Natural Wonder Fellowship

Huh, I just noticed this. I never quite realized that blood magic and hexes were part of Christianity. I mean, I knew it but never quite recognized the significance of knowing it; you know what I mean? Not the prayers for this or that, or the you'll be damned and cursed for thinking this or doing that, but spoken incantations. Yes, many rituals too, but this is really magic. The blood sacrifice (animal and human), blessing by a 'priest', protection spell (benediction?), divination (prophesy?), hexing or cursing by a layman? Like the sample to the left, the words are inspired by scripture. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a protection spell; looks more like a curse. It is exactly the sort of thing that the sorcerers and seers (and 'priests') would provide, for a fee of course, in case you felt you needed that 'extra oomph' from a professional. This kind of generic spell casting is easily attributable to dozens of beliefs and religions that came before and

On these "troubled times" -- people demonstrating in the streets, making demands for equality, for change -- or, if you're a Fox News follower, people rioting and looting, trying to destroy the American way of life... How much of the injustice and prejudice we see around us is directly attributable to religious dogma? Deep, under the surface tensions brought on by poverty, by unemployment, by lack of health care, by extreme "law & order" enforcement policies, by rejection of social programs... how much has been justified in the name of religion? If a person can say their 'god says', they relieve themselves of personal responsibility for heinous acts taken in the name of  that god. Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. -- a particular special or chosen people 1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the

In my private rescue, I get way more inquiries ('is so-and-so still available' is my favorite -- no, s/he is on my 'adoptables' page because I need to answer more phone calls or e-mails; or 'can I get one of [bonded pair]?' rarely even gets more than an eye-roll) than I get applications, and I get way more applications than I get adoptions. The applications without really meaning it are the most disappointing. This happened again over the past couple weeks. Chan, Beau, Bitsy, Chip, Chad Nov. 2009 Adopted! Early 2010 Chip & Chad are male bonded litter-mates. There were 5 in that litter, and I actually had that mom, too (a calico cat who I called CeeCee). Three orange tabbys (Chad, Charlie, Chip), a Siamese looking male (Chan), and a little black female (Cherry). The kittens were about 4weeks old when I got them in October, 2009. Over the next couple months, the usual care was given (it's a lot more work than that makes it sound). Charlie showed

I found this a while ago. I am just now posting it here. Your loved one is no longer in pain, finally at peace, no longer suffering -- no longer there for you!! If you truly loved, hope you too, will have many scars.

It is a GLORIOUS day! Carrie used to mock me for saying that, hahaha. She was not (still isn't) an early riser. Dawn/sunrise right now is about 5:30 here. I grabbed this short video audio about 8:30 to share the morning symphony I am lucky enough to enjoy with my first few cups of coffee. Not a lot more to say -- I'm still working on a multi-part piece on the history of racism in America (it's much more involved than I expected). Image to the left is a still from the video. I so enjoy being surrounded by nature :) Brad manipulated the raw video from the tablet (Win10) so I could post it here. I think it's part of nature that when your partner does something considerate or helpful or otherwise thoughtful that you forget the dozens of times said partner has been a "turkey". It keeps you happier and prevents you from stabbing them in their sleep, hahaha!! A deliberately short memory may be (one of) the secrets to a good, long lasting relationship.

Ad hominem attacks do not help your cause. Inflammatory language propagated by biased news providers does not help your cause. WHY, why, why do people do this?  'The  city ’s mayor, Jacob Frey, has stopped short of vying [sic] to abolish the police department, although he said this week he supported “massive structural reform to revise a structurally racist system.” ' https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests-reform/minneapolis-city-council-resolves-to-replace-police-with-community-led-model-idUSKBN23J2W5   Reuters and APNews are 2 of the main sources of news picked up by consumer outlets. Even Dailymail's page name ( https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8416087/Minneapolis-City-Council-unanimously-votes-replace-police-department.html ) was more accurate, but its body subtitle switched to the 'ABOLISH' language. No other daily used this language -- there's 'disband', 'replace', 'reform', 'create new' and

Do worms have genders? Who thought of that, and why? But oookaay, curiosity is a good thing. Question everything, learn something new every day. I went looking on google to try to understand the "Rowling transphobia" discussion. I've known gay people both male and female; I 've known men and women. I had an interesting discussion outside a mall public restroom with an apparent male in female garb. She seemed uninsulted when I asked my ignorant questions, and I answered when she asked me what I was waiting for. It seems people are labeling themselves, beyond transgender (gender dysphoria?) to include genderless and intersex (not even including hermaphrodite and similar in this discussion). Nowhere have I seen anything that says someone without a uterus can menstruate nor that a 'person who menstruates' is not a woman. That does not mean that all women menstruate. A transman would have a difficult mind fuch every month until that thing is removed (or he ages out

In mythology, gods and goddesses maintain or gain power by the worship they receive. Really fervent worship by the greatest number of worshipers is required for a god to stay stronger than the neighboring god. Worship may include approved rituals, giving gifts, and much, much periodic (daily or maybe hourly) praise and glorification to the god (or goddess). Gifts may be  of money, jewels, oils,  animals, food stuffs, young children [infants for who knows what (eating??, just to steal the innocence??, to show how much the parent is willing to sacrifice -- what kind of insecure sadist is this god??) or prepubescent or teen girls or sometimes boys (for sex for the leaders??, for what/why??).  We've heard about the Inca mummified children found in the 1990s, believed to have been a sacrifice about 500 years ago. The bible story of Jephthah's daughter is similar - to thank the god for winning the battle.] -- almost anything considered valuable in the culture of the time could be con

Matthew 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Luke 12:3  Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. You don't need crowded mega-churches to pray or worship your god -- you are told to do it quietly, privately, or in even small groups. This is based on the Bible (KJV); is there some other writing that demands large gatherings in a specific location? So what's up with the demands to open the "houses of worship"? The social gathering is something most people are missing in these days of SARS-CoV-2, from chess clubs to book clubs to the Met... anywhere you spend more time with other p