The Truth About Easter

In America, Easter is commercially celebrated holiday, and means big business for the candy industry. Especially the clothing industry that stands to make billions on the little white, and pastel colored dresses and suits each parent purchases for their children, along with matching patent leather shoes. They all go to a relative’s house, and plan a big dinner, which usually includes a baked Ham, or some sort of Pork dish. And if the kids haven’t eaten enough sweets to help contribute to the overwhelming cases of diabetes, there is usually a big bunny shaped cake, sprinkled with coconut shavings to resemble the fluffy white Easter Bunny.

Just like Christmas, the true meaning of Easter has been twisted into a blasphemous meaning. What I can tell you is it isn’t about cute little fluffy chickens, nor does it have anything to do with Easter bunnies. It isn’t even about Easter eggs. Although an egg can represent ‘new life’ because new life hatches from the egg, and Jesus was resurrected on the third day – giving us new life in Him.

In Old Testament times, the priest would bring bulls, goats or a spotless lamb without any blemishes to be sacrificed as a sin offering for himself and for the people. The blood would purify and make atonement (forgive, make amends) for their sins. This was the old order of atonement. When Jesus came, He was a representation of the sacrificial lamb to take away the sins of the world. He was the final sacrifice. We no longer have to sacrifice animals to make atonement for our sins. Jesus has done this once and for all. It’s His blood that cleanses us from all sin. He was crucified on the cross (the form of execution in those days). The sin of the world was upon Him, yet He was without sin and blameless. He bore it all. This is why Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb of God’. He was bodily resurrected (came back to life) on the third day.

"He appeared to many – eating and drinking with them. He appeared to them for 40 days, then ascended (went up to) Heaven. Acts 1: 1-11

The older European and pre-European holiday traditions were not based upon claimed religious phenomenon, but rather upon the seasonal characteristics of nature. The ancient traditions were founded by people who were highly aware of seasonal change and arranged their lives and festivities around them accordingly, explicitly marking the spring and fall equinoxes as well as the summer and winter solstices. These periods acknowledged and celebrated the Sun god and its relation to society. The Sun god was seen as the provider of the energy for life from which they prospered, and was therefore given reverence. Even today Judeo-Christians borrow extensively from pagan wisdom while otherwise slandering and misrepresenting paganism.

"Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it." - Will Durant, "The Story of Civilization

So this time, when you go to the sunrise service on Easter, reflect for a moment about why the rising sun is an inherently powerful and appealing force to our inner spirit.

You see, when Judeo-Christians attempted to convert pagans from their traditional beliefs, the native people of Europe were initially resistant to discarding the beliefs and values that had guided them successfully for thousands of years. Realizing that it was difficult to get people to give up their relation to nature and the recollection of their past, the Judeo-Christian conversion effort adopted and modified the pagan traditions, while replacing cyclical nature with an invisible, inert god and a personal, linear human idol to worship as its representation.

The chosen people of the Judeo-Christian God did not like the worship of nature and knew this would be harmful to the successful propagation of their beliefs.

So he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. - Ezekiel 8:16

Thus says the Lord: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles."- Jeremiah 10:2

In some translations the word "Gentiles" is replaced by "Heathens", but the two words have the same meaning:

Gentiles. All the people who were not Jews were so called by them, being aliens from the worship, rites and privileges of Israel. The word was used contemptuously by them. In the New Testament Greek is often used as its synonym.- Peloubet's Bible Dictionary

A Little Pagan Wisdom

The word pagan is derived from the Latin paganus, meaning one who lives in the country. Early conversion attempts occurred primarily in the city, thus giving rise to this distinction. Those who lived in the country were closer to nature and understood it better, making them less likely to forsake it. Because nature is the essence of life, someone who lives and studies among nature knows more truths about life than those who are separated from it and merely read about it in the cities.

Pagans were familiar with the cycles of nature that made life everlasting. Life and death were not considered personal ego-based conditions and feared as they are in Judeo-Christianity, but were seen as stages of growth and decay through which everything living inevitably passes. Instead of being afraid and needing to be "saved" from life, pagans loved this world and lived with honor and respect so that they were able to have the best lives possible. The notion of a "better world" reached by dying was not their life's goal. Instead, they believed in making this world better for each other and for their children. Here "better" does not concern itself with being meek or moralistic, but rather is focused on what is real and heroic in life, while also preserving its rich roots and heritage. This conception of life is that of a long chain to which every child is eternally connected and from which he inherits an entire history as his birthright.

Adopting Paganism

Early first century Christian practices revolved around the Jewish Passover, which is the tradition of the Bible when the word pascha is correctly translated as Passover. However, a mix between the will of emperors and the resistance of the people to give up their traditions and nature-worship for foreign anti-natural beliefs came to sway Judeo-Christianity towards the adoption of Easter.

The name Easter comes from an ancient European goddess of the dawn called Eostre by the Anglo-Saxons and Ostara by the Germanic peoples. She is also known as Eostra, Eostrae, Eostar, Eastre, Easter, Estre, Eástre, and Austra by various European peoples. Her name means "movement towards the rising sun" and is related to the Indo-European root word Aus which means "to shine". The English words estrus and estrogen are also derived from her name. She was considered the goddess of the growing light and spring, associated with fertility and celebrated with a festival of rebirth.

One story has her entertaining children by performing a trick that changed her pet bird into a rabbit. This rabbit then laid colored eggs that she gave to the children. Given the history of these ideas which date back to at least 2000 years before the Christian era, it should be no surprise that the original symbols and practices of Easter persist today, just as our ancestors once celebrated them.

You must understand that the Judeo-Christian monks worked mendaciously to gain followers by destroying pagan history and defaming the elder gods as demons, since they had no weapons to deface the innocence of Eostre.

Instead, they plagiarized by adoption, her holiday and grafted their values onto it.

The blessings of spring were personified in the goddess Ostara, whose festival of Easter, is dear to the Germans after the long cold winters in the forest, is still called after her name, though the God of the Christians claims the worship once accorded to the spring. Ostara's favorite animal was the hare, which to this day still brings the Easter eggs to the little children. - Thomas Bulfinch, "The Golden Age of Myth & Legend"

As the Judeo-Christians could offer nothing better, they simply claimed what existed as their own, changed the story slightly, and then tried to cover up and break people's connection to the past.

Ostara, Eostre seems therefore to have been a divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted to the resurrection-day of the christian's God. - Jacob Grimm, "Teutonic Mythology"

Fertility Brings Life

The 40 days of Lent can be traced to worship of the Babylonian fertility god Tammuz, as well as similar traditions in Egypt (Osiris), Syria (Adonis). There are answers hidden in the Biblical dislike for Tammuz:

So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.- Ezekial 8:14

Each year, Tammuz's death and resurrection were celebrated, despite the condemnation of the Judeo-Christian God.

Tammuz's wife was the goddess Ishtar who was worshiped in groves made of asherah which are trees trunks, a phallic symbol, that were raised on a hilltop and represented life. Though Judeo-Christians destroyed all of the pagan holy grounds, often placing their churches on top of them and cutting down all nearby trees, the beliefs of the people did not immediately change. Even today, the lily remains a popular part of the Easter celebration, but its origins are that of a phallic symbol which represents the reproductive organs.

Tammuz and Ishtar were also worshiped under names such as Baal and Astarte, Attis and Cybele, and Adonis and Aphrodite. In an effort to stop the spread of this nature-based, sensual worship of life, the Judeo-Christian teachings condemned these gods, as well as a positive alignment with fertility and the cycle of life. In other words, the Judeo-Christians were openly opposed to nature and all those who worshipped the gods of nature:

So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.- Judges 2:7

Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.- Judges 10:6

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger. - 1 Kings 22: 52-53

Colored eggs have a variety of traditions. In some European cultures, they are used similarly to Valentine's Day gifts as a way of indicating attraction to a desired mate. The egg has always been a symbol of cosmic creation which is consistent with its use in the spring festival of rebirth. A Babylonian legend even says that the goddess Ishtar hatched from an egg that fell from heaven.

Hot cross buns trace their origin to the ritual bread served at the feast of Eostre. The word bun is derived from the Saxon word boun which means "sacred ox". The cross represents the solar wheel and thus the pagan cosmology.

Showing that the past is not yet dead, the Yezidis of Koordistan are said to still practice the the tradition of Lent which they inherited from their Babylonian ancestors.

Most Americans are unaware that the day of Easter moves each year, but only a handful of them know the reason for this or the method of its calculation. When we celebrate Easter, it is the first Sunday after the first Vernal Equinox or fullmoon. The Vernal Equinox (the Equal Night) signifies the astronomical arrival of spring and was considered the time to celebrate the rebirth and renewal as nature resurrects itself from the death it suffered in winter. The Sun that died at Yule is reborn!

Are you getting this?....rebirth from death (arising from the ashes). Winter to Spring...everything is in constant change.

I know this is outside of the scope of this article, but the Winter Solstice is the basis of Christmas. There is truly little attributed to Judeo-Christianity that is original, and in all honesty, it is very difficult to conquer people sufficiently and to destroy their traditions and instinctual feelings.

This must be performed gradually by first coopting the traditions, slowly turning them against the spirit of the people, and then cutting the people off from their roots so they remain separated from their natural instincts and awareness of what is right. Pretty similar to what the Spanish did to the Mayans.

So you see, all of the symbols, images, and traditions of Easter are incongruent with the message of those who promote this holiday. The only way to make sense of this would be to look for yourself, and delve into the nature-based pagan roots. I'm an sure you will gain hints from all the aspects of the celebration that spoke to our ancestors.

In closing, I ask each of you that is reading this to arise from the illusion, and join the awakening of the ancient spirit that lives in each of us today, and rediscover its true meaning.

In this way, we all can celebrate by awakening to our past traditions preserved in Easter -- and give them rebirth. Thus being reborn.

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What IS Truth?

I always enjoy your comments, and emails of support regarding my articles posted here on my blog. While not always positive, I find each and every one just as important and deserve equal attention and respect. I may not always agree with your perspective, but I will always try and respect your point of view, notwithstanding reason and logic.

This brings me a comment posted by a reader to the article Haiti Earthquake Raises HAARP Controversy, posted on January 14, 2010.

Damien said:

It's time for us to distribute the differences between "reality" and "truth."  What is truth to reality anymore? It seems to me that what we're seeing, hearing, and feeling are distancing itself from truth or manipulating truth with diversions.

So then I ask: What IS truth?

Can this profound question be answered? It’s similar to being asked, “What is Consciousness?” One of the most profound questions ever asked. I would like to answer this question very simply by stating, “Each of us knows that truth is something that is not a lie. Very simple, right? Not necessarily.

If I take Einstein’s theory of relativity, and extend this a bit further to the question that Damien poses, “What IS truth?

Then the answer would be that "Truth" and "Reality" is relative, or is another question raised?

Relativism is self-refuting; it cuts its own throat. The statement, "truth is a matter of personal and cultural values, not a matter of a statement's correspondence with objective reality," is a claim about "the ways things are"; that is, it is a truth-claim about objective reality. But this is the very thing it cannot be. If truth is only a function of individual preferences, one cannot escape the prison of subjectivity in order to make objective statements that supposedly apply to all of reality. For these reasons, we can safely say that relativism is false; it does not correspond to reality.

Human subjectivity untethered from objective constraints is a shallow and shabby thing. When it reaches a certain stage we call it stupidity or even insanity.

When Pontius Pilate interrogated Jesus before his crucifixion, Jesus proclaimed that "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37). To this, Pilate replied "What is truth?" and immediately left Jesus to address the Jews who wanted Christ crucified (v. 38).

As Francis Bacon wrote in his essay "On Truth," "'What is truth?' said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer." Although we have no record of any reply by Jesus, Christians affirm that Pilate was staring Truth in the face, for Jesus had earlier said to Thomas, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).[read more]

I do not think Damien was searching for an answer, but rather stating a point. Nonetheless, the question stayed with me day and night. This exchange raises the perennial question of the nature of truth.

What does it mean for a statement to be true?

This has been a subject of much debate in postmodernist circles, where the traditional view of truth as objective and knowable is no longer accepted. Many even outside of academic discussions may be as cynical about truth as Pilate. "What is truth?" they smirk, without waiting for an answer. But unless we are clear about the notion of truth, and before attempting to determine which claims are true, we need to understand the nature of truth itself.

To briefly debate two views of truth that have been held by the vast majority thoughout history, and that have been pitted against each other, relativism and pragmatism.

Each holds that any statement is true if and only if it corresponds to or agrees with factual reality. The statement, "the desk in my study is brown," is true only if there is, in fact, a brown desk in my study. The statement, "there is no brown desk in my study," is false because it fails to correspond to any objective state of affairs (i.e., to the facts of the matter).

This commonsensical view presupposes a basic law of logic called the law of bivalence, which stipulates that any unambiguous, declarative statement must be either true or false. It can be neither true nor false; nor can it be both true and false. "There is a brown desk in my study" is true or false.

Another fundamental law of logic expresses the same concept in a slightly different way.

The law of excluded middle affirms that "either A or non-A." There either is a brown desk in my study or there is not. One more principle of logic teams up with the other two for further clarification. The principle of contradiction states that "A cannot be non-A in the same way and in the same respect." It cannot be true that there both is and is not a brown desk in my study.

Strictly speaking, questions, commands, and exclamations are neither true nor false, because they do not make claims about objective reality. For example, when people pray, "God, please help me," it is true that they are praying, but they are not  affirming that "God will help them" (a declarative statement). I am requesting help.

Furthermore, if I say "Study harder!" to my lazy pupil, I am not affirming "You are studying harder" (a declarative statement); I am commanding or imploring his academic diligence. If I exclaim "Yes!" when my pitcher strikes out the cleanup hitter in the bottom the ninth to win the game for the home team, I am not saying, "He struck out the batter" (a declarative statement); I am voicing my approval. The question of truth is properly applied only to declarative or propositional statements.

With all that said, let's examine the theological statement, "Jesus is Lord of the universe," .  This is either true or false. Whether it's coolly uttered or enunciated with great emotion, it has only one truth-value: true or false. It either honors reality or it does not. The Christian claims that this statement is true irrespective of anyone's opinion (see Romans 3:4). This is because truth is a quality of statements, not a matter of subjective response or majority vote or cultural fashion.

For example, the statement, "The world is spherical." was true even when the vast majority of earthlings took their habitat to be flat. 

One challenge to the correspondence view is relativism. Relativism comes in various shapes and sizes, but its salient claim is that the truth of a statement depends on the views of persons or cultures, not on whether statements correspond to objective reality. For a statement to be true simply means that a person or culture to believes it to be true. Hence the popular refrain, "Well, if that's true for you..." or, "We can't judge other cultures."

Let's look at something more present:  one person can say "Jesus is Lord" and another can say "Allah is Lord," and both statements will be true, if they accurately express the sentiments of the speakers. This view seems to advance tolerance and civility, but it does so at the expense of logic.

If I say "Jesus is Lord" and you say "Allah is Lord" both statements cannot be objectively true because they describe mutually exclusive realities. Jesus is known by Christians as God made flesh (John 1:14), while Muslims deny that Allah incarnates. If "Lord" means a position of unrivaled metaphysical and spiritual supremacy, then Jesus and Allah cannot be both be Lord because "Jesus" and "Allah" are not two words that mean the same thing. If we mean to say that I believe in Jesus and you believe in Allah, there is no logical contradiction, since subjective states of mind cannot contradict each other; that is, it may be true that I subjectively believe X and you subjectively believe non-X. But X and non-X themselves cannot both be objectively true. When dealing with divergent claims to objective truth (as we often do in comparative religion and philosophy), contradictions emerge frequently.[source]

We all know anything is possible, so to dismiss anything would be ignorant, if not bordering on stupidity.  The same goes with believing everything you see or hear.  This is where reason and logic play an important role.  This is very important, especially when religion plays a role that teaches you to have "faith" and not to question, just to accept.  It becomes very dangerous when you no longer use your own reason or logic...if anything it was given to you to use.  This is an attribute of being human.

Reality cannot be found except in One single source, because of the interconnection of all things with one another. ... I maintain also that substances, whether material or immaterial, cannot be conceived in their bare essence without any activity, activity being of the essence of substance in general. (Gottfried Leibniz, 1670)

We may agree, perhaps, to understand by Metaphysics an attempt to know reality as against mere appearance, or the study of first principles or ultimate truths, or again the effort to comprehend the universe, not simply piecemeal or by fragments, but somehow as a whole. (Bradley, 1846-1924)

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. (Winston Churchill)

Human kind ... cannot bear very much reality (T.S. Eliot)

And isn't it a bad thing to be deceived about the truth, and a good thing to know what the truth is? For I assume that by knowing the truth you mean knowing things as they really are. (Plato)

The philosopher is in love with truth, that is, not with the changing world of sensation, which is the object of opinion, but with the unchanging reality which is the object of knowledge. (Plato)

Truthfulness. He will never willingly tolerate an untruth, but will hate it as much as he loves truth... And is there anything more closely connected with wisdom than truth? (Plato)

Then may we not fairly plead in reply that our true lover of knowledge naturally strives for truth, and is not content with common opinion, but soars with undimmed and unwearied passion till he grasps the essential nature of things with the mental faculty fitted to do so, that is, with the faculty which is akin to reality, and which approaches and unites with it, and begets intelligence and truth as children, and is only released from travail when it has thus reached knowledge and true life and satisfaction? (Plato)

What is at issue is the conversion of the mind from the twilight of error to the truth, that climb up into the real world which we shall call true philosophy. (Plato)

The object of knowledge is what exists and its function to know about reality. (Plato)

And those whose hearts are fixed on Reality itself deserve the title of Philosophers. (Plato)

When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence. (Plato)

One trait in the philosopher's character we can assume is his love of the knowledge that reveals eternal reality, the realm unaffected by change and decay. He is in love with the whole of that reality, and will not willingly be deprived even of the most insignificant fragment of it - just like the lovers and men of ambition we described earlier on. (Plato)

Modern definitions of truth, such as those as pragmatism and instrumentalism, which are practical rather than contemplative, are inspired by industrialization as opposed to aristocracy. (Bertrand Russell)

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Earth Hour

Lights will go out around the world on Saturday from Beijing’s Forbidden City to a village in the Arctic where they usually keep street lights blazing to ward off polar bears.

The “Earth Hour” — when everyone is asked to turn off lights for an hour from 8.30 p.m. local time — is meant as a show of support for tougher action to confront climate change.

Organisers say that hundreds of millions of people last year joined in the annual event that has flourished since it began in Australia in 2007 and has won support from more than 120 nations, with endorsements from companies, government leaders and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Landmarks going dim this year also include Rome’s Trevi Fountain, Big Ben in London, the Sphinx in Egypt, the Empire State Building in New York and the new Burj Khalifa tower — which opened in Dubai this year and is the world’s tallest building at 828 metres. Everyone around the world with electricity is urged to turn off the lights at home.

Last year the target was to involve at least a billion people of the world’s 6.8 billion — electricity consumption dips but there’s no good way of checking exactly how many people turned off the lights. Organisers have concluded that “hundreds of millions” took part.

Longyearbyen, a Norwegian village about 1,000 kms from the North Pole, has agreed to join in for the first time — the local authorities refused last year, saying that having street lights on is a way to ward off polar bears, said Kathrine Kjelland of organisers WWF.

No one wants to run into a polar bear in the dark, among the first victims of climate change if the Arctic melts.

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US Military Behind Haiti Quake

Innsbruck Political Scientist Claudia von Werlhof Accuses the USA of being behind the Haitian Earthquake.

Dr. Werlhof has been in the spotlight for the last century with her radical views on the Globalization of the World, and how it will contribute more to the destruction of humanity and the world itself.

Dr. Werlhof is a Theoretician and activist and is has been fighting from feminist standpoint, for the environmental, anti-imperialist and anti-racist struggles across five continents reporting on existing community-based initiatives, and to demonstrate how we can all defy the greed of corporate globalization.

Inspired by the groundbreaking work of Maria Mies and her colleagues, which culminates in the elaboration of the 'subsistence perspective', the book is in three parts, dealing first with the theory of subsistence, then considering globalization as colonization and finally reporting on concrete cases of resistance to globalization in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia and the Pacific.

The subsistence perspective emerges as a fertile matrix for creative thinking and action to reclaim our labor, our communities, our environment, our bodies and our lives.

Anyone who refuses to believe that corporate globalization is our inevitable destiny will find a solid basis for formulating ideas and implementing strategies for the creation of a future in the image and the interest of the world's peoples.

According to a report on tirol.orf.at, Werlhof said that machines at a military research centre in Alaska used to detect deposits of crude oil by causing artificial earthquakes might have been intentionally set off to cause the Haitian earthquake and enable the USA to send 10,000 soldiers into the country.

Ferdinand Karlhofer, the head of the Innsbruck Political Science Institute where von Werlhof works, has slammed her comments. He said such conspiracy theory had no scientific basis and her claim would damage the reputation of the Institute abroad. [source]

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The Color Blue

I’ve had quite a few emails questioning my color choice for my blog site. A question from one of my readers, Amy,  asks,

"... why did you chose black for my background it seems a little ...um ...dark.”

My perception is that my words are the light in the darkness shining through, trying to awake people. So, it’s really all perception, and how your state of mind creates a reality and births your own worldview.

Change your perception, and change your world.

I really wanted my words to stand out, and more imporantly,  I chose to use the color Blue for it's natural positive energy.

Most people do not understand the impact color has on our physical body and on our emotional states. Color is wherever we are: at home, school, workplaces and hospitals.

Walk into any kindergarten room and most likely you’ll notice a lot of bright colors on the walls. These colors stimulate brain functioning and make learning more fun. Some Tibetan teachers of Buddhism decorate their meditations rooms in midnight blue to calm the mind, with vertical lines of deep red to help wake up consciousness.

Color therapy helps people release tension and promotes healing by utilizing colors associated with the seven energy centers in the body.

Some color therapists also aim colored lights on an area of the body that is in need of healing. Colored light treatments have been known to increase or slow metabolic activity in an area and promote healing, depending on the color. Most alternative health practitioners have experimented with color and its powers to affect a person’s state of mind and health.

Scientists have found that color is actually mood altering and it is one of the most important keys to relaxation. If you think about this, it makes so much sense, understanding that 80% of illnesses are a direct result of stress, therefore, relaxing plays a huge role in disease prevention.

In the book Color and Light in Man-Made Environments, author Frank H. Mahnke notes: --People subjected to visual under-stimulation showed symptoms of restlessness, excessive emotional response, difficulty in concentration, irritation, and, in some cases, a variety of more extreme reactions. The effects of color are drastic!

Researcher Robert Gerard found through experimentation that when subjects looked at red lights flashing, their blood pressure, breathing rates and the amount of sweat on palms all increased, as did the frequency of eye blinks. On the other hand, when subjects looked at the blue light, blood pressure dropped, as did the amount of eye blinks and breathing.

Dr. Gerard found that colors with longer wavelengths (the warm colors: red, yellow and orange) hype us up, while shorter wave lengths (cooler colors like blue, purple and green) calm us down.

Because peaceful, tranquil blue causes the body to produce calming chemicals, it is often used in bedrooms. It is believed that blue slows metabolic activity. Blue can also be cold and depressing.

Blue is described as a favorite color by many people and is the color most preferred by men. The color blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly.

Blue is often used to decorate offices because research has shown that people are more productive in blue rooms and is one of the most popular colors, but it is one of the least appetizing. Weight loss plans even recommend eating your food off of a blue plate. What is interesting is that the color Blue rarely occurs naturally in food aside from blueberries, plums, and some grapes. Studies find that the color Blue can also lower the pulse rate and body temperature.

In our language alone, we find the color Blue is often used:

blue moon, blue Monday, blue blood, the blues, and blue ribbon, black and blue, blue-collar, a bolt from the blue, blue blood, a blue-eyed boy, into the wide/wild blue yonder, the boys in blue, like blue blazes, between the devil and the deep blue sea, out of the blue, be in a (blue) funk, talk a blue streak, scream blue murder, until you are blue in the face, once in a blue moon, a blue-arsed fly, and true-blue among others. - We are, after all, living on the "blue planet."

When questioned, 50% of people claim blue as their favorite color. Blue denim is the most common clothing material in the western world, and blue cars have been among the top selling cars for decades.

In systems which correlate favorite colors with color symbolism, people who wear light blue are said to be analytical and have a practical approach to life.

People who wear dark blue are intelligent and self-reliant and are found to take on a great deal of responsibility. In any case, people are comfortable with blue and return to blue again and again.

The color Blue symbolism emphasizes the cooling and relaxing qualities of blue, reminding us of the peace and calmness of night. Midnight night blue has a sedative effect that promotes meditation and intuition, and is being explored when building new hospitals, especially noting the location, now being built atop of building closer to the sky.

It’s no wonder we can associate the color Blue with power.

Blue is also the color of protection and is nearly universal in meaning, and as a result, the color Blue is used in national flags and symbols around the world, including the flag of the United Nations. 

We all know and have used the phrase "once in a blue moon." We give the best a "blue ribbon.” A person born of royalty is a "blue blood."

However, too much dark blue can be depressing, therefore we’re said to have the "blues."

The color Blue is associated metaphysically with the throat and thyroid gland, and as mentioned above, it has been shown to reduce blood pressure, thus calming the autonomic nervous system and is anti-inflammatory.

Dark blue affects the pituitary gland, which affects sleep. It is also known to reduce pain and strengthen the skeletal body by keeping bone marrow healthy.

However, blue symbolism also has some negative associations due to the connection between lack of oxygen and blue skin color.

In Greek and Roman days, blue symbolism was associated with the sky gods Jupiter, Juno and Mercury. In Judaism, blue symbolism is connected to God the Father. In the Catholic Church, blue symbolism is most closely related to the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven. In Islam, blue symbolism (including turquoise) is the color both of religion and community and is often used for decorating mosques.

I use color therapy in my everyday life, by painting my home in color association, such as my bedrooms being a beautiful soft blue, which helps alleviate insomnia. My dining room was painted a golden yellow which is associated with appetite, and I find it actually contributes to the overall experience all together.

Last but not least, the color Blue is a natural choice for bathrooms due to the color symbolism association with water.

When an animals coat is described as "blue", it usually refers to a shade of black that takes on a bluish tint, a diluted variant of a pure black coat.

It’s no wonder that I have a Blue Healer, Australian Sheppard, named Brandy. Her coat looks blue in the sunlight, and her eyes are the most beautiful thing to look out, half brown and half blue in each eye.

The color Blue symbolism provides a fascinating look at one of the most prevalent and beloved colors around the world. There is Blue symbolism in all aspects of life and even religion, as it is a representation of loyalty and faith. The color Blue is most popular in the western world with all its blue skies and blue water, both of which are full of positive meaning and is associated with freedom, strength, optimism and better opportunities, and new beginnings.

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Just the other day, near lunch time, I was walking my dog, Brandy and in passing my neighbors house I noticed his pear tree in bloom, and I was overwhelmed with all it’s beauty. It wasn't long ago that we were covered in snow, and everything appeared dead.

Some say love it is a river

that drowns the tender reed

Some say love it is a razor

that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger

an endless aching need

I say love it is a flower

and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking

that never learns to dance

It's the dream afraid of waking

that never takes the chance

It's the one who won't be taken

who cannot seem to give

and the soul afraid of dying

that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely

and the road has been too long

and you think that love is only

for the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter

far beneath the bitter snows

lies the seed

that with the sun's love

in the spring

becomes

the

Rose

A Dirty Health Care Bill - Blame Obama

America seems to blame the Senators for the unforgivably weak health care bill that’s about to pass, the one that’s laden with insurance company giveaways and devoid of nearly any meaningful attempt to rein in the morally disgusting practices of the industry. And make no mistake: Lieberman is a corporate cheerleader, on his knees in the locker room delivering a big sloppy, ball-lickin’ bj to Big Pharma and the health insurance companies. But I don’t blame him — I blame President Obama and his failure to lead.

This bill is a dog, a gift-wrapped Christmas present for the health insurance companies. It is most certainly not health care reform; hell, it isn’t even insurance reform.

Think it ain’t so? Take it from Wendell Potter, the former CIGNA executive-turned-whistleblower whose conscience eventually forced him to battle the insurance industry practices he once enforced. When asked by Keith Olbermann if he considered the bill a bailout for insurance companies, Potter replied that “It certainly is. It contains everything the industry wants, and it’s been stripped of things that the industry didn’t like, so it absolutely is a big gift, a big bailout to the industry.”

Should you wild out? Well, yeah, if you give a shit about reforming health care in any credible way, you should be screaming WHAT THE FUCK. It’s extremely revealing that the White House has taken aim at Howard Dean for telling it like it is. Think about that—they’re not mad at Lieberman…they’re mad at Dean. But Lieberman ruined our chance of getting the public option, right? And yet the White House has been directing it’s ire at Dean…Dean, who actually has the nerve to point out that, dare I say it, the Obama administration is slathering lipstick all over a pig here.

It seems like this is the bill the Obama White House wanted all along. By making some half-assed effort at a public option, the President could appear to be a man of the people. By stopping short of demanding it, he could still hook up the corporate interests he is apparently beholden to. Lieberman seems like more of a fall guy here than anything, someone who did what the administration secretly wanted to do, but publicly couldn’t.

So now we’re legally forced to purchase insurance, by law, from the same asshole insurance companies (Blue Cross, Aetna, CIGNA, etc.) whose bullshit policies didn’t cover people very well, and that we couldn’t afford to begin with. Oh, and they still get to keep their anti-trust exemption. Wow, thanks for the reform guys. Can you do the college football national championship next?

It’s easy to get riled up over Lieberman’s one-man show, and focus on him as the reason we just blew the best chance for meaningful reform in decades. But the real fault lies with President Obama. He showed a lack of leadership on this from the start. By not actually defining what he wanted to see in the bill, he’s now able to CLAIM that he got a win when this fetid piece of garbage passes.

Sure — if you never take a stand for anything specific, you can never really be said to lose. When asked if a public option was a requirement for him, he waffled and equivocated, and, to put it bluntly, acted like a pussy. If he’d said it from the start, and made it clear it was important to him and there would be fucking consequences for those who opposed this, it might have gone better for him. Instead he was wishy-washy and lukewarm, and the House and Senate correctly interpreted that to mean the public option wasn’t very important to him.

This is hard to say coming from someone who thinks George Bush was an amoral, murderous vampire/lich whose hands are dripping with a gooey mixture of crude oil and the blood of the innocent, but he showed more leadership ability, in many regards. He led the country in exactly the wrong way almost every time, sure, but still: Bush never had 60 Senators, and somehow he managed to ram through all his idiotic ideas, like that classic that allows more arsenic in our drinking water.

It could be argued that Republicans have more of a herd mentality, and that there is far more diversity of thought and opinion among the Democrats—therefore they are a tougher group to cajole into voting together, as a unit. That’s partly true, though the GOP is increasingly fractured. But the bill about to be passed amounts to a Playboy centerfold, one that insurance executives are currently beating off to.

Today we are educated to the fact that cigarette smoking is bad for our health and has been directly linked to cancer.  We are also educated to the effects of second hand smoke, and how it affects our children. How can  people follow a leader that clearly has no regard for his own health, but will dictate what we should do about our health? 

And, much as it pains me to write it, we have Barack Obama’s utter failure of leadership to thank for that.

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Vernal Equinox

The vernal equinox, burnin through your speakerbox

Emergin in a version free of preconceived and weaker thoughts

Preacher taught philosophies all fightin over dominance

God's will, free will, fate, karma, and consequence

Walkin this path and just lookin for the positives

Awakinin, the negatives always seem more obvious

Broken dreams, broken homes , broken promises

Wanderin, wonderin, why is it so ominous?

Wonder where the heroes are, wonder where the honor is

Wonder why our morals seem to seep from the subconsciousness

The verbal novelist, the verge of the apocalypse

The only thing I'm worried bout is goin out anonymous

Insteada given up the smoke, they steady given up the hope

Already stranded there, standin there, back against the ropes

And our candidates is jokes, inanimate at most

It's not hard to understand why people don't wanna vote

Arrested for crimes from desperate times

Restless individuals, desolate minds

Livin in oblivion, walkin toward the coffin

We privatize our prisons and turn it into profit

Cram em in the pen under animal conditions

Strip em of their dignity, condemn em and forget em

When they're sentencin the businessmen, they're sendin em to minimum

But victims of the system get the maximum for drug offendin

Young men locked up, young women knocked up

We talk about the causes of the problems but it's not enough

Thought it was likely, Spike Lee, Get On The Bus

Awwwwwww…. Fuck it, that's what we wanna say

Wanna fade away, but today is not the day

Gotta pay the price if you wanna play the game

Gotta make a choice and live with the pain

Take it all in vain, take it in stride

Life is too short for grudges but we're stubborn with pride

facin of high noon with our gun on our side

Or afraid of confrontation so we run and we hide

And some of us try to stop the severing ties

But can never step aside from our separate lives

It's a shame we lose touch with so many good folks

Haven't spoken in forever and we used to be close

When we miss em the most, is when they switch into ghosts

Wishin we picked up the phone or at least had written note

So we reminisce on memories and visions alone

Never had to hustle, never lost that many close to me

But I've seen enough to know that's not how it's supposed to be

All means necessary, just to get the groceries

Askin for forgiveness, while clutchin on the rosary

Water into wine, struggle into poetry

Mind's eye focusing to find my opening

Hopefully they'll say that kid he spoke to me emotionally

Expandin internationally, but looked over locally

Sounds more pronounced, seein colors more vibrant

From here on out now, as long as I'm alive it's

No more regrets and no more surprises

Things get dark

but the sun still rises

by Eastern Sunz

The Equal Night

The Vernal Equinox officially marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. The official time for Vernal Equinox 2010 is 1:32 p.m. EST on March 20.

There are two equinoxes during the year, the spring equinox, sometimes called "vernal equinox," which falls around March 20th and the autumn equinox which falls around September 23rd. 

This is a special day all around the world in ancient traditions like Mexico, where thousands alike come from all over to celebrate the Vernal Equinox at the site of Ancient Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza.  There are festivales de primavera, that take place to celebrate the beginning of spring as you see children on parade dressed up as flowers and animals. All of the festivities are centered around the Sun.

On the equinox the sun is positioned directly over the equator. The word "equinox" means "equal night" because on the equinox the night is equal in length to the day.

This is a time of celebration by traditions around the world, and is a time of fertility, regeneration and rebirth. 

The Mayan archaeological site of Chichen Itza is the most popular spot in Mexico to celebrate the spring equinox. The site's most famous building, The Kulkulkan temple, is the site of a dramatic display of Mayan astronomical knowledge. Every year on the autumn and spring equinoxes the light of the sun makes a play of light and shadow which makes it look like a serpent is slithering along the steps of the pyramid. The effect begins in the late afternoon, around 4 pm, and lasts for an hour or so. The serpent appears for a few days - from around March 19th to the 23rd, but on the actual date of the equinox the effect is most obvious. [read more]

The archaeological site of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, is also a favorite spot to celebrate the Spring Equinox. On this date hundreds of thousands of visitors visit the site, many dressed all in white. They climb to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun where they perform rituals and stretch out their arms to receive the special energy they believe is present on that day.

Avid "Seinfeld" fans might remember the episode when Jerry's friend, George, was desperately trying to find a way to postpone his impending Christmastime wedding with his fiancée, Susan. He finally comes up with a solution:

"Have the wedding on March 21 - the first day of spring!"

Unfortunately, if George had gone through with the nuptials (and Seinfeld aficionados know why he never did), he would have been a full day late. You see, in America, spring no longer falls on March 21.

Now this doesn't seem right. I mean, when we were all growing up, the first day of spring was always on March 21, not March 20, right? Now all of a sudden spring comes on March 20.

While it's true that we've traditionally celebrated the beginning of spring on March 21, astronomers and calendar manufacturers alike now say that the spring season starts one day earlier, March 20, in all time zones in North America. Unheard of? Not if you look at the statistics. In fact, did you know that during the 20th Century, March 21 was actually the exception rather than the rule?

The vernal equinox landed on March 21, only 36 out of 100 years. And from 1981 to 2102, Americans will celebrate the first day of spring no later than March 20.

In 2012, those living in Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones will see spring begin even earlier: on March 19.

And in 2016, it will start on March 19 for the entire United States.

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