Thursday, 30 April 2009




Chaffetz bill would require government to resell shell casings



Joe Pyrah - Daily Herald




For four days in March, gun owners across the country were up in arms about a Department of Defense decision to not resell its spent brass casings.
The DOD sells more than 100 million used casings a year -- in .223 and .308 variants -- to businesses such as Georgia Arms, near Atlanta, which in turn reloads the cartridges and sells them to the public.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz says the decision not to resell was made intentionally by the Obama administration, and he plans to introduce legislation to ensure it doesn't happen again.

It was "a concerted effort by this administration to short the supply" of ammunition, said the 3rd District Republican who views it as back-door gun control.

Georgia Arms co-owner Larry Haynie agrees. He said he was told by government officials that it was a clerical error.

"Hell no," he said when asked if he believed that. "That's just the government catch-all right there."

There is a press release from the Defense Logistics Agency four days after it was initially stated that the casings would be destroyed instead of resold. The DLA is in charge of handling the spent cartridges, including determining their impact on national security.

It reads in part: "Upon review, the Defense Logistics Agency has determined the cartridge cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for sale."

Haynie says it was the uproar that caused the change, not a question of national security.

"The American system still works," he said.

Chaffetz wants to make sure the river of empty brass continues to flow from the DOD into private hands. The legislation will read: "The Secretary of Defense may not implement any policy that would prevent or place undue restriction on the continued sale of intact spent military brass ammunition casings to domestic manufacturers of small arms ammunition."

The ammunition market seems to be doing a fine job of keeping prices high all by itself.

"Since Obama was elected, they've just run away," Haynie said, because of fears of gun control legislation. The last time sales were this high was when Bill Clinton was president and talking about an assault weapons ban.

"He's armed up America way more than Clinton ever thought about doing."




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Find A Pennywise, Pick It Up

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La Vie Boheme

Kick Ass Rock & Roll

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La Vie Boheme

Reprinted From AP

Wednesday, 01 April 2009
G-20 protesters break into Royal Bank of Scotland



Raphael G. Satter - The Associated Press




LONDON — G-20 protesters clashed with riot police in central London on Wednesday, breaking into the heavily guarded Royal Bank of Scotland and smashing its windows. Nearly two dozen people were arrested.

Some 4,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists and others clogged the streets of London's financial district for what demonstrators branded "Financial Fool's Day." The protests were called ahead of Thursday's Group of 20 summit of world leaders, who hope to take concrete steps to resolve the global financial crisis that has lashed nations and workers worldwide.

Protesters also tried to storm the Bank of England and pelted police with eggs and fruit. A battered effigy of a banker in a bowler's hat hung on a traffic light near the Bank of England.

While most of the protesters were peaceful, a violent mob wearing balaclavas broke into the RBS building and stole keyboards that were used to break windows. Other protesters spray-painted graffiti on the RBS building, writing "class war" and "thieves."

Riot police batted back protesters carrying banners that read "Abolish Money."

Protesters focused the Royal Bank of Scotland because it was bailed out by the British government after a series of disastrous deals brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Still, its former chief executive Fred Goodwin — aged 50 — managed to walk off with a tidy annual pension of 703,000 pounds ($1.2 million) — just as unemployment in Britain is at 2 million and rising.

"Every job I apply for there's already 150 people who have also applied," said protester Nathan Dean, 35, who lost his information technology job three weeks ago. "I have had to sign on to the dole (welfare) for the first time in my life. You end up having to pay your mortgage on your credit card and you fall into debt twice over."

The protests in London's financial district — known as "The City" — came as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference at Britain's Foreign Office elsewhere in the capital.

"Clearly, everybody has the right to protest and to make their views known, but people also have the right to go about their daily lives without fear of violence or unnecessary disruption," said Michael Ellam, Brown's spokesman.

At least one police officer was injured when a printer and other office equipment was thrown out of the RBS window. Hundreds cheered as a blue office chair was used to smash one of the blacked-out branch windows.

Two men — one was wearing a suit — exchanged punches in the financial district before police intervened.

Of the nearly two dozen people arrested, offenses included disorderly behavior, illegally wearing a police uniform, carrying knives and assault. Another person was arrested for drug possession.

"The greed that is driving people is tearing us apart," said Steve Lamont, 45, flanked by his family and protesters who were banging on bells, playing drums and blowing whistles.

Bankers have been lambasted as being greedy and blamed for the recession that is making jobless ranks soar. Protesters waved banners reading "Banks are evil," ''Eat the bankers," and "0% interest in others."

London equity analyst Viktor Gusman, 53, said he understood the protesters' anger ahead of the G-20 summit but said it didn't put him off working in finance. Some bankers went to work in casual wear Wednesday for fear they could be targeted.

"This is what I do," he said, taking a cigarette break a block down from a police barricade in central London. "I'm supporting my wife and mother and I don't know that it hurts anyone."

Some financial workers leaned out office windows, taunting the demonstrators and waving 10 pound notes at them.

Police helicopters hovered above as a separate protest — climate change and anti-war — started near Trafalgar Square.

"It seems like everything is in a mess," said protester Steve Johnson, 49, an unemployed construction worker.

One protester dressed as the Easter bunny managed to hop through the police cordon but was stopped before he could reach the Bank of England. Another black-clad demonstrator waved a fake light saber at officers.

More protests are planned in London for the G-20 meeting on Thursday.

Still, the protests Wednesday were minor compared to those during a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999, where some 50,000 people turned out and several hundred people were arrested.














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La Vie Boheme

GUITAR FOR GIRLS

Blues In Pink












lA vIE bOHEME

Why Ryan?

Chris Landreth. The only digital animator i have come accross, that truely understands people. I hope he wont mind me sharing this amazing and personal film with ya'll.

Honesty:
It's what "art" lacks, these last days...

May this Movie inspire in all of us... what it takes to get there.











La Vie Boheme

NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE ME ALIVE!!

Muse... What more needs saying?


Okay. A lot.

However,I am under the gun here.

I have to maintain a state of low key, non threatening, invis-ABLE-ity...

Patience, Groove Heads...


In the meantime... in between time... Rock on Muse. Rock on Porcupine Tree.




La Vie Boheme

Pre-Marshal Law Chem Strategem

Look at the zig zags


(At least it isn't just me tired of being abused... )


I'll be back soon to explain my absence, and update ya'll on what's what...


La Vie Boheme

Viva La Revolution

Artist: Fixx
Song: Stand Or Fall

Crying parents tell their children
If you survive don't do as we did
A son exclaims there'll be nothing to do to
Her daughter says she'll be dead with you
While foreign affairs are screwing us rotten
Line morale has hit rock bottom
Dying embers stand forgotten
Talks of peace were being trodden

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

Is this the value of our existence
Should we proclaim with such persistence
Our destiny relies on conscience
Red or blue what's the difference

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

An empty face reflects extinction
Ugly scars divide the nation
Desecrate the population
There will be no exaltation

Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre

Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight

Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre

"I always wanted to be an activist because I knew that if I wasn't an
activist I would have to close my eyes -- and I wanted to see the world.
So I became an activist for very selfish reasons."
- Amiko Mayeno (Activist and Buddhist Practitioner)

Tits Up For Knocked Up!!

Ok... I honestly thought I would hate this film... What an IDIOT I can be sometimes... I am not sure why i was so judgmental...

(I was this sure I would hate 40 Year Old Virgin, too... yet I ended up liking that movie greatly...)


Knocked Up, I Love... This movie had everything for me... Romance, great dialog, realism (including believable stoner banter, and not inane stereotyping )...
a family film for the modern family... I am not exaggerating when I say... This is currently my favorite movie!

Good Work Everybody.

Oh, and THANK YOU for making this film!






It Rocks!






La Vie Boheme

Pakistan's courts in lockdown

• Story Highlights
• Pakistan police, lawyers clash in Islamabad on Tuesday
  
• An estimated one out of four attorneys are in nation's jails
  
• Police sources: Cash bonuses given for beating lawyers
  
• Cell phone service in Islamabad fails on Tuesday

LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Baton-wielding police fought with lawyers outside courthouses in Islamabad and Lahore again Tuesday, arresting dozens more as they enforced Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on judicial activism.

With one in four lawyers now jailed and many judges detained in their homes, surrounded by soldiers, Pakistan's judicial system is in lockdown three days after Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left Karachi for Islamabad Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to respond to Musharraf's declaration.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- fired by Musharraf Saturday -- in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go to "every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice."

Musharraf's declaration noted a "visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks" and it blamed a judiciary that was "at cross purposes" with his government's efforts "to control this menace."

Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism Musharraf was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would bar him from another term as Pakistan's president.

About 3,000 Pakistani lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, sit in jails across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek release. Pakistan has an estimated 12,000 lawyers. Watch Aamir Ghauri of Geo TV discuss the crackdown »

Police earned cash bonuses for beating and arresting hundreds of lawyers Monday who had gathered outside of Lahore's courthouse, police sources said.

Any lawyer who attempts to enter the Lahore or Islamabad courthouse Tuesday was immediately arrested, witnesses said. Some were grabbed by police as they walked toward the court, sources said.

Chief Justice Chaudhry, speaking by phone to lawyers gathered in Islamabad Tuesday, told them to carry the message of sacrifice.

"Don't be afraid of anything," Chaudhry said. "God will help us and the day will come when you'll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time."

Chaudhry's remarks were interrupted when Islamabad's cell phone system suddenly died. There has been no way to confirm the disruption was planned by police.

Chaudhry has been unable to leave his home since it was surrounded by soldiers Saturday night. His house arrest prevents Chaudhry from participating in rallies with lawyers, something he did last March when he was previously sacked by Musharraf.

Chaudhry, who was reinstated to the court in July, has led key rulings that have weakened Musharraf's grip on power -- including lifting the exile imposed on opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 bloodless coup. When Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan last month he was immediately ordered back into exile.

Musharraf defends actions

Despite Tuesday's arrests, the day has so far been less eventful than Monday when Pakistani security forces used tear gas and batons on lawyers and journalists demonstrating against Musharraf's declaration.

Despite strong pressure from the United States, Britain and other countries to reverse his decision, Musharraf has been unresponsive and unapologetic, according to diplomatic officials who met Monday with the president to deliver their concerns, particularly about "heavy-handed" measures taken in Lahore.

According to a press release from Musharraf: "The president assured the diplomats that efforts were being made in a phased manner to move toward complete democracy."

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Musharraf told the diplomats that he took the action he did because certain decisions by the judiciary "created impediments in the fight against terrorism."

He also said the media "in some cases seemed to be helping the cause of extremists and terrorists by showing the gory scenes of suicide bombings that encouraged these elements to carry on with their heinous acts," according to the APP.

Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, and opposition leaders say Musharraf took the action days before a Supreme Court ruling that would have nullified the October presidential results.

Musharraf garnered a vast majority of the votes in the election, which the opposition had boycotted. Opposition attorneys had asked the court to rule on their contention that the Pakistani constitution forbids a sitting military leader from running for president.

Musharraf, who is the Pakistani army's chief of staff as well as president, had promised to relinquish his ties to the military before taking the oath of office for a third time on November 15.

Washington and London are reviewing their aid packages to Pakistan in light of the state of emergency, which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called "highly regrettable."

But a senior U.S. administration official said that the issue of aid is "a card that has to be played fairly carefully" and that the White House wanted to see what transpires in Pakistan over the next few days before making any kind of decision.

"President Musharraf is the leader of his country -- but, in our judgment, he's made a mistake," the official said.

"The question is: What do you do when someone makes that mistake that is a close ally? You know, do you cut him off, hit him with sanctions, walk out the door? Or do you try and see if you can work them to get them back on track?"

"And the president's guidance to us is see if we can work with them to get back on track."


CNN's Mohsin Naqvi in Lahore contributed to this report.
---------


Keep our eyes open...


La Vie Boheme

The Mantra

Om Mani Padme Hum

The Mani mantra is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- it does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master).

The six syllables of the mantra, as it is often pronounced by Tibetans -- Om Mani Padme Hum -- are here written in the Tibetan alphabet:


Reading from left to right the syllables are:

Om (ohm)

Ma (mah)

Ni (nee)

Pad (pahd)

Me (may)

Hum (hum)

The vowel in the syllable Hu (is pronounced as in the English word 'book'. The final consonant in that syllable is often pronounced 'ng' as in 'song' -- Om Mani Padme Hung.

There is one further complication: The syllable Pad is pronounced Pe (peh) by many Tibetans: Om Mani Peme Hung.

---

The mantra originated in India; as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard for Tibetans to pronounce.

Sanskrit
form

Om Mani Padma Hum
(mantra of Avalokiteshvara)

Tibetan
form

Om Mani Peme Hung
(mantra of Chenrezig)

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The True Sound of Truth

An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching.

The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.

A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.

The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island.

The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit.

As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice.

The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself.

The meditator was pleased; the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself -- however, when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!

"What's wrong?" asked the hermit.

"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!"

"Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?"

The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away.
On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.

"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies," thought the meditator.

Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully, on the water, next to the boat.

"Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I've forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?" Said the hermit.

"You obviously don't need it," stammered the meditator... but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced.

The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.


From Dharma Haven






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La Vie Boheme

Keeping The "Faith"

Mother, Pray For Us...

For my late night film, I was enjoying the movie, (The Beatles)HELP, (which I believe was filmed in India), and toward the end, the antagonist(s) invoke the Goddess Kali, (while they prepare to slit the throat of Ringo Starr, as the wearer of a sacred ring of a sacrifice...) In the ocean was a giant bronze or brass statue of what we assume is Kali... However, the statue had at least 8 arms, and looked male to me...
(This had to bug "The Quiet One" a bit, I am sure...)

Since he is no longer in bodied to set it strait, I thought I'd do a little on-line research on Kali to see what I could find... this of course, led me to looking at other Goddesses, and I have compiled, from the best of what I have found, info on three Goddesses, we in americA know little about...

Please hit the links, and make sure dig as deep as you can... after all, the Truth is about be revealed (once and for ALL), and readers of Groove Damage, should be, at least somewhat, prepared for what has been written, hidden, and restored... (and, in Latter-days, hidden again, by the media savvy politico-power mongers, rubbing elbows with Evil's host).

The following has been edited by me, and emphasis is mine, (but all the links are there to check my work by).


So, i ask ye... Who is this 'Goddess'?


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"...She is the divine creatrix who has manifested these dancing forms of consciousness as an adoration for Her beloved, the eternal formless Supreme Being - God the Father.

In truth these two timeless lovers are not two. Rather, they are inseparably bound to play out their cosmic dance of love for all eternity..."




#1- Kali


"Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time.

There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time.

In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala.

Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses.


The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote: "Kali; Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."

It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality.

Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons,

nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death).

It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate.

This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome
the I-am-the-body idea, by reinforcing the awareness that, the body is a temporary condition.

Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego.

Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego.
Thus we are the eternal, I AM, and not the body.
This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.

Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha; or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality.

The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise.


A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form.

A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body.

In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends.

Thus, the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body.

She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood.

As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija.

Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum un-manifest from which all of creation arises, and into which, all of creation will eventually dissolve.

She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look.

Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss), while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness.

By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography.

In the same way, one could say that Christianity is a religion of death, destruction, and cannibalism... in which the practitioners drink the blood of Jesus and eat his flesh.

Of course, we know this is not the proper understanding of the communion ritual.

Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all.

There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite.
She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate, practicing austerity and renunciation!

The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion.

This can also be confirmed by going to any of the Hindu websites such as www.hindunet.com and reading about Mother Kali.
Also recommended is the book, Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding.

Also there is a beautiful and genuine Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California and it may be visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org. Kali is the goddess of enlightenment or liberation."


The Picture of Kali



[The following is Reprinted from the Kali Temple web site]

Name: Kali is so called because She devours Kala (time), and then resumes Her own dark formlessness.

She is the embodiment of three gunas (qualities of nature): She creates with Her sattva guna (quality of goodness and purity), preserves with rajas (passion and activity), and destroys with tamas (ignorance and inertia).

Complexion: Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky. As the sky is limitless, so is She. From a distance one sees the ocean water as blue, but it is colorless and transparent when examined closely.

Crescent above the forehead: She is the giver of liberation.

Earrings: Images of two little babies hang from Her ears; this means that She favors childlike devotees.

Smiling face: She is ever-blissful.

Tongue: Kali's white teeth symbolize, sattva or serenity; Her red tongue, rajas, symbolizes activity; and
Her drunkenness, tamas or inertia.

(The meaning:) tamas can be conquered by rajas, and rajas by sattva.

Full breast: She is the nourisher of all beings.

Terrible form: She is the mother of the universe as well as the destroyer. When a mother spanks her child, it does not mean that she is cruel; she disciplines her child for its own good.

Necklace: It consist of fifty skulls that represent the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, the origin of sound.
She is Shabda Brahman (Sound-Brahman), or Logos-the source of creation.

Two right arms: The upper right arm grants fearlessness, and the lower right arm offers boons. She protects Her children from danger, and She fulfills their desires.

Two left arms: She holds a sword with the upper left arm and a severed head with the lower. She can cut human bondage with the sword of knowledge, and She imparts wisdom to the head, the receptacle of supreme wisdom.

Naked form: She is called digambari, "clad in space." She is infinite, so no finite dress can cover Her.

Waist: Kali's waist is encircled with a girdle of severed human arms that represent action. All human actions, and their results, go to the Divine Mother. At the end of a cycle all souls merge with Kali; during creation they again evolve with their respective karmas.

Shiva is under Her feet: Shiva and Shakti are always together. He is the changeless aspect of the Supreme, and She the apparently changing aspect of the same. Shiva is pure cosmic consciousness, and Kali is cosmic energy.

No creation is possible without their union. Shiva cannot manifest without the power of Kali, and Kali cannot function without the consciousness of Shiva.

Dakshina Kali and Vama Kali: If Her right foot is forward, She is Dakshina Kali (benign form); and if Her left foot is forward, Vama Kali (terrible form).

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#2- Isis


"The Goddess Isis originated in Egypt.

Inscribed on Her temple is the phrase, "I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever me unveiled."

By the period of the Roman Empire, she had become the most prominent deity of the Mediterranean basin.

She was a formidable contender with the newly founded Christian religion and Her worship continued well into the 6th century AD until persecution pushed Her into the shadows of religiosity.

In Egyptian She is named Aset, (or Eset), She is one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt.

Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word that is perhaps associated with a word for "throne."

Little is known of Isis' early cult.

In the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350-c. 2100 BC), she is the mourner for her murdered husband, the god Osiris.

In her role as the wife of Osiris, she discovered and reunited the pieces of her dead husband's body, was the chief mourner at his funeral, and through her magical power, brought him back to life.











Isis hid her son, Horus, from Seth, the murderer of Osiris, until Horus was fully grown and could avenge his father. She defended the child against many attacks from snakes and scorpions. But because Isis was also Seth's sister, she wavered during the eventual battle between Horus and Seth, and in one episode, Isis pitied Seth and was beheaded by Horus during their struggle.

Despite Her variable temperament, She and Horus were regarded by the Egyptians as the perfect mother and son.

The shelter She afforded her child gave Her the character of a goddess of protection.

However, Her chief aspect was that of a great magician, whose power transcended that of all other deities.

Several narratives tell of Her magical prowess, with which She could even outwit the creator god Atum.

She was invoked on behalf of the sick, and, with the goddesses Nephthys, Neith, and Selket, she protected the dead.

She became associated with various other goddesses who had similar functions, and thus Her nature became increasingly diverse.

In particular, the goddess Hathor and Isis became similar in many respects.

In the astral interpretation of the gods, Isis was equated with the dog star Sothis (Sirius).

Isis was represented as a woman with the hieroglyphic sign of the throne on her head, either sitting on a throne, alone or holding the child Horus, or kneeling before a coffin.



Occasionally She was shown with a cow's head.

As mourner, She was a principal deity in all rites connected with the dead; as magician, She cured the sick and brought the dead to life; and, as mother, She was herself a life-giver.

The cult of Isis spread throughout Egypt. In Akhmim she received special attention as the "mother" of the fertility god, Min.

She had important temples throughout Egypt and Nubia.

By Greco-Roman times She was dominant among Egyptian goddesses, and she received acclaim from Egyptians and Greeks for Her many names and aspects.

Several temples were dedicated to Her in Alexandria, where She became the "patroness of seafarers."

From Alexandria Her cult was brought to all the shores of the Mediterranean, including Greece and Rome.

In Hellenistic times the mysteries of Isis and Osiris developed; these were comparable to other Greek mystery cults."
---

(Check out a list of Symbology for Isis from Goddess Gift)



-----------------------------------


#3- Minerva






"In Roman religion, Minerva is the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the arts,
and, later, war;

She was commonly identified with the Greek Athena.



Some scholars believe that Her cult was that of Athena introduced at Rome from Etruria. This is reinforced by the fact that Minerva was one of the Capitoline triad, in association with Jupiter and Juno.








Her shrine on the Aventine in Rome was a meeting place for guilds of craftsmen,
including at one time dramatic poets and actors.








Her worship as a goddess of war encroached upon that of Mars.


The erection of a temple to Minerva, by Pompey, out of the spoils of his Eastern conquests, shows that by then She had been identified with the Greek Athena Nike, bestower of victory.












Under the emperor Domitian, who, claimed her special protection, the worship of Minerva attained its greatest vogue in Rome."







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So there you have it Beloved... very interesting, yet, leaving ME wanting to know more, more, more, on these and the other Goddesses throughout antiquity...

Study!

La Vie Boheme!!

"Life is a hospital in which every patient is possessed by the desire of changing his bed. One would prefer to suffer near the fire, and another is certain he would get well if he were by the window." - Charles Baudelaire

I Am Legend Trailer 2 - The best video clips are right here

Psalm 91 (The Message)

1-13You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God's your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can't get close to you,
harm can't get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they'll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

14-16 "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,
"I'll get you out of any trouble.
I'll give you the best of care
if you'll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I'll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!"

--vivalarevoluuuujia--La Vie Boheme