return to D'Elia's narrative, which could prove quite interesting due to the fact that D'Elia is of the opinion that in addition to be Pagans, Republicans, and Sodomites, the Heathen-Minded Humanists really did conspire to murder the Pope!

Stay tuned!

True Story Im A Missionary

"THIS IS ONE OF MANY TRUE STORY INTERVIEWS IN WHICH WE TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INTERESTING, CHALLENGING, AMAZING THINGS. THIS IS THE STORY OF MEGAN AND HER TIME ACTING AS A MISSIONARY FOR THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. I UNDERSTAND THAT PROSELYTIZING AND MISSIONARY WORK IS BEHAVIOR THAT SOME READERS MIGHT TAKE ISSUE WITH. AS ALWAYS, POLITE, RESPECTFUL, ARTICULATE DISAGREEMENT IS "WELCOME, INFLAMMATORY COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED. "MeganTELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF! I'm originally from northern Colorado, and with that comes a love for the outdoors. I love biking, hiking, and camping, as well as reading, baking, and eating. I'm 28 and just finished a masters degree in woodwind performance last August (I'm an oboist), and currently work as an academic adviser.COULD YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR FAITH? I was raised Mormon. Both my parents are practicing Mormons, but come from families who practice to varying degrees. I grew up attending church every Sunday, and graduated from the church's seminary program.DOING MISSIONARY WORK IS PART OF BEING MORMON, RIGHT? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR MISSION WORK?Missionary work plays a huge role in the lives of all Mormons, but it is carried out in different ways. While all members of the church are encouraged to share their beliefs, men are expected to serve a two year full-time mission, women have the option to serve, and senior couples also can choose to serve. The young men and women who serve are mainly full-time proselytizing missionaries, but there are humanitarian missions, short-term missions, part-time missions, etc. Missionaries pay their own way, putting employment and education on hold. I served a full-time mission for eighteen months, and my goal was to teach people about Christ, and offer them the opportunity to be baptized. DID YOU ACTIVELY PROSELYTIZE WHILE YOU DID YOUR MISSION WORK? HOW DID PEOPLE REACT TO THAT? DID YOU SUCCESSFULLY CONVERT ANYONE?I did actively proselytize on my mission. I served in northwestern Washington, where there is a good mix of religious views, including some that are anti-Mormon. In my mission (and in most), there were standards for how many hours of tracting, or door-to-door knocking, we were expected to complete each week. People reacted in all sorts of ways, from ignoring us, answering the door in their towel (and berating us for making them come to the door in the middle of their shower!), cussing us out and slamming the door, to literally inviting us in to share a meal with their family. I was involved in the conversion of 28 people, who ranged in age from 8 years old to 55. HAS ANYONE FROM ANOTHER RELIGION EVER PROSELYTIZED AT YOU? HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? Yes! In fact, more than once on my mission, Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door. Given the situation, it was kind of funny, and we usually just exchanged pamphlets. Since my mission, I have a much greater respect for anyone willing to respectfully share their beliefs.TELL US ABOUT AN 'AVERAGE DAY' WHILE YOU WERE DOING MISSION WORK.Missionaries follow a very structured schedule, and it is very much full-time. We would get up at 6:30 every morning, have personal and companionship prayers, and follow with 30 minutes of exercise. Then we would shower, get ready, and eat breakfast until we had personal study at 8 am. There were only a handful of books we studied: the Standard Works (the King James Version Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine ">After an hour of personal study, we studied together for an hour as a companionship, planning lessons for our investigators, and looking for answers to their questions and concerns. What we chose to do each day was completely left up to us, and it was often a daunting and humbling experience trying to determine through thoughtful consideration and prayer where we needed to go, and how we could best serve the people in our area.At 10 am, we left the apartment, sometimes for appointments with people who were investigating the church, but often to go tracting door-to-door, or to go places where we could talk to as many people as possible. We had lunch at 12, when we'd also try and make phone calls (we did not have cell phones in my mission at the time!), then head back out at 1 for more of the same. Dinner was usually at 6 pm, and often with families in the ward. We tried to have dinner with church members every night, which helped us get to know them and people they knew who might be interested in learning more about the church. Dinner lasted strictly an hour, during which we shared a lesson with the family, then we were back out again, teaching, tracting, or talking to people. This happened in literally all kinds of weather: heat, rain, fog, snow, you name it!We came home at 9 pm, when we reviewed our day. In our missionary planners, we kept numbers of how many people we contacted, how many lessons we taught, referrals we'd received, etc. and reported this to our mission leadership. We would also do our planning for the next day-the goal was to have something planned for every hour of the day, as well as back up plans since our original plans usually fell through. Then we'd have a little time to write in our journals and prep for the next day until we had companionship prayer and went to bed at 10:30 pm. The schedule didn't vary much from this, except that on Sundays we went to church, and we also spent time each week doing planned and unplanned service. Once a week, missionaries also have a Preparation Day, or P-Day, and that is when we took care of groceries, laundry, and doctor's appointments, wrote to our families, and had some fun with other missionaries. Twice a year, on Mother's Day and Christmas Day, we got to call home to our families.HOW DID YOUR NON-MORMON FRIENDS FEEL ABOUT YOUR MISSION WORK?My non-Mormon friends from high school were a little curious, but otherwise didn't seem to react too much to my serving a mission. A few even wrote to me while I was gone.WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACED WHILE DOING MISSION WORK? WHAT DID YOU GAIN FROM THE EXPERIENCE?Being a missionary is still one of the hardest things I've done, harder than completing my masters degree (though in different ways). I have never been as tired as I was on my mission! It was exhausting work because of the emotional connection you gained to the work you were doing, and because there was a lot of disappointment. Very few people actually listened to you, and even fewer were willing to try coming to church, reading the scriptures, or being baptized. Some people were hateful toward you without even knowing you as a person. It also goes without being said that it is HARD to be away from family, friends, books, school, TV, the internet, the news, everything, for 18 months. It was so rewarding, though, and I learned so much about people, the world, the church, leadership, myself, and what I really believe. It is a very rare opportunity to completely give up all personal pursuits, and fully dedicate oneself to one's beliefs. There were many times that I wanted to quit, but the experience of really getting to know, love and care for people-most of whom were very different from me and my upbringing-was incredibly fulfilling. Despite all the challenges, I wouldn't trade my mission for anything.Thanks for sharing your story, Megan! Have any of you guys done mission work? Do you have any (respectful!) questions for Megan?

Credit: way-of-witch.blogspot.com

Thoughts And Events In The Midst Of Winter

Here we are, in the middle of February and in the middle of winter. Spring is yet another sixty days away at least, and winter has been going on for so long that I can barely remember what it was like to have leaves on trees and growing things. So far, it has been a pretty mild winter, but there are patches of snow and ice, and nothing would seem to indicate that winter is losing its grip anytime soon. So I look outside my window and day-dream about going outside and enjoying the warmth and witnessing all of the green vegetation. I admit that often it seems we take these things for granted until the middle of winter, when we find ourselves pining for their return. That's what life is like living in the tundra that is Minnesota in the winter.

I did want to discuss some things that are relevant to this blog other than displaying my angst about the seemingly never ending winter. There are some really wonderful things happening, and I have been very busy working at my day job as well as writing up my occult topics during the evening. Sometimes things just seem like all work and no play, so I need to plan in some playtime and some temple time as well.

By now, all three parts of my article on "New Age Cargo Cults" have been posted, and everyone has had a chance to look them over. While perusing the recent news, I have finally come to the conclusion that the Republican Party seems to be functioning more and more like a Cargo Cult. News pundits, presidential candidates and various other governing elected officials operating through the Republican party doctrine have created a view of the U.S. and the world that is almost completely mythic in its contents and perspectives. In the past, beliefs and opinions that would have been sequestered in fringe groups like the John Birch society, the KKK, Aryan Nation, the Religious Right, Libertarian Lunatics, Warmongering Neocons, Anti-Science Climate Change Deniers, Plundering Plutocrats and various other hate-groups or ultra-conservative fanatics are now fully embraced and shown as part of the mainstream conservative agenda.Very scary indeed!

Republicans have created a false sense of urgency and crisis in this country, but it's focused laser-like on social values and protecting the entitlement of the very rich, instead of jobs and income inequality. The whole ridiculous entourage reminds me of a political circus, except that there is nothing entertaining about it. As a political moderate, I find the constant harping and unwillingness to do anything constructive both wearying and deplorable. The apparent stimulus for this obstreperous behavior seems to be nothing more than the fact that we have a black man in the White House. (Horrors to horrors!) Unfortunately, our current president has actually been functioning as a political moderate, with many of his policies inhabiting a place in the right-of-center of the political spectrum. Yet if you listen to the right-wing punditry, Obama appears to be a dangerous, foaming at the mouth, left-wing fringe, racist, liberal socialist Muslim Kenyan. I find it all so very unreal and insultingly stupid.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is still way too high and many people are financially suffering. It's obvious to anyone that there are terrible inequalities growing between the rich and the poor, and the middle class is being effectively erased. It would seem to be the objective of the conservative right to consign the middle class to the hosts of the poor, where they will cease to interfere with the ongoing government sanctioned kleptomania by the rich. At some point, the whole things is going to collapse - and it's only a matter of when. If you want to read a really good article about what is actually going on, you can check out this online link from the recent November Rolling Stone and look it over - you won't like what it says one bit.

Hopefully, a more sane and realistic dialog will occur between now and November, but I am not optimistic. At least all of this political noise is having the effect of completely damaging the Republican Party brand. This is likely also a boon to President Obama, who will sail to an easy reelection victory during a fiscal downturn. Perhaps when the Republicans hit rock bottom, we can expect maybe the rise of a more sane and sensible alternative. I am against any kind of one party rule, and I think that having more than one party facilitates a proper political dialog, or at least, that's how it's supposed to work. To quote a famous Stan Lee saying (used by many of his Marvel characters), "Nuff said."

Starting on February 26th, I will begin the four Portae Lucis preparation workings. On that date, I will begin the process of charging the four talismans that will be needed to perform the talismanic alternative to the traditional Portae Lucis, as set down by Jean Dubuis. I will keep my journal current and report to you, my readers, anything that is interesting or out of the ordinary. The Portae Lucis working is supposed to achieve its culmination and climax just before the Summer Solstice, now planned for June 17 through June 19 of this year. It will be interesting to see if I was able to properly interpret this working and write up a more active, magickal, alternative.

On February 8, Llewellyn Publications had a Vision meeting and accepted my manuscript for the book project, "Qabalah for Beginners." This was a pretty happy event for me, and it means that my book project now has a scheduled series of stages to be completed so that the book will be in print by March of 2013. It typically takes Llewellyn a year to move a book project from the manuscript stage to the fully published and printed work. I have a number of fixes, changes and revisions on the original manuscript to be performed, and I will need to re-submit the revised manuscript by May 1.

Since I have already completed most of those changes already, I only need to work on the history and creation chapters so that multiple sources will ultimately be cited for the information contained in them. I have also ordered some additional books to help me with this task, and I suspect that the final revision will be completed in the next two to three weeks, well before the deadline. The book project Launch meeting is to be held on March 5, so I am looking forward to that event as well. What will happen after the revised manuscript is received and accepted will be the final editing process, and that will probably last for a few weeks or up to a month.

Looking over the current condition of the manuscript for "Qabalah for Beginners," I feel that it is the cleanest, best researched and organized book that I have ever written so far. And this is its current condition before the actual final editing process is started. I believe that this book will be the very best that I have been able to produce in my writing career, and it will be great addition to Llewellyn's book catalog. I have been very pleased at how I have been treated by Llewellyn so far, and would consider writing another manuscript for them if the opportunity presents itself. They are able to motivate and extract from me a level of perfection that I have not been able to achieve completely on my own, which can only benefit those who would seek to purchase and read my new book. Anyway, I will continue to report about the progress of this project, and give you ample notice when the publication date is nigh at hand.

The annual Pantheacon convention occurred in San Jose this last weekend, and unlike the previous three years, I did not attend. I missed not being able to go, but I just couldn't justify the cost and the time involved. This year is going to be a more lean year financially than previously, and I have had to make choices about where I spend my money. Instead of the pricey visit to San Jose and staying at the Hilton Hotel for Pantheacon, I will be putting my resources into the local convention in the Twin Cities, called Paganicon.

Our Pagan Pride organization's second annual Paganicon will be occurring on March 16 (Friday) through March 18 (Sunday). I will be giving a double presentation starting at 9:00 am on Saturday, March 17, on the topics "Introduction to the Qabalah," and the "Practical Qabalah." The total time for these two presentations is 2.5 hours, so it should be pretty good as far as covering all of the substantive details for this subject. Hopefully, I will get a decent number of attendees, since the presentation time is early and my scheduled slots compete with the main speaker at least for the second half of the presentation. I will also be staying at the hotel for the two nights of the convention (at a reduced rate), so hopefully I will be able to completely absorb everything that is going on. I will write up a report about how that turns out.

Next year, I fully plan on attending both Pantheacon and Paganicon, since my book with Llewellyn will be in the pre-publishing or fully published phase. I could at least expect a gala book signing and some additional public exposure as a Llewellyn author at one or the other conventions (or maybe, both). I am also still in the planning stages for at least one or two of my book projects, so hopefully, one of them might see fruition in 2013 as well. However, at the present time, I am immersed in work and there is an enormous amount to accomplish for this year. Hopefully, I will get some of it done and I can tell you all about it.

Frater Barrabbas