Jun 28, 2013

The Mystery of the Moving Egyptian Statue

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.




Gotta say, this is a little weird.

Some have theorized that the statue is moving because of the vibrations of visitors' feet, which would explain why the rotation only happens during the day.

If the glass that the statue is resting on vibrates slightly, "the vibrating glass moves the statue in the same direction," Paul Doherty, senior scientist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, told LiveScience.

But that doesn't explain why the statue only began moving recently - or why it stops turning at 180 degrees, so that its back is facing the museum's visitors.

. . .

There's an inscription on the statue's back that asks for sacrificial offerings "consisting of bread, beer, oxen and fowl." No word on whether the museum has tried any of those.

Where is Scooby Doo when you need him?

Jun 26, 2013

National Cathedral Celebrates Gay Marriage Victory

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



Once again, I find myself very proud of the Episcopal Church I was raised in.

The Washington National Cathedral will hold a special service Wednesday night to celebrate the Supreme Court rulings that struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and the California proposition banning gay marriage.

"Today’s rulings announce a new era for our country, one in which married lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans can finally enjoy the same federal recognition and protection that our laws have for so long extended to their fellow citizens," said Rev. Gary Hall, the dean of the National Cathedral, in a press release Wednesday.

. . .

At noon, the Washington Ringing Society rang the cathedral's bells to the tune of "Gloria in Excelsis," and according to Cathedral spokesman Richard Weinberg, many other D.C. churches plan to do the same, CBS DC reported.

"We are ringing our bells at the Cathedral to celebrate the extension of federal marriage equality to all the same-sex couples modeling God’s love in lifelong covenants," said Hall. "Our prayers for continued happiness are with them and with all couples who will be joined in matrimony in the years to come, whether at Washington National Cathedral or elsewhere."

Jun 25, 2013

Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Healing in the Amazon with Roman Hanis: Part One

The Amazonian rainforest is home to a system of healing and plant medicines as vast, intricate, and effective as Chinese Medicine or Western naturopathy. Our guest, medicine man, Roman Hanis, is committed to the integration of this ancient wisdom into practical application in our modern world. Through Paititi Institute and its team of shamans, permaculture specialists, and practitioners of other healing arts Roman is building intercultural bridges for the healing on physical, emotional and spiritual levels of all people from all cultures and from all spiritual traditions and walks of life. Join us this week and host and shaman, Christina Pratt, speak with Roman how with holistic models of education, consciousness transformation and indigenous sacred plant medicine we help support the formation and existence of intentional communities who seek the social and environmental lifestyle development supported by spiritual evolution and maturation on both collective and individual levels.

This week's guest:
Roman Hanis

After finding a cure for a terminal, genetic illness in 2002 in the healing forms of the rainforest, Roman Hanis spent the next ten years working with indigenous Peruvian cultures in the Amazonian rainforest, learning the ancient healing ways while seeking possibilities for creating ecological sources of sustenance for local populations and working to preserve the rainforest and its spiritual heritage of sacred medicinal plants. Roman looks forward to eradicating suffering in the world and its cause - ignorance - by promoting education on the possibilities of more sustainable, harmonious relationships with nature, and to simultaneously create supportive, self-sustaining and nurturing communities.

Roman is a certified Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner in Peru. He is also a practitioner of the Eastern spiritual disciplines of Tibetan breathwork and meditation, QiGong, Yoga, Shaolin physical therapy and Toltec practices as well as the perspective of these disciplines from Jungian psychology. In 2004, Roman was pledged as a healer-curandero by the Whitoto tribe and has served the international community as a medicine man ever since. He has also practiced physical trauma rehabilitation, medical massage therapy and Eastern bodywork. With these tools and concentrated efforts, he has been able to help numerous individuals overcome many health issues and pathologies on physical, mental and spiritual levels.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
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Jun 20, 2013

Also DeleTED: Women

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

In a truly unsurprising development, it has been observed that TED conferences are heavily skewed towards men.

Almost three fourths of all TED speakers are male.

TED, the nonprofit conference behemoth that's "devoted to ideas worth spreading" and operates as "a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers" is overwhelmingly dominated by high ranking male academics, according to a new demographic analysis of presenters on the site.

. . .

Overall, of the 998 TED presenters analyzed by the study, 73 percent were male. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Harvard University and the University of Oxford were the most commonly represented universities. Of the presenters with a university affiliation, 73 percent were senior-level professors, the rest were assistant professors, adjuncts or otherwise lower-ranking academics.

Cassidy Sugimoto, author of the study, says it's disconcerting that a group that says it's represents the newest, innovative ideas is recruiting mainly established scientists and speakers.

Jun 18, 2013

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Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Spirit Walking with Evelyn Rysdyk

Indigenous shamans share a quality of connection with the world that allows them to simultaneously sizzle with spiritual power, remain entirely grounded, and express a contagious joy, even in the face of very hard lives. Their approach to the day is qualitatively different from most western-trained practitioners. Shaman teacher/healer, speaker, artist and author, Evelyn Rysdyk, set out to find out why. She joins host, Christina Pratt, to share her new book, Spirit Walking a Course in Shamanic Power. We will explore the way shamans are in the world, extremely power-filled and incredibly tender at the same time. This is a quality of "reverent participatory relationship" that we must cultivate ourselves if we are to effectively address the illnesses of our day. Evelyn is our next guest for the Society of Shamanic Practitioners sponsored interview series. In this series we explore how contemporary shamans are meeting the challenge of their world where the relations of things are profoundly out of balance. It is the ancient role of the shaman in all cultures to tend the balance of things. How are we meeting this extraordinary need today?

This week's guest:
Evelyn Rysdyk

Evelyn C. Rysdyk delights in supporting people to remember their sacred place in All That Is. Whether through face-to-face contact with individual patients, workshop groups and conference participants, or through the printed word--Evelyn uses her loving humor and passion to open people's hearts and inspire them to live more joyful, fulfilling and purposeful lives.

She is a nationally recognized shaman teacher/healer, speaker, artist and author of Spirit Walking a Course in Shamanic Power, Modern Shamanic Living: New Explorations of an Ancient Path, a contributor to Spirited Medicine: Shamanism in Contemporary Healthcare and author of a regular column and numerous articles on shamanism, living in harmony with the Earth and how ancient healing methods support individuals to feel more whole, confident, connected and empowered. Evelyn's web site is www.evelynrysdyk.com.

In joint practice with C. Allie Knowlton, LCSW, DCSW at Spirit Passages (www.spiritpassages.org), their training center for advanced experiential shamanism, Evelyn offers a full complement of workshops, presentations and long-term trainings in advanced shamanism, eco-spirituality and shamanic healing. As founding members of True North, an integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine, they collaborate directly with medical and other complementary health practitioners to bring healing of the spirit, mind and body to people who arrive at their center from across the USA.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Jun 11, 2013

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Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Transforming Communal Shadows: Part Two

If we are to write a truly new story for the people in the new world we must transform the communal shadow behaviors that shaped so much of the old world. In the old world story much of the authentic impulse to create change was lost in fruitless rebellion, following gurus, and playing the victim the old world stories require. “To remember the true power of right action,” explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt, “we must bring our own inner warrior out of the shadow and cultivate discernment. Only then will we be able to see through our cultural delusions, lies, and denial and rescue our truly enduring visionary energy from the false prophets of the old world stories.” Join us this week as we explore the use of shamanic skills to transform communal shadow energies into the allies we need to both see a new world and to create it.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
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Jun 7, 2013

Biblical Scholars Shred 1 Man, 1 Woman Argument

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



I've been saying for some time -- notably here, here, and here -- that the Biblical case against gay marriage isn't very strong. The case for polygamy and female slavery is much stronger and to say otherwise is to really cherry-pick the good book. But I'm not a religious scholar. These three men are and they've taken their case to Des Moines Register.

The debate about marriage equality often centers, however discretely, on an appeal to the Bible. Unfortunately, such appeals often reflect a lack of biblical literacy on the part of those who use that complex collection of texts as an authority to enact modern social policy.

As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.

. . .

In fact, there were a variety of unions and family configurations that were permissible in the cultures that produced the Bible, and these ranged from monogamy (Titus 1:6) to those where rape victims were forced to marry their rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29) and to those Levirate marriage commands obligating a man to marry his brother’s widow regardless of the living brother’s marital status (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Genesis 38; Ruth 2-4). Others insisted that celibacy was the preferred option (1 Corinthians 7:8; 28).

Jun 4, 2013

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Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Transforming Communal Shadows

Most of us are aware of the Shadow thanks to the genius of Karl Jung. However knowing and doing are two different things and, let's face it, most of us don't do actual Shadow transformations. We hope it's taken care of in that one weekend workshop or that one year at the men's gathering. Shamanic skills allow us to track the crazy logical twists and turns inherent in good Shadow transformations anywhere any time, explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt. They also allow us to transform these energies into allies, never to return to the shadows again. This is what really matters, because we all participate in communal shadow behavior. We will not be able to write a new story for the new world if we cannot learn to notice and transform our part of the shadow stories that shape our world, holding humanity in "us versus them" thinking around economics and war, food and the environment, and sex and the place we call home.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Jun 1, 2013

Graham Hancock Talks Consciousness on C2C

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



This is a long and fruitful interview with Graham Hancock. He discusses the TED censorship fiasco, the follow-up to Fingerprints of the Gods now in development, as well as some in-depth background on his new historical fiction War God about the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The interview with Hancock starts around the 38 minute mark.
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