The Ancient Whispers Newsletter

Welcome to the Ancient Whispers Newsletter, a multi-cultural newsletter with a little something for everyone of any creed or religion. Here you will find inspiring quotes, irreverent jokes, crafts, and most importantly, historical and/or religious scholarship. Every Wednesday a new edition should appear on this website with reminder emails sent out the night before to those who have opted to join one of the many forums and mailing lists to which I subscribe. If you wish to share this newsletter with others, please keep it intact with the original authors' names on all the articles. Any articles or sections, to which an author or URL is not affixed, were written by Candace (with the exception of the various jokes found herein).

Questions, comments, and topical requests are encouraged and should be posted to the AskCandace open forum at yahoogroups. I'd like to start a help column for the newsletter, so if you'd like to have your problem featured in a newsletter, let me know when you post.

The Pagan Month of February
can be found in its entirety Here. For more detailed entries, please visit the full calendar.

February was named for the Roman goddess Februa, mother of Mars. As patroness of passion, she was also known as Juno Februa and St. Febronia from febris, the fever of love. Her orgiastic rites were held on February 14th, St.Valentine's Day. In Norse traditions, she is equated with Sjofn.

The Irish called this month Feabhra or an Gearran, the gelding or horse. The horse was used to draw the plough, but Gearran also means 'to cut' and 'Gearran' can be used to describe the 'cutting' Spring winds. To the Anglo-Saxons, this was Solmonath, "sun month," in honor of the gradual return of the light after the darkness of winter. According to Franking and Asatru traditions, this month is Horning, from horn, the turn of the year.

The first full moon of Febraury is called the Snow Moon in America.

With the new crescent moon, the Hopi and the Pueblo people hold their Powamu festival. Beans are planted in kivas, large buildings used for religious rituals. As many as two hundred kachina dancers will perform rituals while the beans grow to ensure a good crop. Children between the ages of six and ten are initiated into their kachina societies, receiving gifts from the dancers.

The 19th day of the first moon is the Rats' Wedding in China. The day honors household rats in order to propitiate them.

The 1st day of the 2nd moon is called Yungdeung Mama, a wind festival in Korea.

The first Sunday in February is called Hamstrom in Switzerland.

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Reading with Silver Raven Kat: Forever by Pete Hamill

My good friend Silver Raven Kat has the unbelievable good fortune of working as an assistant manager in a bookstore. So I asked her if she might like to do a book review now and again as time permits (since she gets to read many, many more books for free than I can afford to buy lol). So here is her choice for this week’s newsletter.

The premise: An Irishman becomes immortal with a catch. To stay immortal he has to live only in Manhattan.

This mystical journey begins in Ireland during the great famine of 1741. The story begins at the tail end of the Williamite wars and the enforcement of the penal laws against Catholics. The setting foreshadows the inner turmoil of Cormac O'Conner's family. Born to a Jewish mother and a pagan father, Cormac fits in neither world until his father brings him to a grove to learn the old ways. The living in different worlds is the thread that twines throughout this tale. With the murder of his family, Cormac sets out to avenge his family's deaths. On the ship to New York, he befriends an African shaman that later gives him immortality. Immortality with a catch; he has to stay and live in Manhattan. He is admonished to really live life and this theme resonates to the reader's own journey and walk through life. I found myself asking, " Do I really live my life to the fullest?;" "What would I do if I found myself suddenly immortal?" Surprisingly enough, Cormac's life does not transverse the path one may think. We become privy to the underbelly of history, though, one that shines with a humanitarian bent. Love, sex, and scandal- all the makings of an entertaining read. Replete with historical vignettes, this tale has all the makings of a classic.

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Humor: WWJD

A man walked into a gift shop that sold religious items. Near the cash register he saw a display of caps with "WWJD" printed on all of them. He was puzzled over what the letters could mean, but couldn't figure it out, so he asked the clerk.

The clerk replied that the letters stood for "What Would Jesus Do", and was meant to inspire people to not make rash decisions, but rather to imagine what Jesus would do in the same situation.

The man thought a moment and then replied, "Well, I'm sure Jesus wouldn't pay $17.95 for one of these caps."
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Article : Bush a sociopath?
Toronto Star, Thursday, November 28, 2002
Copyright 1996-2002. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited

Bush Anything But Moronic, According to Author Dark Overtones in His Malapropisms

by Murray Whyte

When Mark Crispin Miller first set out to write "Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, about the ever-growing catalogue of President George W. Bush's verbal gaffes, he meant it for a laugh. But what he came to realize wasn't entirely amusing.

Since the 2000 presidential campaign, Miller has been compiling his own collection of Bush-isms, which have revealed, he says, a disquieting truth about what lurks behind the cock-eyed leer of the leader of the free world.

He's not a moron at all on that point, Miller and Prime Minister Jean Chretien agree.

But according to Miller, he's no friend.

"I did initially intend it to be a funny book. But that was before I had a chance to read through all the transcripts," Miller, an American author and a professor of culture and communication at New York University, said recently in Toronto.

"Bush is not an imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator. And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a lot of people miss."

Miller's judgment, that the president might suffer from a bona fide personality disorder, almost makes one long for the less menacing notion currently making the rounds: that the White House's current occupant is, in fact, simply an idiot.

If only. Miller's rendering of the president is bleaker than that. In studying Bush's various adventures in oration, he started to see a pattern emerging.

"He has no trouble speaking off the cuff when he's speaking punitively, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking about revenge.

"When he struts and thumps his chest, his syntax and grammar are fine," Miller said.

"It's only when he leaps into the wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that he makes these hilarious mistakes."

While Miller's book has been praised for its "eloquence" and "playful use of language," it has enraged Bush supporters.

Bush's ascent in the eyes of many Americans his approval rating hovers at near 80 percent was the direct result of tough talk following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In those speeches, Bush stumbled not at all; his language of retribution was clear.

It was a sharp contrast to the pre-9/11 George W. Bush. Even before the Supreme Court in 2001 had to intervene and rule on recounts in Florida after a contentious presidential election, a corps of journalists were salivating at the prospect: a bafflingly inarticulate man in a position of power not seen since vice-president Dan Quayle rode shotgun on George H.W. Bush's one term in office.

But equating Bush's malapropisms with Quayle's inability to spell "potato" is a dangerous assumption, Miller says.

At a public address in Nashville, Tenn., in September, Bush provided one of his most memorable stumbles. Trying to give strength to his case that Saddam Hussein had already deceived the West concerning his store of weapons, Bush was scripted to offer an old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What came out was the following:

"Fool me once, shame ... shame on ... you." Long, uncomfortable pause. "Fool me -- can't get fooled again!"

Played for laughs everywhere, Miller saw a darkness underlying the gaffe.

"There's an episode of Happy Days, where The Fonz has to say, 'I'm sorry' and can't do it. Same thing," Miller said.

"What's revealing about this is that Bush could not say, 'Shame on me' to save his life. That's a completely alien idea to him. This is a guy who is absolutely proud of his own inflexibility and rectitude."

If what Miller says is true -- and it would take more than just observations to prove it -- then Bush has achieved an astounding goal.

By stumbling blithely along, he has been able to push his image as "just folks" -- a normal guy who screws up just like the rest of us.

This, in fact, is a central cog in his image-making machine, Miller says: Portraying the wealthy scion of one of America's most powerful families as a regular, imperfect Joe.

But the depiction, Miller says, is also remarkable for what it hides imperfect, yes, but also detached, wealthy and unable to identify with the "folks" he's been designed to appeal to.

An example, Miller says, surfaced early in his presidential tenure.

"I know how hard it is to put food on your family," Bush was quoted as saying.

"That wasn't because he's so stupid that he doesn't know how to say, 'Put food on your family's table' it's because he doesn't care about people who can't put food on the table," Miller says.

So, when Bush is envisioning "a foreign-handed foreign policy," or observes on some point that "it's not the way that America is all about," Miller contends it's because he can't keep his focus on things that mean nothing to him.

"When he tries to talk about what this country stands for, or about democracy, he can't do it," he said.

This, then, is why he's so closely watched by his handlers, Miller says not because he'll say something stupid, but because he'll overindulge in the language of violence and punishment at which he excels.

"He's a very angry guy, a hostile guy. He's much like Nixon. So they're very, very careful to choreograph every move he makes. They don't want him anywhere near protestors, because he would lose his temper."

Miller, without question, is a man with a mission and laughter isn't it.

"I call him the feel bad president, because he's all about punishment and death," he said. "It would be a grave mistake to just play him for laughs."

Quote : Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Advice is like snow -- the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper in sinks into the mind.

Craft of the Week : Crackle Finish Divination Tray
From Witch Crafts by Willow Polson

Whether you throw stones, bones, or runes, this convenient wooden tray will contain them beautifully. The layout of the actual divination pattern is the artists own creation, so feel free to change it to suit your needs and beliefs.

Wooden tray*
acrylic paint in 14K gold, black, and red
1/2 in flat and #3 round brushes
crackle medium
water-based clear spray varnish

Paint two coats of black on the central panel of the tray, and two coats of 14K gold on both sides of the side panels. When these have dried completely, brush a medium thick layer of crackle medium on the outsides of the side panels with the flat brush. Wait about five minutes, then load up the flat brush with black and quickly brush on a heavy layer, working back and forth without overbrushing. If you like, also take a few vertical strokes for a more varied crackle design. When this is completely dry, repeat the process on the outsides and on the panel center, using 14K gold over the black there.

When all the crackle paint has dried completely, add the red divination design to the tray, using the #3 round brush. Finish with a coat of water-based satin spray varnish to protect the somewhat fragile finish from chipping.

Notes: Willow’s design consists of five sections. At the center is the “heart of the matter,” the issue central to all other interpretations. The rest of the tray is quartered. At the top is stability and the conclusion, and at the bottom is the catalyst and middle of the journey. On the left are emotional issues and past influences, while on the right are ideas and future influences. As Willow indicates, you can adjust the pattern to whatever system you are comfortable with.

*If you can’t find a tray, one of those large, cork-backed placemats might work. Use your imagination. It’s not necessary to go out and buy a brand new tray or mat. Check out you local flea market or a yard sale for something you can recycle. If you choose to use a mat instead of a tray, you could even draw out a pattern for tarot readings to help yourself learn or as a gift to someone else.

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Humor : That’s a crime?

Once there was a mad scientist who worked by himself in his laboratory. He was so lonely that one day, he decided to clone himself. Everything worked perfectly, except that the clone had a very foul mouth. The scientist worked with the clone, but alas, he could not make the clone clean up his language. He got so tired of the clone's language that one day he pushed him off the end of a cliff.

A policeman rushed up to him, and yelled, "You are under arrest! You are under arrest!"

"For what?" the mad scientist asked.

The policeman’s answered, “For making an obscene clone fall.”
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Who's Who in World Mythology : Aplu
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the Who's Who Archive.

Aplu is the Etruscan god of thunder and lightning and prophecy. He is a form of Apollo, borrowed from the Greek pantheon. He is depicted partially cloaked and wearing a laurel leaf, but otherwise naked. On his head is a laurel wreath, while in one hand he carries a staff and in the other is a laurel twig.

Quote : Seneca
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.

The Magi's Garden: Bamboo
For past featured foliage and the bibliography, please go to the The Magi's Garden Archive.

Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris)

Folk Names: Chu (Chinese), Common Bamboo, Ohe (Hawaiian), Take (Japanese)

Description: Despite its woody, jointed appearance, bamboo is related to grass. It prefers partial shade or full sun and rich, deep loam full of nitrogen. Bamboo grows in clumps of culms called sympodial, the term for tropical bamboo that grows directly from the parent, where the culm and rhizome are one.

Effects: strong
Planet: Moon, Mercury, Mars, Saturn Zodiac: Gemini
Element: all
Associated Deities: Buddha, Hina, Nuba

Traditions:
Joints of bamboo are used for divination in Buddhist temples. Buddha was thought to have once incarnated as a monkey king. Weaving a rope of bamboo, he saved 80,000 people.
In Hawaii, it is said the Polynesian goddess Hina brought Bamboo from Tahiti.
Bamboo is sacred to the Sara peoples of the Sudan. They believe it to be a gift of their sky god Nuba. In order for Su to descend to the newly created ground, Nuba extended a bamboo shoot to the earth and agreed to pull him back up when Su banged on his sacred drum. Su accidentally banged on his drum on his way to the ground and Nuba pulled the shoot up, sending Su to his death along with many bamboo seeds which scattered about making a forest.
Bamboo joints make excellent magical wands representing the four elements.

Magic:
Bamboo is protective and lucky. It may be used to break hexes or make wishes. Carve a wish on a piece of bamboo wood and bury it in a secluded place, or carve a protective symbol on the wood and plant it in ground to protect your home. Like willow, bamboo will easily begin to grow if placed in moist earth under the proper conditions. Even without a protective symbol, bamboo grown near your home will bring you good fortune. It may also be placed over a door for luck. Carry, grow, burn it as incense, or add it to a sachet to break hexes.
In China, bamboo is used as a charm against evil spirits. A flute carved with the name of the spirit (if known) makes an excellent exorcism tool. The tune played is improvised.

Known Combinations:
none known

Medical Indications: Parts Used: none

Nutrition:
The young shoots of bamboo are edible, but must be boiled and drained several times to release an irritant contained in the tissues.

Mercantile Uses:
Bamboo use may be ornamental or utilitarian. It is used in some furniture creations, and the durable poles were once used extensively in housing construction, especially during the prewar era. They are still used to build temporary fiesta structures, for fencing, and as fishing poles.
Valuable in the control of soil erosion, bamboo can be propagated from young rhizomes or from cuttings. The ready-made sections make bamboo ideal for carrying water, making pipes, and musical instruments. Split bamboo can be made into mats, hats, screens, baskets, fans, umbrellas, brushes, paper, ropes, roofing tiles, wall mats, and many other useful items.

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Cartoon

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Poem : Queen and Huntress
A poem to the goddess of the moon
Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep
Seated in they silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep;
Hesperus entreats they light,
Goddess excellently bright.

Earth, let not thy envious shade
Dare itself to interpose;
Cynthia’s shining orb was made
Heaven to clear, when day did close.
Bless us then with wished sight,
Goddess excellently bright.

Lay thy boy of pearl apart,
And thy crystal-shining quiver;
Give unto the flying hart
Space to breathe, how short soever.
Thou that mak’st a day of night,
Goddess excellently bright.

Quote : Napolean
Ability is of little account without opportunity.

The Power of Stones : Albite
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the Power of Stones Archive.

Albite, sodium aluminum silicate, is a form of feldspar, ranging in color from blue, brown, and red to white and colorless varieties. Albite is the last of the feldspars to crystallize from molten rock. The process of crystallization from molten rock serves to isolate uncommon elements in the last stages of crystallization and therefore produces rare mineral species. Thus albite is often found with some lovely rare and beautiful minerals.

The qualities of tact and cooperation are enhanced with albite, allowing one to find the flow in any relationship, situation, or activity. Fear of the unknown is eliminated while personal freedom through change is encouraged.

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Humor : Help Wanted

Help Wanted: Telepath. You know where to apply.
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A Dreamer's Guide : Head to Heels
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the Dreamer's Guide Archive.

Your own Head or someone else’s indicates good luck in whatever matter which may concern you at this time. A disembodied head predicts a new situation which you will have to use your head to overcome, or risk losing it, while a decapitated head, covered in blood, is a sure sign of the overthrow of all your hopes and dreams. Half a head is actually better than seeing a whole one as it indicates achievement beyond you ambitions, and a head in profile means you will receive some unexpected good thing. Two heads mean there will be a sudden, gratifying rise in status, and three heads is a sign of honor and money. Any more heads than this however indicate dishonor in love.
A small, narrow, or pointed head means more work and less profit than expected, while a very large, wide, or round head indicates the opposite. A swollen head is a warning against overconfidence however. You will be loved is you saw a baldhead, and long, flowing hair is an omen of honors. A clean-shaven head means you will be ashamed. Success in business is foretold by a black head, while a white one is a portent of good earnings. Having the head of an animal, seeing someone else with the head of an animal or the head of an animal by itself is a warning against material or sensual pleasures. The head of a wild animal, especially that of a dear, means victory over your enemies, and you will have change within your position if you saw a bird’s head. You will be a very important person if you dreamt of a lion’s head, and the head of a wolf indicates honors. You will be consoled if you saw the head of a calf, but a dog’s head is sign of great humiliation.
If you suffered pains in your head or a headache, this is a warning to keep your private affairs to yourself. An accident or blow to the head suggests tension or overwork. Washing your head means that prominent people will seek you for your counsel and good judgment.

Headlights approaching is an omen that some situation you have let drift will become a potential danger unless you take quick action.

Good Health is a forecast of the same in the waking world, and unfortunately, poor health also indicates the same.

Unhappiness in the home is foretold by Hearsay. If you heard it from friends, beware of deceit, and hearing it from anyone else means unhappiness in business. If you spread hearsay, you will soon make an important change.

Seeing a Hearse portends a lightening of your burdens, while riding with the driver or acting as the driver indicates an increase in your responsibilities. If you rode in the hearse in any other capacity, expect to make a change which will be important to your future. You will have a bitter enemy to overcome if a hearse crossed your path.

To be pleasantly aware of a Heart, as in a heart shaped frame or box, etc, is a good sign with regards to affairs of the heart. If you saw your own heart, you may be sick or lose energy, while the heart of an animal indicates you will overcome enemies and earn the respect of all. Cooking a heart indicates a successful future, and eating a heart means a happy love life. Eating a chicken heart is a sign that strange desires will cause you to undertake very difficult projects for your advancement.

A Heart Attack or some other heart problem is a prediction of a long and active life. You can expect your worries and fears to evaporate if you felt heart ache for whatever reason.

Heartburn is a warning to cut down on high living.

Happiness is foretold by the Hearth of your own home. You will have good fortune if you saw the floor of a hearth, and the grate of a heart means advancement. A cooking fire on a hearth is a sign of success in everything.

Keep a strong control of your passion or temper to avoid an awkward situation if you felt Heat. To feel oppressed by the heat is a warning of some friend betraying you.

Important and beneficial events are in the making if you dreamt of a Heater, but if you purchased one, you are prone to frivolity. You will advance within your own position if you lit a heater, and putting out a heater is a sign of a change in your environment.

You will enjoy a contented home life if you dreamt of being surrounded by savage Heathens in a foreign country. If you went as a missionary, you will have dignity and distinction.

If you saw Heather it is an auspicious omen for everything which concerns you, and white heather is just about the luckiest dream you can have. Heather flowers indicate that pleasant occasions will pass you in rapid succession.

A dream of Heaven predicts a change which may not suit you at first, but which will prove to be very beneficial. You will fail to enjoy distinctions you have worked towards and your joy will end in sadness if you dreamt of ascending to heaven. If you ascended on a ladder, you will rise from a low station to one of unusual prominence, but you will fail to find contentment or pleasure in it.

Anything Heavy is a symbol of wealth.

Whether you were Heckled or did the heckling, you would benefit from removing the chip from your shoulder.

A green or blooming Hedge is a symbol of happiness and success in love, while a thorny or prickly hedge indicates rivalry. If you were entangled such a thorny hedge, you will be hampered in your business by an unruly partner or someone working under you. Evergreen hedges foretell Joy and profit, but bare hedges indicate distress and ill-advised dealings. Clipping a hedge is a lucky omen, while leaping over one means you will get what you have been craving, but it will not be all that you expected. Passing through an opening in a hedge foretells social embarrassment. If there was a hedge surrounding your entire home, you will be protected from all obstacles.

You will have a prickly choice to make after dreaming of a Hedgehog. You can only make progress at the expense of a friend. You will rapidly recover from losses if you killed a hedgehog.

Blisters, sores, pain, or any kind of discomfort in your Heels is a warning of exploitation by unscrupulous people – friends, associates, or even family. If you lost or broke the heel from your shoe, you will have a sudden break in a long relationship. Nailing or fastening a heel to shoe signifies danger from a traitor.

Quote : Malcolm Hein
There is little room left for wisdom when one is full of judgment.

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