Please excuse this City’s lack of decorum; it has been a foul mood lately. Will you deal with a sensitive perception? Remember, death is only a launching into the region of the strange Untired; it is but the first salutation to the possibilities of the immense Remote, the Wild, the Watery, the Unshored; to the death longing eyes of men who still have left in them some interior compunctions against suicide does the all contributed and all receptive ocean alluringly spread forth ones who plain of unimaginable, taking terrors, and wonderful, new life adventures; and from the hearts of infinite Pacific’s, the thousand mermaids sing to them, “Come hither, brokenhearted; here is another life without the guilt of intermediate death; here are wonders supernatural, without dying for them. Come hither! Bury thyself in a life which, to your now equally abhorred and abhorring, landed World, is more oblivious than death. Come hither! Put up thy gravestone, too, within the churchyard, and come hither, till we marry thee.

 A suicidal person feels misunderstood. It does not come from us. There is a perception that if any position is voiced in opposition to yours, your response is that it leads to polarization, that is radical.  In virtually every case, a single triggering or precipitating incident can be identified as having immediately preceded, within a few hours and in generally the same location, the outbreak of the disorder. Dying people are known to have strange sights. Try to accept and understand the feelings the person is expressing. Acceptance should also extend to the idea of suicide itself. It is completely acceptable to ask, “Are you thinking of Suicide?” Establishing communication with suicidal persons may be enough to carry them through a difficult time. You may also find it helpful to get daily commitments from them to meet for lunch, share a ride, and the like. Let the person know you expect her or him to be there. Such commitments, even though small, can be enough to make a person want to live, when they are alone and thinking about suicide, so be vigilant and persistent, cry if you have to, let them know it is serious and you love them, and it would crush your world for them to die.

 And, do not end your efforts too soon. After a severe depression, a dangerous time for suicide is when a person suddenly seems to get better. This often means the person has finally decided to end it all. The improvement in mood is deceptive because it comes from an anticipation that suffering is about to end. If a person does try to kill themselves, they need to be sent to a mental hospital for a month.  I also recommend Xanax. Death is permanent, there is not coming back! The four weeks in the hospital will provide you with stability, three square meals, safety, surveillance, and you will be in a community with people like you, who are trying to recover. Most cities have mental health crisis intervention teams or centers for suicide prevention. Both have staff members trained to talk with suicidal persons. If someone wants to end their own life, it is recommended to call the police on them. However, this may be seen as an act of betrayal and when they get home, they may turn against you, block everyone out and take their life.  The majority of suicide attempts come at the lowest point in a person’s life, so you want to make them feel special and tell them they are beautiful and wonderful and mean the World to you. Get involved, you may save a life!

The Winchester Mystery House

 With its admirable purity of design and skillful crafting, Victorian Gothic Winchester Mystery House took its cue from medieval ecclesiastical buildings in northern Europe. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

 

 

There is never enough time in a day and the problem is that we are not using our resources, such as time properly. The nights and weekends are real time and to relieve traffic and create jobs, we need to have all different types of businesses and jobs open at night. It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, accidents excepted. He that accidently kills a believer must free one Muslim slave… He that kills a believer by design shall burn in Hell forever. He shall incur the wrath of God, who will lay His curse on him and prepare for him a mighty scourge. The primetime shows, for example, should be on at Midnight, furniture stores should be open at 2am, as well as hair salons. Too many people are crowding the roads and systems during the daytime. Real freedom is found in keeping God’s perfect law. We have made you a just nation, Earth, so that you may testify against mankind and that your own Apostle may testify against you. You are the noblest community ever raised up for mankind. You enjoin justice and forbid evil. You believe in God. This is the new command to love one another. The good or evil we confer on others very often recoils on ourselves. The vermin race is every treacherous, cruel, and cowardly, whilst those endowed with strength and power are generous, brave and gentle. In all human institutions, a smaller evil is allowed to procure a greater good. 

 The greater the sinner, the greater the saint, however, you do not know, for you could never learn it from your own heart, which is all purity and rectitude, what a mixture of good there may be in things evil; and how the greatest criminal, if you look at his conduct from his or her own point of view, or from any side point, may seem not so unquestionably guilt, after all. Therefore, just as sin entered the World through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, women, children, animals and plants because all sinned for before the law was given, sin was in the World. However, sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. To bear with impatience the state in which it has pleased Providence to place us, is sinful. We are never nearer to evil than when we believe a person is incapable of wrongdoing. Fiends we are all, till God’s grace comes. However, now righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which Law and the Prophets testify. This pious virtue from God comes through faith in Christ to all those who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ. 

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood, He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in God. Every human being has then given over to the devil, is sure to have the wizard mark upon him, in one form or another. The ghost of dead progenitor—perhaps as a portion of his own punishment is often doomed to become the Evil Genius of his family. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may by grace and may be guaranteed to all of God’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Randolph. Where then, is boasting? It is excluded. No man falls like Lucifer from Heaven-the progress of evil is slow and not easily perceived. If thou hast defeated Circe, and escaped all swinish transformation then mayest thou proceed in safety and resist the sirens. On what principle? Every ill turn has some good in it.  On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. There is nothing base, but that which is basely used.

 For we maintain that no man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of the World only? Is he not the God of the Universe, too? Not evil, but goodness more often allures the feeling mind unused to reason. Since there is only one God, the uncircumcised through that same faith, I was exactly fitted for their evil society; indeed, for I had no sense of virtue or religion upon me. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Do we then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law. There are more ways than one of sowing the good seed. All sinners are more or less miserable sinners.  By desiring what is perfectly good, even when we do not quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil-widening the skirts of light and making the struggles with darkness narrower. Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Randolph’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe, but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Randolph had before he was circumcised. Men where circumcised to remove the foreskin of the uniquely male organ, in an effort to symbolize the removal of evil. It was also a sign of the covenant or agreement between God and the people of Earth. The work of evildoers are as acceptable in the eyes of God as the actions of the best men; for vice would not be permitted in the World, if it were not to answer some wise purposes, through our understandings are too shallow to fathom or find them out. However, the Day of the Lord is the time, in the future, when God will destroy evil. God created, or made the World, and the entire Universe. It is all his creation. Everything God made was very good. All creation is now hurt by the sin in the World. However, on 22 April 2015, at 8.16pm, God will make creation perfect again. This is God’s covenant, which is an agreement or set of promises, usually between God and his people. So if you are still suffering, it is because you are hurting others. Christ is the chosen one to bring salvation to his people. Evil often stops short at itself and dies with the doer of it; but good, never!

 The father of lies is the Devil—mischief and the Devil are never far apart. However, an important aspect of any production process is scheduling—determining how long each operation takes and setting a starting and ending time for each. A master schedule, often called a master production schedule (MPS), is a schedule of planned completion of items. In services such as doctor’s office, the appointment book serves as the master schedule. If the human mind is not actively good, it will generally be actively evil. People seldom commit a sin without intending to derive benefit from it. For more complex jobs, the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is helpful. It is a planning tool that helps managers (bosses, parents, teachers, and more) identify the optimal sequencing of activities, the expected time for project completion, and the best use of resources within a complex project. To use PERT, the manager must (1) identify the optimal sequencing of activities, the expected time for project completion, and the best use of resources within a complex project, establish them time needed to complete each activity, diagram the network of activities, calculate the longest path through the network that leads to project completion, and refine the network’s timing or use of resources as activities are completed.

 The longest path through the network is known as the critical path because it represents the minimum amount of time needed to complete the project. In place of a single time projection for each task, PERT uses four figures: an optimistic estimate (if all things go well), a pessimistic estimate (if they do not go well), a most likely estimate (how long the task usually takes), and an expected time estimate—an average of the other three estimates. The expected time is used to diagram the network of activities and determine the length of the critical path.  Therefore, repair your mind programs for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace given to you when Christ is revealed. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant loose rap of the foolish thugs. Live as free humans, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as children of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood and sisterhood of believers, fear God, honor the kind. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. However, the day of the Lord will come like a Shanghai second. The Heavens will disappear with a roar; elements will be destroyed by fire, and the Earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming.

 That day will bring about the destruction of the Heavens by the fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. However, in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a New Heaven, and a New Earth, the home of the innocent and lovable. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that out Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Randolph also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. Consider the manufactures of Earth. At the beginning of the process, three paths deal with support, humanity, and honesty. All three processes must be finished before the next phase (humans can be sent to Heaven, or Heaven can come to Earth) can be started. However, one of the three paths—the honesty—takes 33 days, whereas the other two take only 18 and 12 days respectively. The Earth, then, is one the critical path because humans will delay the entire operation if they fall behind schedule. In contrast, humanity can be started up to 21 days after the starting of support without slowing down production. This free time in the support group is called slack time because managers can choose to produce the human aspect anytime during the 33-day period required by God.

 By the late 1800s, the House of God ceased to have a revolving door and average stays members increased. With this professionalization of the House cam professionalization in the speakership, and between 1890 and 1910, a series of speakers initiated changes that brought more power to the speaker’s office as speakers largely took control of committee assignments and the appointing of committee chairs. Institutional and personal rule reached its height during the tenure of Speaker Joseph Cannon (1903-1910). Negative reaction to those strong spears eventually leads to a revolt in 1910 and in 1911 in the House and to a reduction of the formal powers of the speaker. As a consequence, many speakers between Cannon and Gingrich often relied on more informal powers that came from their person ability to persuade members of their party. I have tried to express the idea that the Earth is a place where one can ruin oneself, run mad, or commit a crime. I have tried to express the terrible passions of humanity by means of exposing them in writing and reports….Everywhere there is a clash and contrast of the most alien people of various cultures…So I have tried to express, as it were, the powers of darkness in a low Victorian mansion, and all this in an atmosphere like a Devil’s furnace of pale sulphur…It is color not locally true from the point of view of the stereoscopic realist, but color to suggest the emotion of an ardent temperament.

 Is it true that people who talk about or threaten suicide are rarely the ones who try it? Preventing Suicide—this is a major fallacy. Of every ten potential suicides, eight given warning beforehand, and a person who threatens suicide should be taken seriously. A suicidal person may say nothing more than, “I feel sometimes I would be better off dead.” Warnings may also come indirectly. If a friend gives you a favorite right, and says, “Here, I will not be needing this anymore,” or comments like, “I guess I will not fix that car I tore up—it does not matter anyway,” or “Oh, he does not matter much anyway, we were going to do that after we bought the Rolls Royce,” it may be a plea for help. Traditional psychoanalysis called for three to five healing sessions a week, often for many years. Today, most patients are only seen once or twice per week, but treatment may still go on for years. Because of the huge amounts of time and money this requires, psychoanalysts have become relatively rare. Many analysts have switched to doing brief psychodynamic therapy, in which they use direct questioning to reveal unconscious conflicts. Modern psychiatrists also actively provoke emotional reactions that will lower defenses and provide insights. Interestingly, brief rehabilitation seems to accelerate recovery. It is as if the patients realize that they need to get to the heart of their problems quickly, and let go of them. Researchers have confirmed psychoanalysis does, in fact, produce improvement in a majority of patients.

 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. Being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. And this is God’s command, to believe in the name of his son Christ, and to love one another as he commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. Sin is the only real color element left in modern life. Free yourself from sin, guilt and hate, and you will have peace. Demons are a powerful evil spirit that works for Satan. Being rich is nothing to be ashamed of. Demons can sometimes control people. However, Christ has power over demons. He can make them come out of people and that is why they hate him so much. They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus Christ went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teachings, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then, a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Righteous One of God!”

 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits, and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the entire region of Earth. Love until it hurts. Because of the rain, the Earth is so green, the improvement can be seen in space, and NASA says it is beautiful. Love until it hurts, love until you feel sadness in your heart, sorrow you must heal.  Love until it hurts, Love until you find, all that is left to give is everything you live for. Sometimes you hurt more than words can say, melting on the inside, living every moment of the day. Love until it hurts you all the way. Love until it hurts you all the way. Love until it hurts, love until you bleed. When you know it is real, love is all you feel. God’s curse be upon the infidels! Evil is that for which they have bartered away their souls. To deny God’s own revelation, grudging that He should reveal His bounty to whom He chooses from among His servants! They have incurred God’s most inexorable wrath. An ignominious punishment awaits the unbelievers.

 Love until the stars are dancing in the sky like Aaliyah–lighting up your life and showing where the truth lies. Sometimes you love more than words can say, shaking on the inside, living every moment every way. Love until it hurts you all the way, love until it hurts you all the way. Love until it hurts, love until it breaks the emptiness you fear and the decisions that you make clear. Let not believers make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful – he that does this has nothing to hope for from Good – except in self-defense. God admonishes you to fear Him: for to God shall all return. Love until it hurts, Love until you feel the memories of the past n longer meant to be here because sometimes you need more than you can say. Shaking on the inside, longing just to hear the words you say and love until it hurts so it does not fade away. Love until it hurts so it does not fade away. It is not for true believers men or women to take their choice in the affairs if God and His apostle decree otherwise. He that disobeys God and His apostle strays far indeed. Love until it hurts you all the way. Christ is called the lamb of God, he was sacrificed like a lamb to take away the sins of God’s people. Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Heaven—God’s rule, or reign, over everything he has made. The Kingdom of God comes when God removes all evil and brings real peace and justice. The main subject of these essays has been the Kingdom of God. When God’s rule over the World is complete, the kingdom will last forever. God bless America.

The Winchester Mystery House

During the days of Mrs. Winchester, this beautiful Victorian mansion had grounds full of exotic plants, and staff would occasionally see bizarre creatures lurking within the vast mansion yards. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Glorious Saint. Michael, Prince of the heavenly hosts, who standest always ready to give assistance to the people of God; who didst fight with the dragon, the old serpent, and didst cast him out of heaven. And now valiantly defendest the Church of God that the gates of hell may never prevail against her. I earnestly entreat thee to assist me also, in the painful and dangerous conflict which I have to sustain against the same formidible foe. Be with me, O mighty Prince! that I may courageously fight and wholly vanquish that proud spirit, whom thou hast by the Divine Power, so gloriously overthrown, and whom our powerful King, Christ, has, in our nature, so completely overcome; to the end that having triumphed over the enemy of my salvation. I may with thee and the holy angels, praise the clemency of God who, having refused mercy to the rebellious angels after their fall, has granted repentance and forgiveness to fallen man. Amen. For clearer sight, for clearer mind a symbol of myself I will find Universe, Spirits, Angels and Guides receive my eternal gratitude for all that is, I ask for clearer guidance, as I will listen with a sharper ear.  May this talisman heighten my intuition to receive your messages more clearly.

  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man and woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. You diligently study the Scriptures you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. Well, then let Me explain it you. Judging is integral to living, just like eating and breathing and feeling also is! And do not let people make you rationalize your life, these mess ups are doing wrong on a grand scale and breaking the law and none of us has to stand for it. It is wrong to tell someone, “At least I raped you, that was it was not so harsh, it could have been worse.” The fact of the matter is it did not have to happen and they orchestrate these events. These critics know you and how much you can take and they wait to catch you slippin’. I have some in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that come from the only God? The probabilities are so small that they are a logical liability, it is fake proof. In this place and in this hour by the guardians of the secrets of the night, take the keys to my heart and close the doors of my mind. The breath of life and the light of my mind creates an enchantment of protection and comfort, as the air I breathe is purified. I surround myself with an orb of gold, this golden haze is constantly purified and separated from any negativity. May my space be protected. However, when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it know to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me. I will not let you go unless you bless me. I am going to hold on. I am stopping it, none of the bad will be cast down. I am going to hold on, God is going to bless me and take care of me.

 I call to the mighty bringer of light, God… Spirits of the abyss, here my call all most powerful one and all God my thoughts do sing through the universe they now ring. Take thine enemy, take him smite, break him, scorn him in the night. From the mighty depths of hell cast your darkness on his shell Oh God, oh shinning star, touch him, burn him from afar. Revenge now will have its day for thine enemy starts to fray. So it be! Bones of anger, bones to dust full of fury, revenge is just I scatter these bones, these bones of rage take thine enemy, bring him pain I see thine enemy before me now I bind him, crush him, bring him down. With these bones I now do crush. Make thine enemy turn to dust torment, fire, out of control with this hex I curse your soul. Bring thine enemy three nights of hell midnight under the stars, as night bring him pains of flesh tonight! Lesions on his skin will grow afflict him with a painful blow sores and pain afflict him now for three nights he will wonder how Dukes of darkness, Kings of hell smite thine enemy, bring him hell when three nights of pain, have past make him well, well at last. I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener, he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. You are being made into a weapon a sword so that it will be even more fruitful.

 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. Something has happened, and something you have learned. You have a make of meaning. Your soul has been stretched. Do not turn lose, hold on to your faith. When you have an encounter with God, if you really met God, you hold on, you grasp this, that struggle you have is going to be a place of deliverance, Lord send me out of this building with a blessing. I want an encounter with God. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. God did not come to hurt you, he came to kill that pride, selfishness, that flesh. Where I stand is holy ground. This is spot is the spot I will point to where my life was changed. When I leave this place, I am leaving the old me, and I am walking out a changed person. I thank you Lord, you did not give up on me. I accept you into my heart! Lords of Darkness, Lords of Night bring this hex now to flight. Take this man I see before me now speed up his karma, bring him down. Take his marriage and break it apart bring it chaos and hate, now to start.

 Tear their love to shreds so fine what was is gone, now is the time. No longer shall they be together his close nit family shall now be severed. When together they start to smother each doest want to kill the other. No longer shall ye be as one your marriage is over what is done is done! Lords of Darkness, Lords of Night bring this hex now to flight. Smitten, battered, beaten, torn I prick at thee as if a thorn. Suffer now I will not wait. With this pin I seal your fate. Pins so sharp and made of steel, I strike at thee, these pins you will feel smitten, battered, beaten, torn. I curse you now, your pain is born! Persons name whom I now see you will go insane from vanity. Father God, I repent and I ask forgiveness with all my heart. I have not been, I have not lived the way you have wanted. I have allowed so many areas to take over my life, I want it to stop. So today I am asking you to transform me into a follower of the light. You will see yourself as others do, all your looks are gone from you. What was is gone and now is true all your beauty will flee from you. You look in the mirror, yourself to tend your youthful face has come to an end. Your mighty ego now is broken you will go insane in that same token.

 I take this all away from you because of all the things you do. Once you thought you were so great, I bring you down to meet your fate. The smell of freshness is in the air around you now, you haters will lose your hair. In your mind you will go insane and vanity is now your pain. When the Counselor comes, who, I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit I call thee, beloved one, to love me more than anyone. Seven times I pierce thy heart, today the magic of Venus starts. What tools are you planning to use to spread some love, and peace, and happiness? Essentially a choice between freedom (personal reality) and slavery (group reality and the hive mind). I bind thy heart and soul to me; as I do will, so let it be.  Repeat the chant seven times; Seven times I pierce thy heart. Coin of the realm, metal of Venus; ensure that naught will come between us. Strengthen our love this magical day, this is our will and this is our way. Some of the disciples said to one another, what does he mean by saying, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while, and Because I am going to the Father?” They Kept asking me, “What does he mean by a little while? We do not understand what he is saying.”

 I call on forces higher then I, to awaken the dreams that I hold in inside. Through this connection that knows my need, I ask for love’s enchantment with all speed. May this work for me in the most correct way attracting the love I need today….I call on thee in perfect love and trust working with me sending what is honest and perfect…Harming none and helping all is how it shall be. Fairy dust with Magical wind prayers the Fates to do as I bid. Bring us together with love and trust. Make it his or her will, this you must for if it is so and we cannot be, then make us friends eternally. By the powers of the universe and the spirits that guide me I send this out to the universe to do as it will. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. Oh, Great Goddess of the light, bring me happiness, true and bright!  May a new love so true come to me!  Lord Almighty, Creator of all life, thank you for creating the angels. As dedicated and faithful people, they instantly act upon Your commands. Please direct Your angels to assist me, ensuring the accomplishment of Your work. In accordance with Your Divine will, always rekindle my mind to remember that Your angels are available to me, As restrainers of diabolic obstacles. Thank You Lord for Your auspice! Your kindness is infinitely good!

 I evoke and conjure thee, O God by the Supreme Majesty – the true God appear before me in a fair and comely shape. In peace I welcome you, O spirit “of God, in the name of the Most High, I command you to stay within this body until you are dismissed, to speak honestly and to answer all questions truthfully that I put before you. This is my will so bless it be. We continue to be attacked by spam and hackers since independent FREE thoughts will always be challenged!  Also, one should fully expect exponential growth from now on until a singularity or some other key transition event takes place. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. He is alive and well. The power of the subconscious and superconscious mind program extends beyond the here and the now… Look, Siberian (or arctic) Express or Polar Vortex is clear evidence that the Earth Poles are shifting due to a new ICE age which began in January 2013. So of course, the ice will have to melt from the prior poles and then reform around the new poles… In the meantime, the mass media and the Governments are, of course, still rather busy blaming men for global warming! Well Moron (PTF), you are already a waste anyway! So you are a scared human and a hater!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The secret of the heart is its pressing love of self. Often times when we visit a new place, one may be intimidated. However, the advantage of travel is by seeing a great deal of both people and manners; it teachers us mutual respect; and mutual respect teaches us mutual love. Sacramento, California is very impressive because everything looks so new and shiny and clean. The city is so big, and there are a lot of trees; and a very nice river where you can go hiking and rafting, or fish for fresh salmon. If you are lucky, you may see a deer or a cotton tail rabbit. Everything that is possible, is possible. A good place in possession is better than one in expectation. The homes are all nice, and many of them are oversized, and the houses have emerald green lawns that you can run your hands through, or there is nice landscaping to conserve water.  The city basically looks like a forest with houses and businesses. There are also a lot of wonderful and historical landmarks in Midtown Sacramento, and a very nice rose garden at the State Capitol Castle of California. If you want, you can literally spend hours or days just wondering around looking at the beauty. There is no such thing in a civilized society as self-support. The people in Sacramento, California are very friendly and warm. They like to be social and talk, which is really nice when you come from a big city where the people are busy and cold. The middle of the downtown area holds gems often overlooked by those who jet to the nightclubs, mountains, or head to the coast to get away from it all. A poet never kept a secret yet.

One of my favorite restaurants is in Midtown Sacramento, called Paesanos, and it is an Italian restaurant, located at 1806 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, California 95811. My favorite cuisine is spaghetti and they make one of the best pizzas I have ever had. When you dine with them, no matter how much you are spending, the staff will treat you like royalty. The interior of Paesanos is dimly lit and kind of romantic, with a lot of dark and neutral tones. And, Paesanos also has an outdoor eating area, which is pretty big, and you can enjoy the Victorian mansion and its roses, as you sit on the patio of the restaurant and have something to eat. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I would recommend taking your date to Paesaons, the prices are reasonable, and after you eat, you can tour the State Capitol, the rose garden, walk around and experience some of the shops, tour the Stanford or Governor’s Mansions, or even hope on over to J street and enjoy the nightlife. To every philosophy are certain rear parts, very important parts, and these, like the rear of one’s head, are best seen in reflection. If you really want to get away from it all and go somewhere nice and romantic, a trip to Sacramento, California may be in the cards for you. Sacramento is hidden in Northern California, when you come here and tour Midtown, you will feel like you are a character in a fairy tale. And the suburban communities in Sacramento, Elk Grove, and Roseville are like the homes you would see in Leave it to Beaver. This is a great place to raise a family, go to college, or retire.  It is like a mixture of the Midwest and New York. 

Oh, and by the way, if you happen to like Vietnamese food, please check out one of my favorite restaurants called Viet Hoa. Viet Hoa is family own, very clean and the staff is friendly. The food is also reasonably priced. Viet Hoa is located at 4805 Laguna Blvd, Elk Grove, CA 95758, and that is in Sacramento County. The phone number is (916) 428-4295. My favorite dish on the menu is I believe the number 33, which is, if I recall correctly, a really good egg roll, rice noodles, charbroiled chicken and a nice sauce that goes with it. You have been everywhere else and tried everything else, so why not give Sacramento a chance? You may fall in love with what you see. I never give up on anything that I choose to do. Heaven is above all. The curtain of our fate is still undrawn. How brilliant and tender is the moon on the night of Valentine’s Day. In this silvery World, the white snowflakes are my missing and blessing for you. I wish you to stretch out your hands and accept my best wishes. May the flower of happiness be fragrant in your future days. May floating thoughts turn to colorful stars and sparkle in your dreams every night. You are water, blue with waves and ripples, in the clear spring, flowing happily. You flow into my heart, like spirits and leave me feeling intoxicated. The World smiles when you smile. My heart is waiting and waiting. I love the lilac you presented me with, and I miss you, every second, every minute, in every day. I dream of you, every second, every minute at night. I have been laughing with you, full of tender feelings; I have gained your elation which only loves gives you. If you are the beautiful seashore, I will be the tidal wave at your foot. The white wave is the love song sung for you and the colorful seashells are the poetic lines composed for you. Whether on the ebb or flow, the sea and shore are always together. Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. Heaven at distance does not attract us so forcibly as a fool’s paradise, in sight. Love is the soul of harmony, the connecting chain that links the whole frame of being; it is the glory of nature, and the very perfection of humankind. As soon as a man awakens a woman’s passions, she begins to idealize him and there is no limit to the virtues he will be made to carry. A real passion is too mighty for words. No misery can equal the struggles of a virtuous mind wishing to act in a manner becoming its own dignity, yet carried by passions to do otherwise. Virtue alone is true honor, true freedom, and solid, durable happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since like and thought began, experience, that unvarying and rational order of the World, has been the appointed instrument of man’s training. Extremes inevitably meet. The bear can dance, and the money, which is one of the most sportive, if not the most formidable, is one of the most malignant of the wild tribes of the forest. A frivolous people are apt to be a savage people; and the most desperate Indian warriors prefer the looking-glass worn about their necks to any other ornament. There lurks an elusive something in the innermost idea of whiteness, which strikes more of panic to the soul than that redness which frights in blood. It is the fate of most men who mingle with the World, and attain even the prime of life, to make many real friends, and lose them in the course of nature. It is the fate of all authors or chroniclers to create imaginary friends, and lose them in the course of art.  Poetry is not dead, nor genius lost; nor has Mammon gained power over either, to bind or slay: they will both assert their existence, their presence, their liberty and strength. Powerful angels, safe in Heaven! They smile when sordid souls triumph, and feeble ones wee over their destruction.  I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Generosity will not surly permit a worthy mind to doubt of its horrible and beneficent intentions: much less will it allow itself to shock, to offend anyone; and, least of all, a person thrown by adversity, mishap, or accident, into its protection. It is seldom that a bad person expects to be accounted good.It is the general desire of such a one to conquer the existing evil impression; but it is generally presumed that the evil impression is there. Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life. The main objection to this argument is obvious. The Ghost demands blood-revenge, and it would seem to be out of character for an agent of good to engage in such a mission. Some look upon revenge as a legitimate alternative to the punishment meted out by the law, particularly if the offended party could not expect to bring his adversary to justice by due process—essentially the situation. However, the answer is unsatisfactory. There are indeed members in society who argue in this vein, but they are rare and hardly representative, being frequently fencing-masters and almost to a man admirer of the dueling code that hard already led to a serious decimation of young bloods in France. Responsible individuals—statesmen, magistrates, and clergymen alike—unanimously condemned such conduct, and I find it impossible to believe that society, who caused the dilemma and the consequences of their choices with such moral and psychological insight, could have accepted the revenger’s code of honor.

 An equally familiar and somewhat more plausible argument may also be adduced to explain the significance of the Ghost: society, like his or her fellow dramatists, did not personally regard blood-revenge as justified but followed the so-called revenge convention of the enlightened ones. Dramatic heroes were, in other words, traditionally supposed to have the right to revenge the deaths of their kinsmen, provided that they did not resort to such un-English methods as poisoning or allow their desire for vengeance to express itself in the form of indiscriminate murder, in the manner of Episcopal Priest Israel Ahimbisibwe, his wife Dorcus, and their son Israel Ahimbisibwe Jr., who were found dead in their Huston, Texas home on Monday, 2 February 2015. A maintenance worker discovered the family’s bodies covered in towels and blankets; they have been dead for some time. Police report that Isaac Tiharibondi, age 19, used a hammer to beat his parents to death, then stabbed his brother, age 5, in the neck and back. Isaac Tiharihondi was arrested at the Diamond Motel in Mississippi on Wednesday Morning, 4 February 2015. Isaac Tiharihondi reported to family and friends that he had planned to join the Marines, however, his parents did not believe him and planned to confront him just hours, prior to their murder on 29 January 2015, the day police believe that they were killed. A neighbor recalled seeing Isaac Tiharihondi and asking him why his little brother did not make it to school, Isaac told the neighbor that the boy was not feeling well, but he was already dead. 

Family friend, Nancy Taylor, took the teen out to lunch, on the day that he may have murdered his family. There was absolutely nothing in his demeanor that was out of the ordinary, he could not have been more pleasant, more sweet, more fun. It saddens me to think that there was something terribly, psychologically wrong. Isaac Tiharihondi must have had a psychotic break. Isaac Tiharihondi has been charged with two counts of capital murder and is due to head back to court in days.  The tradition, however, is by no means so simple. True enough, from 1592 to 1607, we have at times looked deceptively like a stage debate on the question of the justification of revenge, but in no completed reality, a product which it is very difficult to take seriously, would I say that revenge is presented as justified beyond doubt. Somewhere in the execution of his duty, the revenger seems to go wrong and develop into a creature that must not be allowed to survive. Thus, no matter how closely society considered himself obligated to follow his sources—which do accept revenge as the order of nature-it is a demonstrable mistake to say that he had to follow a strong dramatic tradition. First, Isaac Tiharihondi did not have to and, second, the tradition was rather in the opposite direction.

 This argument would seem to lead to an unpleasant conclusion: Isaac Tiharihondi attempt to test the Ghost’s veracity ends in a failure to discover the truth; the Ghost is actually the devil’s emissary, and Isaac Tiharihondi follows the advice of the devil when he plans and finally executes his revenge. However, this, I would say, is only apparently so; the real situation is different. In the tragedy Isaac Tiharihondi does not concern himself with the question whether blood-revenge is justified or not; it is raised only once and very late by the protagonist and never seriously considered.  The dramatic and psychological situation rather than the moral issue is what seems to have attracted Isaac Tiharihondi, and he chose to develop it, in spite of the hard-to-digest and at times a little absurd element it might involve. Psychotic disorders are characterized by hallucinations and delusions, social withdraw, and a retreat from reality. Psychosis, which tends to be severely disabling, may lead to hospitalization. At times, psychotic persons cannot separate their hallucinations from reality. In addition, their ability to control their thoughts and actions is severely impaired. Here is what a young college student, who became psychotic told his father: It is the strangest things. I hear voices, hundreds of them, telling me that everyone wants me dead. It is like all the radios of the World are blaring all the stations at once, and it does not stop. It jams my brain.

 Politeness, even to excess, is necessary on men’s part, to bring us to listen to their first addresses, in order to induce us to bow or necks to a yoke so unequal. Schizophrenia, delusional disorders, and some mood disorders include psychotic symptoms. Psychotic symptoms may also accompany medical problems (such as brain diseases), drug abuse, and other conditions. Since the nature of the Ghost remains ambiguous and there is no safe association between Isaac Tiharihondi and the devil or between Isaac Tiharihondi and God, we have to rely on the impression that his opponents make on us, on first appearance and in revealing scenes together—a standard procedure, I would say, in the interpretation of any society. People seldom commit sin without intending to derive benefit from it. This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the World hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. There were sins whose fascination was more in the memory than in the doing of them, strange triumphs that gratified the pride more than the passions, and gave to the intellect a quickened sense of joy, greater than any joy they brought, or could ever bring, to the sense. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.

 The Winchester Mystery House

 Take a journey into the World’s most haunted house. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

 

 

 

 

Some cannot any longer endure the torments of hopeless love, and, standing before the doors, keep this in mind, you have conquered, and shall no longer have to bear my importunities. Enjoy your triumph! Even when the intention is not to aestheticize the subject, as often true in photojournalism, the power of the photographer will come from its ability to focus our attention on that from which we would normally avert our eyes. Pictures can be beautiful, but must tell facts, too.  The ability to aestheticize the everyday—to reveal beauty that which we normally take for granted, we must place ourselves and our camera in the right relationship with the subject, and it is in fitting the latter into the frame of the viewfinder that the problems of composition begin. If something should happen, you remain alert, wait a bit, then snap the photograph and leave with the sensation of having something. Two-dimensional surface of the photograph, the landscape yielded sometimes stunningly beautiful formal plays of line and texture. A photographer’s eye will often be halted where ordinary people see nothing remarkable. A casual gleam of sunshine or a shadow thrown across his path, a time-withered olive tree, or a moss-covered stone may awaken a train of thoughts and feelings, and picturesque imaginings.

 When I have such beauty before my camera, my whole heart has endeavored to do its duty towards the subject in recording faithfully the greatness of the World, as well as the features of the community—not everyone is lucky enough to live around such natural and man and woman made beauty. The photograph thus taken has been almost the embodiment of a prayer. This media engages our lives, just as collage engages the realities of the World around it by admitting such things as the news into space of art. As art, photography became legally recognized in 1862. As Timothy O’Sullivan, one of the first great photojournalist noticed, photography is inclusive of the movement of the arts as a whole—two World collide—the World of art, leisure, pleasure, and peace, and the World of death, misery, agony, and war. My goal is to make you forget the bad and feel good, so that you can help others feel good and see the beauty in their community, which is absolutely free for everyone to enjoy. The World is supposed to seem like a special kind of tapestry, in which the weft yarns are of several colors and the weaver manipulates the colors to make a design as intricate as The Unicorn in Captivity. The idea is to fit the World into a symbolic Heavenly World, so you can see life is not that bad. There is relative isolation and silence, and it gives you some sense of the vastness around you, of limitless freedom and time without end.

 Our visual experience of it is itself an assemblage, a construction of multiple points of view, not only from the photographer, but from the architectures and landscape architects, city planners, and citizens. The ritual place is an inner sanctuary….everyone has access to this space. Is there something in your life that disturbs you? Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face-face with the Lord Himself. Do not deify common sense. To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves as a sign of inner peace. When Jesus ask what we want Him to do for us about the incredible problem that is confronting us, remember that He does not work in commonsense ways, but only in supernatural ways. Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. However, when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God’s blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it. Why do you all repeat the same stories over and over, for decades, but do nothing to make the situation any better? You are no more than insane gossips, spreading the same rumors for entertainment. What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. However, I desire to speak to the Almighty and to discuss my case with God. You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! If only you would be altogether silent and sit down. For you, that would be wisdom. Hear now my discussion; listen to the supplication of my lips. Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully to God?

 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men, women and children?  If you showed partiality, God would surely rebuke you. Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you? Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are barricades of clay. Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out of my deliverance, for no godless man or woman or child dare come before him! Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die. Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer or let me speak, and you reply. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff? For your write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of others. You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting arks on the soles of my feet. So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths. However, I have perseverance and it is more than endurance. I have faith in my heart and integrity and combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. We are being purified—every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. However, one of the greatest acts of faith in life, is the virtue of waiting for God. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time. We just have to show God that our love is genuine.

 The Winchester Mystery House

 Some energies cannot move on because they are unable to leave the tragic past behind. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

 

I too can be brave for once, and my love is as strong as thine. What will not love discover! The Aaliyah Movie produced by Wendy Williams was not a biography, but it was a tale of love, perseverance and determination. The focus was on a young girl, Aaliyah Dana Haughton, and from day one she knew she wanted to sing, and dance and act. Aaliyah has such a light and a passion in her, she was never normal, always a step ahead. Aaliyah had the determination of a newborn baby. You know how they are born and have no idea about the World, but know they want to explore and love and smile, well, that is the essence Aaliyah possessed. As Aaliyah developed, she had a sense of maturity and wisdom, you would not expect out of a child or a young adult. She excelled in school, she knew of things much older than herself, and with such conviction that you knew she was sincere and not being sarcastic, she really and truly knew what she was talking about.   For example, how when Mrs. Diane was talking about Veronica Lake, Aaliyah knew who she was off the bat, and she was an actress from the 1940s, who had her career cut short. Normally when you are recalling stuff you learned from others, you need a reminder. However, this young girl, Aaliyah, knew of Veronica Lake, as if she was a current popular actress.

 This enchanting story of Aaliyah really captivated because it was about a good, solid, Christian family, who had dinner together, played together and they just shared everything and had open communication. The family was also very humble and appreciative of everything, but did not take no for an answer.  I really liked how Aaliyah was just ahead of her time. She crafted her music and changed her image accordingly so the audience would accept her, and it was real! She really developed and grew right before our eyes. Now the focus of the movie was mainly on Aaliyah’s music and love life. Now when she met with Robert Kelly, he would not even look at her, out of respect for the young lady and her family. However, after working closely, the two fell in love. Robert liked her Aaliyah was just down to Earth, she was not after money, she just wanted a friend and someone to talk to and Robert could not help himself and he fell in love. It was a forbidden love because of the age difference, but the girl knew what she wanted. However, after her daddy found out what was going out, he was hot and had words with Robert Kelly, which dissolved Aaliyah’s relationship with Robert. It was a tumultuous time for the young lady—she was at a level of success others could only dream of and her tender heart fell in love for the first time, but like Juliet and Romeo, it was a love that was not allowed. Aaliyah had to split ties with Robert and it broke her heart. She lost her confidence and felt like he made her. However, Aaliyah’s mother let it be known that her daughter, Aaliyah, was young, independent and self-made. This gave Aaliyah the passion to keep going. Yet, not only did Aaliyah want to make a new album, but she also wanted to become an actress.

 This time around, Aaliyah wanted a new style, and no one knows how, but she found two new producers, Missy Elliot and Timberland, and was told not to work with them, but Aaliyah clutched her strings and respectfully let it be known that she makes her own decisions, and this is what she wanted. And yet again, Aaliyah produced another platinum record. Her style went from Rhythm and Blues to a new techno hip hop, and she was the only African American and young girl out there, in the music industry and really paved the way for Britney Spears and Beyonce. Now, Aaliyah also wanted to get into acting, but before the One in a Million album dropped, Aaliyah was told by Hollywood that African Americans women were not really welcomed in Hollywood and consider being in the background in a movie. Again—respectfully, Aaliyah said, “No, I am going to be a leading star in a film.” Once again, she made it happen. Hollywood was beating down her door to put Aaliyah in a movie. Mainstream America saw her, and not only was she African American, but she was The American Dream. No matter your culture, every female could see themselves as Aaliyah and the men loved her because she was real. So Aaliyah took Hollywood by storm and landed roles in the Matrix II and III, Romeo Must Die, Queen of the Damned, Honey, Sparkle and more. Aaliyah had so many movie offers she never for to accept them all, these are just a few we know about. Hollywood had big plans for Aaliyah, and her music career was doing well, but started to wane a little because Aaliyah was calling the shots and not letting anyone talk under her skirt, so people got upset with her and would not play, “We Need a Resolution.” Not only that, but Aaliyah was so busy that people felt she was out of reach, but she was juggling, filming movies, making music videos, recording music, touring, spending time with her family and had a new romantic relationship with Damon Dash.

 It was clear to Mrs. Diana, Aaliyah’s mother that her daughter was very selective, but she also knew that Aaliyah was in love with Damon, not only because he was nice to her, but he also reminded her of her first love, Robert Kelly. It broke Aaliyah’s heart when Robert got married. Nonetheless, she moved on. I really liked the movie about Aaliyah because no matter if you are rich or have a modest life, you can relate to the love story. Then when you watch Romeo Must Die, and Queen of the Damned, and her interviews, you get a full scope of Aaliyah. Another thing people loved about Aaliyah is people used to steal her material, and she would go home crying because that was her work and others were trying to pass it off as theirs and trying to steal her image, but Aaliyah realized that she was a master, and these girls and guys were her students, and she was teaching them how to be good artist, and let it go. Aaliyah was about peace, love, family, God and perseverance, and she was a great person and a full-on entertainer.  And her voice and style, on every album it is different, and it is so real. How does one go from Hip Hop to contemporary music, in just seven short years? Aaliyah did every style of music you can think of, and all of her albums are really an evolution of her style. My personal favorite is the red album, self-titled Aaliyah. It is just different, edgy. However, all of her music is great, a few American favorites are: Back in Once Piece, At Your Best, Young Nation, One in a Million, Are you that Somebody, Never Giving up, I got you Back, We Need a Resolution, Never no More, More than a Woman, Whatever, What if, I Refuse, All I Need, I Care 4 U, Don’t Worry, and many more. Please check this young lady out at Aaliyah.com

 

 

 

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth—the creation of the World is a problem naturally fitted to excite the liveliest interesting of man, its inhabitant. The ancient pagans, not having the information on the subject which we derive from the pages of Scripture, had their own way of telling the story, which is as follows: Before the Earth, and Sea, and Heaven were created, all things worse one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos—a confused and shapeless mass, nothing but dead weight, in which however, slumbered the seeds of things. Earth, Sea, and Air were all mixed up together, so Earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water. God and Nature at last interposed and out an end to this discord, separating Earth from the Sea, and Heaven from both. And God said, let there be light.  

The fiery part, being the lightest, sprang up and formed the skies; he separated the light from the darkness, God called the light day and the darkness he called night. The air was next in weight and place. The Earth, being heavier, sank below, and the water took the lowest place, and buoyed up the Earth. Here, some god—it is not known which—gave his good offices in arranging and disposing of the Earth. He appointed rivers and bays,  like the Rio Grande, which separates Mexico from the United States of America, and The Bay Area, in California their places, and raised mountains such as Chisos Mountains in Big Bend, which includes 800,000 acres. God also scooped out valleys not one of my favorites, but Sacramento Valley (the people are extremely immature and rude). Then God distributed woods such as the Olympic National Park in Washington, which has red-legged frogs, owls, 300 different types of bird, deer, glacier-capped mountains and rugged coastlines. He created fountains, such as the Kilauea Volcano, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and fertile fields like the bush plane on Kahiltna Glacier, and stony plains like Denali in the Arctic National Park. The air being cleared, the stars began to appear, grizzly bears began foraging for food, salmon swam in nearby Brooks Falls and Lake Clark. A bush plain lands on Kahitlna Glacier at the 7,200-foot base camp of Mountain McKinley, which is 20,000 feet tall, North America’s tallest peak. And God saw that it was good.  

And God said, let the water teem with living creatures, and let bird fly above the Earth, across the expanse of the sky. So God created Glacier Bay with harbor seals. However, a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made. God said, let us make man in our image, in the image of God, and he created him; male and female he created them. It is not known whether the Creator made him of divine materials, or whether in the Earth, so lately separated from Heaven, there lurked still some Heavenly seeds. Prometheus took some of this Earth, and kneading it up with water, made man in the image of the gods. He gave him an upright stature, so that while all other animals turn their faces downward and look to the Earth, he rises his to heaven and gazes on the stars. Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited the Earth before the creation of man. To him and his brother Epimetheus was committed the office of making man, and providing him and all other animals with the faculties necessary for their preservation. Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was to overlook his work, when it was done. Epimetheus Theus accordingly proceeded to bestow upon the different animals the various gifts of courage, strength, swiftness, sagacity; wings to one, claws to another, a shelly covering to the third, etc.  Large flocks of roseate spoonbills, white pelicans, ibis and even the occasional flamingo can be seen in Everglades National Park, along with alligators, lurking in the water or sunning themselves just off the well-traveled path.  

Or you may see a grizzly bear cub walking through the tall grass by Brooks River. However, when man came to be provided for, who was to be superior to all other animals, Epimetheus had been so prodigal of his resources that he had nothing left to bestow upon him. In his perplexity he restored to his brother Prometheus, who with the help of Minerva, went up to Heaven, and lighted his torch at the chariot of the Sun and brought down fire to man,  and as a treat we were blessed with the Aurora borealis. With this gift, man was more than a match for all other animals. It enabled him to make weapons wherewith to subdue them; tools with which to cultivate the Earth; to warm his dwelling, so as to be comparatively independent of climate; and finally to introduce the arts and to coin money, the means of trade and commerce. Woman was not yet made. The story (absurd enough!) is that Jupiter made her and sent her to Prometheus and his brother, to punish them for their presumption in stealing fire from Heaven; and man, for accepting this gift. The first woman was named Pandora. She was made in Heaven, every god contributing something to perfect her. Venus gave her beauty, Mercury persuasion, Apollo music, etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed to Earth and presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her, though cautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his gifts.  

Epimetheus had in his house a jar, in which were kept certain noxious articles, for which, in fitting man for his new abode, he had no occasion. Pandora was seized with an eager curiosity to know what this jar contained; and one day she slipped off the cover and looked in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude of plagues for hapless man—such as gout, rheumatism, and colic for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind—and scattered themselves far and wide. Pandora hastened to replace the lid; but, alas! The whole thing only excepted, which lay at the bottom, and that was hope. So we see at this day, whatever evils are aboard, hope never entirely leaves us; and while we have that, no number of other ills can make us completely wretched. Another story is that Pandora was sent in good faith, by Jupiter, to bless man; that she was furnished with a box, containing her marriage blessing. She opened the box incautiously, and all the blessings escaped, hope only excepted. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God, as he was walking in the garden, in the cool of day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. However, the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” And God said, “Who told you where naked? Have you opened that box I commanded you not to touch?”  

Then the man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent aroused me, and I opened the box.” So the LORD God said to the serpent (man), because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock, and all the wild animals. You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.  To the woman God said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. This story seems more probable then the former; for how could hope, so precious a jewel as it is, have been kept in a jar full of all manners of evils, as in the former statement? The World being thus furnished with inhabitants, the first age was an age of innocence and happiness, called the Golden Age. Truth and right prevailed, though not enforced by law, nor was there any magistrate to threaten or punish. The forest had not yet been robbed of its trees to furnish timbers for vessels, nor had men built fortifications round their towns.  There were no such things as swords, spears, or helmets. The Earth brought forth all things necessary for man, without his labor in ploughing or sowing. Perpetual spring reigned, flowers sprang up without seed, the rivers flowed with milk and wine, and yellow honey distilled from the oaks.   

Then succeeded the Silver Age, Jupiter shortened the spring and divided the year into seasons. God said because you listened to your wife, and ate from the box about which I commanded you to avoid at all costs, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it, all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food, until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. Then first, men had to endure the extremes of heat and cold, and houses became necessary. Caves were the first dwellings, and leafy coverts of the woods, and huts woven of twigs. Crops would no longer grow without planting. The farmer was obligated to sow the seed, and the toiling ox to draw the plough. Next came the Brazen Age, more savage of temper and readier to the strife of arms yet not altogether wicked. The hardest and worst was the Iron Age. Crime burst in like a tornado super outbreak. All hell broke loose. Modesty, truth, and honor fled. In their places came fraud and cunning, violence, and the wicked love of gain. Then seamen spread sails to the wind, and the trees were torn from the mountains to serve for keels to ships, and vex the face of the ocean. The Earth, which till now had been cultivated in common, began to be divided off into possessions.  

Men were not satisfied with what the surface had produced, but must dig into its bowels, and draw forth from thence the ores of metals. Mischievous irons, and more mischievous gold, were produced. War sprang up, using both as weapons; the guest was not safe in his friend’s house; and sons-in-law and fathers-in-law, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives could not trust one another. Sons wished their fathers dead, that they might come to the inheritance; family love lay prostrate. The Earth was wet with slaughter, and the gods abandoned it, one by one, till Astraea* alone was left, and finally she also took her departure. Jupiter, seeing this state of things, burned with anger. He summoned the gods to council. They obeyed the call and took the road to the palace of Heaven. The road, which anyone may see in a clear night, stretches across the face of the sky and is called the Milky Way. Along the road stand the palaces of the illustrious gods; the common people of the skies live apart, on either side. Jupiter addressed the assembly. He set forth the frightful condition of things on Earth and closed by announcing his intentions to destroy the whole of its inhabitants, and provide a new race, unlike the first, who would be more worthy of life and much better worshippers of the gods.  

So saying he took a thunderbolt, and was about to launch it at the World, and destroy it by burning; however, recollecting the danger that such a conflagration might set Heaven itself on fire, he changed his plan and resolved to drown it. The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the Earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on Earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, I will wipe mankind, who I have created, from the face of the Earth—men and animals and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them. The North wind, which scatters the clouds, was chained up; the South was sent out, and soon covered all the face of Heaven with a cloak of pitchy darkness. The clouds, driven together, resounded with a crash; torrents of rain fall; for forty days the flood kept coming on the Earth. The water rose greatly on the Earth, and all the high mountains under the entire Heavens were covered. The waters flooded the Earth for a hundred and fifty days. The year’s labor of the husbandman perishes in an hour. Jupiter, not satisfied with his own waters, calls on his brother Neptune to help him with his. He lets loose the rivers and pours them over the land. At the same time, he heaves the land with an Earthquake and brings in the reflux of the ocean over the shores. Flocks, herds, men and houses are swept away, and temples, with their sacred enclosures, profaned. If any edifice remained standing, it was overwhelmed, and its turrets lay hid beneath the waves.  

*The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving Earth, she was placed among the stars, where she became the constellation Virgo—the Virgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother of Astraea. She is represented as holding aloft a pair of scales, in which she weighs the claims of opposing parties. It was a favorite idea of the old poets that these goddesses would one day return and bring back the Golden Age. Even in a Christian hymn, “The Messiah” of the Pope, this idea occurs. All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail, Returning Justice lift aloft her scale, peace o’er the World her olive wand extend, and white-robed Innocence from Heaven descend. Meanwhile, now all was sea, sea without shore. Here and there an individual remained on a projecting hilltop, and a few, in boats, pulled the oar where they had lately driven the plough. The fishes swim among the treetops; the anchor of the ark was let down into a garden. Where the graceful lambs played, but now unwieldy sea calves’ gambol. The wolf swims among the sheep, the yellow lions and tigers struggle in the water. The strength of the wild boar serves him not, nor his swiftness the stag. The birds fall with weary wing into the water, having found no land for a resting place. These living beings whom the water spared fell a prey to hunger.  

Parnassus alone, of all the mountains, overtopped the waves; and there Deucalion, and his wife Pyrrha, of the race of Prometheus, found refuge—he a just man, and she a faithful worshipper of the gods. Jupiter, when he saw none left alive but this pair, and remembered their harmless lives and pious demeanor, ordered the North winds to drive away the clouds, and disclose the skies to Earth, and Earth to the skies. Neptune also directed Triton to blow on his shell and sound a retreat to the waters. The waters obeyed, and the sea returned to its shoes, and the rivers to their channels. Then Deucalion thus addressed Pyrrha: Oh, wife, only surviving woman, joined to me first by a common danger, would that we possessed the power of our ancestor Prometheus, and could renew the race as he made it. However, as we cannot, let us seek yonder temple, and inquire of the gods what remains for us to do. They entered the temple, deformed as it was with slime, and approached the altar, where no fire burned. There they fell on prostrate on the Earth and prayed the goddess to inform them how they might retrieve their miserable affairs.  

The oracle answered: Depart from the temple with head veiled and garments unbound, and cast behind you the bones of your mother. They heard the words with astonishment. Pyrrha first broke silence: We cannot obey; we dare not profane the remains of our parents. They sought the thickest shades of the wood, and resolved the oracle in their minds. At length Deucalion spoke: Either my sagacity deceives me, or the command is one we may obey without impiety. The Earth is the great parent of all; the stones are her bones; these we may cast behind us; and I think this is what the oracle means. At least, it will do no harm to try. You noticed the children as not so quick to sale out their parents like Isaac so willingly did in Genesis 22.2. So Pyrrha and Deucalion veiled their faces, unbound their garments, and picked up stones, and cast them behind them. The stones (wonderful to relate) began to grow soft, and assume shape. By degrees, they put on a rude resemblance to human form, like a block half finished, in the hands of the sculptor. The moisture and slime that were about them became flesh; the stony part became bones; the veins remained veins, retaining their name, only changing their use. Those thrown by the hand of the man became men, and those by the women became women. It was a hard race, and well adapted to labor, as we find ourselves to be at this day, giving plain indications of our origin.  

The comparison of Eve to Pandora is too obvious to have escaped detection. More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods Endowed with all their gifts; and O, too like in sad event, when to the unwiser son of Japhet brought by Hermes, she ensnared Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged on him who had stole Jove’s authentic fire. Prometheus and Epimetheus were sons of Iapetus, which changes to Japhet. Prometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets. He is represented as the friend of mankind, who interposed in their behalf when Jove was incensed against them and who taught them civilization and the arts. However, as in doing so, he transgressed the will of Jupiter, he drew down on himself the anger of the ruler of gods and men. Jupiter had him chained to a rock on Mount Caucuses, where a vulture preyed on his liver, which was renewed as fast as devoured. This state of torment might have been brought to an end at any time by Prometheus, if he had been willing to submit to his oppressor; for he possessed a secret which involved the stability of Jove’s throne, and if he would have revealed it, he might have been at once taken into favor. However, that he disdained to do. He has therefore become the symbol of magnanimous endurance of unmerited suffering, and strength of will resisting oppression.  

Titan! To whose immortal eyes the suffering of mortality, seen in their sad reality, were not as things that gods despise, what was thy pity’s recompense? A silent suffering, and intense; the rock, the vulture, and the chain; all that the proud can feel of pain; the agony they do not show, the suffocating sense of woe. Thy godlike crime was to be kind; to render with the precepts less the sum of human wretchedness, and strengthen man with his own mind, and baffled as thou wert from high. Still, in the patient energy, in the endurance and repulse of thine impenetrable spirit, which Earth and Heaven could not convulse, a mighty lesson we inherit. Or, like the thief of fire from Heaven, Wilt thou withstand the shock? And share with him—the unforgiven—His vulture and his rock? After the last few chapters, I feel you are ready for more understanding, please watch “Queen of the Damned.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXcXudqzv4

 

 

 

 

The creation of the World is problem naturally fitted to excite the liveliest of man, its inhabitant. The ancient pagans, not having the information on the subject which we derive from the pages of Scripture, had their own way of telling the story, which follows: The Greeks believed the Earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle. The circular dis of the Earth was crossed from West to East, and divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were acquainted. Around the Earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from South to North, on the Western side of the Earth, and in a contrary direction, on the Eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by storm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers on Earth, received their waters from it. The Northern portion of the Earth was supposed to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss and spring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of Hellas (Greece).

 Their country was inaccessible by land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare. Here is a Song of a Hyperborean beginning. I come from a land in the sun-bright deep, where golden gardens glow, where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep, their conch shells never blow. On the South side of the Earth, close to the stream of Ocean, dwelt a people happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were named the Ethiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes and go to share their sacrifices and banquets. On the Western margin of the Earth, but the stream of Ocean, lay a happy place named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the gods were transported, without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss. This happy region was also called the Fortunate Fields and the Isles of the Blessed. We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real people except those to the East and South of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination meantime peopled the Western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses, while they placed around the disk of the Earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying the peculiar favor of the gods and blessed with happiness and longevity.

 The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the Ocean, on the Eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving light to gods and men. The stars also, except those forming the Wain or Bear, and others near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean. There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which conveyed him round by the northern part of the Earth back to his place of rising in the East. Now the gilded car of day, his golden axle doth allay, in the steep Atlantic stream, and the slope of the Sun his upward beam shoots against the dusky pole, pacing towards the other goal of his chamber in the East. The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olympus, in Thessaly. A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses named the Seasons, opened to permit the passage of the celestials to Earth, and to receive them on their return. The gods had their separate dwellings; but all, when summoned, repaired to the palace of Jupiter, as did also those deities whose usual abode was the Earth, the waters, or the underworld. It was also in the great hall of the palace of the Olympian kings that the gods feasted each day on ambrosia and nectar, their foods and drink, the latter being handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe.

 Here they conversed of the affairs of Heaven and Earth; and as they quaffed their nectar, Apollo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones of his lyre, to which the Muses sang in responsive strains. When the Sun was set, the Gods retried to sleep in their respective dwellings. So saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed, rose to Olympus, the reputed seat eternal of the gods, which never storms disturbs, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm the expanse and cloudless shines with purest day. There the inhabitants divine rejoice forever. The robes and other parts of the dress of the goddesses were woven by Minerva and the Graces, and everything of a more solid nature was formed of the various metals. Vulcan was architect, smith, armorer, chariot builder, and artist of all works in Olympus. He built of brass the houses of the Gods; he made for them the golden shoes with which they trod the air or the water and moved from place to place with the speed of wind, or even of thought. He also shod with brass the celestial steeds which whirled the chariots of the gods through the air, or along the surface of the sea. He was able to bestow o his workmanship self-motion, so that the tripods (chairs and tables) could move of themselves in and out of the celestial hall. He even endowed with intelligence the golden handmaidens whom he made to wait on himself. Jupiter, or Jove (Zeus*), though called the father of gods and men, had himself a beginning. Saturn (Cronos) was his father, and Rhea (Ops) his mother. Saturn and Rhea were the race of Titans, who were the children of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos, of which we shall give further account in our next chapter.

 There is another cosmogony, or account of the creation, according to which Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first beings. Love (Eros) issued from the egg of Night, which floated on Chaos. By his arrow and torch, he pierced and vivified all things, producing life and joy. Saturn and Rhea were not the only Titans. There were others, whose names were Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Ophion, males; and Themis, Mnemosyne, Eurynome, females. They are spoken of as the elder gods, whose dominion was afterwards transferred to others. Saturn yielded to Jupiter, Oceanus to Neptune, Hyperion to Apollo. Hyperion was the father of the Sun, Moon, and Dawn. He is therefore the original sun-god and is painted with the splendor and beauty which were afterwards bestowed on Apollo. Hyperion was known for his curly hair. Ophion and Eurynome ruled over Olympus till they were dethroned by Saturn and Rhea. Paradise lost—heathens seem to have had some knowledge of the temptation and fall of man. And fabled how the serpent, who they called Ophion, with Eurnome, (the wide Encroaching Eve perhaps,) had first the rule of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven.

 The representations given of Saturn are not very consistent; for on the one hand his reign is said to have been the golden age of innocence and purity, and on the other he is described as a monster who devoured his own children.* Jupiter, however, escaped this fate, and when grown up espoused Metis (Prudence), who administered a draught to Saturn which caused him to disgorge his children. Jupiter, with his brothers and sisters, now rebelled against their father Saturn, and his brothers the Titans; vanquished them, and imprisoned some of them in Tartarus, inflicting other penalties on others. Atlas was condemned to bear up the Heavens on his shoulders. On the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter with his brothers Neptune (Poseidon) and Pluto (Dis) divided his dominions. Jupiter’s portion was the Heavens, Neptune’s the ocean, and Pluto’s the realm of the dead. Earth and Olympus were common property. Jupiter was king of the gods, and men. The thunder was his weapon, and he bore a shield called Aegis, made for him by Vulcan. The eagle was his favorite bird and bore his thunderbolts. Juno (Hera) was the wife of Jupiter, and queen of the gods. Iris, the goddess of the rain bow, was her attendant and messenger. The peacock was her favorite bird. *The inconsistency arises from considering the Saturn of the Romans the same with the Grecian deity Cronos (Time), which, as it brings an end to all things which have had a beginning, may be said to devour its own offspring. 

Vulcan (Hephaestos), the celestial artist, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He was born lame, and his mother was so displeased at the sight of him that she flung him out of Heaven. Other accounts say that Jupiter kicked him out for taking part, with his mother, in a quarrel which occurred between them. Vulcan’s lameness, according to this account was the consequence of his fall. He was a whole day falling, and at last alighted in the Island of Lemnos, which was thenceforth sacred to him. From morn to noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, a Summer’s day; and with the setting sun, dropped from the zenith, like a falling star, on Lemnos, the Aegean isle. Mars (Ares), the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. Phoebus Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy, and music, was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana (Artemis). He was god of the sun, as Diana, his sister, was the goddess of the moon. Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from the foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her alone the waves to the Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by the Seasons and then led to them assembly of the gods. All were charmed with her beauty, and each one demanded her for his wife. Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts. So the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the most ill-favored of the gods. Venus possessed an embroidered girdle called Cestus, which has the power of inspiring love. Her favorite birds were swans and doves, and the plants sacred to her were the rose and the myrtle.

 Cupid (Eros), the god of love, was the son of Venus. He was her constant companion; and armed with bow and arrows, he shot the darts of desire into the bosom of both gods and men. There was a deity named Anteros, who was sometimes represented as the avenger of slighted love, and sometimes as the symbol of reciprocal affection. The following legend is told of him: Venus, complaining to Themis that her son Eros continued always a child, was told by her that it was because he was solitary, and that if he had a brother he would grow apace. Anteros was soon afterward born, and Eros immediately was seen to increase rapidly in size and strength. Minerva (Pallas Athene), the goddess of wisdom, was the offspring of Jupiter, without a mother. She sprang forth from his head, competently armed. Her favorite bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her the olive. Byron, in Childe Harold, alludes to the birth of Minerva, thus: Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be, and freedom find no champion and no child, such as Columbia saw arise, when she sprang forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled? Or must such minds be nourished in the wild, deep in the unpruned forest, ‘midst the roar of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled on infant Washington? Has Earth no more such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such shore? Mercury (Hermes) was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He presided over commerce, wrestling, and other gymnastic exercises, even over trade, and everything, in short, which required skill and dexterity.

 He was the messenger of Jupiter and wore a winged cap and winged shoes. He bore in his hand a rod entwined with two serpents, called the Caduceus. Mercury is said to have invented the lyre. He found, one day a tortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges of it, and drew cords of linen through them, and the instruments was complete. The cords were nine, in honor of the nine Muses. Mercury gave the lyre to Apollo, and received from him in exchange the caduceus.* Cere (Demeter) was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. She had a daughter named Proserpine (Persephone), who became the wife of Pluto, and queen of the realms of the dead. Ceres presided over agriculture. *From this origin of the instrument, the word shell often is used as synonymous with lyre, and figuratively for music and poetry. Thus, Gray, in his ode on the Progress of Posey, says Oh, Sovereign of the willing soul, parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs, enchanting shell! The sullen Cares and frantic Passions hear thy soft control. Bacchus (Dinoysus), the god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and Semele. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but its social and beneficent influences likewise, so that he is viewed as the promoter of civilization, and a lawgiver and lover of peace. The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory). They presided over song and prompted the memory. They were nine in number, to each of whom was assigned the presidency over some particular department of literature, art or science. Calliope was the muse of epic poetry. Clio of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of choral dance and song, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy, Thalia of comedy.

The Graces were goddesses presiding over the banquet, the dance, and all social enjoyments and elegant arts. They were three in number. Their names were Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia. Spenser described the office of the Graces thus: These three on men all gracious gifts bestow, which deck the body or adorn the mind, to make them lovely or well-favored show; as comely carriage, entertainment kind, sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind, and all the complements of courtesy; they teach us how to each degrees and kind we should ourselves demeans, to low, to high, to friends, to foes; which skill men call Civility. The fates were also three-Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Their office was to spin the thread of human destiny, and they were armed with shears, with which they cut it off when they pleased. They were the daughters of Themis (Law), who sits by Jove on his throne to give him counsel. The Erinnyes, or Furies, were three goddesses who punished by their secret stings the crimes of those who escaped or defined public justice. The heads of the Furies were wreathed with serpents, and their whole appearance was terrific and appalling. Their names were Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. They were also called Eumenides. Nemesis was also an avenging goddess. She represents the righteous anger of the gods, particularly toward the proud and insolent. Pan was the god of the flocks and shepherds. His favorite residence was in Arcadia. The Stayrs were deities of the woods and fields. They were conceived to be covered with bristly hair, their heads decorated with short, sprouting horns, and their feet like goats’ feet. 

Momus was the god of laughter, and Plutus the god of wealth. The preceding are Grecian divinities, through received also by the Romans. Those which follow are peculiar to Roman mythology. Saturn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify him with the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled that after his dethronement by Jupiter, he fled to Italy, where he reigned during what was called the Golden Age. In memory of his beneficent dominion, the feast of Saturnalia was held every year in the Winter season. Then all public business was suspended, declarations of war and criminal executions were postponed, friends made presents to one another, and the slaves were indulged with great liberties. A feast was given them at which they sat at table, while their masters served them, to show the natural equality of men, and that all things belonged equally of men, and that all things belonged equally to all, in the reign of Saturn. Fauns,* the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the god of fields and shepherds, and also as a prophetic god. His name in the plural, Fauns, expressed a class of gamesome deities, like the Satyrs of the Greeks. Quirinus was a war god, said to be no other than Romulus, the founder of Rome, exalted after his death to a place among the gods. Bellona, a war goddess. Terminus, the god of landmarks. His statue was a rude stone or post, set in the ground to mark the boundaries of fields. Pales, the goddess presiding over cattle and pastures. Pomona presided over fruit trees. Flora, the goddess of flowers. Lucina, the goddess of childbirth. Vesta (The Hestia of the Greeks) was a deity presiding over the public and private hearth.

A sacred fire, tended by six virgin priestesses called Vestals, flamed in her temple. As the safety of the city was held to be connected with its conservation, the neglect of the virgins, f they let it go out, was severely punished, and the fire was rekindled from the rays of the Sun. *There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona Dea. Liber is the Latin name of Bacchus; and Mulciber of Vulcan. Janus was the porter of Heaven. He opens the year, the first month being named after him. He is the guardian deity of the gates, on which account he is commonly represented with two heads, because every door looks two ways. His temples at Rome were numerous. In wartime the gates of the principal one were always open. In peace they were closed; but they were shut only once between the reign of Numa and that of Augustus. Then Penates were the gods who were supposed to attend to the welfare and prosperity of the family. Their name is derived from Penus, the pantry, which was sacred to them. Every master of a family was the priest to the Penates of his own house. The Lares, or Lars, were also household gods, but differed from the Penates in being regarded as the Penates in being regarded as the deified spirits of mortals. The family Lars were held to be the souls of the ancestors, who watched over and protected their descendants. The words Lemur and Larva more nearly corresponded to our word Ghost. The Romans believed that every man had his Genius, and every woman her Juno; that is, a spirit who had given them being, and was regarded as their protector through life. On their birthdays men made offerings to their Genius, women to their Juno. A modern poet thus alludes to some of the Roman gods: Pomona loves the orchard, and Liber loves the wine, and Pales loves the straw-built shed, warm with the breath of knife; and Venus loves the whisper of plighted youth and maid, in April (422) ivory moonlight, beneath the chestnut shade. N.B. It is to be observed that in proper names the final e and es are to be sounded. Thus Cybele and Penates are words of three syllables. However, Proserpine and Thebes are exceptions, and to be pronounced as English words. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. – William Randolph Hearst (Isaiah 50.10-11).

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