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Your Reality - Cause Or Accident?

By Alan Joel

Photo: Barbara Garcia

Are you the creator of your own reality? You may have read in various esoteric sources that you can be the creator of your own reality. However, just because you CAN be the creator doesn't mean that you ARE. Why?

Because there are two different ways you can live on this planet -- you can live under the Law of Accident or the Law of Fate. Most people on this planet live under the Law of Accident, which means that they don't control their reality but are simply bounced from one life event to another like a pinball in a machine. However, there are a select few people who live under the Law of Fate, who understand and use the laws of the Universe to create and shape their own reality. These people create lives of harmony, abundance, peace and joy.

If you do nothing to improve, refine and control your inner life (that is, your thoughts, emotions, etc.) then you are living under the Law of Accident. Life just happens to you. Life is in the driver's seat.

If, on the other hand, you focus on controlling the use of your inner attention you begin to live under the Law of Fate. What does it mean to control your inner attention? It means being very deliberate about the thoughts, moods, words, activities and desires to which you give your attention.

In our society we accept many forms of interaction which distract the attention and cause us to live under the Law of Accident. For instance, consider gossip, TV, negative thoughts, commiseration, fear, negative emotions, newspapers, world events and so forth. Almost everyone indulges in these activities so we don't think twice about them. But would you consider not doing them if it would mean the difference between creating a life of peace, harmony and abundance or living under the Law of Accident (in which lots of accidents occur)? Hmmmm ... food for thought. Happy considering!

Five Steps You Can Take to Create Your Own Reality

1. Accept on a trial basis that you can create everything in your reality. You will experiment with this hypothesis to see if it is true in your own life.


2. Decide on something you want to create -- prosperity, a harmonious relationship, the achievement of some goal. NOTE: Start with something small. For instance, if you choose prosperity, choose to have enough money to pay your bills next month instead of lifetime prosperity.


3. Choose that your creation be reality. You can either speak it aloud or say it silently inside. For instance, you might say, "I choose to have enough money to pay all my bills in the month of June."


4. Relax internally. Rest inside yourself in the knowing that what you have chosen is already happening.


5. Think, feel and act as if that which you have chosen has already manifested. Resist worrying or fretting about it. Do what you need to do on the material level to achieve the goal, but leave it alone internally. When you find yourself thinking, worrying or wondering about your aim, do whatever is necessary to distract your mind and emotions from it. The more superbly you can live in the assurance that your goal is already manifesting, the easier it will manifest. This is the step where you begin to deliberately control that which you give your attention to. This is the step where you GET OUT OF THE WAY!!

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Alan Joel co-founded the Esoteric School of Shamanism and Magic with the goal of the helping people create permanent, positive change in their lives through the study of magic and shamanism. Get free magical and shamanic tips and resources at http://www.shamanschool.com/. Check out the upcoming Basic Magic class at

The Burmuda Triangle

By Robert Baird

Photo: Denise Griffith

The art or science of metallurgy is vital to the social structures surrounding all esoteric beliefs. They are the most tangible items of the cosmic soup that are possibly drawn to certain Earth Energy Grid locations as we shall see. The shamans who gathered meteorite material to fashion tools and weapons as well as for the use of the metals and spirits thereof became great aristocrats, as their family or heritage and legends grew. Genghis Khan (Temujin) is from such a family and most of the early aristocrats were either adept (like the House of David and Solomon) themselves or worked closely with these artisans who we could call alchemists, as Mircae Eliade does in his 'The Forge and The Crucible'. When the Spanish arrived in Mayan lands they asked the Aztecs and others where their knives came from, they also found a meteorite at the venerated apex of the Cholula pyramid. They pointed to the heavens and the Spanish reports call this paganism. When this use of metals began is anyone's guess.

It requires no great debate or references of authorities to know the almost ultimate import of meteors in the ancient past when one considers just these two things. The Ka'aba is a black meteorite in Mecca and there is a ritual among the Islamic faithful who must visit it once in their lifetime. That ritual of approaching this sacred relic from very ancient times (before Islam) is learned by all of Islam. In Mexico there are pyramids with churches on top (now) that used to house meteorites.

"In 1969, a Japanese scientific expedition was trekking near the Yamato Mountains, in the region of the Antarctic {Under international domain.} icecap that lies directly south of Africa. The Japanese found nine dark meteorites lying close together on the surface of the ice.

Given meteorites' scarcity, the expedition leaders assumed that the nine samples they found were fragments of a single large specimen that had broken apart in its fall to the ice. To their amazement, however, they soon discovered that their finds were all of different types and chemical compositions. They were not pieces of one rock. They had not even formed in the same region of the solar system. This was thrilling! The convergence of nine separate thunders tones at that single spot implied that the ice sheet itself was somehow collecting those rarities of nature and sweeping them together.

The Japanese mounted more expeditions to the Yamato ice in 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1979, and they were rewarded with a grand total of 3,000 meteorites. Every year since then, during the brief Antarctic summer, international expeditions have converged on the Japanese rock gardens. Each small meteorite is photographed where it lies and then nudged gingerly into a teflon bag, which is an awkward procedure when performed with thick mittens and in deep subzero cold, with the stone skittering on the ice. Once bagged, each specimen is shipped home and studied in an antiseptic laboratory, using the same sort of apparatus built to study Moon rocks. The sample is never touched by human hands.” (1)

They go on to describe the then existing theory of the Big Bang but no mention of how these rocks get there and keep getting there. What might be happening here? Is there a case of affinity at work (my encyclopedia has an in depth description of affinity)? Is there intelligent design or what? The Pasadena lab where a lot of these things are studied is known as the Lunatic Asylum. A member of my sister-in-law's family works for JPL there, and travels all around the world doing things they never get to know about anymore. Is it because she isn't allowed to tell them or is it because the family used to call her ideas and the things we would talk about 'sheer lunacy'? What happened in the 8 billion years or so between the formation of our known universe and the formation of our Milky Way comprised of countless solar systems? The numbers are so incredible that the mind can't conceive what is in just the known universe, and there are others we put outside the words 'known universe'. Who is able to do more than worship this phantasm or orgy of 'luna'-cy (luna=moon)?

“‘It looks as if Venus may have had oceans hundreds of millions of years ago," says planetologist Jim Head. If so, Venus would have been very much more like Earth. Its continents may have enjoyed rivers, streams, puffy white clouds, and pleasant weather… Will the human volcano heat Planet Earth until all the seas go dry and lead melts in the sunlight? Are we already on the downhill path to Venus?” (2)

The reason the rocks are drawn to Mt. Yamato may have something to do with the Earth Energy Grid which has two bands of energy ‘blobs’ or vortices around the world. Mt. Yamato would be a site where the opposite energy may exist. I will not be able to prove it but I will present some interesting data on the likes of the Bermuda Triangle from the early research of Ivan Sanderson whose work is continued in another very recent book which I will cover as well.

First of all let me say I think a very large meteor was drawn to the area of the Bermuda Triangle in 8350 BCE or thereabouts. The cobalt and nickel left there from this meteor will throw electrical guidance systems haywire and this has been demonstrated by credible researchers. I have dealt with it extensively in other books. It is called the Carolina Bays Event and I think it provides a reason why there is a 2200 foot drop to an urban site now being looked into off the coast of Cuba. The plate tectonics of rising mountains in the Andes would be far too early to tie in with this sudden drop of a city or urban center, I think. This excerpt also addresses the region of Japan where recent finds of semi-Pyramidal structures are being researched. That site is Yonaguni and there are others near there.

“The Disposition of Anomalies

We have spent a perhaps inordinate amount of time discussing the things that called attention to these ‘Vile Vortices’ in order to demonstrate the extent and character of the phenomenon. I think the time has now come for some detailed analysis of and comment upon this business as a whole; and from this we may proceed to some speculation.

The popular idea has been that there is one roughly triangular area with sides running from Bermuda to central Florida and thence to Puerto Rico in which a large number of planes have simply vanished without a trace.

This is a glamorous notion, but on proper analysis, it does not stand up. It is not a triangle, and its periphery is much greater than the one outlined above. In fact, the area in which such disappearances, or alleged disappearances, have been recorded forms a large, sort of lozenge-shaped {These lozenge lattices are found all around many ‘keltoi’ sites like the Tarim Basin of recent discovery. Mandalas are designed according to energy flow. The energy that taught or that they observed is all important.} area which is neither centered on the Oceanic island of Bermuda not can it in any way be depended from it. We have plotted all the ‘disappearances’—and please remember that this is something quite different from mere sinking of ships and submarines, or ditchings of planes—reported from this area and found that it slops way over the original so-called ‘triangle.’ After this discovery, the question naturally arose as t the uniqueness of this funny blob, which extends from about 30degrees to 40 degrees north latitude, and from about 55 degrees to 85 degrees west. Was it unique?

We knew already that there was at least one other such area alleged to exist. This lies some 250 miles south of the Japanese island of Honshu about longitude 140 degrees east. We therefore started to work, gathering records of ships lost and planes vanishing around this point which, as a matter of fact, had up till then been only mentioned—and rather casually at that. The outcome was not just amazing; it was positively startling. Plane after plane on its way south to Guam appears to have vanished, and this with disturbing frequency. So we started plotting again, and despite the usually very vague locations given—and no wonder, considering that these planes disappeared without radio signals or any trace—another lozenge-shaped blob came to light.

This startled us a bit, but then one of my colleagues had the brilliant idea of getting out a map of the world! Once we had a map before us, we saw that both lozenges lay precisely between 30 degrees and 40 degrees north and also spread about 30 degrees east to west, latitudinally. This really did spark us, so we made a grab for the globe.

Now the surface of our earth as seen on a globe is really very different from what we look at on a two-dimensional map, and especially one on what is called the Mercator projection. Just where did these two blobs lie relative to each other as one went around the globe? It turned out that they were centered 160 degrees apart (going around one way) and 200 degrees (going the other). In other words, there did not appear to be any noticeable pattern. If they had been at 180 degrees going both ways, they would have been exactly opposite each other on opposite sides of the earth. But then something else cropped up.

We had been inundated with letters asking for more information on the disappearances of the Israeli and French submarines at the east and west ends of the Mediterranean, respectively, We were naturally unable to add anything to the news reports and official statements. However, the Mediterranean Sea just happens to form a lozenge-shaped blob, also lying between 30 degrees and 40 degrees north, and just about 30 degrees from left to right, latitudinally.

Naturally, we measured the distance between these three blobs. Then something else rather startling came to light. They were arranged on an apparently strict numerical progression—from the Bermuda bit to the Mediterranean, four; the Mediterranean to the Japanese, five; and the Japanese to the Bermuda, six.

Now, I don’t like such neat patterns emerging in anything in nature; it looks far too much as though somebody had got the idea first, and then tried to fit the facts into it. You can fit almost anything into almost anything else if you try hard enough; as any mathematician, statistician, or police officer can tell you. However, Nature is to a great extent fairly orderly and does display rather neat patterns.

So we had three ‘blobs’ in a line—and the same line, please note—of something. But just what? At this point I started doing some hard thinking. If there are three such areas between 30 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude, could there be equivalents at 30 degrees and 40 degrees south latitude? A subsequent investigation into plane, ship, and sub losses in the southern hemisphere yielded some amazing results.

There turned out to be three exactly similar areas situated below the equator. These lie off the east coasts of South America, South Africa, and Australia. All proved to be precisely within 30 degrees to 40 degrees of latitude south, and also to be about 30 degrees of longitude in width. But very strangely, they were all tilted up to the right or east, as were also those in the northern hemisphere! Frankly, this does not seem to make sense, because our planet is a sphere and the southern hemisphere should mirror the northern. So we started looking for some physical reason for this clear pattern.

The first thing that emerged was that these vortices in the southern hemisphere wee precisely shifted the same number of degrees to the east in all cases. Then one further fact came to light. Of all the possible known physical factors that could cause this pattern—temperature, barometric pressure, and, above all, geomagnetic anomalies—only one fitted, and this was surface ocean currents!

Five of these six areas—the Mediterranean alone being in a different category—lie on the right or east sides of the continents, {Before the African continent collided with the land north of it about 12 million years ago, this would not be the case. But it would not have been on the right of any land then. Remember this is where the Great Pyramid serves some Earth Energy Grid function and somehow is located on the nearest firm foundation to the center of all the land masses on earth.} and all precisely in curious areas where hot surface currents stream out of the tropical latitudes toward the colder waters of the temperate, subpolar and eventually polar areas. What is more, the two principal ones in the northern hemisphere, in accordance with the simple behavior of waters on a spinning globe, turn clockwise, while the three in the southern hemisphere turn counterclockwise. There is nothing odd about this; but there is about the fact that said twirls all make their tightest turns precisely in these five locations…

{He goes on to detail how other occurrences are problematic in these same areas and highlights the fact that disappearances that leave no trace only happen to such a high proportion in these areas. He then got a letter from a woman whose brothers in the Navy and Air Force had told her things that result in ten ‘blobs’ or lozenges which fit the ancient Pentagon-dodecahedron knowledge which he does not mention and may not have known about. He also makes it clear he sees none of the UFO or ET things to this which Cathie and others do.}

The significance of this may be lost on most of us ordinary and non-mathematically orientated folk, so I asked our chief geometer, who is also a specialist electronics engineer, to tell me how to put it. His reply was very clear and, to me at least, simple; namely, that there would appear to be ten funny places on the surface of our planet which lie opposite each other in a particular manner… demonstrated that all five of them {Skewers placed through the globe at the points of the lozenges.} were battling to pass through the exact center of the earth.” (3)

Thus we have the Great Pyramid serving as the keystone to the surface of the earth and these vortices of energy derived out of some deep earth energy which I also relate to the meteorites from space finding a reason to collect in Antarctica or the large one drawn to the Bermuda Triangle. Research on the tensile strength of metals over these ‘blots’ shows the fields of energy surrounding the earth has a strong impact on everything and that makes one wonder about many things considered foolish about astrology or other psycho-spiritual sciences. Imagine attuning oneself to these energies and directing them.

Notes:

1) Planet Earth, by Jonathan Weiner, Bantam Books/WQED Pittsburgh, NY, 1986, pgs. 167-8.

2) Ibid., pg.174.

3) Invisible Residents, by Ivan T. Sanderson, F. L. S., F. R. G. S., M. A. (Cantab.), The World Publishing Company, New York and Cleveland, 1970, pgs. 137-144.

Author of Diverse Druids

Columnist for The ES Press Magazine

Guest 'expert' at World-Mysteries.com

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Shamanism

By Robert Baird

Photo: Barbara Garcia

Is it really possible that Don Juan could command the movement of Carlos' attention point or time reference point to another dimension that he calls the Nagual and the sorcerer’s perspective? Can the adeptness of one person rise to know you better than you know yourself even at the level of the body conscious focus on the material world? Is INFINITY like the multi-dimensional soul which at some point is harmonized in ethics so much that it laughs at the stupidity of the soulful entities exploring the naive denial and rationalizing games our personalities playas we avoid the purpose of our soul? Could Don Juan shape-shift his alter egos and other dimension energy to become the reflection or mirror of the inner character of the student seeking to label something he knows so little about, in an "elaborate" construct that would be akin to a crook yet academically sound? Did he command this laughter response in another that easily?

Have you ever looked into yourself so deeply that you "didn't care to apologize" and "found the thought inadmissible"? What a life and so little holes in your soul you would have if only you were so wise and yet, what a curse and quite unlike 'any blessing it would be. Your knowledge of others and their intentions would make you feel so alone and so devastatingly unable to convey to others what games the ego does play. You might try to use intellect and be found arrogant. You might use love and empathy and be found invasive and intense. You might develop the austere distance of an impeccable warrior as Carlos was taught and then no longer need. No longer need! Anything! This is the world of Carlos Castaneda which calls out for humanity to look at itself and know how sensationally gifted our soul can be and in the final analysis how scary it would be not to actually care for another person at some intense level of need. But if there is no need in those dimensions what is there? Love and connectiveness as we have said; or purpose and productive involvement in creation on a collective and common basis, where each separate energy is never able to feel anything more than the most of whatever they want.

In Don Juan we see the laughter and his great power which has no application except to help the truly interested and committed student who sincerely commits to the path without knowing what is about to happen. The awe and inspiring nature of the courage makes the word warrior seem the only appropriate word to use. No Fear! This part of the Keltic Creed that the Toltecs knew and used so well in making other people rise within their own soul to achieve great oneness and beauty, is most important. Between the teacher and the pupil passes less than I would hope could be, but in the final analysis I envy Carlos, as I question Don Juan.

INITIATION: - What does it take to learn from the secrets of esoteric and adept scholars? Does one have to commit to pay money and be willing to attend endless lectures like Carlos did at UCLA under professors Meighan and Garfinkel? Perhaps it takes the willingness and intense desire he showed when he saw or felt an opportunity to learn the ways of the self-proclaimed last Toltec or a shaman of a lost culture? In some situations one has to go through so many hoops and hurdles with lots of tricks and traps that one wonders if there really is anything more than sorcery at work. Don Juan had to trick Carlos at first because he knew there was no way Carlos would really believe the simple truths of our cosmic and spiritual world. Is that a rationalization? Today you can learn a lot of these things from books and seminars. In most cases you should do this and then determine if there is some group who meets your own interests and requirements. Because we have just dealt with it as a highly shamanistic experience and because that is what the Druids and alchemists really were or are, and we recently dealt with that; we are going to quote a good explanation about shamanism that you can use as your own initiation if you so desire.

"shamanism Perhaps the oldest system of healing in the world, shamanism is prevalent in tribal cultures which, though isolated from one another, have developed beliefs and techniques with startling similarities {Unless you believe in long time world travel or astral and akashic cognition.}. The shaman is an individual who enters an ecstatic altered state of consciousness, which enables him to communicate with guardian and helping spirits and draw upon enormous sources of power. The primary purpose of shamanism is the healing of body and mind. It is also used for divination and to ensure good hunts and prosperity for a tribe or village.

According to archaeological and ethnological evidence, shamanism has been practiced for some 20,000 to 30,000 years. {The recent discovery of 90,000 year old drugs or herbal remedies in Neanderthal sites as well as the Mungo Man clearly moves this a long way back from a purely physical evidence point of view.}. It may be much older, perhaps as old as the human race. It is found all over the world, including very remote parts of the Americas, Siberia and Asia, Australia, northern Europe and Africa.

Shamanic systems vary greatly, but there are basic similarities in most systems {The Judaic Tree of Life and The Tree of Yggdrasil are more than just basic similarities.}. The shaman must function comfortably in two realities, the ordinary reality of the everyday waking world, and the nonordinary reality of the shamanic state of consciousness. The nonordinary reality is attained in a trance, which varies from very tight to deep coma and enables the shaman to see and do things that are impossible in ordinary reality. Once in a trance, the shaman enters the lowerworld by slipping into a hole or opening in the earth. In the lowerworld, he sees the cause of disease in a patient and knows its cure, and sees his guardian spirit and spirit helpers. He can shape-shift into these spirits and fly through the air. He performs his cures and can see into the future. When his shamanic work is done, he reemerges from the lowerworld back into ordinary reality. Shamans are also said to ascend to the sky in spirit boats or astride the spirits of sacrificed horses.

The nonordinary reality is as real to the shaman as is the ordinary reality. The things he sees are not hallucinations but are externalized. The shamanic state of consciousness is induced through drumming, rattling and dancing or, in some societies, by ingesting hallucinogens.

Shamans tend to be men {Women have more of these abilities in their natural state and require less altered consciousness.}, though women also can become shamans; some women shamans are extraordinarily powerful. In some cultures, shamans are involuntarily chosen by the spirits; they realize their calling in a transformational experience, often a serious illness that brings them close to death {For example Damion Brinkley of today.} and is self-cured. In other cultures, persons with natural shamanic gifts are selected at a young age, trained and initiated.

The shaman must obtain a guardian spirit, which is the source of his spiritual powers. The guardian spirit also is called a 'power animal', 'tutelary spirit', totemic animal' or 'familiar'. A common method of discovering and connecting with the guardian spirit is the solitary all-night vigil outdoors {It is often a death-defying experience to try to lie to your tribe about any ability if you cannot Do the work.}. The guardian spirit usually manifests as an animal, bird, fish or reptile but may also appear in human form. It is both beneficent and beneficial and brings to the shaman the, powers of an entire species {Or inanimate lifeforms with conscious wisdom like the trees and mountains.}. The shaman invites the guardian spirit into his body; it protects him from illness and from unfriendly forces in the lowerworld. Guardian spirits change over the years as the shaman's needs change.

After a guardian spirit is acquired, healing and divination may be performed. Healing techniques vary. A shaman may collect spirit helpers, which are the causes and cures of illness {The church believed this to the exclusion of the free will of people and the active ingredients of physical nature. Few good shamans would do this today, if they ever did.}. Spirit helpers are represented by plants, insects, small objects, worms and the like. When the shaman sees, in trance, the cause of an illness, he places one of these objects in the back of his mouth and one in the front. He then begins to "suck" the illness out of the body of the patient. The energy that causes the illness is absorbed by the spirit helpers in his mouth who protect the shaman from absorbing the illness himself. The helper in the back of the mouth acts as a backup, in case the illness gets past the helper in front.

In other techniques, the shaman descends to the lowerworld, or the realm of the dead, to bring back the soul of a patient or to retrieve a patient's guardian spirit. Some shamans exorcise disease-causing spirits in séancelike procedures or by invoking or cajoling them to leave the patient.

Sleight-of-hand tricks are sometimes used, but do not necessarily negate a healing.

Western interest in shamanism has been rising since 1951, when Mircae Eliade {Another Eranos Conference attendee.} published his landmark study, Shamanism. An increasing amount of literature has been written since about shamanic systems and the uses of hallucinogenic drugs.

Some traditions of contemporary Paganism and Witchcraft incorporate shamanic practices. Most of these concern raising energy, r, Otherworld journeys and healing. Some Witches, such as STARHAWK, consider Witchcraft essentially a shamanistic religion because raising energy, Otherworldly contact and healing are fundamental to it. Some Pagans say the same about various forms of contemporary Paganism. Pagan and Wiccan shamanism fosters a closer connection to the Earth and plays a role in the environmental and ecological interests of many individuals. It also plays a significant role in the creation of healing therapies especially tailored to Pagan and Wiccan spirituality.

FURTHER READING:
Harner, Michael. The Way of the Shaman, New York: Bantam. 1982.

Harvey, Graham. Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth. New York, New York University Press, 1997

Kalweit, Holger. Dreamtime & Inner Space: The World of the Shaman Boston, Shambala Publications, 1984.” (7)

There are many things we would have to agree seem unlikely to have the attributions credited to them by people who have done these things for millenia. That does not detract from the actual result and it can easily be said that science has made some similarly false attributions. The difference for us should be that shamans were doing something and scientists seldom actually achieved any great result.

Author of Diverse Druids, Columnist for The ES Press Magazine, Guest writer at World-Mysteries.com

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April Fools' Day

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bobbie_Simpson]Bobbie Simpson

Photo: Barbara Garcia

April Fools' Day, is a famous day that is observed in many countries on the 1st of April. On this day individuals play a number of practical jokes and several pranks and hoaxes on friends and family. The purpose of this purely fun day is to get a good laugh at another person's expense. It may sound crude but it is much fun for all involved, and you will always have a chance to get back at the person who pulled a prank on you.

April Fools' Day, is also referred to as All Fools' Day. It is one of the most fun-filled days of the year. The origin of April Fools' Day is still a bit of a mystery. This is because there really was not a "first April Fools' Day" that can actually be identified on the calendar. Some persons believe it may have come about in several cultures around the same time, from festivities that involved the first day of spring. However some individuals see it as a commemoration of the turn of the seasons, while there are others who think it originates from the implementation of a new calendar.

The most accurate point in time that can be considered as the start of this April Fools' Day tradition was in France, in 1582. In times before that year, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, which started on the 25th of March. The celebration ended on the 1st of April. So with the restructuring of the calendar under leadership of Charles the 9th, the Gregorian calendar was established, and New Year's Day was moved to the 1st of January.

In those times communication was of course not as keen as it is today. Therefore a lot of people did not get the news of the change in calendar for many years. On the other hand many individuals refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year on the 1st of April. These persons were branded as 'fools' by the general public and they were in return subjected to being laughed at, and were frequently sent on 'fools errands' or were just set up for other April Fools' Pranks.

These practical jokes developed, over a period of time, into a series of pranks on the first day of April. This custom after a while extended to Scotland and England in the 18th century. It was some time after initiated in the American colonies of the French and the English. April Fools' Day began to develop into a worldwide day of pure fun, which entertained several cultures which specialized in their own kind of humour at the expense of their friends and families.

Do you know that in Scotland April Fools' Day is in fact celebrated for two days? The second day is committed to pranks that involve the latter area of the body. It is known as Taily Day. The 'kick me' sign was originated within that time. I guess it is safe to say that people of Scotland are fun!

April Fools jokes vary from something simple, for example: "Your shoe is untied", to something more extreme such as setting a friend or family member's clock back an hour. In any event whatever the prank may be, the prankster generally ends up shouting to the person being hoaxed, "April Fool".

Don't be a fool on April Fools Day. Be sure to get your jokes and pranks planned out before April 1st.

(c) Copyright - Bobbie Simpson (April-Fools-Day.info) All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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Erin Go Bragh

By Barbara Garcia

Photo: Shawn Hughes

“Ireland Forever” is the translated expression of allegiance to the beautiful emerald green country of Ireland.

Do you believe in lucky charms, leprechauns, or special meanings of rainbows, synchronicities, or a symbolic talisman? If you do then you will appreciate this photo submitted by Shawn Hughes of a captured rainbow by sheer good luck.

There are oodles of legends around the world that conjure up images of beautiful rainbows in magical places. “If we should find the end of the rainbow there will be a pot of gold” so reads one legend.


There are some cultures that use certain symbols for warding off bad fortune and to bring good fortune and some are thought to grant wishes. Each of these charms are magically charged by the energy that is summoned into them.


Capture tiny dancing rainbows by hanging crystals in a sunny window and grow your own good fortune with a potted shamrock. Put a coin deep into the soil and you’ll have created your pot of gold. What a lovely day you will have made.

How to Record an EVP

By

David S. Nelson

You can use any kind of recorder for capturing electronic voice phenomena (EVP). EVPs have been even captured on phone message machines. It does not matter if your EVP is caught on a digital or a tape recorder. Some people prefer one or the other according to their own personal preferences.

Some paranormal investigators say that the first generation digital recorders made noises that were sometimes mistaken for EVPs. The following generations of digital recorders do not have this problem. You can use whatever recorder you have although there are some disadvantages to using recorders with a built in microphone. A built in microphone may pick up noise from the recording machine itself.

Another consideration about recording equipment is to choose a recorder with a counter so that if you do find an EVP on your recording, the counter will make it easier to locate the EVP on the recording. If you have a recorder with a built in microphone, use its jack for a corded microphone. Get a microphone with a three-foot cord so any recording does not pick up any noise from the recorder.

Before you do an actual recording for EVPs, do a two-minute test with your recorder. Set your volume on its highest setting and then record the silence. Listen to your recording for any machine noise or other interference. If you get too much sound from the recorder, you should switch to another machine. Record at the same speed as your tape if you have that option.

When you are ready to do the recording for EVPs, set the recorder down on a level surface. Do not set the recorder near windows because sound travels easily through glass. Do not set the recorder near any doors, heaters, vents or air conditioners or power lines as these can all cause unwanted noise.

Always use new tapes and keep extra batteries handy. Record with the volume at its highest setting. Keep your hands away from the recorder and avoid brushing against the recorder. When you talk, speak in your regular voice because some ghosts speak in a whispered tone. Stay still during recordings as footsteps can obscure any other recorded sounds.

If you are doing an outside recording, choose a calm day without any wind. Record the sounds of yourself moving around so you know what it sounds like. Sound can travel farther than you think.

You will have to decide on how long you will be recording. Most of your recording will be silence. It depends on how much patience you have to carefully listen to a silent tape. Some paranormal investigators leave the recorder on for the entire length of the tape and others may record for only a few minutes.

Depending on your EVP recording style, you may just leave the recorder on while you leave the area or you may stay near the recorder. You could do an interview type of recording. Some investigators say that by talking to the spirits beforehand, you may be able to capture EVPs in only minutes. If you try to interview any nearby ghosts, have some questions ready. Do not ask questions that will upset the ghosts. Ask only respectful questions that will not make the spirit angry.

When you are done recording, you will have to listen to your recording for any captured EVP. Wearing headphones will make it easier. Some paranormal investigators advise listening to the recording at a low volume. This is because if you do capture an EVP, you could get actually frightened if the volume is too loud. As you listen, notice the background noise so that you will be able to recognize any unexplained voices on top of the background noise. You may only get one or two words. You may recognize an emotional human sound but be unable to tell what is actually being said.

You just might get lucky and get a clear EVP your first time. If not, do not get discouraged. Keep trying and you are bound get an EVP surprise.

David Nelson is a moderator at Discuss The Paranormal and Ghosts and Spirits Forum.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_S._Nelson
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California Earthquake- Psychic Prediction

By
Barbara Garcia

Photo: Ali Vasquez



Most of us who live in Southern California are aware that a major earthquake is bound to occur within the next 10 years. We look toward the scientist to inform and prepare us for those dreaded earth quake strikes.

I would rather not talk about the “big one” that has been expected to occur for decades because these sort of predictions tend to ignite deeper fears in our already fearful position in these earthquake ridden regions. We have heard and read about the big quake that is bound to happen so much that we have become desensitized.

There are dozens of meanings one can perceive from a psychic vision. This is why they need to be considered hypothetical in nature, worthy of study and reference but not taken as verifiable. However, psychic visions of an apocalyptic earthquake in southern California are being forecasted by reputable psychics much too often to ignore and remind people of the very real seismic dangers in the region.

Although I predicted a sizeable earthquake this year in my 2009 Psychic Predictions, the big one is about a year or two away. I keep seeing the year 2011 like a pulsating animation within visions of major earth shifts in my home state of California. Dates perceived in months or years could be argued to have limited value in forecasting a time because we psychics move our consciousness in large spans of time and cover broad areas of locations and events. On the other hand, the numbers 2011 is a significant part of the psychic vision.

Earthquake ridden fault zones are located throughout California but the areas in my vision are moving in the southern regions of California from the out skirts of San Diego, the deserts, off shore Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The magnitude does not seem as significant as the amount of confusion in the collapse and destruction of buildings, structures, moving vehicles and machinery.

Earthquake preparedness may be mundane topic every year but how many of us are prepared? Contact the national CDC for information on how to survive in earthquakes and disasters, the more you educate yourself, the better prepared you become and you just might save the life of someone else as well. http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/

President Obama and the Evolution of Consciousness

By Stan Pontiere

Ever since reading the Celestine Prophesy, I have longed to see the next great jump in the consciousness of mankind. Life has treated me well and in trying to pay it forward, I developed a website and a blog dedicated to raising the level of consciousness one person at a time. Recent world events have seriously damaged our progress toward my dream goal.

Fear and greed have damaged the world economy, personal responsibility seems to be at an all time low and the vibrational energy of the universe has never reached such a low since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The world situation seems bleak with everyone playing the blame game and wars and famine popping up all over the world. With all of this going on, the stagnation and death of mankind seems far more likely than the next great evolution of consciousness.

That was until today. I remember listening to the Rev. Martin Luther King make his famous "I have a dream" speech. It was his dream and he made the claim that he had seen the "Promised Land." I was raised in a racist America and never believed that I would see a black man elected as President during my lifetime. It was as late as the mid 70s that my wife (Vietnamese) and I were refused a hotel room in rural Mississippi because of her race.

Like many Americans, I was in tears when President Obama made his acceptance speech. It was a life-long dream come true. Not only that, when I listened to his speech, my hope for the evolution of consciousness were renewed.

His speech, to me, did not sound like a President's acceptance speech. He sounded more like the world's greatest self fulfillment "Guru" giving the best, most inspired success seminar ever. He spoke of fear and greed. He emphasized the need to take personal responsibility and how that is a requirement if you ever with to act with confidence. He spoke of how we must truly listen to others so that we truly understand each other and treat each other throughout the world with mutual admiration and respect. It was a truly moving speech and I am sure that the vibrational level of energy has risen at least a little bit. It also renewed my hopes that perhaps mankind can reach that next level in the evolution of human consciousness.

Just a few minutes ago, I heard President Obama interviewed by Katie Couric. He then made probably the most important thing that he said on his Inauguration Day. He said: "We must teach our children to dream big dreams. Teach them: Don't sell yourself short."

So my dream and goal is renewed. Perhaps someday, maybe not in my lifetime, mankind will make that next great leap in evolution-the evolution in consciousness. If we all reach for the stars and not sell ourselves short, then each of us can play our part in the evolution of mankind.

Stan Pontiere has been an avowed self-help geek since high school-more than 40 years ago. For more information on self-fulfillment please visit: http://www.wealthbyaffirmation.com/ or my blog at: