Many people have asked and wondered if the proper use of herbs can work better with or in place of medicines. In some cases I would say yes, but in either case, I would never tell anyone to stop taking prescribed medicines for herbal use. I would recommend that you ask your doctor first before trying anything, in case of any reactions to either the herbs or mixture of both. So please be careful intaking certain herbs, not all were meant to be digested or mixted with other herbs or medicines.
Below is a report written by Dr. John R. Christopher
Ask almost anyone today what they think about herbal medicine and you'll most likely get a response saying how it's unscientific, primitive, unproved, ineffective, possibly dangerous and how it really doesn't have a place in our modern day and age. However, after having studied herbs for over 30 years, and after having treated untold thousands of patients with every imaginable ailment, I can tell you with authority that there is another side of the story to these commonly accepted beliefs about herbs. The most commonly accepted fallacy is that using herbs is really a primitive form of medicine. But what would you say if I told you that in 1965, over 130 million prescription drugs were written which came from plants? Or if I told you that over 75% of the hormones used in medicine today are derived completely from plants?
It hardly does justice to herbs to call them primitive and backward, and at the same time, to label drugs as advanced and modern, when so many drugs are in fact derived from herbs. For example, everyone has heard of digitalis which is a drug used to stimulate the heart. Well, digitalis comes from an herb called foxglove. Another example is the effective anti-clotting agent called coumarol. That too comes from an herb--sweet clover. Another one is reserpine, which is one of the most popular tranquilizers. It comes from an herb named snakeroot. They used snakeroot for thousands of years in India to calm people down.
Still another example is quinine. Quinine is very efficient in reducing fever, especially malarial fever. This drug comes from the Peruvian bark in South America. After knowing all this, how can anybody label herbal medicine as "primitive" when herbs were used so effectively for thousands of years? Foxglove for the heart, sweet clover for anti-clotting, Peruvian bark for fevers, snakeroot for tranquilizers. The list is endless.
But there's more. All drugs which are extracted out of plants are not in a whole natural state. This is the reason there are so many side effects, which is a medical problem in itself. I'm sure your readers are fairly well versed with some of the side effects which are caused by drugs so I don't have to go into it. On the other hand, the herbs I use are completely safe, and do not have side effects because they are in a natural state. You can take all the Peruvian bark tea you want and you won't have any problems. But take a little too much of the quinine extracted from the Peruvian bark and you will grow deaf. Take a still larger dose and you will die. Another example is white willow bark. White willow bark contains a natural precursor to aspirin. Take a quart of it and you won't have any problems. But take a bottle of aspirin and you might never wake up again.
Now, don't misunderstand me and think there are no toxic plants. There are. But we herbalists know about these plants and stay away from them. Once in a while you may hear a story about someone venturing out into the woods, picking an unidentified plant, chewing it and then getting very ill. This is bound to happen when somebody is not an authority on plants, but it's certainly no reason to condemn the whole field of herbal medicine because of it. The same thing would happen if someone went into a drug store blind-folded, and took a few pills of whatever was on the shelf. I think I have established the point that herbs are indeed not primitive and that herbs, when used with guidance, are not toxic and have no side effects. So, let me say a few words about the effectiveness of herbs as compared to drugs.
In my thirty years of experience, I have seen some of the sickest people you could ever imagine. You wouldn't believe the number of terminal conditions I have treated in my day. Case after case of people that didn't get will from standard medicines. I don't have to read research reports on whether drugs as a whole are effective or not. I just look at my long waiting list of patients. They are living examples of how effective drugs really are. I certainly don't want to brag about my accomplishments, but I have helped a tremendous amount of people to get well with herbs. It's the best proof I can possibly offer you that herbs are effective in building a healthy body and alleviating disease.
As time goes on, more and more people are going to wake up to the fact that herbs really are the way of the future. No matter what disease you have, there is an herb growing somewhere which can get you well. And there is just one more thought I would like to share with you. Please don't think that I'm pushing herbs on you just because I happen to be an herbalist, or that I'm against modern medicines just because I'm not a medical doctor. The only reason I have shared some of my thought with you now is because I just want you to be healthy and be able to lead a long, long life. To me there is nothing more important than to be happy in life and to make others happy. But you can't do this if you yourself are sick and weak. I don't want any of you to suffer like I did. I was born with crippling rheumatoid arthritis. For the first thirty-five years of my life I didn't know a single day of health. I was in a wheelchair most of the time.
If I can spare you any of the suffering I went through, I'll feel that I've accomplished something. I'm almost 70 years old now, and I feel healthier now than I ever have in my entire life. I give more than nine lectures a year and I am constantly on the go. If it wasn't for herbal medicine, I doubt I would be here today. When the Lord said in the Bible, "...and the fruit thereof shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine", He meant you should only use herbs and plants to treat your ailments. I hope you follow that advice, because I doubt you'll ever regret it. I wish you the best of health.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Religious Beliefs and Politics Don't Mix
Before I continue, I just wanted to let everyone know that I didn't forget or disregard the blog. I had major surgery and will be back on here posting again slowly.
With everything going in this country with the economy as bad as it is and no jobs, no money, what is the president and his staff worried about, everything but that. They want to ask the religious figures to preach not the good book or to have faith but asking them to preach about government and federal issues.
I feel and strongly believe that this will cause major issues and prevent people from attending. The reason why I say this is because if I wanted to hear about the country and it's issues I will watch the news, not attending services. They will loose patrons and people will not be willing or wanting to attend mass. So keep the services to the higher beings spiritaully speaking not the people in Washington.
Anyway, just wanted to get this quick point out there and off my chest. I have been watching Fox News Channel and Glenn Beck, I had not wanted to believe what he was saying about calling Obama and his staff Crime Inc., but the more I watch, the more they all tie in, its crazy.
With everything going in this country with the economy as bad as it is and no jobs, no money, what is the president and his staff worried about, everything but that. They want to ask the religious figures to preach not the good book or to have faith but asking them to preach about government and federal issues.
I feel and strongly believe that this will cause major issues and prevent people from attending. The reason why I say this is because if I wanted to hear about the country and it's issues I will watch the news, not attending services. They will loose patrons and people will not be willing or wanting to attend mass. So keep the services to the higher beings spiritaully speaking not the people in Washington.
Anyway, just wanted to get this quick point out there and off my chest. I have been watching Fox News Channel and Glenn Beck, I had not wanted to believe what he was saying about calling Obama and his staff Crime Inc., but the more I watch, the more they all tie in, its crazy.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Santeria
History
Santería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi.
In 1993, the issue of animal sacrifice was taken to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The Supreme Court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Yoruba were unconstitutional; the Yoruba practice of animal sacrifice has seen no significant legal challenges since then.
Orishas
The most well known Orishas are:
Santería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi.
Santería is a syncretic religion. It is a system of beliefs that merge the Yoruba religion (brought to the New World by slaves imported to the Caribbean to work the sugar plantations) with Roman Catholic and Native American traditions. These slaves carried with them various religious traditions, including a trance for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice and sacred drumming. In Cuba, this religious tradition has evolved into what we now recognize as Santería. In 2001, there were an estimated 22,000 practitioners in the US alone, but the number may be higher as some practitioners may be reluctant to disclose their religion on a government census or to an academic researcher. Of those living in the US, some are fully committed priests and priestesses, others are "godchildren" or members of a particular house-tradition, and many are clients seeking help with their everyday problems. Many are of Hispanic and Caribbean descent but as the religion moves out of the inner cities and into the suburbs, a growing number are of African-American and European-American heritage. As the religion of Africa was recreated in the Americas it was transformed. "The colonial period from the standpoint of African slaves may be defined as a time of perseverance. Their world quickly changed. Tribal kings and families, politicians, business and community leaders all were enslaved in a foreign region of the world. Religious leaders, their descendants, and the faithful, were now slaves. Colonial laws criminalize their religion. They were forced to become baptized and worship a god their ancestors had not known who was surrounded by a pantheon of saints. The early concerns during this period seem to indicate a need for individual survival under harsh plantation conditions. A sense of hope was sustaining the internal essence of what today is called Santería, a misnomer for the indigenous religion of the Lukumi people of Nigeria. In the heart of their homeland, they had a complex political and social order. They were a sedentary hoe farming cultural group with specialized labor. Their religion based on the worship of nature was renamed and documented by their masters. Santería, a pejorative term that characterizes deviant Catholic forms of worshiping saints, has become a common name for the religion. The term santero(a) is used to describe a priest or priestess replacing the traditional term Olorisha as an extension of the deities. The orishas became known as the saints in image of the Catholic pantheon." As mentioned, in order to preserve their authentic ancestral and traditional beliefs, the Lukumi people had no choice but to disguise their orishas as Catholic saints. When the Roman Catholic slave owners observed Africans celebrating a Saint's Day, they were generally unaware that the slaves were actually worshiping their sacred orishas. In Cuba today, the terms "saint" and "orisha" are sometimes used interchangeably. The term Santería was originally a derisive term applied by the Spanish to mock followers' seeming overdevotion to the saints and their perceived neglect of God. It was later applied to the religion by others. This "veil" characterization of the relationship between Catholic saints and Cuban orisha, however, is somewhat undermined by the fact that the vast majority of santeros in Cuba today also consider themselves to be Catholics, have been baptized, and often require initiates to be baptized. Many hold separate rituals to honor the saints and orisha respectively, even though the disguise of Catholicism is no longer needed. The traditional Lukumi religion and its Santería counterpart can be found in many parts of the world today, including the United States, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and other areas with large Latin American populations. A very similar religion called Candomblé is practiced in Brazil, along with a rich variety of other Afro-American religions. This is now being referred to as "parallel religiosity" because some believers worship the African variant that has no notion of a devil and no baptism or marriage, yet they belong to Catholic or mainline Protestant churches, where these concepts exist. Lukumi religiosity works toward a balance in life on earth (androcentric) while the European religions work toward the hereafter. Some in Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodou or Puerto Rican spiritualism (Afro-Latin religions) do not view a difference between saints and orishas, the ancestor deities of the Lukumi people's Ifa religion. There are now individuals who mix the Lukumí practices with traditional practices as they survived in Africa after the deleterious effects of colonialism. Although most of these mixes have not been at the hands of experienced or knowledgeable practitioners of either system, they have gained a certain popularity. In 1974, the first Santería church in the US was incorporated as the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye.
In 1993, the issue of animal sacrifice was taken to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The Supreme Court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Yoruba were unconstitutional; the Yoruba practice of animal sacrifice has seen no significant legal challenges since then.
Orishas
The most well known Orishas are:
Eleggua, Oggún, Oshún, Changó, Oyá, Obatalá, Yemayá, Orula. These are the most common Orisha names, especially in Cuba.
Clergy
The priests are known as babalorishas, "fathers of orisha", and priestesses as iyalorishas, "mothers of orisha", and serve as the junior Ile or second in the hierarchical religious structure. The Babalorishas and Iyalorishas are referred to as Santeros and Santeras, and if they function as diviners of the Orishas they can be considered Oriates. The highest level of achievement is to become a priest of Ifá (ee-fah). Ifa Priests receive Orunmila who is the Orisha of Prophecy, Wisdom and all Knowledge. Ifa Priests are known by their titles such as Babalawo or "Father Who Knows the Secrets". In the recent years, there have been initiations of Iyanifa or "Mother of Destiny," but their role as Ifa diviners is not generally accepted per the Odu Ifa Irete Intelu which states women cannot be in the presence of Olofin or Igba Iwa Odu and so cannot be initiated as divining priestesses. Instead, women are initiates as Apetebi Ifa and are considered senior in Ifa to all but fully initiated Babalawos. However, since Santeria developed outside its West African origin and acquired various influences of Catholicism, Congolese religion, spiritism and Dahomean influences, the opinions of other side (West African or Cuban) have little relevance for either tradition. There is even West African evidence as well as in Brazil that women in Ifa priesthood, albeit small, may have existed for a number of centuries, especially since some religious houses of the Candomble tradition were founded by iyanifa. There is some regional variation to acceptance of women being initiated to Ifa even in Nigeria, while it is more common than not for women to be accepted in those areas. But the regional practices may have contributed to Cuba's restriction of women in Ifa priesthood, perhaps due to the practices and theological opinions of one group overruling that of another within Yorubaland.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Conspiracy Theories about the Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, banking, business, the military, and media. Each conference is held under intense security and secrecy.
The original conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg, near Arnhem in The Netherlands, from 29 May to 31 May 1954. It was initiated by several people, including Józef Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting understanding between the cultures of the United States and Western Europe. Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who agreed to promote the idea, together with Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the head of Unilever at that time, the Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser Charles Douglas Jackson to deal with the suggestion. The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent conservative and liberal points of view. Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference along with 11 Americans.
The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent Steering Committee was established, with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957, the first US conference was held in St. Simons, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation supplied further funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences.
Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of around eighteen nations. Official posts, in addition to a chairman, include an Honorary Secretary General. There is no such category in the group's rules as a "member of the group". The only category that exists is "member of the Steering Committee". In addition to the committee, there also exists a separate advisory group, though membership overlaps.
Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel took over as permanent secretary in 1960, upon Retinger's death. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. The position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held successively by Joseph E. Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment, William Bundy of Princeton, Theodore L. Eliot, Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Casimir A. Yost of Georgetown's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
A 2008 press release from the American Friends of Bilderberg stated that "Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference. At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued" and noted that the names of attendees were available to the press. The Bilderberg group unofficial headquarters is the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
According to the American Friends of Bilderberg, the 2008 agenda dealt "mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran".
The steering committee does not publish a list of attendees, though some participants have publicly discussed their attendance. Historically, attendee lists have been weighted towards politicians, bankers, and directors of large businesses.
Heads of state, including Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, have attended meetings. Prominent politicians from North America and Europe are past attendees. In past years, board members from many large publicly-traded corporations have attended, including IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia and Daimler.
The 2009 meeting participants in Greece included: Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis; Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen; Sweden foreign minister Carl Bildt; U.S. State Department number two James Steinberg; U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; World Bank president Robert Zoellick; European Commission head José Manuel Barroso; Queen Sofia of Spain; and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
European Union
In a European Parliament session in Brussels, Mario Borghezio, an Italian member of the European Parliament, questioned the nominations of Bilderberg and Trilateral attendees for the posts of EU President and EU foreign minister.
In 2009 the group had a dinner meeting at Castle of the Valley of the Duchess in Brussels, in the 12th of November, with the participation of Herman Van Rompuy, who later became the President of the European Council.
Conspiracy Theories about the Bilderberg Group
Because of its utmost secrecy and refusal to issue news releases, the group is frequently accused of secretive and nefarious plots to create a "New World Order" through a "one world government". Critics include the John Birch Society, the Canadian writer Daniel Estulin, British writer David Icke, American writer Jim Tucker, politician Jesse Ventura and radio host Alex Jones.
Bilderberg founding member and, for 30 years, a steering committee member, Denis Healey said, "To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing."
In 2005 the then chairman Etienne Davignon discussed these accusations with the BBC.
It is unavoidable and it doesn't matter. There will always be people who believe in conspiracies but things happen in a much more incoherent fashion...When people say this is a secret government of the world I say that if we were a secret government of the world we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves.
G. William Domhoff, a research professor in psychology and sociology, warns progressives, in search of an opponent that embodies the values they oppose, against embracing conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg Group and related organizations:
The opponents are the corporate conservatives and the Republican Party, not the Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderbergers, and Bohemians. It is the same people more or less, but it puts them in their most important roles, as capitalists and political leaders, which are visible and legitimate... If thought of this way, then the role of a CFR as a place to try to hear new ideas and reach consensus is more readily understood, as is the function of a social club as a place that creates social cohesion. Moreover, those understandings of the CFR and the clubs fit with the perceptions of the members of the elite.
The Bilderberg group was the topic of an episode of the TruTV series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.
Origins of Conspiracy Theories
Before the 2001 meeting, a report in the Guardian stated: ...the press have never been allowed access and all discussions are under Chatham House rules (no quoting). Not surprisingly, such ground rules, while attracting publicity-shy financiers, have also fuelled the fantasies of conspiracy theorists.
Jonathan Duffy, writing in BBC News Online Magazine states: No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted... In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg.
Investigative journalist Chip Berlet, notes the existence of Bilderberger conspiracy theories as early as 1964 in the writings of conservative political activist Phyllis Schlafly. In Berlet's 1994 report Right Woos Left, published by Political Research Associates, he writes: The views on intractable godless communism expressed by Schwarz were central themes in three other bestselling books which were used to mobilize support for the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign. The best known was Phyllis Schlafly's A Choice, Not an Echo, which suggested a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberger group, whose policies would pave the way for global communist conquest.
From Wiki
The original conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg, near Arnhem in The Netherlands, from 29 May to 31 May 1954. It was initiated by several people, including Józef Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting understanding between the cultures of the United States and Western Europe. Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who agreed to promote the idea, together with Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the head of Unilever at that time, the Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser Charles Douglas Jackson to deal with the suggestion. The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent conservative and liberal points of view. Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference along with 11 Americans.
The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent Steering Committee was established, with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957, the first US conference was held in St. Simons, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation supplied further funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences.
Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of around eighteen nations. Official posts, in addition to a chairman, include an Honorary Secretary General. There is no such category in the group's rules as a "member of the group". The only category that exists is "member of the Steering Committee". In addition to the committee, there also exists a separate advisory group, though membership overlaps.
Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel took over as permanent secretary in 1960, upon Retinger's death. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. The position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held successively by Joseph E. Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment, William Bundy of Princeton, Theodore L. Eliot, Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Casimir A. Yost of Georgetown's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
A 2008 press release from the American Friends of Bilderberg stated that "Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference. At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued" and noted that the names of attendees were available to the press. The Bilderberg group unofficial headquarters is the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
According to the American Friends of Bilderberg, the 2008 agenda dealt "mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran".
The steering committee does not publish a list of attendees, though some participants have publicly discussed their attendance. Historically, attendee lists have been weighted towards politicians, bankers, and directors of large businesses.
Heads of state, including Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, have attended meetings. Prominent politicians from North America and Europe are past attendees. In past years, board members from many large publicly-traded corporations have attended, including IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia and Daimler.
The 2009 meeting participants in Greece included: Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis; Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen; Sweden foreign minister Carl Bildt; U.S. State Department number two James Steinberg; U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; World Bank president Robert Zoellick; European Commission head José Manuel Barroso; Queen Sofia of Spain; and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
European Union
In a European Parliament session in Brussels, Mario Borghezio, an Italian member of the European Parliament, questioned the nominations of Bilderberg and Trilateral attendees for the posts of EU President and EU foreign minister.
In 2009 the group had a dinner meeting at Castle of the Valley of the Duchess in Brussels, in the 12th of November, with the participation of Herman Van Rompuy, who later became the President of the European Council.
Conspiracy Theories about the Bilderberg Group
Because of its utmost secrecy and refusal to issue news releases, the group is frequently accused of secretive and nefarious plots to create a "New World Order" through a "one world government". Critics include the John Birch Society, the Canadian writer Daniel Estulin, British writer David Icke, American writer Jim Tucker, politician Jesse Ventura and radio host Alex Jones.
Bilderberg founding member and, for 30 years, a steering committee member, Denis Healey said, "To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing."
In 2005 the then chairman Etienne Davignon discussed these accusations with the BBC.
It is unavoidable and it doesn't matter. There will always be people who believe in conspiracies but things happen in a much more incoherent fashion...When people say this is a secret government of the world I say that if we were a secret government of the world we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves.
G. William Domhoff, a research professor in psychology and sociology, warns progressives, in search of an opponent that embodies the values they oppose, against embracing conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg Group and related organizations:
The opponents are the corporate conservatives and the Republican Party, not the Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderbergers, and Bohemians. It is the same people more or less, but it puts them in their most important roles, as capitalists and political leaders, which are visible and legitimate... If thought of this way, then the role of a CFR as a place to try to hear new ideas and reach consensus is more readily understood, as is the function of a social club as a place that creates social cohesion. Moreover, those understandings of the CFR and the clubs fit with the perceptions of the members of the elite.
The Bilderberg group was the topic of an episode of the TruTV series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.
Origins of Conspiracy Theories
Before the 2001 meeting, a report in the Guardian stated: ...the press have never been allowed access and all discussions are under Chatham House rules (no quoting). Not surprisingly, such ground rules, while attracting publicity-shy financiers, have also fuelled the fantasies of conspiracy theorists.
Jonathan Duffy, writing in BBC News Online Magazine states: No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted... In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg.
Investigative journalist Chip Berlet, notes the existence of Bilderberger conspiracy theories as early as 1964 in the writings of conservative political activist Phyllis Schlafly. In Berlet's 1994 report Right Woos Left, published by Political Research Associates, he writes: The views on intractable godless communism expressed by Schwarz were central themes in three other bestselling books which were used to mobilize support for the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign. The best known was Phyllis Schlafly's A Choice, Not an Echo, which suggested a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberger group, whose policies would pave the way for global communist conquest.
From Wiki
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tree Grounding and Centering
There are many different ways to ground this is a method and technique a friend taught me and works very well, with me and many others I know and have taught.
First off make sure you are wearing something very lite colored and comfortable. If you can get a yoga mat or a chair, try to not wear any shoes, sox are ok. I try to tell everyone to wear solid white if they can.
Next, clear your mind of everything and anything. While either sitting in a chair or cross legged on the floor, take a couple of slow deep breaths.
Now close your eyes.
Imagine that your feet are roots to a great tree feel your roots growing deeper into the earth pulling nutrients up into your trunk and extending your branches to the sky.
When you feel that you are steady enough reach your branches up higher, feel the energy coming down from the heavens down into your being.
Feel the energy move through your body, flowing in through your branches and letting it stream down through your roots.
Pull in the energy from your roots and let it out through your branches.
Imagine that the energy swirls within you at your very core, the whole time breathing deeply. Letting all excess energy down into the earth for other things to grow, but not giving off all of your energy you still need your own to grow as well.
Start breathing normally and then open your eyes. Don't get up quickly give it a minute or so.
I hope this worked for you and you enjoyed it.
First off make sure you are wearing something very lite colored and comfortable. If you can get a yoga mat or a chair, try to not wear any shoes, sox are ok. I try to tell everyone to wear solid white if they can.
Next, clear your mind of everything and anything. While either sitting in a chair or cross legged on the floor, take a couple of slow deep breaths.
Now close your eyes.
Imagine that your feet are roots to a great tree feel your roots growing deeper into the earth pulling nutrients up into your trunk and extending your branches to the sky.
When you feel that you are steady enough reach your branches up higher, feel the energy coming down from the heavens down into your being.
Feel the energy move through your body, flowing in through your branches and letting it stream down through your roots.
Pull in the energy from your roots and let it out through your branches.
Imagine that the energy swirls within you at your very core, the whole time breathing deeply. Letting all excess energy down into the earth for other things to grow, but not giving off all of your energy you still need your own to grow as well.
Start breathing normally and then open your eyes. Don't get up quickly give it a minute or so.
I hope this worked for you and you enjoyed it.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Truth about Vodou
Vodou ( not Voodoo) is a spiritual African word, meaning "force" and "mystery". Anthropologists estimate the religion to be between 6-10,000 years old, but followers in Benin, the epicenter of Vodou, located in West Africa, believe that the religion pre-dates Christianity. According to an History Channel documentary, "Vodou Secret ", 60 million people practice the religion world wide.
Vodou exists in different forms and variations. It is practiced throughout the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico, and many other countries in Latin America. Whether it is referred to as Obeah, Santeria, Regla de Ocha, Umbada, Lukumi, Candomble, La Regla Lucum or Orisha, it is still Vodou.
Vodou spirits or gods (if you prefer) are represented by different symbols; Guede, the lord of the dead, is represented by the cross, Damballah ( God Of Wisdom ) is represented by the iconography of St Patrick; the loa associated with water and love, Erzulie, is represented by the iconography of the Virgin Mary; loa Legba, who holds the keys to the gate between the worlds is represented by the iconography of St Peter.
Western Civilizations do not regard Vodoo as a religion. While Vodou is no different than any other organized religion, its practitioners believe in GOD who manifests himself or herself in different spirits and form of energy. Indeed, imperialist ideologies, the church, Hollywood, and some scholars have purposely maligned Vodou.
Humans have come a long way in the course of evolution, however many of us still retain our beastlike like nature. A small percentage of Vodouists do practice medieval black magic, but the religion itself is not a system of harmful magic nor does it involve the worship of the devil as many uneducated westerners believe. All religions have a dark side, whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Buddhist, Muslum, or the free mason. This World has experienced two World Wars, many religious crusades, plague and widespread diseases, and other unspeakable terrors and today the World continues to darken around us, but it is certainly not because of Vodou.
Vodou is feared because it is not well understood and remains a mystery to scholars; so it therefore must be bad according to Western standards.
Vodou has always been associated with the Haitian Revolution. After Haiti became the first Independent Black nation in the Western Hemisphere in 1803, Vodou became an even more fearful entity. The French and other powerful colonial powers had a vital interest in suppressing the growth of Vodou. They did not want Haiti and its Vodou religion to become an instrumental tool of deliberation for slaves across the Atlantic. For more than 300 years, colonial institutions have devised a successful public campaign to satanize the religion. It was feared that Vodou could be used as a powerful tool to deter the slave trade. The top 20 percent of the World's richest countries could hardly afford to have those able bodies from Africa not work the plantation right before the industrial revolution.
Vodou has its roots in African traditions and culture. Just like many religions, Vodou is based on faith and its practitioners believe that GOD doest not work directly with humans. They believe GOD manifests himself or herself through spirits in a capacity similar to angels or saints in Christian beliefs. In Vodou the spirits are often referred to as loa, a popular word in the Haitian language, Creole.
Many of the Vodou loas' names and famous Haitian dances have their roots in African dialect, tribe, and or cities. For example � Ginen, a beloved loa in the Vodou religion, refers to the ancestral spirit in Africa from the country Guinea; Ibo is another common Vodou dance, the word itself refers to a tribe in Nigeria. In fact most of the Haitian Vodou spirits (Loa) are ancestrally in natural, e.g. Guede, and many others are referring to older beings from Africa (e.g. Rada) .
The Vodou religion involves many rituals and it is practiced in family plantations and at home with altars, candles and incense. Vodouists often make offerings, pray, and sing and dance in the honor of a specific spirit. Vodou spirits connect with its servants through possession or trance, usually induced by ritual singing and dancing and the complex rhythms of the accompanying drums.
Vodou has long been entrenched in Haiti with the arrival of African slaves in the Island of Hispaniola in the sixteen century. Despite centuries of oppression, today millions of Haitians continue to practice the religion in Haiti.
In the Voodou religion, its practitioners believe that the soul departed from the physical body, where upon judgment, the soul will either go to heaven or hell. Vodouists believe the departed soul crosses the flame of purgatory waiting for purification before entering the so-called heaven. Vodouists also believe the same soul can be re-incarnated at least seven times depending on the mission of that particular soul. At the final stage of re-incarnation, that soul upon purification, will become an eternal spirit and manifest its presence in human beings usually in the form of Guede.
Guede, meaning, "Guardian of the dead" is one of the major spirits in the Vodou religion. In the Haitian culture, Guede is celebrated throughout the month of November, the season of the dead and rebirth.
"The loa Ghede are often quite rowdy and raunchy, sprinkling their conversation with profanities and sexual innuendo. Haitian culture is generally very conservative and does not normally reward such behaviors, but the loa Ghede can commit such social transgressions without impunity - being dead, they are beyond punishment, and they seem to feel that shocking people is perfectly reasonable. They typically do not use profanity in an abusive manner, but prefer to make people laugh at their over-the-top behavior. Predominantly male, and praised with raucous songs and enthusiastic dances, the loa Ghede are the ancestors who bridge the gap between 'Guinea' (Africa) and the living of Haiti. The Ghede's names all end in La Croix in honor of Baron and Maman Brigitte who reclaim the souls of the ancestors and make them into loa; both Baron and Maman Brigitte's symbol is the cross. "Vodouisants possessed by the Ghede often dance suggestively (though without desire - it is a paradox that the Ghede represent both eroticism and death), drink strong spirits, and behave outrageously�" wrote an English Scholar. In Guede ceremony, vodou practitioners usually offer a large feast to the Guede spirits in November. The feast is accompanied by a 30 minute to an hour long prayer, followed by ritual chants, drumming and dances associated with Vodou, Haitian folklore music. During the ceremony the spirit is offered alcohol, food, grains, and other natural products. This is regarded as an invitation to the spirits to come celebrate life after death. Upon manifestation, the Guede spirit reacts foolishly and engages in explicit sexual conversation with the Vodou priests and the audience in the ceremony. Shortly thereafter, Guede regains its true form and focuses on human healing and problem solving. It is said that the loa Guede acts foolishly sometimes to ridicule death. For death no longer has power over its existence.
According to Vodou practitioners, "Baron Samedi", also known as "Papa Baron" and "Gran Brigitte", represent Guede's parental lineage. Guede's parents are considered the lord of death. Baron is the spirit who presides over the dead; the loa decides the faith of all human beings on earth after death. It is relevant to note that in the Vodou religion, there exists several Gods, in addition to the Creator of the universe; whom Vodouists refer to as THE GREAT and ULTIMATE FATHER, who are responsible for a different element of life such as the sun, wind, water, earth, air, dead, fire etc. All of these deities are believed (including Jesus the son of Jehovah) to be the holy sons and daughters of the Great and Ultimate Father.
Vodou is a very complex subject to understand if one is not part of the trusted circle of the religion. Religious Vodou priest known as "Hougan" (male priest) and Manbo (female priests) have their beliefs and secrets which cannot be revealed to the world. Don't think for a moment that Christian priests, Rabbis, Free masons, and other religious leaders do not have their own secrets which they do not reveal to their followers. To the Vodouists, Guede controls the crossroads at which every human must traverse some day to meet their faith in the afterlife. In the Haitian culture, Vodou Hougan and Mambo believe that no single individual can communicate with the dead without first obtaining permission from Papa Baron. In every major cemetery in Haiti, Papa Baron "lord of the dead" is represented by a black cross mounted on a small tomb. Guede, the keeper of the cemetery, is the primary contact with the dead. In the event that a person wishes to petition or contact the dead, he or she must first appeal to Guede/Baron Samedi to make the connection with ancestral spirits.
Guede is generally a good and generous spirit; both Papa Baron and Gran Brigitte have healing power. According to Vodou priests, Guede can decide the fate of a person near death by allowing him or her to recover or make the transition to the afterlife. They are particularly fond of young children and protect them from harm. Unless it is THE ULTIMATE CREATORS' will, Guede spirits do not allow children to die before they have completed the cycle of life.
It is our hope that with this insight into the spirits of Voodou and the truths about how it is practiced as a religion that we will be able to dispel some of the misconceptions that have heretofore been propagated.
http://heritagekonpa.com
Vodou exists in different forms and variations. It is practiced throughout the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico, and many other countries in Latin America. Whether it is referred to as Obeah, Santeria, Regla de Ocha, Umbada, Lukumi, Candomble, La Regla Lucum or Orisha, it is still Vodou.
Vodou spirits or gods (if you prefer) are represented by different symbols; Guede, the lord of the dead, is represented by the cross, Damballah ( God Of Wisdom ) is represented by the iconography of St Patrick; the loa associated with water and love, Erzulie, is represented by the iconography of the Virgin Mary; loa Legba, who holds the keys to the gate between the worlds is represented by the iconography of St Peter.
Western Civilizations do not regard Vodoo as a religion. While Vodou is no different than any other organized religion, its practitioners believe in GOD who manifests himself or herself in different spirits and form of energy. Indeed, imperialist ideologies, the church, Hollywood, and some scholars have purposely maligned Vodou.
Humans have come a long way in the course of evolution, however many of us still retain our beastlike like nature. A small percentage of Vodouists do practice medieval black magic, but the religion itself is not a system of harmful magic nor does it involve the worship of the devil as many uneducated westerners believe. All religions have a dark side, whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Buddhist, Muslum, or the free mason. This World has experienced two World Wars, many religious crusades, plague and widespread diseases, and other unspeakable terrors and today the World continues to darken around us, but it is certainly not because of Vodou.
Vodou is feared because it is not well understood and remains a mystery to scholars; so it therefore must be bad according to Western standards.
Vodou has always been associated with the Haitian Revolution. After Haiti became the first Independent Black nation in the Western Hemisphere in 1803, Vodou became an even more fearful entity. The French and other powerful colonial powers had a vital interest in suppressing the growth of Vodou. They did not want Haiti and its Vodou religion to become an instrumental tool of deliberation for slaves across the Atlantic. For more than 300 years, colonial institutions have devised a successful public campaign to satanize the religion. It was feared that Vodou could be used as a powerful tool to deter the slave trade. The top 20 percent of the World's richest countries could hardly afford to have those able bodies from Africa not work the plantation right before the industrial revolution.
Vodou has its roots in African traditions and culture. Just like many religions, Vodou is based on faith and its practitioners believe that GOD doest not work directly with humans. They believe GOD manifests himself or herself through spirits in a capacity similar to angels or saints in Christian beliefs. In Vodou the spirits are often referred to as loa, a popular word in the Haitian language, Creole.
Many of the Vodou loas' names and famous Haitian dances have their roots in African dialect, tribe, and or cities. For example � Ginen, a beloved loa in the Vodou religion, refers to the ancestral spirit in Africa from the country Guinea; Ibo is another common Vodou dance, the word itself refers to a tribe in Nigeria. In fact most of the Haitian Vodou spirits (Loa) are ancestrally in natural, e.g. Guede, and many others are referring to older beings from Africa (e.g. Rada) .
The Vodou religion involves many rituals and it is practiced in family plantations and at home with altars, candles and incense. Vodouists often make offerings, pray, and sing and dance in the honor of a specific spirit. Vodou spirits connect with its servants through possession or trance, usually induced by ritual singing and dancing and the complex rhythms of the accompanying drums.
Vodou has long been entrenched in Haiti with the arrival of African slaves in the Island of Hispaniola in the sixteen century. Despite centuries of oppression, today millions of Haitians continue to practice the religion in Haiti.
In the Voodou religion, its practitioners believe that the soul departed from the physical body, where upon judgment, the soul will either go to heaven or hell. Vodouists believe the departed soul crosses the flame of purgatory waiting for purification before entering the so-called heaven. Vodouists also believe the same soul can be re-incarnated at least seven times depending on the mission of that particular soul. At the final stage of re-incarnation, that soul upon purification, will become an eternal spirit and manifest its presence in human beings usually in the form of Guede.
Guede, meaning, "Guardian of the dead" is one of the major spirits in the Vodou religion. In the Haitian culture, Guede is celebrated throughout the month of November, the season of the dead and rebirth.
Today many of us still do not fully understand the fundamentals of Vodou as a religion or Guede as a spirit within Voodou and continue to ask many essential questions. What is "Loa"? What is Guede? What does Vodou represent to Haitians, West Indians, and other people of African descendants? These questions will be addressed through a series of research articles on Heritagekonpa Magazine. If you have a moment and can keep an open mind, we will attempt to bring some clarification and perhaps some enlightenment to the subject. We begin with the Guede spirits.
"The loa Ghede are often quite rowdy and raunchy, sprinkling their conversation with profanities and sexual innuendo. Haitian culture is generally very conservative and does not normally reward such behaviors, but the loa Ghede can commit such social transgressions without impunity - being dead, they are beyond punishment, and they seem to feel that shocking people is perfectly reasonable. They typically do not use profanity in an abusive manner, but prefer to make people laugh at their over-the-top behavior. Predominantly male, and praised with raucous songs and enthusiastic dances, the loa Ghede are the ancestors who bridge the gap between 'Guinea' (Africa) and the living of Haiti. The Ghede's names all end in La Croix in honor of Baron and Maman Brigitte who reclaim the souls of the ancestors and make them into loa; both Baron and Maman Brigitte's symbol is the cross. "Vodouisants possessed by the Ghede often dance suggestively (though without desire - it is a paradox that the Ghede represent both eroticism and death), drink strong spirits, and behave outrageously�" wrote an English Scholar. According to Vodou practitioners, "Baron Samedi", also known as "Papa Baron" and "Gran Brigitte", represent Guede's parental lineage. Guede's parents are considered the lord of death. Baron is the spirit who presides over the dead; the loa decides the faith of all human beings on earth after death. It is relevant to note that in the Vodou religion, there exists several Gods, in addition to the Creator of the universe; whom Vodouists refer to as THE GREAT and ULTIMATE FATHER, who are responsible for a different element of life such as the sun, wind, water, earth, air, dead, fire etc. All of these deities are believed (including Jesus the son of Jehovah) to be the holy sons and daughters of the Great and Ultimate Father.
Vodou is a very complex subject to understand if one is not part of the trusted circle of the religion. Religious Vodou priest known as "Hougan" (male priest) and Manbo (female priests) have their beliefs and secrets which cannot be revealed to the world. Don't think for a moment that Christian priests, Rabbis, Free masons, and other religious leaders do not have their own secrets which they do not reveal to their followers. To the Vodouists, Guede controls the crossroads at which every human must traverse some day to meet their faith in the afterlife. In the Haitian culture, Vodou Hougan and Mambo believe that no single individual can communicate with the dead without first obtaining permission from Papa Baron. In every major cemetery in Haiti, Papa Baron "lord of the dead" is represented by a black cross mounted on a small tomb. Guede, the keeper of the cemetery, is the primary contact with the dead. In the event that a person wishes to petition or contact the dead, he or she must first appeal to Guede/Baron Samedi to make the connection with ancestral spirits.
Guede is generally a good and generous spirit; both Papa Baron and Gran Brigitte have healing power. According to Vodou priests, Guede can decide the fate of a person near death by allowing him or her to recover or make the transition to the afterlife. They are particularly fond of young children and protect them from harm. Unless it is THE ULTIMATE CREATORS' will, Guede spirits do not allow children to die before they have completed the cycle of life.
It is our hope that with this insight into the spirits of Voodou and the truths about how it is practiced as a religion that we will be able to dispel some of the misconceptions that have heretofore been propagated.
http://heritagekonpa.com
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Health and Spirituality
I strongly believe that if your spiritually enlightened and a true believer in God or a God, that your body, mind and soul will help over come almost anything.
I have spoken to many individuals with health issues and their spirits are down. Not just their emotions but their spiritual guardians as well. If you dont believe in yourself how can you believe or trust in anyone or anything else. Find something basic to start with, to believe in again and you will see slowly but surely your mental, physical and emotional state of mind will start to change for the better and help you recover or get over almost anything.
Make sure you say a little prayer either the begining of the day or the end of the day or even both. And always smile no matter how much the pain inside. A smile goes a long way not only for yourself but for others around you. I have noticed and it's sad to say or admit but sometimes people don't like to be around sick individuals, not because they are sick but when your sick and deppressed or just lost in your own thoughts no one wants to be around cause it spiritually drains others around you. It brings them down as well and they leave spiritually deppressed. Many individuals don't realize that we all effect each other on a daily basis on not just a physical level but spiritually as well.
Pray for yourself and your spirits to help you spiritually and you will see a change in your life with everything and everyone around you.
I have spoken to many individuals with health issues and their spirits are down. Not just their emotions but their spiritual guardians as well. If you dont believe in yourself how can you believe or trust in anyone or anything else. Find something basic to start with, to believe in again and you will see slowly but surely your mental, physical and emotional state of mind will start to change for the better and help you recover or get over almost anything.
Make sure you say a little prayer either the begining of the day or the end of the day or even both. And always smile no matter how much the pain inside. A smile goes a long way not only for yourself but for others around you. I have noticed and it's sad to say or admit but sometimes people don't like to be around sick individuals, not because they are sick but when your sick and deppressed or just lost in your own thoughts no one wants to be around cause it spiritually drains others around you. It brings them down as well and they leave spiritually deppressed. Many individuals don't realize that we all effect each other on a daily basis on not just a physical level but spiritually as well.
Pray for yourself and your spirits to help you spiritually and you will see a change in your life with everything and everyone around you.
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